More Than Saving a Buck

Triple Pundit's Nick Aster wrote yesterday about Groupon's controversial Super Bowl Ads. He wonders whether Groupon has alienated a large subset of their customers because of the stunt? It's titled, "Does Groupon Think Its Customers Are Mindless?" If you haven't seen it yet, it's a great piece from Nick. Check it out here.

Nick's inclusion of Bolder in his post got us thinking (naturally), and we wanted to write up a quick response on 2 points:

1. First, he mentions "Groupon competitor, Bolder." We get that comparison a lot, which is kinda cool, since Groupon happens to be the fastest growing company ever. To us, the only similarity is that we both offer discounts. Beyond that, we are fundamentally different.

We're still figuring out the exact language around this concept, as it's still in the visionary phase. But here's how we like to think about Bolder long-term-

We're the rewards card for your life

Kind of like your Southwest Airlines Visa. With one major difference - you don't have to spend money to get rewards from companies on Bolder. You just have to do good stuff and strive for a better life. Turns out, you're already doing these things everyday!

With credit card rewards, the action of swiping the card facilitates the reward. With Bolder, your "card swipe" is you recording your great life moments on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Email, actbolder.com, etc). You're already doing this too! Think about the last post you made on any of these mediums.... probably something you were proud of or passionate about?

2. Second, Nick says, "Saving money is great, but saving money and influencing something positive in your community, or in the way a company works, is much more powerful – and will result in far greater customer loyalty in the long run."

This resonates more than anything with the Bolder Team. We're all at the beginning of something special right now. The recession has impacted us all in various ways, but at its core, a return to values is underway. An era of transparency, accountability, and real value will define which companies win and which ones lose.

We're working hard to be a big piece in that values tidal wave. Our contribution is to help you connect in a deeper and more valuable way to companies you care about. And in return, we hope you feel a deeper sense of loyalty to them, because you've connected over more than just saving a buck. You've connected on the most important level of all- your life.

Getting Called Out

I just read this article recently. Proctor & Gamble spends $9 Billion a year on advertising. That number blew my mind - $9 Billion? I read it again, yep, still $9 Billion! To put that in perspective, let's look at Twitter. They just closed a financing round with a valuation of $3.7 Billion. P&G spends nearly 3 times more on advertising per year than the valuation that had all of Silicon Valley, well, tweeting. That's size.
With the size of ad budgets, come ads...everywhere. Jeez, I passed three Apple ads crossing the Bay bridge this weekend! Take a second to think about the last ad that you saw. Was it a banner ad browsing the New York Times? A Google AdWord or promoted tweet? Was it a sponsored ad on Facebook? Perhaps the same Apple billboard that caught my eye in SF?
At its core, advertising is action-oriented. When you see that iPad ad on the freeway, you may not realize it, but that ad is challenging you. It's calling you to action. "Hey friend, over here. Buy the iPad. You'll be as hip as me - lounging in my slippers and consuming all kinds of digital information with ease." Take your interpretation, but the call to action from Apple is definitely to "buy an iPad."
But what if that call to action motivated the consumer to do an action in the real-world? What if that action was good? Wouldn't it make that person feel good to do that action? Wouldn't completing that action raise the position of the brand in the eye of the consumer? Would it not make the world a better place? We're pushing for a change in that call to action. Starting now.

Less talking, more doing

We don't know Auden Schendler, but we like what she's preaching in a recent HBR article. While reading this, if climate change doesn't resonate with you, replace it with an issue you care deeply about.

Obviously with any tough issue, there's a requisite amount of thinking and theorizing that must take place to understand the potential solutions. Without paths to a solution, there's nothing to act on. However, if we sit around thinking about the PERFECT path, the one that may require the least effort, all we'll do is think. Unfortunately, we're not sure perfect solutions exist, so we feel strongly about DOING as much as we can everyday.

Don't get us wrong, talking is fun and important. BUT, doing is where you find out interesting things about yourself and others. Doing produces a feeling of accomplishment and purpose. Think back the best day you've had recently. What were you doing? Probably a lot.

John Wooden had some choice words to know whether you're doing or just talking. He said, "if you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes." Are you doing? Are you making mistakes? Have you learned about yourself lately and felt a sense of accomplishment. We hope as a member of the Bolder team, you can say yes to these questions. Thank you for being a part of a team of doers. We'd love your thoughts.

The Pride and Prejudice of "Local"

A fight breaks out over a menu item - a pig misrepresented as being locally raised? Sound crazy? A thought-provoking article on the pride of buying local and what it means for businesses that outgrow their local successes.

Read NYT Article Here

An inspirational article

http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2010/05/the_betterness_manifesto.html

We came across this article recently, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We thought you all would, too! We'd love to hear thoughts/feedback on how you think this relates to Bolder.

A business perspective on water scarcity: Pepsi gets creative

Read Article Here

Food giant PepsiCo has come up with a novel way to cut its water consumption - by extracting it from potatoes used in production and recycling it. This article addresses the pressing issue of water scarcity for businesses, and how they will continue operations without skyrocketing food costs into the future.

Did you know: Official UN figures show that 1 billion people lack access to clean drinking water and more than double that number do not have proper sanitation. Some experts estimate that up to half the world's population could in the future live in areas without sustainable clean water to meet their daily needs

NYC: Biking and Walking Lead to Feeling Good

The results of this study are not surprising to anyone that bikes or walks regularly. There's something about getting a daily dose of fresh air, right?

Biking and walking are great, but they are only a small subset of all movement. What's the movement activity that makes you feel physically and mentally healthy?