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December 30, 2005

First Mover Resorts

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal published an interesting article about company-owned resorts and how organizations such as Kohler, Cuisinart, and Viking are using them as marketing tools -- and auxiliary spin-off businesses. See the article here. (Online subscription required.)

It's an interesting idea: Vacation property as showcase for a business's products and services. Certainly, not every company has a natural hospitality sideline opportunity, but how else might this be pursued? The concept reminds me of Chip Conley's Joie de Vivre properties, which are inspired by magazines.

Posted by Heath Row at 1:14 PM | 3 Comments

December 29, 2005

Gadgets of the Year

Today, David Pogue of the New York Times wrote about his top ten gadgets of the year (free registration required). There are a few obvious choices, such as television a la carte, but his selections are mostly overlooked advances. They are largely design elements that improve the usability and customer experience of the hi-tech toys you use every day.

Here at Fast Company, we have a slideshow of some of the great gadgets that have appeared in our magazine this year, and another slideshow of what we consider the cool tech to get as presents (you have to spend all those gift cards on something).

What tech innovation wowed you in 2005? What is the gadget of the year?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 10:27 AM | 5 Comments

December 28, 2005

Rest in PC

John Diebold, a long-time promoter and supporter of computers, died Monday. His 1952 book Automation presaged many modern-day developments in productivity tools, and his firm developed one of the first banking networks in 1961.

Notable quote from the obituary: "Many of his most ambitious proposals seems to lead nowhere, but they often planted ideas that came to fruition years or even decades later." A man before his time, gone before his time. Rest in peace, Mr. Diebold.

Posted by Heath Row at 5:47 PM | 1 Comment

Spam a Lot Less, but Worse

America Online has released its list of top spam for 2005. Surprisingly, a message mentioning Donald Trump was the worst offender. Other spam subjects include the iPod nano, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. Another tactic, besides employing recognizable names, is camouflaging the spam as legitimate with subjects like, "I sent you the wrong site" and "Thank you for your business." The days of obvious porn referrals are gone.

AOL says that the amount of spam has decreased in the last two years. Really? Sure doesn't seem like it. Increasingly, I get messages about foreign investment, prescription drugs, and winning free electronics. My biggest annoyance? Messages that are from "Andrew", whom I assume is my actual friend, that turn out to be spam. This has happened on several occasions, as if the spammers know the names of some of the people I email. It does seem like the spammers have gotten more devious.

Do you think Spam has gotten worse? What is the worst spam that popped into your inbox?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 5:39 PM | 10 Comments

Hip to Be Cubed?

The cutest holiday gift I received this year--or the most depressing, depending on how you look at it--was a toy office set called The Cubes.

It's a biting commentary on cubicle culture that could come straight out of Dilbert or Office Space. Four different minature plastic Cubes, made by Accoutrements, are available from Archie McPhee, the Seattle-based kitsch emporium. Each comes with a suitably expressionless worker drone less than three inches tall and everything needed to build a characteristically dreary corporate cubicle: three and a half gray walls, a desk, chair, computer, file cabinet, phone, and in/out box. To add that personalized touch, the sets also include small-but-sappy motivational posters and typically tacky office signs (“Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.”) Mix-and-match job-title stickers allow you to create a “convoluted and meaningless position for your employee,” like Senior Purchasing Specialist, for example, or Assistant Customer Service Processor.

You can also expand your mini-office by adding other interlocking cubes, or by bringing in a motivational speaker, sensitivity consultant, brown-clad package-delivery person, or corporate protester. A break room and a copy center are now available as well.

Dilbert never had it this good.

Posted by Yuval Rosenberg at 11:45 AM | 2 Comments

December 24, 2005

From Idea to Execution

Here is a sequence of events that is familiar to us from our research, and may be familiar to you as well.

A CEO announces that the strategic imperative for the upcoming year is breakthrough growth. Incremental growth from incremental initiatives is no longer enough. To continue to thrive, the company must do new things. It must break all of the rules. It must redefine the industry.

Motivational speakers and experts on innovation are hired to inspire the troops, create the right conversations, and get the creative juices flowing. The company establishes a committee to review preliminary ideas for new growth opportunities. Dozens are submitted. A handful are selected for further research. Business plans are written. There is one plan in particular that looks most promising.

Continue reading "From Idea to Execution"

Posted by Chris Trimble at 3:58 PM | 11 Comments

December 22, 2005

The last self-help book you'll ever need

Dear Readers,

We've had a good year. You trashed me when I said NBC's version of The Office was superior to the original, an assertion of mine that's proven to be true. You rallied with me when "Jack" radio took off. So it's my turn to give back.

Do yourself a favor and buy Mr. Irresponsible's Bad Advice: How to Rip the Lid Off Your Id and Live Happily Ever After. It will be the last self-help book you'll ever buy. Mr. Irresponsible, for the unitiated, is the pen name of the world's most widely read personal advice columnist. His column was once in more than 1,100 newspapers until his syndicate mysteriously suspended him. Thankfully, he's back in book form.

Now, I do admit that if you're not familiar with Mr. Irresponsible, his brand of advice can be considered unorthodox, but if you're willing to open your mind to it, your life will never be the same.

Continue reading "The last self-help book you'll ever need"

Posted by David Lidsky at 4:42 PM | 11 Comments

Sauerkraut's Sweet Spot

Sauerkraut--it’s not just for Christmas Eve dinner anymore. Love it or hate it, cabbage is getting plenty of press for its potential to fight illness ranging from cancer to bird flu. It all began a few months ago when South Korean scientists noticed that feeding the spicy cabbage dish kimchee to roughly a dozen chickens infected with bird flu caused most of them to recover. Restaurants selling kimchee ran out quickly and the idea that cabbage cures started to spread.

Great Lakes Kraut, the world's largest sauerkraut maker, just reported a noticeable jump in sales during this quarter compared to last year. Normally their sales rise by only a few percentage points.

"It's a promotion I wish I could have dreamed up," Great Lakes Kraut co-owner Ryan Downs told the Toledo Blade.

Remember the 2002 duct tape free-for-all? It's like that, only tastier.

Posted by Alyssa Danigelis at 10:50 AM | 5 Comments

Live from China

If you like our January/February cover story on Shanghai Tang's attempt to create the world's next great luxury brand in China, to Marketplace on National Public Radio, today through January 20. Host Kai Ryssdal will broadcast live from China, exploring this brave new economic world. Among other things, he'll look at the extraordinary pace of Chinese business; the young Chinese "me generation"; e-commerce; and start-ups by "sea turtles"--people who live abroad for a while and then return to China.

Posted by Keith Hammonds at 10:02 AM | Add Comment

December 21, 2005

"Special Edition With Flair"

Still at work? Killing time before the holidays? Load up the old red Swingline and find your way through the offices of Initech without running into Lumbergh.

Odd bit of Office Space trivia: there's actually a real company called Initech.

As far as I can tell, there is no (real) Penetrode.

Posted by Lucas Conley at 7:17 PM | 1 Comment

Postcards from the Future

It sounds like the premise for a film--you receive an email from a loved one who passed away a week before. There are several sites now promoting this service, such as LastWishes.com and MyLastEmail.com. You can write an email that will be sent out to family, or to enemies, after your death. It sounds kind of creepy to me, like a horror film. It could also be potentially heartbreaking for the recipients, but to each their own.

A far less touchy subject is writing an email from yourself, to yourself, that will arrive years later. Two Websites offering this service are MailtotheFuture.com and FutureMe.org. You can send yourself any kind of note, but as this Associated Press story points out, many users approach the service in the same way--as a future reminder of their dreams and aspirations. It is largely a motivational exercise.

In college I took a creative writing class where the teacher had us all write ourselves a letter. She promised to mail it out one year later. I wrote about my hobbies and my pursuit of writing fiction; I talked about my relationship with my girlfriend (now my wife); and I mailed myself a $10 bill. When I got that letter a year later, I had completely forgotten the exercise. It was interesting to get a glimpse into your past and see what you had thought of the future. And the money didn't hurt either.

How would you put such unusual email services to use?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 12:39 PM | 5 Comments

The 10-minute solution to a customer-service nightmare

Linda's story about being rebuffed at the chocolate shop, reminds of a policy I discovered while writing about Commerce Bank, which practices customer service as if it were a retailer. Its ten-minute rule addresses the exact scenario that Linda described - a customer arriving moments after the doors close for business. At Commerce, the branches officially close on the hour, but the managers will open the door for customers who arrive within the next ten minutes. They don't advertise this, so customers are bowled over when someone lets them in after hours. They feel as though the bank is making an exception for them. It's a classic wow moment that fosters loyalty if not outright evangelism. Why ten minutes? The bank figures that's a reasonable amount of leeway.

Posted by Chuck Salter at 12:24 PM | 8 Comments

December 20, 2005

Mark Cuban: He's everywhere

At Dallas Mavericks basketball games, team owner Mark Cuban sometimes attracts attention with his histrionics.

But in the movie business, he's attracting a very different (and more positive) kind of attention: he's one of the few people willing to experiment with new ways of releasing and distributing films. (I had the chance to talk with him in person twice earlier this year, and wrote about his vision for the future of cinema in the December issue of Fast Company.)

This month, his idea about "Collapsing the Distribution Window" was also cited by the New York Times Sunday Magazine as one of the year's most notable ideas...

Continue reading "Mark Cuban: He's everywhere"

Posted by Scott Kirsner at 9:47 PM | 3 Comments

Impressionable Games

THQ, a large game publisher, has announced it would begin using ads delivered over the Internet by Massive Inc. in its games. THQ is one of the largest publishers to agree to these dynamic ads, and this is a big step toward a brave new world. The growth in Internet advertising is well documented, and now gaming ads could see similar growth. As people spend less time with passive television and more with the interactive media of the Internet and gaming, marketers will need to move as well.

With the next generation of gaming represented by the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, games will approach photo-realism. Advertising in such realistic environments will be more profound then many realize. Players are able to interact and affect the world within the game, and the experience with products (via product placement) and advertising (via in-game billboards and television commercials) is more direct. Maybe your character has to drink a can of Coke to keep up his stamina? Maybe there is a scene where the player has to watch a newscast, with a 15 second Best Buy commercial before it?

Many games already feature forms of marketing: Stadiums in sports games feature billboards, racing games include product placement via the choice of cars, and sand-box style games with worlds to explore(Grand Theft Auto or Tony Hawk) have advertising of every kind. This will only increase and the addition of a dynamic model will make it more attractive to the advertising industry. Let's just hope it is not to the detriment of the gameplay--else advertisers may find a backlash toward their company and products.

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 1:59 PM | 15 Comments

Positive Peer Pressure

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal included an interesting article on peer-recognition programs. While not a new idea, they've experienced a resurgence given the economic downturn, and the feature offers several useful examples of successful programs:

• Yum Brands offers Customer Mania peer recognition cards that colleagues can use to indicate how someone exceeds in hospitality, accuracy, and speed -- by giving them to a peer on the spot.
• Symantec holds quarterly conference calls to name and recognize recipients of the Serendipity award. The award doesn't include a gift, but the public recognition is important and powerful.
• And Boeing provides an online form employees can use to nominate colleagues, print out certificates, and even send email alerts that someone's efforts are appreciated.

How do you recognize the efforts of your co-workers? How does your organization help you do so?

Posted by Heath Row at 11:15 AM | 26 Comments

Chocolatier to Holiday Shopper: Drop Dead

Here’s a Yuletide tale to chill the hearts of brand managers everywhere:

One of the things I am most thankful for this year, is the gift of a new friend. Joanne came into my life when I was new to town, overwhelmed with trying to recreate a whole new support system – from doctors to hairdressers – and missing my long-time buds back in Boston. She is generous to a fault, and has a remarkable knack for calling just when I need somebody to talk to. The first time she and her husband got together with me and mine, she took us to a wonderful little chocolate shop in Soho called Marie Belle, where we had the most extraordinary hot chocolate.

To thank her for her many kindnesses this year, I wanted to get her a can of that very special cocoa. I work in midtown Manhattan; the shop is downtown --- about 50 blocks away. So I hopped a subway after work last night, lugging my laptop and all my gear –notes, tape recorder, etc. -- for working at home, in preparation for a long-anticipated transit strike in the morning. I got to the shop at – literally – 7:02, only to discover that the store had closed at 7 p.m. There were still 4 or 5 clerks milling about inside.

Continue reading "Chocolatier to Holiday Shopper: Drop Dead"

Posted by Linda Tischler at 10:36 AM | 36 Comments

December 19, 2005

It's the Thoughtlessness That Counts

Potpourri? A Chia Pet? An oversized Pobody's Nerfect T-shirt?

The ease of online shopping -- a boon for year-end e-commerce sales -- might be increasing your risk of getting a really lousy gift, a Shopzilla study showed Monday.

"Gift-giving is truly an art form and not everyone has the time or skill to search for that perfect gift," said Helen Malani, the Los Angeles, California-based comparative shopping site's chief shopping expert. Increasingly, Malani said, those who either "lack the talent or the patience" are being drawn to the Internet.

Conducted by Shopzilla's BizRate Research, the point-of-sale survey of over 1,000 online Internet users found 47% had received an "inappropriate" holiday gift (in the study's diplomatic terminology) -- about half got the same tacky present several times over.

The items, mostly from distant friends and co-workers, were deemed inappropriate for being simply off base -- candy for a diabetic! -- or sexually suggestive, the study found.

Topping the list was home decorations, followed by non-refundable items and clothes that don't fit.

Posted by Angus Loten at 6:11 PM | 1 Comment

Happy Study Triggers Laughs, Puns!

Happy Monday! According to a recent study by the American Psychological Association, success is linked to happiness. Meanwhile, happiness may not be linked to success.

While you absorb that, here's a report on the study from the London Times ("happy" pun in title). Buried several paragraphs into the piece is the dark truth:

"[T]he study also found that happiness could sometimes be a handicap. For example, cheerful people could be worse at problem solving... they could also be worse at critical thinking and error checking.

"Another potential drawback of consistent happiness was the danger that happy people could slip into hedonism or inappropriate risk taking."

One might conclude it sucks to be happy. Or that happy people suck. Further inquiries should be directed to an APA-licensed therapist.

Posted by Lucas Conley at 2:18 PM | 1 Comment

Through a Camera, Darkly

Today's New York Times article (free registration required) about teens selling sexual Web-cam pictures and footage of themselves alarmed me. While it is a common joke that the Internet exists to trade pornography, teens involving themselves in this is not something to laugh at.

There is a dark side to every technology and the Internet's freedom of communication is also its draw-back. With the direct communication of Instant Messaging, parental safeguards to prevent access to questionable Websites are not effective. And can any safety measures be effective when the teens are inviting the sexual predators?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 1:10 PM | 3 Comments

December 16, 2005

E-Government Coup

For the first time, customer satisfaction with federal agency Websites has surpassed offline government services, an American Customer Satisfaction Index report showed Thursday.

According to the annual 100-point index -- a joint effort by the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, the American Society of Quality, CFI Group, and the Treasury Department's Federal Consulting Group -- e-government reached a record-high 73.9 satisfaction rate, improving 2.5% over last year. By contrast, satisfaction with offline government services fell 1.1% to 72.1, the first drop in three years and in line with a more general decline in satisfaction with private-sector services.

But where the gap between offline public and private services has narrowed, the report said, e-government is trailing far behind the private sector online. That, said ACSI chief Claes Fornell, shows room for improvement: "They still have ground to close," he said.

Part of that distance, Fornell added, will be made up by initiatives like the E-Government Act of 2002, which seeks to improve online federal resources.

Posted by Angus Loten at 3:56 PM | 2 Comments

Nerves of Tin

The sports section in today's New York Times included a fascinating article about sports franchise leaders who can't stomach game day. The GM of the Giants paces in an underground tunnel. Others flee the press box for other hidden locations out of the line of sight -- and fire. Even Billy Beane couldn't stand watching his team's games.

What does that say about leadership? When things get tough, don't you want your executives and team leaders -- your owners -- to keep their skins in the game with you? Or is it a matter of perceived stakes... and just what is at stake?

Mavs owner Mark Cuban roots from the sidelines -- not an undisclosed location. (Access code required.) What kind of leader would you rather have?

Posted by Heath Row at 12:28 PM | 2 Comments

December 15, 2005

Keep Your Friends Close...

Microsoft and Google have never been this cozy.

The two giants, along with Sun Microsystems, will support a $7.5 million Internet-research effort called the Reliable, Adaptive and Distributive Systems Lab (RAD Lab) at the University of California, Berkeley, the Associated Press reported. The lab, which will be staffed by UC Berkeley's computer science faculty members and graduate students, plans to develop Web-based software services that can be widely distributed.

Continue reading "Keep Your Friends Close..."

Posted by Walter Alarkon at 5:20 PM | 2 Comments

Seth Godin, 23 Squidoo!

If you haven't checked out Seth Godin's latest venture, Squidoo, I strongly encourage you to do so. It's in public beta and I've been playing around with it over the last week since the beta went up and been having a lot of fun with it. This is a very slick Web 2.0 application.

The idea behind Squidoo is wrapped up in a lot of what Seth's written about here, here, and here, among other places. It's a great way to share what you know and help others find high-quality information online. The benefits will accrue to your website, to your blog, and to your reputation. And eventually to your wallet(if you want). All you have to do is bring your A-game and share what you know best. Are you ready to create a lens into your expertise?

Posted by David Lidsky at 5:17 PM | 5 Comments

Wikipedia, Vol. 2: Encyclopedia Smackdown

Much like a Wikipedia entry, our discussion of the online encyclopedia is nothing if not dynamic. In fact, it's already time for an update. As FC Now reader Shel Holtz points out, the science journal Nature posted an article yesterday about a study comparing Wikipedia to Encyclopedia Britannica. And the winner is...(drum roll, please)...neither.

In the 42 articles that experts reviewed, they identified eight significant errors (scientific misinterpretations) - four in each encyclopedia. They also found numerous minor offenses in both: 162 in Wikipedia, 123 in Britannica. So both sides are right: Wikipedia is just as imperfect as Britannica -- or just as accurate. Either way, the study reinforces what an editor told me early on: There's no such thing as too much fact-checking.

In today's Chicago Tribune, my buddy Steve Johnson suggests that the root of Wikipedia's problems is the anonymity of its contributors. People are more prone to post careless items or outright pranks when they're allowed to work unseen, with no accountability. The solution? You write or edit something, you include your name. I think it's a good start, assuming Wikipedia can verify that people are who they say they are. What do you think?

Posted by Chuck Salter at 4:12 PM | 11 Comments

December 14, 2005

What's the Word?

Let the zeitgeist watch begin. With time running out on 2005, some popular Websites have begun to look back at what we've all been looking for. In recent days, AOL, Lycos, and Merriam-Webster released their lists of the most-searched terms of the year. AOL's top words include "lottery," "horoscopes," and "tattoos" as well as "IRS," "American Idol," and "NASCAR." The most commonly searched celebrities included--no surprise--Paris Hilton, Oprah Winfrey, Jessica Simpson, and, yes, Britney Spears. That matched up well with the results announced by Lycos, where scantily clad sensations Paris Hilton, Pamela Anderson, and Britney Spears topped the list. Lycos's top "fads" of the year include poker, iPods, and an online adventure game called RuneScape.

Continue reading "What's the Word?"

Posted by Yuval Rosenberg at 3:20 PM | 1 Comment

An Open Wound for an Open-Source Reference

Look up Wikipedia on Wikipedia and you learn that the free online encyclopedia that anyone can contribute to has grown to more than 2.5 million articles and over 100 active editions in different languages. Impressive, but is it true? I have no idea. The entry goes on to acknowledge a slight credibility problem: "Its open nature allows vandalism, inaccuracy, and opinion." In other words, Wikipedia isn't a reliable source for facts, even about itself.

But we do know this: Wikipedia has hit a rough patch. John Seigenthaler, a respected former newspaper editor in Tennessee, recently wrote in USA Today about discovering an entry that erroneously linked him to the assassinations of John and Bobby Kennedy. Brian Chase, a delivery manager in Nashville, apologized for posting the false information, saying it was intended to be a prank. But it didn't look like a prank. On Wikipedia, character assassination looks just like real information.

Is the open-source site doomed by this fatal flaw - no distinction between fact and fiction? The business editor of the New York Times recently instructed his staff not to use Wikipedia as a reference. (Does that mean the paper that purports to be the most reliable news source was relying on an admittedly unreliable source? Yikes.) Wikipedia relies on the notion that the good guys who contribute and police the site for errors outnumber the bad apples and pranksters. It didn't work for the Los Angeles Times, which experimented with wikitorials, online editorials edited by readers. The paper yanked them after just two days because vandals were posting expletives and pornography.

How do you regard Wikipedia now, useful, useless, or somewhere in between? Does your company have a policy about using it? Do you think it should?

Posted by Chuck Salter at 12:41 PM | 10 Comments

December 13, 2005

You're Fired... Alarm

Fire drills. Can't work with 'em, can't live without 'em.

Today's Wall Street Journal considers what your response to a fire drill might say about your sense of self-importance and place in the corporate hierarchy. (Subscription required.)

How do you react when the fire drill goes off? Have you ever volunteered as a fire marshall for your team or company? Have you ever been in a meeting that continued through the feeble bleats of the little red box? Share your stories.

Posted by Heath Row at 5:55 PM | 6 Comments

Fast Countries?

Not long ago, we published a package on fast cities, 15 up-and-coming hubs for creative workers. We also took a look at urban areas outside of the United States to see who's competing for American talent.

Today's New York Times adds one not included in that list. But it's not a city. It's a country. That country? Estonia. Anchor companies such as Skype and Playtech are testing the limits of Estonia's traditional business community and legal structure -- and attracting a new generation of global business and technology leaders.

It's an interesting article -- part Skype profile and part feature on the broader business environment in which it operates -- and one that begs the question: What other countries might be the new slumbering giants? Estonia wasn't on my radar a year or two ago.

Posted by Heath Row at 5:42 PM | 6 Comments

FC by SlideShow

In case you missed any of the 30 or so slideshows featured on Fastcompany.com in 2005, check out our recently updated SlideShow gallery. Among the highlights are end-of-year bests such as Great Business Reads, Most Creative Minds, and Coolest Gadgets.

And don't miss the all-time favorite, "Bossess from Hell" slideshow.

We'd love to hear what you think.

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 1:46 PM | Add Comment

December 12, 2005

China Takes IT Export Lead

Here's yet another sign of China's exploding economic might: China now exports more information technology goods than the United States.

Last year, the Chinese exported more than $180 billion in information and communication technology goods, such as laptops, mobile phones, and digital cameras, while the second largest exporter, the United States, exported $149 billion, according to a new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Just three years ago, China trailed the United States, the European Union, and Japan.

Some countries can still take heart in the fact that China still runs deficits in smaller technologies, such as integrated circuits and other electronic components. But the United States isn't necessarily one of them; China's largest importer last year was Japan, followed by Taiwan, South Korea, and Malaysia.

Posted by Walter Alarkon at 3:37 PM | 5 Comments

Rest High Above the Clouds, No Restrictions

The New York Times had an article (free registration required) this weekend about satellite radio coming under fire from the music industry. Both XM and Sirius are offering players that let you record off their channels, not unlike a DVR and television. Though the companies do not allow the saved music to be transferred to a computer, some industry executives are apparently complaining.

I wonder when the RIAA and the music industry are going to learn. Most agree they dropped the ball by badly handling the emergence of the MP3 years ago. Now they are going to attack people that are paying for music via satellite? Not long ago people recorded radio with cassette tapes. And people lent tapes out or made copies for friends. Well, with this satellite model, though the quality of the recording has become better, you can't even share with friends.

The television industry learned from the music biz's failures of yester-year. Now people are recording shows on DVRs, downloading episodes on iTunes, or watching them on demand. Despite the success of MP3 players and commercial download sites, it seems the music industry hasn't learned anything.

How should the RIAA and music industry be reacting?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 2:38 PM | 5 Comments

The Control Boom

If necessity is the mother of invention, we clearly need quite a bit. The U.S. Patent Office this year has been flooded with applications. Inventors and marketers keep churning out great -- and some not so great -- new gadgets and ideas. Every year, these new entries in every category intrigue, delight, and take a healthy chunk out of our pocketbooks. Plenty has been written about best practices in the innovation process. But what is it that draws consumers to the Next New Thing?

Iconoculture looked at the innovations of 2005 and explored what really drives consumers to look for and celebrate new products. We thought it might be simply the appreciation for good old American ingenuity, or the endless quest for cool or status, or just plain fun. We found something else: the need for control.

Continue reading "The Control Boom"

Posted by Mary Meehan at 1:15 PM | 1 Comment

Leading Ideas: Push Against Your Edge

"I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can't see from the center." -- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922 - )

A client of mine uses the idea of an "edge" to set targets with his sales team. It's essentially stretch goals - with an added layer. Once they set the stretch goal, he asks them to think about what edge he/she will bump up against trying to reach it - i.e. where will he/she falter? The conversation (which is documented) is respectful, open, and honest. As such, it provides a powerful accountability structure to design new actions and help the sales people get better. "It was a slow process to start a couple years ago," he admits. "No one was used to it. But now I couldn't imagine managing the sales team without it. It's really opened up our communication."

Continue reading "Leading Ideas: Push Against Your Edge"

Posted by Doug Sundheim at 12:05 PM | 3 Comments

December 9, 2005

Wal-Mart Without Worries

Interesting story in today's New York Times about how U.S. consumers don't trust big businesses (free registration required). Yet, in the case of at least one company, Wal-Mart, that trust may have little or nothing to do with loss of business.

According to Wal-Mart vice chairman John Menzer, in an interview on CNN.com, the company has seen higher sales this November than the same time last year. Wal-Mart officials also expect December sales to be just as good. And yet, Wal-Mart is among the most negatively-covered big businesses out there -- there's a critical documentary in theaters now ("The High Cost of Low Price"); harsh books ("How Wal-Mart is Destroying America," "The United States of Wal-Mart"); and skeptical articles. You might think the retail giant would be impacted by consumers turned off by its business practices. Yet, holiday sales are meeting expectations.

So what does this say? Are American consumers just slavish devotees to a good, everyday-low price? Or is all the hype just that -- and a lack of trust irrelevant when it comes to doing business.

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 2:23 PM | 37 Comments

Chairmen of the Fret Board

A deal Warren Buffet, George Soros, and Peter Lynch have signed off on together? It's true. But as you might expect from such financial luminaries, there are a few strings attached -- six to be exact.

Earlier this year, Minyanville, a self-styled "fiscal literacy" group, sent a solo Fender Stratocaster across the country on a two-month tour of the financial world's most influential head offices -- from Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway, to Fleckenstein Capital, Natexis Bleichroeder, and Omega Advisors, to name a few. Along the way, the guitar -- nicknamed "Hendrix" -- was signed by such heavy hitters as Bill Gross, Jim Rogers, Paul Tudor Jones and Leon Cooperman, along with Buffet, Soros and Lynch.

It's now being offered up to the highest bidder on the group's website. Proceeds will go to the Ruby Peck Foundation, the non-profit organization behind Free Arts NYC, Jacob's Cure, Little Kids Rock, and other children's educational programs.

The bidding closes Dec. 16.

Posted by Angus Loten at 1:46 PM | 1 Comments

Going After the Rich

Next year, money will matter more than ever to marketers -- the money held by consumers, that is. According to a new report from Forrester Research, targeting the affluent and what it calls "mass affluent" -- those with $100,000 to $1 million in investable assets -- will be the focus of marketing efforts in 2006.

Forrester says key trends within this demographic include:

• Online bill-paying generally grows with affluence and declines with age


• Unlike most other online activities, the use of instant messaging drops as wealt