virginia.miracle | Virginia Miracle

Sleep: Luxury and Emotion

By virginia.miracle | July 19, 2008

In our crazy world, time is the new luxury. And it’s not just awake time – it’s the time we spend sleeping that sometimes gets treated as a luxury instead of the precious necessity it is. You probably know that sleep is critical to everything from your ability to focus mentally to the appearance of your skin and weight maintenance. It’s as necessary as breathing, but people are passionate about sleep. They love sleep. They desire sleep. And when they figure out how to get good sleep, they become evangelists.

I came to realize just how deep this passion runs through some work for my (DISCLAIMER) client Select Comfort that I have been “taking home” with me – getting more sleep. Select Comfort, has an online promotion encouraging people to celebrate summer by getting an extra hour of sleep each night, and in so doing being entered to win a new bed. It has been fun to watch the emotion this topic has sparked. In addition to entires, comments on the blog post announcing the promotion have included concerns about sleep interruptions from pets, snoring spouses, stress, and babies (ok, I added the baby one, because that’s a concern in our house). Read the full comments here.

I am taking the challenge myself and can definitely tell the difference in my life when I get extra rest. If you could use more shuteye or just want to see what’s going on, click on the badge to check it out.

Making Time for Social Media

By virginia.miracle | July 17, 2008

Brother Ian over at Flagged For Follow Up recently touched a nerve on a recurring theme in my life – those uninitiated to social media claiming they can’t get involved because they don’t have time for that stuff.

I have no problem with anyone who doesn’t want to participate in social media. I don’t want to read a print newspaper anymore and am completely happy with agreeing to disagree on that point. Due to the very definition of what social media is, it only has value if other people with whom you want to stay connected to are also participating. So if they aren’t, it might have less value for you. But saying its because you don’t have time? Not sure I buy that.

Chances are all of us make the time doing things that are important to us – stopping at Starbucks for a coffee instead of drinking what comes out of the pot at home, watching TV, talking on the phone, etc. For those with networks of friends, thought leaders, and co-workers involved in social media, updating Facebook or reading a Twitter feed sometimes even saves the time of having to get long verbal updates from many individuals separately. Additionally, your personally crafted RSS feed can highlight only the information that you find most relevant instead of having to skim a paper or a host of sites to find what you need to be well informed.

Like Ian, I make time for social media because it is important to me, it is valuable to my job, it prioritizes relevant information for me, and it allows me to keep in touch with more people from more parts of my life than at any time in the past. And if I have to watch 1 fewer TV program per week to fit it in, I find that to be a good trade.

Viral vineyard vines

By virginia.miracle | July 8, 2008

As the Miracle clan prepared for our beach trip this week, I moved from mildly amused by the colorful new vineyard vines store in Georgetown to borderline obsessed. While I had admired the slice of Martha’s Vineyard life offered in the store since its opening and had even directed visitors staying with us to check it out, I hadn’t taken the purchase plunge myself.

Once I started buying, I couldn’t stop. Why? The store is not just about the merchandise, nor is it just about the Vineyard lifestyle (or the “Good Life” as they call it) – it’s about being a part of a great entrepreneurial dream. In the words of founding brothers Shep & Ian:

“In 1998 we started vineyard vines on Martha’s Vineyard, and we’ve been having the time of our lives ever since. We’re brothers who decided to leave corporate jobs in New York City to pursue the American Dream. With no money and little experience, we set out to make ties that represent the finer places and things life has to offer. We’re pleased to have expanded beyond the shores of the Vineyard and now offer much more than just ties”.

I can guarantee this is a critical part of their merchandising, because they tell “Our Story” across all customer touchpoints – catalog, in store, on almost every single page of their website, and even the polo short tags read “vineyard vines by shep & ian”. On the section of their website, you are transported out of e-commerce and into a robust online realm that is what vv is selling beyond clothes including:

The Dream – media clips and videos that show the brothers telling their story. A great Entrepreneur clip shows them going from $2m in sales in 2002 to $372m in 2006.

Customer Community – photos of everyone from Violet Affleck to everyday other vv customers wearing the clothes doing everything from getting married to boating with Walter Cronkite (no kidding). You are invited to send in yours too.

Whale Tales – the stories of notable customers told with photos of them modeling their favorite vv outfits.

This is a remarkable case of a business sharing its story – not just by telling it, but inviting you to participate, meet them, come to their events, and contribute your own stories and photos as customers are also a part of “Our Story“.

I wonder how many other business I patronize also have remarkable stories that they aren’t telling? Or do they just not want to invite me in?

Nau’s Remarkable Second Life

By virginia.miracle | June 30, 2008

At the end of last week, Nau announced that they’re back. They’ve been acquired by another remarkable company – Horny Toad – who has agreed to handle their financing issues and has wisely supported Nau keeping its distinct and remarkable brand personality in tact.

One of the reasons they decided to hunker cited in their “comeback” blog post is the outpouring of both emotion and ideas in their Thought Kitchen blog upon the announcement of the brand and its stores shuttering. I can imagine the mixed emotions with which I would greet the prospect of being saved/consumed by another brand. I think its a testament to the team’s dedication to Nau’s mission and to its customers that they are giving Nau 2.0 a go.

For the flip side of this unique relationship, check out Horny Toad’s “We have a sister!” post which discusses the business deal not as an acquisition, but the adoption of a new family member. Funny how the choice of a few simple words can make such a difference in demonstrating what a brand stands for.

Target’s Newsweek Innovation

By virginia.miracle | June 16, 2008

Whilst perusing Inc. Magazine‘s nest of blogs, I came across a great example of innovative marketing environmentalism. Tom Szaky, CEO of Terra Cycle and author of the Eco-Capitalist blog, sold Newsweek magazine and Target on a unique promotion for their April Earth Day cover. The idea is something he calls “upcycling” – using waste materials to provide useful products. Target ran a fold out inside cover ad:

The ad invited you to fold the cover inside out, tape it into an envelope and fill it with your used Target plastic bags. Per the creative above, the used bags were then upcycled into reusable shopping bags. You are probably thinking what I am: who would go to this much trouble?

Evidently, the answer is “the Newsweek Earth Day issue reader” because 35,000 people sent in their bags to Target.

While I understand the hard core environmentalist concerns about Target and their offerings so affordable as to almost be disposable, this is undeniably a great example of marketing environmentalism. They invited an audience who wanted to be engaged to co-create a useful product at a time (earth day) when they would have such things top of mind. Beats a shotgun FSI any day of the week.

p.s. If you haven’t picked up Inc. Magazine’s June print version focuses on Innovation, do. In addition to a great cover story on Threadless, there are lots of great tips on making creativity and innovation part of the fabric of your workplace.