Facebook Research - Yay or Nay?

Is Facebook research valid? Is it possibly the low hanging fruit of the survey world? We think it is.

With millions of members across all ages and walks of life, and extremely high daily usage rates among those members, Facebook appears to be an ideal way to quickly reach out and ask consumers how they feel about various products and services. But would research professionals find reasons to poke holes in the validity of such research?

We're interested to know your thoughts...

- Heather (see my page)

Food for Thought

I bake. So sue me. Don't ask me why, but it must have been something in my genes passed down from my Grandmother who baked my wedding cake. I enjoy a little time in the kitchen with the oven on, and a beer in my hand. And it's typically my co-workers or family members on a holiday that become my test market.

Anyways, so we're talking about baking and beer. The mind doesn't have to wonder too far before one decides to combine them. A favorite beer (and brand) of mine is Guinness. All the way from the entertaining TV commercials and ads to the bottle graphics and a vintage logo that screams "We've got our #$%! together and know how to brew what you are about to drink", I love this beer. And as doing a shot of tequila is more fun with a lime and salt, Guinness gets even better floating atop a half glass of Bass or Harp lagers. So why not bake with it?

Guinness already thought if it. Their breadmix bag looks like a part of the family, but it's not stocked in the beer section of the grocery store. If you cannot find it, here's one that will produce a bountiful and filling bread to share with family and friends. So hats off to a brand that can extend itself to products for everybody and their unique niches (like a guy that bakes for fun).

- Jeff (see my page)

Attitudes & Latitudes

I did my spring fling in Key West earlier this month with one of my pals. We got sunburnt, drank pina coladas, walked up & down Duval Street checking out all the other tourists and went to the sunset festival at the pier. That is the attraction in Key West. Then before we left we had to buy t-shirts at Hogsbreath, Margaritaville and Hard Rock Cafe (Sloppy Joe's was too crowded). We were in Key West after all.

We could have had a drink and a snack at those places too but when it came time to enjoy a few Coronas we headed to a local hangout off the beaten path called Don's Place. It's the kind of place I always look for. Never crowded and no tourists, except me. It doesn't hurt if they have a Goldentee Golf machine either.

The other places have live bands, nice t-shirts, boat drinks, and a bunch of hotties walking around but Don's has soul. The people in there just got out of work or had it off that day looking to pass the time. Shoot some pool, a little tequila then some Goldentee, it doesn't get any better than that. I also got the skinny on the best places to eat, where to avoid when cruise ships pull in and when is the best time to take the bridge out of town (closed for repairs 6 hours on Mondays, I must of missed that sign). And what a bunch of cartoon characters they are. Part of the customers include 5 dogs, a lizard, a parrot and a big cockroach. The chickens aren't allowed in. I found it takes a certain kind of person to live and work there. I'm not cut out for that but I love to visit and get the real slice of life.

So now that I'm back I have cool t-shirts that I love, from bars I didn't drink at. It doesn't hurt them. I imagine merchandising their brands is most of the business anyway. Everybody's happy, especially me. Their names live on and when I wear them I'll think of palm trees, sunburn and Don's Place, the local joint where I kicked ass on Goldentee.

I guess sometimes what a brand represents is more important than what a company is trying to sell.

Enjoy
Duke (AKA ZIT - check out my great shot on UTUBE!)

Modern Mom

Last night I was thinking about what products jump out at me at the grocery store. I thought about all the hair care products and shiny bags in the chips aisle. I thought about all the laundry detergents in their brightly colored bottles. But I found myself uncommitted to any one brand. I only buy what's on sale or what I have a coupon for.

Then it dawned on me that there was something that I have been buying for years and cost never mattered. I love Method hand soap! I love it because it doesn't come in a bright colored bottle or have pictures of flowers crammed down inside it. I love the clear soap in the clear bottle. It disappears on my bathroom sink. Sure, I have kids that would probably love to see a giant Spiderman or Hello Kitty label wrapped around the soap bottle, but my bathroom is one room that I can still call my own.

At first I thought I might be the only person who felt this way but as I visited my friends and their families I saw they used Method hand soap as well. They too must appreciate the simple product graphics (or lack thereof), and the clean, modern feel.

When it comes down to something that’s going to be on display at my house, I'd like it to be visually pleasing.

- April (see my page)

Internet Shopper Seeking More

It’s 1970 again. And the world shops at Naum Brothers.

It dawned on me during the ’08 Christmas shopping season…

I’m what you might call a reluctant shopper. I’d be quite happy if I never had to go to the mall, but living with 4 women and store checks for work make that nearly impossible. I do avoid the mall though, and just about any store other than Wegmans, Barnes & Noble and occasionally Dicks for essentials.

It started during a holiday shopping season many years ago. I became a catalog shopper. Somewhere along the line I innocently bought something I saw in someone else’s catalog and ended up on dozens of mailing lists. It was early December and I was working late again. I was determined to avoid the stress of procrastination THIS TIME!

I started browsing catalogs to get ideas about gifts for family and friends. I marked the pages so I could come back and compare. The pictures were vivid, production values high and there was just enough romance copy to convince me my wife would just love that emergency chain ladder for the kid’s bedroom! Ordering three of the latest electronic gizmos was a great solution for the kids - and shipping was free! I didn’t have to go to the mall. I didn’t have to go anywhere! I was hooked. By the time I finished my spree I needed only one trip to Sears for some nifty tool for Dad. Could have gotten that too but I didn’t have a Sears catalog. I thought I’d never have to go to the store again…

Then came the internet. Now I didn’t have to collect the catalogs from the mail. I didn’t have to dial. Didn’t even have to talk to anybody on the phone! With my card and security code in hand I could shop the world in minutes. And I felt smart, too. I was right up there with the best of the smart shoppers! Cross-checking prices, availability and shipping charges before I clicked the fateful “send” button. I tossed my catalogs (and everyone else’s in the house) into the blue bin on the way in from the mailbox. I’d never have to pickup a catalog again.

But last year I noticed something. Actually something missing… there were no more beautiful still life product photos, no beautiful models in exotic places. I found myself even missing the romance copy (I guess some people actually DO read the copy, sorry Rob). It was hard to tell what that coat actually looked like that I was buying for my wife – it was only 2 inches tall!! As a mater of fact, EVERYTHING WAS TWO INCHES TALL!!! And all the stores started looking the same. Was I at Bluefly? Or Neiman Marcus? Did I buy those iPods from Apple or Amazon? No matter where I shopped the products were all tiny little pictures and a product number on a white page. I told myself I didn’t care. I hated shopping anyway!

But I did care. I felt like I had bought all my gifts at Naum Brothers!?! (historical note for those under 40: a discount catalog that everybody got in the mail with small photos of all the products and a couple lines of copy and a price). I was buying thousands of dollars worth of stuff based on a 2-inch photo, 3 bullets and a price! At least Naum Brothers had a showroom where you could actually see the products before you bought them.

My blogstory ends with a dilemma and a solution. The dilemma is that I don’t really like shopping on the internet anymore. It’s sterile and small. I miss catalog covers and big beautiful product photos. I miss beautiful models in exotic places. Hell, I miss packages and shelves full of them in different varieties and sizes. I miss logos and graphics and colors and diagrams and… I miss the romance copy! I miss big holiday sales signs and endcaps! I miss the gorgeous displays in the cosmetics departments and the interactive displays in electronics. Did I say I missed beautiful models in exotic places?… I miss all of it, but I still don’t like shopping and I refuse to go back to the mall.

I want the stores to come to me. I want them to try harder and not surrender to the web techies’ databases and shopping cart software and 2-inch picture on white background specs. I have a 24-inch screen and high-speed internet. I want more. So I did something about it.

And I can show you… contact me at info@forwardbranding if you need help with the shopping experience in your online store and I’ll tell you about WebPOS 2.0TM.

- Jim (see my page)

Think positive.

I love looking at life through my rose-colored glasses… seeking the positive in unexpected places. It starts a chain reaction in me: thoughts affect feelings, feelings affect behavior and behavior affects experiences.

Everyday I interact with countless vendors as I pay the bills, collect unpaid invoices, try to balance an ever-changing budget and deal with relentless sales people. Some days aren’t easy. On those days, practicing positivity is a must. And since I’m often clients’ first point of contact at our office, having this perspective really helps. I love hearing clients say, "I can hear you smiling over the phone!" because that means I’m doing a good job – welcoming and inviting clients, never making them feel like a burden, regardless of their needs. When clients feel comfortable and cared about from the initial contact, they feel confident to proceed with the entire Forward Team.

For me, the art of positive thinking simply requires being aware of my thoughts. The rest comes naturally because the intention is there. The chain reaction is off and running, and suddenly positive energy is everywhere. Here are some links I've found to be helpful and inspiring:

www.positivehealthsteps.com/positivethinking.shtml

www.helpself.com/directory/positive.htm

http://changing-personal-habits.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_power_of_positive_attitude

With age, we’ll all probably come to need reading glasses. Rose-colored glasses should be something that we choose to wear daily as well. The commitment to have a positive attitude benefits all...your clients, your team, your company, your family & friends and yourself.

- Kim (see my page)

Charts & Graphs for Fun & Profit

So I just have to share my favorite web site with everyone.

It's called GraphJam, and it's billed as a site of "Music and Culture for People Who Love Charts". All of the charts are user-generated, and cover topics as diverse as Clash songs, college student dining, and the relative awesomeness of different kinds of Newtons (fig being the clear winner). When you have some time, and need a good laugh, you can see them for yourself here.

All humor aside, GraphJam is a great example of how visual representations (like charts and graphs) can make complex ideas simple. But creating effective visuals remains a daunting task. It requires a high level of design savvy combined with the ability to derive true insights from unwieldy, unrelated, or poorly defined sets of data.

As an example, check out this site, called Many Eyes. Here users offer up their charts and graphs of huge, oft-times dull, data sets. Word clouds, line graphs, pie charts - they're all here. And for the most part they are all frightfully dry. While they demonstrate some degree of technical wizardry, they offer up none of the joy or cleverness that underlie the GraphJam charts. Unfortunately, they also have more in common with most of the charts we get to see in PowerPoint presentations from our corporate clients.

That's because people forget what these visuals are for. To communicate. To make a point. To share an insight. It can't be data for data's sake. It needs to be information we can act on. Information that supports or contributes to our plan to win.

And when it comes to offering shortcuts to understanding, charts and graphs can be used for far more than just representing data. They can represent business concepts, market positions, weighted communications tactics, and so on. By using design as a strategic tool, you can explore different options and punch through various scenarios quickly, effectively, and affordably.

Knowing how to create such visuals is a unique specialty, and (I'm proud to say) one at which our firm excels. Give us a shout some time, and we'll show you a new way of looking at those old problems!

- Rob (see my page here)