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Wednesday, April 13, 2011
How to Build an Unforgettable, "Smash-able" Brand Identity
No, you don't have to tell me, because I know what you're about to say: your new product is brilliant. It's a game-changer. Problem is, you need a killer logo. Well, today, designers, inventors, and investors are facing a dilemma similar to the one that writers and artists have struggled with for decades: there's nothing left. Or here's another problem: if you do manage to create a jaw-droppingly clever or memorable image, rather than engendering widespread consumer recall of your brand, your Easter-blue palette risks looking uneasily similar to the Tiffany box, and your little black bull is a transparent rip-off of the one that dangles from the neck of Sangre de Toro red wine.
As far as the logo is concerned, to paraphrase Bill Maher, it's time for New Rules. Today, what counts far more than a puma, a monkey, or a snarling aardvark is the cross-sensory experience your brand offers. I'm talking not only the emotion, beliefs, and desires your brand evokes, but its feel, touch, sound, smell and personality, of which the logo is just one small part. Whether it's a soda can, a car, a doll, a fragrance, a smartphone, or laptop, your brand needs to be smashable, e.g., instantly identifiable via its shape, design, copy, contours, and even navigation. Aside from adolescents, who are always on the lookout for the coolest logos to set them apart from, or help them gain traction with, their peers, today for most consumers the logo comes in near-to-last place to other considerations.
Why? Well, various reasons. The first is, when we see a logo, our defenses go up and stay up. We fear we're being played, or manipulated. Not least, I might also add that subconsciously, a logo reminds us of our complicity with big brands, of our own shot-with-guilt overconsumption that helped drive the world's recent financial downfall.
The term "smashable" dates back to 1915, when the Coca-Cola company asked a designer in Terre Haute, Indiana, to design a bottle that consumers could still recognize as a Coke bottle, even if someone flung it against a brick wall and it shattered into a hundred pieces. Coke is a smashable brand. So are Guinness, Ferrari, Harley-Davidson and, of course, Apple (take a sledgehammer to an iPad and you'll know what I mean). Which suggests that the logo as we once knew and loved it--from Citibank's Scowling Umbrella (I don't know what else to call it), to Nike's Swoosh, to Starbucks's Whoever-The-Heck-She-Is--needs to be re-considered if it's going to play any role in future brand-building.
Let's do a little experiment: Erase the logo from every single one of your brand identifiers--products, stationary, signage. Close your eyes, now reopen them. Is there anything left? Would consumers still recognize those items as belonging to your brand? Look at your packaging, your copy, your colors, your design, your font, your spacing. Do any of them convey your brand's identity? Or without a logo are you adrift and bailing water?
Next let's examine your website. Again, by eliminating the logo, you'll embark on a fun (I promise) and instructive exercise that will relieve you of any stubborn logo-fixations that may still be nagging at you. It's one that will force you into acknowledging the value that every single one of your communication elements plays in defining your brand's identity. Okay, still hiding the brand logo, eyeball your copy, your graphics, whether your pages are spare or dense-looking. Do all these things convey what your brand represents? Does your brand have a personality anymore, or is it standing shyly and stiffly against the wall, hoping no one notices it now looks (I hate to tell you) like every other brand out there?
To wrap up, let's have a look at your navigation. By navigation, I'm talking about everything from the iPod's clicking wheel, to the ritualized twist and snap you hear when you open your favorite soft drink, to Amazon's simple, one-click button you press to buy books or download them onto your Kindle. In my experience, once consumers have used Amazon a few times, they get hooked on the site's simplicity and navigational ease (During a recent round of focus groups, by a long shot Amazon was at the very top of consumers' favorite brands.). Sure, the site stocks every book (and everything else) under the sun, it over-delivers, it undersells iTunes, its data-mining techniques are on the positive side of creepy, but I'm pretty sure that most consumers' loyalty to the company derives in large part from Amazon's incredible and intuitive ease of navigation.
We're creatures of habit. Once we grow accustomed to a certain way of shopping, running, eating, drinking, shaving, brushing our teeth, showering, dressing, or any of 100 other things, our methodology becomes our own. Like the familiar, well-worn route we take to our favorite beach or restaurant, habit becomes personal, automatic, and unconscious. In the same way, navigational rituals are a vital, whispered element of any brand's attraction. Having said this, human beings are supremely adaptable. Basically, we can get used to anything. If you've ever switched cell phones, or made the change from an Apple to a PC, yes, at first it felt obnoxious and foreign and even wrong. But once we became accustomed to that new environment--be it a trackball or a new, melodic suite of start-up and shut-down sounds--nothing else would do the trick.
So reserve a brick wall, cock your arm, aim, and begin smashing your brand. While you're at it, smash your website, to ensure your brand remains consistent via your web pages' navigation, style, ease, and/or special features. Now ask yourself: does my brand "own" this cross-sensory experience, from web to wireless to PDA, right down to the bricks-and-mortar product I'm gripping in my right hand? If not, your carefully crafted logo might as well not even exist.
Martin Lindstrom is a 2009 recipient of TIME Magazine’s “World's 100 Most Influential People” and author of Buyology—Truth and Lies About Why We Buy (Doubleday, New York), a New York Times and Wall Street Journal best–seller. A frequent advisor to heads of numerous Fortune 100 companies, Lindstrom has also authored 5 best sellers translated into 30 languages. More at martinlindstrom.com.
Read more by Martin Lindstrom: The 10 Most Addictive Sounds in the World
Federal Budget Deal Welcomed by Texas Lt. Governdor David Dewhurst
Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst is welcoming news that a deal on the federal budget would remove the strings attached to $830 million in federal funds for Texas.
If passed into law as expected later this week, the bill would remove a requirement that Gov. Rick Perry use the funds to supplement existing school spending rather than just replace state funds in order to balance the budget.
Dewhurst says the funds will be a big help when the state is facing a $27 billion budget shortfall in order to maintain the current level of services.
Dewhurst says the money will be spent on education. The current draft budget would cut $8 billion from state spending on education.Tuesday, April 12, 2011
All The GARBAGE in Social Media
Example: You subscribed to a email service and then down the road all you get are offer after offer for this or that to make you successful or rich or both.
Then for a few weeks you get: This is you last chance to get in on this program.
Then you get, this is your last chance to save 50% on this wonderful program!When will bloggers/social media gurus realize just because they give you a nothing e-book, doesn't mean you have to buy anything from them?
But many do, that's why you see so many of them flying all around the world each year spewing out the same ole Garbage In, Garbage Out junk/crap.
You become successful when you give and expect nothing in return.
You become successful when you stop using others just for your own needs and greed! What if you really did have information/product(s) that would help people and you only were paid a percentage of what they actually earn???
JUDGMENT
Ways To Save Money At Grocery Stores
Looking for ways to save money at the grocery store? Here are some practical money-saving tips that can be used for when shopping for groceries.
They'll Catch Your Eye—And Your Wallet
- Avoid buying items on shelves at eye level. Sure they’re easier to get to—and that’s why grocers put them there! Better buys are usually found on the highest and lowest shelves.
- Avoid special displays at the ends of supermarket aisles. Many times, grocers doctor up those areas to make the items look as though they’re on sale.
It's All the Same
Store brands are generally cheaper than the heavily advertised name brands, but you’re still not sure whether to use them. Don’t knock them until you’ve tried them. Many store brands are manufactured by the same folks who make your favorite name-brand product. The difference is not in the quality of the product but, especially with canned goods, in the uniformity. Maybe all the green beans aren’t the same length, or perhaps the corn kernels are smaller than the name brand’s. Check them out before you dismiss them; nine times out of ten, you’ll be satisfied with the quality, and they’ll save you money.
Be a Unit-arian
When you compare prices, especially on nonfood items, always make sure to compare the unit prices (the price per pound, ounce, or other unit). Normally, the unit price is listed on the same shelf tag that lists the product price.
Get Tough!
Save money on your food bill by opting for less tender cuts of meat—flank steak, for instance—and marinating it overnight before you cook it.
- Store-bought oil and vinegar dressing make an easy marinade.
- Place the meat in a sealable plastic bag, pour in the dressing squeeze out all the air, and place the bag on a plate.
- Put the plate in the refrigerator up to 24 hours. The acid in the vinegar will break down the tough connective tissue in the meat, tenderizing it.
Fly Through That Grocery Store
One way to reduce the amount of time you spend food shopping is to pick one store you like and always do your shopping there. Once you’re familiar with the layout of the store, you’ll be able to find what you need quickly. Knowing where to go also decreases the chances of making impulse purchases, the bane of the bargain hunter.
Eat First, Shop Later
If you have a hard time sticking to your shopping list, try eating just before you head to the grocery store. Shopping on an empty stomach makes everything look good. Your willpower is likely to be a lot stronger if you plan your shopping trip for after a meal.
Coupons: Double or Nothing
To get the biggest saving with coupons, use them only where and when you can double or even triple them.
Join a Food Cooperative
Food co-ops are grocery stores run by their members. They generally offer better prices than their commercial counterparts. Unlike those larger stores, many co-ops sell certain foods in bulk. Some co-ops run on a membership basis; others allow anyone to shop but offer discounts to members.
A Century of Interest Payments
Chart 5: Interest on Government Debt 1900-2015
Click image to customize chart
The real risk from government debt is the burden of interest payments. Experts say that when interest payments reach about 12% of GDP then a government will likely default on its debt. Chart 5 shows that the US is a long way from that risk. The peak period for government interest payments, including federal, state, and local governments, was in the 1980s, when interest rates were still high after the inflationary 1970s. Of course, the numbers don’t show the burden of interest payments from Government Sponsored Enterprises like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Does The Bible Say That There Is No God?
---by Billy Graham
Posted via email from Religion
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Love, Dating, and Marriage
I: What is Real Love? PROBLEMS ON MARRIAGES OF TODAY: 1. More than 50% of marriages end up in divorces. 2. The remaining couples may not all be happy though they stay in the marriage. 3. The chance of having a happy marriage is less than 33%, if you follow the way how average people handle their datings and marriages. 4. The media (books, movies, dramas, newspaper...) has been delivering a wrong concept about love. 5. Problems of stalking before and after marriages (or divorces). DEFINITIONS OF LOVE: 1. Simple Infatuation: is often called a "crush" or "puppy love." It commonly strikes those in the early teens or younger. Usually the object of infatuation is some highly idealized person who is some years older - a teacher, an uncle or aunt, a friend of the family, an actor or actress. Simple infatuation seldom lasts long. But infatuated people may be greatly moved with emotion. They spend much time in daydreams and wishful fantasies. 2. Romantic Infatuation: is often called "romantic love" or simply "love." It is a mix of sex and emotion - not genuine love at all. It will not of itself support a marriage. It also leads to idealizing the person, having a much stronger sex interest in each other, and justifying a premature marriage. Romantic infatuation is therefore very dangerous because people will easily fool themselves to act out their intense feelings and sex urges. Romantic infatuation is "false love," but it may develop into real love, but it will take a lot of time. 3. Sex Interest: is a deep biological drive that seeks some erotic expression. It is possible for people to enjoy sex with someone, yet have absolutely no other interest in them except sensual satisfaction. 4. Real Love: exists when your strong tender feelings for the other are balanced by reason and deep respect. You care just as much for the other person's welfare and fulfillment as you do for your own. Judgements about the person are quite objective and rational. The two of you have many values and ideas in common. You share similar goals and ideals. All these factors will probably be able to support and sustain a happy relationship over a long period of time. If you're infatuated, your emotions will be in charge. In real love, your reason is ruling your emotions. However, REAL LOVE and ROMANTIC INFATUATION are easily confusing people because they have one thing in common - strong feelings of attachment to the other person. Moreover, people in real love have some degree of infatuation and infatuated people have some degree of real love. FACTS ABOUT LOVE AND INFATUATION 1. Many divorces and unhappy marriages have roots of infatuation and sex interest only. 2. Most youth are not sure what real love is. 3. Age and maturity give no immunity of infatuation. 4. Teen marriages have twice the risk that they will end in divorces. 5. Living together and have sex before marriage have tougher times to adjust after marriage. 6. One-sided loves won't work. 7. The following people are far more likely to have good marriage: o Your parents are happy in their marriage o You had a happy childhood o There was a lack of conflict with mother o There was a lack of conflict with father o Home discipline was firm but not harsh o You had a strong attachment to your mother o You had a strong attachment to your father o Your parents were frank with you about sex o Your childhood punishment was infrequent and mild o You have an expectant, positive attitude toward sex that is free from disgust or distaste. Even if all of these factors are negative, you can still build a good marriage. But you will have to work harder and be more careful in your mate choice. 8. Good Marriages need to have these five types of love: o Strong sex interest: strong erotic feelings for each other o Respect and admiration: hold each other in high regard o Friendship and fellowship: have many things in common o Self-giving devotion: love in spite of each other's faults o Affection: a shoulder to cry on when our burdens are too heavy to bear alone. THE FOURTEEN CLUES OF LOVE Warnings about these clues: 1. The order is not important. 2. No clue can stand alone. All of them are important. Failing one or more does not mean you have to break up with your partner right away. It just means that you two are not ready for marriage and need more time to work them out. 3. One-sided loves won't work. CLUE 1. What is the major attraction? Infatuation: your main interest is likely to be the person's physical equipment. The main stress is on things you can perceive right away - what you can see, hear, smell, taste, or touch. A marriage based only on sex attraction will last no more than three to five years. Real Love: your interest is in his or her total personality. Before marriage, ask yourself: "What's she going to look like in 30 years?" It is a sign of real love if the answer is, "She will still look beautiful because of her wonderful personality." CLUE 2. How many factors attract? Infatuation: the number of factors that attract you are relatively few. Just the smile? Just the pretty face? Just the lovely hair? Just the funny jokes? Real Love: many or most qualities of the person - and the relationship - attract you. You like not only the way the person looks and talks, but the way he or she thinks and feels about things and other people. Do you like the person's reactions to personal success? To failure? To tough challenges? To faults in his or her self, and in you or others? What about use of leisure time? And what about thoughtfulness, kindness, courage, temper, and temperament? Does the person have healthy and balanced attitudes toward money, sex, school, family, and friends? Toward the past and the future? What about bad habits? Ask yourself two important questions: 1) How many of the countless characteristics of this person do I know enough about? 2) How many of those things do I find attractive? It takes time and effort to know a person extremely well. Only then can you judge your reaction to the many, many facets of that person's nature. If many or most of those factors attract you, this tends to indicate real love. When the excitement and romance wear off in a marriage, you need lots of other interests in common to hold you together over the long pull. You need to like each other as well as love each other. It does not matter much that you like the same kind of pizzas and movies. It matters very much whether you agree on life- style and whether you want to have children, makes lots of money, or have two separate careers. Two persons who are psychological opposites may attract and have a good marriage. Social opposites almost never do. It is alright for a dominant person to have a submissive mate. However, the greater the social differences, e.g. a very rich and a very poor, the greater the dangers. The more you two agree on these issues, the better your chances for success in marriage: ROOTS: How similar are you as to: Social Class? Racial, national, and ethnic roots? City vs. country backgrounds? Religions? VALUES: What is very important to you: Religion? Money? Social position and acceptance? Prestige? Sex before/after marriage? Who decides? CHILDREN: Do you like them? Want them? How many? What about birth control? If so, what kind? Who is responsible for it? MONEY: How much is enough? Who will make it? Save it? For what? Spend it? On what? Who'll budget, pay bills, do the shopping? (More married couples fight about money than any other thing.) SEX ROLES: Who'll make decisions? Will both work? Will you share home chores? If babies come, will the wife work outside the home? WHERE AND HOW TO LIVE: Region? Rural or urban? Fancy or modest? MAIN INTERESTS: Hobbies? Vocation plans? Education? Recreation likes and dislikes? INVESTMENT IN YOUR FUTURE: What do you plan to do about war, pollution, poverty, and so on? CONCEPTS OF MARRIAGE: Permanent? Trust and fidelity? Companionship? MAJOR GOALS AND HOPES FOR THE FUTURE: What do you want out of life? How will you get there from here? Who can help? COMMUNICATION SKILLS: Can the two of you work out differences? Can you talk over problems with honesty? Can you solve disputes without hurting each other? Do either of you get mad or get grumpy when things don't go your way? Do you feel free to share your true feelings, or do you hold back out of fear or lack of trust and confidence? You'd best find out before you marry. CLUE 3. How did it start? Infatuation: tends to start fast. There is no such thing as love at first sight. A human personality is much too complex to permit that kind of instant insight. Your senses show you only the superficial, the shallow shell. Real love requires that you know and like the other person's whole self, and it takes time. Real Love: starts slowly. Studies have shown that the longer the period of courtship and engagement, the better the chances for success in a marriage. There is no substitute for passing the test of time. A year is better than six months. Three years are better than two, five better than four. The quality of the time spent with each other is as important as the quantity. Understand that people can be great actors. We all tend to play games with one another, to appear to be what we are not. A couple might date for a long period, yet have only a shallow knowledge of each other. You need to find out what the person is like way down deep inside, beneath the display- window mask. Caution to older people: People at late 20s are tempted to marry in haste. Caution to young people: You are more likely to be infatuated than genuinely in love. CLUE 4. How consistent is your level of interest? Infatuation: a couple's interest in each other fluctuates a lot. One day you feel sure this is the right person for marriage. Then you develop doubts and wonder if the two of you should date others for a while, to test your feelings more. The reason is you are attracted to only a few things about the other person - probably physical and surface traits. Your interest in each other grew rather fast. The roots of such a relationship are too thin to nourish it for long. Sex may also be the reason for lack of consistent interest. If a couple becomes involved in pleasurable sex behavior, their interest in each other may vary accordingly to the strength of their sex urge at any given time. Real Love: the relationship tends to even out and interest in each other is consistent. If you don't reach the peaks of excitement so prevalent in infatuation, neither do you plunge to the depths. As time goes on, you come to count on your love. You know it will be there when you need it. That is not to say that in real love there is no problems to solve, especially in the early stages of your courtship. Problems of adjustment cannot be avoided. But the longer you know each other, the easier it is to cope when you have real love. The best way to predict the future is to study closely the evidence from the past and the experience of the present. If you had a good relationship all last week, and the week before that, and the month before that, then you are more likely to have it next week, next month, and the year after that. CLUE 5. How does it affect your personality? Infatuation: causes a disorganizing and destructive effect on your personality. Infatuation makes you less effective, less efficient, less your real self. Infatuation is irresponsible and fails to consider the future consequences of today's actions. In such a condition, you might well lose your head and do things you wouldn't otherwise think of doing. You may even foul up your whole life. One-sided love or infatuation and the PRINCIPLE OF LEAST INTEREST: in a one-sided romance, the partner who has the least interest in continuing the affair is able to control the other person. That's because the one who is more involved has more at stake. No one should use another human being for selfish purposes, but people often do. E.g. a girl who doesn't care much for a boy may keep him just to build up her ego to have someone care so much for her. Or for a convenience that she can always count on him for a date if nobody else asks her. She knows he'll put up with shabby treatment because he's so emotionally involved. Or the boy may demand more sexual favors than his girlfriend wants to give. Real Love: has an organizing and a constructive effect on your personality. It brings out the best in you. There is an intense and satisfying feeling of greater self-realization and expression, as well as a feeling of having one's own personality reinforced and strengthened and enriched. Love gives you new energy and ambition, and more interest in life. It is creative, brings an eagerness to grow, to improve, to work for worthy purposes and ideals. Love is associated with feelings of self-confidence, trust and security. Love lifted you to new levels of maturity and responsible action. When you love a person you make an effort to be more deserving of the beloved. You want your beloved to be proud of you, so you try harder. Life has more purpose. You make plans and save for the future. Life takes on new meaning, more sparkle. What if you have loved and lost? You may have had a real love relationship that did not result in marriage. Perhaps one or both of you did not recognize at the time that it was real love. Or some tragedy may have robbed you of your beloved. In spite of the pain of loss, you still are likely to be a better person for having had love. You can better understand yourself and be better prepared for finding success in your future relationships. You will be more mature. You grew through your love experience, and that growth will not all wither away. Whatever happened, real love will have an organizing and constructive effect on your personality. CLUE 6. How and when does it end? Infatuation: it stops the same way it starts - fast. The few things you do like about the other person - even those strongly held at first - begin to wear thin. All those other things you don't have in common begin more and more to rear their ugly heads. You begin to quarrels, conflicts, even fights, and then doubts about your "love." Soon you break up, UNLESS you and your partner become involved in mutually satisfying sexual relations. Then sex will frustrate the usual test of time. A good sexual relationship may hold a couple together as long as three to five years. But that's about it. Sex alone will not keep a couple together longer than that. MAKING UP THE TEST OF TIME if you are already involved in satisfying sex relations by stop doing it. Real Love: it stops slowly. It will take long time to end a relationship and it will take long time to get over it. Love involves meshing many, many facets of two personalities. You grow together and become a unit. The person becomes a basic part of you, of your own personality. If a break comes, you are just not going to be the same. In fact, you may never quite get over it for as long as you live. That does not mean that you cannot love again. Social scientists are certain that there are a number of persons in this world with whom each of us normally can have a genuine, deep-seated love that will last. CLUE 7. How do you see each other? Infatuation: you live in a two-persons world. You two tend to neglect your family and pay little or no attention to your other friends. You turn a deaf ear to your teachers or your boss. You fail to do your homework. You lose interest in things that used to excite you. It becomes not only the most important thing in your world, but the only thing that really matters to you. Your relationship tends to be exclusive. Your other friends feel left out, neglected, or ignored. Since this "romantic love" (infatuation) is of such central concern to you, nothing must be allowed to stand in its way. You think you are justified in giving up anything in favor of this amazing event that has happened so unexpectedly. Infatuation is a vaccine that immunizes you against seeing anything wrong with the other person. You tend to idealized your partner. No one can tell you anything wrong about the object of your affections. At best, you won't believe it. At worst, you may turn against the accuser in anger and rejection. If you are infatuated, you defend the other person against all critics. You just will not admit that he or she has any faults. You idealize not only each other, but also your situation. You two may have gross problems and obstacles to cope with - different religions, hopes, values, family, and cultural backgrounds. Danger signals by the dozen! Yet you are not concerned. You don't even feel the need to think about these enormous hazards before marriage. You think that somehow it all just has to come out OK. What makes us idealize so much? For one thing, we tend to be on our best behavior while courting. We show only our best side. Another reason is the ""halo effect," or the tendency to judge the whole personality largely in terms of one or two highly admired qualities. One great trait or two can fool us into thinking that the whole person is great as well. And sex gets into the act, too. One study showed that male subjects who were sexually aroused rated the pictures of the same girls to be much more attractive than did the same males when they were not aroused. So in infatuation, you'll tend to see what you want to see in the other person, rather than what is really there. LOVE IS NOT BLIND, INFATUATION IS. IF IT'S LOVE, YOU ADMIT THEIR FAULTS BUT LOVE THE PERSON IN SPITE OF THEM. You see the person's real merits and build on that. A mutual process is set in motion. Your love leads you to appreciate the best in the other. In turn, as the other person learns of your love, it brings out the best in her or him. You are frank to admit that the other person is not perfect. But you see so much to be admired and respected that you can live with those faults. Real Love: as with infatuation, in real love the beloved may well be the most important person in the world to you. But there's the big difference. In real love, you expand your world to include the beloved. If you really love each other, you don't abandon or neglect your other relationships. Instead, you just add this wonderful new relationship to all the others you have. It becomes a plus, not a replacement. You still maintain good ties with your family, your friends, your teachers. You retain your interest in your work or studies - assuming that you had such an interest in the first place. Things that you liked to do before, you still like to do. Your world grows larger, not narrower. IS LOVE BLIND? No, but infatuation is. Infatuation, like other extreme emotions such as anger, hate, and fear, distorts thinking. Only the passing of time will bring about gradual return to reality. When the ideal bubble bursts - and burst it will - pain and disillusionment sets in. Again, it pays to be honest. Much of the pain and tragedy of romantic infatuation could be avoided if the couple would level with themselves and with each other. Instead, they hide their faults and misled the other into thinking they are something they are not. For this they pay an awful price. Perhaps the most important reason for self-disclosure is that without it we cannot truly love. How can I love a person I don't know? How can the other person love me if he doesn't know me? The answer: HONESTY IS A MUST. We should behave like small children and "act our real selves." Perhaps this is what Jesus meant when he said one must become as a little child to enter the kingdom of God. Time is the infatuated person's best friend. It is both the great reveal-er and the great healer. When your heart has been broken, time will heal the hurt. Time also is the best antidote for the deadly poison of idealization. As interaction increases, knowledge converts the dream image into awareness of the real partner. Awareness punctures the dream bubble and brings the relationship down to earth. Time can shield you from plunging into an unsound marriage on the strength of a mere infatuation. Love that is time tested is the real thing.