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Take a look at the picture below (Photo courtesy: Kiruba Shankar). This is from an ad for the Samsung Refrigerator.

You would think that this is like any other advertisement. It’s not!

You will have to click through this link to find out how this advertisement is really implemented. (Hint: It is really not an advertisement but an Advertisement Experience)

Kiruba Shankar: An Awesomely Innovative Ad

Simply Brilliant!

Food for Thought: How can you create such an experience for one or more of your products or services?

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Update - July 10, 2008

I have recieved a few emails asking me why I am asking people to click through to Kiruba’s blog when I could just explain what this advertisement experience is - right here on my blog.

The answer is simple.You see - my first four published works were fiction. Specifically they were murder mysteries and spy thrillers. So I love suspense and wanted to create some suspense on the blog.

Just kidding..

Really, this interesting ad experience was discovered by Kiruba (who is a long-time friend) and rightly you should hear about it from him. Explaining everything on my blog and giving just a credit link won’t do justice as people may not click through the credit link

Anyway my $.02 only. There is no right or wrong way in these things. You do what your gut says. Sorry for those who thought I created an inconvenience.

Think of a typical startup and you will see three kinds of people involved:

1. Bedrock: These are people that will make and fulfill the promises of the startup. These are the people at the core of the startup

2. Getters: These are people who will make money when the offers made by the startup are being accepted.

3. Givers: These are people who will give the money to the startup (and in turn to the Givers) by accepting offers that are made by the startup

Take for example CDBaby. One of the core offers made by the startup is to sell music by independent musicians. The people who work at CDBaby (may be employed by CDBaby or may be not) are the Bedrock of the company. Independent musicians are the Getters and the customers who buy this music are the Givers.

When entrepreneurs are validating the startup idea, entrepreneurs may get into a trap of validating only with the Getters and forgetting the Givers. Getters are always excited about good avenues for getting their products out and making money. So they will most probably support you with your idea. Day in and day out if you focus on “Getters” you will continue to get positive validation.

Ultimately as you know all three categories of people are important and for a startup to gel well you need to focus on all categories of people.

Wish you the very best.

I love it when companies come up with offers that are “timely”. Chrysler’s “Let’s Refuel America” campaign is one such example.

Here are two options:

Option 1:

Buy a car and you get back up to a maximum of $600 per year for next three years.

Option 2:

How about a guarantee of $2.99 per gallon for the next three years

Sort of fine print:
* Only for 87 Octane fuel
* Upto 12,000 miles per year

If you used Option 1, it won’t make news and it is not “advertising worthy”. But if you use Option 2, you can get people to talk about it.

As a consumer what you are getting is “Option 1″ but explained to you as something compelling via the narrative of “Option 2″

I am not saying the offer is good or bad - it is up to the the consumers to decide. My goal is to open the hood and see what is the “real” offer.

Have a great week ahead!

I flew back by Southwest Airlines on my way back from Kansas City yesterday. I have always had good experience with Southwest Airlines just because the crew there are a happy bunch and it’s sort of infectious. I asked for Tomato Juice and some water. I got Campbell’s Tomato Juice and Deja Blue water. Here is what was on those cans:

1. Campbell’s Tomato Juice:
Research studies show that diets rich in tomatoes and tomato products are associated with long-term health benefits. Many nutrition experts advise regularly including tomatoes and tomato products as part of a healthy diet. Tomatoes contain Lycopene - a powerful natural antioxidant found in very few other foods. Scientists are investigating the role Lycopene may play in long-term health benefits.

My $.02:
It seems like researchers are still figuring out what benefits MAY be there by using tomato or tomato based products in the diet. Why make a big deal about it when you don’t have solid data?

2. Deja Blue water
Using state of the art purification systems including reverse osmosis, carbon filtration and ozonation, we deliver a consistent taste and purity.

My $.02:
Too many buzzword for just a glass of water…

3. Lastly, the paper napkins had a pitch for Southwest airlines rapid rewards program. It said:

We’ll celebrate coast to coast

Rapid Rewards 20th Anniversary

Not a member? Join the Fun
southwest.com/rrenroll/20th

My $.02
You are celebrating. That’s great. I am a normal human being and I want to know what is in it for me. Why don’t you make it meaningful to me?

Two weeks ago, I was at the Atlanta airport. One of the many stores in the airport was “Bag Mania”. Here is the photo.

Huge selection with a range of (pricing) options. The setup and arrangement was tempting enough to make you “feel” that you might really need a bag.

Yes, you can’t be everything to everyone but you can be something “really” good to someone!

A couple of weeks ago, I was at Elberton, Georgia to attend the wedding of my dear friend Paul D’Souza (photos)

The event was fantastic and I was glad to be there. Of the many things
that were fascinating, a small chocolate fountain caught my attention.
Here is the photo of that chocolate fountain surrounded by small
children.

In a couple of hours, the fruit tray there was empty as children were almost competing to eat chocolate covered fruits. It was fascinating to watch this. Without the chocolate fountain, I can guarantee that there was no way that children would have cleared the fruit platter.

Something to think about:
If the fruits are your products or services and children are your customers, may be what is missing is a chocolate fountain. Do you have a chocolate fountain for your business?

One way to know that your brand has got the firepower is when it becomes indistinguishable with the use of the product or service that the brand represents.

Here are some examples

1. Get me a Kleenex.

2. Can you Google it

3. Pick up some Pampers

4. Can you please xerox it for me..

5. Please Fedex it.

6. I am switching to an Apple.

What else can you think of?

Yesterday when you called one of your friends, did you want something from them or did you have something for them?

What about last week?

What about last month?

What about last year?

If you analyze your phone calls (that you initiated) in the last six months, what percentage of them were requests for something and what percentage were those that created new opportunities or possibilities for the other person?

In other words, generally do you want to GET something from someone or do you want to GIVE something to them?

What changes would you make in the next six months in this area to open new possibilities for people around you?

Something to think about.

I watched the video of Steve Jobs keynote at MacWorld. Steve announced the new remarkable innovation from Apple - iPhone. It was fantastic. For the first time in my life, I felt like switching from Verizon to Cingular (iPhone will be available only with Cingular service)

I urge that everyone of you take the time (about 90 minutes) to watch the video whether you are interested in iPhone or not.

The video is available at the Apple website.

Here is what was fascinating:

I can go on but you have to watch the full keynote after fastening your seat belts.

Not only will you be amazed by the technological revolution, the keynote itself has several lessons for young entrepreneurs.

Here are some:

Watch the video whether you like Apple or not. It will be worth your time.

I was excited when Seth hosted the Z-List on Squidoo. With Squidoo’s popularity, this would have resulted in a ton of traffic for many good (but not popular) blogs. I think the only problem there was that it was not on the original Squidoo but was offered on the new offering called Plexo. The users were not only able to add to the list but could also vote up or vote down other blogs on the list.

On the personal front, “Life Beyond Code” started off at #12 but within a day or so tanked to #300. I have to admit that I felt sad to see that so many people voted the blog down. Upon further investigation and once I understood that there were people who were gaming the system (unfortunately) there was nothing to feel sad about. Read Seth’s follow-on post about it here:
Seth Godin :: Zlist Update

I have always believed that there are somethings that are not suitable for democratic process. If the system can be “gamed” there are always a small number of people that would want to “game” the system and get some short-term results. And, they will get some “short-term” results.

What is fascinating is that to game the system it requires some effort and thinking. They have to plan, design and act to get some traffic. The key question is do they want traffic or do they deserve to get traffic? If they focus on using the same planning, design and action to make their blog more valuable, they may win in the long-term.

Imagine this scenario - you accidentally click on a link and go to a blog. The blog owner thinks he has a new visitor. On your part, you look at the blog and browse through it for a few seconds and you instantly make a decision whether to visit this blog or not. If the blog was not visit-worthy, you not only get out of the blog, you will also make it a point to not go there again.

My $.02 -

If I have to summarize in one paragraph: