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Video: Think Excellence, Not Difference

Eric Morgenstern, president and CEO of Morningstar Communications, talks about the concept of think excellence, not difference.

 

Radio and Internet Take the Wheel

Media Usage of Auto Owners in Portland, Oregon.

If you sell automobiles in the Pacific Northwest, combining Radio and Internet is a powerful force. The research from Media Audit shows that Radio is a significant part of car owners' media day.

 

 

Tim Miles Diagnosis: Company

Part 4 of 5

“What kind of iPad should I get?”

Being known as 3e geeeky, I get asked that question at least once a week.

I know they want an easy answer. Something like, “Black 32gig wifi,” but I always start my advice by answering their question with a question of my own:

“How do you plan to use it?”

I mention this because I’m always anxious when meeting a new client – as we are this week in Tennessee – that they’ll expect easy answers to complex questions and simple fixes to compound problems.

We want easy answers, don’t we?

We crave black and white.

We like life being a gumball machine – coin goes in, gum comes out … every time. Safe. Predictable. Just like magic.

The problem is – companies aren’t easy or simple. Life ain’t a gumball machine and things are rarely black and white.

Questions usually lead to more questions, don’t they? Or, at least, they should.

That’s the doctor’s most important job, isn’t it? The diagnosis.

Sometimes, I’m an iPad doctor. Sometimes a company doctor.

I mention this because today, when touring our new client’s training room, I spied this on one of their white boards. When I saw it, I knew we were going to be okay. They don’t tell people “Black 32gig wifi” either. 

Tim Miles, Wizard of Ads

Video: Sound Makes Magic with the Elderly

The power of sound moves people. Here's proof.  Watch what happens to an old man in a nursing home when the music from his youth enters his ears.

We've all experienced a song that triggers a memory. It’s fascinating.  Research suggests that the last part of the brain affected by Alzheimer’s is the part that remembers music.

Most brands use sound carelessly. How do you use sound?

"Every business is making sound every day, and yet most of it is undesigned, accidental and unconscious – so it would be a miracle if it weren’t undermining the image that business is trying to project. Most major organizations spend millions on looking good, but nothing at all on how they sound."  -  Julian Treasure- The Sound Agency

 

Tim Miles Strategic Planning 101: The Same Page

Part 3 of 5

Wanna do something scary? Ask each employee the following questions, BUT … don’t let them compare answers. You want each person to answer independently because you want to see where their answers converge and diverge with yours and with each other.

• What is it we’re trying to make happen? Is it what we should be trying to make happen?
• What’s a happy ending? When we throw a HUGE blowout party to celebrate, what just happened?
• Why aren’t we there now? What’s holding us back? What’s the limiting factor?
• Back to number one – break it down? What are our goals, then, to get to the party?
• Now, prioritize them. Which one do we need to tackle first? Second? Third?
• If money was no object, how would we solve the first problem?
• Okay, so money is an object, so what’s just the first step to solving the first problem.

Do you know what your employees believe? Does it bother you that you don’t know?

Now, you want to take it a step further? Ask your customers.

Tim Miles, Wizard of Ads

Intimacy is a Brand Advantage

 

"I like doing radio because it's so intimate. The moment people hear your voice, you're inside there heads, not only that, you're in there laying eggs." - Doug Coupland, American Novelist

In a recent Mark Ramsey blog called "Radio The Intimate Medium" he references an interview with Howard Stern and Air America anchor Rachel Maddow.  When asked to compare TV to Radio, Rachel calls Radio "an intimate medium" versus TV which separates the viewer from the audience.

Ramsey writes, "With TV you’re always aware of the glass rectangle separating you from that character in his or her sterile studio. But when you listen to the Radio, it’s just you and that voice in your ears. You and your friend."

The difference between audio and visual media is that visual media is usually perceived as outside one's own self and thoughts. A sound or voice can be far more intimate, since the image must be created inside one's own head.

How do you tell your story? Is your brand intimate or does your media choice separate you from your customer?

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Strategic Planning 101: Reverse Engineering

Part 2 of 5

In my first article Strategic Planning 101: Big X. Little x. , I tried to simplify the basic elements of growing a company or making any fundamental change in your life.

Let’s build on it, okay?

You’ve got your Big X, your treasure, the thing you’re trying to make happen.

Let’s say you want to do $1,000,000 in billing – that’s your Big X.

(If, at this time, you want to call me shallow for choosing a financial goal instead of something more altruistic like helping colorblind manatees, then you don’t know me at all.)

Let’s say you want to do $1,000,000 in colorblind manatee-loving billing.

Work backwards from there by asking questions like:

• How many customers/clients do I need to do a million?
• How much do I need to do each month?
• Can I feasibly do these things?
• If not, what needs to change? And by how much?

Get specific. See it clearly in your head. Write the answers down. Goals without plans are dreams.

This is one of the few times you’ll hear me advocate the use of spreadsheet software.

Deconstruct what your Big X looks and feels like operationally. Can you swing the hammer? If not, what has to change to help get you there?

Along the way, you also have to consciously decide what must not change.

As you grow toward your goals, what are your uncompromising principles?

If you’re having trouble seeing this vision of your company or yourself once you’ve reached your goal … if you have trouble making it real … then maybe you’ve chosen the wrong Big X.

Tim Miles, Wizard of Ads