where brand planning happens

one of many reasons I came back to Barkley was to be part of its Active Lifestyle focus. as a planner, our discipline is tasked with staying on top of workout, nutrition, culture and gear trends within this category. part of my involvement includes getting into this category first hand. as a cyclist and runner, it's easy for me to pull insights and relate.

i'm spending labor day weekend in Greenville, SC for the US Pro Cycling Championships. if you've followed my facebook or twitter, you'll know that i've had a blast interviewing pros, fans, trainers, wrenches - anyone within a 10 mile radius of the action. this is the second trip i've taken to film cycling and running events and as i import hours of film right now, i'm stoked to see where these insights and learnings end up.

i'll share more about the active lifestyle initiative in a future post - we have an online community in beta right now. for now, here's a pictorial diary of my weekend.

this is actually how i ended my weekend - at the Hincapie after party - but a picture with Christian Vandevelde and George Hincapie deserves to be on the top. i didn't get the "no undershirt" memo.

one of the many yellow jerseys Lance dedicated to George. kind words.

Press conference. Fred Rodriguez (rock racing), George Hincapie (columbia), Ted King (bissell), Craig Lewis (columbia), Christian Vandevelde (garmin chipotle)

US Pro Time Trial Championship podium: Vandevelde, Tom Zirbel, and winner David Zabriskie (3rd consecutive TT win)

i call this "water bottles in red."

George before a vendor ride up Paris Mt., Hincapie Barkley U23 team kit.

the start line of the road race.

Byron from bikehugger.com - got to hang out a few times with the guy I've read for a long while. check out the blog - it's great.

Tyler Hamilton sips victory bubbly, while Garmin Chipotle's Danny Pate and Blake Caldwell look on.

Hincapie Sportswear's new line show, and premium denim launch party.

Scottie and Shane, two members of the Hincapie Coca-Cola Barkley Cycling Team. with their better halves at the after party.

what a weekend. in addition to interviewing tons of spectators, i was able to sit down with some big, big names in the sport: Vandevelde, Hincapie, Dave Zabriskie (who'd like you to know about his new product), Noel Dejonckheere, Fred Rodriguez, Ted King and Jonathan Vaughters, to name a few. also important was the time i got to spend chatting with riders from the Hincapie Barkley U23 and Pro teams.

the Pro team racked up a huge weekend. team manager Adam Little just phoned me to let me know Chris Harkey got 3rd in today's 100k Classic, which is a big-time NRC race in Atlanta. huge podium finish for the team within a very tough field of riders. this podium finish came just days after Scottie Weiss (above photo) placed 1st in the South Carolina State Road Race Championships. i couldn't be prouder to have the Barkley name associated with not only these talented riders, but even more impressive individuals. the team personality is about as good as one could wish for. congrats guys.

so i'm headed to the Atlanta airport in a bit, but feel completely satisfied and energized with what i'll be taking back to the ranch. what a weekend.

Brand Timeline Portrait

via my boss, IV, a very cool visual of how we interact with brands. kudos to Jane of the Dear Jane Sample blog for her honesty and thoroughness.

i think our planning department is going to give this a go. maybe i'll share....

on insight and innovation

most of what i do is geared around uncovering insights and turning those insights into a relevant strategy. the other part of my day job is updating my facebook profile and downloading new music from iTunes.

planning/strategy folks go round and round about processes/resources/validation/research and very rarely agree on what it is, exactly, that they are looking for in an insight. many times, we back into an insight (or strategy) to validate an already-known mindset. that's not an insight. so what's an insight?

i think this slideshow by Matthew Millan explains insight in a brilliant way.

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so here's to Columbo.

another inspiring Internet find today: mass innovation. a short film by Charles Ledbetter. well put together and a great reminder of the world we live in as marketers and consumers.

A survey for surveyors

those of us in planning and strategy are used to fielding and analyzing surveys of all types. via Craig Elston's A Brit Planner in the Rockies blog, a survey for those in the planning and strategy field. looking forward to reading the results...especially the findings regarding how an accent helps us do our job better (a theory i've long held). :)

in other news, China keeps ticking me off, this time in principle.

according to Brand Index, the Southwest Airlines brand may have suffered a blow last week, but its measure of quality and mindshare are strong even though its level of positive "buzz" fell sharply. another great example of good PR and differentiating brand strategy doing the heavy lifting during a brand reputation crisis.

a deep list of data visualization tools, via Make the Logo Bigger.

the Fail blog. man...my life just got so much more successful.

happy St. Patrick's Day. i hope you enjoy drinking yourself silly in the name of a Saint you don't know much about and a country of which you more than likely don't originate. ah, cheers to the legitimization of week-day drunkenness.

the problem with trends

wow. this will be worth ten minutes of your life.

i'm not even going to try and summarize or offer too many thoughts, as i want this to sink in to readers. PSFK outlines the trouble with the trends biz and does so in a way that is relevant to everyone: from agency creatives and strategists to CMO's to the armchair trendspotting nerd.

check out the post here. Piers' list here provides a nice gut check for those of us who research, mine and follow trends in the attempt to make brands better.