Brains on Fire

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  Past – 1.27.10 – Spike speaks – Association of National Advertisers – Houston, TX

  Posted on November 30th, 2009 by Spike and currently 1 commenting.

  

  You can register here and keep an eye on all the forthcoming details, too.

  Tags: ANA, Association of National Advertisers, Hoston, Speaking, Spike Jones, Texas
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  Keeping promises.

  Posted on November 30th, 2009 by Robbin and currently 22 commenting.

  

  Okay. It’s official. I am a Scott Monty groupie. Have been from our very first conversation. Yeah. Yeah. It was twitter talk.

  Now stop. Before you roll your eyes again, this is a really good story.

  Back in August, I had the chance to meet Scott in person. There he was in his white bucks with a blue Ford logo neatly pinned to his lapel and well, I said what any good groupie would say:

  ” I want a Ford pin.”

  He asked for my card, slipped it into his pocket and we talked briefly.

  Scott asked me what I drove. I told him (not a Ford). There was laughter. (I am a frustrated wanna be race car driver.) Then he asked the big question, “Would you ever consider buying a Ford?”

  And you know what – here’s is the truth. I would.

  Something about “knowing” someone at Ford has made me a sincere fan. I’ve even found myself defending them on occasion, in one on one conversations and even to large groups. I have just grown – well — fond of them.

  And I can’t for the life of me figure out what changed other than the fact that there is this very real, very approachable “social butterfly” type of guy named Scott in the mix. Would my feelings for Ford change if he went away?

  Dangerously, the answer might be yes.

  I applaud Ford for putting a person front and center. So many brands are just jumping on the social media bandwagon without a strategy. But Ford has one and in my humble opinion they are being pretty true to it: Ford simply wants to “humanize the brand”. Second time I have repeated that here because, I love the simplicity of that. And because I know this; people trust people. People who make and keep promises.

  So a pin (and a sweet story) today, a car tomorrow?
  
  Who knows?

  In the meantime, I will wear my pin proudly and create a little Ford “visual buzz” along the way…

  Thanks. Scott. Oh. And you too, Ford.

  Tags: FORD, people, Scott Monty, Social Media Strategy
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  What Brains on Fire is thankful for

  Posted on November 25th, 2009 by Eric Dodds and currently 1 commenting.

  Pilgrims? Turkey? Football? Generic stuff…we’ve all heard the standard answers to the question, “What are you thankful for?”

  Well, we took a crack at tackling that question Brains on Fire style.

  Happy Thanksgiving.

  Tags: Brains on Fire, Company Culture, culture, Slice of Life, thankful, Thanksgiving
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  Walt Whitman, Levis Strauss and history’s humor

  Posted on November 24th, 2009 by Eric Dodds and currently 6 commenting.

  These thoughts were inspired by a recent conversation with the ever-brilliant Brent Crawford.

  Do you remember the “Go Forth” campaign from Levis? They are interesting ads, but the history behind the elements in them is pretty incredible (yes, I’m a nerd). Creators of the effort gave a  nod to the rich history, but if you dig, the details are what make the story interesting.

  The spots feature poetry written by American poet and writer Walt Whitman (1819-1892). The poetry is inspirational and symbolic, but the intriguing thing about it is the time at which it was being written: Whitman officially published his first round of poems in the mid-1850s, including the popular poem, “Pioneers! O Pioneers!”.

  At about the same time, a man named Loeb Strauss had recently moved from New York to California and was working to build a ‘dry goods’ business. We know of him by his nickname, Levi.

  And here, over 150 years later, two men, doing completely different things on opposite sides of the country, are brought together in a way that they never would have imagined. Fascinating. History’s twists never cease to amaze me.

  Tags: history, Levi Straus, poetry, Walt Whitman
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  Brand Promise vs. Brand Commitment

  Posted on November 23rd, 2009 by Spike and currently 8 commenting.

  “There’s a difference between a brand promise and a brand commitment. It’s easy to promise. It’s hard to commit.” – Greg Cordell, Chief Inspiration Officer, Brains on Fire

  I love this nugget. Because we’ve all heard again and again agencies saying, “What is your brand promise?” or “Do people know what your brand promise is?”

  Look, it’s great to have a brand promise. It can communicate the characteristics and value of your offering and what people can expect from you. But as we all know, promises were made to be broken. A promise is a set of words with your intention. But a commitment – that’s action.

  What are you willing to commit to? I mean REALLY commit to. Speaking of committing, our own Geno Church got some new ink last week in Vegas (I promise to post a pic when I get it from him). Now that’s a commitment. Wearing something on your skin that really means something to you and signifies who you are and what you believe in for all the world to see.

  As Cordell said, it’s hard to commit. It’s scary to commit. Because now you’re going to held accountable. You’re going to be held to a higher standard. And you’re placing your reputation squarely on that commitment.

  Brand promises seem to change as often as taglines do. But commitments? Those (should) never change. So – as if you didn’t know this was coming – what is your brand commitment?

  Tags: Brains on Fire, brand commitment, brand promise, Chief Inspiration Officer, geno church, Greg Cordell, tattoo