Blog

Welcome

Saying goodbye to family

With great sadness we have said goodbye to two family members over the past few weeks. The first farewell was to to my Auntie Rita, who passed away after a long but brave battle with cancer. She is actually my Mum's Auntie, but always felt like a Grandmother to me. A beautiful woman that everyone loved from the moment they met her. My first memory of Rita is when, as kids, we visited her family in Wellington. She made us "Spiders", a messy mix of Coke and Vanilla ice cream ... and instantly became my hero. My last memory of Rita is of a woman, her body failing her, surrounded by a family loving and adoring her. Not alone for even a minute, because that's not how you send off someone you love. We all struggle at these moments, but somehow these times bring out stories forgotten and families come together in one unit of strength and compassion. My enduring memory will be of a woman who dedicated herself to her family. She had a huge heart and always made you feel like the center of her universe. A wicked sense of humor made every visit a joy. At her funeral I grinned quietly to myself, imagining her in heaven having a cup of tea with Nana and Grandad. At some point in the conversation Nana would ask her, "Did Stephen have the talk with you?" ... "Of course," she would say. :-) Over my life I've had the honor of being with a lot of people in their final hours. What I have observed is that it's so hard for families to let go. I believe it causes stress for the person leaving. My message to them is simple. "You go when you're ready ... we love you and don't want to say goodbye ... but don't worry, we'll be ok ... and of course we'll see you again soon." The other family member we said goodbye to was our cat Millie, she left us yesterday. Now I know some people think to describe a pet as a family member is odd, maybe even offensive, but we have loved her for almost 19 years. She is family to me. She has been there for almost half my life, through thick and thin ... God, I swear sometimes she got in the way of Sonya and I separating as we couldn't get past 'who got the cat'. Like Rita's passing, Millie's end brought back so many memories ... Like the time Sonya thought it would be funny to pick me up from work with Millie, then a kitten, sitting on the seat next to her. I thought it was lovely too - until she vomited ... Sonya thought it was hilarious but I was covered from head to toe. Millie never traveled well. She was the "hot cat!" Time and again people would get lulled into a false sense of security when patting her. We always suggested they stop ... violence was just around the corner ... Nine times out of ten they would continue with a smile and a flippant reply of, "Don't worry ... I'm a cat person". She must have hated that comment because you could guarantee that moments later, the said cat person would be rushing around the room trying to shake the hot, savage cat from their arm. Funny how people have to learn for themselves ... lots of people had her love etched into their arms. Despite being our hot cat she was also one of the most affectionate animals I have ever known. Every time you came home, there she would be waiting for you on the driveway. I loved that. My kids I had to track down, but not Millie, she was my beautiful girl. I will miss that, I will miss her. Goodbye Rita, Goodbye Millie ... we love you both and will miss you until we next see you. Of course you live on in our memories which I hope you understand is the ultimate demonstration of our love for you ... xxx

Even the label was happy

Be Mischievous, Get Noticed

Having trouble getting your customers attention? This quite possibliy is the perfect solution for you ... "Be Mischievous, Get Noticed"

As parents we get busy with work, children, getting food on the table etc . Sometimes we just have our minds in too many places at once. A child's solution to this, in an effort to get our attention, is to be mischievous, and, as frustrating as it is, it works. Seriously ... be honest with me ... nice cute kid being good, following the rules versus a mischievous one pushing your buttons: which one is going to get your attention every single time? I know what we'd like to say, I know what we would prefer was true, but we all know it's the second. It's the same in business. The marketplace is like dinner time in a 12-child family - hectic, noisy and everyone fighting for attention. Maybe rather than being good all the time, we need to learn to be a little mischievous, playful, flirtatious or downright naughty. Two examples of this are:Hells Pizza. The opening page of their website asks "Sell Your Soul" or "Go straight to Hell" and all their advertising is based around this theme. For example to promote their Lust pizza they gave away condoms:this outraged a family group and suddenly the world was on fire with free media coverage. Huge. 42 Below also courts controversy, and gets attention with viral marketing campaigns. One for example making fun (not to gently) of the British, and another Gays. Ironically, both target audiences. Now I am not passing judgment on the rights and wrongs of their messages, I am just saying that often we spend so much time being "good" that we don't get noticed, and of course pointing out that being a little mischievous is fun. Could you get more attention by pushing peoples buttons a little?To read other stories in this series so farclick here

Identity (Brand)

Your brand, either commercially is the some of all your parts. The way you look, the way you sound, what you do and how people perceive you. The fact that Brand is not just about a "logo" is hard for many people to understand, here I attempt to use the fire service as an example of how brands develop and live or die beyond just there name.

It's hard to describe the Fire Service brand ... it's not constrained to one country, one organization or even one uniform. Each fire service feeds off the stories and identity of the next, but each retains its own approach to the emergency events they service. I guess that's why it's sometimes called a brotherhood. Like many boys, I always wanted to be a fireman. Why? I guess partly because of the big red trucks and the thought of excitement. Some woman love firemen, probably for the same reason: the thought of excitement. I remember once we had the truck on the forecourt washing it ... A lady pulls up in her car ... She smiles and asks,

"Can I show my son the fire truck? He loves fire engines"

... LOL We look at the little boy, no more than 10-12 months ... not talking yet ...OMG how obvious. Sorry I digress, but the reason for saying this is that the fire service brand is partly defined in emblems, uniforms and how the trucks look, but it is even more strongly defined through history, romantic perceptions, values and how we behave in public. That's why when we get back from a call, even at 1am on a freezing cold night, we wash and dry the truck,and your boots are polished and your uniform cleaned. Discipline is not just about how well you fight a fire but how you carry yourself on and off the fire ground. Perception carries across all activities, even down to how we use the radio. I can remember, when I first joined, I had to do radio checks. This was the first time I had used the radio, and now my voice was going to be carried into every fire station in our region. I had to represent our station well. I swear I read and re-read the test message over and over again before I found the courage.

In business, things are no different.

Your brand is not defined by what you say in your marketing message, but by how you carry yourself the rest of the time. My questions to you are...