Weekly Idea: An Optical Illusion and Brand Development

Posted on November 22nd, 2011 at 2:02 pm in Blog, Blue Ocean Ideas, The Weekly Idea, brand development, ideas, thought provoking by brody

Stare at the center of this image for several seconds. Relax. Keep staring.

Did you see it? The colors vanish.

This is called Troxler’s Fading (click for another visual example).

Here’s the principle: “Unvarying stimulus soon disappears from our awareness.” (Wikipedia) It’s just like how you can’t “feel” your shirt right now in the same way as when you put it on this morning.

The exact same thing is true for your brand. If you don’t move, if you don’t create edges, if you never surprise you will vanish.

Brands are built on consistency. If you’re not consistent, you’re not delivering on a promise. But no one ever said that consistency has to be predictable.

Predictable soon becomes invisible.

All of us are so busy that we are forced to ignore the predictable. What does this mean for your brand?

Take a risk,

brody

P.S. Yes, I can hear you now… “I want my latte to predictably taste the same at every Starbucks I go to.” You’re right. I’m not talking about the quality of your product or service. I’m talking about your advertising and messaging.

It’s really not about Twitter, Facebook, and Social Media

Posted on November 16th, 2011 at 11:15 am in Blog, Blue Ocean Ideas, The Weekly Idea, ideas, social media by greg

We have a lot of clients that are hot to trot about social media. And to be honest we are too.

At this moment in history Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media platforms can be great ways to communicate.

We use them.

We have prospective clients who find us on social media. Many of them eventually buy from us.

And we LOVE that.

But I have to remind myself all the time:

Great communication is not about the tools.

It’s about the message. It’s about consistency. It’s about providing meaningful content. It’s about going where your audience is.

Right now that’s happening on Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, Websites, YouTube, and many other places, of course. But it will change over time.

The fundamental challenge is timeless:

Tell your story well.

Keep moving forward,

Greg

p.s. I took some time off of social media myself. Here’s why.

Weekly Idea: The Leadership of Erik DeVriendt

Posted on November 2nd, 2011 at 10:43 am in Blog, Blue Ocean Ideas, The Weekly Idea, brand development, ideas by brody

I was on hand for the dedication of the newest Chick-fil-A restaurant in the world. It opens today in Richmond, Virginia.

After a family-style meal at a local restaurant, my good friend and owner of the new Chick-fil-A store, Erik DeVriendt, delivered a simple, caring, and important keynote address to his 70 new employees.

It had everything to do with brand development. But, Erik didn’t use a single phrase like “brand development,” and he hardly talked about “business stuff” at all.

Instead, he talked about people.

He talked about the purpose of his restaurant.

He talked about the story his team would be writing.

He talked about why they are going to do what they do.

Congratulations! You were chosen to be here. I’m here to serve you. Whether you work here for several weeks or the next 40 years, my job is to make sure you feel like you were a part of something meaningful. You’re here to create remarkable experiences for our guests. Delight everyone that comes to our stores: our vendors, our team members, and our guests. Invest in the success of this store and our mission. This requires that you take a long-term view. Pioneer in the way you serve people. Take chances in going over the top to serve people. I’ll protect and correct you when you need it. Do whatever you can to make our restaurant feel like home to our guests. Be yourself, and use this opportunity to become the best version of yourself.

Erik’s entire speech was off the cuff and from the heart. You can’t do that unless you live and breath your vision.

Whoever tells the stories shapes the culture.

Erik told the story well, and he invited everyone there to be a part of it with him. Think they’ll do well?

What’s the culture like where you work? Brands start with how your people create those experiences for your clients. I hope you’re telling a good story to cultivate the results you want.

“Delight, invest, pioneer.”

brody

Weekly Idea: Moneyball

Posted on October 27th, 2011 at 11:47 am in Blog, Blue Ocean Ideas, The Weekly Idea, culture, ideas, story by greg

On my 40th birthday I snuck out of the office a little early. Swung by Starbucks and grabbed my luxurious “Venti Americano, no room.” Went home and grabbed my kids and Elise.

Then we went and saw the movie Moneyball.

I’d been waiting for a week to see it.

It was terrific.

I don’t want to spoil it if you haven’t seen it. There were many lessons, but here’s my one big takeaway:

If you understand what drives your organization’s results, you can focus on that one thing and get drastically better performance.

Sounds painfully simple, right? And probably obvious? But the truth is very few organizations understand what drives their results.

The Oakland A’s realized that a baseball team of players with good on base percentages would cause them to win games. This was not the conventional wisdom at the time.

For Starbucks it is creating “third spaces” for people to connect with each other and themselves. Another simple, but innovative marketing concept at the time.

And for Blue Ocean Ideas?

Our driver is quality content. When we create quality content people connect with us, start relationships with us, and become clients.

This happens on the web when people search for content that we have produced, when we write articles and blog posts, when we tweet, when we share on Facebook, when we create films highlighting our work, and more.

If you build it (the right things for the right reasons) they will come (because they trust you).

What drives your organization’s results? What are you building?

Keep moving forward,

Greg

p.s. Our friend Chris Hourihan from Morgan Stanley in New York sent us a great article from Harvard Business Review titled “Selling is Not About Relationships.” Check it out. If you’re responsible for sales or business development in your organization it’s worth wrestling with.

Weekly Idea: The Single Most Strategic Thing You Can Do

Posted on October 19th, 2011 at 2:51 pm in Blog, Blue Ocean Ideas, The Weekly Idea, ideas, thought provoking by brody

The single most strategic thing you can do is ask “Why?”.

In every circumstance, for every decision, ask “Why?”.

And when you have an answer to that question, take your answer and ask “Why?”.

Keep on asking why to every answer you get. Turn it into a habit. This will help make sure that what you’re doing is an intentional and meaningful decision.

This isn’t an exercise in skepticism. It’s an exercise in purpose.

This “keep asking why” technique is exactly the process we engage in with client work. Why does that message matter to your client? Why is that a good strategy? Why does this button go here? Why does this link say it that way? Why should we film at this angle? Why choose this music? Why do we think this certain thing is important?

Why do we do this?

Because we have to start with the assumption that know one cares. If that’s your starting point, you have to be intentional.

And earning the right to be heard (while having something meaningful to say) is the best marketing strategy we know.

What are you going to ask “Why?” about this week? I’d love to hear about it.

brody

P.S. This is a corollary idea, but it’s still good advice from our friend Pat: “You can’t just want what you want. You have to want what your wants lead you to.”

Weekly Idea: The Cost of Doing Nothing

Posted on October 12th, 2011 at 10:17 am in Blog, The Weekly Idea, ideas, thought provoking by greg

“The system produces exactly the results that it is intended to produce.”

I’ve always attributed that quote to Peter Drucker but I can’t find support for that. If anyone has an actual citation it’s worth a free lunch at Thai One On in Towson with me.

I choose to look at this phrase this way:

“If I do nothing, nothing will change.”

I know that sounds remarkably simplistic. And it is. But it’s true.

The cost of doing nothing is accepting things as they are without need for change.

And if your systems are producing the results you want to get, by all means you should keep doing what you are doing.

But I don’t want to fool myself:

“The cost of doing nothing is not nothing. It’s the continuation of the results I’m getting.”

Keep Moving Forward,

Greg

Behind the Scenes: The Financial Consulate Website

Posted on October 10th, 2011 at 12:44 pm in Blog, Blue Ocean Ideas, brand development, client work, ideas, story by anna grace

In this post I will go into more detail about the process and behind-the-scenes work of the new Financial Consulate website.

The Financial Consulate is a financial firm in Maryland that is “redefining wealth” for those families and individuals who want to have a different perspective of the role of money in their lives. When we first met with Financial Consulate we learned about their vision to use their website to quickly express to their clients a new approach to money: that money has no real power other than that we give it. This was one of a few key themes that we learned from hearing Financial Consulate’s story and we wanted to make it a prominent part of their new site. Financial Consulate felt that their current website did not accurately reflect who they were as a company and the positive values they stood for. Below is a snapshot of Financial Consulate’s old website.

Our goal is always to help our clients tell their story well. We wanted to created a website for Financial Consulate that accurately told their story of helping their clients be relieved from the burden money can bring and give them time to spend with those they love. We took many notes during this initial meeting and used these notes to kickstart our strategic design process. Here are some of the notes from the initial meeting.

We led Financial Consulate through a process we use for our business and our clients to help more clearly define the “why” behind what they do. People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. And this is especially true for Financial Consulate. Their “why” is to redefine the role and purpose of a financial advisory by protecting clients and their finances (i.e. acting as a veritable consulate).

The next step was sketching out the website on our glassboards based on the notes from the initial meeting with Financial Consulate. This helps us get our heads around where we’re going with design and development needs.

From this sketch we created a wireframe (more formal document) to present to Financial Consulate that showed our vision for the homepage and other custom page templates. We also created an information architecture (IA) document that presented all of the content, functionality, and requirements for the site in an organized way.

Financial Consulate was very pleased with our organization of information in the IA document and the wireframe. After they signed off on the concept, we started designing in Photoshop. Here is the process of the homepage design from first draft to final design.

We designed the main focus of the homepage to be the header images that had short, powerful statements that represented Financial Consulate’s purpose and approach. Another main focus was having Financial Consulate’s vision next to the photo slider. We also designed a tabbed page element that describes Financial Consulate’s services and process.

For the interior pages we wanted the sidebar to have Financial Consulate’s vision to be at the top of the sidebar and their list of services as the rest of the sidebar to give easy access to this primary content. We added social media sharing capability on the top of every page as well as a large header image to help describe the content of the page.

The final piece in the puzzle was to design a specific template for the team page and each individual staff person’s page. We wanted to highlight each staff member so their clients would be able to learn about each person, read about their specialties, and have the ability to connect with them.

We are very proud of this website and Financial Consulate couldn’t be happier. You can check out Financial Consulate’s re-designed website for yourself and explore the new design! Feel free to leave a comment below about your thoughts on the new website or our process.

Anna Grace

Weekly Idea: You Can Lead a Horse To Water…

Posted on September 27th, 2011 at 5:17 pm in Blue Ocean Ideas, The Weekly Idea, ideas, thought provoking by greg

I made a bold statement to a client last week.

“We’ve been working with you for a long time. We work with other organizations in your field, and we could help you strategically so that you can tell your story MUCH better.”

We’ve watched their marketing & communications efforts for years. They don’t have a comprehensive strategy. As a result every piece we do for them is a “one off,” without any consistent theme in message or aesthetic. There’s no plan, only product. The lack of coordination doesn’t scale and it doesn’t leverage to make the most of who they are. This is the opposite of brand development.

This scenario makes me sad and frustrated. I know they could do a better job telling the story of all the ways they help their clients.

And here’s the killer: They are a great organization. They know their business and do a good job of serving their clients.

And we love doing work for them. We’re invested in them. We’re committed to them.

If they took a good look at what they were doing from an outsider’s perspective, they would recognize it.

And before you think I’m getting all high horse on you: I’ll be the first to admit that Blue Ocean Ideas needs outside help so that we stay on target with our brand building. I’m a big believer in getting outsiders to help you craft your message. Even for myself.

So I’m preaching to me as well:

You can’t force a horse to drink.

You can lead a horse to water.

Don’t settle for average.

Greg

Weekly Idea: No More Re-Gifting

Posted on September 13th, 2011 at 12:24 pm in Blog, Blue Ocean Ideas, The Weekly Idea, ideas, thought provoking by brody

When I say “I have the gift of ______ (fill in the blank)” what I’m really saying is “I think I’m good at ______.”

“I have the gift of patience.”

“I have the gift of leadership.”

“I have the gift of finding simplicity.”

“See? I’m good at this. I’ve been given this gift.“

Sound familiar?

I think there’s a different way to look at our “gifts.”

What if we looked at gifts not as something we’ve received, but something that we have available to give.

When I tell someone, “I have the gift of ______,” I want this to mean, “Here, I have this thing. Take it. It’s not for me. It’s for you. It’s a gift.”

See the difference? Gifts aren’t what we’ve already gotten. They are what we always have to give.

Gifts aren’t what you bring to the table; they’re what you leave on the table.

What gifts do you have? It’s not a search for your identity. It’s a search for your service. And you might just find yourself.

I’m looking.

Brody

P.S. We get very gifted people – and those who are willing to give their gifts – as our intraviewers at «GO». There’s a «GO» Conversation tonight at 7 pm. Please come, bring a friend, and learn about Personality Types in Relationships, Work, & Life.

Weekly Idea: Inside the Belly of the Beast

Posted on August 30th, 2011 at 3:30 pm in Blog, Blue Ocean Ideas, The Weekly Idea, ideas, story, thought provoking by greg

We’ve been doing a lot of hard work around Blue Ocean Ideas. We always are. It’s in our DNA.

Much of the work is for clients of course. We love that work and the days go by like pages in a thriller when we are working for a client deadline: we can’t wait to get to the ending and to see where the story takes us.

The work that is hardest for us to do is our own internal work.

3 weeks ago I was tickling the sand with my toes in Stone Harbor without a care in the world.

For a small business owner there is nothing like being on vacation to reveal where things need to be improved.

Since then I’ve been working on reviewing the foundational ideas of our business:

• Clarifying our purpose (why we do what we do)
• Understanding our mission (what we measure)
• Revisiting what we tell the world and how we tell it (our story and the way it is told)
• What we sell and to whom (who do we serve)

In addition, I’ve been looking hard at some areas that I need to personally address to help us grow and to promote growth in my own life.

I love strategic work. Reviewing where we are, where we want to go, and how to get there is recreational for me whether it’s for a client or for Blue Ocean Ideas.

If I could do that all day long I’d be as happy as a tornado in a trailer park.

The work that requires more self awareness on my part, and acknowledging what I am not good at is another story.

That’s belly of the beast work.

But at the end of the day the only way out of the belly of the beast is by moving forward through the issues. Growth doesn’t happen any other way.

One of our favorite influencers, Roy Williams says, “The risk of insult is the price of clarity.”

Clarity is an amazing thing when you have it.

The next few weeks I’ll share some of what I’ve learned and the clarity we have gotten at Blue Ocean Ideas.

How clear are you on where you are going?

Keep moving forward,

Greg

p.s. I have another announcement on Saturday that you may be interested in. It’s a personal venture I’m going on. If you follow Blue Ocean Ideas on Twitter or “Like” our Facebook page I’ll be sending updates beginning Saturday.