How to make your own Humidifyer

Soooo, this is a short little post about my new humidifyer!

Since you guys, here in the USA always crank up your heating on max as soon as its getting white out there, my room got this little Sahara-breeze to it. Burning hot, fucking dry air coming out of my vents 24/7... crazy...

And since waking up in the morning with a dry throat, my tongue sticking to my teeth, and my nose feeling like a dried out piece of desert is not what i consider a wishful state of being, i wanted to change something...

So, after this initial thought, i went off to Walmart to get one of those things...
Totally happy with my new "rainforrest"-machine i came back home plugged it in, put water in, and started it...
and i was totally happy... for about 5 hours... cause then i wanted to go to bed, and figured out that this machine is wayyyy to loud.
OK, going back to Walmart the next week, bringing it back, getting another one that actually says "extra quiet" on it...
huuiiiii, sooo exiting...
but.... it was exacty the same again... machine way to loud. So annoying that i had to turn it off again, at night... which kind of defeats the purpose, since when i wake up, i again, have my dry throat and the taste of desert in my mouth....

after these disappointing events, i went into deep contemplation. i rethought my living situation and how i could get some humidity into my room. and i had it. SALVATION.

I am just going to make my own humidifier.
well, i guess its hard, cause otherwise everybody would do it... or?!?

NO, its sooooo easy :)
i googled a little and found 2 or 3 ways to make your own "humidifyer"...
like this funky sponge-thing here:

from: http://www.bryankimsey.com/humdifier/index.htm

i went a little further, since i got the vent of my heating in my room, i thought i could just put something wet in front of it, to moisturize the air.
and thats what i did.
what i needed:
a bowl
a towel
two pins.
i put the bowl right in front of my vent, pinned the towel to the wall, so that the end of it is still in the bowl, filled the bowl with water.
The towel soaks up the water, and puts it out in the air.
now i got my FREE RAIN FORREST MACHINE!!

thank you Walmart.

My Conclusion for my marketing paper

Conclusion

Based on these theories, there is only one logical order for successfull marketing to be set up. Taking in account the knowledge about how change gets created (see. Barrett), how modern marketing is defined in a holistic value based way (see Kotler), how specification leads to sustainable success,  and how integrity in a company is achieved (see Lederman) it is clear that every marketing strategy has to start with a personal assessment of values, believes and visions. After this is accomplished, the personal values get translated into the company’s vision, mission and core values. Based on this it is necessary to make a decision on what to focus on (product, service, or price) and implement this into the companies DNA, as well as the marketing messages that are sent out.

Steps	Goal	Questions	Exercise
1.    Personal values, believes, vision	Personal values, beliefs and visions direct the energy and attention an individual puts into his surroundings. It colors the perception and is the basis of every decision making process.	What are my personal goals in life? What do I stand for? What is important for me? What are my personal strength and weaknesses?	Imagine it´s your 100st birthday. What 3 things do you want the speaker to talk about?
2.    Companies vision, mission, values	Translate the personal believes into the Vision of the company. Only if these two are in line, the company can be successful, and the individuals working for it will be satisfied and motivated. This is the DNA of the company, guiding every decision.	What is our core business? What do we want to create in this world? What do we want to be known for? What are our vision, mission, values, and goals? What is our mantra?	1.       If your company never existed, the world would be worse off because…? 2.       In 1 short sentence, write the companies mantra. (Kawasaki, p. 8)
3.    Company and Customer segmentation	The companies DNA is now used for decisions regarding the market segmentation, the discipline of leadership aspired   (Operation, Product, Customer)	What do Customers think about our Company? What are the values that our customers care about? Which competitors provide the best value in each of these value dimensions? How do we measure up against our customers on each dimension of value? Why do we fall short of the value leaders in each dimension of value?	Ask a customer: ·         Tell me 3 reasons you like to do business with us. ·         What is the one thing we do that our competition doesn´t? ·         If our company closed tomorrow. What would you miss most? (Ledermann, p45)
4.    Company Branding	Aligning the internal processes with the marketing messages sent out.	Are the Vision, Mission and Goals communicated to all stakeholders (Employees, Customers, Shareholders, etc)? Do employees understand specific goals and objectives? Are they held accountable for achieving them?	Step 1: Write a one-paragraph description of your customers experience when using your product or service. Step2: Call up a customer and have him write a one-paragraph description of using your product or service. Step 3: Compare the two descriptions. (Kawasaki, p. 42)

The first step is of special importance for small companies, start-ups and entrepreneurs, since in many cases the business owner equals the company. Therefore it is especially important that his or her personal values are in line with companies values. The other steps have to be based on individual values in order to have a stable foundation. Companies that are in line with the personal values of their leaders and employees will on the long run be more successful.

Brand Management

As stated earlier, it is of growing importance that companies have integrated strategies to transport their messages to their customers. Not only do they need to state strong values, visions and missions, but these also need to be communicated on all levels of the organization. As we know, most customers do not believe in marketing messages anymore, they rather trust their networks and own experiences. Therefore it is of highest importance for companies to align every level of the company with the strategic value goals of the company. In his book “Achieve Brand Integrity”, Gregg Lederman shows how this goal can be reached in a company. He states that “90 percent of the time, individuals will judge your company by the experience they or someone they know has with your brand and only 10 percent or less by the marketing messages they´ve heard”. (Lederman, p 21) This shows how important it is to not only “say” the strategy, but also “do” it. The goal is that employees, customers, partners, and the market understand, believe, and experience that the company is who it says it is.

The path of achieving brand integrity includes:

·         Who: The desired brand image and work culture leaders and employees want their company to be known for

·         What: The desired business results leaders and employees want to achieve

·         How: The behaviors and experiences leaders and employees should do

As already stated earlier, customers don’t want sameness, so a company shouldn’t give it to them. Powerful differentiation is essential to being noticed, associated with something important, and remembered. The first step to understanding a company’s point of difference is to look at the work culture and the way employees deliver the brand to customers and colleagues. There are three types of branding required to achieve integrity (and differentiation): Communications, Experience, and Culture. Below are some examples of each:

·         Communications: Advertising, coupons and special promotions, Web site, direct mail, public relations, event sponsorships

·         Experience: Engaging advertising, interactive Web site, pre-defined customer service guidelines, trade show events, collection and use of customer satisfaction feedback, consistent process for thanking customers

·         Culture: Integrating branded employee experiences with job descriptions, recruitment practices, hiring, on-boarding, training, and performance assessments and reviews.

Value Discipline Leadership

Value Discipline Leadership

In line with Kotlers values-based approach to marketing, Micheal Treacy and Fred Wiersema in their book “The Discipline of Market Leaders” introduce the idea of three Value Disciplines that a company can focus on. Which of these is chosen by a company depends on the sort of product or service that they provide, and on the organizational culture that they maintain. These three 'Value Disciplines' are summarized in the chart below:

Value Discipline	Basic Philosophy
Operational excellence	Low or lowest price, hassle free service
Product leadership	Offer products that push performance boundaries
Customer intimacy	Delivering what specific customers want

Treacy and Wiersema say that, by focusing primarily on the one key Value Discipline that suits your business best, you can enjoy robust growth and sustained success. You will be able to predict greater profitability, and become a market leader in your domain.

Operational Excellence: They are not product or service innovators, nor do they cultivate 1:1 relationships. However, they do execute extraordinarily well with guaranteed low price and hassle-free service. Operations are standardized, simplified, tightly controlled and centrally planned, leaving few decisions to the discretion of localized rank-and-file employees. Management systems focus on integrated, reliable, high-speed transactions and compliance to norms. Operationally excellent companies have a culture that abhors waste and rewards efficiency. (Treacy, Wiersema, p47-60)

Product Leadership: Offers the best product and continuously innovates. This type of company continually pushes its products into the realm of the unknown, the untried, and/or the highly desirable. It concentrates on offering customers products or services that expand existing performance boundaries. A product leader’s key proposition to its customers is: We have the BEST product - period. These companies bring in new ideas, develop them quickly and then look for ways to improve them. They have a business structure that is loosely knit, ad hoc, and ever changing to adjust to the many entrepreneurial initiatives and redirections that characterize working in unexplored territory. It has management that measures and rewards new product success, and does not punish the experimentation needed to get there. Therefore, it creates a culture that encourages individual imagination, accomplishment, “out of the box” thinking, and a mindset driven by the desire to innovate and create the future. (Treacy, Wiersema, p81-96)

Customer Intimacy: Focuses on specific customer needs, cultivates relationships, satisfies unique needs and has the best solutions. These organizations build strong interdependent relationships with their customers. To do this one must become an expert in the customer’s business/ life and offer desirable solutions/products. The critical objective is to increase share of your client’s business - and to NEVER lose a client (intelligent Loyal Customer management).  A customer-intimate company creates a culture that has its people do whatever it takes to please the customer. It must take the long view by assuring that every initial client transaction leads to a long-term relationship. ( Treacy, Wiersema, p119-137)

To reach leadership in one of these areas, the authors offer a 3 step plan for companies to identify which of the three value disciplines they are in and then should focus on. For this rather difficult process they propose to form a senior management team that works together with outside consultants. However, it can also be done for small companies, to give a general idea of the direction they want to go to. The three phases and the questions for them are:

Phase 1 - Understanding the status quo	Phase 2 - Realistic options	Phase 3 - Detailed designs and hard choices
·         What are the dimensions of value that our customers care about? ·         For each dimension of value, what proportion of customers focus upon it as their primary or dominant decision criterion? ·         Which competitors provide the best value in each of these value dimensions? ·         How do we measure up against our customers on each dimension of value? ·         Why do we fall short of the value leaders in each dimension of value?	·         Irrespective of industry, what are the benchmark standards of value performance that will affect customer's expectations? How do firms achieve these standards? ·         For value leaders, what will be their standards of performance three years from now? ·         How must the operating models of these value leaders be designed to attain those levels of performance?	·         What does the required operating model look like - i.e. what are the design specifications for the core processes, management systems, structure and other elements of the model? ·         How will the model produce superior value? ·         What levels of threshold value will the market require in the other value dimensions? How will these be attained? ·         How large will the potential and captured market be for this value proposition? ·         What is the business case - including costs, benefits and risks - in pursuing this option? ·         What are the critical success factors that can make or break this solution? ·         How will the company make the transition from its current state to this new operating model?

(Treacy, Wiersema, p 165 – 171)

The 3i´s, The Matrix and the 10 Credos

The 3i Model: 

Kotler proposes a triangle of Positioning, Differentiation and Branding as the core of Marketing. Brand Identity is about positioning your brand in the minds of the consumers. The positioning should be unique for your brand to be heard and noticed in the cluttered marketplace. It should also be relevant to the rational needs and wants of the consumers.
Brand Image is about acquiring the consumer’s mind share. Your brand value should appeal to consumer’s emotional needs and wants beyond product functionalities and features.
Brand Integrity is about fulfilling what is claimed through the positioning and brand value through solid differentiation. It is about being credible to your promise and establishing the trust of the consumers to your brand. The target of Brand Integrity is the spirit of the consumers.
It is the main message of this triangle: marketing shall not be regarded as telling lies for selling purposes; instead it should be regarded as keeping the promise to your customers. (Kotler, p. 36)



The "Values-based Matrix"

Kotler also introduces a “Value-based Matrix”. He sees a company’s mission, vision and values as the DNA, where the mission expresses the business you are in, the vision is the picture of the desirable future, and the values are considered the standards of behavior. (Kotler, p40, 41) On the other axis are the hearts, minds and spirits of the current and future customers represented. For a company to be successful, it must practice compassion, proof sustainability and show that it creates a difference in the future. Marketing according to Kotler is about clearly defining your unique identity and strengthening it with authentic integrity to build a strong image. (Kotler, p 169)

10 Credos of Value driven Marketing: (Kotler p 170 – 178)

1. Love your customers, respect your competitors
   Win your customers loyalty by giving them great value and touching their emotions and spirits. Your competitors enlarge the whole market, you can learn from them your own strength and weaknesses
2. Be sensitive to change, be ready to transform
   Business landscape keeps changing, if you are not sensitive to that, your business may become obsolete and eventually die.
3. Guard your name, be clear about who you are
   Brand reputation is everything, people tend to purchase the brand that is stronger in their mind and a company must be clear about its position and differentiation.
4. Customers are diverse; Go first to those who can benefit most from you
   Use segmentation, do not try to address everyone, but make your case clear to those who are most ready to buy and benefit from you
5. Always offer a good package at a fair price
   True marketing is fair marketing. Do not sell anything with poor quality or a too high price.
6. Always make yourself available, spread the good news
   Make it easy for customers to find you. Use of information technology, specially the internet is a “must have”.
7. Get your customers, keep and grow them
   Get to know your customer so you have a complete picture of their wants, needs, preferences and behavior.
8. Whatever your business, it’s a service business
   Whatever your product is, you must have a spirit of wanting to help your customers. Serve your customers sincerely and with empathy to create a positive experience for them.
9. Always refine your business process in terms of quality, cost and delivery
   The task of marketing is to improve quality, cost and delivery. Always meet what you promise to customers, suppliers and channel partners.
10. Gather relevant information, but use wisdom in making your final decision
    We have to continuously learn, learn and learn. Knowledge and experience determine the final decision and the “maturity of spirit and clarity of heart” will enable you to use the wisdom that you inherently have to make the best decision possible.

Marketing 3.0 - from Products to Customers to Human Spirits - part 1

In the next days i will put some parts of my marketing paper on my blog.
The first part of it, is already in my last post about the 4 quadrants of change. Based on this model of change, my suggestion is to beginn marketing on the basis of individual visions, missions and values.
In this post I am talking more about personal visioning and new approaches to marketing.

Personal Vision, Mission and Values

To start the process of a successful company, it is most important to be clear about your personal visions, goals and values. Especially for Start-Ups and entrepreneurs this is the most important step, since the person and the company are virtually the same. Only with strong personal values it is possible to survive in this fast changing economy. Not without reason, Guy Kawasaki dedicates the last chapter of his book “The Art of the Start” to the topic of personal integrity and has praise on the cover saying “Focus on what is real and forget the fluff. And please, read the last chapter first” by Pierre Omidyar, the founder of E-Bay. In his book he describes the Yiddish word “mensch” as a term for a person who is ethical, decent and admirable.
The three foundations of “menschhood” are:

·         Help many people:
a mensch helps people regardless of whether it´s good for this life or the next.

·         Do What´s Right:  A mensch does the right thing –not the easy thing, the money-saving thing, or the I-can-get-away-with-it thing. Right is right, and wrong is wrong.

·         Pay back society: there are many “currencies” with which you can pay back society. Money is only one of them, others include giving time, expertise, emotional support. A mensch pays back for goodness already received – as opposed to pay forward in expectation of return (Kawasaki, p. 211-214)

This is the foundation of business success in these days. Having high personal ethics is the only way to ensure that your company will reflect high ethics in its everyday life. Personal integrity is the only way to ensure that your company will have integrity even when times are hard, and problems are challenging you.
Therefore the first step for every entrepreneur has to be, to get clear about personal goals and values and align the company with these core principles.

New approaches to marketing

Understanding now, how important it is, that every individual is in line with their own personal values and the companies values and believes, I want to give a brief history of marketing, as shown in Philip Kotlers book Marketing 3.0.

As Marketing 1.0, Kotler describes the product centric marketing in the industrial age.  It is about selling basic products for mass markets with the goal of standardizing and up scaling (example: Ford, Model T). Marketing 2.0 is an outcome of the information age. Consumers are well informed, compare products and are very critical. Consumers get segmented and superior products for specific markets get developed. The golden rule is “Customer is King”. Now Marketing 3.0 rises. Instead of treating people simply as customers, marketers approach them as whole human beings with minds, hearts, and spirits. . Customers increasingly want to make the world a better place. They search for companies that address their deepest need for social, economic, and environmental justice in their mission, vision and values. Customers look for functional, emotional and spiritual fulfillment. Companies have bigger mission, vision and values then just serving customers. Marketing 3.0 companies provide answers and hope to increasing poverty, environmental destruction and pandemics and therefore touch consumers on a higher level. (Kotler, p. 3-6)

	Marketing 1.0 Product-centric marketing	Marketing 2.0 Consumer-oriented Marketing	Marketing 3.0 Values-driven Marketing
Objective	Sell products to mass	Satisfy and retain consumers	Make the world a better place
Enabling forces	Industrial Revolution	Information technology	New Wave Technology (connectedness of consumers)
How companies see the market	Mass buyers with physical needs	Smarter Consumers with mind and heart	Whole human with mind, heart and spirit
Key Marketing Concept	Product development	Differentiation	Values
Company marketing guidelines	Product specification	Corporate and product positioning	Corporate mission, vision and values
Value Proposition	Functional	Functional and emotional	Functional, emotional and spiritual
Interaction with customers	One-to-many transaction	One-to-one relationship	Many-to-many collaboration

(Kotler, p. 6)

3 major forces have transformed consumers to be more collaborative, cultural and human spirit-driven. Understanding these, leads to a better understanding of Marketing 3.0:

·         The age of participation

·         The age of globalization paradox

·         The age of creative society

The Age of participation

Since 2000 information technology is in mainstream market and based on that is the rise of “New Wave Technology”, which are technologies that enable connectivity and interactivity of individuals and groups.  3 mayor forces shape these technologies: cheap computers and mobile phones, low-cost internet, open source.
“New Wave technology” allows individuals to express themselves and collaborate with others – people create ideas, entertain them and consume them. One of the leading enablers is social media. There are two broad categories: expressive (blogs, facebook, YouTube, twitter, flickr, etc) and collaborative (Wikipedia, Craigslist, etc). In the new interlinked economy, companies practicing these strategies collaborate with another, with their shareholders, with their partners, employees, consumers and other businesses with similar sets of values and desires.

The age of globalization paradox

Information technology allows for exchange of information through nations, corporations and individuals and transportation technology fosters trade and other exchange in global value chains.  Globalization is full of paradoxes:

1.      While democracy is finding more global roots, the new, nondemocratic superpower China, grows in power. China proves that capitalism does not require democracy.

2.      Globalization calls for integration but does not create equal economies. Many third world countries are worse off than they were.

3.      Globalization creates diverse cultures: tribalism and globalism. It creates universal, global cultures, while also strengthening traditional cultures as a counterbalance.

The age of creative Society

Creative, right-brainers work in sectors such as science, art, and professional services. According to Daniel Pink, creativity is the highest level of social development in human civilization. Even thought the numbers are small, their role in society is increasingly dominant.  Kotler states that:
“Creative people are, in fact, strong believers in the inverted Maslow pyramid. The definition of spirituality as “the valuing of the nonmaterial aspects of life and intimations of an enduring reality” really finds its relevance in creative society. Scientists and artists often abandon material fulfillment in pursuit of self-actualization. They seek beyond what money can buy. They search for meaning, happiness, and spiritual realization. […] Like creative people, companies should think about their self-actualization beyond material objectives. They must understand what they are and why they are in business.” (Kotler, p 19, 20).

For the Future of Marketing, Kotler sees 3 mayor trends that will help companies to regain the trust of consumers that they have lost over the past 60 years. Consumers now gather in their own communities and co-create their own products and experiences. Kotler predicts 3 cornerstones of future marketing that companies must understand in order to be successful: customers increasingly appreciate cocreation, communitization and character.

•  Cocreation: the new ways of creating products and experiences through collaboration by companies, consumers, suppliers and channel partners connected in a network of innovation. Companies need to create platforms, allow users to customize the platform and then incorporate the feedback into the platform. Example: Open source, Nike – design your shoe http://nikeid.nike.com/nikeid/index.jsp
• Communitization: Technology allows for more connection and the concept of communitization is closely related to tribalism as coined by Seth Godin.  Godin argues that consumers want to be connected to other consumers, not to the company. Consumers are either connected to one another (webs), to a leader (hubs) or an idea (pools). They do not exist to serve the business, but the members.
• Character: Companies need to develop an authentic DNA that reflects the brands identity.  When consumers view a brand, they can and will immediately judge whether it is fake or real. Therefore companies need to always be real and deliver experiences that come up to their claim.

4 Quadrants of Change

Based on Ken Wilbers “Four Quadrant Model” (from: Building a values-driven organization – Richard Barret, 2006) , you can see, how every change has to start from the internal change of individuals. (Based on Ken Wilbur. A Brief History of Everything. New York: Shambala, 1996; p. 71.)




The four Quadrants show the 4 different persepectives that one can have on a system:

• Internal, individual—personal values and beliefs (top left quadrant)
• External , individual—personal actions and behaviours (top right quadrant)
• Internal, collective—cultural values and beliefs (the bottom left)
• External, collective—social structures, systems, processes, actions and behaviours (bottom right quadrant). (barret, p 3)

In an organizational setting, the values, beliefs (top left quadrant), and behaviors (top right quadrant) of the leader and the leadership group significantly influence the values and beliefs of the collective (bottom left quadrant), and the behaviors of the collective (bottom right quadrant). In other words, the leaders’ values, beliefs and behaviors significantly influence the culture of the organization. To be even more precise, the culture of an organization is a reflection of the values and beliefs of the present leaders and the institutionalized legacy of the values and beliefs of past leaders as reflected in the structures, systems, processes, policies and procedures of the organization.




Four Conditions must be met, for a whole system to change successfully. These four conditions are:

• Personal alignment: There must be an alignment between the values and beliefs of individuals, and their words, actions and behaviors. This is particularly important for the leadership group. It is important that leaders are authentic and walk their talk.
• Structural alignment: There must be an alignment between the stated values of the organization, and the behaviors of the organization as they are reflected in the structures, systems, processes, policies, incentives and procedures of the organization. It is important that the values are institutionalized.
• Values alignment: There must be an alignment between the personal values of employees and the stated values of the organization. It is important that all employees feel at home in the organization and can bring their whole selves to work.
• Mission alignment: There must be an alignment between sense of motivation and purpose of all employees, and the mission and vision of the organization. It is important that every employee, manager and leader has a clear line of sight between the work they do each day and the mission or vision of the organization, so they know how they make a difference. (Barret, p 105 – 115).

So, Go Out and Change Everything!!!