Day of the Long Tail

Funny one…

Thanks to Chroma

Missing the L.O.V.E. in products

My wife and I ordered pizza the other day at some major pizza chain. My wife said the pizza tastes great but I miss the love in it..and decided not to order pizza chain pizza’s again..

So..What does L.O.V.E. stand for???

The Law of Attraction

Just watched The Secret. Nice documentary on the Law of Attraction. Basically anything you give attention to will grow. If you feel joy, more joy will be created by the universe.. etc, etc. I watched it online. It is worth the $4,95 😉

The movie gives you guidance on how to create your own desired reality. Big question I know have how would this apply in a 20.000 people company. Could we use brands as tools to focus our thoughts and feeling in companies. In a 100% transparant world there is no difference between corporate image and brand image anyway. Is there? For example if a company lacks creativity. How would you turn this around using the law of attraction? Somehow you would need to focus on creativity and everybody would need to imagine the loads of creative people working there.. You would need to believe the creative energy, the waterfall of ideas and the fertile breeding ground. Or would it be enough if the CEO would believe it? nah.

If brands are there to be admired and loved. Why not focus them on the employees instead of on consumers.. Use the power of visualisation to create a strong image of the company you wish to be. An emotional and passionate image. Full of purpose and meaning. This to create change within the company. This change will be visible to consumers and resulting in a better reputation.

Old model: brand=>changes consumer=>changes sales
New model: brand => changes employees=> changes company(reputation)=>changes consumers=> changes sales

Just some crazy thoughts..

What business am I in?

NOTE OF WARNING: COMPLETE UNSCIENTIFIC THOUGHTS ENTERED THIS POST

All around me I see businesses and complete industries asking themselves this question. How is it that right now so many people are asking themselves this question? It is almost like finding an object in your basement and asking yourself where did I use this for? Or in the middle of a fight you asking yourself why the hell did we start this fight? Strange to see people sitting in the middle of their resources and tools questioning their purpose or reason of existence. What changed? Just like in the example of the tool and the fight time passed and the use or purpose of the item diminshed. Therefore becoming obsolete. In other words the energy just went out of it. It is Autumn in company land. Why would this happen. Why do we have a changed view on the use or purpose of companies(maybe we don’t see it yet that conscious). My personal belief is that the beliefsystem of “welfare = happiness” isn’t right. Also the beliefsystem of “stuff = happiness” isn’t right anymore. Well companies are the centerpiece of both these beliefsystems. So now our pursuit of happiness continues towards new beliefs. Basically we created machines that would bring us happiness but didn’t. We also created a beliefsystem that isolated growth(careers, marketshare, beauty) would bring us happiness. We believed that a free market meant healthy competition. All these beliefs are crumbling currently. Basically resulting in companies ignoring it, companies that are apathic, companies that sell themself and companies that are adapting.

How are the new beliefs looking? Well again in my opinion in random order: people = happiness, collaboration = happiness and contribution = happiness. What will be build as the centerpiece of such beliefs? Well it is US. Not the United States but YOU, ME and WWW. The empowered and connected human. No longer slave of the tools he build. No longer dependent on the institutions he build to govern him. A flat world. Total democracy. What role do companies have in such a world? They are no longer the motor of society. They were great to create strong countries but they are not great to create a strong world. Or are they? Is it unthinkable that these thoughts might even influence the perceived value of money? The motor is a connected virtual marketplace of millions and millions of individuals. Sharing, creating, trading, recommending, changing, influencing, exchanging and demanding.

I believe this future brings companies back in the role of creating tools and being tools. Like the blacksmith in any medievil village. Access to resources and happy to serve you.

So if you ask yourself what business am I in. Here is the answer: whatever business you choose to be in. Look at your access to resources. Look at your skills. Ask yourself how you can support the new beliefsystem and create tools to support this new world.

OpenCola

Just read a blogpost about OpenCola. OpenCola is a brand of cola unique in that the instructions for making it are freely available and modifiable. Anybody can make the drink, and anyone can modify and improve on the recipe as long as they, too, license their recipe under the GNU General Public License.

I could see that they would have a great recipe in the end. Is a great recipe in the end enough to become big. How about distribution of non-digital items? Would distribution organize itself if demand is high enough? How about awareness?

That made me think on the true value of Coca Cola. Currently I believe it is the distribution network. It is the distribution network that connects Coca Cola with the customer. The recipe is secret, but is it really that valueble?

What if Coca Cola sees cans and bottles as distribution units. What if I could put a mini CD in a canshaped container. Distribute it through the Coca Cola network. I could buy a chilled CD from the vending machine.

Would OpenCola ever be sold through Coca Cola’s distribution channels? Does Coca Cola have a choice if the public would demand it? 😉

Purpose

purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose purpose

What purpose does it have?