The Foundation of Canada's Future ?

The Quebec provincial election. More than any other provincial issue, that is the one — comme toujours — with the greatest implications for Canada and Canadian politicians. No other provincial concern comes remotely close to the high-stakes contest now underway in the province of Quebec. The outcome will define our national politics for years to come.

Warren Kinsella's a pretty astute political observer.  He's also a pretty shrewd political player; he understands the strategic value of laying track, although he might not be familiar with the baseline reasoning of why it works.  So, when Kinsella lays out a possible scenario for Canada's future, it's not hard to tell where his interests lie - but you also can't dismiss his insight as just partisan wishful thinking either.

There is validity to each of his points; Team Harper would be wise to give them some consideration.  What can Harper do to make sure he cuts off at the pass a scenario that sees the end of his Party and the undermining of his legacy within his lifetime?

By fulfilling a commitment he's already made, one that appeals deeply to Quebecers and that has resonance nationwide.  Heck, if he does this, Harper could be assured of a legacy that lasts for generations.

Stephen Harper is as capable of reading the tea leaves as anyone.  The question is, how far ahead is he thinking - and how bold is he willing to be?  If the answer is "not very," then perhaps someone else will be.

Own The Podium - Empowering Canada's Workforce

http://m.theglobeandmail.com/sports/olympics/how-own-the-podium-changed-everything-for-canadas-olympic-athletes/article4459222/?service=mobile

Own The Podium has provided the right holistic supports to Canadian athletes. The result? They're moving closer to their personal maximum potentials, performing better than ever. These accommodations have included psychology; the best performers in any field understand just how important the right frame of mind is to success.  

Just think of what we can achieve in our economy, in innovation, in beating the challenges of today and positioning our communities as world leaders if we apply this same approach to our workplaces and our schools. 

Let's make it happen!

Cheers,

Craig

When the Master governs, the people
are hardly aware that he exists.


When his work is done,
the people say, "Amazing:
we did it, all by ourselves!”

Building Your Customers’ Brand: When the Story Isn’t About You

by Gabriella on August 2, 2012

It’s funny, isn’t it? Funny, as in, ironic. Social media is all the rage, with use growing at an exponential rate.

The fuzzy, feel good business world…

with rainbows

Many marketers (including the Level343 team) talk about engaging your customers, reaching out to them, treating them like people instead of numbers. The business world is all fuzzy, feel good warmth, struggling to embrace the buyer in friendliness. Any day now, the Care Bears will walk in and start growing rainbows out of their fuzzy white bellies.


Then we come across things like “Taking Your Brand Back from Your Customers”. Wow. That sounds somewhat military-ish, doesn’t it? It has a “village mob” flavor at the very least:


Fearless Corporate Leader: Grab your torch and pitchforks, everybody! Let’s go get our brand back!
Crowd: Yeeeeeaaaah!


Welcome to the 18^th century of business.

Your Constituents Want YOU!

“Ladies and gentlemen, we promise no new shipping costs, price hikes or product defects!*”

*Except in the fine print where we state clearly that we have the right to hike prices and shipping costs indefinitely without warning and product defects are mandatory during cost cutting phases.

Politics are on our minds right now, considering that the U.S. is in line to either a) get a new President or b) keep the current one. Which brings to mind this question – do you know what a constituent is?
The free dictionary definition of constituent has several neat numbers, as definitions almost always do.


“Thank you for visiting your local dictionary! Your most wonderful word is spelled like this, sounds like this, is used as an adjective or noun, and can mean this, this or this.” For the purpose of this article, we’re interested in the definition that says a constituent is part of a whole, empowered to designate (the adjectives) and one that authorizes another to act as a representative (noun).


How does this tie into business and branding, you ask? You, dear business owner, have constituents! We call them customers in the business world, but they are:

1. part of a whole target market
2. that has the power to designate
3. you and your brand as their representative

That’s right. Bet you didn’t know you signed up for politics, did you? Your consumers want YOU to represent them. They’ve voted you in with the best vote possible, the cash in their wallets. They’ve designated your brand, your business – your beautiful product – as the one that tells their story.

 

This Is Not Your Story

What are your customers’ stories?

Their story is not your story. This is your story and this is your story, but when they pick up your products or use your services, your brand becomes part of theirstory. Big brands like Wal-Mart and American Express understand that:


Wal-Mart: Save Money. Live Better.


“I got it at Wal-Mart for a real bargain,” a woman says, and smiles as her friends exclaim over the deal she found.


American Express: Do more.


“Where’d you go for vacation, Bob?”


“Hawaii.”


Steve’s eyebrows go up in surprise. “Wow, really? That must have cost a small fortune. How’d you manage that?”


“Eh, it wasn’t that bad, “says Bob with a sly grin and a shrug. He and his wife wouldn’t have been able to take that vacation without using their American Express rewards, but Steve doesn’t need to know that.


Harley Davidson definitely understands that. “Live cage free,” one of their ads says. “With power comes freedom. With freedom comes anything,” says another. Their entire site lives and breathes the freedom of the road without the cage of an enclosed car. You can almost feel the wind whipping across your face and the power of the bike thrumming under you.

Rebel with a cause….

The advertising says, “This is you. This is your story and it’s about freedom!” Of course, the “freedom” theme also ties in neatly with the American dream, but that’s probably a coincidence… maybe.


BMW understands that, and targets a higher standard of living with “the ultimate driving machine”. Prada understands that; the company’s founders worked to become the very symbol of luxury, with its particular brand of “reverse snobbery”.


Do you notice the reoccurring theme with these successful brands? Many people buying at Wal-Mart are thrifty and proud of it. They look for the best deal at the best price (the best deal is not always the best price).


Many who use American Express really do end up doing more than they might otherwise be able to do, thanks to the rewards programs. For some, their “brand” is their own impression of being well off, whatever that is, and rewards programs are a great way to do that.


Have you ever seen a Harley Davidson owner that didn’t have at least a tiny bit of rebel in them? The gentleman with the pocket protector, glasses and a wicked bishop’s move in chess climbs on his Harley and becomes one with the road. It’s just him and his machine.

So Now You’ve Been Elected

Mayor of the City of Brandness

So here you are – the elected official of Brandom, Mayor of the City of Brandness and Grand High Poombah of Brandonia. Your customers have voted to designate your company and products as their representative to the world. Now… are you a good politician?

• Do you listen to your constituents?
• Do you pay attention to what they want?
• Do you show that you care about them(and, if so, how)?
• Are you representing them to the best of your ability?

Or, like the article title used in the beginning, are you working on taking your brand BACK from your customers? Instead of it being an “us or them” idea, let’s focus on a little bit of “us “. Work on building your customers’ brand and they’ll help you build yours. It’s a win-win situation.


We are the nation of Level343. Thank, dear citizens, for reading. Cue the Care Bears belly rainbow.

Tagged as: Content Strategy

Are Silo Walls Starting To Come Down?

There's certainly a growing chorus us voices suggesting that's in our collective interest.

There is a lot of danger with the silo system. So why is it still so prevalent?

This issue goes way, way beyond the topic of social media. You can apply the same types of questions to customer experience, or org design, or innovation, or ethics: who owns these things? When it comes to fundamental issues such as these, shouldn’t everyone own them, across all of the silos?

The problem with the silo system in modern corporations is, when everyone owns something, no one does.

The Centre Always Holds

Started my day listening to a little Jesus Christ Superstar; it has struck me of late that, with so much focus on drought, political turmoil, war, etc, there are more than a few folk with a little Armageddon on their minds. Blame it on the Tzolkin.  This, naturally, got me thinking about Yeats' The Second Coming:

TURNING and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Of course, we Western folk tend to be a bit on the selfish side.  We look at time through our own lens, "like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives" kind of thing.  Not everyone looks at the world through such linear terms; in fact, even when you look at systems theory in the West, there's a recognition of boom and bust cycles.  After all, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.

Days, seasons, the rise and fall of empires, the boom and bust of economies, the spiral outwards to political extremes and the oppositional contraction to the political middle - these aren't linear things; they're turns of the wheel.

We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move.

The closer we collectively get to the middle, the more stability we have.  This is what Lao Tzu meant when he said "hold on to the centre."

In the mean time, the wheel keeps turning - we're just along for the ride.

Royson James Rant Against Intolerance

"So, lock up the absentee boy-fathers. Castrate the boys and sterilize the girls. Starve the baby mommas. If we have the stomachs for it."

Or let’s have a civil and serious conversation about a serious and uncivil problem that’s been a long time coming."

Put another way - we can continue to get angry and react, exacerbating the problem, or we can let cooler heads prevail.

Fast - alone.  Far?  Together.

The Flame That Won't Die

I love this quote:


Yet, people come together to play, to share, to try, to succeed and to fail--all part of the human experience, in that way reflecting life in the real world.