Porcelain Philosophy 13: Branding

I came across an article on marketing that raised some very poignant insights about company branding, as well as reputation building. The article is about how some companies run themselves into the ground by overextending their brand (e.g. if Nike started to sell photocopiers).

It was something I only noticed implicitly; seen in the light, it makes a lot of sense. The most powerful brands become synonymous to their products. What do you think of when you hear the word Google, or Kleenex, or Xerox, or Febreeze? If I were in charge of a company, I'd love for the brand to one day become a verb the way Google has.

But that's not the point of the post. Below is the pertinent excerpt.

If you're working in a job, [...] be known as a genius for something. Know how several things work. But branding yourself in one skill makes you the expert. Every time the company has a fire in that section, you will be known for your fire-fighting skills.

On an ordinary basis, most employees are not known for any particular skill and wonder why they are on top of the redundancy list. Bosses don't know what you do and why you're special, because you haven't been doing the 'branding bit'. It's better to be a specialist than the 'safe unknown.'

The author recommends committing to a specialty to help you stand out from the crowd if you're vying for marketshare.

This got me thinking: what am I known for? What am I known for at work? At school in class? At home? What immediately comes to mind when you think of me?

At St. Florence, I was the guy who handled miscellaneous problems, particularly technology-related ones. I visited the school last winter just before Christmas holidays fired up; after making my rounds visiting teachers and students, I was paged by the office. It turned out that they were gearing up for an afternoon of watching a movie in the gym and the principal needed assistance with the computer and projector. Now, at work, I'm paid to be that guy. At church, I am that guy. Pretty much everywhere I go, I seem to become that guy, even if he is not exactly who I am. I wonder sometimes if this label was just some niche I slipped into because it was open.

But all of that is meaningless because it is temporary.

Let me put it this way: if the Bible were still being written today, what would I be known for? Would I be a hero like Joshua, or would I be a cautionary tale like Saul? Would I even be mentioned? I don't ask this because I want to be recognized or revered; I ask myself this because I know what I've been given and I want to know how to pass it on.

Minor Details

The Ford Mustang has updated its branding for the 2010 model.

The change is subtle, but significant.

I think it can go further than that, so I've taken the liberty of redesigning the iconic Mustang badge even futher. You're welcome, Ford.

A Series of One Haiku

I farted today.
It smelled like sesame oil.
I can't explain it.

Now You Know: Exceleration

During the month of May, I worked with Excel quite a bit entering marks. The spreadsheet was spread throughout 20+ worksheets (the tabs at the bottom). As a proponent of the keyboard and the speed it offers data entry tasks, it was a chore to navigate between worksheets, to say the least. How I longed for an Alt-Tab-like solution to cycle through the sheets.

Today, I had another data entry task with only two worksheets to flit between. I was already doing everything manually by mouse (copying and pasting some cells to match up to a row in another sheet). Recalling my past despair, I resolved to take a stand and find a keyboard shortcut, even if I had to install AutoHotKey and program one for this very reason.

First things first: when you encounter a problem, it is always best to do some research. Chances are, someone has come across the same issue and already found a solution. So I googled "excel switching worksheets" and found this. By golly, I giggled and clapped my hands for a minute, and then proceeded to put down my task just to write this.

To switch between worksheets in Excel: Ctrl + Pg Up/Pg Dn

On Lemons and Other Tropical Fruits

You know that saying?

If life gives you lemons,
Make lemonade.

It's a pithy saying that's supposed to be a glass half-full outlook on life that will get you through the sour times.

The lemons are a metaphor; e.g. lemons are the orphan babies that American football couples adopt from Asia (Author's note: balderdash).

Lemons also refer to products that are duds, primarily vehicles or electronics. These are products that made it through the manufacturing processes, the quality assurance tests and ended up in the hands of a consumer, only to have him or her discover that the end product leaves a lot to be desired. Any large batch of products will inevitably yield a percentage of lemons. Exercise your warranty.

Funny thing: I like lemons.

Funnier thing: I like grapefruit even more. It is arguably worse metaphorically, being both bigger and more bitter. I don't know if you've had the opportunity to throw a grapefruit before, but let me tell you, it's downright fun. Grapefruit have a heft that is reminiscent of softballs. In fact, softball designs were based on grapefruits (Author's note: absolute habberdashery).

If life were to throw grapefruit instead, life would probably take some measure of sadistic pleasure in doing so.