Been thinking more lately about the concept of sustainability in marketing. The questions that keep popping into my head are: What do the dynamics of a sustainable marketing movement or program look like? And, more importantly, how would we go about measuring that?

No surprises to anyone reading this probably, but marketing ” corporate America, in general ” is in dire need of new metrics. Our current market is driven by short-term forces: get next quarter’s numbers up, what it will cost me now, # of mass impressions, etc. As a result, we create campaigns, not movements; a new soda flavor rolls out just about every month or so; and we have a consumer mindset that thinks in terms of price per unit rather than cost to the earth’s resources.

Any change in mindset and/or behavior cannot really take root without new metrics. You can only improve on what you measure. Take a simple example ” cholesterol and blood pressure. Before we could measure these, my guess is there were a significantly smaller number of people who changed their diet and exercise habits in an effort to stay healthy.

Moreover, people get rewarded on what you can measure. As long as we continue to value people on ‘efficiency’ and companies on stock price alone, it’s going to be hard to get capitalism to think long term, let alone save our environment.

In 1995 my advisor in grad school wrote a paper entitled ‘New laws to be expected in the organism’. His point was simple ” science has done a great job reducing things to their smallest parts…and a not so great job explaining how those parts coordinate with each other.

I think the same true for marketing.

We need laws of coordination. How does a consumer become a community? How does information travel in this community? What parameters can catalyze that connection? What defines the strength of interaction in a community ” or said another way, how can we determine how fragile a brand community is?

I for one look forward to solving these problems with all you kindred spirits. In the mean time, I apologize in advance for a title that sounded like I was going to provide answers, when I have none to offer.

Toward that end, I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes…

Always the beautiful answer. Who asks a more beautiful question?
ee cummings

And this time it’s with 275 authors.

I was fortunate enough to be included in the maiden voyage of AoC last year, which is currently in a Bum Rush to blaze up the Amazon charts this weekend. Last year there were 100+ contributors. This year, there’s 275. Wow. And without further adieu, here are those authors:

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

Keep an eye out for the Age of Conversation ‘08 coming soon!

I was going to write about loyalty programs today. How my wallet can’t get any fatter with plastic frequent customer cards. How I’m tired of ‘loyalty’ programs that require me to redeem emailed or, worse, ground mailed coupons for a discount. How what I really want is to not have to work at feeling special at Starbucks, or Target, or wherever. How those stupid cards, though designed to make us feel special, actually make me feel bullied sometimes ” a plastic reminder to ‘use this card, or lose out.’

But instead I am going to talk about hammers.

Ok, ok… I know. What the hell.

Just bear with me for a sec.

20 years ago, before the ‘Decade of the brain’, if you had asked me how the brain perceives a hammer my answer would have sounded something like: ‘We see the shape of the hammer, which triggers access to the word HAMMER, and the meaning of the word HAMMER, yada yada yada.’ ” basically a cascade of facts that define what a hammer is.

In those intervening years, we have come to realize that picture of perception is incomplete. We now know, thanks to amazing technology that provides a non-invasive window onto the working human mind, that ’seeing’ a hammer activates motor areas of the brain.

Yes… even when your hands are not moving, motor networks in the brain respond to a picture of a hammer. Why? Because part of how our minds perceive an object is by mentally simulating our experience with it. What defines a hammer is not just its shape, label, price ” its how we use it. How we interact with it - both the ease with which we can recreate that interaction in our minds - and how pleasant that interaction is. This may seem obvious, even boring, but I think it fantastic. Eye-opening.

And informative for those companies trying to ‘capture’ our hearts and minds.

Please, oh please, Mr. (or Ms.) Marketing Director, don’t make me think about pulling out a plastic card… or wading through email after email junking up my inbox… when I think of your brand. Don’t make me think about trying to remember yet another username and password to access wireless when I come to enjoy a nice environment and cup of coffee. Or about the 35 minutes of ‘press 1 to route your call correctly’ that I will have to endure to talk to a person on the phone ” who most likely won’t know the answer to my question anyway (or better yet have an entirely different answer than the guy I waited 45 minutes for yesterday).

If it were so obvious that how we ‘use it’ is part of our relationship with a brand, why do so many companies continue to manage that relationship through marketing tactics and efficiency measures that look good on paper but just create minor, and not so minor, perceptual barriers to enjoying the brand experience? Add a splash of guilt and the feeling of resentment at being ‘trapped’ by so-called loyalty programs.

Please Mr. Marketing Director help me love your brand by helping me envision ” at minimum, an easy and enjoyable ” at best, a remarkable ” experience when I perceive your shiny logo. Help me love how I ‘use it’. Or lose me.

On Tuesday, Geno gave us his thoughts about what sustainable word of mouth looks like. And, as he mentioned, around here it is our goal to help create movements so powerful that if Brains on Fire ” or our client’s budget ” were to get hit by a bus (God forbid) that the movement would continue on.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Hartford Whalers Booster Club. If you don’t know the back-story, the Hartford Whalers were a pro hockey team founded in the 70’s (originally they were the New England Whalers and based in Boston). And they actually attracted an extremely passionate fan base. But then in 1997, the franchise was moved to Raleigh, NC and became the Carolina Hurricanes.

That’s right, they left Connecticut. But the Hartford Whalers Booster Club lives on. And strongly, I might add. They hold regular meetings, have frequent newsletters and get this: show up at Carolina Hurricane games in their Whalers garb and cheer on the team. Talk about sustainability.

I know what you’re thinking, ‘Sure, Spike. Its easy for people to get passionate about hockey.’ And I say to you that you’d be surprised what people can get passionate about. Books. City parks. Health. Scissors and paper.

But it’s not only the ‘what’ that people can get passionate about. If you build a movement in such a way that it allows people to own it and use their own talents and gifts to express their passions, then it’s hard to go wrong.

So long live the Hartford Whalers.

Update: Check out the documentary “Bleeding Green,” which “is the story of Hartford’s major league hockey fans…Find out why the Hartford Whalers, even though they don’t exist, still have a lot going for them!”

Easter Sunday morning I got up groggy from a trip to the west coast, clicked on the television and shared my coffee with Duran Duran on A&E’s Private Sessions.

I’ve always enjoyed the A&E Private Sessions but this one caught my attention because of a comment by bassist John Taylor. John made the comment that they don’t like to talk about it but they view Duran Duran as a brand. He went on to say they used ‘brand’ as filter for Duran Duran from day one, over 26 years ago.

Duran Duran like many bands that have survived over a long period of time have many chapters of change. Back in 1982-83 I had just started getting into the club scene and MTV was started to infect culture. My group of friends actually altered our New Year’s Eve plans to catch the 1983 MTV Rock’n Roll Ball performance by Duran Duran. So I have a very defined memory of Duran Duran and connection to Duran Duran.

I love John Moore’s “Would You Miss” posts. So influenced by John a question popped in my head. Would I miss Duran Duran, if the band, their music ceased to exist. I’ll go a step further what if their music just disappeared on your ipod, and your Duran Duran vinyl, and cds just evaporated.

I can tell you one thing, I wouldn’t miss many brands at the level I would miss bands, their music. Is there a lesson here for brands?

Photo credit from: duranduran.com photo gallery