OK, so the trail is crazy easy to find, however, make sure you go the right direction on the loop.  As we were heading down, a fellow biker riding up politely informed us we were going the wrong direction.  Duly noted – next time go counter-clockwise on the trail, not clockwise.  Thankfully we were the first ones there at around 8:00am, so we didn’t run into anyone barreling down as we were riding up. If you are thinking about doing this ride, after parking your car, ride your bike up the main dirt road and it will funnel you right into the single track (and you’ll be on your way to a successful counterclockwise loop).

For those of you that want to really hammer it, two loops can make for a great workout. That is probably the only thing lacking about Freund Canyon, it leaves you wanting more!

Enjoy the brief video below. This is a view of the trail that few get to see (well, unless you ride it backwards like Jerry and I)…

Jerry after hammering it to the top.

Me after trying to keep up w/ Jerry.

I disagree. While consumers will form their own perception, how they form it sits squarely in the experience they have with the brand.

Ultimately, brand positioning and branding in general is more important now than ever. With so much noise to sift through consumers are craving brands that can deliver on their promise.  Authenticity is the name of the game in the 21^st century, and if your brand doesn’t deliver an authentic experience than you’re going to have a tough go.

Facebook, Twitter, blogs, texting . . . word of mouth can now take many more forms than just talking to a friend over a cup of coffee. Those who encounter an authentic brand will share it with friends and unlike the past, that sharing can spread like wildfire and reinforce the brand’s reputation. Look at how quickly Apple has been forgiven for the antennae issue. Over and over again Apple has delivered on their brand promise, and while the media might be looking for a chink in the armor, an explanation and a solution set everything back in order (if you haven’t watched Steve Jobs press conference on the issue, you can watch a summarized version on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZctdV9dZyE).

But it all comes back to that initial experience, that initial perception of what the brand stands for. While we don’t have complete control over what the consumer will take away in their minds, it is our duty as marketers and brand managers to tell the story the right way, the first time. Then, and only then, do we have a chance at accurately reflecting a brands true identity to customers.

For more reading, check out these two posts on the Puget Sound American Marketing Association blog by Don Morgan:

Is Brand Positioning Dead in the 21^st Century?

Are You Living Your Brand Strategy?

Additionally, for a quick story on how brand positioning / advertising that isn’t authentic can negatively impact your brand, check out a quick post by Kevin Coupe from The Morning News Beat (an excellent blog on all things retail related). The post is about how his initial positive perception of a new restaurant changed to a negative perception after hearing more about it via word of mouth. The initial branding worked, but because it was not authentic the new restaurant kept Kevin from ever becoming a customer. 

 http://www.morningnewsbeat.com/News/News_Article_Detail_S.las?A=34256&Date=2010-07-26

In the past I’ve occasionally ventured into the realm of veggie burgers, primarily out of curiosity as to why some of my extended family members would ever forego the staple meaty burger that is as American as apple pie. For instance, I distinctly remember trying Boca Burgers when they came out, and I distinctly remember thinking I would never compromise a meal again with that kind of vegetarian cardboard. So when Brianne brought home the Morningstar Farm Burgers from Costco a few months ago, I was skeptical to say the least. But, to my surprise, these bad boys had ample flavor and substance. 

In doing a little digging, this is a Kellogg product being sold under the Morningstar Farms brand. I’ll admit – I was surprised to find it was a Kellogg product. They’ve done a good job of giving it a non-Kellogg look with branding and packaging that has a more natural and down-home style.

Two thumbs up from me on this product. For you meat-eaters out there, trust me, I was a skeptic too, these Chipotle Black Bean Burgers are the real deal. Load ‘em up with salsa, guacamole, avocado and cheese to accent the southwest flavor. While these burgers won’t convert me into full-time vegetarian, they will definitely remain a favorite in our household until someone can top them.

But before I digress too much, a little background information might help. If you haven’t heard of Crossfit, or functional fitness style workouts, you soon will.  In a nutshell, functional fitness gyms focus on variety and intensity without the use of any machine weights. Instead, you end up doing pull-ups, working with medicine balls, hitting a sledge hammer against a massive truck tire, flipping truck tires, pulling sleds with weight on them, lunges, squats, and a variety of other movements that are “functional” in style.

Over the last five years these types of gyms have exploded in popularity, with more than 2,000 popping up across the county.  Initially targeting professionals whose jobs require stamina and endurance (i.e. firefighters, SWAT teams, military, etc.), these gyms have also attracted everyday athletes who, like me, have become bored with the standard gym experience (sounds like another intersection of business and life – hence the popularity).

The Inner Circle Gym opened in Wenatchee in April 2009, and was the first functional fitness gym in the valley.  I have to be honest – it’s awesome. My workouts are shorter, more intense and most importantly, more fun! Yes, I said it. Fun. : )

For instance, here was yesterday’s workout that made me so sore today.  Adam Vognild, one of The Inner Circle Gym owners put this workout together. We did each of the items listed below for 3 minutes, with a one minute break in between. So in twenty minutes, we maxed out our reps at each “station.”

• Sit-ups
• Pull-ups
• Sandbag get-ups (take a 35lb sand bag on your shoulder, lay down, and get up, back down, up etc.)
• Air squats
• Burpee’s

That’s it. Nothing fancy, but boy am I sore. The cool part is, tomorrow I’ll go in and mix it up with a completely different workout. Efficient, effective and fun. You gotta love that.

If you are interested to learn more, check out these links:

The Inner Circle Gym Website – www.theinnercirclegym.com

Wenatchee World Article – At this gym, they don’t have no ellipticals, pal

WSJ Article – Fitness as a Full-Time Pursuit

I have no regrets. Life is too short. That’s why my only message and reason for this post is to look at your life, and make sure you are making memories and making a difference. Don’t waste time on distractions – focus on what is most important.  The question, “In ten years, will you regret X decision” is so true.

And how does the title of this post tie in? Because this title describes a memory maker for me that I want to share with you. Our son’s favorite word is ”buh.” Additionally, he has a whole series of favorite things that stem from “buh:” balloon, bee, ball, blue (for blueberry).  I love it.  I’ll never forget the joyful ”buh’s” he says daily right now as he points them around the house.  We all could use a little more “buh” in our life – they’re a good thing!

Over two years ago Brianne and I decided to end our cable subscription and sell our TV. And so it was that my sweet 19″ TV/VCR combo that I bought in college moved on to a better, more loving home.

I have to admit, I was a bit more skeptical than Brianne about how we’d fair without our 19” boob tube.  Thoughts like “what about major sporting events, what about staying current with news, or what about just staying current with trends in general?” all ran through my brain. 

Despite the hesitancy, the desire to create more time doing things won out over keeping our TV. We only had so much time in a day, and we realized it was way too easy to turn on the television set and let the evening go by.  Amazingly, the withdrawals didn’t last long once the TV was gone.  When you actually unplug your TV and it’s not an option, it’s easier than you might think to fill your time.

For more than a year we had no TV in the house. We instantly created more free time which allowed us to stay ahead on chores, get outside more, and in general communicate more. And when we got an itch to watch a show, we jumped online and watched it without commercials.  The beauty of this is we could watch it when the time was best for us (rather than us fitting our schedule around the show).

About a year ago we ended up buying another TV (a 42” flat screen), but its only purpose was for movies; we still have no cable. Even with this addition, our time in front of the TV is significantly less than what it used to be because we dictate what we watch and when we watch it.

If you are finding it hard to get everything done in your life – try disconnecting your cable. You’ll save some money and instantly create free time you can use for whatever else is most important to you.

And to bring this full circle and add a marketing perspective, this is one of those areas of life that is a true intersection for businesses. Digital online media is reshaping how we consume information. I have no doubt that in the future cable TV as we know it today will converge with broadband and the majority of consumers will view most if not all of their cable content online. It’s already beginning as TV’s are now being sold that can connect direct with Netflix, YouTube etc.

At the end of the day each of us will still be responsible for how much TV we consume, but for those of us who want to be specific about when and where we watch it, we’ll have even greater flexibility.

Of the video entries Paramount posted on the GetCrackin’ website, this was the one I personally voted for. It has a fresh sound and a positive vibe that fits nicely with how Paramount is trying to brand their Wonderful Pistachios (i.e. healthy, fun to eat, etc). Nice work DeStorm! Who would have thought ten years ago a company could post a contest like this, and get this kind of result back. Fantastic. For more on DeStorm, check out his YouTube channel or follow him on Twitter.

Fossil Fuels Brewing Co. has one of the more interesting stories I’ve read about in a long time. Dr. Raul Cano from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, CA was able to crack open a 45 million year old piece of amber, and literally bring back to life the dormant microorganisms inside. In analyzing the microorganisms, he realized one of them was the yeast brewer’s use for beer (also known as Saccharomyces for you Jeopardy die-hards out there). When Dr. Cano connected with master brewer Peter Hackett to professionally test the yeast in a real brewery, what they found was astonishing. The yeast acted like no other yeast Hackett had ever seen. An article in Wired (Amber Ale: Brewing Beer From 45-Million-Year-Old Yeast by Erin Biba, 7/20/09) describes what happened during their first test:

Hackett combined the yeast with all the other ingredients that make up his popular Rat Bastard pale ale recipe, so he could easily taste its distinguishing characteristics. During the brewing, the ancient yeast’s behavior was unusual, to say the least. “It ferments violently at the start,” Hackett says, “then it falls out of suspension and the beer becomes almost clear.” From a brewer’s perspective, its behavior was schizophrenic: It began like a yeast used in ales, floating at the top. Then it began to act like yeast used in slow-fermenting lagers, settling to the bottom of the tank but not going dormant.

Normally, Hackett ends the primary fermentation process by “crashing the tank”—lowering the temperature to shock the yeast into dormancy. But that didn’t work on Cano’s yeast. “It was just sitting on the bottom and nibbling on the sugar like a couch potato,” Hackett says. A strain that had survived 45 million years in suspended animation was not about to go quietly.

Hackett was prepared to pour the batch down the drain if it tasted awful. But he discovered that the flavor of the resulting ale was unique, and not in a bad way. It was light and crisp with a citrusy, gingery tang. It was definitely worth exploring further.

Amazing. So not only is the yeast that makes this beer 45 million years old, but it acts like no other yeast we know of today. If you enjoy a nice ale every now and then, how can you not want to try a Fossil Fuels beer?

That’s the power of great story telling. It evokes an emotion inside of people that makes a connection. For Fossil Fuels Brewing, the initial connection is curiosity (which is great as curiosity is probably one of the strongest emotions to incite a purchase from customers). But here’s something else to keep in mind – even if the yeast wasn’t 45 million years old, there is a second story that can be told, and that’s how the yeast reacts so differently than any other yeast around. While most brewers might analyze this from only a brewing standpoint, from a marketing perspective it’s a differentiating factor that a great story could be based on (you could call it ‘Coaster Ale’ to highlight the up-and-down fermenting process it experiences before it’s ready).

So what’s your story? Every business has one. While yours might not be as shocking as a 45 million year old beer, it could be as simple as a unique business process you’ve developed that makes the customer experience even more enjoyable. If you can’t articulate the story, that’s where someone with a marketing background can help. Reach out to them and work together to craft a story that you’re proud to tell.

As soon as I’m able to get my hands on a Fossil Fuel beer, I’ll do a follow-up post on my thoughts. If you’ve tried it, I’d love to hear your thoughts (along with where you purchased it!).

All that said, I thought it’d be interesting to see how the top airlines stack up in regards to their Twitter efforts. I did a quick summary (perhaps called a TwitSum? ; ) of the number of followers, number of tweets etc.  Further, I included the number of destinations served as well as the fleet size of each airlines to provide a little perspective. All of the below Twitter stats were taken on 11/23/09: