How to Manage Your Wood

Are you “focus on the task” person or do you think big-picture? I’m a task person, and only recently had an “ah ha” moment that made me realize I need to think before I act.

Here’s the simple story: Along with being the Director of Business Development for BKG, I am also a part owner of a now defunct nightclub and restaurant. At the beginning of the summer we decided to build a deck outside to attract an after-work crowd. So we built the deck, which I paid for ($2,000). The deck was built in two days and literally thirty days later we closed the bar. So I hired someone to take the deck apart so I could re-use the lumber for a deck at my house. Once the deck was disassembled, I loaded all the wood on a trailer and hauled it to my house where I unloaded it in a huge pile. The contractor who is going to build my deck came to my house to give me a bid and told me I needed to separate the wood by size so he can see what he has to work with. So I separated all the wood into separate piles by size.

Mistake 1) If I had been thinking big-picture instead of just being set on accomplishing a task I would have realized that a deck was not going to save the nightclub and restaurant. Mistake 2) When I hauled all the wood to my house I should have stacked it in piles as I unloaded it from the trailer; instead of trying to accomplish the task of just getting it off the trailer and putting it all in one big pile.

This is also, until recently, how I approached my position at BKG. I have the job of getting new business in the door. I would sit at my desk and call and e-mail as many potential clients as I could, trying to get them to pay attention to us. Really all I was doing was moving around that pile of wood. I decided to take a step back and rethink my sales process. I wrote down a lot of questions. Two that kept coming back to me are: When contacting these potential clients was I really providing value? Was I really giving them a reason to do business with us? The answer is “NO.” I need to provide value first which in turn will give them a reason to work with us. I need to be a thinker first (provide value) and a doer second (reason to do business with us) and stop playing with my wood so much!

How to design for $149

Yes–you too can learn how to design for just the measly price of $149. Because hey – everyone can be a designer, it doesn’t really take much to do it–right? All you need is a computer and this seminar.

Recently, I received a notice to attend a seminar on design. Usually, I’m very excited about new opportunities to expand my education and learn what ever I can or frankly, just be wowed and inspired by others in the industry and to push myself further. However, this seminar notice that I received, really just ticked me off. It’s a one day seminar that promises to teach you all the secrets of becoming a designer including working with printing vendors all for the low, low price of $149. Now, being a designer with 13 years of experience, a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Northern Iowa as well as being the president of AIGA South Dakota a national organization and one of the oldest professional organizations for design in the country – I’ve learned a little on the way and feel pretty passionately about what I do for a living. I was about to toss this little mailer into the recycle bin and it hit me hard. Darn it – I’ve worked hard to get to where I am today and this seminar promises to make others what I am today in just one day. This compromises the very basic nature of my livelihood. Why should a busines owner seek someone like me or my agency, BKG out over the general person that has a program like Publisher and thinks they can do layout because they’ve taken a one-day seminar? Why – because, this field isn’t something that can be taught in one-day. Design is more than just making things look pretty. It combines economics and strategy and in the end impacts the very way we as consumers act, think and feel. Great design and great business strategy gives your business the competitive edge. So, next time you’re thinking that you need to hire a designer, think twice about their skill set, there just isn’t a 10 step process to making your next brochure, it takes innovation, strategy and creativity.

Duh, It's Branding 101

Cornell University recently published a study that found switching the label on wine changed diners' opinions of the wine. What? Really? They've got to be kidding? Imagine, peoples' perceptions and expectations really affecting their opinions and behavior? Huh.

It's not exactly ground-breaking research by Cornell's Food & Brand Lab. We don't need a scientific study to prove branding theory. Check out this excerpt from an article by ScienceDaily.

Forty-one diners at the Spice Box restaurant in Urbana, Illinois were given a free glass of Cabernet Sauvignon to accompany a $24 prix fixe French meal. Half the bottles claimed to be from Noah's Winery in California. The labels on the other half claimed to be from Noah's Winery in North Dakota. In both cases, the wine was an inexpensive Charles Shaw wine.

Those drinking what they thought was California wine, rated the wine and food as tasting better... (Read the full article here.)

Well, duh! While I'm sure North Dakota vitners make some nice wines, they aren't exactly known for cultivating the fruit of the vine (North Dakota has only four wineries). California on the otherhand has Napa Valley and Sonoma. The state is home to more than 1,000 wineries which produce nearly 450 millions gallon a year. They market the hell out of the wine industry which may be why nearly two-thirds of all wine sales in the United States are of California wine.

Think of it like this. Take two nearly exact diamond rings in terms of cut, clarity, color and carat. Put one in a Tiffany's box and the other in the largely anonymous green box from local jeweler Greenberg's. The bling in that trademark little blue box has greater intrinsic value simply because the Tiffany name (and the instantly recognizable packaging) is standing behind it.

This video also makes the point. Water from a hose can be branded with the right attention paid to emotional touchpoints. In this case, appealing to pretentious idiots who want to be seen as connoisseurs of "luxury" items.

Lessons from the Battlefield

The latest issue of The Public Relations Strategist focuses on crisis managment. The entire issue looks at various crisis situations and how they were managed; the deadly campus shooting at Virginia Tech, Jet Blue's meltdown last February and others. The pub also revisits the Tylenol cyanide tampering deaths credited with the birth of crisis communications.

The lead article is about the campus shooting at Virginia Tech last April. Quick flashback, it was the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. During the course of two shooting sprees over several hours, the gunman murdered 32 students and faculty members, and injured 25 others before he killed himself. The ensuing media onslaught was massive.

The mag published excerpts from an interview with Larry G. Hincker, associate vice president of the Office of University Relations. My favorite quote from Hincker is his reponse to the question: What have you learned about crisis communications?

"One of the first things you learn is, you have to have a plan in place. It doesn't matter whether it's sophisticated or simple - you've got to have one. Frankly, the simpler the plan, the better."

Everyone who has a stake in an organization's public relations efforts should read the article. If you think your little college or hospital or business doesn't really need a crisis communications plan... you are WRONG. I can't put it any more simpler than that.

Disaster can strike at any time. The most vital asset to any company or organization is its reputation. It's not money. It's not assets. It's what people think of you... your reputation. Reputation is your lifeblood. Without it you cannot survive. Building up a good and lasting reputation is extensive and time-consuming. You risk losing it rapidly, even overnight, because you haven't planned for a disaster striking your organization.

Viriginia Tech took a hit in the media because of the perception that officials didn't respond quickly enough in alerting students of the danger after the first shooting spree. But the university preserved its reputation by facing the questions and responding to the media.

Crisis communications 101 - tell it all, tell it fast and tell the truth. Hincker was so successful that the encamped media gave him a standing ovation at the last of 10 press conferences.

The Brand of a Nation

Since before The Great Wall, China has always been a very closed off society. Economically, they are opening up, but I’m talking big picture here. I’m not sure if their brand is better for all their private nature or not. It seems like when we do hear something from or about them, it generally damages their image. Generations of Americans might recall China from their support of communist regimes during the Korean War and Vietnam conflict. I think that for many of my generation, when the word China is mentioned, in our heads, we see an image of a young protester standing in front of a column of tanks at Tianenmen square.

Lately, the word China invokes images of contaminated food, net censorship, military build-up, environmental havoc and most recently, toys with tiny magnets and lead paint. LEAD PAINT!! Now I understand that (though they don’t like to admit it) they are slowly becoming a capitalist society, and will have problems that come in early stages of freer markets. Such as diminishing accountability due to sub-sub-sub-sub contractors…but lead paint!

They need a re-brand in the worst possible way. And I think they know it. I also think that they realize the Beijing Olympics in 2008 are the golden opportunity they need to kick start this facelift. One thing they have in their favor is their seeming openness on certain subjects in relation to hosting the game. Like Beijing’s traffic and environment as well as the countries poor, needy and disabled. Even if the numbers they cite seem low for a country with a population of more than 1.3 billion. But one has to wonder just how open are they when they release a 273 page “Reporting Regulations” documents to foreign reporters that say things like “The Regulations on Reporting Activities by Foreign Journalists shall apply to the coverage of the Beijing Olympic Games and the preparation as well as political, economic, social and cultural matters of China by foreign journalists, in conformity with Chinese laws and regulations.” (page 23 of the PDF)

Sure, they understand brand on face value. But do they understand how organic and authentic it must be to hold long–term worth? You can’t craft and hold it with an iron hand. More over, brand  can’t be one event and then not be supported and nurtured. They may try to re-brand themselves with the Olympics. But, if they don’t follow through with stricter export standards/checks, human rights treatment, environmental protection and a loosening up on censorship, it will all be for naught.

But I still can't wait to see the games.

All Brands Are Not Created Equal

BusinessWeek/Interbrand recently released their annual rankings of the 100 best global brands.

Google, Zara, Apple, and Nintendo are among this year’s top gainers in BusinessWeek’s annual ranking of The Best Global Brands. For the seventh consecutive year, BusinessWeek has teamed up with Interbrand, a leading brand consultancy, to publish a ranking of the top 100 global brands by brand value.

Read the entire release here.

The top risers, and the big decliners, are really what makes reading the entire report worthwhile. Who's number one, two or three in the rankings isn't the most insightful part of the report. Coca-Cola still rules the world in brand value, $65 million - the cola juggernaut is everywhere for God's sake, but it still took a 3 percent hit.

But check out the double-digit growth from: Google = $17.8 million brand value (+44 percent), Apple = $11 million brand value (+21 percent), Nintendo = $7.7 million brand value (+18 percent) and Starbucks = $3.6 million brand value (+17 percent). These are the guys who are getting it right.

The biggest losers? Ford (-19 percent), GAP (-15 percent), Kodak (-12 percent), Pizza Hut (-9 percent) and Motorola (-9 percent).

What separates the good, the bad and the ugly? Brand management, touch point development, demand creation, modeling contingencies and planning efficiencies.

So what you ask.

Brand and its subsequent value is inextricably linked to solid business management and financial success. Even for the smallest businesses, company or product, brand is crucial. We preach it over and over, only the companies that stand out in logical and emotional dimensions will enjoy a strategic advantage over their competition.