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Every so often, Seth Godin goes on a rant. When he does, they’re worth reading. This one appealed to me because he makes such an obvious case for why all of us – marketers included – need to take responsibility for what we do. Just saying “that’s business” or “it’s what people want” isn’t good enough anymore.

Here’s a brief excerpt. I encourage you to read the whole post.

Some people will tell you that the market decides. They’ll remind you that most consumers are adults, spending their own resources and doing it freely. That people have a right to buy what they want, even if what they want isn’t good for them (right now, or in the long run). That’s what living in a free country is all about, apparently. Buy what you want.But wait.I thought we agreed that marketing works.If marketing works, it means that free choice isn’t quite so free. It means that marketers get to influence and amplify desires. The number of SUVs sold in the United States is a bazillion times bigger than it was in 1962. Is that because people suddenly want them, or is it because car marketers built them and marketed them?Cigarette consumption is way down. Is that because people suddenly don’t want them any more, or is it because advertising opportunities are limited?Others will tell you that if it’s legal, it’s fair game. If it’s legal for Edelman to post a blog called Working Families for Wal-Mart (when it’s really working Edelman employees for Wal-Mart), then they have every right to do so. In fact, they have an obligation to their shareholders to do so. Or so they say.I believe that every criminal, no matter how heinous the crime, deserves an attorney. I don’t believe that every product and every organization and every politician deserves world-class marketing or PR.

(Via Seth’s Blog.)

Something a little different this week. Since I’ve been working pretty well non-stop for awhile, I haven’t spent much time researching (or noodling, as some call it) around the web. But a few things in the past week caught my eye and I thought that pointing you to them would be worthwhile.

But they’re not just fun stuff. They are also (for me) sort of work-related, since I’m in the business of helping companies tell their stories to the right audience. And these clips show some imaginative way of tapping into the multimedia capabilities of the Internet to let companies tell their stories in unique ways. And of course, in the process, they just might move a little product, too.

Welcome to Picturetown

First up is a campaign from Nikon for their new Nikon D40 camera.

I received an email the other day from Nikon, since I’m on their mailing list. I recently had to send my camera in for repair and I told them I’d be interested in getting on their mailing list. So I got one inviting me to visit PictureTown, USA.

When I clicked on the link, I was taken to a website that explained that Nikon had given 200 of these new cameras to the residents of Georgetown, South Carolina and told them to go ahead and use them. Then they gathered up the results and the stories and turned the whole thing into a really interesting website.

You’ll find a lot of good pictures, displayed with a nice eye for design. The flash-based site works well and shows off the power of this medium. It’s also a great way to show the capabilities of the new camera.

Here’s the link.

Microsoft Surface

Microsoft has a reputation for always playing catch-up when it comes to new, cool technologies (e.g. the Zune). But last week, they announced their new Surface computer technology. It’s basically a big touch screen that lets you manipulate things with your hands and fingers, instead of a keyboard and mouse.

To accompany the announcement, the company put together some interesting videos to show it off. They’re very good. But what is really great about this stuff is to let your mind wander and imagine what it will be like to actually own and use one. It’s so Minority Report’ish. I love it.

Here’s the link

It’s almost here…

Finally, the moment that a lot of people have been looking forward to is almost here. The Iphone will go on sale in the US on June 29. When it will appear in Canada is not clear, but there’s a rumour that Rogers will be selling it on the same day here too! I hope so.

Of course, given the price that people are talking about (around $500-600 US with a 2-year contract), I doubt that I’ll actually be buying one. But it will be fun to see how the whole thing turns out, given the hype of the last few months.

In the meantime, there’s some great new ads up on the Apple website that demonstrate some of the features of this new critter. And while some of the features are also available on other phones, I don’t think anyone else has brought the whole feature set together quite like Apple looks like it’s done. They’re worth a look, just to keep the drool-quotient right up there.

Here’s the link

As always, enjoy.

Technorati Tags:
Friday fun, Apple, Nikon D40, Microsoft Surface

I’m not sure how I missed noticing the fact that Tour de France champion Floyd Landis has been posting his defense documents to a Wiki. But today, I came across this article from the Columbia Journalism Review, which outlines the strategy.

The article is a bit dated, since Landis’ arbitration hearing (to decide whether he’ll be stripped of his title) happened last month. (Here’s some coverage from the New York Times.) It’s expected that a final decision may take another month to come down.

But I’m intrigued by Landis’ defense team’s imaginative use of Wikis. They’ve come up with a way to both “get around” the mainstream media to get your message out, and engage those same mainstream media to become interested in what you’re saying.

This should be of interest to the journalists who cover events, as well as those who try to get the journalist’s interested in the events – or more specifically, their side of the story.

It’s uncertain whether Landis will know his fate before this year’s Tour de France gets underway on July 8. But I know that I’ll be watching this year’s Tour on the Internet exclusively.

We decided not to get cable TV when we arrived here in Victoria and most of the time, that’s been just fine. But for the last few years, I’ve watched the Tour de France nearly wall-to-wall. Despite what you might think, I found the whole thing fascinating and fun to watch.

The doping scandals surrounding the bike racing world have tarnished the sport. But the fact remains that the Tour de France is one of the most amazing tests of endurance on the planet. I’ll still be watching. What about you?
Technorati Tags:
Tour de France, Wikis

Some video fare for you again this week. One to make you think, one to make you wonder and one to sit back and enjoy.

Here we go…

Kinetic sculpture

I’ve posted some of this type of work before, but not this particular chap. But the stuff about the beach and the wind and the sculptures sure does seem familiar. If you are interested, there’s a Wikipedia article on Kinetic sculpture, with lots of links. This video is not very good quality, but it is certainly intriguing. And worthwhile fun for a Friday, I’d say. Here’s an excerpt from the intro:

For the past fifteen years, Theo Jansen has been creating (growing?) “beach animals” made from commonly available tools like plastic tubing, cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, hose, tape, and all sorts of other stuff. Wired News did a pretty good article on Jansen earlier this year:

Here’s the link to the video

What if the world were reduced to a village of 100 people?

That’s the premise behind this video, presented on The Miniature Earth website. This is one of those links that might inspire you to start clicking through to plenty of other interesting places. It’s a wonderful mix of text, music (the song is called Mad World) and images. Here’s an excerpt from the start of the video, that explains what it’s about:

The text that originated this movie was published on May 29, 1990 with the title “State of the Village Report“. It was written by Donella Meadows, who passed away in February 2000. Nowadays, Sustainability Institute, through Donella’s Foundation, carries on her ideas and projects. The Miniature Earth project was first published in 2001, since then more than 2 million people have seen this website.

The statistics have been updated based on specialized publications, and mainly reports on the World’s population provided by difference resources, like UN publications, PRB.org and others. Bear in mind that these are only statistics, and consequently changes might occur after a few months or only after years.

Please see them only as a tendency, and not as accurate.

Here’s the link to the video

Just kick back and enjoy

If you’re tired of guitar videos, you might want to give this a pass. But I think it’s a great example of “user-generated content.” There’s just a guy who’s laid down some music tracks on a digital file for the background. Then he sits down, turns on the camera, picks up his guitar and starts winging it. And the results are impressive. For anyone else who’s sat down with the stereo on and played along to their favourite song, this will resonate.

Here’s the link to the video

Today’s Bonus video

It’s amazing what you find on YouTube. See if you can name the famous celebrities in this little-known home video!

Here’s the link

Enjoy the weekend!

Technorati Tags:
Friday fun

Now this sounds like a good idea.

Google Inc. (GOOG) said on Wednesday it had created Web software that runs both online, and offline, marking a sea change for the Internet industry by letting users work on planes, trains, spotty connections and even in the most remote locations.

The technology, called Google Gears, would allow users of computers, phones and other devices to manipulate Web services like e-mail, online calendars or news readers whether online, intermittently connected to the Web or completely offline.

By bridging the gulf between new Web services and the older world of desktop software, where any data changes are stored locally on users’ machines, Google is pushing the Web into whole new spheres of activity and posing a challenge to rival Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), leader in the desktop software era.

While I remain delighted by my Mac and the applications that I use on it, I often find myself taking advantage of Google’s various on-line applications. And my wife uses those apps extensively in her business, so that she and her partner can communicate with each other and share info all the time no matter where they are.

So the ability to get that usefulness and apply it in situations where you don’t have web access sounds like a new “killer app” to me.

Here’s the link to the full story.
Technorati Tags:
Software, productivity, Google

Usability guru Jakob Nielsen has posted a new Alertbox article called The Myth of the Genius Designer. He makes the case that even the best designer is not a replacement for sound user testing of a Web-based product. (Or other product designs, for that matter.)

It’s an argument well worth considering while you’re putting together your own plans, whether you’re working on a new piece of software, or a user guide or an event plan. Putting the end user’s needs firmly in control of the process will benefit everyone, as Neilson points out:

The real question is not whether you should use a good designer, but whether using a good designer eliminates the need for a good usability person. It doesn’t.

It’s wrong to rely solely on a “genius designer” for several reasons:

* You must run your project with the team you actually have, not the team you wish you had. In most companies, you won’t find one of the world’s top 100 interaction designers waiting around to work on your project.

* Design is an inexact science; even if you have a superb designer, not all of his or her ideas will be equally great. It’s only prudent to reduce risk and subject design ideas to a reality check by user testing them with actual customers. (Remember, new ideas can be tested at low cost through techniques like paper prototypes.)

* How do designers get to be good in the first place? By learning which of their ideas work and which don’t. This feedback requires empirical data, which usability testing provides.

* Even the best designers produce successful products only if their designs solve the right problems. A wonderful interface to the wrong features will fail. And how can designers find out what customers need? Through user research.

* Nobody’s perfect. Even a very good design can be improved when you follow an iterative process of continuous quality improvements. For each step of the design, you should conduct a usability evaluation (testing or guideline review), and use the resulting insights as the step-climbing metric to drive your user experience to the next level of quality.

Several decades’ experience with quality assurance says that the best results come from following a systematic quality process, including reality checks every step of the way, rather than simply hoping that you got it right.

If you aren’t familiar with Nielsen’s usability work, I recommend you visit his website to find out more. He’s a guy who really practices what he preaches. For an example, read this explanation of why his site has almost no graphics.

Technorati Tags:
usability, design

When I’m struggling to find the right words for a particular project, I’ll grab just about any idea if it will help me get going again. Try googling Writers Block for a sample of just how desperate I can become.

But really, there’s nothing that works better than sitting down and reading something good. I get energized by writers who are in control of what they’re doing. I know that a lot of work goes into coming up with breezy, effortless prose that moves the point along to its inevitable conclusion. Like some wonderful things we come across in our daily life, it’s an art form. And the best artists make it look easy.

Today, searching for some relief from my temporary blocked-up-ed-ness I came across an article by Garrison Keilor in Salon.com. Keillor is the star of NPR’s Prairie Home Companion and a story-teller par excellence. He writes about what it means to be a writer, especially one with a deadline looming. And he’s got some good advice on how to deal with stress.

Writers get obsessed with a project and lock the doors and sit and work at it, like animals in a leg trap trying to chew through the leg, which is not good strategy. My advice is to get out of the house and take a walk, a good first cure for the depression that hits after you’ve been working for a year and it dawns on you that your book is not “Huckleberry Finn” but you must finish it anyway because the publisher’s generous advance has been spent on a new pair of shoes for the baby and she has worn a hole in them already, so you press on — on — on — though it strikes you that the world has a great many books already and does it need yours? And the readers you most want (youth) are fixated on screens, not on paper. This is so depressing you want to tie a rock to your ankle and jump in the Mississippi, and if you remembered how to tie the knots that could hold a rock you might, but a long walk can bring you around.

I love the image of a writer caught in a trap chewing his leg off to avoid the looming deadline. There’s plenty more. I recommend it even if you’re not blocked up.

Link

Technorati Tags:
productivity, Writing

A telemarketer’s worst nightmare

Have you ever had the urge to turn the tables on a telemarketer? You know, make him or her wait on the other end of the line or figure out a way to make them feel as annoyed as you do?

Well, I found this recording of one guy who came up with quite the little scheme to make this telemarketer’s life really interesting.

Give it a listen by clicking this link.

Let’s slow things down a bit

Seriously slow. Remember years ago when you first saw those amazing pictures of a drop of milk exploding when it hit the ground? Or a speeding bullet, captured by a high-speed camera? I’ve always been captivated by slow-motion. Watching all the things that are happening so fast that you never realize what’s happening.

Well, now they’ve got cameras that will slow things down by up to 1000 times. That will stretch a second of action out to 15 minutes!

This short video gives a good sample of what they’re capable of. I don’t know what program this is taken from, but I’d like to see the whole thing. Let me know if any of you find it before I do.

Here’s the link.

Some serious guitar boogie

I haven’t featured a guitar video for awhile…but this one is worth the wait. Maybe it’s because I was tooling around on my own the other day, but listening to what a single guitar is capable of is a lot of fun. And if you like boogie, you’ll like this clip. It’s a bit long, but it will get your toes tapping.

Here’s the link

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags:
Friday fun

I’m in the fortunate position of not being inundated with e-mail anymore, thanks to not being part of a large organization. But in the past, I’ve been faced with dealing with hundreds of e-mails daily and struggling to figure out how to stay on top of it all.

Even now, with my daily email load significantly less, I’m still tempted to check my email more often than I should. As a result, I often let relatively insignificant matters derail my best intentions for getting things done.

So I’m always attracted (or is it distracted?) to articles with advice on how to gain back control of your in-box and other time-saving advice.

Here’s the latest. It’s an essay from the folks at ChangeThis, an interesting site that sends out regular collections of articles (or manifestos, as they refer to them) about living in today’s digital world. They say their mission is to spread important ideas. It’s a bit eclectic, but usually interesting.

Given my attraction for time-management articles, how could I resist something with this title when it showed up in my in-box?

The Low-Information Diet: How to Eliminate E-mail Overload and Triple Productivity in 24 Hours

(Click here to download the .pdf directly.)

It’s written by Tim Ferriss, author of a book called “The Four-Hour Workweek.” (And if you’ve never heard of Tim Ferriss, check out this Google Search on his name. He’s a high-profile geek, to say the least.)

Ferriss’s advice is not new or startling, but it’s written in a straight-forward manner and backed up by some solid research. Here’s a sample:

Though selective ignorance has several facets, we’ll focus on the low-information e-mail diet (here forward called the “low-information diet”), as e-mail is the single greatest time waster in modern life. Before we get into specific guidelines, the two fundamental principles of selective ignorance are
worth mentioning:

1. If you don’t define your goals clearly, everything seems important and requires action. If you define your goals clearly, especially your single most critical goal, almost all things are of little or no importance and few things require action.

2. Trying to make everyone happy—besides being impossible—is the surest way to make yourself miserable.

There are then three specific steps for following the low-information diet that we’ll explore in descending order of importance: decreasing frequency, decreasing volume, and increasing speed.

I’m intrigued by the low-information diet. I don’t expect to implement it immediately, given that my volume of email is not that bad right now.

But if you or your clients are struggling with managing the daily flood of digital information, you should read the article. Your co-workers will probably thank you.

Technorati Tags:
e-mail, productivity

Rick Segal is a Canadian venture capitalist who writes a blog called The Post Money Value, which is a Canadian’s take on the high tech industry. It’s an interesting perspective from an industry veteran.

Rick is also an airline junkie — he’s forced to fly all the time. Lately, he’s been using Air Canada’s unlimited North America pass.

In this post, he offers an intriguing view of Air Canada – everyone’s favourite airline to hate (as I can attest to). It’s called A Tale of Two Airlines – Air Canada. But it’s not really about the airline. It’s about what makes great customer service, and how important it is that companies understand what it takes to make them great.

Air Canada does know what it takes to give great customer service – as Rick can attest. But all too often (as his daughter points out in the other “tale”) Air Canada fails to deliver. And what’s worse, they don’t seem to give a damn.

Rick wraps up his post with three points that every company should ask itself about how it deals with customers (these make more sense if you’ve read the whole post):

Are you paying attention to who you think matters to your business? You can say, everybody is equal, we strive for it, etc, but every person out there has, at one time or another, received amazing service over somebody else because of price paid, section of the venue, etc. Rachel would fly on WestJet in a second if they flew in/out of LA. Could AC doing anything to make her loyal? Should they? Again, I offer the questions not my opinion as my opinion doesn’t matter in running your business.

Are you setting tone? The right tone? What struck me about the ‘pillow lady’ was her smile and her genuine, no problem, attitude. It was so easy to give me that pillow with, here you elitist, make 10x more money, drive nicer car, eat better cat food, than me attitude, but she didn’t. It was genuine, here you go, thanks for your business. That attitude should be present for the $99 (or less) air fare. Just because I’m a Super Elite, that is not a license to dump on others. For your start up? Set the right tone with your folks. Encourage and embrace those that go the extra mile for customers. The Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) sends an acknowledgement when you file your taxes. The letter notice starts off with Thank You. I know, there are a billion smart ass remarks you want to say, but the point is tone/attitude.

Are there lots of stories out there that mention your company? I’d probably be laughed at if I said the Air Canada pillow incident was a purple cow for me. I suspect that is a reach but my point is how many amazingly good stories are coming out of your team? David Sifry, (CEO, Technorati) many years ago, when I just fired up the blog, personally called me after I emailed in a random tech support question. Home email, cell phone, nobody blogger. He didn’t know (or care) I was a VC or that I knew the toll booth lady on the GG bridge. He just dived in and answered the question. Purple Cow. How many stories about your business are being created this week? Today? An hour ago?

I’ve written about customer service – good and bad – before but I don’t think it ever gets worn out as a topic. Think about how often you come into contact with a company via their front lines – a receptionist at an office, the ticket agent at the counter, the voice on the other end of the phone. Those are the contacts that will make or break the relationship. They have to be good.

Seth Godin is another marketing guru I quote often. (He’s the guy that coined the “purple cow” term that Rick Segal mentioned in his post.) Last week, he had a post that talked about how to be a great receptionist. The advice works for a lot of positions. And it brings up two challenges for today’s corporations. First, how to get your managers to buy into this concept? And the second is how to get employees to feel the same way? Hint — They’re not different answers.

Got any ideas? Use the comment button below to share your experiences.

Technorati Tags:
Air Canada