Pow! Right Between The Eyes! Andy Nulman's Blog About Surprise

I Ain't Been Lazy, I've Been Busy

Apologies apologies to faithful FOPs who've been wondering, asking, pondering why my consistent from the start, break-neck pace of AT LEAST four posts per week has been slowed down to a molasses-like trickle over the past month or so.

Well, there is a reason.  Three of them in fact. 

1) First and foremost are changes that have gone on at my company Airborne Mobile.  My biz partner Garner and I are putting the final touches on a Management Buy-Out of the company's shares from Cybird Holdings in Japan.  Not only was this process lengthy and detailed, but the ensuring restructuring of Airborne into two lean-and-mean business units, as well as the forward planning process made it hard to concentrate on much anything else over the past little while.

2)  Secondly, I've been kinda stealth about this, but with less than 10,000 words to go and some fine feedback from the folks over at Wiley Publishing in Hoboken, N.J., I think it's time to tell you: I've been spending every weekend and most of my nights pounding out Pow! Right Between The Eyes--THE BOOK! and my drop-deadline is August 1, so...  It's going to be one of Wiley's featured 2009 business titles when it comes out in February of next year. Given that--at over 200 years old--Wiley is one of the oldest publishing houses in the world, and that my stablemates include management guru Patrick Lencioni, the legendary Jack Trout (of "Positioning" fame) and all the For Dummies books, well, I think I'm amongst some mighty fine company. (Yeah, yeah, I know..."what are you doing here?")

3) Last, and certainly not least, are some personal family issues that, while certainly difficult, I hope to be over with soon.

So, all that said, I've decided to open the door to my life a whole lot wider.  Finally, there will actually be  a reason to follow me on Twitter, as I plan to Tweet about the excitement, challenges, trials and tribulations of starting a business again (as we say around here, "Airborne is Reborn").  Here's where to find me:

http://twitter.com/AndyNulman

Starting in October or so, at the urging of my son Aidan, there will be a second Twitter feed about the marketing of Pow! Right Between The Eyes--The Book, which will give you the insight into what it's like to launch a major market/major publisher book.  Surprises galore I'm sure.

On both these feeds, you'll follow me into meetings, conferences, backstage at speaking engagements, client pitches and creative sessions.  If nothing else, it'll be an entertaining look inside the mind of a busy man changing his life and making things work...or at least, trying to.  Call it "Starting Over From Square 2."

So there you have it.  Yes, lots more Pow! posts to come right here.  But it'll be a little while before I pick up the pace again.  As you see, I've kinda got my hands full.

Thanks for understanding.  And for joining me for the journey.

Now You See It...

Beverage cans and soft drink bottles, long considered an eyesore by the side of the road or source of revenue for the homeless, have become the new fashion statement. 

Coca-Cola just won a prestigious Golden Lion in Cannes (how apropos!) for its newly-designed aluminum bottle (that's them there at right), Pepsi is now pouring from 35 different eye-poppin' can creations, and over the course of this year, two beer companies will be packaging their brew in camouflage cans, ostensibly to appeal to the 65 million outdoorsmen (and women) who like to match their wardrobe while they hunt, fish, shoot and binge drink.  This summer, Busch and Busch Light will be available in underbrush tones of green and muted brown, with Miller's "Camo Can" taking on similar attributes starting in October.

All this seems to be a natural progression as food packaging is becoming everything from a purveyor of poetry and motivation (Starbucks cups), promotional messaging and couponing (Burger King) to a broadcast medium in its own right (Coke's veiled threat to sell ads on its cans and bottles due to their massive international exposure).

Back to the brew for a second.  While the aesthetics are indeed unique, methinks that perhaps they, too are just camouflaging the brewers' more insidious ulterior motive.  Just think of the additional sales after the aforementioned outdoorsy types lay down their six-packs in the open bush...and then, no matter how hard they look, can't find them.

Wrecked Angles

From the burgeoning "Little Things Mean A Lot" file comes the story of Pizza Fusion, a Florida-based organic pizza chain that's sprouting up across the country faster than "For Sale" signs on SUVs. 

While the company focuses on the all-important high-quality ingredients (a must, I suppose, with the descriptive sobriquet of "organic") and environmentally-friendly environment (branded hybrid delivery cars, alt-energy appliances and reclaimed wood tables, to name but a few of its green efforts), what's truly building buzz about the place is the simple shape of the product itself--it's rectangular, not round.

This rave from Brandweek:

"The shape of the pie was more important
than the actual pizza in the beginning. 

"They wanted to stand out right down to the box
so that people would know, without even seeing
the name on it, where the pizza was coming from.

The three partners that run Pizza Fusion are doing everything right (particularly their website's Press Room, which should be prototyped as a lesson in clarity and efficiency of use), but if their foodstuff was measured in circumference instead of length and width, there would be no story.  Keep that in mind as you put the finishing touches to YOUR pet project.

A New Me Every Day

Faithful FOPs know my love of Italy.  Here's another reason why:

From the AdmCom agency in Bologna comes the Y.O.C. (Year Of Creativity) initiative which they say should "encourage people to reinvent themselves every day."  It started out as a physical box containing 366 illustrated business cards (one for each day of the year, plus one for good luck, I suppose) for the same number of different, imaginative professions, all of them customized for the person who receives the box.

The success of, and buzz about, the project encouraged the folks at AdmCom to expand into the digital realm, which they have done brilliantly at www.yoc2008.com.  Now you can pick a profession, personalize it with your name, and have a printer-ready PDF sheet saved to your desktop.  Obviously, this being Web 2.0, you can also personalize a card in a friend's name, and send it along.

The graphics, while not breath-taking, are catchy and fun, and the whole project is effervescent with the free-wheelin' spirit of Italia. "Reinvent yourself, because people are like ideas: New ones can change the world," they say. "It's time to create a new you."  (Add Louis Tetu's descriptive terms to your card and you're really in business.)

That said, here's the new me:

Looking Back With Virgin Eyes

Another Father's Day postscript if I may...

I have to say, although somewhat biased but not much, that my sons are brilliant.  My 17-year-old, Hayes, designs furniture for the future, while my 20-year-old, designs much of the future itself. 

One of these days, I'll share pix of Hayes' industrial-influenced residential creations with you, but today, I wanna show you Aidan's new work, a blog called (no relation to Madonna or Richard Branson):

Like A Virgin

The concept is simple, but amazingly sticky and profound--in essence, Aidan visits the first post of famous and favorite blogs and rates them.  Like seeing old high school pictures of today's superstars, the flashbacks are sometimes tell-tale, often polar-opposite to the present, but always fascinating nonetheless.

He came up with the idea while battling a little writer's block trying to compose a first post for another new blog (called "The Projectionist") he was putting together with a friend.  He figured seeing what other first posts were like would give him the inspiration needed...but I don't think he counted on THIS MUCH inspiration. 

Today he goes big and dredges up the first post of Mark Cuban.  Check it out, and suggest your favorite blog (but don't try this one; I was honored to be his debut debut post yesterday).

Quenching A Fashionable Thirst

Yesterday may have been Father's Day, but the two happiest people at the extended Nulman family Bar-B-Que were my nieces Hailey Krychman and Laura Harris, who were beaming over their pre-camp gift of ThirstyWear.

Not only were the brightly colored skirt and shorts a hit with th em style-wise, but the practicality made their parents smile as well.  For those uninitiated, as I was up until this weekend, ThirstyWear is made from downy-soft, retina-popping terry cloth towels, and is the brainchild of Lisa Eisen. 

After seeing her watersportin' kids incessantly and uncomfortably change from wet bathing suits into dry, and/or watching as their towels turned wet and sandy after falling off their bodies, she had the Eureka moment of making clothes out of towels themselves to, as she puts it "provide warmth, dryness and comfort, all with a stylish twist."

Well, if the reaction of my two fashionista nieces is any indication, Lisa may have the next Lulu Lemon on her hands.  I checked out her full line of ThirstyWear, which includes dresses, pants, magnificent '60s-reminiscent hoodies (like the one above), and jeez... perhaps for the next Father's Day...

"Guess Who I Sat Next To" Takes Off!

Well, as if I don't have enough to do...

Actually, this one is in YOUR hands folks and FOPs. 

The official launch of

Guess Who I Sat Next To On The Plane.com

takes off today at noon.

You are both the passengers and pilot.  Have a nice ride.

(And as per a question I received from Andrew B. Clark, you can indeed incorporate elevator-mates, bus-and/or-train-mates; I won't get anal with the details as long as you keep in the spirit and have a good story to tell.)

Getting Jiggy...With Me!

Last night, coming home from a business trip to Toronto, who plops down right next to me on the plane but Jean-Sebastien Giguere! (That's him at left.)

Many of you non-hockey fans may say "Who?" or "So what?", but as a longtime struggling goaltender (and father to another, much better, one), having the heralded Stanley Cup-and-Conne-Smythe-winning goalie of the Anaheim Ducks as a Surprise seatmate is as thrilling as winning the lottery.  Well, almost.

"Jiggy," as his friends and teammates know him, was a true gentleman.  While I tried hard not to be too ridiculously groupie-like, I did manage to strike up a modest conversation, and learned that he was returning from a player's meeting where they discussed the possibility of the NHL messing with the size of a goalie's equipment. (Again?!!?  Come on  guys, give us human targets a break!)

Once I shut up, I realized how often I've sat next to (or in front of) interesting people on a plane.  There was:

• Celine Dion (she slept, mostly)
• Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson (a delight, who poured her heart out to me as if I were her best friend...or analyst)
• Guitarist Johnny Winter (ignored me)
• and the world's most talkative insomniac on an overseas flight to Germany (a story that needs to be told in its entirety...and will be soon)

So, with the above in mind, inspired by Mr. Giguere himself, I am proud to announce the upcoming premiere of a new, companion blog to Pow!, an open, social-network of storytelling everyone can partake in called:

Guess Who I Sat Next To?

The URL www.GuessWhoISatNextTo.com is being registered as we speak, and once all the logistic details have been ironed out, I'll launch the site with the sordid tale of the aforementioned insomniac.

Until then, start thinking about who YOU may have sat next to...

Welcome CSUSA Delegates!

Today's the day!

For some reason, Pow! has been made part of the curriculum for the annual Copyright Society of the USA Conference.  Honored to be in such great company as "$5 a Month For Legal P2P Could Happen Sooner Than You Think" and "Music Industry Changes Its Tune on Podcasting." 

So, to moderator Barry Slotnick, to panelists Monica Corton, Hope Carr, Michelle Bayer and Nancy Weshkoff, and to all attendees of the "Trends in Music Licensing" session, while I welcome your presence at the top of this blog, I think what you're really looking for can be found by clicking here.

As they say, enjoy your stay...and enjoy the ride!

Send Me Something

Many smart retailers exploit the element of Surprise to drive business, but I've just discovered a retailer where the element of Surprise IS its business.

If this blog had a house of worship, it would be the SomethingStore.  Its concept is as simple as can be:

1) Send them $10
2) They'll send you something in return

The store's inventory is a random selection of stuff; recent "somethings" include everything from a magnetic dart board to a Bluetooth headset to a $25 BestBuy giftcard to a copy of Madden '08.

The company's site doesn't specify if the stuff sent is new or used, but given the extensive detail of what they will NOT send, the end result seems to be something relatively upbeat and harmless, providing a lot of bang for ten bucks.

No matter what you get, the product received is secondary; these guys are selling Surprise, pure and simple. Which is why they have become the first recipient of the Pow! Right Between The Eyes! Hero of the Month Award.  Congrats! 

Click the logo below and visit them.  Tell 'em Surprise Central sent ya.

(And by the way, I just clicked "Send" to get my first Something from them.  Details to follow.)

Surprise! I Do...

Well, ain't this a heartwarming way to start the week!

My highly-esteemed friend Jim Fannin recently shocked and awwwed a bunch of guests he called over to his home, ostensibly for them to sit in on a taping of his next PBS special (for those of you who don't know Jim, he's a world-renowned speaker, author and personal coach, tapping into the psyches and improving the performances of everyone from the New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez to a whole slew of Fortune 500 companies).

While there was no Fannin "performance" per se, what transpired was indeed special, as he tied the knot with girlfriend CeCe Tyler in a most Surprising ceremony (well, to the guests; CeCe was well-prepared for the occasion). 

Best wishes from all of us at Surprise Central and from FOPs everywhere to the happy couple, pictured below with a mobile media businessman some of you more astute readers may actually recognize.

Bloody Good Time

What are they adding to the water at Saatchi and Saatchi?  After the agency's Toronto branch had a go at Evil Dead, its New Zealand office has a bloody good time with the TV debut of Kill Bill.

This is obviously not everyone's taste, but damn...it sure 'nuff does Pow!  (And I guarantee it'll make you reconsider parking behind the white car).

Sickeningly Sweet

Hysterical, brilliant...and a little scary.

So, how do you market a repulsively gory, blood-filled, uber-violent videogame?  Well, if you're Sega's Condemned 2, you counterbalance your standard, dark, black-and-red website with rainbows, clowns, cutesy animals and butterflies.

That's what you'll find on Offset The Evil (that's it below), the Yang to Condemned 2's slingbladed Ying. The '70s-styled technicolor site invites you to play inane games like Lollipop Catch, watch sweeter-than-sweet parades or visit the Forest of Fairy Flowers (each which takes you to other happy places on the net), each designed to "offset the evil" you will generate by playing Condemned 2. 

Very bright, very newsworthy...but makes me shudder to think if a similar concept will be used to market the next SpongeBob SquarePants or High School Musical project.

Freshening Up Big Time

Saul Colt is not just the smartest man in the world, but he's one of my all-time favorite writers, be they bloggers or old-school columnists. 

What's more, he's a true Disciple of Pow! (a DOP, I suppose) bringing his unique vision to the workplace.  The next time you say to yourself:

"Yeah, this Surprise stuff is great for your hip, new media company, but I could never do it at MY place of employment!"

...consider that Saul toils for Freshbooks, an ONLINE INVOICING company, and can pull something like this off in a most masterful fashion.  The picture below is the end result.   I'll let Saul tell you the full story himself here.

So, what's your   excuse for boredom?

Still Dead And Well

Full disclosure here--I was one of the early investors in the "Evil Dead--The Musical" show that played off-Broadway, Seoul, Korea and is currently wowing them in Toronto.  George Reinblatt, who co-created and co-wrote the show, has been working with me at Just For Laughs for years, and Jeffrey Latimer, the Toronto-based producer who has supported this show since its most embryonic stage, is an old friend.

All that said though, the show's current ad campaign is Pow!-ing them...and not just in Toronto.  Created by Saatchi and Saatchi, the four-postered blitz takes images of four popular musicals, kills and then resurrects them Evil Dead-styled.  The end result is one of those campaigns that people dream about--kudos in the marketing press (including AdAge's prestigious Creativity online magazine), posters being stolen by fans all over Toronto, and, the best of all, a big bump in sales.

Maybe I'll see a return on my investment yet... ;)

Until then, at least I've got these posters to brighten (frighten?) up my office.

Toto, We Are Not in Kansas Anymore

If there was ever any doubt that the times, they are indeed changing, it was put to rest this weekend with my son Aidan's reaction to a t-shirt I wanted to give him:

"No thanks, Dad.
It's not ironic enough."

Making a statement doesn't seem to be enough anymore. This is the dawning of the age of subtext.