I'd Rather Be Real than Great

Props to the Hughtrain for the point to Evelyn Rodriguez' blog, Crossroads Dispatches, specifically the post entitled What is Real?

Here's an excerpt - I'd rather be real than great. I have never gained anything I truly wanted from a pure pursuit of greatness. I'm not saying these two are mutually exclusive, but the focus can lead one astray. Nothing kills relationships - personal and professional - quicker than when I stop being real. It's costly in the tangible cash realm too.

Enjoy the read.  And, be sure to read Evelyn's bio here.

Tivo Tests Pop-Up Ads

Matt Haughey over at PVRBlog has a couple of recent posts about the Tivo ad insertion controversy.

Post 1                 Post 2

Here's a news article over at ZDNet.

Looks like Tivo is testing an ad insertion technology that allows "pop-up" ads to be displayed when a user presses the fast forward button (ostensibly to skip the TV commercials).  This really seems strange to me and very counter to the whole Tivo culture.  Don't they realize skipping ads is a key perceived value provided by their equipment? 

Seems like it would be like having a browser pop-up blocker that displayed an ad everytime it blocked a pop-up window.  Is Tivo drinking the Kool Aid, or is someone like Apple going to swoop in with the antidote in time?  Or, will the Tivo community gradually accept the ads and adapt the culture.  I don't think this strategy will work.  I've been wrong.  But, . . . that was a few years back.

March Madness Goes Aquatic

Apparently another Arizona fan attempts suicide after the Wildcats blew a 14-point lead in the waning minutes to catapult Illinois into the Final Four.

Actually, this catfish in Wichita got a basketball (must be kid-sized) stuck in its mouth.  Word is that someone rescued the fish via oral surgery.

Why Aren't You Blogging?

Dave Young over at Branding Blog is the guy who got me started blogging.  I attended his class at Wizard Academy last August.  He is teaching some classes again and if you've needed a jump start to get your blog going, this might be the ticket for you.  He has an audio book out entitled Why We Blog, but the course goes more into the details of how to blog.

Here's the link to the info on the class.

Blogs and the Blogging Bloggers who Blog Them

Very interesting piece about bloggers at the Eide Neurolearning Blog titled Brain of the Blogger.  Got this link from Ageless Marketing Blog.  The Eide blog is the creation of Drs. Fernette and Brock Eide of Edmonds, WA (pictured here).

Here's a summary -

1. Blogs can promote critical and analytical thinking.

2. Blogging can be a powerful promoter of creative, intuitive, and associational thinking.

3. Blogs promote analogical thinking.

4. Blogging is a powerful medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information.

5. Blogging combines the best of solitary reflection and social interaction.

Both of the two blogs mentioned above have some very interesting marketing related content.  The Eide's also have another site Neurolearning and Learning Styles that looks like an excellent resource for educators and parents.

Enjoy.

Pre-bankruptcy Marketing

The airlines marketing gurus are at it again as Seth Godin points out on his blog - Pre-Bankruptcy Marketing.

Also, United is taking American on since American abandoned its "more leg room in coach" policy. American is adding back seats to make customers less comfortable but make more revenue for the airline by having more seats.  United is spending 20 million dollars on an ad  campaign to point this out to flyers.  It must be nice to have your competitor serve up such a nice fat softball. Click here for the article in Advertising Age.

I'm not sure it's a good investment for United to spend $20 million on this either.  The negative word of mouth from American passengers will have more impact (for free) than this whole campaign in my estimation.

Honestly, I think this leg-room decision by American will be one of the many studied by B-schools in the future as to what went wrong with the domestic airline industry.  But maybe I think that because I'm 6'4".  We'll see.  Maybe taking away leg room will turn AA around?

The Empathy Economy

Interesting article by Bruce Nussbaum over at Business Week about using "design thinking" to create rewarding experiences for consumers.

Here's an excerpt -

Quality-management programs can't give you the kind of empathetic connection to consumers that increasingly is the key to opening up new business opportunities. All the B-school-educated managers you hire won't automatically get you the outside-the-box thinking you need to build new brands -- or create new experiences for old brands. The truth is we're moving from a knowledge economy that was dominated by technology into an experience economy controlled by consumers and the corporations who empathize with them.

To read the article => click here.

God Billboards II

Those "billboards from God" are coming back.

Here's the article.

More People Use Christian Media Than Attend Church

New research published by the Barna Group shows that  while 56% of adults attend church services in a typical month, a much larger percentage is exposed to religious information and experiences through various forms of media.  Read the summary <= click there.

Here's a point that was particularly interesting to me - "People under 40 years of age show limited interest in Christian media of any type. Much of the stagnation or decline evident in the audience share statistics is attributable to the relative growth of the Baby Bust and Mosaic generations within the national population."

The research doesn't go into the "whys" of this limited interest, but let me venture an opinion. 

A Meme

This meme was passed along to me from Scott Hodge.
Definition of meme.

What is the total amount of music files on your computer?
Dell Dimension 3000 (home)
Songs: 1957
Capacity 80.0 GB
Available 41.0 GB
Total Songs: 8.77 GB

What is the last CD I bought?
Genius Loves Company – Ray Charles

What was the last song I listened to before reading this message?
Go Your Own Way – Fleetwood Mac

What are 5 songs that I listen to often or mean a lot to me?
The Rose – Bette Midler
With Arms Wide Open – Creed
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For – U2
Glory of Love – Chicago
Cleanin’ Out My Closet – Eminem

OK, not really, let’s see #5 is . . .

What a Wonderful World – Louis Armstrong

I might change this list from time to time. Hard to leave Joe Cocker, Sinatra, Coldplay, Jack Johnson, Judy Collins, et. al. off the list.

Bonus: Favorite Chorus – Ants Marching, Dave Matthews

Take these chances
Place them in a box
Until a quieter time
Lights down, you up and die

Who am I going to pass this on to?
Mike, Kristin and Abi