The economic recession of the late 2000s has created a climate in which Baby Boomers are delaying retirement out of financial necessity.  With little or no savings, they don’t have much of an option.  Meanwhile, millions of Millennials (aged around 18-30) enter an incredibly competitive labor market with few skills and fewer opportunities to develop them.

Baby Boomers feel overworked and unappreciated, and Millennials often feel the same way.  Both cohorts face age discrimination and have a tough time landing jobs in the current market.  For Millennials, it is often frustrating to be stuck in entry-level positions for potentially years and some see the Baby Boomers as crowding a job market that should be reserved for younger generations.  For Baby Boomers, these younger workers seem undisciplined, picky, and egocentric.

In an MTV study called “No Collar Workers”, Millennials show that they have very different ideas than Baby Boomers about their jobs and careers.  Baby Boomers are used to a more structured environment, and prefer less feedback.  Millennials want to wear jeans to work every day and have flexible hours.  Additionally, in part because of how they were raised (ironically often by Baby Boomers), Millenials seek meaning and purpose in their jobs.  89% agree “it’s important to be constantly learning at my job.”  (http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/170109/turning-on-the-no-collar-workforce.html)

Luckily, the two generational cohorts have a lot to teach each other.  Baby Boomers can teach Millennials the value and ability to use “soft skills” when dealing with coworkers and clients, while tech-savvy Millenials can help their Baby Boomer coworkers increase their social media fluency. (http://maureenopene.wordpress.com/2012/01/09/baby-boomer-inspired-guide-trends-2012/)

As retirement ages rise, there will be more people from more generations working together.  The Millennials are a huge cohort (thanks to the Baby Boomers) and will transform the workplace as we know it in the coming years.  With their emphasis on meritocracy and finding “meaning” in their jobs, with any luck this will be a good environment for people from multiple generations to get along.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2012
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Studies have shown that quick decisions are usually smarter than those given a lot of thought.  Jonah Lehrer, author of “How We Decide”, says these decisions are smarter especially when we have built up expertise to drawn upon.  In other words, our emotional decisions are trustworthy when we have a history of knowledgeable and successful decisions in that area.

In a 2009 article by Live Science, Northwestern University researchers showed that people were better of recalling details in an experiment when they were distracted, rather than when they paid full attention, leading us to believe that our implicit memories can be quite powerful.

Sometimes our rational minds are not as astute as our instincts and bodily responses can be to stimuli.  An experiment conducted by scientists at the University of Iowa had participants play a card game where half of the decks were rigged.  It took about 50 cards for subjects to begin to favor the unrigged decks, and about 80 cards before they could explain why.  Sensors had been attached to the subjects’ skin and these sensors showed that just after 10 cards, a subject’s skin began to sweat.  In short, our bodies and unconscious emotions notice things long before our conscious selves do (experiencelife.com).

These unconscious thoughts and feelings can be incredibly powerful when it comes to pursuing our long-term goals.  In a Canadian study conducted by the University of Alberta, researchers demonstrated that our unconscious feelings about objects around us can influence our long-term goals.  How we feel about things determines how we pursue our goals.  Our unconscious thoughts notice and positively respond to objects or other triggers in the world around us that support our goals.

In other words, our unconscious wants us to succeed.  It’s up to us to listen to our instincts.  In the words of one Zen saying, “In your heart, you already know.”

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2012
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Why do you not just say the truth? Research suggests that many of us lie frequently without even thinking about it. We’ve all lied to someone at some point in our lives, and some of us do it more often than others.  Sometimes our lies are relatively harmless; other times, lying is more serious and can have significant consequences.

We also lie without even thinking about it.  In a Live Science article by Robin Lloyd, University of Massachusetts research Robert Feldman and his team videotaped two strangers having a 10-minute conversation.  Before being shown the footage, each person said they were accurate and honest in the conversation.

After being shown the footage of the conversation, however, a different story emerged as subjects discovered little lies they had slipped into the conversation, often without even noticing.  60% of subjects lied in those 10 minutes, and made an average of 2.92 false statements.  Feldman told Live Science that were often trivial and made almost reflexively, like pretending to like someone they didn’t like.  We try not to insult each other, and prefer a harmonious conversation.

The study indicated that women and men lie about the same amount, but men usually lie to make themselves look better while women lie to make other people feel better.

Jennifer Argo of the University of Alberta says that we are even more likely to lie to our co-workers.  In a competitive environment like the workplace, we want to get ahead and protect our image. Survival instincts? Maybe.

While white lies may have their place, it is important to use those lies sparingly.  The best relationships are built on trust and honesty, and you risk alienating yourself if you are caught lying.  Trust is difficult to rebuild, so lie at your own risk. Better yet, tell the truth. In practice, lying is actually hard work because it requires us to archive, sort and retrieve what we said or written before — the lines between fact and fiction can blur.

Mark Twain said it best, “If you tell  the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.”

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2012
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One issue is the kind of text we are reading and writing now. Many of us probably communicate via text as much as spoken word on a day-to-day basis.  Between Facebook, twitter, blogging, and text messages, most of us have multiple conversations that are typed out on a keyboard.  What this is troubling to those who value the written word is the developing slang and overall disregard for grammar and punctuation.  Likewise, it’s become common to gloss over any sizeable amount of text and look for the bolded statements that will give us information quickly.  We want lean, witty one-liners instead of buckling down and reading an article or book.

Not only are our conversations increasingly in the form of typed fragments, but we are also spending more and more time logged into social media sites.   In the past, would those hours have been spent in solitude?  Or perhaps people would have used that extra time to call their old friends instead of passively looking through their new picture album on Facebook.  Maybe they would use that time to meet up with their close buddies at a coffee shop or a park to throw a ball around.  Though it’s hard to say how we would actually be spending our time without social media, it’s clear that it has taken the place of a variety of activities.

Even when we’re not actively sending emails and updating statuses, we are still connected to the digital world.  How often do you even turn your phone off while you sleep?  We live in a time where we are increasingly “plugged in” to our web of social connections.  By leaving our iPhones on our nightstands, we are allowing ourselves to become even more consumed by this technology.  In terms of accessibility, we are more connected than ever before.  At any point in the day, we expected to be able to connect with any of our friends, family members, or co-workers immediately.

Our dependence on social media seems to have created a new kind of anxious disorder.  Have you ever been to a party and noticed half of the attendees are on their phones? It’s been argued, and rightfully so, that our eyes no longer know what to do when they’re not directed towards screen.  Even when we are amongst those whom we would consider to be friends, we feel our eyeballs itching to make contact.

Are we better off than before the digital world consumed us?

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2012
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Value propositions are a promise of value to your customers.  This promise is based on trust.  If they buy your product, and the promise you made turns out to be false or misleading, you will have lost that customer forever.  Only promise what you can realistically deliver.

To craft a powerful and unique value proposition, you must first answer a few questions.  Most importantly, what will be the end result for your customer?  What kind of need does your product or service fulfill?  Will your product or service help a customer’s business, home, or love life?

To find this out, ask your current clients what makes your product or service valuable to them.  If you don’t have any current clients, try to ask customers of a similar product or service.  Why would they choose your product or service over a competitor’s?

When creating a value proposition, focus solely on the target customer.  Forget about your boss, suppliers, or other partners in the process.  Never forget that your product or service is ultimately there to serve a certain segment of the population, even if others are involved in the creation, marketing, or money-making processes.

There a couple different approaches to writing a value proposition.  The simplest way is to list all the benefits your product or services claims to provide.  A more effective way is to compare your product or service with your competitors’ and highlight the ways in which your product or service is superior.

It is critical to figure out what are the most important attributes of your product or service.  That is, what is it about your product or service that most appeals to your customers?  Once you have found these most valued attributes, you know what to focus your attention on when creating a value proposition.

In an article called “Why They Should Buy”, author Kirsten Korosec says it is important to take your value proposition and turn it into a meaningful marketing slogan for your customers.  Often when we create value propositions, they are in “company speak” and may not connect with your target clients.

Effective value propositions are good for marketing because they are short, simple, and appeal to the customers’ core needs.  You want your customers to understand, believe, and remember your value proposition.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2012
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Babcock and Laschever say that 2.5 times more women than men feel “a great deal of apprehension” about negotiating.  They are much less likely to aggressively negotiate starting salaries, raises, or the price of a car.  Women stand to miss out on a great deal of income over their lifetime if they fail to negotiate their salaries.

Women’s low expectations are often their downfall.  In a climate where women already don’t earn as much as their male counterparts, it is especially important for women to negotiate salaries and raises.  The days of sticking with one company, or let alone one career path, are over.  In today’s environment, we can change jobs, companies, and fields of work multiple times throughout our lifetimes.

How can we motivate women to negotiate more?  A study released in 2010 by UCLA and University of Washington professors suggests that women who use fear as a motivation tool can negotiate more effectively.  In the study, men and women played a simple game and were told they would be paid a negotiable amount based on their performance.  The subjects would watch videos designed to make participants feel angry, fearful, or neutral.  Men made to feel fearful were actually less likely to initiate negotiation, while fearful women were more likely to instigate negotiation and ended up with more money.

Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the most influential women in the 20^th century, said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.”  The key to conquering something we find intimidating is to simply lean into the discomfort and practice what scares us.  If you find negotiation to be anxiety-provoking, desensitize yourself by negotiating small things first.

Find opportunities to be assertive and decisive, with your coworkers, family members, and strangers. Yet, seek to understand the other party’s needs. Strive for an agreement that allows him or her to get what they want, while you get what you want. A great deal allows both parties to walk away happy with the prospect of doing business again.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2012
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Christopher Hsee and his researchers from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago published studies that they believe demonstrate that busier people are happier people.

According to the July 2010 study published by Psychological Science, people like to find ways to occupy their time, and also like to attribute a purpose or meaning behind the activity.  In other words, we don’t like to be bored.

In an experiment, college-aged subjects were given two surveys, with a 15 minute break after the first survey was completed.  During that 15 minute break, students could either drop off the first survey nearby, or walk to a further location that would fill the time of the 15 break.  The experiment was conducted a few different ways, but ultimately the students who walked a further distance during the break reported feeling happier than students who did not.  In short, busier people are happier people.

Even more interesting, we like to attribute a meaning or purpose to our activities.  If we can justify a reason for doing something, we are more likely to do it.  In multiple variations of the experiments, students were offered different types of chocolate at each drop-off location.  If students were offered the same type of incentive at either locations, most students chose the lazier option (of dropping off the survey nearby).  If students could justify walking further for a certain kind of chocolate, they were more likely to choose the busier option (of walking to the location during the 15 minute break).  In either scenario, subjects were happier when they chose the busy option, and walked during the 15 minute break.

What does this say about us?  We are naturally lazy and tend to choose the idle option because we know we should conserve our energy.  But if we can find even a simple justification for doing so, we like to stay busy and occupied with our time.  Evolutionarily, we may well be designed to keep busy to ensure our species’ continuing progress.

For more information check out this article: http://news.discovery.com/human/busy-people-happiness.html

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2012
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Today’s consumer is more sophisticated and not so easily duped. In fact, we are increasingly cynical about advertising messages and presume them to false or misleading unless we hear otherwise from our peers. Savvy consumers use services like Yelp and ratings on Amazon to help them decide where to spend their hard-earned money.

Yesterday’s advertising heroes were expected to be perfect.  In order to showcase the benefits of their product, many advertisers cast their product or service as the “hero”.  Today this approach can still work up to a certain extent.  The Most Interesting Man in the World featured in Dos Equis beer commercials is a good example of this. Yet, he is a parody and we know it.

However, modern consumers sometimes find this approach disingenuous.  Consumers today appreciate a more authentic hero — an everyman with both flaws and good intentions.  In the article “Heroes and Brands”, author Bernard Urban discusses why a flawed hero is ultimately more convincing.  In fact, our society is rather forgiving of the hero with flaws; this is especially true in sports. Think Tiger Woods or Kobe Bryant. Despite their failings, their brands thrive.

What makes someone heroic today is that they overcome their limitations.  Overcoming obstacles makes their hard-fought triumph that much more romantic and believable.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2012
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It’s actually much more complicated.

For example, what would we find if we were to look across time and space to discover what it means to be a man?  During the Renaissance era, only the manliest of men sported tights and frilly collars.  In China today, affluent businessmen carry leather purses as a status symbol. It quickly becomes clear that gender expressions vary immensely between cultures.

Because we know that gender varies across time and geographical location, it is safe to say that it is primarily a social construction. Gender is a meaning system created by society that slips into every facet of our lives.  It is through gendered social norms that we learn how to act in every social situation.  From birth, we are taught how to behave within the confines of our designated gender: male or female.  Our walk, talk, dress, and emotional expression are all informed by this binary system.  Though it may be harmless, baby girls do not inherently prefer pink to blue.

Today, an overwhelming amount of products are gendered.  Such gendered commodities include alcohol, clothing, toys, furniture, automobiles, books, magazines, films, and even food!  It is usually easy to pinpoint, while walking through Wal-Mart, which products are feminine or masculine.  Even though it is a social construction, gender weighs in on almost every purchase we make as consumers.

What does this means to marketers? Gender stereotypes are real because we perpetuate them and accept them. One option is to accept this “gendering” (I think I have invented a new word) of products as the status quo. Essentially, marketers can use the gender stereotypes as a tool to market more products by offering everything in pink for the women customers. Men get burlap.

Alternatively, firms could choose to be different by offering messages that buck the gender norms. This is based on the premise that there may be large segments of buyers that are not getting what they want. This could include women that desire high performance sports cars and older men who want make up to look more youthful in the workplace. Something tells me that these other markets might be bigger than the stereotypes might have you believe.

For some interesting examples of gender stereotypes please visit the Society Pages.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2012
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Global consulting firm Interbrand released the top 100 brands for 2011.  The top ten are Coca-Cola, IBM, Microsoft, Google, General Electric, McDonald’s, Intel, Apple, Disney, and Hewlett-Packard.  Nestled among the top 100 include Toyota, Nokia, UPS, Budweiser, Ikea, eBay, MTV, Visa, Starbucks, and Ferrari.

Most of the top 100 brands are from the United States, but many successful brands also come from Japan, Germany, France, and the UK.  What is most striking about the list (found here at http://www.interbrand.com/en/best-global-brands/best-global-brands-2008/best-global-brands-2011.aspx ) is how ubiquitous these brands and their logos are.  Even people who do not think they pay much attention to brands or advertising have had these logos etched deeply into their subconscious.  We are affected by brands whether we like it or not.

According to Coca-Cola’s official website, more than 1.6 billion drinks made by the Coca-Cola Company are consumed per day.  Coca-Cola is successful for a myriad of reasons.  Coca-Cola’s brand, and its advertising, relies on our emotional connection to the brand.  It has history, which lends credibility and a feeling of nostalgia.  Coca-Cola means playfulness, fun, love, and value.  Coca-Cola has done a tremendous job of successfully evolving with the times, and also places a strong emphasis on consumer satisfaction and feedback.  Coca-Cola offers a wide variety of flavors, but is careful not to lose its classic charm and appeal.

Successful brands have three key attributes: authenticity, consistency, and differentiation. Authenticity cannot be conjured or faked or contrived. Great brands are real and without pretense. Consistency is the experience that customer cherishes about a brand; tested by time, the brand delivers value again and again. Finally, the uniqueness of the brand is what makes it recognizable.

Brands are a promise of value.

John Bradley Jackson
© Copyright 2012
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