Check out the Capitalist Pig, a piggy bank for evil, money-hoarding capitalists to stay focused by listing or drawing object(s) of desire on the blackboard surface of the bank. And the value for money doesn't stop there, this piece of wonder comes with four sticks of chalk. It's £13 from Giftlab.
From Cool Hunting
David Armano's nifty depiction of the ladder up to Brand Heaven and the ladder down to Brand Hell.
I wonder if this worked?
19 skydivers spelled out the word Honda in three minutes and 20 seconds for UK’s first live tv promo, inspired by the car manufacturer’s new advertising strapline: “Difficult is worth doing”
From NOTCOT.org
You say: "I'm bright and ambitious." Investor thinks: "That's a relief because I usually invest in stupid and lazy people."
You say: "I'm a blue sky thinker." Investor thinks: "You have no business model, and you don't know how to ship."
You say: "I don't know much about your firm, but I thought I'd contact you anyway." Investor thinks: "You're a lazy idiot--why are you wasting my time?"
You say: "I love to think of new ways to solve problems." Investor thinks: "Is this a high-school science fair?"
You say: "I have lots of great ideas, but I have trouble figuring out which one to try. Let me tell you about a couple." Investor thinks: "I want to know which idea you're going to kill yourself trying to make successful, not which ideas have crossed your idle mind."
You say: "I've always wanted to be an entrepreneur." Investor thinks: "I've always wanted to be a professional golfer. So what if you always wanted to be an entrepreneur?"
You say: "I'm sure you are aware of the growing need for security. Web 2.0, Open Source, whatever." Investor thinks: "If you're sure I'm aware, why are you telling me you're sure I'm aware."
You say: "If you sign an NDA, I'll tell you my idea." Investor thinks: "You are clueless. How can you not know that venture capitalists don't sign NDAs?"
You say: "The last time I contacted you, I..." Investor thinks: "I'm going to fire my secretary for putting this clown on my calendar again."
You say: "My goal is to build a world-class company." Investor thinks: "How about you ship and sell the first copy before we talk about world-class anything?"
Now you know what not to say. Here's what you should say:
"This is what my company does..."
It's that simple. What you're trying to do is get potential investors to fantasize about how your product or service will make a boatload of money. They can't fantasize if they don't know what you do. And they don't want to be your friend, mother, or psychiatrist until they understand what you do, so cut the crap and explain what you do.
If you haven't read Chip & Dan Heath's column in this month's Fast Company
I liked Made to Stick
This is a ridiculous, elitist and naive point of view. This is marketing - the job of marketing is to sell something to someone. In most cases, the customer doesn't really NEED the product, so you have to convince them they need it. What they call "stigma" is another man's "defining the pain in the marketplace."
Funny, they didn't put Apple in the "badly behaved" bucket, even though they employ "icky" marketing to put a stigma on PC users. I guess they must believe PC users ARE, in fact, dorky, suit-wearing, pudgy, clueless people? Their article only looks at the less sexy CPG and credit card industries? "Creams and detergents" solve a problem that is, frankly, unpleasant. Bringing up unpleasant realities to market a solution to those realities is not "icky" its marketing.
And by the way...when people discuss the latest pop business tomes, and Made To Stick (or Tipping Point, et al) comes up, and you hear a resounding "What! You haven't read Made To Stick?!?!?" - isn't that too a stigma?
Company branding is not just a logo. It’s all about perceptions, how your customers or clients view your company and the products and services you provide.I think this is true, and I BIG TIME believe branding is more than a logo, here here! But I also think the definition is incomplete. The real reason for branding, more specifically having a strong brand, is future sales. I hadn't thought about it in this way until I read Think Two Products Ahead
- the book makes a very clear case for this reality (yes, I said reality). Bottom line, brands are important, they are the emotional tie to the customer, they are the perceptions, etc. All of the above are true. But the reason brands exist is to drive future sales.
You just know this isn't going to work out well...
. Good book for the most part, but they don't talk about the offline component that much - how an offline event like Hershey's Bliss parties can drive blog posts galore and social network buzz.
VS. 
(PRWEB) May 13, 2008 -- As more and more novelty and gourmet candy hits the market, it can be increasingly difficult to decide which confections will tickle your fancy, and which are sugar-coated duds. Candy Snob understands that candy can be more than a foil-wrapped treat to boost your blood sugar -- it can be a sensuous experience, the nougaty highlight of your day, the caramel apple of your eye. The blog will help readers rekindle their love affair with sugary treats, with an eye toward the confections of the past as well as a nod toward the future.
Blogpire Productions has the sweet pleasure of introducing Candy Snob to its growing list of consumer-oriented weblogs. Candy Snob was started to help bring the joy back into candy, offering candy reviews to help readers make decisions based on more than total grams of sugar.
"Most people think of candy as what they see in the grocery store," said Bob Wallace, an editor of Candy Snob. "Those are great, but there is a whole universe of chocolate and candy out there beyond the check-out aisle."
For the health conscious, Candy Snob will tell you about healthy candy products packed with natural ingredients. The blog will keep readers posted on the new treats about to hit the market, and will be reviewing new and upcoming candy treats.
"Chocolate is not unlike wine in that each piece comes with its own distinct tastes," added Noel Wallace, Candy Snob editor. "We're hoping to explain these nuances in a way that is understandable so you can get the best candy experience possible."
So whether readers are looking for unique gifts, new treats to sample, or simply interesting news and views about their favorite sweet indulgence, Candy Snob is the place to visit.
About CandySnob.com:
Started in 2007, Candy Snob is helmed by a capable staff keenly interested in all things confectionery. They come from a long line of sweet teeth and candy buffs, with tastes ranging from the nuanced flavors of bitter dark chocolate to the retro gooiness of Mallo Cups. Along the way, they also picked up a taste for jelly beans, hard candies, gummies, and anything else in the candy family.
About Blogpire Productions:
Blogpire Productions is a set of blogs bringing an influential audience to brand advertisers focused on product and category niches. Founded in 2004, Blogpire Productions continues to expand each month and build new and interesting web log titles for readers around the world. Many Blogpire Productions weblogs have received Yahoo! Pick of the day along with being featured in USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, FHM Magazine, and other magazines and Web site features.
Other Blogpire Productions weblogs include: SingleServeCoffee.com; KitchenContraptions.com; JustTheChips.com; TVSnob.com; ShavingStuff.com; FastFoodFever.com; GPSLodge.com; ShirtSnob.com; TheCookingNews.com; LiquorSnob.com; ReallyNatural.com; CheapFunWines.com; CriticalGamers.com; SingleServeEspresso.com; SuperCoolPets.com; ToolSnob.com; SuperCoolBaby.com; CasinoSnob.com.
Very interesting article on the state of the union for social media on The Viral Garden.
How do you make one of the most storied innovative products in history better you ask? Leave it to the originators. 3M now has transparent Post-it Notes, so you can highlight things, etc. They call them Sheer Colors, we call them brilliant. Simple innovations make a big difference.
Just bought a Flip Video
camera a couple days ago. Light, small, and painfully simple to use. Sure, you can't do all the fancy stuff, but it works, you can download right into your USB port with no cords.- Media outlets: Can give readers/viewers Flips to record events from their perspective and submit their own reports
- Jeep: Use Flips to help feed the Jeep Experience site
- Sports teams: Allow fans to cover their team and set up a site to “air” the reports
- Travel-related businesses: Give them away so people can document and share their experiences
- Packaged goods brands: Ask people to create their own testimonial of their product experience
So says the headline today from Web Worker Daily, and we agree. Having used 99Designs a few times, its efficient and typically can get pretty good results. We've used it for logo design and general icon and graphic design.
, blah, blah, blah, crowdsourcing, blah, blah, blah...we know...but said another way, 99Designs works by simple economic and capitalism. Opening up a problem to a large group of providers allows supply and demand, and survival of the fittest to thrive. And in a lot of cases, you the buyer get pretty good work.
Small companies must get close to the customer in order to stand any chance of survival. They can actually use this to thrive and exert considerable influence if properly executed.Read more
So you mean, if a product is truly innovative and good, it might be able to hold price? Fascinating...
Who takes more risk? The venture capitalist who funds a start-up, or the entrepreneur who founds it? Answer? The entrepreneur.
Intrigued? Read more at Hank Williams' article on Silicon Alley Insider
According to a new study from the Society for New Communications Research, 72% of consumers use social media resources to research a company's reputation before making a purchase decision. Seventy-four percent of consumers report basing their decisions to do business with a company on their social media research. The study also found that 59% of those surveyed say they use social media as a place to vent their customer service frustrations. - WOMMA Word via ClickZ
Ever been watching 20/20, 60 Minutes, or the local news for that matter, and you see a segment about some poor people who got royally screwed by their home contractor? Best case the contractor is incompetent, worst case its outright fraud. Either way the homeowners are out of a lot of money.Read their launch press release, or visit Buildproof.com.
2 General Electric
3 Microsoft
4 Coca-Cola
5 China Mobile
6 IBM
7 Apple
8 McDonald's
9 Nokia
10 Marlboro
Source: Millward Brown Optimor's 2008 BrandZ Rankings
Starbucks is using a special brown logo to evoke the chain's beginnings and restore some goodwill for the brand.Q: Can entrepreneurship be taught/learned?
A: I don’t think so. It’s like a personality disorder. You are born with it.
(of E-Myth fame) calls it an "entrepreneurial seizure." What do you think?
We first learned about these cats from Community Guy (so thank you!) - they take the UPS whiteboard idea and have made it a business. They make short videos to explain complex ideas and products, from twitter to Redfin, RSS to wikis. I'm working with several clients who could use this service. They also resell the videos, another good idea and free advertising for those whom they have made videos. This whole idea of simple drawings as a medium to effectively communicate complicated ideas is also featured in this month's Fast Company (article not online yet).
Now you have your chance..."To get the word out about its crossover event "Secret Invasion," Marvel Comics is tapping a variety of social media outlets. Efforts include a fictional MySpace profile featuring video blog posts from a teenage girl whose brother is involved in events that unfold in "Secret Invasion." Thus far, the videos have generated nearly a quarter of a million views, and the profile has attracted "friends" from demographics that Marvel rarely penetrates -- specifically 18- to 22-year-old girls."From WOMMA Word
- by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema
- by Marsha Collier
- by Margaret Mark and Carol S. Pearson
- by Art Weinstein
- by Mary Furlong
- by Noel Capon
- by Nick Jag
- by Beth Goldstein
- by Gary S. Goodman, PhD 
- by Herbert M Greenberg and Harold Weinstein - by Timothy Ferris and Ray Porter - by Steven Covey - by Fred Krupp and Miriam Horn - by Michael E. Gerber - by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman - by T. Harv Eker - by Arbinger Institute and The Arbinger Institute - by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner - by Kenneth H. Blanchard and Spencer Johnson - by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras
