Marketing principles in “Parks and Recreation” and other awesomeness

Last night’s “Parks and Recreation” episode was awesome for so many reasons. It even had some great marketing principles in it.


Marketing:

• “It’s not my place to speak for the consumer.” I think often businesses and marketers forget, we are not the consumer. The restaurants in the town saw that people wanted larger sodas, so that's what they gave them. 
• Means-End Chain and Laddering. Chris is trying to motivate Andy to run. The desire to pass the physical requirements to be a cop is not enough, so he helps Andy make a means-end chain and ladder up to the ultimate reason that will motivate him. Love and family is the ultimate value that motivates him. In marketing, just as passing a physical test was not enough to motivate Andy, only marketing features will not motivate consumers to buy something. 

Just awesome:

• Font usage. “Yeah people, consistent font usage. Come on! ... Papyrus?! Are you kidding me? There is no place for that in a professional office setting.” It drives me nuts when people use unprofessional fonts on business documents and presentations. I am always amazed when I see documents with multiple fonts. Ctrl + A and make the whole document a professional font.
• Child size drink. I kind of wish someone sold a “child” size 512 oz (the size of a liquefied 2 year old). Before I came back to school I was an avid soda drinker. I had this great 100 oz insulated mug that would keep my Dr. Pepper cool and delicious all day. I sure do miss it. Sometimes on weekends I make a soda run for old times.

• Ron Swanson. I love his remote control door closer. One day I will have one on my office. If you have never looked at the “Ron Swanson Pyramid of Greatness” check it out below.

• April’s motivational tactics. They may not be as effective as making a means-end chain, but they are hilarious none the less.

How to pack a carry-on

Many of my classmates are leaving today to go to the National Black MBA Conference, a career fair for MBA students. Next week I am going to NSHMBA, another MBA career fair in Florida. Since the conferences only last a few days most will be trying to pack in carry-on luggage. I have to admit, before this summer I always struggled to cram everything into a carry-on. Especially with a suit, sports coat and dress shoes.

This summer, I stumbled upon a video by a guy named Joel Bauer on how to pack in a carry-on. He is half genius, half crazy! Some may remember him from "Your business card is crap!"

His video on how to pack is even better. It is about 20 minutes, but well worth it. My favorite line in the video is when he describes a laptop neoprene sleeve as "air tight and water tight like a frogs butt," without even cracking a smile. I would say the video is make up of about 80% crazy, 20% genius. Even with all the crazy, he does have a few good tips. The way he folds his suit coat is awesome and I went out and bought a travel steamer that I use all the time.

So if you plan to traveling in the near future or you need a good laugh, take 20 minutes and watch.

Why are you dressed up?

I get this question at least once a week. I wear business casual every day to business school, but people seem to think you need a reason to dress up to go to school. Don't get me wrong, I love a good pair of basketball shorts and t-shirt as much as the next guy, but in my opinion, business school is enough of a reason. Here is why:

1. The better you dress, the better you perform. I remember in high school people would show up for finals in sweats and slippers. One year before finals, one of our teachers showed us a study about how you perform being directly proportional to your appearance/dress. I completely agree. If you have ever worked from home or tried to do homework at home, you have probably noticed this. You sit down at your desk but it takes forever to get going. By showing up in business casual, I feel prepared to perform in a business situation and discuss business topics.
2. Dress the part. If you are attending business school, you should dress the part. I know that some companies offer the "benefit" of wearing shorts and flip-flops to work, but most don't. Business people wear business clothing. If you are attending business school you should probably dress the part. The professors should not be the only ones dressed up.
3. First Impressions. One of the reasons I came back to school was to build up my network. The network I am building is made up of people I am meeting here at school. Dressing up contributes to my first and subsequent impressions with my network.
4. You never know who you will run into. Last year I always showed up early for my first class in the morning to prepare for the day. One day while I was sitting in the classroom, a guest speaker showed up early as well. He sat down next to me and we had a 30 minute chat. Turns out he was the CMO for one of the top Fortune 500 companies. Imagine if I was wearing flip-flops and a backwards hat. This year, I have had info sessions pop-up almost every other day. Instead of running home to change, I can take that time to do my research on the company and relax.

So why I am dressed up? To be more successful.