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If you want to start a movement, you have to write a manifesto. A short, concise, inspiring declaration, written in your brand’s trademark language, that gives your values a voice, becomes a powerful social object and paints a compelling, detailed picture of the desired future you want people to join you in creating. Once you put that on wax, everything changes. Holstee never intended for their manifesto to go…

My from POKE said it best: “Digital used to be a thing, now it flows through all things.” Every product is a media experience, every idea has interactivity built into it, every business is an online business, every company is a technology company, every website is a broadcast platform, every blog is a distribution channel, every brand is a media concern, every phone is a computer, every customer is…

Every company wants to create a new social norm. They want to change the way people do something, for better and for always. Wii’s groundbreaking console didn’t just look cool, it got people up off the sofa, broke down the walls that separated players and spectators and turned a video game into a communication tool that family members, both young and old, could socialize around, instead of disappearing into…

Tricking is a shortcut that erodes trust and stains your industry. And it’s everywhere. Creators are tricking people into consuming their content. Movie trailers intercut dialogue from different scenes, use music that isn’t on the soundtrack and show action sequences that don’t make the final cut. But by the time you’ve paid for and watched the film, it’s too late. Companies are tricking customers into buying. Credit cards lead…

“Where has this place been my whole life?” That’s the ultimate. To make people miss you in their past. To deliver such an amazing experience, such a phenomenal product, that not only do they rave and regale and recommend you to the world, they regret not meeting you sooner. They can’t believe they’re just now finding out about you. Finally, a company who gets it. A company who gets…

Target has offered nearly two thousand design options for its gift cards. And as a result, they’re more just plain piece of plastic, they’re symbols of smart design, badges of technological innovation, high touch collector’s items, engaging social objects, artifacts of the holiday season, collaborative employee projects, exemplars of corporate sustainability, patented parts of the company brand, even some cards are presents in themselves, offering the shoppers entertainment, candy,…

It started out as an insurance policy. By adding one additional cookie to the order, bakers protected themselves against accidentally short weighting customers, paying severe government fines, losing a hand to an axe, having an ear nailed to their shop door and becoming known around town as a dishonest businessman. Of course, that was seven hundred years ago. Now they call it a baker’s dozen because they care. Because…

We are seeing the death of traditional career paths. Now, micro business is the new small business. Instead building a hulking beast of an enterprise, we start by building something simple, like an app or a website or a piece of software. Then, instead of searching for some magical distribution channel, we just ship it. We make it available, and other people come and get it. Then, if it…

The best way to get more business from your customers is by intelligently interacting with them. For example, one fourth of all Bonobos customer service is publicized. Consider the implications of this. First, it multiples their reach. Exponentially more people can experience and benefit from a single act of service. Even if they’re not customers. Second, it creates an apparatus of accountability. Each interaction requires thoughtful consideration on the…

Synthesizing is an underrated talent. If you can become known as someone who boils down complex ideas to a bare, yet highly memorable minimum, creates labels for things that make it faster to classify and understand what’s going on, packages truths as meaningful concrete nuggets that give meaning to human experiences, delivers micro masterpieces of clarity and brevity to help others structure and interpret reality, helps people make sense…