Writings from Force 5 Basecamp

03/28/11

Just like in the ole West, or at least as our Western movies tell us, Black hats are villains – and usually up to “no good”. The New York Times recently noticed something odd when performing Google searches on terms as diverse as bedding, skinny jeans, area rugs and grommet-top curtains. “You could imagine a dozen contenders for each of

03/15/11

In the dreary days of January and February, many of us find a boat show on the weekend—letting us dream of warmer days, sand and sun filled holidays, and hours on the nearest lake. Sitting on a boat inside a convention center doesn’t quite fill the bill—does it? This year, Starcraft Marine decided to help boating enthusiast get to that

03/04/11

I’ve worked for a lot of years, enjoyed a lot of roles in my career, and had a lot of supervisors who imparted their wisdom to me.   I thought I would share some of their best stuff with you in this series of posts called, “The Boss Rules.” Rule #3:  Become an “Owner” Sometimes the best things a boss can

02/22/11

I’ve worked for a lot of years, enjoyed a lot of roles in my career, and had a lot of supervisors who imparted their wisdom to me.   I thought I would share some of their best stuff with you in this series of posts called, “The Boss Rules.” Rule #2:  “Ask them, ‘What are you trying to accomplish?’ ” I

02/14/11

I’ve been here at Force 5 for just 6 months now, but I’ve been in the workforce since I was legally of age.   Throughout the years I’ve been fortunate to have had some great bosses who took the time to pour their wisdom into me.  Because their “rules” have been so helpful to me, I thought I would share some of the best ones

02/08/11

I was listening to NPR last week, and they were discussing “fractured culture”. The premise is that today we live in a world of infinite choices. Most homes have the choice of hundreds of channels, and within those channels are documentaries, cartoons, drama, reality, and talent shows. On the computer you can surf millions of websites, video games, listen to

02/07/11

Super Bowl ads have become an event all in themselves over the years. Unexpected hilarity, moving stories, elaborate CG effects all are pieced together to make impressions on viewers. But does their strategy pay off? The digital water coolers are crowded the Monday morning after the Super Bowl with various reactions and impressions. These commercials that have people talking are

01/28/11

The day before yesterday I got home from work and was greeted by a plain brown box, correctly addressed to me, on my front porch. I thought this was rather curious, as I had not ordered anything. I brought the box in from the cold (it was about 12 degrees outside). My kids were with me and they were just

01/21/11

A few weeks ago I was reading the usual list of technology sites and came across an interesting debate on how Microsoft is planning to embed ad blocking technology into its browser, while Google and Mozilla will not. The items that were discussed got be thinking about what I use and how that relates to the Web as a whole.

01/11/11

My blog post last week on discoverforce5.com left you with this question:  “How much should a marketer promise about an experience?”  Probably better stated as : “How do I promise people enough to move them to action without setting them up for disappointment once they make the move?” I had several conversations about this last week.  It was clear this question hit home

01/11/11

Recently in the local news WNDU reported how the “Freedom from Smoking” program started last week. The report was based off of the Tobacco free program in St. Joseph County which is involved in helping the public stop smoking. Tobacco Free of St. Joseph County has been a client of Force 5’s for over a year now. Force 5 recently

01/07/11

2010 was a big year for the tech industry. New markets became relevant, Facebook reminded us no one is anonymous, web technologies were given a second look, and TV was rethought. 5. Old Spice “I’m On A Horse” campaign finds a new way to promote. The campaign had legs from the beginning. Remember this? And this .. Old Spice later