@kdoohan blog

Red Bull BC One - The 4 elements of Hip Hop

Kevin Doohan — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:45:11 +0000

Check out these new videos from Red Bull describing the four elements of Hip Hop. They're awesome & I'm very proud of them. Each video briefly describes one of the four elements of Hip Hop: Voice (from Kid Sister), Circle (from Bboy Ronnie), Line (from Zulu Gremlin), and Spiral (from DJ Tina T). I'm really pleased with the way the graphics came together, how these communicate the concepts so well in a short amount of time, and how each captures the personality of the talent describing the element. Good stuff & definitely worth of sharing. Way to go Aaron!

Making Time Off Predictable - and Required

Kevin Doohan — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:26:15 +0000

It seems that Harvard Business Review is the read that inspires me most often to write blog posts. It's happened again after reading the October 2009 issue last night. There's a great article in there called "Making Time Off Predictable - and Required". I won't copy/paste it all here because I don't want to be accused of being a "content kleptomaniac" (thanks Rupert Murdoch for coining that one).

I am going to steal and post a single graphic from the article below. I cannot resist and maybe..it will inspire you to purchase the whole thing or to find a friend who subscribes and will share their October 09 HBR issue.

For me, the most notable gap between experiment teams (who had mandatory time away from work) and typical teams was in the "open communication" category. It's fascinating and somewhat counterintuitive that if you remove someone from the team and replace him/her 20% of the time it improves communication. But thinking about it, of course it does. You're building dialogue into the process. Teammates must communicate because they know they will really not be able to reach others during time off. The handoffs and status updates before taking time off have to be good for the team to succeed with the project. So cool and so thought provoking... How can you apply this idea where you work?

Red Bull mountain bikers are on a boat!

Kevin Doohan — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:56:51 +0000

Another example of Red Bull's always innovative approach to marketing. Several of the world's best mountain bikers enjoy showing their skills on a course made from 1800 cubic yards of dirt on a 290-foot long barge in the San Francisco bay.

Red Bull Soapbox Race, ATL & LA coming up!

Kevin Doohan — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:58:30 +0000

The fact that Red Bull *creates* events versus simply sponsoring them makes each event really special. Energy is building this week on the US team for a couple Red Bull Soapbox Race events coming up. Red Bull Soapbox Race Atlanta is this weekend, August 19. Red Bull Soapbox Race Los Angeles follows on September 26.

Always wacky, always brimming with consumer passion, and always surprising...Red Bull Soapbox Race events are a really fun time. I recommend you check out Red Bull Soapbox Race if you're in Atlanta or LA on the dates they run. I was inspired to write this post by the video below which is team "Toto's Escape from LA" practicing for the 9/26 LA event. So cool to see our racers getting stoked about the competition and having dangerous fun practicing on public roads.

Toto's Escape From LA reaches 55 mph on a practice run
(actually they're at 30 mph in this video but reached 55mph further down the hill)

Red Bull Soapbox Race iPhone App released today

If you have an iPhone, check out the Red Bull Soap Box iPhone game. It was just released today in the Apple App Store and it's a riot. There is a free version so you can check it out and if you like it, you can upgrade to the paid version that contains several different cars and tracks.

I will not boycott Whole Foods

Kevin Doohan — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 18:14:03 +0000

I read about the Whole Foods boycott this morning on mashable. The boycott is also featured in today's New York Times. Apparently, there are over 22,000 members in a facebook group supporting a boycott of Whole Foods based on comments made by John Mackey, Whole Foods' CEO, about proposed government healthcare reforms. Mackey's comments in an August 11 Wall Street Journal piece are linked here.

For the record, I'm in favor of healthcare reform. There's just something inherently wrong with our system today. It's built to deliver profits to corporations, not to deliver care for citizens. I'm sure there is no such thing as a perfect new program but we have to do something. Inaction assures the status quo continued.

So the CEO of Whole Foods has an opinion that isn’t the same as many of his customers. Is this really a problem? Is this really a reason to harm the thousands of Whole Foods employees across the United States via a boycott? What do the boycotters expect from Whole Foods? For Mackey to step down? For Mackey to publicly state he changed his mind and has seen the healthcare light? It’s so silly it’s laughable. I appreciate Mackey sharing his thoughts. As a Whole Foods customer, I’m glad to see that the organization is led by a thoughtful, confident individual.

Social media makes it way too easy for an small inspired group to start something and then joining the cause only requires a click. It does not require going to a real meeting. It does not require actually speaking with anyone. It does not require researching the statement or issue. It just requires a click. The level of effort is so small that the emotional investment of joining the cause is zero. My take is that this is not 22,000+ people who are truly upset. More likely it is 100 overzealous cooks starting a pot of all-natural stew and 21,900+ sheep clicking "join"

John Mackey is one of thousands of individuals who are employed by Whole Foods. I’m sure Whole Foods is an organization filled with people with different opinions on everything from healthcare reform to what’s the tastiest summertime fresh fruit. I commend John on sharing his thoughts in a public forum and I’m glad his opinions are inspiring debate. Thoughtful debate will help generate the best outcomes for us all. I will not be boycotting Whole Foods. I’ll be shopping there. I sure wish they sold Red Bull Cola though...such a perfect product for them and still not on the shelves. Maybe I should find a few like minded people and start a facebook group...

I'll be creating more whuffie in 2010

Kevin Doohan — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:20:34 +0000

The Whuffie Factor by Tara Hunt

I just finished reading the Whuffie Factor and it had an unexpectedly important impact on my thinking.

I breezed through the book. I was already familiar with many of the examples and principles. It didn’t seem to be making a big impact on me and then BAM! I hit pages 254-255. On those pages is a list of flags that signal you are not thinking customer-centrically. I have to admit that many of the items sound familiar. I’ve centered my recent thinking around my company’s needs more than I thought (or at least would care to admit). For me, the thinking that the "customer-centric thinking" list inspired was worth the purchase price of the book. No doubt about it.

The bullets were a nice reminder for me to stay focused on the consumer. The thinking they inspired has changed my perspective on a couple of big projects I was planning for 2010. The projects made sense in an old school strategy kind of way. They would surely generate consumer engagement and are strategically aligned with the brand. But..they’re a little company-centric. I can deliver on the same objectives in a more customer-centric way by choosing a different direction. That’s what I’m going to do. The approach will be unusual but I bet the results will be better than I originally imagined. I thank Tara for the inspiration today and, in advance, for the improved results I expect in the future.

The Whuffie Factor is a good read. I recommend it for marketers who are newer to social media or digital marketing and for veterans that just want an entertaining read from someone who understands social media principles. Logical references to real world examples are shared throughout the book and Tara clearly gets the new dynamic of marketing. In a sentence, I'd summarize the new marketing approach as succeeding through being a trustworthy and generous friend. That's what generates whuffie. Good stuff.

book review - Jamming by John Kao

Kevin Doohan — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:30:00 +0000

Jamming: The Art and Discipline of Business Creativity by John Kao

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I purchased this book based on a sign that a former boss made for a team brainstorming meeting. It was a "Jam Rules" sign for a brainstorming session and it had three rules: 1) Think big, 2) Blurt, 3) No questions. I asked him where he got the ideas thinking they were maybe from a previous gig or another brainstorming session and he credited this book with the idea. I knew I had to get it. This book is also a fave of Josh Linkner, founder and CEO of ePrize. We discussed it at an ePrize client conference a while back...

I think the book is pretty good. It advises to use methods that are well know to jazz improvisation within the hallowed halls of business to stimulate creativity and ultimately, better results. It is a quick read and worth your time. It's tough to find these days. I think it has been out of print for a while. Not a "top 10" business or creativity book but a worthwhile read that can inspire you to bring more creativity to your workplace and provides some nice analogies to how successful jazz musicians collaborate to guide you along the way.

does your brand rent or own?

Kevin Doohan — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:55:09 +0000

I’ve been thinking a ton about digital marketing for global brands as I prepare for 2010 business planning. My perspective on the importance of “where” experiences happen has shifted in the past year. In addition to the experiences we create on rented, loaned, or borrowed space on others' websites, brand marketers need to create meaningful digital destinations of our own. I believe this is critical.

I used to think that location of interaction was relatively unimportant. “Fish where the fish are.” was the best strategy. Quality of outcome and the number of the “right”consumers reached were what mattered. I now believe location of the interaction can be equally important. Who are your partners? What is their role in your overall strategy? What do you expect from your brand owned properties? How will your partners help build your brand owned properties in the long term?

What if you didn't focus on building your own presence for consumers and staked your brand’s primary community claim on myspace? How would you be feeling when what would have been inconceivable three years ago happens? Would you be concerned when myspace announces a layoff of 30% of staff (around 420 employees)? Maybe you didn’t invest heavily in myspace. I’m sure facebook is a safe bet today. Really? Things change and they change fast for digital marketers. Jim Banister thinks facebook will fail. He makes some good observations about specific approaches winning over time vs. general approaches. Will facebook be able to deliver “specific” without ruining the “general” it so clearly excels at? Only time will tell.

How about video? Surely we can continue to rely on YouTube as the place to consolidate our video views. Or can we? Silicon Alley Insider (with data from Credit Suisse) proposed in April that YouTube may be doomed because it will lose close to $470 million in 2009. NY Times (with data from RampRate) says YouTube’s loss will be only $174 million in 2009. Either way, those are losses that someone must be paying attention to. Do you want your entire video strategy to rely on YouTube when radical business model changes could be right around the corner for the video portal?

Maybe YouTube and facebook will win. Maybe myspace will stage the comeback of all comebacks. Something I've learned through experience as a digital marketer is that the digital invincible sometimes fail and longshots occasionally win. The best way brand marketers can be prepared for the success or failure of whoever comes and goes is to build something you OWN that is awesome. Build something exclusively focused on your brand, that your consumers/fans can count on over the long-term, and that is open enough to connect to whichever external general purpose platforms win in the future. And I mean OPEN with all caps. Maybe true openness will be a future post.....

Black Gold - Rush ... very addictive tunes

Kevin Doohan — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:24:53 +0000

Black Gold rocks! I've been listening to it a ton lately. Check this blog entry for a free download of Black Gold - Detroit MP3, a free listen to the entire album, Rush, streamed, and a super discount on buying the album courtesy of Red Bull.

My take on P&G Digital Hack night - hated it

Kevin Doohan — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:07:18 +0000

P&G Digital Hack Night ruined the vibe in my neighborhood for several hours and I hated it.