Video Time: 38 minutes 29 seconds

Communication, regardless of the message, has a singular goal that it must achieve to be considered to have some degree of success. This simple goal isn’t necessarily comprehension or change or anything of the sort: communication is to disrupt. Disruption isn’t anything negative or anything like rather; rather, it just has to force people stop and think about something. While changing their minds to think about something in particular is a perk, it is by no means the sole measure of achievement. Patrick Dixon, author, consultant, founder of the AIDS agency ACET and chairman of Global Change, Ltd, believes that this disruption is the key element in communicating with people and creating the future.

There are three distinct areas that are disrupted, and react, differently. The individual, the community, and the company are all unique and must be managed accordingly. Of these three, the clearest relationship is with the individual. Quite logically, as people are individuals. However, the behavior of the individual is heavily influences by its peers, the individuals that surround it, or its community. Companies are not exempt from this web of interaction, as they exist in relationship to their market as a whole.

In the first segment, in discussing working with people, Dixon emphasizes two specific elements. People, especially with the advent of the internet, have a greater desire for immediate gratification than ever. In one point, Dixon claims that nearly half of the people out there are lost after a delay of fifteen seconds, whether it be waiting for a website to load or an automated phone call. Secondly, and quite related, people are irrational. People talk to inanimate objects despite knowing full well that there is no actual effect. Equally tied to impatience, Dixon notes, with some amusement, people will press elevator buttons multiple times. That sentiment is echoed by nearly the entire audience.

Understanding people is vital to communicating. Indeed, it forms the very essence of communication. Determining how people, and their surroundings, react is of the utmost importance in successfully communicating, or disrupting them. Irrationality is an effect of emotion, and one that cannot be changed. However, companies and communities, both entities of plurality, are quite different.

Video Time: 49 minutes 48 seconds

Have you ever watched those old Star Trek episodes, you know, the ones with William Shatner in them? Don’t be embarrassed, you can admit it. For those of you who’ve never watched the show the main character, Captain Kirk, would sometimes send away teams to foreign planets to gather information and create alliances with alien species. Occasionally some of those aliens weren’t so friendly and a skirmish between the away team and the aliens would inevitably ensue. It was clear to the audience that the peaceful mission had turned into a dangerous problem when the dramatic music played and the communications officer said, “We’ve lost all communications with the away team.”

This week we’re focusing on the importance of communication for a businesses to succeed. You don’t have to fly around the galaxy in a starship to know that good communications is crucial if you want to survive in businesses. In today’s video Stefan Posthuma Technical Director of EA Games, talks about his approach to fixing some of the glitches he found in EA’s internal communications.You will see how poor communication can affect a business’s productivity and potentially its profits. Posthuma uses various strategies to fix these communication problems and while some of his ideas fail, he solves most of them with one little word…clarity.

In the video Posthuma discovers that his employees lack knowledge regarding team goals, career advancement, and management’s duties because the company has not clearly defined these areas. By communicating specific and concrete goals to his employees, Posthuma creates a stronger and more productive community of employees. As you watch the video, take note of all Posthuma’s techniques even the ones that didn’t catch on and see how the idea of clarity permeates all of his strategies.

Happy Learning…and Game On!

Video Time: 34 minutes 55 seconds

In this video Chip Heath the co-author of Made to Stick talks about what makes a sticky idea. Don’t worry, the video isn’t about pouring honey and feathers over people (college pranks can be so wrong sometimes), it’s about making ideas more memorable or stickier in the minds of individuals.

So how do you make an idea sticky? The answer, keep it simple. Chip explains how simple ideas make for the stickiest ideas. Simple doesn’t mean dumbed down, it means straight to the point with the use of concrete language. Keeping it simple is at the heart of a sticky idea and you will notice that throughout the video.

Chip also warns against the curse of knowledge. The curse of knowledge is the idea that experts of a field have a hard time explaining ideas in simple terms to those who know little about the topic. Chips example, asking someone in IT to explain what’s wrong with a broken computer. I know from personal experience that computer questions can often lead to more questions and even a couple of aspirin.

The third major component of making an idea sticky is to make it unexpected. It doesn’t need to be shocking like “100 dead babies” it just needs to capture the attention or imagination of whoever hears it. One of Chip’s example was JFK’s speech about sending a man to the moon. The idea was simple and unexpected and with the aid of concrete language JFK was able to motivate a nation to go boldly where no man has gone before.

So what do sticky ideas mean to us in the business world? From a marketing point of view it can mean creating memorable ads or pitching marketing plans that have employers or investors dreaming about the possibilities of your product. Creating and utilizing sticky ideas can turn a good, but bland powerpoint presentation to a sensationalized marketing event. As you watch the video try and pick up some more of Chip’s ideas on making an idea sticky and use them in your own marketing strategies. Enjoy!

(Note: To watch the entire video click on the Watch Full Program button on the lower right hand side of the video.)

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Video Time: 52 minutes 2 seconds

It isn’t always big companies pushing products that need marketing. The arts and nonprofits are struggling to survive and could manage, if only they had the public awareness that Subway’s five-dollar-footlong does. Unfortunately, the nature of their work does not lend itself well to a steady revenue stream. Michael Kaiser, President of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, United States cultural ambassador and weekly blogger for the Huffington Post, has been dubbed a miracle-worker for his successes in promoting the arts.

Promoting the arts is much like promoting anything else. The product, whether its art or a bottle of aspirin, must be able to elicit some kind of positive emotional response. Generating excitement creates passion and increased interest—which directly results in the increased flow of dollars. This basic observation is often lost in favor of subtle ideas and concepts on exactly how to generate excitement.

The second key element that Kaiser presses is that risk is the way to bring about growth. In uncertain times, the first reaction of a company is to hunker down, tie up loose ends and pare down offerings. While this does cut costs, it also severely restricts cash flows. Instead, Kaiser proposes, successfully in many cases, that boldness be the route to success. Taking risks, doing things differently and being inventive in communications will attract people.

In many ways, these two elements are related. People are interested in new things more than they are in the ten-cent price cut. Humans are creatures of habit and tend to make the same purchases they are accustomed to regardless of minor price fluctuations. However, with a new eye-catching product, they just might be inspired to give it a try.

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Video Time: 13 minutes 55 seconds

“In this world of digital, in this world of speed, in this world of fast. . .you’ve really gotta’ change it, and you’ve gotta’ make it happen differently. Right?!”

That ‘IT’, that Kodak’s Chief Marketing Officer, Jeffrey Hayzlett (@JeffreyHayzlett on Twitter) is referring to in this quick and snappy video, is the heartbeat of your business. In this video, presented at the Twitter-inspired “140″ conference in Las Vegas, Jeff shares with his audience some anecdotes about how he came to be one of the most active C-Level Twitterers and how Kodak leveraged its mass of social media “followers” to help re-brand what is being talked about as one of it’s most innovative recent products.

There are two simple lessons for marketers of all stripes. . .and business owners of all sizes. . .in Jeffrey’s presentation:

1. Remember, we do not have all the answers, and 2.) We’ve got to always keep our eye on what’s next.

Marketing complacency can not only be damaging to a product-line, but to the bottom-line as well.

Video Time: 41 minutes 49 seconds

Successful marketing is a furious, elusive beast that has billions of dollars poured into it every year, only to elude the grasp of those seeking it. Seth Godin, entrepreneur and author of the most popular ebook to date, Unleashing the Ideavirus, attacks marketing from a slightly different angle. Rather than viewing marketing as a push for the adoption of specific elements or products, Godin emphasizes that success will be determined by those who manage to shape the consciousness of the market.

The first example that Godin opens with is a prime example of achieving this phenomenon. Mechanically sliced bread, oft considered the greatest invention ever, was first prototyped in 1912. It wasn’t until 1930 that sliced bread became a nation-wide staple under the intensive marketing efforts of Wonder Bread. Until then, there wasn’t a perceived need for pre-sliced bread when it took mere moments to slice. Wonder Bread made the public feel that the inconvenience of unsliced bread was dramatic and secured its dominance while other companies, that produced sliced bread, have descended into obscurity.

Instead, many companies subscribe to what Godin refers to as the TV-Industrial Complex. It is an endless cycle of buying ads to achieve recognition to sell products to… buy more ads. The critical flaw with this plan is that the playing field has changed and that it no longer works. Two major changes have resulted in this marketing revolution: people have less time and more choices. They now have less time to receive the messages from standard advertising and there are now more options than ever. The end result is that things are ignored.

Difference, distinction, uniqueness or remarkableness all increase visibility beyond the static that drowns out the typical commercial. Success requires the ability to transcend above the noise and, once there, confer a message that resonates with the recipient and shapes their behavior.

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