The Weekly Minute - April 5, 2024
Happy April! Spring is in the air… almost. We woke up to snow/frost in Ann Arbor this morning.
Get me to sunshine!!
We’ve got the Final Four this weekend (men’s and women’s) and The Masters is next week. It’s just another glorious week for my sporting interests.
Now, a few good stories for today:
Famous brands
Ever noticed how some brands become THE name in their category? 🌟
Need to find something online? You don't search, you "Google" it.
Grabbing a ride? Nobody says rideshare, you're gonna take an "Uber."
Craving a soda? It's "Coke" or "Pepsi" -- I actually call all soda 'coke', lol.
You don't grab a tissue, you grab a "Kleenex”
When you apply lip balm on your lips, you say "ChapStick"
And this could go on forever.
The power of being first and/or owning your category is undeniable. It's about becoming a cultural icon.
Be more than just a brand; be the "verb" in your category. 🚀
We Work Hard to Make It Look Easy
“It takes a lot of effort to make something look effortless.” It’s another gem from CX expert Shep Hyken
The Hedgehog Concept
via Jim Collins, Good to Great
To get from ‘Good’ to ‘Great’, think about the Three Circles:
What you are deeply passionate about
What drives your economic engine
What you can be the best in the world at
A couple excerpts from the book:
Are you a hedgehog or a fox? In his famous essay “The Hedgehog and the Fox,” Isaiah Berlin divided the world into hedgehogs and foxes, based upon an ancient Greek parable: “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”
Those who built the good-to-great companies were, to one degree or another, hedgehogs. They used their hedgehog nature to drive toward what we came to call a Hedgehog Concept for their companies. Those who led the comparison companies tended to be foxes, never gaining the clarifying advantage of a Hedgehog Concept, being instead scattered, diffused, and inconsistent.
My Thought for the Weekend
Go be someone you’re proud of. That’s all.
Enjoy the weekend, talk to you next week.
