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  • Cross-Socialization

    Posted on November 30th, 2006 by Spike and currently 4 commenting.

    The December/January issue of Fast Company has a very intriguing piece entitled The Wisdom of Gamers by Lucas Conley. It’s intriguing because it touches on the new strategy that other industries are using to tap into the collective problem-solving skills in the gaming community. Here’s my favorite part:

    Stanford’s Byron Reeves, using video clips of medical samples, had players of Star Wars Galaxies diagnose cancer to advance their standing as “doctors.” After 20 hours of training, players got it right 60% as often as a pathologist; 35 of the best players, on average, actually beat the pro.

    Brilliant. Engaging a community on their own terms to help solve problems for the greater good. The lesson here is to not limit yourself with some sort of silo mentality when dealing with a specific community. Thinking laterally not only could have benefits outside of what that community is used to, but by engaging them on their level, it gives them a greater sense of being as well.

    Can you say ‘win-win?’

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  • The Nutcracker

    Posted on November 29th, 2006 by Jennifer and currently 3 commenting.

    This weekend I was picking up lunch so my boyfriend wouldn’t miss one second of the ill-fated Clemson/Carolina game. I stopped by Thaicoon Ricefire and Sushi Bar - a little Thai restaurant near Furman. While I waited for my order, I chatted with the owner, who was in the midst of decorating for Christmas. (I’m not sure how big Christmas is in Thailand… but whatever.) Anyway, he explained that he collects nutcrackers, and every year he buys several nutcracker ornaments to augment his collection. But that’s not all. You see… any shift he works, he gives an ornament to a child. What do nutcrackers have to do with Thai food? NOTHING. But it’s just something small he’s doing to make his customers feel welcome and appreciated. On top of great food and a cool atmosphere, it’s a nice little holiday gesture… it made me smile… and you can bet the lucky recipients of his collectible ornaments will go out of their way to remember him too.

    Geez… are all my posts going to be this warm and fuzzy until after Christmas?

    It’s possible.

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  • Is your WOM my WOM?

    Posted on November 28th, 2006 by Spike and currently 6 commenting.

    Ya know, it’s good that we all don’t agree on everything all the time (especially the definitions of all this word of mouth stuff). Then what would we have to debate? (Like how word of mouth is NOT a media channel.)

    And then there’s this one: Some of you might be familiar with a couple of the Brand Ambassador movements (note that I didn’t say ‘campaign’ ” ick) we’ve been fortunate enough to help ignite. Part of laying the groundwork is going out and finding (online and off) people who are a number of things ” the most important being passionate about something, whether it be crafting or teen tobacco use, etc. We don’t look for people who are just talkers in general. They don’t even have to be in all the right social circles (although some of them are). They just have to have a passion and a genuine love for that particular part of their lives.

    Well, this weekend I received an email from a woman who wanted to offer her ‘brand ambassador’ services, plus that of her two friends. Brand ambassadors for what? Exactly. For anything and everything. In other words, they were freelance brand ambassadors. They sent me their measurements, eye color and hair color and asked if I wanted to see any pictures of them (I said ‘no,’ so stop it). They sent me their ambassador experience that included two and three day stints working the Canon Tour Truck and NASCAR. Bulls’s Eye Promo Tour and Banana Boat. Volkswagen and Verizon. And Budweiser and the Hawaiian Tropic Bikini Team. (I will not ask for photos, I will not ask for photos, I will not ask for photos…)

    So if you haven’t figured it out now, these women are models that get paid to chat up products. And while someone in an exec suite at Verizon has called them ‘brand ambassadors,’ it couldn’t be further from the definition that we use around our halls and with our clients. Yes, you can be passionate about talking. But I don’t believe that you can be passionate about whatever is put in front of you. The real brand ambassadors that we find have created a section of their lives around that one cause or brand that they feel a kindred spiritship with. That’s powerful. And it can’t be bought.

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  • Cough, cough

    Posted on November 27th, 2006 by Jennifer and currently 2 commenting.

    I am not the Ricola mystery cougher… but someone is.  And I love this idea.  This month began the second year of Ricola’s mystery cougher promotion.  The concept is simple - somewhere in America, you could win up to a million dollars just for offering someone a Ricola cough drop.  Of course, the trick is that you have to a) buy some Ricola cough drops and b) make the offer to every cougher you see.  Of course, statiscally, more often than not, it’s just going to be a stranger doing something nice for another stranger.  Maybe a couple fewer people will scowl at the cougher beside them and instead, make a kind gesture.  Yes, it’s a way to get people to buy and promote their product, but I just love that the promotion has at its heart a simple act of basic human kindness.

    After all… ’tis the season.

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  • Lean On Me

    Posted on November 25th, 2006 by Geno and currently 2 commenting.

    It’s been a while since I’ve posted at the Brains on Fire blog. I will be the first to say its not because I was suffering from blog burnout. I’ve always second-guessed myself and I’m sure like many I started to wonder was I really saying anything relevant. So I’m trying to turn a new leaf in blogging. So lets get this first post going.

    guys
    My last 4 months of work has focused on one client and one main project for that client. I’ve made this comment to some of my co-workers “have you ever had that great idea but then when it came time for the idea to become reality you asked yourself what the hell was I thinking?” Rage Against The Haze the teen anti-tobacco use movement for South Carolina received new funding this year reviving the movement from the dead. With no guarantee of future funding support from the state legislature it made sense to us (Brains on Fire) and our client The Department of Health and Environmental Control of South Carolina to try to build a network of youth that could re-build the movement and take ownership again. I was pretty jaded about this. I felt that we abandoned the youth of South Carolina when the program was de-funded and I really felt indifferent about if we could have success at raising the movement from the ashes. Past Rage teens have called themselves “ViralMentalists” for the last 4 years. That stands for an educated teen that infects others with the anti-tobacco message. In reality, a Rage ViralMentalist was similar to what most are now calling brand ambassadors but with a little twist. So we got the idea of taking ViralMentalist to an Ambassador. What’s the difference? I don’t know yet, I’ll tell you in about a year. But our hope is it gives these Rage ambassadors more credibility and more authority to lead and engage others in the movement. We hope that they take it from the tactical to the conceptual. Teens today are bored with the big bad tobacco industry and we hoped that developing the ability to be a RAGE ambassador will help teens shape it as a cause for a healthy lifestyle for teens in South Carolina.

    So back to that great idea, that once reality sets in you say “WTF was I thinking!?” Last weekend the Brains on Fire team led 43 SC teens through Camp Rage. Three days in the mountains of South Carolina of training to be RAGE’s first ambassadors, freezing temperatures, bunk beds in cabins, and about 6 hours of sleep. When you’re working with teens you have to let things just happen sometimes. Our trainers for the camp - we called them Counselors - are veteran RAGEers, some have been in RAGE since the very creation over 5 years ago. Friday was a slow night with the prospective Ambassadors when I met with the counselors for Saturday breakfast they were concerned that the kids didn’t seem to be getting it. Should we make some changes? No, we decided to stick to the plan, training and a big dose of team building and let’s pray that the dots start connecting. The Saturday training went steady and we all felt it ended positive. Now it came time for group dynamics or team building whatever you call it. I can’t say enough how great of a job the Camp Greenville counselors led our teens through the exercises. We had teens from 13 to 18, from the SC coast to the SC upstate. For quite a few of our teens this was their first experience in the mountains. Spike and I found this to our advantage, no sneaking out when the unknown waits outside the cabins! After free time and a feats of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, green beans and banana pudding it was time for the campfire. I have to admit I thought it was corny idea when the Camp Greenville counselors recommended it but I learned a lesson. I don’t know if it was the fire or our campfire sing-a-long leader Tennessee Doug but something happened that night. I have to admit tears cover my eyes when I think about it. Somewhere between singing “The Beaver Song,” “Hey Ya,” and “Lean on Me” it became magical. And as I looked around the campfire I saw a sea of teens, college students and adults arms around each other singing at the top of their lungs, it was like singing during a good ole southern revival. I’ll steal a quote from Joe, one of the RAGE counselors, “It was AWESOME.” I did notice one thing when the singing stopped and we started roasting marshmallows for smores, it got cold, real cold, had it been that cold the whole time?

    The next morning in the diner for Sunday morning breakfast, Doug walked up to me. As I looked at Doug’s face I could see the start of tears in his eyes, He looked at me and said “That was special.” As I scanned the diner, watching the tables of RAGEers busy socializing, I saw my daughter. Tears filled my own eyes and I said, “Yeah, it was a special night.”

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