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• « Wednesday « July 7, 2010

  1. datetime

     1. {07072010}
     2. {04:23:25 PM}

     content

     1. 8 similarities shared by World Cup vuvuzelas and bad brands

         
     2. 
        

        There's a big event going on right now called the World Cup, operated by FIFA, arguably the largest pro sports organization on the planet. For those who are not sports fans the World Cup is a soccer-er, football-tournament occuring every 4 years, involving teams from 32 nations, representing the various regions of our brave new world. As an American, I'm only just beginning to grasp the appeal of the so-called Beautiful Game. And because Team USA can only claim a 16th-place finish at best-which is at least better than France and Italy, the finalists in 2006-I've had to marvel at other things going on during this month-long event, which culminates on July 11th.

        One of the things I've marvelled at is the size and scope of the tournament, in terms of sheer media exposure. According to FIFA's own viewership numbers, a cumulative TV, internet, and radio audience of more than 25 billion people will watch the games based on previous tournaments, while another 3 million will attend the 64 games of the tournament live. The equivalent of more than four Planet Earths will experience the FIFA World Cup brand by the time it's over. Staggering.

        Introducing the Great Kazoo

        Another marvel: for better or worse, everyone watching these matches has been introduced a South African football tradition, the vuvuzela: a long plastic tube shaped into a horn, and meant to make the most irritating noise imaginable, presumably in support of the home team. 90% of the horns that have been sold in South Africa during this tournament were manufactured in China. 100% of them are completely obnoxious, at least to my ears. On this subject, top FIFA stars Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and I all agree. Some people in the football community have even pushed for an outright ban of the instrument during FIFA contests.

        Irritations aside, the vuvuzela has become a constant feature, and literally a brand touchpoint, for FIFA's 2010 World Cup experience. And the vuvuzela has taken off as a global trend. As the contagion spreads outside of the football world, these little horns are showing up in pop music collaborations, on Facebook fan pages, and even the organizers of the fabled running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain are contemplating what to do about a potential a vuvuzela problem in their streets, no bull.

        While I watched my United States side get knocked out of the tournament by a hardy but over-dramatic club from Ghana last week, as the drone of tens of thousands of vuvuzelas saturated the HDTV soundtrack like a swarm of African killer bees large enough to blot out the sun, it occured to me that many struggling brands today share a lot of characteristics of the vuvuzela.

        So I started making a list, and checked it twice. Here are some reasons why a brand with problems may be a vuvuzela:

        1. It's a fad

        Everyone who's attended one of these FIFA World Cup games who's blowing their vuvuzela is just doing it because other people in the stadium are blowing their vuvuzela. It's an exersise in groupthink. What's the point? There's no plan. There's just reaction and imitation-and probably a little bit of public drunkeness too. Bad brands just imitate the latest trends without really getting to the essence of things, and with no real plan on how to separate themselves from the pack. But wouldn't it be great if you could just blow a horn and make that so?

        2. One horn is just the same as the next

        Vuvuzelas come in a variety of colors, and some can even be decorated with team insignia, or beads, or colored foil, but at the end of the day, since it's such a limited instrument, one vuvuzela is really just the same as the next. The red vuvezela is no different than the blue one, or the rhinestone-encrusted one. I know, you can say that about lots of things, but great brands are different and special, by design and strategy. On the other hand, bad brands fail to differentiate themselves from their competition. In the end, they're just commodities.

        3. It's distracting and intrusive

        The world's best football players are competing in this tournament. Not surprisingly, many who've lost games, including the whole French side, complained that the constant buzz from these plastic horns distracted and disrupted their teamwork and communication, adversely affecting their performance. There are even health-related concerns about vuvuzelas related to possible hearing loss, and it turns out to be a great transmission system for spreading cold and flu germs. All told, this simple plastic tube creates more problems than it solves. Bad brands and bad branding distract and intrude by offering experiences that are not relevant, and which do little to please and satisfy customers, or solve their dilemmas.

        4. It's one note and not innovative

        All you can do with a vuvuzela is blow through it and emit one flatulent burp of noise over and over and over again, apparently in the key of B-flat, to those musically minded. Not very versatile. Not very interersting. And certainly not very innovative. Bad brands not only fail to delight their potential customers, they under-deliver on their limited promise, over and over and over again, with no evolution. The same note, badly played, forever.

        5. It just adds to the noise

        As noted above: all vuvuzelas do is create mind-numbing noise. All bad brands do is create a lot of noise-usually in the form of advertising-about what they want to be... but deliver not on it. Making noise through advertising and other means does not make a brand.

        6. It's plastic and disposable

        The vuvuzela is a great example of China's nimble manufacturing prowess, but the problem with these plastic tubes is that they're not an example of "green" or sustainable manufacturing. Vuvuzelas are single-use, disposable, and not biodegradable. After the World Cup tournament, what good will they be? In 2010, brands that aren't thinking about ways to be more ecofriendly are going to risk losing sales to competitors who are. We have some ideas on how to start thinking about becoming more green that could be of help, but it's too late for the vuvuzela, because there's not much you can do with it but blow. Sorry, Mrs. Robinson, but we can do with less plastic these days.

        7. You're getting killed on the margins

        According to CNN, vuvuzelas cost about US$0.40 to make, and while the manufacturers make a few cents on each one, they are sold outside of FIFA stadiums for about US$8.00. Someone's making a lot of money on these plastic horns, and it's not the people producing them, who may be missing a great opportunity to increase revenue. Bad brands often miss one of the most important purposes of branding: attaining optimal pricing in your category sure it's different if you're a non-profit, or an NGO, but you get the point: good brands push their asking price up. You do that by showing how you're different and why you're better than the competition. But alas, all vuvuzelas, essentially, are the same. (Now here's a good time where you want to be like Apple, who use unbelievable product innovation and branding to demand premium pricing.)

        8. It's a local custom, but you're not from around here

        Don't get me wrong, the vuvuzela has a place, and it's in South Africa. The local tradition suggests that the instrument descended from a native wooden instrument called the kudu horn which was used to summon villagers to important town meetings, while another story suggests that vuvuzelas were originally used to scare off baboons who wandered too close to human dwellings for comfort. Still another story suggests that the vuvuzela was a failed children's toy which only took off when a bunch of diehard fans took some to a local football match. The upshot of all these various stories is that it's hard to tell which is genuine. Above all things, bad brands simply don't ring (or blow) true. At the heart of every great brand is a geniune and enduring truth. To use Apple one more time: they're all about making products that are insanely great, and the truth is evident in their products.

        Don't be a vuvuzela, be a trumpet, or a saxophone

        I've got a different (and better) vuvuzela for you: a brass trumpet... ah, but it won't cost you just $8 to buy and minimal skill to use. It will take time to learn it and play it beautifully, as it will take time and skill to build a great and enduring brand. A great brand can be as simple as a vuvuzela, but it just can't be like a vuvuzela. Is your brand a vuvuzela? Or is your brand a trumpet, played by a master musician like Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong or Wynton Marsalis? Chime in and let me know.

        Photos courtesy of Berndt Meyer, via Wikimedia Commons.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 04:23:25 PM
     3. 
        
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. marketing and advertising
     3. sports
     4. tags:
     5. world
     6. cup
     7. fifa
     8. vuvuzela
     9. trends
     10. brands
     11. south
     12. africa

     type

   

• « Wednesday « April 21, 2010

  1. datetime

     1. {04212010}
     2. {10:07:48 AM}

     content

     1. Let's not get carried away with faux relationships

         

        (Advertising Age)

         
     2. We in advertising and marketing need to remember this, and embrace it. The technology may seem to make us closer, but in reality it is less intimate and personal -- less human.
        This is a great article, and I applaud the author, adman Derek Walker, for putting it down on paper, albeit electronic paper. But, there's always a 'but,' in my experience, the problem with a lot of advertising/marketing people and technology is that: 1) they don't embrace technology so they're suspicious and doubtful about what it can do for them from the outset; and 2) they don't take the time to actually learn how to use technology in service of their goals, which as Walker states, should be in pursuit of making (brand) experiences more human. Absent any comfort with technology, and mostly filled with ignorance of its capabilities, all you have left is hype which, of course, is the domain of (m)admen.
        
        So if the ad world is getting carried away with all this buzz about iPads, iPhones, Facebooks, Twitters, Foursquares, interactivity and videogames, ad (LOL) nauseum, it's because not enough ad people are building their technology skills. And yet, here we are living in a world enveloped by technology. Look, technology is just a toolbox, it's not a substitute for relationships, but used properly and with insight, it can certainly enhance, or hinder, real relationships. But you must learn how and when to use it, or all you'll ever be able to do with it is hype it, or complain about it. That's why people in the ad game are getting carried away: their lack of technological acumen, and their unwillingness to do the hard work to master the tools is at fault. Becoming skilled with technology will not make you, or your ideas, any less human, and it's not going to erase that opportunity to get drive-through cheeseburgers with your children. But step up your digital game first, then pop off.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 10:07:48 AM
     3. We in advertising and marketing need to remember this, and embrace it. The technology may seem to make us closer, but in reality it is less intimate and personal — less human...."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. cyberculture
     3. business
     4. tags:
     5. advertising
     6. marketing

     type

   

• « Tuesday « April 20, 2010

  1. datetime

     1. {04202010}
     2. {09:48:14 PM}

     content

     1. Web sales tax debate flares again

         

        (CIO.com)

         
     2. California now asks taxpayers to disclose how much they've spent on items purchased on the Internet that would have been taxable if purchased in state. I haven't seen any statistics on this one, but I'd guess that compliance rates are rather low.
        I didn't fool around with this one, I don't mess with the IRS or the FTB. I had all of my online receipts from 2009, and California was more than happy to tack on another $83 to my tax bill. Other than the convenience of shopping in my pajamas, online shopping doesn't look as pretty as it once did. For me, online perks like free shipping and true long-tail choice are going to be much more important to making that purchase decision.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 09:48:14 PM
     3. California now asks taxpayers to disclose how much they've spent on items purchased on the Internet that would have been taxable if purchased in state. I haven't seen any statistics on this one, but I'd guess that compliance rates are rather low...."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. cyberculture
     3. business
     4. tags:
     5. taxes
     6. ecommerce

     type

   

• « Wednesday « February 10, 2010

  1. datetime

     1. {02102010}
     2. {06:20:18 PM}

     content

     1. Time to start blogging (and writing) again

         
     2. The seductive magnetism of social media, all those Twitters and Facebooks, all of those mobster and spy games and apps, and the wealth of bright, shiny mobile time-sinks, has been totally detrimental to my blogging and writing muscles. It's time to start flexing those muscles again, before they atrophy into nothing.
        
        Started blogging in 1999, and since all of that content is hosted (and backed up) on my own system and media, I have evidence of what I've done, and what I've been thinking about that goes all the way back to the start. With Twitter and Facebook, I wonder if they're going to preserve everyone's content perpetually. My guess is at some point, the cost of storing all the material, and memories, that's being uploaded and shared on these various social networks is going to outweigh the value of any one company keeping it online forever. And then they'll delete it. And then what will you have? I think I'd rather pour my thoughts and ramblings into a bucket that I own and control, than count on a third-party to keep everything safe for me.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 06:20:18 PM
     3. The seductive magnetism of social media, all those Twitters and Facebooks, all of those mobster and spy games and apps, and the wealth of bright, shiny mobile time-sinks, has been totally detrimental to my blogging and writing muscles. It's time to start..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. weblogs
     3. internet
     4. tags:
     5. social
     6. media
     7. web2.0

     type

   

• « Tuesday « December 22, 2009

  1. datetime

     1. {12222009}
     2. {01:18:30 AM}

     content

     1. Tracing the Journey of a Single Bit

         

        (Wired)

         
     2. The Internet surrounds us like air, saturating our offices and our homes. But it's not confined to the ether. You can touch it. You can map it. And you can photograph it. Here are five postcards from the journey of a single bit, as data flashes from sea to wired sea.
        
        b/w: growabrain

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 01:18:30 AM
     3. The Internet surrounds us like air, saturating our offices and our homes. But it's not confined to the ether. You can touch it. You can map it. And you can photograph it. Here are five postcards from the journey of a single bit, as data flashes from sea t..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. cyberculture
     3. internet

     type

   

• « Monday « September 7, 2009

  1. datetime

     1. {09072009}
     2. {11:57:42 AM}

     content

     1. The New Literacy

         

        (Wired)

         
     2. "I think we're in the midst of a literacy revolution the likes of which we haven't seen since Greek civilization," she says. For Lunsford, technology isn't killing our ability to write. It's reviving it'and pushing our literacy in bold new directions."
        Time will tell.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 11:57:42 AM
     3. "I think we're in the midst of a literacy revolution the likes of which we haven't seen since Greek civilization," she says. For Lunsford, technology isn't killing our ability to write. It's reviving it'and pushing our literacy in bold new directions."..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. literacy
     3. technology

     type

  2. datetime

     1. {09072009}
     2. {09:41:16 AM}

     content

     1. Access vs. Ownernship

         
     2. Or rent vs. buy. It's the big debate I've been having with myself lately. And I think the access side of the argument is winning. Will return to this later.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 09:41:16 AM
     3. Or rent vs. buy. It's the big debate I've been having with myself lately. And I think the access side of the argument is winning. Will return to this later...."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. finance and investment
     3. economy

     type

   

• « Sunday « September 6, 2009

  1. datetime

     1. {09062009}
     2. {11:05:22 AM}

     content

     1. Thoughts on Van Jones' resignation

         

        (Grist)

         
     2. The White House will find someone else to tend green job-training programs; Jones will go back to his much more effective role as an activist. He will do much good in the world in his life, far, far more than a pissant charlatan like Glenn Beck. But I'm not as sanguine about the direction the country is headed.
        Sadly, I'm in agreement.

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 11:05:22 AM
     3. The White House will find someone else to tend green job-training programs; Jones will go back to his much more effective role as an activist. He will do much good in the world in his life, far, far more than a pissant charlatan like Glenn Beck. But I'm n..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. politics
     3. racism
     4. tags:
     5. obama
     6. country

     type

   

• « Sunday « July 26, 2009

  1. datetime

     1. {07262009}
     2. {10:01:04 AM}

     content

     1. Bill Maher: New Rule: Not Everything in America Has to Make a Profit

         

        (Huffington Post)

         
     2. "The United States always defined capitalism, but it didn't used to define us. But now it's becoming all that we are."
        You make some good points here, Mr. Maher, as usual. But since you've proposed this new rule: why not start doing your HBO and stand-up shows for free? After all, not everything has to make a profit, you say. Why make us pay for our laughs?

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 10:01:04 AM
     3. "The United States always defined capitalism, but it didn't used to define us. But now it's becoming all that we are."..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. politics
     3. entertainment
     4. tags:
     5. bill+maher
     6. commentary
     7. humor
     8. comedy
     9. society
     10. economy

     type

   

• « Sunday « July 19, 2009

  1. datetime

     1. {07192009}
     2. {04:45:59 PM}

     content

     1. The Internet Is Dead (As An Investment)

         

        (Wall Street Journal/WSJ.com)

         
     2. "I can live all day inside the Internet. I can talk to my friends, listen to music, watch TV, trade stocks, play games, do work - all on the Internet. From 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. every day I can spend on the Internet and it would be a day well spent. But run for the hills when it comes to advising clients to invest in the Internet."
        I'm not an investment fund manager, or a VC, so I can't say whether this guy's financial conclusions are right one way or another. I disagree with his sentiments, because I believe that at about 15-years-old, it's way too early to call the Internet "dead" from any angle you'd like to examine it. What I do know is that in the 15 years I've been working in Internet technology and in business practices centered around the Internet is that it's already changed the fundamental nature of almost everything it touches, and that process is only accelerating. If anything, the Internet is killing lots of old ways of doing business, and for the people, companies, and investors who keep their eye on these rapid and massive changes, there will be a big reward...eventually. Of course, all of the volatility that the Internet brings is exactly what destroys predictability, and for investment fund managers, and VCs, I suppose it's better to be alive in traditional businesses where you know what to expect, than to roll the dice on things that are far too disruptive and moving way too fast. Perhaps in these bad economic times, a sure thing is the prudent thing to seek out, but the Internet is far from dead, it's barely out of its infancy.
        
        Related
        Here's what a VC who spends heavily in the Internet thinks: The Internet Is Alive And Well (As An Investment) (A VC blog)
        

     metadata

     1. 
     2. 04:45:59 PM
     3. "I can live all day inside the Internet. I can talk to my friends, listen to music, watch TV, trade stocks, play games, do work - all on the Internet. From 6 a.m. until 10 p.m. every day I can spend on the Internet and it would be a day well spent. But ru..."
     4. 

     categories

     1. keywords:
     2. cyberculture
     3. business
     4. tags:
     5. internet
     6. economy
     7. venture+capital
     8. investment

     type

   

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