I voted early about three weeks ago.
Having early voting is cool. The head of elections in DeKalb County, Georgia got my vote.
Being ADHD, I don’t do too well standing in lines waiting.
They say that we may set a new record of people casting their ballot in the 2008 November election.
I won’t say who I voted for, but elections are a great source of insight when it comes to what is clicking and ticking in the marketplace.
Here are EIGHT 2008 Election Campaign observations and insights!
#1 – The Millenniums Are Here
About five years ago, I was telling clients that the 2008 election would be a watershed year of a generational shift in America.
The Millennium generation is just shy of the same size as the Boomer generation. They are web-weaned and high-energy lean.
More than two-thirds of Obama’s primary support was less than 35 years of age. More than two-thirds of Hillary’s primary support was age 45-64.
The oldest of the Millennium generation was born when Reagan became president and the Vietnam War is something that they perceive taking place way back in history.
What we have witnessed in this election is what is hitting the marketplace and the boardrooms!
#2 – Brands Rule
And the brand will rule.
It is all about packaging, defining the Emotional Ignition Point and delivering it at every touch-point of the brand experience.
Jerry Cronin, AdWeek’s creative director of the 1990’s may have said it best. When asked what makes great creative, great…he replied that great creative makes you crave the brand even if it might not make the most logical sense.
Few politicians ever get elected based on rational sense.
And few politicians ever make competitive headway using logic.
Brand Videos are cool things too.
Obama aired his 30 minute Brand Video last Wednesday night.
Do you have a Brand Video that you can air?
#3 – The Old Media Is Old And The New Media Is NOW
What’s news is really conveyed today through YouTube, Facebook, Apps and Blogs.
If you are reading this and you do not know what those items are, you need to think about changing your career.
More people viewed single videos on YouTube than they did political ads running on the fixed tube.
Facebook is where people connect.
Here are the “friend” counts as of Sunday 11/2/2008:
• Obama -- 867,191
• McCain -- 618,444
• Palin – 448,207
• Biden – 171,484
I know… it’s hard to think of all the typing that Biden would have to do to really say online what he says in-person.
Last week, Obama premiered an ad that invited viewers to try out a new app (that’s “a-p-p-l-i-c-a-t-i-o-n” as in software programs).
Obama’s app is a tax rebate calculator that you can use to compare his tax rebates against McCain’s.
Check it out… www.taxcut.baracobama.com.
And the Blogs are where the news really takes place in its most purist form!
Hey…Newspapers and News Networks…Be the best that you can be!
Be the press, not the blogs and keep the editorial limited to the editorial page!
#4 – Birds Of A Feather…
If you ever doubt that “birds of a feather do flock together” and that “people of similar likes and dislikes don’t congregate together,” take a drive through your local neighborhoods and count the number of signs for one candidate versus the other.
Last Sunday I did just that…and it confirmed what I preach.
Neighborhoods cluster together around brands and politicians are no exception.
Here’s your question…why blanket markets with your message and not rifle target where you can get the vote?
#5 - Quantitative Research Isn’t The Textbook Predictor Any More
About a month ago, Ad Age ran an article about P&G (Proctor & Gamble) pulling in all its research partners and holding a summit regarding quantitative brand tracking studies.
P&G spends a lot of money on quantitative brand tracking research.
They told the research partners that they had an “aha” insight that the quantitative research studies are no longer the best avenue to understand customers.
Here’s reality statement #1:
More money has been invested in surveys in this election than the past four presidential elections all added up together.
Here’s reality statement #2:
There is such a degree of variance in what the statistical numbers say that few players actually believe the stats.
As we preach here at BrandVenture…there’s a bunch more insightful ways to get into the consumer headset than conventional surveys and research.
Better yet, the alternatives are cheaper than the conventional methodology.
And in the new economy…cheaper is also cooler!
#6 –Entrepreneurial Mavericks Lead Innovation
Consensus is a nicety, but the maverick personality of the typical entrepreneur is what drives innovation.
Think about individuals that have fostered success.
Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch, Steve Jobs, Mary Kay Ash, Ted Turner, Estee Lauder, T. Boone Pickens and Oprah Winfrey are some that come to mind.
Each one of these has their set of critics who often question the rationale behind their visions and the like-ability of their personality.
The ability to lay claim of ownership to a visionary ideal and profess it with passion rallies support.
Politics is a wonderful platform to watch the model at work.
And those who do it rarely spend time claiming it.
#7 – Change Will Not Change
Change is the ignition point of this campaign race.
Some professors say that the Internet has lead to an ADHD epidemic.
I agree that more people today expect changes and actions to take place fast.
Most of us see change from the perspective of our computer screens.
As we sit back idyll at the desk, when a website comes up that we don’t like, we just click that mouse and move on to the next.
Consumers have high expectations. But, as we note in our 2009 TRENDCAST consumers are getting used to living in the “grey zone.”
Change will not just come from Washington nor will things change back to the way things used to be.
The market will change. The way we do business will change. And how we as people live our lives will change.
It will be a holistic experience of mind, body and soul – including the brand personas we market and buy!
#8 – Grassroots Drive Success
When Obama started his campaign, he was up against the big time, big money machine.
McCain ran his campaign on a shoe-string and many thought a year ago that he would soon write Chapter 11 of his campaign history book.
The machines didn’t win the nominations.
WSB Radio here in Atlanta ran a story that Obama has more people coordinating the voting precincts than any other candidate in recent time.
He is driving his vote literally on the local level.
Maybe its because he hasn’t been in Washington long that he sees value in the grass roots.
Maybe it’s even more likely because he comes from a background of community cause.
In our 2006 TRENDCAST, we talked about the consumer desire to dwell in the town square. We have seen it manifest in the outdoor malls and the new live/work/shop subdivision developments.
We all voice the need to connect and bond.
While Washington may think it has its hold on Change, it really comes down to us that live in the grass roots.
We are the ones who will move the country forward.
Perhaps the best investment that you can make today is to go out and get a nice coffee pot and some good coffee.
Then invite in your neighbors, business associates and friends over in the next few weeks for some good coffee chats about what is the next cool idea.
Hey! Go cast your vote, fill up your coffee pot and then let’s journey!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Delivering The Preferred Experience!
I am writing this during the morning hours.
So far I have downed three cups of coffee and just popped open a can of Diet Coke.
No joke…the caffeine really helps drive my discovery mindset.
While sipping down the first cup, I read in the morning newspaper a release that Dunkin Donuts is claiming victory in the coffee war with Starbucks.
Yep. In a “blind taste test” that Dunkin’ Donuts commissioned, Dunkin’ Donuts “beat” Starbucks.
And wow…they actually cite the statistical numbers!
“Of the participants, 54.2% chose Dunkin’ Donuts, 39.3% chose Starbucks and 6.3 percent had no preference.”
Dunkin’ Donuts is certainly on a caffeine-fix with these numbers.
By the way, 476 adults participated in the taste test. That sample base posts +/- 4.4% at the 95% confidence level.
Sounds a lot like the presidential election tracking studies doesn’t it!
Neither the article nor the Dunkin’ Donut website addresses the issue of preferred environment or experience.
Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks, asserts that the driver of Starbucks' brand success is the concept of delivering that “third place” in a person’s life. That place besides the home and work where people gather and get anchored in community life and personal exchange.
To be honest, the coffee at Starbucks is rather average.
While “coffee” is in the name, it really only serves as a prop of the Starbucks stage set.
Not to downplay their brand experience, but when was the last time you walked into a Dunkin’ Donuts and saw individuals dwelling there other than the homeless and the workers on break?
The real news may be that a cup of both Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and McDonald’s Premium Roast cost significantly less than a comparative Starbucks Grande Dark Roast.
On the front page of the current issue of Nation’s Restaurant News, there’s an article about another study in which “coffee fans want Starbucks to cut their prices.”
Nearly one third of Starbucks customers have cut back on their visits in the past three months compared to 17 percent of McDonald’s guests and 18 percent of Dunkin Donuts guests.
When asked what would bring them back and visit more often, 65 percent of the Starbucks customers said lower prices, only 24 percent reported even trying Dunkin Donut or McDonald’s coffee, and 48 percent said that they have no interest at all in trying them out and switching brand preference.
When brands reach “middle-age” and market maturity, they often seem to forget the fundamental drivers of their brand experience.
As the Nation’s Restaurant News article reports, Starbucks management believes that its declining traffic can be reversed through the introduction of new, more health-oriented menu items as well as better equipment.
I bet that a lot of the current Starbucks management team came out of those “fabulous” MBA programs that concentrate on the financial and mechanical delivery of products and services. (Note that I did not say the “brand experience”)
I think that Starbucks real competitive threat may just be what they sought out to deliver as an alternative experience…the kitchen table.
As much as the press focuses on the gloom and doom of the economy, people are actually connecting more with family and friends over the “buy one, get one free” cook-at-home convenience meals.
Generation X Cocooners may have initiated the drive, but Boomers and Millenniums appear to be gathering around that kitchen table more too!
Sometimes it makes good sense to package your brand as “David fighting the Goliath.” And yes, Dunkin Donuts does compete against Starbucks on the grocery store shelf, but if they really wanted to battle their prime competition, they need to do a test comparison against McDonald’s and Maxwell House.
And Starbucks…get back to your core brand experience deliverable.
Foster interaction and exchange. Pump up the cushions and invest in those fireplaces. Chuck the stupid way that customers have to pay for the Internet and make it free. New products are nice, but if it means putting those on hold to roll back the prices…do like your Seattle neighbor brand claims and “Just do it!”
Hey…you are marketing an experience, not a cup of coffee.
As I say to our clients, the businesses that we meet with, and other cool shops like ours…Refocus, recharge, get back in the race… and let’s journey!
So far I have downed three cups of coffee and just popped open a can of Diet Coke.
No joke…the caffeine really helps drive my discovery mindset.
While sipping down the first cup, I read in the morning newspaper a release that Dunkin Donuts is claiming victory in the coffee war with Starbucks.
Yep. In a “blind taste test” that Dunkin’ Donuts commissioned, Dunkin’ Donuts “beat” Starbucks.
And wow…they actually cite the statistical numbers!
“Of the participants, 54.2% chose Dunkin’ Donuts, 39.3% chose Starbucks and 6.3 percent had no preference.”
Dunkin’ Donuts is certainly on a caffeine-fix with these numbers.
By the way, 476 adults participated in the taste test. That sample base posts +/- 4.4% at the 95% confidence level.
Sounds a lot like the presidential election tracking studies doesn’t it!
Neither the article nor the Dunkin’ Donut website addresses the issue of preferred environment or experience.
Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks, asserts that the driver of Starbucks' brand success is the concept of delivering that “third place” in a person’s life. That place besides the home and work where people gather and get anchored in community life and personal exchange.
To be honest, the coffee at Starbucks is rather average.
While “coffee” is in the name, it really only serves as a prop of the Starbucks stage set.
Not to downplay their brand experience, but when was the last time you walked into a Dunkin’ Donuts and saw individuals dwelling there other than the homeless and the workers on break?
The real news may be that a cup of both Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and McDonald’s Premium Roast cost significantly less than a comparative Starbucks Grande Dark Roast.
On the front page of the current issue of Nation’s Restaurant News, there’s an article about another study in which “coffee fans want Starbucks to cut their prices.”
Nearly one third of Starbucks customers have cut back on their visits in the past three months compared to 17 percent of McDonald’s guests and 18 percent of Dunkin Donuts guests.
When asked what would bring them back and visit more often, 65 percent of the Starbucks customers said lower prices, only 24 percent reported even trying Dunkin Donut or McDonald’s coffee, and 48 percent said that they have no interest at all in trying them out and switching brand preference.
When brands reach “middle-age” and market maturity, they often seem to forget the fundamental drivers of their brand experience.
As the Nation’s Restaurant News article reports, Starbucks management believes that its declining traffic can be reversed through the introduction of new, more health-oriented menu items as well as better equipment.
I bet that a lot of the current Starbucks management team came out of those “fabulous” MBA programs that concentrate on the financial and mechanical delivery of products and services. (Note that I did not say the “brand experience”)
I think that Starbucks real competitive threat may just be what they sought out to deliver as an alternative experience…the kitchen table.
As much as the press focuses on the gloom and doom of the economy, people are actually connecting more with family and friends over the “buy one, get one free” cook-at-home convenience meals.
Generation X Cocooners may have initiated the drive, but Boomers and Millenniums appear to be gathering around that kitchen table more too!
Sometimes it makes good sense to package your brand as “David fighting the Goliath.” And yes, Dunkin Donuts does compete against Starbucks on the grocery store shelf, but if they really wanted to battle their prime competition, they need to do a test comparison against McDonald’s and Maxwell House.
And Starbucks…get back to your core brand experience deliverable.
Foster interaction and exchange. Pump up the cushions and invest in those fireplaces. Chuck the stupid way that customers have to pay for the Internet and make it free. New products are nice, but if it means putting those on hold to roll back the prices…do like your Seattle neighbor brand claims and “Just do it!”
Hey…you are marketing an experience, not a cup of coffee.
As I say to our clients, the businesses that we meet with, and other cool shops like ours…Refocus, recharge, get back in the race… and let’s journey!
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Are You Ready For The ReadyMade Millennium Mindset?
Yesterday was a wild ride on the stock market roller coasters.
By the time I got home from the office, I was all ready to kick back and catch my breath…and I hadn’t even taken my puppy out for her walk!
I really didn’t watch much television last night. The news segments all sounded like repeats from several weeks ago. Same “news” about the market and same “news” about politics.
Ended up reading the magazines that I found in my mailbox. One of the magazines was ReadyMade. As their tagline claims, it is all about… “Instructions For Everyday Life.”
ReadyMade Magazine is a cool place to dwell.
It’s the Millennium Generation’s Better Homes & Gardens married with Popular Mechanics.
This current issue contains featured articles ranging in topics from “Install your own click-tile flooring” to “Hang a crystal clothes-hanger chandelier” to “Seven pet projects for your furry friends.”
Don’t know about all of you reading this blog, but I find myself spending a lot of time in the search for stretching the dollar and doing cool things at a lower price.
Some of the pet projects are just downright cool. One of the projects is all about converting old luggage to a “Jet-Set Dog Bed”; another is about how to build a “Litter Box Hideaway.”
And by the way, I bet many will find it interesting to know that one of the featured projects in the Click-Tile Flooring article is titled “Shagadelic Headboards” in which you use the cheap tile carpeting as part of your bedroom furniture.
Is that cool or what?
The section titled “Home Fixes” is the one that I find most entertaining. It’s essentially the 2010 version of “Hints From Heloise.”
Here’s a couple of this month’s Fixes:
-- Freeze Frame… Getting wax removed from candle holders by freezing them
-- Vodka Tonic… Using Vodka to extend the life of razors
-- Peel The Heat… How to use orange rind to start the evening fires
-- Save Face… Removing the make-up with olive oil
Last week I lectured at Auburn University. I asked the students and faculty how many of them read ReadyMade Magazine.
Only a few raised their hands.
I also asked some top C-Level management at a corporate retreat about a month ago, how many had heard of ReadyMade Magazine.
Zero raised their hands.
C-Level management is quickly having to learn how to make dollars stretch. Maybe we should all launch a ReadyMade Magazine designed around company management!
If you have never paged through this publication, you really need to.
In this economy and with the bulk of the Millennium Generation graduating college, this is the mindset and design-set that is going to be driving the consumer wallet.
It is all about how they think and all about what they do. And brands that want to sleep with this generation of the marketplace are going to have to embrace it BIG TIME in REAL TIME.
After reading it last night, I actually got a good night sleep.
On one level, I figured I could still be hip and cool even if Wall Street collapsed. On another level, it confirmed what drives me to do what I do in challenging the very conventions of the tried and true.
Just think… ReadyMade could be you too!
Hey…go change into those jeans, pack a few Red Bulls and let’s get into my Mini and journey!
Cool!
By the time I got home from the office, I was all ready to kick back and catch my breath…and I hadn’t even taken my puppy out for her walk!
I really didn’t watch much television last night. The news segments all sounded like repeats from several weeks ago. Same “news” about the market and same “news” about politics.
Ended up reading the magazines that I found in my mailbox. One of the magazines was ReadyMade. As their tagline claims, it is all about… “Instructions For Everyday Life.”
ReadyMade Magazine is a cool place to dwell.
It’s the Millennium Generation’s Better Homes & Gardens married with Popular Mechanics.
This current issue contains featured articles ranging in topics from “Install your own click-tile flooring” to “Hang a crystal clothes-hanger chandelier” to “Seven pet projects for your furry friends.”
Don’t know about all of you reading this blog, but I find myself spending a lot of time in the search for stretching the dollar and doing cool things at a lower price.
Some of the pet projects are just downright cool. One of the projects is all about converting old luggage to a “Jet-Set Dog Bed”; another is about how to build a “Litter Box Hideaway.”
And by the way, I bet many will find it interesting to know that one of the featured projects in the Click-Tile Flooring article is titled “Shagadelic Headboards” in which you use the cheap tile carpeting as part of your bedroom furniture.
Is that cool or what?
The section titled “Home Fixes” is the one that I find most entertaining. It’s essentially the 2010 version of “Hints From Heloise.”
Here’s a couple of this month’s Fixes:
-- Freeze Frame… Getting wax removed from candle holders by freezing them
-- Vodka Tonic… Using Vodka to extend the life of razors
-- Peel The Heat… How to use orange rind to start the evening fires
-- Save Face… Removing the make-up with olive oil
Last week I lectured at Auburn University. I asked the students and faculty how many of them read ReadyMade Magazine.
Only a few raised their hands.
I also asked some top C-Level management at a corporate retreat about a month ago, how many had heard of ReadyMade Magazine.
Zero raised their hands.
C-Level management is quickly having to learn how to make dollars stretch. Maybe we should all launch a ReadyMade Magazine designed around company management!
If you have never paged through this publication, you really need to.
In this economy and with the bulk of the Millennium Generation graduating college, this is the mindset and design-set that is going to be driving the consumer wallet.
It is all about how they think and all about what they do. And brands that want to sleep with this generation of the marketplace are going to have to embrace it BIG TIME in REAL TIME.
After reading it last night, I actually got a good night sleep.
On one level, I figured I could still be hip and cool even if Wall Street collapsed. On another level, it confirmed what drives me to do what I do in challenging the very conventions of the tried and true.
Just think… ReadyMade could be you too!
Hey…go change into those jeans, pack a few Red Bulls and let’s get into my Mini and journey!
Cool!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Let's Connect In The Second Life Of Second Life!
Do you have an Avatar character?
I ask that question to a lot of clients. They nearly always come back with the sane question… “What is an avatar?”
My response is always the same. “You need to find out and have one.”
The current issue of Fast Company Magazine features an article titled “The Second Life of Second Life.”
Its all about how the fundamentals of relationship marketing and customer dialogue are now being applied to brand interaction points with the virtual world of Second Life.
Everything from the core service and product experience deliverable within the Sim to the dialogue and follow-up relationship.
How many of you know what “Sim” means?
Sim is the physical location or weblink of a brand or activity within the virtual world.
Joni West, a designer and creator of signs for stores, is featured in the article. As an avid user of Second Life, Joni realized that billboards, commercials and streaming video that appeared on most of the corporate sponsored islands, fell flat with Second Life users who wanted to interact...not sit back in a passive stance.
As Fast Company notes; "Joni instead concluded that companies should try to spark user-to-user discussion."
My Second Life avatar is Kevo Muggins.
He’s a cool dude that hangs in the online clubs, parks and art galleries.
When I physically visit similar environments in the real life world, its not always easy to get dialogue going with others.
But… in Second Life, Kevo has no problem getting dialogues going with both the guys and girls. Kevo has a close-knit group of other gallery show groupies like Lerska, Janeine, Calla and Geffrey.
Smart brands are jumping into Second Life and tapping into the relationship dynamics too! Big brands like BMW, Coke, Sony, Virgin, Apple, The Weather Channel, Colgate, CareerBuilder and NBC.
Some of their Sims are engineered around novelties and promotional dynamics of the physical world. Others are truly interactive.
For example, American Apparel has a virtual store where Avatars can purchase products. The store is located on Lerappa Island…(okay…maybe they stole the naming strategy from Oprah)…and what’s cool about it is that you get discounts on clothes in the real world for online purchases and visa versa.
In the last 10 days, life in the real world has been riding the roller coasters of Wall Street and Washington.
The volume level of individuals going online to interact with others running the gamut from Facebook to Second Life to Kaneeva is at an all time high.
While the analytics may still be crunching away with the numbers, something in my gut notes quickly that the online and virtual world relationships may offer many folks with an alternative, less stressful and less confrontational world.
Kevo is just as much into getting fellow avatars to venture out into discovery and journey as I am.
So go log-on to Second Life, create your avatar, then come join me at SLMoCA… the Second Life Museum of Contemporary Art!
Hey…Let’s journey!
I ask that question to a lot of clients. They nearly always come back with the sane question… “What is an avatar?”
My response is always the same. “You need to find out and have one.”
The current issue of Fast Company Magazine features an article titled “The Second Life of Second Life.”
Its all about how the fundamentals of relationship marketing and customer dialogue are now being applied to brand interaction points with the virtual world of Second Life.
Everything from the core service and product experience deliverable within the Sim to the dialogue and follow-up relationship.
How many of you know what “Sim” means?
Sim is the physical location or weblink of a brand or activity within the virtual world.
Joni West, a designer and creator of signs for stores, is featured in the article. As an avid user of Second Life, Joni realized that billboards, commercials and streaming video that appeared on most of the corporate sponsored islands, fell flat with Second Life users who wanted to interact...not sit back in a passive stance.
As Fast Company notes; "Joni instead concluded that companies should try to spark user-to-user discussion."
My Second Life avatar is Kevo Muggins.
He’s a cool dude that hangs in the online clubs, parks and art galleries.
When I physically visit similar environments in the real life world, its not always easy to get dialogue going with others.
But… in Second Life, Kevo has no problem getting dialogues going with both the guys and girls. Kevo has a close-knit group of other gallery show groupies like Lerska, Janeine, Calla and Geffrey.
Smart brands are jumping into Second Life and tapping into the relationship dynamics too! Big brands like BMW, Coke, Sony, Virgin, Apple, The Weather Channel, Colgate, CareerBuilder and NBC.
Some of their Sims are engineered around novelties and promotional dynamics of the physical world. Others are truly interactive.
For example, American Apparel has a virtual store where Avatars can purchase products. The store is located on Lerappa Island…(okay…maybe they stole the naming strategy from Oprah)…and what’s cool about it is that you get discounts on clothes in the real world for online purchases and visa versa.
In the last 10 days, life in the real world has been riding the roller coasters of Wall Street and Washington.
The volume level of individuals going online to interact with others running the gamut from Facebook to Second Life to Kaneeva is at an all time high.
While the analytics may still be crunching away with the numbers, something in my gut notes quickly that the online and virtual world relationships may offer many folks with an alternative, less stressful and less confrontational world.
Kevo is just as much into getting fellow avatars to venture out into discovery and journey as I am.
So go log-on to Second Life, create your avatar, then come join me at SLMoCA… the Second Life Museum of Contemporary Art!
Hey…Let’s journey!
Monday, September 22, 2008
The Client Commands About Face...About Facebook That Is!
Over the weekend, I received a very cool Email from one of our clients. It was an invitation to be part of our client’s Facebook community.
On one level, it’s cool to get an invitation…on another level, it’s even cooler that a client invites their consultant to be part of their intimate circle of web-friends.
I cannot give away too much information about this client…but I will at least say, she happens to be leading the lifestage journey of the Baby Boom generation.
She is also the CMO of a very significant academic healthcare brand that does very innovative things.
Our client’s daughter recently got married and she is using Facebook as a distribution and sharing forum for photographs of the wedding.
How many of the folks reading this blog have even been to Facebook?
Chances are that at least a few will answer yes to that question.
Facebook has over 100 million members and is growing at 3% PER WEEK.
I spent this past week working on a report for one of our clients on new media…like anything trend-wise that we do, the work makes your head spin.
It’s a study of the impact of the changing dynamics of media. We immersed ourselves in a lot of articles about it and also immersed ourselves in the new channels themselves.
Here are some numbers from Yankelovich that are startling!
• 26% of Adults 16+ participate at least 3-5 times per week in social networking…that is up from 18% just 12 months ago
• 58% of Millenniums participate in social networking
• 53% of Adults 16+ claim that online social networking makes them feel more connected with other people
• 64% of Millenniums believe that they are more connected with people online that physically in-person
Some of the development research studies coming out of the academic healthcare community are suggesting that Generation ZOOM…the next generation coming up behind the Millenniums now age 0-8…will have longer, more flexible thumbs because of how they have been weaned on digital text communications.
This week, the BrandVenture team is going to be hitting the road with our digital video cameras and interviewing high school juniors and seniors.
We are going to be exploring the whole thinking set about colleges, careers and aspirations.
We are also going into Facebook, MySpace and Bebo and checking out what kids are talking about and posting relative to college aspirations and experiences.
Next week, I head over to Alabama to meet up with some of the faculty at Auburn University at Montgomery. We are going to be talking about new media and how it is changing business dynamics.
And change is not theory; it’s plain simple fact.
I remember a couple of years back, when this client who now has her Facebook page told me that she was going to be facing budget constraints and was going to concentrate on the web instead.
Shortly thereafter, she got promoted to CMO for the university as well as the academic healthcare arm!
Here is perhaps the most telling of the Yankelovich new media stats…
Five years ago more than half of those surveyed voiced that they were “overwhelmed by all the sources of information available.” Today, that percentage has dropped 10 points to less than half.
Five years ago only two-thirds of the population could agree with the statement; “I always know how to get the information I need to make decisions.” Today, more than three-quarters of the population agree.
Hey…It’s a new world out there…come, let’s journey!
On one level, it’s cool to get an invitation…on another level, it’s even cooler that a client invites their consultant to be part of their intimate circle of web-friends.
I cannot give away too much information about this client…but I will at least say, she happens to be leading the lifestage journey of the Baby Boom generation.
She is also the CMO of a very significant academic healthcare brand that does very innovative things.
Our client’s daughter recently got married and she is using Facebook as a distribution and sharing forum for photographs of the wedding.
How many of the folks reading this blog have even been to Facebook?
Chances are that at least a few will answer yes to that question.
Facebook has over 100 million members and is growing at 3% PER WEEK.
I spent this past week working on a report for one of our clients on new media…like anything trend-wise that we do, the work makes your head spin.
It’s a study of the impact of the changing dynamics of media. We immersed ourselves in a lot of articles about it and also immersed ourselves in the new channels themselves.
Here are some numbers from Yankelovich that are startling!
• 26% of Adults 16+ participate at least 3-5 times per week in social networking…that is up from 18% just 12 months ago
• 58% of Millenniums participate in social networking
• 53% of Adults 16+ claim that online social networking makes them feel more connected with other people
• 64% of Millenniums believe that they are more connected with people online that physically in-person
Some of the development research studies coming out of the academic healthcare community are suggesting that Generation ZOOM…the next generation coming up behind the Millenniums now age 0-8…will have longer, more flexible thumbs because of how they have been weaned on digital text communications.
This week, the BrandVenture team is going to be hitting the road with our digital video cameras and interviewing high school juniors and seniors.
We are going to be exploring the whole thinking set about colleges, careers and aspirations.
We are also going into Facebook, MySpace and Bebo and checking out what kids are talking about and posting relative to college aspirations and experiences.
Next week, I head over to Alabama to meet up with some of the faculty at Auburn University at Montgomery. We are going to be talking about new media and how it is changing business dynamics.
And change is not theory; it’s plain simple fact.
I remember a couple of years back, when this client who now has her Facebook page told me that she was going to be facing budget constraints and was going to concentrate on the web instead.
Shortly thereafter, she got promoted to CMO for the university as well as the academic healthcare arm!
Here is perhaps the most telling of the Yankelovich new media stats…
Five years ago more than half of those surveyed voiced that they were “overwhelmed by all the sources of information available.” Today, that percentage has dropped 10 points to less than half.
Five years ago only two-thirds of the population could agree with the statement; “I always know how to get the information I need to make decisions.” Today, more than three-quarters of the population agree.
Hey…It’s a new world out there…come, let’s journey!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Purple...The Hot New Color Of Political Decor!
Purple has always been an interesting color.
I remember from my elementary school years how we learned that purple was a secondary color made up of the primary colors of red and blue.
There’s an article in today’s online version of Advertising Age titled, “Painting a picture of Purple Voters.” It is all about the independent voters in the swing states of the presidential election now seven weeks away.
If you get a chance to read the article, I think you will agree with me that purple deserves equal classification as a primary color with both red and blue!
Acxiom, a research and market segmentation company, is noted in the article with a report they released called, “The Purple States: Why They Affect Elections.”
Purple states are defined based on the last couple of elections and how close the two primary parties posted and how the independent vote affected the outcomes. In political circles, they call these states “Swing States.”
Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, New Hampshire and Nevada represent the Swing States.
Turns out that the purple voters are more likely to be Baby Boomers and Matures, identify themselves as conservatives and most likely to watch FOX News.
Interesting.
Those states in the Midwest and Great Lakes in many ways represent the “Heartland” of America. Outside of several larger cities like Minneapolis-St. Paul, Cleveland, Denver, Seattle, Portland and Las Vegas, a significant share of each of the states lives in the small towns and farmland hamlets.
The Big Red GOP and the Big Blue DNC each have their loyal base. According to the press, its all BIG Business Executives that drive the GOP and all the Eastern and California Intellects that drive the DNC.
BrandVenture pays a significant amount of dollars each year to get access to the premiere and most comprehensive lifestyle snapshot of the US called PRIZM that has the US population segmented into 66 lifestyle groups.
PRIZM, by the way, is owned by Claritas that is owned by Nielsen…you know, those guys and gals that publish the TV ratings.
We did a computer run this morning using the most recently released information from Claritas and Simmons about who’s out there watching The O’Reilly Factor on FOX News.
Yeah…there are lifestyle groups like “Upper Crust,” “Blue Blood Estates” and “Country Squires” watching it that are Red Voters to be sure.
And Yes…there are liberal Eastern groups like “Bohemian Mix” and “Up-and-Comers” that are not.
But, the Ad Age article is smack on target.
There are lifestyle groups bearing nicknames like “Gray Power,” “Country Casuals,” “Traditional Times,” “Simple Pleasures,” “Heartlanders” and “Old Milltowns” that are tuning into O’Reilly after putting the cows and chickens to sleep and popping the meat loaf in the oven.
“Red, White and Blues” is a fascinating group that is also tuning in. This group found in many of the purple states is tuning into The O’Reilly Factor 56% more than the average American!
Here is how Claritas describes them…
“Red, White & Blues typically live in exurban towns rapidly morphing into bedroom suburbs. Their streets feature new fast-food restaurants and locals have recently celebrated the arrival of chains like Wal-Mart, Radio Shack, and Payless Shoes.”
The median household income of this group is $43,254 as of September 2008 and the Blue party’s tax cut for the American Middle Class might sound good on paper.
Obama’s tax cut is only good for the taking if you post a household income of $50,000.
To be specific, 58% of this lifestyle group would qualify and 42% would not.
According to the Advertising Age article, “the study suggests that targeting older populations will be key for both parties. Republicans should appeal to conservative tendencies, while Democrats should address economic and healthcare issues, both of primary concern to purple voters.”
Isn’t it interesting how the press fashions sentences and uses words… ”conservative tendencies”?
Say what you want to say, but having a woman on the GOP ticket that was birthed in Idaho, hunts moose, known for her PTA leadership, was mayor of a small town and goes by the nickname Sara-cuda might just mirror the population of the purple party and the emotional chords that drive them to the polls.
Something tells me that the GOP might have actually applied some of the fundamentals of marketing we preach here at BrandVenture.
As we ask our clients… who are your current, growth and desired customers and what is the brand experience that the desired customers desire and seek to bond with?
Who represents your brand’s “purple party” and what can you do to swing their vote?
Come…let’s journey and find out!
I remember from my elementary school years how we learned that purple was a secondary color made up of the primary colors of red and blue.
There’s an article in today’s online version of Advertising Age titled, “Painting a picture of Purple Voters.” It is all about the independent voters in the swing states of the presidential election now seven weeks away.
If you get a chance to read the article, I think you will agree with me that purple deserves equal classification as a primary color with both red and blue!
Acxiom, a research and market segmentation company, is noted in the article with a report they released called, “The Purple States: Why They Affect Elections.”
Purple states are defined based on the last couple of elections and how close the two primary parties posted and how the independent vote affected the outcomes. In political circles, they call these states “Swing States.”
Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, New Mexico, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, New Hampshire and Nevada represent the Swing States.
Turns out that the purple voters are more likely to be Baby Boomers and Matures, identify themselves as conservatives and most likely to watch FOX News.
Interesting.
Those states in the Midwest and Great Lakes in many ways represent the “Heartland” of America. Outside of several larger cities like Minneapolis-St. Paul, Cleveland, Denver, Seattle, Portland and Las Vegas, a significant share of each of the states lives in the small towns and farmland hamlets.
The Big Red GOP and the Big Blue DNC each have their loyal base. According to the press, its all BIG Business Executives that drive the GOP and all the Eastern and California Intellects that drive the DNC.
BrandVenture pays a significant amount of dollars each year to get access to the premiere and most comprehensive lifestyle snapshot of the US called PRIZM that has the US population segmented into 66 lifestyle groups.
PRIZM, by the way, is owned by Claritas that is owned by Nielsen…you know, those guys and gals that publish the TV ratings.
We did a computer run this morning using the most recently released information from Claritas and Simmons about who’s out there watching The O’Reilly Factor on FOX News.
Yeah…there are lifestyle groups like “Upper Crust,” “Blue Blood Estates” and “Country Squires” watching it that are Red Voters to be sure.
And Yes…there are liberal Eastern groups like “Bohemian Mix” and “Up-and-Comers” that are not.
But, the Ad Age article is smack on target.
There are lifestyle groups bearing nicknames like “Gray Power,” “Country Casuals,” “Traditional Times,” “Simple Pleasures,” “Heartlanders” and “Old Milltowns” that are tuning into O’Reilly after putting the cows and chickens to sleep and popping the meat loaf in the oven.
“Red, White and Blues” is a fascinating group that is also tuning in. This group found in many of the purple states is tuning into The O’Reilly Factor 56% more than the average American!
Here is how Claritas describes them…
“Red, White & Blues typically live in exurban towns rapidly morphing into bedroom suburbs. Their streets feature new fast-food restaurants and locals have recently celebrated the arrival of chains like Wal-Mart, Radio Shack, and Payless Shoes.”
The median household income of this group is $43,254 as of September 2008 and the Blue party’s tax cut for the American Middle Class might sound good on paper.
Obama’s tax cut is only good for the taking if you post a household income of $50,000.
To be specific, 58% of this lifestyle group would qualify and 42% would not.
According to the Advertising Age article, “the study suggests that targeting older populations will be key for both parties. Republicans should appeal to conservative tendencies, while Democrats should address economic and healthcare issues, both of primary concern to purple voters.”
Isn’t it interesting how the press fashions sentences and uses words… ”conservative tendencies”?
Say what you want to say, but having a woman on the GOP ticket that was birthed in Idaho, hunts moose, known for her PTA leadership, was mayor of a small town and goes by the nickname Sara-cuda might just mirror the population of the purple party and the emotional chords that drive them to the polls.
Something tells me that the GOP might have actually applied some of the fundamentals of marketing we preach here at BrandVenture.
As we ask our clients… who are your current, growth and desired customers and what is the brand experience that the desired customers desire and seek to bond with?
Who represents your brand’s “purple party” and what can you do to swing their vote?
Come…let’s journey and find out!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Changing A Sluggish Perspective!
When was the last time you saw a syndicated journalist walking the aisles of Wal-Mart?
Reporters used to be easy to spot.
Remember the outfits they used to wear? They wore those old frat-boy cotton button downs complete with a pen guard in the top pocket. And they carried the note pad on a well-worn clip-board.
There’s a Wal-Mart I often go to near my log cabin in North Georgia.
Can’t say that I have seen any reporters there lately.
Reason I asked is that there is an Associated Press story running in today’s newspapers titled “Aside From Wal-Mart, Retail Sales Sluggish.”
The sub-head reads “Mall-based apparel stores, high-end luxury merchants alike feel pinch as shoppers focus on essentials such as food and gasoline.”
There’s a picture with the article too. It’s a shot of the exterior entrance into an Abercrombie & Fitch store. The caption below it reads “Teen-oriented Abercrombie & Fitch is among retailers feeling the pinch as shoppers react to a slowing economy.”
Have any of you reading this been in an Abercrombie & Fitch store?
Aside from the nearly nude, perfectly built point-of-sale artwork, all the products are designed around that worn and torn, pacific-beach “grunge” look. They also command prices like $79.50 for a pair of worn-out blue jeans and $70 for the worn, button-down shirt.
Most of those teens that shop at Abercrombie & Fitch are driven by a cocktail combination of ADHD and a puberty hormone rush. I doubt that they read the Wall Street Journal or watch CNBC.
Anne D’Innocenzio, the author of the AP article, probably worked her way through journalism school in an Abercrombie & Fitch.
Well…the article goes on to cite continued sales declines at other mall-based specialty stores and teen merchants along with high-end retailers like Saks and Nordstrom…with the blame being placed on high gas and food prices.
Isn’t it wild how the press sees the world out there?
Maybe the press needs to a refresher course in Reality 101.
The fact that Millenniums and GenXers look at Saks and Nordstrom as their parents’ brands might shed some light on why sales are down.
The fact that malls today are “old-fashioned” versus outdoor live/work/play centers and new, environmentally green “town squares” might shed some insight on why mall-based retail stores are becoming history.
And the fact that the folks you find dwelling in many of the suburban malls today speak a language other than English could add some further insight why high-end brand sales at mall stores are down.
The fact that Target’s brandline “Expect More. Pay Less.” and Wal-Mart’s brandline “Save Money. Live Better.” just might be a mirror image of the new consumer lifestyle of choice.
Our BrandVenture intern is a first year student at one of the hot-bed design schools here in Atlanta called Creative Circus. Kevin is also dating a young lady whose father founded one of the top creative shops in the Southeast called BooneOakley.
Kevin is now age 20 and represents the very crest of the Millennium Generation Bell Curve.
I asked Kevin about Abercrombie and Fitch and here is what he said…
“I used to go there back in the day” – remember that Kevin is 20 years old.
Over the course of the last two weeks, the word “Change” has come up a lot. Change is part of Obama’s campaign with a focus on a change in leadership. Change was the central theme of McCain’s speech last night with a focus on market change demanding change in how we view and approach the economy.
When I was an early teen, Sears stopped publishing its annual Holiday catalog (spelled back then “c-a-t-a-l-o-g-u-e") and Woolworth 5 & 10s were shutting down.
I don’t remember much press coverage that it was because of high gas prices and food prices. I think the press talked about cool new stores that were overtaking the market with the rise of the Boomer generation.
Course we didn’t have the perspective of CNN and MSNBC back then.
BrandVenture has had the pleasure of finding this cool gal named Judith Damin who teams up with us and visa versa on branding projects. Judith came out of the ranks of a great agency group called Saatchi & Saatchi.
The two of us have been in dialogue with a real estate developer that is looking to launch a new live/work/play development in a hip, intown area of a southeastern city.
Clients come to us with challenges…so it’s not odd that we may not see things through the same perspective that we first hear from new client prospects.
Judith summed it up best when she said; “real estate developers had it great back in the party time years of the 1990s, they just now need to wake-up and accept the fact that the past is gone and we are here today in 2008.”
I think Judith and Kevin should team up together and speak at the next press association luncheon…don’t you think?
Hey… go put on a pair of those $14 Levi’s from Wal-Mart and a $10 Mossimo T-shirt from Target… and let’s journey!
Reporters used to be easy to spot.
Remember the outfits they used to wear? They wore those old frat-boy cotton button downs complete with a pen guard in the top pocket. And they carried the note pad on a well-worn clip-board.
There’s a Wal-Mart I often go to near my log cabin in North Georgia.
Can’t say that I have seen any reporters there lately.
Reason I asked is that there is an Associated Press story running in today’s newspapers titled “Aside From Wal-Mart, Retail Sales Sluggish.”
The sub-head reads “Mall-based apparel stores, high-end luxury merchants alike feel pinch as shoppers focus on essentials such as food and gasoline.”
There’s a picture with the article too. It’s a shot of the exterior entrance into an Abercrombie & Fitch store. The caption below it reads “Teen-oriented Abercrombie & Fitch is among retailers feeling the pinch as shoppers react to a slowing economy.”
Have any of you reading this been in an Abercrombie & Fitch store?
Aside from the nearly nude, perfectly built point-of-sale artwork, all the products are designed around that worn and torn, pacific-beach “grunge” look. They also command prices like $79.50 for a pair of worn-out blue jeans and $70 for the worn, button-down shirt.
Most of those teens that shop at Abercrombie & Fitch are driven by a cocktail combination of ADHD and a puberty hormone rush. I doubt that they read the Wall Street Journal or watch CNBC.
Anne D’Innocenzio, the author of the AP article, probably worked her way through journalism school in an Abercrombie & Fitch.
Well…the article goes on to cite continued sales declines at other mall-based specialty stores and teen merchants along with high-end retailers like Saks and Nordstrom…with the blame being placed on high gas and food prices.
Isn’t it wild how the press sees the world out there?
Maybe the press needs to a refresher course in Reality 101.
The fact that Millenniums and GenXers look at Saks and Nordstrom as their parents’ brands might shed some light on why sales are down.
The fact that malls today are “old-fashioned” versus outdoor live/work/play centers and new, environmentally green “town squares” might shed some insight on why mall-based retail stores are becoming history.
And the fact that the folks you find dwelling in many of the suburban malls today speak a language other than English could add some further insight why high-end brand sales at mall stores are down.
The fact that Target’s brandline “Expect More. Pay Less.” and Wal-Mart’s brandline “Save Money. Live Better.” just might be a mirror image of the new consumer lifestyle of choice.
Our BrandVenture intern is a first year student at one of the hot-bed design schools here in Atlanta called Creative Circus. Kevin is also dating a young lady whose father founded one of the top creative shops in the Southeast called BooneOakley.
Kevin is now age 20 and represents the very crest of the Millennium Generation Bell Curve.
I asked Kevin about Abercrombie and Fitch and here is what he said…
“I used to go there back in the day” – remember that Kevin is 20 years old.
Over the course of the last two weeks, the word “Change” has come up a lot. Change is part of Obama’s campaign with a focus on a change in leadership. Change was the central theme of McCain’s speech last night with a focus on market change demanding change in how we view and approach the economy.
When I was an early teen, Sears stopped publishing its annual Holiday catalog (spelled back then “c-a-t-a-l-o-g-u-e") and Woolworth 5 & 10s were shutting down.
I don’t remember much press coverage that it was because of high gas prices and food prices. I think the press talked about cool new stores that were overtaking the market with the rise of the Boomer generation.
Course we didn’t have the perspective of CNN and MSNBC back then.
BrandVenture has had the pleasure of finding this cool gal named Judith Damin who teams up with us and visa versa on branding projects. Judith came out of the ranks of a great agency group called Saatchi & Saatchi.
The two of us have been in dialogue with a real estate developer that is looking to launch a new live/work/play development in a hip, intown area of a southeastern city.
Clients come to us with challenges…so it’s not odd that we may not see things through the same perspective that we first hear from new client prospects.
Judith summed it up best when she said; “real estate developers had it great back in the party time years of the 1990s, they just now need to wake-up and accept the fact that the past is gone and we are here today in 2008.”
I think Judith and Kevin should team up together and speak at the next press association luncheon…don’t you think?
Hey… go put on a pair of those $14 Levi’s from Wal-Mart and a $10 Mossimo T-shirt from Target… and let’s journey!
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