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Week of July 21, 2008

Home / Blog / Week of July 21, 2008

July 25, 2008 By Stephen Harvill Leave a Comment

Hey everyone, here we go. . . . . .

 

IN OUR WORLD

 

Coming to you live from Durango, Co.  Wow, is it good to get out of the Dallas heat for a while.

 

A quick client meeting and then some free time with Laura and our friends, Jim and Kate.

 

This week was all about projects and new client meetings.  Sometimes it takes a week of concerted effort to make sure all the various projects stay on track.  We are launching new Repeatable Successful Acts platforms, customizing a series of our educational programs to meet specific client needs, moving goal platforms towards completion and applying rich media solutions.  Whew, that’s a full week!

 

 

 

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

 

At any given time we are engaged with clients in one or more aspects of their brand.  The idea of a brand becoming the identity of an organization is fairly new in the lexicon of business.  Here is the “MTV Minute” on the history of branding:

 

  • Starts with the Industrial Revolution when production takes off whips the heck out of demand.  Abundance of stuff starts.
  • WWII bumps up industrial capacity by leaps and bounds but adds the element of the American culture starting to count pennies.  We become kind of frugal.
  • Big production capacity and the tightening of spending belts starts to get producers thinking – “hey, we better start selling!” 
  • In the 1950’s a medium to reach the masses comes on the scene with TV and the modern advertising industry is born.

 

So modern branding, the child of modern advertising is really only about 50 years old and we are still learning and trying new stuff.  With the advent of the internet the whole idea of what a brand is changed.

 

Are you worried about your brand?  Are you unique in a crowded market?  Need to work on making sure everyone on your brand team knows what you want them to communicate to your customer?  You would be surprised at how many companies and organizations front line people have no idea about how they should be communicating your brand. 

 

This is a big subject, but let me recommend a starting point.

 

Define ALL of your POINTS OF CONTACT.   Those are the elements and people that come in contact with your customers.  Further divide those into primary or initial points of contact, secondary or how ever many you have.  Focus some your training and communication attention there.

 

Do you know the first Point of Contact at Disneyland?  It’s the parking lot attendant.  Disney makes sure these people are brand conscious and know the history of Disney.

 

Start at the beginning of your brand to strengthen its impact!

 

ENTERTAINMENT

 

 

MOVIES:  The new X-Files Movie breaks this weekend and will be challenged by the mind numbing new comedy Step-Brother with Will Ferrell.  I am an old X-Files fan and will there with Mulder and Scully.

 

NetFlix Fans:  Lawrence of Arabia –   The AFI (American Film Institute) recently released its Top 10 list of movies in 10 genres.  One of them was EPICS and this was #1 in the category.   This is a spectacular film and it will take an entire evening to watch it.

 

TV:    Head over to the A&E Network and check out Benjamin Bratt in The Cleaner.  Great new show on Tuesday nights based on a true story of a former drug addict who now helps people get cleaned up.

 

BOOKS:  The Tin Roof Blowdown – by James Lee Burke.  Time for a fiction break and no one does mystery and New Orleans better than Burke.

 

MUSIC:  I am back in a Dave Matthews phase and have been listening to Dream Girl and thought you might enjoy this fantastic little song!

 

 

WEB SITES:   Site of the biggest comic book convention on earth.

 

http://www.comic-con.org/

 

 

SOUTH OF NORMAL

OK, time to take a look at a few South of Normal companies:

  • If you live in Sweden, check out www.filippa-k.se.  This is the hottest clothing store in the country and they now take trade-ins.  Trade in your old Filippa clothing and receive credit for new clothing purchase.  Their second hand store is a huge success.
  • www.mygallons.com allows you to get a pre-paid gas card that locks you into current gas prices.  If you think gas is headed up (who doesn’t) then you can lock in your price for the next year.
  • www.traditionalsizes.com is a store that rents clothing for dieters.  If you are loosing weight and want to look cool, you can rent designer clothing for between $3 – $25.  Drop a size, simply turn your clothing in and get the next size.

 

“Any minute now, my ship is coming in.”

Colin Hay

 

Drop me a note with your comments at steve@creativeventures.com

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and until next time, Adios and Aloha.

 

 

 

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