Last week Microsoft opened a retail store. Saw this video of what Ed Cotton calls “faked euphoria” as customers are let in to the blue-screen-of-death-colored wonderland.

Of all the differences between an Apple Store and a Microsoft Store, there is one difference that matters most. One that cannot be ignored—that I believe will prevent Microsoft Stores from succeeding.

The critical difference is that we all work at the Microsoft Store already.

In cubicles all over the globe, Microsoft’s customers and potential customers are already experiencing what the brand has to offer (if you have recent statistics on what percentage of office computers are Dells running Windows, please share). Experiences include: …Read More…

We had identical, simultaneous reactions. “Tech Ninja? Huh.” Kind of a goofy name, but it caught our attention.

About one second later…

“Oh wait, it says …Read More…

I was happy to see a recent post by Siegel+Gale’s David Srere entitled “It’s Time to Bury Mission and Vision.” I agree with his initial points—vision and mission statements are almost always convoluted and trite, and are largely unknown to the employees they’re supposed to inspire or direct. I love Srere’s word, “bloated.” And I dare you to explain the difference between a vision statement and a mission statement and then support your assertion with real examples. Go ahead. Try it.

But I’m worried that his post doesn’t go far enough in explaining his proposed solution—the so-called “Purpose” (why is it capitalized?). Unlike a mission statement, …Read More…

Full disclosure: I’m an Obama supporter. I (still) believe in his potential to make a significant, positive impact on the U.S.—the livelihood of its citizens, how it’s perceived globally, and so on. That’s a reason to vote for him; it’s not a reason to give him the Nobel Peace Prize. I’ve heard the opposite argument already a few times today, that “the prize seems to be more for promise than performance,” as it’s stated in an Associated Press story headlined “Analysis: Obama’s Nobel honors promise, not action.”

With all due respect, that’s a pretty ridiculous position to take. Sorry to turn this into a semantic argument (hahaha…ug), but a prize is not usually something awarded for promise.  …Read More…

Heard a great story about naming on NPR the other day. I love the interviewee’s idea of “WTF should I do in Wisconsin?” Hilarious.

Click here to read or listen.

And here’s a link to the related blog post at A Hundred Monkeys; NPR interviewed them for the story.

Differentiate. Decommoditize. Zag. Conventional brand strategy wisdom dictates that in order to succeed, a brand must set itself apart from the competition. Examples of differentiation-driven success abound, and in fact most of the support for differentiation seems to be delivered through case study or anecdote.

But what do we mean when we say “be different?” Telling stories about brands that have succeeded by standing apart from their competition may support the point that differentiation works, but it leaves something to be desired when consulting with a client on how they can differentiate their organization. Instead of listing examples, I wonder if it’s possible to think more systematically about the dimensions along which a brand can differentiate.

I use the word “dimensions” because brand consultants (including me) are often guilty of simplifying everything down to a two-dimensional graph, plotting the competition on the axes, and pointing out where a client has room to stand apart. To illustrate, here’s one of my favorite two-axis graphs from xkcd.com, poetically entitled “Fuck Grapefruit.”

(I can hear the conference-room conversation now… …Read More…