Making Message Sense
The brands that Resonate, to say it like Nancy Duarte, are those that have taken the time to know and understand the customer so they can surprise and delight. The messages that make an impact have been thought through.
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Apple Thinks Different for Christmas. Ken Segall: Most of these people mistake their personal opinion, instinct, values and/or taste for actual marketing talent. There are tens of millions of people who will stop in their tracks at this commercial and wipe a tear from their eye. As a result, they will feel slightly more attached to Apple, which is the marketing purpose of this spot. Far from depressing, this ad is wonderfully optimistic. In the most human terms, it says that the right technology can bring people closer together. It’s a perfect thought for the holidays.
- Attention, Rhythm, & Weight. Stet: without a common language for describing what works and what doesn’t, our work isn’t being pushed or explored further. I see example after example appearing online, that people have clearly spent time and thought into making, which cover the same ground and also share the same mistakes.Experimentation is great if you’re learning. If you’re not, it’s just expensive. The words we’ve been using so far, like “intuitive” and “immersive,” are overloaded with meaning. Let’s drop them. What are we really trying to say? By pulling these words apart, we may find more precise ways that pinpoint the different problems we are trying to solve.
Making Product-Market Fit
Looking at opportunities residing in knowing and understanding your market to develop products that fit that market.
- Amazon 5 Bold Predictions for 2014. CNet: Known for its willingness to play the long game, Amazon often goes through cycles of large investments before reaping the rewards, and 2014 will be another year when the company "percolates," said NPD analyst Marshal Cohen.
- 2014 in Review: Facebook's Very Bad Year. Augie Ray: In 2014, the sharing economy continued to grow, with firms like Airbnb, RelayRides, LendingClub and Prosper posting solid growth despite considerable challenges with the legal and regulatory environment and with slow consumer adoption. Meanwhile Facebook, the firm most responsible for bringing Web 2.0 services to the masses, has continued to sit on the sidelines of the sharing economy. While startups innovate with new and lucrative ways for the peer-to-peer (P2P) economy to grow, Facebook is mired with a stalling Web 1.0-style business model.
Making it Beautiful
- The 2013 National Geographic Photography Contest Winners. National Geographic: [from the interview with the Grand Prize winner] What I do appreciate is how contests can bring storytelling photographs to a wider audience, and how they can captivate an audience of millions to see the natural world’s fragile beauty, and to motivate them to take an active interest in experiencing and protecting it.
- Desktop Wallpaper Calendars: December 2013. Smashing Magazine: As designers, we usually turn to different sources of inspiration. As a matter of fact, we’ve discovered the best one: desktop wallpapers that are a little more distinctive than the usual crowd.
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Valeria is an experienced listener. She designs service and product experiences to help businesses rediscover the value of promises and its effects on relationships and culture. She is also frequent speaker at conferences and companies on a variety of topics. Book her to speak here.