Friday last week was a day I will long remember in history.
I sold my log cabin second home in North Georgia and in fact, was able to put some good money back into the bank.
It is memorable because the news story broke that same day.
The one with the headline… “Existing Home Sales Fell Off A Cliff In July”.
“Sales of previously occupied homes plunged last month to the lowest level in 15 years, despite the lowest mortgage rates in decades and bargain prices in many areas.”
Personally, I did breathe a sigh of relief.
When the agent brought me the offer, my response was simple…”where do I sign?”
No question. Real estate today is a very different business.
All of the news media – both right and left – are jumping all over the numbers and all the adjectives that I remember hearing as a kid when I brought home a low test grade.
While a low interest mortgage rate can provide an extra incentive to buy…a low interest rate in and of itself is not a motivator to buy a house today.
It’s like saying that the McDonald’s Dollar Deals make our mouths water and feel compelled to eat a burger as soon as you hear about the Deals.
I will be the first to say that the economy has played a role in the real estate market…but perhaps more indirectly than directly.
It doesn’t take a genius to dig below the surface and quickly learn that there are a host of other factors involved in the mix.
It is unfortunate that the media doesn’t dig deeper than the surface stats…but then again, it is an election year.
One factor playing a role in housing today is the whole paradigm change of business…driven just as much by technology as by the economy.
Why should a corporation move people from one city to another when the iPhones and Crackberries continue to redefine mobility?
The past paradigm of having to have individuals commute each day to a central office has not only been replaced by work-from-home, but the idea of even having to have individuals all living in the same town, state and country has been replaced by the no-boundaries world of the web.
Today, “relo” is as much of a “no go” as it is a “don’t have to.”
Another factor?
The aging of the Baby Boomers in semi-retirement years and their movement from family units to empty nester units is a factor as big as the Boomers themselves!
While the economy has impacted Boomer retirement dreams, suffice it to say that the Boomer role in companies and businesses is on a decline.
The idea of buying a bigger home with more green space has been hit further by the Boomer’s changing lifestyle desire to “do less” versus “do more.”
Sure, getting rid of the 5 bedroom house would be nice…but combing two of those bedrooms into a master suite and another one into a home office or “man-cave” makes a bunch more sense that spending all the time and headache of packing up the boxes and purchasing another smaller home.
Another factor?
Travel right into the heart of the family household today where both the Generation X Mom and Dad work…
…Both in their jobs as much as in the process of sinking down roots in the communities where their kids go to school and in friendship bonds that they did not have growing up because there was a 50-50 chance that their parents had divorced and they would be moving and severing those friendships.
By the way, GenXers today represent the heart of management of many companies and businesses where “locality” and “sustainability” are part of the corporate value set.
And yet another factor?
I must admit, living now in a University town gives me very quick, convenient access to the inside tract of the Millennial Mindset!
And in Athens, a significant share of those Millennials winning their college degrees end up staying and exploring our great Athens-rooted music, dining and entertainment business.
And get this… the word “home” for many a Millennial conjures up as much the launch page of a website and where their Facebook friends file sits as it does something that they are going to spend dollars to buy in the “offline” world.
Buying a physical house and land space is no longer “cool” as the flexibility of having a home that they can pack up and move just like going from one site to another site.
Shoot…with that IKEA furniture so cheap, if their ADHD design scene changes, they can chuck that $199 living room set and go out and get a new one.
If the Millennials are going to do any home buying right now, the idea of a DWELL Magazine eco-sustainable 600 square foot pre-fab is way more cool than buying one of those existing homes!
No question that the real estate market is seeing sales decline compared to where we were five years ago…even twenty years ago.
But the economy is only the very tip of what is driving the change!
When life deals lemons, it’s often the smart entrepreneur that says hey, let’s not only make lemonade, but even add some cool flavors, fizz and presentation to define a whole new perspective of the marketplace.
If you get bored, call me and let’s go dig below the surface and unravel more of the submerged!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Tap-And-Pay ...Change To Stay... Embrace It Or Pay!
I think that I was 17 years old when I got my first Visa credit card.
Before my parents would allow me to apply for it, I had to sit down and listen to my father’s lecture about the dangers of abusing it...and guarding it with my life.
When I got it, I think that my credit line on the card was $250.
As time went on over the years, I must admit that I have used more plastic than paper cash.
And every month, I pay off the balances rather than use the cards as true credit lines.
It’s a bunch easier to swipe the cards than make trips to the ATM or hold up the cashier lines filling out the checks.
I remember when I first learned about PRIZM geodemographics that the developer had access to Visa and Mastercard transactions and was able to link purchase behavior with the user’s address to plot out behavior by lifestyle group.
When I worked with American Express, the transaction process and database mining helped to shape our understanding of the customer and the brands, destinations and design of the travel adventures we packaged for customers.
In the new September issue of FAST COMPANY Magazine, there is a great article titled “Pocket Change.”
In fact, what this article talks about will likely become one of the featured trends in the BrandVenture 2011 Trendcast!
Here is the lead-in sentence from the article…
“Flash your phone virtually anywhere you go for almost any purchase and it’s automatically logged into a digital expense report.”
This process is called “Tap-to-Pay.”
Wild?
Citibank, Nokia, Mastercard and Vodafone have gotten into bed together over in Japan and India and found out in the Beta Test programs that consumers love the fact that their smartphone has also become their combination wallet and checkbook all wrapped up in one devise.
Talk about multi-tasking!
The race is on to transform the smartphone into your wallet.
When I see stories like this, I quickly realize that technology is moving faster than even record speed!
A year ago…when scripting the 2010 Trendcast, I observed the following…
“Not only has the mobile computer replaced the desktop, but the computer today is quickly becoming interchangeable with everything from iPhones to Blackberries to Kindles to Netbooks to Crunchpads to Android Tables to Dashboard built-ins.
In 2010, how we communicate, write documents, do calculations and prepare presentations will not only be fluid and transportable, but so will the operational and organizational models of business.”
With Tap-and-Pay, we can now add in this mix of “do’s” …how we purchase products and services and complete transactions in the off-line real world!
The article goes on how the new “Tap-and-Pay” function can link into everything from your app set to where you are located on Google Map to stream feed custom purchase management and promotional incentives directly to that little device we still refer to as a “cell phone.”
I remember how “revolutionary” it was when AT&T became a competitor up against the cable providers.
Do you realize how “revolutionary” it will be when Verizon becomes a competitor to Bank of America?
(Me Inner-self wants to scream out, “GO VERIZON!” and I’m not even a Verizon customer… I just outright hate Bank of America!)
It’s very easy for businesses to cocoon. Very easy.
This past week, I heard back from a company that has a chain of ham retail stores that its hiring a person that has years of work experience in the retail food industry as their new marketing director that was referred to them by their ad agency.
Something tells me that the marketing of this brand will not veer too far from where it has been over the past few years and that the ads will remain pretty much the same with the same style and approach used by the agency and endorsed by the CMO who used to work for KFC.
In this same issue of FAST COMPANY Magazine, there is a second great article about Alex Bogusky titled “The Adman Wants A Soul.”
(“Bogusky” as in the agency name “Crispin Porter + Bogusky”)
Alex’s agency was crowned not only Agency of the Year in 2009, but also Agency of the Decade by Advertising Age Magazine.
Alex is known for pushing brands way beyond their comfort levels and those brands turned out to be BIG WINNERS as a result of doing so.
Alex may think of himself as a creative guru… but he really is a guru change agent.
Its unfortunate that businesses defend their cocoons so much that they quickly cast aside the change agents that can catapult their brands forward!
I have written about it, present it, preached it, screamed it…and started a company driven by it.
Change is inevitable. Change is revolutionary.
Business Success is fueled by it. Brands thrive on it.
And if you don’t venture outside of your business cocoon and embrace it…
Kiss your business good-bye.
It’s not prophetic… it is a Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious…
Tap-to-Pay is going to change the way we live, work, play just like cars, televisions and computers have changed us.
Embrace it. Envelop it. Integrate it.
Just Do It.
Before my parents would allow me to apply for it, I had to sit down and listen to my father’s lecture about the dangers of abusing it...and guarding it with my life.
When I got it, I think that my credit line on the card was $250.
As time went on over the years, I must admit that I have used more plastic than paper cash.
And every month, I pay off the balances rather than use the cards as true credit lines.
It’s a bunch easier to swipe the cards than make trips to the ATM or hold up the cashier lines filling out the checks.
I remember when I first learned about PRIZM geodemographics that the developer had access to Visa and Mastercard transactions and was able to link purchase behavior with the user’s address to plot out behavior by lifestyle group.
When I worked with American Express, the transaction process and database mining helped to shape our understanding of the customer and the brands, destinations and design of the travel adventures we packaged for customers.
In the new September issue of FAST COMPANY Magazine, there is a great article titled “Pocket Change.”
In fact, what this article talks about will likely become one of the featured trends in the BrandVenture 2011 Trendcast!
Here is the lead-in sentence from the article…
“Flash your phone virtually anywhere you go for almost any purchase and it’s automatically logged into a digital expense report.”
This process is called “Tap-to-Pay.”
Wild?
Citibank, Nokia, Mastercard and Vodafone have gotten into bed together over in Japan and India and found out in the Beta Test programs that consumers love the fact that their smartphone has also become their combination wallet and checkbook all wrapped up in one devise.
Talk about multi-tasking!
The race is on to transform the smartphone into your wallet.
When I see stories like this, I quickly realize that technology is moving faster than even record speed!
A year ago…when scripting the 2010 Trendcast, I observed the following…
“Not only has the mobile computer replaced the desktop, but the computer today is quickly becoming interchangeable with everything from iPhones to Blackberries to Kindles to Netbooks to Crunchpads to Android Tables to Dashboard built-ins.
In 2010, how we communicate, write documents, do calculations and prepare presentations will not only be fluid and transportable, but so will the operational and organizational models of business.”
With Tap-and-Pay, we can now add in this mix of “do’s” …how we purchase products and services and complete transactions in the off-line real world!
The article goes on how the new “Tap-and-Pay” function can link into everything from your app set to where you are located on Google Map to stream feed custom purchase management and promotional incentives directly to that little device we still refer to as a “cell phone.”
I remember how “revolutionary” it was when AT&T became a competitor up against the cable providers.
Do you realize how “revolutionary” it will be when Verizon becomes a competitor to Bank of America?
(Me Inner-self wants to scream out, “GO VERIZON!” and I’m not even a Verizon customer… I just outright hate Bank of America!)
It’s very easy for businesses to cocoon. Very easy.
This past week, I heard back from a company that has a chain of ham retail stores that its hiring a person that has years of work experience in the retail food industry as their new marketing director that was referred to them by their ad agency.
Something tells me that the marketing of this brand will not veer too far from where it has been over the past few years and that the ads will remain pretty much the same with the same style and approach used by the agency and endorsed by the CMO who used to work for KFC.
In this same issue of FAST COMPANY Magazine, there is a second great article about Alex Bogusky titled “The Adman Wants A Soul.”
(“Bogusky” as in the agency name “Crispin Porter + Bogusky”)
Alex’s agency was crowned not only Agency of the Year in 2009, but also Agency of the Decade by Advertising Age Magazine.
Alex is known for pushing brands way beyond their comfort levels and those brands turned out to be BIG WINNERS as a result of doing so.
Alex may think of himself as a creative guru… but he really is a guru change agent.
Its unfortunate that businesses defend their cocoons so much that they quickly cast aside the change agents that can catapult their brands forward!
I have written about it, present it, preached it, screamed it…and started a company driven by it.
Change is inevitable. Change is revolutionary.
Business Success is fueled by it. Brands thrive on it.
And if you don’t venture outside of your business cocoon and embrace it…
Kiss your business good-bye.
It’s not prophetic… it is a Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious…
Tap-to-Pay is going to change the way we live, work, play just like cars, televisions and computers have changed us.
Embrace it. Envelop it. Integrate it.
Just Do It.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Guess What's Cooking!
I’m kind of bored this afternoon.
It’s a summer Sunday with the temperatures hitting nearly 100 degrees.
My house temperature is set at 78 degrees.
I am not in the mood to venture out of the house.
For entertainment, I watched Food Network. Got some great ideas and so shortly I will bake up some good walnut butter espresso cookies.
Cooking has long been a favorite hobby of mine. In some ways, it reminds of the laboratory, test tubes and chemical concoctions I mixed up as a kid!
Earlier this year Food Network posted the Top 10 Food Trends for 2010.
The first one on that list is titled, “Keeping It Real.”
I might be a living example of that trend.
“In a back-to-basics economy perhaps it is natural to return to basic ingredients. It is—dare we say—a shift from convenience foods to scratch cooking, now that we have more time than money and more food knowledge and concerns.”
Scratch cooking also provides us with a sense of ownership, perhaps long lacking in the kitchen arena thanks to all of the convenience, pre-prepared meals we just pop in the oven.
Another trend cites that the Food Snob is gone and replaced by the “foodie” that just loves food.
With Italian roots, I always told friends that I was not gourmet…but rather, gourmand.
Last week, I visited a Whole Foods to grab a lunch and just watch people.
My take?
Despite the economy, people will spend a few extra bucks when it comes to food.
But when I asked shoppers why they were picking out the items that they were purchasing, they responded passionately about how much they just loved the item…and the fact that the product did not have “all those chemicals” in it.
Some of my fellow trendcasters call this “small cost reward.”
I would add the word “sustainable” to it. Not eco-sustainable…but reinforcement for busting-butt-sustainable.
Food Network’s Trend #10 is titled “I, Me, Mine” and the lead in sentence is “It really is all about you.”
The trend notes that cooking today is all about expressing individuality and it’s about food that reflects our personality.
I will only buy into half of that trend!
No question that food reflects personality.
I hear many Coffee House Chat participants talk about recipes they love and how they adapt them to reflect their own personal signature.
Last night I watched a Food Network competitive cook-off where every contender brought their own recipes to make, but were then presented with a basket of odd ingredients that they had to include in their recipes.
As a result, they each added another layer of personal signatures to their dishes. And according to the judges...some better than others!
Grandma’s recipes were great, but if that grandson can add a dash of personal zest to it… all the merrier!
That aspect of individuality is certainly part of the cooking experience today.
But as much as individual authorship is being reflected around the kitchen dining table, the kitchen dining table is back in vogue again as our common gathering space.
High tech, high touch perhaps…
Facebook evolved from Starbucks’ “third place.”
And with the impact of the economy, dining out and the $5 Venti Latte…the dining table is where friends and family are carving out time...again.
And yes...that "kitchen dining table" can be our in the "outdoor living room," down in the "man cave" or out around the fireplace!
It is really about “me” hosting the “we” and “us” of 2010 and beyond.
There’s a lot that those “take-out, unwrap and serve” brands can capitalize on if they are willing to roll up those sleeves and get their hands dirty!
Okay… that butter should be room temperature to get blended with my “secret” enhancement of that Food Network recipe!
And if you really, really are good, I will give you some of that cookie dough to eat!
It’s a summer Sunday with the temperatures hitting nearly 100 degrees.
My house temperature is set at 78 degrees.
I am not in the mood to venture out of the house.
For entertainment, I watched Food Network. Got some great ideas and so shortly I will bake up some good walnut butter espresso cookies.
Cooking has long been a favorite hobby of mine. In some ways, it reminds of the laboratory, test tubes and chemical concoctions I mixed up as a kid!
Earlier this year Food Network posted the Top 10 Food Trends for 2010.
The first one on that list is titled, “Keeping It Real.”
I might be a living example of that trend.
“In a back-to-basics economy perhaps it is natural to return to basic ingredients. It is—dare we say—a shift from convenience foods to scratch cooking, now that we have more time than money and more food knowledge and concerns.”
Scratch cooking also provides us with a sense of ownership, perhaps long lacking in the kitchen arena thanks to all of the convenience, pre-prepared meals we just pop in the oven.
Another trend cites that the Food Snob is gone and replaced by the “foodie” that just loves food.
With Italian roots, I always told friends that I was not gourmet…but rather, gourmand.
Last week, I visited a Whole Foods to grab a lunch and just watch people.
My take?
Despite the economy, people will spend a few extra bucks when it comes to food.
But when I asked shoppers why they were picking out the items that they were purchasing, they responded passionately about how much they just loved the item…and the fact that the product did not have “all those chemicals” in it.
Some of my fellow trendcasters call this “small cost reward.”
I would add the word “sustainable” to it. Not eco-sustainable…but reinforcement for busting-butt-sustainable.
Food Network’s Trend #10 is titled “I, Me, Mine” and the lead in sentence is “It really is all about you.”
The trend notes that cooking today is all about expressing individuality and it’s about food that reflects our personality.
I will only buy into half of that trend!
No question that food reflects personality.
I hear many Coffee House Chat participants talk about recipes they love and how they adapt them to reflect their own personal signature.
Last night I watched a Food Network competitive cook-off where every contender brought their own recipes to make, but were then presented with a basket of odd ingredients that they had to include in their recipes.
As a result, they each added another layer of personal signatures to their dishes. And according to the judges...some better than others!
Grandma’s recipes were great, but if that grandson can add a dash of personal zest to it… all the merrier!
That aspect of individuality is certainly part of the cooking experience today.
But as much as individual authorship is being reflected around the kitchen dining table, the kitchen dining table is back in vogue again as our common gathering space.
High tech, high touch perhaps…
Facebook evolved from Starbucks’ “third place.”
And with the impact of the economy, dining out and the $5 Venti Latte…the dining table is where friends and family are carving out time...again.
And yes...that "kitchen dining table" can be our in the "outdoor living room," down in the "man cave" or out around the fireplace!
It is really about “me” hosting the “we” and “us” of 2010 and beyond.
There’s a lot that those “take-out, unwrap and serve” brands can capitalize on if they are willing to roll up those sleeves and get their hands dirty!
Okay… that butter should be room temperature to get blended with my “secret” enhancement of that Food Network recipe!
And if you really, really are good, I will give you some of that cookie dough to eat!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Cockfighting...What NOT To Do!
My “weekend getaway” mountain cabin is finally under contract.
In the present day real estate market that’s like winning the lottery.
One of the aspects of the mountain community that I will not miss is the cock-fighting farm.
Although, cockfighting seems to be the new marketing forum for a number of firms.
Case in point…hospitals in the healthcare field.
I won’t name names, but I will simply say that the two players I am going to highlight are essentially the only two hospital options available to residents of the community where they are located.
One of these players paid BrandVenture a good amount of money to help them assess market perceptions, evaluate positioning options and develop a 5-year brand-building plan.
In taking on the assignment, we went out into the community and spoke with residents, business owners, physicians and community leadership.
It was refreshing to hear all of those audience groups talk about the emotional experiences that they found delivered by our client and how those experiences differentiated the hospital from what the competitor across town provided in their “system of healthcare.”
We completed our work and were actually moving ahead on some really great advertising creative that tapped right into the heart of the emotional chords of their experience offering…no pun intended!
BUT…
The hospital CEO retired and a new guy was hired.
The new CEO is barely 40 and came on board from a smaller hospital in Florida.
The CEO at the other hospital is a Baby Boomer that has been in the business about twice as long.
The new new CEO of the hospital never returned a single phone call we made and I will put some money on the table, never read any of the work we completed.
At first, we took it personally. But that did not last long.
Within a week after the new CEO came on board, the talk of the town was that he was making all the staff wear different uniforms color-coded by department.
Should we say, the new CEO was not well-liked by those working “the line.”
What then followed was a set of ads declaring “we are better than the other hospital in town” ads touting their new machines, their certifications and their awards.
Oh…and the new CEO used that four-letter C-word of healthcare marketing that the other hospital had in its newspaper ads and billboards.
The word that consumers say has been so overused and abused in healthcare that they don’t believe any claim of it.
And what did the other hospital CEO in town do?
Welcome to the cockfight!
The ads tout that they’re each #1.
Others declare new awards and certifications.
One of the ad series features a picture of a machine.
Other ads feature pictures of staff teams standing in front of machines.
Each new ad set declares “we are bigger and better”… and of course “we care”.
The other hospital’s ad running in today’s newspaper claims to be “a Primary Certified Stroke Care Center from The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.”
Wow. That’s an emotional differentiator! And certainly one that Joe will remember when his wife Joanne is having a stroke!
At least “we care” is easier to say!
Not that I have direct observation of an actual cockfight, but It’s like watching those cocks strutting around crowing and ruffling their features in the fields where those mountain farmers have them housed!
Cockfighting is not limited to healthcare or to smaller size companies.
Think about the AT&T versus Verizon ads. Think about the GM versus MINI Cooper Ads. Think about the Coke versus Pepsi ads.
Why am I sharing this story in the blog-logue?
Because when brands do this, it spells opportunity for the brands that “get it” and raise the bar above the cockfighting.
Something tells me with this being an election year, there will be a lot of political ads to watch from which we can learn what not to do!
In the present day real estate market that’s like winning the lottery.
One of the aspects of the mountain community that I will not miss is the cock-fighting farm.
Although, cockfighting seems to be the new marketing forum for a number of firms.
Case in point…hospitals in the healthcare field.
I won’t name names, but I will simply say that the two players I am going to highlight are essentially the only two hospital options available to residents of the community where they are located.
One of these players paid BrandVenture a good amount of money to help them assess market perceptions, evaluate positioning options and develop a 5-year brand-building plan.
In taking on the assignment, we went out into the community and spoke with residents, business owners, physicians and community leadership.
It was refreshing to hear all of those audience groups talk about the emotional experiences that they found delivered by our client and how those experiences differentiated the hospital from what the competitor across town provided in their “system of healthcare.”
We completed our work and were actually moving ahead on some really great advertising creative that tapped right into the heart of the emotional chords of their experience offering…no pun intended!
BUT…
The hospital CEO retired and a new guy was hired.
The new CEO is barely 40 and came on board from a smaller hospital in Florida.
The CEO at the other hospital is a Baby Boomer that has been in the business about twice as long.
The new new CEO of the hospital never returned a single phone call we made and I will put some money on the table, never read any of the work we completed.
At first, we took it personally. But that did not last long.
Within a week after the new CEO came on board, the talk of the town was that he was making all the staff wear different uniforms color-coded by department.
Should we say, the new CEO was not well-liked by those working “the line.”
What then followed was a set of ads declaring “we are better than the other hospital in town” ads touting their new machines, their certifications and their awards.
Oh…and the new CEO used that four-letter C-word of healthcare marketing that the other hospital had in its newspaper ads and billboards.
The word that consumers say has been so overused and abused in healthcare that they don’t believe any claim of it.
And what did the other hospital CEO in town do?
Welcome to the cockfight!
The ads tout that they’re each #1.
Others declare new awards and certifications.
One of the ad series features a picture of a machine.
Other ads feature pictures of staff teams standing in front of machines.
Each new ad set declares “we are bigger and better”… and of course “we care”.
The other hospital’s ad running in today’s newspaper claims to be “a Primary Certified Stroke Care Center from The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.”
Wow. That’s an emotional differentiator! And certainly one that Joe will remember when his wife Joanne is having a stroke!
At least “we care” is easier to say!
Not that I have direct observation of an actual cockfight, but It’s like watching those cocks strutting around crowing and ruffling their features in the fields where those mountain farmers have them housed!
Cockfighting is not limited to healthcare or to smaller size companies.
Think about the AT&T versus Verizon ads. Think about the GM versus MINI Cooper Ads. Think about the Coke versus Pepsi ads.
Why am I sharing this story in the blog-logue?
Because when brands do this, it spells opportunity for the brands that “get it” and raise the bar above the cockfighting.
Something tells me with this being an election year, there will be a lot of political ads to watch from which we can learn what not to do!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Pass Me Another Glass Of That Two Bucks Chuck!
I have decided to either write a new cookbook for work-a-holics living in the budget age or launch a new cooking show on YouTube.
Either way, I am creating some great meal options that are easy to make...and dirt cheap.
Last week I ate out of my home only twice for dinner.
The first place I went was to Captain D’s. The second place was Outback.
It really wasn’t all that long ago when I ate out nearly every night complete with a nice glass of wine or two.
A good friend of mine in real estate set down a new law with her husband that any wine, beer or martini would be consumed at home before they headed out for dinner.
I told her about Two Bucks Chuck and she became an instant fan.
An online newsletter called “Nutrition Unplugged” recently posted the top trends emerging in the restaurant business.
One of those trends, titled “Upscaling The Downscale” hits right on an emerging market change.
The article specifically explains the trend as “consumers trading down in order to trade up” and cites gourmet burgers as an example of the trend in force.
I know this… the Captain D’s fried fish and shrimp meal complete with fried okra and fresh green beans was so good that I was describing the great taste for the $6.99 price to all of my Facebook friends as I ate it!
The reason I tell the story here and the emerging market change is bigger than just what we eat.
It’s hitting where we shop, what we drive, how we decorate, when we travel and why we work.
Most of time when I shop WalMart it’s packed. Most of the time when I shop any of the department stores its not.
Good friends are trading in their Bimmers for Jeeps and Hondas.
I see more store brands in grocery carts.
Sure…despite what the press says, we are in the heart of a recession.
But unlike the past where we will emerge with more secure jobs and return back to charging up the credit cards and aspiring to live the lavish lifestyle, current generations know that that paradigm is gone.
Case in point… if you have never seen ReadyMade Magazine, go down to your nearest grocery store or bookstore and buy it.
I have written about the magazine in this Blog-logue before.
It is emerging as the Millennial Generation's Better Homes & Gardens… although, Better Homes & Gardens is quickly embracing the Millennials as well with a new format and featured columns.
ReadyMade Magazine is all about how new singles, couples and family homesteaders (note I did not say home-owners!) are embracing life on a budget.
It showcases DIY alternatives, stretching the dollar and how to make more from less.
Where Boomers embraced peace and love, the Millennials are embracing each piece of whatever they can get and love finding ways to do so spending less.
Boomers climbed the corporate ladders. Millennials head over to Home Depot and build their own.
By the way, Home Depot is running full-page ads in the current issue of ReadyMade Magazine for their store brand paints.
To combat corporate accusations and downright hate, BP went out and spent a bunch of money on a fancy image television commercial.
It didn’t make it on air more than a week.
It wasn’t what they said, it’s how they said it and how much they spent in doing so.
The new commercials are more like YouTube videos and they've been running for the last two months or so.
Some BIG BUSINESS marketing management cocoons are finally getting it, but a vast majority still haven’t even captured a glimpse of it.
I may be taking a risk in saying that these changes are not temporary, but I will.
Baby Boomers who thought they would enjoy their retirement years will likely continue to work…even when the economy improves.
GenXers who refuse to cut the umbilical cords with their kids will soon be coughing up the cash to send their kids to college.
And the Millennials… well they are the ones fueling everything from ReadyMade Magazine, DIY TV, Property Virgins, Home Depot, McDonald’s Café Coffee, Old Navy and the revamping of Better Homes & Gardens Magazine.
And just as the Boomers clung to their 1960's Peace Movement and changed the marketplace...the Millennials, who are just shy of the same size, cling to their DIY-Budget Bound destiny.
While we are in the heat of the 2010 Hot Georgia Summer… I can already tell you that the observations made in this Blog-logue will be the foundation of the upcoming 2011 Trendcast.
Now pour me another glass of that Two Bucks Chuck.
Either way, I am creating some great meal options that are easy to make...and dirt cheap.
Last week I ate out of my home only twice for dinner.
The first place I went was to Captain D’s. The second place was Outback.
It really wasn’t all that long ago when I ate out nearly every night complete with a nice glass of wine or two.
A good friend of mine in real estate set down a new law with her husband that any wine, beer or martini would be consumed at home before they headed out for dinner.
I told her about Two Bucks Chuck and she became an instant fan.
An online newsletter called “Nutrition Unplugged” recently posted the top trends emerging in the restaurant business.
One of those trends, titled “Upscaling The Downscale” hits right on an emerging market change.
The article specifically explains the trend as “consumers trading down in order to trade up” and cites gourmet burgers as an example of the trend in force.
I know this… the Captain D’s fried fish and shrimp meal complete with fried okra and fresh green beans was so good that I was describing the great taste for the $6.99 price to all of my Facebook friends as I ate it!
The reason I tell the story here and the emerging market change is bigger than just what we eat.
It’s hitting where we shop, what we drive, how we decorate, when we travel and why we work.
Most of time when I shop WalMart it’s packed. Most of the time when I shop any of the department stores its not.
Good friends are trading in their Bimmers for Jeeps and Hondas.
I see more store brands in grocery carts.
Sure…despite what the press says, we are in the heart of a recession.
But unlike the past where we will emerge with more secure jobs and return back to charging up the credit cards and aspiring to live the lavish lifestyle, current generations know that that paradigm is gone.
Case in point… if you have never seen ReadyMade Magazine, go down to your nearest grocery store or bookstore and buy it.
I have written about the magazine in this Blog-logue before.
It is emerging as the Millennial Generation's Better Homes & Gardens… although, Better Homes & Gardens is quickly embracing the Millennials as well with a new format and featured columns.
ReadyMade Magazine is all about how new singles, couples and family homesteaders (note I did not say home-owners!) are embracing life on a budget.
It showcases DIY alternatives, stretching the dollar and how to make more from less.
Where Boomers embraced peace and love, the Millennials are embracing each piece of whatever they can get and love finding ways to do so spending less.
Boomers climbed the corporate ladders. Millennials head over to Home Depot and build their own.
By the way, Home Depot is running full-page ads in the current issue of ReadyMade Magazine for their store brand paints.
To combat corporate accusations and downright hate, BP went out and spent a bunch of money on a fancy image television commercial.
It didn’t make it on air more than a week.
It wasn’t what they said, it’s how they said it and how much they spent in doing so.
The new commercials are more like YouTube videos and they've been running for the last two months or so.
Some BIG BUSINESS marketing management cocoons are finally getting it, but a vast majority still haven’t even captured a glimpse of it.
I may be taking a risk in saying that these changes are not temporary, but I will.
Baby Boomers who thought they would enjoy their retirement years will likely continue to work…even when the economy improves.
GenXers who refuse to cut the umbilical cords with their kids will soon be coughing up the cash to send their kids to college.
And the Millennials… well they are the ones fueling everything from ReadyMade Magazine, DIY TV, Property Virgins, Home Depot, McDonald’s Café Coffee, Old Navy and the revamping of Better Homes & Gardens Magazine.
And just as the Boomers clung to their 1960's Peace Movement and changed the marketplace...the Millennials, who are just shy of the same size, cling to their DIY-Budget Bound destiny.
While we are in the heat of the 2010 Hot Georgia Summer… I can already tell you that the observations made in this Blog-logue will be the foundation of the upcoming 2011 Trendcast.
Now pour me another glass of that Two Bucks Chuck.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Now How Cool Is That!
I saw more of them yesterday.
Some preach…some give you an inside look at the inner circle…some exalt.
I am sure you have seen them.
Whether you watch CNN, FOX, CBS, MSNBC…they are out there.
They include the banks, the auto manufacturers, the telecoms, the insurance companies, the oil giants, the global traders…
It’s their corporate brand ads extolling the attributes of their products and their mission statements.
Okay.
It is because of this new rash of corporate ads that makes the current issue of Fast Company Magazine’s featured article stand out even more so.
The title of the article is “The Invincible Apple…10 Lessons From The Coolest Company Anywhere.”
With Steve Jobs at the helm, the black turtleneck and blue jeans sans the belts dominates the executive set.
A couple of the lesson subtitles captures what makes Apple “the coolest anywhere” company:
** Turn Feedback Into Inspiration
** Don’t Invent, Reinvent
** Serve Your Customer. No, Really.
** Transcend Orthodoxy
But the coolest of the 10 Lessons is titled “Everything Is Marketing.”
Get a load of this…
“When Martin Lindstrom, a brand consult and author of Buyology: The Truth and Lies About Why We Buy, examined those brains under a functional magnetic-resonance-imaging scanner, he discovered that Apple devotees are indistinguishable from those committed to Jesus.”
And as I preach…brand success is contingent upon every touch-point of the brand experience.
“Think of the iPod’s white earbuds, the Mac’s startup sound, or the unmistakable shape of of the MacBook’s back panel. None of these choices were accidental.”
The article goes on…
“The actual launch day (of the iPad) is choreographed like a dictator’s display of military splendor… This past January 27, when I walked into Apple’s iPad debut, the street ads depicted something old; when I left, there’s the iPad everywhere you look.”
“Study the iPad in the post its clock says 9:41 a.m. Why? Apple thought of that too. That’s the exact moment that Jobs revealed the iPad to the world.”
Let me say it again…brand success is contingent upon every touch-point of the brand experience.
And it's not complicated. The drive is simple…but a conviction.
Get a load of this process of product engineering for a DVD-burning program…
After three weeks of preparation time, the engineering team gathered in the board room with “page after page of prototype screen shots showing the new program’s various windows and menu options along with paragraphs of documentation describing how the app would work.”
“Then Steve (Steve Jobs) comes in. He doesn’t look at any of our work. He picks up a marker and goes over to the whiteboard and draws a rectangle and says…
“Here’s the new application. Its got one window. You drag your video into the window. They you click the button that say ‘BURN.’ That’s it. That’s what we’re going to make.”
I will repeat it again. The drive is simple…but a conviction.
Apple isn’t the only cool company out there.
There are others and they are not all BIG companies like Apple.
This past week in my Entrepreneurship class I reiterated, “build it and they will come is dead.”
Back to those corporate ads…
I get accused as seeing the glass half full more than I should.
Okay.
But as I blogged last week… I know the storms are coming.
And you know how I know?
Because I have an App on my iPhone that shows one is approaching.
Seriously.
Now is that cool or what!
Some preach…some give you an inside look at the inner circle…some exalt.
I am sure you have seen them.
Whether you watch CNN, FOX, CBS, MSNBC…they are out there.
They include the banks, the auto manufacturers, the telecoms, the insurance companies, the oil giants, the global traders…
It’s their corporate brand ads extolling the attributes of their products and their mission statements.
Okay.
It is because of this new rash of corporate ads that makes the current issue of Fast Company Magazine’s featured article stand out even more so.
The title of the article is “The Invincible Apple…10 Lessons From The Coolest Company Anywhere.”
With Steve Jobs at the helm, the black turtleneck and blue jeans sans the belts dominates the executive set.
A couple of the lesson subtitles captures what makes Apple “the coolest anywhere” company:
** Turn Feedback Into Inspiration
** Don’t Invent, Reinvent
** Serve Your Customer. No, Really.
** Transcend Orthodoxy
But the coolest of the 10 Lessons is titled “Everything Is Marketing.”
Get a load of this…
“When Martin Lindstrom, a brand consult and author of Buyology: The Truth and Lies About Why We Buy, examined those brains under a functional magnetic-resonance-imaging scanner, he discovered that Apple devotees are indistinguishable from those committed to Jesus.”
And as I preach…brand success is contingent upon every touch-point of the brand experience.
“Think of the iPod’s white earbuds, the Mac’s startup sound, or the unmistakable shape of of the MacBook’s back panel. None of these choices were accidental.”
The article goes on…
“The actual launch day (of the iPad) is choreographed like a dictator’s display of military splendor… This past January 27, when I walked into Apple’s iPad debut, the street ads depicted something old; when I left, there’s the iPad everywhere you look.”
“Study the iPad in the post its clock says 9:41 a.m. Why? Apple thought of that too. That’s the exact moment that Jobs revealed the iPad to the world.”
Let me say it again…brand success is contingent upon every touch-point of the brand experience.
And it's not complicated. The drive is simple…but a conviction.
Get a load of this process of product engineering for a DVD-burning program…
After three weeks of preparation time, the engineering team gathered in the board room with “page after page of prototype screen shots showing the new program’s various windows and menu options along with paragraphs of documentation describing how the app would work.”
“Then Steve (Steve Jobs) comes in. He doesn’t look at any of our work. He picks up a marker and goes over to the whiteboard and draws a rectangle and says…
“Here’s the new application. Its got one window. You drag your video into the window. They you click the button that say ‘BURN.’ That’s it. That’s what we’re going to make.”
I will repeat it again. The drive is simple…but a conviction.
Apple isn’t the only cool company out there.
There are others and they are not all BIG companies like Apple.
This past week in my Entrepreneurship class I reiterated, “build it and they will come is dead.”
Back to those corporate ads…
I get accused as seeing the glass half full more than I should.
Okay.
But as I blogged last week… I know the storms are coming.
And you know how I know?
Because I have an App on my iPhone that shows one is approaching.
Seriously.
Now is that cool or what!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Storms Brewing In The Heat Of Summer!
It’s damn hot down here in the South.
So hot that nearly all the folks I know spend their days and evening under the fans and soothing air conditioning.
The baseball fields are still. The bandstands are empty. The ponds barely post a ripple.
The stage is set for the explosion of sound and light with the July 4th fireworks!
USA Today ran a story this past week about the cable nets.
Here is the lead-in of the article…
“Chefs on the sci-fi channel SyFy? Cars and comics on the History Channel? A show about people with obsessive-compulsive disorder on VH1? Boxer Mike Tyson on Animal Planet?”
The lead-in then follows with this statement…
“Your TV isn’t out of whack, but your cable channel might be.”
In many ways what is taking place doesn’t surprise me.
The article posts a sub-head that reads “Formats are blurring in push for viewers.”
No question that the economy is one of the factors driving the quest.
As ad dollars decline, the nets scrape for whatever remains at the bottom of the barrel like a pack of dogs fighting for the bone.
But the economy is not the only driver.
Bring to the table the impact of online and mobile options, cable network lifescycles, next generation management and the original innovators now replaced by the MBAs.
And its not just the cable nets that deserve the limelight.
I am writing this blob at a Starbucks. Remember when Starbucks declared the ownership of the “Third Place?”
Today that “kitchen table” has been replaced by breakfast sandwiches designed to sway me from McDonald’s and instant coffee packs sold in supermarkets to sway me from Folgers.
Back about eight years ago, I leased an Infiniti FX mini-SUV that sported a completely new auto style and design.
Today when I drive up next to what looks like my old Infiniti, I see brand names like Ford, GM, Mercedes, Toyota and Kia.
And then when I get home I see TV ads for those same brands all declaring their new, novel and break-through new look and design.
Then there’s the new 4G iPhone that really isn’t any more “Mac innovative” than the 3G, but shoot, they have to compete against the 4G Google Phone.
Its like the post-innovative technology CEOs are now overdosing on Viagra.
I can go on with stories about banks all clamoring around service and hospitals all claiming the position of “we care.”
But I won’t.
Maybe it’s the Maslow pyramid hierarchy at work.
Maybe it’s about brands that have not just hit market maturity, but are now on the decline fostered further by the economy.
Out with the brand vision.
In with shedding the brand clothes and scrapping up whatever crumbs fall in the mud below.
Whatever happened to taking the risk to be brand innovative? Whatever happened to the brand platforms? Whatever happened to the brand stewards?
This past week I was again labeled as the proverbial optimist.
As much as it’s damn hot outside, I know that it will not remain still for long.
When the thunder rumbles, my heart beats faster.
A couple of weeks ago, Fine Living became The Cooking Channel, a network crafted specifically around the passion of the kitchen…not restaurants, not how food brands are made, not eating weird foods and not about travel.
When I served as the brand steward of Cartoon Network, we took a firm stand that no live programming could air on the network. Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast pushed the bar, but Space Ghost and his “studio” remained in the cartoon setting.
While MTV is airing movies and Travel Channel is airing game shows, Cartoon Network remains all cartoons.
There is hope.
When brands reach market maturity they will either Innovate again with what some may label as hierarchy or they will go out of business.
Entrepreneurs are crafting new ways to do business without the overhead of the corporations.
YouTube is now posting 2 billion views per day. Gee, wonder if those cable nets want to be YouTube?
As the cable nets elect to blur their brand lines, they may be surprised when they find themselves in the very seats that CBS, NBS and ABC sat in not that long ago.
Trust me. Get ready for the storms.
So hot that nearly all the folks I know spend their days and evening under the fans and soothing air conditioning.
The baseball fields are still. The bandstands are empty. The ponds barely post a ripple.
The stage is set for the explosion of sound and light with the July 4th fireworks!
USA Today ran a story this past week about the cable nets.
Here is the lead-in of the article…
“Chefs on the sci-fi channel SyFy? Cars and comics on the History Channel? A show about people with obsessive-compulsive disorder on VH1? Boxer Mike Tyson on Animal Planet?”
The lead-in then follows with this statement…
“Your TV isn’t out of whack, but your cable channel might be.”
In many ways what is taking place doesn’t surprise me.
The article posts a sub-head that reads “Formats are blurring in push for viewers.”
No question that the economy is one of the factors driving the quest.
As ad dollars decline, the nets scrape for whatever remains at the bottom of the barrel like a pack of dogs fighting for the bone.
But the economy is not the only driver.
Bring to the table the impact of online and mobile options, cable network lifescycles, next generation management and the original innovators now replaced by the MBAs.
And its not just the cable nets that deserve the limelight.
I am writing this blob at a Starbucks. Remember when Starbucks declared the ownership of the “Third Place?”
Today that “kitchen table” has been replaced by breakfast sandwiches designed to sway me from McDonald’s and instant coffee packs sold in supermarkets to sway me from Folgers.
Back about eight years ago, I leased an Infiniti FX mini-SUV that sported a completely new auto style and design.
Today when I drive up next to what looks like my old Infiniti, I see brand names like Ford, GM, Mercedes, Toyota and Kia.
And then when I get home I see TV ads for those same brands all declaring their new, novel and break-through new look and design.
Then there’s the new 4G iPhone that really isn’t any more “Mac innovative” than the 3G, but shoot, they have to compete against the 4G Google Phone.
Its like the post-innovative technology CEOs are now overdosing on Viagra.
I can go on with stories about banks all clamoring around service and hospitals all claiming the position of “we care.”
But I won’t.
Maybe it’s the Maslow pyramid hierarchy at work.
Maybe it’s about brands that have not just hit market maturity, but are now on the decline fostered further by the economy.
Out with the brand vision.
In with shedding the brand clothes and scrapping up whatever crumbs fall in the mud below.
Whatever happened to taking the risk to be brand innovative? Whatever happened to the brand platforms? Whatever happened to the brand stewards?
This past week I was again labeled as the proverbial optimist.
As much as it’s damn hot outside, I know that it will not remain still for long.
When the thunder rumbles, my heart beats faster.
A couple of weeks ago, Fine Living became The Cooking Channel, a network crafted specifically around the passion of the kitchen…not restaurants, not how food brands are made, not eating weird foods and not about travel.
When I served as the brand steward of Cartoon Network, we took a firm stand that no live programming could air on the network. Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast pushed the bar, but Space Ghost and his “studio” remained in the cartoon setting.
While MTV is airing movies and Travel Channel is airing game shows, Cartoon Network remains all cartoons.
There is hope.
When brands reach market maturity they will either Innovate again with what some may label as hierarchy or they will go out of business.
Entrepreneurs are crafting new ways to do business without the overhead of the corporations.
YouTube is now posting 2 billion views per day. Gee, wonder if those cable nets want to be YouTube?
As the cable nets elect to blur their brand lines, they may be surprised when they find themselves in the very seats that CBS, NBS and ABC sat in not that long ago.
Trust me. Get ready for the storms.
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