In the space of just a week the Pope has come and gone. The full Moon lit the night sky, the rain stayed away and the Sun shone (more or less). That's the sort of celestial co-operation that half a million people standing in the open say a few thankful prayers for. I'd love to think that there is ever present Sun shining over the Pope's many outside presentations, but then Catholic's would have no need for umbrellas and that would seem unfair. But our good weather was definitely a blessing.

With quite a bit of talk about materialism I thought I might share a fascinating video from TED by a very interesting advertising and marketing guru named Seth Godin. There are also a couple of shorter videos that present some amazing information and comment. We need to think about this a bit, maybe take out some of the knee-jerk responses and contemplate how we can shift what goes on in the world toward our health and wellbeing. Check it out in the article.

We keep finding fun recipes and more web sites are sprouting every day. There really isn't any excuse for not knowing how to prepare good food. Of course, that begs the question - Why do we look for excuses to avoid a healthy life? Mmmm... More exercises and another set of images to make the eye go 'wow'! Keep all your senses buzzing! That is what this newsletter is all about. Please forward this newsletter on if you would like to help the word spread. New readers can register below.

Meanwhile, heat half the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add onion, zucchini and squash. Cook, tossing, for 7 minutes. Add tomatoes. Increase heat to high. Cook, tossing, for 3 minutes.

Preheat a chargrill on medium-high heat. Brush lamb with remaining oil. Season with pepper. Cook for 3 minutes each side. Stand for 5 minutes. Serve with kumera mash and vegetables.

Serves 4

Mind: Write down the name of someone you met recently and why it was memorable. Write down the name of someone you would like to meet and why you would like to meet them. Keep adding to the list until you get at least 10 people in both lists. You can do a name or two each day. Spread the activity out so that your mind can do a little non-conscious contemplation while you work or sleep.

Soul: When you answer email this week add something personal to the message. I don't to reveal some deep truth or confession, just something personal like - How are you? Have you managed to sort out that problem you had last time? I saw a great movie on the weekend and can definitely recommend it. Hope you have a good weekend. - Just simple stuff that helps remind you and the person you are writing to that you are both human beings not just email outlets.

Are We All in the Fashion Business?

Perhaps that is the dilemma. On one hand we must consume, but on the other hand it seems that consuming just for the sake of it leads to all kinds of moral and personal problems. I find myself returning to one of the central themes to most of my discussions - We have to think more.

Her lies the rub. Advertisers spend billions trying to get us to think that we think their product is something that is necessary or beneficial to a satisfying life in some way. Every time you purchase your favourite brand, are you rejecting all the others? Brand loyalty is one of the greatest efforts of advertisers and manufacturers alike. Keep 'em coming back, that's the trick. Trouble is that you also need to be new and interesting to maintain interest and build your customer base. We need to have purple cows!

Seth Godin talks about the idea of a purple cow as something that stands out. As you drive through the countryside a purple cow would certainly stand out. As Seth tells us, the purple cow is remarkable. That word has come to mean amazing or extraordinary, but really it just means 'prompting a remark'. In advertising jargon it simply means 'word of mouth'. Something needs to be talked about, otherwise it drifts into the background, just like all those standard brown cows. Listen to this fascinating talk by Seth. It goes for about 20 minutes so you may need to wait till you have a little time, but you can just watch a bit and catch more later. It sits here in the newsletter at your disposal.

There are some great quotes in this clip. "When you have too many choices and too little time, the obvious thing to do is just ignore stuff." This is exactly what we do when we go to buy our favourite brand. We don't even see the other stuff. Barry Schwartz showed us in his book, The Choice Paradox that having lots of choice actually makes us less satisfied. Having continuing options after you have chosen actually makes you less happy about what you have!

This is the battle of marketing - to get you choose my thing, stop considering other things and if you are going to get distracted by a 'purple cow' make it a purple cow from your company. Cross branding, multiple versions, positioning in supermarket shelves, web sites, competitions, giveaways etc etc etc. This is all big business - even if you are a small business.

The music industry is an example of this massive marketing effort. Justin Timberlake doesn't just sell CDs. He has something like 100 different streams of income. Cds, of course, clothing, cosmetics, special products, concerts and one of the most profitable products in music today - ringtones. Ringtones have made music per note more expensive than ever. Ringtones were a purple cow that was 'remark'able and an idea that spread like wildfire. It's starting to die down a bit now for a variety of reasons, but the consumers are still wanting to consume. All you have to do is make it desirable and accessible.

At World Youth Day there was a merchandising tent near St Mary's Cathedral that was chock-a-block with goodies. At the conclusion of the WYD telecast on Sunday there were no less than four 15 second commercials for the official WYD CD in the ad break of just 3 minutes. That was before the TV station moved onto the car racing.

Seth tells us that "... no matter what we do for a living, we are in the fashion business." True, but what is fashion? I suggest that fashion is what we don't have and what we believe will benefit us if we do have it. Even more simply, it's what we must have. The trouble with fashion is that once you have it then it is no longer fashionable. Once a lot of people have it, it is no longer even desirable. The faster lots of people can get it, the quicker it becomes passe. The enormous disposable income of young people today has meant that clothing styles can be in and out in matters of months or even weeks. Fads die hard and fast.

The old way was interruption advertising on TV, billboards and radio, but that is not working any more. Now it is being remarkable. According to Seth, the 3 new rules are: 1. design 2. Safe is risky and 3. be remarkable. The thing is to engage the consumers' obsession. That is a whole other can of worms that we can discuss later, but for now, can we bring ourselves to remark on these ideas? Is this article enough of a purple cow to motivate you to spread the word, make a remark, respond with your own thoughts and ideas. Is it enough of whatever it needs to be. And if it's not, what is?

Share your thoughts and suggestions? richhill@iinet.net.au

What happens when you get their minds from a very early age. There is a marketing motto - 'cradle to the grave'. This video includes the rise in diabetes 2 and other health issues as part of the 'consumer problem'. Very insightful. What does this mean to you?

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Looking forward to sharing more thoughts, suggestions, news and making a very Healthy Wednesday connection with you!

Take Care, Richard, Susie and The Healthy Wednesday Team