Fellow Marketeers, Brand Gurus, and Innovators:
While enjoying some evening news, the business portion shared some interesting viral marketing for a recently released movie, "Chronicle".
Three human shaped RC planes were flown around New York City to create the illusion of people flying, playing on the characters ability to fly in the movie.
This stunt was relevant, fun, and has inspired more than seven million hits on YouTube, and PR by way of articles, social media, and news coverage. Great example of leveraging something relational to the product at hand, energizing a brand based on truth (in this case, the truth is the fantasy of having the ability to fly, so 'movie truth' - a relevant emotion to the movie characters, energized by a creative initiative anyway), and sharing an experience with folks in a way that was not intrusive, speaking 'at' you, and simply entertaining.
20th Century Fox hired viral marketing agency Thinkmodo to design and execute a rather unique campaign element that surely caused several double-takes over the New York City skyline.
Imagine walking in Central Park, or being in one of the hundreds of buildings in NYC and looking out the window to see this amazing site of the appearance of people flying - you ask what it is, why are they doing that, search for it, tell a friend, share a link, and "BAM!", success! Even if you didn't plan on seeing this movie, you're talking about it - and it is now interesting.
A great example of great marketing. No, better yet - a great example of human driven branding, entertaining, engaging viral marketing, and good ol' fun!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Why Appreciation Matters So Much - Tony Schwartz - Harvard Business Review
Why Appreciation Matters So Much - Tony Schwartz - Harvard Business Review
Tony Schwartz
Tony Schwartz is the president and CEO of The Energy Project and the author of Be Excellent at Anything. Become a fan of The Energy Project on Facebook and connect with Tony at Twitter.com/TonySchwartz and Twitter.com/Energy_Project.
Why Appreciation Matters So Much
FEATURED PRODUCTS
I've just returned from an offsite with our team at The Energy Project. As we concluded, I asked each person to take a few moments to say what he or she felt most proud of accomplishing over the past year.
After each brief recounting, I found myself adding some observations about what I appreciated in that person. Before long, others were chiming in. The positive energy was contagious, but it's not something we can ever take for granted.
Whatever else each of us derives from our work, there may be nothing more precious than the feeling that we truly matter — that we contribute unique value to the whole, and that we're recognized for it.
The single highest driver of engagement, according to a worldwide study conducted by Towers Watson, is whether or not workers feel their managers is genuinely interested in their wellbeing. Less than 40 percent of workers felt so engaged.
Feeling genuinely appreciated lifts people up. At the most basic level, it makes us feel safe, which is what frees us to do our best work. It's also energizing. When our value feels at risk, as it so often does, that worry becomes preoccupying, which drains and diverts our energy from creating value.
So why is it that openly praising or expressing appreciation to other people at work can so easily seem awkward, contrived, mawkish and even disingenuous?
The obvious answer is that we're not fluent in the language of positive emotions in the workplace. We're so unaccustomed to sharing them that we don't feel comfortable doing so. Heartfelt appreciation is a muscle we've not spent much time building, or felt encouraged to build.
Oddly, we're often more experienced at expressing negative emotions — reactively and defensively, and often without recognizing their corrosive impact on others until much later, if we do at all.
That's unfortunate. The impact of negative emotions — and more specifically the feeling of being devalued — is incredibly toxic. As Daniel Goleman has written, "Threats to our standing in the eyes of others are almost as powerful as those to our very survival."
In one well-known study, workers who felt unfairly criticized by a boss or felt they had a boss who didn't listen to their concerns had a 30 percent higher rate of coronary disease than those who felt treated fairly and with care.
In the workplace itself, researcher Marcial Losada has found that among high-performing teams, the expression of positive feedback outweighs that of negative feedback by a ratio of 5.6 to 1. By contrast, low-performing teams have a ratio of .36 to 1.
So what are the practical steps you can take, especially as a manager, to use appreciation in the service of building a higher-performing (and more sustainable) team?
1. As the Hippocratic oath prescribes to physicians, "Above all else, do no harm." Or perhaps more accurately, do less harm, since it's unrealistic to do none. The costs of devaluing others are so great that we need to spend far more time thinking than we do now about how to hold people's value, even in situations where they've fallen short and our goal is get them to change their behavior for the better.
2. Practice appreciation by starting with yourself. If you have difficulty openly appreciating others, it's likely you also find it difficult to appreciate yourself. Take a few moments at the end of the day to ask yourself this simple question: "What can I rightly feel proud of today?" If you are committed to constant self-improvement, you can also ask yourself, "What could I do better tomorrow?" Both questions hold your value.
3. Make it a priority to notice what others are doing right. The more you work at it, the better you'll get at it, and the more natural it will become for you. For example, start by thinking about what positive qualities, behaviors and contributions you currently take for granted among the members of your team. Then ask yourself, what is it that each of them uniquely brings to the table?
4. Be appreciative. The more specific you can be about what you value — and the more you notice what's most meaningful to that person — the more positive your impact on that person is likely to be. A handwritten note makes a bigger impression than an email or a passing comment, but better any one of them than nothing at all.
We're all more vulnerable and needy than we like to imagine. Authentically appreciating others will make you feel better about yourself, and it will also increase the likelihood they'll invest more in their work, and in you. The human instinct for reciprocity runs deep.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Success
Friend >>
The road to compelling advertising that is human driven, truthful, identifies the essence and purpose of a product/service, and inspires results beyond survivability can be summarized by this picture.
Never give up, but also don't repeat the same mistakes as prior. Rather, enact flexible agility, savvy strategy, and focused passion into your work. You'll be amazed at how this simple illustration dismissed what is 'taught' by society, and is in fact a substantially realistic situation daily in our lives, as well as marketing.
That, and pictures - as we are aware, encourage reflection, thought, and perspective. "Siegel" hopes this adjusts your perspective for the greater good of your journey.
We must give credit, where credit is due [thank you Demetri Martin for this]
Let's talk, we have some awesome to lead together,
siegel | innovations
interact@siegelinnovations.com
www.siegelinnovations.com
"How you react to obstacles defines your identity!"
The road to compelling advertising that is human driven, truthful, identifies the essence and purpose of a product/service, and inspires results beyond survivability can be summarized by this picture.
Never give up, but also don't repeat the same mistakes as prior. Rather, enact flexible agility, savvy strategy, and focused passion into your work. You'll be amazed at how this simple illustration dismissed what is 'taught' by society, and is in fact a substantially realistic situation daily in our lives, as well as marketing.That, and pictures - as we are aware, encourage reflection, thought, and perspective. "Siegel" hopes this adjusts your perspective for the greater good of your journey.
We must give credit, where credit is due [thank you Demetri Martin for this]
Let's talk, we have some awesome to lead together,
siegel | innovations
interact@siegelinnovations.com
www.siegelinnovations.com
"How you react to obstacles defines your identity!"
Monday, May 2, 2011
Vote for heartprints inc. on Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 in the Toyota 100...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPFyvTsSa6k
Great Job heartprints inc., and good luck!
By way of the non-profit >>
Vote for heartprints inc. on Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 in the Toyota 100 Cars for Good Program
heartprints inc. is honored to announce we've been named a finalist in Toyota's 100 Cars for Good program.
The next step is for you to vote for us Wednesday, May 11th, 2011 on Toyota's Facebook page, facebook.com/toyota, as we compete for a new Toyota vehicle that will be utilized to amplify our capacity to improve the lives of youth and families through Mentoring, Jobs, and Outreach.
Thank you for scheduling a moment 5/11/11 to vote for us via www.facebook.com/Toyota, and your time. Your support means we can increase our positive impact reach to the youth and families we serve. Feel free to share this 'event' with your network as well!
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