How a Louisville Slugger is born

This is Part 5 of a series for Fortune.com by Jim Stengel, former global CMO of Procter & Gamble and author ofGrow: How Ideals Power Growth and Profit at the World's Greatest Companies.In today's Guest Post and his final Guest Post next Friday, Jim digs into the best practices of the best ideal-based companies and explores how they outgrow their competition.

FORTUNE -- Stepping into the temperature-controlled vault, we felt like we were in the presence of baseball's immortal greats.

We were inside a hallowed sanctum at Louisville Slugger: an archive of bat models, each custom-designed to the specifications of a pro. The models fill horizontal racks that line the walls. Reaching to a slot marked R43, Marketing VP Kyle Schlegel reverently withdrew one. "This was the template for all of Babe Ruth's bats," he whispered.

According to legend, the iconic Louisville Slugger bat was born in 1884, when a 17-year-old baseball fan invited a major league player to his father's woodworking shop. The star of the Louisville Eclipse was mired in a hitting slump and had broken his bat. The teen handcrafted a new bat to the player's specifications. The next day the Louisville star got three hits.

The Brand Ideal, or Purpose, of Louisville Slugger is "to make players great." That statement could sound like puffery, except that the stories surrounding the brand make it plain and true. This is the case for most Ideal-driven businesses. Stories make the Ideal wheel spin.

Much has been written about the importance of storytelling in marketing and management, but nowhere do tales have a taller order than inside the walls of Ideal-driven companies. They bring definition to the Ideal. They authenticate it and animate it. They inspire and direct its activation. They reaffirm the course and perpetuate the narrative.

In our year-long journey visiting Ideal-driven companies, we uncovered two types of stories that are particularly nutritive to the Ideal agenda. The first is what Jonah Sachs, author of Winning the Story Wars, calls "genesis stories."

Genesis stories illuminate the motivation behind the brand or the company at its founding. Like the baseball fan milling a bat for a pro, every great business is a response to a real and specific customer need. And the genesis story clarifies this.

At Unilever, the genesis story provides inspiration and direction for CEO Paul Polman. In the months before he took charge in 2009, he studied Unilever's genesis. As an outside hire, he made it his business to know the heritage story better than most anyone else.

See the rest here:
How great marketers tell stories

Abbotsford Deck Cleaning
http://www.avscleaningsolutions.ca/deck-power-washing/ Deck power washing services with complete water extraction. No soiled contaminated water is left on yo...

By: AVS Cleaning Solutions

See the article here:
Abbotsford Deck Cleaning - Video

Yawata Company Painting Pressure Washing Services
http://www.yawatacompany.com/ Yawata Company Painting Power Washing Services.

By: javier Yawata

Go here to see the original:
Yawata Company Painting & Pressure Washing Services - Video

Roof Cleaning Matawan New Jersey | Power Washing Services
If you need professional exterior soft roof washing or low pressure power washing in Matawan New Jersey call Thompson Roof Cleaning and Power Washing LLC @ (...

By: Ed Thompson

See the article here:
Roof Cleaning Matawan New Jersey | Power Washing Services - Video

Roof Cleaning Long Hill New Jersey | Power Washing Services
If you need professional exterior soft roof washing or low pressure power washing in Long Hill New Jersey call Thompson Roof Cleaning and Power Washing LLC @...

By: Ed Thompson

Read this article:
Roof Cleaning Long Hill New Jersey | Power Washing Services - Video

The washing of the feet during Holy Thursday services in Christian churches is a call for all to be of service to others, religious leaders say.

Holy Thursday kicks off the Easter Tridiuum, the holiest time on the Christian calendar, which includes Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil.

"Even though it's three days, it's kind of one large liturgy," explained Monsignor David Darin, pastor at St. Teresa of the Child Jesus Parish in Belleville and a long-standing member of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission.

Holy Thursday celebrates the Last Supper, or the first Mass, where Jesus offers his body and blood. In preparation for the Last Supper, Jesus washed the feet of his 12 apostles.

It is a symbol of Jesus' call to service, Darin said.

"Basically as Catholics, we say the two sacraments that Jesus instituted on Holy Thursday were both the ministerial priesthood and the Eucharist," Darin explained.

During this Mass, pastors literally wash the feet of parishioners, just as Jesus washed the feet of his disciples.

"The priests are called to be of service to our people," Darin said.

Pope Francis made headlines last year when he washed the feet of those living at a juvenile detention center.

"It was almost a little scandalous that Francis would go to a juvenile center and wash the feet of the residents there," Darin said. "It was almost like Jesus scandalizing his disciples; they didn't want their feet washed because this was something a slave did and not somebody we looked to."

Excerpt from:
Holy Thursday tradition: What is the washing of the feet?

Roof Cleaning Keansburg New Jersey | Power Washing Services
If you need professional exterior soft roof washing or low pressure power washing in Keansburg New Jersey call Thompson Roof Cleaning and Power Washing LLC @...

By: Ed Thompson

Visit link:
Roof Cleaning Keansburg New Jersey | Power Washing Services - Video

Underground Parking Power Washing Cleaning (905)465-1881
Mr. Super Clean Power Wash is specialized in power sweeping, washing and cleaning all types of underground parking from small and low clearance garages to la...

By: Mr. Super Clean Power Wash Inc.

Read more from the original source:
Underground Parking Power Washing & Cleaning (905)465-1881 - Video

Commercial Kitchen Equipment Cleaning Chicago
Commercial Kitchen Equipment Cleaning Chicago http://www.restaurantcleaningchicago.com 312-384-0044.

By: Chicago Restaurant Cleaning

See the article here:
Commercial Kitchen Equipment Cleaning Chicago - Video

Mykel Furgason, from Pacific Coast Power Washing, uses a pressure washer to remove graffiti from the Seaton underpass.

image credit: Nate Clark/News intern

Nefarious deeds take place behind overgrown brush between homes and the Seaton Street pedestrian underpass.

Its an area where used needles and other trash are found. All the concrete, rocks and light fixtures in the tunnel that runs underneath the Trans-Canada Highway are splashed in paint, marker and even white out graffiti.

There are things (drawn) at eye level that kids shouldnt be seeing or reading, says Saanich police Const. Mark Pamminger. Some tags are absurd, others obscene.

Pamminger, the police departments graffiti co-ordinator and a bike section member, is happy all the vandalism will be gone this week. Saanich crews and a contractor power-washed the marked up surfaces last week, and are expected to finish painting over everything this afternoon (April 16).

Some see graffiti as art (but) its vandalism when its not consensual. Its not their property, Pamminger says. As artists they want to be seen. If you paint over it, why would they come back? The faster you remove graffiti the less they will return.

He cites personal anecdotal evidence in another area of Saanich where a business on the Galloping Goose Regional Trail took personal pride in their concrete wall. It was tagged five times, and every time the business owner quickly painted over the damage. The amount of graffiti in that area has dropped.

The quick removal plan is in place for Seaton, thanks to regular patrols by Saanich police officers and municipal staff.

The police alone cant deal with this, Pamminger says. Its a collaborative approach. Police are just facilitating the movement. Its a community issue.

Here is the original post:
Saanich residents wage war on graffiti