Creative Simplicity

 

We live in a world of processes and reactionary results, derived from cause and effect but almost always relative to a specific defined theme. Potentially almost every function or sub-function of our lives can be explained with a set of stages, phases, or steps. There are the “Seven Stages of Grief”, “Twelve Step Programs”, and “The Three Phases of Life”. Nothing appears to be within our critical grasp unless it is equated to a process; essentially things don’t just occur they are psychologically conceived through a physical thought process.

 

Personally I believe the “big idea” is relative to instantaneous stimulation, the construction of the idea is a process that exists as much within the boundless corridors of the mind as it does on paper within the deliberate process of staging each step. Creativity is a constant process within the brain; it’s a functional metamorphosis that spontaneously occurs without notice, we are all in some way creatively active to some degree but the degree of creativity can and will differ.

 

The masterful and talented creative guru Steve Jobs made this statement to Wired magazine in 1996, “Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people. Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity. A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences. So they don’t have enough dots to connect, and they end up with very linear solutions without a broad perspective on the problem. The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have. (Steve Jobs 1996)” Clearly Jobs had a grip on creative talent and what its origin may or may not be, the proof can be realized in his choices within the Apple team. In retrospect there are three specific keys to Jobs statement, connecting (the connecting is natural), experience (all encompassing of prior creativity), and vision (which is automatic).

 

Ultimately creativity should be a free spirit and a natural function of the creator, allowing the curator the essential opportunity to design the end product and the process in which it is created. A question that arises with concern to creativity is are we encouraging the process today or are we suppressing it, insisting on mainstream agendas rather than the outlandish beset by true creativity.

 

William Clarke

Evolving Consumerism

 

Americans are the trendsetters for the global initiative referred to as consumerism; we introduced the word into the global spotlight and set in motion a unique process of buying, attaining, hoarding, consuming and so on. In reality if you look back at ancient societies there was a great deal of hoarding and attaining by the Egyptians, Babylonians, and the Romans who used gold the way we use paper towels. The world may envision Americans as the kings of all consumers, but in reality we are not building pyramids and filling them with High Definition TV’s, IPods, and Lexus Hybrids.

Our grandparents saved for a rainy day, although I never quite understood what that meant, and when my Mother reiterates the same exact phrase its almost empty rhetoric to my nieces and nephews as they return a blank stare, as if to say what? Although as the generations have changed so have our tendencies, how we think has evolved, methodology of living has changed , and what living really means has been redefined, people are no longer accepting what some would refer to as a menial existence. Let me use my Mother as an example once again, when we were children the thought of a visit to Mc Donald’s was just that, a thought an idol thought, because it was just not acceptable. We did not visit Mc Donald’s with Mom. Although our Aunt, her younger sister could be easily persuaded to visit on occasion when she was babysitting. Mom had a budget that she maintained, she didn’t waste money on junk, and she would gladly make hamburgers for dinner if that is what we wanted. Although today Mom has gone consumeristic, she even has Cable TV, she will order Dominos for the grandchildren, the family room now is adorned with a 50’ HDTV, she now buys lattes at Starbucks at $5 dollars a cup, and she even has a cell phone. I have become increasingly worried about her behavior, and it has nothing to do with the fact that she is spending my future inheritance. Somewhere along the way she has decided that the rainy day isn’t coming, and she’s buying, if she likes it or wants it she’s taking it home!

When you evaluate who you are today, are you different from the person that you were ten years ago? If you’ve changed, why have you changed? There are many reasons why we change and many are socioeconomically related, basically you have more or have the ability to have more, and in essence you want more. You want the possessions and you have to have them all, the larger modern home, the BMW, the electro-gadgets, and above all the stuff.

George Carlin the late comedian extraordinaire had a comedy bit focused around the stuff, my stuff, and your stuff.Carlin said that Americans just want stuff, they got to have stuff, and they need places to put their stuff, he noted that people at some point have to buy bigger houses because they need more room to put all their stuff. Now as difficult as it may be to ascertain, George Carlin was not an economist but a conversationalist? I believe that Carlin was dead on target when he discussed stuff, he witnessed during his lifetime, a growing busting loose Americana with a materialistic populous. What’s more fitting than a comedian telling America that they are way over the top, they buy too much for no reason, other than the desire to have more stuff.

William Clarke

 

Consumer Behavior

Consumer behavior is the relative action or actions of the consumer, basically how we buy, what we buy, and when we buy. Sounds simple enough but in reality its just not all that vanilla as there are many flavors that lend themselves to consumer behavior. Buying behavior is not relegated to need, as buying can be linked to desire, lust, and most critically impulse. There is a process within all buying attached to decision making, we all make strong educated decisions and weaker snap or thoughtless decisions that are not reasoned and evaluated properly. Consumer behavior can be trending or chemical, we buy an iPhone because everyone else has one (peer pressure?) or we may purchase a Big Mac because we are not only hungry but we just watched the McDonalds commercial and now suddenly we are at the drive-through window.

An interesting question may be are we induced to react through the communicative digital technology delivered through marketing and advertising. We buy for both addictive and emotional reasons, and we tend to buy due to brand loyalty and trust. You may think you buy Downey fabric softener because it makes your clothes so soft, but in reality the purchase may be relative to the smell, that blue plastic bottle, or your history with the product. Maybe it reminds you of Mom, the house you grew up in, Grandma, or maybe just gives you a really good feeling regarding all of the above. Consumer behavior is more in depth than just buying, but buying is linked to how we accept and understand messaging which in turn is connected to communication delivered in advertising and how we interpret or process it.

Can’t Touch This-Killer Containers

      I guess the technical name for these devices of pain, destruction, and personnel deprecation is “rigid plastic clamshell” packaging. Unless you have been living in the deepest jungles of the Amazon for the past twenty years you have at one time or another been exposed to this material. I believe that toy makers, electronics companies, and most hardware suppliers have decided to make the entire interaction with their product a nightmare for the common man or woman.

 

  The hard shell seems and presents as impenetrable, the clear unassuming hard plastic almost seems to be a diversion, you can see the product clearly, positioned nicely propped up all shiny new, almost like a trophy. But guess what, you can’t have it, it’s mocking you, just sitting there, laughing at you. You struggle and pry at it, it won’t break, will not even budge, try and try and try again, but no luck. The manufacturers suggest the use of a knife, box cutter, maybe scissors if available. Realistically explosives, a hammer and chisel, or believe it or not a flamethrower would be more proficient. You begin by stabbing at it as if your life depended upon it, your temper is rising as it has never before, and you’re plugging away at a new $300 dollar cell phone like a madman or woman. 

Marketing team where are you in all this, I mean lets get serious this packaging is killing your products and revenue potential, fix it!

It’s not just about the bike: Livestrong Armstrong

Nike must be in mourning after the loss of Lance Armstrong just a few weeks ago as he was so much more than just an spokes person athlete; he was essentially the primary component of the Livestrong product line. Lance is and always will be the heart and soul of Livestrong and that yellow rubber band that grew into a kinship of fighters who refused to give up, and also a clothing and footwear product line that has done nothing but spell profit for Nike.

Unfortunately word is that Lance cannot even participate in the shadows of Livestrong, as he has been forced to step away from the chairmanship of Livestrong as well. Honestly it’s a shame that his dedication to cancer research fund raising is being thrown out the window.  Whether you believe Armstrong’s guilt or innocence, you can never question his dedication to the cause; he has taken those with a cancer diagnosis from victims to an elite survivorship. I think the brand that truly is Lance Armstrong will always live on.

http://espn.go.com/sports/endurance/story/_/id/8622941/lance-armstrong-cuts-formal-ties-livestrong-charity

Thanks Lance!

What is Progressive Interactive Media?

Progressive Interactive Media encompasses all that has been described as “emerging media”, and identifies the key components relative to communications, marketing, advertising, and all interactive techniques and positioning of these processes. Progressive because we attempt to remain cutting edge and continuously evolving, Interactive as we must have a unique relationship with the customer encouraging engagement, allowing them to offer an opinion while there should be a give and take from marketer to consumer, and Media driven referring to the potential of mass communication.

When exploring the development of traditional media its quite hard to believe that the evolution of radio took some forty years from introduction to acceptance. While television was both sight and sound and a bit more interactive with greater communication potential, but even so it took more than ten years for the consumer to adopt the media option as habit. Thus in an ever evolving world, just a few short years ago the introduction of the iPad was to say the least emerging, and it took just 81 days for the consumer market to embed this digital technology deep within its sole. Digital media and how its generated or provided the consumer is a constantly changing environment with new products materializing at will, and older products constantly being redesigned to keep up with the evolution.

Emerging media has become the essence of our current communication forum that continues to evolve within the digital world, as we continue to trend toward supernatural interactivity between both the human element and digitally manipulated expressionism. Think about the movie “Minority Report”, which depicts a world where even your next breath is almost pre-determined and marketing technique’s include interactive virtual sales people and ads addressing you by name. This fairy tale movies plot is definitely the next progressive interactive media activity on the horizon, a good example is Europe where most credit cards already have a small identification chip, that tiny chip could and will be used to identify you, maintain your tendencies, foods you like, and purchases you are likely to make. In reality marketing to you the individual will be a simple mathematical process defined by digital technology.

I obviously cannot predict the next phase in the emerging media evolution although I can guarantee you that it will be digital, lightening fast, and offer state of the art interactive communication potential.

Social Media: Refine and Define!

I constantly discuss with other marketing managers the ever heralded choice, how to choose a social media outlet and why. As would be expected the answers are spread far and wide, while many choose Facebook because that’s where their expertise lies, others are inclined to go with Twitter because on the surface it appears to be an easier route. Then again there are others who are sprinkled across the social media landscape, they dabble in this and that, they “tweet” and they “like” but have no real focus on what they’re trying to accomplish. I refer to this lack luster groups practice as Social Media Slathering (SMS), there out there sort of into it, but really not committed to anything.

The obvious question is what are you trying to gain from social media, what’s the objective, and is there a specific offering that may be better suited for your endeavor or interaction with customers. I’m not implying you cannot utilize more than one outlet, and Facebook and Twitter may be a great combination or a better duo may be Twitter and Pinterest. In my opinion Facebook is your products life story, little bits and pieces shaped into a page for everyone you have friended and all those future friends. Twitter on the other hand is  neat little verbal crumbs that you drop along the way, the story is in a constant state of evolution and we are along for the ride as you go about your day. Think about this, take those Twitter crumbs of verbalization and add them to Pinterest, pin the visual aspect of your jargon into a digital picture book ala Pinterest, tell your story and communicate with your customers by tweeting and pining.

Whatever your choice remember that the idea is too effectively communicate and interact with customers, achieve at least one specific deliverable through social media. Now don’t be shy get out there and indulge, make the effort to listen and learn, while shaping your customers opinion of the brand, ultimately take that interaction that social media is just begging to give you and use it to your advantage.