Around the web, shiny new things for you to read.

A few things from the web worth checking out. Well, of course there’s a lot more, but here are things that (don't involve K-Fed) as a reader of this blog, you may appreciate.

1. Via honorary field agent Rett, The Ad Feed (also found in the Field Links section) is an aggregator for ad industry related content from providers such as Ad Age and Ad Week.

2. 37 Signals has a great (meta-) post about “flow.” If you are interested in designing a great customer experience, better understanding art, jazz, or building a unique identity, check it out.

3. As a reminder The Vulture is always a good read.

Megabus, a pragmatic travel option

Recently, a relative came to visit us from Chicago. She took Megabus and her roundtrip tickets only cost $16.00. When it comes to Midwest travel. That's a lot of bang for the bus.

Seth's take on a righteous restaurant

Recently on Seth Godin’s blog he talked about a restaurant where he enjoys to eating lunch, as the food is healthy and the restaurant allows substitutions and combinations of ingredients. I highlight the post because it’s another example of Righteous, Social, or Pragmatic frames for customer segments. You can read the entire post from Seth here.

He states: "People who care about what they eat go somewhere on purpose. People who don't care, go close or cheap."

In other terms, those that eat healthy are righteous about what they eat and where they go. People who are pragmatic (emotional detachment, ease of use, bang for the buck, etc.) about their choice “go close or cheap.” It's not always about money, but it is always about value.

Do you know your value proposition when it comes to your customer segments?


Takeaways:
1. Righteous, Social, Pragmatic positioning (Symbographics) offer ways to avoid scavenger hunts and the false hopes created by researchers trying to invent a new category of consumers.
2. Symbographics provide a richer understanding of your customers and will take you much further than demographics, psychographics or sociographics.

Volvo Asks…

Who would you give a Volvo to? If you’re Volvo, no one. What seems to be set up as a contest, to elicit responses “about the people you want to help protect by putting them in one of the safest cars on the planet,” is just another advert.

Their site was recently updated, after some recent backlash, to put “this isn’t a contest” on the flash dominated splash page. Previously, you had to dig into the FAQs to get this question and answer:

Is there a Volvo vehicle being given away as part of the "Who Would You Give A Volvo To?" campaign?

No. The WWYGAVT campaign is intended to make people think about the safety initiatives Volvo has taken in vehicle development and therefore why they would consider a Volvo for the special individuals in their lives.

C'mon, you're using the word "give" as you troll for submissions -- that's the base premise of many sticky, consumer-generated, community building, hubster kind of promotions.

As A Christmas Story, the Jean Shepherd gem, is just around the corner, this seems to be a be-sure-to-drink-your-Ovaltine type of promotion. When Ralphie waits and waits for his Little Orphan Annie secret decoder ring – now he can decode the message. What does Annie need? Poor Ralphie has his optimism dashed when it’s a promo for Ovaltine– “son of a bitch, a commercial.” I’m sure most of you know the scene, if not watch TNT for any span of time on December 24.

So back to Volvo, is this simply an awareness campaign? How does this drive or support their symbolic identity of safety? Is it a way to gather in-depth, robust, ethnographies about potential customers? Do prize pigs taint your data?

Too many questions, not enough Volvos.

The take aways:
1. Not all buzz is good buzz. Sure, we’re talking about you guys, but I don’t think this is going to convert into sales.
2. Related to “buzz,” awareness does not equate to sales or advocacy.

Cracker: Get off This, Virgin

I have to admit that I don’t pay attention to Tuesday’s new release schedule with the fervor and passion that I used to in high school and college. Perhaps, I’m getting older, or spending to much time in the iTunes, the iTunes store, or on Pandora. But, I saw this about Cracker on Seth Godin’s blog and thought I’d share. Cracker, who had a bit of a falling out with Virgin Records pulled a pretty funny stunt. Virgin, working to get more dollars out of the Cracker catalog, releases greatest hits album. Well, Cracker, on their new/own label, returns the favor by releasing Greatest Hits: Redux on the same day. The redux version has the same track listing. The twist? Redux has re-recorded versions of each song. Which one do think fans would purchase? It’s almost as entertaining as the Wilco saga with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Coincidently, Wilco and Cracker are two of my favorite bands and the way in which they've conducted themselves in the face of the record companies only strengthens my emotional connection to these bands. Oh, and I did by a copy of Redux on iTunes?

The marketing take-aways:
1. Don’t be jerks
2. Understand the power of community

A rising Tide of insult

Honorary field agent Rebecca, points us to Susan's recent post about Tide. When 25% more is well, kind of like 25% more than a container that doesn't have as much... How much more does it cost? Twenty-five percent more, silly.

In college, my brother worked for Bed, Bath & Beyond. Their circulars that would appear in the Sunday paper made it seem like something was on sale, but they were simply promoting awareness, but hoped that Ma & Pa Sucker would think that the promotion provided great savings.

Blogs & Flogs

Wal*Mart is in the middle of another consumer-generated media SNAFU.

Web log = blog
Fake blog = flog
Wal*Mart & Blogs = Flog SNAFU; a repeated pattern

Here’s a brand truth for you, most brand damage comes from within. When people or organizations don’t “walk their talk” there’s bound to be issues. While not all damage and mishaps are the same you have to appreciate the irony of some recent examples – Mark Foley and Edelman Worldwide. The case of former U.S. Rep Mark Foley (R – FL) has been well documented. The irony that he was making political hay crusading for children while it turns out that he really liked to cruise for kids. His symbolic identity is no longer grounded.

Here’s the skinny on Edelman from AdAge:

It's ironic that Edelman Worldwide helped to write the Word of Mouth Marketing Association's code of ethics, which states: "Honesty of identity: You never obscure your identity."

Richard Edelman has been apologizing a lot lately for his PR firm's blog -- written by a freelance writer -- in support of Wal-Mart.
Ironic, of course, because the independent firm was publicly slapped -- and publicly apologized -- for being the force behind the Wal-Marting Across America blog that was unmasked as a fake created and paid for by Edelman.

So, one that espoused truth and transparency didn’t want you to look behind the curtain. You can read more at AdAge or CNN.

How are customers of Edelman supposed to take them seriously?

Take aways:
1. Make sure your media channels and messages positively reinforce and enhance your symbolic identity. Wal*Mart still doesn’t get consumer generated media – ah, where have all the hubsters gone?
2. Most brand damage comes from within.
3. Don’t lie and don’t be a hypocrite.
4. Group think can happen anywhere.

T-Shirt Math, Printing Money Via Chicago

Honorary field agent CJT sends in this article from the Chicago Tribune (you may have also heard about it on 37 Signals. It’s the story of Threadless, a Chicago-based design and t-shirt shop that is building a community around it’s vertical product and service.

When I was in college at Iowa, my friends and I would joke about “t-shirt math.” Don’t over-complicate something, get it done and if it works, it works. We figured, as the article points out, that you could have t-shirts designed for about $5.00 each and sell them for $10-15. Gearing them for the college, rowdy football crowd groups they would have clever sayings like “Muck Fichigan” on them. For the most part, all were money makers. Enough about me, on to the team that is making this work and then some.

Threadless has utilized the net to improve this model and include designers into their community. Here’s the basic concept:

That idea: Conduct a running on-line T-shirt design competition. Take the winning des igns and print them on a limited number of shirts, as many as six new designs every week. Sell the shirts to the people who voted (and anyone el se on the mailing list or who visits the site). It's virtually no risk and, if you can build a community of users as large and loyal as Threadless', very high reward.

The article highlights some great insights about successful brands, communities, and understanding the symbolic space you wish to own.

1. They’ve embraced common-sense, not business school research.
2. They scaled back on promotions when they realized they “were spending too much time talking about what they do and not enough actually doing it.” In other words, they’re serving their customers and communities – talking to Target and Urban Outfitters doesn’t help them do that.
3. “They’re building and audience and selling them what they want.” They have a community around their brand and are gaining loyalty and grace. People (customers and designers) have used the product, formed an opinion, and are now advocates. Think diffusion of innovation.
4. My favorite quote from the article, highlights a post-modern element of the here-and-now phenomenon:

"T-shirts are such a fantastic medium," King says. "They're this instant sort of disposable notion of your own identity and you can change it at any moment.