Who in the world?

Who uses IE6 still? China. That’s who. Usage of Internet Explorer 6 remains a stubbornly high 24% there. That’s IE6 -– the 10-year-old, non-standards compliant browser. The browser that even Microsoft, its inventor, no longer supports. In most of the rest of the world, usage has dropped below 2%.

Why in the world?

So why would anyone ever spend the extra design and development time to build a site compliant with IE6 (or IE7, for that matter)? Well, China (or Korea or Vietnam). To reach a broad consumer audience there. But if your focus is the business and investment class in the US, Europe or elsewhere – let’s safely assume they’ve been afforded some computer upgrades over the years that automatically come with updated browser software.

On average it’s about 30-100% more work to program for these outdated browsers. Not to mention the client and IT time spent beta testing and reprogramming to keep that ever so small and decreasing percentage of non-consumers in the loop.

The newer browsers are safer, have faster download times, offer better SEO functionality and have more features for a better web experience – and they reach the desired audiences. So unless you’re targeting the general Chinese population, it’s time for your enterprise to upgrade. It saves time and money.

Help us join the countdown … http://www.ie6countdown.com/ and http://theie7countdown.com/.

Statistics source: StatCounter, March 2012

“Don’t write because you want to say something. Write because you have something to say.” F. Scott Fitzgerald

He’s referring to PURPOSE.

Purpose powers anything meaningful and lasting. It is the deepest expression of a brand, drawing on its essence to determine its path in the world. Purpose captures the relationship between organization and community, integrating financial, social and environmental arenas into a single clearly articulated and demonstrated approach.

Every brand makes a promise but a purpose is what defines and truly separates one brand from the next. Making money allows the organization to STAY in business.

Purpose is WHY they are in business.

Purpose can’t be faked.

Building a brand on a purpose helps consumers understand what the brand stands for, but there’s more to it than that. Perhaps more critically, it helps employees become brand ambassadors by having them understand why are we here? Because Apple, Google or Whole Foods employees understand their reason for being, it not only clarifies their roles but also signifies their intrinsic value to the organization and its reputation as a brand. An organization whose employees can answer why are we here? will be the one that makes stronger connections with consumers in search of solutions to life’s challenges. Essentially, it’s building a strong organization from the inside out. Actions directed by the brand purpose can unlock an organization’s true potential for growth and success on every level.

Consumers are smart and will identify a fake. Posing can lead to permanent damage of the brand. Purpose should be something that the consumers are able to sense, not something they are to be told explicitly. Authenticity is very essential for the success of a brand. If a brand gets that right, it can take on competitors of any size and number.

It’s great to be wanted.

As competition increases, the challenge of attaining and retaining consumers increases as well. Consumers believe, until they are shown otherwise, that the hidden motive of any brand is to sell something. This reduces their affinity towards a brand, and with the growing number of options available, it is easier than ever for a brand to lose consumers to competition. But if the brand is able to prove to the customers that its profit making is only a by-product of a larger purpose, it gains the affection of the customers—making it harder for the competition to break this customer-brand bond.

Be honest with yourself.

To define your purpose, you need to ask yourself questions. What is your organization’s passion? What are its greatest strengths? What need do you see in the world that you are ideally placed to address?

These answers are the essential start to a great brand. Let’s get to work!

To introduce a new line of deodorant LYNX created the first invisible ad. Special LED screens were mounted to windows of an abandoned terrace house. To the un-glassed passerby there is nothing special to see. But if you have sunglasses on the voyeur in you got a treat.