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Tag Consumption

CAN YOUR PLAN BE HIJACKED?

With all of our marketing textbooks, classes and degrees, and our guru books, blogs and seminars, how is it that our marketing efforts so often miss the mark?  Certainly it’s not because we don’t know what to do. It really has more to do with the lessons omitted. Specifically: How to identify and overcome the ever-present forces that can hijack your plan.

Have you ever compromised a plan in the name of team work? Adjusted critical elements or language to satisfy a vocal, yet misinformed co-worker? Or even made changes in advance to please the CEO? Personal agendas, office politics and fear of innovation can reduce any of us to willing accomplices. Leaving us owning and being accountable to watered down plans.

Be prepared for the doubters. Overcome their objections with conviction, confidence and determination to keep your plans on track.

by Dwayne Fry Brand Futurist/Commander Strategic Ops

THE POWER OF HABIT

Habit is strong. It is so strong that oftentimes people only do things because that’s the way they have always done them. Wake up, hit the alarm clock, get in the car, pick up coffee, drive to work. But, at what point do we stop and think, “change or die?”

Ever thought of bicycling? Taking the bus? Making your own coffee? Individually the benefit to the environment would be minimal, but multiply it by a million and you’d get real change.

Greenpeace is using this same philosophy to help China protect their diminishing forests. China uses 45 billion pairs of disposable wooden chopsticks annually, eliminating an appalling 25 million trees each year. If this astounding consumption continues, in 20 years, China will become a forest-less nation. The good news is, this deforestation is completely unnecessary. We have reusable alternatives to chopsticks, just as we have green alternatives for just about everything else. The bad news is, we refuse to use them. There Habit goes again, closing out minds and driving our actions.

To encourage the use of these alternatives, Greenpeace created a petition for people to pledge their abstinence in using disposable chopsticks. They also assembled a ‘disposable forest’ in the heart of Beijing to raise awareness of the dangers that can come from following Habit blindly. Stark, leaf-less trees, constructed entirely of used chopsticks, created a message that would not soon be forgotten- Change or die.

by Robert Shaw West Brand Futurist The Republik Companies Chairman/CEO

Photo Credit: © Greenpeace

WHO WILL RULE THE NEW INTERNET?

“The winners of the platform wars stand to make billions selling devices, selling eyeballs to advertisers, selling services such as music, movies, even computer power on demand. Yet the outcome here is far more important than who makes the most money. The future of the Internet—how we get information, how we communicate with one another and, most important, who controls it—is at stake.” Josh Quittner/San Francisco.

From here.

“The underlying question is: Are the users of the Internet actually in the driver’s seat or are the 800-pound gorilla businesses jockeying behind the scenes the one’s truly controlling the outcome?”

by Sam Knoll Brand Futurist The Republik Commander Analytic Ops

Photo Credit: via Time Inc.

BRIGHT IDEA

LED light bulbs that look like regular light bulbs, screw into regular light bulb sockets and last a gazillion times longer. Sound too good to be true? It’s true. But it’s gonna cost ya.

“Regular light bulbs last up to 3,000 hours. This new LED light bulb lasts about 50,000. Who do I write the check out to?”

by Mike Randall Brand Futurist The Republik Captain Strategic Ops

WALLY WORLD

Time lapse video of the growth of Wal-Mart proves the heart of America is still beating.

“Very interesting. From the heart of middle America and middle-American values came this global resource, which sadly has contributed to the homogenization of America and the downfall of middle america mom and pop shops. Pretty cool time lapse, though!”

by Ryan Cuthriell Brand Futurist The Republik Lieutenant Creative Ops

IT’S ART, NOT TRASH

When life gives you lemons trash, make art. Tim Noble and Sue Webster seem to be doing just that. This makes me realize that everything one might need is already there at your feet. All that’s needed is inspiration and a change of perception.

“I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” – Albert Einstein

by Robert Shaw West Brand Futurist The Republik Companies Chairman/CEO

Photo Credit: © Tim Noble and Sue Webster | “Dirty White Trash [With Gulls]” 1998 – Six months’ worth of the artists’ rubbish, Variable dimensions