Losing weight is the number one health challenge that many members of the American Middle Class face.
While the “dollar deals” extend the pocket book, the dollar biscuits, burgers and hash browns are also extending the waistlines and hips!
And stress from burning the time clock both mornings and nights is health challenge number two resulting in everything from acid reflux to insomnia to depression to anxiety disorders.
According to the Yankelovich Monitor, healthy life changes are a hot American Middle Class topic!
What’s hot right now?
Cutting back on salt and eating more fresh vegetables is on the rise…thanks in large part to brands like Mrs. Dash and Burpee Garden Seeds.
And while sex is viewed as a great form of exercise and stress relief, more members of the American Middle Class place value on getting at least 8 hours of sleep vs. having a lively social life.
Having pets is important too!
More Middle Class Americans see walking the dog and playing with the cat as a better balance of on-the-job stress than having a personal trainer and working out at a gym.
Aromatherapy is big with Middle Class women and if you doubt that it is, go visit the nearest Pier 1 Import Store and check out the spring collection of candles, votives and bamboo scent vases.
The quest for home aromatherapy has also given new life to old staid brands like Glade with their PlugIns and votive scents.
And many perceive eating a small piece of chocolate as a healthy life change.
For some…chocolate helps the heart beat better… for others, a small piece is a healthy alternative to eating a full bar!
Not only are Godiva sales up, but chocolate is a hot seller at Target too and CBS Evening News tonight did a feature story on the increase in sales of the big Chocolate brands!
Finally, the stereotype that the Bible goes hand in hand with the mainstream American Middle Class is quickly changing.
Just as many Middle Class Americans relieve stress through meditation as those that relieve stress by reading the Bible.
So what’s the mantra of today?
Close those eyes and repeat after me… “Heeeeeyyy. Letsssss. Journeeyyy with those coooool BrandVenture duuuuddess! 404.248.9378. 404.248.9378. ahhhhhh”
Monday, April 6, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Creative Ways To Extend The Dollar…The Tipping Point Of Innovation!
I know we do it at work and at home, but there’s a rebirth on a version of “multi-tasking” before the term was ever coined.
The newspaper column that I discovered this past week is running in several newspapers across the US.
The column is called PANTRY POWERHOUSES.
And it ain’t about the home-makers who can cook those family dinners in 20 minutes from scratch.
Nope. It’s the new Middle Class American 2010 version of the “Hints From Heloise.”
Here’s the PANTRY POWERHOUSES elevator set-up…
“Some plain, unassuming household objects have hidden superpowers. And most of these items cost less than a couple of bucks..”
That’s the Middle Class American angle…
The 2010 version is captured in…
“These double-duty ideas will help you go green while you save some green.”
Here are some of the examples…
• Keeping brown sugar soft by adding a few marshmallows to the bag before closing it
• Preventing piano keys from turning yellow by cleaning them regularly with mayonnaise
• Removing bumper stickers by rubbing mayonnaise over the entire sticker
• Getting rid of the chlorine green hair with a ketchup shampoo
• Treating poison ivy with instant oatmeal mix
While many of the “Young Pioneers” of the American Middle Class may not fully identify with the term “Pantry”… I would bet that they, along with several of the other American Middle Class groups, have many more ideas to add to the list.
Just think about it.
Many in the business world believe that it’s the upper income folks that are the trendsetters and innovators.
I beg to differ.
More times than not, innovation is fueled by the need to get by and get ahead.
Therein may be what they term as the "hidden superpowers!"
So go Google “PANTRY POWERHOUSES” and check out the amazing things you can do with all that stuff stored in the kitchen and utility room cabinets.
And then come journey with us as we go down to the nearest coffee houses, pubs and lunch cafés and listen to what the folks are talking about doing!
That’s the hotbed of the innovation right now.
Really!
The newspaper column that I discovered this past week is running in several newspapers across the US.
The column is called PANTRY POWERHOUSES.
And it ain’t about the home-makers who can cook those family dinners in 20 minutes from scratch.
Nope. It’s the new Middle Class American 2010 version of the “Hints From Heloise.”
Here’s the PANTRY POWERHOUSES elevator set-up…
“Some plain, unassuming household objects have hidden superpowers. And most of these items cost less than a couple of bucks..”
That’s the Middle Class American angle…
The 2010 version is captured in…
“These double-duty ideas will help you go green while you save some green.”
Here are some of the examples…
• Keeping brown sugar soft by adding a few marshmallows to the bag before closing it
• Preventing piano keys from turning yellow by cleaning them regularly with mayonnaise
• Removing bumper stickers by rubbing mayonnaise over the entire sticker
• Getting rid of the chlorine green hair with a ketchup shampoo
• Treating poison ivy with instant oatmeal mix
While many of the “Young Pioneers” of the American Middle Class may not fully identify with the term “Pantry”… I would bet that they, along with several of the other American Middle Class groups, have many more ideas to add to the list.
Just think about it.
Many in the business world believe that it’s the upper income folks that are the trendsetters and innovators.
I beg to differ.
More times than not, innovation is fueled by the need to get by and get ahead.
Therein may be what they term as the "hidden superpowers!"
So go Google “PANTRY POWERHOUSES” and check out the amazing things you can do with all that stuff stored in the kitchen and utility room cabinets.
And then come journey with us as we go down to the nearest coffee houses, pubs and lunch cafés and listen to what the folks are talking about doing!
That’s the hotbed of the innovation right now.
Really!
Monday, March 9, 2009
The Surge of the American Middle Class Entrepreneur
About 10 miles northeast of our office is a very interesting neighborhood called Chamblee.
Once a bedroom community of the expanding city of Atlanta, today this community is a hot-bed of internationality that spans the spectrum from Hispanic- to Latino- to Chinese- to Korean- to Vietnamese- to Iranian- to Indian- … Americans that is!
It is a group that we term as the “Commuter Mosaic” of the American Middle Class!
There ‘s an international farmer’s market smack dab next to an international mall with an international food court. Then there’s strip center after strip center or retail and service outlets selling everything from electronics to baby clothes.
Outside of a recently built Wal-Mart, there’s limited brand chains in the area. Most of the business is pure entrepreneurial “mom & pop” complete with nephew, uncle and grandparent too!
By the way…nearly all of these places continue to remain in business.
In this week’s edition of Newsweek, there is a great article that showcases America’s first viral restaurant.
That’s not a typo…it’s a true VIRAL restaurant.
Kogi is the name of it and Roy Choi is the power behind it. Roy cooks up Korean tacos that are sold from two roving trucks whose travel routes are posted in real time on Twitter.
As Choi is quoted in the article…”At every stop, it’ll be, like, hundreds of young people and 12 middle-aged copycats in suits asking me where I buy my cabbage.”
His crowds often exceed 600 people guided by their Twitter App on their iPhones.
In fact, his combination “online and on-the-street” advertising program consists of follower-designed T-shirts, an official blog, YouTube videos and Twitter.
As the Newsweek article quotes Choi as saying…”I can cook for 100 people a night in a conventional restaurant or using Twitter, can hit, like, 5,000 people a second.”
His product formula is simple: market produce and unfamiliar proteins prepared for the authenticity-craving, post-racial palate and sold at recession-ready prices ($2-$7).
Choi is aiming to send trucks to San Diego and San Francisco next.
Many of the immigrants coming to the US start out from pure scratch and spend hours working hard to get their business off the ground.
And because many are in the process of learning English, they don’t catch all the gloom and doom of the news media, banks and investment groups nor the cloned MBA-models of academia.
Many “Commuter Mosaics” see the glass as half full and their dream as still possible. They are innovative and re-engineer their pathways to success no matter what hurdles pop up along the way.
There’s a lot to learn from folks like that…
So, Hey…turn off that CNN and Fox News…go Twitter a few friends and Let’s Journey!
Once a bedroom community of the expanding city of Atlanta, today this community is a hot-bed of internationality that spans the spectrum from Hispanic- to Latino- to Chinese- to Korean- to Vietnamese- to Iranian- to Indian- … Americans that is!
It is a group that we term as the “Commuter Mosaic” of the American Middle Class!
There ‘s an international farmer’s market smack dab next to an international mall with an international food court. Then there’s strip center after strip center or retail and service outlets selling everything from electronics to baby clothes.
Outside of a recently built Wal-Mart, there’s limited brand chains in the area. Most of the business is pure entrepreneurial “mom & pop” complete with nephew, uncle and grandparent too!
By the way…nearly all of these places continue to remain in business.
In this week’s edition of Newsweek, there is a great article that showcases America’s first viral restaurant.
That’s not a typo…it’s a true VIRAL restaurant.
Kogi is the name of it and Roy Choi is the power behind it. Roy cooks up Korean tacos that are sold from two roving trucks whose travel routes are posted in real time on Twitter.
As Choi is quoted in the article…”At every stop, it’ll be, like, hundreds of young people and 12 middle-aged copycats in suits asking me where I buy my cabbage.”
His crowds often exceed 600 people guided by their Twitter App on their iPhones.
In fact, his combination “online and on-the-street” advertising program consists of follower-designed T-shirts, an official blog, YouTube videos and Twitter.
As the Newsweek article quotes Choi as saying…”I can cook for 100 people a night in a conventional restaurant or using Twitter, can hit, like, 5,000 people a second.”
His product formula is simple: market produce and unfamiliar proteins prepared for the authenticity-craving, post-racial palate and sold at recession-ready prices ($2-$7).
Choi is aiming to send trucks to San Diego and San Francisco next.
Many of the immigrants coming to the US start out from pure scratch and spend hours working hard to get their business off the ground.
And because many are in the process of learning English, they don’t catch all the gloom and doom of the news media, banks and investment groups nor the cloned MBA-models of academia.
Many “Commuter Mosaics” see the glass as half full and their dream as still possible. They are innovative and re-engineer their pathways to success no matter what hurdles pop up along the way.
There’s a lot to learn from folks like that…
So, Hey…turn off that CNN and Fox News…go Twitter a few friends and Let’s Journey!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Green Gardening Is Going To Be In The Green!
I heard a radio spot over the weekend that was promoting now as the time to start the tomato seeds in the house.
Have you ever started tomato plants from scratch?
If you haven’t, you might want to think about starting this year!
According to Better Homes & Gardens, the family garden is going to be hot this year.
With the economy in the tank and eco-green one of the four platforms of the Obama administration, gardening promises to be a top five cheap form of family entertainment.
According to the radio ad, gardening is not only a green thing to do, but with all the problems with contaminated food at the grocery stores (i.e. the Georgia Peanut Butter issue!), home gardening is one sure way to have safe foods!
The current issue of Better Homes & Gardens talks all about the low costs of getting everything from tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers started right in the home workshop or basement.
While many of the folks who make up the American Middle Class groups “Back Country Villagers” and “AARP Heartlanders” likely got their gardening training through membership in the 4-H Groups (Google it if you don’t know what 4-H is), according to the data released in the Fall 2008 Simmons Survey, it looks like all the other American Middle Class groups are planning to garden more over the next year.
I can hear it already…”what does this mean to me…I don’t market a seed company!”
Well… get that mind a churnin’… pull out those weeds of “so what” and sew those seeds of creativity and imagination!
Maybe your brand becomes the small reward for the plowing, planting, weeding or harvesting…
Maybe your brand can match up with the fresh salad picked from the garden…
Maybe your brand plays the music listened to on the iPod while the family tends to the garden plot…
Or develops a planting guide App…
Or is what soothes the stress of the hands while weeding…
Or links into the Weather Channel’s website targeted by cable zone in relationship to the best potential target group…
Or links into a promotional mailer with the balance statements from the bank…
Or…
It’s gardening this spring and summer…canning in the fall…home cooked goodness for holiday giving…
It's the American Middle Class feeding the family...now how much more cooler can it get!
Are you pumped yet?
If so…Hey! Let’s Journey!
Have you ever started tomato plants from scratch?
If you haven’t, you might want to think about starting this year!
According to Better Homes & Gardens, the family garden is going to be hot this year.
With the economy in the tank and eco-green one of the four platforms of the Obama administration, gardening promises to be a top five cheap form of family entertainment.
According to the radio ad, gardening is not only a green thing to do, but with all the problems with contaminated food at the grocery stores (i.e. the Georgia Peanut Butter issue!), home gardening is one sure way to have safe foods!
The current issue of Better Homes & Gardens talks all about the low costs of getting everything from tomatoes, peppers, squash and cucumbers started right in the home workshop or basement.
While many of the folks who make up the American Middle Class groups “Back Country Villagers” and “AARP Heartlanders” likely got their gardening training through membership in the 4-H Groups (Google it if you don’t know what 4-H is), according to the data released in the Fall 2008 Simmons Survey, it looks like all the other American Middle Class groups are planning to garden more over the next year.
I can hear it already…”what does this mean to me…I don’t market a seed company!”
Well… get that mind a churnin’… pull out those weeds of “so what” and sew those seeds of creativity and imagination!
Maybe your brand becomes the small reward for the plowing, planting, weeding or harvesting…
Maybe your brand can match up with the fresh salad picked from the garden…
Maybe your brand plays the music listened to on the iPod while the family tends to the garden plot…
Or develops a planting guide App…
Or is what soothes the stress of the hands while weeding…
Or links into the Weather Channel’s website targeted by cable zone in relationship to the best potential target group…
Or links into a promotional mailer with the balance statements from the bank…
Or…
It’s gardening this spring and summer…canning in the fall…home cooked goodness for holiday giving…
It's the American Middle Class feeding the family...now how much more cooler can it get!
Are you pumped yet?
If so…Hey! Let’s Journey!
Monday, February 23, 2009
The Hot New American Middle Class Place To Dine!
Over the weekend, a couple of my friends called to ask if I wanted to join them for dinner.
And just now, my parents called to tell me that they were going to grab lunch and try out a new hot spot.
Get this…where my younger friends were going for dinner is the same place where my parents were going to lunch.
Actually… the same kind of place…
Not like they are the first to claim it, my friends are Young Pioneers and my parents are AARP Heartlanders.
Where were they both headed to dine?
The Mall Food Court.
Yep.
What was the draw?
“You can get a super selection for less than $10 including Dairy Queen where you can get great ice cream for dessert.”
When you Google “Mall Food Court Sales 2009,” all the articles are gloom and doom about how mall traffic is down.
Nearly 70 percent of food court retailers surveyed by Nations Restaurant News said that sales would be down in 2009 because of reduced mall customer traffic.
The media loves to report Gloom and Doom.
But…with an ear to the ground and a fresh perspective…there probably is some great opportunity knocking on the door.
The owner of a food court deli and quoted in another article appears to be seeing the same glass half full as we are…
“Compared with luxury goods and other merchandise found in a mall, food remains a relatively inexpensive indulgence…people may not be buying the latest purse from Saks, but they’re more than willing to spend eight, nine…even $10 to eat.”
The American Middle Class is known to be innovative in how they adapt and change with the times.
Can you claim the same with your brand?
And just now, my parents called to tell me that they were going to grab lunch and try out a new hot spot.
Get this…where my younger friends were going for dinner is the same place where my parents were going to lunch.
Actually… the same kind of place…
Not like they are the first to claim it, my friends are Young Pioneers and my parents are AARP Heartlanders.
Where were they both headed to dine?
The Mall Food Court.
Yep.
What was the draw?
“You can get a super selection for less than $10 including Dairy Queen where you can get great ice cream for dessert.”
When you Google “Mall Food Court Sales 2009,” all the articles are gloom and doom about how mall traffic is down.
Nearly 70 percent of food court retailers surveyed by Nations Restaurant News said that sales would be down in 2009 because of reduced mall customer traffic.
The media loves to report Gloom and Doom.
But…with an ear to the ground and a fresh perspective…there probably is some great opportunity knocking on the door.
The owner of a food court deli and quoted in another article appears to be seeing the same glass half full as we are…
“Compared with luxury goods and other merchandise found in a mall, food remains a relatively inexpensive indulgence…people may not be buying the latest purse from Saks, but they’re more than willing to spend eight, nine…even $10 to eat.”
The American Middle Class is known to be innovative in how they adapt and change with the times.
Can you claim the same with your brand?
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
So who says its not cool right now to be Middle Class?
Yes…no question…chocolates are hip and cool…even brands like Godiva!
Chocolate is a far cheaper way to add a hint of luxury than paying $45+ for that FTD bundle of roses.
BUT… Nothing Says Love Like Waffle House.
Really!
That’s a headline out of this morning’s newspaper.
Turns out that last year one of the Waffle Houses out in the burbs of Atlanta ran a Valentine’s Day promotion complete with candle-lit tables and vases of flowers.
As the help says, they were shocked when couples started showing up in droves…some even in coats and ties!
As the article shares…
“The idea originated with Calvin Stokesbary, a division manager for the Norcross-based chain… Each booth got a red and white tablecloth and a candle. White globe lights were covered in red paper to give the place a rosy glow. The jukebox was unplugged and replaced with CDs of gauzy music.”
One of the regulars…a contractor…laughed at the idea when in there with his buddies and figured his wife would think it was a joke. A couple of hours later, his wife called in and made reservations.
As the manager relates…it was a special evening for many…they passed up the eggs and patty melts for bigger, high-ticket items like the steaks.
Talk about a Brand Icon of the American Middle Class!
The promotion proved so successful that this year Waffle House is expanding the promotion to 32 restaurants across the Southeast.
What’s happening here is not a quirk.
It’s part of a culture change that is going to rattle the cage of convention and unleash innovation.
So pick-up that glass of sweet southern tea with some 7Up bubbly and let’s toast Calvin for doing something cool!
Chocolate is a far cheaper way to add a hint of luxury than paying $45+ for that FTD bundle of roses.
BUT… Nothing Says Love Like Waffle House.
Really!
That’s a headline out of this morning’s newspaper.
Turns out that last year one of the Waffle Houses out in the burbs of Atlanta ran a Valentine’s Day promotion complete with candle-lit tables and vases of flowers.
As the help says, they were shocked when couples started showing up in droves…some even in coats and ties!
As the article shares…
“The idea originated with Calvin Stokesbary, a division manager for the Norcross-based chain… Each booth got a red and white tablecloth and a candle. White globe lights were covered in red paper to give the place a rosy glow. The jukebox was unplugged and replaced with CDs of gauzy music.”
One of the regulars…a contractor…laughed at the idea when in there with his buddies and figured his wife would think it was a joke. A couple of hours later, his wife called in and made reservations.
As the manager relates…it was a special evening for many…they passed up the eggs and patty melts for bigger, high-ticket items like the steaks.
Talk about a Brand Icon of the American Middle Class!
The promotion proved so successful that this year Waffle House is expanding the promotion to 32 restaurants across the Southeast.
What’s happening here is not a quirk.
It’s part of a culture change that is going to rattle the cage of convention and unleash innovation.
So pick-up that glass of sweet southern tea with some 7Up bubbly and let’s toast Calvin for doing something cool!
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