Month: March 2014

Sometimes, the placement of an ad can be more powerful than the ad itself. I stumble across these ads and other great ideas at 123 Inspiration.

Regardless of your political preference, these are very well done TV spots that break the norm for what a political ad can and should be. They are fresh, witty and on point.

I got thinking the other day about the convenience of having a smart phone and the number of things it replaces in my personal life over the course of about a year. Here’s a quick list that I came up with:

• Home phone line – $480 ($40/month)
• Alarm clock – $30
• Watch – $50
• Dictionary – $15
• Day Planner – $30
• CD Player – $60
• Camera – $200
• Road maps – $15
• Calculator – $20
• Compass – $20
• Game Device (ie gameboy) – $100
• Letters/stamps – $15
• Magazines – $50
• Newspapers – $180 ($15/month)
• Recipe books – $30
• Biblical scriptures – $10
• Photo Albums – $50
• Memo Recorder – $50
• Kids toys when we go out – $20
• Flashlight – $20
• Guitar Tuner – $20
• Encyclopedia – $200
• TOTAL – $1665

It’s a pretty incredible value considering that most new, top of the line phones are only a couple hundred dollars (with a wireless plan) or much less if you are willing to settle for an older model. No wonder people get so attached to these things.

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For your amusement, here’s a ridiculous throwback to 1985, featuring a pre-Seinfield Jason Alexander. Enjoy.

I am a member of my company’s “Fun Committee” and we were in in charge of planning an annual  activity and service project for the whole company. We came up with idea to incorporate the service project into the activity through a race/scavenger hunt, along the lines of the Amazing Race. We dubbed it “The Extraordinary Race” after our company’s seminar/book “The Extraordinary Leader.” Here is the logo I came up with for the event:

The way the race worked is that your team of four picked from challenges worth various points:

• Volunteering 1 hour at a Utah Community Action food bank.
• Purchasing $75 of canned foods and toiletries at a grocery store to donate to the food bank.
• Drinking shots of wheat grass from Jamba Juice.
• Bowling and earning 10 strikes collectively as a team.
• Finding a hidden message in the “Extraordinary Leader” book found in the Provo Library.
• Visiting a pet store, choosing a team mascot, and making a video about it.
• Eating 2 Ulimate Kong Kones from the grocery store, Maceys.
• Collecting pennies from every year our company has been in business (2003-present).
• Finding bonus point envelopes on a car parked in a crowded parking lot.
• Getting 10 strangers to take a picture with an “I Heart ZF” sign.
• Bonus points for extra pictures, videos, and creativity.

The winning team earned $100 cash for each team member, but everyone who participated at least earned gift cards from various restaurants. It was a lot of fun and great way for everyone to interact and get to know each other!

Check out the highlights in this video:

The other day, I came across this message from a train conductor written to passengers, presumably posted on train stops, explaining a problem that happened. The problem resulted in the conductor telling passengers to wait for the next train, which didn’t actually come because it ended up being cancelled (unbeknownst to the conductor). He sincerely apologizes for the incident even though it was something beyond his control. To me, this employee showed he takes a tremendous amount of pride in providing a quality experience and was open and candid with customers when that expectation was not met. Even though this did not come the corporate Metro North office or anyone in PR or marketing, this note (and the viral nature of twitter) have done a great deal to show they have employees who care. PR and Marketing folks should take note.

A while back, my cousin was purchasing a Subaru. I joked with him about how you have to put a minimum of 5 bumper stickers on your car before they would let it leave the lot. As he pointed out to me, they’ve actually done something even better. Now when you buy a Subaru, you can pick a variety of neatly placed decals that proudly display a little bit about you. Are you skier, cyclist, camper or runner? Do you do yoga, cook, or play music? Are things like diversity, family, or the environment important to you? Have you driven your Subaru over 100k miles? How many Subarus you’ve purchased in the past? These badges (which are actually pretty similar to the Merit Badges Boy Scout’s get – except you don’t actually have to do anything) are a great way to “gamify” the Subaru buying experience. It instills a sense of pride in being a Subaru owner (including whatever connotations go along with it) and celebrates that unique interests of the individuals. Well done, Subaru.

Read more about Subaru’s Badge of Ownership here.