I think it was destiny that you read my first-ever post on Isis. You know where my heart is and I can feel yours in this post. I love how you took it all back to shared vision – and I so wanted that opportunity borne of “your dads” to have worked out for you!

It’s a beautifully poignant post because I can sense the journey you went through and we get a Happy Ending – you’ve regained your focus. Brilliant.

All the best to you, Tom, and so glad we’ve become connected along the path of our own journeys!

@LisaPetrilli

Some rich wisdom my good sir.

“‘Shared’ is the operative word here, wonderful when it happens freely, but impossible to force. And when it’s not fully shared for whatever reason, the only thing left is transactional.”

Resonates. Couldn’t agree more. I need more bursts of blog excellence compliments of yourself.

Cheers.
@michaelwmann

Warm regards,
Bryon

Yes, I think you’re right about winning the hearts and minds – and we indeed have some amazing new ways to reach all the way to the individual. I still think the ‘arrogance factor’ – that people will buy a product, just because the brand is known – is an issue for larger ‘well-loved’ (at least in their mind) brands.

I’ve always been a believer in grassroots marketing – sometimes it’s the only way to push demand, especially for non-destination products, such as Velcro®, (nobody goes to Home Depot specifically to buy it – but do at POP as an impulse item, knowing they’ll find uses for it, even if not at that exact moment), which we did for many years without the benefit of social technologies.

Ultimately, it’s all about paying attention – and adjusting the plan as events unfold – assuming you’re not too arrogant (or scared to admit it) to see and embrace the truth. and address the issues at hand.

Thank you @Ironshef, my marketing, soccer, and music friend!

Tom

This is spectacular. While my heart grew heavy as I realized your “failure”; it was certainly lifted when you translated that into useful
insights.

I’ve long believed that marketing is 1 part statistics, 2 parts psychology. Understand how to win the hearts and minds of your audience, then play that against the numbers and any brand can make it.

That takes on such an interesting dimension now where tools have created the possibility, nay the necessity, to interact with consumers at a more intimate level and in ever-smaller groups…down to the individual.

I appreciate the nod!

Enjoying the series.

-Sarah

The wonderful thing too, is when the design is correct to brand, and by definition, functional, its luster does not tarnish with exposure. Our feedback on the site remains very positive from customers, staff and stakeholders, even three weeks after going live. Our Google Analytics stats are strong, and point to growth opportunities for the bakery that before we only just suspected. If it was all just decoration, I don’t think anybody would care – at least for long. Thank you Sarah – the process is only as good as the people working it. And again, props to Justin and the Newfangled SysAdmin team- Tom

Well, my post title was probably a bit flip. I would agree with your distinction and say that I wasn’t really surprised that the process *did* work, but at *how* it worked. As one of my tech-side colleagues commented, what designers do can be amazing–there’s so much that goes into it, yet in the end there’s this coherent thing. I think this goes back to your distinction between design and decoration. Design has a capacity to surprise (or amaze) that just won’t happen if the designer is stuck implementing decoration, if all the how-it-happens is too predetermined.

Your related distinction between tactics and strategy seems right on point. (This is something that I see talked about with content strategy, where the temptation can be to skip the strategy itself–really figuring out what and why–and jump straight into the tactical how. But it makes sense for design, too.) And I agree with the order of operations you suggest here. In a sense, it doesn’t matter if the details–the intellectual aspects–are perfect, if the bigger picture isn’t there. The emotional part really has to be strategized first before the implementation will succeed.

-Sarah