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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 $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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alright I was wrong

Apparently the new Telecom network is called Chorus. Read on

category: General | 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sailing round in a triangle

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

category: General | posted: 2/11/2007

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anger management

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

category: General | posted: 5/02/2007

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

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

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

A year ago today ...

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

category: General | posted: 3/01/2007

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

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

A new definition of margin

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

category: General | posted: 2/03/2006

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

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