U.S. Army Concert Tour…Round THREE!

Greetings, fellow Summiteers!

Well, after surviving the first two shows of the SHARP sponsorship of the 2011 U.S Army Concert Tour (you’ll recall those were on back-to-back nights over the Memorial Day Weekend…and oh, what an adventure!  Ever watched the sun rising…from the driver’s seat of a U-Haul…after being up for 26 hours straight?), we are now getting ready to hit the road for delightfully cool Fort Sill, Oklahoma!

This outdoor show features country superstar Miranda Lambert as the headliner and will be full of some amazing Army Patriotism, as the local Lawton / Ft. Sill community gathers to celebrate the 4th of July.  (See: www.sillmwr.com)

Unfortunately, the intensely dry, hot conditions — and local brush fires — have caused the annual Fireworks Display, originally scheduled for the end of the concert, to be cancelled this year.  Tomorrow, when we arrive, the temp will be a soothing 105…and, at concert time, the forecast is for a delightful 110.

But, rest assured that Summit-GSG will be there and leading the celebration!  We have designed – and then manage on-site — the SHARP exhibits, promotional-products, prizes, scratch-&-win contest, pre-concert videos, voice-overs, and more.  SHARP / I AM STRONG is the premier sponsor of the 2011 Tour, and Summit is the backbone of that effort!  HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

I can see clearly now.

One of my favorite TV shows is CBS’ Sunday Morning.  Yesterday, they had the most amazing story about the most amazing company.

Some Wharton School graduates founded a company called Warby Parker, an online retailer.  They rewrote the rules for selling eyeglasses – and for philanthropy. 

A pair of glasses costs $95…and for each one sold…a pair is given to someone in need.  Sometimes the recipients of this charity didn’t even know they needed eyeglasses.  Lives have been transformed…let’s hope the business world takes note!

anyway…this is worth a read or watch:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/26/sunday/main20074481.shtml?tag=facebook

So, Summiteers, how many of us are going to be buying some spiffy new specs soon???? Hmmm?

Marketing Little Gems

Marketing Expertise Little Gems

If you’re anything like me you may not always realize some of the little marketing gems you’ve picked up along your career path.  Sure we’re familiar with branding, communication strategy, audience definition and ROI – and we work at building those skills so that we can advance to the next level.

But have your ever found yourself in an everyday situation where you make a casual observation about something to a non-marketer and they are instantly wowed by your comment?  Perhaps you felt you were stating the obvious and yet they may have responded with, “So that’s how your brain works?”  Or, “You mean you got that…from this?”

I mention this because I think it’s good to remind ourselves that our current intuitive skills were not always intuitive – they were learned.

While like me, you may not realize all of the little gems you have learned along the way, hopefully you and me both, will recognize opportunities to mentor others by sharing some of our little gems.

Mass Transit = Mass Chaos

For those of you who’ve not had the distinct pleasure of riding “the metro” in DC…count your blessings.  For those of you that have…count your personal belongings. 

The metro has many great (and concerning) people watching aspects.  Most of these classic human behaviors are bests observed during “the peak of the peak” – which is when everyone from the entire eastern seaboard decides to catch a train (usually between 7:00-8:00am and 5:00-6:00pm).  When things are smooth, they are very very smooth.  When things are “off,” you’re in for an awesome goat rodeo! 

Sprinkle in 105 degree heat index, a “sick passenger” 2 stops away during the peak of the peak delaying trains throughout the entire system, 50% probability of a 3+ story escalator outage at your stop, incomprehensible announcements from someone that clearly under-studied as an announcer in the NYC metro and LAX, an exciting game of Russian roulette on whether or not your train car will have A/C, 150 high school students on a field trip wandering through the station like a bunch a gum balls trying to exit a gum ball machine one at a time, a few gang members here and there with their bvd’s hangin’ out, a hippy chick singing classic Stones very out loud (and very off-key) for the listening pleasure of everyone within a 10 foot radius, a veritable smorgasbord of dress codes ranging in style from Jerry-Springer halter tops and tattoos to tea-party-with-the-queen heels and pearls, an occassional stalker who thinks he’s at a TGI Friday’s happy hour asking “do you come here often” (even though your nose is buried in an e-book and your ipod ear buds are securely in place), a 16-year-old in front of you that’s sitting in the “senior seating” while texting and chewing gum oblivious to the 80-year-old standing over her staring so hard she could burn holes into her soul, a dozen or more one-sided cell phone conversations happening simultaneously around you with topics ranging from lactose intolerant dinner menu planning to heated mother/daughter battles about not cleaning the dishes last night – all taking place on a single train car with so many people jammed into it that you can’t help but unintentionally make it to 2nd base with the 5 strangers around you before exiting at the next stop.  

Thursday, June 9 @ 5:25pm

This, my friends, is not only the genesis of a great reality TV series (and my everyday commute), but a gift from above reminding us that life is always right there in front of us, just waiting to be observed, marveled at, enjoyed, and most importantly – participated in!  Git’ er done #WMATA!

Sicka Cicada Song

Apparently I have been talking too much about Cicadas as now my personal network has informed me of a Sicka Cicada song.  I had to share.  Check it out – t’s kinda catchy!

Facebook fail by Popchips

If you know me, you know I am a geek. I love social media and my fiance (also a geek) and I will select businesses/restaurants solely based on their use of social media. If a business is not social, they don’t get our business.

With that said, I’m breaking up with Popchips.

The delightful crispy snack has let me down. One of the coupon blogs I follow (again, geek) directed me to “like” Popchips on Facebook to download a “buy one, get one” coupon. So I followed the instructions and clicked the “Click here to get your coupon” button on Popchips’ Facebook page:

This is what I saw:

Fail!

I wandered over to Popchips’ Facebook wall to see if others were having issues. It turns out, I was not alone.

(There were more customer comments, but I couldn’t fit them all using the PC’s “Print Screen” function.)

I fully understand that in the tech world, things go wrong. I wasn’t mad that I couldn’t print my coupon, but I expected a solution from Popchips. At least a response saying they were having technical difficulties and were working to resolve them. But no. Nothing. Nada.

To me the failure in this campaign is NOT the technical issue. It’s that Popchips has done nothing to help its customers or apologize. Popchips is making the fatal error of shouting its messages without engaging its consumer. It would take two minutes — max — to type out a quick response to let Facebook followers know the issue was being resolved. Two minutes.

Popchips, I’m sorry, but this is the end for us. If you don’t treat me nice on Facebook, I won’t treat you nice in the supermarket.

Cicada Flavored Ice Cream…Voted Down!

Ahh, the thought of cicada flavored ice cream in the summer!  Well if you’re in the STL area you cannot miss the more or less infestation of cicadas in the area.  I for one have buckets of them at the base of some of my large oak trees.  I saw this article on one of the local news sights and I couldn’t pass up sharing it.  The article could even be considered a two-fer…you get a recipe with it as well!

* Feel free to comment on the most interesting ice cream flavor you’ve ever tried!  Mine would be either red-wine flavored ice cream that I had when I was pregnant – didn’t quite hit the spot – or amaretto flavored gelato which is definitely the best!

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Public health officials in Columbia have suggested an ice cream shop cool it with the cicada-flavored ice cream that customers apparently can’t get enough of.

Sparky’s Homemade Ice Cream contacted the health department after it sold out its only batch of the insect-filled snack within hours of its June 1 debut. Employees collected the bountiful bugs in their backyards and removed most of the dead cicadas’ wings

The cicadas were fully cooked by boiling then covered in brown sugar and milk chocolate. The base ice cream is a brown sugar and butter flavor.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press

Thanks A Lot Bud Light Lime

Bud Light Lime has officially ruined a great song for me. (I guess if you want to get specific, the agency who created the new BLL spot, DDB Chicago, is to blame.) About a month ago I downloaded the Peter Bjorn and John album ‘Gimme Some’. One of my favorite songs on the album is ‘Second Chance.’ I’ve been jamming to it quite a bit lately. It’s a great summer song. But now it’s ruined. The other day I heard the song coming from the TV. When I looked up, I saw that it’s the featured tune on Bud Light Lime’s new spot. So now a song I really dig will be known to everyone as “the Bud Light Lime song.”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQrX2Cf7A0k?rel=0&w=560&h=349]
I have to tell you, as a self admitted indie music snob, this really bums me out. I can’t possibly crank the volume in my car stereo to “the Bud Light Lime song”. Half the fun of being an indie music lover is the feeling of superiority when I blast a tune that most people don’t know. I like to imagine that everyone within earshot is thinking, “That’s a great song. I wonder who plays it. That guy driving the ’02 Kia Optima must be pretty cool.”
Now, EVERYONE will know ‘Second Chance’…I mean, “the Bud Light Lime song”. And there’s nothing cool about that.
(I would ask you for some suggestions of songs to replace this one in my current list of favorites, but that goes against the indie music lover code. You see, if you’ve heard of a song, it’s no longer cool for me to listen to it. Sorry. That’s just how it is. I didn’t make up the code. Feel free to leave song suggestions for others in the comments below.)
And here’s the song in its entirety (crank it up, before word gets out that it’s “the Bud Light Lime song”:[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I83qruuQEys?rel=0&w=425&h=349]

(Good thing I posted this before embedding YouTube videos becomes a felony!)

Nom nom nom.

Dear Summiteers:

I’ve been to your neck of the woods! Vacations in DC have been so much fun…and I am visiting St. Louis this month for the 4th time!

When on vacation…one often finds a way to enjoy the local food.

In Kansas City, you better bet that means Barbecue.  Our town can out-Barbecue any other town in the world. Yes, even Memphis.  And even St. Louis style ribs.

Just ask world-traveler, and star of The Travel Channel, Anthony Bourdain, who wrote about the 13 places you must eat before you die.  Please note that my alltime favorite eatery is #13:

13)  Oklahoma Joe’s Barbecue (Kansas City, Kansas) People may disagree on who has the best BBQ. Here, the brisket (particularly the burnt ends), pulled pork, and ribs are all of a quality that meet the high standards even of Kansas City natives. It’s the best BBQ in Kansas City, which makes it the best BBQ in the world.

Read about all 13: http://www.menshealth.com/bestfoods/food_features/13_Places_to_Eat_Before_You_Die.php

So Summiteers, where is YOUR favorite local place to eat?
Where would you tell a visiting co-worker where they absolutely have to go for food in your city?

What is the price of doing business today?

I was sitting in meeting the other day and the client request seemed unreasonable. They wanted a great, highly creative campaign, they wanted it the next day and they didn’t want to pay a lot for it. This notion goes against everything I have learned about business. The old saying was, “Good, Fast, Cheap: Pick Two” the underlining premise being that you can’t have it all.

But yesterday while reading the book FL!P, How to Turn Everything You Know on Its Head and Succeed Beyond Your Wildest Imaginings, the author Peter Sheahan suggested that the old adage is no longer valid. In today’s world, Good, Fast & Cheap is the price of entry.

Sheahan states “To achieve competitive advantage, you must lead the league in at least one category and be industry standard in the remainder.”

Also that, “you must commit to a perpetual cycle of innovation. Fast today is not fast enough for tomorrow. Good today is not good enough for tomorrow. Cheap today is not cheap enough for tomorrow.”

And Fast, Good, Cheap: Pick Three — Then Add Something Extra is what sets you apart from the competition.

What are your thoughts?

1. Do you agree with the author?
2. What could Summit do to implement this model?
3. What challenges would these changes represent?