A Quote by Rochelle B Lazarus
Don't underestimate the value people place on authenticity. Politicians listen to the focus groups and say the things they think people want to hear. But after 30 years of reading consumers, I know that they can smell phonies.
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I don't like reading things that people say on the Internet because I know so much of it is not true. I don't want to waste my time worrying about what other people are thinking. I just want to focus on being able to do cool projects.
In a world where authenticity increasingly is in focus, consumers are seeking more than brands who focuses on revenue - consumers want to support brands with a purpose - one that justifies an emotional engagement.
I think people often underestimate the power of consumers. But I equally say that consumers are like shock troops: You can't keep them agitated and motivated and committed and active forever. There are pulses where they switch on to a particular issue, and just inevitably they switch off.
People say bad things about me. I've had people tell me, "You know, Rush, I've been telling people to listen to you and listen to you, and I finally get 'em to do it, and then you say something so offensive, and they look me, 'You listen to this?' And I'm tired of defending you, Rush. Why do you say stupid things?" I know what this is like.
I like fresh and clean. I don't ever want anyone to smell me and say, 'Oh that guy is wearing a lot of cologne.' I want people to smell me and say, 'You smell really good!' I think there is a difference.
Focus groups are a waste of time, filled with people telling you what you want to hear so they can go home.
One of the coolest things about touring around, actually, is getting to meet people, and getting to pick up on things that other people like. So many times, people come up to me after a reading and say, 'You must have read this,' or 'You must have seen this,' or 'Do you listen to this?' Usually I haven't.
I'm not trying to be anyone. You know why other executives always hire phonies? Because they're phonies. They hire phonies because they like phonies. They're comfortable with them.
One of the hardest things in politics is to convince people to do things now that will have a good effect 20 or 30 years from now because politicians tend to have a short-term view. They are more attentive to things that people care about today.
I felt like Twitter was more of a place for people to just socialize instead of promoting. After I got off, I realized I could have used that energy and that lane to really promote some positivity. I had 35,000 followers before I left. I was like, "Damn those were 30,000 consumers." It kind of twisted my whole thought process so I got back on. I realized that I have a voice that people wanted to hear.
I get a lot of e-mail messages from people who say thanks for giving them a place to vent, an outlet to say what they can't say in real life with friends and work colleagues - things that they know are wrong, but they still want to say. Is it right? No, of course not. People say some disgusting, vile things.
There are a few people that I always say, "Hey, what do you think of this?" The minute that you know that you want this particular person to hear it, you know that you're pretty much done - although you're doing it to hear some feedback. It's a smart move to know whose ears you want.
In the old world, people used to have to go to focus groups and ask people what they thought. Now, people are writing all over the Web what they think about things.
The reason you write something that is exciting and visceral is to force people to hear what you have to say, especially if you're in any kind of marginalized community where people don't want to listen. You have to come up with tricks to make them listen.
Trust the young people; trust this generation's innovation. They're making things, changing innovation every day. And all the consumers are the same: they want new things, they want cheap things, they want good things, they want unique things. If we can create these kind of things for consumers, they will come.
What annoys me most is it is so easy to focus on negatives all the time. All you hear is a lot of people - whether it is industry leaders or politicians - complaining about everything. I don't deny things are not always perfect, but the stage it gets is huge compared with the simple things that make people happy, like winning a football match.
