LEGO Brand

One of the most inspirational, FUN and successful brands of all time is LEGO: Lego Toys. A children's toy company. However, LEGO is so much more than simply a toy company. It's PLAY at work. Is there anything, any 'thing' more important than our children's imagination at work? Lego's brand framework celebrates OUR FUTURE. It celebrates the JOY of building, creativity, curiosity and FUN. Wow. Now THAT is a great place to play and work. The LEGO brand framework is the backbone and foundation of the company. And you know what TOYS and systems and playful work we are talking about here - for generations. I know firsthand as a parent (of 3), the role LEGO has played in our family - and hope one day my daughter is at Purdue University (as she dreams today as a young middle schooler) majoring in sustainable engineering building processes. She has built LEGO systems and structures since she could pull herself up to the lego pieces on a table and get busy creating a new world. The LEGO brand building framework enables her imagination and creativity to soar. The JOY of building. The mutual value created between customer and company. Inventing the future of play and inspiring and developing the builders of tomorrow. Imagination. Creativity. Fun. Learning. Caring. Quality. Connected. Systems thinking. Wow. LEGO is alive and well and one of the most inspirational brands and companies on the planet today. They have embraced the digital playfield and social media generation as well as any firm and they have always stayed TRUE to their brand building foundation. Marketing Directors - does your brand or service have a foundation? Do you have a brand framework with a mission, promise and spirit that builds on this foundation? If YES, then this should be the driving force behind all your marketing and media plans. If NO, I strongly encourage you to sit down and put into WORDS, what your business or service means to you, your customers, and all your potential stakeholders. Who does your product or service serve? Why? What is your mission & spirit? Who do you care deeply for? With LEGO - they have made it very explicit and poetic and inspirational. LEGO is busy providing the systems for our children to explore and become the builders of tomorrow. They are in the business of PLAY: Curious energy that reinvents the world - one imagination and LEGO system at a time. Now THAT is cool brand building work!!

Coaching...and Marketing 101

This winter I have been coaching a high school JV boys basketball team in Northern Kentucky, for the very first time. I've always played hoops and coached my children and other AAU teams, but this is my first experience with locker rooms and bus rides and consistantly meeting the same young personalities and players each and every afternoon. Net, my first true TEACHING opportunity. It's been a wonderful experience, and we're headed down the home stretch, but I've gained some insights and now forming even more convictions and true parallels between coaching and marketing a product or service. For one, social media is a focal point of this young generation. And as such, needs to be a focal point of our marketing plans. The boys are always connected or connecting to someone or something. This generation is beautiful, connected and kind - in that they all seem to celebrate similarities and common threads between their peers, while in generations past, we would point out differences. Community is a big part of the world, as is content. Marketing managers - are you listening? Community, content and a call to action. Sound familiar? Ok, now back to coaching and marketing insights. These players need to have the "WHAT" laid-out for them. WHAT is the play, the scheme, the positions on the floor, so net, the structure or blueprint. What is it? As a coach, (or Marketing Director) you have to lay this out - in a simple, compelling and clear way. THEN, and only then, will the players have the comfort level to get to work, being athletic, and performing the HOW. Yes the HOW. The players want and need to take care of the HOW. They relish being athletes and having the freedom to move about gracefully and orchestrating HOW they run the floor, play, shoot and jump and get to the rim. That is what they live for. However, the coach must lay-out the WHAT. Lay out what the play is, the structure, where they are supposed to run on this small court. Once the players are comfortable with the WHAT, they will flourish and show you HOW! Same is true with marketing and social media. We marketers must have convictions as to WHAT we are laying-out and investing in. What is the plan. What is the WHAT? Then, we must allow the consumers - at the heart of any marketing plan - the consumers, to react and engage in the HOW. They will show us HOW!!

Remarkable Inspiration

When was the last time you were truly inspired? At work? At home? When? Why? What was it? Or who was it? When was the last time anything truly REMARKABLE happened in this country? In Washington? At your local school board? Why the sudden void of remarkable ideas? What has happened? All this cash and wealth and resources and now this HUGE lack of remarkability. Why? Why now? American Idol? Steven Tyler? Really? Perhaps we are all entrenched in defending what is rightfully ours? Too busy to create tomorrow? Really? Defense. Personal defense. What are we trying to defend? What are YOU preserving? Our U.S. household resources are maxed-out. Our debt ceilings have stretched beyond the eternal gates of heaven. And now we want to sustain this living? OK. Then what are our grandchildren supposed to preserve? What quality of life will they defend? Nope. Time for a better approach. Time for some good old fashion inspiration. A daily dose of the remarkable until surprise and delight erupts. Each and every one of us must pursue what is in our hearts with passion. Go out and find a remarkable way to satisfy a human need. As individuals, we must simply stop trying to protect & preserve what is ours, and launch a compelling IDEA that creates value for everyone! This idea and program will probably have to live at some form of the extreme AND be easy to spread. NOW go out and create something remarkable...

Content is King

I'm' sure you've heard this before right? Content is king. Yep. Whether you're broadcasting stories or entertainment or in the banking business or selling health care instruments. Content is king. A dear friend and colleague of mine reminded me of this yesterday. Why is content king now? Well, primarily because every human being in the world is now connected. Hmmmm. A human network. How does this shift the landscape? Obvious. The "networks" have erupted from a few radio and tv stations to OMG - enuff said. Youtube, internet, facebook, twitter, satellite tv & radio & all the private corporate intranet connections & employee communication tools, and on and on and on. It's painfully obvious, when surfing network tv, that there are only a few talented providers of content. Only a few gifted storytellers & entertainers. Our society has transformed from PUSHING content to PULLING. Consumers have the ability to share and PULL content thru when and where we want. Soooooo - content is king. Groovy. Got it. NOW the opportunity is to create and provide compelling content. Whether you are in the business of health care, or banking services or branded products - you can create content to engage and delight your audiences 24/7. K, got that too, but WHO does the creating & why should the audience care? Hmmm. NOT too many human beings are wired to create original content. That's a fact. Why? Cause we just don't. We humans like to be told what to study. We are programmed from birth to analyze. We study existing facts and report back. And by gosh we are going to report back with better insights than ANYONE. We strive to report back, analzye & out perform our classmates - but VERY VERY SELDOM do we create anything ORIGINAL. We like and very much NEED someone to lay-out the WHAT for us. Lets call it THE WHAT. What is it you'd like me to work on? WHAT is the play? WHAT is the content. Oh I will manage the HOW, but please please - someone please tell me WHAT. I need an origin, a starting place: I need a WHAT. For one of us to write and create concepts in WHAT-land, one must really ENJOY white space. A human being that relishes a blank piece of paper. Blank pieces of paper and spreadsheets make most humans nervous; a very uncomfortable place & space. Why? Cause there is no WHAT. Well, for a select few of us, WHAT-land is a comfortable place to dwell & thrive in. We like blank pieces of paper. Dark rooms and quiet spaces. We enjoy conjuring-up provocative statements and ideas - and storylines. Why not? I like to make people laugh and cry and think about a more compelling, robust, interesting place and time. I think CONTENT PROVIDERS relish white space. We enjoy telling stories. This time is a great opportunity for a select few. IF you've enjoyed writing and producing content and storylines - then now is the time to seize this opportunity. Get yourself off the couch and begin writing, conceptualizing & creating WHAT. Your audience awaits. Content is king and it starts with the WHAT. You create the what - and your audience and growing customer base will delight in showing you HOW.

Write Right

What is the right way to write? Perhaps to keep it simple, write to be read, don't just write to write. Whenever you write something - read it out loud. Does it sound the way it would if you were chatting with someone? If it's supposed to be funny, you should be laughing out loud. IF it's sad or emotional, you should be tearing-up. If you're writing about someone, you should want to meet this person. How can you make your writing more conversational? Make it less formal and please keep your personality IN. Try not to think about ALL the people that may read your writing - rather focus on the ONE person that will read it - and write for that person. Remember your reader will be thinking WIIFM - "what's in it for me?" - so be sure and give them something...give them YOUR personality. :)

Embrace The Unexpected

One surefire resolution for me personally is to try, really try, to embrace the unexpected just a wee bit more than in days gone by. Is risk-taking an activity that may need to occur more if one is to embrace the unexpected? Sure, if you are one that is risk-averse, and who isn't naturally wired that way - but embracing the unexpected is a human condition far more complex & dynamic than simple risk-taking. What if we were able to breakdown this activity of embracing chance into human behaviors or activities? Listening. Learning. Preparing. Acting. Net, PURSUIT now becomes a daily human routine. What are you pursuing? What if we awoke each glorious morning and PURSUED SOMETHING. Too often, we rise & run down our checklist and yes manage the day accordingly. Really? Imagine a budding five year-old managing each day's checklist. Nope. Not how we humans begin life and I hope we don't view managing one's checklist as some sort of great maturation process, slowly eroding our natural instincts of pursuing life. Embracing the unexpected is a condition we can all excel at quite simply because we have been pursuing the unexpected since birth. Life, daily life, just smacks the hell out of us long enough that with each passing year we add another road block and caution sign at each & every corner. Live each waking moment as if it might be a "teachable moment," an opportunity to expand our minds & most importantly strengthen our abilities. Listen. Learn. Prepare. And yes, we are on our way to embracing the unexpected. Pursuit is part of my daily routine and checklist. Hello 2012.

Happy New Year

What an amazing year to be working and living in. Isn't it? Why bother complaining about distractions or internet, ipods & ipads or all the kids' gaming or gas prices - imagine the alternative. I mean, just think if you lived in a time with no internet or gaming or mobile devices or high gas prices? Oh wait, we did. It was called "the eighties"!
Wow. I can hardly wait for the next 20 years...