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Terry Ewert, President of Ewert TV Productions, Inc., created this video promo for my book, All You Need Is A Good Idea!
(No animals were harmed during the making of this video. But Terry did get a reputation as a real bulb buster.)
Please, let me know what you think.
There’s a book that’s getting a lot of interest lately. (No, not All You Need Is A Good Idea!, but thank you.) The title is The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do and How to Change It.
The author, Charles Duhigg, says scientists call what he talks about the “habit loop.” First comes the cue: a slice of dried pineapple. Then the routine: open the container. Finally, the reward: chomp, chomp. (That’s my personal example, not the author’s, in case you were wondering what to get me for my birthday. And only slices, not the chunks.)
The book review quotes many of Duhigg’s examples of habit, but the ones we care about here are the marketing examples. Such as the person behind Pepsodent toothpaste, Claude C. Hopkins, the great advertising pioneer, who got us all to start brushing our teeth daily. First he found a cue: that feeling of a strange film on our teeth. Through his ads, he offered a solution: the routine of brushing every day. The reward? Clean, bright, teeth, so brushing quickly becomes a habit. (You can get a free copy of his classic, still relevant book here )
The article talks about how research into people’s habits jump-started P&G’s fabric deodorizer, Febreze. And the book is worth reading just for Duhigg’s insights into Target’s tactics. He says that the company has a team dedicated to studying consumer habits. They look at ages, incomes, purchases, incomes, so, for example, they can send precisely timed coupons and reminders to adjust buyers’ habits without their even realizing it.
Is this sort of, well, manipulation, useful to your marketing? Sure, since we are in the art of convincing customers to buy our goodies. But everyone will have to draw his or her own line.
Got the idea?
"Most people think that the opposite of play is work (especially in the corporate world) but the opposite is boredom or even depression."
Wish I could claim authorship for that insight, but it’s from Stewart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play. He was quoted by Brendan Boyle, a partner at IDEO, a global design consultancy, in this great article about creativity.
There are so many wonderful ideas about creativity and creating in the IDEO article—like, how their culture is really one of being comfortable thinking on your feet and not worrying too much about failing in front of others—that you should take a look now, and then come back.
As background, IDEO was founded by its chairman, David Kelly. There is an interesting video by him, regarding his philosophy, on IDEO’s website.
And on a recent blog on TED discussing building creative confidence he ends with, “Don’t divide the world into ‘creative’ and ‘non-creative,’ he urges. Let people realize they are naturally creative.” Amen.
Lots to ponder in his article, including how one person, as you can see from the image above, can look so right for his role; a perfect blending of Albert Einstein and Groucho Marx.
As William Goldman once famously said “Nobody knows anything.” And no matter what anyone guarantees you about their special social media skills, no one ever knows know what will go viral.
As one example, 85-year-old Marilyn Hagerty, whose review of the first Olive Garden to open in Grand Forks, N.D. has gotten over 16 million tweets. (I am certain many people predicted this.)
Here’s Ad Age’s take on it.
Or Kony2012, the video about Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony that’s been viewed more than 100 million times on the Internet.
And, since this is a marketing blog, there is this one. The use of homeless people as Internet hot spots at the South by Southwest technology conference in Austin. The ad agency BBH Labs outfitted volunteers with mobile Wi-Fi devices. Each participant was paid and was allowed to keep whatever money customers donated in exchange for the service.
And then the Wi-Fi hit the fan. The programs critics, as quoted in the New York Times, “Zeroed in on the divide between its impoverished vendors and Internet-bubble customers.” But Saneel Radia, director of innovation at BBH Labs, said they “Modeled the hot spot project after the street newspapers that homeless people sell.” And one human hot spot added, “I love talking to people and it’s a job. An honest day of work and pay.”
Where do you come out on the hot spot controversy? Are you part of the “Say anything you want about me, but just be sure to spell my name correctly” contingent? Or do you think that there are lines you simply do not cross, (even though that assumes you are wise enough to know in advance exactly what those parameters are)?
Me? In theory I’m for taking chances, though in practice I find I am sometimes more conservative than I would like. And since it is my blog, I don’t have to vote. But I will, and I come down on the side of good for BBH for risking it. I truly believe that no matter what you do, half the people will disagree with you, so you might as well go with your gut and do what you think is best.
Agree? Disagree? Heck, that’s why there’s a comments box down below.
Got the idea?
Image via Wikipedia
A stream of revenue that goes on and on is certainly worth looking for. After all, why have to re-fight the good fight every time you try to make a sale? In the old—before you were born days—they did it with record (round black things with a groove) clubs, and the “something” of the month clubs.
Today it is done most often, I suppose, with magazine and newspaper subscriptions. But, when you think about it, the DVR recording option for a “season pass” to your favorite TV shows is a subscription. Then there are the wine, flowers and coffee automatic delivery plans. Heck, when my agency has a retainer relationship with a client that is in a sense a subscription model.
Nowadays, there are websites that enable you to subscribe to products that you would never think you would need to receive on a regular basis. I mean, how much of a bother is it to purchase razor blades or socks as you need them? Yet, there are sites that seem to be able to monetize what I would describe as silly ideas. (Silly in the sense of why didn’t I think of it?)
(And I just came across this, as an example of the kind of automatically renewing subscriptions that I really hate. They obviously trust you will not remember, or bother to un-enroll. "This subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period, your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period.")
One subscription that is getting a lot of (not literally) ink these days is the Dollar Shave Club. For one dollar a month (actually, three dollars with shipping and handling) you get five twin-blade cartridges a month. Sixty cents a cartridge…for the rest of your shaving life! (Entertaining video is below.)
O.K., you may be tempted. But how about socks on line? Blacksocks claims to have sold three million socks since 1999. Even if that actually means a million and a half pairs, it seems like a real (though strange) business.
What are you selling that you might create a subscription to? It doesn’t seem that you should discard any idea, no matter how bizarre it might seem at first. So, go for the toothpaste of the week, tablecloth of the month, air filter of the season.
Got the idea?
I have always believed that everyone is creative, although in different ways. As I point out in my book, my daughter Rachel was being creative when she decided to take digital photos of old black and white family pictures, rather than scan them. It was faster, easier and higher resolution. And throwing in a dash of coriander to your omelet is creative. It’s just that neither is what we usually mean when we say someone is “creative.”
Well, according to Jonah Lehrer in an article in the Wall Street Journal, the image of the creative type is merely a myth; creativity is not magic. (Please don’t tell my agency’s clients about this.) He says we usually assume that experts are the creative geniuses in their particular field, but big breakthroughs depend on the daring of outsiders.
More interesting is his statement that drunken students solved nearly 30% more word problems than their sober peers, because they were not paying as close attention, which can inhibit imagination.
And most interesting was his quoting Steven Jobs that “creativity is just connecting things.” I find that to be often true when I am trying to come up with an idea. The result may indeed be considered “creative,” and though I can’t usually explain where the idea came from, to me it was a very logical solution, though it connected things that seemingly had no actual connection. Lehrer points out that, for example, the Wright Brothers invention of the airplane was really at first just a bicycle with wings, using their background as bicycle manufacturers. And Gutenberg connected his knowledge of wine presses in creating the first printing machine.
The article includes “10 quick creativity hacks,” including the advice to daydream, laugh and get groggy. Read it, and see if you agree with his thinking. And keep in mind Einstein’s guidance: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
Got the idea?
O.K. You’re going to list some exceptions…Zappos, Land’s End, maybe a few others. And yes, their corporate cultures do emphasize wonderful care of their customers. But here’s what I mean by you can’t really teach it.
Last evening most of my family went out for dinner at a local restaurant, Beyoglu. Not particularly fancy, no white tablecloths, nor massive wine list, nor crazy New York pricing. But comfortable and cozy. I ordered a classic cocktail, a perfect Manhattan straight up, (perfect in the alcohol sense of meaning make it with half sweet and half dry vermouth, not meaning be sure to do a good job of preparation.)
The drink was fine, and, as I often do, as I sipped I added ice cubes from my water glass to keep the drink cold and also slightly take the edge off its strength.
The waiter, however, noticed me adding ice from my water glass, and unasked, brought over a small glass of ice, with a spoon in it. Small detail? Yep. But suddenly he wasn’t just an anonymous server. He was someone who was attentive, considerate, and really paying attention.
Now, there is no way on the list of things the restaurant tells their servers about service, that point six is, “When you see a customer taking ice from his glass to put in his beverage, bring over a glass of ice.”
That is just too small a detail, and occurs too seldom, to ever be taught. It is just the way some people do things, whether they are waiters, doctors or plumbers.
But people notice this kind of special effort, no matter how tiny the actual act is. And they remember it, comment about it, Tweet about it, talk about it. People like me even blog about it.
So, again, you can’t teach this kind of awareness, this sensitivity to a customer’s needs. But if someone in your company shows it, then you certainly should reward it.
Got the idea?
Image via Wikipedia
There is a lot to be said for following the rules. Certainly you should obey rules such as: Red lights mean you should stop. Creative strategies help keep you focused. Do unto others... These are rules that it makes sense to abide by.
But when it comes time to generate your good ideas, "The first rule of creating is that there are no rules." This thought is a quote from Lisa Lutz, in the Wall Street Journal. Well, I actually substituted one word, using "creating" for her word "writing."
Ms. Lutz (yep, that's her picture) was a screenwriter, and she says by nature screenplays are drowning in rules. So she switched to writing novels, and decided to abandon the conventional rules. After all, "Every writer is shackled by his or her own limitations. Why chain yourself down any more than is necessary?"
All of this applies so perfectly to creating your good ideas that I won't take any more space to make the obvious points.
But I will make my point as current as possible, with a quote in yesterday's New York Times. "I play with rules," the choreographer Chad Naharin said. "I make up rules. I break those rules."
Got the idea?
So, the article in the New York Times actually says, “Thinking ‘outside the box’ is not a cliché. You just need to use an actual box.” A doctoral candidate, an associate professor and an assistant professor wrote it, and, though I am outnumbered three to one, I ain’t buying the premise.
They argue that until recently no one knew whether bodily experiences could help in generating new ideas. So their research consisted of asking over 100 New York University students to complete a task designed to measure innovative thinking. Here’s the quirky part. Some students did this while literally sitting inside a 125-cubic foot box. The others sat and thought literally outside (though next to) the box.
They found that those thinking outside the box came up with over 20 percent more creative solutions. (Not certain if they meant the solutions were 20 percent more creative, or if they had 20 percent more ideas.)
Another test asked different students to think of original uses for an object, either while walking along a fixed rectangular path, marked by tape, or walking freely. The free walkers came up with more original ideas, which I think might be because those who walked along the fixed tape had to use at least part of their concentration to make sure they stayed on the tape.
The best part was their test for thinking about a problem, literally doing the cliché “on one hand, and then the other.” Read the article to see how inane the whole project appeared to be. In fact, if it weren’t a month early, I would think this was an April fool’s joke.
Part of their conclusion is that we are only starting to grasp how catchphrases shape how people think. I have come to a different conclusion. But it is not a flattering one.
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