How do you know when you’ve found it? A CEO and author’s response

I had the opportunity today to speak with a pretty smart guy. He’s an author and a CEO of a growing company doing some exciting stuff.
So I asked him, “What drives you? And how did you know when you found it?”
He responded by saying that you don’t know. You just start doing stuff and testing [...]

Never gets old

Eric Welch has started a pretty interesting company. You go to his house, you cook up your own recipe for wine using grapes from around the world, allow it to ferment and then go pick it up.
In addition, he also hosts informative wine making sessions as well as special events allowing you to get a [...]

Different with meaning, the cello metal edition

Apocalyptica is remarkable.
They’re a Finnish band comprised of four cellists and a drummer–and they cover Metallica.
I tagged along with a few buddies to see them perform in a small venue this weekend, having no idea of what I was getting into.
I was blown away, and clearly their fans were as well.
And for me, perhaps the [...]

Hyundai reminds us that boring doesn’t sell and that safe is still very risky

Ad Age is reporting that Hyundai is parting ways with its agency.
A major reason? The disappointing launch of their high-end Genesis, backed by an $80 million campaign which included two Superbowl spots.
Hoping to move about 2,000 models a month, the automaker has sold a total of a little more than 1,800 since the launch.
I could end this post with [...]

Being selectively different

Seth shares an important lesson today–a lesson I was circling when I talked about how Domino’s made a brilliant marketing move by creating a remarkable delivery process rather than trying to make a remarkable pizza.
Here’s what Seth says:
Marketing storytelling is not about doing everything differently. You do many things the same, intentionally, because those ’same [...]

Two branding slideshows

If you haven’t had the chance yet, check out these two slideshows on branding.
First, The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier of Neutron LLC (thanks to Jill for pointing me to this one):

Second, Brand U.O by David Armano:

Ten reasons today is a good day

I’m compelled to share this and I’m not sure why.
It’s a video of Stephen Petranek’s TED Talks speech on the 10 ways the world could end.
It’s scary.
But at the same time, I don’t think I can ever be reminded too much of the grand scheme of things. Maybe it’s the journalist in me, but I [...]

Logo inspiration

Springwise points us to IncSpring–a marketplace of logos for sale. The story goes that often when a designer is pitching a logo, they present around six different ideas. One will get picked, the other five are gone, often to never see daylight again.
The site already has a massive collection of logos (click “all categories”), and most [...]

Do you pass the logo test?

If you’re the type of brand playing the advertising game, you better do it in a remarkable way. My favorite advertising evaluation is the logo test.
Basically, the logo test teaches us that if you can replace your logo within the advertisement with a competitor’s and the ad still works, you’ve got an ineffective, forgettable and unremarkable message.
I would say most [...]

A Domino’s lesson: The components

Domino’s has flat-out revolutionized the pizza ordering experience.
Coming back to their promise of quick delivery pizza, their online site is literally a real-time tracker of the creation and delivery of your pie.
Check it out, you place your order and then you’re presented with this screen (click images to enlarge):

Above, we see that Steve’s put my [...]