LaughlinOutLoud

It’s become something of a tradition around here that when I go on vacation, I blatantly steal from others to create content for you. This week I’m up in Door County, WI exploring one of my favorite regions of The Origin Of Fun. But this week rather than quotes, I offer real-life, out-in-the-world ideas that I find especially inspiring. Whether you choose to participate, follow along or just use them for inspiration, this six-pack of ideas / communities / movements is worth a look.

Robin of Shoreditch. One of my favorite recent finds. Not only for the ideas – which are, on a whole, quite good – but for the sentiment. Check out the videos on Vimeo.

Six Items Or Less. It’s not a statement about consumerism. According to the site, “we haven’t dictated a driving thought.” It’s an interesting exercise in prioritization. Check out sixitemsorless.com.

Taped Together. Last winter, this became the soundtrack to my holidays. The new installment has been the soundtrack to almost all of this summer’s road trips. Check out the crowdsourced site and support the artists whose songs you like.

The Bucket Brigade. There are a phenomenal amount of smart people willing to share their wares online. Bud Caddell is one of the more prolific I follow. Go beyond supporting his new project – join his editorial board.

#BooksThatChangedMyWorld. Edward Boches has a good perspective on the hashtag as it relates to brands. You can join the conversation on Twitter.

The 3six5. A Posterous blog that features 365 days “as told by” 365 different people. A great idea that provides fresh perspective on a daily basis.

May is an odd time for a Year In Review post. But it was 52 weeks ago that I started writing a weekly blog. I spent some time this week going through my first 51 posts to see if I, in fact, had a point.

It was a fun process. I enjoyed revisiting favorite posts. And it was interesting to pick up on some themes. I find that I often – and not surprisingly – write about what I’m turning over in my head at any given moment. I use the process of writing as a way to think. In reviewing past posts, I found that the things I’ve been thinking most about this past year appear to be the value of data and the nature of answers. A 100-word recap of my year of thinking out loud:

The trouble with the truth is that it can become too permanent. Our culture now takes the unthinkable for granted. Which means, among other things, that simply accepting what were once dependable assumptions as truth is precarious. We must embrace more, if less permanent, A-Ha Moments. In a data-driven world, we must remember that statistics don’t tell the whole story. We need to question the question and ask why more. We need to become comfortable with the fact that sometimes the answer is a better question. And we must always realize that looking backward is about looking forward.

Two weeks ago I wrote that I was embarking on writing a book called “From Oooh to Aaah.” I’m considering this Year In Review recap the basis. And while I’m following the Chris Anderson model, I’m not (necessarily) shooting for a Long Tail. I’m just hoping to continue to figure things out.

Thanks for joining in so far.

I was talking to one of the best young minds at the agency the other day and she described a recent experience with a strategic concept she’d been struggling with. She said she went from Oooh (“That’s cool, how’d they get there?”) to Aaaah (“I get it!”).

[Note from the author: The book – From Ooooh to Aaaah – is already in development. So don’t even think about it. I called dibs on the spot.]

Isn’t that what we’re – from assistant account coordinators to CMOs – all looking for? That moment of Aaaah? Or, as it’s also know, The A-Ha Moment?

The romanticized version of this includes a crazy-haired inventor. And an A-Ha Moment that changes the course of history.

The good news is we’re operating in an environment when the promise of “A-Ha” is everywhere. That moment of enlightenment that paves the way for all future decisions. We can measure more accurately, more quickly and across more platforms. Data is being collected as we speak. But that’s not the whole story.

Complexity and speed dictate the day. By the time you get to an answer, the question may have changed. Or another question has been raised. To paraphrase Miles Nadal, everyone wants to get to a point where they can say all of our dollars are going here, but there is so much change happening and going to happen that that point will likely never come.

That’s why we need to rethink the A-Ha Moment. It’s not that there are any less of them. In fact, we should have more. But they may be less permanent. Or their implications may be less far reaching.

We need to get comfortable with the new scope of A-Ha. Understanding what’s right. Understanding what’s right for right now. And understanding that things just changed. The exciting part – where success is ultimately found – is understanding the relationship between the three.

A very important anniversary passed last year. And as far as I’m aware, it passed with minimal fanfare. We were all too engrossed in Mad Men. TiVo turned ten.

I bring this up for a few reasons. First, it seems like a anniversary worth recognizing. (TiVo ranks right up there with the iPod, iPhone and Twitter for changing my life for the better.) Second, despite the drum beating by the doomsayers, the thirty-second commercial is not dead. (It’s changed. For the better.) Third, it’s worth acknowledging we were all – or at least I was – too busy to notice.

Habits are changing dramatically. Strategies, too. That’s not news. So it should come as no surprise that it seems we may be at the beginning of another revolution. By the end of next year, eMarketer projects 86.6% of US Internet Users to be Online Video Users. That would account for an almost 40% increase in five years. But the under 25 set is already blazing a farther-reaching path.

According to new report from Retrevo, 29% of the Under 25 set reports watching TV online “all” or “most” of the time. Include “some” in the equation and the number shoots up to a whopping 83%. This next – trend-setting – generation continues to watch TV. Four out of five of them just might not be using a TV to do so.

The revolution is being televised – in new and exciting ways.

Twitter walks like a duck. Quacks like a duck. But calling it a duck doesn’t do it justice – and may actually do it harm.

For some reason, Twitter acts as a lightening rod for the irrational vitriol usually reserved for rival political parties / sports teams. Just check out this article (especially the comments section) from CNN Money.

Just because Facebook and Twitter are both called “social networks” doesn’t mean they have to work in the same way. In fact, logic would reason they shouldn’t.

Twitter is in need of some recasting. In that spirit, here are two possibilities for the post- “It’s just another social network / self-broadcasting mechanism” age.

Twitter is your personal news crawler. You know those things at the bottom of cable news networks? Now you own one. And you are the editor-in-chief. This is how I describe it, at least. Mine is made up (mostly) of friends, peers, news sources and musicians. And I learn so much more from this source than any other. Twitter is evidence that media is changing. The role of reporter has been recast. Channels are democratized.

Twitter is a source of inspiration. This simple point was illuminated by @edwardboches (who provides inspiration to me on a weekly, if not daily, basis) in a presentation to the United Adworkers 208 this week. He said, “Twitter is a place to find ideas.” Yes. Exactly. You have brilliant people sharing smart, funny, amazing things. Their repayment? Other brilliant people sharing smart, funny, amazing things. Why wouldn’t you take advantage of that?

On one hand, I want to keep Twitter to myself. As a toy. A tool. A competitive advantage. But I think that’s missing the point. The more people sharing and inspiring, the better the news crawler / source of inspiration will become.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop – #Agency2.5  – in Chicago. It was sponsored by @4As and run by @TimWilliamsICG. And it was great. A full day of interesting statistics, fresh perspectives and conversation starters.

The #Agency2.5 workshop addressed how agencies are transforming for the future. One of the biggest themes of the day was the opportunity for brands to provide value. This is something that I believe to be at the crux of how we should be marketing. And, while this is by no means a new idea, there is a change afoot.

Value used to be provided post-purchase. Buy X to get Y. But smart brands are expediting that process. When “there’s an app for that” (digital or otherwise), brands can provide help and useful information pre-purchase rather than simply trying to persuade their consumers to buy, buy, buy.

It is a simple – but powerful – idea. We used to live in a time when consumers had a scarcity of choice and an abundance of time. That balance has shifted. A recent study from the University of California – San Diego found that Americans consume 34GB of information every day. Every day. It’s the very definition of information overload.

One way to get them to pay attention? Provide value. Done well, you might gain more than one time-starved customer. Provide the right value at the right time and you might just gain an advocate who gets the attention of their time-starved friends, fans and followers.

I recently had a conversation with a Creative Director who suggested that all creative briefs should be Tweetable. Forget the one page, give me 140 characters. The core of the core (of the core) of the idea. The concept scared me so much, I must have liked it.

I was reminded of this when I rediscovered on a collection of six-word memoirs. The most recent is called It All Changed In An Instant. The premise: authors boiling their lives down to six words. The practice is based on Hemingway. And the results are fantastic. (ex: “Father: ‘Anything but journalism.’ I rebelled.” – Malcolm Gladwell)

Forget the one thing. Shorten the elevator speech. Can you write a six-word memoir for your brand? Six words to tell the whole story?

Six words boil it down to the core. And, when well crafted, leave the room necessary for innovation and imagination. And whether or not you end up with the perfect six words, the exercise will help get rid of all the fluff.

So get editing. Build briefer briefs.

Merriam-Webster defines value as relative worth. My definition of value is “What you get” divided by “What you give.”

Simple enough, right?

But value is often – incorrectly – considered a four-letter word. There have been too many marketing textbooks that for too long have defined a value brand as, basically, low-cost. That’s only half the equation.

The idea of paying more to get a better value is not heretical. Unless you are in a meeting discussing marketing. Do we really have that low a perception of what the product is?

I would like to make 2010 the year of killing words that no longer make sense to use. And I’ll begin with “value” in the pejorative sense. (“New” media, you’re next.) We need to understand what people value, not just what people will pay.

And to brands, understanding that has value.

image courtesy of coloring-page.net

Marketers benefit when they use the same simple wisdom a six-year-old does when using a shortcut to solve a maze: Begin at the end. When marketing begins with the consumer – and where the consumer needs to end up – shortcuts are revealed.

If you trace your way backwards (instead of forwards) along any maze, the path to Point B is more likely to pop. Dead ends are taken out of the consideration set. Distractions are eliminated. Unnecessary choices vanish. And the answers to the many questions – left vs. right, up vs. down – are more easily defined. Choices that seem viable from one perspective seem irrelevant from “the end.” Marketing is the same way.

We are faced with an avalanche of decisions. And paralysis by analysis can quickly progress to death by 1,000 initiatives. But when you begin at the end those choices get easier. When you clearly define goals and objectives, the excess gets stripped away. The roadmap to success becomes clearer. So, think like a six-year-old. And begin at the end.

I love lists. Especially the year-end variety. Music, books, advertisements. Successes, mistakes. Put it in a list and I’ll give you three more reasons why I’ll read it.

But, for the many that I comb through and truly enjoy, there is only one that I consider a can’t miss at the end of every year. And, at the end of every year, I’m always reminded that my favorite year-end list is actually (a) a non-business list about business and (b) a list for the following year.

It’s The New York Times’ Year In Ideas – now in its ninth edition. Dealing with subject matter as far reaching as social science to sports, the list provides “clever, important, silly and just plain weird innovations… from all corners of the thinking world.”

Inspiration, as Malcolm Gladwell has shown again and again, can be found anywhere. And, I would argue, that’s what we should strive for as a matter of course. The best way think like everyone else in your line of work is to attend the same seminars they attend, read the same authors they’re reading and see the world the way they see the world. It’s a recipe for vanilla.

So, I like my business lists different. From Random Promotions (Are we really just promoted to our level of incompetence?) to Drunken Ultimatums (Are we that vengeful of a culture?), each entry provides the opportunity to think in new ways (Is Michael Jackson more responsible for real time search than Google?). It’s all there. It’s kind of weird. And it’s well worth the read.