Theresa Q's Viewspage on Marketkeeping

More reasons to be proud of Houston: Wozny, Jones, Carrithers, and Newman collaborate for higher meaning in dance #li

When you see collaborations like this one, which vault the team members to new levels of meaning in their art, you realize that Houston is a special place we need to promote and support.

via vimeo.com 

 

CultureMap: Floating in Time... Modern dancer's improvisations are a perfect match for extreme slow-motion video, 2012-March-26, by Nancy Wozny

A close-up shot with Jones looking off into the distance points to the project's heart, an examination of a performer's otherworldly experience. "She's somewhere else, in that creative place. She's not terrestrial in that moment," muses Carrithers. "That's what this whole experiment was about, to catch a glimpse into those moments."

Explaining ideas, from every direction, giving them a life #li

The best ideas do not survive. The ideas which receive the best support survive. I highly recommend this entire article, but the two points that were most powerful for me are below.

Life. Then Strategy: How to explain an idea, 2011-Mar-16, by Mark Pollard

4. Show, pause, repeat your way through
Do not over-speak. Do not speak quickly. Speak less than you think you need to. Take. Your. Time. Repeat a key word several times through the presentation (they say 7 makes it stick).

If possible, show your idea.  Show people (customers) implying, anticipating or explaining the idea. Get out of the way of your idea. It’s not about you. I know, I know: you think it is. It never is.

5. Let other people finish your sentences
Pausing allows people to grasp the idea and process it through their own mental frameworks. You know you’re onto something when someone you’re presenting to says… “And you could then…” That’s what you want. Let them keep talking. Pauses make it happen. Counsellors do it all the time… apparently.

Write like you know you'll need help #li

The most interesting thing about David Ogilvy's approach to copywriting is that he assumed that he would struggle and need the help of other people. It's humbling to realize that we shortchange ourselves when we just write something off the top of our head. 

Letters of Note: I am a lousy copywriter, 2012-Jan-24, by David Ogilvy, via Shaun Usher

...

5. Before actually writing the copy, I write down every concievable fact and selling idea. Then I get them organized and relate them to research and the copy platform.

6. Then I write the headline. As a matter of fact I try to write 20 alternative headlines for every advertisement. And I never select the final headline without asking the opinion of other people in the agency. In some cases I seek the help of the research department and get them to do a split-run on a battery of headlines.

7. At this point I can no longer postpone the actual copy. So I go home and sit down at my desk. I find myself entirely without ideas. ... 

Share the good things other people say. #li

I wish I always had something to say, but sometimes the best I can do is point to something worth saying.

Chasnote: Advertising as curation, 2011-Nov-20, by Chas Edwards

We’ve spent the past 15 years arguing over the size and shapes of banner ads and the click-through rates they generate, and this has distracted us from the hard work of filling the space with good story-telling, good entertainment, good content that happens to be published by a brand.

If we stop taking the little things for granted, we find new possibilities. #li

It's easy to take the little things for granted, but if you just notice them, they'll open up your mind to new possibilities. I just started using the Apple Magic Trackpad, and it's just a little joy at my fingertips. What little source of joy are you ignoring?

Brains on Fire Blog: A Culture of Little Things, 2011-Oct, by

I realized that the little things matter because they can really make a difference in people’s lives, and that can really make the difference in a company.

What are the little things in your business? What is the most annoying, but potentially important task that you have to do on a regular basis? What are the little things for your employees? How can you take those small things, infuse them with vision, and remind yourself that doing them is an important part of the mission?

Supported Houston artists at We Heart Handmade Art Saturday

Last Saturday I attended the We Heart Handmade Art show for local Etsy designers, held at West Elm on Westheimer, and curated by Magda Sayeg of Knitta. I bought a handsome mug decorated with a mosquito to use at my new job at www.MosquitoZone.com. The artist is Paule Hewlett of BeyondHer.com. I also enjoy delicious macaroons and other treats from A Fare Extraordinaire. 

Using a brand to encourage good behavior

The longer, more active lives your customers live, the more they'll be able to support you, right? So let's all be a part of the solution by making brand loyalty equal healthy behavior. 

Brand as Business Bites: Sustainability: What's a brand got to do with it? 2011-Jul-19, by Denise Lee Yohn

[Guy Champniss] goes onto explain that brands are made to build social capital (defined as “the stocks of dialogue, shared thinking and trust that swirls around us, whether it’s in our families, at work, in the community, or across the country.”) And as such, “brands have the opportunity to both nudge their corporate guardians closer to a long-term and durable competitive advantage, and us all towards more sustainable and fulfilling lifestyles.”

This POV contrasts with the traditional view of sustainability that says, “We just need to awaken the ‘inner social and environmental values’ in everyone’” and people will start to demand sustainable products.

Guy argues that “Behavior change is complex and often relies on less normative tactics.” Therefore brands can get people to act more sustainably because they can “engage consumers on the salient issues.” He advocates building a sustainable demand chain with brands instead of using them only to report on a sustainable supply chain.

He points to Toyota’s Ideas for Good campaign as an example. “Rather than using the brand to ‘report’ sustainability, they used the brand to convene interest in using Toyota’s technology to find solutions to the problems that those who engaged with the initiative thought worthwhile. The campaign created social capital around sustainability issues,