<img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-6756" title="Chasing cool" src="http://luminositymarketing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Chasing-cool2.jpg" alt="" width="187" height="269" />In <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Cool-Standing-Cluttered-Marketplace/dp/0743497090" target="_blank"><em>Chasing Cool: Standing Out in Today’s Cluttered Marketplace</em></a>, Noah Kerner and Gene Pressman address one central question that many companies seek to answer: “How do we make this <em>thing</em> cool?” Their answer is not a blueprint for how a company can be successful and become the next <a href="http://www.apple.com/" target="_blank">Apple</a> or <a href="http://www.nike.com/nikeos/p/nike/en_US/?ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3Dt%26rct%3Dj%26q%3D%26esrc%3Ds%26source%3Dweb%26cd%3D1%26ved%3D0CFQQFjAA%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.nike.com%252F%26ei%3D6DDeTvu9DYrY0QG47YiuBw%26usg%3DAFQjCNFfu6fEgeWQlHU5XPqvVX1nIV4b6w%26sig2%3DY0pRiN1fTbZXPAgwPalELw" target="_blank">Nike</a>. Rather, they suggest that being cool consists of following one’s gut, listening to one’s instincts, and not trying to mock what others have done. Trying to follow somebody else’s path to success is not a good tactic for achieving success. As Martin Puris says in the book<a href="http://luminositymarketing.com/blog/?p=6753">[...]</a>

Online Viral Marketing is a marketing/advertising method that encourages consumers to pass along an email message, text, or video among their social networks. Viral marketing is essentially, a reverse funnel method. In traditional advertising, the aim is to reach as many people as possible at the top of the funnel and then filter downwards to obtain the optimal consumer who will take an action/convert (purchase, information request, lead capture, etc). Conversely, viral marketing starts very narrow at the top with one person who then sends the ad message to their personal network. This network creates a chain reaction, to which the volume of people who receive the message are already at the bottom of the funnel (or are most likely to be susceptive to the messaging).
[...]

The New York Marathon got me thinking about getting a new pair of running shoes. Lately, I have been trying to get back into shape through running. For me it is somewhat of seasonal exercise as I try to burn off all the beer calories after a lazy summer. Over the years I have discovered through trial and error that the choice of shoe is important in order to get the proper support necessary to avoid shin splints and other muscle strain.

As running has exploded as a recreational sport, sales of running shoes have increased 60% over the previous decade according to a recent article in the New York Times. It seems every year a company releases a new break-through in running technology such as the Nike+ shoes that sync to your iPod. In fact, a few years back Adidas tried to up the ante with the Adidas 1 that featured a microchip that was supposed to adjust the shoe to your running style. Whatever.

Yoda Breakdown: Robot shoes a good runner do not make[...]