<p><a href="">INFLUENCERS FULL VERSION</a> 

 Wonderful short film attempts to understand what makes a person influential and explores the essence of pop culture in New York.  Written and Directed by Paul Rojanathara and Davis Johnson, the film explores influential artists, brands, designers, musicians and entertainers like Jay-Z, who is arguably today's most iconic influencer in America. So what does this mean for brands? Influential brands are established by doing great things. "It's about brands really embracing a culture...embracing it and empowering it and creating a true partnership." Unfortunately, many mainstream brands believe they can create influencers and co-opt culture. What's your favorite brand embracing a culture? Would love to hear your thoughts! The film is quite long for a web doc, 13 minutes, but worth watching every minute. Enjoy!

 

Think this start up is really neat and has huge potential! With Browsemob, you can name the price of an item you want from wherever you want, whenever you want. Let's say you find a pair of shoes you like on your favorite retailer's website for $75. Rather than pay the asking price, Browsemob allows you to enter the price you want to pay. Browsemob then sends your offer to the manager of your local retailer and if your offer is accepted, you can pick up the item and pay the Browsemob price.

I think this start-up is a win-win for both consumers and retailers, allowing consumers to create their own discounts and helping retailers sell stock more quickly. With ubiqutious sale events in retail, the sale never seems to end--there's always a "big" sale or a significant portion of sale merchandise in-store.  I often find myself wondering did a red tag just get slapped onto the suggested retail price to make me think I'm getting a great deal? But with Browsemob, the sale is now in the hands of the customer.  By empowering the customer to create the suggested retail price, Browsemob is turning retail on its head. What do you think of Browsemob?

Walmart is putting you in charge of lower prices. The world's largest retailer takes on Uniqlo's Lucky Counter concept where customers influenced the final price of an item. Each time an item was tweeted, the price was lowered so the more you tweet the lower the price. Similarly, Walmart will reward everyone with the discounted price if the featured deal reaches the threshold of required "like" votes. Within 24 hours, Walmart reached the deal threshold of 5,000 "likes," triggering a discount of 18% off a nearly $500 Elment Plasma TV with Wall Mount.

Came across this McDonald's unsolicited ideas policy and was absolutely baffled, more like infuriated, that one of the world's largest companies has such a policy in 2010.

"It is our company’s policy not to consider unsolicited ideas from outside the McDonald’s system. Because we are always working on new ideas and strategies within the company, we do not review ideas from outside McDonald’s to avoid confusion over the origin of an idea. We realize that we may be missing out on a few good ideas, but we had to adopt this policy for legal and business reasons."

Are you freaking kidding me?

McDonald's is keeping its most valuable asset out of the business equation: its customers. All that mumbo jumbo is just a nice way of saying McDonald's doesn't give a f*ck what you think.

Their reasoning behind their policy (written in picture above) is "due to the mass volume of unsolicited ideas and the business challenge of determining what is truly a  'new' idea versus a concept that is already in development." Again, this is just another excuse to take consumers out of the equation.  So tell me McDonalds, how did Starbucks, Dell and so many others successfully operate, manage and implement customers' ideas? McDonald's, wake up and smell your McCafe--people have a voice that wants to be heard.  McDonald's, please please update your corporate policy. Oh, and can I have a soy milk latte with that?

 

Faith Popcorn, the world's most renowned trendspotter, recently gave a wonderful talk at ideaCity. This star futurist is best known for identifying decade-long trends years before they emerge like predicting we'd become 4-wheel driving cocooners in the late 90s back in 1981. In this talk, she delves into the trends that are defining our culture and discusses how to work towards your best future. Here's 5 key takeaways to spark conversation among planners and non-planners alike. Don't want to spoil the rest so happy watching!

1. Intuition is key to trend spotting.

2. History does not repeat itself. My favorite example to illustrate this point is the military fashion trends of today are not the same as in 1930. A military jacket from 80 years ago isn't what's in fashion. Rather, today's military jackets have evolved from being decadent to a modern one that focuses on functionality and utility. 

3. Consumers aren't the only ones in control; culture is in control too. 

4. Culture is not just going to museums and dining at fine restaurants. Culture is what people are passionate about. Culture is the new media. Culture is constantly evolving.

5. Weave the DNA of a brand the into the DNA of the culture. Brands must become a part of culture.

 

 

Hi everyone! My apologies for not updating this blog in a while. While vacationing in Colorado this week, two art installations grasped my attention besides the sheer size and beauty of the mountains...they never cease to amaze me. The first was The Singing Trees designed by Ben Roth and created with Brad Watsabaugh.

 

It captured the natural beauty in what would otherwise have been devestated forestry into a spectacular art installation. Unfortunately, beetles are infecting thousands of lodgepole pines (pictured above) that eventually kill the trees. The trees, which stand about 50 feet tall, were split in half longitudinally with chainsaws into 90 degree structures. Roth and Watsabaugh's interactive approach allows the viewer to engage with its intrinsic pattern, uncover the blue stains left by the beetle's fungi or even take a seat on one of its benches. A few days later, I saw an Aurora Robson sculpture at an art gallery in town and my eyes were immediately glued to her piece. Like The Singing Trees installation, Robson created an elegant art form out of plastic bottles that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill or maybe recycled. By recycling waste, her approach transforms what people normally detest into something lovely and magnificent.

These artists are using waste as their material of choice to create works of art, encouraging viewers to think about waste differently--its potential as well as its beauty. Who knew trash could be so beautiful.

 

I've been a passionate Gilt Groupe customer for about two years. What I love most about Gilt is that they put the customer first and then work backwards. I feel as though I was the persona when they founded the highly competitive luxury discount online retailer back in 2007. For the purposes of this post, I will write from the perspective of my persona, Lori Loyalist.

1. Gilt understands clothing is Lori Loyalist’s creative outlet 

Lori Loyalist chooses each piece of clothing as an expression of herself. Lori Loyalist gravitates towards unique, timeless pieces that can be mixed and matched. Lori Loyalist is one picky shopper who has a few brands that fit her best--Rich & Skinny, J Brand, Splendid, Vince, Dolce Vita and Sam Edelman. But Lori Loyalist is a busy gal who is often disappointed when she goes to the mall. She finds that most stores are homogeneous and that they all blend together with the exception of a few--often their selection is quite small and comes with a hefty price tag. Gilt offers a large selection for each brand, even if it’s only available for a short time. Lori Loyalist is on a mission to find exactly what she is looking for at the best possible price. 

2. Gilt gets Lori Loyalist is a bargain hunter 

Lori Loyalist takes after her mama, an expert bargain hunter. Like mother like daughter, Lori Loyalist thinks shopping is no fun without it. Lori Loyalist pre-Gilt era would search 15 sites for the best price (that includes shipping too) on a pair of Rich & Skinny jeans. Lori Loyalist's inner monologue would say "Kudos for finding those $200 dollar jeans for $65 bucks!" Can you guess what Lori Loyalist loves most about Gilt? Everything is a bargain—up to 70% off too! Lori Loyalist last bought a Magnes Sisters' clutch for $39 bucks that retails for $166—it can’t get any better than that. But before we go further, do not confuse bargain hunter with impulse shopper--Lori Loyalist can walk through a mall or browse a site without buying a thing.  

3. Gilt knows Lori Loyalist’s frustration with blowout sales at inconvenient times  

Lori Loyalist frequently receives emails about a department store's summer sale. Unfortunately, Lori Loyalist is a busy professional who doesn't have time to make it to the blowout sale that starts Friday at 8 a.m. By the time Lori Loyalist would get there and with her luck, everything in her size would be gone. Besides, Lori Loyalist doesn't want to buy leather boots at 65% off when it's 80 degrees out and looking for a fabulous pair of summer sandals. But Gilt gets it—their sales start at noon EST (for the most part) and you’ve got 36 hours to add merchandise to your cart. What better time to start a sale and it's no coincidence—Gilt understands Lori Loyalist works, but still delves into their guilty pleasure during her lunch break.

4. Gilt understands that context is queen/king not content

• Guilt does not overwhelm Lori Loyalist. Gilt forever changed what a sale is in Lori Loyalist's mind--it's something new, something fabulous everyday. They don’t have the most stuff (content), but Lori Loyalist only wants to choose from the best of the best.
• Gilt gets Lori Loyalist is a low-cost brand spokeswoman. Lori Loyalist’s friends have similar taste and share their great finds. For each friend Lori Loyalist recommends, Gilt credits $25 bucks to her account. The more you spread Gilt, the more you get to buy at Gilt…genius!
• Gilt’s user-focus is spot on. On their travel section,“Where do you want Jetsetter to take you next?” lets Lori Loyalist opt-in for upcoming sales that match her interests by destination and trip type.
• Gilt gets UX on 3 screens: site, mobile and tablet. Each screen is tailored to provide an optimal shopping experience. Lori Loyalist’s favorite place to shop is on the iPad--she feels like she just stepped into Cher’s closet from Clueless. Lori Loyalist can browse from sale to sale with just a tap of her finger and zoom in much closer than on the iPhone app or site. The speed of the iPad enhances the shopping experience because every second counts on the flash sales site.

When Lori Loyalist’s receives her package, she finds a “Thank you for your purchase” note from Alexis and Alexandra, the founders. This small gesture is the icing on the cake that differentiates Gilt from just selling merchandise to selling an experience. I urge more brands to be like Gilt. What brands out there are offering a Gilt-like experience? Who’s next?

I couldn't resist purchasing a set of these for myself. Jailbreak Collective's distinctive icons are the perfect decor for any fridge. Even the packaging resembles the iPhone to a T--home button, camera and all.

Recently, I got to thinking that a concise definition of account planning remains much of a mystery. As a newbie planner, my friends often ask me “So what is account planning? What do you do as a planner? Whatever that is it sounds cool.” I wanted to be able to explain what a planner does in a roll off the tongue kind of way. “The voice of the consumer” phrase that I tend to see in books and presos tells someone what role you play in the agency world, not what you do. It may seem like a nightmare to try and come up with a definition, but here’s my take on planning:

“Planners creatively interpret data to foster a deeper understanding of human behavior to better connect with consumers”

Would love to hear your 140 characters or less definition of planning.