Bumped into a really neat restaurant concept in Paris - La Ferme. (Translates from French to English as "The Farm").

[click for larger view]

They specialize in healthy, organic* foods (*called "bio" in Europe). Their logo is a quirky uddered cow.

Signage in-store states they're about being "Natural, Artesianal, and Original."

I tried but couldn't find a website for the cafe/restaurant.

I was impressed with their selection of fresh juices, salads, and yummy baked goods.

They use unbleached, recycled napkins; small wooden containers to present baked goods, and - something I've never seen before - wooden knife and fork. I assume wood is environmentally better than plastic since it is renewable. (As you can see, it's nearly impossible to get completely away from plastic).

[click for larger view]

Above you can see a fresh fruit cobbler served in a wooden bowl, the pack containing bleach-free napkin and wooden utensils.

If you have any more information about this concept, let me know!

Sorry about the blurry images.

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For all those people that commented how "un-hip" it was of Starbucks to install music-CD burning stations in the age of mp3s, this announcement may make up for that...

First...

Just like the iPhone - with all the cool features and "revolutionary multi-touch interface" - but without the phone. It's wireless, so you can download content directly to the iPod.

This will give us a chance to try see if we like the interface before diving into purchasing the iPhone.

Next...

Walk into a participating Starbucks with your laptop, iPhone, or iPod touch and buy whatever’s playing — along with millions of songs on iTunes — while your latte cools.

Apple and Starbucks Coffee have partnered allowing free access to the iTunes Store and Starbucks "Now Playing" content using Starbucks' in-store WiFi.

NOW PLAYING - A real cool feature is that the iPod displays what is currently playing IN Starbucks while you're there... If you like what you're hearing overhead, you can buy and download it.

This service is being rolled out this winter in the following markets:

• New York - October 2, 2007
  
• Seattle - October 2, 2007
  
• San Francisco Bay Area - November 7, 2007
  
• Los Angeles - February 2008
  
• Chicago - March 2008

The new iPod touch is available in 8GB and 16GB versions and, if you ordered now, ships by September 28th.

Additional marketing thoughts...
I can't imagine being an iPod accessories company making adaptors, sleeves, armbands, holders, etc. The iPod Nano model has changed size and shape how many times since it was launched?

It's got to be nerve racking trying to stay ahead of the curve... but at the same time - exciting that you've got new iPod models constantly making the OLD accessories obsolete and requiring the purchase of new items.

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Artist and marketer... marketer and artist... Tom Fishburne has launched a new marketing blog. You may thinking, "another blog, big deal." I say to you... "No, wait... check him out."

I found out about Tom a few years ago through Brand Camp his marketing comic strips.

In his illustrations, Tom captures moments in marketing that are painfully embarrassingly accurate. His topics often involve how we marketers get swirled into the spin we try to create...

Here's his vision of how it went when the chip company's marketing team learned the side-effects of the fat substitute Olestra...

He pokes fun at the jargon, the spin, and the justification that is often most of the time associated with marketing management.

Check out his Brand Camp Cartoon Book. Not only will you enjoy reading it, but you can photocopy pages and stick them to the computer monitor of co-workers who need to STOP behaving like the characters in Tom's strips.

Tom writes in his blog like he illustrates - captures in small bites, just the right moments needed to get the point across. He inks the important stuff, and erases what isn't necessary to the story.

Bookmark, add to your feeds... do whatever you need to do to not miss a post from Tom.

Thanks John (Brand Autopsy) for spotting this

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I'm pleased to share that I'll be contributing posts to the MarketingProfs blog, the DailyFix.

MarketingProfs is an online publishing company with a well read, and well written site. They providing opinion, commentary, and news about marketing.

In their words...

We specialize in providing both strategic and tactical post-MBA marketing know-how to Internet and offline marketing professionals... through a combination of provocative articles and commentary. ...We cut through the marketing hype and puffery that has become so prevalent in the Internet age.

Sounds great, huh?

They offer the DailyFix blog, general content, premium content (for a subscription fee), and a free eNewsletter.

Idea Sandbox will be contributing content that matches our expertise: Creative Problem Solving, Brand Building, and Remarkability.

View all of the MarketingProfs: Daily Fix articles by Paul Williams.

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For those of you working in or near the retail industry - especially in marketing, it's a smart idea to keep track of the consumer promotions, business performance, and major changes in the competition and the rest of your industry. The folks at the Idea Sandbox Institute have provided these links to help you stay on top of your business.

Advertising Agency

• Yahoo Industry Overview: Ad Agency
• Yahoo News: Ad Agency
• Yahoo Top Stories: Ad Agency
• Advertising Age: Latest News
• Small Agency News
• AdWeek: Latest News
• Advertising Industry Newswire - Advertising, Marketing Management, TV Ads, PR, and more.

Apparel Stores

• Yahoo Industry Overview: Apparel
• Yahoo News: Apparel Stores
• Yahoo Top Stores: Apparel Stores
• Apparel News

Department Stores

• Yahoo Industry Overview: Department Stores
• Yahoo News: Department Stores
• Yahoo Top Stories: Department Stores
• Associated Press Business News: Department Stores

Grocery Stores

• Yahoo Industry Overview: Grocery Stores
• Yahoo News: Grocery Stores
• Yahoo Top Stories: Grocery Stores
• Progressive Grocer - Grocery store news
• Grocery Store News

General Retail Industry

• National Retail Federation Press Releases
• Chain Store Age - News for Retail Executives
• PR Newswire - Retail Industry Press Releases

Lodging

• Yahoo Industry Overview: Lodging
• Yahoo News: Lodging
• Yahoo Top Stories: Lodging
• Hotel Industry News

Restaurants

• Yahoo Industry Overview: Restaurants
• Yahoo News: Restaurants
• Yahoo Top Stories: Restaurants
• Nation's Restaurant News
• Fast Food News - Compilation of sources from around the net.

Specialty Retailer

• Yahoo Industry Overview: Specialty Retailer
• Yahoo News: Specialty Retailer
• Yahoo Top Stories: Specialty Retailer
• Fortune 500 2006: Specialty Retailers

Do you have other resources to suggest? Please add them to the Reactions/Comments section.

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I'm in the Orlando airport en route to Amsterdam using my Mac with a free airport wireless connection. I'm reading installments on Engadget featuring live updates of the Macworld 2007 keynote address of Steve Jobs is presenting Apple's new technology.

Above is Apple's new iPhone... A very cool device. Revolutionary.

At 9:42 am PST, Steve said...

"Well today, we're introducing THREE revolutionary new products. The first one is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second is a revolutionary new mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough internet communications device."

Looking forward to the rest of the news!

Isn't technology grand?

UPDATE / 5:28 pm EST

Click these links to read all about AppleTV and the new iPhone on Apple's website.

What's also interesting... is that the rumors of a Apple-designed phone have been swirling on the Internet for quite some time... Take a look at this unofficial Apple iPhone Concept blog... Apple fans have submitted their concepts of what a phone by Apple may look like... Even in the imaginations of digital artists they didn't create devices as forward-thinking as what Apple has revealed.

[iPhone concept submitted by MacUser.co.uk]

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We write to communicate. I'm not the bestest writer so any tips or suggestions I find that I may use to make writing easier and more effective - the better.

Here are a few links I've recently discovered (many using, StumbleUpon). StumbleUpon let's you 'channel surf' the internet for topics interesting to you. BBC World explains StumbelUpon as:

"StumbleUpon is a brilliant downloadable toolbar that beds into your browser and gives you the chance to surf through thousands of excellent pages that have been stumbled upon by other web-users"

Writing Resources

1. OneLook - OneLook is one of my favorite sites when I'm struggling with just the right word or phrase. Enter a word and you get results from nearly 100 dictionary sites... from traditional dictionary and thesaurus to word origin and rhyming dictionary. Awesome. There is even a Reverse Dictionary if you know the concept you're looking for but not the word.
2. Fifty Tools Which Can Help You in Writing - on the LifeHack.org site, I guarantee you'd find one or more of these helpful.
3. Phrase Thesaurus - Steve Martin (the comedian) once said, "Some people have a way with words, others... not have way." If you want to 'have way' it may be worth the £28/$51 annual subscription... Using their 'free sample' search... I used the words "stupid" and "money" and these are the phrases it returned for me...
   Penny wise, pound foolish
   • More money than sense
   • It's the economy stupid
   • Fool and his money are soon parted
   • A fool and his money are soon parted

4. Writing Hacks: Getting Started - If you're having trouble getting started writing or having writer's block, read this recent article by Scott Berkun. You'll find Scott's ideas and his writing style interesting. You may also want to check out Scott's blog.
5. Style Guide - If you want to ensure consistency in a publication, whether it be a newspaper, magazine, multi-authored blog, or just as an individual writer a style guide is essential. This is the on-line version of the style guide developed and used at the Economist. (Interesting to check out the section called "Americanisms" - so many words in the American vocabulary that I didn't even know may not have international context!) You can also purchase the printed/bound version on-line.
6. HTML Related - if you spend more than 5-minutes a week messing with HTML codes... perhaps trying to get tricky on your website within your blog posts... I highly recommend visiting the VisiBone website. They have all sorts of reference guides for web design. I use the Web Designer's HTML card, a 4-page laminated card the helps me know what code to make this list be numbered instead of bullets, make this type red, strike this out or how to display these funky characters... ♠ ℑ and ‰.

Update

When you click the a word that branches off of the original word, you begin to explore THAT word... VERY cool!

What sites have you found helpful? Add your comments!

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A few sites I've found interesting enough to pass along to you...

Idea Icon

With the light bulb being the ubiquitous icon for "great ideas" I had to pause when I saw this great idea for a light bulb.

I found this on Gizmodo who found it a design website called 100per.

Car Alarm for Your Apple Laptop

If your Mac laptop was stolen and you had iAlertU software installed, you'd be able to see a picture of the thief on-line. If the alarm isn't de-activated (something a bad-guy thief wouldn't think of doing) the software automatically takes pictures with the Mac's built-in iSight camera... and uploads the image to the internet for you and the world to see. While still in development, it's a pretty neat way to make additional use of built-in technology. (What ways could you find an additional use for a product, or a part of a product that your company provides?)

Found via Gizmodo from the iAlertU site Slapping Turtle.

(I think a theme here is that YOU should subscribe to Gizmodo!)

New Mac Ads

While they zig, you Zag!

(Quick sidestory... In September I had a client presentation with Jen Sukis from the U.S. design firm Principle Design. We wanted to use something from one of Marty's books... When Jen contacted him, not only did he help out, but he provided us with an advanced PDF of Zag!. I was able to use portions of what he speaks about in Zag! to help the client realize what makes them the 'only' company doing what they do. Thanks Marty!).

The Starbucks Experience

Horn tootin' time... I'm proud to have a smart-sounding quote on page 11 of Joseph's book... I'm also proud of the fact that a good chunk of the book is dedicated to talking about the Starbucks "Green Apron Book" - a pocket-sized partner (employee) guide developed to firmly establish and communicate the language of customer service at Starbucks. As the company gets bigger and bigger - Starbucks can't rely on tribal knowledge to spread the word and culture effectively... So we developed the Green Apron Book. Before I left Starbucks, I played a key part in developing the Green Apron Book as well as the programs that support and sustain it.

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So far I've avoided the practice of "Link Posts." You know... that's where a blogger just posts a few links to other sites and that's the entry for the day. Quite frankly I've considered it a lazy practice... and a cheat to boost traffic to their website...

With that said, the metaphor of a 'mixed tape' has turned me on to this idea...

If you like me and my style you may find it interesting to listen to the music that inspires me personally...

Similarly... if you like me and my writing style... you may find it interesting to read the stuff that inspires me...

So... to justify putting these out there I won't just lob a bunch of links at you... I'll give three things...

1. the link
   
2. a good description
   
3. why I find it important/relevant

So here goes...

Here are links to sites I subscribe to via Bloglines. I try to read these daily.
Enjoy.

Idea Sandbox "Mixed Tape" of Weblinks

1. Innovation Weblog - Chuck Frey does a great job keeping right on top of innovation news... especially when it comes to new knowledge, products, tools, books, and software. Always a great source of the latest information... Following the content on his site is a time saver.
2. Gizmodo - This gadget guide is one of the most popular sites on the internet. Once a week I scan the images and the newest technology... I find it inspiring to see what "they've thought up next." Helps me get my gears turning when I'm problem solving.

3. Church of the Customer - Jackie and Ben always have something interesting they talk about. With their book "Creating Customer Evangelists" they've been the dominant voice behind what it takes to create a 'volunteer sales force from loyal customers.' They have a new book coming out in December called "Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message." I'm certain it'll be a great read!

4. Wikipedia - While this is a tool I use constantly, I'm surprised how many people I talk to who aren't aware of Wikipedia. It's a must-use internet tool. An on-line encyclopedia managed by everybody! If you want to know about a topic... it's got an entry for just about anything you can imagine. I often link back to Wikipedia from Idea Sandbox in posts where I want to provide you with more detailed information.

5. Trendwatching - One of the most important ways for your company to stay innovative is to monitor trends and your environment. Trendwatching does an awesome job of swiftly finding and reporting on global trends. Their sister site Springwise is a great resource with regular updates.
   

For this first time around... instead of a mixed tape of songs, I've basically turned you on to a few bands I like... In the future I'll share relevant individual posts.

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