Tapping Into Americans' Faith in Innovation

One of the toughest issues facing consumers these days is rising gas prices. The people are angry…very angry!

The Wall Street Journal discusses the aggressive marketing strategy used by companies such as ExxonMobil. By painting themselves as part of the solution to our growing energy crisis, oil companies have come under harsh criticism from Greenpeace and other environmental groups.

Don’t shoot me, but higher gas prices may help us in the end because money may be the only motivator which will actually result in a behavior change. How else are we going to get people to drive less, invest in hybrid cars and generally consume less?

$5.00 gas…here we come.

Are you YAWNING?

Being a YAWN is all the rage these days. According to The Sunday Telegraph of London, “They are a new breed of Gen Xers and Ys, Young and Wealthy but Normal, or Yawns.”

A what???

“They drive hybrid cars, if they drive at all; shop at local stores, if they shop at all; and pay off their credit cards every month, if they use them at all. They may have disposable income, but whatever they make, they live below their means in a conscious effort to tread lightly on the Earth. Yawns sound dull, but they are the new movers and shakers, their dreams big and bold. They are men and women in their 20s, 30s and 40s who want nothing less than to change the world and save the planet.”

CNN.com posted this great article about this new phenomenon and the potential effects it may have on spending in the coming years. Check it out here.

This article makes me think of a new philosophy we are trying to integrate into our outreach efforts with one of our clients. We are working to promote the positive experiences that customers get from using the service. The idea of making the actual experience more worthwhile, leaving the customer with a feeling of accomplishment and that they have done something meaningful seems crucial to targeting a YAWN.

If you are working on a green initiative for a client or trying to influence influencers, the Earth-consciousness of the YAWNs is something to consider.

Facebook Lexicon Pops!

Looking for a way to gauge your brand's penetration into the world of Facebook? Interested in whether geeks around the world talk more about Star Wars or Star Trek? Want to know whether Lindsey or Britney is the hotter topic of conversation? A quick and dirty way to find out is Facebook Lexicon. Lexicon shows the number of users that posted each term per day on a profile, event or group Wall on the popular social networking site.

It's great for comparing competitors or analyzing emerging trends (for example, the term "cyclone" has seen a huge jump in the past 5 days). While it doesn't provide raw data (it only shows the relative position of a term over time against itself or other words), it can be very helpful in getting a snapshot of how the community is reacting to you.

You can view the trend over several months or just a few hours.

So, hop on to Lexicon and start exploring what's hot on the Facebook network!