Happy Thanksgiving!

During this time of Thanksgiving we send each of you warm wishes. We count our readers and clients among our blessings during this holiday and always.

Quote of the Day—Each Moment We Decide What We Are Becoming

Those of us who are planners need to be reminded of the truth in this wise insight. It is not tomorrow, but this very moment, that defines me.

Quote of the Day—Change Begins Here

All ideas—about the world, business, ourselves—reside in our minds first. What thoughts do you have today that give rise to creativity, virtue and innovation?

Mayo Clinic Leads the Way with Social Media Marketing

Ed Bennet, author of the Web site Found in Cache: Social Media resources for health care professionals from Ed Bennet, advises health care organizations not to get into social media because you think you’re going to get more patients, but because you’re helping be responsive (not responsible) to people reaching out looking for answers.

The Mayo Clinic, a front-runner for using social media in the health care industry, uses it in a variety of ways:

Facebook:

• Patient questions and comments are monitored and responded to by their experts
• Video contests
• Informational videos on various topics
• Patient testimonies
• Automatic blog posts
• Visit the Mayo Clinic's Facebook Page

Blogs:

• newsblog.mayoclinic.org—Features news updates from the Mayo Clinic
• sharing.mayoclinic.org—Features stories from patients, family, friends, and staff of the Mayo clinic

Twitter:

• Tweets about health tips, news updates and patient stories
• See their Twitter page

YouTube:

• Videos feature physicians, patient stories and news stories
• Visit their YouTube Channel

Color Shift and New Design Directions Characterize 2011 Logo Trends

Like fashion, design trends are dynamic. Logolounge.com lists these trends in their 2011 report on logo trends:

• Soft gradients 

•  Monoline

• Series Logos

• Brown and grey are being seen more frequently as replacements for the neutral black.

• Loopys

For the full report, click here.

Sometimes change is an improvement, and sometimes it's a step backwards. Which of these trends do you think work best?

Corporate Image Must Reflect Reality

It's our business to help other businesses with their corporate image. But our work only builds upon what the company already is. In some cases, a company has more to offer than its customers recognize—and that's when a strategically developed communication plan can really help grow the business. Upon occasion, a company wishes to position itself as something more than it is.

While communication can drive corporate culture, there must be parity between what a company wishes to convey—and what they really are. Successful companies know that they must put sustained effort into both to retain the trust of their clients and sustain a thriving business.

A Dog's Day

This was a busy week at CMBell Company—so busy that I recruited any and all the help I could find. This is Blitz, our resourceful Shitzhu, taking his turn at typing. Or was there a treat on the keyboard?

It was good week, and I'd like to end with a shout out for my staff. I really do have the best team one could hope to work with. They consistently exceed my expectations for creativity, resourcefulness, and thoughtful insights, inspiring me and teaching me in countless ways. Plus they're all just remarkable people—smart, kind, hard-working, honest and willing to tackle anything for our clients. I always say that one of the reasons we run our own business is because we get to pick the best people in the world to work with—and to work for.

So here's to you—Team CMBell. Yeah, and you too, Blitz. OK, you can go back to your rug now.

Quote of the Day—Giving

For the Want of Clean Water

Today is World Water Day. Did you know:

• More than one billion people—around one-sixth of the world's population—do not have access to safe drinking water.
• The average distance that women in Africa and Asia walk to collect water is over three-and-a-half miles.
• The average weight of water that women in Africa and Asia carry on their heads can be as much as to 40 pounds—the equivalent of your airport luggage allowance.

Clean water was one of the causes we supported last year because of the impact it has on lives around the globe.

Whatever charity you feel compelled to support, check it out using an independent charity evaluator like Charity Navigator to ensure that your dollars have maximum impact.

(Source: Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council)

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Need inspiration? Step into your right brain

Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist, suffered a stroke in the left side of her brain and learned what it really means to be a right-brained thinker. She's spent the last eight years recovering her ability to think, walk and talk, and has now become a major advocate for stroke recovery.

From her experiences she hopes she can inspire others to think differently about thinking. "Right here, right now, I can step into the consciousness of my right hemisphere... [where] I am the the life-force power of the 50 trillion beautiful molecular geniuses that make up my form, at one with all that is. Or, I can choose to step into the consciousness of my left hemisphere where I become a single individual, a solid. Separate from the flow, separate from you."

Innovation comes from right-brain thinking. So when lacking inspiration, try stepping out of the structured left-hemisphere of your brain and into the creativity of the right. Selfgrowth.com lists several ways you can tap into the power of right-brain thinking:

• Use your non-dominant hand.  If you are right-handed, trying using your left hand for common activities such as brushing your teeth or combing your hair. 
• Try some brain boosting body moves. Certain body moves are known to balance the brain, such as juggling, walking while swinging opposite arms and legs, and marching on the spot all help to get the left and right side of the brain working together.
• Do some creative planning.  Doodle rather than writing word lists or linear notes. You can daydream, scribble and sketch your way through a problem-solving session and find yourself stress-free and resourceful when you emerge from the other side.

Regardless of what your natural brain lead is, you can develop both sides.

The Power of a Simple Idea

 The challenge for those of us who create advertisements is rarely finding a good promise to make. More often, it’s deciding which one message will be the strongest—and having the discipline to trim out all the other good, but nevertheless diluting, messages.

This ad shows how much more powerful a single, well-executed idea is than an ad that tries to say too much. By focusing on the “forty cents” concept, the message is unmistakably clear and memorable.

Of course, more could be said. But they wisely resisted the urge to give added facts or details that compete with the main message.

Sometimes it’s what you edit out that makes what is left work so well.

Quote of the Day—The Art of Conversation

Reputation or character?

Legendary UCLA Coach Wooden understood how to inspire success in others. His focus on character was foundational to his leadership. As he put it, character is what you are, and reputation is what you are perceived to be. This is true not only of people, but of companies. Although our work as communicators is about building reputation, it is always in adjunct to the organization’s work to be a company of character.

Wooden also believed that how we make the journey is more important than our final destination, and redefines winning by how we conduct ourselves along the way. “You can outscore another team and lose, and you can be outscored by another team and win,” he says in this inspirational interview.

The Power of a Story: Mayo Clinic Documents a Patient’s Journey Through Cancer to Hope

 
In the spirit of an on-going TV reality show, Mayo Clinic chronicles MaryEllen’s journey through cancer in a series of episodes posted on-line. With commentary by MaryEllen, the patient, as well as by her physician, the series gives perspectives from various vantage points. 

As the healthcare industry looks for ways to peel back the curtain on the patient experience, the power of personal stories—told in their own words—resonates with patients and their families.

While this application shows what can be done in healthcare, don’t dismiss its potential for other industries, as well.

The Rhythm of Rest Fuels Your Creativity

World-famous designer Stefan Sagmeister discusses the year-long sabbatical that his New York studio takes every seven years. He thoughtfully distinguishes between a job, a career and a calling, and shows how his time off brings him back to design as a calling. While in Bali for a year, Sagmeister and his team collect enough inspiration and creative to last for the next seven years of work.

Though a year off isn't feasible for most of us, it serves as inspiration, doesn't it? Consider providing a regular rhythm of rest and renewal between periods of work, and see how this impacts your work product—as well as your life.

Quote of the Day—Reason to Live

A New Year's Prayer

We are grateful to you—our clients and our readers—for inspiring us, teaching us, and exploring the world of ideas with us on our blog.

In the spirit of the season, we offer you this New Year's Prayer for a more compassionate world—and our commitment to strive to do our part in making it such.

We wish each of you the joy of the season, and a new year marked by good health, hope and peace for you and yours.

Give a Priceless Gift for Christmas

Sometimes the best gifts can't be wrapped. This season, consider these priceless gifts:

To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.
—Oren Arnold

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Who's to say what's impossible?

“If we worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true really is true, then there would be little hope for advancing.” —Orville Wright

Today we commemorate the first successful flights near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in a heavier-than-air, mechanically propelled airplane that was made by Orville and Wilbur Wright on December 17, 1903. May all your dreams find wings.

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What do your colors say about you?

Do you want to convey power? Innovation? Leadership? Success? Whatever your message, color will contribute to the impression. Color—Messages and Meanings, is a great book from Pantone’s color resource collection that can inform your choices. A lovely little book filled with colors, color combinations, moods, visuals, designs and ideas, it sparks reactions, starts dialogue, and fuels creativity. Get your copy here.