Brand Autopsy

Lessons Learning from Improv

Last fall I finally began taking Improv classes. I say finally because for years that little voice we all have inside of us had been telling me to do it. Plus, since I’ve been evangelizing the merits of Improv in business … I felt it was time to practice what I preach.

After completing 18 weeks of improv comedy classes from the Austin-based Heroes of Comedy improv troupe, I’m set to graduate. For those living in the badlands of Central Texas, you’re invited to our Graduation Show at the Hideout Theatre on Tuesday, May 3 at 8:00 ($5).

I've learned a lot from the classes. But I still have much more to learn about the improv game in order to apply it to my every day business life. That’s why I’m calling the following ... Lessons Learning from Improv.

Failure is an Option
In business we’ve been conditioned to believe failure is bad and most be avoided at all costs. Improv believes in the opposite. In Improv, I’m learning failure is good because it means you are challenging yourself to take chances in pursuit of living in the moment. Failure happens. Mistakes happen. Learn from failures. Learn from mistakes. If we don’t take chances and fail, how else will we ever feel the pleasure of learning?

Practice Passionate Followership
Not everyone can be a leader all the time. Yet in business I’ve been trained to lead or get out of the way. In Improv, I’m learning to be a passionate follower. There is an interdependence in Improv where no one person leads. Instead, everyone leads helping to make the best scene possible.

Don’t Act, React
I’m learning to become a better listener and thus a better reactor. Contrary to what you may think, Improv is not about acting … it’s about reacting. If you act in Improv, then you’re a hack. (If you act in business, you’re also a hack.)

Go with your Gut
So much in business is preplanned. We develop precise, step-by-step action plans accounting for contingencies along the way. At least that’s what big businesses do. On the other hand, small businesses mostly rely on their gut instincts to make decisions and to deal with consequences as they emerge. I’m learning to apply that same thinking in Improv where performers must make lightening-fast decisions based on who they are, where they are, and what they are doing.

Don’t be a Blockhead
We’ve all been in ideation sessions where we’re told to leave our yeah-buts at the door. What if we were to always leave our yeah-buts at the door and instead spend our time supporting ideas and not negating ideas? (Hmm…) I’m learning to do just that through Improv. It’s a difficult lesson for me to learn because my ego tells me I always have the better idea. However, I’m learning to discard my yeah-but negative thinking for the much more positive, trusting, and less ego-driven approach of thinking yes … and.

Trust Others
Deep down inside I don’t trust people as much as I should. Improv is teaching me to trust others more. In business and in Improv, trust is critical to making things happen. At work, you must trust others will deliver on time, on budget, and on strategy. And in Improv, you must trust other players will work together to make things happen in a scene.

Make Others Look Good
In business I was taught to look out for me, myself, and I. (Why else do I feel the need to have a CYA email file?) The ‘me, myself, and I’ attitude doesn’t fly in Improv. I’m learning you are more successful when you make others look good in Improv. It’s living the Vidal Sassoon philosophy of “If you don’t look good, I don’t look good.”

Consumers Are Producers

Tasty, eh?

For more Cluetrain musings on blogging ... experience Doc Searl’s closing keynote from the Les Blogs conference in Paris.

According to Bloggers IV ...

We continue the ACCORDING TO BLOGGERS conversation with Marketing Professor Philip Kotler’s written response to this question:

What are your major disappointments about the state of marketing?

KOTLER: I am appalled by the continuing high rate of new product failure, where something like 80 percent of new consumer packaged goods fail and 30 percent of business-to-business new offerings fail. This is in spite of having great theory about the new product development process and the questions that should be answered at each step before allowing a product under development to move to the next stage.

I also find it embarrassing when direct marketers accept a 1 or 2 percent sales response rate, which means most of the communications were wasted.

I am also unhappy that marketers have not yet developed sufficient tools for measuring marketing ROI or marketing’s contribution to shareholder value

BLOGGERS: What say us? What are our major disappointments about the state of marketing today? Read my thoughts and then add yours.

johnmoore: I’m disappointed too many marketers still believe in making up stories about why a product is special. They continue to engage in outrageously gimmicky attention-grabbing antics that over-promise and woefully under-deliver. These marketers treat consumers as being boring, indifferent, and brainlessly gullible. And we wonder why people today have become jaded, cynical, and distrustful of marketing … hmm.

I’m also disappointed too many marketers choose to spend dollars on making their advertising ‘better’ and forget about spending dollars to make their product/service better.

And, I regret that marketers today would rather create brand awareness more than brand preference. Awareness doesn’t sell, preference does.

According to Bloggers III …

We continue the ACCORDING TO BLOGGERS conversation with Marketing Professor Philip Kotler’s written response to this question:

Where does the CEO or business owner who really isn’t that savvy about marketing begin – aside from reading your books?

KOTLER: Actually, I would propose that one of my books would constitute the best starting point – not my 720-page MARKETING MANAGEMENT (eleventh edition), but my 270-page KOTLER ON MARKETING. It lays out the basic concepts, principles, and strategies. For readers looking for marketing tips, especially for small businesses, Jay Conrad Levinson’s book GUERILLA MARKETING would be useful to read.

BLOGGERS: What say us? Which marketing books, magazines, seminars, etc. do we recommend non-marketing savvy business professionals indulge in to learn about marketing? I've added my thoughts below ... please add your thoughts in the comments section.

johnmoore: Actually, I propose none of Kotler’s books as being the best starting point. Business executives wanting to learn more about marketing should begin first with Bradford Kirk’s LESSONS FROM A CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER. Kirk's book gives the best, most real-world grounded overview of the marketing game I've read. The book is so good, I'm almost reluctant to share it with others for fear of losing a 'knowledge advantage.' Execs should also learn about the emotional/experiential side of marketing through reading Marc Gobe’s EMOTIONAL BRANDING. And, all business professionals from the small-time to the big-time should absorb everything in Seth Godin’s PURPLE COW.

Too Little Too Late

FOX plans to become the first major television broadcaster to offer advertisers the opportunity to customize commercials with different voiceovers, graphics, etc. For example, a Budweiser commercial could be customized to refer to the score of the football game viewers are watching. Or Campbell’s Soup could insert a graphic with the current frigid temperature in the city where the ad is airing. [SOURCE: Wall Street Journal article (sub req’d) | April 21, 2005]

And, some high-end advertisers are beginning to offer high-def versions of their commercials to air on HD broadcasts. Citing spendy incremental costs and low household penetration, very few advertisers are currently offering high-def commercials. HD industry experts believe ad agencies would develop more high-def commercials if they better understood the potential of the medium. [SOURCE: Wall Street Journal article (sub req’d) | April 25, 2005]

Hmm ... no matter the customization or if it’s in high-definition, television commercials will not affect my purchasing behavior. Yours?

According to Bloggers II …

We continue the ACCORDING TO BLOGGERS conversation with Marketing Professor Philip Kotler’s written response to this question:

Could you give a recipe for success for a young professional in marketing?

KOTLER: Marketers must know a lot about marketing research, consumer behavior, advertising, sales promotion, and sales management – the basics of traditional marketing. Today there is a growing need for marketers who have a deep understanding of finance, technology, database marketing, and customer profitability analysis. The ultimate recipe for success is to get great training in marketing and combine it with a creative flair, because in this day and age, companies are desperately seeking new ideas for differenting their offerings.

BLOGGERS: What say us? What’s our recipe for a young marketing professional? I’ve added my recipe below, please add your recipe in the comments section.

johnmoore: In my opinion, the recipe for a successful young marketing professional is …

2 parts broad-based marketing management knowledge (as noted above by Kotler)

1 part Champion who can sell/position ideas and programs within a company for maximum buy-in

1 part Servant Leader who practices empathy, genuineness, and honesty in the workplace

1 part dedication to making decisions based upon customers living on Main Street and not analysts living on Wall Street

and a dash of curiosity … successful marketers are a curious bunch

Mix all parts in a pot, place on atop a burner, and heat to a slow simmer - never a boil

Ken Ferree, the indifferent CEO

I’m not sure if this is refreshing or regrettable. In a Q&A with the NY Times (req. req'd), Ken Ferree, the CEO of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), openly admits he doesn’t really watch CPB supported/funded PBS television programs nor does he go out of his way to listen to CPB supported/funded NPR radio programs.

NY TIMES: What PBS shows do you like?
Ken Ferree: I'm not much of a TV consumer. I like ''Masterpiece Theater'' and some of the ''Frontline'' shows. I like ''Antiques Roadshow'' and ''Nova.'' I don't know. What's your favorite show?

NY TIMES: It would probably be the ''NewsHour With Jim Lehrer.''
Ferree: Yes, Lehrer is good, but I don't watch a lot of broadcast news. The problem for me is that I do the Internet news stuff all day long, so by the time I get to the Lehrer thing . . . it's slow. I don't always want to sit down and read Shakespeare, and Lehrer is akin to Shakespeare. Sometimes I really just want a People magazine, and often that is in the evening, after a hard day.

NY TIMES: For the head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, you don't sound like much of a PBS viewer. Perhaps you prefer NPR, which your organization also finances?
Ferree: No. I do not get a lot of public radio for one simple reason. I commute to work on my motorcycle, and there is no radio access.

Interesting … an indifferent CEO.

Wouldn’t you want your CEO to be a Champion for the products and services your company creates for people? Sure it's refreshing for a CEO not to be an over-the-top cheerleader who regurgitates the company talking points at the drop of a hat. However, I’d feel much better working for a company with a CEO who is publicly supportive of what the company does.

Then again, the CPB is a US government-created organization and we’ve come to expect indifference from government workers.

According to Marketing Bloggers …

Did you notice Marketing Professor Philip Kotler’s latest book? ACCORDING TO KOTLER is essentially a marketing FAQ with Kotler’s take on all things marketing-related.

Not that we shouldn’t take Professor Kotler’s word on everything marketing -- he is the world’s foremost authority on marketing after all. However, I thought it would be interesting to take the congregation is smarter than the preacher approach by asking Marketing Bloggers the same questions answered by Kotler in the book.

For the next month (or so) I’ll post questions asked of Kotler out to Marketing Bloggers to give their well-informed and passionate answers. In ACCORDING TO BLOGGERS (jpg), I bet we'll learn the congregation of Marketing Bloggers is smarter than the Marketing Professor.

First question for us is: Are the 4Ps still a useful framework for marketing decision making?

KOTLER: The 4Ps still provide a useful framework for marketing planning. However, they represent the seller’s thinking more than the buyer’s thinking. The 4Ps can be converted to the 4Cs as follows:

Product becomes Customer Value.

Price becomes Customer Costs.

Place becomes Customer Convenience.

Promotion becomes Customer Communications.

The 4Cs remind us that customers want value, low total costs, high convenience, and communication, not promotion.

BLOGGERS: What say us? Do we think the 4Ps are still useful? Do we think Kotler’s 4Cs thinking is more relevant for today’s marketplace? I've added my thoughts in the comments section, you're welcome to do the same.

Marketing Lessons Learned from FREAKONOMICS

This weekend I read FREAKONOMICS with rapt attention. The authors, economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner, apply economic measuring tools to reveal, in a fascinating way, how and why conventional wisdom is oftentimes wrong.

The material covered in FREAKONOMICS could serve as Malcolm Gladwell book fodder for eons to come. And just as with Gladwell’s writings, the takeaways from FREAKONOMICS are not readily apparent, nor immediately applicable in a business sense.

While there are many lessons to be learned from FREAKONOMICS, I came away with four lessons learned I plan to use as a marketer.

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Marketing lesson learned #1 … demystifying the assumption the amount of money spent by political candidates matter greatly in an election.

What really matters for a marketing campaign is not how much you spend on tactics. What matters most is what your product/service can do.

*****************************************************

Marketing lesson learned #2 … demystifying how monetary incentives (and disincentives) results in changing one’s behavior in an unintended manner. [LINK: book excerpt on incentives and the dark-side of cheating]

Don’t think a customer loyalty program which doles out monetary incentives will alter consumer behavior for the better. Instead, find ways to base so-called customer loyalty programs on social currencies like recognition and admiration.

*****************************************************

Marketing lesson learned #3 … how the diffusion of information eradicates the power of knowledge being a leverageable asset in business. [LINK: book excerpt on how experts try (and have tried) to use knowledge as leverage]

The abundance and availability of information today makes storytelling more important than ever for marketers. Storytelling, not information, is the new leverage-able asset in business. (This ‘storytelling’ story is one Seth Godin tells in his to-be-published book ALL MARKETERS ARE LIARS.)

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Marketing lesson learned #4 … how conventional wisdom is a powerful story most people want to believe even when shown sound analysis to the contrary. [LINK: book excerpt on why drug dealers still live with their Moms]

Don’t try to change one’s conventional wisdom by marketing how your product/service upends one’s thinking -- it’ll take too much money and time. Instead, success will come truer if you focus on telling your product’s story to people who are more inclined to believe your story from the get-go. (Again, this marketing lesson learned has been shaped by Godin’s LIAR thinking.)

Presentations from WOMMA 2005

I've already shared my takeaways from the WOMMA Summit 2005. Now ... you can develop your takeaways by viewing the presentations (for free) and listening to the presentations (for a fee).

Must see presentations include:

State of the Industry
Andy Sernovitz, CEO of WOMMA
LINK to pdf

Word-of-Mouth Overview
Dave Balter, BzzAgent CEO
LINK to pdf

Ethics in Word of Mouth Marketing
Andy Sernovitz, CEO of WOMMA
LINK to pdf

Measuring Word of Mouth
Jonathan Carson, BuzzMetrics President & CEO
LINK to pdf

State of Word of Mouth -- Consumer Perspective
Ed Keller, CEO of NOP World
LINK to pdf

Consumer Empowerment and Word of Mouth
Pete Blackshaw (Intelliseek) & Jim Nail (Forrester Research)
LINK to pdf

10 Questions Marketers Should Ask
Emanuel Rosen, author of "The Anatomy of Buzz"
LINK to pdf

Creating Customer Evangelists
Jackie Huba, co-author of "Creating Customer Evangelists"
LINK to pdf

Starbucks Need for Speed

Reveries has a nice sum-up of the Wall Street Journal article on Starbucks need for speed.

For years now Starbucks has been fixated on reducing customer wait time (i.e. speed of service). However, at some point a fixation can become an obsession and not all obsessions are healthy.

From the WSJ article, “This is a game about seconds,” says Silvia Peterson, Starbucks director of store operations engineering, adding that she and her team of 10 engineers are constantly asking themselves: “How can we shave time off this?”

It occurs to me Starbucks used to be obsessive about quality. Now they seem to be obsessive about quantity.

My Starbucks Tribal Knowledge tells me this …

“People will wait for a burger – it’s lunch.”
-- Howard Behar, long-time influential SBUX executive --

And people will wait for coffee. It’s just coffee after all.

Resistance is Futile

Guy Kawasaki’s Art of the Start may serve as a guide for starting anything. But ... Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art will help you finish what you started by inspiring you to overcome the self-sabotaging power of Resistance.

After all as Steven writes, “The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.” (pg 12, The War of Art)

If you, like me, are turning your avocation into your vocation, read this book. Don't resist. Read it now.

Further Learning:

Excerpts of The War of Art | from stevenpressfield.com

Audio Interview | audiomotivation.com

The Focus Group as a TV Talk Show

Mary Lou Quinlan, Founder and CEO of Just Ask a Woman, has a remarkable twist on focus group methodology – turn it into a TV Talk Show.

From the Just Ask a Woman website:

”Using a format inspired by TV talk shows, this methodology compensates for all that is evil about focus groups. No 2-way mirror. No sterile room. No disengaged moderator. No strip mall facility. Twenty-five women become the "audience" of a two-hour talk show about you. Our scripts are insightful and allow for your customers to lead the discussion while we track to ensure your questions are answered. We have a reputation for recruiting outstanding women who meet your customer demographics and psychographics, not focus group professionals and wallflowers. The results are unparalleled and credited for building product ideas and categories, inspiring relevant communications and articulating brand promises.

We've conducted "episodes" in categories including health, finance, beauty, fashion, stress, technology, violence, home decorating, food, automotive, toys and insurance. These sessions provide an opportunity for product sampling, building consumer advisory boards and initiating viral marketing campaigns. When women leave a LIVE session, they talk about your brand and the experience!”

Stream a four-minute story [real player] on Just Ask A Woman via public radio's Marketplace.

Innovative Index

While I expect a book about creative problem solving to inspire me with innovative ideas, I don't expect the book itself to necessarily be innovative in its approach. "The Creative Problem Solver's Toolbox" by Richard Fobes offers something I'd never seen before.

I wanted to look up different ways to illustrate ideas or visual thinking...

The index lists...

Visually, thinking 128.1 - 131.5

What's with the decimals?

I saw the graphic (shown here) at the beginning of the index. This is what the author wrote...

"Page numbers are given in tenths. The number to the left of the decimal point is the page number. The digit (0-9) to the right of the decimal point indicates how far down the page, as indicated on the ruler to the right, to find the referenced paragraph."

Wouldn't you know... when I turned to page 128, just about 3/4-of-an-inch from the top of the page he started describing visual thinking.

Pretty cool. What a great idea. Fobes has made it much easier to get to where you want to go within his book. (By the way, his book is chock full of excellent problem solving techniques - a worthy reference).

Making Over the CBS Evening News

Leslie Moonves, CBS chairman, wants to reinvent the CBS Evening News broadcast which has “aired fundamentally unchanged for more than 40 years.” Despite generating at least $100M a year in ad revenue, viewership of the CBS Evening News has fallen significantly in the past decade and the average age of its viewer has risen to nearly 60.

The NY Times asked four media notables to kibitz over how they would remake the CBS Evening News to be more relevant. [Article link (reg. req’d.)]

Lizz Winstead, co-creater of the Daily Show, suggests CBS should take more of a nonpartisan editorial stance by telling how other media outlets (Fox, MSNBC, NY Times) are covering stories and pointing out where they have it right and wrong. Lizz also thinks a panel discussion should be incorporated into the half-hour newscast where she proposes creatively using the CBS eye icon to provide subtle commentary on the panelists' contributions.

Mark Burnett, of Survivor and Apprentice fame, litters his take on remaking the CBS Evening News with megalomaniac musings. Check out this egotistical drivel, “Of all the people you’re likely to speak to, I’m the most likely to get it right – because I have my finger on the pulse of young people.” (No wonder he and The Donald hit it off so well.) Burnet’s advice to CBS? Sensationalize the newscast by having field correspondents be news agitators more than news reporters.

Don Hewitt, founder/longtime exec. producer of 60 Minutes, suggests CBS should add young-skewing thought-provoking commentary at the end of each newscast from the likes of Jon Stewart and Ellen DeGeneres. He also suggests adding more of a female voice in front of the camera, behind the camera, and in the stories themselves.

In my opinion, the best advice on remaking the CBS Evening News comes from Al Primo, broadcast news pioneer. Al opines,

“I've seen enough research in the kind of work I do to be absolutely 100 percent sure that the evening network newscasts have no relevance to people's lives.

I would, first of all, say to CBS, "Forget about being the newscast of record." There is no need for a newscast of record when you have CNN and Fox and news radio all day long, and even Google News.

The newscast has to be designed to work across many platforms. So while you'd have an anchor desk, you'd also have an Internet site on the left hand side of the set. You'd have monitors and a group of people monitoring blogs. Young people are multitasking all the time. They watch television and work the Internet at the same time. You have to have a component in there where you push that part of the show - what's the audience telling us, in real time, on the Internet.

The newscast would also be simulcast on the radio every single night, coast to coast. And it could sell its own ads on the radio. Most everybody I know in the world - in their car, at their desk, on the train - is away from the television set when the news is on. This gives them the opportunity to listen to the newscast on the radio. You would also have it sent to satellite radio.

I would also advise that on at least three nights - Thursday, Friday, Monday - that there be a sports segment. For the Final Four, you could bring in Greg Gumbel and Jim Nantz, two sportscasters who already work for CBS. We're trying to make a show that's interesting and compelling to watch. You'd have him sitting next to the anchor, not just out there in TV land.

The new newscast has to emphasize enterprise reporting. I don't mean investigative reporting; I don't mean four-month old studies on crime. I'm talking about stories that nobody else has, or that are highly interesting. For example, I would have a business unit that has only one job: to pore over reports from companies. You can say, "Company XYZ filed its 1090 form today and guess what: Joe Shmo, the CEO, made $75 million." Then you go out and get him. Chase him down the hall. I call this little thing "the High-Interest Business Report," instead of those Dow Jones averages that are on the air every single day.

You've got to have fun with these things. One of the things we learned doing research for the teen program is that young people like to laugh. They like to laugh at their elders, to see examples of waste, to see examples of who is getting away with what. This should have a sort of edginess. You've got to find a way to do that on the network level, not just the local level.

Okay … let’s throw it out to you … how would you remake the CBS Evening News to increase its relevancy given today’s micro media landscape?

Chaos, Revolution, and Micro Media

UPDATED (4/13) -- Link to Bob Garfield's "Chaos Scenario" article.

In this week’s Advertising Age, Bob Garfield examines what happens if the traditional marketing model collapses before a better alternative is established. In the “Chaos Scenario” piece, Bob joins our chorus in singing the exuberance for the “democratized, consumer-empowered, bottom-up” world of micro media.

The article is far too deep and wide-ranging to adequately summarize it on a blog posting.

Good thing Bob recorded a 12-minute synopsis which recently aired on NPR’s All Things Considered. Listen to the story by clicking here (.wma file). (A transcript will be available on the afternoon of April 13 at onthemedia.org.)

While I will not attempt to summarize the article, I will share a few interesting takeaways.

Rishad Tobaccowala, president of Starcom IP, made a brilliant observation about the shortcomings of how we still try to measure advertising. In the article Rishad is quoted as saying,

“The [ad] industry’s key currency is basically reach, frequency, exposure and cost per thousand. And where the currency out to be is about outcomes, engagement and effectiveness. Because right now all I’m doing is I’m measuring how cheaply or how expensively I’m buying the pig. I’m not figuring out whether or not the hot dog tastes good.”

Right on Rishad! Reach/Frequency is so yesterday and Remarkability/Fanaticism is so today.

Rishad also made some keen observations about how the fall of mass media will bring about the disappearance of economies of scale. Bob Garfield writes,

“The whole point of new media is small ball. Quit playing for the three-run homer and amass the singles and doubles. Because, says Starcon’s Tobaccoowala, ‘the key thing sis the economies of scale is going to disappear. That’s really what the issue is. Our business [advertising] has been built on the economies of scale. And instead we’re going to go into the economies of re-aggregation. Which is how do you get 10, 20, 30, 40 thousand people instead of talking in 250 million and making them into 12 and 30 million dollar segments. How do you re-aggregate one at a time the tens of thousands?’”

Micro media will definitely redefine how we marketers look at cost-per-thousand figures. Is it time we readjust our media math thinking to cost-per-individual?

Speaking of individuals, Garfield sums up the impact micro media will have on society by writing,

“It is a beautiful thing: the total democratization of media, combined with the total addressability of marketing communications. We, the people, cease to be demographics. We become individuals again.”

Right on Bob. Right on.

[Blogger's note ... others are blogging about this great story too -- Scoble & Winsor.

Never Blog Alone

Through blogging I have been able to address an opportunity area of mine -- NETWORKING. I could be better at meeting new people and making meaningful connections with them. However through this blog, I have become more proactive in reaching out to meet new people and make meaningful connections with them.

Recently I read Keith Ferrazzi’s Never Eat Alone and it helped to me to redefine what real networking is. According to Keith, "... real networking is about finding ways to make other people more successful. [It’s] about working hard to give more than you get.” (Given that definition, maybe I'm not such a poor networker.)

Never Eat Alone is a way worthy read as it gives practical advice on how to make the most out of attending conferences, how to expand your circle of contacts, and how to build your network BEFORE you need it.

I recommend you buy the book, but you can also get the gist of Never Eat Alone from these links:

INC Magazine | The 10 Secrets of a Master Networker | January 2003

SUMMARY | Notes from David Moradi (.doc) | website

Never Eat Alone Blog

EXCERPTS | from the FerrazziGreenlight website

Crest Violates the Law of the Category

Crest is reviving its “Crest Kid” advertising campaign which first appeared in 1956. After looking at the new creative, I’m struck less with the obvious nod to diversity and more with the change in message strategy.

The Norman Rockwell creative from the 50s clearly promotes the category of cavity-free teeth with the headline of “Look, Mom – no cavities.” While the up-to-date version focuses more on the Crest brand with the “Look Mom, I’m the new Crest kid!” headline.

Admittedly, the modern ad is cleaner, but I think the vintage ad is stronger.

It’s stronger because Crest uses copy to promote the effect of using Crest toothpaste -- no cavities. The updated version evokes brand egotism without a clear explanation of why Crest is better than any other toothpaste on the market.

Al and Laura Ries would say Crest is violating the Law of the Category which says … “leading brands should promote the category, not the brand.” Given this thinking, I contend Crest is in violation of the "The Law of the Category."

"Mark This Ticket Resolved"

SHORT VERSION OF THIS POST (The Summary)

Movable Type provides kick-butt support for their products. Their Help Ticket system and user support team is fast, responsive, and thorough.

Their team member Kymberlie "saved the day" for me by helping me get my blog up and running. She "saved a customer" for Six Apart by being so swift and helpful.

If you are contemplating investing in Movable Type - do it.
If you are afraid you can't handle the technology - don't worry. You're in good hands with their on-line Knowledge Base and Help Ticket system.

LONG VERSION OF THIS POST (The Background)

I've made the leap (both financial and technical) to Movable Type (MT) software. MT is the user configurable, Grande version of TypePad.

The reasons for this purchase were that I wanted...
a) more control over the look of my Idea Sandbox blog, and
b) a URL linked to my domain name (idea-sandbox.com/blog vs. idea-sandbox.typepad.com)

I've monkeyed with the personal version of MT in the past and found its references to PERL, SQL and CSS just beyond my geek abilities.

However, I noticed a 30-day money back guarantee on the MT website and proceeded under an "if I can't figure it out, I'll get my money back" premise.

I paid. I downloaded the source files. I followed the thorough instructions letter-by-letter. (Fellas, these aren't like IKEA instructions that you can fake and be a hero. You've actually gotta read 'em... completely).

I learned about MySQL. I found the path to PERL. I changed file permissions. (755 is a key number). All seemed to be going well.

However, when it came time to run the test files - it crashed.

I tweaked the code.

It crashed again.

I saw that you could submit a help ticket to MT, but assumed, like most other form/e-mail based "help" systems, you'll be lucky to receive an auto-response let alone a note from a real person.

I created a help ticket and grabbed a quick dinner. To my surprise, I had a reply waiting in my inbox when I came back to my PowerBook.

It took me several tickets and lots of modification of .cgi and .cfg files...

I'm still tweaking the templates to get it to look exactly like I want... But, I'm 90% there...

Two neat stories, then I'm signing off...

A woman named Kymberlie helped me with my ticketS - and ended up sticking with me until I was up and running! You get an idea of how much help I needed... She cheerfully and accurately guided me through the set-up process step-by-step.

Last Tuesday Kymberlie responded to my help tickets at:

12:30 in the afternoon - TICKET 1. This was one of my first cries for help. She was there again at...

10:54 pm at night - TICKET 2, and still at...

11:25 pm - TICKET 3

The next morning she was back again helping me at...

8:36 am - TICKET 4

8:40 am - TICKET 5 (she asked me for some detailed ftp information to help me where I couldn't help myself)

At 8:56 am, I changed my files to what she suggested in the previous message and I was up and running!

I checked the box -> MARK THIS TICKET RESOLVED

Sarah helped me with some style sheet coding... Even though my questions were beyond the scope of the type of support MT provides... she was cool enough to suggest some coding AND gave me four different links to websites that would solve my problem.

You can't beat customer service like that!

Thank you to the MT Support Team!

Kasparov on Business and Chess

The April edition of the Harvard Business Review has a great interview with Garry Kasparov, the recently retired World Chess Champion.

The interview explores the rich territory of chess as an analogy for business strategy/competition. It is a way worthy read for all and below you’ll find a scalpel/suture of my key takeaways from the interview.

Kasparov on … Chess as an Analogy for Business Competition

“There’s a massive amount of uncertainty and almost boundless variety in terms of the moves you can make in both chess and business. Think about it: After just three opening moves by a chess player, more than 9 million positions are possible. And that’s when only two players are involved in the game. Now imagine all the possibilities faced by companies with a whole host of corporations responding to their new strategies, pricing, and products. The unpredictability is almost unimaginable.”

Kasparov on … What it takes to be a Grandmaster CEO

“There is nothing cute or charming about chess; it is a violent sport, and when you confront your opponent you set out to crush his ego. The world chess masters with whom I have competed over the years nearly all share my belief that chess is a battleground on which the enemy has to be vanquished. This is what it means to be a chess player, and I cannot imagine that it is very different from what it takes to be a top-ranked CEO.”

Kasparov on … What Businesspeople can Learn from Winning Chess

”The first rule is: Never, ever, underestimate your opponent. Whenever I am playing at grand master levels, I always, always assume that my competitor is going to see everything I do—even when I plan to make an unexpected move in order to confuse him.”

“It’s also critical to keep a psychological edge. I am not a big fan of pop psychology, but I do believe that getting the other guy off balance is a real skill. You have to go on fighting even if you are in a winning position—in fact, especially if you are in a winning position.”

“You also have to make yourself comfortable in the enemy’s territory. If you can convince your enemy that you’re comfortable on their ground, then you can often trick them into moving into your own territory.”

Kasparov on … Intuition in Chess (and Business)

“… it takes more than logic to be a world-class chess player. Intuition is the defining quality of a great chess player. That’s because chess is a mathematically infinite game. The total number of possible different moves in a single game of chess is more than the number of seconds that have elapsed since the big bang created the universe. I can think maybe 15 moves in advance, and that’s about as far as any human has gone. Inevitably you reach a point when you’ve got to navigate by using your imagination and feelings rather than your intellect or logic. At that moment, you are playing with your gut.”

“It’s often at the very toughest moments of their chess battles—when they [great chess players] had to rely on pure intuition—that great players came up with their best, most innovative moves.”

Kasparov on … Staying Competitive After Accomplishing Everything

” Where does a virtuoso go after he has accomplished everything that he’s ever wanted to accomplish, even beyond his wildest imagination? This is the question for all world masters, whether they’re in business, sports, or chess.”

"I call it the champion’s dilemma, and it’s a real problem for people and companies at the top of their game. In the end, I believe that there is only one answer: You must be lucky in your enemies.”

“For me it was Karpov, Karpov, Karpov. If it were not for Karpov, I would probably be the victim of the same complacency that dooms most other people. But in Karpov I found my archenemy, whom I had to fight. He never gave me the time to enjoy my title.”

“Without Bill Gates, Steve Jobs would surely not be the man he is today. If Karpov had not existed, you might not be talking to me today.”