I might have to whisper this amidst the hyperbole around Apple’s iPad, but I just don’t buy it. Don’t misunderstand me; the iPad will likely be a huge success and will change the industry. I just cannot quite see how this fills the gap between my iPhone and my MacBook. Actually, I can’t see the gap. What I see is a gray area of overlap between my iPhone and MacBook.

I’m no technology geek, so I won’t address the technological wonder or disappointment (what, still no Flash?) of the iPad. What I am struggling with is the whole purpose of this device. When I consider my lifestyle, I don’t see a place for the iPad. Its main appeal seems to lie in the category of technology use that could be called entertainment. But when am I going to indulge in that via an iPad? When I am working (and maybe goofing off a little), whether in the office, at home or a coffee shop or other “third place”, my MacBook serves my needs excellently. During social time, my iPhone provides more than enough connectivity, entertainment and flexible communication to fill those periods. As for other moments “in between”, such as hanging around at airports, laying on the beach or relaxing on a casual Sunday afternoon at home, I’m able to enjoy life absent technology, hard as that might be to believe.

My thoughts are heretical around here, where Apple is loved with a religious fervor. I’m sure a colleague or two may respond on this blog. What I really need, though, is a single device that merges the convenience, connectivity and flexibility of an iPhone with the power and utility of a MacBook, all spruced up with the entertaining delights that might be found on an iPad. Something like an iEverything.

What do you think? How do you live? What do you need?

One affair suggests private relationship issues. Several alleged affairs is a public debacle for Tiger Woods and his sponsors. It begs the question, why do businesses choose to tie themselves to the cult of celebrity? The answer is because there is such a cult of celebrity.

Society has obsessed over recognition of personality for centuries, although the context has altered over time. Recent decades has witnessed the shift away from notability for achievement or exalted position and more towards fame for fame itself. Those recently seeking fame/infamy as the intended outcome include the “Balloon Boy” and the White House trespassing Salahis. It’s Warhol’s 15 minutes on steroids.

The reason why companies tie themselves to particular celebrities is more nuanced than that, of course, especially for the stewards of those corporate brands that sponsor a particular personality. Brands need to communicate their core archetypal attributes, being those characteristics, attitudes, behaviors and, indeed, that personality that those companies wish their consumers to associate with and perceive in their brand. It is easier for a brand to express those traits by illustrating them through something or someone iconic, within which or whom those brand traits are readily witnessed. Read the rest of this entry »

Listening is an obligatory activity, perhaps even a mandatory innate mindset or behavior for any business and especially for brand consultants counseling their clients. Whether that listening is to clients, employees, peers or even competitors, essential insight is gained first by listening and then by responding accordingly. The benefits of listening for your business are sometimes overlooked or only lip service is paid to its practice. Friday November 27 is the National Day of Listening. Perhaps the act of listening in its social context can remind us of the power, beauty and heartfelt engagement that comes with truly hearing someone.

Listening to a spouse, family member or friend is to honor their story, to learn about perspectives, to reveal hidden emotional connections and to open the door to understanding our common humanity. It is a celebration of life.

The National Day of Listening is a project inspired by StoryCorps and is an initiative that is itself inspiring. A couple of years ago, I took part in this StoryCorps interview with Ky-Antre, a fantastic young man I mentor through Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the resulting interview was edited for public broadcast. You can hear it here (after the brief NPR plug!):

Are You Listening?

Omaha’s local NPR affiliate, KIOS, is recognizing Friday’s National Day of Listening during this entire Thanksgiving week. It has been humbling and delightful to listen in as the participants from our community listened to each other. Will you be listening this Friday? Who will you converse with? What could you learn? Will you truly engage? Will you take this chance to celebrate life?

You don’t want to know about my romantic past. Indeed, it would be unseemly to discuss the time that my wife and I courted each other. But it is relevant to observe that it may have been during that time particular and long honeymoon period that I fell in love with Bauhaus. During our time living in Aspen we were surrounded by tangible environmental references to Herbert Bayer’s Bauhaus sensibilities. This included not only Bayer’s Aspen Meadows facility, but even the headstone of his Aspen benefactor, Walter Paepcke.

So I am thrilled to see that New York’s MoMa is presenting this significant Bauhaus exhibition from November 11 through January 25. Bauhaus represents a comprehensive conversation between artists, architects and designers, as well as cultural, social and philosophical thinkers. Its attention to the integration of art and form within life continues to be potent and relevant. An interesting feature appeared recently in the New York Times Style Magazine adding some context to the history of Bauhaus and the first MoMa exhibition in 1938.

We have had some creative enjoyment around our office either designing work for clients that has a Bauhaus flair, or otherwise, well, just sitting in Bauhaus derived furniture. Now all I have to do is organize my flights to NYC …

I enjoyed this interview in the Wall Street Journal Magazine with Dave Droga of Droga5. There were some comments that I thought were trite, but also some that succinctly and eloquently articulated a vision of the branding and advertising industry. This particular comment hit home for me, though: “I’m a big believer in not having an agency style.” Where clients ask agencies to replicate an aesthetic they have seen that agency produce for someone else, “eventually you end up giving everyone else fake versions of someone else’s DNA.”

That truly captured what I feel about my firm in seeking actively to hard-wire variety in our business. Of course, we have centers of excellence, whether in a sector, such as real estate, energy or manufacturing; a field of communications, such as investor communications, internal brand expression or social media; or in a service, such as brand architecture consultancy, Web usability or identity design. The main point, though, is that we have sought to avoid being imprisoned by any one particular discipline.

Whether external, respecting type of clients, or internal, respecting your “style,” there is much to be said for focusing on a niche given the depth of experience or expertise that can provide. What is missing, though, is that open door to a diverse, holistic awareness that is essential to generating genuinely unique and audacious thinking.

Our innovation and inspiration, our creativity and culture rely upon variety. We are able to leverage our experience, insight and passions across a miscellany of sources, all of which make our lives more enjoyable and our collaborations more potent. Frankly, it is fun.