Strategic Design | marketing & branding thoughts by Nick Rice

Well, after a year of blogging I've decided to switch platforms to Wordpress. There are a lot of cool features and much easier management as the site grows. Unfortunately I lose all of my comments, my Technorati rank (which isn't huge, but hey it's better than nothing) and I have to ask a lot of people to update their blogroll.

So please join me as we move to:

http://www.nick-rice.com

RSS Feed: http://www.nick-rice.com/?feed=rss2

FeedBurner Feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/StrategicDesign (stays the same YEAH!)

I mentioned David Armano's push to capture the best of 2006 (from a social media perspective) the other day.

He's compiled his report and it's available on his blog. I opened it up and lo and behold, there was part of my comment to him on page four.

David is really making a dent in one of the largest marketing companies around. And his good work has not gone unnoticed, a few months back he was promoted to VP. So now that he has greater reach and visibility, I'm looking forward to seeing him influence and shape new media . I hope he doesn't get too bogged down in the management aspect of his new role. Thanks David.

I read this on Hugh's manifesto request and had to pass it on...

Anna Farmery of The Engaging Brand blog sent me in this manifesto:

If... a brand starts inside, an employee's confusion

1. If you believe in the strategy, why can't you explain it?

2. If talent is important, why is promotion based on your social circle?

3. If we are entrepreneurial, why do we make decisions by consensus?

4. If values are important enough to put on a card, why are they not applicable to leaders?

5. If the future is important, why do we spend time in meetings looking at the past?

6. If you embrace talent why, do you only speak to me about my weaknesses?

7. If we aim for a USP why, are encouraged to produce sameness?

8. If we believe in diversity, why are you all 40+, white and male?

9. If we need to cut development and R&D to hit budget, how can you afford a two-day team bonding session in a 5-star hotel?

10. If it is us that interact with customers, why don't you see we should feel the brand values first?