By Joanne Maly
August 26, 2011
Inimitable Leader – Steve Jobs
His impact. His vision.
Guest post – authored by John Biggs of Tech Crunch.
An inspirational tribute to Steve Jobs.
- a passionate generation-changing cultural leader -
- Apple founder and long-time CEO -
Intro – Joanne Maly of Lincoln Maly Marketing
No doubt, each of us experienced our own personal reactions and emotions on Wednesday evening, August 23, 2011 when Apple announced that Steve Jobs was resigning as CEO of Apple because of health reasons.
Steve Jobs personally impacted the culture of America and the world with his own entrepreneurial spirit and vision, as well as the creative culture of excellence that he has inspired and exemplified for more than a generation. Mr. Jobs has become more than a business leader, technology icon, and innovator. The creative genius of Mr. Jobs and his very public life helped this man become ‘a real person’ in our lives even though we have never met him personally. We are sad for his failing health and for the loss of his continued ‘thinking-outside-the-box’ inventions.
The day after the announcement, I read the following post written by TechCrunch.com editor, John Biggs and was inspired by the beauty of the John’s words and the simplicity with which he captured the impact, spirit, and legacy of Steve Jobs.
John Biggs has graciously agreed to allow me to include his TechCrunch,com post on the ‘Simply Said’ Blog. Thank you, John. - jlm
John Bigg’s bio follows at the end of this Simply Said Blog entry.
Steve Jobs: The End of an Era
by John Biggs on TechCrunch.com, August 24, 2011
We all know the broad strokes: a boy is born to a graduate student and her Syrian boyfriend. She places the boy for adoption. He comes to live with Paul and Clara. Paul is a machinist who moved to San Francisco after WWII. He grows up in Santa Clara county. It’s flat, lots of one story buildings, mostly middle/upper middle class, outside of the bad parts. Parts of it are pretty, parts aren’t. He wasn’t coddled. His biological mother makes his adoptive parents promise to send him to college. In fourth grade he has a great teacher and, presumably, another and another.
His parents scrape to send him to Reed. He drops out of college and starts dropping in on classes that interest him. He makes money returning bottles and he hits the Hare Krishna temple now and then for a free meal. He takes calligraphy, eschews the typical coursework, and at age 20 he and a buddy start a company.
He’s a buddhist with a temper. He cuts down rivals and builds up a team of 4,000 dedicated to his singular vision. He’s ousted, builds another company or two, and comes back. He’s kind of a hippie, enjoying Bob Dylan and the Beatles. He loves music.
He’s leaving, now, the victim of something gnawing at his health like sea spray whittles a wooden pier.
Where does that leave Apple? And where does that leave us?
I wasn’t always a Mac lover. I thought they were over-priced and pretty, the candy colors far too silly for my 486 tastes. Any chip that had the word Power in its name was overcompensating, I wagered.
But over the past decade I learned the satisfaction of a machine that just works. It’s a machine that the boy put most of his life into, a machine that has the heart of a much older thing, a thing that lay blinking and frantic in a Stanford computer lab somewhere and then, over time, shrank down to something you and I can fit into our pockets.
Many complained that the ecosystem that he created was a walled garden, but I’d equate it to a pasture. “The reason everything looks beautiful is because it is out of balance,” wrote Zen master Shunryu Suzuki. “But its background is always in perfect harmony.” In the front, anything can happen. In the back, perfect calm and order.
There is a strain of Internet thought that requires us to tear down, to refuse to see the other side. There will be plenty of that going on in the next few days as talking heads talk. But name one CEO who, on leaving his company, will raise such a wave of well-wishes and interest? When Michael Dell dodders off or Howard Stringer plops into a club chair for his final cigar, will anyone care the next day?
We all know the broad strokes: The man got sicker, he almost quit, kept at it. He embraced a successor and groomed him to be as calm a force as he once was. He kept us surprised, entertained, constantly speculating. We wondered where he was. If he was well.
We all know the broad strokes: He isn’t well. He’s stepped down. Another Buddhist (or near enough to one) said “The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.”
Godspeed, Mr. Jobs. We’ll miss you on stage.
About John Biggs
John Biggs lives in Brooklyn, New York and writes about technology, security, gadget, gear, wristwatches, and the Internet. After spending four years as an IT programmer, John switched gears and became a full-time journalist.
His work has appeared in the New York Times, Laptop, PC Upgrade, Surge, Gizmodo, Men’s Health, InSync, Linux Journal, Popular Science, Sync. John has written a book called Black Hat: Misfits, Criminals, and Scammers in the Internet Age.
John Biggs is currently Editor-in-Chief of CrunchGear.com and he runs the BigWideLogic.com family of blogs, including SlushPile.net and WristWatchReview.com. John also runs the HourTime Podcast with Ariel Adams.
Thank you for allowing us to share your post, with our Simply Said Blog readers. - jlm
********************
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By Joanne Maly
December 10, 2009
Looking for Marketing Excellence in Holiday TV Commercials
The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.
We’ve heard it said a hundred times – holidays bring out the worst – and the best – in people. For this post, I would like to add an extension to that old adage: holidays bring out the worst – and the best – in marketing efforts – namely, TV commercials.
A seemingly steady stream of holiday-themed-30-second (going-on-five-minutes) commercials visit us, uninvited, each winter holiday season. I have begun to now identify some of the main culprits this year as ‘the bad’ and ‘the ugly’. Of course, there are examples of ‘the good’ as well.
Simply said, we have a potpourri of ‘the good, the bad, and the ugly’ commercials regularly interrupting our lives in our family rooms and living rooms this December. Laughingly too, some of the worst creative commercial offenders also have the largest ad budgets.
I have conducted my own non-scientific study of some of the 2009 season’s spots and have analyzed why – despite jingles, bangles, and red and green pizzazz – many of these commercials seem to conjure up memories of unpleasant reactions (similar to an attack of mosquito bites, biting into a lemon slice, or sipping a bitter glass of wine.)
My criteria for the good, the bad, and the ugly ratings was culled from years of knowledge shared by excellent graphic artists, research articles, personal observation and intuition, and of course, ‘some’ experience in the area. When judging your own TV commercial experience, your criteria will be based on some of your own experience and training – but both of us will need to add in our own individual tastes when rating commercials.
A pattern evolved in my review of over forty 2009 holiday commercials for this post. I’ll share my ratings here but I wonder … which commercials are your good, your bad and your ugly? What criteria do you use to make your own selections?
The Good
- The good commercials may take an often-used theme (e.g., receiving an engagement ring during the holidays) but then approach the idea with emotion, creativity, and a sense that ‘this is a genuine moment.’
- The good spots make strong use of basic Marketing 101, Cinematography 101, Consumer Behavior 101, and Design 101 concepts.
- The good spots have incorporated age, gender, ethnic and cultural demographics subtly and effectively.
- The messaging and scripts in the good commercials are often simple. Simple phrases. Limited verbiage. Songs with clever, new lyrics (to traditional holiday tunes) are not sung too fast.
- The good spots are visceral, often emotional, and feeling-based.
- The good commercials incorporate scenes of lightly falling snow or gentle flurries, and feature soft and often-diffused colors and simple visuals.
- The music in the good commercials is not clip-artish but instead is original, non-abrasive and enveloping. If the spot includes bells or chimes, these are not the same bells or chimes that we have heard on three other holiday commercials in a two-hour window. The sleigh bells don’t resemble Mannheim Steamroller electronically-created music.
- The good commercials invoke a reaction that I would like to watch that spot again (a bit similar to wishing for a rerun of an old Hallmark holiday show like “The Gathering,” or the perennial favorites “Miracle on 34th Street”, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and “White Christmas.”)
- The good commercials leave viewers saying to themselves I want to be there, go there, do that, wear that.
‘The List’ of ‘The Good’
The Disneyland 2009 Holiday Commercial
This year’s Disneyland holiday commercial offers us 30 seconds of visual eye-candy. Period. The spot’s creators didn’t fall for the temptation to say a lot. The text and the print-over copy simply states ‘joy to the small world.’ Even the treatment of the Disneyland.com address is creative – from the branded use of the word Disneyland to the sprinkling of Tinkerbell fairy dust over the word Disneyland. There is the most obvious call-to-action – visit Disneyland. The final result – the best of the good and we could watch the commercial again without feeling bombarded and annoyed.
L.L.Bean 2009 Holiday Commercial
The 2009 L.L.Bean holiday commercial captivates you immediately with its original chime sounds, the quiet feel of each video vignette, the slow-motion of the hikers, runners, sledders, and the gentle-falling flurries, and the young girl sweetly blowing a mist of powdery snow.
Even the unobtrusive voice of the commercial’s narrator doesn’t jar us out of our own personal experience while watching the 30-seconds of fine videography.
One objectionable fine-tuning criticism of this commercial though was that the very first text words used in the spot are… ‘every penny counts.’ I wish L.L.Bean had stayed with the simple magic of their spot and chosen to not interject a jarring economic message as their first visual message point. The commercial’s now-second text-over … ‘every memory counts’) would have been a strong text lead-in. That message could then be followed up with another text-over … ‘every moment counts’. The producers could have then perhaps included these simple text-over messages… ‘be family’ … ‘be a friend’. I believe the commercial’s effectiveness would have been stronger with these tweaks.
The call-to-action L.L.Bean discount slide at the end is simple, effective.
Zales Jewelers 2009 Holiday Commercial
We expect jewelry store commercials every winter holiday season and frequently the spots can feel expected and non-original. This year’s Zales holiday spot taps into the moments of raw emotion. The commercials provide soft backgrounds, simple shots, persons we relate to, and a purity of moments and memories we remember, or long for. The spots succeed too because they focus on the receiving of the ring, not the worry of buying. By focusing on the quiet intimacy of others’ holiday moments, Zales doesn’t need to say much – and they don’t – thus not detouring – or deterring – from the magic of the simplicity of the commercial. In fact, the bulk of the verbal comments in the spot are different variations of the word ‘yes’. A simple text-over slide with the solo diamond ring, followed by the strongly-simple placement of the Zales logo on a simple grey-white background, says all the commercial needs to say … and that is … ‘Say… I love you like never before … with the Celebration diamond. Exclusively at Zales.”
The Rock School – Nutcracker – 2009 Holiday Commercial
Think December and you think of ‘The Nutcracker” and multitude performances of that treasured ballet. Philadelphia’s Rock School’s 2009 commercial for The Nutcracker is so well-produced and viewer-enticing that I’ve included it as one of the good holiday commercials this year. The piece is simple with soft fades and titillating moments of colorful performance visuals. The minimal use of script in the commercial is handled effectively with superimposed short phrases (fairy tale holiday; the new classic; Nutcracker 1776.) The last text-over slide provides viewers with all of the important – and simple – next-steps to ‘get this experience’ (i.e., the necessary buy-your-tickets-now information.)
The Bad
When reviewing commercials in-depth for this post, I saw many Target-looking, Gap-acting, Apple-imitating, Disney-cloning commercials… but, bottom line, ‘they were not.’
Electronic-ized sleigh bells were the ‘bells de jour’ this year and if you would do a similar exercise, you might find yourself laughing, as I did, when you realize how many companies are using the same sleigh bell sounds. Somewhere out there, a savvy sleigh bell entrepreneur/slash/semi-musician is making a fortune on sleigh bell royalties. (Note: why didn’t I think of that?)
For those holiday commercials that aren’t ‘really bad’ but just plain ‘not good’, there is thus the category: ‘the bad.’
‘The List’ of ‘The Bad’
Hallmark 2009 Holiday Commercial
Feelings-prominent holiday Hallmark commercials have become a branded product of themselves. The commercials possess a popularity not dissimilar to the pull of the Super Bowl in that many viewers watch that annual football game to be sure to catch all of the special-occasion commercials. There must be a high level of creative pressure on the Hallmark team to produce a home-run each winter holiday… much less each major holiday throughout the year.
I was disappointed with the Hallmark 2009 holiday commercial. The 17-second-long Hallmark delivery truck spot is clever, but feels as if it should receive one of those nice-teacher-nice-effort compliments and not a good ranking. This is unfortunate because it does appear that someone went to ‘a lot’ of trouble creating this commercial and making the spot ‘work.’ Perhaps therein lies the source of the problem. Are we viewers being asked (told) to understand that Hallmark provides ‘love, caring, joy, wonder, concern, thoughtfulness, wonder, etc.? Hallmark, how about picking your top three emotions and going with those? Otherwise, we have a case of packing so much into the package, that we’re not too sure at the end of the commercial what we feel – much less what we are supposed to do next.
Target 2009 Holiday Commercial
Target offers a series of similar-themed holiday commercials this year. In this particular Target holiday spot, the viewer is privy to an intimate Christmas morning moment with a wife unwrapping a flat-screen TV. We are thrust into a ‘tense’ family moment and are put into one of those awkward, uncomfortable minutes while the couple debates (in front of their eye-focused young children) Santa’s choice of spending this season. The commercial doesn’t offer good acting, good script, a good take-away feeling, a good memory, a good anything.
The final short music clip of ‘chestnuts roasting on an open fire’ feels as if these music bars were thrown in for good measure.
An interesting note is that so many companies and advertisers are trying to imitate Target with their almost iconic red/white color theme; its traditional fun, product- Kaleidoscope-type ads. Yet, Target itself has deviated from its own success history.
Acura 2009 Holiday Commercial
This year’s Acura holiday commercial could have made the good list with its creativity alone, but some elements in the final spot cause enough conflicts that I’ve chosen to bump them to the bad category.
The commercial begins with an original friendly tune … but stops … and then picks up the melody again half-way through the spot. The final result is a feeling that we have a cut-and-paste music track as the commercial’s foundation.
The quick, fun video clips that provide the base (for the first half of the spot) each focus on a simple image, simple activity, and excellent photo concepts – but the camera focus in several points is skewed. We are also left wondering who is unwrapping present #1 and what is that present anyway?
Garmin 2009 Holiday Commercial
Some elements in the 2009 Garmin Holiday Commercial are excellent, but there are enough of the what-were-they-thinking? type bumps that, based on this post’s judging criteria, this potentially-home-run commercial moves to the bad grouping. Garmin tries to achieve something that in my mind is a sure-fail. They’ve taken an identifiable, fast-paced holiday tune and created their own lyrics with this result: the first-time, second-time, and even the third-time viewer is left working hard to hear what the vocalists are saying.
At the end of the commercial’s song, the lyrics say (in tune with the music) ‘fun local tips at finger tips’. That tagline is good enough that I would have liked to have seen that as a text-over on the screen – in addition to – or even instead of – the final script/text tagline ‘follow the leader.’
The Garmin commercial provides us with an example of the often-used, check-out-line-mimicking holiday bell sounds. And… who does the scary clown appeal to in this commercial? The look, feel, and treatment of this holiday clown almost conveys a Chucky-like karma and it doesn’t seem like a strong fit with the total package, especially in a spot that does have some strong creative elements. Kudos go to the Garmin creative team though for their effective reinforced take-away message – go to garmin.com
The Gap 2009 Holiday Commercial – Tween Demographics
Gap commercials are traditionally identifiable, fun, memorable, and successful. This year’s Gap ‘Kids’ holiday commercial misses the mark on several key elements. The child dancer/singers’ lip-synching is not only off, it is distracting. There are numerous moments in the 30-second spot that the visual photography is out-of-focus. There is such a quantity of fast-paced-quickly-sung lyrics to follow that you have to watch the spot several times to catch everything and work hard to follow the script. The youths are in fact talking about a ‘moose’ (why, I don’t know) but it definitely ‘sounds’ like they are singing about their boots. Final result: such potential that missed the mark.
The Ugly
In addition to not offering all of the elements we might observe in a strong or a good holiday commercials, the ugly rating is reserved for those commercially that appear to be inexpensively-produced (if not cheaply); offensive; message-off-targeted; visually-poor; and musically-challenged.
Commercials in this category are actually not all that uncommon and fall into the category of I-would-not-want-to-watch-that-again. I liken these holiday commercials to the many holiday TV specials (e.g., a Lifetime Channel-type production similar to ‘I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus and I Wish I Hadn’t.’)
‘The List’ of ‘The Ugly’
Overstock.com 2009 Holiday Commercial
Overstock.com seems to have a large holiday advertising budget this year and unfortunately that means that their ugly-ranked commercial is airing frequently. The solo female vocalist’s voice is not lip-synched. Ditto… some of the other chorus singers’ synching. Not only is the mouth-synching off-kilter, but in the final selection of the commercial, the clapping rhythm for the chorus members is off as well. The music utilizes the above-described clip-art-type tech-type holiday bells. I need to ask: Is the white-fur-trimmed-coated-boot-wearing-out-of-date-hairstyle-red-lipsticked-only-walking-a-lot star the focus for Overstock.com … or is the focus the Overstock.com products, free shipping, unique service, great pricing? The first time I saw this spot, I was across the room and didn’t know this was an Overstock.com spot until the end, and had initially thought that perhaps this was a commercial for fake snow, red lipstick, fur coats, or perhaps face lifts.
This commercial again reinforces the issues that arise in a short commercial spot that use specifically-created new lyrics for a fast-paced traditional holiday jingle. The result so often is that we viewers (or listeners when the spot is also cross-pollinated on radio) miss the cute lyrics. I mentioned above that many companies try to duplicate the old Target-type ads with the almost all-white, sterile background scene set with highlighted ‘Target’ red products or apparel. This is one of those commercials.
Old Navy 2009 Holiday Commercial
According to this post’s criteria, this year’s Old Navy holiday Modelquin commercials are rated as one of this season’s ugly offerings. The commercials feature manikin ice skaters (super modelquins) skating to a cut-and-paste type electronic holiday jingle tune.
The spot begins with a fast (very fast) title text-over slide announcing the Old Navy Super Modelquins vignette. The commercial’s visuals and the production quality are marginal and accompany an even poorer script. Why is Old Navy using manikins? Why the addition of the female manikin’s British accent? Why the corny humor? After you watch this commercial, you are left with this question, is this really the best Old Navy can do as a large national company?
IHOP 2009 Holiday Commercial
I’ve been impressed by the remaking and rebranding of IHOP as a product itself over the last five years, but this year’s national IHOP holiday commercial takes the company back more than a hop and a jump. The showcased pancakes don’t look tasty; they do look out-of-focus and as if they have been sitting on the conveyor belt too long. The Nutcracker jokes about Halloween costumes are corny and meaningless – and take up 6-plus seconds of the total 17-second spot. The Holiday Hotcakes text-over appears so quickly (2-seconds) that it can be missed or at least not fully caught. The last 2-second quick text-over of the IHOP website and core information appears on the screen so quickly and in such small scope that it isn’t visible and thus, not effective.
The Gap 2009 Holiday Commercial – Adult Demographics
Gap has tried to be all things to all people in this year’s adult-targeted holiday commercial featuring a rap-friendly, somewhat-clever, trendy, politically-correct and politically-safe holiday theme. I believe their end result is a off-message, hard-to-understand, lyric-heavy, words-unclear, noise-infused, semi-creative commercial. This spot mentions Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas, Solstice … and taps into the green initiatives and liberation movements. Whew! That is a hefty agenda for a 33-second spot.
Which commercials are your good, bad and ugly? What criteria do you use to make your own selections?
Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box below.
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By Joanne Maly
October 31, 2009
I watched perhaps the best Halloween film of all time (and no, it wasn’t Halloween I or Psycho-Version IV or SabreSaw I or MyTeethWillBiteYouBad or I’ve Got Your Back-Literally).
No… I think perhaps one of my favorite Halloween movies of all time is Mel Brooks’ version of Young Frankenstein.
For 90-minutes-plus, we get to sit back and enjoy simply-silly-sublime scenes created again and again by hilarious character portrayals, crack-up antics, and ingenious scripts filled with clever double-meaning quips.
In a film filled with home-run sound-bites and visual unforgettable moments, there is one blink-of-an-eye shot that I think I had missed previously. ‘The shot’, while funny, has also stirred a visual level of meaning for me today, and ‘the shot’, and for me, its double meaning, is one that can be easily missed. ‘The shot’ has had me thinking of my own oftentimes low-level of creativity and energy at the end of a day, and definitely, at the end of a week.
‘The shot’.
Picture if you will, the beloved hump-shouldered, head-covered, cape-ensconced, bulging-eye Igor (yes, and his name is pronounced eye-gore) dutifully setting off in the dark of the night to complete his eerie mission at the Brain Depository – i.e., secure a brain for the ‘monster.’
On the door leading into the Depository, Igor spies the message:
“After 5 p.m., slip brains through the door.”
Igor - from the Mel Brooks film, 'Young Frankenstein'
How many times have I felt like I needed to send my own Igor out on a middle-of-the-night mission to make a withdrawal from the Creativity Bank, take a quick loan from the Idea Depository, or perhaps pull down just the juiciest fruit from the Best Brain Juice Orchard?
How many times have I needed my brain to be alive, sparked, glowing, and blue with energy?
And yet, alas, my brain was as dry as desert dust.
What ideas have I tried to get my own brain recharged? Plugged-in? Buzzing? I’ll share some of my own ideas, but I’d love to hear some of yours as well.
My Top Five Ideas for Generating Igor-level Brain Cell Action
(*qualifier: these are not-scientifically-proven ideas, nor are they recommended for all readers … especially suggestion #4 for those on a no-sugar-low-fat-intake-sad-life diet.)
1) Take a long walk in a spot where no one knows me, without an ipod, singing to my own music, and of course, in a place where no on can hear me.
2) Doodle. Yep, I have some colored pencils on my desk that I pick-up and ‘draw’ on plain white paper. I am not an artist, but I love the simplicity of the non-defined scribbles (oops, I mean, images) on ‘a clean slate.’ The colored pencils remind me of that youthful six-year-old creativity before I found out that (again) shucks, I am not an artist.
3) Warm up the cup of green tea I sipped in the morning, and throw in a second (hmmmm… sometimes a third) tea bag.
4) Eat chocolate chips. I learned a long time ago that it takes too long to make a batch of chocolate chip cookies from scratch … per the directions on the back of the Nestle bag of chips bag … thus, a handful of chips is often the creative vitamin I find I was needing when I hit my own 5 p.m. ‘wall.’ (note: that wall does not always occur at 5 p.m. It has been known to appear as early as 6 a.m.)
5) Close my eyes. This fifth idea for generating creativity juice is often the first, and/or the last, and for me, many times, the best personal tip to find that obscure spot within my brain to ‘get going.’
What are your own top ideas to jump-start your creative juices?
And, while you are thinking on that question… here is my own Trick-or-Treat treat for you… a clip from the Young Frankenstein film (with the oft-used-oft-imitated-but-never-truly-imitated ‘Walk this way’ line.)
A short video clip from the favorite Mel Brooks film, \”Young Frankenstein\”
Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box below.
If you liked this post, please share it on Twitter, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, or Facebook. And, I’d be honored if you would like to follow me on Twitter @JoanneMaly or visit the Lincoln Maly Marketing fan page.
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By Joanne Maly
October 2, 2009
I love creativity. I thirst for examples of it. … just like some folks crave a concert with their favorite band, or yearn for an exciting football game, or can’t wait for their next vacation.
And, I find energy from creativity. In meetings. On billboards. In marketing campaigns. On palettes. In the board room. On the dance floor. In the studio.
I love the viral effects of creativity. One example spawns more inspiration.
More ideas. More excitement. More color to our worlds.
Imagination and originality can inspire even more inventiveness and an attitude of “We can do that.”
Here’s a thought. According to dictionary.com, the definition of begets, is to produce as an effect, for example, “A belief that power begets power.”
Yes, creativity ‘begets’ more creativity.
Creativity is freeing. Contagious. Explosive. Fun. Pulse-stirring. Mind-jogging. Finger-snapping. Smile-breaking.
And … as we see in the examples below… creativity can reach from your head to your toes. Indeed, it can be toe-tapping.
Splash Dance –
A spontaneous, fun, and very creative public dance on Cincinnati’s Fountain Square, organized by the Fine Arts Fund.
watch?v=EW58tCXeb80
White Nights –
A timeless example of creative genius by Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines.
watch?v=haBZCrBHMm4&feature=related
Lindy Dance Finals –
Some fast-moving, swinging-ly creative dance performance clips from the 2006 Lindy Dance Finals.
watch?v=myJj0mNNe1Y
Mozart –
A fun performance of a Mozart piece on a giant floor piano at a toy store.
watch?v=wxwgC8tSglk&feature=related
Michael Jackson –
What can I say? Plain awesome dance creativity and talent that has indeed spurred more creativity and originality.
watch?v=-tqYUTjQIc0
Flawless –
An original, finely-synchronized performance by the dance group, Flawless, during the finals of Britain’s You’ve Got Talent.
watch?v=dG8i9ymWaVQ
Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box below.
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By Joanne Maly
September 26, 2009
Hmmm…. the weather…. and business.
How do these two apparently separate categories relate? And, how does the weather tie-into a blog post reflection on inspiration, innovation, and creativity?
The weather can of course provide us with an always-safe entry-point topic when we find ourselves at a networking meeting; when we are chatting with a potential customer; or, perhaps, when we need a buffer conversation before a meeting begins.
Actually though, the weather is a lot like business … and life.
Weather is global and multi-demographic. In fact, weather is possibly one of the purest examples of a multi-dimensional product. Weather transcends language, cultures, generational differences, sex, intellectual abilities, academic degrees, professions, left and right brains, and even Myers-Briggs personalities.
But, for a moment, I’d like to go one step deeper and explore how the weather resembles the challenges – and the rewards – of our own creative paths.
Would you agree that we all have droughts of energy, inspiration, motivation and direction?
And, then there are rainy days – or worse yet, a complete rainy week. These weather elements can indeed tax our patience and drain our creative juices.
On the flip-side though – if we think positively – these same rainy days can also offer a sense of quiet, rhythm, and calm that can be perfect for nurturing new life, new ideas, and fresh buds of creativity.
Can you recall one of those exciting, don’t-happen-often moments when you had a lightening-bolt, aha brainstorm thought. Or, better yet, a lightening-storm moment.
Seconds like that stand out in each of our memories. If we can capture the power of these episodes, they could perhaps result in the launching of an innovative new product, defining a new campaign, and even determining our own future.
No doubt too, we can all relate to those mornings that we walk outside to start our day and we abruptly face a sea of fog.
These days are not totally unlike those mornings when our brains seem filled with their own mental haze and, try as we may, we too have zero visibility and little direction. We persist though, knowing that we have to find a way to work through the grey mist. We’ll quickly grab an extra cup of cappucino with a dab of cinnamon and nutmeg, or (foregoing any diet resolutions) we munch on a rich, chewy, double-chocolate brownie before our first meeting (and yes, it is ok to have a brownie for breakfast.)
Then, there are of course rainbows – and rainbow moments.
Have you ever been in a meeting when the ideas start percolating and then one suggestion literally feeds off the one before it? The energy can be so positive, that we could almost swear that we can taste ‘it’. Allowing and encouraging a full-color-spectrum of original ideas can, in fact, add to the very color of our company. Absolutely, creativity and positive energy is contagious. We can experience our own multi-colored, panoramic, inspired – and inspiring – creative phenomenon.
Many of us can relate as well, to those days when it seems that we have been dealt with a hurricane-force workload. We can begin our day with an organized, quiet schedule that then, quite literally, blows apart with unexpected tasks and must-do’s. We’re then confronting a tornadic force that needs to be reckoned with immediately.
We can be beaten-down by the forces of the winds upon us – or, we can choose to see these times as opportunities for more creative approaches to weathering the storm.
There are occasions, too, that I can remember in my own career and life where I ended the day with a complete brick wall – and, at the same time that I needed to be thinking of a ‘new and awesome idea’ for a client’s Marketing Plan. My brain cells might have been churning, but I was only ending up with a grey, blank night sky. However, after some sleep and brain cell ‘rest’, I would wake up at 4 a.m. with my own sunrise – fresh thoughts and new ideas.
Literally, it was a new day – filled with energy, vibrancy, and color. These sunrise mornings are a good reminder too – for business, and for life – that outstanding sunrises often follow dark, dreary evenings.
And, likewise, if we can continue to think positive, even bitter winter days filled with ice and snow don’t have to be negative, dead, non-motivated days. Instead, winter weather actually adds a crispness to our thinking.
Cold, challenging days demand an extra sharpness to our routine. They force us to tread carefully, to plan thoughtfully, and rise to the challenge.
So… how do you weather your own weather challenges? How have you encouraged creativity in yourself and your team despite the gray periods – the cloudy weeks? How has a storm within your own life resulted in new insights?
Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box below.
If you liked this post, please share it on Twitter, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, or Facebook. And, I’d be honored if you would like to follow me on Twitter @JoanneMaly or visit the Lincoln Maly Marketing fan page.
Today’s Simply Said blog post is dedicated to B and R.
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By Joanne Maly
September 7, 2009
Many years ago, one of my sons had a colorful soccer coach who originally had hailed from England. With his decidedly British accent and the gift of a charismatic leader-type personality, this coach was a genius at inspiring a group of ‘ok’ high school soccer players to become better than ok – in fact, the team eventually became much better than even ‘good.’
When the coach was especially excited, you could hear his encouraging words clear across the field and far into the parent stands.
Well-done, lads!
Fine job, my boys!
Bloomin’ good run, Chad!
Well, that was bloomin’ awesome, Joe!
Why, what a bloomin’ fine goal, Bobby!
Bloomin’, bloody good, Tim!
Aaaah, the power of encouragement! And reinforcement! And telling others you believe in them! And really believing that yourself!
I’ve been thinking too about the word ‘bloomin. I like that word. Dictionary.com doesn’t agree with me. And Merriam-Webster.com doesn’t agree with me. Those websites want me to insert the word ‘blooming’ into my word search.
There is something though about the word bloomin that inspires fun, excitement, energy, and the thought that the unusual could be good.
Would I rather be my blooming best – or my bloomin’ best? Would I want my intern to give me a blooming first draft – or a bloomin’ good first-draft?
The basic point in this blog post though is deeper than a debate about bloomin’ vs. blooming. The idea is that a simple bud can become an amazing bloom. A simple idea could perhaps become an exciting new invention.
The bud.
The bloom.
However, that idea, can just as easily be squelched at its own stage of inception if shot down with the many caveats we so typically hear: “Oh, we don’t do things like that in this company.” “Nice idea, but that would never fly.” “If you could apply as much energy to your workload as you do dreaming up new ideas, this company might actually be profitable.”
Yes, an inspired thought can go only as far as a bleep in our virtual air space… or it can be encouraged, explored, and tweaked. Originality and uniqueness can become extinct in a child as young as eight – or even perhaps in a new employee of only one week – if we don’t allow the freedom to ‘bloom.’
What innovations – what creativity – what excitement our businesses could show if we would allow and ‘cheer on’ our lads, our lasses and their ideas!
And what power and what beauty our own lives could have if we would listen to our own hearts and our ‘what if’s’. Why, perhaps we wouldn’t just become a bloom – we could blossom into a whole bouquet.
The bouquet.
Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box below.
If you liked this post, please share it on Twitter, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, or Facebook.
And, I’d be honored if you would like to follow me on Twitter @JoanneMaly or visit the Lincoln Maly Marketing fan page.
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By Joanne Maly
August 14, 2009
The social media universe and the art world are abuzz about the discovery of a six-year-old prodigy watercolorist living obscurely (up until now) in a small English town. I have been thinking about the universality of this enthusiasm – crossing over business interests; industries; age demographics; geographical boundaries; political platforms; and levels of art sophistication.
Watercolor by six-year-old prodigy, Kieron Williamson
What is it about the story and the artist’s work that is so intriguing? The artwork is indeed wonderful. The talent in this young artist at this early age is incredible. And, the story is fascinating.
But … here’s another thought about our fascination with this new artist. We all (universally) yearn for fresh ingenuity, untainted talent, dreams, and excellence. There is a simple and unsullied beauty evidenced in this boy’s artwork.
Kieron Williamson: photo from dailymail.com
Together, we are weary of the same ‘ol and the lifeless repetition of ideas, design, words, concepts. The young artist Kieron Williamson represents a new exciting future. He symbolizes: Originality. Purity. Innocence. Brilliance.
The youth’s story is inspiring and reminds me of the rarity of ‘genius’ artists. Additionally though, the story reinforces that collectively, we have the innate appreciation for, and need for, beauty, for the unique, for ideas that stand out above the crowd, for fresh and dynamic leaders, and for excellence. In art. In business. In life. In our cultures.
Thank you young Kieron Williamson for your inspiration.
Readers: what inspires you to be inventive, creative, excellent? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box below.
You can read more about this young artist and view samples of his art at this dailymail.com story.
Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box below.
If you liked this post, please share it on Twitter, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, or Facebook.
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By Joanne Maly
August 5, 2009
Creativity is like juice. It can give you an inspiration buzz similar to drinking a 10 oz. glass of freshly-squeezed chilled, foamy orange juice on an empty stomach.
And yet….
Creative energy can be easily sucked out of us by our own and others’ negativism, woe-is me talk, and by focusing on the reasons ‘we can’t’ instead of focusing on the reasons ‘we can.’ Relentless talk about the downturn of the economy, disappointing political heroes, and business leader trust gone awry, can almost visibly drain the inspiration right out of us.
I have an image though that I’d like to share with you …. and together then, perhaps we can all … break free of the things that are holding us back from being all we can be, and start again to ‘think large’, and believe in the big picture and in fact, a bright picture.
Here is your picture for the day.
Barnacles.
Barnacles are an unattractive, pervasive crustacean. (My apologies to all barnacles.)
Instead of working hard and ‘crawling after their own food’ barnacles glue themselves to rocks and other living and non-living things and wait for food to wash by. (www.library.thinkquest.org). Once something alive, free-floating and yummy swims by, that’s when the barnacles reach out their barbed legs and grab onto whatever and absorbs or ‘sucks out’ the oxygen of its grabbed prey. Through adulthood, the barnacle species will remain in their ‘spot’, held permanently by one of the strongest-known natural adhesives.
Barnacles have ‘trap doors’ that rhythmically open and close. (www.chesapeakebay.net).
An unscientific, personal interpretation of the above description:
a) Barnacles are lazy and are leeching off of the energy of others.
b) Barnacles ‘stick’ onto unaware passers-by.
c) Once grabbed, the passer-by is definitely ‘stuck’.
d) If not alert, the unsuspecting can fall into the barnacle’s ‘trap door.’
A business and ‘real’ life interpretation of the barnacle saga:
a) In our own worlds, both business and in our ‘real’ lives, we need to be wary of the lurking barnacles around us.
b) Barnacles need our creativity and energy to feed themselves.
c) Barnacles can be people, businesses climates, work settings, the news, ourselves …. anyone and anything that can suck our own oxygen or drink our creative juice.
d) The barnacle folks will glue-us-back from being all that we can be.
e) It’s easy to be unaware that we have even fallen into dangerous waters where our creativity and spirit are threatened. It can just ‘happen.’
My thought for the day then?
For me, I’m going to think about what lurking negativity is ‘out there’ and ‘within me’ – holding me back from all that I can be. And then, I’m going to go against the scientific theory of being stuck by ‘the strongest known naturally adhesive’. I then plan to break free of any barnacles that are holding me back.
Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box below.
If you liked this post, please share it on Twitter, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, or Facebook.
And, I’d be honored if you would like to follow me on Twitter @JoanneMaly or visit the Lincoln Maly Marketing fan page.
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By Joanne Maly
July 29, 2009
Zappos.com sells shoes.
Well, actually, Zappos sells shoes … and backpacks … and purses … and jewelry … and housewares … and paraphernalia … and more.
Even prior to the July 22, 2009 purchase of Zappos by Amazon.com, there was a buzz about this company that defied the norm. As a person who loves to delve into the why’s of business success stories, I was curious about Zappos.
Note: I am apparently one of a few people out there who has never purchased anything from Zappos.com or ‘watched’ my new shoes’ hour-by-hour, animated delivery tracking visuals on the company’s website.
There are perhaps figuratively a ‘ga-zillion’ online stores and e-commerce sites. So then, why this ‘love-fest’ for Zappos? Is Zappos the Lance Armstrong of retail.com? And if you built a pyramid graphic representing online retail merchants’ customer popularity, would Zappos be at the top of that apex?
I visited the home page for www.Zappos.com, and at first glance, it appears to be just another ‘order-your-shoes-from-us’ site. Given the hype, I suppose that I expected to see a product inventory catalog page more like the bells-and-whistles-explosive-color-fun-to-use Disney.com site. Almost disappointingly, the Zappos.com landing page is plain, functional, and just ‘there.’
But the company’s bells and whistles come in another way. In fact, the company’s differentiating strengths practically shout once you navigate through Zappos.com.
A visit specifically to the Zappos customer comments page told me the real Zappos story. That’s where I found a literal litany of warm and fuzzy user comments. http://www.zappos.com/n/showtestimonials.cg
The Zappos magic is that they have blended the lessons that business owners in our grandparents’ days knew (the customer comes first) with trend-setting e-marketing and retail technology. The company works from a starting point and a basic philosophy that ‘our customers rule.’ From that philosophy, Zappos has shaped a business strategy that is creative and demanding. And, from that strategy, they have then developed an order and delivery operation that is best-in-class compared with their competitors. The company continues to deliver on their promise and wow the industry.
Customers gush over the service they have received. Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos had some pretty effusive comments as well about his newly-purchased company. In a fun YouTube video, Bezos casually chatted about Amazon and his company’s new ‘toy’ (oops, I mean, his Zappos purchase).
Bezos said, “Zappos has a customer obsession that’s so easy for me to admire.”
He continued, “I get all weak-kneed when I see a customer-obsessed company, and Zappos certainly is that. Zappos also has a totally unique culture…and I’m super excited about that.” Source: Los Angeles Times article: http://bit.ly/O6Q3h
I’m hooked on the Zappos concept and on their company goal for nothing-short-of-excellent-performance.
Now, the question is…. What kind of shoe do I want?
I’ve copied some of the Zappos.com customer comments below to give the readers of this Simply Said blog some ideas for implementation in your own business and life.
Zappos customer Margaret says:
I’m just writing to tell you how fantastic your customer service is! I am really impressed with the speed and accuracy of incoming orders as well as returns. …. Zappos is fantastic ….! We will continue to use Zappos in the future!
Zappos customer Amy says:
… I love shopping with you and will continue to do so. Your service is outstanding.
Zappos customer Elaine says:
… I just love Zappos. Your site is so easy … Your customer service is outstanding. It amazes me I can place an order one day and the next day it is sitting on my porch. … Great Job Everyone!
Zappos customer Alicia says:
… How cool! I was certain there was a mistake, I knew I had just ordered the shoes yesterday – and they were here today!
Zappos customer Brian says:
… There is NOTHING out there like your company. Everything about it is perfect. Awesome!
Zappos customer Denise H. says:
… Wow… I am very pleased to do business with a company that goes the extra mile and that truly understands the meaning of customer service.
Zappos YouTube video
Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box below.
If you liked this post, please share it on Twitter, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, or Facebook.
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By Joanne Maly
July 8, 2009
In America, at 12:34:56 a.m. today, July 8, 2009, the full numerical sequence was… 12345678909.
That daggoned ‘0’ before the ’9′ messes things up a bit… but nevertheless…..
Being a historical moment and all, perhaps it would be good to make a list of new intentions for the rest of your life (a little like a New Year’s list, but on a full-life-scope.) After all, it won’t be 07/08/09 again for another 100 years.
Short of that same ‘ol take-stock-of-your-life activity though, why not seize the moment – or at least the 07/08/09 day – to reflect on other out-of-the-ordinary natural occurrences that happen regularly, and think, now, how you and your business can capitalize on the opportunities that such events bring along with them.
By the way, if you missed celebrating the 12:34:56 a.m. time on Wednesday, you can always shoot for 12:34:56 p.m. time, when the phenomenon occurs again just after noon. And, if you are in the eastern time zone at that moment, you could perhaps board a jet flying west and then celebrate this numerical experience twice in your life.
How could a business have creatively capitalized on the 07/08/09 occasion?
Here are just a few thoughts:
1. Local TV Station or Local Online News Site: Viewer or reader voting poll for the favorite charity out of a selected organization list, with a donation of $7,809 going to the top three winning charities. Prizes would be awarded at 7 p.m., at 8 p.m.; and again, at 9 p.m. on 07/08/09.
2. Gas Station: $.07 cents lower than the competition on regular-grade gas; $.08 lower on super-grade gas; $.09 lower on premium-grade gas on 07/08/09.
3. Clothing Retail Store: Brightly-printed t-shirts commemorating the day; only available with a purchase on that day; at a cost of only $.07 for a small; $08 for a medium; and $09 for a large. (e.g., “I bought my shirt on 07/08/09 at Macy’s.”)
4. Mega Stores like Target, Meijer, Wal-Mart, K-mart: Specific and different, super customer specials at each of these times: 7 a.m., 8 a.m., and 9 a.m. and 7 p.m., 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on 07/08/09.
5. Online Merchandise Sites like ebay.com and amazon.com: Special discounts on 07/08/09 only, on items won or purchased or that have a 7, 8 or 9 as the first number in the product’s SKU.
6. Online Shoe Sales Sites like zappos.com: Special discounts for customers who order shoes in size 7, 8 or 9 on 07/08/09.
Through quick, free-flowing, idea-charged brainstorming, the sky is the limit on inspiration. Whether the day is 07/08/09 or 10/15/09, encouraging good ideas, fertilizing those ideas, looking for opportunities, and seizing special moments… are some of the surest ways to achieve extra company and product exposure, create higher customer awareness, and build consumer and community loyalty.
Is it too early then to post an entry in our Covey Planners and Outlook Calendars for six months before 10/10/10?
And hopefully, we won’t wait that long for some blockbuster brainstorming sessions.
Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box below.
If you liked this post, please share it on Twitter, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn, or Facebook. And, I’d be honored if you would like to follow me on Twitter @JoanneMaly or visit the Lincoln Maly Marketing fan page.
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