What the Heck is Ambient Awareness?

The NY Times Sunday Magazine on 8/21 had a fascinating article on the effects of online contact. - I'm so Totally, Digitally Close to You by Clive Thompson

“Social scientists have a name for this sort of incessant online contact. They call it “ambient awareness.” It is, they say, very much like being physically near someone and picking up on his mood through the little things he does... Facebook is no longer alone in offering this sort of interaction online. In the last year, there has been a boom in tools for “microblogging”: posting frequent tiny updates on what you’re doing. The phenomenon is quite different from what we normally think of as blogging, because a blog post is usually a written piece, sometimes quite long: a statement of opinion, a story, an analysis. But these new updates are something different. They’re far shorter, far more frequent and less carefully considered. One of the most popular new tools is Twitter, a Web site and messaging service that allows its two-million-plus users to broadcast to their friends haiku-length updates — limited to 140 characters, as brief as a mobile-phone text message — on what they’re doing.

So what does that mean to agencies like us that create branding and advertising in print and on line? We have to understand that the marketplace demands transparency. Gone are the days when anyone can make empty promises! Within a blink of the eye consumers will sniff it out and share it. It’s really a trust issue, and all companies need to take it very seriously. The article also relates it to when Americans lived in small towns and everyone knew their business. You know that one nosey neighbor who was on the phone in a heartbeat if hanky panky was going on, well now its on cyberspace for all! Welcome to a brave new world

The Non Profit Boot Camp, Passion Lives!

Recently I attended and volunteered at the Non Profit Boot Camp in Manhattan (an event sponsored by The Craig’s List Foundation). It was truly amazing with over 1,200 emerging and established community leaders in the non-profit world in attendance. Everyone seemed filled with boundless and contagious enthusiasm; it was remarkable how organized the chaos was.

Most of the attendees were young and idealistic, many just starting out in the non-profit arena, there to soak up as much knowledge as possible during a very long day. Others came with only a dream, hoping to learn from others how set up their own non-profit, each convinced their cause was unique. The event included a day of interesting workshops, keynotes and some great networking. The volunteer staff was terrific, smoothing over any issues that occurred throughout the day and the killer coffee and natural snacks supplied from vendors for free were an added plus especially for those sitting in the trade show section!

So what was my part besides taking a booth at the trade show and drinking some great coffee? For two hours I sat in a small room working one-on-one in twenty minute intervals with 5 different people who signed up to speak to me for help with branding and marketing (the sessions were organized and run by a great organization called Non-Profit Central NY/NJ with its CEO Sue Caruso Green at the helm). I began each session w/, "How can I help you?" and often just being a sounding board seemed to help. Sometimes my "EXPERTISE" was just coming up with a simple solution for them to consider. (after all how much can you learn in twenty minutes?) Nonetheless, I felt very valued, with many of them trying to grab an extra minute with me before the next person came in to take a seat, and each leaving with a heartfelt thank you. Something that doesn’t always happen with paying clients.

It was a long day, but a real breath of fresh air. As one client (a boomer-aged director of an arts organization) once told me "After years of having to raise funds for the pens we use it’s great to see the next generation still idealistic, willing to take the challenge head on!” As I read in a commentary in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, “Millennial (young 20’s) are passionate about causes and, according to the Corporation for National and Community Service, are volunteering in record numbers.” I like to think that as a baby boomer our idealistic generation started the conversation. GO millenials – now you can keep the conversation going and teach us all a thing or two!

Want to learn more go to: www.craigslistfoundation.org

Look through fresh eyes- "Vuja de"

No I didn't misspell Deja Vu...... Vuja de happens when you enter a situation you've been in a thousand times before, but with the sense of being there for the first time.” George Carlin coined the phrase "Vuja De" first and used it in an early comedy routine. “It's all about the obvious right in front of our eyes. When someone invents a simple little something for the benefit of mankind, almost everyone either simultaneously thinks, "why didn't I think of that?" or "I was just thinking of that."

Bill Taylor in a post at Harvard Business Online writes about it from a business point of view. "Most companies in most industries have a kind of tunnel vision. They chase the same opportunities that everyone else is chasing, they miss the same opportunities that everyone else is missing." It's an atmosphere that stifles innovation, and can create an unsettling sense of corporate déjà vu as companies continue to use the same old thinking with each new initiative.

As the creative director of my firm, I still get a jolt when I first realize I'm looking at a brand new, fresh creative idea. It's about breaking away from the pack mentality and approaching each new challenge with fresh eyes.

When too many assumptions get in the way of asking open-ended questions

The art of marketing often involves asking lots of questions with no expectations of the answers. This can be the most difficult thing to do. How often do we assume we know the answers and forget to ask the right questions? I think what children do best is have an open mind. In Japan they use the phrase “Shoshin” which means beginners mind. In the beginners mind says Shunryu Suzuki, a Japanese Buddhist scholar, there are many possibilities; in the experts mind there are few.

I want to share a story about a friend of mine, which illustrates “the beginners mind”. We were in a meeting together and she looked as if she had been crying earlier. When I asked her if everything was ok she reassured me that it was just allergies and her allergist had prescribed drops.

The next time we spoke I asked her if she was still suffering with allergies. “Funny you should ask, she said, I went home that day, got into bed and hoped for some relief, my daughter came into the room and said, mommy, you have “esema”. (her daughter had eczema on her arms in the past) This conversation went on for a while and to get her daughter off her case my friend put some of her daughters cream under her eyes. As you might have guessed it worked instantly.

Now, I certainly don’t recommend self-medicating ourselves but I do believe there is a business lesson here. How often do we ask our clients a question with an answer already in our heads? Or in my client’s case did she start her conversation with the allergist asking for eye drops, for her allergies rather than asking an open-ended question of what is this. Next time you meet with a client try not to come up with a solution too quickly and try using “Shoshin, a beginners mind”. Ask more open-ended questions. What was wasted? What caused complaints today? You will be surprised what you might learn.

More interesting news on the college application front.

I recently read an article in the June 16th issue of Crains, written by Samatha Marshall, “Local Colleges Face Student Shortage.”

According to this article there will be a big demographic shift…promised to end what has been eight years of explosive growth in applications, “ and schools’ main market, of high school graduating classes across the Northeast, is expected to shrink by 14% over the next five years.” Some of the schools are stepping up international recruiting efforts, hiring international recruiters, and actively marketing themselves in burgeoning regions like Asia. Other schools are focusing efforts online and are offering programs that cater to older, nontraditional students, even keeping admissions offices open at night so prospects can register after work.

Do Design Awards Matter?

Well of course they do, but not how you might think.

They don’t often get you new accounts, but they certainly matter to your design staff who need and deserve the praise for a job well done. There was a survey going around a couple of years ago that asked people if they had the choice between winning an Oscar or an award for a scientific discovery, which would they choose? Surprisingly most chose the Oscar. It seems being in the limelight and dressed up in front of your peers at a gala event means a lot.

So why do clients care? People in marketing responsible for choosing a firm to work with are always under a lot of pressure. How better to validate their decision to their bosses when the firm they chose wins awards on their behalf. Now please don’t misconstrue this. Awards never replace who the ultimate winners are. They are announced later when you do or don’t get a call for the next assignment after your client evaluates the success of the strategy on their bottom line!
















So with that being said, I want to say kudos to my amazing and talented staff and to our very smart clients for choosing us. The Byne Group Took Home 10 Big W Awards this June including several honors for its work on Nyack Hospital’s Get to Know the Doctors Who Trust Nyack Hospital Image Campaign. Amy Massimo, Nyack Hospital's Director of Public Affairs, said it best: “The Byne Group worked extensively for us to develop cohesive, effective and targeted marketing campaigns and they all proved to be widely successful.” Amy let us know that we succeeded at our most important job by helping Nyack Hospital's bottom line!

The firm also earned Big W's for work for The Hollows at Blue Hill, Dominican College, Catholic Charities and United Hospice of Rockland.

How many of you have lived through the college admissions process?

-By Ann Byne

I recently followed my nephew’s search with great interest. It’s been quite awhile since I went through it with my own kids and I was curious how things had changed since the Internet and new media. Not to mention that as a strategic design agency it was research that we could share with our own higher education clients.

Researching the college marketplace through CASE, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The New York Times to name a few, the funniest or saddest quote I read (depending on your perspective) was from an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, “What Admissions Officials Think,” by Eric Hoover.

“My success,” wrote a male admissions official at a public institution, “is determined by the decision-making prowess of 17 year-olds.”

Yikes, not a great position to be in.

Wanting to dig deeper, we conducted our own tri-state survey on line contacting a few high school seniors we knew going through the process. Through “viral marketing” efforts (you know, the internet’s version of “word of mouth!) they forwarded our survey on to their friends who forwarded it on to their friends and so on and so on. Their comments confirmed some things we all know; yet some were quite enlightening. Who'd ever think that a teenager in 2008 would hate getting emails?

"Who’d ever think that a teenager in 2008 would hate getting emails?"

Well, it’s not hating getting one email, but try 200 on any given day from colleges they’ve approached for basic info. and may not even want to attend!! They still like holding brochures in their hands but when they receive it in the process became crucial. The first few received at College night or mail had a positive impact, but towards the end of their search they were crying Uncle and dumping materials into the garbage left and right. Not great for the colleges or the environment.

Students today are spending a lot of time visiting sites not affiliated with any particular college. Favored were campusdirt.com and collegeconfidential.com. Lots of great info can be found but some quotes on these sites can be brutal. Example: “Dorms are crowded, old, and in need of renovation. Dorm students are forced to pay for a large meal plan, even if they do not use it. Many hidden costs.” A disaster if you were the college mentioned!

One school we’ve been in contact with has stopped producing and mailing any view books. They direct all inquiries to their web and send e-mails. Have they gone too far?

Have we come to the point that the overabundance of e-technology communications turns off this generation?

So what’s an admissions officer to do?

We heard that kids want real stories, from real students about real life at college, not generic pretty pictures and definitely not in the same old formats. Here’s just a few quotes from our survey.

1. “Too many mass emails. I have gotten at least 200 and it’s quite annoying.”
2. You contacted me by mail “wayyy too much”
3. …”Everything seemed to be the same.”
4. “After the first few months I threw out almost all the pamphlets without even reading them.”
5. “I got the most mail from the schools I cared the least about.”
6. “Sometimes the brochures would be very dry and un-interesting, which turned me off from some colleges that I had been previously interested in.”
7. I want more “personal experience stories.”
8. “Most of them (pictures) look way too posed.”

Some other notable research reports I would recommend:

1. From HS to the Future: Potholes on the Road to College, March 2008
Although this is research done by the Consortium on Chicago schools it has great research on first generation college students many from latino immigrant families.

2. 2008 Moody’s Public Finance, 2008, U.S. Higher Education Outlook
which talks about the dramatic changes expected in enrollment.

And by the way if you were wondering, my nephew will begin at The College of NJ in the fall.