My diverseimages™ colleagues were “movin’ through Harlem” recently, and observed this young woman motorcycle rider (photos courtesy diverseimages.net) When you look at the photo of her on her bike, every thing looks fine. She appears to be in pink and white from head to toe.
When you look at the photo in which she's standing, you might wonder, “Why is someone so meticulously color coordinated wearing mismatched shoes?” To understand, you must engage her in conversation to discover and appreciate the mindset of a style conscious rider. You’ll also learn about the growing numbers of inner city riders and a little about their riding experience.
The left foot for most riders is used to change gears. Since you have to shift up and down, the tops of your shoes can quickly become worn or dirty. This leaves one clean shoe and one scuffed shoe. A problem! This is especially the case when looking good is important.
She solves this problem by wearing a Nike boot on her shift foot and an Adidas shoe on her right foot. The Nike is dark colored to better conceal the scuff marks. When she parks her bike, she is then able to put her other Adidas shoe back on her left foot when it's time to style again.
That she’s wearing a Nike shoe on the left foot is probably less a specific statement about the brand. She happens to own a pair that can address the scuffed shoe problem.
If thinking with an open mind, there is a business opportunity here. Imagine if Adidas, or Nike, Puma, or any other brand, came up with a booty or a sleeve that one could slip over the left shoe to protect scuffing. They could even put a little coating on it while maintaining flexibility. Seems like a no brainer …?
What if an Adidas branded sleeve is placed over a Nike for riders? Are you following me? Could be a huge opportunity, for not only motorcycle riders but also bicycle riders. What an easy way to get consumers into your brand even when they already own a product of a competitor? As proven repeatedly, where there is need is the place to seek opportunity.
A lesson from the visual cultural observers: The more we actually see, ask and engage differently, the more we’ll stop selling consumers what we want them to buy, and more of what they need.
Anaezi Modu Founder, ReBrand Recognizing the world's most effective brand transformations.
On the eve of the next US presidential debate, and a few days after the proverbial dust has settled from the vice presidential debate, let’s look at the two candidates relative to what makes a brand believable and authentic. BrandCredible™ is a term I use to refer to brand attributes that engender such qualities as trust, loyalty, and even respect.
Before continuing, I'll share one holistic definition of a brand: A person, place, product, service or organization that embodies tangible and intangible elements which contribute to experiences, feelings, and perceptions of those that interact with it.
Admittedly, the only thing branding professionals can do is to influence and help move a brand closer to where we would like it to be -- credibly, honestly.
A credible brand must walk the talk. This means an individual must be who he/she says in any forum. You can’t claim one thing to one audience, and then be another in a different setting. You can’t have one set of principles for others and then toss those out when it comes to yourself, family, friends, and your “inner circle” of whatever sort.
After years of running ReBrand and the ReBrand 100 Global Awards, we developed a list of 20 rebranding mistakes to be avoided. (You can download the full list from http://rebrand.com/news-and-resources ). Considering the VP debate through the lens of mistake number seven, which candidate is more believable than the other? Here’s what that specific mistake stipulates (substitute “brand” for the term “rebrand” below for the sake of this post):
7. The rebrand lacks credibility or is a superficial facelift. The rebrand’s story must be believable given the existing brand experience and customer perception. It must also hold credibility internally. If employees who live the brand day-to-day don’t believe, the target audience won't either.
The political equivalent could be: The VP (insert the actual name of a candidate here if you’d like) lacks credibility or is a superficial facelift. Is there transparency, a proven track record that rings true? Or is there more hype than substance? Consider their staff, the citizens of Delaware and Alaska, the nation, foreign leaders and countries and how they may feel about their achievements, record, leadership, and future potential. Do these group see one as helping mitigate their respective "pain points" in any way?
Which brand is more credible given what we have actually experienced prior to, during, and even after the debate?
Full disclosure. I probably have undiagnosed ADD. I bet many more of us than we realize will develop ADD if we haven't already, with the relentless stimuli and pounding pressures of our tech-driven times.
Back to focus. Why are we so often advised to take a linear approach to things? While this may work for some, it’s not necessarily the right method for everyone. What’s wrong with spending less time in agonizing over what “they” say we are supposed to do and how “they” say we are supposed to do things? I was so excited when I learned about Marcus Buckingham and his mission to help us do more fulfilling work in ways that align with each one's unique abilities. He suggests that we should embrace what we enjoy doing or are naturally gifted at, while eliminating the rest whenever possible. Why insist on going against the grain and suffering through years of limited achievement because “they” said that we must spend more time learning to overcome challenges and compete in prescribed ways. Please honor Mr. Buckingham by reading his insights at our beloved FastCompany.com.
Case in point. I’m currently reading five books at once. The reason…don’t even ask! However, with very little time to read, and yet still having to do so, I figured that if I committed to reading a minimum of 10 pages in each book every day (very early morning or before I drop off to sleep at some crazy hour), I can keep things moving. You can imagine that making peace with that, so to speak, was a small breakthrough for me. If I choose to read these books this way, why not?
This same approach could apply to someone with a number of diverse business initiatives or a plan to launch blog/internet sites. My advice? Go ahead, just do it. If that’s who you are, that’s who you are. Before long, you’ll figure out a system or some schedule that helps you keep up and maintain whatever it is you’ve developed. You may find that you have to hire out a number of tasks via virtual assistants or employees. You may also find that you’ll quickly learn which of the sites or whatever initiative you have more of an interest in, passion about, or time for. You’ll also discover which is the most viable to develop further, including heading in a direction you wouldn’t have dreamed of from the start once you’ve received valuable feedback. You may then decide to sell or simply shut down and eliminate the others.
Why not do it? Sometimes what evolves out of our bold, seemingly-crazy steps is just perfect. But you may never know if you stick with the “conventional wisdom” of doing one thing at a time. For some of us design-minded, integrated-thinking, empathetic/symphonic souls (a la Daniel H. Pink’s A Whole New Mind), forcing us into a box of “shoulds” is like forcing a square peg into a round hole. I lose my mind when I have to do only one thing, and I often wonder how many of us similar souls are out there?
I welcome your thoughts, and would love dialogue on this, as it applies to work, life, and general wellbeing. This of course, includes reasons I should get myself into therapy poste haste…
Anaezi Modu
Founder, ReBrand http://www.rebrand.com
Recognizing the world's most effective brand transformations.
Now accepting entries for the 2009 ReBrand 100 Global Awards
Deadline: postmark September 24, 2008 and late entry by October 8
I’m reading one of the most lucid business books I’ve come across in quite some time.
It’s Out of Poverty by Paul Polak, founder of International Development Enterprises. In it, Polak outlines a number of compelling reasons why businesses must consider the burgeoning market of the world’s other 90 percent – the percentage of the world’s population that is poor. I’d recommend reading the book to learn first-hand about the practical ideas he offers that I believe would present viable approaches for any business -- from socially-directed organizations to corporate multinationals. In Out of Poverty, Polak identifies a “don’t bother” list, and I think this might be an effective idea for addressing all kinds of business challenges that we are faced with every day.
Remember, Polak focuses on increasing wealth for billions of the world’s poor, so imagine the list you could come up with that would help zoom in on what matters most at your business, organization, team, or family, for that matter. This approach brings what’s important into laser-like focus, and, I believe, elicits the emotion and passion that initiates action.
For example, if Human Resources tells you they can’t find the “right talent” or qualified “diversity” candidates to include in their recruitment outreach, tell them:
1. Don’t bother if you’re going to sit in your office making fruitless phone calls, instead of meeting with organizations, events, individuals, and generally being creative about identifying the highly talented folks that do in fact exist.
(On the “diversity” issue, for example, a simple conversation with any existing employee of color on staff, could easily offer a few avenues to pursue, or even actual names of several qualified candidates.)
Here’s another:
2. Don’t bother claiming “we value our customers” when calls to the “customer care” department gets me directed to endless press-this-or-that-number. Or after you’ve paid your hard-earned money in exchange for goods from a store, the check-out person waits for you to thank him or her.
3. Don’t bother telling me with your tag line “how much you appreciate my business,” if you can’t even teach your front-line folks the basics of common courtesy. Hint: if this were done right, it might actually encourage me to return cheerfully to your store instead of one of your competitors, when given the choice.
If a design firm is thinking to rebrand itself while ignore its prevalent reputation of being
too-cool-for-clients in the way the receptionist answers the phone (assuming you’re not sent to voice mail purgatory):
4. Don’t bother to rebrand if you don’t comprehend that clients’ first point-of-contact with your company is telling.
At ReBrand we were inspired to put together a list of 20 Mistakes Marketers Make When They Rebrand. It seems that calling out mistakes, similar to using a “don’t bother” list, gets more folks to pay attention and take action.
One of the suggestions within 20 Mistakes – number 6 -- is navigate your own website, call your own call center, or have a friend do so. Sounds like basic common sense that would likely get a “yeah, yeah, we know” response, right? Well, you’d be absolutely shocked at how many NEVER do that – from the very bottom all the way up to the top. What an obvious way to learn about the agony and hoops we put the customers “we care about” through. It’s so difficult for me to believe that such inauthenticity exists among our great brands, that I coined the term brandcredible, to represent those that work hard to walk their talk.
And now, for one more “don’t bother.” If a business claims that “employees are our most important assets”:
5. Don’t bother if you never listen to what they have to say, and continue to practice top-down introduction of policies and decisions, then wonder why they aren’t aligned with the organizational mission.
The list could go on, but the point is that this type of list has magic in it. It sorts concepts into the concrete from the theoretical, and can lead us closer to breaking the business-as-usual quagmire.
Whatever business or industry you’re in, what would be on your “don’t bother list”? Let’s see if thinking this way helps in paying attention and being more “present” with your clients -- a concept I borrowed from Bill Hill, chair of MetaDesign -- and taking real actionable steps.
Anaezi Modu, Founder
ReBrand http://www.rebrand.com
Now accepting entries for the 2009 ReBrand 100 Global Awards - deadline: September 24, 2008.
Recognizing the world's most effective brand transformations.
If you’re like me, you may find the word “Innovation” daunting. It’s used these days in every context imaginable, including the totally ridiculous. When it shows up in conversation, or in some expectation a client may have, common sense often goes out the window. In its place is an all-consuming obsession to devise some earth-shaking, new service or product. What if a perfect solution to whatever problem being addressed is some teeny tiny, incremental shift in thinking, a new way of applying something that already exists, or, horrors, simply waiting and doing nothing where we’re typically inclined to act.
I attended a workshop presented by Larry Keeley of the Chicago-based Doblin Group who offered an interesting perspective on the concept of innovation. In paraphrasing from his article, The Greatest Innovations of All Time, he suggests that the goal should be to create platforms that can cut across industries. These platforms can then facilitate the integration of ordinary ideas into a new whole that goes beyond “mere inventions.”
Okay, let’s get to work. Although you were quickly reading this post, fingers poised to click on to the next exciting one, I invite you to share a term or phrase that you think could substitute for “Innovation.” This might go a long way in curtailing the paralysis of creative thinking and fear induced when we’re tasked to INNOVATE. Better yet, imagine the fear you’ve felt when your company establishes a new division you’ll head up called the Widget Makers Innovation Team. Pretty scary. Are there some less frightening terms that would help us get closer to Keeley’s suggestion and unleash our natural inclination to free-flow? Before asking this of you, it’s only fair that I share some I’ve come up with, so here goes:
Pragmatic ingenuity
Real Focus
Simple Brilliance
Tiny Change
Creative Integration
You may consider some of these lame, but work with me here. One way to see which one of these could work, is to play with the title of this post - Rethinking Innovation – and substitute your term or phrase for “Innovation.” For example, the new title would be Rethinking Pragmatic Ingenuity, Rethinking Simple Answers, Rethinking Tiny Change and so on. You get the hang of it.
Let’s take Pragmatic Ingenuity, specifically. I was in a village in Nigeria several years ago, and saw one of many examples of smart, integrated thinking. This motorcycle repair man you see here (photo – diverseimages) was doing something pretty interesting. In the village, there are no sidewalks. Villagers carrying pails of water, food, children on their backs, and so on, need enough time to scurry out of the way when a vehicle is fast approaching. The motorbikes, some can afford, have horns that are no match for blasting car horns. So motorbike owners, especially those that use them to run gravity-defying taxi services, have their motorbikes outfitted with reclaimed car horns. This way, the horns are as loud as cars -- a feature, which they say protects them from being hit by cars, while limiting the number of pedestrians they hurt. Mind you, car owners find their solution pretty annoying, as they often maneuver their cars out of the way, assuming another car is coming around a blind bend on a swerving road, only to find that they made way for a scrawny little moped.
Would this qualify as innovation or Innovation? Is it not real-time, pragmatic ingenuity? No over-thinking or pressure to be grandiose -- just a smart integration of existing ordinary elements.
You get the point. Sometimes we’re just too “over-educated” or “over-experienced” for our own good, or simply too “tensed-up” by our wrongly-directed intent to invent something new. I wonder what other solutions to local and global challenges would evolve if we simply stop thinking that innovation is something that happens in some remote conference room or a fancy corporate retreat. Looking at how the indigent solve survival problems just might go a long way in relaxing our minds to free flow…
