Essentially the book details a series of choices that we all need to make, you guessed it, every Monday morning. There are 12 choices broken down in Personal, Action and Investment choices. I won’t summarize those for you here. but thought I would provide a few key thoughts and quotes. I hope you find these as motivating and inspirational as I have:

• My success increases or decreases in value every day on the basis of my choices

• We must believe that what we are doing is important enough to stay the course

• Unsuccessful people quit before they have a chance to succeed

• Every day, ask: Did I get any closer to accomplishing my goals today or did I lose ground?

• Placing blame only adds to our stress because it puts someone else in control of the problem

• The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth. And, once we get in a rut we must stop digging.  Intending to get out of a rut does not count.

• There are only two things in life, reasons and results and reasons simply don’t count

• Your courage is ultimately measured by how much it takes to discourage you

• You must allow your attitude to control conditions rather than letting conditions control your attitude

• If you want to be happy, put your effort into controlling the sail not the wind

And a few quotes:

• You can’t build a reputation on what you are gong to do:  Henry Ford

• Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there. Will Rogers

• Mistakes are easy, mistakes are inevitable but there is no mistake as great as the the mistake of not going on.  William Blake

And so my friends, move forward no matter what.

Have a great week.

Among the findings:

•    Sixty-nine percent of respondents report that their companies have gained measurable business benefits by deploying Web 2.0 tools. Benefits include:
1.    More innovative products and services
2.    More effective marketing
3.    Better access to knowledge
4.    Lower cost of doing business
5.    Higher revenues
•    Successful companies not only tightly integrate Web 2.0 technologies with the work flows of their employees but also create a “networked company” linking themselves with customers and suppliers through the use of these tools
•    Median level of gains derived from internal Web 2.0 use ranged from a 10 percent improvement in operational costs to a 30 percent increase in the speed at which employees are able to tap outside experts
•    The more heavily used technologies are blogs wikis and podcasts
•    An organizational structure that’s more porous and networked may make companies more resilient and adaptive, sharpening their ability to access knowledge and thus innovate more effectively
•    Three aspects of management were particularly critical to superior performance:
1.    A lack of internal barriers to Web 2.0
2.    A culture favoring open collaboration
3.    Early adoption of Web 2.0 technologies
•    Among respondents whose companies have gained measurable business benefits from Web 2.0, the current downturn has increased interest in the technologies, presumably because companies count on extending their gains

I was pleased to see this report for a couple of reasons.

First, as we tell our clients, you have to take a strategic approach to Web 2.0. This is not just about putting up a Facebook page or sending out a couple of Tweets. It’s also not just about communicating with end users. Companies need to take a broad 30,000 look at the way they communicate outside the firewall with customers, inside the firewall with employees and through it with suppliers and then decide what they want to accomplish in social media. This integrated approach is more complicated but as the study shows, it pays off.

Second, is the holy grail of ROI. The cacophony around whether or not social media can be measured is deafening. As the study shows however, measurable gains can be found by executing customer, employee and supplier social media strategies.

In addition to the survey report, McKinsey also has this nifty little interactive tool that shows, among other measures, key Web 2.0 tools, who the users are, expected future investment and satisfaction levels. Very cool.

The speaker was a young SAP marketing executive who had been with the company for ten years. His credentials were most impressive and I eagerly settled in to absorb the wisdom he was about to impart.

He started by telling us at length how vital SAP was to the world economy, going as far to say, without even the faintest trace of a smile, the world would come to an end if SAP went out of business. Consequently, since SAP was ubiquitous he continued, the company has never really had to do any marketing other than an occasional whitepaper. However, with the introduction of Net Weaver and the considerable angst its introduction would cause customers, SAP decided that some degree of marketing was now required.

Instead of taking the usual, highly technical whitepaper path, our speaker came up with the career-changing idea of writing Net Weaver for Dummies.  We now had the big idea of the meeting: How do you get someone to pay to hear your message? Write a book. OK. Interesting. Unfortunately, at this point the presentation started careening downhill while gathering considerable speed.

Rather than champion the idea of creating value for the customer through this book, the word the presenter used over and over again was “Brainwash”.  We were told that ostensibly the book was positioned as a helpful manual however it was simply poorly written marketing collateral designed to indoctrinate readers. Not surprisingly, the book did well and led our presenter to author several other non-Dummies books including a business-school book for MIS classes, a collaborative tribute to the SAP CEO and a tome about transforming business networks.

On the surface, one would think that each of these books has merit and I am sure they do. However, what has affected me still several days later, is the presenters’ continual emphasis that the benefit of these books is to brainwash the reader into behaving the way that SAP wants them to:  college students, current customers, business executives all being brainwashed by this simple marketing tactic that we were told we should all employ. Now, I am not naïve and certainly understand the purpose of marketing in any form is to convince and persuade. However, never have I heard such a self-congratulatory flouting of this idea.

He closed by saying that all business books “suck”. But, they were so simple to write that even we could do it and by doing so, we would become experts and thereby grow our business.  Thank you very much. I’ll be here until Tuesday. Don’t forget to tip your waitress.

As someone who has been doing real marketing communications for the past 20+ years all I can say is that I was stunned. Does this very smart, highly capable fellow have absolutely no idea about what has been transforming marketing over the past several years? No clue that bottom up collaborative communication and engagement with customers has replaced antiquated command and control strategies?

Of course this is not going to hurt SAP. Their customers are not going to revolt, they are not going to go out of business and the world is not going to come to an end. However, social media is giving power to customers. This in turn is forcing even the largest company to reconsider the way it engages. In SAP’s case, we have brilliant PhDs in Computer Science in senior marketing positions that are actually now having to market.  The resultant, highly cynical approach just goes to show have far some still have to go.

I have casually watched their marketing efforts over the years and as our company’s focus is on integrating social media with traditional marketing, I was particularly interested to see their recent “Woody” social media effort.

It was good to see some solid integration between television and the web but I must say when looking at the pieces together, I was left a bit confused. The TV spot that can be seen here (voice over is out of sync), shows Woody and two buddies enjoying some new menu items. Woody then goes on to explain the promotion: if he gets half a million fans on Facebook by September 30, everyone gets a free burger. OK pretty straightforward with an expected offer. Let’s go to the web. Well, the URL pops up twice at the beginning of the TV spot but not when the actors are talking about the promotion (this is remarkable really since getting the creative team to list a URL once can be difficult). However, when the promotion is explained in the middle of the commercial there is no further mention or display on screen of the URL. Since I can’t remember the specific URL, I go to Friday’s corporate site.

At Fridays.com, I see two links to become a fan. I would imagine both support the same page, but they take me to two different fan pages, one to Woody’s page and the other to a corporate Friday’s page with no mention of Woody. Assuming the Woody promotion is most likely short lived, I would think Friday’s would want those 500,000 fans on a Friday’s page (I know Woody’s page is owned by Friday’s but can Friday’s market to those fans once Woody’s page goes away?)

In any event, Woody’s page is doing quite well with over 820,000 fans (Friday’s not too bad either with over 280,000). Looks like we’re all getting a free burger. But wait a minute, on Friday’s home page it says that he needs 1,000,000 fans for us to eat free. Huh? Which is it, 500,000 or 1,000,000? When I go to the media room on Fridays.com I find a video from Woody (thought he was just a regular guy not associated with Friday’s) saying that since he already passed 500,000 fans he convinced Friday’s to let him go for 1,000,000 (first 500,000 still get their burger). But really, how many consumers are going to go to the media page to figure this out? And by the way, the TV spots still say 500,000.

So where does this leave us? Think Friday’s did a decent job of cross media integration, but made a bit of a mess of the execution. Glad to see the brand trying and apparently they are getting considerable consumer response. However, in order not to confuse and alienate fans, they need to do a better job of tactical execution throughout the promotion as well.

What do you think?

I have been living in the same neighborhood for 14 years and have a Radio Shack less than half a mile from my home. In 14 years I have been there no more than five times. Alternatively, there is a Best Buy, Microcenter and there used to be a Circuit City and CompUSA within about five miles. I have been to each of those considerably more often than The Shack. And yet, every time I have gone to The Shack I have found what I was looking for; batteries, a computer cord, camcorder tape etc. Certainly not big-ticket items but what I needed for a good price.

Similarly, there is a monstrous Home Depot within walking distance to my house. There have been numerous occasions when they did not have what I was looking for, again typically small items like mantles for a gas lamp. Each time I am turned away, I drive down the street to my Shack-like neighborhood hardware store, C&S Hardware, and virtually every time, they have what I need – in the case of the gas lamp mantles, they had three different kinds!

So, the more I have thought about it, perhaps there is a place for The Shack. Maybe they can even get the B-52s for their launch campaign. The idea may not be about going after the big guys on laptops but rather providing the neighborhood with a friendly place to find the basics, kind of like a Cheers for small consumer electronics.

Last Friday, I drove down to The Shack to find out what their employees thought about the new name.  My expectations were not high. I assumed the employees wouldn’t even know what I was talking about. However, when I walked in, there was a huge banner behind the counter emblazoned with The Shack. I asked the salespeople about the campaign and they were all knowledgeable and stated that customers have been calling it that for years so the change made sense to them. While they were not particularly gung-ho they were aware so kudos to The Shack’s internal communications group.

With CircuitCity and CompUSA gone and Best Buy selling 50” big screens for $9.99, there seems to be some confusion in the consumer electronics game. So we’ll see. Can Radio Shack make itself relevant by essentially retreating into The Shack? It’s a risky gamble but there is something to be said in today’s economy for the little guy that knows your name and where there is a high likelihood that you will find those odds and ends you are looking for, even if it is only a couple of batteries or a computer cord.

We picked the restaurant and decided to start someone else first for a drink. Growing up in Greenwich, we were members of the Belle Haven Club. My parents kept their membership after we all went our separate ways but of course after they passed away their membership ended. The Belle Haven Club is beautiful. It is set right on Long Island Sound and the views across the water and the neighborhood in which it is set is spectacular. We all have many found memories of our time at the Club including lazy summer afternoons at the pool, tennis and sailing lessons, New Year’s Eve dinners, rehearsal dinners, wedding receptions and both of my parent’s receptions after their funerals.

We decided that a glass of champagne at sunset down at the Club would be the perfect farewell to my parents, but as we no longer had a club membership and cash was not accepted we figured it would be a long shot.

With nothing to lose, I called the Permittee of the Club, Neil MacKenzie, introduced myself as the son on the Lee’s, told him why I was in town, and asked if there was anyway we could come down to the Club for a drink. Without a moment’s hesitation, Neil said, of course, drinks were on him and please to ask for him when we arrived.

Upon arrival, we were greeted warmly (we had met Neil several times before), grabbed a terrific table outside on the water and were brought a complementary bottle of champagne along with an unexpected offer to dine at the Club that evening, on Neil.

Now as my family had spent quite a few dollars at the Club over the years, perhaps this offer was not that exceptional. However, what was exceptional was the fact that since we all lived hundreds if not thousands of miles away from Greenwich, there was not the slightest possibility that the Club or Neil was going to get another penny from any of us in the coming years.

In today’s cynical world where every gesture is examined to find out “what’s the catch”, Neil’s gestures were truly remarkable.

We took Neil up on his offer for dinner and he has my heartfelt thanks for making our last visit to Greenwich a truly memorable occasion in the memory of John and Rebecca Lee.

It was good to get away for a while as the cacophony around social media is becoming deafening. I suppose I should be pleased as this is the focus of my business but it is far too easy to become jaded by the non-stop news coverage and ever expanding list of specious social media experts.

As I settled into our mountain hideaway (actually my in-laws house but a hideaway nonetheless) and started venturing out into the wilderness, I discovered a different kind of social networking that is literally as old as the hills.

In the San Juan Mountains, you don’t have to go far to discover MySpace or to enjoy a facebook group. In the lovely town park every afternoon, there are plenty of Flickr examples and on the day we ventured up to Crested Butte, I found one YouTube that I wouldn’t be caught dead on (actually if I took the first step on skis, I would be found dead on it). And, after a day out in the mountains, every feed is del.icio.us.

We had the truly special opportunity to be in Lake City for the fourth of July. I honestly though I was living in the “Willoughby” episode of the Twilight Zone.  I found myself once again in a simple, perfect little mountain town in the middle of nowhere living the true benefits of social networking and Twitter as they have been played out for generations. No doubt about it, I can certainly Digg it.

After two weeks of this idyll, I was actually looking forward to getting back to Dallas re-energized by the true spirit of what genuine and authentic community can deliver – open, unfiltered communication, transparent intentions, effortless collaboration and much stronger and stable relationships.

When browsing the site today, this post caught my eye:

I need help resolving online complaints about my company. Three disgruntled customers have trashed our name on several websites (yahoo, google, yelp). Please help me get the worst comments taken off or at least buried with good reviews. I am new to guru.com; please state what you can and are willing to do, how long it might take and how much it might cost. Thank you!

So, here is someone who has heard from his customers via social media.  What is the company’s reaction? Pay someone to remove or “bury” the negative comments and flood these sites with (probably specious) positive reviews.

Alternatively how about listening to what your customers are saying? Negative reviews can be more helpful than positive ones.  Assuming the complaints have merit, fix the business! Then, reach out to detractors, engage with them, let them know that you are concerned about their comments and have addressed them accordingly. Build a two-way, authentic and honest relationship with customers.

Even if this poster finds someone who is willing to sacrifice their ethics to take this job, the negative reviews will not stop if the product or service is indeed inferior.  And, most likely, it will be discovered that the new slew of positive reviews were seeded. Once this happens, the few existing negative reviews will only be the tip of the iceberg.

Several weeks ago I was reading The New York Times, and I saw a retail ad for Saks Fifth Avenue dominated by the words “WANT IT!”  This campaign was obviously an attempt to awaken consumers from their recession-induced stupor and move them up Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs from needs to wants.  Now, even though the campaign was running in a publication like the Times and was targeting an affluent audience, it still seemed to me to be incredibly out of touch with what most consumers are dealing with today, decimated retirement accounts, deflated real estate values an considerable uncertainty about the future.

I was pleased to see The Economist share my point of view in an article from this week’s edition on consumer buying psychology.

The article postulates that unlike past hits to the economy and spending, conspicuous consumption may not bounce back like it has consistently before. Three primary reasons were given for this:
1.    Banks will be more careful when determining who gets credit
2.    Many consumers will be focused on rebuilding savings first
3.    Consumers will be much more circumspect when using credit to buy affluence, as millions have done in the past

The second primary point is that distrust of big business continues to increase as million dollar bonuses are paid to those that got us into this mess and industry after industry looks to taxpayers for bailouts.

The implications are that companies and brands will have to be more transparent with consumers than before and that consumers will severely punish companies that fail to keep their promises. Companies will also have to empathize with customers and move from “passion” to “compassion” in their marketing communications.

The article concludes with the point of view that these trends will accelerate the use of social media. Consumers will continually and increasingly look to social media to find ratings and recommendations on products and services from other users to balance the information they receive from marketers.

The recession has driven consumers to reappraise the value they receive from brands. Simply telling them to “WANT IT!” may not be enough. Savvy marketers should be using social media themselves to directly engage with customers, listen to their concerns and provide better and more insightful products and services as a result.

Prior to our arrival, I received a form email response confirming our reservation but with no acknowledgement of my comments.  A second, non-personalized email showed up the day of our reservation asking us to cancel the reservation in the event that we could not make it.

When we arrived at the restaurant, about a third of its eleven tables were filled. No other diners showed up after us so this was not a particularly busy night. We were greeted rather coldly and not by name and were ushered to a table in the middle of the room.  The female greeter ended up waiting on us as well. At no time did she ask our names or indicate any interest in our visit other than our order.  I asked for the owner of the restaurant since he knew my parents and was informed that he was not working that night.  As it turned out our waitress was his wife. Still, no recognition of what brought us to their restaurant that night.

About halfway through the meal, when my wife had left the table, I could contain myself no longer and asked if the waitress knew who we were and that this evening was a special occasion.  She said, rather offended, “yes, I greeted you (although she had never referred to us by name) and gave you a nice table.  We didn’t want to make too much hoopla over the occasion.”  I left it at that. For the rest of the meal there was no further mention of our anniversary even when my wife returned to the table.

Finally, at desert each of our plates had one ordinary, striped birthday candle presented to us with a dispassionate “Happy Anniversary”.  That was it. No further conversation, congratulations or any mention of my parents’ patronage. When I retuned home, I received another non-personalized form email that simply said, “Thank You”.

So, what does this have to do with social media?  Everything.  Brands of all kinds from multi-billion dollar conglomerates to single chain fine dining establishments have the opportunity to engage their customers in genuine, authentic two-way conversations.  However, if you are going to invite customers to talk to you, even in a “comments” box on your website, you need to pay attention to what is being said and respond appropriately.  If not your “in-authenticity” will be evident and your customers will spread the word with astonishing rapidity.

I recently had a conversation with an agency client who said that one of his clients wants to try social media for a few months and if it doesn’t work, then move on to something else.  This is a disaster waiting to happen.  It you let customers know that you want to hear from them, want to engage in a meaningful dialog and then ignore their entreaties the end results will be worse than if you never attempted to engage at all.

As for our meal, the food was wonderful.  However the experience that I had been expecting was fully unrealized leaving a considerable bad taste in my mouth.  For anyone looking for an exceptinal fine dining experience in Greenwich, Connecticut this place will come to mind but my appraisal will always end with a completely avoidable, but…