Messages with Energy
Recently I was able to get away to a retreat center for some solitude. One of the striking features of this retreat area is the wind farm near it. Surrounded mostly by farmland, the landscape makes a hard line against the blue sky. Rising up from the ground are the towering white wind catchers. They are beautiful with the rich blue sky behind them. Their slow movement and deep whirring noise give a peaceful yet surreal undertone. You can’t see the wind that turns their limbs, which then converts the wind to energy that powers the laptop I’m typing on.
Good marketing does the same. You shouldn’t be aware of the ad or marketing effort for its own sake. The connection comes when the message turns to energy that powers the viewer to act. Some of the most silent marketing pieces create the loudest noise.
Own A Color and Make a Difference!
Today I helped save a child’s life. All I had to do was buy a color! With over 16.7 million colors to choose from, Own A Color tells you specifically how many lives will be impacted by your color ownership.
Take a look, find your color and save a life. http://www.ownacolour.com
Simple Gifts
to families in South Sudan. I was thrilled to learn such a simple solution existed.
Now, for every project we do we will be able to provide safe drinking water for up to 10 people in South Sudan. That means you help bring water to 10 people in South Sudan whenever we work with you on a project.
Sometimes the most simple gifts have the most profound effects.
BVMG Office Open – Party
Lots of fun last evening surrounded by some very special people. It takes all of us to make a difference. The people that came to our first party celebrating the open of our new office space each had a role in helping us get there.
Since our work is done as a virtual agency, many of the team had not yet seen the office space. As I gave the tour, I was able to talk a little more about the importance of our B-Corp certification. Having our office located at Innovation Cafe is a perfect match for how we see the world. Together we create something better than we had alone.
Thanks to Carl, too, for his labor of love in cooking some truly delicious food for our event.
Take a peek at: Flickr
Everyone Wins
Like most people, I have to work. I need to be doing something that provides at least some money to pay bills and live a healthy life. So what is it I want to do?
I love 1) helping people and 2) being creative. One without the other just doesn’t work well for me. So for about 14 years, I helped whoever came across my path and did my best to provide creative solutions to their problems. I didn’t do any advertising. I wanted to keep the business very small. It’s what worked for me during that season. A couple of years ago some significant life changes occurred and I knew it was time to poke my head out of my cozy space and grow.
Can Businesses Change the World?
Come with me back in time to a place where capitalism and Reaganomics reigned supreme. The Iron Curtain was crumbling and Oldsmobile was trying to make a solid comeback. Olds started a campaign to rebrand themselves as a new Olds for a new generation. ”This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” was their tag line. Unfortunately, for Olds this campaign did little to stop the slide of this once great brand. Fast forward twenty plus years (more…)
B-Corp Certified! Yay!
It was a little over a year ago that I was speaking at the Central Exchange and heard the words “I want to change the way people think about business and social responsibility” come out of my mouth. I was still fuzzy on what that meant, but I knew I’d find my way.
I’m not alone. Cause marketing, cause capitalism, social business, social ventures…there are a lot of terms and faces to a movement that is growing worldwide. Big Vision Media Group is just one of many who are committed to bringing positive change to our world.
The New Normal
According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the “Great Recession” ended nearly two years ago in the summer of 2009. Now, these are the same geniuses that didn’t figure out we were in a recession until just about a year ago. I’m not an economist, but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn last night (just kidding), but I knew we were in a recession 9 months before they managed to figure it out. Ask my good friend Pete, he’ll vouch for me. He spent many a morning rides to work listening to me on my soap box.
I only have a minor in Econ. so what do I know maybe the recession is over. It likely is, but what I don’t think many of us have come to grips with yet is this is “The New Normal”.
The Customer Isn’t Always Right
We’ve all heard the mantra the customer is always right, but what if they aren’t. And, not only that but what if the customer being “wrong” is affecting your ability to support the customers who are right and need your support? I grew up in the business world in the retail industry. It was in the days of the dinosaurs so the internet didn’t even exist, literally. In those days local or regional retailers lived and died by their brand reputation which was largely spread through word of mouth. So it was not uncommon to hear every good retail manager to reiterate the famous saying “the customer is always right”. The truth of the matter, even back then, the customer wasn’t always right. The tricky part is what to do when they are not.
One Day Without Shoes
It felt odd walking through the parking lot barefoot but hey, it’s Spring, we’re girls, and today we are officially barefoot so off to the salon for a pedicure. We were only to happy to explain why we are barefoot today. One of the women at the salon told us about her childhood in Viet Nam with no shoes. She motioned how her mother would wash her feet at night to try to remove the mud from the day. It meant a lot to her to know that people cared and were trying to help the children.
