In person, I thank people profusely – almost annoyingly, for the littlest things (that extra roll on my tray at Panera – thank you). But in my blog, through Twitter, and FriendFeed, I tend to talk too much without stopping to say, “Wow, thanks for the inspiration, trust, hope, friendship, faith… whatever.”

So, below is a list of people I’d like to just simply send a BIG Brand Chef hug out to. Without these people, the TRUE Brand of The Brand Chef (Andrew B. Clark) wouldn’t exist.

• Mike Sansone – “The Blogfather” I had a hard time trying to figure out if this hug went into the professional or personal category. Mike has been a friend and an inspiration. I look forward to learning from him on so many levels – it’s frightening.
• Mark True – “The Brand Warrior” Mark is also a friend and a mentor. He started me on this journey to becoming The Brand Chef. I revel in his success and marvel at his passion.
• Mike Wagner – For opening my eyes with my first book – a journey that will never end, my friend.
• Everyone at Love Scott & Associates – For having faith in me when I didn’t.

Blogs I make sure I visit (almost) daily:

• Terry Starbucker – Ramblings from a Glass Half Full
• Angela Maiers – Angel Maiers Educational Services
• Chris Wilson – Marketing Fresh Peel
• Paul Williams – Idea Sandbox
• Drew McLellan – Drew’s Marketing Minute
• Doug Mitchell – CreateWOWMedia
• Andy Nulman – POW! Right Between They Eyes
• Steve Woodruff – SickyFigure
• Michael Libbie – Insight Cubed Advertising & Communications
• Lyn Chamberlin – The Brand Dame
• Dean Hunt – Dean Hunt .com
• Mitch Mathews – Big Dream Gathering
• the folks at the Can I Sit With You blog
• Derek Semmler – The Man Page

Personal HUGs go to:

• Sharon Clark (my wife) @sharclark36 – for obvious reasons – but most of all for making my heart sing.
• My kids… Duh.
• My Parents – ALL of them. — One Mom, One Dad, One Step-dad, Two Step-moms.
• My brothers and sisters – count the parents and average that x2… yikes. (here’s just two of them: Pat – @pclark66 and Adam – @bigfoottattoo)

Without ALL of you, my personal brand would be nothing.

If you’re not on the list and think you should be (I know I’ve forgotten a BUNCH of people), then let me know… I’m feeling pretty huggie today…

BIG HUGS from The Brand Chef!

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
The Brand Chef

P.S. — I wrote this post in complete contrast to last week’s post. It may be due to the ample amount of caffeine to lack of sleep ratio that I’m working on right now. Or maybe it’s because I’m streaming Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now” through my last.fm library. Who knows? But I thought today would be a good day to send out a BIG Brand Chef hug to some of those that – simply put – DESERVE it.

God Bless.

Today, my ire turns to *Hillary Clinton and her cronies…

At her Senate confirmation hearing, Ms. Clinton defined her (intended) approach to diplomacy as “Smart Power.” Describing it as, “…using the full range of tools available to the United States, including diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal and cultural tools.”

After some thought – and a little digging – this slogan, this “catchphrase” Ms. Clinton and her staff so strategically thought up sounded like more of the same regurgitated crap that lost her the presidential nomination bid. And it is.

Case in point:

“Soft Power,” (notice the subtle difference) first theorized and then published in a book by the same title, by Joseph S. Nye, Jr., professor of International Relations at Harvard, outlines his position as,

“The kind (of power) preferred by certain thinkers and political scientists… (that includes) ideals, diplomacy, moral authority. All about hearts and minds.”

What the hell? Am I wrong thinking that Hillary (and every other politician) needs to stop trying to speak in “marketing-eze” and that they really need to start thinking for themselves?!?

You know what, Hillary; the Senate is a group of pretty smart folks. I don’t think you need to dumb it down for them. Or are you so unsure of your ability to perform the job, you need to create these nifty little catchphrases to gloss over the facts? Just do your damn job already.

Rob Frankel, a branding expert and author of “The Revenge of Brand X.” said, “Essentially, ‘smart power’ is just more evidence of how bad the communication coaching Hillary Clinton gets and probably cost her the (presidential) campaign.”

And Alan Siegel, founder and head of Siegel + Gale, a considerably credible branding, marketing and communications consultancy, described “Smart Power” as an “unfortunate choice of words.”

Amen. (my choice of words)

From a marketing and communications standpoint, this was a bad choice. Unoriginal. Uninspired. Trite. Redundant. From a political and, may I say, professional standpoint, I’d suggest firing your communications advisers and simply getting down to the task at hand…

Maybe I’m just sick of the rhetoric. Maybe the recent campaign was too much. Maybe after another cup of coffee, I’ll see the advantage of using slogans and tag lines in politics.

Then again, maybe not. ‘Cause politicians and the sort make people disregard – no, dare I say HATE what I do for a living… Stop trying to market and do your damn job already!

That’s it in a rant… what do you think? Politics and marketing. Do they make good bedfellows?

Until next time…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
–The Brand Chef

*Spineless Disclaimer – I’m not anti-Hillary, and this is not intended to be a direct assault on Ms. Clinton. I think she is incredibly intelligent with MUCH to offer our country as Secretary of State. So, please comment accordingly.

Why?

Newsgathering has shifted from being a passive act—tell me a story—to a proactive one—answer my question.

According to journalism.org,

“…Pew Research Center survey. The figures for almost every traditional media platform are now at historic lows. For instance, the number of Americans who said they read a newspaper “yesterday” has fallen by 40% since the 1990s—to 34%. The number of people who watched the nightly network newscasts yesterday has fallen even further—by half—to 29%. Radio news is at 35%. Regular readership of weekly news magazines is down to 12%.”

So, what does that mean for us? Where is that 40% going to get their news?

Blogs, baby. Blogs! Not to mention podcasts, vlogs and heavy-handed translations of traditional media to online, user-driven sites, and micro-sites.

With that, yesterday, I ran across this story: On January 27th, Joshua Karp (follow on Twitter: @theprintedblog) will be launching a twice-daily free print newspaper in Chicago, San Francisco and later in New York City. The content he will be publishing will be solely from BLOGS!

“So what,” you say, “Nothing novel there?” Hold on. Joshua has a little twist for you.

His intent is to aggregate local content from blogs and print them in tabloid form in time for the morning and evening commutes… The advertising – focused to reach targeted, local audiences – supports the newspaper (of course). It will also include classifieds (of course).

From Joshua’s venture, The Printed Blog web site:

“The selection of content in The Printed Blog is based solely on the votes of readers and their geographic location. In such a way, The Printed Blog revolts against the top-down, ‘one size fits all’ model of newsprint, as we know it. Instead of one paper serving hundreds of thousands of people, as is often the case, The Printed Blog publishes hundreds or even thousands of highly-localized editions based on what a community declares is important to them. The papers are distributed to neighborhood pickup points in A.M. and P.M. editions, and will incorporate rapid turnaround reader comments.

… As our society moves towards individualized information, The Printed Blog has the courage to respect our readers. We recognize the value of what individuals have to say, we publish the information they create, and provide them with the information they demand.”

News = information relevant to the people. When traditional news sources become irrelevant, or self-serving, people go to their community for relevance.

I’m interested in Joshua’s new venture. The online community will drive content. Readership will be driven by the local community. Advertising will benefit from a more targeted audience. Hmmmm…Where can this go wrong? Market? Content? Commuters? Advertisers? Classifieds?

Can you combine the past with the present? Why not just keep it all online? Why take it to press?

What do you think? Take a look at his formula and give me your thoughts.

Until Next time…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
- The Brand Chef

But sometimes they’re a bit more…

Mother Goose and Grimm creator Mike Peters is being sued by the The Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers over a cartoon published last week poking fun at Columbian Crime and Columbian coffee. The federation alleges that Mike’s cartoon “damages the intellectual heritage.” They’re asking for US$20 million.

According to the report:

Peters apologized for having offended anyone in a letter that arrived at newspaper El Tiempo’s editor’s office,…

According to the cartoonist, the specific comic is part of a series of cartoons based on the fact that the inventor of potato crisp Pringles had his ashes buried in one of his invention’s package. Peters says he never intended to insult anyone.

Classic.

Mike Peters has never had trouble owning up to his style of satire. If he were to insult The Federation, I’m sure he would have 1) been even more “in your face” about the quip, and 2) taken a stronger (guaranteed to be more humorous) stance against the claim.

$20 Million? Who doesn’t already know about Colombia’s heritage? hmmmm, but they do grow some great coffee.

Does the cartoon make YOU want to stop drinking Colombian coffee and switch to Chai Tea? (Ack) Does this kind of legal nonsense really need to plug up our already burdened system?

What say you?

Food for thought.

Keep Cooking (up more actionable communications)
Andrew B. Clark
-The Brand Chef

Think of it… a short skip back, just five years, shows us that America can completely bungle a Presidential election and live (so far) to tell the tale. Counting errors blamed on both computers and humans made us realize that we can’t solely depend on one or the other any longer.

And if you remember, just nine years ago (this week), we were all wiping the sweat from our collective brow, having survived Y2K! My computer didn’t crash, did yours? (heck, I used a Macintosh… still do… did that really matter?)

If you think back just a little further – only 12 years – you may remember, Europe decided (all together no less) to pool their economic tender into the Euro. Contrary to naysayers, I don’t remember their exchange system crashing to a cataclysmic halt… heck I don’t recall even one report of change being counted back incorrectly.

Fascinating. I call it “Progress in spite of technology.”

So, why the somewhat tweaked glance back in time? Perspective. From what I can see, and whether we want it to or not, technology will continue to integrate itself deeper into our daily lives. And for marketing and communications, Web sites, blogs, e-mail marketing, micro blogging are all here to stay. So the time for being “technophobic” or a skeptic is over. Honestly, if you haven’t embraced implementation of technology in your communications (personally AND professionally), you’re already WAY behind the curve… but there’s hope.

So for 2009, what can we do to “tech-up” our marketing, our communications — our brands?

Here are some simple, yet TRUE steps – A Baker’s Dozen:

1. 1. Weave A Technology Culture – Use it to facilitate personal interaction, not replace it.
2. 2. Get social – Work within the culture, not against it, to facilitate technology adoption.
3. 3. Keep your message consistent – across all channels/platforms (from traditional print to new media).
4. 4. Maintain transparency – Technology accentuates the negative and brand ownership needs to be positive!
5. 5. Use technology strategically – get information to the right people at the right time.
6. 6. Start small – build on incremental successes. Turn the flame up too high and you’ll get burnt.
7. 7. Always Learn – Plan on and budget for extensive support and training for new technologies.
8. 8. Rethink Your Collateral Flow – Keep print materials available—just use them strategically.
9. 9. One Channel Is NEVER Enough – Use overlapping channels to communicate to a broader audience and “spread the love.”
10. 10. There Are No Stupid Questions – Ask for feedback and act based on it.
11. 11. Measure Twice, Cut Once – Obtain metrics where you can and make strategic decisions.
12. 12. Find Your “Special Purpose” – Don’t use technology only for technology’s sake—make sure it has a communication purpose.
13. 13. Always Chalk BEFORE You Misque – Test your message before you send it—and check everything, to the smallest detail (from spelling to links!)

In short – Embrace the future or it will come up an kick you in the shorts! History (even the shortest sampling of it) has proven that fact…

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.” Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

The Brand Chef would like to wish you all a Happy New Year!

Until Next Time…

Keep Cooking!
Andrew B. Clark
– The Brand Chef