Brains on Fire

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  Inspiration.

  Posted on February 6th, 2012 by Robbin and currently 8 commenting.

  
  The Erics, looking for inspiration.

  Hello! Hope you’re excited about the week ahead of you. I am.

  About a year or so ago, I posted a blog asking YOU a simple question. And since I LOVED the answers and they all inspired me, I am asking again…

  I really need you guys today.

  I love writing. Think I have shared this before, but I believe writing inspires thinking and exploring and sharing. And thinking and exploring and sharing are good things.

  If you are reading this and hanging out with us, I have to believe you think we add value in your life.

  So, I have a question for you:

  If you and I could spend an entire day together — or if you and anyone from Brains on Fire could spend an entire day together — out walking in the sunshine or drinking some beers or sitting on the side of a mountain, what would you want to talk about?

  I need a little bit of inspiration today. I guess we all do some days. And because I am crazy about you, I’d love for that inspiration to come from you.
  Send me some questions or just your thoughts. I promise I will use your inspiration wisely.

  OXOXOX,
  Robbin

  Tags: inspiration
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  The Power of Kindness.

  Posted on February 2nd, 2012 by Robbin and currently 4 commenting.

  
  Fresh flowers from Libby William’s Photoblog.

  The other day I got a note in the mail. The old fashion “ink on paper” kind. It started like this:

  Dearest Darling Robbin,
  
  Hmmmm.

  I have to tell you in the middle of my crazy, busy, over stimulated workday, those words stopped me dead in my tracks. I took a deep breath and smiled at the “over the top-ness” of this salutation. What came after that was nothing short of the kindest words anyone’s written to me in a long time. Just a couple of heartfelt observations mixed in with some wit and honesty.

  It was a nice gentle break from the tasks in front of me.

  This note was from a guy who I’ve known for sometime. We’re friends in the true sense of the word having lived as neighbors for a few years. But these days with our kids grown, we’re mostly business friends.

  I thought to myself. How simple it is to write a note of gratitude. To sit quietly for a little part of your day and write fearlessly from the heart without the worry of sounding silly or unprofessional.

  It was a nice reminder that kindness is underrated.

  Don’t you think?

  And you know what? Later that day, I found myself paying this unexpected kindness forward. Without even realizing it was happening really. Don’t you love how that works?

  How will you use the power of kindness today?

  Tags: Kindness, Libby Williams
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  Emotional Marketing: Speak to the Heart

  Posted on January 24th, 2012 by amy and currently 4 commenting.

  There I was, standing in Target on an average Saturday afternoon – when I saw him. From down the aisle I could see his big, brown eyes staring at me, the corners of his mouth turned up with a hint of hopefulness from under his soft whiskers. The instant I saw him, I knew what I had to do. I had to put back the “on sale” dishwashing soap and buy Dawn instead.

  

  EMOTIONAL MARKETING: SPEAK TO THE HEART

  As I stood in Target toiling over the purchase of a dish soap refill last weekend, it occurred to me that I have become unusually loyal to my liquid dish soap. In reality, this loyalty has very little to do with dishes, and much to do with Dawn’s turn-my-heart-to-mush marketing. Marketing that has been so effective, in fact, that every time I purchase a dish soap refill, I view myself as singlehandedly responsible for the well-being and survival of the baby seal (or baby penguin or baby duck…) featured on their packaging. In my mind, purchase of a competitor’s brand = “I hate baby seals,” while purchase of Dawn = “I have just made an investment in this little creature which will ensure he continues to live out his days happily sliding down snowbanks, getting into shenanigans with his baby seal friends.”

  TURNING “THEM” AND “ME” INTO “WE”

  A quick glimpse at how Dawn is leveraging emotion to turn average dishwashers into animal-saving superheroes…(and consequently, inspiring people to get passionate about their dish soap.)

  • As featured in their commercials, Dawn is a preferred partner in helping clean cute little critters after an oil spill. While the spirit of the commercial is undeniably philanthropic, it also subtly reiterates the message that their product works. If Dawn is tough enough to clean up a wriggly, oily otter and gentle enough for a baby duck, just imagine what it will do for your dishes and your hands. Instead of jamming an obvious “WE ARE SO GREAT!” message down our throats, Dawn appeals to consumer emotion, letting the message speak for itself – through their actions.
  • As noted on the bottle, Dawn consumers can visit a website to enter the code found on the label. For each code entered, Dawn will donate $1 toward wildlife rescue. (And in fact they have – donating $500,000 in the past year.) By offering a way to actively participate in their philanthropic giving, Dawn positions consumers to become a hero before they’ve even opened the bottle. All they have to do is go home, log online and enter their code. Good karma at the click of a button, warm fuzzies between consumer and brand.
  • As an animal lover, this philanthropic partnership between the brand and consumer sends a message to my mind and heart: my passion is their passion. And that makes it our passion. Instead of a “them” and a “me,” we become a WE – working in harmony for a cause near and dear to my heart. I feel good about myself, my purchase and the brand. The brand gains a loyal fan in spirit. What does that mean? It means I talk about their brand and their mission with the people I know. I feel compelled to Tweet about, and hold htem up as an exemplary case study in emotional marketing. It means I find myself standing in Target unable to bring myself to purchase another brand of dish soap. And I think we can all agree that’s all worth so much more than a Facebook “like.”

  THE LOGIC OF EMOTION

  At the end of the day we’re talking about a product intended to wash dishes – not save the world, right? So what is it about Dawn’s marketing that compels me choose their product (and pay more for it) over another (equally effective) competitor?

  In his article, “People Buy Based on Emotion and Justify with Logic,” Brian Ahern explores the influence of emotion on action.

  Feelings are incredibly powerful. No matter how much we’d like to believe we’re rational creatures who occasionally act emotionally, the truth is, we’re actually emotional beings who occasionally act rationally.

  Why is this so often the case? Because of how we’re wired; how our brains work. When I say the word “elephant,” you have a picture of an elephant in your mind. You may picture an African elephant with tusks, a smaller Asian elephant without dusks, the lovable Dumbo or perhaps an elephant toy you played with as a child. Whatever the case, you have a picture in your mind. That’s because we translate words into pictures.
  

  Next in the process come feelings. The mental image of an elephant generates a certain set of feelings in you. Perhaps you have memories of an elephant you saw in a movie, maybe you thought of a trip to the zoo or you had feelings attached to memories of the toy you played with as a child. It’s those feelings that ultimately lead to action. It’s a process; words create pictures, pictures lead to feelings and feelings culminate in actions. [1]

  So let’s take it back to the dish soap example. Logically, I realize that a competitor’s brand will probably clean just as well as Dawn. At the end of the day, I will have sparkling, clean dishes whether I use Dawn or another brand. And the other brand will likely cost less. Logic says buy the soap on sale, save a dollar, clean the dishes and be merry. On the other hand, Dawn’s marketing message has been deeply rooted in my soft, mushy, animal-loving heart. Emotion says: buy Dawn, support something you believe in, help them make the world a better place. Be part of something bigger than dishwashing.

  And am I going to say no to THAT?

  ——————————————-

  YOUR TURN TO CHIME IN: When was the last time emotional marketing won over your heart (and/or dollars)? Was it the delight of receiving free samples with a Sephora purchase? Or the emotional reward of knowing your Chipotle burrito helped support local, family farms?

  Tags: brian ahern, dawn, dish soap, Emotion, emotional marketing, wildlife
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  The Art of the Imperfect: Mix Tape

  Posted on January 23rd, 2012 by Geno and currently 0 commenting.

  Mix tapes were the social media of my teenage days. My friends and I carefully crafted playlists to share with each other, layering song after song in the hopes that we could produce a magical, imperfect mix tape. I’m not sure my goal was to ever make the perfect mix tape. I was always inspired to throw a random, wild card song in the mix, and it always got a response “Wow, that track #5 was something!”
   
  Even the artwork on our cassettes was magically imperfect. Drawn with colored pencils, magic markers and hand-written notes. More than a track listing, they were like musical diaries.
   
  But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s talk about friends, high school friends. My nickname in high school was “Freak.” Why? Because I walked the line of an athlete and I played in a band. My best friends became my friends through music. We made mix tapes to get to know each other, impress each other and inspire each other. Those tapes turned a car ride with friends into a Wayne’s World movie scene. And admit it, a mix tape was the perfect way to break the ice with the opposite sex. So, I think it’s pretty fair to say mix tapes were – and still are - social media.
   
  Today it’s hard to get your hands around all the social media we are creating. We all work so hard to create conversations and collect eyeballs – brands, marketers and people. Brands get frustrated at marketers if fans don’t like, post, comment, tweet and recommend. Marketers freak if people don’t do any of those things. Then you have people, everyday people, conditioned by the lure of social media gratification that says we should expect people to respond to all our photos, updates and tweets. I’m not judging – I do the same thing.
   
  We have busy lives in the real world and the virtual world. We dance between them with old friends, new friends, things we love and things we love to hate. That’s why sometimes I just want something to hold that’s real and imperfect, like a mix tape. They were a collection of a person’s likes, time and generosity. Something personal for another human being.
   
  I’m not saying you should make a mix tape for your client, your customer or a friend, but you could do something magically imperfect. Write a hand-written note. Invite someone for lunch. The point is the mix tape is about simple stuff you share in common with people you know. It’s you putting you into something that you hope will be meaningful to the recipient.
   
  And remember embrace imperfection… after all we’re all human. 

  Tags: Brains on Fire, geno church, Mixtapes, Social media, Word of Mouth
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  A Year for More Picnics: Logging Off to Live Better

  Posted on January 18th, 2012 by amy and currently 8 commenting.

  

  According to a 2011 Nielsen study, Americans spent 53.5 billion total minutes on Facebook last May. Collectively, that factors out to roughly 101,720 years – in a month. On a per user level, that means each user spent about 6.5 hours (roughly a full work day) of their life each month scrolling through status updates.

  Our newest Brains on Fire client hails from the DIY world. As we have delved into their universe, it has given me pause to consider the ways in which I use my hands. Along the way, I have come to the conclusion that I spend entirely too much time typing, scrolling and clicking, and not nearly enough time creating, exploring and doing.

  A few months ago, I blogged about my predictions for the future of Word of Mouth Marketing: The Art of We. More recently, Robbin blogged about how Unplugging is the New Black. As we continue to put increased value on personal time, real life and real time, I expect we will also begin to consider the things we do (or don’t do) with our time and our hands, and how those choices add to or detract from our quality of life.

  You often hear people wish for “an extra hour in the day.” We could do a lot with 6.5 extra hours per week. Meet a friend for coffee. Write and mail a real letter. Take the dog for a walk. Opt for the scenic route. Go on a picnic. Visit a library.

  I am willing to bet there has never been a person in history who reached to the end of their life and wished they had taken fewer picnics. I doubt any of us will wish we had spent more time tweeting.

  My Klout score is about to take a big hit, because this year I am making a commitment to spend less personal time online – and start making better use of my minutes and my hands. I want to create more and click less. I want to experience things as they happen – instead of retrospectively through the social media lens. I want to document my life in precious memories and present moments, not scrolling backwards through a virtual timeline.

  Your turn to chime in: How do you find balance between your real life and social media life? Do you feel your use of social media hinders your ability to enjoy your real life to the fullest? What would you like to do with your time and hands in 2012?

  Tags: art of we, Brains on Fire, real life, return to real life, Social media, unplugging, unplugging is the new black