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Vol. 24, No. 6 • June, 2006
You can find this newsletter and some past issues on the web @ www.Freeman-Spicer.com
What Do Men Want? A Thermostat!
To build a better work space, consult the worker bees. In a poll conducted by Knoll, a furnishings maker, and research firm DYG, 850 workers at companies with 100 or more employees were asked what surroundings made them productive. Some 45% said they work best in private offices. The rest prefer collaborative spaces (16%), their homes (18%), or other sites outside the office (22%). Some 40% of Generation Y workers, aged 18 to 29, said they like open office plans. (Just 18% said they would choose cubicle-like stations with panels for privacy.) “Young people are saying this is how we expect and want to work,” says Christine Barber, Knoll’s director of workplace research. “That’s driving a trend toward more creative, interactive work environments.” Then there’s what might be called the thermostat factor. Women listed eight attributes as having a “high impact” on productivity, including privacy, natural light, and the option of personalizing a space. Men named just one: the ability to control the air conditioning or heat. (Elizabeth Woyke in BusinessWeek)
Are We Listening?
While listening to someone talk, we often vocalize “uh huh” or “ummm” to reassure the speaker we’ve heard their words. Well, umming is better than a blank stare. But it’s not the choice of Top Communicators. Try replacing your umms with full-blown empathizers - simple, short supportive statements. Unlike “uh huh,” they are complete sentences such as “That is really exciting,” or “I can appreciate that.” When you respond with complete sentences instead of the usual grunts, you come across as more articulate and your listener feels you really understand. Your empathy impresses them and encourages them to continue. Of course, you pay a price. To use the right empathizers, you do need to listen. (Talking the Winner’s Way)
How Revolutionary Were the Ideas That Became Our Founding Principles?
“The British weren’t big on equality, so when Jefferson said that all men were created equal, it had a resonance and power that continues to this day. It’s probably the most important ideological force in our entire history!” - Gordon Wood (U. S. News & World Report)
Important Help: To help find 800 numbers go to: www.hardtofind800numbers.com
To help get around the dreaded telephone menus that never lead to a person, go to: www.gethuman.com/us
Number Crunchers.............................
• The Number 1 item the average American is most likely to have between meals is . . . . . . gum!
• The Number 1 snack by children (under 6 years old) is............... fruit! Don’t be surprised. Parents still control the intake of toddlers and babies. Once they have their 6th birthday, however, look out!
• The fastest growing appliance used by Americans to Prepare A Meal is.............the power window. Last year, for 22 percent of all meals purchased at a restaurant, we did not even get out of our cars, a new high! (Would this trend have happened if we still had a hand-crank the windows on our cars?)
• The Number 1 food ordered by women in restaurants is............french fries! (And you thought it was salad!)
• Home is still the Main Source of Food! It is true that nearly 50 percent of our food budget is spent on meals purchased outside the home, but 77 percent of all meals we eat still come from the home. Restaurant meals are three times the cost of making an in-home meal.
• Good news on the health front: Recent trends suggest We Will Not Blow Up. After a decade of steady increase in the percentage of Americans with a body mass index over 25, that number held steady for four years at 62 percent. Now we need to start losing weight.
• We have Found Balance! During the past five years, the number of meals made at home and the number of meals purchased at restaurants have been stable. This follows 50 years of Americans leaving the kitchen in favor of more restaurant meals.
• Snacking is not really impulsive! Nearly 70 percent of all snack foods are purchased more than 24 hours before they are consumed. If you buy it, you will eat it. (Chicago Tribune)
Home Theater - Coming to a rec room near you.........................
● 33% - Percentage of households with a home-theater system, up from 21% in 2000.
● $10,800 - Average cost of a home theater in a room, with build-in seating, that’s designed for the sole purpose of watching movies.
● 58% - percentage of builders who offer to pre-wire a home for future home-theater systems.
● $8.8 Billion - Movie box-office sales in 2005, down 4% from the previous year.
● $6.8 Billion - Sales of flat-panel televisions in 2005, representing almost half of the digital-television market.
● $1,953 - Average price of a plasma TV, down from $4,649 in 2003.
● $4,000 - Average cost to wire up to five rooms for audio. (Kiplinger’s)
I Can Believe Both of These ......................... One day my housework-challenged husband decided to
wash his sweatshirt. Seconds after he stepped into the laundry room, he shouted to me, "What setting
do I use on the washing machine?" "It depends," I replied. "What does it say on your shirt?" He yelled
back, "University of Oklahoma." And they say blondes are dumb...
A man and his wife, now in their 60's, were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. On their special
day a good fairy came to them and said that because they had been so good that each one of them could
have one wish. The wife wished for a trip around the world with her husband. Whoosh! Immediately she
had airline/cruise tickets in her hands. The man wished for a female companion 30 years younger...
Whoosh..immediately he turned ninety!!! Gotta love that fairy! (LaFree)
Marketing........................... Get a sample of every printed communication now in use that a customer may see: current ads, sales literature, billboards, packaging, stationery, signage, web site, Yellow Pages ads, vehicle decoration, uniform, brochures, etc. Paste each sample or rendition in tight adjacency to one another on large poster boards. What does that composite visual look like? Is it all consistent and harmonious - a unified look? Or does it look like an amateur’s ransom note? Your poster board is how a customer sees your company / products. You must have a consistent look. Your job is to train your customer to instantly recognize your company. Don’t confuse your customer; provide a familiar, memorable look. (How to Become a Marketing Superstar)
I Can Believe This One Too .......................... A West Texas cowboy was herding his cows in a
remote pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him. The
driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the
window and asks the cowboy, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd,
will you give me a calf?" The cowboy looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at
his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, Why not?" The yuppie parks his car, whips out
his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a
NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system to get an exact fix on
his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an
ultra-high-resolution photo. The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop
and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within moments he receives an
email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a
few minutes, receives a response. Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his hi-tech,
miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the cowboy and says, "You have exactly 1,586
cows and calves." "That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says the cowboy. He
watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into
the trunk of his car. Then the cowboy says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your
business is, will you give me back my calf?" The young man thinks about it for a second and then says,
"Okay, why not?" You're a Congressman for the U.S. Government", says the cowboy. "Wow! That's
correct," says the yuppie, "but how did you guess that?" "No guessing required." answered the cowboy.
"You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already
knew, to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you
don't know a thing about cows... Now give me back my dog." (Gilbert)
Your Name and the Company Name ........................................ Always put your brand name or company name (or both) in the headline of the ad where your customer will see it. Ad headlines without the brand name are like a business card that has “Me” instead of the card bearer’s name. Some people hate this rule. It fetters creativity. The name may be too long, too cumbersome, too plain. But you do not want your name buried in the copy, hoping it will be discovered. Your name also needs to be prominent so that the second or tenth time the customer rushes past your ad, he’ll see your name. This brand name headline rule is crucial for billboard advertising, but is often violated. People glimpsing your billboard do not have time to search for your name. (How to Become a Marketing Superstar)
Sincerely,
Edward C. Levy
President
“I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early.” Yogi Berra