Scott Goodson's Cultural Movements Blog

Your Best Just Got Better

I have to think back to Jim Collins and his famous book "Good to Great" on techniques to improve your performance in order to find a book that shook the foundation of my management thinking as much as Jason Womack's book has done.

I am an avid reader of performance literature and have managed my own global agency StrawberryFrog in three continents, with talent from across the world for over 13 years. I have had the pleasure of working with many talented managers and this new book "Your Best Just Got Better" has opened my eyes. It has guided me to the new realities of productivity.

The truth is - as Jason points out - that working longer hours doesn't make up for a flawed approach to productivity and performance. I remember how impressed I was while working with a famous German automobile manufacturer. How this Stuttgart based company's workers spent less time in the company compared to car brands that I had done advertising for in the UK or France, but the Germans achieved extraordinary results. This stayed with me. What more than culture makes this possible. Jason answers this for me in his book. Thank you Jason for this.

He has done an excellent job of collecting information and dispersing it in an entertaining and educational way. Right from the start the idea of defining your ideal day captures you. I never have done this and it makes you stop and ask yourself: "Do you even know what that is or if you've ever had one? Profound and nicely challenging.

The book shows you how to work smarter, think bigger, and make more of yourself. What makes Jason's book useful is that you don't have to read pages and pages to figure out the point he's trying to get across. The part of the book I especially enjoyed was all about thinking bigger. I mean who wants to think smaller these days? Jason tells us "You've got to believe" and he's right. If you don't there is no one else. Jason tells us it's deeper than just positive thinking. And his crucial point about not spending time with those who limit your thinking hits home to me.

As an added bonus, Jason presents "required" exercises in each chapter -- a wonderful collection of Olympic athletic coaching examples that are relevant to the topics discussed. And while the book uses the world class sporting world as frequent examples, it is really for everyone, every business leader, every leader of an organization...big or small, new or old. Highly recommended reading.

UPRISING. How To Build A Brand And Change The World By Sparking Cultural Movements.

UPRISING. How To Build A Brand And Change The World By Sparking Cultural Movements. By Scott Goodson. $16.98 on Amazon

“ Uprising is a must-read for anyone who wants to start a mass movement like Macintosh. Whether you’re one person with an idea or a global brand, Scott can show you the way to enchant, evangelize and enroll followers. ”

GUY KAWASAKI, AUTHOR OF ENCHANTMENT AND FORMER CHIEF EVANGELIST OF APPLE

“ Scott Goodson and his StrawberryFrog colleagues have found the secret to plugging into Purpose with a capial P: find out what moves people to action, then create a way to support and enhance that movement with your product, service or craft. I call that a winning strategy.”

DANIEL H. PINK, AUTHOR OF DRIVE AND A WHOLE NEW MIND
“ One of the smartest thinkers on branding on one of the most important developments in that critical intersection between culture and marketing. For any challenger needing to change the conversation about their category, Scott’s blueprint for creating, enabling and respectfully flourishing in a movement is essential stuff.”

ADAM MORGAN, AUTHOR OF EATING THE BIG FISH: HOW CHALLENGER BRANDS CAN COMPETE AGAINST BRAND LEADERS

“ Until now, cultural movements have been sporadic and random. Uprising reveals an insider’s look at how these movements actually occur — and, how to make them happen for your brand and your purpose.”

SALLY HOGSHEAD, AUTHOR OF FASCINATE AND CREATOR OF HOWTOFASCINATE.COM

Q & A with the author of Uprising, Scott Goodson:

Q: Why should marketers care about Movement Marketing? - (and is it different from social media marketing?)

Anyone with an idea or new product or brand should care because now anyone can create mass movements that can accelerate a brands rise to dominance with a Movement Marketing approach. It’s proven and it now can propel a brand or an idea across the globe.

Marketers should care because it is, in many ways, the future of marketing. For a variety of reasons discussed in the book – having to do with the rise of social media and other changes – conventional advertising is losing effectiveness. Brands must learn how to build a passionate following, AKA a movement. This involves much more than just doing social media marketing—though that is certainly one of the primary tools in the toolbox.

Q: Will Movement Marketing work in a country in which the primary electronic communication is conducted on a smartphone?

Movements need to be sparked with an idea on the rise in culture. Then tools can be used to spread this idea to a wider audience. In some societies this was done by word of mouth. Now mobile social media enabled phones makes it easier. Marketers and entrepreneurs can learn from the Uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt. Social media is mobile today. Most people access their social media via mobile not desk top.

Q: What should we take away from your experiences in Movement Marketing?

That it works. Every brand we’ve done this with – from a small Japanese athletic shoe brand all the way up to Procter & Gamble and PepsiCo – has seen the results of creating movements, and many of these companies have begun to shift their marketing models, based on this. Anyone can learn from this- a small entrepreneur starting a new social media brand or someone running for politics, a marketer or a CEO or people who want to be leaders in their community or their business.

Q: What was the biggest surprise writing the book?

The biggest surprise was that, as I was writing it, events happening all around the world seemed to be echoing the themes in the book. There were “uprisings” happening everywhere from the Middle East to my own town, in Manhattan with Occupy Wall Street - the Uprisings recently in Moscow. And while most of these were social movements, not marketing movements, they reinforced much of what I’ve always believed and known about movements in general. There’s a lot that marketers can learn from the events going on all around us today

Q: You’ve used the term “revolutionary times” to describe the period we’re living in – what does it mean for businesses to be operating in such a volatile environment?

It means they must embrace the change that’s happening – in these times, people will look to brands to be leaders and change agents. People will pay attention to how you conduct yourself, what you believe in, what you’re willing to take a stand on. If they like what they see, they’ll rally around your brand.

Who's Profiting From The Occupy Wall Street Movement?

Originally written for Forbes:

Whether OWS will ultimately have an impact on the issue of income inequality is hard to say. But one thing it has already achieved is to awaken in people to the power of movements. I believe many who’ve watched what transpired in Zucotti Park can’t help wondering, How can I be part of something like that? Or, Could I possibly help start something like that, based around an issue that matters deeply to me?

Among those asking this question will be activists, educators, politicians, community leaders, tech innovators, artists, concerned citizens—and business people.

That last group may seem out of place at the march. What does business have to do with movements? Aren’t movements such as OWS against business? Aren’t movements supposed to be about noble causes and higher purposes—as opposed to selling stuff?

Those are great questions that I’ll tackle in my upcoming book. I expect that when I’m done, some will still feel that business has no business getting involved with movements.

But here’s what I think. Movements—at least, the kind of movements that gather around positive, creative, dynamic ideas—can help build a better, fairer, more sustainable, and more interesting world.

Sometimes you can cross the line. It is matter of taste. When brands seem to be capitalizing where they should not be they may face a huge backlash. For example, on Friday, as I jaunted past the Body Shop enroute to Grand Central, I heard the store clerks bellowing out “Occupy Body Shop and get a 20% discount”. The place was hoping with styling and profiling execs and upwardly mobile office managers. Most of them leaving with socially acceptable cosmetics under the feel-good vibe of somehow being connected to the movement happening several blocks downtown. Outside others looked on in disgust at the frenzy inside.

I proceeded down Lexington, entered a packed terminal and hopped the train for home. Once onboard I checked out my 360 News App and read on Business Insider that Jay-Z plans a line of street wear, namely a T-Shirt blazoned with “Occupy All Streets” for profit through his Rocawear clothing line on sale now on his website. Business Insider said there were no plans to distribute any of the money generated from this to Occupy Wall Street Movement. Since this Insider post appeared rumors on the web suggest Jay-Z may be abandoning this idea after a major backlash of social media criticism.

There are surely others out there planning to market to and capitalize off the 99% like Daryl K who framed their sale after OWS (pictured here). And, most likely, over the coming days and months ahead many more will try the same. Perhaps a socially minded bedding company can market a line of comforters that when you buy one, another keep warm duvet will be donated to the activists chilling down in Zucotti Park.

Which brings me to one last point, aligning with a movement on the rise is in itself not necessarily wrong. It’s how you do it. Tom Shoes for example sells shoes and makes a profit, but in the process he helps impoverished children who have nothing to wear. In the end movement marketing gets results, but it’s got to have taste, authenticity and help to make a difference.

The Last Advertising Agency: A new film by Helen Pak

Check out this new film by former StrawberryFrogger Helen Pak here.

Pick up Glimmer

There's a new book that is worth your time. It's called "Glimmer" and is a new way of looking at design -- as a way of helping business, but also tackling some of the world's problems.

In the business part of the book, it also argues that "design is the new advertising" -- meaning marketing today has to be treated more like a cohesive design project than a series of one-off ads. Something StrawberryFrog has been aligned with since we started ten years ago.  

Here's a link to a blog all about the book.

Glimmer is written by Warren Berger who is a respected scribe who's written about our industry for a long while and is famous for capturing cutting edge agencies and campaigns for magazines such as Business 2.0 and Communications Arts. 

Glimmer spends time getting to know the designer Bruce Mau. Warren spent two years hanging around Mau and a dozen other of the world's top designers, studying how they think and solve problems. I spoke with Warren and asked him what he'd glimmered from Mau after all the time they spent together.

You have to read the book to find out the answer. His secret is probably just recognizing that advertising is not about graphics or how things look, etc. It's about "the human capacity to plan and produce desired outcomes." (Mau's definition of design).  And Glimmer tries to break it all down to plain English -- what is design, how does it work, what can the rest of us learn from how designers think. 

Where am I and why? The blurry aftermath of travel.

I’m in bed in my pajamas at the moment writing on my macAir, still dusty from too much airplane cabin air. I'm somewhere between Europe and New York, and early calls to Mumbai and Sao Paulo. Welcome to my day.

I just got back from Amsterdam and some other stops in Europe. Things are really starting to get homogenized out there. Lots of new Starbucks on lots of corners. Style is homogenized everywhere. I think it’s because of the force of the internet that is bringing us together as one. You could be in Amsterdam, Mumbai, Sao Paulo or New York and you see a really homogenized look happening. In Geneva there are the small old 1920s French bistros with hand drawn paintings of people of another world along with a delicious rösti a national dish (like a large latke) – but you have to look hard for it among the sushi bars. Talking about sushi, Japan is still a place you always see young people pushing the boundaries a lot in style, but overall fashion has become very conservative. The economic mood of the world has added to this. Flair is out, beige and black are in.

It used to be that traveling influenced a person’s style. Of course this still happens. Last week in Amsterdam I saw a very cool look of sneakers that I hadn’t seen before. I was very interested in these sneakers because they were hand painted, individually made for each consumer. It reminded me of an incredible shoe designer in India named Savia Jane who makes the most extraordinary sneakers, hand painted by hand.

When I started StrawberryFrog in Amsterdam with Karin, we used to travel with the agency every year someplace. Ballooning over the Ardennes, Marrakesh, Iceland, Istanbul – every year 100 frogs would gather from different places and conference while experiencing the local flavor and inspiration, visiting media companies, creative companies, inspiring clients and thinkers. Reykjavik was the craziest trip. Istanbul brought frogs from the Americas and Europe together.

Travel is a part of me and a part of the agency. Our clients are global so there's a lot of travel for meetings and for research and in new and different organizational structures. One assignment I've been working on is a huge ecommerce/social media site for a massive Brazilian beauty brand that will span three continents. Lots of airmiles and hotel breakfasts behind that work.

Traveling has always been a passion. I have time to think more when I travel. But travel is a double-edged sword. I am sure that anyone who travels with work knows how lonely it can be when you’re wide awake in the Park Amsterdam hotel at 3 am in the morning in between two important client presentations. The hotel has recently undergone a massive renovation and was a delight to stay in. But I really do love the people I work with – they are truly inspiring especially when we are traveling, and we can laugh together when we are on the road delirious from lack of sleep and too many short haul flights and bad coffee.

One inspiration for me is Peter Beard the incredible African photographer who captures the adventure of travel, the way one must have it in your mind when you’re off to some new and distant land. It’s incredible to have his words and images in mind. There’s an amazing hotel in Arles France of all places that has one of the best original collections of his work, called Nord Pinus. A gem of a place.

Well…here’s to melatonin, and off to dreamland.