[video]
“01239 682878” — the new DO phone number
“Dear Copenhagen, less is not a four letter word.”
“Many of the great businesses of the next decade will be about making information about our behaviors more visible.” — evan williams
Saturday’s The Wave march in London saw an estimated 40,000 people walk from Grosvenor Square to Westminster, home of UK government. The Wave surrounded a block that covered the roads and paths between and over two bridges and both sides of the river with a line of blue-wearing and painted people committed to making their voices heard.
At the head of the march were Doers - my daughter and 2008 speaker Andy Cummins from SAS, followed a mile back by others from the last two yearsm including Liz Postlethwaite, bubbling with excitement about a new low carbon gallery project that she’s working on in Manchester, and Do Programme star Emma Metcalf.
There’s a neat video of the march at the Independent, stories at the BBC and some great images at the Guardian
Reproduced from Seth Godin’s blog - 6.12.09
What’s it like? (The sad story of the hot pepper)
Can you imagine how difficult it was to sell the jalapeño when it came over from the new world?
“What’s it like?” you’d be asked.
Well, it’s like a pepper (of course, it wasn’t. Black pepper is dried and tastes very different).Well, it’s hot (no, it’s not. Hot is a temperature, spicy is a taste).It’s not like anything, actually. Capsicum is an experience unto itself, and forcing me to tell you what it’s like does neither of us much of a service.
“What’s it like,” is actually shorthand for, “I don’t trust you enough to just try it, so you better explain in detail what category this item fits into so I can decide in advance how to understand it.”
“What’s it like?” is a huge impediment to growth and to the spread of new ideas, because forcing a marketer to pigeonhole an idea naturally limits it. “What’s it like?” leads to sequels and high concepts and crossovers, but it doesn’t get us 1966 Bob Dylan or even yoga class.
Great marketers take advantage of categories every day. Great marketers understand how to create books or services or products or technologies are very much like something else, but better. You should do that whenever you can.
If you want a fast start and good sales, be ready to answer the question. When you have something that’s a breakthrough, though, perhaps you need to say instead, “It’s not like anything. You need to trust me and just taste it.”
So ring the Do Phone tomorrow - 07760 757633 - and sign up for a taste of something that can’t quite be described…..
“One mind at a time” — Interface CEO Ray Anderson on how to stimulate buy in to a sustainable revolution in a 3000 employee strong industrial company.
[video]
DO Walking - Sand Dunes, Harlech
“Don’t just stand there, Do something” — Dick Dastardly