Marketing’s Biggest Challenge

Just came across this article (originally published on August 27, 2003) and it inspired me to want to share it.

It is interesting to me to compare Marketing’s Biggest Challenge, as perceived in August 2003 to today.




AUGUST 27, 2003

KENTON'S CORNER
By Christopher Kenton


Marketing's Biggest Challenge


It's not a matter of jumping on the latest trend. Rather, it's the need to define a role and goals in a world transformed by technology

Some people collect salt shakers, some people collect vintage cars. I collect definitions of marketing terms -- the meanings of words like "marketing" and "brand" -- that I find in books, on the Web, and in conversations with colleagues and clients. I know, it's the kind of hobby that should come with a pocket protector, but it's one of the few ways you can track the evolution of the marketing concept and keep it grounded in a historical perspective. This is something marketing as a profession desperately lacks.

Take, for example, the definition of "brand". You can see important shifts in the meaning of the word, depending on the date and the source. Advertisers often describe brand as being "an image in the mind of the consumer," something to be influenced and manipulated.

Product marketers often talk about brand being "a promise of value to the consumer," something owned and safeguarded by the company. In more recent years, in part due to the rise of interactive media, brand has been increasingly defined as "an experience" and "a relationship" between the company and consumer.

SHIFTING SANDS. The shifting nuances of a word like branding may seem rudderless, subject to the rise and fall of various marketing specialties and mediums, such as the tremendous influence of advertising and television during the boom of mass markets after World War II. But if you follow the trajectory of words like "brand" and "marketing," you can learn a lot about where the concepts have already been, and where they may be headed.

About 100 years ago, marketing meant distribution.

It literally spoke of the process of getting your products to market and into the hands of the consumer. Over the years, as business trends have come and gone, marketing has also been understood to mean promoting, selling, positioning, targeting, branding, innovating, and much more -- as well as as all of these notions at once. It is this fluidity in the meaning of marketing that is both its source of power and its undoing--it can change rapidly to leverage changes in the business environment, but it can also become bogged down in dead-end paradigms that languish for years.

While many books have been written about the history of advertising and PR, I'm not aware of one good book on the history of marketing that has been written since the 1970s, before the modern age of database marketing and the Web. If you look at the way marketing is practiced today, you can see that lack of historical perspective reflected in its weakness for passing fads and gurus. In fact, it's become nearly impossible for many marketers to tell the difference between a fad and the kind of trends that reflect the deeper currents of marketing's evolution. You certainly couldn't take the pulse of marketing by looking at businesses -- the organizations, methodologies and frameworks are as fragmented as if marketing had been invented in the 1990s.

CONFLICTING PERSPECTIVES. This fragmentation is one of the main reasons marketing today faces such a credibility gap, and it highlights an ironic shortcoming of the marketing profession: It's inability to position itself effectively and compete for market share in the boardroom. You might think that marketers who dispense costly strategic advice on how to position businesses and create competitive advantage would be particularly adept at positioning the practice of marketing, locking down its taxonomy, and building the profession's credibility.

Unfortunately the cobbler's children have no shoes. While it's easy to find common ground in principle about the function of marketing, the actual practice of marketing belies a spectrum of beliefs. At either end of the spectrum you'll find two camps, the Big View and the Small View of marketing. The Big View of marketing is what you'll read in marketing textbooks, or what you'll hear from marketing consultants. It's marketing's view of itself as it stares lovingly at its own image reflected on the surface of the pond. In the Big View, marketing should have its hands in almost everything a business does, from establishing corporate strategy to building products and maintaining customer relationships. It's notable that in this view, sales is a subdomain of marketing, one small slice of the strategic customer life cycle.

Unfortunately, the Big View is what marketing should be, not what it has managed to become. If, one day, marketing can take up this mantle, it would be well for business. But the general failure of marketing to hold all of these reins and steer businesses to success supports the Small View of marketing. This is what you'll read in general MBA textbooks, or what you'll hear from most CEOs. It's the rest of the company's view of marketing, as marketing stares lovingly at its own image reflected on the surface of the pond. In the Small View, marketing is little more than lead generation and promotion. It's a general repository for creative types who live inside their emotions and believe in intuition. In this view, marketing is a support function for sales, providing leads -- which are rarely any good-- and support materials, which never include what the customer wants to hear.

RHETORIC AND REALITY. This is the dead-end paradigm in which marketing languishes today, and it's not only bad for marketing, it's bad for business. Amazingly enough, businesses know it. How many times have you heard a senior corporate excutive state that his outfit isn't a sales organization, it's a marketing organization? Sure, it's a marketing organization once a year, when it sets strategic goals to penetrate segmented markets in order to deliver customer satisfaction at a profit. The rest of the year, however, everyone still goes out and pursues whatever sale can be dragged over the doorstep -- even when that sale means the company will be blown off course by making commitments it isn't even remotely organized to fulfill.

You can blame businesses for this, but I lay the blame at the feet of my own profession. This is marketing's fault. This is the fault of a profession that has simply lost its bearings in a world that changed too rapidly. It can no longer provide effective leadership.

How can marketing find its bearings again?

Personally, I'm collecting definitions of marketing terms to get a breadcrumb view of marketing history and see where things might be headed. Here's an overview of what I've found so far.

The history of marketing shows very specific phases of growth, from distribution to merchandising, salesmanship, branding, advertising, database marketing, one-to-one marketing, and now, electronic marketing. There are a few clues in this history to the bigger pattern.

First, marketing has always had a symbiotic relationship with technology. From the early days when getting your product to market required new forms of transportation, to radio, television, databases and networks, marketing and technology have always worked hand in glove.

Second, the effect of this relationship between marketing and technology has been the steady reduction of the distance between the company and the consumer. In the early days, the company and customer might never cross paths, except by way of a physical product.

Today, customers can increasingly buy products, obtain support, and interact directly with the manufacturer.

THE CHALLENGES

If you look at these two trends together, it says a lot about where marketing is coming up short today. Marketing and technology are natural allies, but while technology is in a phase of rapid acceleration, marketing is lagging behind.

While some marketers have made effective use of new technology, far too many marketers are still just figuring out how to browse the Internet. There are many areas where they should be working together to reduce the distance between company and consumer, including the continuing evolution and deployment of effective customer-relations-management (CRM) tools -- an area still solidly in the hands of IT alone, just like a piece of software.

As the economy slowly stirs back to life, businesses need to examine their own definition of marketing. We need to understand the notion of profit as central to the meaning of marketing, and therefore demand greater accountability.

We must understand the historical dependence of marketing on technology and, therefore, demand closer ties between marketing and technology teams.

We need to understand that the tightening relationship between businesses and consumers is integral to success, and therefore demand a greater emphasis on customer experience as a core marketing function.

Most of all, we need to understand that marketing plays a critical role in the success of every business. When marketing doesn't measure up, simply limiting its charter doesn't solve the problem if the very definition of the concept is weak.


Christopher Kenton is president of the marketing agency Cymbic and a director of Touchpoint Metrics. He can be reached at ckenton@cymbic.com

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— RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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• Over 99% of all chemical reactions in the cell are facilitated by water.

HISTORY OF DR. LEE LORENZEN

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Got Hydration?

Eight (8) glasses of water a day may not be enough

Question:

Why is it so important and how much should I drink each day?

Answer:

Your body needs water to burn fat - to complete all of the chemical processes necessary to turn your fat into ATP (adenine triphosphate). Simply put, ATP is your body's gasoline.

Research suggests you should be drinking at least half your body wight in ounces of water a day. Remember, 60 to 70% of your body weight is water. If you weigh 180 pounds, then you should be drinking 90 ounces of water a day.

Keep water with you all day long - in the car, in your purse, in your gym bag, at your desk. It's very important to stay hydrated. Unintentional dehydration can lead to chronic pain and disease. When your body is dehydrated, it will scavenge water from your vital organs. Each dehydrated organ causes a side effect or symptom that you then experience.

Proper hydration can help lessen many problems including: constipation, heartburn, stomach ulcers, arthritis, headaches, low back pain, neck pain, fatigue, asthma, gastrointestinal upset, acne or skin rashes, sciatica and allergies.

Next time you go to grab a coffee, diet soda or any other kind of drink, think twice and make sure you have had half your body weight in ounces of water.

Water is truly the fountain of life and longevity.

Boy Scouts Broadens Appeal

Organization increases membership in urban neighborhoods

Scouting has to be more than just camping and good citizenship.

The Boy Scouts of America ‘s 2005 membership for Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts is 2.7 million Scouts.

To boost their numbers, the Scouts revived a policy this year requiring all first-class Boy Scouts to invite other boys to join up. To broaden their appeal, the organization also is reaching out to ethnic groups and urban neighborhoods. Last year, it began printing the Cub Scout manual in Spanish.

"No matter where you are, there's a need for Boy Scouts."

Scouting officials say political battles over gays and atheists aren't driving away members as much as the shifting culture. A more diverse population means some communities are unfamiliar with the program imported from England nearly a century ago.

In addition, today's Scouts must compete against ever-increasing youth programs for kids' time. The Girl Scouts say similar factors, along with population fluctuations, are behind their sagging numbers: from 3.2 million worldwide in 1970 to 2.7 million today.

Scoutreach, a program that targets kids in urban and rural communities, often waives membership fees and makes uniforms optional. Boys can skip meetings early if their parents need to pick them up or they just don't like the day's activity, like learning to sew badges.

Even if these boys don't plan to climb to the top rank of Eagle Scout, they'll still get some benefits of Scouting, officials say.

Boy Scouts needs to be flexible, but remain true to the core values.

The payoffs, he said, come in moments like watching the boys sit around a bonfire and toast marshmallows during camping trips, some for the first time ever. The boys relish the outdoor adventures.

Scouting teaches character development and teamwork.

Biometrics

What is Biometrics?

Biometrics is the measurement and matching of biological characteristics such as finger images, hand geometry, facial recognition, etc.

Why is biometric security better than passwords?

Biometrics offers significant improvements in security over passwords. In fact, combining passwords with biometrics or combining biometrics (e.g. two finger images) improves security even further. A finger image cannot be found under the keyboard or in a desk drawer, where passwords are often kept. No one can look over your shoulder and observe you typing your finger image. Equally important, finger images are easier to use than passwords; you can’t forget them or lose them, and they don’t have to be changed every thirty or ninety days. Password maintenance can have a significant negative impact on a company’s productivity, and remains a growing problem with continued password proliferation
.




Technology

A biometric is a measure of a physical or behavioral trait that's unique to one person. Most authentication methods rely on "something you know" factors, like a password, or "something you have" factors, like a token or access card. The problem is, any one of those factors can be lost, stolen, counterfeited or forgotten. Biometric measures, on the other hand, are almost impossible to duplicate because they identify "something you are".

Our identity management solution relies on behavioral biometrics to quickly and accurately identify individuals as they engage in their normal routines. The technology quickly, accurately, and undetectably confirms identity of individuals attempting to use computing resources.

The human brain permits us to effortlessly identify and classify people based on a combination of sensory and behavioral cues. This ability it is one of our most basic and important skills that we possess.

Everyday, our brain uses a set of rules and conditions to perform a highly evolved form of biometric discrimination. For instance, when talking to someone on a telephone that you have not met previously, what clues to their identity can you gain from just their speech alone?

Based on frequency, cadence, tone, rhythm, pitch, inflection, and accent, you can generally tell:

• The gender of the person
• If they are young or old
• If they have an accent, and depending on your familiarity with the accent, might reveal where they are from with a high degree of specificity
• Emotional state, i.e. happy, excited, sad, or angry

NeoKinetics develops technology to digitally identify and classify unique behaviors that people exhibit in a digital environment. Our technologies enable our clients to deploy systems that use our identification and classification methodologies to:

• Verify identity
• Identify and classify groups
• Identify and assess behavior

Our technologies are passive, where observed behavior is recorded, measured and evaluated using rules based on historical precedence in conjunction with systems security requirements. Our technology is completely undetectable by individuals that use the systems on which our technology is deployed resulting in increased acceptance and access.

A Principled Strategy for a Balanced and Practical Response

My Definitions

Principled: The basis upon which others can determine a basis for truth, clarity and integrity.

Strategy: The plan for achieving success in defined goals and objectives.

Balanced: It’s a ‘Win-Win-Win’ situation; that is, everyone in the deal wins – the investors, the customers and the company.

Practical: Does the product or service serve a real need.

Response: What is put ‘out there’ for others to respond to.

Marketing is Storytelling

All marketers are storytellers because every product or service needs a story. Without a story, why would anyone be interested in the product or service? Marketers tell stories because investors and consumers insist on it. The facts are irrelevant. What matters is what the consumer believes.

Consumers buy what they want, not what they need. Needs are practical and objective, wants are irrational and subjective.

Truly great stories succeed because they are true, make a promise, can be trusted and agree with what we already believe.

My Bottom Line

I believe in incorporating principles, balance and practicality in every strategic positioning campaign to inspire a response that makes it work for everyone.

The Retrograde is Over Today!

On March 2, 2006, Mercury, the cosmic magician, turns retrograde in Pisces, the sign of the Fishes, sending communications, travel, appointments, mail and the www into a general snarlup! This awkward period begins a few days before the actual turning point (as Mercury slows) and lasts for three weeks or so, until March 25, when the Winged Messenger reaches his direct station. At this time he halts and begins his return to direct motion through the zodiac.

Everything finally straightens out on April 14, 2006, as he passes the point where he first turned retrograde. Mercury turns retrograde three times a year, as a rule, but the effects of each period differ, according to the sign in which it happens (see box for Retrograde Periods in 2006).

A planet is described as retrograde when it appears to be moving backwards through the zodiac. This traditional concept arises in the illusory planetary motion created by the orbital rotation of the earth, with relation to other planets in our solar system. Planets are never actually retrograde or stationary, they just seem that way, due to this optical illusion.

Retrograde periods, although often problematic for us earthlings, are not particularly uncommon. Each planet retrogrades, except the Sun and Moon.

Fated Events

As a rule, retrograde planets presage a period of seemingly inevitable or fated events, which relate to their sphere of influence. They present us with a series of events over which we seem to have little or no control, relating especially to the sign in which the retrogradation occurs. For example, Mercury retrograde in Virgo presents quite different sets of circumstances from those generated when it retrogrades into Leo.

A retrograde period is best seen as a cycle, beginning when the planet begins to slow to a halt before travelling backwards through the zodiac and ending when the planet returns to the point where it first paused. However, during the cycle, the planet's energy is most powerful (and more likely to generate critical events of universal importance) when the planet makes a station, appearing motionless in the sky.

These stationary periods occur near the beginning of the cycle (when the planet first halts as it prepares to move backwards) and midway through the cycle when the retrograde planet slows to a stop before moving forward again. The "direct station" (when the planet halts before moving forward again) is the most powerful and can be used for maximum benefit.

Some astrologers consider that the "Mercury Shadow" begins some three weeks before the actual retro station (when Mercury passes the point of direct station for the first time), but I am more inclined to think that the really noticeable peculiarities begin when Mercury slows significantly, a few days before the retro station. This period of "Mercury Shadow" extends to the Return date, some three weeks after the direct station. Bear this in mind, because experience shows that the effects of the retro period are still marked during the "shadow" phase.

What does Mercury affect?

In general, Mercury rules thinking and perception, processing and disseminating information and all means of communication, commerce and transportation. By extension, Mercury rules people who work in these areas, especially people who work with their minds or their wits: writers and orators, commentators and critics, gossips and spin doctors, tricksters and thieves.

Mercury retrograde gives rise to personal misunderstandings; flawed, disrupted, or delayed communications, negotiations and trade; glitches and breakdowns with phones, computers, cars, buses, and trains. And all of these problems usually arise because some crucial piece of information, or component, has gone astray, or awry.

It is therefore not wise to make important decisions while Mercury is retrograde, since it is very likely that these decisions will be clouded by misinformation, poor communication and careless thinking. Mercury is all about mental clarity and the power of the mind, so when Mercury is retrograde, these intellectual characteristics tend to be less acute than usual, as the critical faculties are dimmed.

The Key Issue

The key issue here is one of focus. Mercury's retro phase tends to bring unforeseen changes and blockages, but the aggravation and frustration that many of us experience during these periods is often due to our own inability to roll with the punches. Is this due to our ego-fixation?

Mercury sets out to restructure our thinking processes and for many of us this is painful and frustrating. Moreover, these experiences reveal flaws in our internal organization as well as our external planning, which can make us feel foolish and inadequate.

Mercury retrograde, like any cosmic aspect, affects people differently, depending on where it hits their personal charts. Some people actually prosper under a retro Mercury, especially if Mercury is retrograde but otherwise well-aspected in their birth charts. It is also a time when matters begun under a previous retro period will come to fruition, or completion as the case may be. Firm decisions that have been previously made when Mercury is travelling normally through the zodiac may be implemented or finalised while Mercury is retrograde without too much worry, for experience shows that this can be done without undue problems arising.

Mercury Retrograde in Pisces

When Mercury is retrograde, everyone's thinking is more introspective and we tend to think about issues and concerns which relate to the sign involved. With Mercury retrograde in Pisces, people with this sign prominent in their charts will be especially prone to such introspection. There is little choice but to reconsider our personal views and opinions about life. There is, however, an opportunity to gain insight into our own ego.

Mercury retro in Pisces, the sign of his fall, creates mental and emotional confusion, with strange dreams and sometimes psychic experiences. Mental processes being entwined with emotions, we find it hard to separate ideas and opinions from passion and idealism. Our mental orientation can be unstable, unrealistic and overly-spiritual, but it also inclines to laziness and increases the urge to consume alcohol. Nervousness and stress, even unfounded fears and paranoia are stimulated, especially from working or living in a hostile environment. Maintain privacy and dignity in the working environment and don't try to read between the lines, when there is really nothing to find.

As Mercury turns in stressful square aspect to Pluto in Sagittarius, people tend to become too intense or place too much importance on relatively innocuous ideas or pieces of information, and the likelihood is that the intelligence will be confused or misleading, especially if concerned with foreigners, faraway places, or religious matters. Don't waste time looking for hidden motives in what others are doing, when their actions may be perfectly innocent. Others take your ideas or actions far more seriously than you had intended. Valuable time can be lost, or you can jeopardize a position of personal power if you manipulate a situation, or the information and ideas you get from others, to your unfair advantage. Maintain a patient, reasonable attitude and take rumors with a dose of salts.

All areas of communication are affected, especially in any cultural pursuits, overseas matters or anything to do with travel, religion, academic pursuits, trading partners, adventurers and foreigners in general. This period brings travel snafus and missed appointments of all kinds. Documents can go astray. Be sure to carry a diary and refer to it often.

Go The Distance

What does ‘Go The Distance’ mean?

To me, it means doing everything you need to do and can do and then waiting until the time is right to proceed to the next level of activity.

In the movie ‘Field of Dreams’ – which I have watched over 24 times – there were four messages for me:

(1) Build IT and They will come.
(2) Ease Their Pain
(3) Go The Distance
(4) Detachment

Simply, ‘Go The Distance’ starts with the building process and defining what you are building for those persons that will become your customers; that is, users of what you are building. IT is a process and takes time, energy and dollars to build. By answering questions before they are asked (the essence of (2) above) people will get involved and help you build IT. Sometimes, things happen quicker than anticipated or projected and othertimes not. That is the essence of ‘Go The Distance’ ... waiting for the right time.

Detachment means that even after you build IT, They come, you ‘Go The Distance’, it isn’t yours. You must detach yourself from what you want your customers to do from helping your customers get the most out of what you have built for them.

Going The Distance can be stressful

IT isn’t done until IT is done. That’s the bottom line: We must ‘Go The Distance’ to get to the finish line and that can be stressful because most of the time, there’s nothing more we can do but wait and see.

Collective Intellect, Experience and Service

Head the term ‘Collective Brain Trust’ on the radio and wrote it down. When I Googled it, came across an interesting company called Collective Technologies, a recognized leader in providing enterprise-class IT services and solutions to large and mid-size companies worldwide.




http://www.colltech.com/

Collective Intellect

– The Power of Many Minds

Total collaboration is at the heart of our culture. From our recruiting process to our compensation, knowledge sharing is emphasized and expected. We know it’s a dramatic shift from the industry norm, but it’s why we exist – to bring together the best minds in our industry and apply their combined talents to your critical IT issues.

We call this brain trust the Collective Intellect, and each member of our team participates in and benefits from it. Every Collective consultant has immediate access to the knowledge, resources and assistance of our entire team. If a problem requires input from a world-class expert in a particular technology, they are immediately available to virtually collaborate and quickly resolve even the most challenging problems. The result is a highly evolved approach to collaborative problem-solving that leverages the experience and intellectual power of our entire team.

Collective Experience

– The Best of the Best

We start with a recruiting and selection process that has been praised as the best in our industry. We screen thousands and thousands of candidates each year to find the handful that have the expertise, drive and personality to be contributors to our team. Collective consultants are carefully chosen from the very top of their field. Most hold multiple vendor certifications in the latest technologies. And with a corporate culture that stresses collaboration and professional development, we retain our consultants at a rate far above the industry average. It’s no wonder that Collective thrives at the intersection of today’s complex technologies.

Collective Service

– Above and Beyond

We hire not only the smartest but also the most dedicated people we can find. We live and breathe service at Collective. It’s a vital part of our entire culture and tradition. We know that our success is based on our commitment to build trusted relationships with all our customers and partners.

For a glimpse of what Collective service really means to our customers, read our Above and Beyond testimonials

The Impact of the World Wide Web On Society

How Web Technology Has Changed Our Lives

What Is It?

The World Wide Web, in a very basic definition:

• "The World Wide Web ("WWW", or simply "Web") is an information space in which the items of interest, referred to as resources, are identified by global identifiers called Uniform Resource Identifiers (URI). It is often confused as being analagous to the entire Internet, whereas in fact it is a major subset of it.
• The purpose of the WWW is to allow users to view or make use of more than just text" (Wikipedia.)

The Web Community

The Web, officially launched as an offshoot of the Internet in 1989, has not been around that long. However, it’s become a huge part of many people’s lives; enabling them to communicate, work, and play in a global context.

The Web is all about relationships and has made these relationships possible between individuals, groups, and communities where they wouldn’t have been otherwise.

The Web is a community without borders, limits, or even rules; and has become a true world of its own.

The Original Intention of the Web

The Web is a giant experiment, a global theory, that has amazingly enough worked pretty well. Its history illustrates the ways that technological advancement and innovation can move along unintended paths.

Originally, the Web and the Internet were created to be part of a military strategy, and not meant for private use. However, as in many experiments, theories, and plans, this didn’t actually happen.

Human Fingerprints on the Web

The Web is a structure created by humans, and we find out about the world by surfing sites, checking email, instant-messaging and bulletin boards.

The guidelines of the Web are fluid. We never know what we’re going to find. The Web, created by humans with human biases and human failings, is a technologically neutral tool, but each pixel on this network is infused with as much human bias and personality as humanly possible.

The Web = Communication

More than any technical definition, the Web is a way that people communicate.

The Internet, which is what the Web is laid down upon, started in the 1950’s as an experiment by the Department of Defense. They wanted to come up with something that would enable secure communications between various military units. However, once this technology was out, there was no stopping it. Universities such as Harvard and Berkeley caught wind of this revolutionary technology and made important modifications to it, such as addressing the individual computers from which communications originated (otherwise known as IP addressing).

Snail Mail versus Email

More than anything else, the Internet made people realize that communicating just by phone or mail was going to be a dinosaur. The possibilities of world-wide communication were mind-boggling to people then.

Nowadays, we think nothing of emailing (and getting an answer back within minutes), or seeing the latest streaming video full of up to the minute news. The Internet and the Web have revolutionized the way we communicate; not only with individuals, but with the world as well.

How Has The Web Become So Popular

Could you imagine your life without using the Web - no email, no access to breaking news, no up to the minute weather reports, no way to shop online, etc.? Probably you can't.

We have grown to be dependent on this technology - it has transformed the way that we conduct out lives. Try to go one day without using the Web in some fashion-you'll probably be surprised at how much you depend on it.

The ‘Always Growing, Always Evolving’ Web

The Web can’t actually be tracked down, you can’t point at it and say “there it is!”

The Web is a continual, ongoing process. It never has stopped replicating itself or progressing since the day it began, and it probably will keep evolving as long as people are around to keep developing it.

It’s made up of personal relationships, business partnerships and global associations. If the Web didn’t have these interpersonal relationships, it wouldn’t exist.

Globalization and Convergence

globalization
Definition: Name for the process of increasing the connectivity and interdependence of the world's markets and businesses.

convergence
Definition: The coming together of two or more disparate disciplines or technologies. For example, the so-called fax revolution was produced by a convergence of telecommunications technology, optical scanning technology, and printing technology.

Just read an article in the LA Times titled ‘Coping with Globalization’. Following are highlights of this emerging phenomena.

Globalization: Technological advances, liberalization of markets and the entry of low-cost competition.

The 5-year research program involved talking to 500 companies around the world to discover what specific approaches they were taking to meet today’s challenges.

What does globalization mean in practice? CONVERGENCE.

The challenge of globalization leads to reorganization and relocation.

We used to worry about products being “Made in America”, but with the “modularity” of modern business we will see “Made All Over.” It’s the combination of modularity and the break-up of the production system, together with the opening of the international economy that delivers globalization.

The challenge is “creating your own competitor.”

Women Working It Out

On Wednesday, March 15, 2006 the New York Times ran an article titled ‘Working It Out’ about women and business careers.

Of the 1.33 women graduating from college for every man, they do not “opt out” by getting married but rather “have it all” as 58% were never out of the job market for more than 6 months total in the 15 years following graduation.

Following are the selected statistics that I thought were interesting:

* 95% of women who graduated from an Ivy League school will never learn to play the harp.

* 15% of women who major in earth sciences will produce 4.2 fewer children while marrying 1.6% of the world’s carpenters than those who marry real estate developers.

* 91% of women with graduate degrees in biochemical engineering do not hold second jobs as cocktail waitresses.

* 81% of graphic designers who marry illustrators own 2.8 dogs that take 4.6 baths every 9.2 days.

* 38% of women who are not married by the time they are 64 are more likely to have chin implants before they are 71 than the 1.8% of women who earned a joint degree in medicine and denistry.

* 22% of women who read statistics about women are 48% more likely to be chronically depressed and are 1.5 times more likely to watch 8.2 hours of television.

World Day for Water

March 22, 2006

Theme: Water and Culture

World Water Day (WWD) 2006 will be guided by the theme 'Water and Culture' under the leadership of UNESCO.
The UN body designated to coordinate activities is:




United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Division of Water Sciences
1 rue Miollis
75732 Paris CEDEX 15
France
E-mail: wwd2006@unesco.org
Website: World Water Day 2006

About World Day for Water

The United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/47/193 of 22 December 1992 by which 22 March of each year was declared World Day for Water, to be observed starting in 1993, in conformity with the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) contained in Chapter 18 (Fresh Water Resources) of Agenda 21.

States were invited to devote the Day, as appropriate in the national context, to concrete activities such as the promotion of public awareness through the publication and diffusion of documentaries and the organization of conferences, round tables, seminars and expositions related to the conservation and development of water resources and the implementation of the recommendations of Agenda 21.

Innovation and Positioning

This week, Google, Microsoft and IBM announced plans to ‘Spend Big’ on innovation and positioning.

Google Increasing Innovation Spending in 2006

Google has said in a statement that they would be spending a lot more than usual to continue innovating in the market where they face serious competition from big players like Microsoft and Yahoo! This means that their revenue growth will continue to decline amid increasing competition. Google also notified this in its annual form filed late Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Our investments in property and equipment, including information technology infrastructure and land and buildings, will likely be significantly greater in 2006 compared to 2005.”

In 2005 Google spent $838.2 million dollars on capital expenditure compared to just around $319 million in 2004. They also added that their primary revenue source (online advertisement) faces increasing competition from the traditional sources of advertisements like on television and print media.
Posted 3/17/06 - http://www.searchenginejournal.com

Microsoft Plans Marketing Push on IBM

- (Highlights from news articles in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and USA Today.)

Microsoft announced a $678 million marketing initiative aimed at competing with IBM for corporate spending on information technology.

The $678 million is the largest business-oriented marketing campaign ever for the company. By comparison, Microsoft spent $270 million on a four-month marketing campaign when Windows XP was launched in 2001.

Up to three-quarters of Microsoft’s $54 billion of annual revenue comes from business customers. IBM had $123 billion in revenue last year, mainly from business customers.

The campaigns reflect the challlenge both companies face in convincing their most important customers to continue buying their products and services.

Microsoft’s marketing drive and its strategic assault on IBM comes as it prepares to roll out a series of new products in the second half of this year. The company is positioning the new desktop offerings as a kind of dashboard for managing businesses, especially when linked to other new Microsoft programs for worker communications and collaboration, searching company databases, business intelligence and customer relationship management.

St. Patrick’s Day

The History of the Holiday

The First Parade

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, his religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for thousands of years.

On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink, and feast—on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.







The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place not in Ireland, but in the United States. Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City on March 17, 1762. Along with their music, the parade helped the soldiers to reconnect with their Irish roots, as well as fellow Irishmen serving in the English army.

Over the next thirty-five years, Irish patriotism among American immigrants flourished, prompting the rise of so-called "Irish Aid" societies, like the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick and the Hibernian Society. Each group would hold annual parades featuring bagpipes (which actually first became popular in the Scottish and British armies) and drums.

No Irish Need Apply

Up until the mid-nineteenth century, most Irish immigrants in America were members of the Protestant middle class. When the Great Potato Famine hit Ireland in 1845, close to a million poor, uneducated, Catholic Irish began to pour into America to escape starvation. Despised for their religious beliefs and funny accents by the American Protestant majority, the immigrants had trouble finding even menial jobs. When Irish Americans in the country 's cities took to the streets on St. Patrick's Day to celebrate their heritage, newspapers portrayed them in cartoons as drunk, violent monkeys.

However, the Irish soon began to realize that their great numbers endowed them with a political power that had yet to be exploited. They started to organize, and their voting block, known as the "green machine," became an important swing vote for political hopefuls. Suddenly, annual St. Patrick's Day parades became a show of strength for Irish Americans, as well as a must-attend event for a slew of political candidates. In 1948, President Truman attended New York City 's St. Patrick's Day parade, a proud moment for the many Irish whose ancestors had to fight stereotypes and racial prejudice to find acceptance in America.

Wearing of the Green Goes Global

Today, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by people of all backgrounds in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Although North America is home to the largest productions, St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated in other locations far from Ireland, including Japan, Singapore, and Russia.

In modern-day Ireland, St. Patrick's Day has traditionally been a religious occasion. In fact, up until the 1970s, Irish laws mandated that pubs be closed on March 17. Beginning in 1995, however, the Irish government began a national campaign to use St. Patrick's Day as an opportunity to drive tourism and showcase Ireland to the rest of the world. Last year, close to one million people took part in Ireland 's St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin, a multi-day celebration featuring parades, concerts, outdoor theater productions, and fireworks shows.

Health is the Future of Food & Beverage

Wellness is the key trend

The trend towards health cannot be doubted and health – or wellness – is becoming the new standard for the food industry.

Foods and beverages with health benefits can no longer be viewed as some special separate category – every product must have some positive nutritional values.

Wellness is the key trend and every company must have a clear view of how “wellness” is going to impact its products and how it will do business in a world in which wellness is the norm.

All Foods are fast Becoming Functional

Marketing the intrinsic healthfulness of the foods your company already produces. The role of the food industry in improving the health of society – and specifically its role in contributing to, and helping to remedy, the epidemic of obesity and other diet-related diseases – is the subject of stormy debate.

Individualized Nutrition

BASF, one of the world’s leading ingredient companies, and Fonterra, one of the world’s biggest dairy groups, were to jointly fund a multi-million dollar research program, called POSIFoods (Point Of Sale Individualised Foods) to create a system that will allow customers to choose a snack that meets particular health needs such as low-fat for calorie management, low cholesterol for heart-health, high calcium for osteoporosis, or low in sugars for diabetics.

In recent years, the trend to individual consumption has helped drive the rapid growth of nutritional bars and beverages. If you look at where the big growth in nutritional products has been over the last few years it’s in bars and single-serve beverages – products consumed by individuals who are on-the-go, in a hurry, and most often eating alone.

Asia for inspiration and health leadership

It’s worth reminding ourselves that the origins of many of the most successful functional brands and functional product concepts lay in Asia, and in particular Japan. Probiotic dairy drinks, energy drinks, enhanced waters – these have all been long established in Asia.

Red Bull, for example, was on the market in Thailand for many years before an Austrian company licensed the concept. And soy may seem like a high-growth wonder-food in the west but it has for centuries been part of the Asian diet.

The Kids Nutrition Crisis

The issue of what products the food and beverage industries market to children – and how they are marketed – has risen up the agenda of industry, parents and governments alike over the past two years and there’s every sign that the debate around the subject will intensify and the pressure to produce healthier options will only increase.

***********

The Centre for Food & Health Studies, an international organization based in the UK that provides research, analysis and forecasting of the global nutrition business.

Copies of the Ten Key Trends for the Functional Food Industry are available for a fee. For more information visit http://www.new-nutrition.com/ or email julian.mellentin@new-nutrition.com or call +44 (0) 207 533 6595.

Boy Scout Honor

Read an article in the LA Times this morning titled ‘Scout’s dishonor’ and it inspired me to write today’s blog.

For over 11 years, our family has been actively involved in the Boy Scout program. Our son is an Eagle Scout. We are proud of him for what he has learned and what he has accomplished in his 19 years.

There are two issues that keep being raised about the Boy Scouts:

(1) Gays are not allowed to participate.
(2) Everyone must believe in God.

It is true that the Boy Scouts have established guidelines for (1) and (2) above. Personally, I have never been part of or know anyone in active Scouting that has actively been involved in identifying and persecuting anyone for their personal beliefs.

In my humble opinion, you can be gay and/or an atheist and be in Scouting. The key word here is ‘Scouting’, not gay or atheist.

So what is the so-called penalty for being gay or an atheist? Answer: You are not supposed to be able to earn the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest rank award of the Boy Scouts.

In Scouting ...

In Scouting, the Boy Scout Program is consistent throughout the world. That is, all Boy Scouts follow the same program to earn merit badges and rank advancement.

In Scouting, all Scoutmasters are trained. We do not label Scoutmasters; that is, Gay Scoutmasters, Black Scoutmasters, Catholic Scoutmasters, etc. ... as a Scoutmaster is a Scoutmaster.

In Scouting, we teach a belief in God. We do not teach how to believe in God or where to practice your belief in God. This is left up to the Scout.

Clustered Water®

Clustered Water® is Hydration Water

1. I think I’ve heard of Clustered Water before. How long has this technology been around?
Lee H. Lorenzen, pioneer of the concept of structured water and inventor of the patented micro-clustering process, began his work nearly 20 years ago in 1985. The beverages he developed were originally introduced in Japan in 1988, and since that time his research has spawned an entire industry of functional water products around the world. Commercial distribution is now underway in the United States, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Europe.

2. How does Clustered Water differ from any other fitness-related beverages claiming to be “structured” or to “increase hydration?”
Other waters have begun to emerge claiming the same properties as Clustered Water, but there are no other beverages anywhere on earth that can legally claim more effective hydration than Clustered Water. CSI received the first patents on the Clustered Water Technology in 1998, long before other companies were ever even a thought. The Clustered Water production process is protected by United States patent numbers 5,711,950 and 6,033,678. Other companies cannot legally offer the same proven benefits offered by our process.

Clustered Water was the first on the market in the mid 1980’s, and since then other products claiming similar hydration effects have been introduced. Some companies use oxygen, sound, or ionization. Some have patents, but you will find that our name is usually referenced in their patent. None of these companies use our patented process because they are not allowed to use it. Many people use the term “clustered water” without our permission, even though it is our United States registered trademark.

Be sure to buy authentic Clustered Water® when you shop! Authentic products bear the Clustered Water logo.

3. So, how do you make Clustered Water?
All of CSI’s beverages are put through rigorous purification and filtration techniques including 0.2-micron filters, plus Ultraviolet and Ozone sterilization to assure you the highest quality and purity possible. Clustered Water processing involves changes in magnetic fields, intense light, temperature and pressure with trace minerals.

4. What proof do you have that Clustered Water is truly distinct from all other waters?
Independent laboratory analysis by Shin Etsu Chemical Company in Japan, Associated Laboratories in California, and the French Academy of Sciences have used Oxygen-17 NMR, Raman Spectroscopy, and RJL bio-impedance tests to prove that our solutions maximize hydration and improve cell function (increased phase angle). Additionally, the Chinese Health Care Society recently performed controlled hospital studies on elderly patients and found significant physiological improvements in patient health. If you would like to learn more, CSI has detailed information regarding these studies available upon request. Additional testing has also been completed in these independent laboratories in the United States, France and China using Raman spectroscopy and Oxygen-17 NMR.

5. Will Clustered Water ever expire?
Yes! Every product produced by CSI is heat-stamp dated and labeled with the lot number to assure the freshness and quality. Most of our beverages have approximately a fifteen-month shelf life if stored properly. However, it is recommended that Clustered beverages be stored under 75 degrees Fahrenheit and out of direct sunlight to insure maximum effectiveness.

6. Should Clustered Water be taken with food?
It is recommended that Clustered Water products be taken on an empty stomach for greatest absorption.

7. Are there any known side effects to drinking Clustered Water?
If a person is significantly dehydrated, the rapid rehydration by the solutions can sometimes cause a worsening of some symptoms such as fatigue. This reaction can be avoided by starting slowly with the solutions and building the amount taken each week. For example, rather than 2 eight ounce servings daily, an elderly or ill person might want to start with 3 ounces twice daily and build to 8 ounces twice daily over a period of 3-4 weeks.

8. Can Clustered Water be mixed with other drinks?
No. It is recommended that the solution not be mixed with other liquids; however, it is acceptable to take it with vitamin and mineral supplements in pill or capsule form.

9. Can Clustered Water be used topically?
Yes! The water can be sprayed on minor cuts and scrapes, soaked into the pads of bandages, or simply put in a spray bottle for refreshment on hot or dry days.

10. Can I take Clustered Water when I am sick?
Definitely. If there is any time that is beneficial to take Clustered Water, it is when our bodies are stressed and need that extra hydration.

11. What if I want to drink more than 16oz a day? Why is 16oz the magic number? Also, how are we suppose to feel? What are we suppose to notice?

We have found that it is easiest for people to stay on a routine of using one bottle (approx. 16 oz) per day. This routine is extremely important to assist with proper hydration. When your body is properly hydrated, it becomes more efficient, and may even not require the same amount of sleep. Therefore, we suggest that if you find that you are not sleeping well, lower your daily consumption.
By stimulating water turnover, you may feel your body respond in a multitude of ways. The most common praise from VIVO drinkers is that they notice increased energy. Click here to visit the testimonial section to read the stories of others who have responded! Due to FDA drug regulations our hands are tied in making any claims on beneficial effects, but we welcome all testimonials on how it has affected you!

12. Should children drink Clustered Water?
Absolutely! Children under 12 years of age can drink between 2 and 4 ounces daily. Those with health concerns should start with less.

13. What about my pets?
We have had wonderful reports regarding dogs, cats, birds, and horses (and especially older animals). Serve our product in a plastic or ceramic container. Please send us your stories and observations for our files.

14. Will Clustered Water interfere with my other supplements and medications?
Clustered Water® is a delivery system. IT SEEMS TO ENHANCE THE UPTAKE OF MANY FACTORS YOU TAKE WITH IT (as shown in nutrient absorption observations in Olympic athletes). To be prudent, we recommend that our products should NOT be taken with any form of medication at the same time. If you take medications, take them at least 30 minutes AFTER drinking Clustered Water. On the other hand, Clustered Water is the perfect compliment to nutritional supplements. It may help them to be assimilated more quickly and efficiently into the body.

15. Will Clustered water help my medical condition?
Due to US Government regulations, we are not allowed to discuss any of our clinical data. We are only allowed to report data/information pertaining to hydration. Hundreds of thousands of people in the Far East, Europe and North America have used our products since 1988 with no adverse affects. There has never been a report of any medical condition becoming worse when our products have been used.

We have performed clinical and safety testing on our products at universities, medical clinics and hospitals in China, Japan, Korea, France, Mexico and the United States.

16. Some people say the Clustered Water is not possible. How do you respond?
We welcome sceptics and understand that this is a new concept for people to comprehend. We have double blind independent clinical studies, a database of research accumulated and reports from hospitals, physicians and scientists showing that our solutions are safe, effective and hydrate more quickly. Look around this site and visit our research and technology site at www.ClusteredWater.com to learn more about our technology. If you still have questions we would be happy to furnish you with more information!

Please read what other renowned scientists have stated:

“Criticisms centered around the vanishingly small number of solute molecules present in a solution after it has been repeatedly diluted are beside the point, since advocates attribute their effects not to molecules present in the water, but to modifications of the water's structure. Simple-minded analysis may suggest that water, being a fluid, cannot have a structure of the kind that such a picture would demand. But cases such as that of liquid crystals, which while flowing like an ordinary fluid can maintain an ordered structure over macroscopic distances, show the limitations of such ways of thinking. There have not, to the best of my knowledge, been any refutations of memory that remain valid after this particular point is taken into account….it attests to the limited vision of the modern scientific community that, far from hastening to test such claims, the only response has been to dismiss them out of hand.”

BRIAN D. JOSEPHSON
University of Cambridge
Nobel Laureate, Physics

Dear Lee,

Regarding (critic’s name), I don’t know what area he is expert in, but a closed mind is a closed mind. Today, there is abundant data, both theoretical and experimental on the existence of clusters in water. A recent confirmation of Benveniste’s work, which was criticized in (the journal) Nature, has been presented from high quality people.

William A. Tiller
Professor Emeritus
Stanford University

Innovations in Beverage Packaging

IP’s Beverage Packaging products for today’s consumers

The Challenge
There is an increasing need among on-the-go consumers for “single service” beverage packages that fit conveniently in car drink holders and are easy for kids to use.












The IP Innovation

To meet this growing need, IP developed Micro-Pak, a paper carton for beverages. Micro-Pak has a unique size and shape making it portable, easy to handle, convenient for on-the-go snacking and a perfect fit for car drink holders. It offers longer shelf life for high quality refrigerated products and makes life easier for families on the go.
Tru Taste Gold™, IP’s patented Barrier-Pak™ board, enables Micro-Pak to retain the true taste of the beverage and a higher level of vitamin C. It enhances the shelf life of the product and provides superior package integrity. The printability of the package drives brand recognition and shelf appeal, obvious key requirements in today’s marketplace.
Recent market research revealed that Micro-Pak's not-so-micro benefits drive its success in the marketplace. Children like it because they can open it without any help from mom or dad, since it doesn’t spill and using a straw is fun with its easy to open foil patch. Parents reported that Micro-Pak is easy for their children to drink from, stores well in the refrigerator and is the perfect size for lunch boxes. Micro-Pak is being used in single serve and multi-packs under a number of brand names.


The Challenge
- Packaging that betters protects freshness and qualty

With worldwide consumption of beverages, especially juices, on the rise, producers have to contend with longer, less advanced distribution channels that have sporadic refrigeration, sometimes called “broken cold-chain” distribution. As a result, they need packaging that better maintains the taste and freshness of their products.


The Challenge
– How to Manufacture limited quantities efficiently

Producers of seasonal beverage products (such as holiday drinks), as well as manufacturers developing line extensions or new product launches need special ordering and inventory flexibility for their short-run requirements.

The IP Innovation

To help manufacturers more economically produce short-run packages and reduce inventory requirements, IP made a major investment in High Definition Flexo printing technology to better serve our beverage customers.
High definition Flexo allows shorter print runs, complete digital workflow and accurate print registration. Five color print and varnish capability assure eye-catching, high quality graphics, to provide cartons with high brand impact capabilities.

Patent Overload

Increasingly, patents of various ‘states of quality’ are ending up at the center of legal disputes. And when those disputes turn ugly, the results can hurt everyone, making all of us pay more for technology products and wasting our time through increased inconvenience.

Even IBM, which receives far and away the most patents, acknowledges the problems. As a result of patent fights, consumers have to pay more for software and hardware--"and ultimately there are fewer products in the market because companies decide not to make [them]," says David Kappos, IBM's vice president and assistant general counsel for intellectual property.

Patent Backlog

According to USPTO commissioner John Doll, the greatest number of new patent applications are for business processes or computer hardware and software innovations. And the former is one of the most difficult types of patent to evaluate. The USPTO started 2005 with a backlog of 500,000 new patent applications, and ended the year with a backlog of nearly 600,000.
Examiners are supposed to evaluate applications against "prior art"--similar, earlier inventions.

Patent examiners have a set amount of time--an average of 20 to 30 hours for computer software and hardware--to review a patent, handling any appeals and updates from the applicants as well, before issuing a final approval or rejection. To help alleviate the patent backlog, the USPTO plans to hire 1000 new examiners every year for the next five years, training each examiner for eight months before they're put on the job.

Other long-term solutions under discussion include shifting more of the burden of proving that an invention is unique onto patent applicants.

Creative Visualization

I once read, “Man (and Woman) can do what they can think of.”

I believe that I can do what I can think of ... as long as it is possible that what I am thinking of can (realistically) be done.

Creative Visualization
- Part One
From Imagination To Reality –
Attracting Success With Mind Power
By Remez Sasson

Creative visualization is the ability to use the imagination, see images in our minds and make them come true.

If we add concentration and feelings, it becomes a great creative power that makes things happen. Used in the right way, visualization can bring changes into our lives. The thought is the matrix or blueprint; the feelings provide the energy, the "electricity".

Sounds weird? Not at all!

This is the power of creative visualization. This is the power that can alter our environment and circumstances, cause events to happen, attract money, possessions, work and love, change habits and improve the health. It is a great mind power.

It is the power behind every success.

By visualizing an event, a situation, or an object, such as a car, a house, furniture etc, we attract it to us. We see in our imagination what we want and it happens. It is like daydreaming. It resembles magic, though actually there is no magic here. It is the natural process of the power of the thoughts.

Some people use this power in an unconscious manner in their everyday affairs. They are not aware that they are using some sort of power. They visualize their goals in a positive way and attain success. All successful people in all fields use it consciously or unconsciously.

Creative Visualization and the Power of Thoughts

How does it work and why? Thought is a power and has its effect on the material world. Thoughts, if powerful enough, travel from one mind to another. If we keep thinking the same thought, people in our environment perceive it and act on it, furthering, usually in an unconscious manner, the materialization of our desires.

When I have to confront some unpleasant situation, I visualize myself handling the matter easily and comfortably. I see the involved people as cooperative and friendly. And you know what? They are pleasant, and they want to help without even being asked. It is so because people are responsive to our thoughts, feelings and behavior and react accordingly.

If you are naturally positive, then the way you approach and handle situations is such that attracts positive results. On the other hand, if you are fearful and negative, then you expect negative results, and behave, look, and talk accordingly. Then you reap troubles.

We are part of the Omnipotent Power that has created the universe; therefore we participate in the process of creation. Bearing this thought in mind, there is no wonder that thoughts materialize. Stop a moment and think. You are part of the great Universal Power! Whatever concentrated thought you entertain long enough in your mind tends to materialize.

Thought is energy. By having certain thoughts in our minds, and by concentrating on them and putting emotional energy into them, they become powerful. These thoughts induce some kind of pressure on the energy fields around us, causing them to move and act. The thoughts change the balance of energy around us, and in a natural way bring changes in the environment in accordance with them.

There is another explanation why visualization brings results. It may come as a surprise to most, but the theory of "Maya" - Illusion, which comes from the eastern philosophies, provides the explanation.

According to the Indian philosophy "Advaita- Vedanta" which in the West is called "Nonduality", the world is just an illusion and is not real. Thoughts arise which "create" our world. We constantly think and rethink our habitual thoughts, thus creating and recreating the same kind of events or circumstances.

This process reinforces our thoughts, which help to preserve the same "world" we believe live in. By changing the tape or film, that is by looking at a different scenario - different thoughts, we create a different "reality". For us it is a reality, though in fact it is just a dream we call "reality".

By changing our thoughts and mental pictures, we change our "Reality"; we change the "illusory" world we believe we live in. We are not employing magic or supernatural powers when creating and changing our life and circumstances. It is not something "Material" that we change; we only change our thoughts, which are the world.

It is like dreaming a very realistic dream and then switching to a different dream. We are not awakening, just changing the dream. This explanation has to be read and reread and pondered upon in order to understand its full meaning. The other articles in this website may help you understand the philosophy involved here.

Rest assured that you can employ the power of visualization, even if you do not accept what you have just read or it seems too complicated or far-fetched. Yet, understanding and accepting the above, at least in theory, will help you achieve results faster.

So why not change your dreams to something more satisfying?

For example, you are living in small apartment and need a larger one. Instead of brooding about your fate, that you haven't enough money, and that you have to continue living in a small apartment, change your thoughts. That is all that is necessary.

See yourself in your imagination living in the apartment of your dreams. It does not matter if you haven't enough money. Just imagine yourself living in your "new" apartment and see it as a reality. The opportunity or way will present itself. The power of thoughts will work for you too.

Many books and articles have been written on the subject, and each new book or article opens to the reader a new viewpoint. Each book may mention something that the other did not. In order to understand the subject fully, it is advisable to read several books.

Overcoming Limited Thinking
Creative visualization can do great things, but for every person there are some areas, which he may find hard to change, at least in the immediate future. This is a great power, but there are some limits to using it. These limits are within us, not in the power.

Very often we limit ourselves and cannot look beyond a limited circle. We limit ourselves by our thoughts and beliefs. The wider we can look at the world and ourselves, the greater are our possibilities. Any limits are within our minds, and it is up to us to rise above them.

It may take some time until things start to change. Simple, small demonstrations of this power may come fast, but bigger results may need a longer time to happen.

The time and effort put forth in this study are really worthwhile. Have faith and patience and results will start appearing.

A Personal Example of Creative Visualization

Sometimes what we visualize materializes fast, at other times it may take longer. There are various reasons why this happens.

Years ago, before I got married, I decided to visualize a date. I imagined myself sitting in a restaurant and talking with a girl. I concentrated on this image several times during the day, several minutes each time.

The next day, a girl working in the same place where I worked, asked me if I could come to her desk. I hardly ever spoke with her, maybe just saying good morning. I went to her desk and she asked me whether I had a girl friend. When she heard that I did not have one, she proposed to introduce me to one of her girl friends.

She gave me the phone number of the girl, whom I called the same day, asking her to meet me. We met and sat in a restaurant, exactly as I visualized. All this happened within about 24 hours. Surprising isn't it? This power can sometimes work real fast.

Oh, you are curious to know what happened with that girl? Well, nothing, because she was not the type of girl I was looking for. I rather used the power of visualization haphazardly, not thinking about the qualities, looks etc. I just thought about meeting a girl, a wish that came true.

Soda Sales Fall

First time in two decades in the United States, hurt by bottled water as well as sports and caffeine drinks.

March 9, 2006: 1:06 PM EST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Soda sales have gone flat for the first time in 20 years in the U.S., according to a new report. 2005 was the first time since 1985 that the number of cases of soda sold in the United States declined from a year earlier, said Beverage Digest, an industry trade publication. The overall volume of soda sold sagged 0.7 percent to 10.2 billion cases last year.

John Sicher, publisher of Beverage Digest, said that consumers were making a permanent migration to noncarbonated drinks.

Consumers are migrating on an accelerating basis to other kinds of beverages -- mainly water and sports drinks.

"There's also growth in bottled teas and energy drinks. This is a migration from one category to several others, and I see this trend continuing over the next few years,” said Sicher.

He said he expected to see major sales growth in 2005 for bottled water, sports drinks and energy drinks when those figures become available later this year.

Market leader Coke (Research) fell 0.1 percent in volume, while runner-up Pepsi (Research) fell 1.2 percent. Number three Cadbury-Schweppes (Research) -- which owns Dr. Pepper, 7-Up and Canada Dry -- saw a 0.6 percent volume increase last year.

Bear Facts

Here are ten facts about bears:

1. Bears are large animals.
2. They have very strong legs.
3. Bears have big heads and small eyes.
4. Bears live in all parts of the world except for Antarctica, Africa and Australia.
5. Most bears eat nuts, fruits, berries, plants, insects, honey, fish and other animals.
6. Bears eat a lot of food to get ready for winter. We would have to eat 50 hamburgers and 12 large orders of fries for many days to get as big as these bears.
7. Baby bears are called cubs.
8. When cubs are born, they are about the size of a squirrel.
9. Bears make or find dens in the winter.
10. They go to sleep in the den. They sleep all winter. This is called hibernation.

Marketing is Storytelling

Everyone, including myself, loves a story. Stories help us to understand identify and remember a product or service. Marketers need to do their homework (research) and develop stories that people – primarily customers – can believe.

Stories differentiate products and services. We all need stories that inspire us to action – to buy the product or service – and tell our friends all about what we are doing and why. Marketers tell stories because their customers need a story to be their customer.

Elements of Storytelling

Following are highlights from Seth Godin’s book ‘All Marketers Are Liars’, which I think should have been titled ‘All Marketers Are Storytellers’:

* A great story is a true story.

* Great stories make a promise.

* Great stories can be trusted.

* Great stories are subtle.

* Great stories happen fast.

* Great stories don’t appeal to logic, but to the senses.

* Great stories are rarely aimed at everyone.

* Great stories don’t contradict themselves.

* Great stories agree with our worldview.

Blogging is Storytelling

For the past four months, I have been a blogger. Blogging is storytelling, my storytelling.

For me, it is like writing a piece of the overall (macro) story, one day at a time. When you put all the pieces together, you have ‘The Whole Story’

Changing Your Image

Ask.com Updates its’ Image to Compete with Google, Yahoo and MSN

The end is the beginning of something new.

The beginning is the end of whatever came right before.

There’s no reason to feel sad when you’re waving goodbye.

Change

To cause to be different.

To give a completely different form or appearance to; transform.

To exchange for or replace with another.

To become different or undergo alteration.

To undergo transformation or transition.

The act, process, or result of altering or modifying.

How to Ride the Baby-Boomer Wave

By Linda Stern, Freelance Writer

The baby boomers are starting to turn 60, and who wouldn't want to be selling whatever they're going to buy?

People approaching retirement buy second homes, cruises, investment products, health-care services, the occasional RV or (post) midlife-crisis motorcycle, and lots and lots of restaurant meals.

It seems like investors willing to place a few strategic bets might look at some of those industries. With the members of the boom numbering around 76 million, and entering -- or entrenched in -- their biggest earnings years, there's a lot of money to be spread around.

That is not to say that investors should throw all of their money after this demographic. The key to a successful investment plan is, after all, diversification, low fees and a steady, long-term view. But boomers will be aging and spending for a long time, and investors who want to spend a bit of time researching the companies and funds that might profit most from that will find a lot to like.

Here are some ideas for getting your piece of it.

-- Leisure.

Boomers love their fun, and fun-selling companies such as lodging and travel businesses, craft stores, publishers, fishing-rod manufacturers and casinos have profits to show for it. Four leading mutual funds that focus on leisure company stocks have returned 32.4 percent to investors in the six years since the stock market peaked in 2000, says Lipper analyst Don Cassidy. That gain is in comparison to a 0.7 percent loss for the Standard and Poor's 500 over the same period.

-- Financials.

With the biggest generation ever entering its investment-obsessed years, and money managers aiming at skimming a minimum of 1 percent off the top of those portfolios, it's worth a look.

-- Health care.

More than $3 billion in knees and hips are sold every year in America.

Increasing numbers of boomers are moving to the aspirin-a-day plan.

Diabetes, sleep apnea, hypertension are all at epidemic levels, or at least more carefully monitored, analyzed and treated than they ever were before.

Investing in health care in the face of an aging population seems a no-brainer. And companies that sell health-care supplies, run hospitals and make medical equipment have all been doing very well.