Upheavals

A new role for Paul the octopus?

With Paul the Octopus’ role as Soccer World Cup predictor drawing to a close, and some talk of his former hosts wanting to turn him into calamari, I wonder if New Zealand’s Rugby World Cup Minister might consider employing the eight-legged wonder for the now vacant role of New Zealand’s Rugby World Cup Ambassador. Read on

category: General | posted: 10/07/2010

The death of iconic advertising?

Last night, watching a programme on ad man David Ogilvy, I paused to wonder what today’s equivalent of the ‘man in the Hathaway shirt’ or the Rolls Royce electric clock ad might be, and realised, all too quickly and sadly, that the days of iconic advertising seem to be largely over. Read on

category: General | posted: 8/07/2010

Peak trust

Doing some research for a speech next week, I had a very interesting conversation with a colleague about whether certain sectors of the economy – particularly the financial sector – have hit “peak trust”. Read on

category: uncategorised | posted: 7/07/2010

Inevitable for most

New addition to my notebook of favourite quotes - this statement by Bill Taylor: If your customers can live without you, eventually they will. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 21/06/2010

Cultivated scarcity

It’s always an interesting phenomenon when sectors choose to move en masse – because what they effectively do is change the market rules unilaterally. There’s all the appearances of competition, in the sense that there are players in the market who claim to be competing against one another, and different identities to distinguish the variations on a theme, but when everyone in a sector plays to the same rules, the differences for consumers – differences upon which the very spirit of competition depends – are as good as non existent. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 19/06/2010

Seeing past now

Jack Yan was off dealing to deadlines yesterday, but there was plenty of debate over New Zealand’s future at yesterday’s Vista Group meeting. Jim Donovan’s position was that the country’s businesses needed to attract more capital in order to fund international expansion and generate revenue. I argued that the key problem was our lack of marketing power in-market (which Jim ascribed to a lack of capital) … and so it continued. Read on

category: General | posted: 18/06/2010

A case of two over?

Overhead recently and smiled at: Read on

category: General | posted: 7/06/2010

Do you think they’re taking the piss?

What is it about new technology that seems to have everyone focused on body functions? First of all, there was the uproar over whether the iPad was a hygiene product reference. Now it seems a German company has come out with a rival to Apple’s tablet, which they’re calling the WePad. Read on

category: General | posted: 14/04/2010

Flagging the issue

This morning, on our national day, I chime in with my views on how we might approach resolving our national flag debate . I really like Gren’s points about why the fern might suit us as a national sporting symbol, but lacks the back-story and arguably the depth to represent us a national symbol. Read on

category: General | posted: 6/02/2010

Search vs find

Search engines are an example of redundant excellence. Anyone can search. For anything. And once, when the internet was a big, expanding and mysterious mass, that was enough. It was exciting just to see what showed up - right or wrong, good or bad. And to witness the sheer volume of possibilities. Read on

category: General | posted: 16/01/2010

Role play

No surprises that Apple was named Brand of the Decade by Adweek. But an important insight in the accompanying write-up: “Most brands are run by committee, but this one is the embodiment of a living, breathing person … Of course it helps when you're a brilliant marketer who happens to be the CEO.” Read on

category: General | posted: 16/12/2009

How badly will Woods be knocked?

James Surowiecki writing in the New Yorker makes an important point about what may happen to Woods’ bankability. Read on

category: General | posted: 15/12/2009

Sorry seems to be the easiest word

[Update: Seems even Tiger Woods must break his silence and respond, even if it is only to announce that he is walking away "indefinitely".] Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 12/12/2009

At least 25 things every marketer needs to recognise

Giving a guest lecture this week at summer school, I suggested that the search for customer motivation might begin here. Read on

category: General | posted: 10/12/2009

Success: plates versus profits

Congratulations to Jason Fried of 37 Signals for this insight from a great article on how he likes to work: Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 20/11/2009

Understanding the five threats

Here’s some great insights for anyone involved in change programmes of any kind. According to this article in Reuters, the key to successfully transforming organisations lies in better understanding what people feel threatened by. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 4/11/2009

How many complaints does it take to make a change?

The saga with the cereal maker continues. Seems that simply finding one large fly in a box of cereal is not enough to warrant anything as drastic as a recall. They are taking it seriously apparently - or at least that’s what they told my wife - but they’d have to receive more complaints before taking this further. Read on

category: General | posted: 27/10/2009

Cereal killer

My wife found a fly in her cereal this morning. It was a big fly. About the same size as the generous berries that the cereal is meant to be packed with. Except this “berry” was black. With wings. And judging by the look of it, it had been a passenger in the manufacturing journey for some time. Read on

category: General | posted: 25/10/2009

The new social status? Or - what difference does soup make?

If your senior managers are struggling to see the connection between what you support and what you earn, direct them to this great article on the influence of cause on shopping decisions. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 22/10/2009

What happens when communications agencies lose the creative monopoly?

It’s interesting what captures your eye. Right at the bottom of this article about Google’s plans to launch an ad campaign to promote its apps to the business world was a para that has disquietening overtones for communications agencies around the world. It was the fact that the creative part of the campaign had been designed in-house by Google’s own Creative Lab team led by former Ogilvy & Mather executive Andy Berndt. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 20/10/2009

Option or alternative

My favourite saying is “Life is not a popularity contest”. It’s a maxim easily forgotten in these days of convergence. But in my opinion it’s more true in business than anywhere, and most true in terms of how companies need to think about their branding. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 8/10/2009

The importance of being Smith

It doesn’t matter whether you know about Paul Reed Smith - if you’re not a guitarist. If you are a guitarist, and you’re not aware of PRS guitars, then that may say something about you too - to other guitarists who count themselves in the know. Read on

category: General | posted: 29/09/2009

What’s really fair?

Two interesting dilemmas in this piece about the politics and commercialisation of fair trading. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 27/09/2009

What’s your CSR really saying?

Smart move on the part of Absolut. Link trendy no logo design for Fashion Week in London with a clear social message. In this case, the vodka maker has used lack-of-label to also express their thoughts on a world free of sexual prejudice. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 24/09/2009

So what's going on at Audacity?

For those who are interested in what happens over at The Audacity Group, we've started a Twitter account. Read on

category: General | posted: 15/09/2009

Learning to think in analogue

As regular readers will know, I don’t agree with everything about Chris Anderson’s FREE theory. But two key points have been playing on my mind recently, and now it’s time to share. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 15/09/2009

Voting with chocolate

Cadbury’s decision to stop using palm oil in its dairy milk chocolate points to far more than just the ability of public opinion to sway an international brand. What’s significant here is the reason people were up in arms - their view that using palm oil instead of cocoa butter constituted an environmental slip-up on the part of Cadbury’s that warranted direct action. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 18/08/2009

The new battlefield

Yesterday I told a group of delegates during a keynote that, in my opinion, we all faced a new battlefield. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 15/08/2009

Who will pass the L’Oreal test?

About 18 months ago, I argued that one of the greatest dilemmas facing companies as we headed headlong into recession was going to be how they coped with what I called at the time “the loss of pace”. Who would find impetus in deceleration? Who would use the sudden lack of customer demand to rethink and rescope, and who would apply “ostrich economics” and carry on trying to do business the way they always had, even as their revenue engine spluttered and in some cases stopped beneath them? Read on

category: Recession | posted: 26/07/2009

Why most advertising doesn’t wash

The outrageously scary washing machine for sale seems to have the whole country in its grip. It even featured on the national news tonight. Gorgeous writing. And if you have the time, the questions and answers are an absolute scream. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 12/06/2009

Cooking up a controversy?

When Gordon Ramsay insults an Australian TV reporter, is he hurting or helping his brand? And when the Australian Prime Minister, no less, expresses outrage at his antics, does that help or hinder public perceptions of the celebrity chef? How far is too far when your whole brand is built on being notorious? And does it even matter if you’re serious or not? Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 10/06/2009

What’s really being bailed out at GM?

Can’t help wondering whether the American Government’s decision to take over ownership of GM is not dissimilar to the last Commander-in-Chief’s famous cry of “mission accomplished”. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 10/06/2009

Painting

Isn’t it interesting how the simplest sounding things are so much more complex when you think about them a little more? Yesterday,when I asked him what we would do if something didn’t go to plan, Paul glibly suggested that we would have to “paint our way out of the corner we are in”. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 27/05/2009

Branding 3.0

As social media makes more and more in-roads into popular culture, particularly amongst the young, advertisers are starting to recognise the power of building branded communities, both online and off (even though I reckon they haven’t worked out the money model yet). Brands are crowding onto social media sites to build presence and gather followings. Read on

category: General | posted: 22/05/2009

The Emperor’s new hits

More and more people reportedly are turning off the mainstream media because of the programming and the interruptive marketing messages. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 22/05/2009

Do social media negate the need for advertising standards?

Now that consumers have the means to voice their support or condemnation globally for whatever happens in the public arena via social media, I wonder whether Twitter, Facebook, Bebo et al are eclipsing the need for advertising standards. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 19/05/2009

The power of inconvenient questions

Watched Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room for the first time recently. A huge reminder of how easy it is to assume; that the massive confidence of some readily inspires the trust of many. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 7/05/2009

The cult of popularity

I wonder if it’s too easy in these days of Twitter and instant global chat to get drawn into believing that every storm in the social media is a public relations disaster or conversely a proven runaway success. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 30/04/2009

The concept of “badwill”

If a strong brand adds value to the physical costs of a product, does a bad brand reduce the asking price? The instinctive answer of course is yes. But does it actually materially affect the asking price to the point where anything associated with that brand can only ever reach below what it needs to be worth? Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 23/04/2009

Lessons from Dominos

The key point about the Domino’s story is that it goes to much more basic points than hygiene standards in the food industry or the increasing influence of social media (just in case there are those who think they are immune from such a situation because they don’t serve food and/or they’re not consumer-facing). Read on

category: General | posted: 22/04/2009

The reputation contradiction

24/7 Wall Street, an online financial news Web site, has published a list of the brands it believes could be dead by next year: Budget rental cars; Borders books; Crocs footwear; Saturn vehicles; Esquire magazine; Old Navy apparel; Architectural Digest magazine; Chrysler brand cars; Eddie Bauer; Palm; AIG; and United Air Lines. You can read their rationale for why here. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 22/04/2009

The clarity of light

Tactics are like torchlight. You switch them on, they show you a way forward, you act on them there and then. They’re logical, reactive, contemporary. Your customers and your competitors probably see and react to them in exactly the same light. Read on

category: General | posted: 20/04/2009

Out is the new in

Bargain-hunting continues to be highly resistant to recession-mania. One of the most interesting developments of the downturn has been the increase in store format experimentation. As full-price formats hit the wall, even high street icons are seeing opportunities to recreate “low street” channels. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 17/04/2009

In the ship

Boom times really are the season of plenty for those participating in the supply chain. With markets screaming for more to be supplied, being part of the delivery cycle is a highly efficient way to make money. Plentiful transactions virtually guarantee you work. All you have to do is show up. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 14/04/2009

The perils of association

Seems Harvard Business School’s brand is under fire after several of its previously illustrious alumni experienced a sharp decline in credibility. Questions are now being asked about the currency of Harvard Business School teachings and whether it has adequately prepared some of America’s most powerful decision makers for the sharp change in the financial weather. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 13/04/2009

The secret to next

With so much talk about innovation these days, many companies must be tempted to believe that all they have to do in these toughening times is create something new and exciting and that’s it. They’ll hit the shelves with their next big thing, it will be a huge hit, problem solved. Read on

category: General | posted: 2/04/2009

Taking on Washington

Surely no-one can be that surprised that GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner has been asked to leave. After all, the company has lost a huge amount of its value under his watch. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 30/03/2009

Which three letters should it be?

Apparently, AIG has formed a holding company for its property casualty companies which they’re thinking of calling American International Underwriters (AIU) . But according to someone who supposedly knows, that’s not necessarily the name they’re going with - "AIU Holdings plans to develop a 'go-to-market' name that reflects the financial strength and security that the insurance companies provide business and individual customers worldwide." Read on

category: General | posted: 28/03/2009

Redefining value

There’s been a lot of talk in recent times about value shifts. Economists keep hailing this as the epoch where the greatest write down in value in history has occurred. As a marketer I don’t see it that way at all. Read on

category: General | posted: 27/03/2009

Three into one

Interbrand global chief executive Jez Frampton’s summation of great retailing as "the perfect mix between finance, space and brand" is an excellent crystallisation of the inherent tensions in that sector – the need to pack in enough of the right branded product within an environment displacing the right number of square feet to deliver customers a great experience and achieve the requisite return. Read on

category: General | posted: 26/03/2009

It’s not a name change, it’s just a synonym

From a brand point of view, I’ve questioned for some time the sense of investing bail-out money in poisoned brands, because while the funds may bring some relief ostensibly to balance sheets, and enable the payout of outrageous “bonuses”, they do nothing whatsoever to salvage the reputation of the company. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 25/03/2009

Finding your customers’ tag cloud

I’ve got a new question, and it’s driving my clients crazy. What’s in your customers’ tag cloud? And what I mean by that is what are the ideas and the phrases that your customers are most excited by? What box of thoughts and keywords do they most want to see associated with you? Read on

category: General | posted: 23/03/2009

The dangers of typical innovation

I’m always fascinated when organisations see and recognise a direct threat to their business model but then do little or nothing to take the initiative because … well, I’m not sure why. It’s a phenomenon I’ve referred to before as ostrich economics. Companies see a threat, they know it’s there, but they seem to prefer to just ignore it and hope it goes away. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 22/03/2009

It may have windows, but who’s looking?

Rule #1 for any business. Never try to beat your competitor at what they’re renowned for – especially when your track record in the area is far from flash. And that’s why I think Microsoft’s decision to open physical stores, proportedly to enhance its relationship with customers, is a very dangerous strategy. Here are just some of a whole host of reasons why I don’t think they should do it: Read on

category: General | posted: 25/02/2009

Be careful what you ask for

OK, here’s a left-fielder. Setting goals may be bad for your company’s health. New research shows setting ambitious targets often encourages poor performance. This is of course anathema to conventional management theory which has preached for some time that pushing people to excel brings out the best in them. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 23/02/2009

Bookends or beginnings?

Here’s one of those seriously audacious statements that one can only admire. Amazon chief Jeff Bezos announced the arrival of Kindle 2 by saying he wanted to make every book available for download in an electronic form to be read on the device. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 10/02/2009

Facing up to life beyond five

The adage used to be that three years was “forever” in the online world. So, the interesting thing about Facebook turning five recently is not the number of users nor the fact that these days its use is ubiquitous to the point where people use it to announce changes in their marital status. The most interesting point for me is that, after all this time, Facebook has still not found a way to monetarize its business model to anything like its estimated “brand value”. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 9/02/2009

God save the cream …

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and sometimes the results can be quite amazing. Having issued a profit warning in November, as a result of spiralling milk prices, Dairy Crest seemed to be facing tough times indeed. So I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when the creative people came in to pitch to the idea of former Sex Pistol Johnny Lyndon fronting on TV for Country Life butter. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 5/02/2009

Lessons from the football game

What do Superbowl advertising and spam have in common? Both subscribe to the eyeball theory. In both cases, it’s about scale. In both cases, it’s about interruption. In both cases, it’s about hope. Read on

category: General | posted: 4/02/2009

The end of a Classic

Nearly 25 years after the New Coke debacle, it seems Coca Cola have finally decided that it’s safe to remove the word “classic” from its packaging in the US. The move apparently is designed to help enhance the brand’s appeal particularly to younger consumers who think classic means vintage. With New Coke now gone, the company argues it no longer needs to differentiate between the two. Read on

category: General | posted: 3/02/2009

The search for secret ingredients

Astute take on the value adding power of recycling in an excellent article by Michael Beverland in this month’s Idealog. As Beverland points out, “Although brand managers may believe in recycling … they rarely recycle the substance of the brand—the bits of the brand that have latent value …” Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 2/02/2009

History lesson

A nice round-the-sectors piece by Brandweek looks at prospects for a wide range of brands, concluding this will indeed be a year of mixed fortunes: Read on

category: Recession | posted: 30/01/2009

What’s in a name?

The recent buy-up of brand name Linens ‘n Things for around a million dollars proves three things in my book. First, a brand name can have a monetary value. Second, it’s nowhere near as much as we were led to believe (a bit like house valuations in that regard) since the company was bought for $1.3 billion just three years ago, and not all of that can have been stock. Third, the brand name is independent of the business itself. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 29/01/2009

Everything you need to pretend to have an MBA

You’ll love this piece on what it takes to pretend to have an MBA. The core thesis: simply learn all the lingo, and it’s as good as having the degree. As the writer points out, “You don't really have to understand it because most of it is meaningless anyway. You just have to know when to drop in the odd strategic phrase or word.” Read on

category: General | posted: 12/01/2009

Not so long after all

It looks like I’m not the only one having problems with Chris Anderson’s theorems. A study by Will Page, chief economist of the MCPS-PRS Alliance, a not-for-profit royalty collection society, has revealed that more than 10 million of the 13 million music tracks available on the internet failed to attract a single buyer last year. Now of course that’s not what “long tail” suggested would happen, with its hypothesis that online was redefining niche markets, creating unlimited demand from limitless choice Read on

category: General | posted: 9/01/2009

What does Apple’s Macbandonment signal?

Perhaps they are just putting on a brave face in the light of more serious developments, but the news that Apple will abandon MacWorld has interesting implications, and it highlights the potential difference that can exist between the "facts" (what the company knows or claims to know) and signals (what the markets reads into a set of actions) Read on

category: General | posted: 7/01/2009

All together now?

Welcome to a new year - but over the Christmas break, did it strike anyone else as more than just a little bemusing that Coke’s advertising theme tune for summer in NZ was also used here recently by the Salvation Army? Read on

category: General | posted: 6/01/2009

Quite clearly cloudy

Further proof that this really has been the year of the cloud. I remember some years back when I was working with the Xero team as they canvassed the opportunities and challenges of taking a SaaS (Software as a Service) based business public, many people remained skeptical about the feasibility of such an approach. Some I spoke to saw Salesforce et al as the successful exceptions rather than the new rules. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 17/12/2008

C what’s possible

Monetarisation of the internet continues – and some are saying this is just the start of a major revamp not just for the media companies, but for the way these companies and others might need to start thinking about their income and their content models. This story about people making good incomes from YouTube shows that online is increasingly finding effective ways to fund channels – and ironically, the new model is not that different from the old. Except for one important difference so far, and that is the idea of partnering. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 15/12/2008

Jailhouse rock

The way I see it the multi-billion dollar rescue packages being proposed to support the so-called “cornerstones” of the American economy are less a bail-out and more a “fail-out”. That old adage - when you owe someone a hundred dollars, it’s your problem, but when you owe them a million, it’s theirs - has never sounded so true. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 10/12/2008

Be careful what you signpost.

If you’re part of a company with a large customer base, it’s easy to convince yourself that you understand your customers so well that you can actually apply labels to them on signage. You can, in effect, identify them on your terms, and still firmly believe that you are absolutely doing the right thing. You may even believe you’re being helpful. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 18/11/2008

Would you like a logo with that?

I was very interested in this story about the Muji stores in Japan, the latest example of which seems to be a no-brand Quarter Pounder store. Burgers from the Golden Arches – but without any of the usual corporate identity. Read on

category: General | posted: 14/11/2008

The new up

I grinned from ear to ear when I saw this quote from Wenda Harris Millard of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia at the EconWomen Conference: Read on

category: Recession | posted: 4/11/2008

Helluva stupid, by my reckoning

In a competitive arena like fast food, it must be very tempting to resort to shock value – to say, damn it, the most important thing we need to do right now is get attention. Any attention. Any way we can. And if your name is Hell Pizza, then it’s easy to see how you could believe you have an open license to be shocking about anyone or anything. Read on

category: General | posted: 3/11/2008

Lessons from the kitchen

It wasn’t so long ago that the key concern for many businesses was “how can we keep up with demand?” Now that momentum and organic growth has evaporated in many sectors, there’s a new question, which in many ways is much more puzzling – “How do we go slower and stay profitable?” Read on

category: Recession | posted: 31/10/2008

Don’t bank on your brand

Media Post has this thought provoking piece that highlights another danger in numbers – this time in relation to brand valuations. As reported in the article, John Gerzema and Ed Lebar’s book The Brand Bubble: The Looming Crisis in Brand Value and How to Avoid It contends that we are indeed in the middle of a “brand bubble”, with consumer opinion on the value of brands falling at the same time as corporations continue to attribute those brands with increasing balance sheet value. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 30/10/2008

The danger of numbers

As recent times have shown up only too clearly, it’s very easy to confuse strategy with demand – to get to the point where what stakeholders or decision makers want or have led themselves to expect becomes what must be achieved. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 29/10/2008

You say Apple and I say PC

Very good piece today by Jeff Sexton on what he believes was Apple’s pre-prepared strategy to draw Microsoft into answering them back. According to Sexton, the gizzumph was already good to go. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 28/10/2008

Was, not is?

Perhaps the CEO of Harcourts, needs to read Black Swan. If he did, perhaps he’d be less disappointed than he says he is that recent house sales haven’t held up to the way things usually are in September. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 22/10/2008

Forget what they want. What do they intend?

Need and want are subsets of the real motivation I believe we should all be searching for as marketers – and that is intent. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 21/10/2008

Eight lessons from luxury

The Brand Strategy Magazine’s blog has a very useful summary of the Luxury Institute’s eight tips on how to survive the recession. They’re great ideas – and with a little adaptation they’re as true for a small business as they are for the high-end high street. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 20/10/2008

Vista in October

Another Vista Group lunch yesterday – my first in quite a while, given all my travelling. And in between Jack Yan’s “around the world in 80 accents”, the usual wide ranging discussion. One of the dominant topics, given that both Jack and I run virtual organisations, was how to cement loyalty and commitment inside an intangible structure. When people don’t have places to call their own, how do they derive a sense of belonging? Read on

category: General | posted: 17/10/2008

What a difference a word makes … apparently

According to this article, the financial bail-out simply needed a name change to succeed. The problem it seems was in the use of the word “bail out”. If the Administration had just used the word “rescue” instead, getting the package through Congress the first time would have been a walk in the park. Bush, it seems, should have opted for a movie trailer approach or gone for the David vs Wall Street approach. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 13/10/2008

Further proof that small may indeed be the new big

This last weekend, the world’s biggest retailer took on a whole new approach – small. The company that is famous for its use of scale launched four Marketside stores in the Phoenix area, a first step perhaps in a move towards introducing more compact store formats. Read on

category: General | posted: 6/10/2008

Let them eat soup

Seems one of the few stocks not freefalling on Wall Street on 777 day was Campbell’s Soup. In fact it was the only stock – excuse the pun – on the S&P 500 to rise that day. And then again on Tuesday. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 2/10/2008

AM, FM, TM?

Quirky little story from London Free Press about whatever happened to Barry Manilow. Seems the hit Vegas act is no longer just a person, now he’s a trademark, owned by Hastings, Clayton & Tucker, Inc. Which is kind of a whole new take on personal branding, don’t you think? (Still trying to work out why anyone would buy Barry Manilow boxers.) Read on

category: General | posted: 30/09/2008

Hitting the Wall … Street

The much vaunted financial Wall Street bailout appears to me to be a bit like President Bush’s expedition to Iraq. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 26/09/2008

How far would you go?

In Christchurch recently for a workshop, I noticed an interesting article in the local paper sourced from the Washington Post (sorry, I don’t have a link). Seems that rising fuel prices are having such an effect on the “China price” – the huge price advantage that Chinese producers have been able to offer – that more and more US companies are turning tail and bringing their production back inside the States. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 24/09/2008

Message in a fishtank

While everyone else seemed pre-occupied with the fact that artist Damien Hirst had earned $198 million from auctioning his latest works in the midst of financial turmoil, the bit that interested me was that, in doing so, Britain’s extremely rich enfant terrible had completely bypassed the dealer system and sold the works directly through an auction house – the first time anyone had dared defy the established order this way. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 22/09/2008

The implications of Chrome: a beta state of rivalry

Now that Google have launched their beta browser Chrome, I guess many of us who weren’t in the know about its release are asking why wouldn’t they? Given Google’s complete dependence on the web, continuing to leave browsing to their main rival would have made no sense. Read on

category: General | posted: 3/09/2008

Racing ahead

Spotted this fascinating documentary on how Formula One has become the ultimate global branding platform, with more than 500 million viewers globally. One of the most interesting aspects for me has been the evolution of the brands involved, and how this change has tracked alongside the worldwide expansion of venues and audiences. Read on

category: General | posted: 1/09/2008

Another side to the board?

Wouldn’t exactly say I’ve ever hailed Lovemarks as the pinnacle of thinking on brand, and I continue to have some disquiet that the head of Saatchis worldwide is now on the board of what must surely be their biggest client in New Zealand. Nevertheless, I was pleased on one level to see that Kevin Roberts had been appointed to the Telecom board – because at least his appointment represents the admission (subject to approval by shareholders) of another marketing mind to the hallowed halls of corporate governance. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 29/08/2008

The contradictions of confections

Smiled when I spotted these contradictory articles almost side by side on BBC. First up, this video report says chocolate companies are reporting rising sales as the rest of the economy slows down. The report points out that the relatively small cost and high pleasure values of chocolate mean that it is one food that consumers won’t give up on easily. Read on

category: General | posted: 28/08/2008

The 5 -ests.

At a conference I was also speaking at recently, Rob Smith, CEO of Paper Plus, outlined the 5 ests rule that they drew on to define their position. There are only five possible positions in a sector and you need to own, and align yourself, to one: Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 27/08/2008

An unnatural state of work

Home at last – after what feels like an eternity out on the road. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 25/08/2008

Socialising your brand

A sign of the growing awareness of social media for branders. Justin Hunt posts this about a new tool that rates how a brand is represented in social media. And judging by the fact that when I visited there was a note at howsociable.com stating that they weren’t ready for this much interest quite so early, the site initiators have clearly picked up on something that’s on more and more marketers’ radar. Read on

category: General | posted: 6/08/2008

Reducing the intake or tightening the belt?

According to Business Day, the concerning thing about the closure of 61 Starbucks stores in Australia is not just the fact that one international company is experiencing problems, it’s that things are seriously awry when the food sector starts shrinking. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 5/08/2008

Brands in the house

I was intrigued to read about the rise and rise of house brands in the United States as more and more people shift to a recessionary mindset. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 4/08/2008

If you’re no longer great, were you ever?

I’m going to throw my 50c of opinion in on Steven Levitt’s post recently about Good to Great. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 31/07/2008

Redundant excellence

Earlier this week at a conference in Christchurch, I introduced the concept of redundant excellence – the danger of focusing on improving products and services that in fact have been, or are in the process of being, surpassed, either by new technology or shifting consumer attitudes. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 30/07/2008

Let the platitudes commence …

If what’s described here is anything to go by, looks like the 2008 Olympics ads will be as dull, shallow and completely predictable as previous efforts. Read on

category: General | posted: 25/07/2008

What were they not thinking?

In the search to capitalise on equity, some brands have pushed the boat out and made it to the other side. Others haven’t been quite so lucky – and Mental Floss gleefully highlights some of the extensions that were a reach too far. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 24/07/2008

Unprofitable – or just one of those sectors where you can’t make a killing any more?

Could the world’s most (in)famous security company be feeling a little … insecure? According to Associated Press, Blackwater Worldwide, the guys with the security contractors in Iraq, say they want to get out of the security business and more into areas like training, aviation and logistics. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 23/07/2008

Suing with silence

Alright, I admit it. I did grin when I read this piece from Freakonomics about the lawyer who is suing a newspaper because he doesn’t believe it is now worth the money he paid to renew his subscription. Stephen Dubner’s question is who would you like to take on? Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 18/07/2008

Turning the tables

When you know an area very well, it’s easy to believe that you have a natural advantage over strangers who loom as competitors – especially when those rivals are from a completely different culture and half a world away. Read on

category: General | posted: 17/07/2008

Where are they going with this?

We’re invited to see the big picture and learn more about fresher thinking on flying. But this new puff-piece about the A380 seems to me to very long on environmental graphics and sentiments and astonishingly brief on the actual detail. Read on

category: General | posted: 16/07/2008

Simply not enough

It’s easy to be tempted into thinking you’ve done enough. When the world is rivetted on your launch, when the media has been building up for weeks, when people are queued outside the store waiting for days (like they were in Wellington) – the most natural thing in the world is to believe you’ve done everything right. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 15/07/2008

Railway signals

Talk of this joint venture between Air France and train operator Veolia should give travellers even more reason to choose short-haul rail over short-haul flying, accelerating a trend that’s already seen high speed rail gobble up European routes such as Paris-Brussels. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 14/07/2008

What’s the plural of sale?

How successful is a sale when everyone else is in sale too? I wondered about this as I walked through a mall yesterday bedecked in Sale signs. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 11/07/2008

The joy of flying … or perhaps not.

I think it’s a sad day for all concerned when an airline decides that it’s going to stop showing movies inflight to try and save costs. That’s exactly what US Airlines are talking about – apparently they feel pressured into doing this because of rising fuel prices. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 10/07/2008

Have done … or has been?

It’s interesting reading what’s happened to newspaper analysts. Seems plunging valuations and a lack of investor interest have seen analyst numbers halved. You can read the obvious sector implications into this: the US newspaper industry can’t keep up with the online glut for advertising, so who needs to analyse the industry? Which kind of has a rather large Exit sign attached to it somewhere. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 7/07/2008

Starbucked?

It’s far too easy to confuse expansion with momentum. But as this article on Starbuck’s growing dilemma shows, the reason why the coffee chain is contracting at its current rate is that it has expanded its way out of the high-end and into the middle ground – and there it has suffered the fate of many a middle market player – it has stagnated. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 3/07/2008

Taking in the view at the roundabout

Lovely piece from Brian Bond of Future Now on the new “there’ll be a charge” mentality sweeping the American airline industry. Forget a la carte. This is à la suitcase, as airline companies look for reasons to remove services and charge for things that always used to be included. Bags, drinks, seats. And all this justified by the classic excuse, “well if they can do it so can we”. Read on

category: General | posted: 2/07/2008

Seizing the nettle

Mike and I presented to another group of investor relations specialists in Auckland last week – and one of the things we talked about was the very real risk associated with not communicating well. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 1/07/2008

Talk is cheap? Not in this case.

What would you pay to have dinner with someone whose business acumen you admire beyond all measure? A guy named Zhao Danyang, a general manager at Pure Heart China Growth Investment Fund, has just forked out US$2.1 million to have dinner with the Sage at a New York steakhouse. The money goes to charity – the Glide Foundation, a not-for-profit helpng poor and homeless people in San Francisco. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 30/06/2008

What do you give one of the world’s richest men?

So today is Bill Gates’ last day in the office running Microsoft. I wonder what they’ll give him as a going away present? A copy of XP, do you think? Read on

category: General | posted: 27/06/2008

Outsourcing our thinking

A few days ago, Johnnie Moore referred to whether we were all suffering from internet-induced ADD in a piece that praised the power of succinct. One particular phrase in the post really caught my eye. He talked about the fact that “we're in danger of outsourcing our thinking”. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 24/06/2008

Brand big

This article in BusinessWeek about small companies like Ciao Bella who have made it big by capitalising on their brands carries an important lesson for us all. Brand big. Companies that give themselves big brands also give themselves something to expand into – in other words, room to grow. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 23/06/2008

The wider role of regulation

It’s easy to see regulation as a reaction to the corporate scandals of previous years and to characterise the return to a much more compliant environment as one of bureaucracy on a roll (and a role for that matter). Thinking on this today, as I prepare for two presentations next week, it occurred to me that there’s a wider attitudinal shift happening here that is easy to overlook. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 20/06/2008

Crying for their beer

Is the InBev offer for Anheuscher-Busch poised to the Micro-hoo of the beverage world? Carlos Brito, InBev’s chief executive, seems to be doing all he can to allay fears that jobs are not at risk, even saying that St Louis would be the company’s US headquarters and that InBev will protect Budweiser's heritage. Locals, it seems, are having none of it. Read on

category: General | posted: 19/06/2008

It’s more than a download, it’s a world record attempt

It’s underway right now. Firefox is celebrating Download Day, the day version 3 of its Firebox browser goes on general release. But, in true Firefox fashion, they’re not just making it available, they’re going for a world record for the most downloads over 24 hours – even though there is no such record yet as far as Mozilla themselves can tell. Read on

category: General | posted: 18/06/2008

Never say never

I wonder if Michael Jackson knows the words to the Bruce Springsteen classic Glory Days, because it may be a song with more than a hint of relevance. According to this article, Colony Capital, the people who saved Jackson’s ranch from foreclosure, are now looking at a range of options to help him repay his debts. Their suggestions seem to include launching a comeback in Las Vegas, an appearance on Oprah (maybe they’ll wheel out the Tom Cruise couch) and/or doing a TV special. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 17/06/2008

It’s advertising. It must be true.

Friday at Freakonomics, Stephen Dubner asked Which industry makes the most misleading ads? . His personal opinion was the companies that advertise closets. As he says, they always seem to be pieces of furniture that are bathed in sunlight, and that are owned by people who have three pairs of identical and very clean pants or skirts, but never anything unshapely like an accordion, or hockey stick. (A bit like those layouts in “Have a more organised life” books!) Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 16/06/2008

Don’t chew. Bite.

Guy Kawasaki’s interview with Rohit Bhargava about the importance of personality in building distinctive brands is well worth the read. “Personality,” he says, “is what brings a brand to life”. Tick. VG. Give that man a star. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 13/06/2008

Frank Sinatra has a new deal with Warner

For many of us in the branding world, licensing is probably a relatively unknown territory – a bit like franchising in that regard. Huge brand element, but different business model. So I was intrigued to read this recently: news that Frank Sinatra has signed a new deal and is now on the comeback trail. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 12/06/2008

Too many slices of Apple?

Many will see it as a great thing – the announcement by Steve Jobs that the second generation iPhone will be 3G and cost as little as US$199. This new model is apparently three times faster than its predecessor and appears to be Apple’s bid to directly confront competitors like Blackberry. Read on

category: General | posted: 11/06/2008

Call me loyal?

Interesting that several companies should be considering reviewing their loyalty programmes as economic conditions tighten. Though I’m more than happy to use them myself, I’ve always been reluctant to advocate such programmes as a marketing tool, for a number of reasons. Read on

category: General | posted: 10/06/2008

10 critical success factors for investor branding

A recent article in the Washington Post highlights how major investors are turning onto the power of brands as investments. These so-called “brand investors” are putting their money behind brands for many of the same reasons that marketers look to develop brands in the first place. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 9/06/2008

Hummer goes hmmmm …

Airlines aren’t the only ones struggling with high fuel prices and unevolved business models. Over at General Motors, they’ve cottoned onto the fact that the Hummer may no longer be a vehicle of our age. According to this article, at current US gas prices, a 100 mile round trip in the mid-size model costs about $30. (That’s still a lot cheaper than what we’d pay in New Zealand!) Read on

category: General | posted: 6/06/2008

Femonomics is the lead story in this month’s Marketing Magazine

This month, Marketing Magazine carries a lead story about the importance of women consumers. I’m thrilled they’ve chosen to pick up on the “femonomics” theme. Thrilled too to have been interviewed and for the article to include a section from an extended article I wrote on why male marketers must change the way they sell. Read on

category: General | posted: 5/06/2008

Making the shortlist

Findings from recent research of the ways we go about our lives have confirmed we are nowhere near as random as previously thought. In point of fact, after tracking more than 100,000 mobile phone users over a period of six months, the clear conclusion is that people mostly visit a limited number of locations time and time again. Read on

category: General | posted: 5/06/2008

Glocal brands

Further to the themes in my last story. David Wolf explores opportunities for global organisations to make much better use of dormant local brands in this article. In particular, he points out how what he refers to as a glocal branding strategy could work very well for Chinese companies looking to enter overseas markets. Read on

category: General | posted: 3/06/2008

Wash that brand right out of my hair? Not necessarily.

When an ad that has had millions of dollars spent on it fails to reappear on the screen, how long is it before anyone actually notices? That was what I was left pondering after coming across this article by Rob Walker about a company called River West Brands that has built a business out of bringing brands back from the dead. Read on

category: General | posted: 30/05/2008

Hello dolly

I see the Barbie vs Bratz argument has made it to court, and now both sides are arguing over whose time designer Carter Bryant was on when he came up with the designs. That may well be the legal argument, but from a marketing point of view, the questions over Bratz success extend beyond actual ownership of the ideas. Read on

category: General | posted: 29/05/2008

The good oil

Here’s an interesting twist. Shareholders at ExxonMobil are up in arms - not over profits, but over the fact that the company is not living up to its social responsibilities. They’re so miffed about it in fact that they’ve lodged a series of proposals for the AGM. You could dismiss this as more troublemaking from the activist brigade, but for the fact that the actions have support from the heavyweights - major institutional investors as well as the Rockefeller family. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 28/05/2008

A loop or a noose?

First, it was Yahoo getting into trouble over turning down the Microsoft deal. Now, IAG’s hit a similar problem in Australia over a takeover bid by rival QBE insurance – and it’s a decision that has cost the Chief Executive his job. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 27/05/2008

Closing the ultimate sale – a salute to Paul Potts

Watched a documentary on Paul Potts last night. I still think the clip of his performance is one of the most inspiring and uplifting pieces I have ever seen. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve watched it, and yet every time, it’s absolutely magic. Say what you like about his recital technically, the point is that from the point of view of sheer emotional impact it’s incredibly hard to beat. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 26/05/2008

The $50 billion question

If I was a Microsoft shareholder, I’d certainly be asking for a little elaboration over this curious statement from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Read on

category: General | posted: 23/05/2008

Ethics vs patronage

A follow on from yesterday in some ways. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 21/05/2008

Making a decent profit

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal Online examines the business of social responsibility and asks what’s the financial payback for generating all this goodwill. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 20/05/2008

Airbrushing

In a world of choice, it’s tempting to retouch your brand story to make it more appealing. It’s tempting to say your clothes are made in one country, when in fact some of the garment is made somewhere else. It’s easy to state that you have a rigorous environmental policy when in fact it’s still under development. It’s simple to say that your food has the perfect mix of whatever, when in fact your machines are not calibrated to tell you exactly how much of which ingredient will end up in a randomly sampled pack. It just takes a moment to add a qualification you don’t have and to say it’s from an impressive institution – because you know you’re that good anyway. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 19/05/2008

Mindsets

Just a quick reminder to all those who are currently dismissing the whole concept of recession as a mindset divorced from reality that has been talked up by the media. So were the boom times. What’s your point? Read on

category: Recession | posted: 16/05/2008

Never do nice work.

Yesterday after a Board meeting, Graham and I went for coffee, as we always do. He reminded me of a piece of work that we had both been involved with that had been deemed so outrageous at the time internally that a petition had been circulated to have the project stopped dead in its tracks. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 15/05/2008

Can we talk?

Joan Rivers’ famous phrase has taken on new meaning with news that Facebook, My Space and Google are all making sharing noises in the social network space. Suddenly, proprietary social networking it seems is out the window – and everyone wants to get together. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 14/05/2008

What will you label them? Food for thought.

In the crowded, hyper-competitive world of FMCG, food brands live and die on their perceptions of trust and truth. After all these are products we feed to ourselves and our families. And with so many brands flogging the fact that they are fat free, sugar free, glutin free or contain added vitamins and minerals, we’ve been conditioned as consumers to include label-gazing as part of our purchase routines. Conditioned and convinced. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 13/05/2008

Cause and effect

Another one of the things we talked about in Sydney last week was the rising importance of CSR issues for investors – and the implication that environmental and social issues were becoming key considerations for companies looking to grow their investor brand. Read on

category: General | posted: 12/05/2008

Love is the drug

It’s easy to fall in love with your product, to believe that the thing you’ve worked on so hard for so long is the best thing going. From there, it’s a very small step to believing that everyone must know what you’re doing. And from there, it’s a very small step again to the commitment to do whatever it takes to get your product and all its benefits out to the public. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 9/05/2008

Guesswork is not a great communications strategy

Just been in Sydney with Mike, speaking to investor relations managers about what to do now that the old annual report has all but died in Australia. The figures we’ve seen show opt-in figures (people choosing to receive a physical copy of the annual report) of as low as 6%. Andrew, one of the other presenters, had figures of around 9.5%. But that still leaves 90%+ of investors saying no thanks – we’ll look elsewhere. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 8/05/2008

What’s KFC without the chicken?

Here’s one of those stories that proves successful brands – even food brands – can be defined by much more than just the product. Read on

category: General | posted: 6/05/2008

Right now, Yahoo has the wrong value attitude for Microsoft

Is there a take-out for Yahoo in Microsoft’s decision to walk away? Time will tell. There is a lesson though in the decision for all of us – and that is, that in the end what you think you are worth counts for nothing to anyone else. It’s just your opinion. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 5/05/2008

Coping with the outrage

Whilst everyone is shocked and sickened by what has come to light in Austria, I agree with Simon Anholt that the Austrian government is perhaps over-reacting by calling in the consultants to fix its image. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 2/05/2008

See you round?

Just read a great article by Jim Collins, of Good to Great fame, about life and death on the Fortune 500. Collins points out that over 2000 companies have appeared on the list since its inception in 1955. But of the 500 that appeared on that first list, only 71 are still there today. That’s an 86% disappearance rate. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 1/05/2008

Amazing experiences – true or false?

Today I found a review of Lisa Johnson and Andrea Learned’s book Don’t Think Pink, which is about how to effectively market to women. One of the key points they make in the review is the difference between visible marketing and transparent marketing. Read on

category: Femonomics | posted: 30/04/2008

Taking sides

Sometimes it’s a fine line between irony and opportunity. As the Microsoft/Yahoo liaison makes its inevitable trundle into what looks like a hostile takeover, Mars and Wrigley’s have, with the involvement of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, announced a deal that certainly puts the sweetener back in recession. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 29/04/2008

This is no time for presence

News this week from the Agenda crew that some of the most expensive and well-managed luxury brands in the world are doing very well thank you. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 28/04/2008

Anzac Day

All the anger, bitterness, atrocity, outrage, anticipation, pain, grief, triumph, pride, disfigurement, panic, hatred, death, injustice, comradeship, loss, desperation, disease, mud, stench and utter, utter waste – captured, symbolised, in a simple, single red poppy. Read on

category: General | posted: 25/04/2008

Lessons from Vista

Yes I know I’ve gone on about Microsoft all week, but after reading this article by Peter Griffin this morning, I can see at least five lessons that the company should take from Vista: Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 24/04/2008

Clouds on the horizon

A follow up to my story about Microsoft and Starbucks, courtesy of my friend and colleague Hannah Samuel. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 23/04/2008

Things are looking bad. Where’s my broker?

An interesting and upheaving article in the Sydney Morning Herald suggests that recession is the most important time to use an intermediary. The argument goes like this. When the market is booming, the gains are easy, and investors can afford to do it themselves. But once things get a little more volatile, the full-service broker really comes into their own. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 22/04/2008

Is Microsoft the next Starbucks?

According to two analysts from Gartner, Microsoft’s position is untenable and Windows is collapsing. Strong language indeed, underlined by a message that the software giant needs to make radical changes to its operating system or risk becoming a has-been. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 21/04/2008

The Delta/Northwest merger – what’s the real message here?

Very early start this morning as I head out of town – but couldn’t board a plane without commenting on the latest mega-merger to hit the US airline industry. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 18/04/2008

I’ve just accepted the role of editor at allaboutbranding.com

It’s an enormous thrill to be able to announce that I have been offered, and have accepted, the role of editor at premier global branding reference site, allaboutbranding.com. Read on

category: General | posted: 16/04/2008

Can you depend on Lonely Planet?

It’s one of the most trusted travel brands in the world. But now it seems Lonely Planet may be neither as lonely nor as planetary as one might have been led to believe – that’s if author Thomas Kohnstamm’s account is anywhere near accurate. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 15/04/2008

Lessons from the Sex Pistols

30 years on, it’s still one of the most intense and energising performances I’ve ever seen - the Sex Pistols leering and sneering Pretty Vacant on British TV. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 14/04/2008

The commitment to compete

I disagree with Howard Schultz. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 11/04/2008

Ostrich economics

It’s not a very good year in the airline industry – with American Airlines cancelling hundreds of planes for safety checks, the Terminal 5 chaos at Heathrow, more delays for Boeing’s Dreamliner, the end of the Hong Long based airline Oasis. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 10/04/2008

Sensible to the max

Thumbs up to the Automobile Association in New Zealand for recognising that what looks like Max Mosley’s whole new take on ‘get your motor running’ might not make him a brand-aligned choice to attend their transport and environment summit in June. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 9/04/2008

Running rings around the Games

Imagine if Mahatama Ghandi had had access to the internet. What would he have done to use the medium to best advantage? Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 8/04/2008

The online revenue riddle

Two very different and contrasting stories shed light on just how unresolved (or evolving) the online revenue model continues to be. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 7/04/2008

Drinking the dream

Selling beverages is often not about selling the science. It’s about inviting people to drink a dream. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 4/04/2008

Pinning the cause on the market

In a great post today, Stephen Dubner asks The Stock Market Surged Yesterday Because … Why? Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 3/04/2008

Like a Virgle

If you haven’t read about Virgin and Google’s plans to pioneer life on Mars by 2014 posted today (yes, today), you should. What’s scary is how close it sounds to some very real pitches for other “visionary” projects. Read on

category: General | posted: 2/04/2008

A post-rational economy? In places, perhaps.

A poll by online magazine brandchannel.com has resulted in Apple being named the brand with the biggest impact on consumers globally. Microsoft by contrast was the brand most readers wanted to argue with, and the one they most wanted to revamp. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 1/04/2008

Open wide

The opening up of vast tracts of air space with the new "open skies" agreement between the US and European Union should be a bonanza for travellers. After all, now any number of planes can fly routes trans-Atlantic. Read on

category: General | posted: 31/03/2008

Shut up. I’m flying

I read with a sense of resignation today that the UK regulator has just approved the use of mobile phones on flights within European air space. Read on

category: General | posted: 28/03/2008

Playing with bricks

Here’s another one of those “scientists have nothing better to do” stories that supposedly proves the power of branding. Read on

category: General | posted: 27/03/2008

Finding your value stack

Today, I was reading an excerpt from one of 0800-CEO-Read’s featured authors, Ade McCormack, from her book The IT Value Stack: A Boardroom Guide to IT Leadership. The book looks at the value of IT value realisation. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 26/03/2008

Tibet or taboo?

Mixed messages indeed from the world’s major corporates as Olympic sponsors find themselves associated with a political situation in Tibet that’s becoming a little uncomfortable. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 25/03/2008

Tipping point?

Over at Brand Autopsy, John Moore offers his ever-informed appraisal of Starbucks’ proposed transformation programme arguing that many of the ideas proposed will do nothing to improve US business, one or two may enhance the connection with customers but 4 out of 6 represent opportunities for investment for future growth. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 22/03/2008

Lunchstorming

Another meeting of the Vista Group yesterday, with Jack Yan (on time), Jim Donovan (on form) and Natalie Ferguson (on debut) and once again it amazes me how much stimulating conversation can be crammed into a relatively small period of time. Read on

category: Vista | posted: 21/03/2008

Wellbucks?

One of the most worrying signs of a company veering off strategy is when they start talking up the opportunities for entering a completely unrelated market, perhaps on the grounds that they see untapped potential there. So news that Starbucks is planning to diversify into new categories such as health and wellness strikes me as very concerning. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 20/03/2008

Problem or placebo? Actually it doesn't matter.

Interesting article in the Wall Street journal about whether generic drugs are better or worse than their brand-name counterparts. Apparently, there’s a few people questioning the FDA’s position that generics are interchangeable with the original medicines, citing examples that, they claim, show that shifting to a generic is not the same as staying on the original drug. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 19/03/2008

Swan or turkey?

Reading about the woes of various financial institutions in the States after years of prosperity, I’m reminded of that great story about the turkey in Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s book The Black Swan. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 18/03/2008

Sisters are …

Further proof of the power and importance of femonomics. Holly Buchanan reports that women entrepreneurs are growing businesses at nearly twice the rate of all firms. Read on

category: Femonomics | posted: 17/03/2008

Looking for Mr Goodbook

Over at Brand Autopsy, John Moore’s post about Borders’ decision to test a front-facing display strategy sets up some interesting questions about the nature of competition generally. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 14/03/2008

Feathers and wigs

Have you ever noticed the curious parallels between Alfred Hitchcock's film The Birds and trying to get anything past Legal? Read on

category: General | posted: 13/03/2008

Shedding the strategy skin

The interesting thing about being involved with strategy is that it has a built-in contempt phase. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 12/03/2008

What will you see when the tide goes out?

Lance Wiggs includes this quote from Warren Buffett in a recent post Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 11/03/2008

Reporting on annual reports

On her blog recently, content specialist Rachel McAlpine pointed to the fact that, according to the New Zealand Securities Commission, annual reports have only a 30% pass rate. According to an article in the Dominion Post 20 of the 30 annual reports sampled by the Commission in recent times had problems. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 10/03/2008

Changing attitudes

I was intrigued to read that Penthouse is going public. That’s right, the magazine that sat in “that” part of the bookstore will go to Wall Street later this year looking to IPO for $250 million. (Should make for an interesting prospectus) Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 7/03/2008

The pushback pattern

Over in my consulting life, I’m working on two very ambitious projects this week. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 6/03/2008

The next tobacco?

As a little village of 400 people files suit in the US for damages caused by climate change there are two conclusions: Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 5/03/2008

Sexy back

Excuse the pun, but a revealing article in The Wall Street Journal recently on Victoria’s Secret’s struggle to retain its growth. The brand, famous for its sexy attitudes, is now saying it might just be too sexy, or at least the wrong kind of sexy. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 4/03/2008

Long time, no see. Thank God.

Some lessons I’ve learnt recently: Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 3/03/2008

To free or not to free

You may or may not agree with, or even like, what Chris Anderson has to say about the prevailing forces in a technology-driven economy, but his argument is certainly interesting and well worth the read. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 29/02/2008

Personal branding - answering the fame question

Just a quick thought this morning as I dash out to a board meeting. There seems to be an increasing tendency to regard personal branding as the image you want to project. The problem with that of course is that it’s not dissimilar to the myth it took years to break down – you know brand = logo, except in this case, you can substitute logo for clothes or car or manicure. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 28/02/2008

Stuffing the pigeon into the rhombus

I enjoyed Johnnie Moore’s post this morning on classifying people. The dilemma with pigeon-holes of course is that not everyone fits, and some of the best people in industry do defy what’s expected of them. That is literally what makes them exceptional. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 27/02/2008

Commoditising attitudes

It’s interesting what we get used to. Just seven short years ago, most of us walked freely through airport gates. Now we’re subconsciously taking our laptops out of their bags way ahead of the queue, and trying to remember whether this belt is one of the ones that trips the security. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 26/02/2008

Branding, branding everywhere …

You don’t have to look far these days to see recruiters calling themselves employer branders. Or image consultants saying they are now involved in personal branding. Or every designer who puts a modicum of thought into what they’re doing suddenly hailing themselves as brand strategists. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 25/02/2008

What a rush …

Yesterday at the second meeting of the newly dubbed Vista Group (named after the café, not how we operate), Jack Yan, Jim Donovan and I had an interesting discussion about cult brands and their power. Read on

category: Vista | posted: 22/02/2008

The delay dilemma

So the long running battle is over. Blu-Ray has out-gunned, outcharmed and out-marketed HD-DVD to become the next generation DVD format. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 21/02/2008

Age old questions

Turns out the concept of commodities and indeed that of branding may be an older idea than we imagine. Most of us recognise both ideas as mass-production phenomena. Recently though, David Wengrow, a lecturer at University College London, has presented new evidence about labels on ancient containers. Most have assumed these were just identifiers, but actually according to Wengrow, they actually functioned as brands. Read on

category: General | posted: 19/02/2008

The Joneses … the end is just the start

There will no doubt be many in the real estate industry this week rubbing their hands with glee and viewing the voluntary liquidation of the Joneses as the end of an alternative business model to the current commission system. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 19/02/2008

Bridging gaps in growing markets

Here’s an interesting mix. Electronic Arts, the people behind many of the world’s most popular gaming titles, has signed a partnership agreement with sports and entertainment marketing giants IMG. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 18/02/2008

Apples and lemons

Today Agenda quoted Ron Johnson in an interview done late last year with Associated Press. Talking about what Apple was looking to achieve in its stores, the head of retail at Apple said, “We try to pattern the feeling to a five-star hotel. It’s not about selling. It’s about creating a place where you belong.” Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 15/02/2008

Happy Valentine’s Day …

Today as the restaurants are filled to capacity, flowers are on sale at a huge margin, shops clear out of chocolates, every type of stuffed toy imaginable has been cleaned off the shelves, the singing telegrams people have full books and lingerie sales spike remarkably – all for just one day - it’s time to remember why we increasingly talk about the power of th emotional economy. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 14/02/2008

Looking to succeed

In a new survey by Landor Associates and Lightspeed Research there’s news that this year bodes well for some in the online space, but other icons of the American retail scene will truly struggle. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 13/02/2008

Is no bad news, good news?

I was intrigued to read recently that Ebay is changing its feedback system so that sellers aren’t allowed to leave negative comments about buyers. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 12/02/2008

Reaping riches

According to Agenda old money is fighting back. Fed up with the democratisation of luxury, those in the elite 5% are looking for ways to put distance between themselves and the 40 – 60% of all consumers that make the “new luxury” movement. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 11/02/2008

Made in New Zealand

On this our national holiday, it’s interesting to reflect on what our strengths as a country of origin are, and what they mean to business. Here are my impressions: Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 6/02/2008

The power of adjuncts

Sometimes what happens alongside an event can be just as important as the occasion itself. The Superbowl is as much about the half-time entertainment and the ads as it is the game. Sevens’ rugby has a highly visible social element – evidenced by how many people actually watch what’s happening on the field compared with socialising on the concourse. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 5/02/2008

Searching for a different way to compete with Google

So Microsoft and Yahoo are talking about the possibility of joining up. Great for the stock market, impressive, enormous, everything that scale demands … I’m just far from convinced that scale is the answer here. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 4/02/2008

Two names – and just one k between them

Do I smell a double standard here? Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 1/02/2008

The great Apple escape

It’s a fascinating dilemma for Apple. On the one hand, their brand promotes individuality and the right to express yourself your way through their technology. On the other, they’ve tied the roll-out of their iPhones, and a big chunk of revenue, on having a single network partner in each country. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 31/01/2008

Interesting time to have a board meeting

Very good article in the Sunday Times Online about Jerome Kerviel. (Thanks to Freakonomics for the point.) Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 30/01/2008

Fighting pirates

Great piece today over at Brand Autopsy about Matt Mason’s The Pirate’s Dilemma. Pirates are entrepreneurs who are “doing things differently and working out new ways to share information, intellectual property, and public space.” Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 30/01/2008

Betting the debt of France – and no-one noticed?

I’ve been watching the Societe Generale fraud scandal unfold over the last few days with interest. I now have one question for the bank – and it’s a very simple one. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 29/01/2008

“C’mon kitty, get back in the bag”

News today of the launch of Qtrax an ad supported and legal music download system that has the support of major labels. It’ll launch with up to 30 million copyrighted tracks, and depend on advertising revenue in order to offer songs free. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 28/01/2008

Fighting recession with joy

From a marketer's point of view, numbers don’t drive recessions. They may start them. They may justify them. But they don’t actually make them happen. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 25/01/2008

Here's the hat. Next rabbit please

Imagine you’re Steve Jobs. You’ve just had your best quarter ever. You’ve achieved your highest revenue and earnings in the company’s history. In one three month period, your profits climbed by 57% from a year ago. Sales for your revolutionary mobile phone have hit 2.3 million. You shifted 44% more computers than the year before. And you shipped out 22 million iPods. You’ve just announced the world’s thinnest laptop. And you’ve signalled that iTunes is about to take it to the movie rental market. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 24/01/2008

Superficial sweetener

Disturbing news today that Starbucks is about to start selling a US$1 coffee and free refills in its Seattle outlets. Disturbing because the very last thing a price premium player like Starbucks should be doing is peddling cheap coffee in the search for accelerated turnover. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 24/01/2008

How much more money could you make if you slowed down?

Mounting fuel costs and increasing environmental awareness are driving new agendas in a whole range of industries. This article on shake-ups in the shipping industry proves just how effectively dilemmas can provoke open acceptance of ideas that a short time ago would have been considered heresy. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 23/01/2008

Corporate or crisis – the C in CSR?

The Economist seems to have confused crisis response with corporate responsibility in this piece on managing risks to reputation but it still makes for interesting reading. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 22/01/2008

The irony of research

Everyone wants the relevance that great research brings. They want products that fit with them, service that gels with them, ideas that excite them, attitudes that ring true … They want retailers and manufacturers to read their minds. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 22/01/2008

Does my carbon emission look good in this?

If environmental responsibility is one of those things kicking around your boardroom, it may be worth reading this great piece about the value of carbon labelling, because it brings a lot of what’s being mooted down to earth. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 21/01/2008

The new driver for change in the entertainment sector: no drive.

It seemed almost buried in the latest news from MacWorld – that the new MacBook Air would not have an optical drive. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 18/01/2008

On a harpoon to nothing

The Japanese whaling industry may be indignant over the boarding of one of the ships in their fleet by two protesters, but they’ve already lost the war Why? Because from the moment they left port, most of the world it would appear has been urging them to lose. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 17/01/2008

Alright I was wrong

Apparently the new Telecom network is called Chorus. Read on

category: General | posted: 16/01/2008

A shudder of faith

If I were a franchise owner right now, I’d be paying very close attention to what’s going on at Green Acres, even if my franchise was in an area that seemed miles away from theirs. Here’s why. The potential dilemma could parallel the one faced by finance companies. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 16/01/2008

Can you guess?

So Telecom New Zealand have a wholesale division called Telecom Wholesale Read on

category: General | posted: 15/01/2008

How not to set records

Major problems at EMI if the reports are to be believed, with the company rumoured to be looking to axe up to 2,000 jobs. What’s interesting here, aside from the size of the job losses – 36% of the workforce according to my calculator – is the nature of the jobs that are said to be being cut. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 15/01/2008

Weren’t you the guys who …?

The Green Acres franchise scandal is turning into a major headache for all concerned, and highlights one of the major branding risks in being associated with a franchise. When the brand is strong, everyone benefits. Once the brand is weakened – sometimes, as in this case, for reasons beyond its immediate control – then the shock waves spread right across the business, affecting every franchisee in the process. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 14/01/2008

Looks like Tata might just have a Schlieffen Plan

So Tata has just released the Nano, a shopping basket size vehicle that is designed for the very lowest end of the market. At the same time, their acquisition of Land Rover and Jaguar, at the high end of the market, means they are now very well positioned to execute a strong and viable Schlieffen Plan. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 11/01/2008

Six lessons from Swiss knives

Great piece on the resurgence of Swiss knives in the International Herald Tribune today. In many ways the issues faced by Victorinox seem to me to symbolise the dilemmas and the opportunities for iconic brands that look like they’d passed their use-by date."> Read on

category: General | posted: 11/01/2008

Interview with Hannah Samuel

Hannah Samuel is a reputation champion. In her new book Reputation Branding, she argues that powerful reputation branding can help people in business create deeper, more meaningful and profitable relationships. In fact, she describes reputation branding as the new business frontier. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 10/01/2008

Look who else went to the beach on this one?

Seems I’m not the only person who thinks the new Xerox logo looks like a beach ball. Read on

category: General | posted: 9/01/2008

The Xerox rebrand – sorry, X didn’t marque the spot for me

It’s interesting isn’t it how one person’s earth-shattering news is another person’s so what? Which was pretty much my reaction to the hoopla that surrounded the launch of the new Xerox brand. Read on

category: General | posted: 9/01/2008

For whom does the warning bell toll?

Every time one pivotal group (or even a member of that group) within an industry says they’re not happy with the current arrangements, that’s a dilemma in the making. It may not happen then. It may not happen for many years. But it will happen. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 9/01/2008

Men marketing badly

Copywriting supremo Holly Buchanan at Future Now Inc has released a PDF detailing The Seven Biggest Mistakes in Marketing to Women Online. Read on

category: Femonomics | posted: 8/01/2008

Are communities the 2.0 of markets?

Hi – and welcome to Upheavals 08. If you’re from my part of the world, you’re probably coming off a summer break, in which case, I hope you and yours had peaceful and happy times. If you’re from more northern climes, chances are this post catches you in winter’s icy grip – in which case, please stay warm and be good to yourself over these chilly times. Read on

category: General | posted: 7/01/2008

6 things that got my attention this year

In my part of the world, it’s the beginning of summer, so Christmas for New Zealanders is a time to hit the beaches, fire up that true New Zealand institution, the barbeque, and have our big break for the year. Before I do so, here’s some of the things that got my attention this past few months and where I think they may be taking us: Read on

category: General | posted: 24/12/2007

Earning the right to knol

Knols – a.k.a “units of knowledge” seem to be the next rage, as Google unveils an opportunity for people all over the world to write about a subject in which they are an authority. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 21/12/2007

Responsibly ostentatious – or ostentatiously responsible? Maybe neither. Yet.

Yesterday I was reading an article by Brian R Richards on “consumanism”. According to Richards, “central to the incredible rise of eco-living is the rise of ethical consumption”. "Consumanism", he says, “is increasingly influencing purchasing decisions and consumers have no qualms about punishing companies that don't fit within an ethical framework.” Good point, well made – and one familiar to those who read this blog regularly as a drum I also like to bang. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 20/12/2007

Blow-fishing your presence

Sometimes the competitor you are most aware of is not as big as you think they are. Awareness literally makes them loom larger than they actually are. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 19/12/2007

Winning in the workplace - skills, set and match …

A recent survey by Microsoft of 500 business leaders saw knowledge of IT ranked number 7 on the list of most important workplace skills. This according to Microsoft should be seen as proof that computer skills continue to be undervalued. Read on

category: General | posted: 18/12/2007

Innovation depends on making or breaking habits

Earlier this year it was my privilege to work with Rod Drury, Hamish Edwards and the team at Xero as they prepared to take their company public. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 17/12/2007

If you can’t beat em, be just like them. Not.

Yum Brands, which operates Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut in the States is looking to revive its business – and it has a remarkably simple strategy. Follow the competitor. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 15/12/2007

Coffee to go

I walked into one of my favourite haunts yesterday. They were busy – OK, frantic. Waiting staff were running everywhere trying to get things done, serving people they didn’t know, trying to make a good impression. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 14/12/2007

Wii bit of a dilemma (part 3 of 2)

The problem with traditional answers is that so often they look like they’re making a difference, even as they potentially continue to undermine your position in the one place you can’t really measure – the mind of the customer. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 13/12/2007

Tis the season not to trust men

Further proof that femonomics is alive and well at Xmas here in New Zealand. Read on

category: Femonomics | posted: 12/12/2007

Worldsourcing - truly global value

Fabulous piece by William Amelio, President and CEO of Lenovo, on why outsourcing is being replaced by what Amelio calls “worldsourcing” - sourcing the best value from wherever it takes. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 12/12/2007

Wii bit of a dilemma (Part 2 of 2)

Yesterday I talked about what I’d do if we were working for Nintendo and we had to pacify a whole lot of eager gamers about the fact that they might be in for a delay over getting hold of the much-in-demand Wii. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 11/12/2007

Wii bit of a dilemma (Part 1 of 2)

News at the end of last week that Nintendo is looking seriously at stalling its advertising for Wii in the UK in the run up to Christmas because it quite literally can’t keep up with demand. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 10/12/2007

What's so scary about an Asian Jaguar?

It takes a lot to take my breath away – but a group of Jaguar car dealers in the US have managed to do so. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 8/12/2007

The online dilemma that won’t be settled by sorry

The Facebook dilemma over Beacon that finally saw Mark Zuckerberg apologising this week is only going to become more acute I reckon. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 7/12/2007

The secret of cakes

The power of secrets today is not just that the information is hard to find. The power of secrets is that, once found, they represent a shortcut. And that, more than anything, is a powerful attractant. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 7/12/2007

Brand communities - what makes them tick

Yesterday on his blog Robert Kozinets asked what makes a brand community-able? Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 6/12/2007

Delivery can be a state of mind

In another great article in the Telegraph this week, Paul Farrow seems to be asking why so many people put their trust in famous financial brands. The trouble, he says, is that these brands often fail to deliver once you've been hooked in. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 5/12/2007

Ad-ing what exactly?

The music industry is not the only behemoth in a state of dilemma. The ad industry too is struggling to return much more than the savings bank. Again, another business model that looks well past its use-by date. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 4/12/2007

Does today mark the beginning of the end of international trade?

It’s easy to dismiss bird flu as the Y2K of medicine. But, as every marketer knows, the reality of anything is nowhere near as compelling as the perception. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 3/12/2007

Challenge vs dilemma (deckchair, anyone?)

Yesterday at Fast Company, Donna Karlin was blogging about the fact that humans seem to have this tendency to wait for crises to occur before we consider changing our ways of being. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 30/11/2007

How far is too far when your promise is local?

I’m a little curious about the recent announcement by Yellow Pages Group to outsource its Directory service to the Philippines next year. It seems more than a little ironic that a company that proclaims itself proudly to be the country’s “find it” brand will soon require New Zealanders who can’t find someone to get that information from somewhere thousands of miles away and from an agent who has probably never been here. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 29/11/2007

Playing your part

They’re preparing for an international soccer event in this part of the world … or rather, the whole of this part of the world is getting ready for David Beckham to turn up and kick a ball around. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 26/11/2007

Not looking, just comparing

Is that a bigger pay-packet in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me? Read on

category: Femonomics | posted: 24/11/2007

How easily can you relocate a flower show?

Would the New York Marathon still be the New York marathon if it was held in Budapest? If they moved the Chelsea Flower Show to Paris, would it still be the same? Where is the franchise strength in such an institution? Is it in the place itself or in the brand? Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 23/11/2007

You don’t always have to yell to be heard

Sometimes the best way to get attention is not to ask for it – especially when everyone else is begging. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 22/11/2007

The real pace challenge

According to a report by US analyst firm Nemertes Research featured on the BBC today consumer demand for bandwidth could see the internet running out of capacity in as little as two years. That in turn could mean not only a return to the days of waiting for downloads, but the very real possibility that the next Google or YouTube may not even get off the ground. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 21/11/2007

More proof of femonomics

Still not convinced on the femonomics argument? Perhaps this study from Saatchis of women shoppers in the UK might help change your mind: Read on

category: Femonomics | posted: 20/11/2007

Open or shut case?

Lots of excitement for some today at the announcement by Amazon that they are launching an electronic book reader with wireless access. Read on

category: General | posted: 20/11/2007

The fallacy of frantic

Being busy doesn’t make you invincible. It just makes you … busy, for now. Except of course being rude to your customers or not returning their calls or treating them like they’re expendable, or doing the one hundred other things we’re all tempted to do when we’re busy isn’t just a now thing. It’s a lot more permanent. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 19/11/2007

New article on Femonomics now posted

Thanks for all the feedback this week. As promised, here's the new article on the case for femonomics. Read on

category: Femonomics | posted: 16/11/2007

Missing the boat (Part 5 of 5)

There can be little doubt that as women become even more aware of their financial influence and economic strength that the ‘push’ dynamics of a few will become the ‘pull’ dynamics of the many, as women demand more respect, attention and business done their way. Organisations will have no choice but to regear their cultures and adjust their decision making when pressure turns to shove on the bottom line. That means not just new attitudes to female customers, but new service models and ways of selling that gel with the way women like to buy. Read on

category: Femonomics | posted: 16/11/2007

Celebration is the most powerful endorsement (Part 4 of 5)

Today - why celebration of all that women are achieving has the opportunity to turn the world’s biggest market into a powerful endorser of your position. Read on

category: Femonomics | posted: 15/11/2007

Accuracy flies out the window

In the heat of battle it can be easy to forget that there is a difference between lure and attract. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 14/11/2007

Cause as a purchase decision (Part 3 of 5)

Today – why doing good is becoming a buying filter, for and against purchase. Read on

category: Femonomics | posted: 14/11/2007

The next era of CRM (Part 2 of 5)

Today – where CRM must go. Read on

category: Femonomics | posted: 13/11/2007

The search for a new kind of value (Part 1 of 5)

My new article – Femonomics must change the way we sell – will be released on Friday. In it, I explore some of the implications for male marketers of a burgeoning participation by women in the paid workforce. Read on

category: Femonomics | posted: 12/11/2007

Trust: comparing Facebook with Nielsen

According to the just published Nielsen report “Trust in Advertising”, consumers around the world still trust each other more than they do the dazzling array of new media advertising channels. In fact, they still trust traditional advertising media to a surprising degree. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 10/11/2007

Now showing … so what?

Most of the sponsorships I see are the equivalent of banner ads. They’re strips of communication plastered round an event, hoping that people will see them, remember them and somehow feel good enough about what they’ve witnessed to click through. Read on

category: General | posted: 9/11/2007

Gesture or business model?

The figures are in on how the Radiohead pay-what-you-think-it’s-worth album is faring. Read on

category: General | posted: 8/11/2007

Racing for priority

Yesterday, tens of thousands of people stopped work and spent several minutes yelling at a TV screen as the Melbourne Cup, the biggest horse race in this part of the world, roared into life. The result was a record take for bets. Read on

category: General | posted: 7/11/2007

Picking off dots on the fadar …

The business section of your bookstore is now no different from your supermarket. – packed with product that for the most part is a comet or a meteorite. It’s either an idea that’s been here before but has now come back, or one that came out of nowhere, will burn bright and then die well before it hits paydirt … Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 7/11/2007

The irony of dates

Did it strike anyone else as ironical that we should be celebrating Guy Fawkes last night? Read on

category: General | posted: 6/11/2007

How do you define responsible?

Another survey, another result – but this one yielded an interesting dilemma. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 5/11/2007

"I’d like to register a complaint …"

Smart companies expect their customers to complain. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 3/11/2007

Sailing round in a triangle

Another logo debate (yawn). This time it’s Auckland City Council. Read on

category: General | posted: 2/11/2007

Reputation in real time

Online is quickly changing the rules on how we manage corporate and brand reputation. Only now are we really starting to understand what it means to manage your reputation in real time. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 1/11/2007

A ticket to ride – or not

Clearly air travel can still be exciting. Singapore Airlines have just publicly asked passengers in First Class on their new A380 not to engage in sexual activities because even though the suites have double beds, they're not discretely sealed for noise. Read on

category: General | posted: 1/11/2007

Five rings … but you can’t call

When cash turns from a flow to a flood, things can get very messy very quickly if you’re not prepared. Read on

category: General | posted: 31/10/2007

Buy New Zealand Made needs to make up its mind

As the scandal over Gap’s accidental use of child labour in India was breaking, I was, ironically, watching a documentary called China Blue - the story of a very young woman’s life making jeans for Western markets. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 30/10/2007

Massclusivity

I was taken by this description from Jorgen Anderssen, Marketing Manager for H&M, for the Swedish fashion chain’s strategy of creating limited designer ranges for high street shoppers. Read on

category: General | posted: 29/10/2007

Seeing what’s needed

Thousands of products we come into contact with set out to make us feel good in exchange for money. But how many actually make us feel that we have, in a moment of time, in a small small way, changed the world by interacting with them? Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 27/10/2007

Look who hasn’t woken up in the city that never sleeps.

Technology it seems might just be a state of mind. Because what is ubiquitous to some, even the vast majority, is clearly novel to others. Read on

category: General | posted: 26/10/2007

Lift-off …

What could you do to make your next launch a part of history? Read on

category: General | posted: 25/10/2007

The World’s Biggest Blog Party – I’m in!

I met speaker Tim Richardson in Tucson in January 2006 when I was presenting at the National Speakers Association “University” in Tucson. Now Tim is putting his considerable energies behind The World’s Biggest Blog Party Read on

category: General | posted: 25/10/2007

Femonomics rising

Does your brand have a distinctly feminine side? It needs to. Read on

category: Femonomics | posted: 24/10/2007

Gone in a flash?

If you hold the high ground in any industry, subsidence is now a given. Read on

category: General | posted: 23/10/2007

Far, far away ...

Most organisations seem to structure their relationship attitudes around four degrees of customer separation: Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 20/10/2007

Defining your terms of brand

Most of us feel comfortable defining our terms of business, but how many of us are as assertive in defining our terms of brands? Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 19/10/2007

Testing the love

From a brand point of view, Apple seem to have pushed customer love to its limits over the iPhone, and today we may be seeing the first signs that they have recognised that. Read on

category: General | posted: 18/10/2007

The plural of ignoranus

Just following up from yesterday - a few suggestions so far on the plural of ignoranus: Read on

category: General | posted: 17/10/2007

More amazing words

My friend Mike Goot shares more words from The Washington Post's Style Invitational. The secret here apparently is to take any word from the dictionary, change one letter and give it a new meaning. Read on

category: General | posted: 16/10/2007

Leading maybe, but also a little out of date

If you needed proof that the real estate industry globally is struggling to move with the times, consider this example which popped up in my Google Alerts this morning. Read on

category: General | posted: 15/10/2007

Grate expectations

Grenville Main made the point the other day that New Zealand was so busy getting the All Blacks ready to win, we forgot to prepare them - or us - for how to lose. Again. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 14/10/2007

Honestly?

Just further to the previous post ... how much money do you think many agents in the real estate industry would make if they had to operate under the honesty box system? Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 12/10/2007

Anyone for shark-fin soup?

There is definitely an upside to right and proper regulation. Because while low barriers to entry might encourage market competition, they can also foster low standards and outrageous behaviours. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 12/10/2007

Anti-commerce is just another market position.

I’m always fascinated by the fact that even those who proclaim to be most against branding and marketing are more than happy to put those very same techniques to work when it comes to telling and selling their own message to the world … Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 11/10/2007

Game over ... value gone.

Sometimes the gap between must-see and must-miss can be very small indeed. Read on

category: General | posted: 8/10/2007

For the record … or not

Those of you who’ve come to my “Making money in the new middle” presentation will recall my statement that in a world where everyone wants to go direct, distribution alone is a dying business model for many – because it’s increasingly unjustifiable as a raison d’etre. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 4/10/2007

Running out of reason

I gaped when I spied an article in the NY Times recently talking about the fact that the major US carriers can’t agree on how many hours confined passengers have to wait inside a stranded plane before they can demand to be released. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 2/10/2007

Old words, new takes

Recently The Washington Post published its winners in its annual neologism contest. Read on

category: General | posted: 1/10/2007

Back online ...

Sorry - technical difficulties with something. Normal trouble-making should now resume. Thanks for your patience ... Read on

category: General | posted: 26/09/2007

More on flat out ...

Further proof from Roger that "flat out" doesn't mean what it says. He comments: Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 6/08/2007

The frenzy of lists

So the list of the world’s top 100 brands is out again – and everyone it seems has an opinion. Who’s moved and why? Who hasn’t and why not? Read on

category: General | posted: 4/08/2007

More from lunch with Paul

Another one of Paul's questions from yesterday: Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 27/07/2007

A closer look at must-see

Lunch with Paul today – and the usual freewheeling conversation spanning marketing and humanity. One of his comments really got to me. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 26/07/2007

New job description

Thanks to the security guy at the IBANZ conference last week who found his own word for what I was doing: Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 20/07/2007

No wrinkles please, we’re recruiting …

Interesting to read via our friends at Agenda Inc an article from globeandmail.com in which big companies are now looking to recruit via channels like Facebook. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 20/07/2007

Will Facebook change the face of branding?

Suddenly it seems everyone wants to talk Facebook to Facebook. And as the requests have tumbled in this week, it’s led me to question the changes this is bringing for brands. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 18/07/2007

Getting there may not be everything

Gosh, what a sandstorm this week in the media over our national carrier’s decision to ferry Australian troops to Kuwait on a chartered jet, on their way to Iraq. It just goes to show that effectively having politicians as your 75% shareholder can make for some interesting corporate responsibility discussions. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 17/07/2007

Is Carbon lite the next consumer catch-phrase?

Interesting piece by Stefaan Simons, a professor at University College London, last week on the BBC’s Green Room feature, in which he discusses the fact that carbon offsetting schemes may well pay for the guilt we feel over carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, but do little to change behaviours and will not help save the planet from the very real problem of rising emissions and global warming. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 11/07/2007

Innovating your past

So the Spice Girls are planning to go back on tour, Crowded House have reformed, Genesis, the Who and half the radio playlist for the middle-aged it seems is back on the road, pounding the stadiums after years, sometimes decades away. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 9/07/2007

Paris on the podium?

So The Learning Annex has announced recently that it wants to pay Paris Hilton a million dollars to talk about branding at an upcoming convention. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 3/07/2007

Green with stupidity

This just in from a power company in their latest newsletter. Read on

category: General | posted: 1/07/2007

Would you like information with that?

The recent share float by Burger Fuel in New Zealand has drawn flak from some quarters in the financial press for its lack of financial detail. I’m not surprised. Read on

category: General | posted: 28/06/2007

Stake II out now

The latest Stake newsletter is out now. If you're not yet on the mailing list read it here, and if you like what you see, why not subscribe before the next one? Read on

category: General | posted: 23/06/2007

The next level of robust

Best of breeding thinking has done much to cement the logical side of running businesses. I’ve currently got it pegged at about 70% and falling for what’s vital in most service-aware sectors. It’s falling, in terms of its competitive vitality, because of course consumer expectations continue to rise – ironically as more and more best of breed thinking is installed. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 20/06/2007

Hold the money but pass the buck

Whatever leads some intermediaries in this day and age to believe that they have the right to hold down all-commission-and-no-responsibility jobs? Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 18/06/2007

Is eco the new luxury?

Wow! What a difference a few years and an Al Gore tour make! Not so long ago, environmental issues seemed strictly left-stream, overblown, radical, something youths and hippies did. Today, we have airlines offering customers the chance to pay more to feel better about flying. We’ve got laundry products that cost more because they claim to pollute less. And suddenly, all this ‘save the earth’ stuff seems far more acceptable, something people want to be part of and are much more prepared to stump up for. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 15/06/2007

Branded and blonded – two different approaches to personal branding

Three articles I read today combined to provide some interesting insights on the difference between on-brand and in character in the realm of personal branding. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 13/06/2007

World class

Had to share with you this deliciously scathing appraisal of best practice - courtesy of Grenville Main: Read on

category: General | posted: 8/03/2007

Water, water everywhere - and the price is going up

News recently from ABC that bottled water is now retailing at up to $75 a bottle. And in the same article, commentary by a member of the UCLA School of Public Health that there is very little difference in the quality of high end waters, cheaper brands and even tap water. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 5/03/2007

Bean there, done that

Good on Howard Schultz for coming out and telling his people that success was putting Starbucks at risk of becoming complacent. Read on

category: Dilemmas | posted: 1/03/2007

Occasional reasons

So today, a whole bunch of people will go out and spend more money than they would normally on flowers, chocolates, dinner ... and they'll do it happily. Why? Because the occasion justifies the price. And not sending flowers or teddies or whatever at an inflated price to someone they treasure is more "expensive" emotionally for them than doing so. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 7/02/2007

Anger management

Couldn't resist passing on this wee gem from the quiet folks at Loudhailer: Read on

category: General | posted: 5/02/2007

Sometimes doing something silly isn’t a dumb idea at all.

First hint was yesterday. Coming home to Wellington and a chap got on the plane in Sydney dressed in a shirt that should have been prosecuted for disturbing the peace. I was busy casting mental aspersions about the taste of our neighbours when another fella appeared wearing the same shirt, then another, then another … Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 2/02/2007

What makes a good motivational speaker?

Was asked this yesterday by someone. So I suggested three criteria. Read on

category: General | posted: 27/01/2007

Hammer time?

Just picking up on my last post – I’m not saying I disagree with having an IP strategy. Far from it. Primarily though, I see such a strategy as defensive rather than a front-foot initiative; one with the potential to help deter those whose actions might otherwise pose a fundamental threat to the existence or integrity of the brand. Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 22/01/2007

Does intellectual property make you more competitive?

The Trelise Cooper vs Tamsin Cooper case may have wandered off the media radar in recent months, but the questions posed by the case of one designer suing another for, amongst other things, wanting to use the same surname point to bigger brand questions. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 20/01/2007

Lessons from the Atkins Diet

So far, 20 million people have shown their willingness to fly in the face of conventional dietary wisdom if they believe: Read on

category: General | posted: 18/01/2007

The move to America – on the ball or on brand for Beckham?

Newsweek this week carries a web-exclusive commentary on the move of soccer legend David Beckham to the US to play for LA Galaxy. I’m no specialist in the beautiful game, but I’m interested from a branding point of view in the opinion that the Beckham brand is now much bigger than the player, with some marketing experts reportedly predicting that his total value could rise by hundreds of millions over the next few years as the sponsorship contracts, merchandising and profit shares roll in. Read on

category: General | posted: 15/01/2007

Stop making sense

The flipside of a marketplace where branding encourages people to buy for emotive reasons is that brands also need to counter consumers’ irrational reasons not to buy. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 11/01/2007

Sense and sellability

I first noticed it at an airport, then one day on a train … later at the gym. Everybody around me had on headphones – everybody - and to a man, woman and teenager, they were wearing a look that said “Disconnected from the world” as whatever they were listening to thumped its way into their skulls. Read on

category: General | posted: 9/01/2007

There's no such thing as a business problem

Mark features alongside allaboutbranding.com editor and Jill Brinsdon in this month's edition of NZ Business talking about Delivering the Brand. Read on

category: General | posted: 4/01/2007

Fairweather friends?

As the UK Met Office predicts 2007 will be the warmest year, interesting article in the Dominion Post this morning about cold weather in December at my end of the world and the effect it's had on retail trade. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 4/01/2007

A year ago today ...

365 days seems such a long time when you say it slowly. Read on

category: General | posted: 3/01/2007

Blinkpoints

Re-reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink inspired me to ask this question of a group the other day – one I thought worth repeating for you to ponder on. “If blink is the phenomenon of knowing before you know – then what is your brand’s blinkpoint?” In other words, what is the subconcious association you want consumers to have the moment they encounter your brand, before they even recognise how the brand makes them feel? Read on

category: Opportunities | posted: 19/06/2006

Cultrepreneurs

I’ve been submitting articles to the Evan Carmichael site – a meeting place for entrepreneurs, that features articles and insights on a full range of topics that will be of interest to anyone running a business or looking to go that way. Read on

category: General | posted: 16/06/2006

Not for profits?

Started out to prepare a presentation on brands for a not-for-profit that unfortunately didn’t eventuate. One of the questions I was keen to ask them was this. How sensible is it for any sector – especially one that is this competitive and philanthropically-driven – to define itself by what it is not? Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 16/06/2006

Unbeatable vs unbreakable

Rob Hill from Two Hills Ltd and I shared the podium recently at the IT Services Management conference in New Zealand, and got talking afterwards about how quickly even ideas can become commoditised, and the effect this has on their competitive impact. Noting my heightened level of disdain for “world class” as a differentiating standard for anything, Rob alerts me to Core Practice (CoPR), a concept he’s been working on for some time. Read on

category: General | posted: 1/06/2006

Another weasel word

Keith merrily chips in with a further addition to the weasel word list. Read on

category: General | posted: 31/05/2006

Weasel words

Those of you who’ve been to a “Wallop the weasel” workshop will enjoy this. It’s based on an article that appeared in Business Life several years ago, but sadly, the truths it alludes to don’t seem to have changed that much. The premise: what people in advertising agencies say, and what they really mean. Read on

category: General | posted: 30/05/2006

Stake newsletter, out now.

Better read it soon or subscribe before the next one. Read on

category: General | posted: 5/05/2006

Two new articles

My thoughts on Brand Legacy and the need to brand-factor your Word of Mouth initiatives have just been posted in the Articles section. Look back at why the House of Chanel has been so successful, and then look forward to a new age of reputation management and some of the factors your brand may need to think about in the new age of online gossip. Read on

category: General | posted: 3/05/2006

Faith and truth

It’s occurred to me over the last few days that the interesting changes in customer attitude that accompany brands are not necessarily on the radar of enough companies. Consider this. Before we know them, our key concern as consumers with brands is truth. Can we trust them? Are they all they say they are? Why should we believe them? Most brand communicators get this bit. They know how to fashion a story that talks to our world view … well, sometimes. They know how to intrigue us. They can persuade us to call or to visit. They’ve learnt to hunt. Read on

category: Attitude | posted: 1/05/2006

I really don’t give a flying cred …

In the United States recently, I was amused to see notices at airports proudly proclaiming that America West Airlines and US Air were joining forces to form the largest low fare airline in the world. Nice, I thought – for you – but I wondered why they bothered telling me, because, as a customer, I failed to see what their credential had to do with my travelling experience. Read on

category: Reputation | posted: 3/03/2006

A new definition of margin

Margin is the distance between your brand and China. Read on

category: General | posted: 2/03/2006

It’ll never happen to them …

Noticed yesterday that one of the cafes near work has closed. It’s only been open about a year. Strange thing is that the café that was there before them, on the same site, also closed. And the one before that. Clearly this is not a good site. It’s right on a corner. There’s no parking. And most of the competition is about a block away, so there’s no clustering effect. Read on

category: Recession | posted: 1/03/2006

Mark headlines at the 2nd Strategic Branding Conference in Auckland

Last year I featured at the inaugural Strategic Branding Conference, talking about cult brands and the lessons they offer those looking to take a different approach to their customers. This year, I'm returning to kick off the first day of Bright*Star’s 2nd Annual Strategic Branding Conference with a typically heretical keynote on the future of brand. Read on

category: General | posted: 28/02/2006

Hungry?

Read recently in BRW, and enjoyed: The truth [in this case] is a moving famine. Read on

category: General | posted: 22/02/2006

Budget airlines

Staying with aviation - are budget airlines an industry-changing revolution or aviation’s version of the dot.com era? In other words, as low fare airlines proliferate and prices continue to fall, are we seeing the same disregard for business fundamentals that accompanies an economic bubble, or is this just a phase that the revamped industry needs to go through before everyone comes to their senses and gets back to actually making a dollar? Crunch time will come, I believe, when a budget airline has a mishap and the problem turns out to be safety based or the result of bad maintenance. There’s no doubt that there are valuable lessons for all players in the take-off of the budget airline phenomenon – but learning from their success, not slavishly imitating their business model, could well turn out to be a better, if harder, course of action for mainstream players looking to retain customers and reign in spiralling costs. Read on

category: Challenges | posted: 21/02/2006

Pilot announcements

Why do pilots always insist on giving us details of the flight plan and our intended altitude? Because, to be perfectly honest, I don’t really care how high we’re flying or the course we’re taking – just as long as we get there. I just need to know they’re present and correct, and in an appropriate state of body and mind to do their job. And besides I have no way of knowing whether it really is 27,000 feet or not, so what’s the point in telling me? Perhaps they should change the announcement to “Hello from the flight deck. I’m the first officer, we’re all here, no-one’s pissed, and the flight’s on time.” Read on

category: General | posted: 20/02/2006

Heretics flock to be anonymous

Speaking of HA, seems there’s quite a lot of you who fancy being quietly unorthodox. If you haven’t signed up as a heretic yet, don’t hold back. It can be our little secret. Read on

category: General | posted: 14/02/2006

More details on Shanghai

Speaking of Tucson - many of you who attended Mark’s sessions asked about the presentation tool, Shanghai, that he used for his presentation on branding and for the “Wallop the Weasel” workshop. Good news! A preview website featuring examples of Shanghai in action has now been posted here. Read on

category: General | posted: 4/02/2006

Photo op

In full flight at the National Speakers Association University in Tucson, Arizona, January 2006. Read on

category: General | posted: 3/02/2006

Mark speaks at the National Speakers Association University in the USA.

Mark joins the Breakthrough Branding Faculty for the National Speakers Association University in Tucson, Arizona in January 2006. He teams up with Dr Janelle Barlow, co-author of the highly regarded book Branded Customer Service, and Five Star Speakers Partner, Steve Gardner in an intense 4 day programme designed to help professional speakers achieve differentiation in this increasingly competitive field. The NSA University is the first time that Mark has been invited to speak in the United States. Read on

category: General | posted: 20/12/2005