As I have said again and again (insert broken record sound effect) this blog is about words and deeds. Scratch that, clever words and deeds? Since that’s what I blog about, I thought you’d be interested in this month’s Braithwaite Book Club book – Mavericks at Work. It’s by two founder journalists for Fast Company, William Taylor and Polly LaBarre. This book is full of smart words and witty deeds. And let’s face it; these are the kinds of gifts that just keep on giving throughout the holiday season…

For instance, let’s start with the title. Any ideas from where the word maverick is derived? Any guesses? Give up yet? The word Maverick comes from a Texan rancher and politician, Sam Maverick, who let his unbranded cattle roam semi-wild instead of branding them and caging them in fenced-in ranges. That sort of independent spirit describes the companies profiled in this book, those that embody originality and ingenuity.

One of the most thought- and discussion-provoking sections of the book was on what companies stand for. It’s about their core values, similar to what Jim Collins calls the hedgehog values. One of the best examples out there is Southwest Airlines. According to their leadership, they stand for freedom. It may seem like a lofty goal, but when you hear or see it, it makes perfect sense. And they’ve found a way to brilliantly integrate that core value into their operations and marketing.

We spent a lot of time at our Book Club meeting talking about this issue. Truly maverick companies stand for something. And it’s up to them to articulate it. Our Braithwaite Marketing Boot Camp is a tool we use to help companies figure out who they are and how to articulate their core values in the market. During our discussions, we realized that like many consulting companies, we don’t take our own advice. So we scheduled a time in January to do a Marketing Boot Camp for ourselves. Self-consulting – it’s the new frontier.

Innovative companies like Pixar, ING Direct, Cranium, Commerce Bank, Cirque du Soleil, SEI Investments (who’s, ehem, a client) and more are also featured in the book both for their values, but also for their other maverick strategies and tactics.

We’ll have to wait and see whether this is the way of the future, but Taylor and LaBarre make a great case that it is.

I’m not the only one who thinks this book is great:

My friends at Amazon.com selected Mavericks as one of its Best Business Books of 2006.
The folks at BusinessWeek.com chose Mavericks as one of the Best Innovation and Design Books of 2006.
The Economist picked Mavericks as one of its Books of the Year for 2006.
And The Financial Times chose Mavericks as one of its 2006 Picks of the Year for Business Books, so if you don’t take my word, take theirs.

• If you get bored with this blog (which we know will never happen) and want to check out theirs, go to: http://www.mavericksatwork.com/blog/.

“Eakins,” Walt Whitman once said, “is not a painter, he is a force…”

And quite the force Mr. Thomas Eakins has been, stirring up waves of passion and patriotism in the Philadelphia community. The New York Times dedicated two pages to the artist. Writer Michael Kimmelman tracked down the legacy of Eakins through the several prestigious and historical Philadelphia locations that carried his artwork. So what started all the fuss?

Wal-Mart heiress Alice L. Walton and the National Gallery of Art in D.C. proposed to purchase the Eakins masterpiece The Gross Clinic for the hefty sum of $68 million from Thomas Jefferson University. Once the word was out, civic juices boiled, students protested, and Philadelphians rallied against this great injustice. Enter the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (The Academy) and the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) to save the day. The organizations worked on a fund-raising campaign to match the selling price before Christmas. In the end, it was a good day for Philadelphians.

Initially, the painting did not attract a lot of traffic. During the Victorian Era, his work was generally deemed unacceptable and not for the faint of heart. So then what exactly did Eakins do that warrants all this attention? Simply put (cue drum roll) – this Philadelphian was a RISK TAKER.

When I first saw the painting, I didn’t know a thing about its historical background (but you can read it here). What I did know was that it wasn’t just another medical painting. Widely considered one of the greatest American painters, Eakins didn’t get there by working inside the frame. He stood up for his conviction of showing the facts of life and science. (At one point, Eakins even lost his job for it.)

I’m not suggesting that everyone should adopt the Eakins Complex, but make a goal of taking intelligent risks/changes in the way you manage your life or business. Create a new way to capture client interactions. Read a new book (Mavericks at Work, wink wink). Or visit the Gross Clinic at the Academy this March. . .

I’m a huge proponent of new technologies for communication – which is why a new survey that shows that 89% of word of mouth (WOM) marketing still happens off-line caught me a bit of guard earlier this week. Then again, I believe in the power of storytelling, so I shouldn’t be that surprised.

The survey was conducted by the Keller Fay Group, a WOM research and consulting firm out of North Jersey. Basically, the survey shows that most WOM happens face-to-face (70%). Over-the-phone came in second with 19%, email got 4% and instant messaging got 3%.

In my opinion, the most valuable part of the survey is that on the whole, WOM is 150% times more valuable to consumers than it was in the 70s. And today, it’s twice as valuable as paid media, which points to the value of experiential marketing.

My first blog entry quoted Bill Swanson from Raytheon who said that people remember a third of what they read, half of what they are told, but 100% of what they feel. I would argue that people will not only remember 100% of what they feel, but will also repeat a larger percentage of it.

So how can your business create an experience that people feel and want to talk about? I was talking to a friend the other day about a car he recently purchased. He’s the type who loves to negotiate. So he gave a sales guy a hard time, but finally agreed to a deal. When the deal was finally done, the sales guy got on the loud speaker at the dealership and announced to everyone that my friend was the owner of a new car. Then, all the other sales guys walked up to him and congratulated him on his purchase. Clearly, this is an experience he remembered and was eager to repeat.

Creating great experiences is about surprise. Anytime you want a customer or potential client to leave an interaction with you feeling great – surprise him or her. It can be as simple as a free meal at a restaurant, a letter of appreciation or 12 sales guys congratulating him/her on a purchase.

Surprise isn’t hard – and as this survey shows, great experiences are twice as valuable as an ad in the Wall Street Journal. (And considerably less expensive.)

It’s official – I’ve been named TIME’s Person of the Year!

You read correctly: Hugh Braithwaite, TIME’s Person of the Year.

I must say that though I’m honored and delighted at this wonderful distinction, there’s one problem: I’m not on the cover of TIME magazine. You are.

TIME’s Person of the Year is in fact “You” (i.e. each and every one of us). TIME reports that “In 2006, the World Wide Web became a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter.” TIME goes on to describe how the masses have seized the reins of global media and are harnessing its power to promote community and collaboration on a global scale.

I’m already patting myself on the back for a job well done, as should you.

But we must be careful before we give ourselves too much credit – this global communications revolution poses just as many threats as it does opportunities. The fact is that in this age of mass communications we are saying less and less. The speed and breadth of communications has increased – but at what cost? The price, it seems, is meaningful content. (See video.) And it is a growing void that must be filled.

This is precisely the new role public relations must play in this budding “You” marketing world.

The solution is storytelling. A carefully planned, well-articulated corporate story gives new meaning to the conversation. It takes it beyond the realm of “services and offering,” rhetoric and jargon, to an interpersonal discussion on driving values, industry outlook, and thought leadership. It is a powerful means to transcend “corporate speak” in favor of sincere, open dialogue.

Too many businesses, organizations, and individuals fail to heed this advice. They feel compelled to say something, but even they do not commit to what they say. The impact is worse that graffiti, and everyone suffers from the lack of content.

We should all be proud of our distinction as TIME’s Person of the Year – but with it comes responsibility. So tell your story, take a stand…and for goodness sake, say something!

Only then can we begin to fill the void.