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.
