Story
One Day In
The morning after the vote. The first day of the next four years. ONE day in. Here’s ONE thing to think about for all of us who wonder and hope about what’s next for our country ... for our world. more »
Framing the Moments You Are Given
In our business of helping organizations craft and tell their story, I find myself asking questions like, “How do you perceive this type of situation,” or “What would it feel like if your business were to…” and the like. That same type of query happens during the commerce of our daily lives. Like everything that comes our way in life or business, it is your point of view at any given time that will frame how you define the moments you are given. This thought from Sue Mosteller about “HQ” versus “IQ” gave me pause.
more »E-Myth and Your Organization’s Story
For all you fans of the book E-Myth by Michael Gerber, they just published an online article about your organization’s story that might interest you. Check this excerpt out: “[Your Story is] the moments in time that illustrate what you’re all about. If you can capture those moments and use them to communicate who you are, you’ll elicit the emotional response that will turn a prospect into a client, a potential employee into a loyal member of your team and create a brand of which legends are made.” more »
Why We Do What We Do
Why do we do what we do at CHANGEffect? I got an email the other day from a person we are currently working with and it says it all: more »
People Act Based on Story
I heard Brian McLaren talk a few weeks ago when he spoke at Mars Hill Bible Church in Michigan. In a word: amazing. Here’s a quote: “People don’t make decisions based on reality. They make decisions based on the stories they believe about reality.” Then he goes through a list of what he calls “framing stories” that frame reality as we know it. Amazing. more »
Do You Stand Out From the Crowd?
I was standing in line for a roller coaster at Silver Dollar City this summer with my two oldest boys. We were getting bored and I was trying to think of something fun we could do to pass the time. I noticed that the kid in front of us had a “Class of 2006” shirt on and the back of his shirt listed all the students in the class. I asked him if he was in the “Class of 2006” and he responded “Yes sir, I am.” We thought it would be fun to try and guess who this kid was. There had to be at least 400 names on the shirt so we thought it would definitely chew up some time. He agreed to let us guess his name so I started skimming over the massive list of names and stopped at the first guy name that caught my eye. more »
Chime In and the Olympics
So like many people, I got sucked into watching a lot of NBC’s coverage of the Olympics. Other than developing an attachment to Bob Costas that surprised and scared me, I noticed something new that NBC is doing. When they promote their upcoming programming and show their logo at the end of the spot, they are using the wonderful message: “chime in.” Obviously this is a creatively phrased call to action that references one of their brand assets—the chiming three tone melody that has accompanied their logo for decades. more »
Triple Word Score and the Three-Strand Process
It’s finally here. The week you’ve been waiting for all year: National Scrabble Week! Did you know that Scrabble was originally called Lexiko? This challenging crossword game was invented by an out-of-work architect in the midst of the great depression. When the manufacturing rights were purchased from the inventor in 1948, the name was changed to “Scrabble,” which literally means, “to scratch frantically.” Now you can amaze your friends with this important trivia at the next party you attend. This historic game requiring proficient strategy and anagramming skills is not unlike the process that happens here at CHANGEffect. more »
“Just Do It” Slogan Turns 20
So what business is Nike in? Logically they are in the business of athletic sportswear and equipment. But if that was their genuine brand they wouldn’t be the 16+ billion dollar company they are. Instead they have created a brand around potential and courage. They utilize multipronged programs that incorporate experiential elements and push agency partners to move beyond simply creating ads. more »
Viral Storytelling Without Over-Striding
If I need a little pick-me-up I just watch the “Where the Hell is Matt” video (http://www.vimeo.com/1211060). Stride gum has done a great job of providing an inspirational experience without gratuitously plastering their logo over everything. Instead they tap into an audience’s desire to become connected and part of a story…and they’re happy with a just a post roll credit. Makes me want to book tickets to…anywhere. By the way, it would probably take me two weeks to learn to dance Matt’s simple little jig. more »
Monastery Tag Line
Since I like collecting sticky phrases, I can’t help passing on a tag line for a monastery my wife told me about. She was reading the newspaper and I was driving…but it still stuck with me days later. Here it is…
“Tell us what you need and we’ll show you how to live without it.” more »
And the Winner of the Six-Word Story Contest is…
Recently, a couple members of our team were at a conference in Dallas. The Christian Leadership Alliance (formerly the Christian Management Association) had their annual conference there. We rocked the house like we usually do, but this time something was different. We asked conference attendees to write a six-word story representing their life, with the winning story earning that person a iPod Touch. We received dozens of responses with varying levels of intensity and humor. Click more to find out the Top 10 and the winner of the contest! more »
Six-Word Story Contest a Success at CMA
Wow, what a story! Tim and I went to the newly branded Christian Leadership Alliance (CLA), formerly Christian Management Association. That’s a mindful! To premier our new booth, new CHANGEffect name and to attract people to our booth, we held a contest for people to tell their stories in just six words. This is a concept that was inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s “For sale: baby shoes, never used.” offering years ago. more »
Change is in the Air
Change has been a big buzzword this year, especially among the politicians in the presidential campaign. One of the team members at C2 (one of our web development partners), sent us this You Tube video. We think it’s hilarious, considering that many of our clients refer to us simply as “CHANGE.” Enjoy. more »
Survivor Bias
What do you think of when you think about the path your life has taken? The good stuff or the tough stuff? I think most of us (me included) would tend to reminisce about the good things that have happened. Why not? Why would we want to remember the tough parts of our story? It’s really human nature to do so, and there’s even a term for it ... Survivor Bias. more »
Brainstorming
We were brainstorming positioning taglines yesterday for a client. It was kind of a unique situation in that we came to the meeting with a few options, but had the assumption that we were going to brainstorm it a bit in the meeting together. We started going back and forth about the different options, what we liked, what we didn’t, what else it needed to say that it didn’t say, that kind of thing. We hit a point in the discussion where the energy was pretty low. The ideas we were coming up with weren’t good and we all knew it. more »
Disappointed in Branding for Nonprofits
I had a conversation with a potential client recently who referred to a book called Branding for Nonprofits by DK Holland. Because I’m kind of a brandaholic and because there is precious little written about branding in the nonprofit space, I thought I would pick it up hoping for some new fodder. I was disappointed. more »
A Six-Word Story
Ernest Hemingway was once prodded to compose a complete story in six words. His answer, personally felt to be his best prose ever, was “For sale: baby shoes, never used.” Some people say it was to settle a bar bet. Others say it was a personal challenge directed at other famous authors. more »
Billboards That Hurt My Eyes
Each morning and evening, Monday through Friday, I travel along the Stevenson Expressway (that’s I-55 for you out-of-towners). Each commute I’m reminded that advertising and marketing are supposed to be related. Unfortunately, they rarely are. more »
Inspiring 100,000+ leaders. How do you do that?
How many true leaders do you know? Go ahead, count’em! I’m about to meet hundreds ...
I’m on a plane to Orlando this evening, headed to the National Strategy Event (NSE) for the Leadership Summit. The Summit attracts more than 60,000 leaders each year nationally and thousands more globally. The event is simulcast to more than 100 satellite locations during the month of August each year. The NSE is designed to bring hundreds of key influencers from across the nation to one location where they can be equipped and energized to help as many people experience the Summit as possible. We work with the Summit team to create many of the communication materials for the event. more »
The Story of Coffee
I heard a radio ad for Starbucks the other day. First of all, this is something that’s still fairly new for Starbucks. It’s only been in the last year or so that they’ve engaged in any kind of advertising. I guess that just shows that they’ve done a great job to this point of communicating their story through their brand citizens. (If you’ve never heard that phrase before, brand citizens are people that believe in your story enough to tell other people about you. They are incredibly loyal. Trust me, you want brand citizens!)
But back to my thought about the Starbucks ad. more »
Reba McEntire / Kelly Clarkson On Tour
Brian Kagan’s branding work with Reba McEntire paid dividends Saturday night as a few of us were able to enjoy a concert in Rockford, Illinois, starring Reba and Kelly Clarkson. Backstage passes, awesome seats and a great duet performance led to a perfect evening. more »
Story Contest Winner
Jason Boyett, author of “The Day I Met Paw-Paw,” lives in Amarillo, Texas. He keeps busy working as the communications director at a medium-sized church in Amarillo. But he’s also a freelance writer, marketing consultant and the author of several books. His most recent book is Pocket Guide to the Bible (Relevant, 2006). He also keeps a regular blog at http://jasonboyett.blogspot.com/. more »
Did we get it right?
Taking yourself on as a client is one of the hardest challenges. Launching this website and our new brand was at times painful requiring a lot of extra time, sweat, frustration and elation by a lot of really good people. Our biggest reason for making the branding change is to let world know we are much more than a design firm. The strategic storytelling and culture consulting work has been a major part of our business for quite awhile now. more »
My Super Bowl Commercial
Imagine all the long hours that have been spent over the past few weeks by creative teams across the world developing the next great Super Bowl ad. I wonder how much time is spent trying to create a really funny, or creative, or simply perfect ad? I think it would be much easier to do a great, award-winning ad if companies just stuck to their story. There’s a thought. more »
Story Contest
If you’re new to the CHANGEffect world, you may not know that when we launched our new brand, we conducted a contest. We asked people to submit stories of changes they had experienced. The stories that came in were super cool. I may be biased, but I think one of the best was submitted by my daughter Valerie. Click here to check out the story contest site. (My daughter’s story is called “Crazy Night with Ryan Seacrest” in case you’re wondering.) Check it out! more »
The Integrity of Changing our Course
A few years ago, at the Seattle Special Olympics, nine contestants, all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. At the gun, they all started out ... not exactly in a dash, but with a relish to run the race to the finish and win. more »
The Deepest Fear
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us. It is in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Nelson Mandela more »
Shake it Off and Step Up!
There is a parable of a farmer who owned an old mule. The mule fell into the farmer’s well. The farmer heard the mule praying or whatever mules do when they fall into wells. (Maybe that’s braying.) After carefully assessing the situation, the farmer sympathized with the mule but decided that neither the mule nor the well were worth the trouble of saving. more »
CHANGEffect Story
We talk a lot about crafting stories for organizations. Are you wondering about our story? Would you like to see it? Careful. It’s been known to change the way people think about CHANGEffect. more »
