Upheavals

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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