I mean what is your real value?

Put another way…how do you assess your own financial appeal?

No – I’m not being nosey, crossing the personal line or looking for private information on your earnings, savings, investments, holdings or anything else related to your finances – although, by the way, others might be – no doubt are. Keep reading.

What I am really after is your view on how you would put a price on your own head – not like an outlaw – more like the rock star that you are – to someone – in fact to many someones.

Here is the thing – you are a valuable commodity; a Brand – if you will. Every bit as powerful as any Brand you can imagine – Microsoft; Google; Apple; Coke; Marlboro; McDonald’s – you name it – you are in their league.

And just like consumers will pay a premium to buy products and services from those Brands and others – they, in turn, will pay someone a premium to “buy” you – or rather buy access to you.

Ah – but here’s the rub – once we had trouble collecting data on folks – today we have trouble deciding which data to use; what data is really valuable – because as we travel through our normal everyday routine, we leave a super highway-sized roadway of data points behind us – well lit and with road signs pointing to our location, hinting at our destination and often, even, giving directions to meet us.

And we give it away. Think about it – Why shouldn’t Ralph Lauren wear your logo on his shirt if you wear his? See where I’m going?

Bottom line – if we give it away as easily as we do – what value does it really have? How will we be valued by the companies that collect it? Now, there are some companies that get it and treat their customers really well – Zappos for one – check this out:

http://about.zappos.com/

They get the value of your info – and they treat you with the respect you deserve.

Seems to me that we run the risk of devaluing data – our own most of all – as collection and use of it becomes ubiquitous while Brands literally follow behind us with huge vacuum trucks sucking up the info that we drop so cavalierly.

My view? It’s time for a revolution – and I have turned to one of my favorite revolutionary sources for inspiration. Listen:

“What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value.”
Thomas Paine

And there you have it.

Here is my thought – we all need to value the data that is ours alone and the data we collect and the data that we use in a much more critical and significant way.

If we give our own DNA away too easily, we lose the right to expect its value to be recognized and appreciated – but if we are on the collecting end and don’t give people’s data the value it deserves, we will end up demeaning its value and ultimately commoditizing ourselves along with the data.

Premium Brands are driven by Premium Customers/Consumers/Users/Buyers – you get the picture – lose one, you lose the other…

Important read – without our value – he has none;  NYT: Zuckerberg on the hotseat.

What’s your view?

We all strive for simplicity – most of us anyway. And more and more you read and hear about people who have used the economic climate of the past year plus to “simplify” – as in take out the extraneous, and what in retrospect feels useless, and instead invest in those things that really add value and such to their life. Black and White….

So far so good. That is an insight – or is it?

The legendary Chairman of Sony in Japan, Akio Morita – who visualized the success of the Walkman when everyone else (including GE) used their “consumer insight” to kill the idea – once said: “The ideal consumer electronics device has only one button” – simplicity defined – Black and White.

Or is it?

Seems to me the truth is that the “one button” which presents to us as elegantly simple has behind it a most complex and intricate technology, which on its own, left to its technical developers, no doubt would never have presented itself as “one button” – think DOS to Windows 7 – My PC…

So the thought is that Black and White is never really Black and White, nor is it merely grey. Rather, more often than not, scratch the surface just a little and a riot of colors presents itself – and your insight, of simplicity, somehow gets lost in the cacophony.

The Internet is a great and growing example. On the one hand we marvel that we can access data and information anywhere at any time – stand on a street corner in Paris and find the time of the next showing of Avatar in Hong Kong. We have made the world smaller and ever smaller – erased time and distance and created the truly global view of the world.

The one-button thinking has led some to think that one size now fits all – since I can literally see just about everything, just about everywhere (those countries that still limit full, uncensored access aside), ergo I can now market and communicate more efficiently and effectively (for whom…?) with one campaign, one message, one program. WOW!!! Think of the money we save…

But – the smaller we have made the world, the more we have enabled the creation of silos, small communities, groups of like-minded people, and many with fierce local pride and its dark flip-side prejudice.

The Internet, at its best, is not a mass medium like TV that in fact can broadcast what it wants and in its former sheer weight and volume wear down the opposition, if you will.

On the one hand, it is more mass – in that its channels and sources are seemingly infinite. Yet the ability that I have to pick and choose, to search and share, to block and enable makes the experience as local and intimate as it gets. It’s mine – all mine. And your view of simplicity neglects the complex confluence of time, place, religion, economics, nationality, need, age – whatever that converge in a simple click – and therein lies the rub.

As I write this on a plane back from a meeting in Dubai (amazing!), I am also reminded of the Black and White we experience as people. Those who travel the “region” – and by region I mean the whole Middle East – know that what you experience from the 24/7 onslaught of news and opinion is rarely close to the truth.

The one-button view is of war and hatred and repression – and, yes, there is a lot of that…sadly. But scratch the surface and the story changes – yet we continue to swirl around the simple pictures, of our own making, continuously pressing that same button – no matter who or where we are – and it is ironically the same button.

Sadly, in our pursuit of simplicity and without the understanding of the complex thinking that goes behind that one button or that one click, we will never truly maximize the potential we have…

All of which leads me to this…listen:

“Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things.” – Miyamoto Musashi

And there you have it.

Akio Morita was a true visionary. He looked out and brought the future in close, very close (Zune and iPod owe him big), but he also forced those who had their heads down squinting at their screens to look up and see the world as it could be.

So I might be able to get that movie time in Hong Kong while I am in Paris – but never forget that a minute later I’m eating a croissant at my new favorite local café (that I found through one of my Facebook friends and navigated to using my handset) engaged in heated discussion – as can only be had at a good French café – wondering why I was just barraged with messages about China and Chinese food in Paris….

You see you don’t know why I looked that up – do you?

What’s your view?

Before I get to the answer…

Last week I reported from CES – the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I talked about the Candy Store feeling and all the wild stuff that was on its way.

This week I’m reporting from Detroit, where I attended the Detroit Auto Show, which for over a century has defined Detroit’s power in the industry and for the past 20 years or so has helped to define the global market as well:

http://www.naias.com/the-2010-show/overview.aspx

As a kid with a love for metal, I eagerly awaited the pictures from the show of the concept cars and would hang the really “cool” ones on the wall of my room, dreaming of the day they would be real and I would own one – my first car was a Dodge Charger RT with a 440 Magnum – don’t ask…my parents still cringe – metallic blue with a black stripe around the tail….

Last year the show was a shadow – understandable given the economy and the state of the global, in particular U.S., car industry.

This year there was definitely a more optimistic tone, but still, some companies like GM did nothing more than display “cars on carpet” – no demonstrations, no info kiosks, no young experts to answer your questions and further excite your curiosity.

Having said that, there was still a lot to see, and if you follow the links I provide, you will get a sense of what was on display:

http://www.insideline.com/auto-shows/detroit/?mktcat=IL-shows&kw=detroit+auto+show&mktid=ga11335701

But here is the thing – I don’t know about you, but although I follow reviews carefully and love to listen to what the reports – of any kind – say, I also like to follow the crowd – the social networking experience at its best and most powerful. It’s like reading a bad movie review and then discovering that for 4 weeks it’s the number one attended film in the world – the so-called pros went one way, but the people – those who buy and get the point – went another.

Here is the point – and I will get to my questions in a minute – I didn’t forget….

Small cars, yes; electric cars, yes, all true – there was interest – new models even from some of the more challenged participants – also, yes – a few cool concept cars – no doubt.

But the crowds were at Ford.

Full disclosure – they are a client…but the crowds were there.

Going back a week to CES Ford was also present. Alan Mulally, CEO of Ford, gave one of the keynote addresses. A car guy at CES? A car guy at the home of cool electronic gadgets and converged devices?

Now to my questions…

Smart phones have everything to do with cars and that is because (answer to my second question) convergence is really about life and not about screens or systems or content alone.

For years we’ve seen the “concept” kitchens – who really needs a TV in their fridge? Come on!!!

But cars are different. Very much so.

Music is already an integral part of the driving/riding experience; GPS is too, and phones are as well – not to mention computers, DVDs, BlackBerries and whatever…but not all integral to the car…and too often being a dangerous and sometimes fatal distraction.

When Ford presented at CES – it was all about convergence. How to converge the experience of driving safely with the need we have to be in constant touch, always on communication, GPS/Music/Talk/Text, whatever, all converged into one system that allows for safe driving and full connection – concept? Stuff of the future? Check it out:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/07/myford-touch-and-sync-app-ecosystem-hands-on-and-video/

The audience got it – both in Las Vegas and in Detroit – and they get that it’s here now.

I must also report that another aspect of this (hold on to this one) was the Ford cars that park themselves – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW-MhoLImqg – I tried it – wild!!!

So what’s my big take?

What interested folks at the show was the wild, futuristic, cool stuff that they can buy today. There were fewer concept cars than ever and, frankly, none of them excited even me – an unabashed photo hanger of the yet to be – but who got really excited about what I can take home today that is really leading edge.

All of which led me to this week’s quote, which I found to be almost providential in its message:

“You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.”

Henry Ford

And there you have it – a thought for all of us that has always been true – but today maybe more than ever.

In a world where the future is often here and incremental whatevers are just not worth the wait – reputation is about what we do and deliver. Today…

Think on that – next time you plan or promise or plot – we have so much that we can have yet to do with what we have, why waste the opportunity on what we don’t? Business or personal…

What do you think?

PS – check this out…. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/darpa/

Did have to provide one big futuristic thought – imagine if driving was the real distraction and not texting…imagine that the car experience was for your personal time and that the car drove itself…coming soon….

How about the Toy Store? Same experience – right?  Talk about wide eyes…you really, really wanted that Transformer, Barbie or Mad Scientist set – but, well, maybe, could I please have one more? An ironic twist on old Oliver…to say the least. And you threw a tantrum…you can fill in the rest.

Me? I’m on my third round and perspective on this one – started with my own tantrums, managed my kids, and now give my grandsons whatever…

Now to the point…

CES (the annual consumer electronics show in Las Vegas) is the Candy Store; it’s the Toy Shop equivalent for adults. In fact, it’s the experience on steroids. It’s written about; broadcast on; blogged; Tweeted; filmed; and legions of digital camera-toting fans, aficionados and candy/toy lovers shamelessly snap away so that they can plan a future visit to their own toy/candy store.

FULL DISCLOSURE. I was there and did the same.

What a place. You don’t know which way to turn, where to look first or even how to begin.

You begin by telling yourself it’s all about the technology – you are there to learn…RIGHT. Within a few moments all you want to do is see the newest 3D exhibits, marvel at the colors and depth of the latest TVs, listen to the greatest sounds you have ever heard, and of course marvel at the ultra-thin newest and wildest screens that are so thin they could be wallpaper.

True – you also drool at the convergence of more traditional broadcast and Internet, and shake your head in awe as you realize that while your favorite movie is playing in full THX, surround-sound, 3D, realistic organic you are in it mode – you can also Skype, e-mail, add to your recipes and blog…RIGHT! Quickly you return to the picture and the fact that with this new technology you can access more shows, more movies and more experiences – as for the Skype…you tell me…not when I’m watching!

So how do you make sense of it all?

To begin, you might Bing and see what you can find – to help you along I provide the following link – one of thousands:

http://www.bing.com/search?q=ces%202010%20products&mkt=en-us&FORM=TBRC&DI=6244&CE=14.0&CM=SearchWeb

Or – if you were in Las Vegas – and lucky enough to be a client, friend or colleague, you could join and take – what is known as “Irwin’s Tour” – possibly the most sought-after ticket at CES after Kid Rock.

Irwin, by the way, is Irwin Gotlieb, CEO of Group M and, if you follow this link, much, much more:

http://cityfile.com/profiles/irwin-gotlieb

He is an unabashed techno-geek who understands and revels in the technology (I have seen him hold his own with the developers of Star Wars type stuff); who uses technology at its razor-thin edge but, more importantly, can explain it in English so that we can all understand and maybe even more importantly – in fact, yes, more importantly – knows and understands how (or how not) it will be used today, next year and in a decade. So if you are in the business, you need to hear his view.

Irwin spends a day reconnoitering the miles of exhibits and carefully plans a journey that leads to enlightenment and frankly the ultimate cool experience and takeaway.

So, together with my boss, Daniel Morel (who like me loves tech toys – although I was trumped by the Bluetooth connection to Pandora on his Harley through his helmet speakers), we joined the Irwin Tour (as always) and spent the next two hours immersed in the best the show has to offer.

Check out these little Flips to get a sense of Irwin and what we saw:

Irwin’s Private CES Intro 2010

Screens

Thin

But here is the thing – with all the technology, and the whiz bang and all the jargon, terms, specialized lingo and potential gobbledygook – what makes Irwin’s tour amazing is the sheer joy and wonder he instills in all of his explanations and his choice of what to see.

He is like the kid in the Candy Store, and he made us all feel the same – and when you emerge from CES with a wide-eyed stare and practical information, you have made the experience worthwhile.

All of which led me to a favorite source for the sheer joy of wisdom, knowledge and magic…

Listen:

“…Curiosity has its own reason for existing… Never lose a holy curiosity.” Albert Einstein

So you can go to CES – or anywhere – and be jaded – or you can be the Kid in the Candy Store. Thank you, Irwin!!!!!!!

As I left with my candy whistle – Daniel and I were planning how to make interactive wallpaper out of the crazy thin new screens…now we only need a real business model and some more candy. Any ideas?

What did you like best? What would you really like to have?

More importantly, Conventional Wisdom is additionally often seen as an obstacle to the introduction of new theories and explanations – and so as an obstacle that must be overcome.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conventional_wisdom

CW – books and movies are dead – it’s impossible to get younger people away from video games and Facebook.  Anyone hear of the Un-Dead? Twilight…books, movies, fashion, events – once again pure content triumphs and transcends CW.

CW – once swore that no one needed a computer at home (DEC was the company and now they are gone).  Then the CW became we all needed a PC at home (but even Gates was wrong as to its power).  And the new CW has gone full circle because with “The Cloud” who needs the power of a PC?

My point is that all that CW proves is that there is no reason – in fact, never any reason – to get locked into an idea, a movement, a concept, a theory – you get the point.  Maybe to the contrary…

What is funny – is that CW swings between old and new rather quickly and then swings on again to something else, so CW can be misconstrued as leading-edge thinking or its opposite – old-fashioned paradigm – depending upon who the antagonist is.  And both are wrong…

Worse – CW can lead to group think as we look for validation and acceptance – so again rather quickly, what seems new can get old…very old…and very tired.

Listen:

Why do you have to be a nonconformist like everybody else?

James Thurber

So next time you think you are leading edge, paradigm breaking, new model – think again – look at the CW index…and make sure that you haven’t just joined the bandwagon.

What’s your best CW?

Seriously – I know places where this is done. The fear of doing things creates more work, more to do’s, adds time and complexity and in short, gums up the works.

Here is a novel idea – a perfect thought for a hot summer day (at least on the East Coast of the USA)…

Listen:

The shortest route to getting things done is just do it.

Takayuki Ikkaku, Arisa Hosaka and Toshihiro Kawabata

Like I said – what a concept.  What does NIKE say….???

What do you say????

It’s what happens when we get too caught up in selling, in personal agenda, in preaching.
It’s what happens when we don’t listen enough, when we don’t open ourselves up to new ideas and alternate ways of doing things.

Go back over the past few years and look at all the analysts, pundits, wise people, authorities on subject matters and, of course, the critics – see how many were convinced – so convinced of their rightness and everyone else’s wrongness.

Now see how many of them have “new” rightness and believe in new wrongness….

So here is the question: Are they conning us…as in fooling us for their own personal gain? Or are they stupid? Misguided? Or is it something else?

Could it be that like the shoemaker’s children who go without shoes – those of us who work in the idea business go without shoes ourselves? Listen:

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself – and you are the easiest person to fool.
– Richard Feynman

And there you have it. Be passionate; believe in what you do – not in everything you think. Be wary…ideas can be “tricksters” and illusion and mirage are easy to succumb to. So – don’t believe your own crap….

What do you think?

That is – if you want to have a real and meaningful dialogue…with anyone…you need to ask the right questions.
Think about it – think about any situation you were in that was awkward…where conversation lagged…the discussion protagonists were looking in every which direction – except at each other – never making eye contact. Remember that situation? We all do!

Now think about the easy ones.

Conversation flowed like water in a stream. Alive, textured, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, moving around barriers, sometimes overflowing, occasionally taking detours, sparkling, transparent. Remember this one? I hope so!

Here is my bet – questions played a key role in the shaping of your experience. Good questions, insightful questions, questions that showed you cared, questions that made clear your true interest, questions that had no agenda and were open ended, questions that led to more questions and those to more – meaning that great conversation is fueled by great questions.

No questions, poor preparation or lack of understanding, indifference, personal agenda, closed loops – you get the picture – led to…you guessed it!

Again – as I truly believe – the line between our personal and professional behaviors is slim to none. Meaning that how I behave in one is most often mirrored in the other. Ergo – if I’m having trouble at dinner parties or in social situations, I bet my client conversations are no better – and vice-versa.

Yet, just as conversations are organic, so too are questions.

We can use “data” and analytics and all kinds of testing and such to help frame queries, but at the end of the day, it’s the human understanding and touch that make the difference.

Think about Coke and New Coke – look up the case – worth a re-read. Sure everyone “knew” that in the blind taste test the sweeter mix always wins, but that is Brand Blind. The key question – do you care – was never asked, that is until the debacle made it clear they did.

Listen:

“Whom are you?” he asked, for he had attended business college.
– George Ade

And there you have it. Questions are organic and, by the way, so is listening…see my point – for next week….

Your thoughts?

Questions?

BAM! Reality hits – think back a year – would any of us have really predicted today’s economic and business environments?

“The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry….” So said (in Scottish) Robert Burns – and I have to thank Daniel Morel for sharing this quote and the next as inspiration for my Ramble this week.

So what does this mean – we don’t plan? We don’t think long-term? We just muddle along – go with the flow – leave it all to Karma and Kismet?

When I was in the Army (as was Daniel, with the same experience), we were taught in our strategy planning course – that all plans were merely a platform for change. But let me tell you that platform was solid.

And there you are…

The idea is to marshal resources; know yourself and your environment; build confidence; compile data and open communications channels and links. The idea is also not to get locked into anything – remain fluid, nimble, think on your feet and be confident.

And here is where it gets interesting – if you have built all that up – you still have a plan – just a different one than you began with, and no doubt a different one than you will end up with.

And, as experience has taught all of us – it’s when it all hits the fan that it all goes awry…

Listen:

“Everyone has a plan ’till they get punched in the mouth.”
~Mike Tyson

If you follow Mike – and if you have followed the story of his new movie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ9-rCyakME,

then you know he had no platform – when he got punched – really punched, he fell apart – it all went awry…

Build that platform; think big; don’t be afraid to change and change again, and when you get punched – and you will get punched – nothing will ever stop you.

What’s your take?

Make sense?

At one time, I was a believer in thinking out of sight of the box. Like the fish in our story, I believed that the only way to really effect changed thinking was to get so far from comfort that you would, literally, be gasping for air – to follow the metaphor.

But then I had a moment of truth and realized that sometimes it’s that moment of true awareness of who, what, and where you are that is key. So it’s not about getting out of or away from the box that is the real lever – first it’s knowing what’s in the box and what to do with it.

And in case you missed it:

http://weeklyramble.wunderman.com/index.php/weblog/more/damned_box/

And I think that is the key to overcoming our own sense of inertia – however induced – listen:

The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.
– Nathaniel Branden

Think on it.

Awareness lets us know that we are in water. Accepting that allows us to invent ways to live on land. See where I’m going?
Your views?