There is a tradition in the Zulu culture where a bull is led into the kraal (corral) and 20 or so young warriors must kill it with their bare hands. The even is meant to celebrate the new harvest, but followers of functionalism in anthropology would suggest it’s a way to indentify future leaders.
So let’s say you’re put into the krall with the whole village watching: family, boyfriends, girlfriends, teachers etc., and the bull is let loose. Are you going for the tail, a leg, head or horns? The answer lies within; the result of your fortitude, life goals, skill, agility and pain threshold. Your fearlessness. My guess is there are not a lot of young Zulu warriors jumping on the head. But then I’m from Long Island.
Rearview Mirror Account Planning
Many times I’ve posted about the overabundance of rearview mirror account planners – those who watch the past and what’s approaching from behind to plan for the future. (The best planners, as the metaphor goes, look ahead seeing past the dashboard.) In the culture of brand planning the good ones focus on the head. The same attributes required of the greatest Zulu warrior are required of the best account planners. Go for the head! Peace!
Possibly Related Posts:
- Snitkered by the FTC.
- The Journalism Conundrum.
- Nordstrom’s role in Worldwide Inventory.
- Wrinkled Facebook.
- Facebook or Utilitybook?
Tags: Account Planning, functionalism, marketing, rearview mirror account planning, whats the idea, whatstheidea, Zulu warrior
Recent Articles
-
Burger King Futures.
The Burger King Whopper is a great product. Many people, myself included, feel it is far superior to McDonald’s Big Mac. The problem with BK has always been product consistency. One day a Whopper can be sublime – the perfect fast food burger. Fresh, crunchy, a perfect combination of backyard BBQ, veg. and condiments (the [...]
-
Under Armour. I wick. I mean, I will.
I love Under Armour. I do. It’s an amazing, important brand. If the company didn’t invent compression shorts, it certainly gets credit for it. The story is great, the product meaningful, and the company with its Baltimore provenance has people rooting for it. Sports apparel is a category alone in its ability to push through [...]
-
Salesmanship vs. Packaging.
Albert Lasker, a seminal advertising figure and CEO of Lord and Thomas (a predecessor agency to FCB) and a copywriter by the name of John E. Kennedy had a discussion in 1905 about a Kennedy theory suggesting advertising is no more than “salesmanship in print.” Smart dudes Kennedy and Lasker. If the goal of salesmanship [...]
-
Snitkered by the FTC.
Reverb Communications, a PR firm based in California that was writing fake product reviews on behalf of clients and publishing them on iTunes, became the first company “snitkered” by the Federal Trade Commission. Tracie Snitker is an executive at Reverb and was the one person sanctioned for the practice, though no fine was levied. Hence [...]
-
The Journalism Conundrum.
Here’s the problem with newspapers. Ready? Who is your favorite newspaper journalist? Quick! Okay, who is your second favorite? Now, who is your favorite blogger? Much easier, no? There was a time when journalists and news reporters were heroes…a time when they were huge personalities. They wrote with panache, shared ideas and commentary that [...]
-
Nordstrom’s role in Worldwide Inventory.
The concept of worldwide inventory, where the web is searched for products and services across different stores and different countries is coming. So is the concept of worldwide pricing. Need a knee replacement for under US$11,000. There’s a doc for that. Anyway, Norstrom’s is taking a step in this direction by allowing shoppers to access inventory from all [...]
-
Mobi-sodes
The next big thing will be a video webisodes channel for mobile devices. More and more today, you see people on trains and benches staring down at their mobile phones. If they are not typing or moving the cursor they’re watching movies. Not everyone has time for movies. You might have 20 minutes of alone time on [...]
Recent Comments