You compliment Rose on her outfit, and Kate thinks: why not me?

You start a conversation with a girl at the bar, and she thinks you want something from her.

You give a round at the bar, and people think you are buying friendship.

No matter how good your intentions, doing good can always bring up the wrong impressions. Jealousy, envy, misjudgment… some people are just good at being negative.

Does that make good bad? Of course not. Rose was happy. The friend of the girl at the bar did strike up a conversation. And most people at the bar enjoyed their drink. The few negative always lose from the many positive. Don’t let the good make you feel bad.

Two brand new cars. Same model. Same type. Both black. Only difference: the number plate. One belongs to a ‘regular’ car. The other one belongs to a taxi. The cars are exactly the same. But you like the regular better.

Two shirts of your favorite football club. One is worn once by the club icon. The other one is worn once by a random person. Two of exactly the same shirt. But you like the first one better.

Ratio versus emotion. The conscious mind versus the unconscious mind.

You know number one is right. But number two wins. You can choose to fight it. But you’ll lose. Better laugh at it. And then accept it.

We all know positive emotions are good. But it does more than make you feel pleasant. That counts for business as well. Happiness researchers have found that positivity boosts profitability. ‘It is a neon sign that growth is under way, that psychological capital is accumulating’, says positive psychology professor Martin Seligman. In a research, Marcel Losada looked at the words being said in business meetings; how many were positive, and how many were negative? He found that companies with better than a 2.9:1 ratio for positive to negative statements are flourishing. Below that ratio, companies are not doing well economically.

How happy is your company?

Next step:

Read Flourish from Martin Seligman to learn to introduce happiness into your company.

‘Profits and cash flow are like blood and water to a healthy body: they are absolutely essential for life, but they are not the very point of life.’ – Jim Collins

‘We need red blood cells to live (the same way a business needs profits to live), but the purpose is not to make red blood cells (the same way the purpose of business is not to exist to make profit).’ - Ed Freeman

And why social media are more like restaurants

As I mentioned in my last post “Why being nice to your customers is not enough”, I visited a trendsetting Italian restaurant near Leiden the other day. The restaurant was great; however it didn’t embrace social media yet. So I had a chat with the owner and told him how I could help him exploit the online opportunities. Then he explained me how he thought about it:

“Social media marketing is like sports, you have to make a start before you get into your rhythm. The first step is to sign a contract at a health club, for instance. But that’s not enough. You need to take action. Then slowly, you will turn it into a habit. And then you turn into an aficionada and may find yourself going there every single day.”

And so he signed up for a Twitter-account.

And he created a Facebook-page. But after that, he simply continued with his day-to-day routine. So his social pages were like empty restaurants on a busy street.

Developing communities is not just going with the flow.

I wanted to change this guy’s perception. So I used the analogy in line with his business. The analogy of a restaurant start-up.

Most successful restaurants don’t come out of nowhere. It all starts with having a great concept. Then you develop a plan and you think of potential partners. You think up a fancy name and decide on your location. Is your atmosphere classy, trendy, or perhaps formal? That also sets the tone-of-voice you demand from your employees. And what your interior will look like. Step-by-step, you find your way. You created your platform. Throw a little party. And then get back to business.

Cause now is not the time to sit back and relax

The doors are opened. You don’t want an empty restaurant, right? Except from not making money, a restaurant with no guests results in a lot (I mean really a lot) of bad publicity. So what do you do? You work you butt of to get those guests in (without giving the impression of trying too hard). Once your guests are in, you make sure you over-deliver. So that they leave with their mind (and body) full of stuff worth sharing. So that when they come back, they’ll take their friends with them.

Yes, I know that this is common sense for you.

But still, most restaurants fail to comfort guests online

So imagine you’re a restaurant owner. Would you be open only occasionally, like only when the weather is good? Would you ignore guests if they want to give you compliments? I suppose not. Still, most restaurants fail to be there, where their guests are. They rather stick to the rare health club approach. And check in only once in a while. Like working out once in a while will get you toned-up.

And it’s not only restaurants making this seeming innocent, but harmful mistake. In every single branch, you see that sluggish health club approach. Even health clubs themselves embrace this approach in their online social activities.

It’s just a waste. The passion… the smart ideas… the hard work. All of this to build a strong brand. Missing one part of the plan — forgetting to finish it off — can ruin all your brilliance.

I’m not sure if ’senor’ changed his thinking or behavior. But I’m sure you would want your social place filled with cool people and conversations. Just like a fancy restaurant. Make it your day-to-day routine. And start; really start, at day 1.

A couple of weeks ago I was planning for a relaxation day. I booked an arrangement at a wellness center including a hot stone massage. You know the feeling it gives you, right? The joy starts while only thinking about it. So what would you do when the hostess at the wellness center sends you an e-mail, telling you your booking needs to be rescheduled?

Compensate
Actually, the same happened to me today. Although the lady told me she felt sorry, she didn’t tell me ‘why’. And that’s the most prominent reason for my dissappointment. There might be a logical reason to reschedule. But if she doesn’t tell me, why should I even try to care and be understanding? So I replied and explained her that this is not how I roll. And I specifically told her ‘why’: since it’s across the border, in Belgium, I already booked a hotel. Besides, I had to take a day off from work! I demanded a fair compensation for this terrible customer service.

Get the picture
Then the lady e-mailed me explaining that her daughter has to visit the hospital for some kind of an emergency. Now, it was starting to make sense. Of course, it’s not professional and you should always have a back-up, but it’s understandable. Now I won’t go out there to tell other consumers why they should never go there. Instead, the lady even built credits when she told me to try her best to sort things out.

What makes sense for you does not always makes sense to others. That’s why you should always explain why. This is true for marketing.
Or when you raise your kids. Or when you teach your students. By answering why, you show people that what you tell them makes sense.

Why should you care? Because it helps people to understand your intentions. And if your explanation makes sense, why should they even try to disagree with you?

The young dream

The dream of being a millionaire is fully exploited by lotteries. The chances that you win are almost zero. But still, people are willing to spend money on lotteries. Because one day, it may be their lucky day. It’s the experience that counts. And in most cases, not the money you can count.

My dream to be rich started when I was very young. My dad used to play Lotto (the Dutch national lottery) on a weekly base. His routine was to play 4 rows of 6 numbers, varying over the week (later, a color had to be picked as well). Sometimes, he let me choose the numbers in a row. And I liked it so much! There I was, pursuing my way to my million, through my father. Back then, my way to select the numbers was to select on the birthday or age of myself and my four closest family members (mom, dad, brother, sister). The sixth number was chosen by luck.

Then, there is the number check. You write down the numbers that have fallen and you compare them to your lucky numbers. This experience just feels good (now, I have the same feeling when checking my multiple choice exam). You could be so close to the luck of your life. And this experience Is worth your coin.

Same product, more convenience

So when I became 18, I myself was in the position to buy a ticket. And as I had math for a few years, I now definitely know how low the chances are. That’s why I told  myself to never play more than one row a week. So I could live this little dream for just a small amount of money. So I bought a ticket every weak. Almost. Since sometimes, I just couldn’t manage to go to the shop and buy a ticket.

Then came the internet.  And there was this special service Lotto offered. You could now simply buy your ticket online. How convenient is that? And to make it even better, they gave you the opportunity to never miss a week. Just play automatically with a few clicks (this was an offline offer as well). So that’s what I did for a couple of months. But I disliked it. It’s just not the same as the good old way. Like the fact that your numbers are on the monitor. Compared to the old paper ticket, there was no feeling attached to your ticket. And checking the numbers on a monitor… it’s just not the same. Now they also have an app. Of course, this brings even more convenience.

I tried my own solution: I bought my ticket through the internet, then I wrote the numbers down on a little piece of paper and checked them the old fashioned way. This felt better. But I still felt the old fashion way is the only right way to make the experience complete.

Experience over effectiveness

So now, my online account is inactive (I do believe that it should stay because it is convenient for a lot of other people). I buy my weekly ticket in a shop (under the right circumstances). Where I sometimes have to wait in line. Where I am dependent of opening times. And where I buy other things I don’t really need impulsively when I’m in the store. In a calculating way, all the extra time I invest is just stupid. Since I buy exactly the same product. But it’s the experience what really counts. The most effective way is not always the right way.

Advertising in modern America is a tricky business. On the one hand, you have the cutting edge: Generation Y, the 3.0-empowered youth who grew up around computers, the kids who often understand these machines, this internet, this Information Age, better than the old men who created all of it. On the other hand, you have these old men, the Baby Boomer generation, born into a world that revolved around capitalist America and its unquestionable, unstoppable progress into the Jet Age.

We would like to believe the Baby Boomers are out of place in our world, that they stumble through 2011 helpless and confused, but they have one asset that makes them much more desirable to marketers: to them, money is a value, not a desire. Generation Y came into being during the past decade, and it has been nothing but one economic crash after another. We have learned to spend efficiently, to cut out the middleman, distrust corporate propaganda, and rely on home-made innovations at every turn. We have learned, in essence, to become the means of production. The Baby Boomers lived in a world where the system worked, where working hard meant becoming wealthy, where success was measured in dollars, Cadillacs, and mansions. Money was not seen as a barrier between rich and poor, but as a sign that the poor were becoming rich; spending money was an American’s way of showing that he was a hard-working citizen and supported the common man. Baby Boomers saw Corporate America as an essential part of that system, not some sort of parasite.

At the heart of 3.0 is an innate distrust of corporations. We are very tough costumers compared to Baby Boomers because we see money as a resource, not a process. We don’t spend as quickly, or as much. In America, marketers must choose–do they appeal to the Baby Boomers, who are crucial to the early success of a product, or to Generation Y, which is crucial to its long-term success? This division makes it difficult for 3.0 to become mainstream as quickly, because the demographic with the most money and the greatest willingness to spend it prefers outdated marketing techniques.

Here, in Europe, the postwar generations knew none of that material gain; the horrors of two World Wars were still fresh in their minds, and simply being alive was much more important than how many cars they owned or how much horsepower they produced. It is much easier for modern European marketers to appeal to both the postwar and modern European generations with the same 3.0-style marketing than it is for their American counterparts to find a middle ground between the Baby Boomers and Generation Y. As such, 3.0 marketing in Europe has the potential to outpace American efforts. There is no room for hesitation: the Baby Boomers are getting old, and they will only dominate the American market for another decade or so. Europe has this decade to seize the advantage; what happens must happen here, and now.

What the **** is a cognitive creator? I’ll tell you!

Nawaz is our marketing psychologist. He will most likely receive his degree in Psychology by June 2011. As MiU is marketing 3.0, we see consumers as humans with deeper desires and fears. Psychology helps us to understand the minds, hearts and souls of consumers. Let’s take a look at the two components:

Cognition: the mental processes of an individual, with particular relation to a view that argues that the mind has internal mental states (such as beliefs, desires and intentions)

Creation: we don’t have to explain creation, right ?

Basically, Nawaz tries to understand people to the fullest and uses this knowledge to create marketing strategies, tactics, campaigns and so on.

What do you think of this nickname?