Recognizing the Need for Reinvention
Whether you work with brands every day or want to develop your own brand, your success lies in a different place than most experts would have you look.
We have a tendency to travel the same road, again and again. We talk incessantly about the same problems: The trade, the economy, the licensor, the licensee, the deal. It's an endless, circuitous, chain of circumstances with little time or effort directed toward understanding the changing consumer.
Who is The New Consumer?
They are Millennials. They are your strongest advocates. We're not the first, nor the last to mention them. But, if you don't know who they are...the short answer is they're your future. Their values, attitudes and demographic characteristics are different than all previous generations. They are driving digital technologies that are changing media habits; enabling consumers to self-edit, while at the same time, by choice, become advocates of what is meaningful to them. It's causing brand-marketers and licensors to reconsider how they are reaching the right audience at the right time with the right message in the right place.
Like it or not, they are tethered to technology. Successful products offerings enable Millennials to participate in their own experiences. It is tribal; technology is the acoustic rhythm to their narrative. As a result, the convergence of technology (xbox 360 Kinetic, Apple iPad) and the interplay of mobile phones (apps), immersive retail experiences and location based (touch-screen) venues are the new brand media mix.
Millennials
Millennials, there are about 80 million of them born between 1980 and 1995. They are the prize. They are who you must embrace. They are not just consumers, they are the owners of your brand. They are advocates who dictate purchase patterns and are the voice of authority.
Millennials are setting the new social agenda, in a context called BrandCultureTM. We are just beginning to witness the nuances and shifts of their consumer behavior. The real ah-ha will arrive when we unlock the coding of this generation and the hardwiring of their brains. If you know a Cognitive Scientist, hire them; they'll be your most trusted resource when unraveling the mysteries of your new consumer and the behavior that is driving businesses, brands and culture in the 21st Century.
Consumer Attributes
- They think in pictures: Images are the narrative of culture. 32,000 years ago the earliest of cave paintings served the same purpose. They're hard wired into our brain. They work like semeiotic messages. Meaning, the images are the language of story-telling. It's the earliest form of personal and cultural brand messaging. (Consider: Facebook, Flickr and the iPhone).
They remember stories; so, don't repeat facts: Brands are emotional stories. They are experiences, merging interest with intent by igniting curiosity and inviting consumption. "Your brain didn't retrieve a fact about an experience," says Douglas Merrill, former Chief Information Officer of Google, "....your brain retrieved the story." Their brand is their message: Messages are everywhere. They work as reoccurring themes that bond culture. They establish a context and work like scaffolding in your brain. They function in a setting of story-telling and myth-making where symbols are language and images are text. They embrace the "authentic" power of Social Media: Okay. I get it. We know Social Media is important. But, do you really know why? It's not because of its instantaneous reach or ubiquitous use. Social Media dominates all other media because of its relevance. It's your story, shared with others, that touches the same core emotions. They use technology: "It's not just their gadgets, it's the way technology has been fused into their social lives." This is the new "collective -connective," a social dynamic requiring participation -- real, authentic participation. It's that simple. Why We Believe In What We Create?
We remember things that are important when they are experienced as stories. Our brains take notice of them. We become conscious of them. They become relevant, take on a purpose and meaning and move to our memory. Cognitive scientists call this process encoding, which means something is being converted from one format into another.
Cultural Myth, Story Telling And Recurring Themes Bond Culture
It is based upon the uniquely human capacity to symbolically classify experiences, link and then to share them...the process through which an older generation induces and compels a younger generation to reproduce the established lifestyle, consequently a culture that is embedded in a person's way of life.
This multi-generational social condition is called the "Cultural Evolution Theory" which states, "that traits have a certain meaning in the context of evolutionary stages, and they look at relationships between material culture and social institutions and beliefs."
The importance of realism amid such heightened realities in worlds of fantasy make characters, specifically heroes and their powers, when stripped away, real to an audience that wants to believe they really exist. This transformation is a blurring of "reality's" fantasy.
Captured in symbols and an extremely evolved iconography, popular, recurring themes understood completely or not, become folklore...create a suspended disbelief: a new reality for a new generation... borrowing from the past and making them their own...a form of branded history, with its own images indelibly marked on the minds of a new global audience. The images they represent, from myth to folklore, become the legacy that defines a brand.
Central to this process is the concept and arch of the Brand...or as we will call it: BrandCulture
7/30/2010
Ken Markman: The Advent of Brand Culture
Kauffman FastTrac, Kaplan University join forces to train entrepreneurs - Kansas City Business Journal
Kaplan University and Kauffman FastTrac, which offers training for entrepreneurs, are teaming up to offer two new online graduate certificates that help students prepare for careers running businesses.
“Nearly all net job growth in our country comes from companies less than five years old,” Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation CEO Carl Schramm said in the release. “So today more than ever, we need more people starting companies, and we need current business owners to be more successful in growing their firms.”
Working with a “market leader” like Kaplan will help Kauffman reach a wider audience of entrepreneurs, equipping them with skills to start and expand businesses, “thus creating the innovations, jobs and wealth this country needs to recover and prosper,” Schramm said.
Kaplan University, which helps adults prepare for careers in various industries, will provide a graduate certificate in Entrepreneurship for New Ventures, based on Kauffman’s FastTrac NewVenture curriculum. The material will teach students about topics such as forming business plans, coming up with plans for finances and operations, and conducting feasibility studies.
A certificate in Entrepreneurship for Growth Ventures, based on Kauffman’s FastTrac GrowthVenture curriculum, will teach students about managing a growing business and preparing all pieces of the business for growth. Lesson topics will include forming marketing plans, identifying leadership strategies, coming up with growth business plans and performing internal assessments.
More information about the entrepreneurship certificates is available online.
Kauffman FastTrac was created by the Kansas City-based Kauffman Foundation, a nonprofit with about $2 billion in assets that focuses on promoting entrepreneurship.
“This partnership provides a unique opportunity to combine the innovation of Kaplan University’s online platform with the stellar curriculum that the Kauffman Foundation has developed over the years,” Kaplan University President Wade Dyke said in a release. “These certificate programs are a great complement to the university’s online business curriculum. Promoting entrepreneurship through education is central to both of our missions.”
Entrepreneurship has increased during the recession, with startups hitting a 14-year peak last year, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity. That surpasses the tech boom around the turn of the century.
Kaplan University is based in Chicago, but its main campus is in Davenport, Iowa. It has 12 campuses, more than 125 academic programs and offerings, and more than 78,000 students online and on campuses. The university falls under the overall banner of The Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO).
Entrepreneurship camp aimed at Aboriginal youth
The dream of one day operating your own business is enticing for many Aboriginal youth, but becoming your own boss has its challenges.
For most, a lack of proper business training is the biggest obstacle standing in the way of developing a good idea, but with the support of the Aboriginal Youth Entrepreneurship Camp, students can gain the necessary skills this summer to achieve future success in the field of business.
"A lot of time our youth have all these great entrepreneurial ideas and they don't get the opportunity to fully explore it or get the chance to really look into it," said Thomas Benjoe, coordinator with the Entrepreneurship Camp.
"What we try and teach them is that with the help of the school of business or coming to post-secondary they will be able to gain all the skills necessary to become entrepreneurs."
It is the second consecutive year the camp has been hosted by The School of Business and Public Administration at the First Nations University of Canada. To be eligible to attend participants must be an Aboriginal student in Grades 11 and 12 and must be residing in Saskatchewan.
Throughout the six-day camp students will be given the opportunity to learn about marketing, advertising, preparing cash flow projections and creating a new business plan.
"It will give students a better heads up into what has become the fastest growing market out there for First Nations people," Benjoe said. "We have businesses opening up everywhere, it is growing at a pretty good rate for Saskatchewan, so we want to make sure our First Nations people are getting those skills they need in order to be successful."
Students enrolled in the camp will be placed in teams of four and challenged with the task of introducing a new product to the marketplace, during which they will have an opportunity to produce their own commercial using video and editing equipment provided by the Indian Communications Arts (INCA) department.
There will also be various student outings to organizations in support of young entrepreneurs, such as the Saskatchewan Indian Equity Foundation and Springboard West Innovations Inc., where students will learn the ins-and-outs of starting a new business and how to market a new product.
"As much as possible we want the students to have networking opportunities where they can be out there in the community speaking to different people and gaining experience and wisdom from others who have been successful," Benjoe said.
Throughout the week students will also have the opportunity to hear from various guest speakers who will describe some of their experiences in becoming entrepreneurs -- along with the challenges and rewards of being your own boss.
On the camp's final day prizes such as laptops will be given to the top team, in addition to other prizes handed out on an individual basis.
The camp is free of charge, but due to limited space interested participants are asked to compete for one of 16 spots by responding to an essay question discussing "the importance of economic development in Aboriginal communities."
To learn more about how to register, students can contact the School of Business and Public Administration at 790-5950, extension 3225 or email tbenjoe@first nationsuniversity.ca.
© Copyright (c) The Regina Leader-Post
Small Business Group Starts Petition Against New Paperwork Requirement - Small Business Finance News - Business News for Entrepreneurs - Entrepreneur Resources
One small business group is taking a stand against the additional paperwork required by new government accounting standards.
The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council recently started a petition in order to voice its opposition to the increased paperwork required by the new 1099-MISC standards. The group also started an action center, which will work to repeal the new requirements. Many in the group share a common frustration when it comes to the increased costs that the requirements will bring.
"This expanded 1099 reporting mandate has really gotten under the skin of small business owners, and rightly so," said Karen Kerrigan when speaking about the news for small business. "The burden of the new mandate will be tedious, time-consuming, and costly. Business owners across the country are furious that Congress slid the measure in a massive healthcare bill without understanding its deep impact."
The main issue opposed by the group is section 9006 of the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," which was signed by President Barack Obama in March. The new legislation requires all businesses large and small to get a 1099 for all vendor payments over $600.
Many around the country have taken issue with Section 9006. Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns, a Republican, recently proposed an amendment to repeal the provision, the Omaha World-Herald Reports.
New office of ambitious Entrepreneurship Cell of ABV-IIITM was inaugurated today by Mr. Himanshu Goyal, Country Manager of IBM | YourStory.in
The new office of ambitious Entrepreneurship Cell of ABV-IIITM was inaugurated today by Mr. Himanshu Goyal (Country Manager of IBM) and Mayank Jha (Relationship Manager) with flying colors. The whole ECell team was present at this prestigious moment and was introduced to Mr. Himanshu Goyal.
Our president, Mr.Vaibhav Sharma made him acquainted with the main motive behind the E cell setup and with our immediate aim of getting at least one successful venture from the institute every year .He showed great enthusiasm and seemed quite impressed with the achievements in entrepreneurship from ABV-IIITM. So far IIITM has produced 12 entrepreneurs and IBM was quite lured by their achievements. IBM has also launched Centre of Excellence lab in which skilled manpower of IIITM will develop products using the best technologies like DB2 and others of IBM. IBM was told that the sole thing that we are looking for is opportunity and it should not be misinterpreted by any monetary supportWe at institute are ready to grab any opportunity put forward to us. IBM was impressed with the agenda of the team of ECell and now they are ready to offer any sort of help to any venture or idea which may seem feasible.
After a long discussion with the ECell team, IBM is quite willing to assist ECell in any possible manner they can. Concluding, ECell is overwhelmed by the visit of IBM at ECell and offering ECell the bunch of opportunities.
Related news items:
- Rohit Singh, Founder, CarSingh.com
- Jaaga Mini BarCamp - CoWorking Open House : 18 July
- Entrepreneurship@Wavefront Program ; Incubation for wireless startups
Newer news items:
- Richard Ivey School of Business study demands managers rethink one-goal-fits-all mentality
- Website for Educating Consumers of Medical Services in India : medguideindia.com
Related news items:
Babson College, Business Innovation Factory Partner to Launch Entrepreneur Experience Lab -- WELLESLEY, Mass., July 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --
See more news releases in: Education, Joint Ventures, Domestic Policy
Babson College, Business Innovation Factory Partner to Launch Entrepreneur Experience Lab
WELLESLEY, Mass., July 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Babson College and the Business Innovation Factory (BIF) have embarked on a new partnership to create an Entrepreneur Experience Laboratory that will accelerate the design and development of new entrepreneur support solutions.
Babson College and the Business Innovation Factory (BIF) are collaborating to create a real world laboratory to design, develop and test new entrepreneurship support solutions and systems. The Entrepreneur Experience Lab will develop a deep and ongoing understanding of the entrepreneurship experience through the lens of the entrepreneur, create a platform to design and test new entrepreneurship solutions and systems, and leverage storytelling and new media to share, understand, and accelerate entrepreneurial activity.
In an initial phase of ethnographic work beginning this summer, Babson and BIF will collaborate to:
- create a first person characterization of the national entrepreneurial experience across diverse backgrounds and all stages of development and
- create an experimental platform for developing new solutions, such as approaches to teaching and training entrepreneurs, next generation venture accelerators, capital support programs, and community and organization efforts that build entrepreneurship capacity.
With the Entrepreneur Experience Lab's launch, Babson and BIF seek to:
- Understand the human and environmental factors most relevant to entrepreneur success and the effectiveness of current development programs and policies.
- Provide an active environment to gather data and experiential insights that inform pedagogical practice and a platform to design and test new approaches to teaching entrepreneurship.
- Reflect the entrepreneur experience in a manner that illuminates elements of the experience most in need of intervention and innovation.
- Lay the foundation for creating a real world laboratory for systemic experimentation, where programs and services can be developed and tested within an integrated, real world environment.
- Build new visibility for innovative approaches to entrepreneurial support programs, models, and systems.
- Allow Babson students and faculty to directly participate in an ongoing program focused on R&D for new entrepreneurship development practices, programs and services.
"Our partnership with the Business Innovation Factory to launch a new Entrepreneurship Experience Lab is a natural extension of Babson College's commitment as the world leader in entrepreneurship education," says Babson President Len Schlesinger. "Work in the Lab will yield new insights to guide the next generation of entrepreneurial programs and policies, and give an authentic voice to entrepreneurs who drive new venture creation nationally and globally. We are thrilled to have BIF as our partner in this important endeavor."
Beginning early this fall, the BIF/Babson team will undertake an initial phase of work to establish a strong foundation of knowledge around the entrepreneur experience and capture deep insights into the day-to-day experiences that most significantly influence entrepreneurial success. Building on this new map of the entrepreneur experience, the team will create a prioritized list of opportunities where the experience can be enhanced to accelerate new venture creation. In parallel, the team also will stand up a functional lab environment wherein new ideas can be developed, designed and tested in real world environments.
"The current entrepreneurship support system is well-intended but insufficient to stimulate entrepreneurial activity at the scale and scope we need to revive the global economy. The system needs more than a tweak--it needs a transformation," says BIF founder and Chief Catalyst Saul Kaplan. "In most cases, the voice of the entrepreneur is all but absent from discussions about how to better support new venture creation and there is little ongoing experimentation to facilitate the design and development of new approaches. With the launch of the Entrepreneurship Experience Lab, Babson and BIF have the opportunity to leverage our unique strengths to change this dynamic."
Imperative for Change in U.S. Entrepreneur Support System
Most economists agree that entrepreneurial activity is the lifeblood of a vibrant economy and central to long term, sustainable job growth. The current economic crisis has only magnified our country's need to stimulate entrepreneurship and new company creation. The public/private entrepreneurship support system that has evolved in the U.S. and globally is well intended but insufficient given the importance and scale of the job to be done to enable a significant increase in the number of serial entrepreneurs and successful new companies created.
Public sector programs at the federal, state, and local level are too fragmented, underfunded, and still too rooted in old industrial economic development thinking. Academic programs and policies are more focused on technology transfer and licensing opportunities than on creating a conducive environment for students and faculty to pursue entrepreneurial activities. Incubator initiatives have been more about subsidized space than about enabling serial entrepreneurs and start-up financing programs leaving significant gaps in the funding continuum.
The voice and experience of the entrepreneur is largely absent from discussions dominated by public and private sector institutions on how to better support new company creation. We need to rethink our country's entrepreneurship support system and experiment with new approaches designed to enhance the entrepreneur's experience and accelerate entrepreneurial activity.
About the Business Innovation Factory
The Business Innovation Factory (BIF) focuses on solving major problems of high social importance by creating a place where partners can design and test new solutions in a real-world environment. An independent, non-profit organization created in 2004, BIF seeks to help organizations collaborate across traditional boundaries to design, test and implement new systems-level solutions to the major problems of our day. With a commitment to understand and improve the experience of the citizens at the center of these important systems, BIF focuses on events, programs and projects that enable partners to develop and test new models for delivering value across the public and private sectors and transfer these learnings back into their organizations. Central to BIF's mission are our Experience Labs, real world laboratories where partners from across the public and private sectors can design and test game-changing new ideas. www.businessinnovationfactory.com
About Babson College
Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., is recognized internationally as a leader in entrepreneurial management education. Babson grants BS degrees through its innovative undergraduate program, and grants MBA and custom MS and MBA degrees through the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College. Babson Executive Education offers executive development programs to experienced managers worldwide. For information, visit www.babson.edu.
This news release was issued on behalf of Newswise™. For more information, visit http://www.newswise.com.
SOURCE Babson College
Back to topRELATED LINKS
http://www.babson.edu
