Justin Foster Unfiltered

This is what happens when you remove the filters between my brain and my mouth.
About Me

By day-light (and often at night) I run Tricycle Brand Development with good friend and reality show reject John Hardesty (@johnhardesty on Twitter). If you want to sample our branding brilliance, go to www.thetricycle.com. I have also been accused/recognized as a Social Media vigilante; exposing those that pee in the digital pool. I'm married to Jesus' sister, Lynna - the most amazing, beautiful woman ever. I have two sons who are way more talented, good-looking, and kinder than me. I love all things football, especially coaching. My iPod looks like it belongs to 20 people, but am mostly a fan of Texas Country. I am an "original Christian", pursuer of Truth, and a loud opponent of the two-party system that has bankrupted our country. My political views can be summarized by this: I want conservatives running the economy, foreign policy, and education; libertarians running law enforcement; and liberals running arts and entertainment.

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Dr. Coke? Coca-Cola to sponsor health advice from AAFP

 
Today's "what were they thinking?" story ...


 http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,571930,00.html?test=latestnews#

In short, Coca Cola is becoming a sponsor of The American Academy of Family Physicians.  According to the article, "the deal will fund educational materials about soft drinks for the academy's consumer health and wellness Web site, www.FamilyDoctor.org".

The conflict of interest is stunningly obvious.  What's next?  Anheuser Busch sponsoring AA? 

Individual people make stupid decisions all of the time - some of which get amplified in the social space.  However, when an organization does something stupid, it takes a committee.  Did anyone with authority speak up?   "Ummm, this seems like a stupid idea".  

 

Comments (0)
Posted 21 hours ago by Justin Foster 

Interesting grassroots campaign for CASAforChildren.org

The park in front of the capitol building in Boise is covered with life size cut-outs of children holding cardboard signs promoting foster care. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Comments (0)
Posted 14 days ago by Justin Foster 

iContact personifies 3 keys to modern marketing.

Modern branding/marketing has 3 elements: simplicity, personalization, and inexpensive execution.   Below is an e-mail I received from iContact.  It contains all 3 elements.  Of course, none of these would work if their product sucks.  But it doesn't.  It is a cool, easy-to-use product.  

If your marketing doesn't have these 3 elements, why not?



iContact

Thank You!

Dear Justin,

Thank you! We really, really mean it. You’ve been with us for quite a while now and it does not go unnoticed. At iContact, we understand the value of our customers. We’re very happy to have you as a loyal customer and hope you will be with us for years to come.

Everyone here at the iContact office does everything we can to support you, your account, and your business as best as possible.

We would like to make sure that you’re still happy with your iContact account. If you need anything, please see the bottom of this email to find all the services and support options you have in case you ever have any questions.

Once again, thank you so much for continuing to use iContact for your email marketing campaigns. Without a doubt, we appreciate your business.

Gratefully yours,



The iContact Family



(866) 803-9462  | 
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Email Newsletters, Autoresponders, Surveys, & RSS Feeds!

 

This message was sent from iContact to justin@thetricycle.com. It was sent from: iContact, 2635 Meridian Parkway Ste 200, Durham, NC 27713. You can modify/update your subscription via the link below.

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Comments (0)
Posted 14 days ago by Justin Foster 

"Judgment Versus Experience" - 30 seconds w/ Mike Rowe (via Fastcompany)

via fastcompany.com

Mike Rowe, the host of Discovery's "Dirt Jobs", provides 30 seconds of wisdom on judgement v experience. Mike is my kind of philosopher - a hands-on guy who appreciates the contribution of individuals regardless of their societal "status".

Comments (0)
Posted 16 days ago by Justin Foster 

6 Billion Channels

On November 6, I'm honored to be the guest presenter for George Fox University's Speaker Series.  You can get more details and RSVP here.  

My topic is "Relevance 2.0:  5 Must-Know Trends to Stay Relevant".  I thought it would be useful to write a brief blog post about each of the trends. 

Trend #1:  6 Billion Channels.  

Think about this ... a single person with a camera phone can post video, photos, and written content to a blog, Facebook, Twitter, and hundreds of other web platforms.  This content, depending how viral it is, can spread to hundreds or thousands of other people. Now combine that times billions.  What happens to the influence and reach of traditional media when The People become The Media?  It profoundly effects the way We the People consume information and entertainment.  This is not just disruptive to media business models such as selling ad space based on eye-balls.  It changes the rules for what "news" is, what a brand is, message control, the roles of government, and more.  Properly harnessed, it can make a young company the world's #1 brand without spending a dime on advertising (Google) or it can lead to the demise of established brands and traditions.  

So what do you when everyone that touches your brand (both business and personal) has the means and the motivation to talk about you?  

 
Twitter:http://twitter.com/brandmilitia
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JustinFoster
LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/agencyunderground

Comment (1)
Posted 17 days ago by Justin Foster 

Real men wear pink ... cleats.

 

Here is a cool story on the origins of the idea of allowing NFL players to wear pink cleats as part of the NFL's over-all breast cancer awareness effort for the month of October.  Props to DeAngelo Williams for the suggestion - and to the NFL for lightening up a bit.  In addition to cleats, some of the players wore pink gloves and sweat bands, plus the goal post padding was pink, the coaches wore hats with pink brims, and the NFL modified their logo with a pink ribbon.

Of course, this is a great cause, but is also a case study that branding really isn't that difficult.  It typically requires simple, sincere efforts to communicate a story - which is exactly what the pink cleats accomplished.  Any brand can do stuff like this.  The problem is that most branding efforts have to support business models (both agencies and internal marketing departments) that require media buys, complex plans, focus groups and a bunch of political bullcrap.  

In short, nobody gets paid to keep things simple.

Comments (0)
Posted 28 days ago by Justin Foster 

Glenn Beck haters "deicide" to protest.

via seattletimes.nwsource.com

An analysis of Glenn Beck protesters:

I can't tell if "Deicide" is a spelling error or some fringe group supporting the right for people to murder deities.

What does the lady on the left have against Yoko Ono?

Is a beach ball the new must-have accessory for protesters?

The white-shades wearing dude in the middle missed his big photo opportunity. Of course, holding up a sign is exhausting. One of the negatives of being Emo and Goth (as noted by the skinny arms and the Beethoven scarf and vest) is that pretty much everything is too heavy. Especially life, man.

"Go Home ManBaby" would make an awesome skit on Saturday Night Live ... or a great title for a song by a new synth-pop band.

All kidding aside, good for them for caring about something enough to make silly signs. I've never been to a protest for anything, but I certainly support this oldest of American traditions.

Comments (0)
Posted 1 month ago by Justin Foster 

Is Obama the MySpace of Presidents?

Kit Eaton's article in today's on-line version of Fast Company has the headline: "We, The Blogosophere (An Open Source Letter to President Obama)".  Kit takes the President to task for his recent comments to print journalists about the direction of the news being "all blogosphere, all opinions, with no serious fact-checking".  In the article, Mr. Eaton calls Obama the MySpace of Presidents.  Ouch.

While much of the article seems to be harmless satire, one does have to wonder about Mr. Obama's opinion of the changes facing the collection and distribution of news.  However, one of the basics of brand communication is to protect your channels.  Without the traditional media, how would the President be able to go on 6 different shows and grant a dozen plus other interviews in a 2 day period?  It is hard for the President to pitch his message for free if the traditional media goes under.

There is another underlying, more subtle issue - control.  With the exception of George Stephanopoulos, most of President Obama's discussions with traditional journalists are love-fests.  It drives conservatives nutty to see this, but the same thing happened when President Bush appeared on FoxNews and other "friendly" outlets.  The issue of message control is not idealogical based - it is just common sense to a generation and a culture that views the public as a mass.  Set up a friendly interview with David Letterman, millions of people watch, say some funny stuff, and watch your poll numbers go up.  The problem with this scenario is that you can't "spin" the blogosophere - at least not on a broad-based level.   And no spin means no control.  So the blogosophere is actually a threat because real questions might get asked. Bloggers can be a surly, opinionated bunch - and who needs that when you are trying to bring hope and change to the people?  (My turn to be satirical).  

Understanding that the model for the collection and distribution of news is undergoing permanent changes is not a matter of hippness.  It is a deeper quality; of being able to recognize trends and understand that "we the people" are now journalists.  This is a disappointing mind-set for a candidate that embraced social media, promised greater "transparency", and seemed to get it.  


My stuff:

Web: thetricycle.com
Blog: brandmilitia.com
Lifestream: http://justinfoster.posterous.com/
Twitter:http://twitter.com/brandmilitia
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JustinFoster
LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/agencyunderground

Comments (2)
Posted 1 month ago by Justin Foster 

Day 2 of wearing sunglasses indoors

As I tweeted about yesterday, I broke my glasses. I don't have a back-up other than my prescription sunglasses. This means for the next few days, I'm wearing sunglasses inside. This has elicited a number of responses: My wife breaking in to a giggle fit every time she looks at me. Apparently wearing sunglasses in bed is funny. A number of comments related to having a bright future, playing a piano, trying to be cool, etc. The most interesting is watching how people respond in conversations when they can't see my eyes. They look away nervously, not knowing what to look at. They also can't tell if I can see them so they look around the room instead. It has just made me accutely aware of how much eye contact plays in human interaction.

Of course, I probably already get weird looks and the sunglasses just trick people in to thinking that I can't see them!

Maybe I will just wear them all the time, like the guy who wore his conference name tag all the time and got a book deal. Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Comment (1)
Posted 1 month ago by Justin Foster 

ABC's Gibson: ACORN Story May Be 'One You Leave to the Cables'

via foxnews.com

Still waiting for someone to defend ACORN on this. Seriously. Maybe there is a some justification I'm missing. While you are at it, go ahead and explain Gibson's take of "one you leave for the cables".

Comments (0)
Posted 1 month ago by Justin Foster