Leaving a place better than you found it...

All of my military friends will be very familiar the idea of leaving a place better than you found it.  It is something that we always TRY to do, at times with more success than others.  Beyond doing the project assigned to me, I have tried to ask questions and encourage debate within the organization around the subjects of defining clear objectives, aligning on a strategy and then clearly communicating that through various marketing vehicles -- both the art and the science.  Yesterday, I had the opportunity to discuss some Mars marketing strategy principles with the communications team here.  It is interesting how the Laws of Growth are just as applicable to a non-profit as they are to a traditional brand.  Although some parts of "physical availability" and "scale" are less applicable (i.e. SKU proliferation isn't REALLY a problem), most things in "mental availability" are crucial.  Copy effectiveness.  Media Placement.  Maximizing reach with the budget you have.  I think it was a very interesting conversation and I hope the team here thought so as well.  I (of course) had to round it out with a lively debate on which archetype best fits VECO.  The team landed on the magician and I must say, I completely agreed.

http://www.soulcraft.co/essays/the_12_common_archetypes.html

As I put the finishing touches on my presentation for tomorrow, I hope that it is both useful and thought-provoking and that I have in fact, been able to do something "magical" to make things at least a little bit better than it was when I arrived.