John Winsor

Here, Nau!

Nau opened their first store in Boulder on Tuesday. It's one thing to see clothes on a web site and quite another thing to get to touch and feel them. Nau's not only shifting the retail paradigm but also the outdoor clothing design paradigm. It's cool stuff.

The Cleanest Line

Patagonia, one of my favorite brands, has started a new blog called The Cleanest Line. Here's what they have to say about it:

Build the best product, do no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
– Patagonia's Mission Statement

The goal of The Cleanest Line is to further Patagonia's mission by encouraging dialogue about the products we build, the sports we love and the environmental issues we’re concerned about. By talking openly about the products we build, Patagonia users can help us achieve ever greater standards of quality and functionality. By spreading the word about specific environmental issues, we can increase awareness and take action as quickly as possible. By sharing field reports, we can inspire one another to keep experiencing the natural wonders of our precious planet. And like any good conversation, there's always the possibility for pranksters and poets to direct the conversation towards territories lacking any seriousness whatsoever.

What are you doing to encourage dialogue with your customers?

Build the best product, do no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
– Patagonia's Mission Statement

The goal of The Cleanest Line is to further Patagonia's mission by encouraging dialogue about the products we build, the sports we love and the environmental issues we’re concerned about. By talking openly about the products we build, Patagonia users can help us achieve ever greater standards of quality and functionality. By spreading the word about specific environmental issues, we can increase awareness and take action as quickly as possible. By sharing field reports, we can inspire one another to keep experiencing the natural wonders of our precious planet. And like any good conversation, there's always the possibility for pranksters and poets to direct the conversation towards territories lacking any seriousness whatsoever.

Storytelling Just Got Better

Ira Glass has always been one of my favorite storytellers. Now, This American Life has gotten is appearing as a television show on Showtime. If you've heard the NPR show, you're gonna love the Showtime version!

Compelling stories are explored every day on "This American Life," the nearly 15-year-old, award-winning Chicago Public Radio show that boasts a devoted weekly listening audience of 1.7 million, and is heard on more than 500 stations nationally. The series, created in 1995 by host and executive producer Ira Glass, pioneered a unique way of telling stories on the radio. Its first-person telling of these revealing stories makes the radio series a great fit for television.

In the same spirit of the radio show, the televised version of THIS AMERICAN LIFE, premiering Thursday, March 22nd at 10:30 p.m. PT/ET, takes 30-minute looks at stories culled from all over the country. Glass and a small team of radio producers and filmmakers spent six months on the road: traveling to Iowa pig farms, following a first-time filmmaker in California, photographing a raucous night at an Illinois hot dog stand. The result is true stories that are dramatic, emotional, and often funny.

Right Under My Nose

Just when I thought I was pretty good about not getting stuck in a routine, always able to notice change, I drifted into Organica Coffee Shop, a block from my office. It's cool little place with a great vibe. As I ordered lunch, I asked how long they had been open. "A full year, next week" was the response.

Where had I been? As observant as I thought I was, how could a year go by without me noticing? Ah, self-deception is powerful stuff!

Is there anything right under your nose that you haven't noticed, lately?

The Death of the Intermediary

The Starbucks/Paul McCartney deal announced yesterday is another great example of the collapsing distance between creator and consumer. Expect the the death of intermediaries to continue to happen in every industry.

“It’s a new world now,” Mr. McCartney, the former Beatle, said yesterday during a video chat with Howard Schultz, Starbucks’s chairman, conducted in front of thousands of people attending the shareholders’ meeting. “People are thinking of new ways to reach the people. For me, that’s always been my aim.”

Hmmm....People reaching people. Now that sounds like a bright future!

Co-created Journalism

Assignment Zero represents a new wave of journalism, where readers and editors enter into a deeper dialogue about the news. It's a great example of breaking down the traditional barriers between creator and consumer.

Welcome. We're covering a story: How the Web makes it possible for the crowd to be the source of good ideas. But instead of one journalist reporting, we've created a site where many people can work on the story, with editors as guides. You are now in the Newsroom, where you can find an overview and learn what others are doing. The Assignment Desk is where you can see what we're covering in detail, and get an assignment. The Exchange is a place to offer new ideas. Check the day's developments with The Scoop.

There are so many terms these days like crowdsourcing, consumer generated content, and sadly co-creation, that have, unfortunately, come to represent the abdication of the responsibility to create marketing and products for consumers. Assignment Zero seems to understand this and holds firmly the responsibility of creating journalism with "editors as guides."

I have always firmly believed that the future lies with the creative citizens of a community, both consumers and brands, who will create new marketing and product innovation. It’s not an abdication of responsibility but a commitment to dialogue and participation.

Stuck

Everyday, I wake up commited to write. Yet, every evening I have nothing to say. It's all about letting things happen naturally.

Tomorrow is another day.

Community 2.0 Conference

I'm just back from the Community 2.0 Conference. What a wonderful first conference with a great sense of community and dialogue. For a recap of the event check out The Future of Communities blog. Better yet, come join the conversation.

Star(bury) Power

When does a cheap product, the $15 Starbury basketball shoe, become a hot brand? Rob Walker chronicles the rise.

Todd argues that big-name brands build advertising costs into their prices, which are set as high as they think the market will bear, in contrast to the discount model of the lowest possible markup, paying off in sheer volume. “Anybody can afford a $10 jersey,” he says. “It’s available to all.”

This is interesting in part because the prevailing wisdom among many marketers is that nobody wants things that are “available to all” anymore — that’s why pricey customized or limited-edition sneakers are popular. It’s also interesting because plenty of big-name discounters sell cheap sneakers and clothes, but few if any have enjoyed glowing, power-to-the-people media treatment. (Wal-Mart leaps to mind.)

The difference may be in how Steve & Barry’s adopted the big-brand strategy of getting the endorsement of a big sports star (the Knicks’ record notwithstanding) on an exclusive product line. Having a brand tied to Marbury, an N.B.A. player who wears the sneakers on court, addresses quality issues, Todd argues. More important, that star endorser was able to frame the product as a response to overpriced brands that take advantage of people still mired in the poverty that he escaped. It gave the sneakers a “cool” factor and message that could be delivered not in an ad but on “Live With Regis and Kelly.” “It became this social movement,” Todd maintains.

There are many paths to the top of the brand heap.

It's Open, Nau

Nau's e-commerce site is now open for business.