Get Outside Of Your Walls

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't curiosity a natural tendency? Growing up, children explore and ask questions. Through the rest of our adolescence, there is a tendency to experiment with a number of things, from clothing, to music, to friendships. In early adulthood, people often travel through Europe, again in a quest based on curiosity..

My question is.. why does this stop? At what point, do adults close their eyes and ears to the world, and limit their experiences?

By now you're all wondering where is he going with this..

Well, over the past couple of months, I've sat down with hundreds of people, in dozens of companies. The common thread was the lack of exposure to 'the outside world'. Over and over again I asked people who were having difficulty with business processes, logistics nightmares, or human capital issues... who have you visited? What facilities have you toured? All in a quest to drive exploration. Hey Columbus jumped in a boat and sailed straight west.. look what he found...

So, I'm pleading to you. Over the next few months, find non-competitor organizations that may be doing things in their buildings/offices/plants which may unlock your cultural tunnel vision, and help your organization.

If you need any 'match-making' call me.. I'll help you out.

Get outside and see the world. Get curious. It's more effective than you think...

Connect 4... hundred million...

I have to admit it. I was in a blog-rut. Don't believe me? Check the date of my last post, let alone the date of my last good (hey - in my opinion...) post.. I was actually thinking how in the world am I going to get back into the groove.. you know.. how do you praise great things in the business world, when there are more important things to post about (GIVE TO NEW ORLEANS - www.redcross.org). And then it happened... Volkswagen up and changes advertising agencies... yee haw....

And the winner is.. Crispin Porter, you know... the agency that works with BMW's Mini... Let's start with some numbers..Mini's advertising budget... 22 million.. VW's 417 million.. so, needless to say this is a major event. What struck me next was the new approach to attracting customers that VW decided to - finally - adopt (from Automotive News):

"I was surprised," Lawner said. "That account meant an awful lot to this
agency. It's very traumatic."

Hunt said it was a difficult call to make after a 10-year partnership. "I
stressed how happy we've been with them but that we wanted to go in a new
direction," he said. That new direction includes redirecting advertising
dollars away from traditional TV and print toward more viral, event-driven
and online advertising, Hunt said.

"We've begun to realize the world's changed a little bit," he said. "Today, it's not so much about communication with people; it's about connecting with them."

Ahh... connecting with them... FINALLY... Customers are not customers, they're people. Sell them what THEY want...

The other aspect of the idea of connecting with people was how Cripin Porter won the contract.. they didn't communicate with the good folks at Mini, they connected with them, so, when Kerri Marin, then Mini's marketing communications manager left Mini to join VW, guess who she brought.. Crispin Porter

If you haven't connected the dots yet.. here's Cripin Porter's own words...

How do you keep momentum, stay ahead of imitators, and guarantee long term
success? You continue innovating and thinking non-traditionally. And sneak out
for a quick motor on your lunch hour.