Alex Forrest

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The Medium and the Message: What I Learned From Junk Mail

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I regularly get direct mail from insurance companies and other insurance-related organizations that want me to sell their stuff.

Usually it’s a “hot” new Medicare product. (Think about that – do normal people ever think of anything related to Medicare as being “hot”?) Often it’s some kind of life insurance product that’s going to make me rich. And if I sell enough of it, they’ll take me on some boondoggle near an exotic beach.

The fun card (logo hidden to protect the guilty)

A few weeks ago I got one that was pretty cool. It was a card that, when opened, started playing a fun little New Orleans-style ditty. (I’m assuming you’ve seen greeting cards that play songs… it was like that). The kids really enjoyed it, and still do once in a while. That was a bit more expensive than a normal piece of direct mail marketing that they obviously thought would be worthwhile to stand out from the other junk.

Here’s the thing. The other day I was telling Keri about it, but couldn’t recall anything about it other than the music. I couldn’t remember what insurance company had sent it or what product they were advertising.

I find it to be an interesting object lesson that it’s possible for the medium to overwhelm the message.

That’s something to keep in mind anytime you’re trying to communicate something you think is important – whether it’s your company’s marketing message, your cause of choice, or your church’s presentation of the Gospel.

The medium matters, and creative presentation can be fantastic. But we need to be sure that the medium doesn’t overwhelm the message. Because then the people we’re trying to reach will completely miss the point.

The Re-Invention of Barnes & Noble Continues

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The Nook is the star of the show now

A little over a year ago I walked into a Barnes & Noble and noticed some subtle changes. Tonight we walked in and I’d say the re-invention is in full swing. If it wasn’t obvious before, it’s very clear now that the Nook has taken a central role in the company’s future, and has literally taken a central role in the brick and mortar store. The first thing you see when you walk in is a huge Nook store-within-store, right in the middle of everything. And that makes sense — one of the chief advantages that the Nook has over the Kindle is the brick and mortar presence where customers can check it out, play with it, and ask questions. The Nook really is the key to the future of the business.

For what it’s worth, I think there are other advantages to the Nook — mainly the ability to read all kinds of file types, including PDF, ePub, etc. From what I understand, the Kindle is more limited to files formatted for the Kindle (which is to say, those purchased from Amazon!) If I’m wrong, feel free to correct me.

Bye bye music, hello toys and games

There are other significant changes as well. When Barnes & Noble hit the scene in the 1990s, one of the cool things about it was the music center in the store. Well, seriously, when was the last time you bought a CD there? For that matter, when was the last time you bought an actual CD? Yep, it was inevitable and now it’s happened – the music area is gone. In it’s place is a “Toys & Games” area where you’ll find some stuff for kids to do (the Thomas train table and a Lego table the kids enjoyed). The toys and games you’ll find there are oriented towards educational purposes (i.e. there’s some kind of redeeming value to them, in theory anyway), which sets these apart from a lot of the Toys R Us stuff. I think it’s a great idea.

I really hope Barnes & Noble makes it in a rapidly changing industry. I love having it there as a place to hang out, thumb through books or magazines alone or with the kids, and now with the addition of more things for the kids to actually do, it’s a nice place to go hang out as a family. And yes, we actually bought a couple things.

The Evolution of Barnes & Noble

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Tonight we decided to swing by Barnes & Noble after dinner because we weren’t ready to head home and because the boys always enjoy playing with their Thomas the Train table and gear in the kids’ area. We took turns watching the boys and browsing around while pushing Lydia in the stroller. It was the first time in a while I’d been in there and I noticed several things that seemed to have changed – things that I think mark a shift brought on by the sea changes in their business.

The first thing we saw when we walked in, front and center, was a kiosk devoted to the Nook, their e-reader, complete with display models and a sales rep manning the booth. It was the clearest and most obvious testimony to what’s happening in the book/publishing business. With the success of Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iPad/iBooks, Barnes & Noble seems to be going all-out to get a stake in the digital book market, and is wisely leveraging it’s stores to do so.

(Side note: I personally thought the Nook was OK but not great. The fact that the reader itself was not a touchscreen – only the color panel at bottom functions as such – made highlighting and notetaking and such pretty balky and difficult. I’m intriuged be the eReader concept but don’t read enough currently to spend the cash. One feature of the Nook I did like a lot, however, was the ability to loan books.)

In the back of Barnes & Noble I noticed that a huge section of the store, near the kids’ books, had been given over to more stuff for kids. There were educational toys and puzzles for kids of different ages, there were books with educational curricula (for homeschoolers and such I presume), and that sort of thing. Again, the emphasis here is on more stuff that you would be more apt to buy after browsing around a seeing it in person (as opposed to online at Amazon), and all of it is stuff that doesn’t work or fit with an e-reader. Scattered throughout other display areas in the store were other board games and that sort of thing.

Lastly, I noticed that the music area was less than half occupied by music – there were more movies than CDs. I mean, surely not many people buy CDs anymore, especially at a store.

In short, Barnes & Noble seems to be wisely playing to their strengths – luring people (like us) in with their coffeshop, warm ambience, and the kiddie area in the back. I didn’t go into buy anything – I rarely do (in fact, usually if I see books of interest I look for them at the library or on Amazon). But I did play with a Nook, look at games, kids books (you don’t buy those without seeing them – at least we don’t), and that sort of thing. That’s a good recipe for them to survive, or so it seems to me.

The Benefits of Gratitude

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In a brief but interesting article in Fast Company a couple months ago, the authors tout the importance of giving employees the opportunity to receive positive feedback from the people who ultimately wind up using and benefiting from their work. They argue that it benefits not only the employee, but the customer who wants to express gratitude. I found the following excerpt particularly interesting:

In her book The How of Happiness, Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor at the University of California, Riverside, describes a dozen scientifically proven strategies to make yourself happier. The first? Expressing gratitude. 

In one study, researchers asked a group of people to make a list, once a week for 10 weeks, of five things they were thankful for. Other groups in the study wrote different kinds of weekly lists, such as “five major events” or “five hassles.” The “thankful” group felt more happiness, excitement, and joy than the other groups. They even reported better physical health — fewer headaches and coughs. 

Another study found that making a “gratitude visit” — writing and delivering a letter to someone who was kind to you but whom you had never thanked, such as the friend who suggested it was time to ditch the trucker hat — caused people’s happiness to spike for a full month afterward.

Here is yet another instance of a biblical principle that “works” in real life. Should we cultivate gratitude, then, because we’ll feel better and thus benefit? Of course not. That would be something other than real gratitude, which is focused not on self but on another. Real gratitude certainly hangs out with its buddy humility in recognizing that one is not self-sufficient. But it’s just interesting to find “proof” that it also engenders joy all around.

Bolthouse Farms Mission Statement

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If you’re like me, you know you don’t eat enough fruits and certainly don’t get enough veggies, but are not sure what to do about it. A while back we visited Costco and among the seemingly endless array of items to be sampled was a nasty, funky looking concoction called “Green Goodness.”

I’m honestly surprised, looking back, that I dared take a sip. It just looks gross. To be honest, while it’s not as bad as it looks, it’s not great either. But it’s not bad.

Listen to what’s in it, though. Among other things you’ll get wheat grass, spirulina, spinach, blue-green algae, kiwi juice. All told there are 14 all-natural, healthy ingredients that make up this nasty looking concoction. Basically, it’s super-healthy, and it is not terrible.

Do not be misled, I doubt you’ll love it, but neither do I think you’ll hate it, and it is really, really good for you. So I’m in.

Green Goodness is made by Bolthouse Farms, a family-run farm in California. I was pleased to learn they have a whole array of similarly natural, healthy products. I’ve been drinking a small cup of “Berry Boost” (which does taste very good) most afternoons for a pick-me-up. I was also very pleased to learn that many of these products are available at our local Publix (among other places).

As if refreshing, all-natural, healthy products aren’t enough reason to like Bolthouse Farms, check out their corporate mission statement:

“The purpose of this Company is to glorify God through our business transactions, our work, and our relationships. It is further our desire to bring honor and glory to the Name of Jesus Christ by following God’s Word in all of our dealings with employees, suppliers, and customers. God’s Work as contained in His Inspired Scriptures will be the final authority in all Corporate matters concerning direction, decisions, and disputes.”

Update:

Bolthouse Farms was acquired by Campbell Soup Company in 2012. The corporate mission statement above is no longer present on the website. In fact, it almost certainly isn’t the corporate mission statement anymore.

The Bolthouse family does have a foundation, called the Bolthouse Foundation, which has a very similar mission statement:

The purpose of The Bolthouse Foundation is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by supporting charitable and religious organizations whose ministry, goals, and operating principles are consistent with evangelical Christianity as described in The Bolthouse Foundation Statement of Faith.

There is apparently no connection (financial or otherwise) between the family foundation and the company/brand owned by Campbell Soup.

What I Learned Waiting Tables

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Last Saturday my illustrious career as a food service professional / culinary hospitality engineer came to a close.

My tenure at a local Italian “bistro” lasted just over 4 months before I found a job with better pay and a better schedule.

I have learned a few things during my time as a server.

When I was hired, I was told the company valued three things in an employee. I had heard something similar at another restaurant and thus take this to be kind of an industry mantra). I think these three things translate well to any line of work:

1. Be on time.
2. Look good (i.e. uniform in good condition, etc.)
3. Have a good attitude.

The company I worked for had a business philosophy that I thought was a winner. The conventional wisdom in the business world is to put the customer first – everything is oriented towards the customer.

This company had a little bit different philosophy: Put the associate (employee) first. While that sounds odd at first, when you think about it, it makes sense. If your associates are taken care of and feel good about you and the company, they will make sure that they take care of the customers, and everybody wins.

I think that makes sense as a philosophy for any company or organization.

There are biblical precedents and applications for working as a server. The Greek word from which we get “deacon” in the New Testament can literally be rendered “table waiter.”

(In fact, the word is transliteration – meaning the English word is not translated to a different word but that the spelling and pronunciation is simply adjusted for the new language.)

In many churches, someone called a “deacon” is involved in “running the church.” He probably sits on various committees, voted on the color of the carpet, had a big say in hiring a pastor, and has been there longer than everyone else. Turns out that’s not the case.

Waiting tables teaches you a lot about ministry.

Here are 4 things working as a server taught me about ministry. You have to…

  1. Anticipate people’s needs.
  2. Make their needs your priority.
  3. Show them kindness and hospitality.
  4. Help clean up messes and correct errors (even if they weren’t yours).

Have you ever waited tables? What did you learn from the experience?

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