Tasty Links and Learnings

[UPDATED LINKS on 3/7/05]

I found the following links worthy of referring ... enjoy.

Webcast Interview with Dave Balter of BzzAgent
Don’t sleep on this CMO magazine webcast with Dave Balter, CEO of BzzAgent. No matter if you are a BzzAgent devotee or a BzzAgent determined detractor, spend 42 minutes to view/listen to this very informative interview. Dave discusses all aspects of the BzzAgent business and lets us know they recently ran a highy successful BzzCampaign for 20Q … something Brand Examiner evangelized.

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Swingline and the Purple Cow Stapler
From Public Radio’s Marketplace, we learn how Swingline is improving the staid staple. Not much has changed with the stapler in decades. Well, that’s about to change. Listen to learn more.

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Harvard Business Review (March Issue)
Marcus Buckingham’s article on “What Great Managers Do” is a must-read for any manager. The article is superbly well-written, highly informative, and very actionable. I cannot imagine how his forthcoming book could be better than this article. (For more, read this Brand Autopsy blog entry from Mar. 7.)

Expect a blog early next week on my key takeaways from this article.)

The interview with Michael Dell and Kevin Rollins from DELL is also fascinating. I learned more about the culture of DELL in twenty minutes than I have in twenty years. After reading it, I now understand how and why complacency has never and will never creep into the culture of DELL. A truly remarkable read. (For more, read this Brand Autopsy blog entry from Mar. 8.)

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Strategy + Business March Issue
The case study (PDF) on how Home Depot is making its people their competitive advantage is a very interesting read for those who believe every business is in the ‘people business.’

The article (PDF) on the state of the Consumer Packaged Goods business has some juicy nuggets on Wal-Mart’s impact, on the modus operandi of CPG brand managers, and on how CPG companies must relinquish ‘command and control’ management and adopt more of a ‘coordinate and communicate’ management style.

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Wild Ass Freak Show Link-of-the-Week
This inane video snippet reminded of an Improv exercise Andy Crouch, from the Heroes of Comedy, has his students do.

Comments

[jbr]

whoa! you are all over the place today. praise for bzzz, strange videos and in between, thought provoking articles for managers, etc.

by the way, did you drop down to the big grand opening today of WFM? also, did you notice that central mkt hired a PR firm? what's up with that? guess they haven't heard of blogging yet.

[johnmoore (from brandautopsy)]

jbr ... I'll be checking out the new 79,000 square foot Whole Foods Market on Friday.

As for Central Market hiring a PR Firm ... they actually get very good PR in Texas. CM has done a masterful job in positioning themselves as a gourmet grocer.

What's interesting is that outside of Texas, Whole Foods totally owns the gourmet grocer space. However inside Texas, Whole Foods is still regarded by many, including the media, as being a health food store more than a gourmet grocer. This new flagship location in Austin will try to alter that Texas misperception.

[jbr]

well, at 79K feet, that's a lot more than a health food store. i think more people will get the message once they go in there. have fun...hopefully, there will be lots of free samples.