800-CEO-READ Blog

My favorite bit of Dusenberry

In a rare turn of events, Jack, Tom, and I all like the same book at the same time. There really is something different about Then We Set His Hair On Fire. Phil has seen alot and has found a great way of telling people about it. Here is my favorite bit:

In this book I have stressed the difference between ideas and insights. Ideas are a dime a dozen; anyone can have them. They can be good or bad ideas, saving your hide in some cases, wasting your time in others. The best thing about a good idea is that it forces you to act. Insight is rarer, and infinitely more precious. A strong insight can fuel a thousand ideas, a thousand reasons to act and make something happen. That, more than anything, should be your reason to fight and persevere for your own insight moment. When you are armed with a powerful insight, the ideas never stop flowing.

Katrina

Reading the WSJ during the past two days about the hurricane has really hit me. I fell in love with New Orleans and Louisiana by reading James Lee Burke’s detective series featuring Dave Robicheaux. My wife and I went to the Big Easy for a great vacation a few years back. To read about the recent devastation is simply heartbreaking. Articles in the WSJ have brought home the size and scope of this nightmare. We need to respond. Here are links to The Salvation Army and The Red Cross. I encourage you to actively respond to this disaster and give.

Ditto...i.e. Dusenberry II, Insights and Ideas

I'm also enjoying Then We Set His Hair On Fire immensely. My favorite passage:

"Insights come in all shapes and sizes.
"Management guru Peter Drucker is hailed and admired as ‘the man who invented business' largely because of seven decades’ worth of essays on management in more than thirty-five books. But if you pore through Drucker’s books hoping to find a treasure trove of specific ideas and practical advice on how to run a business, you will be sorely disappointed. That’s because Drucker doesn’t traffic in ideas. Insights are his currency, and his books reveal him to be a man who is a virtual insight machine. Drucker won’t tell you how to make a cold call, but he will get you thinking about the implications of cold calls, and whether your business is too dependent on them and what that says about how you treat your old customers. Drucker won’t tell you how to fire an unruly employee, but he will get you thinking about the criteria for employees to keep and employees to jettison. His insights usually take the form of Socratic questions that make you look at the world through sharper lenses. When Drucker famously asked a CEO of a big multinational company to ask himself, ‘If you didn’t this business now and had a chance to buy it, would you?’ he was doing something far more valuable than listing reasons to keep or fold a division. He was teaching the CEO how to think, much like the ancient saying, ‘Give the man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.’ Drucker was helping the CEO see the world from a new perspective—with a rigor and logic that is impossible to refute. The best insights do that."

Then We Set His Hair on Fire

Phil Dusenberry, former Chairman, BBDO North America has written a book called Then We Set His Hair on Fire. I am reading it and loving it. Here is an example of why I like the book:

“America is a big nation, so big in fact that it is not just one enormous economic market. It is a collection of many different economies. In order to visualize and understand these various economies, we often resort to “branding” them, giving names that collect all the chaotic forces fighting for recognition into one intelligible grab bag."

"As for me, an advertising professional, I have my own economy to worry about. Let’s call it the Parity Economy—a world where all products and services are perceived as equal, with differences so miniscule that they do not dent the average consumer’s consciousness. I have spent every day of my waking life thinking about the parity economy and what I can do to help my clients escape its pernicious clutches. It even infects my dreams, I worry about parity not only when I’m awake but in my sleep.”

Isn’t that what we all are trying to do? Trying to differentiate!!!

Leadership

I got this in an email:

Joe Heuer's Daffynitions

Leadership: the ability to hide your panic from others.

To find out more about Joe, visit http://daffynitions.com

A Mix of Publishing Links

There has been alot going on in publishing over the last week or so.

• Amazon Shorts - The internet retailer has started a program of selling short form fiction. Whatever has the best post on the new program.
• Conde Nast announced they are launching a business magazine. No launch was given, but don't expect it before 2007.
• There is a profile of Warren Adler (War of the Roses) in NYT. He has written 27 novels and he some good advice for new authors. He is also giving away his latest novel.

Raising From the Ashes

Author Greg Stielstra contacted me to tell me that Pyromarketing will be published. If you remember, this is the word-of-mouth marketing book that Rick Warren, of Purpose Driven Life fame, objected to. Warren didn't like his book being used as a case study. Stielstra says he got no reason for the change of heart at HarperCollins. Books will be in stores on September 27th.

I got a manuscript for this book back in February and I like it alot. Expect to hear more about it in the next few weeks.

The new place to sell business books - QVC

In the last 24 hours, I have ran across two references of QVC selling business books.

Business 2.0 has a five page article on the shopping channel and they list a series of high-profile events. These range from Shania Twain selling her greatest hits CD to Dan Marino bringing in NFL Memorabilia. On September 28, 2004, Donald Trump stopped by the studio and sold 62,000 copies of Think Like A Billionaire in about an hour. Not bad.

The New York Times also has a piece today, where they profile Jeanne Bice. Bice is a well-known fixture on QVC with her Quacker Factory clothing ("when one spies another wearing one of Ms. Bice's distinctive designs, they quack at each other"). She sold $50 million dollars worth of merchanise last year. Her new book is called Pull Yourself Up By Your Bra Straps and was written to "to thank her fans". In three sessions totaling less than 30 minutes, she sold 34,534 copies. Again, not bad.

Coming Soon: Carly Fiorina's Memoir

Few have forgotten the news ripples made when Carly Fiorina left her role as CEO at HP in February. According to CNNMoney, Fiorina "held the top spot on Fortune's list of 50 Most Powerful Women." The question in everyone's minds is why did she leave? Moreover, how many CEOs are going to leave their posts when their board is not happy?

Whatever your view may be, you will soon have the chance to find out Carly Fiorina's view. Today, it was announced that Fiorina will be working with Portfolio to create a memoir. It will include details on topics such as "what makes a leader [and] how women can thrive in business."

When published, we will all be able to read Fiorina's side of the story and, perhaps, gather a better understanding of why she left her post as CEO at such an elite company. In addition, we may pick up some Fiorina tips along the way.

*Book due out in Autumn 2006.

A Look at the Fall

Here are some books we are liking for the fall.

Competition Demystified by Bruce Greenwald and Judd Kahn (Aug.) - The author revisit and simplify Porter's Five Forces. I was skeptical, but they sold me in the introduction.

First in Thirst by Darren Rovell (Sept.) - This is a interesting brand biography on Gatorade. You will see this book on the BBBT at the end of September.

Bag the Elephant by Steve Kaplan (Sept.) - Bard Press puts out one book a year and each one is without fail is a great title. GUTS!, Marketing Outrageously, and Little Red Book of Selling were all from Bard Press. This year's book is about the idea of small business attracting and retaining big customers.

Radical Careering by Sally Hogshead (Sept.) - The book has great design and a powerful message. It reminds me of Fast Company in its heyday. Brand Autopsy has a nice preview.

Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard (Oct.) - The Republic of Tea and Raising The Bar showed us there was a different way to do business. Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard continues the tradition.

The Big Moo by Seth Godin and the Group 33 (Oct.) - The book is a perfect follow-up to Purple Cow.

The Number by Lee Eisenberg (Jan.) - This book takes a Gladwell-like look at retirement. The question is "What is your number?"

So, there is a little something for everyone to read this fall.

Enjoy!

Bitter view of business books

A couple weeks ago, Barbara Ehrenreich (author of Nickled and Dimed) wrote a piece for The New York Times called ESSAY; Who Moved My Ability to Reason? I missed the original printing but saw a link in del.icio.us over the weekend.

It is not unusual to see this sort of essay in which the author bashes business books for their simple messages and slick marketing (remember the Economist piece last year?). Ehrenreich seems to go a step further.

This is from an email that Tom Ehrenfeld wrote me in response to the essay:

But I guess I'd call this column a case of bashing the low-hanging pinata. Gee, we really need someone as talented as Ehrenreich telling us that Who Moved My Cheese is a profoundly stupid book? And The Present? Jeez. She's given that book more cred simply by mentioning it in the Times than I would imagine any readers ever have--in its current incarnation, or the original version that appeared two decades ago. She's taken the real easy route with this essay, choosing to beat up on a bunch of books that are pretty easily beat-up-able. It's kind of like a real talented comedian doing fart jokes.

I'd like to see her extrapolate lessons and generalizations from a more thoughtful and nuanced collection of business books--Jim Collins' last two books, for example, as well as, well, this would take a bit of thought. But even Covey's Seven Habits is far more thoughtful and defensible than the Eighth Habit. And there really are business books with nuance, that deal with doubt and uncertainty. It's true that the megasellers do tend to dumb things down, cheer matters up, and take as little of the reader's time as possible. But nobody's claiming that these books are great literature. The point of great business books is to give the reader solid and meaningful insights that that they can apply to their work--whether immediately, at the surface level, or even deeper and over time.

So yeah. Call this review a bad cup of coffee: weak and bitter.

I am with Tom. Bitter.

The Thirty Second Pitch

I liked this piece from 10 Simple Secrets Of The World's Greatest Business Communicators. There are many instances when you only have a few moments to make an impression.

Tory Johnson's Thirty-Second Pitch Tips

"Tory, if you only have thirty seconds to sell yourself, what would you consider the elements of a great pitch?" I asked Johnson. She gave me these three tips:

1. First and foremost, state your name! Women, more so than men, have a challenge because we want to err on the friendly side. I'm not Oprah or Madonna. I'm not on a first name basis with the world. Always present yourself in a business situation with your first and last name. Beyond that, I want to tell you who I am and what I offer.
2. Secondly when describing your accomplishments, remember that numbers count. Quantify something. For example, there's a big difference between saying "I'm in Human Resources" or "I'm a Human Resources manager with experience at Fortune 500 companies." That's quantifying. Include impressive details. They get people's attention. Better yet-- "I've worked in Human Resources for Fortune 500 companies for the past ten years and I've hired over one hundred people." Focus on accomplishments, not responsibilities.
3. Finally, rehearse your pitch so it comes off naturally, not like a patented pitch. Don't make it sound like you're reading it. Record it on a videocamera. Look for nuances. Do you avert your eyes? Do you use filler words like "um" and "ah"? You'll find things you cringe at. By taking steps to improve your performance, you'll come across as more confident and as someone others want to get to know.

I think we often get too fancy with our introductions. Take the advice above and make sure your elevator speech has covered the basics.

Tory Johnson runs a company called Women for Hire. She has co-authored two books Women for Hire: The Ultimate Guide to Getting a Job and Women for Hire's: Get-Ahead Guide to Career Success.

This Week - 8/22/05

We held our annual picnic yesterday and were blessed with beautiful weather. Jack was crowned this year's after two tight preliminary bouts and a nail-biter of a final.

This week, we'll be giving you a rundown of books you should be keeping an eye out for this fall.

We also had some people comment that they were having problems with comments on the blog. We upgraded to MT3.17 on Friday and the comment moderation was turned on. All who commented will find their thoughts now posted.

We would like to get some more feedback on last Friday's post about whether we should consider adding online advertising to 800-CEO-READ.

We Need Your Help...

I know I don’t post a lot but who can when you have a Todd (just kidding). I love his posts. I just wanted to say that the past 24 months have been amazing for me and 8cr. We have literally doubled our business in two years. We took a very rickety ecommerce site and created and launched our new site. Thanks Todd, Andy, Zach and Scott.

With success comes opportunities and we are at a crossroads. Lots of people want to associate themselves with us. I am afraid that this could change the personality of 8cr. Sometimes that can be a good thing. As we go to make decisions during this coming year we want to do it with you, our customers.

Everything makes more sense when it is presented in context. Most publishers offer programs to help market and promote books called coop advertising. The major publishers give booksellers a percentage of last years sales that they can use to promote/advertise their books. Amazon gets coop, B&N and Borders gets coop, and so do we. In the past, we had a newsletter called the Keen Thinker. For you really old customers you may remember our 32 page four color catalog called The Gazette. That is where coop was spent in the past.

This type of marketing seems so dated. We think there has been a fundamental change in where business books are bought. Amazon, the chains and us seem to be the new portals. Purchasers are also spending a lot of time online as our growth shows.

This brings me to why I am writing to you. We would like to use our ecommerce site to give publishers the opportunity to showcase business books to you. We are still throwing around ideas of how to do this. We are thinking of a single “banner” ad on the top of the front page and small ads on the “product” pages.

There will be rules. The ads would need to be tasteful. The ads would be well marked as such. The ads would only be on our ecommerce site, none of the blogs. The advertising would not influence my choices for Jack Covert Selects, Changethis, or any of our other recommendations.

What do you think? We are really listening.

A Clear Eye Thanks!

Thank you for taking the time to visit today and thanks for allowing me to share my views with you. I truly appreciate it. And I also appreciate any and all feedback on my posts and on my new book.

Creating an enduring brand is a huge challenge in today's rapidly evolving marketplace. It requires courage, focused attention, patience and new marketplace insights. I certainly can't help you with the first three, but if there is ever any way I can help you with a different view of the world of business, please don't hesitate to ask.

P.S. Stay passionate!

Scott Bedbury on wearing spandex

"Just because you can doesn't mean that you should."

Scott uses that metaphor when discussing brand extensions or brand "stretch." Brand extension is another polarizing concept. Some say focus, focus, focus. Here's what I say (page 125):

"Companies are finally realizing that their most powerful assets are not their buildings, bank accounts, or even technologies. It's their relationship with their audience. The rpoblems arise when a brand tries to be all things to all people. Instead, develop a core attitude with your core audience and be as many things as possible to them."

Do you know Curtis Jackson? He's an entrepreneur. Adam Matthews, in the New York Daily News, said that Jackson (a.k.a. 50 Cent) "may soon be ready for the Fortune 500.>"

50 Cent's company, G-Unit, produces just about everything - music, clothes ($100 million in sales last year), shoes, watches, water, video games, films, and television shows.

What are your thoughts on brand extensions now? ;)

Susan Sontag on positioning

"It is not the position, but the disposition."

In Chapter 4 of my book I say that positioning is passé:

"We're living in a marketplace driven by creativity and innovation. The concept of branding is a much more dynamic idea. Standing still and trying to persuade people with clever advertising and image-building campaigns is a self-centered waste of time and money."

This is the one opinion that has caused me the most blow back. Here's a recent email that I received from a book reviewer:

"FYI, several of those who have read my review of A Clear Eye for Branding have contacted me re: my remark that I do not agree with you on every point made (e.g. positioning is passé). My response is the same and I may add it to the review:

Old Positioing (i.e. Ries and Trout): "Capture" the customer's mind re her or his perceptions of a given product or service. Product or service is the focus.

New Positioning: "Capture" the customer's heart as well as mind (hopefully creating an evangelist) re her or his perceptions of herself or himself. Nourish with multi-sense experience. Increasing and enhancing the customer's sense of self-worth, self-esteem, self-fulfillment, self-image, etc. is the focus.

Presumably you agree that the New Positioning is not passé."

And here is my email response:

"As far as positioning goes, I suppose it's semantics. Although semantics may be what it's all about. ;-)

Of course I agree with your new positioning description. Although the metaphor "capture" should probably be changed to something like "continuously attract."

And the word "positioning" . . . well. It originally meant: my position relative to my competitor. So I still say it's passé. Great brands don't compete today. The word competition literally means "seeking together . . . choosing to run in the same race." Instead, great brands step off of the track. They defy positioning."

Here is an example of classical positioning: "We Try Harder."

How did it work? The advertiser simply keeps saying it over, and over, and over again. Thus carving out a place in the consumer's mind (or "positioning" it in the mind relative to its competitors.) Then, when it comes time to choose a car rental business, "We Try Harder" comes to mind and we; a. believe it, and b. go on autopilot and choose it. We don't check prices on line. We respond to the comparative positioning. How it exists in our mind. "Wow. The other guys must not really try as hard. Why even bother checking."

Now for the other use of the word "position." The one I think most people elude to today. Southwest Airlines is "positioned" as a low cost, no-frills airline. So is JetBlue. It is NOT a game of mind control. Simply check their prices. Starbucks is "positioned" as a premium brand of coffee. Ditto.

Now, if your "position" relative to others is, for example, high price/high service, then you must uniquely express that position. How? It depends what type of business it is. If it's a restaurant, then the aesthetics of everything is supremely important. As is the exclusivity of your guest list, etc.

Forget about trying to carve out a unique position with advertising, pr, taglines, etc. Instead, uniquely express that position.

Here's another excerpt from Chapter 4 of A Clear Eye for Branding:

"Look, times are pretty strange. People will go out of their way and pay a premium for products and services that are important to them, to their self-definition. But in categories or for things that don't matter to them emotionally, they're basically looking to save time and money. Why do you think that brand power has shifted away from fast-moving consumer goods companies and local merchants, to the big-box retailers?

Because of a larger selection and lower prices?

Exactly. An expectation - based on experience - of saving time and avoiding a bad decision on stuff that simply doesn't matter much. Stuff that's "good enough."

Yes, but I've even noticed some of those retailers getting into high-end stuff. Luxury items and designer products.

And why shouldn't they? They've earned the customers' trust, and now they're going to try to go deeper into those relationships with stuff that does matter - whether it's aesthetically pleasing items or a range of services."

And now this from a recent USA Today article: Wal-Mart aims to clean up stores, improve goods

"Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) said Friday it needs to clean up its stores, treat employees well and bring in more upscale goods like organic food and trendy clothes to revive sales and profit growth. Executives at the world's biggest retailer said their "game plan" for this year involves targeting wealthier shoppers who may buy basics like food at Wal-Mart but look elsewhere for fashionable items like clothing and housewares."

Once you get a visceral understanding of what a brand is all about and why people choose the ones they choose, you'll be able to see this kind of thing coming. Hurry up, before it's too late.

Susan Sontag on photographs

"It is not altogether wrong to say that there is no such thing as a bad photograph - only less interesting, less relevant, less mysterious ones."

The same is true with brands. And there are many that are boring, irrelevant and/or ordinary, which spells death in a marketplace driven by ever increasing customer expectations.

Now, am I saying that every new brand has to wow the heck out of you? No. Don't believe all of the hype about the death of ordinary and the birth of "purple cows." There are no absolutes in this crazy game. For example, would you call bagged salad greens a purple cow? C'mon. But, it was highly relevant to people and thus has grow to over a $4 billion category. And I predict a hit for Unilever with their new packaging innovation for Wish-Bone designed for the diet-conscious called Wish-Bone Spray.

On the other hand, there's a purple cow called WashingSacks, which are laundry bags infused with detergent that dissolve in the wash, that is probably destined to the dust bin with the thousands of other new products released each month.

For the record I don't believe in the death of ordinary, or anything else for that matter. Take advertising. If I hear someone predict the death of advertising one more time, I'm going to throw up. Advertising is a huge brand enhancer. Sure, it needs to evolve to keep up with today's skeptical and sophisticated audience. But it is certainly not dying.

The key to brand success is to understand the desired feelings of your audience and deliver that feeling with unique and relevant products, services and communications. If you can bring your diet conscious audience those feelings through innovative packaging, then do it! If you can bring your beer drinking audience those feelings through advertising, go that way.

Uniqueness and relevance. You need both! Refrigerator with a see-though glass door . . . unique! But irrelevant . . . and a marketplace loser. High quality, fuel efficient cars from GM and Ford . . . relevant? Sure. Unique? Nope. And so they compete by slashing prices (and margins) and suffer the devastating effects.

I know what you may be thinking: "Refrigerators, cars, salad, detergent. Branding is all about consumer products." It may appear that way, but far from it. It's about why and how people choose what they choose. And whether it's a consumer product or business consultant, people go through the same, feeling-driven process. Perhaps you can share a few examples.

Felix Frankfurter on semantics

"All our work, our whole life is a matter of semantics, because words are the tools with which we work, the material out of which laws are made, out of which the Constitution was written. Everything depends on our understanding of them."

Okay, here it is. MY definition of brand. Are you ready for it? Are you prepared to blog battle me over it? I really hope not. ;)

A brand is the expectation of someone or something delivering a certain feeling by way of an experience.

I've heard that a brand is an idea, and I'll buy that. But what kind of idea? I'm interested in the economics of the word "brand." Why do people exchange their money and/or time for an idea - be it a product, service, place or person? And the new buzz in the world of marketing that declares that a brand is a promise? Puh-lease. Do you honesty think that customers believe your promises? Get real.

The rationale for my definition is simply that people expect something in return for exchanging their money and/or time and attention. And since we are emotional creatures by nature (Don't believe me? Read some work in behavioral economics.), that something is a feeling.

I don't care if it's B-to-B, B-to-C, C-to-C or XYZ, there is always an underlying feeling that drives each purchase decision. Therefore, the impetus for all business leaders (not just marketing) is to viscerally understand that expected feeling, and work diligently to align every single word and act around it.

In Executive Update magazine, business researcher Marcus Buckingham takes the vast topic of leadership and hacks it down to size. Here are a few excerpts:

"The trick for leadership doesn't lie in being right. It lies in being clear - and that means picking and choosing."

"The thing about a good leader is that he will look at the complexity of the world and, no matter how many truths there are, he'll pick one and orient the whole organization around that one."

"You've cut through all those ridiculous platitudes about 'we've got to serve our customers;' 'we've got to wow them;' "we've got to turn them into raving fans" - all of which are nice and uplifting, but they're terribly vague."

In Virginia Postrel's August 11, 2005 article in the NY Times titled Adding Social Norms to the Usual Methodology Mix, economist and Professor Rachel E. Kranton explains the effectiveness of workplaces like Federal Express and Southwest Airlines:

"Part of what a good firm does is make those expectations very clear. Then you want to live up to the expectations both of yourself and of yourself as part of the firm."

And before you can define internal expectations you must viscerally understand external expectations: those of your audience. So to become a great brand like FedEx, Southwest, Harley Davidson, Toyota, et al, you must:

1. Understand the feelings desired by your audience (and remember, sometimes they don't fully understand them);

2. Communicate those feelings such that they expect it from you and only you; and

3. Deliver those expected feelings via an experience.

If you do it all better than the other guy, you win . . . temporarily. Because people's desires and expectations are rapidly evolving due to changes in marketplace offerings, media exposure and new technologies. Branding is a never-ending game of innovation and communication. Brand is a verb, not a noun.

Abraham Isaac Kook on truth

"The higher the truth, the simpler it is."

What, exactly, is a brand? Ask ten seasoned business professionals that one, simple question and you're likely to receive ten different answers. The concept of brand (and branding) is either the most vague and confusing one in business today, or it is conveniently misinterpreted to fit each marketer's agenda and expertise. Take your pick.

The true tests of a business definition or concept are logical consistency, agreement with experience, and economy of explanation. Given that people exchange their hard earned money for "brands," in many cases paying a premium for them over competitive alternatives, a brand is obviously more than a logo, trademark, or tagline.

"Concepts, like individuals, have their histories and are just as incapable of withstanding the ravages of times as are individuals." - Kierkegaard

Why does a Google search of the word "branding" return close to 14 million results? Why is there a web site dedicated to "developing a common definition of the term 'branding?'" Simple. The concept has not survived the ravages of time.

In one of his excellent On Language articles, NY Times columnist William Safire jumped onto the brandwagon. He referred to the word "brand" as "the hot word in the field of sales - indeed, pervading the world of perfect pitching." He also wrote:

David Ogilvy, the advertising executive, was dubbed by the author Martin Mayer in 1958 as an "apostle of the 'brand image"' who sought to persuade the consumer that brand A, technically identical with brand B, is somehow a better product.

And there you have it. The 1950's concept of branding, which most people are still stuck on - and stuck in - today. Branding = Manipulating minds through modern marketing. Right?

In my new book I refer to branding as "today's most powerful business concept." Why? Because I believe that the proliferation of products and services requires more and better mind control? Hardly. Rather it's because said glut of options and information requires a new way of looking at how and why people make marketplace decisions. After all, for a brand to exist in any practical way it must eventually be chosen.

In The Practice of Management, Peter Drucker wrote, "Because it is its purpose to create a customer, any business enterprise has two - and only these two - basic functions: marketing and innovation." The execution of those two functions is what I'll be referring to as "branding." The effect - in the mind of the customer - is what I'll mean by "brand."

The key to understanding the concept "brand," is to understand its value. How it shapes and encapsulates organizational ideas and initiatives, how the marketplace understands and values it, and how we wish to represent our attitudes about it (manipulative marketing technique or organizing business principle). As I dig a little deeper into the concept, and highlight some real world examples, I look forward to your thoughts.

Thank You Todd and Jack

Happy Thursday to everyone and my sincere thanks to Todd and Jack for allowing me to share my views with you. I'm very excited to be here (albeit virtually).

Who am I?

First, a little background. I was graduated from UNH with a degree in Economics in the late 70's. Since then, my business journey has been a motley one. I've been in management positions in retail and manufacturing. High tech and low tech. B-to-B and B-to-C. I spent 10 years with General Electric, advancing to an executive positon in strategic planning. I participated in a management buy out of one of G.E.'s subsidiaries. I co-founded a medical device company and grew it rapidly, eventually ending in a vision collision with three of my parners. I also owned a brand consultancy and small publishing company.

It was during this uncommon journey that I experienced and rediscovered a fundamental truth: that the marketplace and the world of work are driven by feelings. Whether it's the feelings of customers, team members, suppliers or shareholders, it's their feelings - and feelings alone - that provide organizations with a lasting, competitive advantage.

Today I share this view through writing, speaking engagements, and strategic insight sessions on branding, creativity, innovation and the future of business. My mission is to help people see this truth, feel differently and ultimately transition from being "economically-driven" to "emotionally-driven."

My latest book, A Clear Eye for Branding, is my best attempt at debunking the nonsense surrounding brands and branding. What nonsense? Here's an example that I posted on last week's Fast Company BlogJam 2005:

I just read this in this month's issue of Meetings & Conventions magazine. I'm not kidding:

"Why Brand? Branding carries great weight in the corporate world, where billions of dollars are spent on advertising campaigns in a hook-'em, reel-'em-in game that, if played smartly, results in the ultimate prize: customer loyalty."

Sorry, but I'm too busy slamming my head against my desk to post a repartee.

The confusion about brands and branding is rampant. Here's a comment posted as a rebuttal to my aforementioned post:

"I'm confused. Who is arguing for or against branding. I see branding as all to often poor mans strategy. It can cost a lot, sacrifice flow and obscure opportunity for ego."

The subtitle of my new book is: Straight Talk on Today's Most Powerful Business Concept. I hope to convey the essence of that idea today. Please help me by providing some feedback. Thanks.

Small Talk: A Short and Simple How To

Hi there! As Todd mentioned the other day, I'm Kate--800-CEO-READ's new Marketing and Communications person. I welcome your comments, thoughts, and brainwaves about any blogging I do now and in the future. Also, welcome to my first blog!

Simply because August tends to be the time of the year for company picnics, I thought today would be a perfect day to excerpt some tips on small talk from The Etiquette Edge: The Unspoken Rules for Business Success. From experience, I know that after asking the basic questions ("how are you?" "how's your job, kids, family, new house, etc.?" and "are you enjoying the event?"), small talk can become a little challenging. So for your reading pleasure, here are a few valuable tips from Beverly Langford:

Master the art of small talk.
When you go to a social function, arrive prepared to talk to people. Catch up on the latest news before you go. What two or three stories grab your interest? Have some comments or opinions ready, or some little-known fact about the event that everyone may not have heard. If the occasion includes a guest speaker, find out something about the speaker and the work he or she is doing. Even the history of the building where the occasion is taking place or the chef who prepared the food may provide topics of conversation.

Perhaps, you have already mastered the art of small talk. If so, try this on for size:

Act as a catalyst--help others socialize.
Be on the lookout for people who aren't talking to anyone and include them in your conversation. Draw other people into the discussion with connectors, such as "Lindsay, this is Jose. He just moved here from Tulsa. Jose, Lindsay grew up in Tulsa."

I hope these tips will help you in your pursuit of mastering the art of small talk. Best of luck!

Make It Real...N-O-W.

18.
THINK/OBSESS...
D -E - A - D - L- I - N - E.
BE RIDICULOUSLY/ABSURDLY/
INSANELY DEMANDING OF
YOURSELF/YOUR LITTLE BAND
OF RENEGADES.

Think "six months"... and sure 'nuf, it'll take six+ months. Think "five days"... and I'll bet you'll get something serious done in five days (Or three!) WOW Projects: "Dreams with deadlines," per Great Groups guru Warren Bennis.

Do It ...NOW....There is no room for procrastination/dawdling in the pursuit of big "dreams". To the contrary, the lordliest "dreamers" I've met also topped the Pragmatism Scale: They are determined to conduct real tests and corner real customers...ASAP. You make your bones in the WOW Project Business not by spinning tall tales but by doing cool stuff...right now.

-This message was brought to you by Tom Peters and The Project50.

Last to the Party

I think we are the last ones to actually post on The Big Moo (and we are selling it!).

In case you have seen it, Seth Godin has pulled together an outstanding list of thought leaders who each have written a piece for this new book. It is meant to be a follow-up to Purple Cow and continuing the conversation of what it takes to be remarkable.

Each writer has donated their time to the project and all of the proceeds are going to charity.

Seth wants to sell a million copies of the book by the end of the year. He is pre-launching the book with an offer of 50 galley copies of the book for $100. He is very clear about the types of people he wants buying the galleys:

I only want to sell the 50 pack of galleys ($2 a copy) to people who will turn around and give galleys to people in organizations with the will and the ability to pre-order a hundred or more copies of the final hardcover.

This means that if you buy a bunch of galleys and give them to people who don't do anything, you've killed the project and turned me into a publishing pariah.

If, on the other hand, I'm right and every galley turns into 10 or a hundred pre-sales, we just hit a home run.

So if you fit the description, click on this link and get a box of books.

Jack Covert Selects: Rules of the Red Rubber Ball

Rules of the Red Rubber Ball by Kevin Carroll, ESPN Books, 98 Pages, $14.95 Hardcover, September 2005, ISBN 1933060026

This book is fresh and inspiring. In its pages, Kevin Carroll briefly outlines his life story and how a red rubber ball made all the difference in the world. He starts by introducing you to his history and ends with seven Rules of the Red Rubber Ball. Kevin will remind you to constantly seek out new learning opportunities, remain open to new ideas and possibilities and commit to your "red rubber ball".

The red rubber ball is your life ambition. It's what gets you out of bed in the morning. It's your "life’s work". For Kevin, it started with a red rubber ball back in school. It led him to a job with the Philadelphia 76ers and, then, with Nike as a "Katalyst". The rules that led him there:

1. Commit to it [your red rubber ball].
2. Seek out encouragers.
3. Work out your creative muscle.
4. Prepare to shine.
5. Speak up.
6. Expect the unexpected.
7. Maximize the day.

With each page turn, you will delight as the clever arrangement of words paints pictures in your mind and the photos and vivid colors visually stimulate you. Offering fold-out pages and places to store your personal thoughts, this book will become your personal playground. It will become a place to re-discover your dreams and ambitions.

With a cutting-edge design, Rules of the Red Rubber Ball is sure to inspire your imagination and encourage you to delve deeper into your "life's work". Its big ideas are contained in this small 6" x 4" book.

I encourage you to try it out; the ball is in your court.

Jack Covert Selects: FAB: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop

FAB: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop—From Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication by Neil Gershenfeld, Basic Books, 270 Pages, $26.00 Hardcover, April 2005, ISBN 0465027458

When Bill Gates talks, many listen. On July 1 of this year, we posted a list of books that Bill told us we have to read. I was familiar with four of the five listed and agreed that they were important books. So I ordered a copy of number five. It is the subject of this review.

Bill is right. This is a book that is important because it talks about what the author thinks is the next trend in personal technology. He calls it personal fabrication (PF). As he states:

"At the intersection of physical science and computer science, programs can process atoms as well as bits, digitizing fabrication in the same way that communications and computation were earlier digitized. Ultimately, this means that a programmable personal fabricator will be able to make anything, including itself, by assembling atoms. It will be a self-reproducing machine…"

The author goes on to state:

"The biggest implement to PF is not technical; it's already possible to effectively do it. And it's not training; the just-in-time peer-to-peer project based model works as well in the field as at MIT (where this was developed and where the author teaches). Rather, the biggest limitation is simple the lack of knowledge that this is even possible. Hence this book.
FAB tells the stories of pioneering personal fabrication users, and the tools they are using. Because both are so striking. I've interwoven their stories in pairs of chapters that explore emerging applications and the processes that make them possible. The not-so-hidden agenda is to describe not only who is doing what but also how, providing introductions to the tools that are similar to the orientations we give at MIT and in the field. These stop just short of hands-on training; a final section gives enough detail on the products, programs, and processes used to duplicate what’s shown in the book."

The stories of applications are fun because they are all over the board--from India to Africa to Boston. This is a science book with huge business applications. Check it out and remember Bill knows—or for you Mac users, Steve knows.

Jack Covert Selects: Bag the Elephant

Bag the Elephant: How to Win & Keep BIG Customers by Steve Kaplan, Bard Press, 190 Pages, $19.95 Hardcover, August 2005, ISBN 1885167628

Steve Kaplan has written a book that is very near to my cold capitalist heart. I have been a believer in "bagging the elephant" for years--with limited success. What’s an "elephant?" It is a big client. This is the book that will teach you how to bag an elephant. The book is one of the most detailed "how to" sales books I have come across. To give an idea of my feeling for the book, once this book leaves my hands it will be on Aaron's (my sales guy) desk with the instruction to read it right away.

The book shows you that shoot high can be done but needs some preparation. Kaplan also helps by explaining the challenges of bagging the big one.
Here is what the author says about elephants:

"I've owned, managed, or consulted with more than 100 businesses—from runaway winners to outright dogs. One thing the winners have in common is that they all remember the exact moment they knew they had made it big. In nearly every case, that moment came when they "bagged their first elephant"—won their first customer big enough to provide the cash flow and profits they had long craved…
Why do I call these giant companies "Elephants"? Because they are huge, slow-moving, ponderous, strong, slow to react, often loveable, sometimes stubborn—and because they require enormous amounts of input, which, if you can make it your job to supply, can bring you great financial rewards. Elephants are also smart, sometimes dangerous, uniquely individual, and equipped with long memories—all reasons for you to be super-cautious and respectful when dealing with them."

In my experience, Steve Kaplan really nails the process of getting the "big one" with this book. I genuinely believe I could have retired years ago if this book was written fifteen years ago. The book is loaded with important valuable down-to-earth advice. I haven't even mentioned that the book is loaded with fun four-color pictures; it has great graphics and fun stories. You can check out his website at www.differencemaker.com to get a better idea of this book's offerings.

This Week - 8/15/05

We are still in summer mode here. Lots of vacations and barbecues. As a matter of fact, the 800-CEO-READ picnic is this weekend. The annual croquette champion will be announced Monday here on the blog.

I also wanted to introduce you all to Kate, the newest member of the team here at 800-CEO-READ. She is a newly minted business graduate of Marquette University. She is doing all sorts of stuff already. I wouldn't even know where to start. You will start seeing her byline on some entries here on the blog. So, give her a big welcome when she joins us this week.

In biz book news, we have Tom Asacker joining us on Thursday to talk about A Clear Eye for Branding.

We'll see what else we can pull up.

Have a great week!

From the Cutting Room Floor...

Ten Precepts From The Art of War That Never Made It Past Sun Tzu's Editor.
BY JOHN KEARNEY

[via McSweeney's]

What Is It Like at Wharton?

The Running of the Bulls is the latest look inside b-schools.

The Running of the Bulls tells the inside story of this process, and the fascinating institution behind it, through the experiences of seven Wharton students from the class of 2004, including a son of a manufacturing magnate in Bombay, a cheerleader from Texas determined to be a top investment banker, and a first-generation Indian American from Seattle who begins to question whether the Wall Street world is the right place for him. Financial reporter Nicole Ridgway follows each of them through the intensity of recruiting season, when candidates schmooze with employers at lavish presentations— then get bombarded with questions at grueling day-long interviews designed to test their will as much as their intellect.

Here are some of the other titles that have looked at life in America's business schools:

• Snapshots from Hell: The Making of an MBA by Peter Robinson
• Business School Confidential: A Complete Guide to The Business School Experience: By Students, For Students by Robert Miller and Katherine Koegler
• The MBA Jungle B-School Survival Guide by Jon Housman

History Never Repeats

In the current issue of Forbes, Caspar Weinberger recommends three books on American history:

• 1776 by David McCullough - "It is a chronical of the most important year and defining year in American history and, in the words of one critic, in 'the history of the modern world'."
• Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson - "[T]his biography is likely to become the standard by which other volumes on this extraordinary human being are judged."
• Andrew Jackson: A Life and Times by H.W. Brands (due Oct. 2005) - "...is sure to become the major Jackson biography."

Are Amazon Rankings a Drug?

We hear it from authors and publishers all the time --"My book hit [fill in number] on Amazon." We know people (we won't mention names) that check it hourly.

For those with a serious habit, they go to places like Junglescan, which keep a history of rankings.

I am hesitant to do this, but there is another delivery mechanism for Amazon rankings. It's called TitleZ. They have a great interface and they can give you views of history in 7, 30, or 90 day segments. The service is free right now while it is in beta.

Check it out at your own risk...

It's amazing what a website can tell you.

We are tickled about our new website. Here are some interesting stats from the first 20 days of the new site:

• We are currently serving up 9321 RSS feeds. It seems that you all have found 241 one of them so far. The most popular (beside the blog feeds) are the Monthly Top 25 and Daily Top 5.
• We have been looking at search terms you have been using. We have found that you are often searching for manuals for software. We are planning a series on tech manuals for next month
• We also see you searching for authors. We need to work on this. Sometimes, you are finding things and other times, you are not.
• What do you like about the new site? What don't you like?

Daily Drucker for August 10th

The Infant New Venture

Businesses are not paid to reform customers.

Above all, the people who are running a new venture need to spend time outside: in the marketplace, with customers, and with their own sales force, looking and listening. The new venture needs to build in systematic practices to remind itself that a "product" or a "service" is defined by the customer, not by the producer. It needs to work continuously on challenging itself in respect to the utility and value that its products or services contribute to customers. The greatest danger for the new venture is to "know better" than the customer what the product or service is or should be, how it should be bought, and what is should be paid for. Above all, the new venture needs willingness to see the unexpected success as an opportunity rather than as an affront to its expertise. And it needs to accept that elementary axiom of marketing: Businesses are not paid to reform customers. They are paid to satisfy customers. Lack of market focus is typically a disease of the "neonatal" the infant new venture. It is the most serious affliction of the new venture in its early stages-- and one that can permanently stunt even those that survive.

ACTION POINT: See the unexpected success of a new venture as an opportunity not as a problem.

This excerpt is from The Daily Drucker: 365 Days of Insight and Motivation for Getting the Right Things Done

This Week - 8/8/05

Things are still quiet in publishing land. Things we be quickly change after Labor Day with the new crop of books.

We do have some things for you this week. Check out the Podcasts Blog for some new audio. This one we put together in honor of two of our favorite authors.

What's the right word?

In yesterday's Wall Street Journal, Jagdish Bhagwati (In Defense of Globalization) wrote an op-ed entitled A New Vocabulary for Trade [sub. needed]. In the piece, he questions Thomas Friedman's use of the word "flat" to describe to disappearance of competitive advantage among countries. Bhagwati doesn't really agree with Friedman's assessment, and prefers to use the word "kaleidoscopic. Here is a description of what he means:

Today, you have it; but in our state of knife equilibirum, you may lose it tomorrow and regain it the day after. Boeing might win today, Airbus tomorrow, and then Boeing may win it back again. It is as if the design of trade patterns that you see now gives way to another, as if a kaleidoscope has turned.

Finding the Words

I know year-end is the traditional time for performance reviews, but I ran across a book for those who have a hard time figuring out what to say.

Paul Falcone has written a book called 2600 Phrases for Effective Performance Reviews. The first half of the book gives you suggestions for skills sets you are evaluating and the second half of the book filled with recommendations for a variety of roles and positions in a typical company.

I thought I might give Jack some suggestions for my next evaluation:

• Remains open-minded and willing to entertain others' ideas
• Works very well with clients as well as staff members
• Requires little or no direction in performing day-to-day responsibilities
• Listens actively
• Always has a smile on his face

P.S. Lisa Haneberg at Management Craft had quite the discussion last week about eliminating performance reviews all together. Here is the link to the first entry of the series.

How Not to Write Follow-up

I gave a nod to How Not to Write last week. I noticed some additional reading at the end of the book and thought I would pass it on.

• For Reference - The Little Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar by Sylvia Chalker (out of print)
• For Grammar - Rediscover Grammar by David Crystal (out of print)
• For Punctuation - Penguin Guide to Punctuation by R.L. Trask
• For Writing - Essential English for Journalists, Editors, and Writers by Harold Evans

Author Terence Denman also suggests checking out the Plain English Campaign. They define plain english as "something that the intended audience can read, understand and act upon the first time they read it. Plain English takes into account design and layout as well as language."

With all of these resources, I expect all of you to get A's on your next writing assignment.

More matter, with less art

Could someone please explain to me why Business Week doesn’t review business books? This week the magazine shares the value of a recent book on the history of water policy around Yosemite National Park; in recent weeks it has limned books on art theft, and wine maven Robert Parker. These are not business books so much as "business" books.

My issue is not that the BW reviews are bad; they aren’t. Nor would I deny the argument for including a wide range of reviews in the magazine by appealing to manager’s better side, the one that interprets business broadly. But I would still find this argument pallid considering the general media treatment of business books. You can go to Arts and Letters Daily and find scores of sites offering one-hundred-score reviews of books, many of them top-notch. None of these publications, online, or off, give business books more than a passing thought. They are generally scorned---treated as diet books, for managers.

Business Week has the opportunity, not to mention the editorial space, to bring an informed and discerning eye to the ever-increasing number of books that are published for the business crowd. But it squanders this precious piece of real estate, a full page every week, on titles that are frankly dilettantish. While editor of Fast Company John Byrne did a great job of keeping readers aware of current ideas and great reads. One can only hope he’ll take that approach back to his old Maggie.