On a wall in the Danish Design Centre in Copenhagen:

“Did you know that the Danish airport in Aalborg constructed a new and completely ad-free airport terminal in 2001 as a part of a new customer care concept?”

How is THAT for a brave WOW concept?

Having travelled through several international airports recently, it is interesting to note the plethora of America Express booths set up in the departure areas.

Airports are high traffic places with a captive audience and loads of eyeballs - ideal from a PR point of view.

But how many of us actually want to make decisions about our finances in a situation where the following emotions run high? Separation, excitement, busy-ness, …

In yet another excellent post on his blog, Tom Kay asks “Are you just a resource?”

Learning to treat people as people, instead of a functional a-emotional cog, is probably the biggest and most critical paradigm shift businesses in the industrialised world need to make. Now.

The fuel for commerce in this new century is ideas and imagination. Accessing these quintessentially and fundamentally human qualities requires respect, care, …

See Tom’s great post: Style Over Substance.

Businesses often see advertising as the easy way out. They effectively stop thinking, and instead outsource this weird thing called “creativity” to advertising (or branding or design) agencies.

Creative agencies work in a specific subdomain within your business - the one concerned with making your business look/sound/feel great. And many of them do it very well. It is the business directors’ …

Here’s a quick way to work out if you can trust the company you are about to do business with.

Ask yourself this question: Can I leave an elderly relative of mine (that I am fond of!) with this person and walk away for a few hours without any concerns whatsoever?

This is especially effective if you are evaluating the leader of a company. If you cannot picture company X’s …

… to the Law of Causality by Jennifer Rice

“…making money is an effect of a primary cause, ie. selling something that people want.”

“Too many companies … are focused on the effect, not the cause. Their objectives are to be “the leading provider of xyz service” or to “generate x million by 2006″.”

“For companies to be loved by their customers, they must be loveable. And they must …

The marketing department has the cool furniture, the bright colours on the walls. We are creative. Anything is possible. We think outside the square. We are pretty cool.

Operations and finance has the dull gray walls and the monochrome functional furniture. We are in control. Nothing is changing. All is well. We are in charge. We know absolutely what is happening next.

What if these two departments were to swap …

A few days ago, I got this phone call:

[Ring Ring]

Zern: Hello, Zern Speaking … Hello… Hello???
Caller: [click] He-Lo. This-Is-An-Im-Portant-Mess-Age. Please-Hold. [whirl]
Zern: [Realisation: It's an f**ing machine! Ringing me to put me on hold!]
Caller: [Suicide-inducing music]

[A couple of minutes or so passes.]

Caller (human): Hello. Can I speak to Mr or Mrs Williamson please?
Zern: Who are you?
Caller: Are you Mr Williamson?
Zern: Who are you?
Caller: Is Mr Williamson there please?
Zern: WHO …

In far too many instances, getting paid by the number of years one has spent within the ranks of an organisation is as logical, and as sensible, as getting paid by one’s weight.

I’m having another doughnut…

Have you noticed the increasing number of TV ads selling pure “feel” lately?

The most recent one is a dog food ad that talks about “a national holiday for dogs”, amongst many other feel-good things about dogs, with plenty of “awwww” shots of dogs being dogs… but NO product features, NO lists of added vitamins, No spin on quality, NO spiel of shiny coats and stronger bones, NO product …