T-shirt marketing has been around for years. I’m not sure who started it, probably someone who loved making people smile. Any way, what we wear has changed so much over the years. Clothing can affect the way you think(peoples’ perception of you changes), from the psychology of social signalling and Status Anxiety, to understanding that most of what we do is centred around attracting the opposite sex (see the book Spent for a fascinating look into this theory). Read more
https://strategylab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Every-Cool-company-needs-a-tshirt-strategy-lab.jpg11972000Jephhttps://strategylab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/strat-icon-2021-white.pngJeph2015-08-19 07:42:002017-01-08 23:20:59Why Your Company Needs a T-Shirt || Eps 26 #InTheLab
I met Braedon back when he was in highschool and still full of piss and vinegar. I was the assistant coach of the Senior Boys at Winston Knoll and there was this young spitfire of a Volleyball player that looked at the world through a different lens. He was a little shit disturber, didn’t like authority but would compete no matter what. He was a competitor. We didn’t see eye to eye at first, but slowly I began to understand where this young fellow came from. Read more
The most underrated thing you can do for your life is exercise. There are so many positive side effects to physical activity that it’s almost insane how we live our lives sitting at a desk for hours on end. We learned that in school, businesses thought it was a good idea too, “hey put everyone in cubicles!”. What a terrible idea that was. Read more
https://strategylab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/the-most-underrated-activity-in-your-life.jpg5321000Jephhttps://strategylab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/strat-icon-2021-white.pngJeph2015-08-04 17:03:272015-08-14 23:38:26The Most Underrated Activity In Your Life; Exercise || Eps 24 #InTheLab
https://strategylab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/why-do-most-presentations-suck-strategy-lab.jpg13332000Jephhttps://strategylab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/strat-icon-2021-white.pngJeph2015-07-27 13:56:182015-09-16 00:55:135 Ways To Make a Remarkable Presentation || Eps 23 #InTheLab
I’ve heard this question a lot and people ask it all the time, how are you supposed to “be” on social media? Not just share this, talk to this person, what’s the norm? What are other people doing on social? Better yet, what are the best people doing on social? Read more
https://strategylab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/How-not-to-suck-on-facebook.jpg10482000Jephhttps://strategylab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/strat-icon-2021-white.pngJeph2015-07-21 01:09:552016-12-18 11:04:24Social Media Etiquette (How Not To Suck On Facebook) || Eps 22 #InTheLab
Humans vs Robots, a series of Podcasts produced by NPR’s Planet Money Podcast that are nothing short of amazing. The first one I listened to on the way to presentation in Saskatoon, I used one of the stories in my presentation. It was that good!
As the human race progresses, we invent easier ways to do things. The lightbulb put the candle makers out of business. They were outraged. Why wouldn’t people support the candle makers anymore? Doesn’t society have a duty to support the candle makers?!?
The car put horse and carriage drivers out of business. The Better Business Bureau put the snake oil salesmen out of business. Cassette tape put the record stompers out of business, the digital camera put Kodak out of business, Napster put 60% of the record industry out of business, Google put the phone book out of business, what do you think will be next? Are you in that industry? Better yet, are you in the industry that’s going to displace a current market?
Dr. Nick Bontis talking about industry displacement and why you need to retool, relearn, re-certify, re-professionalize to stay relevant.
In this podcast they lineup three competitions of the epic showdown, HUMANS vs ROBOTS!
Battle 1: Who can fold a towel better?. At MIT there’s a project that has students developing an algorithm that allows a robot to reach into a load of laundry, grab a towel, and fold it in to a prefect square. The students did just that, but it took the robot 18 minutes to complete the task. They also had a young child try folding a towel. It took less than a minute.
Humans 1 Robots 0
Battle 2 was Ellie. Ellie is a computer program that interacts with people. It was made for people with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and severe depression. The theory was that some people just won’t open up to another human, what they’ve been through sometimes it too traumatic to tell someone. But it’s easier to talk to a machine that won’t judge you.
This part in the podcast is worth listening to alone. They have a war vet from the Canadian Military talking about his experience with Ellie, it was a positive one. His story is a moving one, I won’t ruin it for you. Go listen to it!
Human 1 Robots 1
Battle 3; who can write faster a machine or a journalist from the BBC?
Yup, they’ve created a machine to write the news. All the major websites (Reuters, Yahoo news, Huffington Post, etc.) have stories created by WordSmith, a software program that can write news articles. All you need is a companies annual report (the competition in the story was based on Denny’s annual report) and WordSmith puts together an article that isn’t fancy but gets the point across.
The result? WordSmith took two minutes to finish the articles, the journalist took just over seven minutes however the journalist had a little more flare to his article.
This is a story about a small town in the US that’s slowly being taken over by factories, and no, not traditional manufacturing factories, robotically run factories. This is completely changing the job landscape for many people in North America. It’s scary but you can’t stop technology, some how you have to get a head of the curve.
The future of restaurants will involve this thing called Ziosk. It’s like an iPad for your table where you can order on, get a drink refill, and order dessert. What will happen to waitresses and waiters? They interviewed some of the staff at an Applebee’s that has Ziosk’s. The wait staff hate it, not surprisingly, but it shortens table turnaround (very valuable in casual dining) and increases dessert sales by 30%.
Just think, you may be ordering your next meal from a machine, who will you tip? Do machines need tips? The future will tell.
This podcast is a fictional story of “the last job”. It’s kind of funny, but also somewhat erie. What will we do in the future? We won’t all be working. What will we spend our time doing? It’s an interesting thought.
https://strategylab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Humans-vs-robots.jpg6941080Jephhttps://strategylab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/strat-icon-2021-white.pngJeph2015-07-13 08:47:512015-07-12 20:33:35Humans vs Robots || Eps 21 #InTheLab
Ready for the best week of Summer?!? Welcome Big Idea Camp 2015.We combine the two best parts of school to create the most effective learning environment possible. Field trips (working with real companies and organizations) and team based competitions.
In school, getting out of the classroom was when you started learning (outside your comfort zone) and team based competition teaches students many different applicable skills such as, communication, empathy, leadership (more importantly followership), listening, initiative, trust, and of course teamwork.
In school field trips were the best! You got to learn from the experts in the field doing their real job. This is what we want to create. A real learning experience. We’re working with companies and a couple non-profits to offer the students real case studies on problems businesses are currently facing. You’ll get to offer ideas that may get implemented by an actual company. How neat!
It’s for highschool students (grades 9-12), you don’t need prior business education whatsoever. We’re going 9-4 for 5 days straight! You’ll never sit in a chair longer than 30 minutes. Big Idea Camp will keep you laughing, keep you on your toes, and get you thinking about YOUR big idea.
Hugh MacLeod says the future of marketing is social objects. I wholeheartedly agree. That’s why I give away stickers regularly, I want someone to be inspired a week, a month, a year after I have met them.
A photo posted by Strategy Lab Marketing (@stratlab) on
There’s something special about seeing a sticker you gave someone displayed in public. It’s like a badge of honour. If you can make stickers that make people feel good or inspire them, bonus!!
We all have a vested interest in making the people around us happy, why not encourage the people on your team with an uplifting sticker, postcard or (fill in the blank).
You Know What Really Grinds My Gears? The condescending customer service rep.
You know who I’m talking about. That person at a place you frequent that just doesn’t understand customer service. They need to be right, they seem to dislike human interactions, they make you feel bad for simple things. Usually a customer representative at a front desk or a place that interacts with people a lot. It’s sad really. Read more
I met Braedon back when he was in highschool and still full of piss and vinegar. I was the assistant coach of the Senior Boys at Winston Knoll and there was this young spitfire of a Volleyball player that looked at the world through a different lens. He was a little shit disturber, didn’t like authority but would compete no matter what. He was a competitor. We didn’t see eye to eye at first, but slowly I began to understand where this young fellow came from. 
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This part in the podcast is worth listening to alone. They have a war vet from the Canadian Military talking about his experience with Ellie, it was a positive one. His story is a moving one, I won’t ruin it for you. Go listen to it!
