WorthMention

A sign of the times

In a true sign of the times, Hallmark is selling a Christmas ornament that looks like a Starbucks mocha, complete with a java jacket. It's called Goodcuppa Coffee. Stop by a Hallmark store to see it...amazing.

Volvo=Democrat and other predictions

The current issue of Brandweek, the newsweekly of marketing, has a very interesting article well worth a read as we prepare to go the polls on Tuesday. Here is an excerpt:

Can Microtargeting Save The GOP?

This election will be the first major test for Voter Vault, the GOP's national database. The system's been tried before, but not on a scale this large—or, for that matter, this critical. According to Eddie Mahe, a Washington-based Republican consultant and former deputy chair of the Republican National Committee, the party used a version of Voter Vault in 2002 and 2004. Those databases were employed locally, most notably in Ohio in 2004, where some say they enabled President George W. Bush to maintain control of the White House by a statistically hair-thin margin of 118,599 votes.

Like many a database, Voter Vault contains standard demographic data such as age, average income and party affiliation. Where VV distinguishes itself, however, is with its lifestyle data. The Vault knows, for instance, a voter's preferred brand of toothpaste, and what gym he or she belongs to. Such information allows the GOP to "microtarget" voters by dividing them into categories, each of whom can then be designated for tailored campaign messages.

"What this is about, is how you find the individual," said Matthew Dowd, chief strategist for President Bush's 2004 election and now a partner with the corporate brand consultancy ViaNovo, with offices in Austin, Texas and Alexandria, Va. "You take voter-file information and you combine that with what kind of car they drive, the magazines they subscribe to and their buying habits."

How is the knowledge of whether a given voter drinks beer or wine supposed to help a GOP candidate? Microtargeting involves predictive analysis. If you buy a lot of peanut butter, a predictive analysis might suggest that you'd be open to a pitch for jelly. The technique has been around since the 1970s when State Farm Insurance, for one, combined its auto and homeowner policy lists and cross-sold customers on both. Since then, political parties have caught on quickly to predictive logic.

"We knew that Mercury owners tended to vote Republican and Volvo owners voted Democrat," Mahe said. Lacking a centralized, national database, however, neither party could do much with such intelligence. Today, what customers choose in the grocery aisle is thought to have quite a lot to do with whom they end up choosing in a voting booth.

Continue reading at brandweek.com

How to live to be a hundred

In cleaning my desk tonight, I came across some notes I made on April 28. I remember I was driving home that night, scanning the radio for something interesting when I happened upon a piece of wisdom on the John Tesh Radio Show. I quickly jotted down the essence of it when I got home and then my notes got buried.

Freshly found again tonight, here are the secrets to life, according to those who are over one hundred years old:

• Maintain strong relationships with friends and family
• Keep a healthy diet
• Do not smoke
• Know how to handle stress
• Set goals
• Exercise

Perspective

Paolo Soleri: "I'm afraid this might be the destiny of this country, to become a hermitage in which small groups of people, families, become isolated physically. In terms of society, I think it's dismal." (via Design Matters)

Going live under a new banner....

Change is the only constant and that is true here as well as I work to re-architect my content strategy. Stay tuned for something new...soon.