Once upon a time, long long ago, before the start of this century, as far back as BG (Before Greenspan), when I was but a lad in Ireland searching for that pot of gold under the rainbow (I’m still searching!), I remember when Paul Volcker retired as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. He was ancient then. Hey 60 seemed ancient then!
Now I see him popping up regularly as an advisor to President Elect Obama who tapped Volker to head the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. This big man (he is 6 foot 7 inches tall) looks phenomenal for 81 years of age and obviously in great mental health. Lazarus lives and I’m impressed.
Once upon a time, long long ago, before the start of this century, as far back as BW (Before Wagoner, Rick), when I was but a lad in Ireland searching for that pot of gold to buy my first car, Chrysler was about to go under. Then Lee Iacocca rode into Washington in 1979 and got his $1 billion dollar loan and saved Chrysler for another crisis. One of the key people involved in that turnaround was Gerald Greenwald. Greenwald held various executive positions with Chrysler including Chairman from 1985 to 1988. And now Lazarus like I see Greenwald regularly interviewed about the current Detroit bust. He looks great – well he is only 72, and I’m impressed.
What prompted this blog is the re-emergence of Leon Panetta (he’s only a kid of 70) as CIA Director. Do these guys ever go away and retire like our parents used to do? And then as I’m penning this, I notice that Tyson Foods – the world’s largest meat processor, has appointed a new interim CEO, who just happened to have retired from the company last century – 1998. Former former Chairman and Chief Executive Leland Tollett ( age 71)has been invited back to attempt a turnaround for a company that has failed to perform for quite some time.
You know as a key note speaker (foodservice, business growth, branding interspersed with a large dollop of Irish blarney), I regularly look to interesting, inspiring stories to gain the audience attention. Kudos to all these guys. They make me believe I haven’t even hit middle age yet!
So if you are looking for a humorous keynote business speaker who can present a keynote titled
Lazarus Lives, give me a call!
Showing posts with label Keynote speaker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Keynote speaker. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Is Sarah Palin a VIP product?
When I speak on Innovation one of the concepts I reference is VIP products. A VIP product is the Holy Grail of Innovation in that it is a product that generates incremental Volume, Image and Profit. In the commercial environment VIP products include Apple iPod, Toyota Prius (here the ‘P’ might stand for Perception rather than Profit) and Gillette Fusion which is the fastest ever entrant into the P&G billion dollar club.
Moving away from the commercial environment to the political arena, the question arises - “Is Sarah Palin a VIP product for the GOP?” She has had a pretty shaky start but no fatal wounds have been incurred yet, so let’s see if she might be that VIP product that will help the Republicans hold the White House.
V – Volume of votes – incremental or not?
The lady definitely has energized the Rush Limbaugh market which is a critical sector for the Republicans. Current reaction would suggest that more of this group will now vote the GOP ticket. They were never going to vote Obama, but prior to Palin, not all of this group might have bothered to vote. The likelihood that Hilary supporters will vote for Palin is slight given their diametrically opposed ideology on most issues. Assuming there are no unknown issues, the 44 year old Governor of Alaska will engender Incremental Volume amongst a certain segment of the voting public. She may also though energize the liberal wing of the Democratic Party and ensure there is Incremental Volume on this side.
I – Image.
Will this selection generate Incremental Image for the Republican ticket? Hmm! It has heightened awareness for sure, but whether it has improved the Image of McCain and GOP is really questionable. If the apparently competent Palin had a few more years experience, her selection would have been a definite home run for McCain across a broad spectrum of voters. Now the jury is out big time and questioning the decision and decision making of John McCain. If Sarah Palin is as powerful a candidate as she is being painted (Republicans are praying that she is rather than genuinely believe it) and can withstand the tremendous pressure of the next two months, she will generate Incremental Image for the ticket and thus generate Incremental Volume of votes for McCain. The only thing her speech tonight will tell us is whether she is a good orator of someone else’s words, because you can be sure the very best scriptwriters are working on her script. However a good performance will probably create enhanced Image for her and the ticket.
P – Perception (rather than Profit)
Once the hysteria about her running for VP as mother of a recent Down’s Syndrome child and soon a daughter who is pregnant dies down, she may well benefit from all fuss. I think there will be a sneaking admiration for her (if she maintains her poise) as the campaign continues and this is quite likely to build the longer she holds up. While “Perception is Reality,” the challenge for the GOP will be to ensure that the ‘Reality’ of Palin they are presenting is genuine. If after a few more days, the mainstream media accepts there is substance to her ‘Maverick’ and ‘Reformer’ tag, the public Perception of her will grow.
Using another marketing analogy, is this lady akin to the Motorola RAZR which burned very bright for a short period before flaming out or is she the Blackberry?
Time will tell, but it sure is interesting.
Moving away from the commercial environment to the political arena, the question arises - “Is Sarah Palin a VIP product for the GOP?” She has had a pretty shaky start but no fatal wounds have been incurred yet, so let’s see if she might be that VIP product that will help the Republicans hold the White House.
V – Volume of votes – incremental or not?
The lady definitely has energized the Rush Limbaugh market which is a critical sector for the Republicans. Current reaction would suggest that more of this group will now vote the GOP ticket. They were never going to vote Obama, but prior to Palin, not all of this group might have bothered to vote. The likelihood that Hilary supporters will vote for Palin is slight given their diametrically opposed ideology on most issues. Assuming there are no unknown issues, the 44 year old Governor of Alaska will engender Incremental Volume amongst a certain segment of the voting public. She may also though energize the liberal wing of the Democratic Party and ensure there is Incremental Volume on this side.
I – Image.
Will this selection generate Incremental Image for the Republican ticket? Hmm! It has heightened awareness for sure, but whether it has improved the Image of McCain and GOP is really questionable. If the apparently competent Palin had a few more years experience, her selection would have been a definite home run for McCain across a broad spectrum of voters. Now the jury is out big time and questioning the decision and decision making of John McCain. If Sarah Palin is as powerful a candidate as she is being painted (Republicans are praying that she is rather than genuinely believe it) and can withstand the tremendous pressure of the next two months, she will generate Incremental Image for the ticket and thus generate Incremental Volume of votes for McCain. The only thing her speech tonight will tell us is whether she is a good orator of someone else’s words, because you can be sure the very best scriptwriters are working on her script. However a good performance will probably create enhanced Image for her and the ticket.
P – Perception (rather than Profit)
Once the hysteria about her running for VP as mother of a recent Down’s Syndrome child and soon a daughter who is pregnant dies down, she may well benefit from all fuss. I think there will be a sneaking admiration for her (if she maintains her poise) as the campaign continues and this is quite likely to build the longer she holds up. While “Perception is Reality,” the challenge for the GOP will be to ensure that the ‘Reality’ of Palin they are presenting is genuine. If after a few more days, the mainstream media accepts there is substance to her ‘Maverick’ and ‘Reformer’ tag, the public Perception of her will grow.
Using another marketing analogy, is this lady akin to the Motorola RAZR which burned very bright for a short period before flaming out or is she the Blackberry?
Time will tell, but it sure is interesting.
Friday, August 29, 2008
WHAT MAKES A GREAT SPEECH?
Following his Gettysburg address, Abraham Lincoln said that he thought his speech “did not scour.” Reports of crowd reaction on the day (November 19th 1863) suggest that the very short speech generated a pretty muted reaction. Today of course, the address is regarded as one of the finest and most effective pieces of communication in history.
Why do I raise a speech made many years ago? Well, as a keynote speaker and business humorist, it is a real challenge to satisfy all of the audience, all of the time.
Reaction to Barack Obama’s speech last night was a microcosm of this challenge. It was interesting to see seasoned observers reaction to the speech. Reaction was all over the place and not based on partisan politics. On Fox News, NPR’s Juan Williams was obviously disappointed with the speech. Yet neo-conservative Bill Kristol ( who was scathing about Hillary Clinton’s speech earlier in the week) raved about the speech. On MSNBC, Peggy Noonan (a former Reagan speech writer) thought it a weak effort, while fellow GOP supporter and political strategist Mike Murphy thought it was a great speech!! So what gives?
These are all experienced commentators yet see the same speech differently. The difference might be in what was expected from the speech. Those who were expecting a soaring work of oratory, something to lift the audience in higher than the Mile High stadium would have been disappointed. Those who were looking for some content and “red meat” got what they wanted.
Obama’s speech will not be remembered as a great speech, but the occasion WILL be remembered as a great occasion. It was historic, it was brilliantly staged and over the next few weeks we will have commentators constantly speaking about the historic events in Denver while on screen you will see the 80,000 people going crazy. From a marketing and communications point of view, that is a strong and positive message to play over next few months.
From a communications and branding point of view, the Democrats had a great week. I'm looking forward to John McCain and Sarah Palin next week to see if they can match the impact.
Why do I raise a speech made many years ago? Well, as a keynote speaker and business humorist, it is a real challenge to satisfy all of the audience, all of the time.
Reaction to Barack Obama’s speech last night was a microcosm of this challenge. It was interesting to see seasoned observers reaction to the speech. Reaction was all over the place and not based on partisan politics. On Fox News, NPR’s Juan Williams was obviously disappointed with the speech. Yet neo-conservative Bill Kristol ( who was scathing about Hillary Clinton’s speech earlier in the week) raved about the speech. On MSNBC, Peggy Noonan (a former Reagan speech writer) thought it a weak effort, while fellow GOP supporter and political strategist Mike Murphy thought it was a great speech!! So what gives?
These are all experienced commentators yet see the same speech differently. The difference might be in what was expected from the speech. Those who were expecting a soaring work of oratory, something to lift the audience in higher than the Mile High stadium would have been disappointed. Those who were looking for some content and “red meat” got what they wanted.
Obama’s speech will not be remembered as a great speech, but the occasion WILL be remembered as a great occasion. It was historic, it was brilliantly staged and over the next few weeks we will have commentators constantly speaking about the historic events in Denver while on screen you will see the 80,000 people going crazy. From a marketing and communications point of view, that is a strong and positive message to play over next few months.
From a communications and branding point of view, the Democrats had a great week. I'm looking forward to John McCain and Sarah Palin next week to see if they can match the impact.
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