Tiger, Toyota, and P.T. Barnum

 

2009 wound up with a whopper of a declarative statement on the need for transparency, for truth, in business.

 

Tiger Woods the company spokesperson (“Be a Tiger”), Tiger Woods the family person. Toyota the superior quality car company, Toyota the gateway to car recalls. Fiction and fact.

 

Facts win today. Facts will come out.

 

P.T. Barnum said “A sucker is born every minute”. Today, a blogger posts their opinions every second. A person snaps a photo every second. Videos are uploaded every second. Tweets tweeted every second.

 

Jim Collins, the prolific business writer, said in Good to Great that a company needs to address the “brutal facts” about their company. That’s addressing what really is, not what a company aspires to be.

 

It goes to truth – internally, and then going to market externally. At Atomic Ideas we work with a client to define and develop their marketable truths, truths they can back up that also connect with their best customers. The days of 'say one thing, do another' are long gone.

 

Today "A post/photo/video/tweet is born every second". Nowhere to run, baby, nowhere to hide.

Taco Bell’s Drive Thru Diet Is Unbelievable!

When I first saw the Taco Bell Drive Thru Diet commercial, I couldn't believe it. And that, apparently, is the way most people saw it. Turns out the spot has created a firestorm of negative buzz in the blogosphere for Taco Bell after they jumped on the Jared and Subway bandwagon.

The crux of the problem for Taco Bell is indeed believability. It's failing to realize that no matter how many people enjoy eating their fast food, it's a huge leap to make them or anyone else believe it's healthy or may help you lose weight.

Fact is, you could eat 1250 calories of anything every day and lose weight. Calories in vs. calories expended. So it's not that Taco Bell is lying and I'm sure that, just like Jared on a Subway diet, TB's Christine really lost the weight. But again, when you're trying to convince the masses, the problem is believability.

It's fairly easy to believe that Jared could do it by eating chicken and fresh veggies on a six inch whole wheat bun. It's a complete mental stretch to believe that Christine did it eating Taco Bell. Because no matter how you package the product or what you call it, it's Taco Bell. People love it because it's dangerous. It's late-night, greasy after-the-bar food. It's a satisfying, secret lunch you won't tell your wife or hubby about. 

And that's the perception. And that's why this isn't going to work for Taco Bell.

While it's certainly true you can lose weight eating Taco Bell, it's just patently unbelievable because of the nature and perception of their products… their brand – bad food is good for you. In this case, they lost sight of their marketable truths. Unbelievable!

(Marketable) Truth will set you free!

Have you seen the new Domino's pizza commercials on TV lately? They fess up to their shortcomings and improve their products in order to deliver marketable truths, ie those attributes that will resonate with their best customers. How did they do it? First by listening to their potential best customers (through focus groups) then delivering what those customers wanted most. The result. They will sell more stuff! 

Here is a full video from which :30 TV spots were made:

At Atomic Ideas, we specialize in helping clients sell more stuff. How? By helping them find and then communicate their marketable truths in whatever medium(s) is most appropriate. So we applaude Domino's in finding their marketable truths and communicating them. And we wish them the best in selling more stuff!

Predictions for the New Year

Happy New Year! 

As we all make resolutions and look forward to the future, I release my annual predictions for the upcoming year. They may not help…but they couldn't hurt.

Predictions for 2010:

1. Global Warming will officially be recognized as just a lot of hot air.

2. Canada will be cancelled due to a lack of interest.

3. The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence will be expanded to include a Search

    for Terrestrial Intelligence.

4. One or more major tornados, earthquakes, mudslides, and/or hurricanes will occur somewhere in the

    world.

5. Detroit will once-and-for-all lose the title of "Murder Capital" due to a lack of population left to murder.

6. Science will confirm that laughter IS the best medicine, HMOs will continue to decline prescription

    coverage for it.

7.  The suffix .com on all  internet addresses will be changed to .ted  (I don't explain 'em, I just predict

 'em)

8.  The government will issue personal "methane collectors" to help each of us trap our own greenhouse

     gasses before they can contribute to climate change. (Lighting farts also becomes a felony).

9.  In a bid to raise money for the ailing economy, the government sells the naming rights to national

     monuments.  The Library of Congress becomes the Wikkepedia of Congress , the Lincoln Memorial

     becomes the Lincoln-Mercury Memorial and  Hoover Dam becomes the Hoover Stain-Master. Still

     in negotiation are Mount Rushmore changing to Mount Rush-Limbaugh, and Yellowstone changing to 

     Disney's Grizzly Bear Jamboree.

  

10. Sometime around year-end,  would-be Nostra-dumb-asses will release their annual predictions.

    Have a safe, healthy and prosperous New Year. That isn't a prediction, that's a wish.

Bring It On.

2010
is just about here. And it looks to be another tough, competitive, just-do-what-it-takes to make a buck year. 

I recently got this email warning about the heightened industry competition from my concerned friend, Brad Smith,

       “I’m afraid that Atomic Ideas
might be in trouble. These guys might have the edge.”

Attached was this video:

All I can say is “Bring it
on, Baby!” 

and have a Happy New Year.

And thank you Brad for watching our backs. 

A Slice of Social, Hold the Media

As 2009 winds down and people are thinking "thank God", it's time to crack open a fresh new year. Companies are busy taking a breath and leaning into what's starting to look like a better year for business.

And as others throughout society continue trying to catch up, dealing with the air knocked out of them, there's an organization, www.idealist.org, that is a bounty of volunteering opportunities. If one of your personal new year's goals, or your company's goals, is to help others, this is the site to check out.

Idealist's Vision:

"We would like to live in a world where:    

• All people can lead free and dignified lives.
• Every person who wants to help another has the ability to do so.
• No opportunities for action or collaboration are missed or wasted."

Hard to argue with that vision.

 

One afternoon of helping or the start of a lifelong commitment, a small donation or an endowment to the cause of your choice. Something.

 

Here's your chance to be social offline, and to reflect on Gandhi's advice: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world".

 

If you're already volunteering, rock on! Then www.idealist.org would be a great referral to someone you know looking for an opportunity.

 

Here's to a New Year filled with good health, more wealth, and many moments of happiness.

 

Tally ho!

 

Attitude is Everything in 2010! 10 Best Inspirational Quotes.

 

2010 is just a few days away and we're geeked. Sure, 2009 was a bit of a mess, but hey, it's almost over and I'm determined to look forward, not backwards. So for today's post and anyone who needs a lift, I scoured the web for the 10 best inspirational quotes to help the gang at Atomic Ideas and the whole world get juiced for the coming year.

Memorize them, tack them on the wall, live them!

1. Never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about.

 
– Unknown

2. Watch your thoughts; they become words.

    Watch your words; they become actions.

    Watch your actions; they become habits.

    Watch your habits; they become character.

    Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

 
– Frank Outlaw

3. Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.

   
– Judy Garland

4. "Everything is okay in the end, if it's not okay, then it's not the end."

   
– Unknown

5. I do it because I can, I can because I want to, I want to because you said I couldn't.

   
– Unknown

6. Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself:
I, not events, have the power to make me happy or  
    unhappy today. I can
choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived
yet. I have
    just  one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it.

   
– Groucho Marx

7. ' When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place '

   
– Unknown

8. A champion is someone who gets up, even when he can't

   
– Unknown

9. Don't Quit

    When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
    When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
    When the funds are low and the debts are high
    And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
    When care is pressing you down a bit,
    Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
    Life is queer with its twists and turns,
    As every one of us sometimes learns,
    And many a failure turns about
    When he might have won had he stuck it out;
    Don't give up though the pace seems slow–
    You may succeed with another blow,
    Success is failure turned inside out–
    The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
    And you never can tell how close you are,
    It may be near when it seems so far;
    So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit–
    It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

  
– Edgar A. Guest

10. Never tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

– Unknown

Photo Credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zen/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

10 Worst TV Ads of the Year

Wallet Pop recently listed their 10 worst TV commercials of the year.

The problem with most of these commercials is that they do not contain a single “marketable truth.”  A ‘marketable truth” as defined by Atomic Ideas (a marketing for sales agency) is a benefit that your best potential customers are looking for and will actively respond to.  Take #1 on the ten worst list for example, the “Pig” for White Castle’s barbeque pork sandwich. It’s a perfect example of the lack of a marketable truth.  It shows a person in a furry pig suit doing a “splash dance” in barbeque sauce. Besides the obvious disgust with the sauce getting into the fur, seeing the animal you will be eating, etc. the only point the spot makes is that the pork (pig) seems to like the sauce – not to eat, just to dance in. There’s nothing in this for a potential customer. No reason to prefer this sandwich over any other fast-food sandwich. And a whole lot of reasons to avoid White Castle. This spot is not even funny or entertaining, so it doesn’t even do White Castle any good from a “remember my name” standpoint. All the potential customer will remember is to stay away from White Castle.
 

 A few of the other spots do attempt to provide a “marketable truth” but do so in the worst possible way. Like #10 on the worst list. It is very funny, and has a”marketable truth” — that this hotel is so comfortable that you will be incredibly relaxed here. Unfortunately, you will be so relaxed that you will feel free to rip one. So the marketable truth is undone by an all-too-real “negative truth” –that people often do disgusting things in their hotel rooms. After all the “60 minutes” type programs that tell us how gross most hotel rooms really are, why do we need to reinforce this “negative truth?”

 

So one way to avoid being on next year’s “10 Worst Ad” list is to make sure you have a “marketable truth” and to make sure you don’t undo it with a “negative truth.”

Merry Christmas

“I would not be just a nuffin’…”

I usually don’t get involved in sports talk and futile
blather. Basically, I like to watch sports and read about the results.
Occasionally, I’ll read a column or two. I like reading Mitch Album.

However, the other day, while reading a list that
evaluated upcoming bowl game matchups by ESPN’s, Pat Forde, (espn.com columnist
and college football expert), I came upon some incredible blurbs concerning the
Little Caesars Pizza Bowl matchup summary. 

They are comments that affect our
economic condition here in Michigan. Here are parts of what Forde wrote,

“Who's happier to be there: Both should be tickled? Well,
as tickled as you can be when you're spending Christmas in Detroit.” 

And then later, he writes,

“Completely useless Dash fact: Fans looking for a hotel
stay of two or more nights might consider buying a house in Detroit. Roughly
the same cost.” 

Where the hell does he get off? Is this supposed to be a
little humorous bit tacked on to an otherwise dull bowl game assessment? What
purpose does it serve? It’s unrelated to the game. It’s not the writer’s area
of expertise. What’s the benefit of these ignorant comments? Is he trying to
create a controversy? -in order to create some buzz and interest to his lengthy
bowl game coverage? Well, It doesn’t work. It’s not helping him sell anything. If
there is going to be a controversy, it should be between the two teams in the
bowl matchup, not with the fans and people of a somewhat neutral game site.
What warrants this thoughtless jab at a hurting city? This is not good
business.

It’s just a joke?

It’s funny to be mean?

I guess that’s Pat Forde’s reason. He thought it was a
funny joke, not to be taken seriously by the thousands of college football
enthusiasts and the thousands of Detroit area residents.

These comments hurt more than just the residents of the
Detroit area. They hurt and diminish the enthusiasm of the Little Caesars Pizza
Bowl game’s participants and all the people involved. The Little Caesar Pizza
Bowl gives two teams an opportunity to play for something extra. It’s a bonus
to a well-played season. The players get an all expenses paid trip. No, it’s
not in a southern town near an ocean. But it is in a major, well-established, midwestern
city that has all the features you’d expect, like great restaurants, fancy
hotels, museums, art galleries, symphonies, jazz and techno clubs, three major
casinos, (a casino across the river in Canada), NHL and NBA teams, great
shopping and a bunch of other cool things.Visitors will not be bored. (These are things that economically help the Detroit community). The
schools get a $750,000 payout, money they don’t generally turn down. And, the
game will be played on TV (ESPN) giving the two teams valuable exposure. 

Why would someone want to insult that opportunity and
life experience? 

Maybe it’s that Mr. Forde just wasn’t thinking. I’m not
saying he’s an idiot. I’d never say that. I really don't get it. Maybe a quote from Joe Paterno's perspectve can help
explain things:

  “If I ever
need a brain transplant, I
want one from a sportswriter, because I’ll
know it’s never been used.”

                                              -Joe Paterno, College Football coach and frequent bowl game participant