ipod

You are currently browsing articles tagged ipod.

Beyond the Dashboard.

December 23, 2009 in Marketing | 0 Comments

dashboard 

The dashboard metaphor came to me recently when looking for the antithesis of what I have long been calling “rearview mirror” marketing strategy. Those who look through the rearview and side view mirrors to guide marketing decisions are likely to make only incremental advances.  This school of marketers asks questions such as “Where have our sales come in the past? Where have our competitors’ sales come from in the past? Who is gaining marketshare and what is their strategy?”  I’m a fan of history but I don’t advise clients to be stifled by it.

The Marketing Dashboard

The dashboard is something you hear about repeatedly in corporate management circles.  Data a la carte.  A single computer interface with dollar sales, unit sales, segment sales, regional sorts, YOY, month over month, sale by channel, A to S ratio, cost per click, etc. The dashboard can be mesmerizing, but what lies ahead of the dashboard?  The answer is the future. The horizon. And, more importantly, what’s beyond the horizon.  Can you say iPod?

 Incrementalists

I’m not going to go all Henry Ford on you but the future is where the big money is. Doing what everyone else does, even in messaging, is where the incrementalists play. Don’t be an incrementalist.  Look forward. People are people and their needs are predictable. Don’t over think. Understand simplicity, usability, and human nature…and you should be able see beyond the dashboard.  

Happy Holidays and a big fat PEACE!

Possibly Related Posts:


Tags: , , , , ,

Face Without the Book.

October 19, 2009 in Marketing | 0 Comments

Have you ever been to a high school football game and watched kids walk the bottom row of the stands? It can be more fun than the game itself. Some kids parade as if it’s a Narciso runway show while others skulk, head down, hiding from the world. The paraders are filled with “hi’ and “heys,” the skulkers, not so much. It’s a matter of confidence. But now the skulkers have a tool — texting. They have a reason to avert their eyes while looking tre cool and busy.

Subways and buses in urban centers are other places people like to hide from stares, ergo you’ll see a preponderance of iPods and texting.

Today, technology is often a diversion, especially for kids, giving them an excuse not to socialize. Early MySpace cadets and current Facebookers called what they were doing “being social” and to an extent it is. Certainly, there are nice apps on Facebook allowing people to expand their circle and do new stuff. But let’s face it, sitting on your ass and typing to friends and neofriends smells of the letter-writing, attic-recluse types of yore.

I’m betting the next group of cool apps will be closer to FourSquare than Facebook — helping people actually get out of their chairs and meet others with whom they are comfortable. “Likeminds” as Noah Brier and Piers Fawkes might say. There’s social and there’s social. I for one, prefer the version conducted in person. (He said typing from his chair.) Peace!

Possibly Related Posts:


Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

The Great American Spanking

June 12, 2009 in Marketing | 0 Comments

 

This recession has been kicking my ass. Never a good saver, like most Americans I have been leveraging assets and looking to future earnings. This was okay while everyone else was doing the same and banks encouraged us along, but when the banks and bank insurers went under, the News Hour turned to fright night, and millions lost their jobs, I got religion.  Being an ad guy in my bones, I remain positive, even as my work days and consulting fees dwindle.

 

Most American’s have been spanked and I hope we have learned our lesson…as individuals and as a country.

 

There are signs that we may be turning the corner economically. Though, ad spending was down in 1Q, senior executives are talking about signs of budget life. Jobless claims have slowed and a slight bump in retail sales are two other good signs.

 

Mr. Positive, here, believes this smack in the butt is going to make us stronger. Each and every one of us: college kids, newlyweds, first time home buyers, retirees and their elders.  Individually and as a country we need to focus on what we need. When we buy and use more than we need, things get risky. We must get back to fiscal and environmental responsibility. If we do, the goods we purchase will mean more, we will take better care of them, and life, I suspect, will be fuller. It will also give us more time to put tunes on our iPods. Peace!

 

Possibly Related Posts:


Tags: , , , , , ,

Little Love

January 6, 2009 in Marketing | 0 Comments


What’s the idea with Big Love?

You gotta love BBDO’s David Lubars trying to reinvent his agency with idea knick knacks that say “we get new media.” His new promotional and advertising efforts for HBO’s show “Big Love,” about a polygamist family in Utah, includes people walking around town with big thought bubbles (cartoon copy) displayed above their heads (coming to NY, Chicago, LA and Phil, Jan 14th) conveying personal secrets. Small audio billboards and sidewalk displays play Big Love characters’ secrets when you plug in your iPod headphones to the provided jacks. 

The “secrets” campaign repurposes the idea of the online property post secret, which has been a brilliant internet property for years. “Everyone has something to hide,” the campaign theme, is a nice experiential truism and one people can agree is probably a core value of the show. That said, not that many people know the cast of Big Love and, therefore, will care about their secrets.  The thought bubbles are fun but goofy and the media becomes the message, not vice versa.

Big Love is a good show. Everyone has something to hide is a good idea. The new media spin is a little forced.

   

 

 

 

 

 

Possibly Related Posts:


Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Things we carry.

January 5, 2009 in Marketing | 0 Comments

If you are a guy, think about all the things (Did you see the Ting Tings on New Year’s Eve?) you carry around with you each day. Cell phone, house and car keys, wallet to hold a drivers license, credit cards, cash, wrist watch, business cards, checks, and maybe a pair of glasses, if you haven’t had lasik, a pen. 

Now let’s move to your backpack or messenger bag: sunglasses, laptop, jump drive, more business cards, pencil, iPod, chap stick, gum, iPod charger, cell phone charger, Bluetooth or hands free device. 

As for the stuff women carry, multiply by 2.

My prediction for the year 2009 goes to the stuff we carry. There will be less of it.  There will be a consolidation of stuff we carry. Already, my car keys are wireless and never leave my pocket. I only wear a watch because I’m a geeze. My phone can take 8 gigs of music, but I use my iPod because I’m lazy. The stuff in the wallet can all be digital and will be in a couple of years. The cell phone and laptop will collide. And let’s face it, someone is going to invent gum that freshens the breath and hydrates the lips. It’s inevitable. Peace!

Possibly Related Posts:


Tags: , , , , ,