Dahle Communication

Educators need some new branding

I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I love teaching and coaching speech and debate. While I am only a half-time teacher (working on Dahle Communication Group the other half) I do really enjoy my time at school working with those kids.

Here is the dilemma: my daughter says she wants to be a teacher. I say dilemma because I am not sure that I even want her to be a teacher. I know she would be an amazing elementary teacher (which is what I think she wants to do). She has a huge heart, is very caring, helps other students now while in school and is nothing short of brilliant. I know she's only ten and will might change her mind, but she's been saying she wants to be a teacher for about 3 years now (I wanted to be a fireman when I was 7, but that's because we got to go to the fire-station in second grade).

Now why don't I want her to be a teacher? I know it sounds terrible, but I think she is too smart and too talented to be a teacher - and that is the problem! As a society we have a belief that if you are a talented smart person, you should do something besides teaching. While I don't claim to be a brilliant person, I've had several people ask me why I'm not in politics or a lawyer or something else. It is a stigma that I have heard several times: 'If you can't do, teach.' That is the problem.

Educators and education as a whole needs some new branding. We need to change the mindset of people that if you are the most talented and smartest kid in class, that you absolutely should go into teaching! Teach for America has started to do this to some degree of success. They focus on getting graduates from schools like Duke or Harvard and get graduates who usually would never think about going into education and sending them to impoverished schools or reservations and working with kids who are not exposed to highly intelligent successful kids to try and inspire them.

Mostly though, as educators, we need to show that education is so important that it should be pursued by the best and brightest. It is an issue that I am struggling with. We all want our kids to do better than we did, and I'm not sure if education is going to provide that for my daughter - especially if she teaches in South Dakota (we are 51st in the nation in teacher-pay).

How do we do this? Do educators need to have a more rigid educational background? Do we just need to start talking about it? I obviously have a clouded perspective being in education so I am curious as to your thoughts: what do you think?

Selling Magic - now that's a brand

 Last week, I finished my first ever visit to Disney World in Florida. During my time there, I made a few observations and what I've noticed is that Disney takes it brand very seriously - at least at Disney World. 

Over the years, Disney has made some of the most memorable movies of all time. As a child, you've probably seen a good portion of the Disney movies out there: Bambi, Pinnochio, Beauty & the Beast, Cinderella, Snow White, etc. Even if you haven't seen them (or its been a long time) you at least know the stories, because they have been around that much. Lately, Pixar - in working with Disney - has re-energized the Disney brand with magic of their own. With such classic movies as Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibiles and Wall-E. Even adults enjoy these movies as much as children do.

What I've noticed while being there is that the amount of work and time that goes into keeping this "magic" alive. It truly is amazing. The number of people and the planning and organizing that goes into making sure that people enjoy their visits is baffling to me. 

Disney takes its brand seriously when it comes to things like Disney World. During our time there, our kids couldn't have enjoyed themselves more and neither could I. Everyone involved - from those picking up trash to the person playing Cinderella - works hard to keep that brand how they want it. It has the potential for disaster. That many workers, dealing with that many people day after day after day, I am sure that quite a few people have not had great experiences at Disney World and I am sure more than a couple of workers have left their not pleased with their experience. However, when looking at the big picture, Disney does a hell of a job with how they run Disney World.

Oh - and some of the rides were fantastic! Especially Toy Story Midway Mania!

Logorama - an experiment in Brand Recognition

If you were watching the Oscars last night or the coverage of them on a variety of shows throughout the past month, you've probably at least seen or heard of the animated short film 'Logorama.' If you haven't, don't worry, you'll want to follow along. The video places you in a world filled with various logos and brand images throughout the world, but mostly the Western World. However, it decides to have some fun with those logos (like having Ronald McDonald on the run from the cops).

While watching the video and enjoying it, I thought it would be a fun experiment to see how many Brands I could recognize. Unfortunately, there were too many for me to count. So I instead tried to count how many I couldn't recognize. Surprisingly there were quite a few that I didn't recognize at first, but there were far fewer than the ones I did recognize.

I think it shows how successful some of the branding has been for some companies that they are so recognizable. Go through the video yourself and see how many you either a) recognize or b) can't recognize. Besides, the video is hilarious (I am not including the full video because I don't have the rights to, but I have included the preview for it).

Piano Stairs - Why messaging is important

If you look at almost any statistic out there, America is not a very healthy nation. The Obesity Society's research shows that 49 out of 50 states have over 20% of residents listed as obese and 3 states have over 30% of their residents are obese - needless to say, not good.

Why is this? A lot of reasons and excuses have been given. One that I have noticed is that people exercise a lot less. Things have become automated for us. We take the elevator or the escalator instead of the stairs.

That's where this video comes in. The incentive to take the stairs is not a strong one - the incentive to take the escalator usually wins out. Note: If you are wondering why I'm talking about incentives, I'm reading 'SuperFreakonomics' which is all about incentives, which really all of you should read.

The Fun Theory wants to change that incentive and put together this video. They changed the message of the stairs from something that takes work to something that is fun. Many more people took the stairs because it wasn't looked at as work or difficult anymore.

Use this idea in your speeches and presentations. If there is something that hasn't worked or you feel could be better - change it. Reworking your speeches is something that can really make a difference in the effectiveness of it. So even if you have given a speech several times, take a look at it again and see if there is something you could change to make it even better. 

Remember: it's not a matter if what you are saying or presenting will help people - it's a matter of how they are hearing that message. So change it - and you might see a huge change like one seen in this video.

One Year Down - A review of my favorites

 One year ago today I published my first post on communication here at Dahle Communication. I wasn't quite sure how much I was going to be able to spend posting articles or what I would talk about all of those times. After one year though, I have realized that there is a great deal to talk about and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon!

With that said, here are my top 10 posts from the past year. They are not the top ten in views or comments, but what I feel are the 10 bests posts. Best can mean a variety of things, but to me it represents a post that was thought provoking, got some good feedback and has continued to attract interest not only from everyone out there, but me as well.

10. Presentations to watch: xBlog: Did You Know 4.0 - I put this post in the top ten because of how good the video from xBlog is. Its a great presentation that has given me some inspiration and has also gotten me to think about the world.

9. Prezi - A Revolution in Presentations or Just Another Program? - Prezi is a presentation application that has made me re-think the way presentation CAN be done. However, much like anything new, its novelty has worn off some for me. However, I think it is still a great presentation tool that can be added to any successful presenters repertoire.

 8. A Good Story Helps Propel Supreme Court Nominee Sotomayor - Justice Sotomayor's profile has decreased quite a bit since she was nominated and confirmed as the most recent Supreme Court justice. Her rise to fame however allowed the Obama administration to show all of us how to use a story to get your audience on your side.

7. Watch the context of your language - why MSNBC should learn slang - The reason I put this up on the top 10 list is that I am a political junkie. I follow politics a lot and like to follow how candidates and activists use communication - either to their advantage or disadvantage. Sadly, a lot of people apparently need to learn slang, because this issue is still around. Besides, this has quite possibly the funniest clip from The Daily Show ever!

6. Macworld 2009 Keynote - Minus Steve Jobs - All of us know how good of a public speaker Steve Jobs is. So when he didn't present at the Keynote address of Macworld people were concerned - about Steve and the status of Apple. Apple is so tied to Jobs and his ability to present eloquently that unless his successor can follow in his footsteps as a confident speaker, Apple might be in trouble.

 5. Pearl Jam Ten Redux CD - Addition by Subtraction - I put this post up simply for the fact that music is a big part of my life and I have used music on several occasions to prove a point. Other posts include one talking about Allison Krauss & Robert Plant, The Watchmen Trailer, Alice In Chains, Chris Isaak and Muse. Music can teach us a lot about communication.

4. Destroying a Brand the Tiger way - This has turned out to be a huge story. What's more amazing is that is it still unfolding in front of our eyes. By the end of 2010, we might know everything - but I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't.

 3. Are things like Twitter, Texting, Facebook and Blogging hurting communication? - This was one of many posts regarding communication and how it is being affected by on-line media. A lot of people have simply forgotten how important effective communication is.

2. Twitter vs Facebook - Why Simplicity Matters - I have posted several times about Twitter because of its impact on our world as communicators and on society as a whole. 

 1. Mantras versus Mission Statements? How about a Passion Statement - This post got a lot of responses from people about the idea of a passion statement. While reading Guy Kawasaki's book Reality Check, I liked his idea of a mantra instead of a mission statement. However, I like the idea of a passion statement even more - which is why you will find one of our pages on our website titled "About Our Passion"

These were just 10 of the 88 posts I had over the past year. I can't wait for the next year and what communication will have in store for us.

Tiger still hasn't learned anything - maybe I can help him

 Last month I talked about how quickly Tiger Woods destroyed his brand image with his actions. In that post I stated:

In today's world of instant news, gossip dominates coverage (which I despise) and videos go "viral" - events can change the way we look at something in an instant. Communication has changed so much with Twitter, Facebook, e-mails, blogs, etc. that you cannot control the message. It is impossible to control the message - you can have some influence as to the direction of the message, but you cannot control it. Tiger didn't understand that and he still doesn't. He has only given a couple of statements on his website, no interviews, no communication at all.

That was on December 14th - before sponsors had begun to drop him. At that point in time, Tiger had taken a huge hit in his brand - but it was still strong enough to garner the attention of companies who wanted to sell their products. Sadly, Tiger didn't realize that his lack of communication to talk about what happened was causing him harm.

Brett Duncan over at Marketing In Progress made an interesting comment on that post that I wanted to talk about here. He states:

It's really quite amazing what we've been witnessing with Tiger. Especially even since you originally posted this, he's lost quite a few sponsorships. Turns sponsorship into a great way to explain branding: if companies want to sponsor you, then you're doing something right with your brand.

As to the communication side of things, I'm curious as to how you think Tiger could have handled this better?

Brett makes a great point when talking about branding and sponsorship. If your brand is good, people want to ride that brand to help sell their products and want to sponsor you. Hence, if your brand is not good, they don't want to be associated with you. This is what Tiger has to realize - that his brand has taken such a hit that companies that have spend millions supporting him are now bailing on him. Companies add and drop people all the time, but they usually do it because of their skills declining and a newer, better version is coming up. This isn't the case with Tiger Woods - he is still the most dominant golfer in the world - they are dropping him because his brand is now THAT tainted.

To look at Brett's question on what Tiger could have done better, this answer is simple: Communicate! Tiger Woods loves his privacy and he felt that he could keep quiet about it and people would leave him alone like they always have. Unfortunately for Tiger, the news media smelled blood in the water and were like sharks. The media is like this - they like a sensational story - either sex or violence - and if its both, hallelujah - and this one had sex with some hints of violence (directed towards Tiger - with a golf club no less).

Had Tiger come out right away and addressed what happened the media might have been easier on him. However, because he has been so quiet, bloggers, pundits and anyone with an opinion has filled the gap. While he wouldn't have been able to cover things up - at least he would have been able to facilitate something to help himself and his brand. 

Is it too late for Tiger? I'm not sure. I am sure he will come back and be a great golfer and will continue to be the world's number 1 player for years to come. However, unless he comes out soon and starts communicating with people - either giving interviews or having a press conference - anything - he will continue to fall in the public's eye and will continue to destroy one of the most valuable brands in the world.

Destroying a Brand the Tiger way

Over the past two weeks I have witnessed quite possibly the fastest destruction of one of the best brands in all of history - the fall of the Tiger. As Bill Simmons at ESPN put it:

it transformed our collective perception of a famous person and made us re-evaluate every opinion we had about him

Your brand is everything. People buy into you and your product, service or company based on the brand. Having a strong and definitive brand is one of the things that sets apart a thriving business from a struggling one - Seth Godin has a great definition of what a brand is here. And Tiger Woods had one of the best brands around - until now.

The only brand destruction that I can even remotely think of coming close to Tiger is the fall of Enron.

Enron was considered one of the best energy companies around - people had their life savings in Enron stock and were going to retire on and then the collapse happened. However, the difference between them and Tiger is that unless you were either employed by Enron or were heavily invested in them, you didn't really care that much. With Tiger, he changed the way Golf was watched, played and covered.

Tiger has his own Gatorade named after him, he makes millions upon millions in sponsorships and he skyrockets the ratings of golf when he is in the hunt to win a tournament. Tiger had crafted his brand to be that way - we loved him and wanted to be like him because he was so dominate.

Unfortunately, his actions are causing his brand to fall - and the bigger they are, the harder they fall. 

In today's world of instant news, gossip dominates coverage (which I despise) and videos go "viral" - events can change the way we look at something in an instant. Communication has changed so much with Twitter, Facebook, e-mails, blogs, etc. that you cannot control the message. It is impossible to control the message - you can have some influence as to the direction of the message, but you cannot control it. Tiger didn't understand that and he still doesn't. He has only given a couple of statements on his website, no interviews, no communication at all.

 Because of his lack of communication and attempt to direct the message, he is letting others control that message. Maybe he doesn't have PR people that understand the new world of communication - which means he needs to fire them and find new ones! The world has changed - and Tiger and all celebrities need to understand this. Maybe Tiger needs to take a lesson from Ashton Kutcher. If you would have read that line 5 years ago you would have laughed - but in todays world, Ashton gets it when it comes to the new world of communication and Tiger doesn't.

What we can all learn from this (besides NOT screwing around on your wife) is simple: learn how to communicate in todays world of social media. If you are not sure what you would do if your brand took some kind of a "hit", start working on that plan now. You won't be able to control the message - but hopefully you'll be able to help direct it towards something manageable. Which can mean the difference between survival and destruction of your business.

Research if you want to do it right!

Over the past couple of weeks Dahle Communication has been working on a pretty big project for a client. Without getting too deep into the details, we're working on helping them create a core message for their clients. Being fairly intelligent people, we started out by discussing what we thought might be those core messages and had a great brain storming session. However, what we came up with instead is going to be far more effective - we decided to go straight to their clients and ask them.

Over the past week or so, we've tried to talk to as many of their customers and potential customers as possible and get their thoughts and perspectives. This has really increased our knowledge base of what the message can and should become. Because of this, the message itself is going to be stronger and it will impact more people. In the end, our client will be a lot more satisfied with the end results because of it.

Make sure you do this when working on your speeches. Make sure you do your research when you are preparing. Does that mean you have to include all of that information in your speech? No. In fact, I would argue that you shouldn't because people are more likely to follow emotion then logic (which is another post for another time). What it will allow you to do is make sure that you are creating the most effective message that will appeal to more people so you will be more successful.

Can you put together a good speech without a great deal of research? Sure. Would we have done okay without as much research? Probably. However, as I stated last week - don't let good be enough - it is the enemy of great. Do the research and be great.

Travis

White Noise - are you adding to it?

Today I had a chance to do a lot of searching on the web and catch up to the blogs that I like to follow, got an Alltop page (now you can make your own personal Alltop page), caught up on some news, tweeted a few times, responded to some e-mails, listened to some NPR on the way to work...and still tried to get some work done.  What I realized is that there is a TON of information out there for us to process.  So the question I have for people who are speaking and presenting is simply this:  Are you adding to the white noise that so many of us deal with on a day-to-day basis or are you giving speeches and presentations that are leaving a mark with the audience?

Let's say you WANT to leave a mark with the audience...how do you do that is the next question.  If you want to truly be successful there is a lot of things that you need to do, but here are a couple of suggestions to help you get started.

1.  Set yourself apart with good design for your speeches.

You can do this in several ways.  First off, pick up Garr Reynolds book Presentation Zen or any of the books that are listed on this blog.  All of them contain some great tips on presentation ideas and how you can incorporate great design ideas into your presentations instead of the typical bullet-point presentations that are out there.  Secondly, read some blogs on good design.  There are a lot out there and my blogroll contains quite a few of them, but I would suggest Ethos3 as a good starting point.

2.  Be different

Does this mean wearing a clown suit?  No.  What it does mean is find something that you can do to set yourself apart from the pack.  One suggestion that I have is to use something other than PowerPoint if you are going to give a presentation.  A great new software called Prezi is in the beta phase right now and has great potential to overturn how people present.  If you can get started early using the software before everyone else, you can set yourself apart and be one of the fore-runners in this new technology.

3.  Engage People

This is done on a couple of levels.  First off, when you are presenting you need to engage your audience by talking to them instead of at them.  You can do this by working on your eye contact with the audience and making sure to pay attention to them and not your images behind you.  Additionally, engage them with on-line mediums such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.  Brett Duncan wrote a good blog about this titled "Exploiting vs. Exploring."  Don't exploit the use of these services just to build a name for yourself, but engage people with them.

Those are three simple things you can do to start setting yourself apart from all of the white noise out there: Have good design, be different and engage people.  While there is quite a bit more to it than that, this is at least a start.  

Creating a Following -- Chris Isaak's New Album 'Mr. Lucky'

I am a big Chris Isaak fan.  I have loved his music since the early 90's.  One of my top 10 albums of all time would have to include his album 'Forever Blue.'  After a 7 year wait between studio albums (he released a greatest hits a couple of years ago with two new songs) he has finally released his new album 'Mr. Lucky.'  I am enjoying the album as I am typing this blog and it is quite good.  If you like Chris Isaak's music, you should check it out.

What does this have to do with communication you may ask?  Its all about creating a following.  We are all trying to do this.  Whatever business you are involved in, each one of us is trying to be a rock-star -- we want people to come back to our products or services whenever we have something new to offer.  This is what musicians do, what artists do and what successful businesses do.  So are you creating a following, or are you just making noise?  

Sometimes it takes some changes to get that following.  Most people know who Chris Isaak is from his video 'Wicked Game.'  In the video, he is on a island with Helena Christiansen, who is dressed rather suggestively, and they are kissing and running around on the island.  Needless to say, the video was successful.  What a lot of people don't know is that there was another video for Wicked Game before they produced the one everyone knows.  The video and song was not doing well and the CD was not selling.  They knew that the song was good and could be popular, they just needed an effective way to sell it.

Now, I am not saying that you need to add sex appeal to your products.  What I am saying is that if you are struggling with getting your name out there or getting a new product launched, take a step back and see if the problem is the message.  Are you conveying it in a way that is building a following?  Is there something different that you can do?  Just by changing something, you can create a long-term success instead of dragging your feet and constantley struggling.  This is what Chris Isaak was able to do.  He knew that he could be successful, and with a change in his advertising, he was able to develop a large following.

Travis

Allison Krauss and Robert Plant -- an odd couple

In all types of presentations, there are set standards to which people follow.  Once in a while though, there are those who will break the mold and try something different and that person will have great success.  Music is the same way.  There is usually a formula that people follow (especially pop music) and no one strays too far from that process.  However, you do occasionally get those artists who push the envelope and do some experimenting and it just works.  Robert Plant and Allison Krauss did the latter with their Album 'Raising Sand' and last night at the Grammy's they won five awards including album of the year.

If you haven't listened to the album, go to iTunes right now and pick it up.  I have had the CD for almost a year and love it.  It is an interesting combination to be sure: the voice of one of the greatest rock bands ever and the biggest name in bluegrass team up to make an album.  I wasn't sure what to think of the combination when I first heard they were putting an album together, but the results were amazing.

So when you are planning on a project, don't always rely on the same things that everyone else is doing.  Step out sometimes and add something new and exciting.  Do something different -- but be careful!  Doing something different can be good, but you have to know when to use it.  So while I am suggesting that you try something new, be confident enough that you are not going to be burned in the process.

Travis

Pay Attention To Detail

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Elephant in the Room

Daily Show Full Episodes
Funny Political Videos

Important Things With Demetri Martin
More Funny Videos

Being a fan of The Daily Show and have met former Sen. Tom Daschle on several occasions, I had to include this video.  If you haven't heard, Sen. Daschle had to pay well over $100,000 dollars in back taxes when the Obama team was vetting him for the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services.  I think Jon Stewart sums it up perfectly when he says "Pay you **** taxes!"  

So I ask this of you in regards to presentations, your business and your brand: Are you paying attention to the details?  Sometimes small things that you don't think are that big of an issue can become a big issue in a hurry.  This can create serious issues for you in a variety of ways.  If you are not paying attention to the details in your presentations, you can make some critical mistakes that might cost you some business.  Also, make sure you are paying attention to details in other aspects of your business...it might be a simple mistake that you had no intention of creating...but it is still a mistake that you will be held accountable for.  I don't think Tom Daschle was trying to avoid paying his taxes and create a problem for the Obama administration...but he did.

Travis

Combining Music with Imagery -- The Watchmen Trailer

I am not a big comic book fan.  I've bought a few here and there as a kid, but I never got into it.  The same thing with Graphic Novels, it just wasn't my thing.  However, a good friend of mine gave me 'The Watchmen' graphic novel about a year ago and I was amazed at how good the design, the literature, the imagry and everything about it was.  On 3-6-9 (hopefully) they will be releasing the movie version of the graphic novel.

If you haven't seen the trailer that is posted above, watch it and pay attention to the music that is used from about 1:20 into the trailer right up to the end.  The song, from one of my favorite bands Muse, was edited perfectly with scenes from the movie.  The combination of the visual and the music is very powerful and it makes me want to see the movie even more than I already did.  Having parts where the video is slowing down with the type of music playing, the phrase "You'll Burn in Hell" being repeated in the song with the images of fires being started and a mushrome cloud in the background and how it just stops before the last line is the perfect combination of video and music I have seen in a movie trailer for some time.

What does this have to do with communication you ask?  Good question.  What I want people to think about is this: are you effectively using your resources in your presentations?  While the trend has been going towards being as minimal as possible, there are times when an image or a combination of pictures and video or music can put an emphasis on your project.  Is it going to be movie trailer worthy?  No, and it doesn't have to be.  But think about when you are presenting, that sometimes you need more than just simple text and simple graphics.

I will say to be very cautious -- don't go overboard just to be flashy.  It's a thin line to tread, but it is definately worth looking at.

Travis