Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

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Today I saw a quote from Andrew Wyeth. "I do more painting when I am not painting. It's the subconscious."

Which got me to thinking. Whether you are a painter, a leaf blower, a mayor or a surgeon, don't you do more of what you do when you aren't actually doing it? Isn't your subconscious constantly busy making what you do a core part of who you are?

I don't know about you but I hire my subconscious to do the job of improving me when possible.

Years ago I had a client at the University of Chicago who was a psychologist, genius, heretic and a man who never paid his bills. He wrote a book called Flow. It was about how people drop into slots of concentration and lose time while doing what they do.

When talking to this man, he mentioned that when not doing what you do, you open a channel to figure out how to do it better or how to derive more pleasure or satisfaction from the event the next time you do it.

Bottom Line: Notice what you are thinking about when you are driving to the store, waiting in line, watching mindless television, sleeping/dreaming, taking a shower or exercising. You just may notice that you are re-inventing how to do whatever it is that you do so that when you next do it, you do it better. 

Today I come to you in the midst of what we, in my inner friend circle, refer to as "NP1." No, it's not code for a top secret mission, but rather, for us, represents "nuptials – phase 1." You know what I'm talking about, the first wave of marriages post college graduation, when approximately 50% of your college posse trade in their roles as your Friday night drinking buddies for two rings, wedded bliss and a mortgage.

I suppose it's this whirlwind of bridesmaids dresses, vows and a changing dynamic in my post-college friend group that's got me thinking about marriage in today's society. As we move into 2009, technology and the web are more a part of our lives than ever.

Army wives all over the world are using Skype to have web cam dates with their deployed husbands in Afghanistan. Is the internet becoming the new love letter from home?

Significantly increasing numbers of individuals continue to explore shared interests and intense experiences through video games in the virtual world, sometimes leading to marriages based on interpersonal relationships built through gaming. Is gaming replacing convening at the watering hole after work to meet the new, hot singles?

All of this seems second nature to my generation, it is true, but in our web saturated world, it's sometimes interesting to step back and reflect upon our definition of marriage and dream of what it could potentially mean in a completely virtual world.

In a world where emoticons replace kisses and personify physical embraces, I continue to be intrigued as the line between traditional marriages and online marriages becomes hazier with each passing day.

Indicator	Recent Activity
Dow Jones	-40% YTD
Consumer Confidence	-31% in Oct 08
US Jobs	-240,000 in Oct 08
Shiba Inu Puppy Cam	+ 3.4 million views

Editor's note: Here's a graph compiled by Todd Moy that suggests a negligible correlation between the DJI and Google searches for "puppies".

 

Ever buy a pear or a bunch of celery at Whole Foods? Ever buy an organic pear or an organic bunch of celery at your local mainstream grocer? Notice the difference? What difference exactly is worth that premium?

Whole Foods is positioned as a healthy grocer that cares about you and the environment. That means their stuff is nearly all organic, their people are well-cared for and relatively well paid. They don't sell anything that is harmful to your health. Except for the organic bacon, bacon chocolate and bacon wrapped sirloin. Viva Bacon!

Last week Whole Foods posted it worst earnings in a long time. Profits dropped from $40 million in Q307 to $1.5 million in Q308. That tells me a few things. First, they're operating in a really down economy. Second and more importantly, their positioning as the healthy grocer that cares about you and the environment is being "co-opted" (really sorry about that pun) by their mainstream competition.

Problem: their brand positioning is now ownable by everyone in their competitive set. Target, Walmart, Safeco, and fill in the blank all are carrying organic produce and cage-free eggs at a fraction of what Whole Foods charges.

Whole Foods need to regain their market position somehow.  

Potential Solution: Adjust the positioning to something else ownable that the competition cannot again co-opt or outright claim. Perhaps its just a matter of using positioning to buy more time before the mainstream again eats into their claim.

Positioning possibilties are the experience and the environment.

• The experience. You feel different when you shop at Whole Foods. Or at least I do. You see a different kind of person.

• The environment. You are lead to believe you are shopping from honest people who care about their carbon footprint in bringing goods to market. You are also chided for not recylcing your bags. I actually like them to rib me when I forget to bring my own bags. 

Bottom Line: Big, established alternative grocer losing massive market share as  mainstream begins offer the same product.  Positioning will be used to correct the problem. Watch over the next few months how marketing of Whole Foods changes. We will likely see some big changes as positioning is used to distance them further from their mainstream competition.