By Ted Page, Captains of Industry

If your website doesn’t answer this question on the home page, prominently, it’s time to make a change.  Having worked with dozens of clients on their messaging strategies and web redesigns, I can tell you that the number one problem companies have is that they get mired in the details of their products or services up front, resulting in completely incomprehensible web sites. It’s actually a fairly simple thing to correct. Pretend you’re meeting someone at a conference for the first time. Here’s what you might say, “Hi, I’m [name here] and I’m with [company name]. We make [product here] that helps [X kind of company] to [problem solving solution here].”  People are actually pretty good at doing this when it’s a conversation, but when it comes to actually writing it down they fall into jargon-laden mush. So, think of your web site’s home page as the start of a conversation, and write it down that way. It works.

By Ted Page, Captains of Industry

Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth is without a doubt an extraordinary movie, with the facts of climate change presented in a way that is both simple and smart. The problem was that it was presented by Al Gore, who is unfortunately a divisive figure. Liberals love him. Conservatives loathe him. And research shows that it is primarily American conservatives who are skeptical that global warming is real and resulting from human activity. So Al did a good job convincing a more liberal leaning base of the urgency of the climate crisis, but the people who mattered – the disbelievers – were apparently not listening. In fact, conservative opinion appears to be hardening against ANY changes in consumer behavior that might result in reduced energy use and lower greenhouse gas emissions. A Congressman from Texas is actually leading the charge to reverse a ban on incandescent light bulbs enacted in 2007, claiming that energy-saving compact florescent bulbs cost too much and will lead to American job losses (huh?) – even though florescent bulbs costs much less over the long term than old-fashioned bulbs. What we need is the right message about global warming, but just as important a messenger – a preacher – who has strong appeal to conservatives. But who?

By Anna Sternoff, Captains of Industry

The Swiss have finally taken a stand about something truly evil: PowerPoint. Thank goodness this axis of boredom is being challenged by our watch/chocolate-loving friends because I for one HATE PowerPoint. That’s right, all caps. Despise. The Swiss have reported that the equivalent of 160 billion dollars a year are wasted across Europe while people whittle away their productive work-hours creating/watching PowerPoint Presentations. Despite the fact that this report is based on unverified information, and is actually a publicity tool for the anti-PowerPoint association’s leader (who has authored a book on the topic), I am most definitely behind this effort. PowerPoint is dull-town and doesn’t promote collaboration of any kind. As a creative agency, that’s rough when we’re presenting ideas to clients. In that setting we’re looking for a collaborative environment, not some draconian ‘our-way or the highway’ atmosphere. PowerPoint encourages one-way communication, stifling input (and resulting in lots of anesthetized meeting attendees). I, like my Swiss brothers and sisters, have zero ideas for a practical alternative to PowerPoint, so I put it to the crowd to resolve this issue on my complaining behalf.

You with me, world? Ready to raise your unbending right hands in solidarity against the oppressive authority of slide presentations? Up next on the world stage: France surrenders to Excel.

By Ted Page, Captains of Industry


In their excellent book, Switch, Dan and Chip Heath offer research-based insights into how communications initiatives can change behavior within organizations, or broadly within society. Here’s a key point they keep driving home:

I wrote about one perfect example of this previously in the Captains Table – getting people to reuse their towels in hotels. Begging people to help save water and protect the environment has never worked. So they took a different tack, with a sign based on contagious behavior: “The majority of guests at this hotel reused their towels at least once during their stay.” Guests with this sign in their rooms were 26% more likely to reuse their towels. That’s impressive.

So, the question is, how do we apply the principal of contagious behavior to the global warming communications challenge I wrote about last week? Answer: We have to reach a tipping point where the majority of Americans believe that global warming is both real and man made, then leverage that fact in our communications. It doesn’t have to be the vast majority, but it needs to be simply most people. Unfortunately, it appears we were at this point just a few years ago, but attitudes have changed again – for the worse. A recent poll from Yale university indicates that while most Americans believe global warming is real, slightly less than half think it’s caused by human activity. If people don’t think we’re causing it, they’ll have zero interest in changing behavior. And less than half is not the majority we need for contagious behavior. I chalk up the worsening of American attitudes towards global warming to disinformation spread by cable “news” commentators, as well as the well-publicized email snafu in the scientific community.

Getting back to having a majority of Americans behind the idea that global warming is man-made will not be easy, but having the truth as a foundation is a great thing to build on. Among the top climate scientists globally, the debate is over.

Enjoy, and happy friday!

See the whole page: Zombie Bikinis

By Mark Kammel, Captains of Industry

Apple’s new professional video editing software Final Cut Pro X was released last week as a downloadable App in the Mac App Store for $299.99, which is $299.99 more than it’s worth. That bad? Yup. The closest analogy we can think of is the introduction of Jar Jar Binks into the Star Wars series. Jar Jar and FCPX come right out of left field and ruin something that was once great. “The kids will love Jar Jar,” George Lucas thinks as he high fives his friends. “Now everyone can be a professional editor,” Steve Jobs thinks as he greenlights the new FCPX. But Jar Jar was just plain annoying, and FCPX lost the familiar features that made it easy and powerful to use in the first place. In order to market to a wider consumer audience, Apple downgraded the formerly-powerful software making it akin to that of their pre-packaged, entry-level editing software, iMovie. As Jar Jar might have said, “Ooh mooey mooey, me think this software no goody!” We could go on and on about how truly awful this upgrade (gag) is, but nothing could compare with this eloquent video “endorsement” from the editors of the Conan O’Brian show:

By Ted Page, Captains of Industry

“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”
Verbal, The Usual Suspects, in reference to the infamous Keyser Soze.

For many years now there has been an army of lobbyists and “news” channels doing their best to convince people that global warming is a hoax. Or the latest argument (kind of a fall back position) that global warming is happening, but mankind – little us – has nothing to do with it. This coordinated campaign of disinformation has had a powerful and very negative effect. A survey by Yale University and George Mason university found that the number of Americans who believed that global warming was not happening doubled between 2008 and 2010. The Devil, you could say, has once again pulled his biggest trick.

This change in belief occurred despite the fact that we are seeing more frequent and severe storms – exactly what the world’s leading scientists said would happen as man-made global warming progressed. Devastating tornadoes in Missouri and Western Massachusetts are just the latest example of the increasingly freakish weather we are subjected to, a trend that is on track to worsen. So, what’s really going on here?

We have a communications problem. Solving it will be a huge challenge, but it can be done. Only when we Americans (and the people of every nation) believe that global warming is real and man-made can we then start the hard work of slowing and stopping it. I’ll be writing about this challenge in the coming months, with examples of campaigns that have worked in the past to change public opinion and behavior on other pressing issues. Stay tuned!

Fourth of July Weekend is almost here. Start enjoying the fireworks now!

By Ted Page, Captains of Industry

So, you get together with a group of creative people for a brainstorm, and ideas are popping up like popcorn in a pot – ping ping ping – and suddenly the BIG IDEA appears. Everyone agrees it’s a home run. Later, the question often gets asked (sometimes by the client), “Who came up with that?” The answer should always be “we did” – and never a single person. Even if it was a single person who actually suggested the idea to the group, the reality is that there’s no way that person would have come up with the idea if they were not building off the ideas generated by the group. Of course it’s important to hire people who are good at coming up with big ideas. But if you look closely at how they came up with their ideas, it’s inevitably because they’re good at working with a team, being supportive of other people’s ideas, and never hogging credit to make themselves look like a star.

By Ted Page, Captains of Industry

Group brainstorming sessions – love ‘em or hate ‘em – are a common practice in the advertising biz, driven by the constant need for big, juicy creative ideas. While I do think these sessions are a good way to simulate new thinking, it turns out that brainstorming is happening all the time inside our individual minds on a subconscious level, whether we’re taking a shower, driving to work, or staring at the ocean. In his best-selling book, Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, author David Eagleman provides a fascinating look inside what Woody Allen has called his “second favorite organ.” Our brains, apparently, are constantly cogitating on a subconscious level, as if a massive supercomputer were inside our heads crunching highly complex code and connecting disparate ideas into unique and flavorful ideas. Eagleman describes writers who have no idea what they are going to write about on any given day, but when they do sit down to write it’s as if the words emerge like they’re being dictated by someone else. That other person is actually their brain, which has been secretly working overtime on their behalf. One takeaway from this insight is that we can’t expect all the great ideas to come out of a single group brainstorming session. Think of that first group session as a catalyst designed to jumpstart individual brainstorms. Keep each group brainstorm short – no more than an hour – and schedule follow-up meetings spaced a day or two apart. This will allow time for each member of your team to benefit from hearing the ideas of others, and to then keep the brainstorm going inside their own head, subconsciously, while they are away from the office or even sleeping. When they return to the next group brainstorm, they’ll share new ideas they came up with when they were away from the office. It’s ironic and kind of funny that some of our best ideas may be created when we are supposedly engaged in “brainless” pursuits, which in my case involves watching Game of Thrones. Who knew?

By Mark Kammel, Captains of Industry


Google’s ads will never cease to amaze me. It’s not that they have huge production value. Rather, they’re just simple but well-conceived commercials that you want to show to your friends. For example, this semi-DIY commerical features some kids using Android to play Chubby Bunny.

How else can I put it? “The age of advertising based on interruption is on its way out.” I know, we’re quoting our own Manifesto, but it doesn’t make it any less true. These ads aren’t on television, they aren’t annoying pop-ups online, and they aren’t interfering with your daily routine. You’re going to hear about these ads because they are actually fun to watch.

So whether you’re interested in finding out whether Google’s browser is faster than a lightning bolt, or whether you can order Indian food on the phone in a different language, or even if you’d like to have a fashion show with your friends tonight, Google is ready to amuse you.

Happy Friday! Enjoy the weekend!