“Think of each tweet as a dot on a piece of paper. Any single tweet, just like any single dot, by itself can be insignificant and meaningless. But, if over time, you end up with a lot of tweets, it’s like having a lot of dots drawn on a piece of paper. Eventually there are enough dots for your followers to connect them together. And if you connect the dots, in the aggregate it paints a picture of you and/or your company, and it’s that total picture that is your brand.” – Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos
Archive for August, 2009
Live Storytelling.
August 20th, 2009
The Moth Radio Hour (true stories told live) http://www.themoth.org is an awesome new show that I heard this weekend on NPR. You can check out the 5 pilot shows @ http://bit.ly/3HHEL3. The concept is to feature true stories told live on stage without scripts, notes, props, or accompaniment. Great marketing and advertising is about telling stories that people will want to listen to, stories that will capture their hearts and minds. The Moth Radio Hour and website could give you some key insights on how to do that authentically, how to be real in the art of storytelling.
Going Big.
August 18th, 2009
This week’s theme on the radio show “This American Life” www.thisamericanlife.org is about “Going Big.” Ira Glass, the host of the show, profiles three stories about people and programs that take grand, sweeping approaches to solving problems.
The first story is about the Harlem Children’s Zone www.hcz.org and the goal to address poverty through early childhood education in Harlem. The scope of this program is to reach almost every child living in 97 inner city blocks within Harlem – that’s around 10,000 kids. One of the BHAGS (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) is to make sure that every child graduates from high school and college – that is awesome!
The core of this program is to get young Harlem parents to attend Baby College. Why, because scientist have concluded that the most effective time to intervene in the lives of economically challenged kids is between the ages of 0-3. And the best people to intervene are their parents.
One of the things that they teach parents during Baby College is that a key factor in determining your child’s success later in school is tied to language. The sheer number of words that you speak and read to your child between the ages of 0-3 has a profound impact on their future success in school.
If you want to learn more about the Harlem Children’s Zone you can also read the book – Whatever It takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America – http://bit.ly/k3MfE.
10 attributes that early childhood education programs should be communicating.
August 14th, 2009The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has developed 10 standards that outline what all preschools, child care centers, kindergartens, and other early childhood education programs should provide to successfully nurture young children.
Not every parent will be able to clearly articulate what their top 10 needs, wants and standards are in choosing one early childhood program over another. However, the NAEYC standards provide a good starting point towards identifying key attributes parents should be using when making a decision. These standards also provide a communication starting point from marketing perspective, and key element deliverables from a product perspective.
The Top 10 Standards
- Promote positive relationships for my child with other children and adults in the classroom and encourage my child’s sense of individual self worth.
- Teach a curriculum that fosters all areas of my child’s development including: cognitive, emotional, language, physical and social.
- Use developmentally, culturally and linguistically appropriate effective teaching approaches with my child.
- Provide ongoing assessments of my child’s learning and development and proactively communicate my child’s progress with me.
- Promote the nutrition and health of my child and protect my child from injury and illness.
- Employ a teaching staff that has the educational qualifications, knowledge, and professional commitment necessary to promote my child’s learning and development, and to support my families’ diverse needs and interests.
- Establish and maintain a collaborative relationship with my family.
- Establish relationships with and use the resources of our community to support the achievement of your/our program goals for my child.
- Provide a safe and healthy physical environment for my child.
- Have strong personnel, fiscal, and program management policies so that all children, families, and staff have high-quality experiences.
“Edupunks” are Transforming American Higher Education
August 11th, 2009College tuition has gone up more than any other good/service since 1990. Check out the article in September’s Fast Company Magazine highlighting how web-savvy “Edupunks” are trying to change this/transform American Higher Education – http://bit.ly/vFVHP
Needs & Wants of the Millennial Generation
August 7th, 2009One way that I describe the process of marketing is that first you need to identify your target markets, then you need to determine the needs and wants for those target markets, and then you need to speak to those needs and wants (from a communications perspective) and fulfill those needs and wants (from a product perspective) better than the competition – it is that simple and that difficult.
When it comes to understanding the needs and wants of the Millennial Generation, those born starting in 1982 and beyond, Neil Howe and William Strauss have compiled some interesting insights. Among other things, they have identified seven core traits that describe this new generation of young people including:
- Team-oriented – They have strong team instincts
- Achievers – They want the best, brands are important to them
- Sheltered – They are looking for safe environments (emotionally and physically)
- Confident – They are optimistic about their futures
- Conventional – They appreciate values and traditions
- Pressured – They could use some relief and renewal at times
- Special – Don’t burst their bubble – treat them like they are special, because they are!
To learn more about the Millennial Generation check out Neil and William’s website at – http://www.lifecourse.com.
