I dug up my old marketing textbook this morning in an effort to reconnect with the theory that first introduced me to the wonderful world I now call home.

Contemporary Marketing by Boone, Kurtz, MacKenzie and Snow, First Canadian Edition. As I started to re-read Chapter 1, memories of both fondness and melancholy came over me. I am ever-so passionate for marketing and its many-faceted intricacies but textbooks have never been my cup of tea. Coming from an English Lit background (as well as Business Management), I couldn’t help but wish that the textbook did a better job of engaging me, perhaps a few lines of Austen would’ve helped!

That aside, the first chapter attempts to achieve a lot in some thirty pages of heavy-handed verbiage. But right there to start it all off is “A Definition of Marketing,” Boone et al. define it as “the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, services, organizations, and events to create and maintain relationships that will satisfy individual and organizational objectives.” [Take breath here!]

The definition at its core is not incorrect. It rather accurately (though it is markedly wordy) encompasses the challenging space of marketing and its prismatic quality. It does pin down what the authors describe as a broad scope of activities often difficult to define. And I couldn’t agree more with the foundation they’ve laid.

Marketing is perhaps best described as a term that is defined out of necessity rather than desire. To define it is to give it shape, but I love to think of marketing as something quite fluid and marked by is constant redefinition.

Admittedly, I sometimes struggle when asked what I do for a living,

“I’m in marketing …” is my usual response.

But, what is marketing? I mean, what do you do?” s/he will inevitably ask, but whatever response I give, whether literal like the one above or a little more loose around the edges, will undoubtedly end in ambiguity.

“Marketing is, I guess, finding out what you want or what you need and making it happen,” I’ll say. “It’s every poster you see, every word you read, every website you visit or software you download or brand you like. It is ubiquitous.”

Not quite as elucidating as I’m sure the questioner would’ve hoped, and yet still right on ball.

Marketing is communication and relationships and analysis and creativity and even so much more. But maybe the real definition of marketing is as unique as each individual that calls him/herself a marketer. Marketing is as marketing does, it achieves definition through action and through those who initiate that action.

How would you define it?

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No, honestly, I did.

On Saturday, August 14th — a beautiful, sunny day in the GTA — I got together the troops and we headed down to Yorkdale Mall where Wind Mobile was giving away free BlackBerry smartphones. Yes, free!

One of my sergeants and I had found out about this delicious opportunity via twitter. [Oh Twitter, you and I really do belong together after all!]

After trudging through some wretched traffic, we arrived at the Wind store just in time to enter the two o’clock draw. A female whose name began with ‘S’ won, hmm, possible coincidence here.

Next draw was at three o’clock and, this time, the contest master teased us with details: the winner was someone with a Gmail account and a ’416′ number, again, could it be just another coincidence? I fell into all his previous descriptors, but no luck yet. Though, I was tingling with positive expectation.

We came back yet again. Filled out the ballot form, dropped it in the box and sat down in the corner of the store. As the clock ticked closer to four, the store began to fill surrounding us with waves of body heat.

10 seconds to the draw and everyone started to count down. The ballot was pulled. Someone whose name begins with ‘S’. A few of us put our hands up. Someone with a Gmail account. A couple hands still in the air, including mine. I could feel it now. The rest is a blur, he calls my name and I scream out in joy, high-fiving the two Wind Mobile employees at the front managing the contest.

It was a great sense of elation. Wind Mobile did an excellent job at coordinating the event and the employees were fantastic at making it exciting and personable. 10 minutes after my name was called, a brand new BlackBerry Bold 9700 was in my hands. She sure is a beauty, and I now I’m beside myself with both an iPhone and a BlackBerry to cater to my every whim. What’s a tech-savvy marketer to do?

That’s my story. There’s a whole lot of marketing that went into the contest itself. And here I am carrying the marketing forward. Wind Mobile has made this brilliant gesture — free high-end smartphone + free month of service — both strategically and earnestly.

And I have no problem becoming an advocate. In fact, this post is my own gesture of word of mouth. I hope it helps you see that marketing is everywhere, from the subtlest forms to the most outrageous antics.

So, the marketing continues, both Wind’s and mine. Perhaps, more accurately, it never ends. Pictures of winners will likely be spread across the web (via Twitter and Facebook), filtering news of the contest (and the gesture!) to many eyes and ears. Along with the possibility of future marketing campaigns and PR.

The whole process was a fun, pleasurable experience, which not only enhances my advocacy of Wind but, in turn, enhances their image and impact. Thanks Wind!

Now, my quest is to prove that the iPhone and BlackBerry can coexist in harmony. What do you think?

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I dropped by Mississauga’s well-known Square One Shopping Mall early on July 30th, the Canadian launch of Apple’s iPhone 4, and was surprisingly greeted by a lengthy line up of eager-eyed and probably sleep-deprived prospective purchasers.

For those of you who know the location, the line extended from the store itself (pictured above) down a hallway, round the escalators trickling off at the end of CitySide (pictured below).

I have to admit I didn’t expect to see as many people as I had since the line up for iPad at the same location was perhaps an eighth of what I saw on Friday!

With mounds of controversy surrounding purported antenna issues on Apple’s new device, now dubbed ‘Antennagate’, I wondered if fear would consume the buying public. I’m so glad to say that they were far from afraid, in fact, news reports quoted many patrons as citing the antenna issue as blown out of proportion.

Important to consider in this Apple scenario is what is motivating the buyer to pursue the purchase despite the bombardment of negative media? Simply put, a well-designed, well-executed product from a historically trustworthy source.

What the line ups and the frenzy and the sales success prove is that today’s buying public are much smarter than perhaps we give them credit for. Willing to do the research, parse through media bias and stand for hours upon hours. Apple has done the utterly commendable in creating a loyal customer base that continues to develop and break conventional psychographic and demographic descriptors. The average purchaser of an Apple product can no longer be boxed into the ‘young, tech-savvy, Apple-aware’ group, as the above pictures clearly show.

Apple is spreading its wings, breaking boundaries and doing so with a strong, consistent strategy that has slowly but amazingly penetrated the market.

And in case you’re wondering if I’ve made the purchase plunge, I’ve decided to hold out a while longer to see if the white version ever comes to fruition, at which point, I hope someone at Apple might find it in their heart to personally send me one!

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At this point, if one more person tells you “content is king”, you might just go screaming into the forest where the raccoons and squirrels won’t claim to be marketing experts.

So, why is copy such a big deal? Simply put, because it sits at the heart of marketing.

Your copy is your message; it is how marketer communicates to target. And right here is the most important bit of all, it is the message that everything else must serve, from strategy to design.

Don’t design your website without first having your copywriter develop the message. Don’t compose that ad, plan that event or address the press without knowing the message, without having a sense of the copy.

The copy is the heart because it acts like the heart. Pumping life into the surrounding form. The words carry meaning and, when strung together correctly, they convey the right message to the right audience. Think of the rest as the accompanying organs or instruments that serve the main act, making it a star.

It really is all about content, not just because of the message it delivers but because of the versatility the message itself offers you. Never forget that your message is under your control, and with great power comes great responsibility. Ensure that your message is representative of what you have to offer — good or service, cheap or expensive, online or off — for nothing can top the beating of a sincere heart backed by an honest bone and a steady blood supply.

I like to think good copywriters are easy to come by. Great ones are rarities, gem-like in value and notoriously difficult to let go of.

From the swift tagline to the epic white paper, if content is king, then copywriter is surely queen!

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The objective today: to ask yourself “what is your success?” Or, given our definition above, what is your “desired or maximum result?” And to know that whatever your success or result is, it could not be achieved without you.

I like to think that a lot is left to timing.

The perfect timing to send out that campaign or distribute that message. The perfect timing to make that life or career change. The perfect timing when you’ve realized who you are, what you know and what you have to offer.

Watch for that one moment where all of the above collide, where understanding, knowledge, self-esteem and worth are interwoven to equal the indescribable and immutable force that is you.

That is timing. In our pasts, presents and futures. Always there, always moving forward and pushing us to our success.

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And so do you. I’m not trying to offend you. Honest.

Our brains are saturated, overexposed, goldfish, marketing nightmares. But you’ve heard this before. Too much information, all thrown at us right now, and if you missed it then you lose, and if you caught it then you’re so-three-seconds-ago when you began reading this sentence.

But my take is that even though we’re more tired than ever before, we’re also smarter. I need to have faith in you. Because you have exactly what I need: the intelligent prowess to understand me, and that is most important of all.

When that brain of ours feels a little weary and a little overloaded, it’s not just going to take flash, pep and jazz to move us off of our ergonomic office chair. Instead, we’ll respond to intelligence, wit and insight.

So, why don’t I tell you something you may not know, in a way you may not have seen, and then ask you to do something for me in return. Visit a url. Call a phone number. Fill out a survey. Cut out a coupon.

And when we get really cozy with one another, I’ll give you something bigger, something intangible so that you will do something big for me. I transfer the knowledge. Make you an advocate. Being an advocate gives you immeasurable power. And we create a long-lasting bond.

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Continuing on my recent Green kick [see previous post on environmentalism and consumerism], I’ve been thinking more and more about the automobile.

With timely documentaries such as Who Killed the Electric Car? and Suzuki’s series, The Nature of Things, the gasoline-powered car is no doubt a major villain against Mother Earth, alongside oil cartels and mankind, of course!

So, I pose myself (and, you) the following question: How do we market cars in a world becoming increasingly concerned with Greenism yet consistently concerned with price?

From Ford’s Model T to Nissan’s Leaf, a drastic shift in buyer perception, power, and overall market sentiment has taken place. In his time, Ford had unearthed a growing societal need for mobility while simultaneously offering a streamlined solution. Long gone are the days of assembly-line, one-colour options. But, in contrast, are the days for ultra environmentally-friendly vehicles now, today? Or are we not ready yet?

The market alongside the consumer continue to evolve. But the idea of the economical car is far too perfect to dissolve — price is king! And with the inclusion of luxury-trim stylings in low-cost models, car companies are laughing as they continue to win on the basis of simple economics.

Whether you’re looking for cost-effectiveness, luxury, size or looks, I think the message to the market in each of these categories is pliable enough even in the face of environmental concerns. And again, the story is everything. Maybe yours is of the working parent with kids or the college student with a part-time job or the high-rolling millionaire CEO! The story is designed to appeal to you, whoever you are, and that’s where creative marketing in the auto industry enters the picture.

Zoom-zoom. Drive one. Das Auto. The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection. These are just off the top of my head. Can you identify any? Better yet, do you identify with any? Because these taglines are powerful assets in helping carve out a specific audience with a specific desire.

And through all of this, the green advocates and environmentalists are not completely forgotten with many hybrid options available and with, hopefully, full electric alternatives also on the horizon.

What do you think? How much does being green factor into your car purchase decision? And, if the price was right, would you choose electric over gas?

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Type “green” into Google, and you’ll get a firm understanding of how deeply rooted the new “green” has become.

Not just a colour. But a politics. A party. A movement for the environmental world.

And to the right appear sponsored ads to protect the environment and safeguard your home. Green is no longer a hard-to-reach and even harder-to-understand abstract concept. It’s in your living room, heating your house, lighting up your chandelier, and fuelling your car.

Also, Green is not just for the 21st century hippie, but for the well-rounded, health-minded, socially-conscious every-person. And industry leaders (alongside marketing mavens) are making it easier to fall into the latter category by making green ubiquitous.

Procter & Gamble’s Future Friendly. Apple’s “A Green Apple“. UPS’ right turns over left turns save fuel. And a host of dreamt-up green labels and “certifications”. These are just a few examples of some of the big steps being taken by profit-driven conglomerates to spearhead greenism.

It’s no surprise that there is a whole other side to this movement that centers on my world, the marketing world. Taking steps to be green as a company as well as offering green products and services is a strong, smart differentiating marketing strategy. As consumers become more knowledgeable about environmental threats and how being “green” can make a positive impact, their inherent inclination is to opt for goods and services which match that ideology.

But what’s the tradeoff? Often, it’s price. Green goods bear the heavier price burden over their value-marked but less green alternatives. So, green comes at a premium, no surprise. But in 2010, we are closing in on the precipice of the green movement, where green becomes mainstream and — ideally — drives down cost. Numerous reports and studies show that price is the biggest barrier to going green, so I ask, who is going to make a big splash and make green affordable?

And let’s not forget that Green is also money — not just to the consumer but to the CEOs and CMOs. Slowly, as the market moves towards saturation where close to 100% of viable companies exercise green adoption, the differentiating impact of being green will diminish. But the strength of choosing an all-natural, good-for-the-environment product over one that contains trace amounts of death and destruction is marketing heaven.

Green is the perfect murder. Easy to sell to the top, highly profitable, proactive, healthy, and brand-building. You really going to let price stand in the way?

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I want this post to have the most eye-catching, most reader-intriguing title. I want its subject matter to be compelling and helpful. I want the writing to be fluid and a little bit off-the-wall.

I guess, though, what I truly want, isn’t as superficial as the above. It’s about understanding how you think, how you function.

When you wake up in the morning, what’s the first thought that enters your mind?

When you walk into work or school, do you feel nervous, excited, dreadful?

Are you a scatterbrain? Over-thinker? Organizer? Socialite? Leader?

Who are you?

If I, as a marketer and, more importantly, a human being, can even begin to just barely scratch the surface of you then I’m making progress.

And that’s all I desire. Progression. Forward movement. Forward thinking. Hope. Anticipation. Success. But none of this can be possible without you.

No marketer is a marketer without a consumer. No company is so without its employees. No success is worthwhile without believers to share it with.

So, I keep writing. I keep trying to understand you. And to even better understand myself. Because if there is anything I hope you can take away from my blog, it is that you are your own marketer, your own force to succeed.

Your message is valuable. Your voice, unstoppable. Your skill, immeasurable. Do what you do with purpose, and I promise to do the same.

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So you’ve perused the features, perhaps drooled a bit at the imagery and maybe hailed Jobs the all-time, hall-of-fame tech guru? But have you considered Apple’s business strategy? Or better yet, its marketing strategy?

Apple expertly understands the market, what they want, when to give it to them and, most importantly, when to hold back. Aptly put in this National Post article, Apple harvests targeted strategy, Apple is not the quintessential inventor but rather, as I like to put it, the re-innovator!

Let’s extrapolate now on the strategy of Mr. Jobs and his crew of Merry Geniuses:

Hardware Design
It’s different. And yes, Apple is all “think different”, all the time. But it’s not exactly an ogre to prince transformation here [side Shrek reference!]. Some may perceive this negatively, positing why Apple hasn’t pushed the design limits further like some of its competitors, Sony, namely.

Apple keeps it fresh, simple and innovative. The team balances clean design with full-featured ferocity. Plus, Apple only offers one mobile device — unlike ALL of its competitors, who release a multitude of options to the consuming public. By doing this, Apple focuses your attention, simplifying the purchase decision while simultaneously offering the benefit of continuous improvement for that single device, the iPhone.

iMovie
Strategy is easy here. You have to pay for it, a measly $4.99, I believe. It’s not much. But picture this, every consumer who makes the iPhone 4 purchase cannot possibly go without iMovie, it essentially renders the movie-editing prowess of the device useless. Thus, Apple instantaneously pulls in another $5 per iPhone sold, it may sound small but just multiply that 5 by millions and it’s nothing but profit heaven.

iBooks
Strategy here is also easy. This app comes with the phone. No need to pay — though you will pay for the books you want to read, but only once because of the ultimate syncing capabilities.

So, Apple gives you iBooks, but asks you kindly to purchase iMovie (an app that ships free with iLife on all Mac computers). I see this as an interesting and creative tradeoff. You give some and you take some. Kudos, Apple!

The Screen
Apple’s newly-dubbed “retina display” with more pixels than the human eye can detect is a huge leap, but the screen itself has actually stayed the same size. The focus, however, is not on size but on quality. And Apple has always relied heavily on emphasizing quality with a hard-to-beat no-fail attitude. Another trade-off? Perhaps.

There are a plethora of other features, enhancements and Apple idiosyncrasies I could pick apart, but what I want to stress is the strategic importance that backs each of these. Apple is the powerhouse when it comes to product announcements and releases, and it’s significant to understand the implications of their every move and the careful thought that is most certainly poured into every decision.

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Well, at least in my opinion. In a very Bing-esque styling, Google has atypically changed its design approach to an option that will undoubtedly be compared to their biggest competitor.

So, what’s the reason, Google? My guess is that with Google’s Chrome OS on the verge of release, the great Google geniuses are giving us a taste of what it might feel like. Without Microsoft, without a desktop, without all those PC (and Mac!) familiarities, Google has to bridge the gap.

Step one seems to be to introduce the “wallpaper” to Google — thereby transforming your Google homepage into a desktop (or into a desktop-like experience!).

Now, you can customize your Google experience, just like you can currently customize your PC or Mac experience, but, of course, without all the burdens that come with bloated operating systems, such as applications and features you don’t even need. This will most certainly be Google’s future pitch for its shiny, new OS!

Does Google’s new homepage enhance your experience or is it just another web-based distraction? It is smart, though, I will contend. As almost everything from Google is. Even when we doubt Google’s zany new offerings in the beginning, as we did with Gmail and are now doing with Buzz, Google has consistently outwitted our skepticism. The geniuses are testing the waters, sharks abound. For me, I have a take-it-or-leave-it attitude for the wallpaper, but, for the masses, I predict it will grow to be a fan-favourite!

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Beyond Rogers Publishing, beyond the prizes, beyond the somewhat confusing black and yellow website, there are 10 Canadian campaigns, one for each year of the last decade, up for recognition.

Which ad is the best of the decade? And does it even matter? The Campaign of the Decade is your choice, you make the call.

It’s your vote that decides the best of the best. Eerily fitting since the campaigns themselves are designed for you, so you’ll invest some part of yourself along with some part of your money (ahh, and there’s the marketing!).

And, yet, from the site to the prize to the voting style, something remains amiss. Something about the whole “extravaganza” is unsettlingly archaic.

I voted for 2007 — what’s your take?

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Marketing is every definition you’ll find in a textbook. Every single linear explanation of good/service, want/need, and satisfaction. But making marketing matter, making marketing powerful must come from a deeper place.

In any environment, under any circumstance, my work as a marketer matters to me. I care about it, all of it. No word, no colour, no decision exists without a little bit of me inside of it. Many will say this is foolish. Business is business, right? It’s not personal. For me, that’s where the real foolishness resides.

Take a moment to ponder the great successes of our time (marketing and otherwise). Do you not think those products and successes were personal? Making your work personal, instilling emotion, when necessary, is a means to success.

When that end product is not just a derivative of tasked work created from monotonous thoughts and movements, it holds you inside of it. And because it holds you, it also holds your emotions — passion, praise, weakness and strength. And emotion is powerful.

As marketing moves away from interruptive strategies and towards compelling storytelling, marketers will rely more and more on emotion. On evoking a particular emotional response from the recipient of the marketing message. It’s because that emotional response weaves a bond. A bond which can lead to a purchase, to loyalty, to advocacy.

Gates, Jobs, Page and Brin — some of the geniuses of our time — channel the hardship and heartache they are forced to endure into positive emotion — because when it matters to you, the marketer, there’s a greater chance it will matter to you, the consumer.

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PSFK has spoken, and what they have to say is mostly expected but not any less inspiring. Their annual Good Brands Report ranks Google as the number 1 reigning brand for a second year.

Apple takes the second spot with Nike at 7 and Twitter at 8, all presumably predictable outcomes given their perceived brand power. However, the list is not a Google / Apple promo session, it, in fact, throws in some welcome twists with Jamie Oliver (3), MIT (4), Ace Hotel (5), and Foursquare (9) gracing the list.

What is the Good Brands Report?

Being a genuinely good brand in 2010 takes more than a widely used product and an ubiquitous global presence. Though there is no precise formula, what the ten good brands on our list have in common is a penchant for imagination, innovation, environmental responsibility and social consciousness. — Piers Fawkes, PSFK, Founder

Well, if that’s all it takes! Each brand is ranked out of 10 in the above four categories by a panel of industry experts. This isn’t just another list, if anything, it should grow to be a definitive source of insightful brand analysis for not only equity and awareness but also social and marketing impact.

Why Google?
Connectivity. Openness. Accessibility. Customization. And Free.

These five factors are what I extrapolated from the report as determinant of Google’s success not only as a brand but as a global enterprise with an incalculable amount of clout.

Google’s ability to remain true to its core product in search and yet simultaneously branch out into a mobile phone OS with Android, a Microsoft Office rival with Google Docs, along with Buzz, Wave, and a host of SEO apps has redefined the act of differentiation.

PSFK does a wonderful job at eloquently summarizing the highlights of what makes Google the number one pick. The report adopts a refreshing focus, instead of only dictating the facts of Google’s success, it also effectively relates how you and I can apply the same in our own business and marketing practices.

Why Not Apple?
Apple isn’t exactly a loser in this situation, only shy from the number one spot by 0.16 points, Apple is clearly catching up to Google in the brand category — and, in some areas, has already far surpassed it.

Apple outranked Google in the categories of innovation and imagination, and, well, if it hadn’t, I’d be rather alarmed. Outside of search and Google’s everything-sharing application in Wave, Google isn’t necessarily known for imagination, but more so slight reinvention.

Most of the score differences were admittedly slight, with Google really only stealing the thunder in the social responsibility category, which is somewhat expected given Apple’s tepid past with suppliers.

PSFK deems Apple a true game-changer, no arguments here, driven by its product design, endless innovation and futuristic thinking all centred on user experience. What Apple does best is reinvention — reinvention executed so well that it borders on real invention. From the CPU to the iMac. The mp3 to the iPod. The mobile phone to the iPhone. And now the tablet to the IPad. Apple’s game is founded upon taking what the market currently offers and making it so incredibly irresistible to a consumer that it can transform any desire into an absolute necessity.

Even without the number one spot, Apple is a dangerously powerful and still-growing brand.

What You Need to Learn from PSFK
Ultimately, success is derivative of many things, but we should all listen to what PSFK (and its industry experts) have to say. The report is not just a simple-minded overview of today’s brands but rather a teaching guide indicative of what marketing success means in 2010.

Out of PSFK’s 10 Key Learnings, what we all need to understand and practice is “re-imagining the world”. It’s a beautiful thing that can foster change, encourage passion, and spawn innovation. So, start asking yourself, how could you see or do things differently?

Read the full PSFK Good Brands Report 2010.

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I cyber-strolled over to Gizmodo today after hearing some exciting news about a leaked preview for Apple’s next iPhone.

I’ll admit that it took me a minute to notice that the site looked more-than-a-bit different but I’ll chock that up to my glaring at the drool-worthy new iPhone (which, I think, looks very HTC-esque to me, but let’s leave that for another post!).

After some quick examination, I noticed that Gizmodo’s otherwise dark colour scheme had been consumed by Wind Mobile’s characteristic orange and blue with a number of cute, cuddly clouds and bubbles floating about. Most notably, Gizmodo’s header (seen above) now sported a very well-positioned “sponsored by Wind” tag.

The graphics bordering this post are the same that appeared on Gizmodo’s temporary site redesign. I’ve discussed a similar type of third-party website rebranding/advertising before in my Ugly Betty and Next Level Banner Ads post. But what I love about Wind’s take is that it, like much of what we’ve seen from Wind’s marketing efforts thus far, pushes the boundaries just a hair of what we’ve seen before. Instead of just a banner ad or just a background change, Wind convinced Gizmodo that a complete website design overhaul was the way to go. And, it was.

The changes are temporary. However, the effect is exponential. Wind was smartly strategic with its choice of website, Gizmodo is a high-tech news king with millions of visitors every day. What better way to reach Wind’s youthful, risk-taking target market then to strengthen their brand equity with a little bit of ingenious advertising.

Kudos to Wind for keeping true to their newly born Canadian identity, for strategically playing the online advertising field, and for showing the tech world that they are far removed from Rogers, Bell and those U.S. companies who shall remain unnamed!

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Intent — the act of doing something with a specific purpose — consolidates the marketer and the consumer. These predetermined roles become transferrable. The marketer leaves work, walks into a mall and is transformed into a consumer. The consumer leaves work, receives some communication or makes a purchase, and becomes a marketer outfitted with the power of voice and opinion.

Intention is action and direction with a desired outcome already perceived. Intent must be possessed by the marketer and created for the consumer.

These are my 3 tiers of intent:

Intent to Create
The organization’s or marketer’s decision to develop something new, something different and/or something revisited.

The intent to create does not need to be solely based in originality. But rather, what is original for the specific circumstance and situation of the organization in question. As simple an idea as a webinar, if never produced by an organization before, is a nugget of the intent to create.

How much easier it always is to say rather than do. But intent must demand action, so that action can demand result. A webinar is just a word, just an idea until someone owns the intent to create.

Intent to Sell
The organization’s or marketer’s decision to sell, for profit or not, a good or service with perceived value for the consumer.

The development, nurture and creation of an idea is not a prerequisite to the intent to sell. On the other hand, the intent to create need not be followed with an intent to sell. That is to say, the creation of a good or service will not always be saleable.

The intent to sell is to move beyond the concept of a single, valuable good or service and generate a ‘product’ equipped with identity, price, promotion, distribution and communication.

Intent to Buy
The consumer’s journey to reach a purchase decision; at this stage, the paths of marketer and consumer have crossed at least once.

The intent to create only indirectly influences the intent to buy, since without creation, purchase is not possible. The intent to sell, however, must exist and be fully and wholly delivered to the consumer in order facilitate a purchase.

All aspects of the intent to sell mentioned above — message, brand, value, etc. — are channelled to the consumer as a complete and influential marketing effort. These many parts will create the consumer’s intent to buy. And subsequently, with the intent to buy, the consumer officially assumes the role of marketer.

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It’s contagious. Twitter, that is. Sharing inane details. Commenting with silliness. But I always bring myself back to why I joined Twitter, to experiment with its validity as a forum to share knowledge and to communicate and interact with like-minded smarties (and simultaneously build my personal brand).

In the process of all this, I’ve abandoned Google Reader. A completely flawed act, I know. It was unintentional. But, I realized a few days ago that poor Reader had been sitting alone gathering an unsavoury amount of dust while I relied on my Twitter community to tweet me the best and latest news (marketing and other).

How could I be so cruel and so unaware? Naturally, I blame the instantaneous and ingenious prowess of Twitter for Reader’s demise. But, of course, it is I who am to blame. I thought I could get it all from my Twitter stream — the real-time updates, retweets and commentaries, all packaged beautifully in to one. I was wrong.

Twitter doesn’t serve this purpose. At the very least, it can’t right now. If this can be at all accurate for the current argument, Twitter is, in fact, TOO real-time. Meaning, if I miss @ThisIsSethsBlog tweet his latest post, then its gone, lost in the land of “I’m 52 minutes too late for that tweet”.

I can’t always be available or online for every tweet or retweet, and that’s where this trade-in fails. I am still waiting for that one-stop-shop. I want everything in one place. So, I’ve reinstated Reader regretting my past transgressions. Now, if only I could find my magic wand, with 200+ unread items, I’m going to need it.

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The term, character, speaks for itself. I like to think that in all of my Quick & Dirty segments, the term speaks to you and resonates to something in your life — marketing related or otherwise.

The terms I pick are admittedly personal to me at the exact moment I sit typing on my MacBook in WordPress. Maybe it’s something that occurred in my day, something I learned, something I taught. The words, just like people and all of our actions, have meaning, often more than one, as shown above.

Your character, the way you conduct yourself as a person or organization or department, is determinant of how you are perceived. But you do control that perception. You do hold the power to be aware of it. And, if necessary, to change or enhance it.

Nature. Integrity. Reputation. All beautiful, meaningful words that could be featured in this segment one day. All words that come together to describe character — not an easy thing to pin down. People normally aren’t.

So, make your next strategic, organizational and/or marketing effort one of character. Can you really give me a good enough reason why not to?

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With grants ranging from $5,000 to $250,000, the Pepsi Refresh Project invigorates the world of giving with its user-driven philanthropic social media project.

You (any member of the social community) submit an idea of someone or something that deserves to be awarded one of the above grants in any of the following categories: Health, Arts & Culture, Food & Shelter, The Planet, Neighbourhoods, and Education. And then the community votes, picking its favourites. There are guidelines to how the Refresh Project works, though it is limited to the United States (which is the most glaring upset of the project), it is still a worthy and “refreshing” initiative.

$1.3 million dollars given away every month. Given to companies, non-profits, causes, and individuals who need it. It is high-level giving supported by a high-level brand. Admittedly, the non-profit world isn’t always backed with shiny brands, fancy websites, and millions to give, but I think what Pepsi has done successfully is emphasizing a side of philanthropy that moves beyond Give-and-Forget.

Pepsi has given us a great example of a wonderful cause launched by a company where profits are the bottom line (if we’re being honest). But under all the glitz is Corporate Giving powered by a global brand and made possible by social media, Pepsi seems to have done it right.

The website is impeccable. From its bright and welcoming design to its innovative, multi-tier navigation, my marketing brain is all aflutter.

I’m endeared by this growing concept of “Social Giving”, by no means new, but certainly (and finally) finding its way into the well-deserved limelight.

P.S. I don’t even drink Pepsi. Sorry, PepsiCo. But, maybe, I’ll reconsider. Having a heart does count for something in marketing.

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Negativity brings us down and takes us out. It paints a portrait of impossibility — making what could be into what can’t be.

As marketers, it is our responsibility to change what is now into what has never been. Meaning, it is about challenging yourself / your department / your cohorts into thinking differently. But the inherent caveat of thinking differently is fear. Fear that any novel, innovative idea you ponder will actually turn out to be unrealistic or too risky or too ‘impossible’!

If you find yourself constantly saying that you can’t or won’t do something, then you might as well let them take your marketing license away! Guess what, you can’t practice this specialty anymore.

Extending the possibilities and limiting and extinguishing the fear of risk and failure is the epitome of marketing well. Why? Because you refuse to be boxed in by the restrictions of the negative.

Equally as detrimental is thinking that your customers also can’t or won’t. How do you know? Have you tried? Are you basing this on your own previous experience or those of others? And does any of that really matter? Because, and here’s the genius, your job as a marketer is to be as smart as possible to dictate what your customers can and will do.

Your voice, power and influence. Their voice, power and influence. Find the balance, take the risk, and forget the ‘n’ts’.

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