Good enough to share: The on and on it goes edition

(via Freakonomics)

Yet another crazy week on the financial front but let's try and ignore all that and keep our focus on matters of great branding importance. Here's my summary of the best and most interesting posts from the week:

1) How much is $700 billion? From Poverty to Power
Ooops. Off to a bad start. $700 billion is a lot of money, obviously. But, just for perspective, Duncan Green from Oxfam International points out it's enough to eradicate all world poverty for two years.

2) The Last Laugh: South Bank Show
Now I've started, I might as share this segment of the South Bank Show featuring John Bird and John Fortune talking about the mortgage crisis, a year before the meltdown. It's 8 minutes plus so grab a coffee first. They describe how mortgages go from being "dodgy" debts to trustworthy-sounding "High Grade Structured Credit Enhanced Leverage Fund." Humourous and educational.

3) Mackerel Economics in Prison Leads to Appreciation for Oily Fillets: The Wall Street Journal
If we run out of money, there's always mackerel. Since cigarettes were banned from Federal Prisons, mackerel has become the currency of choice, primarily because few people actually want to eat it. Apparently mackerel account for half the sales of one commissary.

4) Cashing in on the Credit Crunch: Brand Strategy Magazine Blog
There are always winners in any situation. Today, things have never looked so good for pawnbrokers who are having a banner year. We are "receiving more and more high-value items including diamond rings worth over £2,000 and a guitar valued at £1,000," says Mark Lemmon chief executive of international pawnbroking brand Cash Converters.

5) Drinking Away Your Sorrows: Slate
Wait. I might be a winner too but...no. It seems like the price of wine is unlikely to fall anytime soon. According to this article, people are "not inclined to reduce their wine consumption in the face of all the grim tidings on Wall Street. Wine is a staple for people now; it's part of the lifestyle." Damn.

Bonus video (via Presentation Zen): If you've got another eight minutes to spare and want to see how to put together a powerful speech that gets everyone on their feet, take a look at this one from Richard Trumka from the AFL-CIO. Whether you agree with the argument or not, it's extremely effective and well put together. I figure I'll use this same approach the next time I speak about brand strategy and see how that goes:



See you next week for more brand strategy stories.

Good enough to share: Fall edition

Another crazy week on the financial front but it's time to get back to branding issues. Here's my summary of the best and most interesting posts from the week:

1) Calvin Klein: Renaissance Brand: Branding Strategy Insider
Calvin Klein is back! A post that summarizes all that's gone right for the brand since it was acquired by PVH (a conglomerate that owns Van Heusen and Kenneth Cole among others). Before it was acquired, it was heading over the Pierre Cardin cliff.

2) An Inconvenient Bag: Wall Street Journal
People's intentions to use reusable shopping bags are running way ahead of actual usage. Many of these bags are bought and then forgotten at the back of a car trunk or kitchen closet. Professor Baba Shiv talks about the "road blocks" facing reusable bags and that habits will only change when there's enough of a reward or an obvious taboo. "Is it taboo yet to be carrying plastic bags? I don't think so."

3) Bagels, Donuts and Cupcakes: eyecube
Rick asks a good question. Why is it that people think of national chains when it comes to donuts but think of local mom and pop's when it comes to bagels? Is there a market gap for an artisnal donut or have cupcakes filled the void? Meanwhile, Andy Sernovitz predicts the cold, sad end to Krispy Kreme now that it has decided to add ice cream to the menu.

4) Entertainment is Not Branding: Dim Bulb
If entertainment is not branding and Branding Only Works on Cattle does that mean that cattle can't be entertained or that entertainment works on everything except cattle? Jonathan has a new book coming out. I think I'm going to disagree with everything in it based on his last few posts but I'm sure it will be a fun (and entertaining) read.

5) New Hovis Ad: "As good today as it's always been" (via Very Short List)
Before his famous "Big Brother" Apple ad and before he started making movies like Alien, Ridley Scott made what some consider to be England's favorite advertisement. It was made in 1973 for Hovis bread and it featured a delivery boy on his bicycle. (Here it is.) Hovis decided to revisit the theme of this ad showing a new delivery boy on a route that takes him from 19th century Liverpool all the way through to today. It's an incredible follow-up to the original, although similar in some ways to this Macy's spot:

Good enough to share: Meltdown edition

Here's what's usually my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. But this was a week that was a little wild on the financial front so this week I'm going to focus on that. Let's start with what the hell has been doing on for the last ten days:

1) Diamond and Kashyap on the Recent Financial Upheavals: Freakonomics
Doug Diamond and Anil Kashyap from the University of Chicago discuss what has happened in the financial sector in the last few days, why it happened, and what it means for everyday people.

Since that post was written, the government has gone in even deeper with a massive rescue plan($700 billion) to buy bad mortgages.

2) What We Need To Know About The Bailout Plan: Forbes
Ten questions that Congress should be asking before giving away our money including #10: will this end the credit crisis?

3) Why Paulson is Wrong: Luigi Zingales (University of Chicago)
A vote against the bailout: "The appeal of the Paulson solution is that it taxes the many and benefits the few." Another vote against here.

4) Stopping the Panic: Wall Street Journal Opinion
A vote for the bailout: "With the government already deeply implicated in financial markets -- and a substantial cause of the mistakes leading to the panic -- Treasury and the Federal Reserve had to act to prevent a crash"

5) What Did You Miss If You Took This Week Off? The Big Picture
Incredibly, despite all the excitement of the week, by the numbers, not much happened.

See you next week--hopefully things will have calmed down so I can get back to more branding stories.

Good enough to share: The all-visual edition

Here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. All about pix and video this week. More posts at the bottom of the page in "Martin's Shared Items:"

1) Dermitage "Results not Typical": The Raw Feed calls this "the worst anti-aging cream ad ever posted online." That would seem like a highly competitive category but this "before and after" is truly incredible and may be worthy of this (dis)honor.

Photo: The Raw Feed

2) Microsoft's new ads: The blogosphere is alive with comments for and against the new Microsoft ad campaign featuring Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates. Here's a link to the first ad. Will you ever be able to think about Microsoft the same way again? And is that or is that not the point? Here's the second ad in the series:

3) The 3M Post-It kerfuffle: A backlash is brewing against 3M for its alleged appropriation of the Post-It Note Jaguar. The story that's being circulated says that, when 3M could not reach agreement with the originator of the original photograph (below), it went ahead created its own version.

Photo: Scott Ableman

4) The McDonalds kids: McDonalds is refusing to take the blame for the fact that Australia has become the world's fattest nation. Brand Strategy reports that: "Peter Bush, the Australian head of the fast-food chain, told the Australian federal parliament that there’s no mystery surrounding childhood obesity: “kids are fat because they don’t exercise as much as they used to”." Scott White also picked up the story and gave his perspective.

Photo: www.StrangeCosmos.com

5) The McCain speech: A non-political deconstruction from Presentation Zen of John McCain's acceptance speech focusing on the strange use of background visuals.

Photo from: Presentation Zen

See you next week for more branding stories.

Good enough to share: The Grant McCracken edition

Here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. This week's edition features a series of recent posts from Grant McCracken.

Grant estimates that he has written around 1.4 million words on his great blog: This Blog Sits at the Intersection of Anthropology and Economics. With such a vast collection, Grant has decided to put together a greatest hits compendium organized around the theme of "Branding Now."

These are some of the posts in the series:
1) Branding now, a brand blog compendium: An explanation and summary of the compendium
2) Brand strategy: Examples of branding as a lively art--from Shakespeare to Mr. Clean
3) Brand tactics: Successes and failures in new marketing tactics
4) Brands Behaving Well: Brands that found a way to capture the meanings that work best for the brand
5) Brands Behaving Badly: Brands that didn't

Meanwhile, at the other end of the wordcount spectrum, Tim Tyrell-Smith launched his first two blogs this week: Quixoting™ - A Quest for New Ideas and Spin Strategy™ - Intelligent Tools for Job Search. Both worth checking out.

See you next week for more branding stories.

Good enough to share: Political edition

Here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. The Olympics are over. Now the political season starts in earnest and many of the branding and economic blogs I read have veered off their normal path into this muddy terrain:

1) Politicians Need To Be Better Branders: Brand Identity Guru
Scott White criticises both Barack Obama and John McCain for choosing VP candidates who complement the ticket rather than reinforce it.

2) Extreme Appeal: Voters Trust Extreme Positions More Than Moderate Ones, Study Finds: Science Daily
USC economist, Juan Carillo shows, in a new study, that extreme political positions can build trust even when the electorate has ideological reservations. As Carillo says: "Voters rightly perceive that someone without ideological commitment cannot have developed a valuable political program. They reason that, "If you tell me what I want to hear, it probably means that you don't have any ideas of your own to share." This study supports and helps explain Scott's POV (above). (By way of Marginal Revolution)

3) Conventions '08: Come Chat It Up, Marketers: Marketing Profs
Various brand marketers gives their scores on Obama's speech at the Democratic Convention. The scores (out of five) were: 0, 2, 3.5, 4, 4.5 and 5. Not sure that this range of scores does much to build credibility of the branding profession or, at least, the value of using brand principles to analyze politics.

4) Palin in Comparison: Fritinancy
Nancy Friedman comes up with some interesting scoop on Sarah Palin, John McCain's VP pick, including a reference to FOX News Channel's co-host Steve Doocy who suggested that Palin does so know about international relations "because she is right up there in Alaska right next door to Russia."

5) Palin Pandering Pops McCain Bubble: Rob Frankel
Rob's not a big fan of the decision to go with Palin as the VP pick. "In the end, McCain's foolish attempt to pander is what kills all brands. It reflects an inability to lead, an abdication of authority by playing to the crowd instead of inspiring the crowd."

Good enough to share: Final Olympics edition

Here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. Mostly about the Olympics again this week:

1) Who's on First in Medals Race? Wall Street Journal
The answer to a question I've had in my head for a long time. Why doesn't the medal table make sense? Some medal tables rank countries by total medals won. Others by number of golds. The obvious answer would be to give a "gold" more points than silver and silver more than bronze. And, it turns out, that system was implemented as early as 1908. But, it also turns out, that the IOC is officially against all such tables and that's why the matter has never been resolved.

2) 35+ Examples of Corporate Social Media in Action: Mashable
A useful resource for those wanting to take a look at various corporate initiatives in social media. Includes some of the classics (Blendtec) and others including GE and the WWE.

3) Emotional Is Not The Opposite Of Rational: Ron Shevlin
I just love those tidy four-quadrant grids with two sets of opposites (e.g. High priority vs Low priority on one axis and High impact vs. Low impact on the other). But here's an example from Ron Shevlin showing how such grids sometimes steer you in the wrong direction. His discussion about the emotional vs. rational decision making is echoed in this post by Jeffry Pilcher.

4) Silver, Bronze & Regret: Predictably Irrational
"What do you think? Who is likely to experience more regret? Someone who won the silver medal in the Olympics, or someone who won the bronze medal in the Olympics?" Turns out those who get in the bronze are happoer than those that get the silver. At least according to the research.

5) Usain Bolt: It's just not normal: Freakonomics
The truly extraordinary run by Usain Bolt in the 200m is explored in statistical detail and compared to other sporting feats in cricket and baseball.

If you want to read still more about the Olympics, take a look at the latest on Landor's Beijing Brand Battle

Good enough to share: Second Olympics edition

Here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. More posts at the bottom of the page in "Martin's Shared Items:"

1) Why does India win so few Olympic medals? Marginal Revolution
No cricket is one reason. Now that there's one new version of cricket that's doesn't take any longer than baseball, there's a push to get it into the Olympics. Of course, baseball is on the way out so still little chance.

2) time to rework your ad schedules: xmas is here: Brand Flakes For Breakfast
One thing that I love about Thanskgiving is that blocks the too-early start of the Xmas season. In England, without it, Xmas decorations start going up right around now. Well, apparently, the Thanksgiving lines are now being breached in the States as well.

3) Google and memorization: Made to Stick
Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt doesn't believe that Google is making us stupid and Dan Heath agrees. Instead Google challenges the "cult of memorization" that's a mainstay of education and especially academic testing.

4) "Education" and "consumers" don't go together: The brandgymblog
David Taylor warns about the perils of trying to educate your customer. Usually, if you find yourself going down that path, you're going the wrong way. Another warning: unless you're Coleman, when you start thinking of product line extensions that are perfect for camping you're also barking up the wrong tree.

5) No Olive Garden Hospitaliano For Playboy’s Kendra Wilkinson: Eyecube
I like hearing about companies trying to rid themselves of consumers they don't want. This example is Olive Garden getting all flustered by the unwanted attention of a Playboy model because it could weaken its wholesome image.

Bonus section: A list of recent posts on Landor's Beijing Brand Battle blog:

1) Bubbling under the line: Gustavo Bechtold (Beijing)
200 new netizens every minute in China. Which sports brands have had the most success with internet word of mouth?

2) Olympic ad battle: Martin Bishop (San Francisco)
My gold, silver and bronze awards for ads based on arbitrary criteria.

3) Yum Cha Anyone?: Katie Crosby (Sydney)
NQR (Not quite right) Australian cultural analogies including Channel 7's use of "Yum Cha" for its Olympic roundup program.

4) Puma unmasks a Chinese face: Ray Ally (Beijing)
How one of the smaller sports brands has succeeded in leveraging its sponsorship of Olympic teams. (Written before one of those teams (the Jamaicans) won gold and silver in the 100 meters which has probably helped a lot.)

5) Li Ning Bags First Gold: Monica Au (Hong Kong)
Official sponsor Adidas can't have been happy to see Li Ning be the athlete chosen to be the last athlete to carry the Olympic torch and light the cauldron in such dramatic fashion. His namesake sports brand got a huge boost from his aerial feat (!)

And, finally, an added-added bonus: Dave Barry: Bye-bye, Beijing . Key quote: "The weasel burps at dawn."

Good enough to share: Olympic edition

Here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. More posts at the bottom of the page in "Martin's Shared Items:"

1) Airline Marketing as true Service? Marketing Geek
Should airlines just ignore the reality of today's travelers, be honest or just shut-up? Michael Fassnacht laments the lack of courage that has kept them on the same old track.

2) TSA Embraces Performance Pay: The Challenge Dividend
Surely this headline is a joke? No. The TSA is, in fact, using a pay-for-performance model for its employees and it's not based on the number of quart-size clear plastic bags handed out or the number of bottles of water seized.

3) Is architect a verb? Seth Godin
Given my focus on brand architecture at Landor, I was interested to read Seth's post defining architecture as: "the intentional arrangement of design elements to get a certain result."

4) The Pret Manifesto: The brandgymblog
I've always thought that there's room in the States for a sandwich shop along the lines of the UK's Pret a Manger but, so far, it hasn't happened. David Taylor got hold of Pret's brand manifesto which helps explain why it does so well.

5) Nike's Beijing Ambush Strategy #3: "Courage" Creates Connections: Beijing Brand Battle
And, finally, a plug for Landor's Olympic Games blog. Landorians from around the world will be posting about the games focusing, naturally, on brands and branding. Frank Vial is writing a series of posts about Nike's ambush strategy.

Bonus Video: How the BBC is marketing the games (and it's way different from NBC's approach).


Double-bonus video: Colbert is obsessed with branding. Branding's so hot that even Stephen Colbert wants to talk about it!



Congrats to Lucas Conley for getting on the show to talk about his new book Obsessive Branding Disorder He held his own pretty well against Colbert and it was an entertaining spot. If I was to be a teeny bit critical, I might point out that he floated from one idea (there's too much focus on the message/branding rather than genuine innovation) to another (there's some really silly brand extensions).

Good enough to share: Week 31, 2008

Here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. More posts at the bottom of the page in "Martin's Shared Items:"

1) Branding: Alltop
First of all, a big thank-you to Scott White of Brand Identity Guru for choosing my site as one of The Top 44 Branding RSS Feeds In The World. In the world! All of these blogs are now featured on Alltop, the blog aggregator that "helps you explore your passions by collecting stories from “all the top” sites on the web." Scott used some of his entrepreneurial magic, connecting with Alltop-founder Guy Kawasaki to make this happen.

2) Life Is Improving: Schlitz Is Back: Brand New Day (BusinessWeek)
The economy may going to hell but not everything is gloomy now that Schlitz is back. "We believe that Schlitz is if not the, one of most iconic brands of the 20th century,” said Kevin Kotecki, president of Pabst Brewing Co., which bought the brand that dates to 1849 from Stroh’s in 1999." I remember visiting, way back when, the original Hard Rock Café (in London)--that was my first experience of a "real" American burger and a real American beer. The only choice: Schlitz or Colt 45. I think I chose the Schlitz.

3) How to Make a Video Contest Succeed - or Suck: BL Ochman
"Video contests by companies hoping for viral buzz and Google juice are as plentiful as mosquitoes on a humid summer night. But, like their insect counterparts, most video contests suck". What a start! Post includes tips for success and examples of drastic failures including her nomination for the worst contest announcement video ever broadcast.

4) Cuil - When Naming Goes Bad: Brand Identity Guru
This week saw the launch of a new search engine billed as a potential Google killer. But the launch was decidedly rocky. Scott's thoughts:
"1. Don’t make a name you can’t pronounce
2. Don’t make a name that requires you to say “pronounced as”…
3. Oh, and if you’re a search engine trying to take on king Google make sure the name cuil (you know, your company name) comes up in your own search results."
Plenty of others weighed in, almost all negative. (Here's the Fritinancy reaction.)

5) Atomic Brand Names: The Orau Foundation
This site was a Yahoo! Pick of the Week back in 2003 (remember those?). An interesting list of Atomic Brand Names from the time when radium and X-rays represented the height of quality. Will today's ever-popular superlatives: Platinum and Gold eventually lose their place as well? Perhaps the Platinum Shell card will become the Gas Shell card if oil prices continue to rise?

Bonus Pic:
The 50 Best Pun Stores: Photo courtesy of Bspcn.com; permission being requested.

Good enough to share: Week 30, 2008

Here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. More posts at the bottom of the page in "Martin's Shared Items":

1) Hasbro Threatens Facebook's Scrabulous: BusinessWeek
Earlier this year, I posted about Hasbro asking Facebook to take down Scrabulous, the popular Scrabble knock-off (Absolutely Scrabulous). At the time I argued that, although Hasbro, was well within its rights to ask for the application to be taken, it might be better to embrace this application and its legions of fans. Well, within days of an licensed Electronic Arts version being introduced on Facebook, Hasbro has decided to take the legal route. Disappointing.

2) "Badge of Shame" for Girl Scouts? The Brand Elastic
"If you were designing a product with the intent of promoting obesity and type-2 diabetes in girls, it would look exactly like the Thin Mint Blizzard." Ouch.

3) A Great Meeting and Cameron Diaz's Ask: Check Out
I've been tracking the Walmart employee blog for some time and, to be honest, it's a little dull. But here's a relatively interesting post about a recent Walmart sustainability meeting featuring Cameron Diaz and CEO Lee Scott. If anyone doesn't know or doesn't believe that Walmart is serious about sustainability, this may convince you.

4) The Formula for Successful Viral Campaigns. Not! whatsnextblog
B.L. Ochman compares the viral success of the Cadbury's gorilla blog with the less stellar recent effort from Häagen-Dazs. She also includes a list of her favorite viral campaigns including the famous and seminal 1996 Hotmail campaign.

5) Personalized Granola Bars: The Dozen
Mass customization is an attractive concept but not always easy to execute. For example, you can build and name your own granola bar but only if you're prepared to pay $48 for a box of 12 bars. That's nuts.

Bonus Video: This one's making the rounds. How not to design a Stop sign.

Good enough to share: Week 29, 2008

Here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. More posts at the bottom of the page in "Martin's Shared Items":

1) What Does A Surgery Have To Do With Business Anyway?: Brand Identity Guru
Scott may fall off his chair and need to go back into surgery after seeing that he's made the cut! A blow-by-blow account of how he and Doctor Schneider got acquainted.

2) Wal-Mart: To change or not to change, that was the question.: The Origin of Brands Blog
Laura Ries is not a big fan of the new Walmart logo (I like it). In the preamble to her critique, she says: "Burning the consumer’s mind is the key detail many companies miss. They think branding is putting their name and logo on the package. But that is only half the answer. Making a branding iron is the easy part. Holding the consumer down and burning that brand into the mind is the hard part." That got Tom Asaker all steamed up.

3) Picking Your Battles: DimBulb
I caught a bit of this story the other day about airline executives trying to blame big oil for all their problems and thought: "How odd and crazy." Jonathan was paying more attention and has the whole scoop.

4) Favre v. Green Bay Packers - Another celebrity divorce with no winner: Eyecube
My sentiments exactly. Who can stop this train wreck?

5) Deconstructing The Girl Effect: Made to Stick
Dan Heath takes a look at why this video sticks:


Bonus chart (from GraphJam). There were a lot to choose from but, since this is still one of my favorite songs despite the incomprehensible lyrics, I had to go with this (you need to click on the chart to see all of it):

Good enough to share: Achilles edition

It was one year ago on Monday that I snapped my achilles tendon which indirectly led to me starting this blog. Here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. More posts at the bottom of the page in "Martin's Shared Items":

1) Attitude, Behavior and Brand Loyalty: Branding Strategy Insider
Brad VanAuken points to an NPD Group study that explores the link between attitude and behavior in brand loyalty. Knowing whether you have more "vulnerables" (people who haven't gotten round to leaving you yet) vs. "prospects" (people who haven't got round to joining you yet) leads to different marketing approaches

2) Economy Changes Customer Value Perceptions: MarketingProfs
Leigh Duncan Durst explores how customer needs are changing in these tough economic times. People are in the mindset of saving money and looking for things to cut back on to balance the books. Companies most at risk are those like Starbucks that offer an easy way to save $20 plus bucks a week--helping offset the extra gas charge.

3) Abercrombie's XXL-Sized Problem: Branding Strategy Insider (again)
There's been quite a few stories recently about brands attracting customers they don't want. Mark Ritson talks here about Abercrombie & Fitch that's now launching in the UK and how, despite its best intentions, it's attracting "An army of fat men in their late 30s ... squeezing into the brand's very recognisable clothing."

4) Packaging vs. reality: Pundo3000
A German site that shows branded meals, how they look in 100 different packages vs. how they look when they're actually prepared. (via Brand Strategy)

5) The limits of meta: Seth's Blog
Seth points out the limits of "blogging about blogging" or "websites that make money by teaching you about making money by using the web."

Good enough to share: Back to work edition

Back from my vacation. One week in England where it didn't rain and one week in Chicago with the weather mostly in the 70s. Stranger than strange. While I've been away, lots of interesting stuff --a real challenge to pick the best five. More posts at the bottom of the page in "Martin's Shared Items:"

1) Gorillas, milk and airports: Part 2 on Cadbury's Comms: The brandgym blog
Cadbury's made my top 10 list of "memory lane" UK brands so let's start with a 2-parter from David Taylor about the interesting communication strategy that Cadbury has been adopted--TV for the gorillas (sizzle) and print for the product story (sausage).

2) Branding Desperately Needs to Rebrand Itself: Branding Strategy Insider
Mark Ritson worries about the fate of branding unless branders rebrand. "Who can save our profession?" he asks. I would but I'm a bit busy at the moment.

3) Starbucks: Everyone
Starbucks has announced that it's closing 600 stores creating a blogging frenzy. Is the end of coffee as we've known it for the last few years? Will people use their coffee $$ for gas? Stories here, here, here, here and here. From Jonathan Salem Baskin: "Short of handing its customers money, there's no way Starbucks can orchestrate a brand experience that enables people to buy $4 cups of coffee, no matter how brilliantly mixed or creatively presented, if they don’t have the money in their wallets."

4) Simpsons Brand-o-Rama 2: Fritinancy
The definitive list of fictitious brands from The Simpsons. In case you need to know. My favorite: J.R.R. Toykins (toy store in Springfield Mall)

5) Will sanctions on the paper trade stop Zimbabwe?: Marginal Revolution
Creative thinking: "The Munich-based company that has supplied Zimbabwe with the special blank sheets to print its increasingly worthless dollar caved in to pressure on Tuesday from the German government for it to stop doing business with the African ruler."

Good enough to share: Vacation edition

I'm just about to head off for a vacation to the UK. Expect airline service levels for the next couple of weeks (unpredictable and intermittent). But, before I go, here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. More posts at the bottom of the page in "Martin's Shared Items":

1) The Perils of Contextual Advertising---Severed Feet & Upscale Real Estate Make Creepy Pairing: brandeo
A most unfortunate pairing of an ad with a news story

2) Who Is $4 Gas Hurting? Starbucks!: Consumerist
New car shoppers are giving up coffee for gas. Quite how Kelley Blue Book came to ask this question in its recent survey of new car buyers must remain a mystery.

3) Wordle, an addictive new web toy: TEDBlog
Apologies in advance if you get addicted to this. So far, in the days leading up to my vacation, I've been too busy to explore this wonderful 'web toy' for more than a few minutes.

4) Saying something nice about Nike (part one): Murketing
This story gives me the chance to recognize the extraordinary achievement by Tiger Woods winning the U.S. open after 91 holes when he wasn't in condition to walk one of them. This post refers to the Nike ad featuring Earl Woods that connected so well with the drama of the event.

5) Man Loses 86 lbs Eating 1,200-1,400 Calories Per Day Of McDonald's Food: Consumerist
Watch out Subway. If you don't look after Jared a bit better, maybe he'll defect.

Good enough to share: Week 24

Here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. More posts at the bottom of the page in "Martin's Shared Items":

1) A Practical Guide to Branding: BusinessWeek
BusinessWeek published a special report on branding this week in its small businesses section. Includes a slide show of small companies that have created big brands as well as this branding basics piece.

2) More and more and more outrage over the airlines: Various
You can imagine the brainstorming sessions going on. What else can we charge for? First it was checked bags. Everyone, it seems, has signed up for that. Now U.S. Air is going to charge $2 for soda. What's next? How about a charge for the restroom, perhaps coin operated?

3) The carbon footprint of food: Marginal Revolution
As interest in green issues continues to rise, knowledge and information rises too. These latest findings showing the lack of importance of transportation in the carbon footprint of food are bad news for farmer's markets but great news for Fiji Water.

4) Lars Wallentin profile: brandgym
It was good to read that my former Nestlé colleague, Lars Wallentin is still going strong and still promoting his strong opinions about package design. His creed: Simplify and amplify.

5) Brand Strategy a World Apart: Fresh Peel
A couple of weeks back, Laura Ries commented on how Chinese firms were following the Japanese model where: "everybody makes everything" which she sees as a bad thing because they are not focused. Chris Wilson offers an alternative perspective.

Good enough to share: Week 23, 2008

Here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. More posts at the bottom of the page in "Martin's Shared Items":

1) Eat Your Vegetables, They're Good For You: The Dozen
I love this idea of comparing persuasive tactics: marketer vs. moms speak. I have a 5-year old who demands a high level of excellence in the use of persuasive tactics. I figure if I start making a note of anything that works, I may get some great ideas that can be applied back to marketing.

2) Hormel Hits a Home Run, at Least in the Media: Freakonomics
Spam is back! Recognizing a PR opportunity, Hormel has positioned Spam as the perfect food for those trying to save money in these troubled times. Now available as individually packaged slices!

3) 10 Things I Hate about Web 2.0: Gaping Void
A rage against 2.0. Here's No. 3: "The same usual suspects whining endlessly on about the same usual suspects."

4) The Rising Power of Private Label: Branding Strategy Insider
An interesting history of the evolution of Private Label in the UK, one of the most sophisticated Private Label markets.

5) How To Win the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest: Slate
Patrick House reveals how he won the New Yorker caption contest using some important marketing principles. Know your customer (including the gatekeepers), know the product that appeals to them and then promote, promote, promote.

Good enough to share: Bitter and vitriolic edition

Here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. This week's theme--bitterness and vitriole. More (less bitter) posts at the bottom of the page in "Martin's Shared Items":

1) The Disney Virtual Magic Kingdom and Marketing Silos: David Vinjamuri
Some companies spend years trying to build up a loyal following. Others, like Disney, follow a different path. Round the loyalists up and then dump 'em.

2) Open Book: How to Grow Your Business in Turbulent Times: The Street.com
This guy, Jim Champy, made my life a misery for an entire year as Nestlé messed around failing spectacularly trying to implement re-engineering, his great idea. He has a new book out. Don't buy it!

3) The Flack & The Guru: Dimbulb
American Airlines has taken a lot of (deserved) heat for its decision to charge passengers $15/bag for checked luggage. Jonathan Salem Baskin helps them see the error of their ways. Another angle of attack here.

4) Three Telltale Signs of an Agency's Ineptitude: Brand Strategy Insider
Ever used Maslow's hierarchy of needs, presented a SWOT analysis or talked about brand essence in a pitch? Then be prepared to hate this post.

5) For Dunkin’, a Tempest in an Iced-Coffee Cup: New York Times
And let's not give Dunkin Donuts a free pass on its support and then disavowal of notorious terrorist, Rachael Ray

Bonus video: Jim's mean tricks on Dwight: a best of collection from The Office (via Dear Jane Sample)

Good enough to share: Week 21, 2008

Here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. More posts at the bottom of the page in "Martin's Shared Items":

1) Fun with brands: Dear Jane Sample
This post went "bubonic" this week. The Brand Timeline Portrait of one anonymous (and energetic) advertising agency Account Executive (via Fritinancy).

2) Don't be Evil - Unless It's Profitable: Branding Strategy Insider
Or, don't make yourself out to be something you're not when push comes to shove. British Airways and Google are called out as brand promise-violators.

3) Zappo's $1,000 offer: Brand Autopsy
Zappos, already everyone's favorite company because of its dramatically superior customer service, has scored more points with its "Quit Now" bonus for new employees. All new employees are offered $1,000 if decide to quit after the first week. Sort of the converse? obverse? one of those verses of hazing--with similar psychological benefits.

4) Great Product, Lousy Brand: The Origin of Brands Blog
Laura Ries talks about MBT shoes. She loves the product but hates the brand. Just one reason--MBT stands for Masai Barefoot Technology. I agree with her about the brand so it'll be interesting to see what happens to the business. If it does well it's going to take some fancy rationalization by we the branding community to explain why.

5) Biggest Drawing In The World: Erik Nordenankar
Erik Nordenankar has completed the biggest drawing in the world--a self portrait. Great creativity from him and great publicity for DHL (who were smart enough to sponsor this project) (via Adland).

UPDATE: NOW REVEALED AS A HOAX. THE DRAWING WAS NEVER COMPLETED AND DHL DIDN'T SPONSOR IT (JUST LET HIM FILM IN ONE OF THEIR WAREHOUSES)

Bonus for YouTube and geography fans: Pork and Beans YouTube hommage by Weezer

Good enough to share: Communication edition

Here's my weekly summary of interesting and entertaining posts and articles. This week's theme: communication and communicators. More posts at the bottom of the page in "Martin's Shared Items":

1) The future of reading: Ezra Klein
Ezra presents some interesting ideas about what future generations of Kindle might mean for reading when they get around to "creating a product that goes where the book cannot."

2) PowerPoint Does Rocket Science--and Better Techniques for Technical Reports: Edward Tufte
After reading Ezra's piece I started thinking about PowerPoint and wondering why it was, in such a time of technological change and 2.0 everything, that PowerPoint has hardly changed at all. That got me searching for Tufte's opinion since he is a well-known critic.

Key quote (from comments): Will Microsoft improve PP?
The record for incremental reform in the cognitive style of PowerPoint is not promising. In the many release versions of PP, the intellectual level has not been raised. New releases have drifted toward ingrown self-parody, featuring ever more elaborated PP Phluff and presenter therapy. These changes have made the new version different from the previous version, but not smarter. There are no incentives for meaningful change in a monopoly product with an 86% gross profit margin, only incentives to make it different, somehow, from the previous release. PP competes only with itself.
-- Edward Tufte, September 20, 2005

3) Bill O'Reilly Flips Out — DANCE REMIX: levmyshkin
(via everywhere!) Warning: "SALTY" language

This week's viral sensation--the dance remix of Bill O'Reilly losing his cool over 20 years ago:



This video has now spawned many variations on a theme, including this from The Colbert Report (which also shows the source material for the remix)

4) The Author's Dilemma--Why Most Business Books Suck: socialtech.com
"Uncle Saul", who wants to remain anonymous (perhaps because he doesn't want to get dropped from business book publisher mailing lists) rants about business books: "In many cases, the relevant content of business books could be summarized in fewer than five pages. In fact, the introduction often covers all of the book’s main points and the remainder of the book is simply an arduous embellishment of the core concepts, replete with a mind-numbing litany of real-world examples and associated gratuitous commentary." He then goes on (at length!) about this point. (via (surprisingly) 800-CEO-READ)

5) Customer Service Hoops: Chris Brogan
"Dear companies providing customer service:
Yes, I know it’s cheaper that I use your website, and I’m really smart, so normally your website might even be a viable option, even though it’s laid out like crap, and it’s not exactly intuitive, and it doesn’t answer questions the way I wish they would be asked...." and plenty more in an excellent rant provoked by T-Mobile (but it could have been almost anyone) (via The Marketing Fresh Peel)