SAP BW and Gallinas en Libertad-Free at Last
While recently shopping in a Spanish grocery store, I saw eggs advertised as ‘Gallinas en Libertad’, which seems to mean ‘free at last’. I have to admit, at first, I could think only of a Disney movie, and eventually, perhaps, that there was a bearded, wild eyed, Che Guevera of chickens somewhere, looking to set them 'Free at Last'.
Though some people may happily yearn for the day chickens roam free, my brother might beg to differ. You see, when he and I were very young, we had a babysitter who had ‘free range chickens’, known back then simply as chickens in the yard, and of course, roosters were part of the free rangers brigade. Not sure how many people have ever actually spent any time around chickens, especially roosters, but you should know they have little spurs on each foot, and they aren’t afraid to use them, especially on curious boys who get between them and their broods. My brother was once spurred on his right butt cheek by a rooster while at his babysitter’s house. The next day that ornery rooster was the guest of honor in a pot of chicken and dumplings that the kids ate up, glad to be done with that old rooster.
If You See Me-Run!
That is the power of words. Three little words, and they were able to make me think of an experience, long ago, of a Disney movie, a political movement, and militant farm animals. In short, multi channel communications.
Now, I bought the eggs, largely to keep the box because it is not everyday you see the words Gallinas en Libertad! No doubt, if the farmers were really trying to maximize their marketing return, they would have been trying to exploit multiple marketing channels. Frankly, there isn’t that much to say about the Chicken and the Egg (except, no one knows which came first), but I think it would have been neat to put a QR code on the box, since I kept it anyway. I could have used it to go to a website, and keep an eye on those ever struggling chickens via a web cam. Perhaps I could be persuaded to sponsor one, much like people sponsor dairy cows these days.
If they managed to get me that engaged with the chickens, then perhaps they could've taken it to a whole new level of engagement across multiple channels of communication.
Wouldn’t you know it, my poor brother, who is an engineer, actually had to build an egg sizer while in college. Was pretty impressive, it used a laser beam to read an egg, size and grade it. That is how those little codes get on eggs (which I am sure you read and heed all the time). I suppose that makes him an egg-head.
Turns out, if you can laser beam an egg, you can, of course, create useful data about both the egg and rebels er chickens that produced them. With that, and a powerful, analytical tool, such as SAP BW, you can help improve productivity of chickens, whether free or otherwise.
Gallinas en Libertad= Free at Last, "Viva La Resistance"
Thanks
Lonnie D. Ayers, PMP, BSC
President, SAP BW Consulting, Inc.
Lonnie.Ayers@SAPBWConsulting.com
