Sometimes the past isn't behind you...and sometimes that's a good thing.

The Green Bay Packers are the "home team" where I come from. As you might imagine, I'm relatively pleased by recent events. The Packers won the Super Bowl...their 13th Championship in franchise history-the most in the NFL...the Chicago Bears are in second place with 9, and it drops off significantly after that.

Now...I'm not much of a sports "fan" in any traditional sense. I don't follow Wisconsin's other sports teams very closely, the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA, or MLB's Milwaukee Brewers...

(though the Football Badgers of the University of Wisconsin are of recent interest lately as their soon-to-be-famous Center, Peter Konz is a former next-door neighbor...I can say I knew him when...he weighed about a third of what he does now. He's as fine a person as a player, and that's what we like around these parts...)

However, the Green Bay Packers are a different story...in fact their story goes far beyond the recent memory of sports fans who will forever associate uber-Quarterback Brett Favre with Green Bay after his 17 seasons playing for

the Packers. In fact, if Aaron Rodgers (who has been the starting QB for Green Bay for three seasons now) stays healthy, he very well could eclipse Favre's performance records if the way he's starting is any indication...and then the intriguing story will be how in the world the NFL team in the smallest market in the league put two QB's with this kind of talent back-to-back.

However, as much as the sports media likes to keep re-hashing the Quarterback questions in Green Bay (though frankly Rodgers answered any questions I had long ago...), the story of the Green Bay Packers and the reason for their global fan-base goes far beyond any two players...or any ten players.

After a friend who I work with in Boston had watched the Super Bowl and we had communicated several times during and after the game, he found a segment from Rachel Maddox' show on MSNBC. Now...this isn't a political conversation, and my friend doesn't really have a taste for MSNBC's commentators anyway... so don't stop reading just yet. She gives a pretty decent thumbnail of what the Packers are about and where they came from...

The Packers have a history. When I watch the players move back to the locker rooms after practice during training camp and I

watch all the school children gather to walk with the players, and to offer the players their bikes to ride back to the locker room as they walk along side...those kids are just beaming with pride, and the players seem to think the kid is more important than any sense of their personal image as they sometimes ride bikes intended for human sizes...and genders that create some interesting combinations.

You might note Punter Tim Masthay riding the stylish little pink number in the left most of the four panels and Donald Driver riding a much littler...little number on the right.

(Four panel image courtesy of The Packer Page, Overhead Image courtesy of the blog Trigg Pack...thank you Mike)

Find me another franchise where parents would even allow their elementary school age children to go hang around an NFL facility with NFL players without supervision... Certainly other teams have good people playing for them, but seeing this kind of mass of NFL players getting on children's bicycles and riding them, however awkwardly, knowing that photos are being taken constantly?  (Some of course are just too big of course...a player like Chad Clifton might walk with a particular child and chat on the way vs simply crushing their bicycle by attempting to ride it...)

These players jump into the stands because they know how their fans feel about them, win or lose.  It's not based on their performance, it's based on who they are.


It's an interesting notion really.  In our world of results and execution, efficiency and focus, how many of your customers like WHO you are as well as WHAT you sell?  There will be times when you encounter a situation that reduces your performance for any particular customer on any given day...is your relationship with your customers based on what you've done for them lately?

I have several clients I do business with that I simply take pride in being associated with...a construction company that diverted incredible resources to the site of a domestic terror bombing attack...and were able to do so because their customers understood them, liked who they are as a company, and any resulting delays on their construction projects were acceptable as they would expect this construction company to do nothing less than what it did, facing the circumstances at hand.

I try to prove myself to my clients by advising them as to what is in their best interests, even when it may mean  changing a project so less revenue comes to me.  It's a long term/short term thing.  In the short term I can cash the check from a project where the work I did was substantial...in the long term, if the client would have solved their problem more effectively with an approach that cost less, or doesn't involve me at all in some cases, then the solution I provided may under perform in some way.   At worst I lose the client and at best, I lose credibility the next time I need to advise the client to do something that they may not agree with, but that I think will serve them best.  It's not about being "Pollyanna-ish", it's about what sort of customer relationships you want to have.

In this period of no-nonsense cost-effectiveness and austerity, you might consider what sort of history you have...perhaps it's the story of who you are and maybe it should be told.

Maybe the fact that the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl after an entire season where their ranks were decimated by injuries and that they even "snuck" into the playoffs with a very mediocre record and a must-win game on the last weekend of the regular season and were considered underdogs almost universally throughout the playoffs isn't what makes them a success with their market...their fan base.  Maybe it's that so many of them come to the smallest market in the NFL and play outdoors (Lambeau Field is almost famously NOT a dome) in a cold-weather state and play for a team that can't be sold or moved...maybe it's that they confidently jump into the stands with their fans who fill the seats of that outdoor stadium whether it's 80 degrees or 8 below zero...maybe it's bigger than the players OR the fans alone...  Maybe it's the relationship built between them.

Maybe who you are is as important as the number you write with that "sharpened pencil" we all have to resort to these days.  And maybe, even if you miss out on some of that work where how sharp the pencil was is the sole criteria...maybe you start some new relationships that will be much longer-term because you can show that you have a soul.

Maybe we can all be lucky enough to have customers who support us in ways beyond paying our invoices...but we need to offer them something beyond invoices first.


TimK

I want the speed of thought...but no faster than that please.

Let me start by saying that I am a Green Bay Packer fan. Not one that has shown up to get on the bandwagon, but one from birth by virtue of my Wisconsin roots.

So...when I say that I wish to step in and speak up for a Chicago Bear, you know that an injustice that cuts to the very root of our society has obviously occurred.

By now, if you have any interest in football at all, you've probably gotten wind of at least some portion of the Jay Cutler "Is he tough enough?" controversy. Cutler was hit in the leg and left the NFC Championship game against the Bear's mortal enemy Green Bay Packers and the speculation regarding the possible alternative reasons for his departure while all his limbs remained visibly attached and all his blood and vital organs still inside his skin, started before he was all the way to the sideline.

Am I a fan of Jay Cutler's? Well...I wasn't...he's a Chicago Bear for crying out loud.

However, I am a staunch supporter of the underdog...and this guy has been skewered by his peers, pundits, and fans for leaving a football game with what turned out to be a torn MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament). The Chicago Bear center actually said he observed how unstable Cutler's knee was when he was walking to the huddle during the one offensive possession he attempted in the second half of the game.

Twitter was alive with thoughtful input from professional NFL players almost immediately. Among the players (who's season had ended as only the top four teams were playing last weekend...everyone else was done or eliminated) offering opinions was Arizona Cardinals defensive lineman, Darnell Dockett, who postulated that Cutler better wait until he's showered, dressed and gone before he comes in the locker room after that game if he (Dockett) was on Cutler's team that day. Classy. Was he implying he would have somehow physically harmed Cutler?

Bears "fans" burned Cutler's jersey outside the stadium. Also classy.

Twitter was buzzing and most of the harshest and most arbitrary comments came from fellow NFL players. One ex-player who has been known for his constant, if not always insightful oration even during his playing career, Deion Sanders now has a platform on the NFL network. He's been using it to profess how he and others have played injured in important (and unimportant) games and how Jay Cutler "appears" to have "tapped out".

How "tough" is Jay Cutler? He has missed one game since becoming a starter in Denver his rookie year...and after playing the 2007 season and losing nearly 30 pounds with it undiagnosed, he discovered that he had type 1 diabetes which he's played with ever since. As John Madden points out, "...(that's) every day for 24 hours.

Zack Follett of the Detroit Lions can say that he's glad he has Matt Stafford as a quarterback over Jay Cutler...but then Stafford was out most of the season and Detroit retired at the end of the regular season again this year (in last place in the NFC North) while the Bears won the North Division and went on to play for the NFC Championship with Cutler at the helm.

Michael David Smith at NBC Sports Pro Football Talk writes of another journalist's interaction with Cutler in the locker room after the game when he turned away and bit his lip and had his eyes get a little glossy when he was told of the helpful feedback of his fellow NFL players... He notes that "Cutler has a long way to go to rebuild his reputation. And crying in the locker room isn't the way to do that."

I guess Twitter isn't the only thing that runs faster than our own intellect...blogging has become a bit hasty too.

Cutler's been sacked 138 times in his career and kept coming back...this year to the NFC Championships...gets injured...and a tear wells up not for any of that, but because his own have turned on him. How tough do you have to be to just "shake off" what must feel like betrayal?

The title of the post says it...we've reached the point where we communicate faster than we think, and instead of it being limited to personal contact with our spouse, we can now just add Twitter and prove to large portions of the global population that we're a buffoon in seconds. In the case of professional football players past and present, this opportunity is apparently too tempting to pass up. The instant availability of images and information we have created keeps us connected to world events like never before. The capabilities of smart phones and fast internet links means we can now respond even before the event in question has made it past our reptilian brain...and we respond before we even consider what we don't know. Human beings are far better at developing the technical systems to react faster than we are at developing the skills to react wisely.

Bottom line? Just because you now have the ability to share the first thing that comes into your head with the world doesn't mean that you should.

As a fan, I was hoping Jay Cutler would be on the losing side of the NFC Championship game...not of a ridiculous armchair trial of his peers.

TimK

2010...Moving, teaching, but not blogging

With my business relocating, my Adobe training really becoming heavy with the release of CS5, and various other distractions, tME has been getting neglected I'm afraid.

As I head into 2011, I am refocusing on my blogs and writing in general...so the Message Electric will once again, have some new messages...

Stay tuned.

In the meantime, take a look at one of my favorite web sites, TED.com

Chris Anderson talks about video on the web is powering world innovation...

TimK

Bucking Society's Stereotypes in Your Message: Part 2/Case 1

Last week I started a conversation about using society's stereotypes in messaging.

Dictionary.com defines the term "stereotype" as: A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.

I would add to the end: "...that is recognizable (if not truly believed) by a very large portion of society"

Working with that basic meaning, you can appreciate that stereotypes are typically inaccurate, demeaning, divisive, unproductive, even cruel...and a real time saver when you are communicating with maximum efficiency.

In the first post on this topic, I outlined 5 cases that allow the discussion some context.


Case 1 refers to using the impression of being "green" that many companies use in their promotion.

Stereotype summary:

Typically Applied to:
Company itself (the marketer)

Typical Direct Effect on Product Quality/Features:
None

Perceived Portrayal:
Positive

Receptive Audience:
General, Non-Gender specific, Global

Purpose:
Portray an organization's principles in a way that increases sales through a customer's sense of social responsibility and philosophical kinship as an augmentation (or sometimes even a replacement) for making the case on a product's merits alone.


Certainly, the idea of being environmentally responsible is laudable and worthwhile (as I've said, I have no intention of starting a climate change discussion...virtually anyone can likely agree that belching smoke into the air or dumping garbage in the river is a bad idea).

Many customers weigh ecological responsibility heavily in their buying decisions. National (USA) television commercials have aired for Subaru featuring the ecology of their US-based manufacturing plant and one oil company featured employees who are assigned to researching alternate non-fossil fuels, and Frito Lay has a rather high-profile solar panel to power a particular Sun Chips billboard...messages asking the customer or investor to patronize or support organizations as much on their principles as their product.

While this discussion really isn't designed to endorse or debunk these uses of a stereotypical association, any stereotype can be misleading of course.

Subaru's claim was that their plant in Lafayette, Indiana had achieved 'Zero Landfill Status'. The first automotive plant on the planet to do so...a claim both substantial and verified by several independent sources. The effect on the product really isn't direct...I suspect you can manufacturer low quality cars with zero landfill contribution. However, Subaru's self-proclaimed market tends to be sporty, outdoor active people who have use for the utility of Subaru's four-wheel drive wagons and sport utility vehicles as a part of their lifestyle. Taking care of the environment makes a logical parallel and likely speaks to this market effectively.


The ExxonMobil environment/ecology message has some context that make it different. First, most consumers have been oscillating through cycles of indifference and frustration with the prices of gasoline and heating oil as well as several high profile ecological disasters over the past few decades, and recent reporting period mega-profits from several of the world's largest petroleum companies (of which ExxonMobil is the largest) haven't helped the public image of these businesses.

Unlike the Subaru message, ExxonMobil's television message (link here to the ad campaign) is light on details that would demonstrate quantitative proof of the ecological commitment of the company, which remains a frequent target of criticism from environmental advocate groups to this day.


Frito-Lay has taken the ecological corporate citizen role and linked it very closely to one of their products...Sun Chips

One of the more high-profile manifestations of this commitment is a solar-powered billboard to advertise their featured product. Even their irony is apparently...delicious. With the current attention to the declining nutritional state of the US population's diet, Frito-Lay has diverted conversation away from nutrition to the environment.


Are these stereotypes harmful? Misleading? Inaccurate? Those are discussions for other blogs.

In the context of how effective the stereotype of the "green" corporate citizen message is in the United States, we can look to a survey released in late 2008 done by The Climate Group. While consumer trends seem to indicate an increasing concern for environmental corporate citizenship, 65% of Americans surveyed could not name one brand they believed was taking a leadership position on "tackling climate change." It has to be frustrating to tell people what they want to hear while they apparently, aren't listening.


Subjective Summary:

In theory, presenting your business as a "green" company concerned with the planet's ecology should elevate public opinion of your business and it's role as a corporate citizen. Whether accurate or not, vague or specific, it appears that utilizing this particular stereotype to position your company's public image to the general population appears, at least anecdotally, to be an uphill battle.

TimK

Junta 42 2010 Predictions Now in eBook Form

It wasn't enough for Joe Pulizzi to commit our predictions to potentially embarrassing posterity on his blog... Now Zmags.com has created an eBook for those of you who would like to take them with you.

Check it out here.



TimK

Bucking Society's Stereotypes in Your Message: Part One

When it comes to persuasive communication, there are often tough choices to be made.

Often some of the most effective communication and design utilizes cultural trends and norms to help convey the message.

You might consider the "green" undertones in more and more corporate messaging and marketing activities as various cultures become more aware of the consequences of resource depletion around the world.



...or you could focus on some of American society's less lofty stereotypes such as the sophistication level of football fans portrayed on mainstream beer advertisements during nationally televised (U.S.) football games.



Case 1: The green message takes a page from some of the world's more redeeming personal values, and is a topic of conversation around the world currently. (I have no interest in starting a climate change debate here...cutting down on pollution and landfill volume is a good goal regardless of the science to which you subscribe)


Case 2: The message which portrays American NFL fans in ways ranging from blindly loyal myopic fanatics to relatively unaware, yet jovial buffoons seems to resonate with the intended audience even though most members of that audience would be offended to be assessed this way in almost any other social situation.

Sometimes the effectiveness of thes strategies are puzzling.


In my career, I've both ridden societal stereotypes and bucked them.

Case 3: I had a Taiwanese software firm as a client some years ago and they had a challenging message. they made a sophisticated product that made a complex task easy. They made a video editing and DVD authoring package that could be used by non-professionals in that area. Basically the intended message was that you could edit video and author a DVD without being highly trained in either area. The challenge was that this message had to travel internationally cross-culture.


Case 4: I also have a law firm client who advertises to garner personal injury cases. I happen to know this group and I know that they buck society's "ambulance-chaser" stereotypes about PI lawyers. They're the real deal...professional, concerned, and they take their profession and their client's cases seriously. So how do I reach their audience as effectively as possible, yet stay counter to society's impressions of personal injury attorneys, and even to the superficial messages of competing law firms that simply feed those impressions?


Case 5: And...most recently I started working with a client who is in high technology retail who has been in business with their current brand since the 70's. That was when their logo was designed as well. It was extremely contemporary at the moment of design, taking advantage of and paying homage to the visual design trends of the 1970s, but it was so "in the moment" that now, even people who weren't born until the 80s see it and think it reminds them of shag carpeting and the "Keep On Truckin" thumbs-up/foot-forward guy... This client's brand is well known as it's been relatively stable since the 70s, so how do you break free of the design to advance the image of the company (the logo said "high tech" in 1974...) and update without scuttling 40 years of established brand strength?


If the intent is to buck the stereotype, the challenge is how to do it while making the messaging as clear as possible when stereotypes used to establish association can save lots of time... Think of handing someone an object and having to tell them that "It's a gift" vs. wrapping it in giftwrap and putting a bow on it. They probably don't receive their mail or their drycleaning in that manner. It's obviously a gift, no verbalization necessary.

Over the next couple weeks, I'll be talking more about these examples...maybe you'll have input as well.

Happy 2010.

TimK

Junta 42's 2010 Predictions

Outside the temps are below zero, and a foot of snow fell this week...and I have to keep picking up the Kris Kringle door hanging thing-a-ma-bob that my wife annually hangs on our front door during the windiest season of the year...

It can only mean one thing. It's time for next year's predictions.

Junta 42 has some really interesting predictions across the content marketing spectrum...and I even took a swing at one this year. We'll see how I do...

TimK