WOW is not what you do, it's the way that you do it...

Facebook Schmakebook...

Pretty sordid story ain't it? College geek having trouble 'interfacing' with chicks steal idea from twins and turns it into the biggest social network on the planet... Well perhaps what goes around comes around...

As I'm writing this blog I'm amazed at the number of messages of support I keep getting from my REAL friends via the Zuckerberg Express. Trouble is that I'm reading most of them from my email as going onto to Facebook just perplexes me- I barely remember my login and keep getting the messages to switch to the 'timeline' view, just as I've got my head around the last round of changes they made to my page.

Several Facebook addicts give me mixed responses about 'the timeline', but it triggers my memory- weren't there a raft of news stories about the how the front end was being modified to keep up with the rise of twitter??? (another place I'd like to visit but not sure I'm eligible for a visa).

Anybody remember MySpace?

The more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that there there no such thing as a digital brand. I know that's fighting talk but hear me out a second: it's the channel that we value more than the brand, because as soon as something comes a long which services the channel more effectively like a fickle lover we're off. We'll soon be spinning yarns of how it all started with MSN, Bebo and Myspace, and how some people used to pick up the mobile and use it to talk to each other...

Did that peak your Pintrest?

So we might all be using Facebook to feel together, but that doesn't mean that something better isn't gonna come along, doing what we love about Facebook in a way that we can dig even more?  I guess just like this blog, these platforms offer the average joe a creative outlet which is very addictive. I mean, posting photos, crazy links and witty comments is fun right? So sooner or later someone is gonna cotton on to the fact that there is probably a better and stickier way of getting us to express ourselves.

So how many of you have heard of Pintrest? Setup in 2008, it's slowly been building a ground swell of interest and is soon to hit the UK. Now I'm not saying that Pintrest is THE next big thing, but I think that this shows that how Facebook tells you to organise you're relationships is not the only way.. if you're curious then checkout the WOW wall I setup. Don't believe me? I can't be that crazy, as Mr Zuckerberg has been quick to offer it as an application on his beloved platform. I rest my case- WOW's not only what you do, it's the way that you do it...

WOW is a Way Of Working...

Back to my favourite subject...

Okay okay, you knew at some point I'd have to go back to PIXAR, but the simple truth is that a WOW brand has to be great on the inside and the outside. Watching the video above and reading this link, its easy to see that the end product that we know and love so much comes from a group of people with an out and out passion for perfection, in virtually every element of process of creating and bringing to life these movies that bind us to our kids. What comes across even more is that they and have a great deal of fun doing it...

You get every impression that the terms 'the company' and 'the people' are completely interchangeable, as PIXAR consistently manages to harness the skills, creativity and character of its people into the movies it creates... Makes you want to change jobs, doesn't it?

Some might think but think its because they're in a business that requires serious creativity, but then I think that the differentiators in any business and their brands is when they stand out by doing something different, based of the belief that it will stand them apart.

The borrowed WOW is what makes the birds angry!

Will a phone network ever be that WOW?

Watching one of the commuters on the train yesterday reminded me of the video above which I saw a few months ago. I think Angry Birds (for all those of you that haven't joined the smartphone revolution) is a phenomenon. Probably one of the simplest, best executed games of our generation, Angry Birds has managed to migrate onto every available smartphone platform, made the almost impossible transition from a smartphone into a console game available on the PS3, and now exists in the real world as merchandise which really sells. Hell, even a film version of the game is in progress (click here).  Even those cynics among you would have trouble denying that its shows the potential to be a WOW brand in the making....

Hence when T-Mobile makes an ad using the game as the centre piece, I wonder what the Telecomms brand is trying to achieve? My first viewing didn't leave me a lasting impression of T-Mobile- I searched for it on youtube using the search terms 'Angry Birds' and 'Barcelona'- but even after around 10 views it has yet to make me think 'thats the network to be with' or 'God Damn I must change my phone network, I'm missing out'...

A brand needs a compass to lead it to WOW...

Perhaps when it comes to all things mobile, the simple things thing like network coverage, cost and customer service are dimensions that no longer matter, and content is the key to ruling the smartphone world. If so, then I just don't think that they're treating the people they're targeting with enough 'smarts' (after all the bird's platform is no longer monogamous)...

There's a chance that the T-Mobile brand strives to achieve more amazing things, such as bringing people together to share in experiences which can only be enabled through complete smartphone unity, and that the WOW of 'bringing the birds to life' represents this. If so, I'd argue that the WOW is only borrowed while the birds stay angry, and this brand still needs a compass to lead it to a WOW of its own...

The WOW of the common people

Its 8am on a Sunday morning. And I'm frantically trying to shovel the snow from our drive so I can get the car rolling.

Why?  Because in an hour we're going to discover if my wife has a wild imagination, or if there is another life form growing within her and joining us in a few months.

I'm amazed we get the appointment for the ultrasound rearranged so quickly, but then I remember I had to ring the hospital switch board rather than the direct line of the Obstretics department as the chances of finding someone on the end of the line are higher (something I learned when my father was a patient at the same place).

In case you haven't realised, we've come to the local NHS hospital for the first pregnancy scan of our soon to be second child.

Good news on the one hand, but being the worry wort that I am (only the paranoid survive you know)  this part fills me with dread as we start this amazing journey of human life with the possibility that a medical professional can tell you 'there's something wrong'  (the phrase that every parent never wants to hear concerning their children).

We enter the hospital grounds and there's snow everywhere- I can't even see where I should park my car. After a lot of walking we finally get to the right department as the signage could do with being a bit clearer, and at the entrance we're greeted with an interactive check in console, which looks great but fails to recognise my wife Alex's details.

At this point it's 8.55, we've been on the grounds of the hospital for 23 minutes and I have yet to see a member of staff. I start cursing the weather and think that we're on our way home as they couldn't have made it in. We eventually get further into the building and come to a small reception desk which is manned...

The receptionist looks too clever to be sitting behind this desk, and directs us to the waiting area which looks deserted- I guess we're the only ones they're expecting. I engage a nurse to help occupy Mia and when we get back, my wife has already vanished into one of the examination rooms- Eventually I figure out where the talking is coming from and I knock on the door (closely followed by Mia shouting 'Mummy' at the top of her voice...)

It turns out that the Obstetrician was the woman behind reception desk and I only get about 2 minutes of looking at the a monitor setup for the partners, as our troublesome two year old gets bored and we're on the move again.

Finally, as we're leaving the car park the Alex and I start talking about all the changes that await us pending junior's arrival, and all the facts to date that we have about our growing little bundle of joy. Throughout this talk, Alex keeps mentioning about the how much the Obstetrician assured her about what was going on inside her belly- somehow the lady did a brilliant job of quickly answering my wife's concerns and getting her excited with the amazing things that will happen in the next few months. Alex finishes by showing me the sheet that the obstretician gave her, with all the measurements she took and why....

What's in a name?

So there you have it, a personal and very recent 'warts and all' experience of yet another brand- The institution that is the National Health Service. A brand exists as a name, and I would argue that few names conjour up such an extreme of good and bad connotations for us Brits.

Even as I write, I can hear some of you moaning about your experiences with the NHS.  But before you cast your verdict on this piece, I'd ask you to think about  my experience in detail (as I did when I started writing).

I would have had difficulty getting the appointment changed had I not known the hospital well, but getting through to the right person or department is a fundamental let down with many a WOW brand- We bought an iTunes voucher at Christmas, but when I tried to redeem it the code was rejected. The retailer told me that I should approach Apple, but what was more annoying was that when I did walk into the Apple store, they directed me online to get it resolved. After a lot of faceless dialogue, they told me that the voucher was not traceable and have done nothing to to help me.


I could put seeing no staff down to the weather, but again the interactive check-in was a major let down- A first impression which promised so much but gave so little- Not being expected even raised a quiet expletive from my wife! Our disappointment with brands often comes from being promised more that they can deliver, but why do so many products and services fall into this trap?

WOW where it matters...

I thought the receptionist come Obstetrician was the worst and the best of the NHS all rolled into one. The NHS was born out of a long-held ideal that good healthcare should be available to all, regardless of wealth (click here). That principle remains at its core, but the commercial realities of today's world make it almost impossible to comply with that promise and deliver the levels of service that we take for granted.

However, I'd argue that the WOW of any brand is deeply engrained into the people of the company that deliver the brand, and here the Obstretician, appearing on a Sunday, created the relief, reinforced the joy, and emphasised the care that we'll receive on junior's journey. I guess we experienced the WOW of the common people.

Lest we forget...

I stumbled across following video and was truly moved...

The WOW starts early

Whilst it peeves me to take my own flesh and blood off the front page of this thing, my good friend and design svengali Sven Vogel (ha! Sven the Svengali) sent me the video above. As a parent I'm not surprised at how quickly kids form associations with the things around them (their minds are like sponges you know), and we all feel the WOW when the kid shouts 'Disney' excitedly. I'll also bet that the 'golden arches' have never been described as an 'M' made out of fries- brilliant!

The thing that left me speechless was when she also got the Starbucks association with coffee shops, so if kids also pick up so easily on their parents loves I'd better stop taking Mia to the betting shop (yes I'm only kidding... really...).