The Time is Ripe: Clean Off The Shelf And Start Planning For Your Senior Living Community

January 18, 2012 – 7:54 pm

**Here is an article by our 3B Fund Development Group Partner Jean Bacon. A special thanks to Jean Bacon and Jeffrey Byrne for allowing us to share this with all of you via our blog.

By Jean Bacon, 3B Fund Development Group

Following more than two years of fear, paralysis and “tread water” management, senior living communities may once again be in the position to dip their toes into the development waters. It may need to be done gingerly, and most certainly will require courage on the part of administrators and boards willing to take risks, but the signs are there and developments are moving again. The earliest signs of the bond market freeze began to appear in late spring of 2008. In the intervening three years, many a plan was put on the shelf, gathering dust as leaders struggled to cope with economic realities that were part of the overall recession. Interest rates were all over the map and very little new construction began. Sure, there was money out there to be had, but only for those who didn’t need it. Those who did need financing, found the financial gurus – the bond underwriters and the financial feasibility consultants – were retrenching and unwilling to invest in expansions. There was some refinancing of older communities, but this was mostly done in an effort to cut monthly bond payments. Communities that were fortunate to have a large percentage of “healthy” residents in independent living saw that their census remained relatively stable. However, new sales were a challenge given the housing crisis and how difficult it was for older people to sell their homes. Older adults who had always imagined that they would choose to move to a senior living community reversed course. They sought help in their homes for their health and support needs and settled into a “wait-and-see” mode, continuing to live in the family home with the hope that the economy would turn around. This same population, unfamiliar with the real costs of in-home healthcare, worried with stock market declines that if they were able to move they lacked the resources to live out their lives in the type of community they’d always wanted. In an industry which requires continuous upkeep and updating, it was hard to identify cash for projects that did not immediately show revenue returns. Given the overall climate and all these conditions, there was no desire to take risks. This created an interesting dynamic in an industry that had always taken risks to improve products and services for their residents. And, now, the pendulum is swinging. The housing crisis is easing and older adults who have adjusted to the “new normal” in resale values are showing signs that they are willing to sell their homes for less than they could have two years ago, especially when they aren’t carrying hefty mortgages. Economic indicators are encouraging bond underwriters and financial feasibility consultants to cautiously advise communities to begin planning for the future. Projects that were in a holding pattern largely since 2009 are now moving forward and new construction is on the horizon. Management teams and Board members realize that a deteriorating physical plant will not compete successfully in the market place, and if they want to preserve their identity and market share, they are going to need to spend money to update. For those who are willing to venture into the visioning and planning cycle, the time – and the environment – may be ripe to clean off that shelf and get those plans that have been gathering dust the past two years into action. But those same leaders are wise to keep in mind that those are two, maybe three years old, and should ask how the environment has changed and whether those plans may need re-tooling post-recession. Beyond that, smart senior living leaders will not only ask whether the plans meet current and near-term needs, but will once again start that longer range process of master planning for the resident of tomorrow.

By katiebrooks | Posted in Other | Tagged | Comments (0)

Steve Jobs, 1955- 2011

October 7, 2011 – 10:14 am

Video of Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford commencement address

The world recognizes the loss of a brilliant and inspirational human being with the passing of Steve Jobs. Many have turned to Jobs’ 2005 commencement speech delivered at Stanford University to reflect on how the Apple and Pixar Animation Studios CEO lived his life. Like so many people, this address touched us at SB&A and BAR and offered a powerful perspective on individual life and key philosophies that are both inherent in and relevant to our companies. Our core values offer a similar message and the text of this address reinforces the value of our own words and inspires our belief that “the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

Enjoy the address and, in the words of Steve Jobs, “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”

This is a prepared text of the Commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, on June 12, 2005.

“I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down – that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960’s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.”

By katiebrooks | Posted in Other | Comments (0)

Google+

October 5, 2011 – 1:41 pm

By David Hallmark, Graphic Designer & Social Media Guru

Some of you may have heard that a new social media platform has been added to the repertoire. This has many people asking if we really need another platform on which to share our mundane daily activities. Why, of course we do!

Google Inc.’s new social website “Google+” began rolling out to the masses in early July of this year. After just two weeks of a “limited” (aka “invite-only”) release, the website had already acquired 10 million users, and 25 million after only four weeks (http://mashable.com/2011/08/02/google-plus-25-million-visitors/). Soon after, a mobile application was released so users can update from their phones, upload pictures, message friends, comment, etc. There is no doubt that Google’s go at social media is a success, but why do we need another place to be updated on what our friends are having for lunch?

For starters, Google+ addresses many issues that users have had in the past with the often confusing and backwards privacy settings of Facebook. Privacy issues have always been a viable concern with many Facebookers, but Google+ addresses these in a clear and easy way, making it simple to share what you want with the people who you want to see it, or vice versa. Its as simple as adding a person to a “circle,” or as many circles as you would like. For example, if you play in a kickball league with a coworker, you could create a circle titled “Kickball” and one called “Coworkers.” You could add this person to both circles, and then when you want to share something, you can share it with a specific circle, all circles, or even publicly for anyone to view. So if there is a game at 6, you can tell everyone in your kickball circle, without cluttering up your coworkers’ feeds with information that they wouldn’t find interesting (per your judgment). Another great feature that has been added is that you can view your Stream (known as your Feed on Facebook) by specific circles if you wish, so if you only really care what your closest friends are up to, you don’t have to sift through pictures of babies and Farmville invites to get to the content that you find interesting.

There are several features that are new with Google+. There is a feature called “hangout” where you can invite people who are currently on Google+ to video chat, adding as many people as you would like. On the mobile app, there is a feature called a “huddle” where you can invite specific people or circles to a group chat, similar to a BlackBerry Message, where people can respond and communicate in real-time with one another, with everyone included. There is a search feature called “spark” that is integrated into Google+ where you can save topics to stay updated on what you like.

Google+ is pretty much a hybrid of Facebook and Twitter, with the best of both worlds. There is even a “+1” button that is no different than a Facebook “like” button. You can choose to “follow” people that you don’t personally know, but enjoy their posts, similar to Twitter. Anyone can request to follow you on Google+, but it’s your choice if you want to share your posts with any or all of those requests or not. You can follow celebrities and sports stars, and only view that content if you’d like. Or just view your actual friends’ posts. The choice is yours, and Google+ couldn’t make it simpler to do just that.

Currently, Google+ is not set up to accommodate business pages, both B2B and B2C, but that feature is expected to be implemented in the coming months. Arron Strout, Director of Interactive with WCG, stated:

“The potential for businesses to use Google+ is unlimited. It really brings the best of LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook together. And it should be very business friendly to boot.”
http://www.fastcompany.com/1773615/how-google-will-transform-b2b-marketing-2

It seems that Google+ is just trying to get its foot in the door before beginning to roll out all the features, but I’m sure it has a lot in store for us based on all the other apps and features that are widely used across the world.

Here are some tips for using Google+ from a business perspective in the beginning stages:
• Keep a close eye on what Ford Motor Company, which has a test account on the site, is doing on Google+. While Ford is neither B2B nor small, the company is good at innovating and understanding how to best use new social media channels.
• The day Google+ opens up to businesses, be sure to claim your business/name so that you don’t get boxed out down the road. Remember when people didn’t think Twitter would stick in 2006? And now many businesses have no option but to choose clunky Twitter handles because someone else got the obvious ones.
• Keep a close eye on other small businesses (particularly in your industry) that take the plunge early. Take notes on what they are doing well/not so well and use those to formulate your strategy.
• When you are ready, either hire a person (or a consultant or agency) to help you manage Google+. If you already have someone on staff who does Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, etc., you can consider asking him/her to take this on, but make sure it doesn’t add too much to his/her plate. Managing a social media channel correctly takes time.

Only time will tell if Google+ will catch on long-term, or if users will get overwhelmed with outlets to update, and pictures to comment on, or where to check, what to check, where to chat or who to check in with. But for the time being, Google+ appears to be growing strong as more users join and more features are added and updated to accommodate how the users participate. And that is how Google makes its mark on social media.

By katiebrooks | Posted in Other | Comments (0)

Five Facebook Tips

July 5, 2011 – 12:32 pm

1. Fan Page

Fan page – Facebook had personal profiles and groups from the start, but a while ago they added to the function called fan pages and made them more business friendly. Any business on Facebook should create a fan page for their business and start optimizing additional content there. The cool thing about fan pages is that it’s now a lot like having another web site. You can add applications, newsletter sign-up pages and events and promote them to your friends on Facebook. When someone becomes a fan of your page, your updates on the page show up on their wall giving additional exposure.

2. Custom HTML

Custom HTML – this one’s a little more technical but when you create a fan page you will see that your page comes with tabs for various categories of content you create (each tab has it’s own URL so you can promote each section on your fan page around the web). Using the Facebook Mark-up Language (FBML) you can create custom boxes of HTML content, like newsletter sign-up pages, blog RSS feeds, and white paper downloads just like you might on your web site. FBML is a Facebook application you can get here.

3. Events, Videos and Apps

Use the heck out of all of the Facebook applications. Promote events, upload or record video, hold contests and polls. All of this extra engagement is so easy to do using pre-built tools. And don’t forget to integrate your Facebook activity back to your web site and blog using a Facebook Fan Box.

4. Ads for Awareness

Ads for awareness – I think that Facebook has built one of the better ad targeting tools going. You can target ads to Facebook members on all kinds of criteria and run pretty low cost campaigns. The trick though is to run campaigns that are compelling and promote your FaceBook Fan Page instead of trying to sell something. Promote your white paper, events, and educational content – create awareness about your great content and your will get the chance to earn the trust it takes to actually sell something to someone.

5. Add Like, Tweet and Share Buttons to get the most out of your initiatives. If someone likes your article and chooses to share it, you get that much more exposure.

By katiebrooks | Posted in Economic Development, Infrastructure, Marketing, Mature Market, Other, Real Estate, Social Marketing | Comments (0)

5 More Twitter Tips

June 21, 2011 – 12:12 pm

1. Utilize Lists

Instead of having to absorb a wide range of tweets from the hundreds of tweeters you follow, users can use Twitter Lists to effectively organize the content that is shared and zero in on a particular topic.

2. @Mention other Tweeters

Let other Twitter users know you’re tweeting to them or about them by including their Twitter usernames in your tweets. For example, instead of saying “Going to Brooks Adams Research’s session on social media,” you would say, “Going to  @BrooksAdams session on social media.”

3. Want to respond directly to someone’s tweet? Start a conversation on Twitter with an “@ reply” directed at the tweeter you’re replying to.

4. Keep Track of Tweets about You

Use a service like TweetAlarm, TweetBeep or Twilert to keep track of what others are saying about your organization on Twitter. These services send you an e-mail when any of your keywords appear in Twitter feeds.

5. Add Context to Your Tweets

When you are sharing a blog or other informational piece, add some context to your content. You could do something like ask a question or tell people about future content.

Sources:
Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/31/quick-twitter-tips-a-twitter-guide-for-beginners_n_843351.html#s258985&title=Learn_The_Lingo
http://www.macworld.com/article/140254/2009/05/twitterdos.html
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-business/
By katiebrooks | Posted in Economic Development, Infrastructure, Marketing, Mature Market, Other, Real Estate, Social Marketing | Comments (0)

5 Twitter Tips

June 7, 2011 – 12:06 pm

1. Know the Twitter Vernacular

“RT” = “retweet”

A retweet occurs when a user shares another tweeter’s post, verbatim, while crediting the original tweeter. A retweet appears as “RT @[username]” followed by the tweet.

“DM” = direct message

A direct message is up to 140 characters in length, sent only to another specific user, not to all of a user’s Twitter followers.

“DM fail” = direct messages that were supposed to be private, but that were accidentally shared with all of a tweeter’s followers.

“#(word)”= Hashtag

A hashtag is created by using the # symbol ahead of a word or term. A hashtag marks keywords or topics in a tweet so that they will show up more easily in a Twitter search. This was originally created by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages. Hashtags might be used to add color or personality to a tweet (like “#fail”) or it could be used to tie a tweet to a specific, broader topic (“#vegan”). Some use hashtags to track all tweets from a specific event (i.e. “#USOpen”).

2. Spice Up Tweets with Pics

Twitpic, Twitgoo, TweetPhoto, Yfrog and Picktor all allow you to upload photos or videos, then generate a link to the media (i.e. http://twitpic.com/31vyum), and will send a tweet to your account with that link. Users can also use these services, as well as others like Posterous and Mobypicture, to email or SMS photos and text, then have this information appear as tweets.

Twitter’s mobile apps, such as Twitter for iPhone and Twitter’s Android app, also include photo sharing abilities, allowing users to embed links to photos in their tweets.

3. Compress URLs for more Tweeting Space

Compress URLS with free services such as  bit.ly, goo.gl and is.gd.

4. Answer Your @Mentions

Other tweeters will refer to your company’s account as if it were a person. You should reply to tweets that mention you, when relevant. This will give your followers a sense of engagement and will also allow you to have a conversation with other Tweeters. For example, a person might ask you a question directly: “@sbanda207 Are you planning to attend the Future of Aging Services Conference?” You might reply “@TwitterFriend We look forward to seeing you. Let’s grab coffee.”

5. Be a Minimalist

Sometimes you need all 140 characters, but if you don’t need the space it is better to keep tweets short, sweet and to the point.

Sources:
Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/31/quick-twitter-tips-a-twitter-guide-for-beginners_n_843351.html#s258985&title=Learn_The_Lingo
http://www.macworld.com/article/140254/2009/05/twitterdos.html
http://www.chrisbrogan.com/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-business/
By katiebrooks | Posted in Economic Development, Infrastructure, Marketing, Mature Market, Other, Real Estate, Social Marketing | Comments (0)

SB&A Sales Blast

May 19, 2011 – 11:58 am

SB&A Sales Blast is an application designed specifically for sales counselors in retirement communities and can be used on the iPhone, the iPad and the iPod touch. Weekly/archived sales tips offer ongoing coaching and counselors can track goals and actual numbers for the following critical success factors:

Leads
Call-outs
Call-ins
Email-outs
Appointments
Sales
Move-ins

SB&A created this app based on the Thinking Partner Selling™ philosophy and also based on the knowledge that people who set goals and keep track of their progress are more likely to achieve their objectives.

Success psychologists say that 95- 97% of the people in the world do NOT have written goals and fail, while 3-5% have written goals and succeed. Though this study was not based on retirement sales counselors specifically, we believe that the same principals apply in the senior living sales environment. Our app is a place where individuals have an easily accessible format to write down goals on a weekly basis, follow up on objectives regularly, and track progress and trends over time.

SB&A Sales Blast also offers national standards for success based on the research of industry leaders. Counselors have a dedicated screen where they can compare their goals and actual numbers to national standards. Counselors can also calculate their own conversion ratios for comparison with national benchmarks.

Our app is free, so download it today for greater success going forward. We look forward to supporting you in achieving your professional goals.

The SB&A Team

Key Highlights

  • Weekly sales tips
  • Archived sales tips
  • Screens dedicated to setting and tracking goals
  • National standards screen
  • Comparison screens
  • Conversion ratio calculator
  • Sales Tracker: graphs that track progress trends
  • Star light-up feature – indicating when goals are met in each category
By katiebrooks | Posted in Community, Marketing, Mature Market, Other | Comments (0)

Our Executive Team’s Super Bowl Picks

February 7, 2011 – 4:25 pm

On Super Bowl Sunday, much of America can be found watching television and consuming mass amounts of beer, chips, chili and guacamole. People flock to bars, parties and home couches to view a championship football game, halftime performances, and the largest, best collection of new ads available in any consecutive, four-hour time slot. People in the advertising industry, whether they are football fans or not, secure their positions in front of TVs of every size to critique, laugh, give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, and discuss spots that cost $3 million dollars for 30 seconds of air time. At SB&A and Brooks Adams Research, many of us look forward to the ads more than the game, though last night’s Packers/Steelers brawl kept us on the edge of our seats. Here is a little review of how our executive team ranked Super Bowl XLV’s advertising selection:

Sharon Brooks

“Wow, pick 3? I think you will have to settle for (drum roll please) 6! These are in no specific order, it was just too hard to rank.”

1. Audi “Release the Hounds”

2. Mercedes Benz “Silver Mercedes”

3. Chrysler “Motor City”

4. Volkswagen “Darth Vader”

5. Doritos “Pug”

6. Doritos “Healing Grandpa”

Rob Adams

1. Bridgestone Ads “Reply All” and “The Beaver”

2. Doritos “Pug” vs. “Healing Grandpa”

3. Volkswagen “Darth Vader” and “Bug”

Fay Brodell

1. Bridgestone “Reply All”

2. GoDaddy “Joan Rivers”

3. Volkswagen “Darth Vader”

Wayne Hicks

1. Doritos “Pug”

2. Audi “Release the Hounds”

3. Volkswagen “Darth Vader”

Beth Simos & Connie Mattox

Connie Mattox and Beth Simos both agreed that the top ad was VW, no need for 2nd, 3rd or 4th choices!

1. Volkswagen “Darth Vader”

By katiebrooks | Posted in Other, Sports | Tagged | Comments (0)

The Doubtfire Harbinger

January 17, 2011 – 3:16 pm

The comedy Mrs. Doubtfire hit the big screen in 1993 and instantly became an American family favorite. The movie is about a recently divorced man, Daniel Hillard (played by Robin Williams), who loses custody of his children and is subject to only Saturday evening visits with them due to his recent unemployed status. Desperately missing his three kids, Hillard answers an ad placed by his ex-wife for a housekeeper/nanny. He convinces his brother, a make-up artist, to create a costume of a woman so that he can apply for the job as British, 60-year-old Euphegenia Doubtfire. When he gets the position, viewers suspect that the inevitable will happen as it does whenever a person diverges from his or her true self. In the end, the movie plays out as one would expect, which brings me to the Doubtfire harbinger of modern branding.

Modern branding has been forced to become more transparent since social media stormed onto the scene. Communication in the past five years has changed dramatically with the onset of numerous social networks that keep growing. Facebook, the most popular social site, has more than 500 million active users and a movie is out based on the site’s beginning. Many businesses have decided to join the social media conversation, and research tells us that buyers are actually spending more time with a product after purchasing it, as they tweet, rate and share their reactions for all to see. Brand messaging is not only shaped by the company promoting the product, but also by the consumers who are talking about the product.

To operationalize a brand means to offer its promise at every touch point. For a retirement community, not only should the brand promise come across when a prospect calls for a tour, when a recent graduate applies for a job or when a family comes to visit, but also in every interaction the community makes with anyone no matter how obscure the relationship.

We have acknowledged the need for consistent brand messaging for a long time, as companies should do what their brands promise consumers. However, with the debut of social media, operationalizing your brand and offering what you say you offer at every touch point becomes even more important. If consumers are spending more time talking about a product after buying it and are very convincing ambassadors of the brand, then they have the power to bolster or damage a brand depending on their shared opinion. There is nowhere to hide, and your brand cannot have any holes because pretending is no longer an option for successful companies.

Going back to the example of Mrs. Doubtfire, moviegoers knew that the Hillard family would eventually find out that their nanny was not a 60-year-old woman. The story eventually peels back the layers of make-up and stuffing and the real Daniel Hillard appears for everyone to see.

Social media acts as the peeling agent for brands who are not consistent at every touch point. Those brands are inevitably identified for exactly what they offer—or don’t offer—their consumers. The lesson here is similar to the Steve Forbes quote, “A promise made should be a promise kept.” Moral of the story: show the real Daniel and lose the wig and body suit!

To see this final unveiling scene from “Mrs. Doubtfire”, please CLICK HERE.

By katiebrooks | Posted in Marketing, Mature Market, Other, Social Marketing | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Redefining Age: The Nun from Spokane

November 6, 2009 – 8:08 pm

An Ironman® is a triathlon race that consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike leg and a 26.2-mile run. It is a grueling test of fitness, strength and mental fortitude reserved for only the fittest, gutsiest athletes. So now, think about your grandmother [in her 70s] racing this race. For most of you, your facial expression has transformed from normal to perplexed.

When I first heard about Madonna Buder, I was initially in the perplexed category as well. You see Buder is a Catholic nun from Spokane, Washington who at age 75 became the oldest woman to complete the Hawaii Ironman®, a title she repeated at age 76. Since 1982 (two years after I was born) she’s powered through more than 300 triathlons, including 34 full Ironmans®. She has managed to balance her training with her ministry and has never had a coach other than the man above. For Buder, it all started at age 49, when she began running. She heard a priest talk about the physical and spiritual benefits of running and that was all the information she needed. Before long her religious training led her to 37 marathon finishes before getting into triathlons. In a celebration of age, mind and body, her spiritual and athletic journey continues.

Last year at the Boulder Peak triathlon, I got the chance to witness this living legend in action. I also began to notice throughout the season that the 50+triathlete [Grandmasters Division] is well represented at the toughest amateur events around the world. It has become a trend, at least in the growing triathlon community, to redefine age and witness the process of becoming fitter while at the same time becoming older and wiser.

This small example represents a larger sociological trend toward growth and challenge at any age. Will my generation see someone who does the Hawaii Ironman at age 100? 100 you ask? Do keep in mind that the prevailing wisdom before 1954 [when Roger Bannister went sub-4] was that the heart would explode if an athlete ran a 4-minute mile. Today, the world record has been set at 3:43:13 [Hicham El Guerrouj, Rome, Italy, 1999], and as of yet, no athlete has no experienced “Heartus Explosionus” in a mile-long race. My bet is that if Buder does not complete the Hawaii Ironman at age 100, her story will likely inspire someone who does reach that benchmark. In doing so, they too will redefine age.

Madonna Buder Video


By katiebrooks | Posted in Mature Market, Redefining Age, Sports | Comments (0)