The Finch Post

Inspiration to go

And now for a personal anecdote... I (Daniel) returned yesterday from a trip to the Pacific Northwest, which included a visit to the world's first Starbucks in Seattle and the Nike world headquarters in Portland. Say what you want about either -- they are two amazing success stories who elevated themselves to the top of their industries and have managed to stay there for quite a while. I (like many) am personally inspired by the extent to which these brands have become essential to the lives of their customers; and I look back at the story of each one's rise to find a common illustration of exactly what it takes to achieve that type of dominance -- most importantly, visionary leadership and a relentless focus on (and steadfast execution against) the needs, desires and mindset of the customer.

 

Front of the first Starbucks store at Pike Place Market

My 6-year old scaling the Nike office climbing wall

A view of one of the many office buildings on the Nike campus

Daring Strategies

As the presidential campaign begins anew (did it ever end?), Republican hopefuls are actively jockeying for position.  For students of branding – regardless of political affiliation – this is a fascinating time.  Those vying to earn the right to face President Obama, one of strongest political brands of this generation, are casting about for a narrative that will resonate with voters. Like products and services, they too need to advance a compelling sense of self as well as position themselves against the competition; both their primary opponents and the President.

The field is rife with interesting options, but the subject of this post is the approach and launch of the Tim Pawlenty campaign.  The former Governor of Minnesota’s reputation seems to be that he is personable if bland, and solidly in the conservative mainstream without being too polarizing.  As his campaign launched this past week, however, Pawlenty 2.0 is wrapping his message around the concept of ‘speaking truth’ about the state of our nation as he sees it.  He has backed this message up by a campaign swing through Iowa, in which he railed against locally popular ethanol subsidies, and through Florida where he told the aging population of the Sunshine State about the tough choices facing Social Security and Medicare.

Only in politics would telling the truth be seen as a daring strategy. There are benefits, though, if Pawlenty can establish himself as the adult in the room, a serious thinker and truth-teller regardless of the cost.  This type of ‘Straight Talk’ propelled John McCain into national prominence and may just be a successful way to position Pawlenty to stand out from the crowded field of GOP candidates.

Much Ado About LinkedIn

Fast Company Article 

Recently, much has been made about LinkedIn’s returning us to the early part of the century with its IPO way back last week. The Fast Company link above does a nice job of framing what’s on the horizon for LinkedIn. We’re commenting here not about the company’s valuation – there are enough sources to evaluate the sense or non-sense of that. Rather, we are commenting on the connection this writer makes between the future performance of the stock and the company’s statement of vision, which reads as follows: “Our vision is to create economic opportunity for every professional in the world.” The section in the article entitled, “How to avoid fizzling out,” expounds upon the developments LinkedIn would need to undertake in its product and customer relationships to bring to bear the reality of that vision, concluding that the sky is the limit for investors if it does. This is surely the way we view business; though we are all too aware that the short term interests of the public markets can often hinder a company’s ability to create long-term value through acting as a visionary. It will be interesting to see how LinkedIn navigates these waters in the coming months and years. In the meantime, nice vision statement!