Reading on my way back from Jakarta

I just got back this morning from a week in Jakarta at a global marketing meeting. On one of the afternoons, we went on a trade visit. It's always fascinating to visit stores in a different market than your own. Just observing how the trade is organized, listening to a local salesperson and just observing consumer dynamics is one of those experiences that you always learn from.

Not surprisingly, the traditional trade in Jakarta is very similar to what we find throughout Latin America. Small mom & pop stores with extremely limited space, many products being sold in single-serve sachets. In our case, the importance of securing space on the counter making our brands as accessible as possible, avoiding people having to ask for your products.

It was a long trip flying back to São Paulo, so I used the time on flights to read Buyology - Truth and Lies About Why We Buy - by Martin Lindstrom. When the book first came out, I was a little skeptical. I decided I needed to read the book to form an opinion about the intersection between neuroscience and marketing. A rather intriguing and controversial subject. The author carried out extensive research using brains scans to try and find patterns on what actually triggers people to make purchasing decisions.

I particularly enjoyed chapter 5 on the power of rituals, where we cites examples like Oreo's classic 'twist, lick & dunk', Corona with lime and Guinness' phenomenal 'good things come for those who wait' strategy.

Ideas That Spread

Next week, Jaboticaba Publishing House will be launching the book "Ideias Que Espalham / Ideas That Spread", a collaborative effort that brought together 12 Brazilian thinkers around a common theme.

The idea was inspired by Seth Godin's "The Big Moo", suggested a year ago by Alexandre Peralta - head of StrawberryFrog Brazil - inviting some interesting people with different professional backgrounds to write a chapter on their experiences of creating ideas that spread... ideas that eventually became part of a cultural movement.

The list of collaborators include the Campana Brothers - Brazil's coolest product designers, Heitor Dhaila - one of Brazil's most successful film directors and screenwriters - João Batista Chiaco - head of marketing at Fiat Brazil and one of the country's most award-winning professionals and Adam Morgan - the intellectual genius behind EatBigFish - just to name a few.

I took part in the project writing one of the chapters, which was a new yet daunting experience for me. More on the book next week...

Time to open up

I finished reading "Open Innovation - How Social Technology Can Transform The Way You Lead" by Charlene Li (author of "Groundswell"). I wasn't unable to attend Charlene's speech here in São Paulo earlier this year, so I was happy when my friend Alexandre Peralta gave me her latest book. The book is a guide on how to manage, communicate and navgate in this new (and sometimes intimidating) socially networked world full of interesting stories of how some companies and leaders are getting it right.

For information on the openess journey, go to open-leadership.com.

I also found this short video of Charlene Li talking about her new book.

From T-Shirts to Tombstones

University of Sāo Paulo Professor Americo Pellegrini Filho just published a book about popular culture expressed through communication found in signs and street art. The book, entitled Comunicação Popular Escrita ('Written Popular Communication'), is a result of 20 years of research after traveling to 107 countries with over 10,000 messages filed which include written communication found on t-shirts, bumper stickers, public restrooms, grafitti and even tombstones. The publication comes with a CD-rom with photos and explanations of the cultural similarities and differences the author found.

For those who work with communication, this seems like a must-have. 

A cool example of how books are evolving...

Yesterday, I was at a bookstore looking for a gift for our 7-year-old who has shown an interest in how the human body works. I found this amazing book called "The Human Body" an editorial partnership between DK (Dorling Kindersley) and Google. What's fantastic about this book is that each chapter comes with a key word that the reader can go online for additionbal information and cool 3D models and graphs. I later found out that this particular book is part of a family of books called e.guides, covering other topics like space, earth, weather, ancient civilizations, plants, insects...

This is definetely a great concept that shows how books are evolving. I love how they combined the editorial strength of a wonderful publishing house like DK (which I've been a huge fan of since I bought my first Eyewitness travel guide about 10 years ago) with the web capabilities of Google. Awesome!

A Christmas gift to inspire me in 2009

This Christmas, my wife gave me the recently-published book Isay Weinfeld, written by Raul Barreneche, a compilation of the work of one of Brazil's most successful architects. I absolutely love architecture and in the years we lived in Connecticut, we fell in love with New England colonial homes. We lived in a dutch colonial that was built from an old barn with reclaimed wide plank flooring, old beams and a huge stone fireplace in the kitchen. We lived next to an adorable antique shop called The Red Petticoat, a place that was our initiation in early American antiques.

Now that we live in busy São Paulo, I'm getting into a more urban mode and my interest has shifted to contemporary architecture. I'm enjoying the aesthics of straight lines, the lofty feel of open spaces, and the generous use of glass that serves as an invitation to bring the outdoors in. Since we moved here, I have been attracted to Isay Weinfeld's work which can be seen in our favorite bookstore here called Livraria da Vila and in a charming local restaurant called Forneria San Paolo. The book focuses on the Architect's residential work. I was particularly happy to see that, although the houses he designs tend to be large, the book shows a specific project called Casa Cinza__ a smaller house but with the same dramatic sense of space and beautiful natural light found in his larger projects. Good news since we could never afford a large lot in the neighborhood we want.

If the perfect holiday gift is supposed to generate inspiration for the new year that is about to begin, I think my wife couldn't have chosed a more appropriate present.

Here are a few photos of Weinfeld houses featured in the book...

A little bit of disorder, randomness and failure is a good thing

Last night, I was reading an article on a new book from Don Peppers and Martha Rogers called "Rules to Break and Laws to Follow" that had a wonderful quote:

"An efficient execution requires order, routine and uniformity.  Creativity and innovation is about disorder, randomness, experimentation and failure."

I couldn't agree more.  I have to add this book to my list (and the list is getting longer...).  What a great thought.  Order versus disorder... process versus randomness... ok, there are strategic frameworks that assist in the innovation journey and there are proven research techniques that validate assumptions and correct the course.  But it's also a process that requires an amazing amount of intellectual curiosity, unorthodox thinking, experimentation and a lot of failure. Pure and simple trial and error.  I always ask myself and my team if we're experimenting enough, questioning ourselves enough... and yes, failing enough.

The Legendary Cachaça

When it comes to determining the best tasting rum, vodka or whisky, there's always controversy. In terms of cachaça (Brazil's sexy spirit), there's a myth around Anísio Santiago, this hard-to-find, priced-like-a-great-Bordeaux brand is worshiped by aficionados around the country as the very best Brazilian cachaça. Anísio Santiago is named after the legendary figure who began distilling in Salinas (State of Minas Gerais) back in the 40's and put this small town on the map as the cachaça capital (a bit like what Lynchburg is for the Tennessee Whiskey).  The original name was Havana which the family had to give up due to a trademark dispute, renaming it later.

My good friend, Flavio Maria, just gave me a bottle as a birthday gift.  Like a fine Carmenère, this little gem will be savored on a very special moment.

For those interested in more on one Brazil's most legendary brands, there's a book on it called "O Mito da Cachaça" written by Roberto Carlos Santiago.

An Inspiring Book on my way to Lausanne...

I'm at the BA Lounge at the Heathrow Airport on my way to Lausanne where I'll be staying for a 1-week leadership program at IMD. I'm very excited.

On my flight, I had fun reading a book called "How to Have Kick-Ass Ideas". The author, Chris Baréz-Brown, is the head of training at the innovation company ?WhatIf! London. The book provides ideas on how to think and act in more creative ways at work and in everyday life. The book not only talks about innovation but is also written in a very cool graphically-creative style full of thought-provoking questions, new concepts and ideas on how to ignite a creative mind. A theme I absolutely love. I thought it was the perfect reading material for a long flight. Chris visited us in our São Paulo office last week.

Why do bars charge for water but give peanuts for free?

Last night I bought a book at Heathrow Airport on my way back to Brazil. It's called The Economic Naturalist - Why Economics Explain Almost Everything, by Robert H Frank. Half way through the book and I immediately got hooked on how the author presents basic economic principles using fun day-to-day situations. The book takes the reader on an interesting journey on why many strange things we find in everyday life actually make perfect economic sense.

The narrative is carried out through intriguing questions. One particular question presented was very useful for me: "Why do many bars charge customers for water but give them peanuts for free?" One of the product categories we have in our portfolio in Brazil is snacks. Over the years we haven't had the same success in bars like we have in other channels. So, I was obviously intrigued by the question. This is how the author answers it...

"The key to understanding this practice is to recognize that the terms on which bars offer water and nuts are dictated by the effect of these commodities on demand for bars' core product, alcoholic beverages. Nuts and alcoholic beverages are compliments. Someone who eats more nuts will demand more beer or spirits. Since nuts are relatively cheap and each alcoholic drink generates a relatively high profit margin, making nuts free available tends to increase bars' profits. By contrast, water and alcoholic beverages are substitutes. The more water bar customer drink, the fewer alcoholic beverages they will order So even though water is relatively inexpensive, bars have an incentive to set a high price for it, thereby discouraging its consumption."

It seems obvious, but I believe marketers (including myself) do not always work so intensely on trying to find channel insights as much as we do when it comes to consumer insights.

The book is fascinating to understand how almost everything that happens around us can be explained through economics.  Cool stuff.

Zero

This morning I attended an event here in São Paulo sponsored by Telefonica with Chris Anderson, celebrated author of best-seller "The Long Tail" and editor of Wired Magazine. During his speech he talked about his new book scheduled to be released in 2009 called "Free".  One of the examples of a successful zero-type business model he mentioned is Google, where virtually all services are offered for free.   During the panel, Unibanco talked about an interesting experience with the concept of free: Hypercard - Brazil's first and only credit card with zero fees. The card is positioned towards low-income consumers and is a major hit in the Northeast of the country.  Click here to see a YouTube video with Chris Andersen called "Free! Why $0.00 is the future of business" talking about the concept of free.

TrendWatching.com also posted an interesting report with several examples of how companies are using 'free' in their strategic thinking. Click here to read about it.

It seems like zero will become the world's new lucky number.

Spending Time with a True Thought Leader

Monday was a wonderful day. I was in London and spent a few hours with Marketing Guru Adam Morgan – author of one of my favorite business books and head of one of the coolest marketing and innovation consultancies: eatbigfish. I had already listened to Adam Morgan speak at an event in NY a year ago on challenger brands.  His speech and his book have inspired me on many levels, on how to focus more on thought leadership than market leadership or what it takes to build a lighthouse identity for your brand.  Meeting him personally was a phenomenal experience. A person who has a rare and engaging ability to listen, observe, question, and gather data points that lead to interesting connections. I was also very impressed by his associate, Olivia Knight. Both are very talented storytellers who captivate you with ideas, analogies and observations that force you to think in different ways.  I can't wait to read the new edition of 'Eating The Big Fish' due to be launched next October.

"How Does Google Know Everything?"

During dinner the other night, our 6-year-old daughter asked me... "How does Google know everything?"  A fascinating question specially when you think it came from a first-grader.  It made me reflect on my elementary school days.  My Father had a pretty large library at home and there was a Britannica Encyclopedia.  I remember that I would flip through the pages of those 24 volumes and think that all the knowledge of the World was there... (how I was mistaken!).  For my daughter and her generation, Google, Wikipedia... are becoming their first stop for answers.  I just hope that the search engine won't substitute an afternoon at the public library.  My wife and I have spent countless hours at the Ridgefield Public Library reading to and with our daughthers and many times looking for answers to questions they made during the week.  Here in São Paulo, we found two wonderful bookstores, one called Livraria Cultura and the other Livraria da Vila. During our ski week last month, we spent an afternoon at the Telluride Public Library and we were very impressed with their facility.  So, although Google is a great resource to find just about anything... there's something magical about the search and exploration at a great bookstore or library.

Highly recommended: The Ten Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelly... a perfect book to start 2008

One of the good things about the Holiday Season is that you have time to do the things you really want to do... like reading. I just finished one of the best books on innovation I have ever read. It's called 'The Ten Faces of Innovation' by IDEO co-founder Tom Kelly written with Johnathan Littman. The book describes the unique characteristics of special types of individuals who fuel new ideas and transform them into innovative business concepts. A wonderful read that is a reminder of how powerful organizations can become by putting together a more diverse, intellectually-curious team of talents and give them the permission and corporate culture to challenge conventional wisdom, to experiment, to break down internal paradigms, to create remarkable experiences for customers. A perfect book to start a new year, making me realize that there are so many things I want to do differently in 2008. As a Brazilian, I was happy to see the author (Chapter 6 page 159/160) praising the Brazilian Government's initiative of becoming a leading center of genome research, supporting the efforts of cracking the DNA sequence of important crops like sugarcane and coffee. It was also a fascinating peak into some of the case studies of one of the World's coolest innovation and design firms: IDEO. A must read for anyone who loves innovation.

The book was a gift from my good friend Flavio Maria, president of São Paulo-based brand activation agency Future Group. A book is a such a wonderful gift...

When is Zagat™ coming to São Paulo?

When my wife and I lived in New York, it was a ritual to check out Zagat™ before going out to a restaurant. Zagat™ is a wonderful example of how the power of collective wisdom is better than any individual critic, since the restaurant reviews are based on the opinions of thousands of people like you and I that submit their personal experiences. After, a year living in São Paulo, a true gourmet paradise, I see a huge opportunity for a guide like Zagat™. The 'paulistas' are very proud on how cosmopolitan the restaurant scene is here from the most-authentic churrascarias to die-for sushi bars to the local botecos (Brazilian-type bars for draft beer and 'caipirinhas'). Leveraging on this insight, local beer brand Bohemia® does a a great job promoting an annual competition for people to vote for their favorite 'botecos' e terms of food and service. People here love to talk about and recommend a new hot spot or a hole-in-a-wall with the best 'pão de queijo', which makes me believe the guide would certainly have a following.

Practical Observation..... and a Website That Brings It Alive

A few months back, on this blog, we mentioned the cool RedesignMe.org site as a great example of the power of collaboration. I was positively surprised to see that the site has an entirely new design and there are many more postings from people all over the world contributing to ideas on how to improve the design and functionality of everyday products. Every once in a while, we all get frustrated with poor product design. Well, here's your chance to contribute with your innovation ideas. Coincidentally, I started reading this fantastic book called 'The Ten Faces of Innovation' by IDEO's Tom Kelly and one of the things he talks about, in the beginning of the book, is how business people should develop the discipline of looking at things with a fresh eye focusing on what works and what doesn't. He calls it practical observation and goes on to explain how good observations can lead to innovative solutions. These observations may seem simple in retrospect but they are in fact the result of intellectual curiosity at its best and the continuous exercise of seeing what others may take for granted. RedesignMe is a great place to see the fruits of practical observation.

I promise to cover more on the book in the following days, meanwhile, check out RedesignMe. I'm sure you'll be tempted to suggest some ideas to solve poor design that you find in your personal observations....

Eating The Big Fish (by Adam Morgan)

Last summer I had the opportunity of listening to Adam Morgan speak about his concepts of challenger brands and lighthouse identity. He is an amazing thought-provoking presenter and his book "Eating The Big Fish - How Challenger Brands Can Compete Against Brand Leaders" is a wonderful read, especially for those who manage businesses in hyper-competitive environments. I ended up buying additional copies to members of our marketing team. Highly recommended.