Holiday Mojo

I have to admit that I already have a lot of Christmas Mojo, which is why I am writing this blog entry at the beginning of the month - a time when I am usually grouching around complaining about how commercial Christmas has become.

For some reason, I have a childlike enthusiasm for it this year, which has nothing to do with giving and receiving a lot of expensive gifts. It seems to have far more to do with the general sense of happiness and joy that it brings with it, a time for all of us to stop feeling negative and start to enjoy life a little more.

I have been doing a lot of reading recently about the power of positive thinking - apparently my father was a big fan of Norman Vincent Peale, although I never knew it - and am finding that being able to approach Christmas with a positive outlook and reflect on the many wonderful ways that it brings riches into our lives makes it very precious.

We give more at Christmas, we are kinder to people we meet in the streets, we make an effort to embrace our families even if relationships are sometimes strained, we put aside our work for a while and focus on smiling and having fun and finally, and perhaps most importantly we remind ourselves to be grateful for the people and things that we have in our lives.

I am going to enjoy every day of December - I can't wait!

Join me..................

McMojo?

My brow is furrowing while I try to wrestle to the ground one of the tougher questions I have posed to myself today; that of whether McDonalds is a brand with mojo.

I mean, let's be honest and say that on the surface you have to give the company credit for all the amazing mojo like things the brand has done.

It has stayed relevant to a wide cross section of the population in good economic times and in bad. It has given teenagers, truckers and tired moms an equal seat at the table. It has introduced McCafe which has proved popular in its own right and not been seen as a knock off or a 'me too' to Starbucks. I also personally love their new fruit smoothies - they are delicious and really do seem to be fairly healthy.

The one area where I struggle to 'get on board' is agreeing that McDonalds has mojo in helping to find a solution to America's obesity epidemic by including healthier items on the menu such as 1% milk and apple wedges. I mean I do recognize that it is better than nothing, but at the end of the day we all know that the thing that McDonalds does best is its super yummy, super high calorie Big Macs, large fries and its milk shakes. Nothing quite compares. I also realize that McDonalds would be well within its rights to point out that whenever they have tried to make substantial changes to their menu to make it healthier, that the lower calorie, lower fat items have always met with consumer resistence. After all, it does seem to be human nature to love the things that are bad for us.

However, unfortunately, it really is hard not to see McDonalds and its near cousins as being a central part of the obesity problem, rather than a serious part of the solution. As long as people are willing to sit in the drive thru lines for 10-15 minutes to get their daily dose of hamburger meat with special sauce, I don't think that America's waistline is going to be shrinking any time soon.

http://mcdonalds%20in%20usa%20today/

Apple's Got It Going On

It almost feels like cheating to write something yet again about Apple doing some smart marketing.

But here is a story about how Brand Mojo makes it into the lives of everyday people and gets a brand to be the topic of dinner time conversation.

Recently my husband's iPod was stolen. While he was upset, he figured that he really didn't need it and could easily get by without it. After all, there are so many other ways for him to listen to his playlist.

But after 3 weeks of trying to 'get by' he realized that it really wasn't that easy. He'd grown accustomed to having instant access to his personal playlist no matter where he was...in the car, on the train, working out, whatever.  

Ever the pragmatist, he decided to hunt down one of the old iPods we have laying around the house, discarded by the kids because it wasn't the newest model. (There's a whole lot of innovation mojo driving that constant 'trading up' dynamic, but that is a topic for another time!) He figured he could just fire it up, load his music and get back to business. And he did. Only, there was a glitch with the sound that was driving him nuts. So he took it to the local Apple store to see if it could be fixed.

And, yes you guessed it...he left the store with a new iPod that Apple gave him absolutely FREE.

But it is the back story that counts here. 

Once my husband was in the store, the Geniuses went to work. They figured out that yes, the old iPod could be fixed. They also figured out that the old iPod was past its warranty date. So that rather than fix an old machine at cost to us, they offered a new and improved model at a 10% price break. And while my husband was mulling over his options, they looked up our account online and determined that we were a family of diehard Apple devotees, having bought at least 4 laptops and 6 iPods over the last couple of years. And they came back and offered him a totally new iPod at absolutely no cost.

Apple is not dumb. Once they realized that we were one of them...we belonged to their community... they gave us yet another way to access their brand and keep us close. Conventional wisdom would say they lost a sale! But Brand Mojo wisdom knows they gained so much more than a few bucks in our evangelism.

And guess what my husband and I discussed on our dinner date last night? 

Apple.

I'll Have Some of That

It might seem like a contradiction in terms to say Neiman Marcus and value in the same breath.

But that is exactly what the premium retailer has been doing for the last couple of years...redefining their version of value. And they are doing a pretty good job of it too.

Its no secret that a lot of retailers really took a beating when the economy plummeted. Some companies went under because of it. Most hung on by a thread. But few showed the mojo that Neiman Marcus did by seizing the moment to redefine consumer value on their terms.

Make no mistake, Neiman's was and still is a high end...and yes, very expensive place to shop. And they did not change who they are during the economic downturn in an effort to get customers in the door.  But they did make their value equation very clear and more attractive than ever in the last couple of years. So you can't help but feel that you are getting more than you are paying for. Even if you are still paying a lot.

What did they do? Well, first they launched the notion of 'Fab Finds'...products that offered Neiman Marcus 'luxe style for less.' Most items in the line are available for under $200 and they look pretty great.

Then they began to aggressively push their Last Call retail presence....offering Neiman's designer items at discount prices. It used to be that Neiman's had one or two of these stores. Now they have several and a Last Call Online site that just went live a couple of months ago. Talk about catering to the clockless consumer. Now you can score your Neiman's fashion deal at 2 am if you want to!

But my very favorite is their 'Mid-Day Dash.' This is an email blast sent out on a daily basis to their preferred customers that showcases a 'deal of the day' that is available during the lunch hour. Women can make a quick pit stop at lunch time for a daily shot of a little high end retail therapy and get a price break to boot.

While we know that in today's day and age not everybody is a fan of luxury retailers, but we take our hats off to this one who apologetically stayed true to who they are as a brand and fearlessly set out to redefine their value proposition in a way that made sense.

In tough times, necessity may be the mother of invention, but this time it worked.

Izze Has Fizz

Here is a brand that has tons of mojo!

Everyone loves Izze; it makes you feel good just to say the name. The name communicates fun, light heartedness, purity and energy - all in one simple, little word.

Everything about it has been designed to make you feel like you are not only drinking a soda that is better for you and the environment but that you are joining a special group of people who 'get it'. This secret group are a little like Starbucks drinkers used to be before it became so ubiquitous - they are the ones who have discovered Izze and know that you can have your cake and eat it too. After all, we all love soda, we just don't love all the bad things that soda stands for.

What are the elements of Izze that have mojo?

Well, its name but I have already talked about that.
The bottle is also great because it is so simple and appealing.
The company ethos is all about the environment and they support positive environmental efforts like wind power.
It connects with multiple audiences by having fun elements on the website like 'design your own t-shirt'.
Finally, unlike many corporations it really does support its people and enable them to balance work with play - a rare commodity these days!

Of course one of the things that I like best is that I get to go to cool retail environments like Whole Foods and Target to buy it - what could be better?

See What's At Sea

Recently we noticed something very cool going on at Electrolux. Most of us know Electrolux as the Swedish based manufacturer of beautifully designed, high end appliances.

But have you seen their new Sea Vacs?

These babies have been created from plastic sourced from the tons of plastic garbage floating in our oceans around the world. Aside from being just so juicy to look at, these vacuums are part of an environmental awareness initiative Electrolux is embarking upon to shine a spotlight on the damaging effects of plastic waste in our marine systems around the world.

Employees of Electrolux collected plastic garbage from various oceanic sites around the world. That plastic was then melted down and recycled to construct each of the Sea Vac prototypes.  And each vacuum is named after its sea of origin: North Sea Edition,  Baltic Sea Edition and so on.

The vacs are not available for retail purchase, but the company is auctioning off the limited edition series and donating the proceeds to environmental research.

We were taken with this program as a stunning example of the use of advocacy as a way of igniting a brand's momentum. What Electrolux has done so well with their Vacs from the Sea program is integrate their brand's core value of using technology and design to improve the human condition with a very real environmental issue that threatens to degrade the quality of our life on earth.

What could be more appropriate for a company that has the design and tech chops of Electrolux, than to put those core assets to work to improve the condition of our environment.

It sure beats painting their vacuums pink.

Welcome To Mojo Minute!

We've had a few things on our mind lately. And one of the things that's really been bugging us the last couple of years is the sheer lack of mojo that we are seeing in the marketing landscape. Brand mojo, marketing mojo, even personal mojo. There's just not enough, no matter where you look.

What do we mean by mojo? Quite simply, the fearless energy and drive that comes from within that makes who ever has it simply irresistible. When people have mojo others are drawn to them and pay attention to what they have to say. When brands have it, they are firing on all cylinders, they are magnetic and they simply cannot be ignored. Apple, the brand, has mojo. Obama, the man, has mojo.

We've been studying this phenomenon for a while now. And it's obvious that in the marketing arena, there is a handful of the usual brand suspects that show themselves to be incredibly enterprising and unafraid to stick their necks out and do something that takes real chutzpah. And these brands get lauded time and time again.

But what about everybody else? Who says that mojo belongs to the few?

So with Mojo Minute, we are setting out to make note of the brands, people and companies that show us what real mojo looks like. They won't all get famous. In fact, most of them won't. But they will succeed. Mojo usually does. And anyway, it makes for good reading!

Stay tuned. We look forward to seeing you soon.