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    Wu hoo…activism.

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    Google Reason.

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    A Clear Brand Idea.

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    Marketing

    Now that’s progressive.

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    Steve Poppe
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    Progressive Insurance is sponsoring the Automotive XPrize which will award 10 million dollars to teams that develop a car that exceed 100 miles per gallon. It is a multi-year competition that seeks to spur lots of global design teams to develop fuel-efficient, low emission, commercially viable cars. It’s the kind of thing capitalists can dream up but governments can’t.
     
    An X prize competition was established in 1996 to create a “private race to space” and a $10 million prize generated $100 million in contestant investment in the technology. This is the goal of Progressive Automotive’s efforts. 
     
     
    What does Geico stands for? Certainly car insurance. 15 minutes saves you 15%. Geckos. Neanderthals.  Fill in the blank. But now I know what Progressive stands for. They are progressive.  Their website says Progressive has a “proven tradition of innovative thinking” and “long history of industry firsts,” but that’s all marketing palaver. This contest is real proof or progressiveness.  It’s believable proof. 
     
    If given the opportunity to spend my hard-earned with a marketing juggernaut or a progressive company — prices being equal — I’ll opt for the latter every time.
     

    What’s the Idea Yahoo?

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    Steve Poppe
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    There are hints in the press that Yahoo might be broken up. There’s also talk that if big things don’t happen soon, Carol Bartz will be out in a year. Can anyone imagine the internet era without Yahoo? 

    When was the last time you went to Yahoo to look at something? When was the last time someone sent you a link to Yahoo to see a video, or read a story or view a picture?  I go all the time to check my Fantasy Football stuff, but that’s about it. Yahoo Fantasy Sports is probably Yahoo’s biggest asset; they do some nice video programming (Charissa Thompson is a star in waiting.).

    But Yahoo still seems rudderless.  I know it wants to be in the content business but it’s not buying any properties that I can tell. In this area it is losing to AOL, who seems to be spending wisely on content… TechCruch, for instance.

    Carol Bartz is keeping her head down. Elisa Steele, CMO and Penny Baldwin, SVP Integrated Branding are also sub rosa when it comes to the plan forward. The latter two should be helping form the product, and I’m not seeing it.  I’m seeing some tilling of the field but not a lot of growth.  Yahoo needs an idea! Peace.

    Forget Consumer Generated Content…

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    Steve Poppe
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    …agencies need to worry about marketer generated content. Check out this Ad Age quote from the CMO of Miller Randy Ransom regarding its new in-house effort for Miller Lite:
     
    “We are taking a ‘hard right turn’ back to the core essence of Miller Lite, which has always been about differentiating Miller Lite from competitors as a better beer.  The new ads (in-house) demonstrate our ability to move with speed and conviction. And we like the flexibility that these simple formats provide to quickly customize our messaging for a variety of mediums.” 

    The implication in Mr. Ransom’s quote is that agency’s cannot move with speed and conviction, are not flexible, and can’t quickly customize messages to a variety of mediums. That’s a problem. It’s a bigger problem than the work that got Miller Lite into this mess, which I’m sure was collaborative.
     
    (Oh, and Alex Bogusky, strap on a pair and fire these bozos.)

    Ben Bensons’ Steak House and the Man.

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    Steve Poppe
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    Ben Benson 

    Ben Benson is a New York steak house legend and a very smart businessman.  Talk about personal branding?  Ben and partner Alan Stillman double handedly invented the “singles scene.” Friday’s, on the upper east side of NYC, was the branded place to pick up members of the opposite sex when it first opened.  The bar and its sister bars Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays, which didn’t fair as well, eventually evolved into the TGI Friday’s chain, now with different owners.

    Ben and Mr. Stillman parted ways with Mr. Stillman becoming a corporation, a publically traded company (I think) with lots of restaurant properties around the city and country.  Ben stuck to his knitting, stuck to his store (123 West 52nd Street, NYC, “I think you’ll love it.”) and has built a brand the old fashion way: One steak at a time. Mr. Benson, who has had some health problems (Who wouldn’t being surrounded by sirloins all his adult life?) has outlived many peers in the business world. Literally and figuratively.  Thousands of captains of industry who used to dine at Ben Benson’s ordering $400 bottles of wine are long gone and forgotten. Not Ben.

    A Marketing Lesson. 

    I once told Ben he should give away umbrellas on rainy days to his best guests who had been caught unaware by the weather. (Ben has a wonderful, striking logo.) The umbrellas cost about $19.00 a piece and would be walking billboards around the city I told him. “You know how many steaks I have to sell to pay for one of those umbrellas?” was his response.  “My steaks are expensive — I only make about 2 dollars a steak. I’d have to sell eight steaks to pay for one umbrella.”  The lessons I learned from Ben resound. When I ask clients to spend their money I think of steaks jumping across plates and it grounds me.  Ben is a Harvard Business Review case study. Study him.  (But buy a steak first.)

    Barack’s Thank You Email.

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    Steve Poppe
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    What’s the idea with Barack Obama winning? Here’s a clue. This is an email he sent out to supporters upon hearing of his election. Note the time:

     

    From: Barack Obama [mailto:info@barackobama.com]
    Sent: Wednesday, November 05, 2008 12:11 AM
    To: Terrence Last Name
    Subject: How this happened

     Terrence —

    I’m about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.

    We just made history.

    And I don’t want you to forget how we did it.

    You made history every single day during this campaign — every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it’s time for change.

    I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.

    We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I’ll be in touch soon about what comes next.

    But I want to be very clear about one thing…

    All of this happened because of you.

    Thank you,

    Barack

     

    Remembering to say “thank you” is an important way to build loyalty. Peace!

    Apple…Coolest Brand on the Planet.

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    Steve Poppe
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    Apple’s App Store is the most successful store ever built. It’s exciting because it was built without hammer and nail, it’s only 9 months old, has 1 billion downloads, and is really just a drooling, cooing infant.  I remember posting 10 months ago that Facebook had better watch out for the App Store because all developers writing apps for Facebook (for free) were going to drop it like a bad habit in favor of the App Store, where they would be able to make some Benjamins.

     

    The App Store doesn’t have many employees — thank you software — and is the source of the most exciting innovation in all the world. If Apple isn’t the coolest brand on the planet, I don’t know what is. No sugar water here.  Peace!   

     

    Feets Don’t Fail Under Armour Now.

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    Steve Poppe
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    Under Armour is introducing two new sneaker designs (May I call them sneakers?) this week in an attempt to increase its share of the $22B athletic footwear (sneakers) market.  A market, by the way, that was only about $3B in 1993.  The TV campaign handled by Twofifteen McCann and Digiteria for digital offers a lot of smart tactics: the director of Friday Night Lights, a YouTube takeover to reach the younger buyers, limited distribution to build demand, Cam Newton, and an idea that ties sneakers to sports action – Footsteps.  As smart as these tactics are, they feel like a pastiche of forced-together marketing tools from an Effie Awards Annual. I suspect they will work, however.

    First and foremost though, one must ask if footwear is a business Under Armour wants to be in.  I say no. And I’ve said so before in WTI.  Sunglasses? No as well. UA founder Kevin Plank, in his heart knows this.  He owns a franchise that is now being diluting.  You can’t keep sticking the same tea bag in new water.  The company already owns fast twitch muscle, form fitting wicking shirts but will lose that ownership as it takes its eyes off the ball. Wicking sneaker tops?  Not so sexy.  Lindsey Vonn. Oh yeah.

    Mr. Plank’s next move should be into form fitting shorts and shirts for the fashion conscious market.  Leave the kicks to Nike.  Or start a new footwear endemic company  This is one brand extension that might sell some shoes near term, but is going to turn Under Armour into a brand in decline overall.  And it’s sad.  Stop playing with feet! Peace.

    (Picture from NY Times.)

    The Future “That’s Right” For Newsday.

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    Steve Poppe
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    Here’s what I think is happening with Cablevision and Newsday. It’s a bold move but I think Newsday.com that is driving this Cablevision deal. Everyone’s talking about printing synergies and news-reporting synergies but I believe that is just rearview mirror business planning.
     
    Ask yourself the question, as newspaper readership and relevance diminish, and as television viewership changes and loses steam, what’s growing? That’s right.
     
    In what business is Cablevision make money ass over tea kettle? That’s right. Where do people turn when they want immediate access to developing news? That’s right. Where do they turn to search for shopping info? That’s right.
     
    Now, where are some of the richest per capita counties in America? That’s right. If the Dolans can figure out how to turn Newsday.com into the first true multimedia, real-time local news and information source, they will invent a new category. They will be looking ahead, not behind.  The synergies driving the deal are News12 and broadcast not the newspaper.  

    The world’s simplest video recorder will change the world.

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    Steve Poppe
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    Technologies, less than a year old, is making it so just about anyone can carry a video camera.
     
    The Flip costs $120 and is the equivalent of a point and shoot camera.  But easier. As David Poque of the NY Times says, this camera is not burdened with “feature creep,” so anyone can master it. Or as we like to say at Zude the market extends “from geeks to grandpas.”  When you make something easy for everyone to use (read Nintendo Wii,) market share follows. The Flip already owns 13% share. The Flip has no tapes or disks. No menus. No settings, video light, special effects, headphone jacks. It just works…and works well.
     
    The instructions read: Recording videos: 1. Press record button to start/stop. 2. Press up/down keys to zoom in/out.  Playing videos: 3. Press play button to start/stop. 4. Press left/right keys to play previous/next.
     
    Technology companies are beginning to catch on that simplicity is in great demand. Now everyone can play a video game. Everyone can make a video. Everyone can build their own website.
     
    As more and more Flip Videos make it into pocketbooks, backpacks and pockets, we are going to find that video recording of events will grow exponentially. Unit sales will soar, the universe of buyers will increase, and we’ll see some things that will make your hair curl. 
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