So the Premier gives us, the voters, the snub in his continued backing of the Health Minister. In a world of political swords, sword swallowers and sometimes – daggers, seems to me if he wanted to at least show remorse, he didn’t even have to have it, he just had to care enough to say he had it…but nope, arrogance – he summed up the first 647 million and the second …funny they didn’t even get a total on the second e-health debacle, but anyhow he summed it all up by saying….”this just shows we got to get better at what we do”. One is left to wonder – who is this “we” and what is it that “they” do? Yes I’m really upset about 647 million – heck, it’s almost a “billion”…but I’m more upset that with a Cabinet Shuffle in progress, he didn’t at least respect the Taxpayer enough to say…’Section Head goes’. And we complain of Bay & Wall Street arrogance?

Oh, oh and the Toronto City council, so worried about crossing a picket line, was Mr. Mayor, that the taxpayers footed at $20,000 bill to hold the Council meeting in an arena. They had to rush through acceptance of a Bombardier streetcar contract for around 1.2Billion (there’s that number again)…cause I guess if they waited even a minute past the midnight deadline, Bombardier would’a said “fogett’a about it, we don’t want to build your lousy streetcars any more….our airplane business has taken off and we’re just too busy”. Just who invents all this false pressure?

In either form - not used by many of us before very recent times.

Before I became involved with rewards, loyalty and marketing for a mortgage bank, the word Billion eluded me. In fact for at least the first year, or even 3 of the relationship – the proportion eluded me, and even where the comma’s were to go, mesmerized me. But I became used to the term, the size, even the commas, as in ...”oh another billion”.

And before this I remember that Carl Sagan used it often to describe the universe as if an alliteration ….“billions and billions and billions of years ago…”

Today more often we all use the word “billion” as a synonym for “bailout”. So we’ve become numb in sense to a new dimension – ginormus. Ginormous debt. Ginourmous loans. Ginourmous gifts. Even ginoumours screw-ups don’t seem to phase us anymore.

Staying close to home – next up for my comment…the almost, or maybe more than One Billion Dollar screw-up in Ontario’s digital health document strategy.

Globe & Mail June 17, 09

Excerpt from an interview with a senior executive of a large corporation about his travel habits…

Globe – What do you do during these flights?

Executive – It depends on the flight. I do lots of preparation work. I’m a planner by nature. I tend to do that last minute on the plane. I always catch a flick too.

3 things come to mind:
1. I’ve often had trouble citing an oxymoron – But.... "lots of preparation as a last minute planner"….I’ll hang onto this one.
2. Drop the oxy and think moron.
3. If it’s an 80 minute flight and the ‘flick” is 95 minutes…does he miss the flick and cram his last minute planning, or pay the pilot for a “go around”.

Oh, but for the words we all wish we could suck back in.

A brand new Medical Doctor. Surely a coveted customer of all marketers looking for Customers that will have durable, likely above average value as they consider the Life Value of Customer – LVC – and how to enlist them as a Customer For Life – CFL.

Interesting then as I listened to this newly minted gold mine, having just graduated tell me about his Personal Loan, the one he used and grew to finance his education. Seems he was with a lending institution that pushes hard for relationship – they all do, don’t they? But this one pushes International status, around the globe….multicultural, multi country presence. They wouldn’t finance him ‘cause he was studying abroad…as they do business abroad nad psuh this had – he was confused. Move he did – to another. But now, now that’s he’s at the door, 30 days away from a growing his durable, above average income – no longer the life of a starving student – that’s it, Nirvana is here. But that’s it, present Bank says – “no more, not another dollar, ruble, or euro. Not even just for another 30 days funding as he sets up new ‘diggs’ from which to grow and prosper – become that perfect consumer.

He’s puzzled both banks advertise right at him. We want your business. We’re long term. It’s about relationship. And other melodic positioning lines. He’s confused. And he’s smart.

So I pose this question……do you think the guy running the bank, the whole show, has ever called his marketing guru in and said – “we know what our product is, money…what do you think we want to do with it?”

A reasonable answer from the Marketer would be “take it in from one, and loan it to another (safely)”

So then, should ask, the big boss…”have you ever sat down with our Chief Risk Officer and asked him if he’s prepared to allow us to do business with your customer?”

IE – “I know what we say we want to do, but are we prepared, and enabled, to do it?”

I’m willing to bet, Marketing and Risk have never met, at least not at these 2 banks.

I understand today’s necessity of being, “an informed consumer”, “A Smart Shopper”.
Used to be that we’d go get milk. There was 2%, Skimmed, Homogenized and even Chocolate milk. Recently due to some really smart tv ads, my childhood ideas were confirmed – Chocolate Milk really does come from Brown Cows.

Today, I’m told go for milk, I know that its supposed to be the 1% kind, skimmed a little more, or maybe a little less – I don’t know, but I’m told its better for my diet.

First, I go for coffee at the famous SB, they use the term Whole Milk – huh? But they also won’t use the words Small, Medium or Large. I like their coffee, but ordering it adds confusion to life’s already too many passwords, to as well remember the “code” word for the size of coffee I want. So I speak with my hands - in waving-stretching motion - i say Giant, Large, Real Big.

Then I go to pick up the milk for home – oh wow!
There’s regular 2% partly skimmed milk, only it has super fine filtering – so it’s better than just regular pasteurized milk.
There’s 2% milk with added calcium.
There’s 2% milk with omega 3 – low in saturated fat and free of trans fat – hey I thought milk was healthy in the first instance – now I find it has trans fat too – did the schools ban milk along with carbonated drinks?
There’s 2% Lactose Free – OK I get that one.
There’s 2% milk with added fiber – so who needs breakfast cereal? Take that on the chin Denny Crane aka Bill Shatner.
And, there’s 2% milk that makes someone smarter. It comes from cows fed an enriched diet containing the fatty acid Omega-3 fatty acid, DHA.

I wonder if the 2% Omega3 milk has some of the same stuff that the Smart milk has, don’t you? And I wonder do they make 6 different kinds of 1% milk, and if so are they the same kinds as 2%, or different kinds? It’s got to be time to stop advertising milk as Nature’s Wholesome Product…its become a marketers paradise. This is almost smarter & funnier than diamond shaped Shreddies.

And now you know why today, it’s a necessity to be an Edu-macated Smart Shopper.