Idea Sandbox

10 Questions with Author Tom Fishburne

Paul — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:51:34 +0000

Day 2 Post2Post Tour: “This One Time At Brand Camp”

The virtual book tour continues today at the Church of the Customer Blog. Ben McConnell poses 10 great questions to author Tom Fishburne about his marketing, branding, and his cartoons.

And tomorrow, the tour continues at Brand Autopsy by John Moore.

Enjoy today’s post, come back for tomorrow’s!

6 Reasons to Follow the “This One Time At Brand Camp” Book Tour

Paul — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:23:13 +0000

The Post2Post Virtual Book Tour featuring Tom Fishburne’s latest book, This One Time At Brand Camp: Marketing Cartoons by Tom Fishburne” begins on

Monday, August 25!

Here are your five reasons for following along…

(1) Chris Wilson,
(2) Jackie Huba & (3) Ben McConnell,
(4) John Moore,
(5) Dan Roam, and
(6) Seth Godin

Each will be posting about Tom’s book!

Here’s the full schedule…

Site	Date
Marketing Fresh Peel by Chris Wilson	Mon, Aug. 25
Church of the Customer Blog by Jackie Huba & Ben McConnell	Tue, Aug. 26
Brand Autopsy by John Moore	Wed, Aug. 27
Digital Roam blog by Dan Roam	Thur, Aug. 28
Seth’s Blog by Seth Godin	Fri, Aug. 29

You can order Tom’s book from Lulu.com!

Standing Out In The Grand Bazaar

Paul — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 07:44:53 +0000

What do you see when you look at this image?

[click if you'd like a larger image]I shot this photo recently while visiting the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey.

At first glance, there is too much to take in at once. It all blends together. As if it were all the same thing.

Then… as you get used to how busy the photo is… you notice that there is actually an assortment of items displayed.

Further inspection reveals there are really only around six different things for sale (metal pitchers, tea pots, wooden boxes, hookahs, small statues…) but that there are many different versions (small, large, silver, gold, painted).

How would you choose? How do you choose?

Your business is one of these objects.

How do your customers choose you over the one next to you? Or below you? Or bigger than you?

And, just like the space where you do business… this stall at the bazaar is one of perhaps 500 selling the same objects.

Listen, Ponder, Speak

Paul — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:52:25 +0000

Beverage Sampling Tools: Elaborate & Simple

Paul — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:43:26 +0000

Below is a picture of me, back in my Starbucks days, donning the “Mercury Man” out-of-store sampling tank (Version 2.0) The backpack contraption contains a pressurized, thermal container used to sample fresh brewed coffee in crowds and at special events.

Version 1.0 of this backpack was more uncomfortable (lacking proper padding) and the silver tank was clearly visible. Version 2.0 is designed with better padding and a sleeve around the tank that holds branding elements or other artwork.

It is called “Mercury Man” because it is shiny silver like the Mercury-Atlas rocket.

While exploring the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul I came across this gentleman selling ice-cold cherry juice (a delight among the Turkish) from his own backpack dispenser.

He’s simply taken an oversized pitcher and strapped it to his back. (Actually I think his is technically an oversized Ottoman Turkish ewer). Very resourceful.

I couldn’t help feeling a kinship with this guy… although, as you can see, he samples with quite of bit of flair!

The cherry juice was ice cold, sweet, and delicious.