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  • Denver’s Creatives Unite

    Posted on August 31st, 2007 by Spike and currently 4 commenting.

    I received an interesting email from the Denver Egotist this week. The Denver who? Here’s their manifesto:

    In order to promote creative growth in Denver, one must admit the city is conceptually stunted. It’s not on the tip of any tongues, and for good reason. Safe solutions, droll concepts. It is our belief, as creative participants in this city, that the opportunity for change lies at our feet and that it can happen by challenging one another, by holding each other accountable for our work, and by hiring and promoting local talent. This is our attempt to foster big ideas and radical thinking on a local level. To remind us all why we love this job. This is The Denver Egotist, a means to an end.

    Impressive. Instead of complaining about the matter, these folks are taking action and fighting inertia. Which reminds me of something I heard a kindred spirit say last week: ‘In our case, tradition isn’t necessarily a good thing. Traditional means inertia.’

    Well said. And what’s cool is to see creatives uniting across companies and focusing on a common cause. This one is going on my RSS. I suggest you check it out too. It’s a great reminder that if you become complacent, you’re going to get left behind. A simple message with a big lesson.

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  • Another Tradition

    Posted on August 30th, 2007 by Jennifer and currently 2 commenting.

    Earlier this week I posted about my annual tradition involving The Beloit Mindset List and feeling vaguely geriatric. Well, now it’s time for another Brains on Fire tradition - The Net Promoter Score. As Fred Reicheld advises in his book The Ultimate Question, we make the effort to ask all the people who know us how we’re doing at regular intervals. Now I know there has been a lot of buzz about The Net Promoter Score lately - is it the ONLY tool a company needs? Is it even useful at all? I would certainly answer no and yes respectively. If, in assessing your company, the Net Promoter is the only thing you do… well… your information could be pretty limited. Simply asking the question is a good step, but it’s not enough. You have to do something with the information you receive. Make efforts to improve upon the shortcomings, take advantage of the opportunities. We ran a Net Promoter Survey for a client of ours several months ago, and they responded by putting together a task force to address the main concerns they heard in the comments. Now that’s what I’m talking about! If you simply know your score and expect it to change, then the critics are right - it’s just another clever marketing book. But, like any data, if you take the time to really listen and really respond… you might end up with real results.

    And with that… if you haven’t received our survey in the email, I hope you’ll take a couple minutes to take it now.

    Thanks!

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  • The Water Cup Theory

    Posted on August 29th, 2007 by Spike and currently 3 commenting.

    Man, oh, man I can’t tell you how many times this happens: I go out to lunch with friends and when I get to the checkout counter, I ask for water. Not bottled water. Not sparkling water (although I do enjoy both) ” just a cup of water. Listen, I’m not cheap. I just happen to like water and since I exercise most mornings before work, I’m thirsty. And I don’t like sodas. So I ask for water, and lo and behold what happens? (Everybody now:) They give me a freakin’ Dixie cup. A specimen cup. A ‘fill it up ten times while you’re eating’ cup. In other words, I feel like I’m getting punished.

    dcd.jpgI think the water cup is the most overlooked touchpoint in the realm of restaurants. I can’t understand why they don’t give you a regular sized cup. Is it because they are afraid you’ll fill up with soda? Then give me a big cup, but design it differently. Do they think that if you have to fill up your cup ten times that next time you’ll order soda so you won’t have to be bothered? Not gonna happen.

    There are water cups in every business. Those small, overlooked items that you think are insignificant that actually matter ” a lot ” to your customers. Make the ‘water cups’ significant. They are an opportunity to Fascinate, Inspire, Reward and Engage. To you it’s just a water cup. To your customers, it’s a representation of how they’re being treated.

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  • It’s That Time Again

    Posted on August 28th, 2007 by Jennifer and currently 1 commenting.

    It’s time for what has become, for me, a treasured annual ritual. You see, this time every year, Beloit College releases the Beloit Mindset List - and this time every year I post a link to it on our blog and lament the fact that it makes me feel old - this year even more so, having just attended a high school reunion. It’s becoming quite the tradition. But for those of you who don’t remember, the Beloit Mindset List is a list of thoughts and events and relative experiences common to the incoming freshman class. My parents and I actually talked about some things last weekend - that kids these days (just typing that phrase makes me feel like I’m 80) haven’t had to get their physical plane tickets until they get to the airport. They don’t know what a real phone ring sounds like. And then, after returning from my high school reunion, The Mindset List was in my inbox.

    So here it is, for your enjoyment (and self-flagellation). Read it and remember how much a mere ten years can change the general landscape of perception and context. As quickly as things change in this modern, global society, you have to be prepared to communicate in a way that doesn’t have to be figured out, but that fits into the context of your listeners. Or they’ll just put in their earbuds and ignore you right into oblivion.

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  • Back to the Blog

    Posted on August 27th, 2007 by Robbin and currently 1 commenting.

    Okay, I’m back from a quiet spell on the blog and I thought I would share a quote I recently tripped over. Sorry I can’t tell you who said it. I just found it scribbled down the side of a page in my current journal.

    ‘The meek my inherit the earth, but if they are in business they will go broke.’

    I love that. So many companies, especially B2B’s find themselves trying to be all things to all people. Instead of finding the one thing on earth they STAND for, they create painfully long lists of things they or their products do. It takes hours for them to explain the business they are in, if they can explain it at all. They have a clutter of information on their company, clutter that ends up making them totally invisible. It takes courage to put a stake in the ground and pronounce who you are and what you stand for.

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