Brains on Fire

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  No Blog Post on Monday

  Posted on April 29th, 2007 by Spike and currently 0 commenting.

  On Monday, April 30, Brains on Fire will be participating in the one-day blog silence in remembrance of the victims at Virginia Tech and other victims of violence around the globe.

  

  Tags: 1 Day Blog Silence, Virginia Tech Victims
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  Of Course it’s the Little Things

  Posted on April 27th, 2007 by Spike and currently 4 commenting.

  I own a BMW. (Don’t worry, it’s old and used.) And because of that automobile, I’ve fallen for the brand. I love ii and what it stands for. Because I love how it handles differently (and better) than any other automobile (notice I didn’t say ‘car’) I’ve driven. I love the sound of the engine when it’s idling. And when I’m throttling through the gears on a winding mountain road. I love how they pay attention to the smallest details. I’m pretty convinced that it is, in fact, the ultimate driving machine.

  But, as I say that, there’s something that really bothers me about their automobiles. They call the BMW emblem the ‘Roundel.’ It’s that classic blue and white logo in the circle. But you know what? The roundels they put on their cars ” that badge of all BMW stands for ” is plastic. And even worse than that, the paint starts to chip on them after not too long. So then I have to go online, buy a new Roundel and have it shipped to me ” again.

  Now, like I said, I already love BMW. But what would make me evangelize them? Beyond making the Roundel metal, I think that they should GIVE their customers new Roundels for free, no matter how new or old your BMW is. In the grand scheme of things, it really couldn’t be a big cost. And not only would it help them maintain the integrity of their brand, but they would generate a lot of word of mouth by that simple little act.

  Such a small thing could make such a big impact. And that’s how it usually goes, eh?

  Tags: Automobile, BMW, Evangelize, ii, Roundel, Word of Mouth
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  Off-the-shelf Word of Mouth

  Posted on April 26th, 2007 by Spike and currently 4 commenting.

  Okay. Okay. I know that some ‘off-the-shelf’ solutions are the best way to go. Like when you’re talking about software packages or something of that nature. But I’m fed up with people claiming that they have an off-the-shelf marketing solution ” especially when it comes to word of mouth marketing. Look, each company is as different as each human being. They could be in the same industry, but there are huge differences in culture, identity and leadership from company to company. And, I’m sorry, but what works for one company just isn’t going to work for another. In other words, if you want an off-the-shelf solution, then you better expect off-the-shelf results.

  Unless marketing companies are willing to come down from their ivory towers, roll up their sleeves and dig deep into the culture of a company, then they are either band-aiding a problem for the time being or just plain wasting their time all together with these off-the-shelf solutions. They are just feeding your problem through the machine and hoping for the best. That’s not sustainable. And they are treating your unique problem like a widget. Just like your customers expect you to treat them like an individual, you should expect the same of your marketing efforts.

  Word of mouth movements are born out of the unique DNA within a company. It’s much more emotional than any off-the-shelf solution could ever provide or pretend to create. Custom problems deserve custom solutions. Maybe that’s something to consider.

  Rant over.

  Tags: Company to Company, culture, Custom Solutions, DNA, Identity, ivory towers, Leadership, Marketing Solutions, Off-the-shelf Word of Mouth, Software Packages, sustainable, word of mouth marketing, word of mouth movements
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  Vive le Five Day Weekend!

  Posted on April 25th, 2007 by Virginia and currently 4 commenting.

  You may already aware of the huge number of vacation days that American’s leave unused each year – Expedia used the facts and figures surrounding this in an advertising campaign last year. The estimate is that this year we will collectively lose 439 vacation days. Couple the unused days with the fact that Americans already have less vacation time than the rest of the industrialized world, and you have the basis for the Five Day Weekend movement.

  The Five Day Weekend Movement claims to have been was born in Asheville, NC, and is pretty clearly from the number of ads and links taking you to www.exploreasheville.org, the product of the Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau. The “movement” website contains funny slogans, media downloads, man on the street interviews about the 5 day weekend concept, a petition to send to congress, a cafepress shop, ideas on what to do with your new longer weekend, and links to information on their upcoming rallies. The rallies are a very interesting way to take this “offline” as the 4 cities they are visiting outside of Asheville – Atlanta, Charlotte, Greensboro, and Raleigh are all an easy drive and my guess are the top points of origin for visitors to Asheville.

  I think the concept of the Five Day Weekend is a refreshing, different, whimsical and fun way to promote a destination. It is indeed a whack on the head and may be enough of a whack on the head to “go viral”. And believe it or not, the swag is great. I am an Asheville evangelist and frequent visitor, but would never sport an Asheville tee shirt. I might, however, wear a “Work Less, Live More – Fivedayweekend.org” shirt or a “Take it all Off – Fivedayweekend.org” shirt.

  My one concern is over the disclosure on this site. It was clear to me that this is a CVB ad campaign, but am not sure it would be clear to everyone. The “R” of the WOMMA ethics code’s “Honesty ROI” is to always disclose the relationship of the speaker to the brand (in this case, my guess is that the “movement leader” is paid directly or indirectly by the CVB). If my guess is correct, they have some work yet to do on the disclosure front. I invite the Asheville CVB & their agency to join WOMMA and anyone interested in doing this sort of campaign to review the WOMMA ethics toolkit before a launch of this sort.

  And until then, Vive Asheville and Vive le Five Day Weekend!!!

  Tags: Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau, Asheville North Carolina, Atlanta, Brand, CafePress, Charlotte, CVB Ad Campaign, Evangelist, Expedia, Five Day Weekend Movement, Greensboro, Honesty ROI, Live More - Fivedayweekend.org, Media Downloads, Movement, Movement Leader, Raleigh, slogans, Take It All Off - Fivedayweekend.org, Vacation Days left unused, Viral, Vive Asheville, Vive le Five Day Weekend, WOMMA ethics code, Work Less, www.exploreasheville.org
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  WOMMA stickies

  Posted on April 24th, 2007 by Geno and currently 8 commenting.
  
  
  

  After attending my seventh WOMMA event you might ask does a WOMMA event still have it. The energy, conversations and the content. In my opinion YES. I do miss Andy’s energy but the current WOMMA staff organized a wonderfully rich experience. I was really looking forward to hearing Chip Heath author of Made to Stick and he delivered. Who’s up for some Voodoo doughnuts? I got a double scoop of Chip Heath by also getting to share a lunch table and a wonderful discussion with Chip and my table. Other notable speakers and Case Studies were from Perrin Kaplan of Nintendo, the Wii was the word of mouth darling of the conference. It might be a stretch to consider Nintendo the underdog but in the battle of the console they are. And they won big. Lance Gentry of Izze and Ted Wright of Fizz were their typical engaging, funny, bold selves. I also enjoyed Ed Cotton of BSSP and the MINI case study. Yes, I’m a MINI owner but BSSP has done an amazing job to begin reaching to MINI evangelists. John Moore also outdid himself taking 300 attendees through a lunch WOM workout session.

  The other part of WOMMA that I always look forward to is the socializing with all the kindred spirits of WOM. Josh Hallet of hyku, Bob Troia, Ted Wright, David Binkowski, Steve Hershberger, the list could go on and on. But conversations with these folks make WOMMA special to me.

  On a final WOMMA note call me a homer but I have to give major kudos to our client Suzanne Fanning of Fiskars. Suzanne gets it, she believes in letting Fiskars customers have the word good or bad. It was great to sit on the back row and watch Virginia and Suzanne give the passionate testimony of Fiskateers. I wish I could say I taught her everything she knows but from the very first conversation we had with Suzanne she wanted to do the right thing.

  And then there’s New Orleans. I love that city, the people, the food, music, and the signs. Man I love the signs. I took photos of over 50 signs, neon, painted, old, new, good and bad. The good news the New Orleans vibe is making it back. The bad news is that the crowds are way to sparse.

  Tags: Bob Troia, BSSP, Case Studies, Chip Heath, customers, David Binkowski, Ed Cotton, Fiskars, Fiskateers, Fizz, Hyku, Izze, john moore, Josh Hallet, Lance Gentry, Made to Stick, MINI, New Orleans, Nintendo, Perrin Kaplan, Steve Hershberger, Suzanne Fanning, Ted Wright, Voodoo Doughnuts, Wii, WOMMA, Word of Mouth