Did you go through hair disasters during your childhood? Whit three older sisters, I sure did!
Anyway, last week-end I seriously felt I needed to do something with my hair, either to structure it and allow it to grow or to cut it short again. So I took matter into my own hands and looked for reviews and best hairdressers in Paris on the web and found a very skilled and nice one for an affordable price. (Do I still need to emphasize that reviews, references and articles on internet are very important?).
I went there confident that I would have a great experience. Indeed, I had a wonderful time and a great haircut. We discussed what where my options and decided on going shorter. I didn't realize though how short we were talking about. Don't get me wrong, the hairstyle does suit my face shape, so it's very positive. Does it fit my personality? Well, it is quite edgy and I think of me rather as a nice but normal style person. So here is my dilemma: I have this super edgy hairstyle so how should I wear it?
I am sure  people see me differently. It is one thing to have short hair and a complete different one to have a "kinda Miley Cyrus" hairstyle!
I am amused because it's bold, it's almost a statement, so I am not really worry about people's judgement.
However as long as we would like to think appearances do not matter, they actually do!
Regarding this topic, did you see lately a video regarding people helping -or not- a man that falls on the ground? If not, it means you haven't been surfing the web for too long!
So here I share one of the many versions for you. All about appearances and judgements.
Manage your brand image and yours as if tomorrow it were to fall and you would want people around to pick it up. 

I usually try hard to find an interesting topic, until I realize that it is generally the most simple and day to day things that make great content. Maybe not great content, but short and sweet stories.

So, today, I really wanted to watch Bob Hoffman's speech at the Advertising Week Europe 2014. Bob Hoffman is, quoting from his blog, "The Ad Contrarian. Bob is an author, speaker, and partner in Type A Group, a consultancy to agencies and marketers. Bob is author of "101 Contrarian Ideas About Advertising" which is the #1 selling advertising book on Amazon. Bob is also author of the book "The Ad Contrarian" and "The Ad Contrarian" blog, which was named one of the world's most influential advertising and marketing blogs by Business Insider. In 2012, Bob was selected Ad Person of the Year by the S.F. Advertising Club. Bob was previously chairman/ceo of Hoffman/Lewis advertising, one of the West's largest independent advertising agencies. He was formerly ceo of MOJO USA and president and creative director of Allen & Dorward. Bob has created advertising for McDonald's, Toyota, Shell, Nestle, Chevrolet, Pepsico, Bank of America, AT&T, and more companies than he cares to remember. He has served on the board of the Advertising and Marketing International Network. Bob has also been a middle school science teacher and served as Special Ass't to the Executive Director of the California Academy of Sciences."

Bob is indeed a person you want to listen to, especially when his speech title is The Golden Age of Bullshit. And for the first 10 to 15 minutes I was really into it, and then, I lost interest, not in the topic though, but  in the way it is delivered.

I will definitely give it another shot later and I encourage you to watch it. Still, it is a  good reminder that as interesting as your content is (and Bob will hate that word), if the way of delivering it is not "great", then you can loose your audience.

Watch it, it is an amazing topic and it's good to have contrarian perspectives on the business!

[edited May 27, 2014]
I watch it entirely and again strongly encourage you to do it

When you have different prototypes, you usually want some quick insights on them. Even if you will conduct a thorough market research, you still want opinions, so you ask the first people surrounding you, colleagues, family, friends.
For instance, my brother in law was figuring out which cover to use for a part of a product its company was about to produce.
He then asked me and my sister to be "guinea pigs".
He asked me to feel 3 sticks covered with different materials, we will call them stick A, B and C.
So he first asked me to pick the material I preferred from stick A and B. I was confused because they felt kind of the same, but I did pick A. Then, he introduced stick C and  asked me the same. The touch and feel for me was better with A, smooth and even, so I staid with A.
He then asked my sister what she preferred between B and C, to what she answered "C" with no hesitation, and added "you want a good grip from wheelbarrow handles, and this one feels it won't slip or anything like it".
Interesting, isn't it?
Would I have picked this one as I had known the purpose of the cover - to be on the handle on wheelbarrows? Stick A and B were actually the same, no wonder why I doubted myself!
If your guinea pig don't know what he is testing for and looking for, it's hard to tell what would be the best, but then, sometimes, we need "blind" tests.
Treat answers you get with caution, knowing that sometimes your questions were not given in a good context and the person giving them to you is not your target customer.

Customization seems to be the answer to clients new requirements and the textile industry adopted this concept really quickly.
On demand - just in time production - no inventory cost, but what about the cost of production? The business model is not yet perfected, many former companies can testify it. 
However customization allows a company to adapt its products or services to the exact (or almost exact) needs and desires of an individual. And this is just perfect, because we all want to be special, have our own and individualized products and services. 

Even Apple now declines its iPhone in different colors (maybe for Apple it's a bit different, I mean, is it a sign of understanding customers wishes or a lack of further innovation to offer?)!
We want new, individual, unique experiences in a global market where everyone wants the same product!
The answer is then mass customization, where a company can take advantage of both mass production combined with customization. And it is becoming very important for company to understand and apply it because alternative is mainstream and customization, a mass concept.

This video about Tailorwork was really well done, unfortunately, the company no longer exists or so it seems.
I am leaving you, I have to go drink my made to order extra hot, light, chai tea latte with soy milk and eat my personalized M&Ms ;)