We are ONE they say and they mean it to. It could not been more ONE, and first when I did see “We are LondONErs” al the most of the billboards in London I thought it was for my book…but it is the Goverment London doing ONE and that is even better.

“Who are the seven million Londoners who live in this city? They cover a huge range of nationalities, cultures and faiths. The story of London is told in its people, so find out more on these pages about who we are and what we do.” Greater London Authority

It is the Mayor of London that doing this ONE campaign. They would like to now how London can be ONE of the most diverse cities in the world by emailing them direct at onelondon@london.gov.uk
London is a good start but when will the rest of the world become ONE?

Companies now have so effective mail filter for blocking spam, the sad thing is that they use them to block unhappy costumers. When I should email the first chapter of my ONE book, I did get this respond: ”MailMarshal (an automated content monitoring gateway) has stopped the following email for the following reason: It believes it may contain unacceptable language, or inappropriate material.”
Also the receiver got a message that this could not be business related for it contains the word “hate.” When has not LOVE and HATE been close? For me it sounds like a joke: “Hey how can we stop al this unhappy costumers that hate our brand x? Lets put up an mail filter that work lock them out from our life!”

Companies are using mail filters as Prozac

It is not the software that is wrong it is the genius that put in rules for words that unhappy costumers use like: Hate etc… This will only create a “Prozac reality” inside the company. BUT reality bites hard.

Sadly most technical innovations are focusing on men, but it not always the one writing the history that makes history. This Friday I got went to the exhibition The Inventions of Women.

The Super Woman that I did go with is only 87 years young and full of innovation energy. Her name is Elisabeth Linderoth and you will maybe see here soon on MTV.

My mentor Claes Andreasson could not go to this exhibition so I did go with this super woman and did see a lot of woman innovation that will change life for many consumers.

Super Woman creates headlines worth millions of … purses
The 72nd International Car Show in Geneva broke with tradition by finally acknowledging women. After years of more or less completely ignoring them, Volvo introduced a concept car designed entirely by and for women. From start to finish the car was based on the ideas, experiences, and values of women both professional car designers and non-professional customers. Volvo’s car instantly generated millions of dollars of PR and will probably open the purses of millions of women when the car comes to local car dealerships. That such a simple idea could be so successful is proof of the power of letting the consumer
participate in making new products from the beginning. In the auto industry and many others, there is a need to let the customer build his or her own car, not on the standard website where you pick engine, transmission, and options, but much earlier in the process. The idea is to integrate the customer and begin
the buy process much earlier.

In parts of Asia, women have started using “right-handed wedding rings” to show that they are successful, unmarried, and enjoying their freedom. These sorts of symbols spread quickly. Jewelers have been quick to see rings on the water for their businesses. But what does this trend mean for carmakers, for example? Just as a number of socio-economic factors made SUVs a major trend, so will the Asian single woman create a wave of convertibles. Convertibles are about as impractical as SUVs, yet they both make strong statements.
The convertible says “I’m single and don’t need a lot of space for a family. I can afford not to be practical.” The convertible can become the “right-handed ring” for both men and women, a sort of signal flare for singles. This sort of trend would help the auto industry lift driving from transportation that is more or less comfortable to pure entertainment and a passionate hobby.

List 10 companies that can grow with the Super woman dimension?

With a panic for more books I am calling the big transport company X now. Waiting for more ONE books (they have sold out in Sweden and UK). The reason is that I will go up on stage to hold a lecture today. Here is the answer I got in costumer service, why they don’t make the delivery in 3 days that should take 2 days:

“The reason to why it don’t function is that our company is so big!”

I did respond that first of all you are not big compared to DHL and second, why does it function with DHL and not your company? Then they said it not only your packed we have to handle… Then I said if you only handle 1 packed you would not have been to big to fix so it would arrived to day… Sad how some company totally destroy consumer loyalty with their behavior. Have to run now and borrow some books in bookshops (I mean does how are not are to big to handle the situation).

Update 29 September:
The lecture could not get a better audience; it was the woman business network Shenet. Founded by the legendary Swedish net worker Maria Forssén. Big thanks to the bookstore Konst-ig for borrow me so many ONE books (they did sold out this evening to good net workers).

Business legend Jack Welch old rules “Shareholders rule explains” is now changed to “The Customer is King” for CEOs how like to stay in business. Read more in the article “Tearing up the Jack Welch playbook” by CNNMoney.

“Once upon a time, there was a route to success that corporate America agreed on. But in today’s fast-changing landscape, that old formula is getting tired.”
Betsy Morris, Fortune article at CNNMoney

To Jack Welch, I respect and admire what your done in the history and I love to send you a free copy of my new book: ONE – A Consumer Revolution for Business
(Jack please email me your postal information and send you a free copy).

“If I were a marketing director, it’s the sort of book I’d dish out to my colleagues on a Friday night and say, “Let’s talk about this on Monday.”

Read Moore about what the MasterBlogger Johnnie Moore does think about the ONE book here.

What is more direct than to be ONE with your costumers? Here is five steps to start working towards becoming ONE.

1. Don’t be an Anti-brand
The brands and elite of the business world are today’s aristocracy. Consumers have started to rise up and demand their fair share of what they have helped to create. This time the French revolution is a global consumer revolution. Many anti-brands may soon be staring up the business end of a guillotine. The difference is that today’s guillotine is much sharper and in the hands of mass media working with consumers and the Internet. Some heads have already rolled: Enron, WorldCom, Shell, and Exxon. Who’s next? Microsoft, Nike, McDonalds?

2. When did you last meet a CEO with a company tattoo?
The gap between consumers and corporations is as wide as the Grand Canyon, full of missed opportunities just waiting to be converted into big business. What channels do you have for input from consumers – open door a big success factor in the open source that today’s consumers live in today. Open up for consumers to show and share their passion for your brand.

3. Consumers will not be reduced to10110010101101011100
The computer has made it possible to barcode consumers. CRM and One-to-One was born with a whole new set of rules for today’s marketers. Work with the consumer from the start and include their passion for your brand.

4. Work with not against the transparence market
In today’s transparent market, bad marketing can sink even the unsinkable Titanic company. Intel was close to going under because one consumer complained about its Pentium processor. Small fishes swim together for safety. ONE shows how both corporations and their customers can swim together to prosper from the coming consumer revolution. Two examples of companies that swim well with their customers are Dell and eBay. Consumer power has also become a major component in the increasingly sensitive stock market. Positive buzz and enthusiastic consumer support can raise stock prices. A few percentage points can mean billions of dollars for many companies.

5. Leave your office today!
History has shown us that when the bicycle came to the village, in-breeding disappeared. Villagers now had a larger area in which to find mates. Today, there are unlimited opportunities for finding new mates when it is easier to move from company to consumer.

More steps are found in my book, ONE – A Consumer Revolution for Business.

It is a really good name Secret Service for doing Secret Service. The problem is that other companies are doing the same. Offering Secret Service that costumers can’t find. Most big companies have in my experience around 7-25% Secret Services, what I mean with this is that they don’t connect their services with the consumers.
At a time in my work carrier I started to work for a big company. At a meeting around our services they said that we have to stop offering this service to our costumer now. I said why? And they responded no body is buying it! That is so strange I said because as a costumer to this companies I have been asking for this services but never been told that you have it for me to buy. Another reason for why it is secret is often internal politics (some will not promote an good service/product if it makes the “wrong people” heroes). They would do a better job working for the real Secret Service, they are searching for people like that here.
The effect this secret offers is that they cannot develop (adapt) it to the consumers needs. So what did they do? They let go off the product, some years later it shows up at a research that the costumers are asking for it and then they put it on the market with a new name on it.
How many % of your companies are Secret Services?

Spending this a summer home in Sweden was really nice; since I cant remember a more sunny summer. It also interesting to talk with tourist and guide visiting friends, they always see thinks I miss for I live here. Outsiders are not home blind and see more dimensions of the same thinks you miss because you now too much. It is the same good “not now dimension” as consumers are having, and they are consuming Sweden (ore your country). Walk around with them and you will find new opportunities and dimensions.

Do we go away to come home?

Did talk with some American tourist, they al did almost always say the same thing: “Everything is so clean and organized, its unreal. Sweden gives me a strange feeling of being home at Disney Land.” They pointed out the safe feeling being out at night in cities like Stockholm.

If Disney Land was a country, should then Mickey Mouse be the president?

The Americans made me think about Swedish brands like Volvo and Saab that has develop some of the safest car in the world. Why? We do have so much safety already in Sweden, but we do have some moose lose and a weather that changes faster than you can turn your car around. This need for safety is here still even if we haven’t been to a war nearly sense the Vikings got old. Safety is a big part of the Swedish culture.
Compare country cultures and corporate cultures where is the biggest connections?