30 Jul 2010

Vintage Ads: What Were They (We) Thinking?

I always love these. Funny how far we have come as a society. They advertising is a reflection of a society's values. I guess that explains beer commercials.

5 Jul 2010

The Free Market Competency Test: 3 simple questions for political candidates.


You can blame politics, ideology, or our education system but the simple math of the free market has largely been replaced by convoluted economic theory that treats all economic systems as equal.  This is especially true with elected officials where too many so-called Republicans spout free market principles, then promote (and even brag about) spending money the government doesn't have.  Most elected Democrats are a lost cause (Idaho's Walt Minnick being the rare exception) when it comes to understanding free market principles - let alone embracing them.  Both conditions are reflective of too many politicians moving from school to government/university gigs to elected office with very little free market exposure along the way.  

The bottom line:

The competency of free market principles in both parties is severely lacking.

So with that rant out of the way, I created The Free Market Competency Test below.  Of course, anyone can take a stab at answering these 3 simple questions, but they are intended to gauge the free market awareness/comprehension of candidates running for office.  If you are a candidate (or represent one), I would be happy to interview you and post it as a podcast.  

  
  1. Where do jobs come from?

  2. Where do taxes come from?

  3. How does the economy grow?


Please don't tell me that the answers to these questions are complicated.  Like I said, these are simple questions.  As such, they should have simple answers. 

Final thought: if you are a voting citizen, please ask these questions of candidates in your area.  Please feel free to post their answers in the comments section of this post.  Please include the name, office, and location of the candidate you spoke with.

Spread the word!

25 Jun 2010

Invincible Apple: 10 Lessons from the Coolest Company Anywhere (via Fast Company)

This is a must-read. Here is a summary of the 10 lessons:

- Go into your cave.
- It's okay to be the King.
- Transcend orthodoxy.
- Just say no.
- Serve your customer. No, really.
- Everything is marketing.
- Kill the past.
- Turn feedback into inspiration.
- Don't invent, re-invent.
- Play by your own clock.

14 Jun 2010

John Wooden Leadership Benchmarking Tool

John Wooden has always been a mythical figure to me. Someone that was before my time, but whose teachings had such a profound on the people he coached that they still held him in great reverence.

Coach Wooden was a leadership consultant before that was even a term. As such, his quotes and concepts have been used by thousands. However, I have never found any Wooden-related resource for benchmarking leadership as a character trait. So I made one.

This is pretty simple. I selected 14 quotes and applied them to a benchmarking template I use for brands. You can use this on yourself - but I think it would make an excellent tool rating anyone in and/or aspiring to a leadership role - i.e. management candidates.

It also can be used to benchmark those that aspire to elected office. I plan on using it as my version of a Voter Guide. If someone grades out high in these areas, then they are electable. If they don't, then they aren't.

In many ways it is a reality check between the abstract theory of leadership and the actual behavior of true leaders.

24 Apr 2010

Breaking down the WAC players selected in '10 draft.

Five WAC players were selected in the 2010 NFL draft.  This is the fewest total of draft picks from the WAC in years, but does include three 1st rounders.  This reflects the "rich dad, poor dad" make-up of the WAC.

Below is the list, shown by player, position, college team, NFl team, and round selected - plus my thoughts on their role and/or chances with the team that picked them.

Ryan Matthews - RB - Fresno St.  1st round:  San Diego Chargers
Takes over for a legend.  Will be a starter, but in a rotation with Darren Sproles.

Mike Iupati - G - Idaho.  1st round: San Francisco 49ers
Will compete for the starting LG position.  Likely to start because of his draft status and nastiness.

Kyle Wilson - CB - Boise State.  1st round: NY Jets
Will play nickelback position immediately, plus return kicks.

D'Anthony Smith - DT - Louisiana Tech.  3rd round: Jacksonville Jaguars
One of 4 defensive linemen draft by Jags.  Will be part of DT rotation immediately.

Dennis Morris - TE - Louisiana Tech.  6th round: Washington Redskins
Will likely play multiple positions: FB, TE, H-back and special teams for Redskins.  Possible heir apparent for aging FB Mike Sellers.

Look for slew of rookie free agent signings of WAC players.  Notables include Richie Brockel (FB - Boise St), Kevin Basped (DE/OLB - Nevada), John Estes (C - Hawaii), and AJ Jefferson (CB - Fresno St).

Just for grins, here are the players drafted from BSU's '09 opponents:

TJ Ward - S - Oregon.  2nd round: Cleveland Browns
Injured in the opener against Boise St, so missed much of '09.  Will compete for starting job at at strong safety.

Ed Dickson - TE - Oregon.  3rd round: Baltimore Ravens
Gives the Ravens the pass-catching 2nd TE they've been looking for.  Will get lots of playing time.

Walter Thurmond III - CB - Oregon.  4th round: Seattle Seahawks
Another injury prone Duck, but will compete for dimeback role as well as possibly return kicks.

Jerry Hughes - DE - TCU. 1st round: Indianapolis Colts
Held without a sack by Boise St in Fiesta Bowl, but a perfect fit for the Colts.  Will be immediate part of DE rotation.

Daryl Washington - LB - TCU. 2nd round: Arizona Cardinals
Very likely moving to starting role at inside LB; replacing Karlos Dansby.  

Marshall Newhouse - G - TCU.  5th round: Green Bay Packers
Lots of chaos at all 5 offensive line positions for Packers.  Newhouse likely to end up as a swing player at RG and RT.
22 Mar 2010

The Future of Health Care Is Social (via Fast Company)

Yesterday's passage of the House's Health Care Reform bill and the above article were the catalysts for this observation:

Where innovation goes, affordability follows.

I have some fundamental philosophical reasons for not supporting the recent legislation. Chiefly, I view the government's involvement in our lives as accepting that mediocrity is the highest level we can achieve. There are also issues related to the constitutionality of dramatically increasing government's role in health care. Finally, when is the last time that the government was able to solve a problem better than the free market?

But that's not what this post is about. This post is about innovation - or the lack thereof.

Innovation has always been at the forefront of medical advances. This has lead to curing diseases, extending life, and many other advancements that were unheard of just 75 years ago. And, yes, there has been some government involvement in this area - primarily through grants and tax credits.

However, there has been little to no innovation on how we PAY for medicine. We consumers have been trained that the issue is coverage, not the causes that require needing insurance in the first place. In short, it has been the accepted norm that unhealthy behavior is ok as long as there is a way to pay for it. As such, we end up with no innovation on a payment method ... thus the ensuing skyrocketing costs. This especially applies to behavioral driven issues such obesity and its many side effects.

Not coincidentally, elective items such as plastic surgery and Lasik have seen a dramatic drop in price. Primarily because they were exposed to the free markets.

Another way to look at it is that insurance companies have created a "corporate socialism" model. For years, the government has colluded with insurance companies (and providers) through regulation (no portability, pre-existing condition clauses, etc) and by not addressing the core issue. That is why President's Obama's claims about insurance company "greed" are disingenuous. Insurance company profits are on the lower end of the scale, plus they are going to receive millions of new customers under his plan. The bottom line: there is lack of innovation on payment models because there is no incentive to do so.

What the Fast Company article lays-out is extremely innovative ... and it will work if there is motive for innovation. However, with the government dramatically increasing their presence in our lives, where is the motivation for innovation? We can damn insurance companies for their lack of innovation, but do we expect the government to be any more innovative? Without that, the future of health care is simply social with an "ism" at the end.

5 Mar 2010

Be a Real Guitar Hero!

I bank with Wells Fargo.  There is a branch across the street with a great staff.  I don't know if this is true across all Wells Fargo locations, but these guys are cool.  They dress cool and act cool, with quirky personalities, non-banking fashion, and a relaxed but still professional attitude.  Banking there is a lot like buying coffee from Dutch Brothers.  In short, I look forward to my visits to that branch.  

After recent visits to both Wells Fargo and Dutch Brothers, this thought struck me:  The more you act like a rock band, the more you will sell.

Disclaimer: By "rock band", I mean a real rock band.  This eliminates Nickleback, Creed, and most 80s hair bands.

The reasons are pretty simple ...
  • Rock bands are cool.  A key driver of self-interest of most people is to be cool - and be perceived as cool.  But a rock band actually has to be cool - otherwise you end up on a reality show with eye-liner left over from the 80s (Yes, I'm talking about you, Bret Michaels)
  • Great rock bands are forever relevant.  Who doesn't want to be relevant?  A thousand years from now, Elvis, The Beatles, and Nirvana will still be relevant.
  • Rock bands are quirky.  This means they stand out.  As I have loudly proclaimed, conformity is not a brand strategy.  
  • Rock bands are interesting.  Why do you think they have groupies?  And what brand doesn't want groupies?
  • Rock bands are good at what they do - and know it.  Some purists bang on Green Day for being sell-outs but you don't last 20 years and sell millions of albums by sucking.
  • The best rock bands work really hard to earn respect rather than purchase it.  They tour constantly, interact with fans, and consistently produce great music - see above.
There are many other reasons rock bands are cool, but the above examples can be applied to any organization. But most don't.  Most brands are content with conformity; or they fear change.  So they play marketing's version of karaoke or Guitar Hero - copying other brands, singing other people's songs - pretending to sing and play.  

So for those brands like my friends at the Bannock Street Wells Fargo in Boise and Dutch Brother coffee kiosks, this is for you:

For those about to rock, we salute you!

We rock at dawn on the front line
Like a bolt right out of the blue
The sky's alight with the guitar bite
Heads will roll and rock tonight


 

8 Jan 2010

Happy 75th to America's first Punk Rocker

Before the garish jumpsuits, before the impersonators, before he became a bloated caricature of himself, Elvis was America's first celebrity bad boy.  He was outlaw before Waylon and Kid Rock.  He was punk rock before The Ramones and Green Day.  He was a white guy singing black music way before Eminem. 

Because of his well-publicized proclivities, a lot of people don't understand his impact on culture and music.  So this calls for a brief history lesson ...

From 1955 - 1958, he turned music and American culture upside down. Way before Billy Joe Armstrong (Green Day lead singer), Elvis died his hair jet black and wore-eyeliner.  Like Billy Joe, he used a simple 3-piece combo to refine a sound and create a movement like no other.  Elvis also made it cool to have your own style.  For Elvis, this was a truck-driver hair style, pegged slacks, box-style sport coats - topped off with a smirk.  Consider John Lennon's quote:  "Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn't been an Elvis, there wouldn't have been the Beatles."

The Elvis caricature really began to grow after a mandatory stint in the US Army.  His music become polished, produced, and designed to sell as many records as possible.  While his movies always did well at the box office, they contributed to his reputation of being irrelevant as a musician.

Then in 1969, the Punk Rocker was back.  Dressed in a black leather suit, he did a taped concert as a "Christmas Special".  He was lean, loud, and provocative. This era lasted until 1971; producing some of the best music ever created.  Most notable was "Suspicious Minds", but also dozens of other songs.   If you are not familiar with this era, check it out.

Sadly, Elvis' demons caught up with him again.  In the final years of his life, he did create some good music and a memorable concert experience - but it wasn't the same.  His body died in 1977, but the music - the Punk Rocker - died in 1971. 

So the next time you see a musician think they are doing something original, remember that Elvis probably did it first.
6 Jan 2010

Anil Dash Attempts to Burst the Twitter Bubble (via Fast Company) + my take.

My take on the whole issue of the number of Twitter followers I have ...

I don't care.

This also applies to the number of Twitter followers anyone else has. "Followers" is a false positive as far as a metric. Number of Followers is like a Twitter version of an Arbitron or Nielsen rating. It really doesn't mean all that much.

If you want to measure something on Twitter, measure the number of re-tweets (RTs) you get. RTs mean you are posting interesting stuff.

Keep in mind that Twitter is all about RIGHT NOW. This means being interesting, useful, funny, provocative, etc. in an immediate format. How do you that? By being those things off-line and extending them to Twitter and other social mediums.

31 Dec 2009

My 2010 Un-Predictions

I'm not big on predictions. I like to read about predictions. I just suck at predicting things: football games, elections, etc. Yet I have a strong compulsion to do some sort of 2010 list. So I decided to do some un-predictions: things I am very confident will come true, because they involve my behavior and thinking.

1) I will focus more on working with specific kinds of people not projects. Interesting, innovative, forward thinking, high integrity, etc.

2) I will be teaching clients the art of authenticity; that being real and getting real are differentiators.

3) I will do more listening and less talking. More questions and less unsolicited answers.

4) I won't pitch, beg, or lower my standards to get new clients.

5) I will not conform for the sake of fitting in or getting along.

6) I will purge my vocabulary of impersonal marketing terms; ie "target audience".

7) I will strive to see people as God sees them. Not as a mass, but as individuals - each with a story.

8) I will continue to be critical of politicians but won't disparage their office.

9) I will continue to expose frauds in the marketing industry- especially "social media gurus".

10) I will love more.

I guess this is really more of a resolution list- but I prefer to think of it as list of predictions that I have 100% control over.

Happy 2010!

Justin Foster's Posterous

President of a little branding firm (www.thetricycle.com). Branding and marketing non-conformist; social media vigilante. Professional rainmaker. Pursuer of Truth; promoter of liberty. Husband of Lynna, father of Logan and Caden. Football coach. Love Texas music, punk rock, and Elvis. Shrinking former fat person. My mission: to teach what I learn. My Google Profile Justin Foster

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