April 7, 2007

Opening Day

The baseball season has begun. I heard the fireworks from the ballfield last night, as Mike Veeck's Charleston Riverdogs opened their season. Veeck's fun-based business philosophy makes that team one of the most successful in its league. And, as he points out in his book - Fun is Good - the 'fun' philosophy is equally applicable in business. I heard a good line the other night at the revival of Inherit the Wind, starring Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy: "When you lose your power to laugh, you lose your power to think straight."

Designers are Today's Rock Stars

It's true. Design is so vital to the success of virtually any product or service, so the importance of good design has never been more highly valued. To prevent disease, New York City began giving away condoms in 1971. In recent years, the city has expanded its distribution. But it was only when the condoms were recently packaged with clever subway-themed logos that the numbers went way up. Within one month, more than five million condoms were distributed...vs. a total of 18 million for all of 2006. All that changed was the design, complemented by a poster campaign with lines like "New York's hottest new wrapper" and "We've got you covered."

Yay for the Team!

I'm so proud of our public relations team. They keep knockin' them out of the park, and - most recently - two Rawle Murdy case studies were picked to be published in PR News' Guidebook of the Top 100 Case Studies for 2006. That's quite an honor. The cases describe the situation, the action taken, and the results.

Heading for the Hills

I'm going on vacation for a couple of weeks. Back when the pollen washes away...hopefully.