Karin Gottschalk used coined this great phrase to refer to what she sees as “the inertia and lack of desire for better things” in Australian society. Linked in to this concept are the “Cult of Cheap” and “The Lust for Mediocrity.”

I think these are possibly common across much of the Western (and Western-wannabe) cultures on this planet.

Consider how as consumers we value:

Quantity over quality – a badly …

I took these pictures of a small expo of televisions in a shopping centre. There were three stalls – each displaying the latest TV offerings from a different brand name manufacturer. Can you guess which ones were from which manufacturer?

How similar these products look to each other! Removing the logos that were plastered all over the place essentially turned these products into anonymous lumps …

A brand is an “thing” on its own. To be served by people, and which is in turn served up to other people (whether they want it or not). It is otherwise hollow and ephemeral, based on a set of manufactured fantasies. It is an end in itself.

A brand can also simply be a handle (or a name) used to conveniently refer to a set of ideals, principles, …

If you are in anyway working in the non-profit sector, this post by Seth Godin is a must read: In Defense of Raising Money: a Manifesto for NonProfit CEOs.

Hey, if you running your own business, or care about Brand You, this is worth a read too.

Thanks Mia for the heads-up!

According to the article How cat has earned Japanese city millions in the Sydney Morning Herald, Tama the cat’s contribution to the local economy is estimated to be as much as Y1.1 billion ($A13.5 million) in 2007.

I can’t help but wonder – had the idea of using a cat mascot been presented to the city as a marketing/branding exercise, would they have …

The following quote from “The Power Of Intention – Learning To Co-Create Your World Your Way” Dr. Wayne W. Dyer is worth meditating on:

“falling in love with what you are offering, and then selling your love … to potential customers.”

Do you love what you do?
What do you love most about what you do?
Do you love your customers?

This Discovery Channel ID piece always makes me feel good.

And there is nothing in it that is in-your-face about the product (ie the Discovery Channel). The focus is primarily on the emotions and the positive message. It takes confidence to do something like this. And a clarity about the vision of the organisation, what it stands for, …

In a departure from the conservative norm, recent TV ads for the Honda Accord Euro showed almost no visuals of the car.

Instead it focused on the value proposition for the customer. The sense of freedom and joy of driving. Most of the ad showed a man with arms out-stretched flying across the rolling countryside.

Nice.

A saw a truck today belonging to a cosmetics company. The tagline painted under their logo was “The science and nature of keeping you young”.

The cosmetics industry appears to be divided into the science and all-natural camps. A tagline like this struck me as an attempt to cover all bases.

Consider this tagline: “Eat all you can and still lose weight.”

Not very believable is it?

Lipton in Australia has long run a very successful series of ads linking tea with antioxidants. The inculcated “choice” for consumers has been – tea is good (because it has antioxidants); and thus by inference coffee is less good.

In Singapore, Nescafe is currently running large bus stop ads championing the antioxidant benefits of instant coffee!

The interesting thing for me was how much I had bought in to the …