Update: I did a search for the English group Tears for Fears on Youtube. I've been in a state of euphoria watching them perform in Belgium and the Netherlands during the Night of the Proms. They were accompanied by Il Novecento Orchestra and the Fine Fleur Choir. It was big and exciting. The massive crowd was equally impressive.

When I studied the percussionist driving the rhythmic intro with glass water bottles and the marimba during the hit "Shout," that was BAD. When lead singer Roland Orzabal played the guitar solo during the same song, that hypnotic lick is stuck inside my head. It was a phenomenal performance by a spectacular group captured on video.

Is Youtube in your future? If you have a video camera, some editing software, and know how to log-in, you can promote yourself online.

Feature Article: The Starbucks Momentum

Resource: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

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The Bolts Jolt the Colts

Prior to the Bolts versus Colts game, you could see the Chargers football jerseys worn sparsely around the neighborhood. I bumped into my bank manager (who I didn't even recognize at first outside of his business attire) who was wearing an LT jersey. After the game, you could see Chargers jerseys popping up everywhere and proudly worn as the underdog Chargers defeated the Superbowl Champ Colts.

So what's the big deal?

I remember last year when the hot 14-2 Bolts lost in the first round of the playoffs. I counted only one brave soul wearing the team jersey the day after. Seemed the faithful became fickle.

Sunday's win means that local jersey retailers can smile as they attempt to make up for the weak holiday sales figures. And vehicles displaying the Big Bolt decal in their rear window will trigger honks of approval from brothers and sisters of the Charger Faith. And when the offering basket comes around, all of a sudden, as if convicted during a tent revival, the faithful believe giving is good. Hallelujah!

Can winning or identifying with a winner make you lose self-control, spend more than you should, and/or motivate you to perform random acts of silliness? Back in the 80's when the San Francisco 49ers under Bill Walsh and Joe Montana were winning in the post season—frenzied fans were jumping on cars, honking horns, waving flags and buying everything in sight that contained the red and gold 49ers logo.

People love to identify with winners because it makes them feel good. They get to show off their pride. They get to yell and scream like kids again. Which proves to be a powerful marketing lesson.

But you don't have to worry about your editor. He's more levelheaded than the rest of the Charger faithful. Sharing a smile and a few kind words will be enough. He's glad to see that...

People are generally nicer and happier. The local economy gets a jolt. And neighbors are talking to each other. He hopes this will continue.

The Starbucks® Momentum

Dear Associate,

According to the Associated Press, Starbucks Corporation has seen its stock price plummet fifty percent in 2006. Citing the decline in home values and the increase in fuel prices with stiffer competition from unlikely rivals, Dunkin' Donuts and McDonald's Corporation, Starbucks will scale back on domestic store openings while pumping up their international market.

Another profit concern they have is the rise of copycats. When you have a winner, everyone wants to copy you. Really. Even 7-11 has gotten into the picture by fine-grinding their beans (making them darker and stronger) and replacing their cups and lids that rivals Starbucks' in appearance.

Has Starbucks suffered?

You could never tell in my area. There's a Starbucks drive-thru that seems to average five cars per minute. Then there's the Starbucks kiosk inside a Von's Supermarket only two hundred feet away from a Starbucks coffeehouse. The mom-and-pop donut house in the same center has not recovered since Starbucks arrived.

Starbucks is definitely the Big Dog on the block. Because of that, competitors want to model their success. (Or take a shot at them.) And even consumers want their identity tied to that of a bonafide winner.

I'm downtown one business morning. There are coffee lovers parading their Starbucks boldly and proudly. They don't drink them because you don't drink a status symbol.

I call this getting a Double Buzz. One from showing off their status symbol. And the other from downing the potent brew.

Get this: an inside source from 7-11 says she has witnessed people coming into the store to buy the house coffee using Starbucks tumblers. How's that for ingenuity? These misguided few want the world to perceive them as winners so badly they are willing to cheat. Just to get a buzz.

Everyone wants to identify with a winner...

Think of all the knockoff clothing and accessories consumers are wearing that has a logo or design from high-end fashion designers. The golf ball with Tiger Woods' signature will outsell the same balls with the Nike logo. My laptop with the Prancing Horse logo and Ferrari Red paint cost me six hundred dollars more than the equivalent one with the company brand name.

It never fails. We want to identify with winners. It must be written in our DNA.

Specialty products increase profits...

Starbucks developed a product line of grinders, mugs, and even an expresso machine. It's brilliant. Instead of buying your coffee maker from outside sources, they're keeping you grounded to their brand name. They're prospering from this new pipeline because they know brand identity is so strong, you wouldn't be caught dead making coffee from a Black and Decker when you have friends over. It's social suicide.

So what does this specialty coffee's success mean for you and me?

If you want to increase your success, consumers must perceive you as a winner. Or believe that you possess the winning drive to go all the way. That's whom people want to identify with. That's whom consumers want to buy from.

Brand identity. Associating with a winner. People will buy more, and more often with you if they know you're a winner.

Warm regards,

Why do we react the way we do? What's the reason we choose Plan C over Plan B? Do you ever wonder why you keep choosing strawberry ice cream over apple pie?

In the highly rated 4- and 5-star Amazon book reviews of "Influence," Robert Cialdini focuses on the psychological triggers that causes humans to do what we do. He treats you to case studies on the science of persuasion at work. How would you like to have people see things your way? You can.

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