Creatively inspired. Digitally grounded. Network connected.  Those are three key ingredients to marketing success as we navigate the new normal.  A brand that does that brilliantly is Gatorade.  They understand their "network" market and how to connect with them, digitally and traditionally, with seamless brilliant creative.
Ideas are the heart and soul of our business.  And the bar for ideas has been dramatically raised as effective marketing has become more and more viral.  We do not control that viral, that buzz.  That happens directly in relationship to the ability of the idea to connect with our network markets.

Just like the age-old question, which came first the chicken or the egg, the same can be asked of opportunity or optimism. The difference is that the second question can be answered simply. Opportunity is the external possibility, and Optimism is the internal drive for good to triumph over evil, success to prevail over failure, breakdowns to lead to breakthroughs.
I find myself challenged by this today, as last night saw the candidates that I wanted to lead this state lose in the primaries. I saw opportunity for change diminish for our state. This outcome has challenged my optimistic self. Thus my question, Opportunity or Optimism? At times they are very connected in their meaning. And at times they are opposites of one another. One does not have to be optimistic to bump into opportunity or take advantage of opportunity.

We’ve arrived at the last key finding in Accenture’s survey (http://bit.ly/9zMTSh) of consumers’ responses to smart metering programs. We’ve looked at the first four findings in recent weeks (http://bit.ly/am8rmy, http://bit.ly/dub9wE, http://bit.ly/b7UpOK, http://bit.ly/bLOjsC).
Key Finding #5:

This is the time of the year when we start the age-old planning cycle for the quickly approaching new year.  This has become so automatic that the planning process runs us, versus us running the planning process.  Planning was invented to develop a road map for organizations — how else can we align the interests and actions of customers, our employees, our stakeholders and our bottom lines. And the new economic normal in which we are now living demands that we rethink our planning process.
Planning comes in as many flavors as Ben & Jerry’s has ice cream.  And then of course there are all the light versions of those ice creams.  Whatever flavor you pick is fine, as long as you are planning for the future.   As long as you are taking control of the planning process and looking for breakthroughs into the future.    Whatever process you used in the past for planning should be trashed.  The new economy demands a new planning model.

In a new study from Columbia University, Ohio State University and Carnegie Mellon University, 505 Craigslist participants were asked to estimate the most effective measures to improve energy efficiency.

We're all feeling the results of the recession, but intended relief was on the way when it came to energy efficiency.
Last year Congress implemented a $3.2 billion economic stimulus package to provide jobs and improve the nation's efficiency standard.

In recent years, Accenture has studied smart metering programs and consumers’ responses to these initiatives. Today we’re looking at the fourth key finding in the global consultant’s comprehensive survey, “Understanding Consumer Preferences in Energy Efficiency” (http://bit.ly/9zMTSh).
Channels and contact points for utilities/electricity providers to communicate with consumers are diverse.

This past Sunday's New York Times brought us an insightful report about the new consumer by Stephanie Rosenbloom on the cover of the Business section, "But Will It Make You Happy" (http://nyti.ms/asqSbj).
The article has a lot to say about how consumer attitudes are shifting and I think the implications for energy efficiency marketers are significant.

We've been looking at consumers' attitudes towards enrolling in electricity management programs, as reported in Accenture's "Understanding Consumer Preferences in Energy Efficiency" (http://bit.ly/9zMTSh).
Today we look at the survey's third key finding, which requires a bit of introduction.

Panelists at the CleanTech Open Panel on Energy Efficiency have suggested that there is room for improvement when it comes to making our homes and the electric grid more efficient. So what seems to be the hold up?
Problems range from ensuring that utilities have performance-based incentives to improve efficiency to identifying and convincing the decision makers responsible for energy efficiency in commercial buildings.