Comments for Dark Matter Matters

Comment on College rankings and the dark matter of reputational precision by Robin Deacle (@RobinDeacle)

Robin Deacle (@RobinDeacle) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:25:35 +0000

Two thoughts. One, an observation. It’s another example of how people put on blinders and are just “working with the system” to get something done. When someone takes a step back and shines a little light on the situation, it’s obviously ridiculous.

Two, a solution. What if, instead of numerical rankings, there was a bar, a defined standard. Every school above the bar gives you a good education for your money, kind of like an A sanitation rating for a restaurant. Everyone else, well, buyer beware.

The high cost of college may well take care of this on its own.

Comment on The four questions your brand positioning research must answer by Jan Robert Johnsen

Jan Robert Johnsen — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:05:00 +0000

What we actually started todo is to analyze our competitors (and possible partners – disruptive you know :-) through web, google, social etc. and that gives insight. As always in a startup, time is limited, so we will have our workshop, but not quite yet – since many of our follower is spread around Europe and we need to gather as much data as possible first. Before funding is in place, I think this is well worth the time. We love your book – the process is pretty much what I’ve been doing in my former job, but you have really managed to save me a lot of writing and explaining, so thanks for that!

Comment on The four questions your brand positioning research must answer by Chris Grams

Chris Grams — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 19:50:37 +0000

Hi Jan! Absolutely, if you don’t have many folks to ask yet, you can start by asking yourselves these questions, then as your brand community grows, you can increase the size of the circle you bring into the conversation. In The Ad-Free Brand, I give an example of a project where this “research” work was essentially done on the back of a napkin at a bar. That’s an extreme example, but in a startup situation, you may not have the budget and reach yet to get completely informed answers by doing thousands of dollars of research.

Look at the followup post I mention in the last paragraph for some examples of where you can inexpensively find data to inform your answers, but you may find that if the idea is brand new, many of the answers still live in the heads of you and the startup team. That’s totally OK, just be sure to continue to expand the pool of people you ask and the sources for your research (and continue to iterate on the positioning) as your investment of time and money grows.

Comment on The four questions your brand positioning research must answer by Jan Robert Johnsen

Jan Robert Johnsen — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:24:03 +0000

Hi Chris,
Any tips or experience doing this exercise from the startup of a company that has a disruptive apporach to a defined market? We do have a disruptive product and a grenn philosophy on top, and the few people who’s been introduced to it, has responded very well to the story. But we don’t even have a webpage for now. Should we ask our selves these questions?

Comment on About this Blog by New Kind » College rankings and the dark matter of reputational precision » New Kind

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:33:04 +0000

[...] the data we should be analyzing when making this decision is much harder to see and quantify. The dark matter of institutional brands resists easy measurement and the results of analysis are vastly different [...]

Comment on About this Blog by College rankings and the dark matter of reputational precision « Dark Matter Matters

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:26:31 +0000

[...] HomeThe Ad-Free BrandAd-Free Brand TipsAd-Free Brand IntroductionAd-Free Brand VideosAd-Free Brand ErrataBrand Positioning TipsAbout Chris GramsWhat I’m writingWhat I’m readingAbout this Blog [...]

Comment on BetterMeans: a new app for running your organization the open source way by Google Tech Talk - Daily Online - Daily Online

Google Tech Talk - Daily Online - Daily Online — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:22:45 +0000

[...] darkmattermatters.com/2010/11/08/bettermeans-a-new-app-fo… [...]

Comment on A Nobel Prize winner takes on Jim Collins and the business book industry by Alex Maier

Alex Maier — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:17:58 +0000

I think there is no need to be sad :) Understanding how our brains work, including how sometimes they lead us to see patterns and stories where there are none, and mislead us, can make us smarter about ourselves. What I am trying to say here, Richard Feynman has said better in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSZNsIFID28

Comment on A review of the new Jim Collins book “Great By Choice” by Morethanlipstix

Morethanlipstix — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:43:07 +0000

Try having a client “strongly suggest” that you read the book because they “ordered” their people to read it. I’m not 100% self-employed but working hard and looking forward to the day I am!

Comment on Branding tip: Calling a duck a duck, Bahamas-style by Millicent

Millicent — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 20:27:09 +0000

duck brands are indeed refreshing…one that comes to mind is SafeSun sunscreen that seems never took off, but the brand struck me as promising at the launch party on Shakleford Banks some years ago (well before No Ad).
good read Chris. thanks!