The first thing we share with clients is that we don’t (just) design products, media or services: we design stories. These stories are then told through those mediums.

Why? Because stories spread. Society is built on stories - every individual and group has stories they pass along. If your customers spread your story, you dont have to pay to broadcast (not that anyone believes ads anymore).

Guy Kawasaki points us to “the best explanation of what makes an idea spread “, by Seth Godin:

http://blog.guykawasaki.com/

The world is a different place. Positioning is dying as consumers learn to spot the facade. Products must now provide real value, beyond the emotional.

“A Diamond is forever” was one of the greatest ad campaigns – you instantly associate it with DeBeers and their compressed coal. Amazing, especially when you consider DeBeers can’t do business in the USA (they’re considered a monopoly) and diamonds are linked with sub-Saharan civil wars, slavery, and worker abuse.

But now 75% of women think a diamond is just a rock. A diamond ring may still be a symbol of undying love, but a diamond necklace isn’t. Wouldn’t you rather get a present that makes your home look stylish, while entertaining you and your friends? What can a diamond necklace do for you? (more…)

“In modern Japanese slang, an otaku refers to an overly obsessive fan of any one particular theme, topic, or hobby.” (wikipedia)

Many hobbyists decide, “hey, I like doing X, I should go into the X business”. It’d be easy for someone who likes biking to consider going into the bike business - but riding a bike has nothing to do with selling one, fixing one, or managing a bike repair crew.

(more…)

Every now and then it pays to pick up a classic and see how marketing philosophy has evolved. Positioning (Ries & Trout) was such a classic. A lot of what it says holds, so toss it onto your reading list, but be warned: much of it is painfully out-of-touch.

Then again, in the pre-Internet days (Page 7: “…Philips has just introduced a 3.5 inch disk that holds 600 megabytes of data”!) businesses and consumers were out of touch. You made a product, and pushed it. There was no “permission marketing“, no online instant feedback, no e-pinions (or blogs!).

But one thing self-proclaimed “gurus” like to do is make blanket statements without data to back them. (more…)

“It” is such an imprecise word that Google doesn’t bother including it in a search, so it’s pretty odd that two big names are selling “it” at the same time: ebay (you can get it on ebay) and Gatorade (is it in you?)

ebay’s “it” tagline is great - because it can mean anything, which is exactly what ebay sells. 

it isn’t going to be a classic for Gatorade, because it also means nothing. Gatorade isn’t making a promise (can they?) and we buy performance boosters because they promise confidence, respect, and acceptance into a team. 

Selling a sporting product is selling confidence, the confidence to “Just do It”.  (more…)