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Trailer Mash 05-18-12
The trailer for Battleship—or “Rihanna Movie,” as YouTube helpfully co-titles it—is the event horizon of the black hole of super-vacuity that exists within the black hole of stupidity that most movie trailers already inhabit. Watching it is like spectating Buzkashi, the Afghan version of polo played with a headless goat carcass rather than a ball. It is possible to acknowledge the enthusiasm and expertise on display, so long as you can avoid throwing up at the central premise. And we learn once more that these days there is not a headless goat carcass Liam Neeson is not prepared to hit with a stick.
What to Expect When You're Expecting evidently wants to be this year's Bridesmaids, pregnancy being another of life's key moments everyone can relate to while snorting at poo-poo jokes over popcorn and soda. But the template this time seems to have been reversed. Instead of casting relative unknowns and giving them good new jokes, the trailer features good-looking superstars telling jokes as old as Cain and Abel. Heard the one about how you'd have gotten pregnant earlier if you'd known how good it would make your boobs look? Thank you, Cameron Diaz. Heard the one about how looking at houses with a woman for fun always ends up in you buying a house? Thank you, Chris Rock. Continue until you can taste the metal in your mouth.
American Animal wins Title of the Week and also Second Best '80s Indie Tribute Movie Trailer of the Week. A terminally ill Jesus lookalike (if it were the '80s, he'd be dying of AIDS) freaks out in high style because his best friend wants to take a job rather than stay with him for every moment of what's left of his rather overdramatic life. It all seems to take place in an apartment where nothing isn't quirky, from the girls who show up for dinner to the use of Grieg's “In the Hall of the Mountain King” on the soundtrack. A way to get rid of your hipster roommate for the evening, would seem to be the message of this trailer.
The Best '80s Indie Tribute Movie Trailer of the week, and to be fair, a strong contender for Title of the Week, is Beyond the Black Rainbow. Set in 1983, it is evidently the work of someone who has drunk deep on the early oeuvre of David Cronenberg, followed by hefty Ken Russell and John Carpenter chasers. In an enclosed lab, one Doctor Mercurio Arboria (tells you everything) watches over a mute young girl evidently possessed of superhuman powers. Oversaturated color schemes, low deep-focus camera angles and mysterious technologies that serve some unknown ominous purpose are set to a perfectly modulated synth score that bursts into an organ riff at precisely the right moment. To be enjoyed with or without drugs.
Lovely Molly, this week's one-location horror movie, comes from one of the fellows behind The Blair Witch Project. Despite the provenance, it appears to conform to the by now rather familiar device of a girl in a haunted house who may be haunted by her own self as a result of some earlier incident. Technically it looks fine, but doesn't this movie come out every fortnight?
In its far-from-prestigious history, the Great British Sex Comedy has only ever raised an actual titter when the late Frankie Howerd was involved. (Americans: Brits only find Carry On movies hilarious because they see themselves reflected in what are at their core tales of bleak desperation among the lower-class poor.) Now, in the fine tradition of No Sex Please, We're British comes Hysteria, the story of a young doctor's invention of the vibrator. Various Victorians, unempowered and otherwise (Maggie Gyllenhaal, managing a credible Toff accent), talk in double entendres, and by the time Sheridan Smith concludes festivities with the line “We're gonna need a bigger appointment book,” it may be asked in fairness how much more of its length a person might be expected to take. That was not entirely a double entendre, by the way.
Has Jennifer Connelly now been around long enough to warrant the titular role in a one-name movie? Virginia says yes. Two years ago, in fact. Why the story of a white-trash single mom's complex love life is being released now is one of those distribution mysteries the vast majority of us need not trouble ourselves with.
There's this great French TV cop show, Engrenages. Has the freshness and flair that recalls the impact of NYPD Blue 20 years ago. You'll never see it here, of course, but some of its style can be witnessed in this trailer for Polisse, last year's Jury Prize Winner at Cannes and the story of a Parisian police station's juvenile unit. Impossible to follow what is going on, but doing the important work of saving kids while looking like a crazy fashion shoot is something only the French could manage without provoking too much hilarity, at least according to this trailer.
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The Week on AdFreak: May 11-18, 2012
1. The 20 Most-Viral Ads of 2012 (So Far)
2. Infographic: Advertising People Are Hopeless Social-Media
Addicts
3. Martin Agency Staffer Gets Marriage Proposal via Banner Ads
4. Guinness Turns a Submarine Into a Branded Underwater Bar
5. Condom Maker Asks Women What They Won't Put in Their
Vaginas
6. Guinness QR Cup Reveals Scannable Code When Full
7. Keep Your Kitten or Puppy From Becoming the Town Whore
8. This Mother's Day, Literally Pay Your Mom Back for Her
Pregnancy and Labor
9. Depressed Copywriter Alters Ads for Maximum Self-Loathing
and Despair
10. Tiny Man Frolics in Giant Cleavage in Fiat Ad -
What Warren Buffett’s CEOs Can Teach You
At the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, I had a chance to meet several leaders of Berkshire-owned companies. Here’s what I learned.
The Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders’ Meeting in Omaha is truly to capitalists what Talladega is to NASCAR fans.
It’s a spectacle, a tradition–over the top and reassuringly familiar to the faithful. At this writing, a Berkshire’s class A shares price out over $121,000 for a single share, but a class B share is about $80. The good news is that either share will qualify you for a ticket to the annual meeting. And it’s worth the share price, travel costs, and time to attend this crash-course in business excellence.
I attended this year’s session in Omaha and got the chance to meet all sorts of great people–including the leaders of the various companies owned by Berkshire Hathaway: Dairy Queen, World Book, BNSF and many others.
I learned a lot from meeting and watching these CEOs and executives. Surprisingly, perhaps, the common theme is love.
Love your customers.
Hollywood often portrays business leaders as stuffed suits, brusque and self-important. Not this group. They are on fire, accessible, warm and friendly. They seek and serve their customers and shareholders with genuine interest. Buffett likes to tell shareholders that the managers who run Berkshire’s companies are all rich enough to quit any day; they stay for reasons other than money.
Love what you sell.
I got to talk to the founder of Pampered Chef for a moment. She pulled me over to show three different products on sale for half-price, $5 each. I have the leader of a billion-dollar company demonstrating a no-drip wine stopper as if we were in my home and she’d brought it as a host gift. And a Dilly Bar from DQ? Served with a smile and an enthusiastic “Still love ‘em after all of these years!” from the CEO of Dairy Queen. The excitement hasn’t left these people. They still love their products and services and can’t wait to tell people about them.
Love what you do.
Working the booth, talking to shareholders and customers, chatting with their staff, you would think you were attending an Up With People rally. The working of the floor is not beneath them or a burden. They love what they do and they bring the energy to everything they are doing.
Love your people.
Elbow to elbow with their front-line staff, these people were not followed by an entourage. If it weren’t for the different color badges, you’d have difficulty picking out some executives from any other member of the team. Joking while jostled in the crowd, setting the pace for reaching out to customers, pitching in–it was clear that these leaders love their people.
I guess demonizing business and business leaders is in vogue. The picture of the heartless Gordon Gekko seems to still come to mind for script-writers when they are creating characters.
But I find these attitudes at many executive levels–from single-employee start-ups all the way to organizations with thousands of employees. Most often, in well-run organizations, when you get a few minutes with the leaders, you find love.
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Good Entrepreneurs Are Stubborn. Great Ones Also Listen
Entrepreneurs are naturally hardheaded people. And that’s fine–until it isn’t anymore.
Mark Zuckerberg has caught a lot of flak for his hoodie recently. After he was seen wearing his trademark piece of clothing to investor meetings as part of Facebook’s pre-IPO roadshow, and at least one Wall Streeter called it a “mark of immaturity.”
But whether or not you think Zuckerberg’s attire is important, it illustrates his refusal to succumb to outsider pressure. Despite numerous rounds of funding, Zuckerberg maintains more than half of Facebook’s shares. Recently, he used this power to buy Instagram without consulting his board.
Some people may find him to be stubborn, but his success is hard to argue with.
Determination or Defiance?
This kind of unshakable determination is a trait all entrepreneurs share. When an entrepreneur comes up with a great idea, he or she doesn’t let anyone skew the vision or challenge its execution.
But when taken too far, being defiant and ignoring people’s thoughtful opinions can prove devastating to a business and its owner. What separates the great entrepreneurs from the merely good ones is the ability to let information in.
I’m 49. When I started my first business I was 23. I believe as strongly in myself now as I did then. And along the way, I’ve learned that the great entrepreneurs are kind of dogmatic. But I’ve also seen a lot of entrepreneurs lose their companies because they were too egotistical and didn’t listen to sound advice.
Steve Jobs was more hardheaded than anyone, and it helped him develop some of the greatest technology in world history. He ruled Apple with an iron fist, and it worked.
But he also shirked the advice of doctors who told him to undergo surgery when his cancer was first detected. By the time he came around to the idea, the cancer had spread so much that it was inoperable.
Where to Draw the Line
There is a line between a healthy and detrimental amount of single-minded resolve. Where that line is, I’m not sure. That is likely different for everyone.
But here’s a good test: Would you make a good employee at another company? Or would people think you were too difficult to work with?
Single-mindedness is the mark of an entrepreneur. We are, by nature, self-starters that go against the grain. We are tough, and that’s what makes us great. But taken to its extreme, it can be self-destructive.
Good entrepreneurs develop their ideas alone. Great ones allow other people to contribute. –As told to John McDermott
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Vet a Potential Partner: 10 Questions
Partnerships can either be valuable or disastrous. Do the work early on to avoid the latter.
You’ve decided to take the plunge and go into business, but should you take a partner along for the ride?
I have had a few partners over the years. One thing I clearly recognize is that the traits, character and skills of the partner are of critical importance. Many people choose a partner to provide the money. But I’m here to tell you, there are people that could have all the money in the world and I would turn and RUN! Why? It’s simply an analysis of traits and character.
True story: You start a partnership with one of the smartest people you know. He is gregarious, generous, has a good sense of humor and is honest…maybe. I will also tell you he is a lawyer. Two years into the business relationship he heads to the accountant to complete the taxes. When you finally lay eyes on the taxes, the 50% ownership clause has been changed and you are now the minority partner. When you challenge him he says that is what the accountants have advised. You call BS on that one and dive into the books. You find out that he has claimed eroneous start-up costs and has proffered receipts as back up. The problem is they are from years before your company was formed and for things which had no relation to the business.
Needless to say the partnership, friendship and in fact any relationship is over.
Now on the other hand you can have partners that are truly valuable and whose counsel and relationship are more valuable to you than practically anything. So finding a partner is a lot like finding a spouse. Are you compatible enough to stick together through thick and thin?
Here are some questions to ask yourself when considering a potential partnership:
- What do each of you bring to the table?
- Do your morals and ethics align?
- What are the division of responsibilities?
- How do you handle oversight of the other?
- Do you have an exit strategy if it doesn’t work?
- Are you willing to risk the entire relationship over a business venture? – Because you are.
- Can you both be selfless? – Putting more value on the venture and the other person than on personal gain. The foundation of teaming.
- Is there sufficient reward, personal gain, to enter into this? That may seem contrary to the previous question but it really isn’t. This question isn’t about teaming it’s about capitalism.
- How are each of you going to be compensated and what happens if you have to forgo a paycheck or even invest more in the business?
- Can you create a document that outlines everything above?
Finally sit down and talk about your worst fears and theirs and the worst possible scenario. This will help to recognize the difficulties that may come and keep things fair and ethical. If after all of this you are still willing to partner, then your chances of success are much greater.
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Bono’s Big Facebook Payoff
After a string of unsuccessful investments, the rock star finally got it right with Facebook–to the tune of $1.5 billion.
U2 frontman Bono finally has found what he’s looking for–at least when it comes to tech investments.
The rock star is a cofounder of the investment fund Elevation Partners, which owns 1.5 percent of Facebook, a stake that could be worth $1.5 billion following the social network’s upcoming initial public offering. That’s a considerable reversal of fortune for someone once called “the worst investor” in America, thanks some highly embarrassing misfires.
Founded in 2004 by Bono and a host of Silicon Valley bigwigs–including Silverlake Partners founder Roger McNamee, Apple board member Fred Anderson, and Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitello–Elevation’s stated mission was “to help media and entertainment businesses develop and market great content.” In 2006, the fund made its first big investment: $300 million in Forbes Magazine. The property’s value dropped 80 percent over the next 12 months.
In 2007, Elevation invested a reported $460 million for 25 percent of the device manufacturer Palm. Shortly after, Palm was acquired by HP for $1.2 billion, leaving Elevation with a measly 1.5 percent return. Elevation also invested $100 million into the online review site Yelp, which has since been plagued with class-action lawsuits and extortion accusations.
In 2010, Elevation Partners made the first of three investments in Facebook. By 2011, the firm invested a total of $270 million into the social media giant, and, was sitting pretty in anticipation of the company’s public offering. Apart from Elevation, Bono participated in a $250 million second-round investment in the document sharing start-up Dropbox.
Bono was introduced to the Silicon Valley elite by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandburg. Before joining the social network, Sandburg worked at the U.S. Treasury Department, where she successfully enticed Bono to assist in the agency’s aid initiatives in Africa. Bono is just one of many celebrities taking a turn in the tech investment world over the past few years. Lady Gaga and Kanye West both backed turntable.fm, Leonardo DiCaprio is a funder of social media platform mobli, and Ashton Kutcher has thrown money towards Foursquare, Flipboard, Milk, and Airbnb among others.
Regardless of where Bono and Elevation Partners go from here, one thing is for certain: the star’s involvement in Facebook will make him the richest rock star in the world, dwarfing the current title owner: Sir Paul McCartney.
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How to Get a Job at a Small Business
Working for an entrepreneur is the perfect training ground for would-be founders. Here’s how to get hired.
There are lots of reasons to want to work for a small business. The companies are smaller, to cite the most obvious. You’ll have to pitch in and do things that fall outside your area of expertise, which can be great career experience. You’ll probably also have more access to the owner—and there’s no better way to learn about running your own business than to watch it in action.
The downside to seeking work at a smaller operation? Getting the attention of said owner, who may be understaffed and overworked, can be challenge. Here’s how to make the best impression.
1. Understand the territory.
While some small business owners have a corporate background, many are lifelong entrepreneurs.
That’s why traditional job hunting techniques often don’t usually work. The average small business owner sees reading stacks of resumes and interviewing multiple candidates as a chore, not an opportunity. Some even see it as a process to avoid at all costs, thinking, “Hey, I don’t have time for this. I have a business to run.”
That perspective makes getting hired a lot harder for people who take a conventional approach, but also makes it easier for people who put in the time and effort to really set themselves apart.
2. Determine who you want to work for.
Sounds obvious, right? Not really. Many job seekers play the numbers game and respond to as many job postings as possible.
The shotgun approach is less likely to work with a small business owner, mainly because it requires them to sift through dozens of potential candidates to find the right one. Your goal is to show a small business owner that you are the right candidate, and that means you have to do the work.
Instead of playing the numbers game, put in the time to determine a company you definitely want to work for, and then…
3. Truly know the company.
“I would love to work for you,” you say to a small business owner; what the owner hears is, “I would love for you to pay me.”
To the business owner, you can’t possibly know if you want to work for the company unless you know a lot about it; that’s the difference between just wanting a job and wanting a role in a specific company. Talk to friends, relatives, customers… anyone you can find. Know as much as you can.
Then leverage what you learn and…
4. Decide what you can offer immediately.
Most small business owners hate to train new employees. Training takes time, money, effort… all of which are in short supply. The ideal new hire hits the productivity ground running, at least in part.
While you don’t need to be able to do everything, it helps if the owner can see an immediate return on their hiring investment. Identify one or two important things you can contribute from day one.
5. Create a show and tell.
Once you know what you can offer, consider putting it on display. If you’re a programmer, create a mock-up of a new application. If you want a sales position, create a plan for how you’ll target a different market or customer base or how you will implement marketing strategies the business is currently not using.
Since you know the company and know what you can immediately offer, prove it. Your initiative will be impressive and you’ll overcome concerns that you may be all talk and no action.
6. Get a referral.
Business is all about relationships; that’s especially true for small business owners. We’ve all made bad hiring decisions, so a referral from a person we trust is like gold.
You may have to dig deep into your network, or even forge new connections, but the effort will be worth it.
7. Knock.
You don’t have to wait for an opening to be posted; after all, you’ve identified ways you can immediately help the business. Show up, ask to speak to the owner, and pitch away.
Just make sure you get right to the benefits. For example, you could say, “I’ve checked out your website, and while it’s good it could be a lot better. Here is a list of the changes I would make in the first month, including how those changes would improve conversions and SEO results. And here’s a mock-up I created of a new site design.”
At the very least the owner will listen, since you’re describing about specific ways to improve their business. Everyone has time for that kind of discussion.
8. Take charge.
Many small business owners are terrible interviewers. Like a friend of mine says, “I don’t work in HR, I run a business.”
While you certainly shouldn’t be pushy, don’t be passive. Be direct and to the point. Explain what you can do. Describe your background. Talk about how the owner will benefit from hiring you. Show you know that working for a small business is different and you’re excited by the challenge.
Selling yourself should be easy, especially since you know so much about the company and how you can make an immediate impact. Never be afraid to run the interview. Many business owners will be happy to let you.
9. Ask for the job.
Business owners know how to close a deal, and most don’t mind being closed. After all, a decision put off until tomorrow is a decision added to the to-do list; who wants more on their plate?
Ask for the job. If you’ve set yourself apart you might get hired on the spot.
You have nothing to lose by asking, and everything to gain.
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How to Build Customer Trust: 9 Rules
No one is going to buy from a person they don’t trust. Here’s how to build a better client relationships.
Customers don’t buy from people they don’t trust. Unfortunately, most sales gurus (including some that are quite famous) define selling as “convincing,” “persuading,” and “winning”–presumably with the customer being the convinced, persuaded loser.
No wonder so many people put up a barrier the minute somebody tries to sell them something!
Fortunately, it’s easy to build trust in a business relationship. Here are the rules, based on a conversation with a true expert in trust-building Jerry Acuff, author of The Relationship Edge: The Key to Strategic Influence and Selling Success.
1. Be yourself.
Everybody on the planet has had unpleasant experiences with salespeople, and many have walked away from a sales situation feeling manipulated. So, rather than acting or sounding like a salesperson, simply act the way you would when meeting with a colleague.
2. Value the relationship.
If you want people around you to value having a relationship with you, you must truly believe that relationship building is important. You must also believe that you honestly have something of value to offer to the relationship.
3. Be curious about people.
People are drawn to those who show true interest in them. Curiosity about people is thus a crucial element of relationship building. Having an abiding fascination in others give you the opportunity to learn new things and make new connections.
4. Be consistent.
A customer’s ability to trust you is dependent upon showing the customer that your behavior is consistent and persistent over time. When a customer can predict your behavior, that customer is more likely to trust you.
5. Seek the truth.
Trust emerges when you approach selling as a way of helping the customer–so make it your quest to discover the real areas where the you can work together. Never be afraid to point out that your product or company may not be the right fit.
6. Keep an open mind.
If you’re absolutely convinced the customer needs your product, the customer will sense you’re close-minded and become close-minded in return. Instead, be open to the idea that the customer might be better served elsewhere. In turn, customers will sense that you’ve got their best interests at heart.
7. Have a real dialog.
Every meeting should be a conversation, not a sales pitch. Spend at least half of every customer meeting listening. And make certain the conversation is substantive and about real business issues, not just office patter or sports chit-chat.
8. Be a professional.
Customers tend to trust individuals who are serious about what they do, and willing to take the time to achieve a deep understanding of their craft. Take the time every day to learn more about your customers, their industry and their challenges.
9. Show real integrity.
Be willing to take a stand, even when it’s unpopular with your customer or your company. You don’t need to be adversarial, but have the ability to make decisions based upon what you know is right. And on a related note: Never promise what you can’t deliver.
Needless to say, gaining trust is only part of the equation. You must also have a product that customers want and need, and the ability to show how you’re adding value, solving problems, and so forth.
However, if you don’t earn the customer’s trust, they’ll probably buy from someone else whom they do trust–even if the offering isn’t as good.
If you enjoyed this article, click one of the “like” buttons to the left and sign up for the free weekly Sales Source newsletter.
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Paperless Post’s Long, Hard Road to Raising Money
James Hirschfeld and his sister started Paperless Post to recreate invitations for the Web. But VCs wouldn’t bite, and time was running out.
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Jamie Dimon, Leadership, and the London Whale
The credibility of any leader depends on his or her ability to learn. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon isn’t showing many signs of that.
The repercussions of the massive trading loss at JPMorgan Chase are undoubtedly in the early stages, but there are already important leadership lessons to be learned from the conduct of CEO Jamie Dimon.
Ultimately, leadership is a practice of learning: Leaders must learn in order to stay relevant, and in order to be followed. While JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has taken some constructive steps, his overall posture indicates a leader who is not inclined to make personal changes. Dimon’s ability to change will be key to his recovery, and to that of the company.
These four quotes, from a single news report, are full of insights into what Dimon is getting right and wrong.
“This should never have happened.”
From the outset of this crisis, Dimon has clearly acknowledged the existence of a problem – unlike many leaders who skirt the issue or speak in euphemistic language about the severity of the situation. Dimon gets full marks for his candor.
“I can’t justify it.”
This statement is a little wobbly. JPMorgan Chase, as a company and as a culture, either encouraged or discouraged the kinds of actions that led to this loss. There’s not a middle ground. If the trading scheme had resulted in a $2 billion gain, Dimon would say, “This is exactly the behavior we encourage.” A stronger statement on justification would be something along the lines of, “We have never encouraged this kind of behavior…”
It may emerge, however, that the so-called London Whale was going against company policy. But it’s also possible that the structure and culture of JPMorgan was in a sense ‘designed’ to produce this outcome, encouraging, openly or not, recklessness and risktaking. In that case, JPMorgan may have been handed a result that its structure and culture were destined to produce. Remember, it is not always a question of a bad apple spoiling the barrel. Sometimes you’ve got a bad barrel-maker.
“All corrective action will be taken as necessary.”
Dimon made this statement as part of the explanation of the termination of a senior executive with responsibility for the Chief Investment Office, where the trades in question took place. Dimon further announced that his former colleague “served the firm for more than 30 years and has been a great partner. But it’s important that we bring in new management” [italics added.]
Clearly, Dimon sees the need for “corrective action” because of the behavior of others, and not because of his own actions, or lack thereof. This kind of CEO finger-pointing is rarely useful unless it is surrounded by statements of the many ways in which the CEO is learning from this experience. We see little evidence of such self-awareness when Dimon utters the next quote, below.
“The buck always stops with me.”
This particularly ill-timed quote followed a meeting that awarded Dimon $23 million in salary and bonuses for a year in which the company earned record income, but during which its stock dropped 22 percent.
“The buck stops with me” is hackneyed and inappropriate, especially when Dimon suffers no financial consequences. Consider how much more powerful it would be to the public campaign of recovering from this event were Dimon to have said, “In light of this embarrassing result, I am refusing my 2011 bonus. No one who works at JPMorgan Chase should doubt that we reward performance, not recklessness. We are the caretakers of our stakeholders’ investments, and everyone should always know this is our first responsibility. I hold myself to this high standard and expect it from all my colleagues, no exceptions. We do not reward loss.”
That’s the sound of the buck stopping.
One of the profound disappointments of global leaders is the habit of extreme self-enrichment after periods of poor performance – and the feeling that those in power don’t (or can’t) even understand the absurdity of the dynamic. Dimon has an opportunity to change this pattern.
While announcements may yet be made that reflect JPMorgan’s commitment to changing its behavior, the first person to demonstrate change must be Dimon. Given the track-record of many corporate leaders to humbly learn what they do not know, the signs are not encouraging.
