Never get out of the boat

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

what's the new mary jane?

Fast Company reports an 'out-of-business branch' of Kentucky Fried Chicken in Los Angeles has been repurposed as a 'medicinal' marijuana dispensary (a current health trend in California apparently).
The store is called Kind for Cures (geddit?).

This trend has perhaps been influenced by activities in areas of South London where fully functioning fried chicken establishments - and also minicab offices - have embraced the spirit of diversification by sideline trading in marijuana products for many years.

Editors note: For younger readers, What's the New Mary Jane is a 'great' long lost Beatles non-classic recorded around the time of the White Album sessions.

Monday, August 31, 2009

under new management...

The pub down the road from me is under new management again.

Routinely every 6 months or so some new management come in re-arrange the furniture, change the menu and post a sign outside saying 'under new management'.

It might be news for the new managers but for the rest of us it's become boring.
Particularly because; although the management may be new it's the same 20 regulars stood at the bar every day, hogging the pool table, the juke box, swearing, falling over and being generally offensive.

New clientele would be a more interesting statement than new management.
But the new management never have the balls to do anything about that.
It's just a different wrapper.

Friday, August 28, 2009

gurus of marketing #785 Anthony Soprano

Sitting on your hands costs sales and customers.

The world is not waiting for us figure out what to do.
Sart doing something.

Even if it's the wrong thing then there's learning, and you won't do it again.

“The wrong decision is better than indecision”.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

OK is not enough

Yesterday at G HQ we were discussing products and/or brands that seemed like a good idea at the time but never made it for one reason or another, and OK Soda came up.

For younger readers, a bit of history.

The Coca-Cola Company did international market research in the late 80s and found that 'Coke' was the second most recognisable word across all languages in the world.

The first recognisable word word was 'OK'. No-brainer for the Coca Cola people.
Who could pass up the opportunity for numbers 1 AND 2?
World domination would surely follow...

So to take advantage of this opportunity OK Soda was born.
The subsequent soft launch in 1993 was supported by marketing targeted at the 'slacker' generation (late Gen X/ early Gen Y) ie young people who didn't pay much attention to advertising.

And if advertising often aims to associate a 'feeling' with the brand, then how postmodern clever-dick to associate with the feeling of disillusionment with the products of 20th century capitalism.

Despite the cool package (see pic) and one of the most arch tag lines in the history of advertising:

'Whats the point of OK Soda? Well, what's the point of anything?

It didn't fly and the project was canned 7 months later.

Ahead if it's time, maybe.
The environment wasn't quite ready for pessimism, defeatism and parodied self-indulgent.
If it were to launch today however....

In typical postmodern paradoxical circular-irony, there would indeed have been a market for these fictional anti-products used as part of the promo for the Sex Pistols movie 'The Great Rock'n'Roll Swindle some 13 years earlier, had they been made commercially available.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

cockney reject

Close but no cigar.

The East London cash machine that displays it's instructions in alleged 'Cockney rhyming slang'.

Problem is, in proper cockney slang the rhyming word is never said.
ie 'cash no receipt' would read 'sausage no receipt'.

Nice try but ultimately pony from the posh boys in the pr department ;)

There's precious few cockneys in east London anymore, anyway. They all live in Chelmsford or something.

Thanks and finders fee to Spinning Around.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

shine on me

Perhaps the greatest long lost nugget of post-punk and, without any doubt, way way way ahead of it's time.

The undisputable champions of the total look; Boys Wonder.
Fusing punk, mod and pop; celebrating 'Britishness' and it's diversity in their greatest non-hit, Shine On Me.
Hard to credit that this was some 6 or 7 years before Britpop.

Boys Wonder didn't fit with the NME or MTV or Radio 1 back in 1987 so never got the mass media exposure, and ergo record company moolah, that would have seen them break.

By the time that the conditions were right they had already morphed into acid-jazzers Corduroy and Blur et al rolled in and stole the thunder.

Today it would be a different story, the web would have allowed them to find their audience (and them find each other) much quicker.

Mediocre careerist popsters take note: You now do not need to compromise. You do not need to rely on mass media for exposure, or the opinions of some student NME journo.
Or the bloody X Factor.

'If you're ridin' ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it's still there' Will Rogers

Still, pump up the volume and stick on yer eyebrows. Let's rock.

Finders fee to downwithtractors.

post purchase reassurance

This is about helping people feel good about their decision to buy your product or service.

Are You Lonesome Tonight?. There are millions feeling the same as you all around the world.

Or maybe you are just Totally Wired? Then you are part of a more select club.

People like to know they have done the right thing, and knowing that others like them have done the same is a good starting point. Sometimes inclusive, sometimes exclusive.

Always remember. You are a unique individual. Just like everybody else.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

dilated peoples?

Well, this UK anti-drug driving tv spot is really cutting it with it's 'target' 'audience'. Just a cursory read of the the comments tells all.

I'm looking forward to the spoofs, no doubt featuring car loads of either black kids, asian, ginger, big noses or whatever.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

madchester rave on

The full story of the infamous Tevez poster that launched a million conversations.
Market to situations not demographics.
And a social object to boot
Pure genius.

UPDATE: 21/08
Sadly, I've been asked by Man City representatives to remove the video from You Tube.
Ho hum.

Friday, August 14, 2009

today your love, tomorrow the world

Some marketing lessons from Da Bruddas - Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy (also Marky, Ritchie, CJ and Elvis - for the benefit of completists..) - Ramones.

First up, Ramones’ approach to songsmithery contains some lessons for creating online content, says Michael Aagaard on copyblogger:

1. Eliminate the unnecessary and focus on the substance – the heart and soul of the message you want to convey.

2. Captivate your audience in a nanosecond - Make every headline catchy and simple enough that your readers can’t help but read on.

3. Never lose focus on your audience - Giving the audience an awesome experience is your main priority.

4. Blow self-obsessed smug corporate speak to bits - with razor-sharp relevant content.

Good stuff.

Michael also adds 'Throughout their 22-year career, the Ramones never lost focus on their fans..'

Not strictly true, Micheal. And here is the other lesson.

Between 1980 and about '83 Ramones released 3 mainly duff albums using 'pop' producers - Spector, a bloke out of 10cc and even Dave Stewart (pseudo wierdo out of Eurythmics) - in a desperate, and ultimately fruitless, attempt to capture the mainstream audience that had temporarily paid attention when their sugary sweet cover of 'Baby I Love You' had bothered the top 20 charts in 1980.

During this period, slowly but surely, they started to lose the fans that loved them for the no-nonsense 3 chord rock'n'roll that made their name as, sadly, the much coveted mass mainstream pop audience failed to buy in.

Normal service was resumed, and lessons learned with 1984's 'Too Tough To Die', which ditched the so-slick production and returned to the buzzsaw rock'n'roll. And slowly the fans came back.

Ditching the key distinctive elements of the brand that make 'you' look and sound like 'you' is is a risky strategy.
Other people are far better at being other people.

And, compromising your product or service, overstretching the brand in the hope of appealing to everyone, means you might end up appealing to no-one.

Gabba gabba hey.

some things are meant to be together

This was a sponsorship/partnership waiting to happen.
Now it has. Madmen and Playboy.

The vintage car articles are of particular interest.

HT brandDNA

potential H-bomb

The Archies, bubblegum cartoon popsters of 'sugar sugar' fame, in a more angry mood. Awesome.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

ch-ch-cheque this out...

USAA, a small US bank and insurance company (outside of the top 20) are updating their iPhone app with a cheque deposit function.

A customer snaps both sides of the cheque with the iphone’s camera then the app pings the pictures to USAA and your account is credited.

“We’re essentially taking an image of the [cheque], and once you hit the send button, that image is going into our deposit-taking system as any other [cheque] would,”
Wayne Peacock, a USAA executive vice president.

Full article from New York Times

guy kawasaki on the art of innovation [vid]

The ten steps for innovation, as eloquently described by Guy Kawasaki at Cisco Live last month.

The ten steps:

1. Make meaning - Look to create meaning first, money will follow.
2. Make a mantra (not a mission statement)
3. Jump to the next curve - take big leaps, optimisation is not revolution.
4. Roll the dice - make it deep, intelligent, complete and elegant
5. Donʼt worry, be crappy - get your thing out there, use user feedback to finish it.
6. Let 100 flowers blossom - the users will decide how your product fits into their life.
7. Polarize people - don't try and please everyone.
8. Churn, baby, churn - test and learn, test and learn
9. Follow the 10-20-30 rule - pitching with power point, we all know this one.
10. Donʼt let the bozos get you down - see devil's advocate.

There's a key chart towards the end around value, which i've reproduced for future use.
The more unique (ie innovative) your offering directly corresponds to the amount of value it can create for you (and the recipients).

HT freshnetworks

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

why spotify will fail by bloke from 1938media

I must say I pretty much 99% agree with the fella from 1938media.

I want to own the music that means something in my life.
It's part of who I am.

Spotify is just like commercial radio, but on-demand. Thats it.

Like Bob Lefsetz said: 'We don't have a piracy problem, we have a music problem'

hang the dj...

Even in the days of the single channel unfragmented, unconverged media landscape, they still wanted to block dem ads...

via greg verdino

Monday, August 10, 2009

facts don't spread (or sell), stories do.

The Wicked Sick Project....
The wacky Oz yoof-ness of this makes me baulk a bit but you can't argue with the result.
These gentlemen bought a bmx bike on ebay, reposted it with a story that matched the worldview of the customer and it sold for 5 times what they paid.

It's the story that sells.

HT to Ciaran in the G office.

unintentional branding

The Washington Post reports that even the notorious Nigerian email fraud scammers are feeling the pinch in the credit crunch.

One of said scammers, Banjo (24) speaking about Americans is quoted "They don't have money. And the money they don't have, we want."

Had to chuckle at this.

'Nigerian officials dispute their country's prominence in online fraud, noting that scam networks rely on agents around the globe. But 419 [named for a section of the Nigerian criminal code] is cemented in Nigerian popular culture. The scammers, known as "yahoo-yahoo boys," are glorified in pop songs such as "Yahoozee," which gained even more fame after former secretary of state Colin L. Powell danced to it at a London festival last year.'

Or will they be 'bing-bing boys' now?...

Brands spend squillions of pounds/dollars on advertising and 'brand building' but more than ever brands are appropriated by forces outside of their control.

HT to slashdot and Hugo Guzman

the devil's advocate

Just started reading The Ten Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelley of IDEO fame. On the jacket there's a quote from Seth Godin '...there's a nugget on every page'.

This is true, so far.

In the intro Tom talks about 'The Devil's Advocate'.

This is the person WE ALL KNOW, who - in new idea development sessions - says 'Let me just play Devil’s Advocate for a minute…' and then proceeds to be the force for negativity that manifests to crush new concepts and potentially innovative ideas before they have even had a chance to grow.

Tom says 'This person represents a subtle yet toxic danger to your organization’s cause, greatly diminishing the chance for innovation with their negativity and naysaying.'

Get this person out of the room, immediately.

Monday, August 03, 2009

business model for musicians

So it goes on. The music industry continues to find itself in a well documented pickle. Never fear. Bands, Artists, can still be a success, without big record companies, by following this simple plan.

Step 1.
Make something that touches peoples lives in some way. Make this objective you're number one priority. Remember, it don't mean a thing if it don't mean a thing. And It's not just the music. It's as much about how the rest of it resonates. Malcolm says ideally a mix of sex, subversion and style. OK Radiohead have none of those and they have done ok, but there's always an exception.

Step 2.
Find your audience. There's no shortcuts here. Organise your own gigs, club nights, events or whatever. Try and hook up with 2 or 3 other bands/artists working in broadly the same area as you. Once there are 3 bands you have a movement. Assuming each band has about 4 members and each member has 5 mates, then you should have a crowd for your gig of at least 60 people. To the outside world, and particularly the early adopters, it now looks like something is going on. If it's controversial, even better. If you are any good, it will start to snowball.

Step 3.
Remember step 1. If your product is worth it, then your fans will start to spread the word. Now is probably the time to have some music online that the fans can start to distribute for you. There's plenty of tools online for this. but don't get hung up on that. Keep focused on being amazing, and give people the opportunity to opt-in at every touch-point, so you can build your fan club.

Step 4.
Make some stuff for fans to buy. Ideally physical objects that cannot be easily replicated digitally. And make them limited editions. True fans will want to support you and will pay for stuff. Just not mp3s.

Create a movement, play for the true fans, give them stuff to buy, if you are any good the masses will soon find you.

Friday, July 31, 2009

the product IS the marketing #542 Yakkay brainwear

If I was an upscale urban hipster cycling daily through the metropolis I would certainly be having one of these stylish and talk-about-able cycling helmet covers by Yakkay.

They call it 'Brainwear for smart people'.

Might just get one anyway for when I'm taking my tractor out for a spin.
The khaki 'Tokyo' is doing it for me, would go with my colonial Daktari safari suit.

hat-tip (literally) to Becky in the office.

agile development

I think we all can relate to this in some way.

via BrandDNA

ignore everybody

Sam has kindly given me his free 2nd copy of Hugh MacLeod's book 'Ignore Everybody'.

Looking forward to devouring it over the course of a few commutes.

Simple 'viral' idea. Pre-orders (US) got an extra free copy to pass on to a friend.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

psycho-graphics, qu'est-ce que c'est?

Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa.. better.

Interesting piece in this mornings Harvard Business blog by Anthony Tjan on Psychographics.

Anthony says; 'Psychographic information reveals far more [than traditional demographics] about customers' preferences and purchasing habits.'

'If you understand how your customers interact with the world and what they value most, you are far more likely to be able to give them what they want. Ask them questions geared at their personalities and preferences. Use association-based questions, such as "If you were a car, what kind of car would you be?" The answers will help you better profile your customers so you understand which products they want and how to market them.'

Exactly.

This is why You can learn more about a person and their worldview from asking them their 3 favourite bands or movies than anything you can glean from their age, where they live or how much money they make.

Context. Or People, Passions and Situations - as I have mentioned before.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

the marketer's dilemma and morrissey

'In my life, why do I give valuable time, to people who don't care if I live or die...?"

A Morrissey nugget that encapsulates the marketer's dilemma as sagely reported by Doddsy, as follows.

'I heard industry practitioners speaking of clients worried about losing control of their messaging, obsessed with identifying those mythical influencers and, best of all, of the opinion that "the internet was only for people who love us or hate us - when we should surely be focussing on the indifferent masses."

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

digital etc

Found myself agreeing with Nigel Walley in last weeks new media age.
The word 'digital' in marketing has started to lose it's meaning.

He says; 'The minute a word shifts from adjective to noun you know it has had its day'.

Very true.

Digital newspapers, digital tv, digital music, everything online, and of course the mobile device makes everthing potentially interactive.

In fact just about every form of media you can think of is now created, distributed and consumed via digital 'channels'. Like the word 'viral'before it, 'digital' is now irrelevant. It's just media and things.

Worse still, now I think about it my own job title is now largely irrelevant.

Head of Digital is the equivalent of Head of knitted, or Head of pieces of paper or something.

Monday, July 27, 2009

gurus of new marketing #745 : the flashing blade

'It's better to have fought and lost, than not have fought at all'

Saturday, July 25, 2009

customer service again

'It's ironic that retailers and restaurants live or die on customer service, yet their employees have some of the lowest pay and worst benefits of any industry. That's one reason so many retail experiences are mediocre for the public.'
Howard Schultz : Starbucks Coffee Chairman

Relax Howard, the Goodge St branch are doing a good job.

hey! social media expert

The best answers are always preceded by intelligent, challenging questions.

Challenge yourself, challenge your brief, challenge the market, challenge conventions, challenge your client.

Understand different businesses have different strategic challenges and priorities.

We live in the real world, and this world is a combination of the analogue, digital, experiential, participatory, direct, indirect, active, passive, interruptive (!), and collaborative.

Any Tom, Dick, Harry or Social media expert can wheel out the latest 'shiny object' technology or platform, but to understand how and why people want to search, engage with brands, make decisions, transact and participate and consume means asking the right questions.

Especially of yourself and your own motivations.

(HT to Scott in our office who started this thought this morning)

Friday, July 24, 2009

nietzsche marketing #2

'You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star.'

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

hey drooper! take out the trash

Awesome piece of silliness from Never Get Out of the Boat's favourite mash up genius Mark Vidler aka Go Home Productions.

Heavily featuring the Dickies '79 punk-pop classic cover of the 'Theme from Banana Splits' it's a virtual 7inch single on Yellow vinyl, cut up and pasted up with numerous other samples (most notably a Rod Stewart cameo. Mark describes it as 'created under the influence of The Jamms / KLF / Coldcut / Steinski.'

Mark also has his new album out on 22nd July, titled "The Future, The Past & The Present Tension" it will be available as a free download form the main Go Home Productions site.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

gurus of new marketing #no number - patrick mcgoohan

'I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered.
My life is my own, I am not a number, I am a person.'

note: I see the remake of The Prisoner is scheduled for November in the US and early 2010 for the UK. Sir Ian McKellen is number 2 with James Caviezel (strange choice..?) in the McGoohan role as number 6.

Ther's a curious teaser site Seek the Six. I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to do.

Friday, July 17, 2009

noho(pe) square update....

The update is...there is no update.
I reported on the giant hole in the ground back in October last year.

It's still a giant hole in the ground...

Thursday, July 16, 2009

connect with fans #641 Soulja Boy Tell'Em

This iphone app (i can't link to it as it's US only on the itunes store, sorry) created for US rapper Soulja Boy Tell'Em allows fans 'remix' three songs and add extra samples, so they can be saved out as mp3s and then shared amongst other fans.

The interesting thing is - the app sells for $5 USD on itunes. Five times the price of a regular mp3 track. For the added value it's worth it for fans.

The trick is - you need the app to do the thing and the sharing.

Connect with fans + reason to buy = business model....again.

via Wired.

toally wired-uh

I'm getting impatient for the new football season, so had to dig out this clip again.
Classic nugget 'Tottenham Hotspur postponed-uh, West Ham United 1H - uh'

the role for brands in social networks

It's in the nature of social networks, subcultures, communities of purpose or whatever you want to call them, to be both mutually supportive, and commercial at the same time.
Brands looking to be attractive need to know where to play.

This is not just about online either. It's about being purpose-driven not technology-driven.

The simplest and best option is to look for situations and create value.
Through content, utility, helping people get to where they want to be, giving them something to do or a story to tell.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

the kids are alright

A few questions regarding the report published this week by Morgan Stanley Bank on media habits of teenagers.

The report was written by one of their summer interns, aged 15, and based on the media consumption of him and his friends. Clearly a representative sample of all teenagers.

Top-line nuggets:
They consume more media, but are not keen to pay for it.
They don't like intrusive advertising.
They are happy to chase content and music across platforms
and devices (iPods, mobiles, streaming sites).
Newspapers and printed media are viewed as irrelevant.
Events (cinema, concerts etc.) remain popular and will be paid for.
The convergence of gaming, TV, mobile and Internet is accelerating.
High-end smartphones are desirable but too expensive.
Texting is still key and use of data services limited due to cost.

As a source of insight, it has no real value, however.

Who are these teenagers?
White kids? Black kids? Asian kids?
13, 14, 15, 16, 17?
Middle class? Working class?
Do they live in cities? towns? villages?
Are they hip-hoppers, skaters, football hooligans, ballet dancers?
Are they posh kids who spend their summers working in banks or do they run around smashing windows and sniffing glue?

These kind of reports are interesting to a point but from a marketing perspective it tells you nothing.
Generational segmentation has long been a dead end.

A bunch of kids dressed in black with Converse and eye make up at a My Chemical Romance gig tells you something about fashion, culture, worldview and behaviour of a group.
That's a situation. Situations are something to market to, not demographics.

Pic courtesy of emo fashion

Friday, July 10, 2009

gurus of new marketing #474 malcolm mclaren

It's not necessary to be liked by everyone. In fact, that is a hinderance.
It's not about 'how many' you can 'reach' it's 'who' connects with the idea.

And often the key is not what you are 'for' it's about what you are 'against'.
In 1977 Malcolm and the Pistols were essentially 'against' everything else.

Saturday, July 04, 2009

i'm sending the wolf

To the pr company or social media experts on the #moonfruit twitter trending thing, you are probably all slapping each other on the back right now.

No 1 trending topic on twitter!

Twitter users have been bribed to mention #moonfruit hashtagged in every tweet for a chance to win a laptop every week for 10 weeks.

But i have to tell you - this is empty, useless, devoid of any engagement, pure eyeball harvesting, impression delivering same old same old, just using the tool de jour.

At the end of the ten weeks you will be back to square one.
No-one gives a shit. And you are ten laptops down.

Sad.

The real trending topic on twitter (though less visible than #moonfruit) is what some people are calling 'the corporatisation of twitter' (aka jumping the shark).

The stampede of brands apeing the celebrity-broadcast model - even PAYING for followers FFS - continues onto the platform.

It was good while it lasted, but i'm sending the wolf...

Friday, July 03, 2009

connect with fans revisited #5 man city fc

I like what the guy from Poke says about the new site they have just made for Manchester City Football Club.

'The ‘big ideas’ and principles of the site are tucked away – and they’re things that have been decided, with the client, for the sake of the fans (no display advertising, no paid for video, integrated ticketing / shopping basket). But it works. For real people. In ways that they understand and will actually use.'

The fans love it too.

Take note Aberdeen FC. In fact give me a call and i'll explain.

value creation #125

'All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development accorded the individual.' Albert Einstein

Thursday, July 02, 2009

connect with fans revisited #4 josh freese

Ex-Devo (and NiN amonst others) drummer Josh Freese has taken a nod fron Trent with the marketing of his new album 'Since 1972'.

As we reported back in Feb, among the many and varied fan packages available include one (only) for $10,000 which includes:

- Signed CD/DVD and digital download.
- T-shirt
- A spot on on Joe Escalante's Indie 103.1 radio show and talk about the package you just purchased. Maybe even play a few hot tracks.
- Signed DW snare drum from A Perfect Circle tour 2000-2001.
- Drum lesson or his and hers foot/back massage.
- We go to lunch at "Club 33" (super exclusive, private restaurant at Disneyland located above the Pirates Of The Caribean) and hit a couple rides afterwards (preferably the "Tower Of Terror, The TIki Room and The Haunted Mansion")

and...

- At the end of the day at Disneyland drive away in [my] Volvo. It's all yours.....take it. Just drop me off at home on your way out though please.

And if you are still not convinced, here's his ad for the Volvo.

normal service resumed

Following yesterdays blip into hippiedom with the chillis ramble, normal service is resumed with this zenpunksocialist nugget from Joe Strummer.

'It's all of us or none..'

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Umair Haque on Michael Jackson and the Zombieconomy

Take 5 mins to read this by Umair Haque on 'a zombieconomy, where little net value is created.'

excerpt:

'If the world's biggest pop star only made $25 million a year in total, something's very, very wrong. Where's the rest of the money? Why can't a resource as scarce as the King of Pop capture more value?

The world's top hedge fund 'managers' regularly pull in hundreds of millions. That's an order of magnitude difference.

No wonder everyone wants to be a banker, investor, or beancounter. There's no money left in anything else.

That's the big problem...We don't reward people for creating, growing, nurturing, or even remixing assets. We just reward them for allocating the same old assets.'

planting seeds...

In Seth's blog the other day he discussed Malcolm Gladwells challenge to the business model thinking in the new Chris Anderson book 'Free' ie In the digital marketplace, the most effective price is no price at all.

Gladwell asked 'how will this new business model support the world as we know it today?'

Seth says: 'Who cares if it does? It is. It's happening. The world will change around it, because the world has no choice. I'm sorry if that's inconvenient, but it's true.'

True.

If, like me, you spend a lot of time trying to propogate ideas that challenge the way that things have been done for a long time you invariably encounter strong resistance from those with agendas or processes that are inflexible or those for whom it suits to maintain the status quo. Thats they way of things and theres no point getting hung up about it.

Here's a thing.

Beside my desk at G-Towers has the sunny-est aspect, and is in effect a greenhouse of sorts, so is the ideal spot for the office chilli garden. There's 8 plants of different varieties.

Each plant was grown from seed.

One seed has within it the inherent potential, with the correct nuturing (light, feed, water) to turn into a plant that may produce a hundred or more chillis - each containing enough seeds to grow dozens more plants.

Once the plant flowers it's important to give it a shake in order to ensure the flowers pollonate themselves to turn into the spicy treats.

This acts as a constant reminder to me that the most important thing to do when trying to nurture the ideas we want to spread is to plant the seeds.

Then keep an eye on the ones that germinate, feed them and keep giving them a shake from time to time to make sure they grow the fruits. Once you've got a hot one then you know that contained within is the potential for further propogation that will happen all by itself...

The world will change...because the world has no choice.

tweet value adds :: tuesday 30th june

Twitter feed hits the $2 million mark for Dell http://ow.ly/gb2Z

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream [twitter utility] http://bit.ly/ukVoa via @splendidcomms ta

YouTube - DEADLINE post-it stop motion http://ow.ly/gaho

'The last thing marketers want to be doing is wasting their budgets on loyal consumers' http://bit.ly/IWL8i via @mrnews #analystFAIL

RT @Armano http://twurl.nl/h76gvf most coveted prize at Cannes went to an ad not made for TV + PR campaign broke record for most Grand Prix