It has been a major haul for a lot of people and the uphill climb continues for so many. I have a client in Detroit and I go past those empty buildings, see decaying property, imagine the fear among those that think help isn’t coming.

My suggestion is that it is not “half-time” America. It is “kickoff” time. Every day we live in a free market economy it is a kickoff day. Every day we wake up in a non-communist country–particularly this one where ANYONE can be ANYTHING–it is a kickoff day.

And if you are waiting for help to come…you need to look in a mirror. You are the person you have been waiting for. There is no better time to take a risk…to try to be anything…than when your recent options have dried up.

There is a reason people escaped communist countries, risked their lives, spent their fortunes, and left all that they loved to get to a place where they had COMPLETE FREEDOM TO BE ANYTHING.

The beauty of America is that dreams are not only born here, they are built here. If you can dream it, you can be it. As the SuperBowl commercial suggested, today’s dreams and today’s successes are “imported from…” right here in America. I believe that with every chamber of my second-generation immigrant heart.

It is NOT half-time America. It is not half-time for you personally. It is your kickoff. NOW KICK IT!!!!!!

But awards do matter. And we know that because our clients and prospects keep proving they matter by asking about them.

• We recently participated in two agency pitches and among the first three questions we were asked: “Have you won any awards…and which ones?” We typically say, “Sure, sure. For this and that. Here is the link to all our awards.” There is somehow an additional sense of confidence in the selection process when someone else has acknowledged the firm.
• Several of our clients are interested in quantifying and receiving third party validation for their marketing efforts (and expenditures) and appreciate copies of awards because it raises their stock internally.

We are proud of the opportunity to serve our clients with ideas that generate results. And the trophies really are fun. But if you know us, you’ll believe us when we say the results we generate (in leads, in visibility, in differentiation, in user experience, in credibility, in cultural change, in REVENUE)…those results are what prove we are winners.

NOTE: While we’re at it, don’t forget to enter the Atlanta Marketing Association AMY Awards. The call for entries is now open and accessible at: www.amyawardsatl.com/

Any of us who have lived through budgeting, hiring, selling or WAITING to do those things these last few years have waiting for momentum. Our company hasn’t simply tried to create it, but we’ve actually succeeded in creating it for several courageous companies who just kept on keeping on.

It’s no surprise that most of those companies were private companies and some as large as several billion dollars. The private companies had the flexibility to ACT LIKE THEY WERE STILL IN BUSINESS rather than try to recast realities for short-term shareholder snapshots. For those of us that kept deciding, acting and spending it was terrifying, a leap of faith and a luxury all at the same time.

But now, even the public companies are moving ahead as if commerce has to keep moving. And they are right. My feeling about business is like constant mass or matter. Mass stays constant, never leaving, but perhaps changing shape. Similarly, there is always a sea of business to be had…it doesn’t go away but the shape of it changes. The markets change, the buyers needs change, the prices people will pay change. What never changes is the need for innovation and creativity to navigate and find the opportunity in that mass of business.

And for anyone that wants to argue over the continually expanding universe and the theory that in fact mass and matter are ever-expanding, well that would be even better. It would mean that business is always expanding–whether we see it or not…whether are tiny little brains are evolved enough to see the expansive opportunities ahead of us.

Which brings us to 2012. A year that in many ways has expanded itself into our 2011 and is already here. We’ve begun working with our clients on what lies ahead. What a beautiful place to find yourself at the supposed end of the year. There is nothing better than getting to the end of something and realizing that your new journey is already underway.

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” – Henry Ford

There is of course the adoration of the man and his accomplishments. There are the Wall Street watchers eyeballing the stock as the echo-effect of an honest to God change agent impacts a true brand’s valuation.

The most fascinating headline I’ve seen attributes to Steve Jobs the title: “Master Inventor, Marketer.” Well of course he is. But how many people can you say that of? And how many people would own the label of marketer and believe it is “not a dirty word.”

Inventor. Marketer. Remember that those two words are not mutually exclusive.

The world is desperate for those with a vision. And more than ever people are seeking someone compelling enough to clearly convey a vision and lead. Not just on “Wall Street.” Not just on “Main Street.” Right there in the office where you sit. Right here in mine. And in our homes.

Are you the next “Master Inventor, Marketer?

Sustainability gets thrown around alot. Two years ago I filled my bookshelf with every green marketing and sustainability manifesto I could find. And the greenwashing was everywhere. It was trendy to talk about but very hard to do.

If you want to see what leaders in the space are doing, the American Marketing Association is having a panel lunch on April 19th, including Interface, Southwire Company, Continuum Design and Ted’s Montana Grill. These are guys that take sustainability seriously.

Sustainability is up there with world hunger and world peace. While a lot of companies and people talked about it for a few years, some companies spent the last few decades determining where sustainability, environmental responsibility and corporate citizenship fit within the soul of their company. Once they got that figured out, they were able to plan strategies, act on them and communicate with meaning about real things.

That is, after all, what marketing should be. Choose the strategies that make a real difference, do them consistently and communicate about them with honesty and frequency. It’s hard enough for some companies to sustain a message. To sustain a commitment and then communicate consistently and meaningfully about it…that’s for the pros.

Recently, overstock.com took stock of the brevity of their url and said, can we do better? Now, overstock.com is o.co. It used to be an economy of words. Now it’s an economy of characters.

Did you ever envision a world where “.com” was too long? What will we do when TLAs (three letter acronyms) take too long?

And what happens when we no longer use words to communicate? When I is all that is left? When 1 isn’t the loneliest number, but 1/2 is? But wait a minute…1/2 is in substance shorter than 1, but from a character count, it’s longer with 3 digits. Even “.5″ is longer with 2 characters. Hmmmm.This is going to get interesting.

For more on what social media, brevity and newspeak (all credit due to George Orwell)…actually newtype…have done to how we communicate (in fact whether we communicate) come to the May Women In Technology (WIT) panel “OMG. Can U Succeed” by clicking here.

• INFORMATION OVERLOAD. It’s no longer measured in impressions, it’s measured in gigabytes. J. Walker Smith at a recent AMA Atlanta lunch told us we’ve gone from tens of thousands of daily impressions (or 3 GB) in 1980 to over 33.8 GB daily.
• 60% of B2B SALES CYCLES ARE GREATER THAN 4 MONTHS. That’s what MarketingSherpa’s new 2011 B2B Survey says. We’re living in an instant gratification world where careers launch and die in under a quarter. We often plan campaigns with a 1 to 2 month arc. That’s how the people we sell to are wired, but it’s not how the SALE/BUY we’re furthering is wired. We need to reconcile that contradiction.

There are a whole bunch of other reasons it is hard to have a meaningful dialogue. What is meaning to you? What is meaning to them? How into you are they? What do you want to happen? And how do you get them to ask, “And then what happened?” That’s engagement. It’s the first step to a relationship with customers, partners, prospects, employees, you name it. Make sure you thinking about, talking about, planning and taking the right steps.

• For help positioning yourself and selling yourself over the long haul, email us: info@modomodoagency.com
• For more on J. Walker Smith, check him out at the Futures Company here.
• For the free Executive Summary of the Marketing Sherpa 2011 B2B Study, launch the PDF here.

History can be the judge of who has made the right decisions. Who had sound strategy. Who demonstrated leadership. Who served as the best brand steward and who built the most brand value.

These are just teasers, there are tons of articles for further reading on the following.

• Gap Has A New Logo…No Wait…They Don’t - When you have brand equity, you need to be cautious about brand evolutions. Who knows if this is what happened here. Needless to say there was enough poo-pooing in one week for Gap to decide to flush their Logo investment down the toilet and go back to the beloved, comfortable, recognizable lockup. Did it affect revenue? I’m sure they asked those questions or are checking it out.
• StarBucks Has A New Logo…Really…They’re Sticking With It – When Starbucks customers learned that the company name was taken out of the mark they went ballastic. The brand managers said they were sorry but they’d thought about it, done research and knew it was time to evolve. For an instant gratification, change-driven culture it is amazing how much we all cling to habit. We’ll see what impact this has on revenue. After 40 years, will people not know Starbucks when they don’t see the words?
• Motrin Moms - What happens when a small (3%?) segment of REALLY vocal consumers are incensed by your campaign? Ask Motrin. You take down your site, your campaign, then you ask questions about what the impact is. Was it ready, fire, aim? Who knew…they just knew those moms were pissed.

If you’re having a slow day and want to read more stories of consumerism gone awry, brand management gone astray, social media gone meteoric and some people with an entirely out of whack sense of their own relevance and power, check this blog on “A Chronology of Brands that got Punk’d by Social Media.” It’ll make your head spin.

Hollywood missed that memo when they came up with a new fundraising technique. Someone thought a celebrity social media black out would cause such withdrawal that people would pay for their favorite stars to resume their online chatter. Celebrities went silent in a “digital death” movement to raise $1 Million for the Keep a Child Alive charity. Pop figures like Kim Kardashian and Justin Timberlake vowed to stay silent until they reached their goal.

The response was underwhelming because frankly their fans were too busy tweeting or living or something. Five days later, and no doubt suffering their own withdrawal, the celebs were saved from their silence by a $500,000 matching donation from millionaire Stewart Rahr. Hollywood thanks you Stewart.

So where did they go wrong? They didn’t “withhold” the very things their fans value most. If your favorite celeb stops acting, singing, competing in his sport, dancing…then you might have a problem. If your favorite celeb is coming to your town but puts their performance on hold until a given figure is met…it might move the fundraising needle. (If you can avoid being branded as an extortionist.) At the very least you’d be linking the FUNDRAISING and the ultimate REWARD to your MAGIC.

There is NO SHORTAGE of chit chat online. There is NO SHORTAGE of information, talk, imagery, exposure, opinion. Talk is cheap. True customer value is not.

As the 2010-2011 Atlanta American Marketing Association President, I have the privilege of working with a variety of organizations that support the cause of marketing. These activities include pro bono efforts, corporate marketing outreach, collegiate development and now high school level marketing education through DECA. AMA Atlanta is the state certifying partner for Georgia DECA Marketing curricula and programs.

Earlier in 2010 AMA Atlanta launched its first scholarship program for high school students that aspire to be future marketers. The student recipients were chosen from the talented pool of Georgia DECA participants that focus on marketing, management and entrepreneurship.

This September, key AMA Atlanta Members were treated to a visit with DECA students from several neighboring schools. These students demonstrated their mission, their projects, and their presentation approach. Oh, and their spiffy blazers.

We weren’t kidding when we said they were more polished and focused than some professional colleagues we have. If you are interested in supporting the activities of DECA, helping to prepare this year’s group for their jury prep, or being a part of AMA’s DECA activities email Brandon Pelissero, our AMA Industry Certification Chair, at: bpelissero@ecolink.com

OK. Now who’s ready for the George Benson or Whitney Houston rendition of “I Believe The Children Are Our Future”?