John Winsor

Community 2.0

I'm very excited to be speaking at the Community 2.0 conference in March with my good friend and thought leader, Michael Perman of Levi's. Radar is currently conducting primary ethnographic research with consumers on the interaction between physical and virtual communities and how brands can play a positive role. Michael and I will have a lot to report, including some great video, at the conference.

As part of the exploration, I've asked a few thought to answer the question, What is Community? I'll start sharing those in upcoming blog posts, as well.

Here's more information on the conference:

Community 2.0 is the inaugural event for forward-thinking organizations that recognize the need of harnessing the network effect of community to make smarter, faster, and better business decisions.This conference will show how some of the world’s largest and most aggressive companies are using community and social networks to radically change the performance of their organizations in the areas of

Marketing- Companies spend millions of dollars each year on customer research. Learn how communities can give you that data at a fraction of the cost. Wouldn’t you want direct access to your customers, creating two-way dialogues that ultimately deepen relationships and improve the bottom line?

Product Innovation- Community interaction is shortening the product development lifecycle and creating new product opportunities. Leading companies are leveraging customer and innovation communities to create the products that they know customers already want and need.

Customer Service- By leveraging the collective knowledge of the customer community, companies are providing better customer service that is both faster and less expensive than traditional models. Communities allow your customers to help each other while keeping the lines of communication open with you.

Be sure to check out the conference blog, The Future of Communities.

The Nutritional Economy

Josh Spear points to a wonderful little film produced by Christopher Bronsart and Daniel Migg, that rethinks sustainability by using the concept of nutrition. If you can shift the language and you can shift the paradigm.

The Power of PowerPoint

For all of us who spend a lot of time creating PowerPoint presentations, here's a fun little riff, "Le Grand Content."

Here's what the film's creators Clemens Kogler and Karo Szmit have to say:

'Le Grand Content' examines the omnipresent PowerPoint-culture in search for its philosophical potential. Intersections and diagrams are assembled to form a grand 'association chain massacre'. which challenges itself to answer all questions of the universe and some more. Of course, it totally fails this assignment, but in its failure it still manages to produce some magical nuance and shades between the great topics death, cable tv, emotions and hamsters.

Thanks to Lee McEwan for the tip.

The Rise of the Nice Guy

For a long time now football coaches were defined by being tough, in the image of Bill Parcells of the Cowboys and Bill Belichick of the Patriots. To be successful not only did you need to be tough but you needed to be a little bit mean, as well.

With the success of Tony Dungy, coach of the Colts, and Lovie Smith, of the Bears, in getting thier teams to the Super Bowl and being truely nice guys and even friends could it be that this will usher in a new age of coaching?

Maybe, in the NFL, nice guys do finish first.

Trying Too Hard

I saw one of the newer Gieco Caveman ads last night during the Indianapolis/New England football game. Maybe I'm dense, but I didn't get it. While the original Caveman concept was good, it now feels like they are trying to hard.

I guess it's sort of like my attempts at a beard. While the concept was good, nobody got my execution!

Beard, Part Two

 

So, after being called homeless, I thought I'd try to mix it up. The result was pretty bad. While I wasn't called homelss anymore people just laughed and said I was trying way too hard.

Oh well. I decided to get rid of the whole thing!

Hey, Explorers

Tired of the same old business book format?

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the great new book from Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, entitled Hoopla. For those adventurous souls, here's a hip tip. If you've gotten the book, be sure to thoroughly explore the inside back cover. Be sure to look for clues on how to take the exploration deeper.

It could be religious!

Ouch!

It's been cold in Boulder for a long time. In response, I've started to grow a beard. I'm sure I've been subconsciously inspired by all of the beards that seem to be appearing in the fashion mags. I thought I was so hip!

Well, that came to a screeching halt last night. I went out to dinner with some friends at my favorite sushi restaurant. My usual waitress approached a bit forlorn. She asked if I was ok. I said sure. Then she asked, only half jokingly, if I was homeless. Ouch.

The experience made me think about brands and their communications. While you might think your brand is looking rather stylish, your customers might think the opposite. Only by getting them involved in the co-creation of an evolving brand message can you ensure that the meaning of your message is being received in the spirit in which you created it.

I guess it's time to shave!

The Package Speaks for Itself

I came home from a trip last night and stopped by my local Wild Oats to get some dinner. Being thirsty, I looked around to find something healthy to drink. While I drink a lot of green tea/juice mixes, I never know what brand I drink. They all look the same.

Well, last night, POM's Pomegranate Lychee Green Tea. Instead of the typical juice bottle POM comes in a glass. Two thoughts came to mind when I saw the glass. If you're old enough, you'll probably remember the Flintstone jelly jars. I have a fond place in my heart for the jars. Second, the glasses scream recycling. Not the kind of recycling you're probably thinking about - throwing it in the recycle bin. The recycling I'm talking about is really reusing.

While the unique POM package might have gotten me to buy the tea for the first time the great taste will keep me coming back for more.

It's Not All About You

I've thinking a lot lately about the celebration of "You." It is wonderful to see the power of the people rising. Yet, I wonder if many marketers aren't running from one side of the boat, full control of the their marketing, to the other, consumer generated marketing. It feels like giving full control of a brand's marketing to the people is an abdication of responsibility.

The future lies in the middle way of co-creation built on two-way dialogue and consumer generated insights that drive real marketing innovation and deepen a conversation.