How to arrive at the prettiest shade of grey.

I was up for a job and the Chairman of the Board was kind enough to write me a personal note to let me know I was not moving forward in the selection process. “I fought for you as an ‘out-of-the-box’ candidate, but was outvoted.”

I had to smile. Anytime a committee is set up to make a decision, they will end up with a compromise. Innately, change and new ideas are things that do not do well in groups.

Groups are inclusive. Groups make a lot of people feel like they’ve been heard and are invested. Groups can throw birthday parties, organize picnics and even generate a number of random concepts quickly. But groups are terrible places to innovate and terrible places for the Idea. You see, groups tend to gravitate to things they have seen or heard before.

The Idea takes a strong individual champion—a Steve Jobs, a Warren Buffet, a Richard Branson. A visionary-- not a group.

There has never been a statue made of a committee.

The Idea is a bold black or white. And committees are set up to choose the prettiest shade of grey.

What’s your excuse?

I was in a focus group of coffee drinkers when I heard one of the most amazingly powerful Idea stories ever.

This group was filled with Starbucks loyalists, and someone brought up a time where the ubiquitous coffee purveyor under delivered.

“The Starbucks I get at O’Hare and on the plane sometimes is bitter and lukewarm,” he complained.

Swiftly, one of the other attendees countered with “But those aren’t REAL Starbucks.” And the group quickly agreed.

I know. I know. Starbucks is an easy brand to both pick on and to revel in. But here was a person who loved the Idea of Starbucks so much that he developed a story—a rationalization that allowed him to still keep his opinion high—even in the face of a disappointing product.

We are all going to under-deliver at one point or another. Will your connection to your customers be strong enough so they will excuse it?

That again, is the power of the Idea. It doesn’t just make it easier to find new customers, it makes it easier to keep them. 

The One-Dollar Judgment

Your best prospect is stuck. It’s between you and your main competitor. Amazingly, your prices are but a single dollar off and you are the more expensive option.

What is going to make him choose you? How is he going to justify that barista’s tip premium that he has to pay to choose you?

Most of the business people I ask this question to immediately fall back on “customer service.” That’s the business equivalent of “we’re nicer.” And I hate to say it, but your competitor thinks they’re pretty nice too.

So what would you say if you had that rare chance to talk directly to your prospect at the moment of their decision? How would you move their sentiments and overcome the single dollar difference?

That, my friends, is the Idea. That Idea can move you from a one-of-many to a unique market leadership role.

So try the exercise. Talk, in your head, to your prospect about what benefit he would derive from spending the extra buck on you. Help him choose you. Try out a number of your unique benefits, but work to discover the one that means something to your customer.

Once you can justify a single dollar, you can start to justify more. And when you find the story that moves you away from a straight commodity purchase, you can creatively tell that story everywhere.

There is power in the Idea. Harness it and there will be many dollar judgments coming your way.

Social Media isn't an Idea.

Facebook isn’t an Idea. Twitter isn’t an Idea. Pinterest isn’t an Idea.

These are vessels. They carry Ideas.

Brands with a voice, with an attitude, with a purpose have no problem filling these vessels with interesting content that engages their audience.

But companies that have no Idea find themselves putting sand in canteens and water in wheelbarrows. Their messages are awkward and uncomfortable.

I don’t want my professional trade association to ask me about my Oscar picks. I don’t want my primary charity to ask me about my summer plans. Even if these softballs generate a ton of responses, this isn’t marketing. This isn’t even social. It’s just some ill defined and poorly directed social media director trying to keep his job.

For a local Credit Union, I created a number of short videos that helped people make better financial decisions. Through social and traditional media, these videos were promoted and shared. Each video led to a deep channel of other videos that ranged from basic knowledge to insider information. That was an Idea. We want you to be a better consumer.  We have knowledge and we will be generous with it for you.

My favorite little restaurant shares seasonal recipes and simple ways to make a homemade meal more elegant. They are generous with their knowledge also. I feel the better for having a relationship with them.

So, when thinking about social, don’t find the vessel and stop. Please, think of what you want that vessel to carry.

It’s easy to see the frustration of those companies that have invested heavily in water bottles, but forgot to put any effort into gathering water.

Get out of the tube.

I had the opportunity to work at Leo Burnett in the United Airlines group when some of the best airline advertising was being created there. One rule we held steadfast to was: Get out of the tube.

That is, once you go inside the plane, every airline is the same. You can’t differentiate in the tube.

Plus, let’s face it, nobody wants to be on an airplane. Everyone wants to be in Cozumel, Paris, New York.

We used the same idea with a financial institution. While they sold auto loans and mortgages, we had to remind them that nobody wants an auto loan. They want a car. Nobody wants a mortgage. They want a home.

For many of you, your product or service is really a catalyst to another state for your customers. Is there a better, more exciting way to express it than by a list of product qualities?

Can you show how you improve their life? Can you move the benefit to a higher place than transactional? 

Can you get out of the tube and into Paris? 

Where’s the gate?

Almost every internet idea that I’ve had pitched to me includes some sort of gate. A subscription, a paid entrance, even just a form to fill out.

Don’t gate.

The more you can be generous with your content, the more traffic you’ll build. The more traffic you build, the less you’ll have to ask of each of them.

My favorite example of this is Mint.com. I have a total site crush on Mint. You see, Mint is run by the folks at Intuit, the same people who used to sell you Quicken for $25.99. What they found was that there was more money in the traffic than there was in selling discs.

So they moved their gate. They used the technology they had to track transactions and gave it away. Now, they sell the access to people who they know are qualified and interested. (Hey, Ed, you seem to like to dine out, try the new Chase credit card that gives you 3X points on restaurant purchases.)

And people are OK getting sold to as long as there is some utility in it for them.

So what gates can you bring down? How can you make it easier for people to experience your brand? How can you make it more shareable? How can you be more generous?

Build community, build utility, build traffic. And knock down gates wherever possible.

On the occasion of my Grandfather’s 100th birthday.

Nothing like the combination of the untimely death of a former classmate coupled with a three-day celebration of my grandfather’s first century to make a man question his mortality and the meaning of life.

Heavy topics certainly. But one that spins nicely into The Idea.

When I think of my friend Scott, I recall a series of small moments, of simple things that, together, built a picture of him in my head.

When tasked to toast my grandfather, I tried to point out that the accomplishment of a century was one part genes, and one part the result of the millions of decisions he made over that time period. He chose to play handball when others chose to smoke. He chose to eat a peach when others had sausage. He chose to marry, to have children, to live his life honorably and cleanly. Certainly, he made some bad decisions, but my grandfather’s 100 years of life came from making more good decisions than bad.

I believe that we build brands, images and lead like a Seurat painting, not like a Mondrian. We do not make big bold statements with thick black borders. We, rather, build point by point; small event by small event.

My grandfather and my friend Scott created a beautiful image with every action and every decision.

And every one of them matters; personally and in business. These millions of points gathered together illustrate the idea.

Remember that everything you do to support the idea builds a larger image. This is true for you as well as your brand.

RIP Scott Mitchell and Congratulations Jack Kleban.