Archive for December, 2009

Here is a synopsis from an impressive blog with an archive of entries focused on improving personal finance and freedom. Visit the Simple Dollar for more.

Buzz Mouth has offices in Phoenix and New York City. Yet, the office looks more like this most of time. Is rent and office space going away?

All Buzz Mouth consultants are armed to be on client site and the offices often are empty. The future for going to an office is going to be the past for us as our team tele-commutes from far corners of the world, cafes, airports and rental cars.

Kudo’s to Apple for giving us everything we need in less than 3 pounds. It makes for a lightweight office.

From ProductMarketing.com Blog:

It’s amazing how many companies are still using “old school” marketing. David Meerman Scott explains today’s marketing in Web Ink Now: Social media marketing explained in 61 words. It’s a long video but the first few minutes are key:

“You can buy attention (with advertising); You can beg for attention from the media (with PR); You can bug people one at a time to get attention (with direct sales). Or you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online for free: a YouTube video, a blog, a research report, photos, a Twitter stream, an ebook, a Facebook page.”

I would say there is a bit more to it, yet the accuracy of the statement above does question why so many people spend such little time sharing interesting and valuable information about their products, customers, employees, experiences, designs, innovations and brands. If they hold an open house online, it is amazing how many will peak inside and potentially become a customer or better yet, spread the word about what you are doing.

Buzz Mouth does the above for clients in many ways, visit www.buzzmouth.com for more information. Buzz Mouth is an innovation and customer experience consultancy.

Cool spaces attract cool people. Congrats SHR.

Design can make brands.

Look at Apple versus Microsoft? Apple’s designs and product development create their brand.

Look at NetFlix versus Blockbuster? NetFlix is beating BlockBuster with a good designed experience. Simple. Repetitive. Efficient.

Other companies that have designed their experiences and created a brand in the design:

Starbucks is a designed experience you pay a premium for, from the menu to the colors. They tap into your total senses.

Lexus is in the design business as their commercials are rarely about the car, they are about their innovations and features. The car sells itself.

Apple is a design company, look at every product, packaging, their stores, it is all designed and makes up their brand, including the white backgrounds in their commercials.

IDEO is an innovation consultancy create world class designs, I believe this is a place I could work forever. Is it really work, when you love it.

Google is a simple design that changed the world and created $23 Billion in revenue, more than 90% of the worlds countries GDP’s.

Facebook has won the social network war with design, simplicity and repetition. Limiting features, yet turning over their platform to whomever wants to create an application.

I used to want to focus my career on building brands, until one day – I figured out that design makes brands more than any advertising or marketing. If companies can focus on human-centered designs, they are likely to remove the friction and create an easy way to grow their business.

Our future is a designed experience. Is your life designed? Your self, your fitness, home, furniture, car, restaurants you go to or your office, community or entertainment experiences. If not, they could be. The memorable ones are – Cirque du Soliel, etc.

You get it, right. Start designing now.