Uno, the first beagle to win the hound group in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show since 1939, won best in show this week in a huge upset. No hound of any kind had won at Westminster since 1983. He's the first beagle ever to win the top prize.
History-making things like this, things that glorify the everydog and everyman, are starting to happen regularly.
The sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden clearly favored Uno. He received the blue ribbon against the backdrop of a first-ever standing ovation. According to the AP story, "It was an upset in the show world...sort of like the boy-next-door becoming president — that's how it was to see an everyday backyard pet earn the silver bowl."
Speaking of, I read in the local Richmond paper that the obituary of a man who died in Charlottesville last Friday asks friends "to make a healthy and significant contribution to the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, or, if they insist, the charity of their choice." People care profoundly about Obama, the everyman, the underdog (for now).
The best in show in any arena, from dog show to trade show, is going to be the one we like, the one we relate to, the one we believe in. Hundreds or millions of voices calling for change, that's what's happening. You'd best start to market to the we. The business-as-usual types, the status quoers, the them, can't be heard above the din.
Perfectly coiffed and clipped poodles have had their day. Now it's time for the honest dogs to win. We say it's so, and we're going to be heard. Is your company ready to listen?
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