Vy Blog

Into the weekend

Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man
It surely means that I don't know

The stupid apostrophe

On occasion I get driven to distraction by something that's mundane to others.

An example?  All right.  The humble apostrophe.  And I'm not talking about the Frank Zappa album.

Primarily, the apostrophe is used to form a possessive.  It has other uses, of course, though we normal mortals usually just use it to show what belongs to whom.  However, along the way there developed a practice of using the apostrophe to designate certain plurals (e.g., "Mind your p's and q's.").

That type of usage somehow broke free of its bounds and spread like the zebra mussel in the Great Lakes.  Now I see this everywhere, and it's always frigging wrong.  This morning, on one of those license plate frames, someone had this: 

My son's are Eagle Scouts

Outstanding.  I'm an Eagle too, and though I don't remember a grammar merit badge, there damn sure ought to be one now.

I somehow missed National Punctuation Day last Sunday and wish I'd blogged on it then, but whatever.  It's never too late.  Just stop this.  Stop using apostrophes to indicate the plural.

Taco's are 50 cent's each.  Have your dime's ready for the cashier's.

See how stupid that looks?

[Breathing]  Rant over.  As you were.

Marketing right: Shakespeare's Pizza

My brother sent me a couple of funny tent cards from Shakespeare's Pizza in Columbia, Mo.  They're great -- one is a food pyramid with fruits, veggies and lean meat at the top, with 15-83 servings a day of pizza and Parmesan documented wide across the bottom.  They're known for these cards, which are clever without being over-clever.

Besides having great pizza (and they do), they have an irreverent, entertaining way about doing their business.  They amuse themselves, obviously, and thus amuse their customers.  Hell of a way to do business.

Example:

THE MISSION STATEMENT OF SHAKESPEARE'S PIZZA:

It's the pizza, stupid. And maybe the beer. 
Everything else can go fly. 
Have a good time doing it, just wash your hands before and after.

Want to laugh and learn something about good marketing.  Check out their site.

The Killer -- Last Man Standing

I've never been a fan of Jerry Lee Lewis specifically, but am a fan of the 1950s sounds that came out of Sun.  There's an interesting article here about the Killer and his new release, Last Man Standing, which has duets with anyone who has anything to do with rock and country.  I'm going to give it a listen.

Into the weekend

Well they say that time loves a hero
But only time will tell
If he's real he's a legend from heaven
If he ain't he was sent here from hell

Hear me well
Seeing ain't always believing
Just make sure it's the truth that you're seeing
Eyes sometimes lie, eyes sometimes lie
They can be real deceiving

Friday roundup

You get your head back under water, and it gets harder to breathe.

I miss discussions on the issues of marketing and PR.  I think there are a couple of reasons for this --

1. I'm busy.  (But that's just me.)
2. There's not a whole hell of a lot to write about at the moment.

So here's some head gravel:

Journalism:  Mike Arrington links to a strong post from Philip Kaplan about his recent experience with journalists covering a CEO change at the company he founded.  As is my general rule, I'm not going to slam journalists, but I will point out there's good and bad in everything, including that profession.  Is it just human nature for a story to be tricked up to heighten interest?  Maybe that's not even relevant -- I've been on the receiving end of that Kaplan experienced and it's unpleasant.  If you're a PR practitioner, it's a good reminder of the fact that you're not usually in any kind of control of your story.

PR and spinach:  Anytime there's a crisis of some kind, I'm always a little amused, if not annoyed, at its description as a PR problem.  Let's sweep that out of the way -- what this industry has is a problem (and a temporary one at that, one would assume) with its product.  It's not safe at the moment.  No one wants to buy it anyway.  Before long, it will get figured out and it will be safe to buy, and we'll start eating it again.

The challenge between now and then is the one of restoring trust.  What do you communicate, to whom, and how, to restore trust in the product and help induce purchasing of the product?  That's what I would want to focus on.  For plain-spoken wisdom on this, smarter than what you just read here, see John Wagner.

Fitness:  My summer fitness goals had to do with getting in shape for triathlon events.  It worked -- I'm in good aerobic condition.  However, thanks to a week of barbecue and throwed rolls in the midwest in August, I'm not particularly, uh, svelte.

I'm much more motivated to work for results when I have a goal to aim for.  So, my wife and I just learned we have an opportunity for a beach trip in January -- there's the new goal, thank you.  This time I'm going to take some time to learn about nutrition, about which I know little, and focus that along with a revamped workout.  I'd like to see what kind of shape I can really get into. 

Ollabelle:  Have you heard this group?  Roots-influenced music that is hard to categorize.  Some bluegrass, some folk, some rock, some gospel, some country.  Really great harmonies.  They're second album, Riverside Battle Songs, is well put together.

One other thing, please:  When you could not care less about something, don't say you could care less.  If you could care less, then you actualy could care less, not that you could not.  I'm begging you.

Into the weekend

He came to town with a strong pull
Would flash his moves for the worshipful
Shoulder moves from side to side
Go over your head, and dot your eyes

Every night about a quarter to ten
From the middle of June til' the summer's end
People would gather from miles around
To see the mighty rainbow knock 'em down

Head....above....water

Way too busy lately, blogging has suffered.

ON MARKETING

And plus, John Wagner is right -- there's just not that much to talk about lately.  Feels like the breather you get in between innings before the action starts up again.

Have you seen the candidate labels for Stormhoek?  They're all good.  Thanks just to the creativity behind the label, this wine will fly off the shelves.  Wine has been trying to get itself all irreverentized for a while but it hasn't been all that authentic.  Until now.  And I can testify that the wine is good, too.

Good article from A Clear Eye.  The marketing times, they are indeed a-changin'.  This is a two-pager worth your read.

A list also worth reading at Valleywag, featuring advice from journalists about how / how not to pitch.  Left off: Have something worth news to start with.  (Thanks to David for the pointer.)

ON LIFE

This morning I had a conversation with a good friend who's having a big trial in his life.  He's constantly trying to give himself perspective, which is a smart thing to do, of course.  He's concerned about all the difficult feelings involved in his situation, and just as I said, "Well, it just is what it is," he said nearly the same thing. 

That's a good reminder in general, I've found.  Things just are.  You have to handle them as they come.  Many times we're worried about how others will think, but in fact (and this is something I keep trying to tell myself) every person you see has his/her own set of crap to deal with, thank you very much, and is blissfully unaware of your mess.

Besides, while I believe Brandon is right that life is indeed precious, I also somewhat subscribe to the frozen snowball philosophy, which is this:  When Tug McGraw had the bases loaded and a power hitter coming to the plate, the last thing he wanted to do was throw the ball.  But he knew he had to eventually, so he said in situations like that, he'd throw a frozen snowball.  A reporter took the bait and asked, so McGraw told him someday the Earth will be a frozen snowball hurtling through space, and no one would care what he threw.

Good for your perspective.

Into the weekend

There's a million ways to laugh,
And every one's a path,
Come on and join together with the band

Small minds, big Web -- the defense of privacy

I don't subscribe but I've always enjoyed Esquire's writing style.  The other night I was browsing the site, and this month they review 100 ideas, trends, thoughts, etc., that are top of mind at the moment.

One deals with a disturbing trend on the web.  The link is here, and the opening paragraph says this:

Everyone's worried about NSA wiretapping and such.  But really, that's not the invasion of privacy that's going to affect our lives.  Instead, it's user-generated spying and gossip.  That's what is going to make America into the equivalent of a small-minded small town.

Some of this, I would theorize, is due to our fascination with celebrity.  You don't think there's a fascination with celebrity?  Turn on your TV and tune into Entertainment Tonight, Hollywood Insider, etc.  Stroll into your grocery store and glance at a copy of People and its clones.  How about that paparazzi?  And whoa!!  Is Suri Cruise real or not?

I digress.  One of the words of the moment is transparency.  Everyone is calling for more transparency -- in government, in business, in regulation, in nearly everything.  You're hard-pressed to argue against it, aren't you?  That's a no-win position. 

But like anything, there's good and bad.  The Web has given us unparalleled abilities to communicate and share data, which begets user "empowerment," which begets the application of new pressures to institutions, which begets a little more honesty from them (good), which further emboldens users (not necessarily bad), which sometimes spills over into a sort of mob rule (bad).

Putting a magnifying glass over institutions with public responsibility is useful and necessary.  I'm all for it.  However, the need for privacy -- I don't mean secrecy as much as I do privacy -- is very rational and appropriate.  To know that you're on stage and in view all the time (whether as a company, institution or individual) can lead to precisely the opposite desired outcome: inauthentic behavior.

Need an example?  How about a politician?  It's the rare office-seeker or -holder that behaves in public you or your neighbor do.  Why?  Because s/he knows continual judgment is being applied, in the most harsh manner, and the safest course of action for maintaining office is to speak in that unique language we hear on C-SPAN.

This is worth thinking about, don't you agree?  Does anyone think 100% transparency is always a good thing?  I'll probably get basted for this somewhere down the line, but I don't think it is.  The ability to privately discuss, reflect and be creative is extraordinarily useful and important -- it enables out-of-the-limelight frank discussion, humor, venting of spleens, collaboration, you name it that grows our businesses, helps our relationships, advances our interests and just plain keeps things running.

And, finally, how does this relate to PR?  Like this:  Assume anything your company does will be known about, both good and bad.  If you don't want it known, better not to do it at all.  If you do something you try to keep private, do so knowing you may have to discuss it publicly later.