John Drake

Keepin' It Fun

Watching David Letterman and Kevin Spacey banter back and forth the other night about Twitter was fantastic and made me realize that we, as a marketing community, tend take the social web a little too seriously sometimes.

And then watching this video that @aplusk forwarded yesterday just brought a midday smile to my face. Now THAT'S an entrance!

And then the subject of Raising Arizona recently came up and I thought of this great scene...

And then I stumbled upon this random thing the other day and still don't really know what it's about.

There's no reason this can't all be fun... Cheers.

Innovative Product Demonstration

Finding innovative ways to showcase product demonstrations is a true mark of creativity: make it understandable, make it entertaining, make it desirable, keep it concise. And whenever possible, get new information out there that challenges perceptions.

Toyota and PleaseSelectMeDesign have accomplished such a feat for the iQ: its driveability is so precise one could create an alphabetical font from the wheel movements...

I didn't know a car like the iQ could perform at such a level. Which, of course, is the point.  

The Pen Story

Here's a great piece of work from Olympus and agency DSG Dialog Solutions GmbH. It's a wonderful collection of things working together: the perfect music, the right tone and interesting product information (heritage/today's relevance). It's also nice when companies take the time to provide behind-the-scenes stuff in a personal narrative... makes things so much more interesting & enjoyable.

From the Olympus/PEN Story YouTube page:

This is the PEN Story in stop motion. We shot 60.000 pictures, developed 9.600 prints and shot over 1.800 pictures again. No post production! Thanks to all the stop motion artists who inspired us. We hope you enjoy :-) Free download of the music at http://olympus.eu/penstory/

Leadership Is Earned

The July 6 issue of Sports Illustrated features an interesting article on David Beckham and his relationship with the LA Galaxy taken from the book, The Beckham Experiment. (Read the SI piece here.)

One thing that stood out in the article is how Beckham entered the Galaxy organization two years ago... Upon arrival he was immediately anointed Team Captain (perhaps forcefully by "his people"), taking the title from fellow teammate Landon Donovan.

He hadn't yet earned the title through hard work with the Galaxy. Nor had he gone into battle alongside his teammates before he started leading them. And according to the article/book, his leadership was drawn into question during '07/'08.

Is Beckham a good Team Captain? Who knows. I'm not there, you're not there. But, regardless, I think the story serves as a reminder of an important component of group leadership.

Over the years I've seen people join organizations and immediately start giving orders despite the fact that they haven't taken the time to learn the organization yet. This is direly important to do. (Not so long ago the Harvard Business Review recommended that new CEOs wait 3-6 months before making any sudden moves.) This is partly to make sure you understand things but also allows the opportunity to assimilate within the group and see all the great things they're doing without you. (And they are always doing some great things without you.)

Leaders gain trust by first conforming.

Again I go back to a great PsyBlog post on the subject of groups... Here's an excerpt on a test regarding conformity and leadership:

A study that has much to teach was carried out by Merei (1949) who observed children at a Hungarian nursery school. He noticed that successful leaders were those who initially fitted in with the group then slowly began to suggest new activities adapted from the old. Children didn't follow potential leaders who jumped straight in with new ideas. Leaders first conform, then only later, when trust has been gained, can they be confident that others will follow. This has been confirmed in later studies (with grown-ups!).

Regardless of past fame, leaders need time to conform a bit before they can successfully lead. As a society, we should allow time for this.

That is, of course, if we care about the end result.

Being Initiated Makes Better Groups

PsyBlog had a fascinating post the other day about the dynamics of group psychology: 10 Rules that Govern Groups. You should read it. All 10 rules are interesting but #2 really made me think... The test is a bit weird, but the result are interesting:

#2. Initiation Rites Improve Group Evaluations

Existing groups don't let others join for free: the cost is sometimes monetary, sometimes intellectual, sometimes physical—but usually there is an initiation rite, even if it's well disguised.

Aronson and Mills (1959) tested the effect of initiation rites by making one group of women read passages from sexually explicit novels. Afterwards they rated the group they had joined much more positively than those who hadn't had to undergo the humiliating initiation. So, not only do groups want to test you, but they want you to value your membership.

Makes sense.

Is it not true that some of the tightest groups around have an initiation of some kind??

College: Fraternities and Sororities are very tight groups. They have initiation through tests, milestones, and achievements that everyone must do before they're a member. (I'm only referring to constructive achievements by the way, not the childish/dangerous things... those don't help anyone.)

Careers: Joining a big league investment firm is valued membership. But getting into one of them only comes after running a rigorous gauntlet. (Watch The Pursuit of Happyness.)

Brands: American Express membership is a sought-after achievement. They have their own "initiation" through strict qualifying terms that everyone must pass in order to join.

Think for a bit... you can make a nice list of examples...

But one thing sure is true: the strongest company cultures most often exist at places that have the toughest standards. Because only through collective achievement of tough standards do group members form tight, mutually-respected bonds.

So if organizations really want to build a strong group culture, perhaps they should have some sort of initiation for all new employees, versus just showing them where the coffee is on the first day and then rushing them into a meeting.

The Rise and Fall of Popularity

Seth referred everyone to a recent study on PhysOrg the other day which found that the fall of an item's popularity mirrors its rise to popularity. Intuitively, this seems true. Trends leave just as abruptly as they arrive. But to put quantitative research to the idea is very satisfying.

While it's important for marketers to be aware of this study, it's also important for another group to be aware of it:  Wall Street.

Here's why...

Remember the meteoric rise of Boston Market and Krispy Kreme? Ideas like these take off like a rocket. At the early stages they're just ideas doing everything a desired brand is supposed to do:  get word-of-mouth, encourage inquiry, perhaps even feel a bit elusive.

Then Wall Street notices and gets involved. They encourage investment in real estate, materials and staffing. They buy software and hardware and broker large distribution deals. They engage in massive structural investment--more stores, more cities, perhaps even more countries. And all of this is done on speedy quarterly deadlines. This makes sense, of course--for the long term health of the business.

But while all this is going on (pretty much behind the scenes) consumers start to wain on the idea. They're tired of the articles, blog posts and energy surrounding the brand. What got them really excited a short while ago has now, seemingly overnight, become common. And those fresh donuts one used to only find at the Krispy Kreme store 20 miles away are now available by the box at the local supermarket at 1am. The consumer energy starts to slow shortly after the long-term plan is physically built.

Moving forward be wary of the meteoric rise because now, research shows, it's followed by a meteoric slide.