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Archive for December, 2010

Ten things I shipped in 2010. What’s on your list?

Photo courtesy of JDNX, Creative Commons

Seth Godin asked me this morning, and in the interest of full disclosure, everyone else who reads his blog, “What did I ship in 2010?”

Although he admits it feels a bit self centered to make a list and share it, what he really wants us to ask ourselves is: what did I have the guts to follow through on and deliver this past year?

Now, my list doesn’t quite compare with launching a book, “Linchpin,” or a worldwide blog tour, or even raising $275,000 for charity from Squidoo. Seth’s a hard guy to keep up with.

Yet, I’m proud of what I shipped in 2010, both as a business owner and a father, husband, son, brother, and friend. Of course, I didn’t do any of this alone. I’m blessed with loving, caring, committed and talented people who help me succeed everyday.

Here are 10 things I shipped in 2010…

  1. The year started off with the honor of being named, 2010 Advertising Person of the Year by the American Advertising Federation – Phoenix
  2. Michele and I celebrated the graduation of our son Parker from Chapman University with a BFA in Film Production and a minor in Business
  3. We created and launched HearHer.org, a blog for survivors of domestic violence to tell their stories
  4. Worked with the owners of Discount Tire to brand and launch the Halle Family Foundation website that deals with women and children social justice issues.
  5. Our agency took a somewhat insignificant poster project and created a national award winner for Phoenix Metro Light Rail.
  6. We had the guts to take a bold and peculiar approach to launch the rail line’s “Stop on Red” campaign.
  7. Teaming with two brilliant firms in Arizona, the GMarie Group and Pro Formance Group, Park&Co created the internal eco-driving campaign for Coca-Cola Enterprises helping to teach 60,000 of its truck drivers and staff how to drive more efficiently.
  8. Hosted free social media workshops for the Water Conservation Garden in San Diego and for major water providers in Dallas, Texas, and launched a Ning group to help them with their online presence.
  9. Helped launch SustainaAZility, one of the first open source economic development initiatives in the nation with a mission to make Arizona the Silicon Valley of Sustainability for the world.
  10. Created and ran our “Buy Local Advertising” campaign where we promoted our competition to encourage local advertisers to keep their branding, marketing, web, and film & video work in Phoenix. Read all about it here: Buy Local Creative Campaign Release

Please let me know what you shipped this year.

Happy New Year!

Columbia Sportswear just went all “Zappos” on me

I just finished reading Delivering Happiness, “Path to profits, passion and purpose,” about Zappos’ unique brand of customer service.

It made me wonder if Zappos chairman Tony Hsieh’s unwavering focus on customer service has raised the bar for the entire retail industry?

Then I got the chance to test it with Columbia Sportswear. How would Gert “Ma” Boyle stack up to Tony?

The test subject was a pair of Columbia Titanium boots that had completely delaminated on me during a November duck hunt in Washington State. I sent the boots with the following note to Gert.

December 6, 2010

Ms. Boyle:

I love your company and its equipment and clothing so much, that I thought you’d want to know about a terrible, terrible thing. Well, only terrible to me, I suppose.

It is this pair of your Titanium boots that have delaminated between the rubber uppers and the leather lowers. I purchased these wonderful boots six years ago while hunting pheasants around Moses Lake, Washington. I live in Phoenix, AZ, and have worn the boots for about 10 days of hunting over the past six years.

I pulled them out for a hunt a couple of weeks ago, and they had completely fallen apart. I presume I am beyond the warranty, but I thought you and your R&D department would like to know about this defect. You see these boots were stored in my garage in Phoenix, which gets pretty warm in the summer. So even though I didn’t “wear them out,” with my limited use, the heat apparently took its toll.

Gert, (May I call you that?), I know this brings as much pain to your heart as it does to my feet. So if you feel the need to replace my boots, I would be delighted. If not, I understand. I will just have to keep my next pair of Titaniums in an ice chest, I suppose.

Columbia Sportswear fan,

Park Howell

Within days a chipper customer service rep from Columbia called.  Even though I gave them an out in my note – AND they pointed out that I had actually owned the boots for eight years – they gladly replaced my boots.

In me, Columbia has a customer for life.

Thank you, Gert.

 

UPDATE: Within 10 minutes of my post, Zappos responds with this:

Tony 2, Gert 1.

A social media business building nugget for 2011

I get Seth Godin’s brief blog bits RSS’d to me every morning. They’re like the bite-sized Snickers Stan hides in his candy drawer at the office. They’re a great nibble here and there when you’re not up for the whole sugar coated carmel nugget of wisdom that Seth doles out regularly. Most of them I scan. Some of them I read. But this one caught my eye; “Lady Gaga and Me”

The reason why is that I think the social media phenomenon has us believing that if we don’t have zillions of Twitter followers, and massive comments on each of our posts, and videos going viral, that we’re losers.

I have also learned in my own social media journey that the niches rule the masses. Isn’t a 40-person wedding in a charming country chapel more profound to you than a 400-person extravaganza in St. Patrick’s Cathedral? Where would you feel more engaged (Pun intended)?

So as you’re looking to build your business in 2011, seek out customers, vendors and partners who want to do meaningful work that is bigger than all of you. You’ll find them in the niches you care about.

Making the invisible visible

Every great storyteller will tell you that the setting of the story is as important as every other element in the tale. Here’s proof from Amnesty International.

Troy Davis: Making the invisible visible from Amnesty International on Vimeo.

Why an ad agency would promote its competition

We launched our “Buy Local Advertising” campaign on Friday, and I’ve already been told we’re crazy.

Who in their right mind would promote their competition? We would. Have you ever heard that old adage that a rising tide lifts all boats?

From our agency Extra Cuts blog:

You buy local produce, seek out locally owned stores, and drink local wines. So why go to other markets like L.A. for your advertising? Phoenix agencies offer a wealth of talent, from brand strategy and development to internationally award-winning creative, as well as innovative interactive campaigns and Hollywood-caliber film and video production. And you don’t have to look far. You can now find the top shops at a newly created micro site: parkandco.com/azagencies. Compare Arizona agencies to anyone, anywhere.

Have you seen our Goodwill of Central Arizona ad campaign? Not only has it helped our client grow by more than 300 percent since 2003 (the fastest growing Goodwill in the nation), Goodwill operations across the country have used elements of the campaign to ignite their own growth.

Remember the hilarious hockey spot for America West Airlines, or the bare butt cowboy commercial for Joe Boxer? Creative agencies like Moses Anshell have been creating internationally award-winning work in Arizona for decades.

Off Madison Avenue, Riester, EB Lane and Park&Co, among other agencies, are drawing Fortune 500 clients to Phoenix for their advertising and marketing work , including Nintendo, Nike, Coca-Cola, and Kiewit.

We applaud the likes of US Airways, Fender, Avnet and Discount Tire for keeping their advertising local. It helps more than just the advertising community.

According to Local First Arizona, for every $100 spent for goods and services at a locally-owned business, $73 remains in the AZ economy.

Arizona is trying to heal the P.R. black eye and business boycott created by SB1070. We’re battling an historic state deficit, lack of investment in education and nearly 10 percent unemployment, among other issues. As Arizona businesses, we’re all affected. When you exercise your spending power elsewhere, you build a local economy someplace far from home, and your neighbors feel it.

So, if you want to buy your maple syrup out of state, that’s fine by us. But if its business-building brand strategy and creative you’re looking for, we encourage you to shop locally by visiting parkandco.com/azagencies.

And no worries if you pick another local firm over us. Just tell them Park&Co sent you.