Category — 1 of Many

Vacant positions won’t cushion much of the blow from budget cuts at University of North Carolina system campuses this year, UNC officials said Thursday. Public universities have put plans together to deal with budget cuts of 5 percent and 10 percent for 2011-12, and data presented to the UNC Board of Governors on Thursday suggest large job losses. A 10 percent cut could lead to 2,000 job cuts across the system, including 1,000 faculty members, according to data discussed by the board. A 5 percent cut would eliminate 900 positions, including 400 faculty members. Systemwide, UNC has about 47,000 employees.

The cuts would help the state close a budget gap estimated at more than $3.7 billion. The system has taken more than $600 million in cuts over the past four years. But campus chancellors had long planned for cuts by holding positions open rather than filling them. Doing so has protected at least some workers from layoffs — until now. “We have pretty much cleared out those vacant positions,” said N.C. Central University Chancellor Charlie Nelms. “They’re pretty much gone. Now we’re talking about people.” [Read more →]

There has been a lot of discussion about the new Starbucks Coffee logo.  Actually, “Coffee” is no longer part of the logo, just the mermaid.  So what is Starbucks, an aquarium or a gathering place where people can meet and enjoy coffee and all the accoutrements.  The new logo implies the former.

Over the years I’ve become a fan of Patrick Hanlon’s approach to branding, Primal Branding.  I’ve blogged about Hanlon before, but the impact his Primal Code can have on a product or institutional brand is hard to deny.

At just about every place I’ve worked, (Harley-Davidson, Sea-Doo, Wellcraft, Donzi, The University of Florida, NC State) the primal code abounds and because of that, success has followed.

Hanlon’s premise is pretty simple.  “When people believe, they belong. When they belong to the group that surrounds your product or service, they are willing to advocate their belief to others.”  The elements that lead people to believe can be found in the Primal Code:

• The Creation Story: Where are you from?
• The Creed: What do you stand for?
• The Icons: Logos, sounds, smells, tastes.
• The Rituals: Repeated interactions with your enterprise.
• The Pagans or Nonbelievers: Who are the believers? Who are the outcasts?
• The Sacred Words: Specialized words from your belief system.
• The Leader: The risk taker, catalyst, iconoclast, visionary.

I thought Starbucks had them all until they unveiled a new logo last week.  Now I’m not so sure. Just what is the company’s commitment to the brand; the brand we know today. [Read more →]

Big deal.  I don’t like it.  Lacks the distinction and “tradition” the former logo had.  If you really want to reach people in China, better tell them your name.

Starbucks gives the following reason for the change:  The change reflects the company’s efforts to expand both internationally and through a wider array of menu and consumer-product items. Starbucks last month said that it will increase its store count in China sevenfold by 2015, while encouraging more daily food- and beverage-buying periods, or so-called “dayparts,” by adding new in-store menu items.   http://srph.it/fbgW3R

Really?  It doesn’t say that to me.  To me it says ho hum. Soft lines.  Lack of distinction.  Losing its differentiation. Boring.

Our youngest daughter loves green though. She’ll be excited.

Not as bad as GAP’s recent logo change, but a non-winner in my book.

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Passion Rules!

Not so sure about this one.

I’ve espoused the belief that social media is just a tool that helps build your personal network.  You have your 1,000 Facebook friends, 2,500 followers on Twitter and 500 followers of your bolg and you’ve got a network.  A pretty big one at that.  If you keep building that network, who knows where you will be in five, 10, 20 years.  A huge network with huge influence. Or at least a huge network with the potential of having huge influence.

Justin Bieber has 6.4 million followers on Twitter

What you say on your network helps define your “programming.”  Some of us are more like PBS or BBC, while others are like FOX and Speed TV.  Some are deep, some are shallow, but they each wield influence in different ways.

But whatever your programming may be, the more followers you have — the bigger your network — the more influence you have.  People wouldn’t be following you unless they were interested in what you had to say.  At least that’s what I used to think.

There’s an interesting column by Matthew Creamer in Advertising Age Magazine today that questions that notion.  Creamer has reviewed a number of studies and talked to opinion leaders about the importance of followers and influence.  http://bit.ly/hDDLqH

Near the end of the column he quotes Amber Naslund, VP at the social-media monitoring firm Radian6.  Naslund says,  “To me, influence isn’t about popularity. Or even reach. It’s about the trust, authority, and presence to drive relevant actions within your community that create something of substance.”

[Read more →]

I talked about Urban Meyer’s resignation from the University of Florida about this time last year.  He had resigned but changed his mind and came back.  Today against Penn State he really did coach his last game at Florida so I’m at it again.

Urban Meyer was an interesting character.  Intense.  Focused.  Creative.  Smart.  Inspirational.  Devoted.  Everything you’d ever want in a coach and leader.

My first experience with the coach was coincidental.  I was meeting with UF President Bernie Machen and I could tell something was up. The office was a buzz and Dr. Machen interrupted our meeting to take a phone call.  I think I heard him say, “So, we’ve got a deal.”  Later that day we got the news that UF had hired Meyer as its head football coach.  Pretty cool I thought, to be in the president’s office when the deal went down.

Our office worked with athletics on a regular basis and the coach and all his players understood the student/athlete – university/athletics relationship.  They provided a window to the outside that we needed to help tell our story.  But that story wasn’t just about athletics.  The most important story was about the students and what the university meant to them and what they meant to the university.

Meyer was happy to help tell that story and you never saw him (or any of his coaches and players) do an interview or give a talk when he didn’t talk about the importance of that relationship and the students he was responsible for.

[Read more →]

The iPad and other tablet computers are flooding the market and they will change the way we all think about computing.  They also spell the decline of laptop computers and possibly the extinction of desk top systems.

According to Best Buy Chief Executive Brian Dunn, the iPad has replaced as much as half of all laptop sales. Further, the little tablet is also slowing TV sales, despite the manufacturers’ desperate push to shift 3-D sets.  http://bit.ly/ce0zgX

This shouldn’t surprise anyone because it’s the same pattern the original PC followed when it replaced big main frame systems; or when laptop sales topped traditional desk top PC sales.

It’s pretty simple.  Hundreds of thousands of kids received iPads and other tablet computers for Christmas.  For many, it is their first “personal computer” and the computer they will grow up with.  They will move through High School and College with tablet computers and will learn that the “cloud” takes the place of the hard drive or DVD.  Before you know it, the laptop will be the choice of the older generation.

So, give it four years and the laptop will be the back up system, or the one used only at home.  And as all this is taking place, it’s only a matter of time before the desk top as the backup goes the way of the tube television.

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Passion Rules!

Gen. Ray Odierno to NC State grads: Greatness is discovered in goodness, service & character. http://bit.ly/f65KF9

1 of Many

Passion Rules!

A little over 20 years ago I bought a North Face rain slicker while on vacation in Seattle. Typical ad guy, I didn’t believe the press about how it rained a lot out there.

It cost $90. That seemed like a lot for a slicker, but they offered a lifetime warranty. And I was soaked.

I wore it 12 years before the seam tape finally lost its grip. I sent it to be repaired, which it was — excellently and with no sass.

Last fall, the ‘repair’ tape also finally lost its grip. I sent it back again, albeit skeptical as to whether it would be fixed.

Today, I received a FedEx Letter from The North Face. “Hmm, that’s certainly not my 20-year-old slicker…” I thought.

Instead, there was a nice letter saying how sorry they were that the could not repair my item — but that the lifetime warranty stood firm — and therefore please fine enclosed a $90 gift card good at any The North Face store or their website.

How awesome is that? And how long did it take me to promote their decision, and encourage everyone I know to consider their brand?

So, marketeers: Does your brand really — really — walk the talk?

Posted by Mike Quinlan

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Passion Rules!

Santa going over some recent research results at the NPL.

Everyone knows that Santa Claus makes a list and checks it twice, but just exactly how does he figure out who’s been naughty, and who’s been nice? New research from a North Carolina State University team reveals that Santa and his elves have neuroimaging capabilities far more advanced than those available outside the North Pole. Larry Silverberg, an expert in unified field theory at NCSU’s Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, joins host Frank Stasio to talk about the findings of a special team of visiting scholars that has been studying this year at Santa’s Workshop-North Pole Labs (NPL)  http://wunc.org/tsot/archive/You_Better_Watch_Out.mp3

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Passion Rules!

From Student Media Adviser Bradley Wilson:

t’s cold and miserable outside. So, here’s some good news. No, finals
are NOT canceled.

The Agromeck yearbook (edited by Bryant Robbins and Michele Chandler)
and Windhover literary and arts magazine (edited by Helen Dear) have
both been named finalists for the Crown award and were the only North
Carolina college media outlets named as finalists for the highest
national award. Tons more info at http://ncsu.edu/sma/

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Passion Rules!