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Feb 21

Book Review: The Origin of Brands (and the Games Industry) by Al & Laurie Ries

by Chris Billows in Business Beller 0 comments
Origin of Brands: Discover the Natural Laws of Product Innovation and Business Survival was written for all businesses, but I have tailored my review for game developers since this is where a bunch of my investment money is currently tied up. The Origin of Brands by Al & Laurie Ries is a contrarian argument against conventional wisdom that the battle in the marketplace takes place between brands. Examples of some battles would be Dodge Caravan vs Chevy Uplander, Domino’s Pizza vs Pizza Hut, or for those in the game industry: World of Warcraft vs Guild Wars or Supreme Commander vs Command & Conquer 3. The book argues in 295 pages that people think category first and then brand. Their explicit example: “I’m thirsty and feel like having a beer.” The 2nd thought is: “Which beer? I think I will have Bud.” Beer is a category of drink that is popularly perceived to quench thirst. Within milliseconds the brand is invoked, but it is critical to understand that the category is the first thing that is thought about. The category address the need, while the brand address the want. Conventional marketing will ignore the entire question of category and instead focus […]

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Feb 09

Middle of the Muddle

by Chris Billows in Spirit Speculations 0 comments tags: Human Condition, Poem
In turning 40 years old, I am sharing a personal poem to celebrate my arrival of middle life. Now that I am middle-aged, I can start acting even more eccentric and get away with it. 😉 … Middle of the Muddle: A Poem About Mid-Life by Christopher Billows … I have learned, that facts and theory, found in degrees and libraries, do not grow or touch our psyche. … I have met many, the brilliant and the dull, and the rich and the poor, and found happiness being the pursuit of all. … I have worked for years, seen the capable abhorred, found leaders be the first to hide, and watched justice be ignored. … I pursued self-actualization, and have always been stung, that the pursuit of the perfect, is the cause of all wrong. … I have loved and adored, witnessed another’s death, fathered and seen birth, and now ponder the drama of a final breath. …

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Feb 02

The Golden Rule x 2

by Chris Billows in Spirit Speculations 0 comments
Many people know about “The Golden Rule”, which some say is the basis of most religions. “Do unto others what you would have them do to you.” or its negative form “Do not do to others what you would not like to be done to you.” It is pretty hard to disagree with this principle. Yet, there is a second Golden Rule which is just as relevant but quite a bit more cynical. The second Golden Rule is, “The one with the gold, makes the rules.” 😛 On one hand you have a succinct summary of good ethical and moral conduct, on the second you have a summary of how most political, economic, and sociological conduct takes place. I personally think that both Golden Rules are relevant and are actually compatible. The first one deals with the idealistic and religious realm of human beings, the second deals with the conventional truth of human relations and history. Some people operate exclusively in one realm and ignore the other realm. History has shown that idealism alone does not work, while misused power is destructive. A balance between both Golden Rules is quite possibly the real Golden Rule to follow…

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Jan 16

Defining Poverty

by Chris Billows in Spirit Speculations 0 comments
Poverty is generally defined as being in material want of something. Not having enough to eat or money to buy essentials is the general understanding of poverty. But I would also say that poverty is also having an attitude of feeling powerless, helplessness, or even non-gratitude. It is psychological and is how you define yourself. My in-laws are living examples of people who took full advantage of what Canada offers them. They are immigrants who worked very hard and created wealth through their industry which appears to be lost of many native-born Canadians. Technically they have always been “poor” as far as annual earnings are concerned, yet the life they lead is as far away from poverty as can be. Their example tells me that that poverty is not a state of physical or financial want, but a psychological one. These are people who don’t think of themselves as poor and in terms of how they live, they are not. They have more than enough money because they are content to live within their means. Yet there is nothing simply psychological about the poverty experienced by Canada’s aboriginal people. I can only conclude that what they have experienced collectively is […]

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Jan 01

Towards a New Hierarchy of Needs

by Chris Billows in Mental Mischief 0 comments
Dear Reader, The Hiearchy of Needs was originally defined by Maslow as being the pinnacle of his hierarchy of needs. It is a conceptual model that speaks to the height of satisfying our most advanced need, which is our sense of being. On a certain level Maslow is correct. We all need to take care of our bioligical and security needs before we can have the luxury to work on our self-development. But if you evaluate the entire model, it is all about a singular self. There is no recocgnition of the self in the context of a social or ecological world. Sure, Love & Belonging has a social component since that means to Love others and the Belong to others. But if there was no Love or Self-Sacrifice and Protection offered by mothers and fathers, then we as babies and children would not make out of of the bottom level. Man’s Search for Meaning explained this well. At a more fundamental level, our parents and families would not be here if we did not have a society that could take advantage of the earth’s resources. Ecologically we would be nothing if we did not have a hospitable planet and […]

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Jan 01

The Poets and Parasites of Art

by Chris Billows in Spirit Speculations 0 comments
What unifies all great art is inspiration and vision. It cuts beyond popularity, profitability, and personality of the creator. Yet with the rise of greater leisure and technology allowing for everyone to more readily become creative, we see a huge swell of new music, movies, books, and games. Unfortunately, inspiration is rarer than the amount of media that is out there and only the true Poets are the visionaries, not being concerned for money or reputation. Where does that leave everyone else? I have mapped out a definition hierarchy of this creative class that ranges from the authentic Poet to the Parasite. 1) Poets (the elite of the Artists, known for influencing the Artists, being visionaries not concerned for money or reputation, the crazed and eccentric) 2) Artists (the creative craftsmen, creating new genres/markets, concerned about legacy) 3) Craftsmen (those who refine the performance, bringing peak performances, concerned about the craft) 4) Performers (capable, journeymen, emphasizing showiness, concerned about the performance) 5) Pretenders (riding on the coat-tails of the Performers, the critics, concerned about reputation) 6) Parasites (pure copy-cat, cynical marketing, pure hype, concerned about money) Its not a pyramid that Poets need Parasites who are at the bottom of […]
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