Resist this

You have to click when you see a url called what we do is secret .com   And when they have really terrific photos on design, like these, resistance is impossible.

Small house in Japan (less than 1000 sq ft):

Or the new Mandarin Oriental hotel in Barcelona:

And, yes, that's a home built inside a Napoleonic war era fort in the UK:

http://www.whatwedoissecret.org/madebyblog/

How brands should behave online

For some time I've been looking for the right words to describe the way brands should behave in today's world -- you know, that social-media-it's-all-about-the-experience world.

This post, I think, contributes a terrific word: generosity.  http://bx.businessweek.com/brand-strategy/view?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.conversationalcurrency.com%2F12064%2Fsuccuessful-social-media-engagement-requires-generosity%2F

What better way to describe the changes that brands need to make as they seek to engage and re-engage consumers. As author Janet Fouts points out, this is one way brands can act more like living, breathing people.

Here's Janet's Generosity 101:

• Share links and write summaries.
• Say thank you.
• Be the answer girl.
• Look for ways to help.
• Comment. Add value to the conversation.
• Ask questions.
• Links in your blog.
• Use guest blogging.
• Re-tweet with a comment.
• Give credit where credit is due.
• On Twitter? Create a Paper.li page.

Thanks to Business Week and Conversational Currency for the insight. Did I forget to thank anyone else?

Now v. Later

Interesting study from Physorg.com via HBR:

People assess future benefits in two ways simultaneously, as if they had two brains, says Harvard economist David I. Laibson. The "impatient" brain, which dominates when we think about immediate gratification, discounts at about 4% per minute, but the "patient" brain, which takes over when we consider much-later benefits, discounts at a slower rate — about 1% per minute. So while an offer of a free massage right now might look a lot better than a free massage in an hour, we'd see little difference in offers of massages at, say, 2pm or 3pm one week from now.

Interesting implications if you want consumers to act now. Even moreso if you want people to take a long view, like quitting smoking or saving for retirement.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2010-12-economics-professor-brain-conflict.html

Brand disasters

Lovely headline from Brand Strategy Insiders: "Brand Disasters of 2010." The accompanying photo was perhaps even better (see below).

The perp walk: BP, Toyota, Johnson & Johnson, and Blackberry. Wall Street banks must have been on last years' list. Looking forward to the article that explains how these brands can climb out of their respective holes.


Find it here:

http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2010/12/brand-disasters-of-2010.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BrandingStrategyInsider+%28Branding+Strategy+Insider%29

Imaging experiences

Can stimulating consumers' imaginations create stronger bonds? Maybe.

According to scientists at Carnegie Mellon (via Science Friday), neuroscientists are studying habituation. That's the role of imaging -- thinking about tasting an yummy apple rather than just eating it. Turns out that imaging that yummy apple, not just once but many times, makes the brain behave as though you've actually eaten the apple.

Which reminded me of this: not long ago someone said to me, "Instead of buying a thing, I just carry it around the store for awhile. If I do it long enough, I feel as though I actually own it."

Or this: sometimes, watching a great movie actually elicits real feelings, and even real memories, in the viewer. It's as though the viewer actually experienced the events and feelings in the movie. Think Inception.

This is fascinating for brands. What if marketers can create feelings in consumers via habutation, similar to the feelings one gets through experiences, through a web experience or commercial?

It also lends a ton of power to the notion of thinking about marketing as creating experiences and adding value for consumers.