A month or so ago, I was invited by a publicist to read and review some of David Vinjamuri’s book “Accidental Branding: How Ordinary People Build Extraordinary Brands.” She explained to me that the “covers 7 entrepreneurs and how they broke the rules of marketing in the creation of their brand.” Never one to turn down a free read, I agreed, and she sent me the first few introductory chapters, and the profiles of three entrepreneurs.

While I work for a marketing/advertising/consulting company, I don’t have a business background. For that reason alone, I was particularly interested in the book. It is not a business book per se, but rather the bulk of it reads like a story. The first few chapters draw some conclusions about aspects of these entrepreneurs that may have contributed to their success, but this is not simply an instruction manual. As a result, it is an easy, enjoyable read in which the reader may unwittingly gain some insights on what helps a brand develop in an authentic, successful manner.

In the first chapter, Vinyamuri sets the stage, identifying some key unifying factors of all the entrepreneurs he interviewed.

These entrepreneurs all had a very clear set of values that they brought to the brand. Even though the actual products they sold would change over time for some of them, the values remained consistent. Moreover, these entrepreneurs were trying to solve their own problem.

These entrepreneurs could trust their instinct because they had retained the ability to think like real consumers

As someone who is very focused on user-centered design and user experience, these notions resonate with me. These entrepreneurs did not come up with a product or plan with the goal of becoming rich. They did not look for ideas. Rather, they identified problems that needed solving, and set out to solve them in the best way they could. This sort of clear objective makes it easy to ensure a brand is ever moving in the right direction.

The second chapter does see Vinjamuri throw out some steps to becoming an accidental brand-builder. These are as follows:

1. Do sweat the small stuff
2. Pick a fight
3. Be your own customer
4. Be unnaturally persistent
5. Build a myth
6. Be faithful

These steps range from how to develop a brand worthy of faithful customers, to how to retain and reward brand loyalists. While this checklist may be useful for the aspiring entrepreneur, it is clear from the profiles that the unwitting brand-builders chronicled in this book figured these out through their own natural inclinations and judgment.

The three profile chapters I received were:

• The Storyteller: John Peterman (J. Peterman)
• The Contrarian: Craig Newmark (Craigslist)
• The Anarchist: Roxanne Quimby (Burt’s Bees)

What I found particularly interesting in all three of these chapters was the low-key personality behind them all. Vinjamuri’s interactions with these entrepreneurs take place in the most unexpected of places: on Peterman’s ranch, sitting outside Craig’s home while he gets dressed, or out in the woods in Maine. It almost appears that these individuals have achieved financial success in spite of themselves. As I mentioned before: in every case it was a desire to solve a problem or meet a specific need that prompted the brand development.

This is not to say that every solution to a problem contributes to the success of a particular brand. But in the case of each of these individuals, it was the combination of an identified need, and a passion for an elegant solution, that contributed to a firm offering. As people begin to like and trust a brand, this dedication to quality can help to sustain a brand even as it begins to grow.

This is not to say that growth is always easy: the J. Peterman chapter tells of the company’s bankruptcy in 1999. However, the foundation of what made the brand what it was still remain. Today, the company is being resurrected from the ashes, and 75% of the employees are people who have returned from the earlier company. What a testament to brand loyalty!

While the book focusses on the entrepreneurs who started the brands, and their attention to detail and commitment to quality and integrity is highlighted, I also feel that there is something to be said about the core values of the brands themselves. Roxanne Quimby has sold Burt’s Bees, but the values on which the company was founded still remain. This separation of company spokesperson and brand is essential for a company to evolve and grow. Craig Newmark recognized this himself when he demoted himself and gave Jim Buckmaster the role of CEO. It is the selfless entrepreneur who simply states:

I was being to realize that I’m not a good manager, and some people were kind eough to point that out to me. I also remember that back at IBM I read a paper that suggested that people who are good at starting companies are not good at keeping them going.

In an effort to create a viable, successful business, Craig put the best person in charge, even if that wasn’t himself.

Overall, I found the book “Accidental Branding” very interesting. While I will admit that sometimes the prose was a bit much (I wasn’t overly interested in every article of clothing Burt Shavitz wore at his interview), overall there was much insight to be gained from the book, in an palatable form. Of the other entrepreneurial profiles, I’d be particularly interested in reading those of Gary Erickson (Clif Bar) and Julie Aigner-Clark (Baby Einstein ), and would not hesitate to actually invest in the book (!) to learn more about them.

Today I returned to “Becoming a Manager“, a book lent to me by my Director months ago. It’s actually interesting to return to it now, as my perspective has shifted since I started reading it. At the time, I was starting my transition into Business Analyst, still an individual contributor role. However, as time goes on I feel the call to advance in my career and start to take on more advisory/mentoring/management responsibilities.

For a long time, I’ve commonly associated “management” with managing resources (baby-sitting?), and “leadership” with fostering individuals’ growth and potential. It finally occurred to me today that these do not have to be mutually exclusive activities, and I feel that a management role would be an ideal outlet for me to share my knowledge and experience with a team. While I am happy to offer my expertise on a single project, I feel a strong desire to help nurture and foster the development of others beyond what I can do as an individual contributor (part of my motivation for sharing my thoughts and opinions on this blog).
I recognize that this approach to management is not shared by everyone. Indeed, “Becoming a Manager” even calls this dichotomy one of the “four conflicting forces at the heart of team life” (pg 297). These forces are:

1. Embracing individual differences vs. Embracing collective identity and goals
2. Fostering support vs. Fostering confrontation
3. Focussing on performance vs. Focussing on learning and development
4. Relying on managerial authority vs. Relying on team members’ discretion and autonomy

For the third point, I definitely know I fall firmly on the right side (focussing on learning and development). I recognize that developing the individual for the benefit of the team is better suited to an internal team than a consulting company, as all the benefits are realized internally. However, I still feel it is generally just a best practice to have an overall strong team (even if some level of training is required to get there) than just a few outstanding players. I think this contributes to higher quality deliverables and easier sharing of resources across projects. My beliefs were reaffirmed as I read the following:

Our competitive environment causes a great deal of pressure for employees to focus on current performance…devoting attention to the long-term health of the team, setting strategic direction, and building team capabilities is critical.

One challenge I am starting to encounter as I look to “the next step” in my career is, well, the step up. The book touches on this as well - the idea of management development:

The recipe for management development is easy to recite but difficult to implement because of the performance versus development trade-offs outlined earlier. For example, if you have an important project that requires leadership skills, do you give it to a manager who needs to develop those areas as a stretch assignment, or do you give it to someone who already knows how to do it?

I definitely consider myself in the pool of people looking for stretch assignments. I have held leadership positions for much of my life, but have yet to hold such a title. But how to get there?

I know that my style as a manager would be to continue to focus on team rather than individual development and management. I believe that was what held me back from the notion of “manager”, because I only saw the one-to-one aspect of it. At LexisNexis we had the role of team lead, which greatly appealed to me. It wasn’t about being “in charge” of everyone, it was about fostering an environment in which everyone could succeed.

I think I have finally found the way to integrate the various aspects of my personality and passion. My background in user-centered design and user experience causes me to always try to think of the recipient of my actions, which transcends the work of an individual contributor and may also apply to how best to communicate with team members. My language and linguistic training have made me ever aware of barriers to shared knowledge and effective communication. My desire to see my colleagues succeed (fostering community) while developing each team member’s own capabilities (and thereby producing the best possible quality deliverables ).. this finally seems to be a role that fully embodies what I love to do. I’ve always said that technology for me was simply the medium I used to foster communication and community. And perhaps that’s not even true: technology was the tool I used to create an environment that could be used to foster communication and community. I was an additional step removed. I am now looking to become more directly involved in these actions, to empower and help develop others.

Hm. I guess that means it was a good book.

As I mentioned in my last post, Rohit Bhargava just released a book called *Personality not included (why companies lose their authenticity, and how great brands get it back). True to the nature of the book and O.P.E.N. branding, Rohit offered bloggers advance introductory excerpts and exclusive interviews to post.

You know marketing is working when you’re overwhelmed by the response. Rohit had trouble knocking out the answers to all the requests for interviews he received, but he was honest and forthright in notifying people and resetting expectations (via twitter, natch!)

Why was this promotion so well-received? By offering bloggers an exclusive advance exerpt (ok, not that exclusive, it’s posted on his blog), we were made to feel part of an exclusive community. By soliciting individual interviews, we were made to feel important, and the experience was tailored to our specific interests. And lastly — there was the lure of a contest (notoriety if you won) and a prize! (Voting will take place on his blog on Monday, if you’re so inclined…)

So with no further ado, here are my interview questions for Rohit Bhargava, author of “Personality not included”:

1. I loved the part in the introduction where you stated “personality can’t save crap”. How closely do you think marketing and brand management should work with product development? Do you think the “personality” of a brand needs to be explicitly considered through product development to ensure integrity?
This is a great question because it gets to the central issue that many companies struggle with, which is their different silos within their organization. The best companies are the ones where this can all be integrated, but I know well how difficult that is. For that reason, I focused in the book on the broader idea of how individuals relay that story as amabassadors for the brand and how telling a story can fill that gap. When you couple that with packaging and product design, you get the best result.

2. How do you think the role of a ‘brand spokesperson’ complements or conflicts with the brand’s personality? (Ronald McDonald, Colonel Sanders)
Interesting that you bring this up because it inspires an entire section in Chapter 2 which talks about this exact question. That chapter is all about “accidental spokespeople” and I lay out five key types of spokespeople. Both your examples fit into the category I called “The Character” which talks about mascot type spokespeople. The difficulty with them is that they do not have the same reality as a person and are therefore notoriously difficult to change perception around. Colonel Sanders, despite his refreshed image, still stands for the same thing he always did.

3. Do you think a conglomerate can cultivate a personality, or is it better to focus on the smaller companies/brands that make it up?
This is another important question, and one that I actually also had in another interview. I think that in most cases, it is not only easier, but also vital to focus on the smaller brands that make it up. The example I shared in that interview which I’ll use again here is Darden, the parent company for Olive Garden and Red Lobster. All the brand association there is with the smaller component brands.

4. We know the consumer as an individual can help contribute to a company’s personality (”the unwitting spokesperson”). What about the individuals working at the company? Do you have any thoughts as to how much of a brand’s personality should be tied to specific contributors?
I think this is a VITAL point. A big part of the book focuses on getting this type of conversation to happen from employees and embracing them. The idea of “accidental spokespeople” from the book is a actually much more about employees than it is about citizen marketers or customer brand evangelists.

5. Are there any cases where you would advocate that a brand NOT try to cultivate personality? Under what circumstances?
No, I can’t think of any. That would be like a situation where a company would not want to build a strong brand. Maybe if they are trying to devalue a company so someone can buy it for cheaper? That’s about all I can think of!

(View the full list of interviews)

Every new associate at Resource Interactive gets a copy of The Ten Demandments and The OPEN Brand, co-written by our President and CXO Kelly Mooney.

The Demandments are presented as “rules to live by in the age of the demanding consumer”, and the OPEN Brand is about “how marketing and branding are being transformed by the technology-inspired power shift from brands to consumers”.

Obviously I’m a frequent blogger with a decent online presence, so I was reflecting on how much I fit into the demographic described in the book. Earlier today I was on Shelfari, and even as I was tagging my own books, I looked to see how others had categorized them. Was “Night” by Elie Wiesel considered biography? How about “Me Talk Pretty One Day” by David Sedaris? I used the wisdom of others to help me in my own folksonomy.

What really prompted me to post, though, was an email I just received. Earlier this week I purchased a product called “yaktrax” (an “ice traction device for your shoes”). I purchased them at Campmor, an online retailer that always seems to have good prices and excellent customer service. They arrived yesterday, and I promptly posted about them on my running blog. Just a few moments ago I received a comment on said blog:

Way to Run it out! Hope you enjoy your Yaktrax!
Your friends at Yaktrax Headquarters-
Safe Running

No link-back to their site, no advertising, just a few kind words that made ME feel valued as a customer.

And I’ll tell you what, it worked. I’m posting about this now, and I went to their website (to be honest, I’d been aware of the product before I purchased it, so I’d never hit their site before), and signed up for their newsletter. I feel valued — not pressured, not used as a billboard. I feel as though, well, a friend at Yaktrax headquarters stopped by to say hello to someone else who values safe outdoor activity as much as they do.

After long last, I finished listening to “microtrends”. It’s the sort of book I’ve always enjoyed; chock-full of interesting but seemingly useless facts. Did you know Bill Clinton, George Bush and Ross Perot were all left-handed? Or that Barack Obama and Halle Berry were both raised by their single white mothers?

How author Mark Penn seems able to justify the book’s length (the audiobook was 12 hours) is by pointing out the implications of these “microtrends”.

At my workplace (an interactive marketing agency), we talk of personalization and fostering online communities on a daily basis. Penn is right on track with this line of thinking, explicitly calling out the type of support that these various groups could benefit from in the online space.

Appealing to these various groups was addressed not only in the context of business getting to know their clients (Penn points out that young girls are greater consumers of electronics than young boys, yet stores like Best Buy and Radio Shack don’t appear to be appealing to that demographic), but also in politics. There is plenty of discussion given to the ever-important swing voters, in the U.S. as well as abroad.

I’ll admit that by trend 65 or so, I was anxious to finish the recording and move on (up next: punk marketing!), but the conclusion did wonderfully to tie things together. Just as the discovery of atoms allows us to explain the changes in solid matter, the recognition of these tiny microtrends can help explain changes and developments we see in society. Even the slightest variations may prove to have dramatic effects.

As I detailed in my last post, I am wanting to move out of my developer role. Even only a few weeks into taking on some Business Analyst duties, I’ve found the biggest challenge to be really taking off that developer hat that I swear I want to shed. I mentioned this to my manager, and he lent me “Becoming a Manager“, which he said would help me in this.

I’ve only made my way through the preface and the first chapter, but already the book has offered me plenty to think about. It’s helped me in looking at managers I know, both who’ve supervised me as well as others, and see where they’re coming from. Indeed, I can definitely see that the manager who lent me the book has read it!

The book (this is the 2nd edition) is based on interviews conducted with and around 19 new managers. It offered up the challenges they faced (those they recognized as well as those they did not). I was actually struck to read that the managers spoken with had served as individual contributors for around 8 years, as that’s the point I am at in my career. However, it is not to a supervisory role I am looking to move.

For that was one thing that was really called out in the first chapter, “Setting the Stage”. The new managers were asked to describe their primary duties as manager, as were their superiors, their subordinates and their peers. Despite the fact that the new managers had recently been individual contributors, their opinions as to their responsibilities were slightly different than those of their superiors. The book has an interesting table wherein the different duties of a manager as seen by these different groups is displayed. The managers saw themselves as ‘the boss’, ‘business leaders’, ’supervisors’, whereas subordinates considered them ‘team leaders’, ‘organizers’ and superiors considered them ‘team leaders’ and ‘administrators’. There was some overlap, but ultimately the roles were seen from the standpoint that would best suit the group perceiving them.

An interesting observation is that often new managers are promoted for their great work as individual contributors: it is often seen as a reward to advance. However, how a person self-identifies is fundamentally different as he enters the role of manager. I would argue that the qualities that make someone an outstanding programmer don’t necessarily lead them to being a good manager. The book also calls out that a high-performing individual contributor may have actually “depended less than the average [person] on their … manager for support and guidance” [26]. They may therefore be unaware of the aspect of the management role that is involved in encouraging and supporting subordinates.

As I mentioned, I’m not planning to move into a role that involves this supervisory aspect to it, but some of the other duties associated with the management role are very helpful to think about. There is some mention of the manager as “network builder” as opposed to “doer”. I think this suits me well, in terms of where I want to be. I am always eager to grow and learn, and I have definitely seen the merits in leveraging the insights and expertise of others. I’m proud of the network of incredibly talented and intelligent people I know, and while I do take pride in my personal accomplishments, I would just as soon work with others to further their achievements. In some of the BA work I’ve been doing, I’ve been glad to be able to communicate information between parties, rather than necessarily trying to jump right in and ‘fix it all’.

As I said, the book has offered me some guidance for myself professionally, and even one chapter in, I can say that I think this should be on the “must-have” list for new managers

More to come as I progress through the book…..

With only a few months remaining in my college career (this time), I realized I had better take advantage of student discounts. My bookshelf will soon include the following:

I recently completed the 4 Hr Work Week, and really enjoyed it. Through the reading, I often found myself referring to it, and even purchased a copy for my father. He recently retired, but is already looking for something to occupy his time. I felt this was in line with my father’s life: he is not working to dedicate all his time to a 9-5 job. What I realized after I gave it to him, however, is that he IS looking for something to do, he doesn’t actually want to completely stop working (as this book would like to ultimately drive you to).

Through reading the book, I was immediately able to see where I could stand to make some changes in my work. I’m not sure I could convert to only checking my email twice a day, although I do understand the rationale behind it.

Checking email at noon and 4pm — you should already know what you have to accomplish when you get to work in the morning. Do it without distraction. Then you can open yourself up to other, less important tasks. There is also the idea of multi-tasking. I am a dedicated multi-tasker, but I do understand how it can make you less efficient. I use feedreader to subscribe to many RSS feeds, and when something new is published, up it pops in the bottom of my screen (the same place outlook notifies me of new email). Naturally, the movement catches my eye and distracts me from the task at hand. Do I intend to attend to the message immediately? Generally, no, yet I allow myself to lose a few seconds looking at the notice.

The other day we were talking about business practices and ROI. Some of the ideas of determining the value of someone’s time came to mind. How much can we save by creating a good, intuitive interface and cutting back the need for as many customer service reps? The book speaks of the Pareto Principle — 80% of profits come from 20% of clients. So focus on those. Your time is worth more than working with troublesome clients for minimal gains. As well, it frees up time to find other clients who more closely align with those who are bringing big returns. In discussions with a coworker after the fact, he brought up the fact that truly embracing this principle would not allow us to work to support minority groups - not looking at users of assistive technologies, or less popular browsers.

There is definitely a vibe of …elitism, perhaps?.. through the book. The author is very much looking out for himself. My father even commented on this — the author tells an anecdote about being a kickboxing champion by ‘finding loopholes’. His fashion of attacking the problem made him a winner, but it certainly didn’t make him popular. I suppose it comes down to your principles, what’s really important to you. The means, or the ends?

The second half of the book provided a wealth of resources for starting your own business. I will admit, he made it sound pretty easy! While I am not sure I am ready to set out on my own and start outsourcing my life, it is wonderous to think about freeing yourself from email and busy work and focusing on what’s important.

On that note, I’m going to get off the computer and cuddle with my puppy…