Life > Marketing

There’s life, and there’s marketing, and anyone who’s good at separating the two will be more likely to succeed at both.

There’s almost always a way to solve a tough marketing challenge. Good foundational strategic thinking, a little ideation to get the creative juices flowing, some strong, sincere collaboration, and you’re on your way.

But some of life’s tougher challenges offer a thornier prognosis and it takes some truly creative thinking to get to not just smart, but workable solutions. So let’s hear it for Tim King and Urban Prep.

You can wiki his history. Or you can read the latest about Urban Prep, the inner city Chicago High School, which just announced that 100% of their graduating seniors will be attending four-year colleges or universities. Not bad, considering only 4% of them could read at grade level when they started four years ago.

Mr. King and his faculty did it with a laser-beam focus on academics, by providing good role models, and judging from the khaki-tie-and-blazer uniforms, an enormous amount of structure and discipline.

But they also twisted the way students are considered: the school’s motto is “We Believe,” which speaks volumes about how the teachers approach their challenge—and their students-- and every student is addressed as “Mr.”

I like to talk about Twisting Your Thinking to find smart, unexpected solutions to tough marketing problems. “Tough problems” takes on new meaning in the Englewood neighborhood where Urban Prep educates kids and helps them succeed in life.

While marketing will never be as important as life, the success of Urban Prep shows the tremendous power of thinking creatively to meet a challenge.

A healthy dose of Belief doesn't hurt either.