Sidewalk Life

Selling Less

"Everything is going bigger and more, so we are going smaller and less" says Bodo von Hedenberg about his Berlin bookstore Bildschone Bucher.  It's an extension of his online store 25books.com and its a strategy that seems to be paying off.  Monocle tells the video story. 

Slow Money

Woody Tasch believes he knows why we're in this economic and environmental mess: investing today is too detached from our daily lives. 

“We live in a world of ever-depleting resources. Money is no longer the currency. Air and water and soil are the currencies of our future." 

Slow Money is not just a challenge to the Fast Money expectations of Wall St. and the investor class, but by investing in local, sustainable agriculture, he aims to reconnect people to their money, their food and the earth. 

His Slow Money investment approach promises only modest returns of 4-8%.  But the point is far richer.  It's to change the "cultural, industrial and economic systems that accelerate things like climate change or the mortgage-related debt crisis."  He envisions a new economy built on responsibility, environmental stewardship, and social good.

I don't know if investors will accept lower rates of return.  But I do know that ethics are increasingly important in people's buying decisions and that questions are being asked about the companies they invest with.  

No, Yes

I guess if you're in the business of selling books, teaching half the people to say no and the other half yes, would keep the negotiation section active.

The Underachievers Manifesto

 

Just read this on the subway.  Inspiring (and timely) considering Wall Street's meltdown.   

Dr. Bennett M.D. make the case that mediocrity is the key to happiness.  Here's a few words of wisdom from the book:

Turn it down a notch
 
Lower the bar

Perfect is the enemy of good

In other words... Good enough is good enough.

And finally...

Underachievement isn't about doing nothing.  It's about the right effort, at the right time, in the right place.  And not one bit more.

Deep Economy

Just finished Bill McKibben's latest book.  If you've ever questioned the "growth" doctrine of your clients' business, this book is for you. 

Mark Earls Was Wrong

Last night I went to see Mark Earls talk about his new book, Herd.  That's him there on the left illustrating his point about how people don't make independent decisions, but do things because other people are doing them.  The example is the "Mexican Wave" phenomena at stadium sporting events.

But contrary to his assertion, this morning I exercised my own free will by waking up at 7:00 instead of the regular 5:00 and running by myself instead of with the team.  This is clear evidence that Mark is wrong. 

I'm obviously being sarcastic.  It sounds like a really interesting read and brings up a really good question about why we advertisers have been trying to communicate to individuals when people really make decisions on the basis of what the group is doing.  Somehow that explains our crappy record of influencing mass behavior. 

Excuse me while I go tear up the brief I've been writing now.

The Truth About Denim

"I wish I had invented blue jeans," declared Yves Saint Laurent.  Bill Blass called Levi's "the best single item of apparel ever designed."

In his book, Jeans, A Cultural History of An American Icon, James Sullivan catalogs denim's path to such acclaim.

The book though, is much more than just a history of the people who wore them and the context in which they were worn.  It's central lesson is that the success of denim jeans is more of a cultural phenomenon than a marketing achievement.

Here are a few examples of the cultural influences that turned the most ubiquitous pants into icons…

As far back as 150 years ago, miners and cowboys used them for practical purposes - they needed tough, durable pants for hard labor. 

Factory workers continued to rely on them during the subsequent machine age - building a country and fighting two world wars.  Not only did denim pants become a requisite part of the working class uniform, but more importantly, they had become an important part of working class identity.

In the 1950's, Hollywood glamorized them.  Thanks to astute costume designers who dressed new young talent like Brando, Dean, and even Elvis in jeans for roles that created a new kind of sex symbol - the rebel.  This is where jeans take on mythical status, never turning back.

No longer were jeans solely the pants of the underclass, as teenagers raced out to buy denim in mass to be part of the new ‘teenage’ identity, giving birth to a new ‘casual-wear’ dress code.

For the next two decades jeans would cement their connection with the youth movement and counterculture. 

Beat poets wore them.  Artists like Jackson Pollack and Andy Warhol made a point of wearing jeans.  Kerouac took them "On The Road" illustrating that jeans were no longer just accessories, but could help define a character.   Dylan, Zeppelin, and everyone in between wore jeans turning them into the official uniform of rock 'n roll.

By the late 70’s marketing flexed its muscles and Designer Jeans were born.  But by then, jeans had already taken their place as a cultural icon.

So that raises an interesting question, and for me, is the real value of the book:  What is the role of marketing for denim?

Perhaps marketing should reinforce the role that jeans have played and continue to play in culture, rather than trying to reinvent a new one.  Right now, for example, Levi’s is focusing on the relationship between the person and their jeans, rather than the relationship between culture and denim, which may be a more interesting area to be in.  This book, and the events surrounding denim's rise to fame that it describes, seem to suggest so.