Not Again, Microsoft...

In the latest endeavor by Microsoft to be like everyone else but Microsoft, the brand is yet again under fire for the Yahoo/Microsoft integration.   Can it be done?  Will it be a viable competitor to Google?  Will it go smoothly?  Ad Age doesn't think so.  They point out five reasons on what makes this merger hard to swallow.  The 4th quarter timing "seems to offer marketers a lot of risk for very little reward."  Marketer's learning curve in terms of how Yahoo ads and Bing ads will perform together.  Microsoft's execution seems a little short given that "AdCenter isn't ready to handle the volume."  Yahoo and Microsoft's working relationship may be iffy at best as the company hasn't been the easiest partner to work with.  Given that Bing's queries appear to "be coming directly from Yahoo" so will it impact the search market at all?  If everything goes as planned, we should be finding out soon.

This leads me to think that Microsoft as a brand lost cache a long time ago.  That much of the brand, for a long time, has been reactive then proactive in their initiatives.  The fact that Apple surpassed Microsoft as the stronger and more profitable brand is evidence enough.  This is significant as it changes the trust in Microsoft as a brand and company.  Straight from the horses mouth, “Apple is showing high growth, with the launch of its iPad and its new iPhone coming out, and while Windows is a great competitor versus the Mac, Microsoft just hasn't come up with new areas of growth."  "Wall Street believes in Apple because Apple continues to put out new products that capture the imaginations of the press and tech pundits.  Microsoft just hasn't been able to come up with a new multi billion dollar business like Apple."  The stronger Apple gets the more Microsoft seems to be backing into a corner, blindly swinging and missing every time.

A few of Microsoft's FAIL products:  

Zune

Vista

Surface 

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!

It's only been 4 days since the World Cup started and great things have happened.  The US, despite the popularity of futbol, has played well.  Local bars and pubs are full to the brim at 7AM with face painted hooligans and while I don't normally love soccer, I'm way into it.  Checking scores, yelling at the TV, rooting for X country.  Nike, once again, created an amazing video to get our hearts pumping and ready for the match ups.

Not being a regular sports watcher, but a regular TV watcher, I believe ESPN has done a phenomenal job in keeping everyone up to speed on the world cup.  ESPN 3 from what I've seen will let you watch the matches live, replay matches already played, and sent alerts when someone scored a goal.  Given that most of us in the US have to work while all these matches are being going on, its essential.

The ESPN 2010 FIFA World Cup app has been named by the NY Times as a "gold standard" in the category.  The app contains "detailed descriptions of every tournament since the first one in 1930, as well as a Teams tab consisting of player news and biographies, a bracket predictor contest and an index of the top 100 national teams.  A premium version has amplified features, such as live commentary and play by play, scoring alerts and in game video highlights."  Talk about extensive amount of info for a very small price tag.  If you weren't a hardcore football fan by now, you can easily become an expert with this app.

Given that the internett is a "vast black hole" of information, this app channels it into a very useful, handy, relevant and of the moment way.  I'm quickly becoming an ESPN fan and I don't even really like sports.

TV has taken a turn for the better

I LOVE TV...I mean really LOVE TV.  I rearrange appointments, fake sickness to skip out on friend's birthdays and rate friends by the size of their TV.  Imagine my excitement, when these past few years have been the best in many, many, many years.  Thank goodness for the invention of TiVo otherwise it'd have to wait until all shows were on DVD to watch.  Soo what has happened?

 Why was TV so bad that now its good again?  Well lots!  The way people view TV (DVRs, DVDs, computers, iPads, etc.) when they view it, and where they view it (no longer do people have to choose one channel over another, a show over another show playing in the same time slot).

Structural changes continue to press down network ratings which has caused only a few shows to have the ability to be considered true mass i.e. American Idol.  But even this massively popular show isn't immune (its down 20% in viewership since its peak in 2006). Networks can no longer reach or have the need to reach 15 million people in order to be successful, because like every piece of media right now TV shows are highly fragmented.  They are seeing much more success with smaller audiences then they are trying to reach every one.  Sounds exactly whats been happening in the advertising industry. When you try to target everyone you actually reach no one.

If they have lowered expectations in ratings and I'm guessing financially given the economy has given way to much more freedom creatively.  With a small audience to reach and not a lot of money networks are willing to try more.  On the flip side you have cable networks showing signs of rising ratings (for cable networks) and you see more and more of them green lighting pretty intense programming. Hello, AMC's Mad Men and FX's Nip/Tuck.

If we look at the movie industry you realize that the indie film boom of the 90's has fallen to the wayside as multi-billion, special FX, 3-D blockbusters make it nearly impossible to finance smaller films. That leaves the talent looking towards TV.  Prime example, J.J. Abrahms who began in films, Armageddon being his first big hit, moved to TV and "found his voice, where he learned that complex, dense-pack narrative attracted rather than repelled audiences."  Alias, Lost and his "humanized re-imagining of Star Trek " show this.

"Helped by the declining cost of production, TV right now is mass enough to be commercially viable and narrow enough to allow show creators " freedom. Advertisers will pay top $$ to be on cult hits like Colbert or The Daily Show.  "As more and more networks get into the business of buying original TV ideas, the power has shifted to the creatives.  Increasingly sophisticated audiences for 'alternative TV' have created virtuous cycles that make independent producers more and more interested in taking chances on edgy or obscure material."

Bottom line: TV execs are finally giving people the respect we should be giving.  No more dumbed down, sugary shows that insult our intelligence.

Even babies are along the same line of thought.  Take Sesame Worskshop, they implemented format and visual changes this year to keep up with the viewing habits of their target.  It showed a double-digit increase among its 3 and 4 yr. olds. They just reported a 60% year-over-year ratings increase for February.

It goes to show that when you listen, it pays off royally.

The Suburbs Aren't What They Used to Be

This relates back to the post I wrote about the fast changing dynamics of American families and society in general. What I learned wasn't a shocker personally but it is to the clients that still have a myopic view of the world.

So what's going on with suburbs? In a reversal, America's suburbs are now more likely to be home to minorities, the poor and a rapidly growing older population as many younger, educated whites move to cities for jobs and shorter commutes. The analysis provides the freshest detail on the nation's growing race and age divide.

Suburbs still tilt white. But, for the first time, a majority of all racial and ethnic groups in large metro areas live outside the city. Suburban Asians and Hispanics already had topped 50 percent in 2000, and blacks joined them by 2008, rising from 43 percent in those eight years.

The suburbs now have the largest poor population in the country. They are home to the vast majority of baby boomers age 55 to 64, a fast-growing group that will strain social services after the first wave of boomers turns 65 next year.

"A new image of urban America is in the making," said William H. Frey, a demographer at Brookings who co-wrote the report. "What used to be white flight to the suburbs is turning into 'bright flight' to cities that have become magnets for aspiring young adults who see access to knowledge-based jobs, public transportation and a new city ambiance as an attraction."

The idealistic image of suburbia is painted well in the movie Pleasantville, affluent families complete with homemaker moms, 2 rambunctious but good kids and a dog with the occasional cranky old man or spooky home (which tended to be the least take care of home) thrown in for good measure. Now suburbia is filled with minorities that house some of the poorest people in our nation. If living in suburbia isn't the American dream anymore, what is?

Nike, Part Deux

Second time I'm talking about Nike and I'm not really a hard core fan, in the sense that I don't avidly await their commercials, have Google alerts or continuously buy their product a la lululemon.  Yet they continually surprise me and never disappoint with the things they do.  For example, the ingenious partnership with Apple, the Lance Armstrong Live Strong Campaign, their awesome, on point and on brand commercials.   I recently stumbled upon this Nike musical shoes commercial from Japan and it blew my mind.  From an agency perspective, for a client to set aside a budget for the time to engineer such a task, hire the right talent, given them the liberty to do what they want doesn't happen ever.  From a consumer perspective, it continues to reinforce why Nike has attained to be the most recognized, loved, respected and just plain cool brand for so long.

Congrats Nike on another awesome hit.  I hope the legacy never dies.

Music to a Brand's Ear

I'm off to Coachella this weekend along with over 150,000 people for a 3-day music fest featuring 130 bands all big and small.  What surprises be about Coachella and other music festivals is how big they've gotten and how well brands have been able to integrate and align USEFUL partnerships with these music festivals so that they are actually welcome and not intruders.  For example, Coachella this year will have the following:

VISIT THE 5 GUM SENSORY TERMINAL / LIVE WEBCAST Stimulate Your Senses at Coachella when you explore the 5 Gum Sensory Terminal. Stop by the air-conditioned tent to add your image to a living work of art in the Digital Mosaic, or share your Coachella story in the Sensory Studio video pod. Plus, with THREE live festival feeds, you can still catch all the action. Cant make it to Coachella? Tune into the LIVE WEBCAST exclusively from 5 Gum on Facebook or Myspace everyone will experience it differently. 
CLICK HERE FOR FACEBOOK WEBCAST CLICK HERE FOR MYSPACE 

PLAYSTATION HQ AND SONY PLAY CREATE SHARE WORKSHOPFeeling a little toasted from the sun, and want to chill out and relax in a world where entertainment is a touch away? Well that's easy...Stop by PlayStation HQ and Sony Play Create Share Workshop and step into a world that allows you to be in control. Play games like ModNation Racers and Gran Turismo 5 before their release, watch original content, and rock out to your favorite bands on Rock Band and SingStar. And most importantly, brag to your friends that couldn't get themselves to the festival, rent an HD bloggie camera and show your friends what they're missing by uploading to your favorite social media site! The more you play, the more chances you have to win VIP passes to upgrade your Coachella experience. 

THE KIN LOUNGEThe KIN Lounge from KIN, a new Windows Phone, is your spot at Coachella to connect. Beat the heat in our air-conditioned tent and enjoy our fun basement party vibe. Recharge your phone at one of our charging stations, or check it in for pickup. Use our computers to share your experiences with friends back home. We’ll also feature a photo booth and the chance to win VIP ticket upgrades throughout the day. 
VERIZON MOBILE WEBCASTCoachella will be streamed live on Verizon V CAST Videos in Media Center/Get It Now V CAST Videos/Music. Some performances will also be available for viewing after the Festival. CLICK HERE 


Given that people will be at this festival for 3 days in one LARGE open field all of these make sense.  5 Gum with making you part of the festivals music and art integration, Sony allowing you to take a break from the hot, hot sun with a nice air conditioned tent complete with couches, video games and the ability to RENT a camera to share your awesome experience, a recharging cell phone station will be a God send to those walking around for 12 hrs straight just to go back and Verizon giving music fans the option to re-watch the performance they just saw.  

Let's not forget South by Southwest. What started off as a music festival has branched out into interactive and film to know have solidified its position as the place where the latest tech trends are launched.  Three years ago, Twitter started at the festival, quickly signing up the early adopter crowd who used it to find which parties were hot and which panels sucked. Last year, current social media darling Foursquare took the wraps off its iPhone app at SXSW.


Brands participating at SXSW are the big thing and the real deal


Brands, including Microsoft, which signed on this year as a platinum sponsor, use the conference to burnish their credentials with an audience that might otherwise be a tough sell. "If you believe in the consumerization of technology, South by Southwest is one of the most important events in the world," said Chris Bernard, user experience evangelist at Microsoft.


Microsoft isn't the only brand looking for a little hip to rub off on it. Chevrolet is far from an adopter-crowd icon, yet the General Motors brand is aggressively marketing the launch of its electric vehicle, the Volt, at the show. Chevy started with a social media campaign that saw eight teams of online influentials record their road-trip experiences of driving a Volt to Austin. It also partnered with Gowalla to welcome attendees, and is operating a Volt Recharging Station for digital devices.

"The rise of peer influence and online word of mouth as influential factors in brand loyalty are factors that most large brands can't ignore anymore," said Christoper Barger, director of global communications and technology at GM. 


Aside from brands participating, many agencies are making it a yearly tradition to scout out the latest in new trends, find content creators and even talent!  Razorfish has had over 40 people attend including a recruiter.  They've even held parties to show off their work, pull in major talent and basically use as a recruiting tool.


What all this tells me is PEOPLE are still at the center of what makes the brand world go round, WOM still reigns and nothing can ever replace the experience, sensation, knowledge one's get from a face to face introduction to a brand by putting it into a person's hand.    

Nike & Tiger & W+K, Oh My!

By now you must have seen or heard about this very controversial commercial put out by Nike & Widen + Kennedy.  If not, here it is for you all to see.  Everyone from radio personalities to the advertising critics are giving their opinion on what it means.  Creepy, self serving, powerful, bad taste, polarizing, real, honest are some of the words being thrown around.  While I agree and disagree with some of these opinions I'm more interested in the impact this commercial had done for all three brands.  What does this say about Nike, Tiger & W+K?

In my opinion, I feel that Nike for being such a monumental brand it is also held accountable, as any Fortune 500 company, to protect its image, its  shareholders, its business yet its still remains true to who it is as a brand.  Bold, aggressive and in your face are the images that come to mind when I think of Nike and this spot, whether good or bad, is exactly in line with this values.  With an infamous tag line like "Just Do It" I can already picture why this piece of creative was not immediately turned down when it was first presented.  Knowing the inner workings of agencies, I can't even begin to imagine what the other controversial ideas were.  

W+K, a company I've always respected and admired, are in the business of getting brands noticed, changing behavior and creating powerful images. And what images, chatter and bullseye on Nike have they created.  They've always been great at creating powerful, entertaining and well talked about campaigns.  See Pretty with Maria Sharapova, The Lance Armstrong LIVESTRONG Bracelet Campaign, Cog and the Hate Something, Change Something song for Honda, Old Spice's The Man Your Man Could Smell Like campaign. This will be another ad that will go down in W+K infamy.

As for Tiger, this one is a little more interesting as before his whole life was blown wide open with the admittance of his unfaithfulness.  He was the quintessential poster child of what was right with America.  Child of two minorities, one an Army veteran, worked hard on his natural talent and became the not only the most successful golfer but athlete as well.  One of the most well known multi-millionaire American athletes all over the world with a beautiful super model wife and gorgeous children.  This was his image and his handlers worked very hard to keep it so.  Now he's on a path to show his willingness to get back to where he was.  But with his squeaky clean image obliterated it seems that now he's taken a turn into showing who this "real" Tiger is starting with the public apology to his family to the children in his foundation and everyone in between.  This spot would indicate another stab at showing his "real" side by being a voyeur into a private conversation between him and his father, a person he truly respects and admires.  This could possibly be the new Tiger brand, look at me I'm human just like you.  Whether this worked or not and how it will ultimately be ingested is still being decided but it definitely got him back in the limelight right in time for his return to the Masters.      

Thumb Holes are Genius

Hi.  My name is Laura and I am a lululemon addict. I clearly remember, a few years ago, when this was not the case.  I heard about lululemon from my lady bosses.  They raved and raved about it while once in a while commenting how expensive it was.  The fact that the word expensive came out of the mouths of my bosses who probably made 3 times as much as I did was the only deterrent that stopped me from running immediately to the store and try on the "most amazing fitting and comfortable pants that make your butt look awesome."   Miraculous pants below: 

A few years went by, I moved jobs, got into Bikram yoga and this lululemon brand made in appearance again.  All I saw in yoga class was women AND men wearing clothing with the teeny, weeny, infamous lululemon logo:

 That tiny dot, lululemon logo, on those pants (and on any of their clothing) is the only overt reference to the brand you'll find.
   

And the love rang out in the locker rooms for this brand.  People had bags, pants, shorts, tops, mats, pretty much anything they made and were continually going back for more.  Now, I the studio I was doing Bikram in was in Irvine, CA a very affluent suburb of Orange County so of course my thinking went back to well this people can afford it.  I mean they all live in multi-million dollar homes.  Then I became close friends with the studio owner and all the teachers and all they raved about was lululemon.  Apparently, I wasn't going to escape this brand regardless of how much I tried.  So, I finally gave in and went and I did confirm the prices for their items were outrageous coming from the fact that I was accustomed to buying all my workout clothes at outlets and T.J. Maxx.  Then the very convincing sales woman at the store persuaded me to try some of their stuff on and let me tell you it was love at first try on.  Long story short: I came out with about 2 bag fulls of clothes I thought were way out of my price range.  The rumors were true, the fit of the clothes couldn't have been better if I had them custom made.  Actually working out in them was even better because apparently lululemon had thought of all the small nuisances that often irks you about workout clothing AND added even more genius details, like thumb holes (for the sake of keeping your sleeves down and hands warm!!!!)  So who is lululemon and why are all the women so gaga over it?  

lululemon, for those who don’t know, is a clothing store that makes mainly workout clothing and has been vastly successful with a cult like following.  While it’s a tiny brand (about 100 retail stores around the world) I believe they’ve done a great job on how they’ve handled themselves as a brand.  lululemon is much more than just your typical clothing or typical retail store for the following reasons: 

HISTORY
A little history on how the brand began:  Chip Wilson, the founder, was a fan of yoga himself because he felt it helped him stay fit and limber for squash and several other sports. But when he looked around the almost entirely female class, all of whom were wearing men’s clothing but in a smaller cut, he saw an opportunity and began designing women’s yoga clothing.  Today the products have expanded to men and other sports. 

DESIGN

I believe the love at first sight happens with the trial of the clothing because of how its designed.  To say these clothing are designed well is an understatement and every person in love with the brand can confirm.  Not only do the clothes fit like a glove they actually make you look better!  They are meticulous in their design methods.   User feedback is key to the design of its clothing, and so lululemon garments are designed by athletes, for athletes. It doesn’t offer sponsorships per se, but each store provides a select few people from a variety of sports—in different age categories and with varying abilities with clothes in exchange for their views on how each item performs.

The company also holds design meetings in every city where it has a retail presence to get its designers up to speed with that market, what’s being asked for, and what people are wearing. Its people also want to know what competitive offerings are popular. To carry the close connection with its customers one step further, every member of the company’s executive team works one day a week on the sales floor.

In addition to its ambassadors (unique individuals in our store communities who embody the lululemon lifestyle and live their culture), lululemon also lends its support to local athletic communities by providing an R&D (research and development) discount for anybody who is a certified yoga instructor, personal trainer or coach.  “We know a lot of these people. Sometimes it’s not the most lucrative position, but they’re the ones wearing our clothes eight hours a day.”

This mountain of firsthand information helps lululemon continue to be at the forefront of innovation. For example, it recently added silver the metal, not the color as a material (up to seven percent) in nine different pieces of its lineup.

Celebrities wearing lululemon gear

WARNING: MORE LULULEMON LOVE
When I ran my marathon I went into lululemon looking for appropriate clothing for the big day and the reason they ended up selling me into, what I thought was a way overpriced T-shirt is all the design elements that they had built into the shirt.  Now it may look like any other t-shirt but the way it was built & designed (lightweight seamless knit with mesh venting in high sweat areas, Silverescent for anti-stink * anti-static, body shaping with loose fit and long length, seam free to reduce chafing, Lycra for shape retention, wicking)  told me that not only had they thought about everything use wise(how I would use it, what the usual problems are for women and wearing t-shirts to work out in, running for long periods of time, the aesthetic likes of women, etc) but because of it I’d have better running performance overall.  This shirt was a TOTAL SOLUTION for my event as well as future trainings. 

RETAIL
lululemon isn’t just offering up top-of-the-line clothing, it’s selling a way of life and I believe because of this, this is why the people keep coming back to the brand.  They’re looking at lululemon to not only buy their products but to embrace the lifestyle they promote (again they are promoting TOTAL SOLUTIONS, a holistic view on your health vs. just focusing on the clothing itself and the performance aspects as a Nike or Adidas store might do) which ultimately builds more value in the product and the brand.   

As much as a year before it opens in a new market, it sends missionaries to attend every yoga and exercise class they can find, sniffing out and befriending the most influential instructors.  Once a store opens, lululemon formalizes the relationship with its yoga-instructor "ambassadors." The ambassadors get free swag plus a billboard-size portrait in their local lululemon, which helps them expand their clientele. They then complete the karmic exchange by driving clients back to the retailer. "Not only has it helped me build my business," says Leila Cunningham, a Pilates instructor in Hermosa Beach, California, who was courted by Lulu staffers, "but we started becoming friends, hanging out, going to parties. They've become part of the community." Ambassadors hold free weekly classes in the stores, which are meticulously designed to feel like homespun local boutiques, not cookie-cutter outlets from a public company competing against Nike. ("It's designed to be a little bit messy," Christine Day, lululemon's CEO , says of the stores' calculated nonchalance.) Comments from customers who can monitor progress toward their life goals through a Lulu micro Web site are scribbled on chalkboards outside the dressing rooms, then funneled back to HQ every two weeks. Your job is pretty easy when you are authentic with people," says Eric Petersen, lululemon's community director. "They realize you don't have some sneaky agenda.”

In case you wanted to know, I just made a lululemon purchase while writing this post. 


UPDATE: The items I ordered yesterday are already here.  WOW!  That is probably the fastest I've ever gotten an item and I chose their free shipping option which often time means the priority of sending the items out for shipping is pretty much at the bottom of the list and is sent in the slowest method possible.  Ohhhh lululemon, you keep winning me over...I'm already thinking about making another purchase.  

Insight of the Day: Marriage is Becoming Extinct

Read this and it blew my mind: Marriage with children has become the exception rather than the rule.  Given that I work on a few clients that target to the nuclear family of: mom, dad, 1.5 kids and dog it was shocking and expected.


Shocking because I've tried many times, in many different ways to tell clients the world isn't what it was back in the 50's.  Leave It To Beaver or Father Knows Best isn't a reality any longer.  Side note: I actually think these two shows were never the American reality but people at least tried hard to aspire and admire this ideal.


Expected because my always observant nature has seen everything but this happening in my personal life and in the news, in entertainment, in statistics.  I know a lot of married couples who know kids are not for them, I grew up with many single mothers, I know plenty of divorced singles co-parenting, and now that I re-look at it my single (non-married, but maybe in a relationship) outnumber my married friends.  So what does that mean for these Fortune 500 companies?  Well, a lot.


If they haven't seen behaviors changing or new insights coming out of their multi-million research reports, I'd start re analyzing.  The mere fact that "married couples with one or more children now constitute less than one quarter of all HH’s in the US" is very telling that times are a changing...


More facts:

• The greatest demographic change over the past 50 yrs is the surge of people living alone 
• The marriage rate among young Americans continues a decades-long downward spiral
• Nearly four out of every 10 births are now to unmarried women.

What might change, well to start off there will be more people living alone & working.  That means many convenience services will be needed, cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc. Things will need to be condensed to single servings. Costco sized items will be left to multi-generational-family-households. A rise in single parents while moms are natural at nurturing they will need male role models for their children and vice versa dads will need to be more nurturing and help in parenting.  Of course they'll probably a rise in dating services that are even more specific, hello Millionaire Matchmaker.  Children will be growing up in 2 different households, parenting as we've known it will have to change in how to give children a good upbringing as it used to be based on two role models in the household.  People in the outer circle of children will play a much more important role: teachers, coaches, other parents in helping out.   

Don't Underestimate the Power of Customer Service

I had a lot of errands to get done this week.  Get my oil changed, rotate my tires and check out a few beauty products I was interested.  This list is nothing out of the ordinary though the extraordinary customer service I received compelled me to write about why I continue to frequent these retail brands and why its so important that the brand's values are at all levels of the company, whether you're the CEO or the guy behind the cash register.

My first stop was America's Tire.  Now I don't usually interact with this brand unless I need tires which is not very often but what I didn't realize until recently is that they provide free, FREE tire rotations which saves me a lot of money since you're supposed to rotate every 5,000 miles and I drive lots.  I give the guys at the store credit for drilling this fact in my brain and actually taking time to walk me through why this is important and how it affects my car in layman's term.  I give them kudos for not treating me how almost every mechanic and car salesmen treat most women, like a dope.

Next was Jiffy Lube.  I am a die hard fan of theres.  Now why would anyone be a lover of oil change places? Well because like America's Tire they've never treated me as dopey and have taken all of my questions seriously.  "What's an air filter again?"  And I've visited many locations in both North & Southern California and I've always gotten the same treatment. They are always able to give you straight answer on how long things will take vs. the generic mechanic answer of  I won't know til I take your car apart.  They always, ALWAYS walk you through what they'll be doing before they even start the labor so you are fully aware and for those, like me, who don't know why the engine needs flushing or what coolant is, Jiffy Lube has these awesome tutorials with big simple pictures and easy to understand terms.  I always relate them to kindergärtner's picture books and I want them all!  The service I appreciate the most is that they log all of the services completed in their system and regardless of what location you go to they have a history of what you've gotten done.  They even take notes if you said you'd wait until next time for blah, blah, blah service which makes it so convenient given that you only come in a few times a year.  Plus the fact that I got 50% off my service because I've been consistent at that location is definitely a bonus and much appreciated.  They have TV's with news & celebrity gossip in their lobbies with free coffee and water and the fact that they also wash your windows and vacuum your carpets is like the cherry on top.   I know that oil changes can be found much cheaper but its the service that keeps me coming back

Sephora is by far my all time favorite retailer.  They had it right from the first store they opened and they've only gotten better over time.  Sephora is like the Disneyland for women.  You can spend all day in there and come back repeatedly and you'll always find something new you didn't see last time.  I believe the all time fascination with that store is that you can try EVERYTHING.  EVERYTHING!  I sometimes just go in to give myself a make over and not one sales person looks at you weird.  They actually encourage you to try and have all of the tools necessary to facilitate that like q-tips, cotton pads, eye make up remover and so on.  They even offer samples you can take home and test out!  They're return policy rivals Nordstrom's.  You can bring anything back even if you've used it which is rare in the beauty industry and much needed given that products look different on a person's skin than it does on the actual packet.

These extra perks, the helpful attention, and the thought out details always help me make the decision on what place I'm going to go because it makes a REALLY BIG difference.

Insight of the Day: Young people don't think the birth control pill works

and have sex anyway!!! Most young people have sex, but over 40 percent of them think that they've got a one in two chance of getting pregnant on the birth control pill that year. (It's one in 100 if they take it correctly, eight in 100 if they do it the haphazard way many do.)  Which could explain why nationally the U.S. teen rate increased for the first time in 15 years in 2006 and has increased since.


While I'd love to vent on how ignorant young people today can be, I'd rather focus on the awesome research The National Campaign To Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy has done on attitudes and beliefs about contraception in young people.  This new research was definitely eye opening. Given the amount of information available and easy access young people literally have at their fingertips, I would have thought this information to be false if it hadn't been conducted by a credible source. Goes to show, once again, 1) never assume and 2) research done thoughtfully and thoroughly can produce great insights.  

Given the shocking news, I wouldn't be surprised if young people these days believe standing on their head is a valid form of birth control.     

Oh Tar-jay, How Much Do I Love Thee, Let Me Count The Ways...

I heart Tar-jay!  Who doesn't?  Even if you shop at Walmart, you still find yourself in there wondering what cool new designer they brought out (as of late, Jean Paul Gaultier and Liberty of London) or cool new marketing push they've rolled out (the last one I was head over heels for was the Target gift card that doubled as a digital camera).  So it was not so surprising to hear that Walmart is losing ground to Target.  Why say you?  Well because it comes down to experiences.  This is a great example of branding 101, yes everyone  will run to the retailer who offers the best price but its only a short term strategy at best.  With all things being equal, in this case price, giving people a thrilling experience, an added benefit, making their life easier (no matter how big or small - see Target gift card) they'll be back for more.


The interesting thing about Walmart is that its now considered being the middle ground for higher end retailers (a la Target) or bottom discounters (think 99¢ stores).  While Walmart's core positioning as the low price leader rang true to everyone regardless of class level, retailers at both ends didn't have a hard time attacking it.  Actually Target did so well it has under priced Walmart, according to Kantar Retail's Management Ventures competitive pricing-tracking survey, while Walmart has actually raised prices. Walmart is also increasingly losing out in pricing battles to conventional supermarket operators in addition to dollar stores, hard discounters and discount clubs. What do you do when you've strayed away from you're core positioning that you've spent your entire brand life building? Not sure where to begin with this one but I will tell you what Target is doing which brings me to reason 3,845,241 of why I love Target.   


Maybe I'm late to the game on this one but nonetheless I'm in love with Target even more because of it. Target Text Alerts are my new favorite thing!  It's mobile coupons for you're phone that Target texts* you every week  No more printing out coupons (but Target has that option too), placing them in a "I hope I don't throw these out by accident but actually remember them when I'm at the store" spot and putting them in your purse if you do remember just to dig around the bottom of it to realize you left them in your other purse.  Now all I have to remember is to carry my cellphone which is permanently attached to my hand and find it in my text msg folder.  EAAAAAAAAASSSSY!  And everyone loves easy regardless of income class.  


*standard text rates apply of course

Brands on the Fence

I recently had the pleasure of analyzing a mass amount of healthcare websites to view how they were portraying themselves to the public.  I learned many, many, many interesting things but the one that got to me as I see this with many many other brands in different industries is this.  One of the sites, see below:

relative to the other sites I analyzed looked pretty run of the mill site.  Not to spectacular but not to shabby either.  The only thing that was intriguing to me and I'm sure anyone else who wandered onto the site was the funny looking man with the glasses next to The Flu and You article at the bottom of the site.  So of course I clicked on it and when opening found a very interesting and engaging sort of campaign effort:

From what I gather this micro site is supposed to help change the way people view their insurance, as boring and the driest of the dry subjects of all.  This execution attempts to dish out health tips through videos and odd but funny topics. Seemingly simple and pretty hilarious it struck me as odd why this would be such a minor part of the main site when this idea could have been integrated further into it to give the brand a unique look, feel and point of view. Especially given the fact that the main site itself is nothing spectacular.

I've seen this happen with many brands I've worked on.  Many conservative brands briefs us and want edgy ideas.  They're ready this time for a change, to show the world they can keep up.  They want to be the next Apple, Nike or Google.  Then once its ready to make a decision, they falter and want to extract anything not within their comfort zone or they buy it but don't give it much push as we can clearly see from the example above.  Now I understand these types of ideas aren't for everyone or for every brand but if everyone does come on board and actually buys into it why hide it?

If you're going to try an idea, consume it, own it, live it breath it eat it otherwise save your money and don't do it because a mediocre effort is like no effort at all.  Boringly good is a great idea but sitting in that corner it really doesn't have much value as an execution or for the brand at all.

Which brings me to another topic of what marketers are scared of.  I take it that its a huge investment on their end and ruffling of any feathers could not only hurt their bottom line but in this day and age their job as well.  But in this day and age as well not taking a risk is just as risky as taking one and continuing to sit on the fence doesn't put you or the brand anywhere.  It just leaves you on the fence.

For those living in dread, never has the PR adage of any new is good news been so true today.  In case of a true hiccup of accepting an edgy campaign and falling on your face, we have to remember if it moves the needle for your brand in terms of attention, opinion, awareness, this is always better than sitting  in the middle and having no one know you at all.  We have to remember that the American people are very forgiving, we have short memories and we are suckers for a comeback story.  Regardless of the falter, we like to see people and brands revive themselves from the dead.

I get that these failings can be costly but many brands even the not so good ones have come back from it - Hello Mattel and lead paint.  What about Firestone & Ford's faulty tires, JetBlue and the delays - these are all brands, good brands, that took major spills but picked themselves back up and still survive today.  People forgive if you're genuinly sorry.  I mean we welcomed Britney Spears back with wide open arms, right?  And look at her now........

Lady Gaga & Shaun White

Why would these two young people even be in the same sentence? The 2 most opposing forces of popularity today have more in common than you think. The theme here being they are the example of not only savvy marketers but the optimistic Generation Y that many, many, many, many marketing businesses, newsletters, blogs like to say work differently, think differently and are at the time very Peter Pan-esque.

I'd like to take a quick moment to vent about some of these marketing peoples and say to please stop dramatizing the eye-popping differences in each generation and to stop titling every piece of news as look at how different these younger folks are to us. Of course we're different!! Weren't you different from your elders when you were growing up? Didn't you adapt to newer inventions and ways of life than you're parents did? Didn't you have a self discovery path just as much as the generation after you? OF course you did. This isn't new to any generation and it saddens me so to see them given out as insights when instead gurus should be focusing on HOW their different and WHAT mediums are being used and available that are changing the behaviors of how they proceed into their own life stages. Phewwwwwww...I'm just tired of the same ol' insights coming from different sources. Read this article on teens in the workplace today as a great example for genuine, thoughtful and applicable insights.

Anyways, back to Ms. Gaga & The Flying Tomato. This 22 & 23 yr. old. are the pictures of how to do celebrity, endorsements, social media & marketing right. Why you may ask. Well consider that both, at the very young age, when most people are graduating college these two are worth a few million each. What makes them soo great? Well looking at their resume below, I'd say we all, including big, Fortune 500 companies have a lot to learn from their methods.

Lady Gaga

• Army of nearly 2.8 million Twitter followers 
• More than 5.2 million Facebook fans
• Her digital-single sales have exceeded 20 million and her album sales hit 8 million, all at a time when no one under the age of 60 buys CDs anymore 
• Her single Just Dance has been viewed 87 million times on YouTube. 
•  Poker Face, is the most downloaded tune in the history of U.K. digital music.
• 11,500 mainstream media stories have cited here from Jan. - Nov. 2009
• Within a year of her out-of-the-box rise to fame in Sept. 2008, Gaga had already lined up
• Virgin Mobile as a sponsor of her Monster Ball tour
• Created her own brand of headphones, Hearbeats by Lady Gaga
• Landed her own (cherry pink) lipstick as a spokeswoman for Mac Cosmetics' Viva Glam. The launch day of her Viva Glam lipstick ad campaign alone generated nearly 20 million unique views in traditional media
• She was tapped by Polaroid to become the brand's creative director

Shaun White

• In 2003 he added pro skateboarder to his résumé and took gold at the 2007 Summer X Games
• His pre-Olympic sponsor list included Mountain Dew and T-Mobile
• Street-wear line appears in Target stores across the country
• His best-selling Burton collection of snowboarding gear now includes a stand-alone extension for women
• There are marketing deals with Red Bull
• He worked with Oakley to create its first signature goggle, which quickly became a best seller
• He collaborated on a snowboarding video game with Ubisoft that went on sale just before the holidays.
• Shaun was the first celebrity to star in the HP "Hands" campaign. The campaign eventually featured Jerry Seinfeld, Serena Williams, Jay-Z, and Pharrell Williams and Shaun White got the biggest pickup of all

In the land of celebrities, where every celebrity is becoming a brand and endorsing everything and anything (i.e. Kim Kardashian endorses everything from cupcakes to diet systems). What are these celebrities doing right? In all reality it is keeping true to who they are as a person, artist/athlete and brand. Very much in terms with Millenial characteristics.

Lady Gaga

• Gaga herself is the ultimate brains behind many of her creative and social-media ideas and tactics
• She's put a new-media spin on her distribution strategy using social media as the core
• Gaga has worked tirelessly in keeping up daily if not hourly communication with her fans and growing fanbase through all the technology that exists now
• Gaga maintain a hands-on relationship with her fans and marketing empire
• Doesn't want to ever look like she's endorsing a brand -- hence why she's created products for Universal's Beats By Dre headphones line, Viva Glam and now Polaroid as its new creative director.

Shaun White

• White has sought out companies he truly connects with
• White sees these deals as a long-term investment portfolio
• Each corporation meshes with a discrete slice of his actual life, and with each one, White dives in and takes a central role, from the design of specific products to pulling deals together among his various partners.
• He is living by his own code, and young people admire that. He has definitely stayed true.
• White cranks up his exposure in a new market without diluting his presence in another

A few lessons brands can take away from these two:  

• Natural synergy between a brand and a celebrity
• Allowing creative control to the celebrity
• Brand/product should be authentic & genuine, not forced
• Letting the celebrities promote in their own words & own ways
• Over-marketing the partnership will dilute the importance of the product as well as the celebrity itself
• Organic growth & WOM is always the best method for success which also requires patience & taking a leap of faith