story

Stacy's scraps

July 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Stacy Madison and Mark Andrus were fresh out of graduate school and wanted to open a restaurant in downtown Boston, but the zeroes on their student loan debt and a lack of capital put a hold on that dream.

So they bought and opened a food cart, serving healthy sandwiches on rolled up pita bread. The cart was popular and lines grew longer everyday.

THIS was the magic moment. And Stacy and Mark didn’t even know it at the time.

Stacy and Mark decided to find a way to keep the customers waiting in line happy. So they baked the fresh pita bread into different flavored chips. The customers loved the chips and convinced Stacy and Mark to sell them in stores.

Stacy’s Pita Chip company was born.

By 2006, Stacy’s was generating about $60 million dollars a year in revenue and was sold to PepsiCo.

We can all learn a lot from Stacy & Mark:
1) If there is a roadblock to your dreams, you can either jump over it, plow through it or change course.
2) Keep your customers happy. The million dollar business wasn’t in the pita sandwiches, it was in the simple chips they gave customers waiting in line.
3) Listen to your customers. They said the chips would sell in stores. They were right.
4) 100 true fans will get you 1,000. 1,000 true fans will get you a million.

The top 50 movie trailers ever

July 16, 2009 | 1 Comment

I’ll admit it. I love movie trailers. I love settling into my chair in a too-cold theater with a too-sticky floor and watching trailers for movies that won’t be out for months. Even if the trailers are often better than the movies themselves, I don’t mind.

Even at home, I like watching trailers on DVD. Those who know me will say that’s only because the trailers are the only part of the movie I’m guaranteed to stay awake through. Maybe it’s that, but I think I’m drawn to them because movie trailers are all about telling stories, the purest form of marketing. Unlike being interrupted by a billboard, commercial or magazine ad, the audience gave permission to watch the trailers. They’re not just captive, they’re interested.

With a tip of the microphone to the late, great Don LaFontaine and IFC.com, I’d like to point to you IFC’s great compilation from of the top 50 movie trailers of all time.

Link.

So fill up your popcorn, sit back, relax and enjoy. Two minutes at a time.

Dig deeper

July 10, 2009 | 1 Comment

A picture from the G8 Summit showed what appeared to be Barack Obama checking out the backside of a young delegate.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and the picture looked pretty clear.

Then the video was released and it appeared that Barack wasn’t sneaking a peek but helping the woman behind him to the stair below. Sarkozy and Berlusconi were blatantly checking out the young woman. Gotta love the French.

Still, the press made way too big a deal about the whole thing but there is an important lesson here.

You need to dig deeper. There are two sides to every story and parties often benefit from telling only one side.

In the mid 1960′s, the United States and Russia participated in a series of track World Championships as tune ups in-between summer Olympics. In one of the track meets held in Moscow, the United States dominated, beating the Russians handily across multiple events.

The headline that ran in Pravda, the national Russian paper is instructive when considering the accuracy and bias of traditional media.

“World Track & Field Championships in Moscow – Russia comes in 2nd. Americans finish second to last.”

Technically accurate, but extremely misleading. There was no mention that it was a dual meet.

The lesson?

Always dig deeper. Whoever is telling you the story has a reason to tell it a certain way.

Two barks for espresso

June 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment

I recently posted about Caffe Latte in Dobbs Ferry, New York – a place where, for a couple dollars, Basilio will give you a little slice of Italy.

I’d like to tell you about another nearby cafe who has no reason to worry about Howard Schultz moving in nearby.

By itself, the name can be misleading. Coffee Labs Roasters, on Main Street in Tarrytown, NY sounds like a white coat facility full of scientists that tests and retests coffee beans under a microscope.

In fact, they are a cafe that caters to people with pooches. The “Labs” part of the name comes from owners Mike Love and Alicia Kelligrew’s two Labrador retrievers. Dogs are welcome anytime and there is always a bowl of water on the front step so the thirsty pups can grab a drink too.

Even if you don’t have a dog, here are five other reasons to check out Coffee Labs.

The coffee
CoffeeLabs doesn’t rely on the ‘must love dogs’ gimmick. They serve up one of the best cups of coffee in Westchester County. The first clue is the massive coffee roaster in the middle of the floor. It takes a special passion for coffee to roast the beans on site and that passion is evident in the quality of the joe. The hot chocolate also gets rave reviews.

Baristas = Artists
Mike Love is dedicated to getting baristas the respect they deserve. You can read more here.

The food
A great selection of desserts, cookies and cupcakes complements the beverage offerings. Relax and dunk a big cookie in one of their beautiful cappuccinos and and watch the parade of people up and down Main Street.

Live music
Since the large coffee roaster takes up a significant portion of the cafe floor, Coffee Labs shuffles around some tables and chairs to squeeze in great local jazz and acoustic acts. (weekends)

Green (and bird friendly)
From Westchester Magazine, where Coffee Labs recent won Best Green Coffeehouse, 2009.

Everyone knows that Coffee Labs Roasters is dog-friendly, but few realize that it’s bird-friendly, too, having been certified by the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (which has the strictest standards in the biz, according to coffeehabitat.com). And that’s not the only eco-certification the shop has racked up. It’s Rainforest Alliance Certified, Fair Trade Certified, operating on 100-percent renewable energy, and everything from the napkins to some of the furniture is recycled. The coffee grounds even are composted at Stone Barns. It seems the only thing that isn’t green is the color of the coffee.

If you’re anywhere near Tarrytown, check out CoffeeLabs roasters.

If you’re not, understand that by building certain unique elements into their business, Mike and Alicia “Starbucks-proofed” themselves.

Did you build enough magic into your business to be protected from your competitors?

Ice, Ice, beautiful

June 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment

The weather is getting warmer and most of the ice we encounter in July is cooling down our lemonade.

Nick Cobbing’s amazing website will change how you think about frozen water. Amazing, breathtaking pictures of glacial ice in forms you’ve never seen.

His site contains a two-option “choose your own adventure”:

Surface Tension is a photographic documentary of stunning ice formations in Greenland.

Noorderlicht is the pictorial diary of the travels of a man named Dutchman Gert, aboard his 100-year-old, double-masted schooner inside the Arctic Circle.

Both stories are worth a look, so refill your lemonade, settle in and let Nick Cobbing show you ice as you’ve never seen it.

when you care enough to click send

June 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Bigfoot, the Easter Bunny and a funny e-card walk into a bar…

I hate greeting cards. There, I said it. They just simply don’t have the right tone. Funny comes out corny. Serious is almost always off the mark. Have you ever been moved or changed by any card off the rack at the drugstore or Target? Laughed so hard you cried?

I didn’t think so.

E-cards aren’t much better. Since the first e-cards with flashing candles and jumping cartoon elephants, 99% haven’t evolved much.

Enter someecards.com. Admittedly, these cards aren’t for everyone, but that’s precisely what makes them great. If the bitingly sarcastic humor looks familiar, it is. someecards.com was co-founded by a team that includes Brook Lundy, a former writer for The Onion. The company’s tagline is a self-deprecating poke at Hallmark: “when you care enough to hit send”.

In a historically tough business, they became profitable back in 2007. In April of 2008, they raised $350K from Betaworks and angel investor Chris Sacca. To increase revenue, someecards.com is now rolling out video e-cards and incorporating branded advertising on cards with popular shows like Weeds and Bridezilla.

By being willing to be on the edge, someecards has created a product that people talk about. Ideas that spread, win and someecards designed a remarkable product that by it’s very nature, is something that spreads.

Viral is built in. Because the cards are remarkable, every customer becomes an involuntary salesperson simply by using the product.

Brilliant.

United irony

June 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment

This commercial for United airlines is now 20 years old. Although the technology and tactics have changed, the message remains the same: customers want to feel taken care of.

Top execs at United would do well to watch this commercial on loop and reevaluate their own customer service.

When this commercial aired, United offered two free checked bags, free snacks and free meals on longer domestic flights. In coach.

Today, United charges $20 for the first checked bag and $30 for the second bag. Not only are there no free meals in coach, they charge for those little cheese & cracker snack boxes. Last August, United was the first domestic carrier to eliminate meals on some international flights.

Understandably, times are tough. Costs are up. I understand that. Most customers do too. It’s not about the microwaved chicken kiev and free peanuts.

It’s about feeling treated like a human.

Similar to the customer in the ad, I fired United a long time ago.

Don’t give your customers a reason to fire you.

What would people love?

June 9, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Innovate, don’t imitate.

The problem with taking someone else’s idea and doing it a little better is that it’s just as easy for the next company to improve it a little bit more. Cheaper labor. Faster machines. The improvement becomes a linear asymptote, until making any further improvement is costlier than the benefit gained.

Instead, dream up what people would love. Then create it.

I say dream it because nobody will ask for it. Before they existed, nobody asked for:

- the iPod
- OpenTable.com
- Build a Bear workshop
- Blue Man Group
- online check-in
- Twitter
- FedEx
- The W hotels

Nobody ever said, “wow, you know I really love writing extremely short blog posts. I wish there was a website that limited mine to 140 characters or less. THAT would be great.”

Doing something just a little better can make a few dollars in the short run but if you can tighten the screws, someone else can tighten them a bit more.

Zappos didn’t sell shoes online just a little bit better. If that was the plan, they could have stopped when they offered more sizes, colors and styles than anyone else. They dreamed that customers would love the best customer service they’ve ever experienced, online or in person. They were right (and did over $1B in sales last year).

Whether you are thinking of starting a new business or improving your existing business, ask yourself, “what would people love”?

Then build it.

A sip of Rome

June 8, 2009 | 1 Comment

In the book, The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary Into Extraordinary, Joseph Michelli outlines how the Howard Schultz built an empire around delivering an experience, not just coffee.

Along the way, many small mom & pop cafes were closed. By being remarkably unique, this is one cafe that never has to worry about the Big Green Coffee Monster.

Caffe Latte
When you walk into this small cafe in Dobbs Ferry, say hi to the owner, Basilio. He’s the handsome salt & pepper-haired Italian man who is always behind the counter. He has a knowing smile and a charm about him that makes you feel like you’ve known each other for years.

His small cafe seems fairly nondescript until you notice the small details. The American magazines and Italian newspapers scattered haphazardly at the counter by the front window. The ever-present table of Basilio’s Italian friends cramped at a table just out of the way. The small vase of fresh cut flowers at each of the five small tables (and two more outside when it’s warm enough). The simple vinaigrette on the simple caprese salad. The art, posters and Italian bricabrac that adorns the walls.

Most impressive? The ballet that Basilio dances as he effortlessly handles multiple orders to multiple customers.

And then it hits you. You’re not in Dobbs Ferry. You’re in Rome. Even if just for an hour.

Basilio is a consummate Italian. He’ll make you a damn fine cappuccino, but don’t hurry him. Sit. Relax. Read a magazine. Let Basilio’s calmness be contagious. Enjoy your coffee and the perfect little chunk of biscotti that Basilio puts on the saucer.

Enjoy Basilio’s Italy.

On this particular day, some of Basilio’s regulars brought in two bottles of wine from a recent trip to California. One for Basilio and one for them to share. Beautiful.

Stores up and down Cedar Street have come and gone but Basilio has been going steady for 15 years because he delivers an experience Starbucks never could; Italian vacations, one cup at a time.

YouTube as corporate website

June 6, 2009 | 1 Comment

Recently, Charlotte-based ad agency Boone Oakley moved their entire corporate website to YouTube. Instead of a static webpage, they have a series of functional and interactive YouTube videos that explains who they are, what they do and what clients they work with.

They even have links inside the videos. Yes, you can do that.

Some very smart people I know have called it gimmicky. Maybe it is, a little.

But after comparing Boone Oakley’s new site with existing websites from powerhouse agencies like BBDO and Young & Rubicam, I feel like I know who Boone Oakley is and what kind of work they do.

Boone Oakley distances themselves from the big traditional Madison Avenue ad agencies, poking fun at the similar work churned out and the fact that they’re all owned by the same parent company. Then in the same breath, Boone Oakley pokes fun at themselves too, via very candid and funny overviews of the Boone Oakley partners.

Kudos to Boone Oakley. Their story is that they are not your typical ad agency. Their bold new website on YouTube proves they are willing to live their story.

Will this new strategy help them get more clients? Only time will tell.

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