Do the math

In a career of over 4,000 innings pitched, Tom Glavine of the Mets conceded a run every 2 1/2 innings. Today was do our die. In one inning he gave up 7. Game over, season over and maybe career over. It's only a game Tom.

What did you do at the office today?

The CEO of Ford came to talk to us (100 colleagues) on Friday. First question...how did he have the time? If management is the art of simplification and alignment around goals they have found their guy. He is clearly totally committed to the task in hand and you rather get the feeling that if he can't do it then nobody can. The reason why he visited with us was, I think, to get a smell of belief. I hope he did.

Catastrophe

I said the other day that it would take a catastrophe for the Mets to miss the play-offs. Now it will take a miracle to make it.

Slouching towards October

Despite the Mets' best efforts at blowing the National League East Division Title only catastrophe sits between them and the post-season. Not that we should rule out such a catastrophe but here's hoping. The baseball plyoffs feel like something of a lottery to me. Last year St. Louis crept in and won the World Series; this year they are nowhere near even making the playoffs. Perhaps the very fact that a team can dominate a division with a 60/40 win / loss record defines a sport where anything can happen on the day and over a five or seven game series. So the conclusion is we might win it all....or we might not.

What a difference a week makes

The Mets win 3 in a row, the Phillies lose a game, the Jets and Giants win and even Tottenham get to draw (tie) at Bolton. England rugby beat Samoa. Rejoice, Rejoice. All remarkable stuff and dare we wish good portents for the week ahead.

Keeping your head above water

Data is intimidating; every record of every customer, of every transaction. Web sites are intimidating; the fluffy consumer front end all the way to the bowels of commerce at the other. Maybe it's this sense of enormity that drives people to rigid solutions and rules, to templates and formats and a world run by the keepers of the data and stewards of the web site rather than by the marketers who have to get some kind of action out of the consumer.

So perhaps the answer lies in thinking about parcels of data that float above or to the side of the behemoth. Parcels that represent samples that can me stimulated and measured and used as a proxy for the whole thing.

On the web side think of clouds that sit between the traffic drivers of search and online ads and that big 'ole web site; an airlock or safe house in which we can play, get to know and interact with our customers before passing them safely and accurately to their destination. Think of it is a really terrific call center or concierge service that understands what you want and the best way to get it to you.

Ever decreasing circles

This has little to do with anything but share my pain for a moment. I am a sports fan; specifically a fan of the Mets and the Jets, of Tottenham Hotspur, England cricket and rugby. In the last five days the Mets are 0 and 5, the Jets 0 and 2, Tottenham blew a 1-0 lead to go down 1-3 against Arsenal (THE rival), England cricket lost to South Africa and Australia and England rugby was murdered by South Africa. Fortunately I am a fan of Tiger Woods. Always good to have some security in a sub-prime world. Thanks for listenting.

Seismic moments? Update

So it is Andy Berndt from Ogilvy that is heading to Google. An entirely personable and very smart guy. Should be very interesting.

Seismic moments?

So the rumour is that Google has hired a vey high profile ad guy to run what might just be an ad agency inside Google. What does this mean? Well a lot of curiosity and no little trepidation in what used to be Masdison Avenue. There are a lot of people who think their lunch will be eaten by a company that has resources they can only imagine.

Are they right? Sure if they don't adapt. Advertising isn't dead, creativity is still magic and even humble media planning and buying cannot be reduced to an algorithm all the time and every time yet and yet...if we can't fix the production model on the one hand and the data model on the other we will lose share to those that can.

Google has a habit of shaking us awake. We should thank them as well as fear them.

Search and destroy? Redux

It seems the common good is alive and well. Everyone played nicely. We will do a good thing.

Search and destroy?

Off to the mid west. Should be interesting. Trying to persuade three fiercely independent and capable groups that together is better and that the notion of the common good actually exists. The good news is that all the parties are decent. This is unusual in itself. The bad news is that I cannot PROVE that I am right and desperately need them to believe that I am. Too often people try and find structural solutions to behavioral problems but on this occasion I really do think that the answer lies in the organization this time.

Even if this goes well there is a mountain to climb with other folks in the value chain but I think it's probbaly worth it.