My daughter called last night to tell me that her electricity, cable, and internet had been cut off in her rental house the day before. Now before you start thinking that she is completely irresponsible, she has 3 roommates … one of whom took responsibility for paying the bills. She went on to say that she had figured out how to pay two of the bills online and then went to the location of the third to pay in person. She then summarized the bills, showed what each person owed, and posted a nice note on the fridge. Crisis resolved. Move on.

I’m impressed and proud. Seeing children, employees, friends, and others grow is so fulfilling. We should all challenge ourselves to expand our comfort zone just a little bit each and every day. It’s what helps us grow.

Twitter was banned yesterday for all men’s basketball players at the University of New Mexico. (sar…OMG!…casm) I’m well aware that this will have some sort of effect on the Lobos and coach Steve Alford’s personal “brand(s).” Anyone in brand consulting knows that every little thing has an effect in one way or another. Otherwise, I’m taking an uncharacteristic “old fogey” stance. This is no big deal.

Not surprisingly, there is little coverage of the edict in the media. First, it’s New Mexico. A credible program, but were this Duke, UCLA, Kentucky, UCONN, or even Memphis, it might be bigger news. Mississippi State did the same thing last year, and judging by this morning’s sports radio yammering, few remember it.

From what I’ve read, there is little to no coverage in marketing communications circles either. However, a Twitter search offered these nuggets of pontification:

Steve Alford…shows his narrow sightedness…

U of New Mexico coach, Steve Alford, by banning twitter 4 his players, shows his old-skool mentality…

Why doesn’t New Mexico coach Steve Alford just go ahead and ban his players from TALKING?!

Steve Alford banned his players from using twitter? … Does he not realize what thats going to do to RECRUITING? Who wants to go there now?

I love it when sports and marketing collide (and I don’t mean sports marketing). Sports provides instant results and defines its own success each season. The objectives are simple: win, draw. In college: win, draw, land recruits. That’s it. Marketing firms pray for that type of clarity and resolution.

Don’t get me wrong. Marketing is critical to success in many ways, both internally and externally. (I strongly recommend Jonah Keri’s The Extra 2% on how the Tampa Bay Rays applied Wall Street business principles, savvy marketing, and heavy use of data to turn the Rays from laughingstock to contender. True integrated marketing.) Ultimately, however, it comes down to…”Did you win?” The best marketing strategy in history amounts to nothing if you don’t win. After all, “you play to win the game!”

For a college program, something like Alford’s Twitter ban could affect recruiting. I doubt it. Having been a varsity athlete at a small college, and desperate for additional playing time, I know that rules like this are fairly inconsequential. Our rules were no facial hair, wear issued gear at practice, mind your language (especially along the fenceline). Did any of these affect the outcome of a game? Not at all…on either side of the argument. Was the facial hair policy ridiculous? Maybe. Nevertheless, what’s the big deal? Shave for crying out loud! Or in this case, shut down your Twitter account for crying out loud! I guarantee there are decent players who would eagerly erase their digital profiles for a D-I scholarship.

These young men want to play basketball, and that is why they chose New Mexico. Our elitist marketing or personal rights ideals will not come into play. The question remains if this type of semi-draconian policy will drive away recruits or disrupt “management-employee” communication and gelling. Granted, in a few years, if not right now, digital chatting/posting will rival talking. However, until the coach requires duct tape over the mouth away from the court, this is neither anything to squabble over nor a “learning opportunity” to teach young men to be responsible.

In many ways, the same goes for B2B marketing departments. Do what makes sense and what will drive value. On the one hand, don’t write off the unknown or uncontrollable as some new fad that only facilitates frivolity and crises. More importantly, don’t lose sight of what you already do well, how you do it, and how to sustain growth. If that involves something new like Twitter or another digital channel, use it often and correctly. Whatever you decide, play to win the game first and foremost. That’s the whole point.

We celebrate birthdays and anniversaries on the first Wednesday of every month with a dessert selected by the people having birthdays that month. We just bumped it a day forward this month with the holiday and a big client meeting. But before we even got to the official celebration, a “heated” debate broke out over the dessert selection (peach cobbler). The question arose over whether a cobbler was a pie. For some it was an easy answer. Others had to research the topic before giving an opinion. It was interesting to see people’s thought processes at work.

I was in the cobbler=cobbler camp. I think EW put it best when he said, “If you ask me if I want a piece of peach pie and you bring me peach cobbler, I’m going to ask why you brought me cobbler and not the pie as originally offered?”

Have any opinions on the pie versus cobbler debate?

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then Instagram lets you say that and so much more even before you begin to type a caption for your photo. The Instagram app lets you take photos, put some cool filters on them, and then share them with your friends and others. People can “Like” or comment on your photos. It’s a social network that is more about communicating and expressing yourself through photos of what you encounter in your everyday life.

It’s a big hit at our marketing and design firm. In fact the last time a group of us went to lunch there was some pretty stiff competition on the walk back to see who could capture the best shot. What I like about it the most is that it sparks just as many offline conversations as online. Plus it is so simple, even an accountant can use it.

Last year all the talk was about how many billions Groupon was worth, and this year, as it prepares to go public, the conversation has changed to its flawed revenue model. There are also lots of discussions comparing sites like Living Social, Groupon, and City Deal, just to name a few, even though the concept for the consumer is relatively simple. Purchase a product now at a discount or purchase a discounted certificate for products or services to be redeemed later.

If I choose to purchase a discounted deal, then I take the risk that the business making me the offer will still be in business when I want to redeem the offer, and that I remember to redeem the offer before it expires. I also must use the discount per the agreed-upon terms and conditions, which are clearly stated prior to purchase, or at least that is what I thought prior to this weekend.

I bought an offer for $50 that entitled me to $150 towards a purchase at a furniture retailer from Groupon, and an offer for $7 in exchange for $14 at a local restaurant from Living Social.

The furniture offer had a few restrictions. Fine Print: "Limit 1 per person, limit 1 per visit. Not valid for previous purchases, accessories, Temperpedic, Emody, or Sterns and Foster." Universal Fine Print: "Not valid for cash back. Must use in one visit. Doesn’t cover tax or gratuity. Can’t be combined with other offers." According to the furniture store the discount only applies to original price, and the deal can’t be used on any sales priced furniture‽

The restaurant deal had some fine print as well. Limit 1 per person, limit 1 per person per visit. The restaurant owner told me over his cell phone that the “coupon” was only good Monday through Saturday, so I would not be able to use it on Sunday.

As these companies continue their local focus and partner with a variety of business, both small and large, I think it is crucial that they have a conversation with their partners about the fundamentals of “couponing,” advertising, trust, and transparency that are inherent in these deals if they are to work. If these conversations don’t take place at the business level, the resulting conversation at the consumer level (think Twitter, Facebook, and other websites) will be negative for both brands.

Even before the first iPhone, Apple has been lauded for its brilliant design. A functional piece of art is formed by the combination of metal and glass, or sometimes just a single piece of metal. Too bad that most of the form gets covered up in an effort to increase durability.  But that does give us an opportunity to express ourselves a little differently and spurs commerce.

News of Osama bin Laden’s death bogged down mobile news sites and busied the full complement of social media outlets. Turns out Twitter published the big news first. Keith Urbahn, once chief of staff for former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, broke the news:

“So I’m told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn.”
See the actual tweet here.
Whether by preference or due to their location at the time, many users explored the news on their mobile device. Mobile news sites came to a crawl. Social sites were humming.

I was watching cable TV (live and with commercials) and turned to the local 10:00 news to check out the weather (It’s flooding here in Memphis, TN). There was Brian Williams anxiously awaiting the President’s address. I had my laptop out, but I immediately pulled out my iPhone and quickly perused several news apps. I’m really not sure why, but for whatever reason I’ve grown to prefer the news reading experience (and social posting) on my mobile over my laptop. I think it’s part habit (I keep my mobile handy), and part due to the “swipe” affect — I just like that user experience better.

At any rate, while Brian and his friends chattered about on my TV, I read the news and checked out Facebook/Twitter on my mobile. How did you learn of bin Laden’s demise? Were you compelled to grab your mobile and check out the social scene or your favorite news outlet?