The perfect present?
So as we develop the strange co-operative, consultancy, think-tanky thing that is pleasewalkonthegrass (it will all start happening in 2017)
I’ve been thinking about revisiting the strategy model we developed many years ago to help SME managers think.
Then Julie Flower – the talented principal of the Specialist Generalist consultancy – tweeted this, a festive-themed improvised strategy model. (I hope we’ll see more of her in the New Year).
In the meantime, could our “IPTB” model be tinselled up? Well, yes it could.
It turns out that it works as a pretty good* guide to choosing a Christmas gift for…well…anyone.
So – ask yourself these four questions – then assess your answers not so much on the basis that they are right, as on the basis of your confidence in your knowledge and understanding to come up with a good answer…

Image thanks to http://www.retonthenet.co.uk
Insight – What does this person really love/want/need?
If you’re buying them a gift based on what YOU want or you think they OUGHT to need…think again. Sometimes you just have to ask them.
Purpose – Why are you buying this gift?
Be honest, are you trying to impress them? IS this gift saying something about you or your relationship with them? Or do you want to make THEIR world a better place?
Truth – Is it a truthful gift; a real gift?
The trickest idea here because we’re so used to equating the VALUE of the gift with the PRICE of the gift. We often assume that because it’s expensive, it’s better AS a gift, but sometimes a gift that takes time and effort to find (or, perhaps, gives time to the recipient) is truly a meaningful gift.
Beauty – Is it the best designed of its kind? Is it the real thing?
It’s not always possible but the well-designed widget is nearly always more worthwhile than the Christmas-themed, novelty widget. And good design does what it’s intended to do… and lasts.
*Now I’m not guaranteeing that you’ll always get the right gift, but like the organisation that truly wants to be customer focused – giving customers exactly what they want – and sustainably, it’s always got to be worth thinking about.
Happy holiday.
Christmas is coming….
…the goose is getting fat.
And so is everyone else.
I know I’ve written about this before but the simple equation that besieges us (especially this time of year) is that we consume more energy than we need.
It really IS that simple.
INPUT < OUTPUT = MALNUTRITION
OUTPUT < INPUT = WEIGHT GAIN
Then if we heat our homes and drive everywhere, we’re using tonnes of carbon to prevent our bodies depleting our energy resources. Then, if we fuel up with 2000 or more kilocalories of sugar and fat, and we keep burning unnecessary fuel to do it, there are bound to be cumulative consequences.
I was reminded of all this over-consumption and the effects by this recent piece by Teresa Bolton in the Conversation.
But more directly, as we overeat we have to do something with that food-energy. Knowing no better, our bodies will save it.
We get fatter.
We get less healthy than we would be if we simply ate less.
It’s not rocket science.
But there is more. The thousands of calories we overeat are, effectively, depriving others of calories. If we, in the most developed countries simply demanded less, prices and production would fall. There are, of course, complex market mechanisms that would fight against this; we might even start falling into recession.
But what needs to happen is a subtle shift of food and energy production into a more local, and less “marketised” part of the economy. If we all need food and light and warmth why shouldn’t this be part of the universal basic income idea that is circulating at the moment? It could be a global standard that would give concrete, achievable measures of development. It would demand that governments regulate certain industries (which they do anyway) with an objective of the ‘common good’ – meeting that global standard.
I suspect that this dovetails with Tim Jackson’s idea of Prosperity without Growth (to which Teresa Belton also refers.
Here is an over-oversimplification, but one that kind of makes sense if you think about it
Food marketing makes us fat and unhealthy.
The ONLY source of growth in the food economy should be from a growing population.
Anything else is engineering increased margins (what marketers might call ‘adding value’) by selling variety, novelty or convenience.
Or it is simply selling more, unnecessary, calories.
Quick update on marketing illusions that make us selfish
It’s that time of year when I still get butterflies about going ‘back to school’. Silly really. But it happens and I do have a way of coping. I stop and think. It’s the triumph of rationality over emotion; thinking that, logically, I’ve been through this many, many times and it’s never been so awful. All I need is a bit of preparation and to trust my skills (such as they are).
Recently, however, I’ve been thinking that this isn’t actually ‘rational’ in the sense we usually mean it. It’s true that there is a sense of calm consideration, but I’m not actually using a rational, objective argument to reassure me of what will happen as we get back into the University year.
Indeed, it is probably impossible to fully rationalise the apprehension I feel precisely because it is about the future and the future is uncertain. We can rationalise up to a point – we can consider probabilities – but, in truth, we never have full knowledge of the facts.
So, it’s occurred to me, what I am actually doing is being ‘mindful’. Allowing my full attention to play over the cause of anxiety rather that just letting my limbic system react.
Mindfulness is really rather popular at the moment and I’m always sceptical of anything popular. However the basic idea (familiar to Buddhists everywhere) is simple and reminds me of the ideas Of Lynn Serafin mentions (see my last post). I was also struck by the similarity of Lynn’s thesis with mnmlist.com from Leo Babauta.
Again, it’s that time of year. I’m going back onto the 5:2 diet and I found Leo’s blog via a search for soup. What intrigues me is that being mindful of what we are consuming can help us consume less. And, I suggest, this doesn’t only apply to food (though it’s helpful that it does!)
In my last post I suggested that reminding ourselves how much we have, even when we feel we have very little, is a good idea. Well, even more so now. If we remind ourselves with each mouthful how remarkable it is that the food even exists, we might be getting some way towards realising that (much as food marketers would like to persuade us otherwise) we don’t need a new taste sensation every day.
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Marketing illusions that make us selfish (Part 1)

The 7 Graces of Marketing
Now the course has ended and all the marking has been done, I want to try to sum up why I think Lynn’s ideas are important, not just for marketers, but also for consumers i.e. for all of us.
- Disconnection
- Persuasion
- Invasion
- Distraction
- Deception
- Scarcity
- Competition
Incidentally, this is one of the points of another book from a colleague, Michael Babula, on what he calls the coming age of altruism. That hierarchy of need doesn’t stop when we reach ‘self-actualisation’ because when we recognise that our essential needs are met, we begin to recognise our ability to achieve more… for other people.
Incidentally, this is one of the points of another book from a colleague, Michael Babula, on what he calls the coming age of altruism. That hierarchy of need doesn’t stop when we reach ‘self-actualisation’ because when we recognise that our essential needs are met, we begin to recognise our ability to achieve more… for other people.
See also my personal blog post on Fear and Loathing in UK Politics
Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart: Creativity is about connecting unrelated ideas | Marketing Magazine
See on Scoop.it – Products & Things to make the world better
Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart: Creativity is about connecting unrelated ideas, Creativity can be unsettling, but binding unrelated elements to forge something new is a pathway to genuine excitement, writes TALENTHOUSE.com’s creative marketing…
See on www.marketingmagazine.co.uk
As VCs Retreat Four New, Nimble Innovation Funding Structures Step In | Lux Populi
See on Scoop.it – Products & Things to make the world better
Can’t get venture capital? Try these alternatives http://t.co/zi3eIpxmRm via @WorkMJ
Could be useful for social entrepreneurs…
See on www.luxresearchinc.com
Official BioLite Site | Home of the CampStove
See on Scoop.it – Products & Things to make the world better
BioLite Stoves make cooking on wood as clean, safe & easy as modern fuels while generating electricity to charge phones, lights and other electronics off-grid
Check out Biolight’s products for you and the developing world. Another product that makes a difference- including giving light to read and study by. Running LED lights off your cooking fire = brilliantly simple.
See on www.biolitestove.com
Wonderbag – Home
See on Scoop.it – Products & Things to make the world better
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A fantastic product that reduces fuel poverty, reduces respiratory illnesses and death and frees up resources for education in very poor households. It can save you fuel and time and quite probably give you somewhere to rest your weary head.
See on nb-wonderbag.com
Honesty is the missing ingredient
I don’t really have much time for Russell Brand. I’ve never been that keen on vanity. But here he pinpoints the problem with politics (and indeed business) and why nothing changes for the better.
It would be nice to have a more complete road map to the alternative but the increased taxation of corporations and the wealthiest is clearly achievable (damn, it would mean voting).
Incidentally, the standard response to this is that it would drive companies away from the UK. I’d argue that it’s precisely those kind of companies we don’t want. Meanwhile companies that value people, the environment and social justice might just like being in the UK.
Revolution anyone?
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling as Image Macros
See on Scoop.it – Marketing Insight
“ Back in 2011, then Pixar storyboard artist Emma Coats (now freelancing) tweeted 22 rules of storytelling, according to Pixar. Coats learned the ‘guidelines’ from senior colleagues on how to …”
See on twistedsifter.com