A super summer marketing book

Here's a must read business/marketing book for the summer: The Internet Trap.

It is a fantastic pool-side business book read- (89 pages), easy-to-digest, well-researched and current.  The title captures the essence of the book- the "hidden" costs of the online/social media world.

"UN Rita" & our awesome, diverse world

“The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.” ― Kalu Ndukwe Kalu

* * *

 Last week, one of my dearest friends passed away.  Her name was Rita O'Sullivan.  She was in her 90s.

Rita was always a special person to me.  She was a close family friend who gave me my first summer job when I was 16.  I sold books in her bookstore. She taught me how to play Scrabble. She always won. Rita also gave me my first sip of cognac. I'll never forget that day.  I was 11 years old and it was New Year's Eve. To quote Rita, "we'll separate the men from the boys tonight."  I toasted with the men (my dad included)  and my throat burned like hell from a drop of the stuff.  I learned to respect hard alcohol the hard way.

There is something that Rita had in her heart that separated her from almost everybody else I ever met and is why her legacy is so much more than jobs, board games, and a fun times. Rita loved people- all people- no matter skin color, heritage, faith, abilities, or origins. She was the best teacher of humanity, respect, and human love because of the way she lived. Anyone who followed Rita's approach learned from her just how amazing each person really is. This is a key part of her legacy that lives on...

Every New Year's Eve, my family would go to Rita's legendary New Year's Eve parties. There, Rita would have a full complement of  United Nations to celebrate with. There were Catholics, Evangelicals and Jews, Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims. There were Vietnamese, Sinhales, and Irish; Indians, Latinos, Ukrainians and Poles. Her guests had names like "James", "Nang", "Dabadaba", and  those names that need a deep click in the throat to pronounce. Rita, who herself was a devout Catholic, lived diversity. Her mantra was "God made all people to love one another." Gandhi might not have made his famous statement, "I love your Christ. [But I don't like Christians because]so many of you Christians are so unlike your Christ" had he had a chance to hang around with Rita.

* * *

So what does all this have to do with brands and marketing? When you think about it, people from different geographies develop expertises. Companies and brands, then have the opportunity to leverage geographies of origin when marketing their products (e.g. think how Chanel is linked to Paris).  So, in a tribute to Rita - and  in a celebration of human diversity, I've created a back-of-the-envelope of geography-of-origin expertise directory. These  geographies of origins are countries, cities, and places from around the world that have become identified as leading sources which can be leveraged for brand building. When you look down the list, think how much more exciting and interesting our world is, because of people from all over our world. Join me in this toast to Rita- with a sip of cognac in hand.

The Geography-of-Origin Alphabet:

Brazilian models

Argentinian tango / beef
Australian surfboards
Belgian chocolate
Botswana diamonds
Brazilian bathing suits and models
British academics / fish n'chips /rock n' roll
Canadian hockey /maple syrup
Californian clean technology
Chinese tea / jade /martial arts /fireworks
Colombian coffee

Florida oranges

Cuban cigars
Danish children's stories and toys
Egyptian cotton / dates
Ethiopian long distance runners
Florida oranges
French fragrances/ beauty products /champagnes
German engineering / automobiles /beer
Greek olives / feta / ship-making
Hollywood films
Indian computer programming / spices
Iranian caviar, Persian carpets
Idaho potatoes

Egyptian cotton

Irish beer
Israeli technology /skin muds & salts
Italian fashion / design / wines
Japanese electronics /automobiles
Jamaican rum
Korean electronics and ginseng
Liberian rubber
Lithuanian thermal energy
Mexican tequila / silver
Moroccan beauty oils

Polish vodka

New Zealand lamb
Orlando theme parks
Pakistani cricket
Portuguese wines
Polish vodka / kielbasa
Russian vodka / satellites
Saudi Arabian dates
Scandinavian spas
Scottish whiskey
Spanish wines / (Iberian) ham
Swiss watches / chocolate
Thai silk /sticky rice / rubber

Turkish coffee

Turkish coffee / baths / silks
Ukrainian pierogies
Uruguayan mate
Venezuelan models
Wales leeks
Wisconsin dairy
Yemeni rugs
Zambian emeralds

6 Classics: "Best of" Marketing / Branding pictures on the web

Images are powerful communications tools.  (See Stories of Sight, Sound and Substance) So, I thought I would share some of the "Best of" Marketing and Branding pictures/illustrations that have circulated on the web. These are classics of the web.


BEST PROMOTIONAL MIX / BRANDING DIAGRAM
What's the difference among direct selling, advertising, public relations, and branding? This picture is based on a viral email (well, viral for those working in the marketing and branding space) that has been circulating for years:  Is He a Great Lover? or He is a Great Lover.

BEST SALES AND MARKETING PICTURE
What's the difference between sales and marketing? This image posted here on Lane Reiss's  business and marketing blog makes a nice statement.

CUTEST GLOBAL BRANDING PICTURE
Here's a cutesy one that I like showing in my brand class and workshops. Welcome to the world of global brands munchkin! This kiddo is probably using Google and Mac, two brands not inked on him. Time for an upgrade.

PICTURE THAT BEST ILLUSTRATES HYPER COMPETITION
Call it overwhelmed by brand choice or a hyper competitive marketing world? When the average supermarket carries  38,718 store keeping units (skus) and thousands of brands, you see the need for packaging that pops attention. This picture first appeared in 2009 here.

ILLUSTRATION THAT BEST SHOWS CONSOLIDATION
Ever wonder where the buyouts tool us? Chris Brown (no, not that Chris Brown), posted this image that showcases 11 companies that like to gobble up brands.  From the many, there are a few.  It is interesting how Unilever houses both Dove and Axe-  two brands with polar opposite brand ideals. 

The difference between sales and marketing

After a leading a "why you probably need more marketing" workshop last week, I had a chat with one of the CEOs in attendance. His company has been pretty successful driving sales using only sales people. He asked me why anyone in his position should push a marketing agenda for sales beyond sales force efforts.

I responded that sales force and marketing should have an intimate, special relationship. When done right, marketing should generate sales leads, accelerate sales closings, lower the cost of consumer acquisition (CCA), and improve key ratios like CCA:LTV (life time value of a customer).

That's the rational argument. He liked it.

But he loved this:

If you're a singer and you fill the seats in the stadium, you've done a good job at selling.

If you're a singer and you've got a sold-out stadium of fans wanting a piece of you, that's marketing!

You've been marketed when...

The Game: Where winning is losing.

My best friend cancelled lunch with me one day. Instead, he was going to meet up with Sarah, a former undergraduate classmate of his. Sarah wanted to catch-up after more than 9 months of radio silence. She said it was "urgent" and needed advice on a situation with a boss.

Immediately following his lunch, my buddy called:

"Bobby, you won't believe what just happened?"

"What?"

"I just had lunch with Sarah. I went 45 minutes without her asking me a single meaningful question."

"What did you talk about?"

"Her. You should try it sometime."

And thus began the game: How long can you have a conversation with someone without him/her asking a you single, meaningful question about you. We call it The Game. It's measured in minutes and Sarah was the big winner.



Everyone's got an interesting story

I've met a lot of interesting people while flying. For example, I've sat by the former drummer of Ozzy Osbourne (he was running a .com at the time); Don Cherry and Ron Maclean (Don was not happy about our delayed flight); and Rob Van Winkle aka Vanilla Ice (a very bright, heavily tattooed guy!). But it's not just celebs who are interesting. The most interesting stories often come from the unsuspecting individuals. Just a few weeks ago I sat by a runner who runs up to 189km in a single day. I felt the deep remorse of a UN worker heading home on sick leave because she had just witnessed a pile of hundreds of beheaded people in a Darfur. From students to celebrities- grandmothers to priests and rabbis- there is a wonderland of interesting stuff. I've kept in touch with some of the folks I've met along the way. Some I've helped- some have helped me. A few have even become guest speakers in my classes. Some would call this networking but I do it because I like meeting people and learning about their experiences.

The Game on Flight Me Me Me

A few weeks ago, I flew into Winnipeg for a surprise birthday party. After a 30 minute nap in my airline seat, I woke up to find myself sitting beside Tara, a 24 year old woman with an undergraduate business degree and a penchant for fashion. She saw me pull out my iPhone and play Angry Birds. Within seconds, she did the same thing, then glanced over to me and said, "I love Angry Birds. But yours looks different than mine."

"I'm playing a different version. I'm playing Angry Birds Rio."

Tara didn't have Angry Birds Rio version but proceeded to tell me how it was her dream to travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and South America. I asked her why. She loved the vibrancy and extravagance of Carnival fashions and sought a career in fashion marketing. In fact, she aspired to work in South America for a designer- to better understand the Brazilian "feel". Tara and I shared a similar perspective- that the "Brazil country-of-origin" label is on the rise, because of the rapid pace of development of the country- and its international likeability.

Tara felt that her background in costume making, part time modeling, and her undergraduate degree in business had prepared her well for such a career. We chatted about some of her courses and profs (a couple of which I knew), and of her desire to do an MBA at McGill University. She had a lot of concerns about getting accepted at McGill (she had been rejected for undergraduate studies) and admitted that she was having trouble writing an MBA application.

Since we were both heading to Winnipeg, she transitioned her thoughts to the Winnipeg Jets- what they should be called and why... what their logo should be...how the sweaters should look... and the team's overall impact on the city. Sadly our 85 minute chat came to an end as our flight landed. But, at the baggage pick up, she saw me waiting for my bag, walked up to me and said, "Thank you for interesting conversation... I really enjoyed it. I'm sorry but I forgot your name..."

"Bob", I replied.

She didn't forget my name because she never knew it. In fact, this was the first question (which it technically is not even a question) that she asked me over our 85 minute conversation. Equally as interesting, she pretty much volunteered a huge chunk of her life history.

As she strutted away, I waved goodbye in my green Brazilian flag shirt. I couldn't help but thinking, had she asked a few professional questions in the right way, I most likely would have happily advised her on her McGill MBA application, introduced her to some influential people at the university, advised her about the MBA level Global Branding on my Study Abroad Brazil program that I have taught for 9 years, shared my experiences on working with some Brazilian fashion companies, and made recommendations for her future South American travels.

Sadly, Tara became the newest, biggest winner in The Game. The 85 minute champion.