2 Percent Creativity

I was wondering what would be the first thing, not only in 2009, but in very long time, that I would write about on this blog. Well, today, I definitely found something worth mentioning.

You see, despite the difficult economic times, doing the opposite thing, the different thing, yea the remarkable thing, even the what your competition would never even think of doing thing—now that's the right thing to do!

Today, Denny's restaurants served a free Grand Slam Breakfast to all comers. One of their franchisees said it best,

Some people were shaking their heads before the event and even more will be shaking their heads from this day forward. Besides the fact that this event will be remembered as a very successful and keen marketing move, this good deed by the team at Denny's will be remembered as much more. It is a great and wonderful thing to do in the midst of one of the hardest times in American history.

It is just right all around.

Good for Denny's!

Glenn

I have always loved hockey. Canada’s game. Playing hockey and coaching hockey. I have finally gotten around to writing about something that I have been thinking about for sometime—The Art of Team Building. Check out the story over at ChirpInn The Art of Team Building - Introduction.

Now here’s a definite contender for the 2% creativity category. An absolutely remarkable piece of marketing arrived wedged inside my newspaper this morning. At first, the printed 10 x 10 inch piece came very close to being instantly tossed into my recycle blue-box bin, until I saw these words, “Savour the wine. Save the planet.” Well, I had to look.

The caption inside the brochure tells you most of what you need to know, “The Next French [R]evolution: The first fine French vintage wine in a Tetra Pak container”. The packaging is really well done. Colors, layout, the whole deal is first class. They have a Merlot, Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon. The slick brochure sets out to clearly convince you of one thing—it is the environmentally correct packaging of the future. With 90% less packaging than bottled wines and a full 1 litre versus the meagre 750 mills of the bottled option, it is hands down, “One Smart Rabbit”.

My only question for you smart marketers (and consumers) out there is this. Will it float?

Check the whole story out at French Rabbit.

Glenn

As many of you may know, for the past 6 years I have been involved in a web-based software and services company called Most Home. Our venture began in 2001 with the development of the Most Referred Real Estate Agent brand, websites and lead management system. In the past three years, we took what we learned building Most Referred and applied it to the development of ClientBuilder for Real Estate Brokers. This 6 year experience has been a tremendous opportunity to learn the ins and outs of a very dynamic industry and to apply our marketing and leadership skills to the business venture. I am very proud of what we accomplished and the people I have had the pleasure of working with during this time.

Well, as you can probably conclude from the subject of this post, it is time for me to move on from Most Home. I am very excited about what lies ahead and the new opportunities that are in store for us. A good friend and colleague of mine, Curtis Cottrell (Most Home’s former Director of Creative Services) and I, have formed a new consulting business focused on helping businesses with their marketing, advertising and web development needs. In addition to consulting services, we have also begun the development of a new web-based application that we hope to launch later this year.

Stay tuned to 2 Percent Creativity as I will provide updated information about our new venture (new name, website etc.) as it comes available.

Glenn

The next stop on our trip is the last of the highlights, and what a highlight it was. Imagine our surprise. We were heading to the Alberta town of Drumheller to visit the world famous dinosaur museum. We had also heard about a small town just southwest of Drumheller, that would be a great place to stay for the night. We were fortunate to get the last room in the Rosebud Country Inn when we had called just two days earlier.

As we travelled east from Calgary to our destination, we saw nothing but flat, yellow wheat fields, after at least 45 minutes of driving. The prospects for an exciting night in Rosebud seemed unlikely.

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After leaving the Okanagan valley we traveled east to the north Kootenay area of Invermere BC and spent a few days at the Panorama Mountain Resort. The experience at this Intrawest resort was less than remarkable and yet, the most expensive stay of our trip. Thankfully, our next stop was the Aspen Grove Bed and Breakfast in southwestern Alberta. Located just 20 minutes southwest of Pincher Creek, Alberta, this wonderful bed and breakfast exceeded all expectations.

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Today, I got the email. It was an invitation of sorts. One that I had been hoping for since earlier this month. It’s something new, very Web 2.0 as JJeffryes would say and very hush, hush. I have been sworn to secrecy as we take it for a test drive and check out what’s under the hood. What I can tell you is this - I am liking what I see.

It reminds one of the days when you first heard the hash of your modem connecting to Compuserve and then Netscape and viewing art from the Louvre on a grey background. It’s fun again. We’ll let you in on it as soon as we can.