economics is like porn.
actually, reality is always more exciting. a dumb and dumber secretary of state in the netherlands once said, to my utter astonishment, that he thought economics had nothing to do with psychology. Undoubtedly, the man thinks the main characters in a pornmovie get married at the end. Because exactly that is what economics and porn have in common: their right to existence is human psychology.

economics is like porn.
they both deal with psychology and for both optimism is essential. you keep trusting, that reality will eventually become what you hope. and where porn is completely ridiculous (which it is usually), without a huge dosage of reality, economics in theory is the exact same airplanecrash on fantasy island. every blind faith in models, which eventually, that is the problem with practical science, are only based on results from the past, doesn’t offer any guarantees for the future. the only thing that counts is faith and optimism. within reason obviously? actually no. not within reason, not within unreason, mostly outside of reason and unreason. as long as you base your faith on your own capabilities and your optimism on your ambitions. just what the doctor ordered. and the psychology of our actions makes that very difficult for most of us. especially when everyone around us, specifically quasi-journalists with too much self-interest and too little journalistic integrity through too many commercial radio and television networks, echo each other, both in times of wealth as well as in times of frugality.

cycles, economic outlook and recession? beautiful words for the inflation and deflation of the balloons at our party. when everyone is excited and is longing for a bite and a drink, all balloons are inflated. happiness all around and everyone can fight the world. the famous morning after, the balloons look a lot more wrinkled and the snacks look a lot less appealing. that is a major cause of the panic in times like these. although we have enjoyed these types of parties a number of times before, most of us are still genuinely surprised about the deflating balloons and the aroma of half empty glasses of stale beer. you would think we would know by now, that we have to get rid of the mess afterwards and that we need to catch our breath from the party? nothing could be farther from the truth. Disappointedly we are cleaning up, throwing away the old drinks. we are literally and figuratively mourning the empty halves of all remaining glasses. after a party and the accompanying, inevitably short night I, on the other hand, am enjoying the remains of a sinful life, perceiving satisfied the full halves of the glasses in the window-sills (not that I drink them…). even the old stench of cigarettes, that normally cannot be smelled in our house, satisfies me. and that is apparently where I am different. most people lack exactly that, the faith in the future (next party) and the ambition to contribute to it! they sit in the corner, disappointedly and contemplate how they spent just a little too much money (were those exotic dancers and that temaki-buffet really necessary?); insecurity about the future and their part in it, that’s what they get.

but the cleanup has to be done with enthusiasm and energy! first of all, it will be done sooner and second, you will know much sooner how many drinks and hors d’oevres are left for a potential afterparty later that week (no temaki’s, but we’ll just use some french cheeses and bread? also nice…). but that is where psychology kicks in again. ‘cause first we make each other feel down-hearted about the fact, that the party will probably be over soon, then that it ís over, consequently about that we have to clean up (damn! no one told me anything about this) and finally, that we don’t even know whether and if so when there will be another party…

let me tell you, there will be another party.

when together we help deflate the balloons and clean up the mess and believe that we can have a party just like it again. because i make the most fabulous apple pies, you always pick out the best wines, she organises the parties always so tremendously and together we know so many amazing people, that make a party a success.

you see, with the psychology of my positive mind is nothing wrong. and i keep hoping for that late-night-movie with the wedding at the end…

and again: it ends and starts with marketing.

i got to know lush in brasil last year, although they were sent away from the mall there, as the neighbours were complaining about the smell. if you ask me, those people will always have something to bitch about, as lush is a natural soapstore. the scents are amazing! but anyhow, from this mall in salvador they were banned; fortunately they are gaining in the Netherlands. and they ought to! 

as i wrote in a previous post, talking about my convictions about market niches and their right to existence, i believe that when companies truly understand their markets and the fit between (groups of) customers and their mission in life, they will overcome and succeed…

lush is one of those.

the mission of the company is one of fresh, handmade and natural cosmetics. now, i am not particularly crazy about cosmetics in general, but even i go crazy in this store, just because of the beautifully chosen positioning of their products. all of the products, the shampoos, the moisturizers, soaps, cremes, you name it, are as natural as possible. shampoos come in the shape of tablets, showergels in the shape of Jell-O and all of the products are presented in very basic and effective packaging. no bright colours, no excessive attention-drawing shapes and lids, just basic packaging. packaging, by the way, that you can take back, have it filled and get a discount on your next purchase. talk about putting your money where your mouth is… 

i love this. because, although i realise that they will never be a major player in the cosmetics market, they have understood one of the basics about marketing strategy: can your mission be strategised into a (n almost) perfect fit with segments of the market? their answer, as far as i’m concerned, is “yes we can!”

these last couple of days i saw some amazing examples of it, both positive and negative. that it’s all about marketing.

last year, after reina had gone with her fellow-students, she convinced me to go to the keukenhof with the four of us (with my girls). you know how you are somewhat reserved about those typical tourist kinds of places close to your residence? as you only associate them with japanese tourbusses and german tourists… but at the same time, being so close and not having been there is also kind of strange. so we packed a couple of blankets, made sandwiches, brought drinks and off we went. let me tell you, it was a beautiful day… the flowers were amazing, the girls were taking our cameras and clicking like crazy and we ended up laying in the grass on a couple of fatboys (also great marketing by the way!)… 

so what’s the deal?

well, this year, we felt like doing the same. so, without watching dates or checking the website (on which there wasn’t any information about this (what?… i’ll tell u right now!)), we went to lisse. on entering the park, where by the way, no information about this (what?… i’ll tell u right now!) was given and we payed full price. a price, which we last year where more than happy to pay, upon seeing so many beautiful flowers and colours. once we entered the park and looked around, we felt like the couple booking the oversized closet as a hotelroom through internet.

where were the flowers? we saw no flowers…

the only colours that could be seen were some trees with purple-like leaves and a lily-exhibit inside the willem-alexander pavillion. for that, we could have gone to a fancy flowerstore! other than that, all of the tulips were cut already and to recognise the different types of tulips required a great deal of imagination!

now, we understand that for the maintenance of the flowers you need to cut the tulips, but why the hell do you still charge full price?! and why don’t you communicate this?! i mean, we were dissapointed already (to say the least), let alone when you are here from germany or france…

now why is it all about marketing? it is the difference between understanding your visitors (customers) and wanting to make a buck; either you try to understand the needs of the market, which is coming to see the most amazing flowers and have a beautiful day or you just think of keeping your attraction open a couple of days more (it is a holiday weekend!) to make a couple of extra euros…

communicate! say, that the park is being maintained already and throw in some discount, or create some return visits by making the ticket valid for a discount next year! whatever you do, don’t treat your customers as stupid, because that is what they feel for visiting a flowerpark without flowers!

the closest we got to seeing tulips were the postcards in the parkshop…

Musketier

D´Artagnan was in de 17e eeuw musketier in het leger van de Franse koning Lodewijk 14e. In de negentiende eeuw bracht Alexandre Dumas zijn wereldberoemde trilogie (ook wel de Artagnan kronieken genoemd) uit: deze boeken zijn inmiddels vele malen verfilmd.

De musketiers vormden een eliteonderdeel binnen het leger en stonden voor moed, avontuur en strijdlust. Eigenschappen die ook voor een succesvol ondernemer vandaag de dag een must zijn. De keuze voor de naam: Societé d´Artagnan is hier door ingegeven. Van de leden van de Societé wordt verwacht dat zij zich in dit profiel herkennen en er naar handelen. Laten zien een ware musketier te zijn.

Eigenschappen (competenties)

Een musketier is te herkennen doordat hij:

• zakelijke kansen ziet voor zichzelf en andere musketiers en deze weet om te zetten in acties.
• bereid is en het vermogen heeft om met andere musketiers samen te werken aan een gemeenschappelijk doel, ook wanneer dit niet onmiddellijk in zijn persoonlijke belang is.
• zich verbonden voelt met de andere musketiers en loyaal is aan de Société.
• vraagstukken vanuit verschillende invalshoeken weet te benaderen, met originele en nieuwe ideeën komt en gevestigde denkpatronen durft te doorbreken.

• doet wat hij zegt en zegt wat hij doet.
• uit eigen beweging acties onderneemt en voorstellen doet, niet afwacht en gewoon het voortouw neemt.
• meer dan de gemiddelde inspanning levert en zich niet beperkt tot wat er wordt gevraagd wordt; pakt zaken energiek en enthousiast aan.
• laat zien hoge eisen te stellen aan de kwaliteit van zijn eigen product of dienst.

Ondernemer

Voor het lidmaatschap van Societé d´Artagnan is ondernemerschap vereist, wat niet zeggen wil dat je per se eigenaar of directeur van een bedrijf moet zijn. Ook in loondienst kun je ondernemerschap laten zien. Wel is het belangrijk dat je binnen de organisatie in een positie bent om beslissingen te nemen.

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Onder pages vind je de pagina’s van de leden van de Societé d’Artagnan. Voel je vrij comments toe te voegen, om zo je mening te geven of vragen te stellen…

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Ik zal zo gauw mogelijk een korte instructie geven over het gebruik van de site.

Arvid.