Thinking ideas through: Marketing

Below is a pink to what is entitled "The 5 Most Disastrous Marketing Failures of All Time". How can you not click on that?

http://www.cracked.com/article_21245_5-creative-marketing-promotions-that-failed-spectacularly.html?ref_src=email

The examples are
#5. Jagermeister Sponsors a Pool Party, Turns the Water into Poison
Where Jagermeister tried to have a fun promotional party by pouring liquid nitrogen into a pool to have liquid smoke come off of the top of the water. 5 people were severely injured because this gas is poisonous to humans. 1 person actually went into a coma.

#4. United Way Drops 1.5 Million Balloons All Over Cleveland
Where a nice charity project turned into a disaster when it turned into a downpour, and then the coast guard was looking for two lost boaters (all of the balloons look just like bobbling heads!)

#3. Guns N' Roses Calls Dr Pepper's Bluff
In 2008, Dr. Pepper stated that if Guns N' Roses could released their album in 1 years time, they would give away to every American. They made this bet assuming it wouldn't come to fruition. IT did. They couldn't afford to give away a soft beverage to every single American.

#2. American Airlines Accidentally Lets People Fly Free Forever
For $250,000, AA offered a package where you could buy unlimited first class seats anywhere in the world. For an extra $150,000, you could buy a buddy pass with no restrictions to who could use it or how. They figured only a few CEOs would shell out the cash, but in reality normal quiet rich people took advantage of the deal. One guy even flew from America to London 16 times in a month just because he could. 

#1. Just for Feet's Superbly Racist Super Bowl Ad
Just for Feet aired an ad where basically a white man knocks out and "tags" a black man like cattle. 

What do these marketing decisions have in common?
Innovation
Creativity
Testing market norms
Groupthink

These ideas had the potential to bring companies to the next level of customer interaction/ relation. In a large office, someone or a small group of people came together and created this idea. They ran it by their boses, who liked it, and sent it up the ladder. Their pitch was good enough to gain positive reactions from a number of people that came across it. Many people invested themselves into this effort. Some may have even had careers riding on these ads and marketing displays. 

Luckily. These marketing flaws have an upside. There is a lot to be learned from these scenarios. 

It's important to recognize that:

-for each catastrophic failure, there are countless successes that go unnoticed by the public eye. Celebrating personal wins and conducting a post-morteum to analyze why it worked will benefit you in future endeavors. 

-hard work and effort aren't the only things that go into making a worthwhile contribution. There must be solid logic to back everything up. Ask those lingering questions and consult experts to ensure that there are modifications to your game plan if   It rains on your parade (or balloon drop in the case of the United Way) 

-confidence is key. But confidence isn't everything. Groupthink is powerful and can stifle creative vision as well as take a great idea and warp it into a socially inexcusable Super Bowl advertisement. 

-your career hinges on you. Bring your best self to the table every day. Dream big, but plan small. Breaking down your projects into smaller milestones or checkpoints will make sure that all of the realistic details are being smoothed out along the way instead of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars due to incorrect forecasts for your availability or interest. 

-only make promises you can keep

Define Success

I polled a number of people that I trust and respect to define success. We've discussed in this class as well as other classes, people have varying perspectives on what success looks like. I decided to write a few words about each individual in how I perceive them as individuals, two of their occupations (because it seems that people have more than one major work commitment usually) and their responses to my question. I'm hoping to go back through these answers and find common threads. I am recording answers that are both genuine and humorous, because I believe that the humorous responses tell you just as much about that person as real answers.

Question: What does success mean to you?
Me (Grace):
Occupation: Student/healthcare intern
Description: thoughtful, old soul, driven
Response: "100% engaged in both work and family life, and finding a peaceful balance between the two"

My boyfriend: 
Occupation: A bioengineer turned air force pilot
Description: thoughtful, inquisitive, devoted
1st Response: "Your smile after a meaningful conversation"
2nd response: "financial freedom and the ability to have time to make a living that allows me the time for projects that I would eventually like to be fully employed around"

My mother:
Occupation: music professor/ freelance musician
Description: diva, yogi, energetic
Response: "I would look up the definition of success in Wikipedia and then personalize it for myself"

My father
Occupation:carpenter/ artist
Description: withdrawn, quiet, content
Response: "Knowing that you are correct in the path to completing a task or project, and then having it affirmed, unsolicited, from colleagues and/ or clients"

My stepfather
Occupation: marketing, food and society professor/ actor
Description: dark, witty, afraid
Response: "Having found a group of people who appreciate your creative and productive energies"

My friend, Katie:
Occupation: student/ guide dog trainer
Description: strong, capable, giving
Response: "Happy and healthy. Accomplishing your personal goals"

My friend, Jen:
Occupation: student/ corporate social responsibility intern
Description: meticulous, goofy, poignent
Response: "To have made some social impact, and I can take care of myself and live a life where I don't have to worry about financial burdens"

My friend, Laura:
Occupation: student/ healthcare intern
Description: strong willed, happy, purposeful
Response: "If I can have a diamond the size of Cathy Minehans'"

I've noticed a few themes in these.
1) Some are directly relating to finances
2) Some are focused on goals and accomplishments
3) All are focused on the self, and not selfless acts (except for Jen's, and Kyle's first brownie-point-winning response)
4) Some are general
5) Some have some path delineated in them to achieve that success, or just the path to defining success (like my mother).

This exercise really proved to me the importance of identifying norms when you are entering into a new partnership -personally or professionally- because definitions of something so core to who we are and what we strive for are completely different, and can evolve over time. Understanding basic assumptions people hold or an organization holds can tell a lot about where their values lie, and if your values are in line with theirs. It's important to identify these early on because although it won't be a waste of time to devote yourself to work or a person who has different values than you, it ultimately may be hurtful or a barrier that may not be able to be overcome to progress with that effort further.

We: my right brain, my left brain, and the one in between that tell's me I'm wrong"

When I mean "We" I mean my right brain and my left brain and the one that's in between thats the sensor and tells me what I'm saying is wrong"
http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_tan_on_creativity#t-57889

This blog today is based off of the title, and it is something that Amy Tan said in her Ted Talk about creativity. Her Ted Talk link is posted above, and is about 23 minutes long. Worth the time it takes to watch because her creative inquiry is surrounding not only her creativity, but her self imposition around creativity, and worry about judgements. 

I find that the issue that I struggle with most around creativity is being true to myself. Making sure that my ideas are clear, concise, true to what I am trying to manifest, and are representative of me. That's a lot to live up to in a single idea! And, on top of all of that, you have to deal with that middle brain that Tan references that like's to tell you that other people will be thinking that you're weird for thinking something up like that, and judge you or your creative venture negatively, and that it could potentially negatively position you in the future. 

After working in class on our pitches, and getting overt the fear of harsh criticism from peers, it becomes easier to develop your idea and move in a positive direction. But this isn't to say that each pitch you deliver doesn't have subconscious fear weaved between your powerful idea. Amy Tan referenced her hard time writing about characters with serious flaws because she feared that people reading her work would automatically assume that those flaws were based on her. In reality, as a reader, I hardly ever find that I believe that the author is writing about themselves. For instance, Stephen King has some pretty crazy ideas floating up in his brain, but I don't believe that he himself has been a child-eating clown or a psychopath. That doesn't mean that from time to time he hasn't been afraid to share his work because of a potential negative reflection on him.

Similar with my journey to enter graduate school, and in particular a quant heavy MBA, my right brain was telling me I could do it, my left brain was preparing for the challenge, and my middle brain was telling me I was wasting my time and money and would only end up with regret and defeat. So far, 3/4 of the way through this program, I am proud of the work I've produced and I am proud of what I am able to accomplish due to the skills I've gained at Simmons. In addition, I believe the network we've created at Simmons will benefit me for years to come with truly driven and kind people. 

Finding creative ways to fight that middle brain will be something that I will challenge until the day I die, likewise with everyone else. Helping others overcome that with positive feedback and genuine support.

So, in conclusion, what I'm gaining from this Ted Talk is not only that creativity is swirling through everyones brains, but we have just as much power to destroy our own thoughts as we do to build them up. I am going to vow to not put down my own ideas for the next week and a half and see how it goes. 

Using a pitch in interviews

I've really been focusing on my pitch a lot recently. In part because of prepping for our weekend together going over our pitches, but also in part because I am prepping for the interview for the next phase of my life. I am applying for administrative fellowships at hospitals all over the Northeast, and a select few in the Midwest. I am preparing applications that are more specific and ridiculous than the packages that I prepared when applying to grad school, and am trying to maintain my sanity through the process.

I'm preparing by doing a significant amount of research about the organizations, trying to identify exactly what I want from the experience, taking informal phone interviews with the current fellows, and preparing for my formal phone and in person interviews with sites. I am using the idea of pitching to propel my preparation. In this situation I am also addressing the:

Audience

Message

Messenger

And context 

I am practicing on trying to focus on all aspects of the pitch as well as focusing on the delivery of my pitch about why I am their ideal candidate. I am taking each informal phone interview as a mock interview and honing my response each time. I am trying to really focus on engaging in the listening aspect of the interview and and trying to internalize information as well as prepare solid questions, all the while being personable. Speaking slowly, and instead of focusing on each word I articulate, putting more emphasis on the story that Im painting to represent me, and trying to show and identify where the correct cultural fit is for me. 

Approaching this interview as a pitch -because let's be honest a job interview is a really really long pitch for yourself- is going to be beneficial to me. I think it'll be useful because:

I am generally excited for pitches because I am sharing ideas that I am truly passionate about with other people, and working to find common threads between them and myself and my idea. 

I am focusing on performing, which includes monitoring eye contact, engaging the audience, and inviting them into the experience

I can view this as a constructive critique of my presentation.

This is even more important when on a phone interview because I need to express my interest, capability, and my ability to relate to others without having them in the room. This is why the informal current fellow interviews are so so important because these are also phone interviews, so I can See how I feel about those and how I 

Before I go into my formal interviews, I am going to prep with mock interviews with friends, family, and the career services office here at Simmons. 

The part of this experience that I'm going to have hither hardest time dealing with is the rejection. These are very competitive, and I am applying to 10-15 fellowships in hopes of landing one. In class this past weekend you mentioned that you may have 99 nos that will be worth it once you get that yes even if its at number 100. I only have however many places I apply to as the chances that I have.