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    Apple’s Laborious Day.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    I have long been a supporter of Steve Jobs and Apple. With their market-changing introduction of the iPod, I really jumped on board, but this whole pricing debacle with the iPhone was foreseeable…and avoidable.

     
    Everybody knew the price was going to drop, but to do it so soon after launch sent a couple of really stupid messages to the market. The first messages, reported by the business press, was “Apple earnings must be off for such a reactive price drop.”  The second message, this one to Apple’s most passionate and loyal fans was “If you stood on line for days, were among the first to buy an iPhones and then ran around doing free demos for all your friends, you were a sap.”
     
    This was a no-brainer. Everyone in the world expected the price cut to happen prior to the Christmas/Chanukah holidays, but Labor Day? Someone was out to lunch on that decision.
     

    How low can you go?

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Pepsi and Coke are fierce competitors in the next wave of non-carbonated drinks. The full product lines are rich and complex starting with soda at one end, moving down through the diet sodas and enriched waters ending at plain water. In between are various shades and flavors. The problem here is that people are going to realize at some point that water is free and as we move down the food chain from soda to water — with less everything – it’s getting a little silly. It just doesn’t make sense to pay for water.

    That said, could there be a water product in our future where the bottle is half full? Half water, half air? Mountain air! I think I’m on to something here.
     

    MTV

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    MTV is showing its crow’s feet. Those are wrinkles around the eyes for you younger readers. Here’s a franchise that blazed new trails in music, thanks to video, and has now lost much relevance. They are into many, many things today: cable TV programming, video games, movies, online portal content — I wouldn’t be surprised if they had a consumer food product in there somewhere.

    The MTV Awards has been flagging in viewership the last few years and this is their biggest chance each year to be relevant. And relevant in a core business way.

    Some say MVT has lost touch with kids’ media consumption habits, missing the boat in online video and social networking. I completely agree. As TV and computer morph together, you have to know that MTV wasn’t paying close attention.   MySpace became the online venue of choice for small and mid-size bands. YouTube became the purveyor of online videos. And the next video platform is still being figured out and I don’t think it will have an MTV brand associated with it. (Sadly, this will be a pay-for service.)

    This was, and is, all MTV’s turf. A couple of weeks ago I wrote that Volkswagen should have owned the small car, energy efficient vehicle market. It was a natural. They missed the boat too. MTV can turn its sh*t around, but it needs to hurry.

    Mr. (Mattel) president.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Talk about public relations nightmares. Mattel keeps hitting the news as its toys are found to be defective. The latest word is, some toys produced in China contain lead paint.

     
    Mattel has issued full-page ads explaining to parents how they’re all over the issue and have made promises to rectify the problems.  
     
    This makes me think of the Reverend Al Sharpton’s 2004 democratic national convention speech, in which he tells president Bush African Americans’ vote “is sacred to us.” Well, you want sacred? Think about the lengths a mother will go to protect her children.   Toys that might injure or make a child sick are not held in high regard, I’m guessing. You want brand disloyalty? You want a brand grudge? Outsource your production to a place where they cut corners to save a buck on toys.
     
    Mattel doesn’t need to create full-page ads telling moms they promise to fix the production processes in China. They don’t need to provide a URL for moms to read up on what Mattel is doing about this problem. (Are they kidding? A URL?)) They need to stop producing in China and tell America’s moms about it. At least until the problem is fixed. They need to really “do” something and bleed a little to prove they mean business. 
     
    Children are sacred to their moms and dads, Mr. Mattel president. This may be an issue you cannot survive. So you had better act quickly.  

    A challenge.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Hi, my name is Alex Bogusky. I’m a guest columnist here with What’s the idea. My hard-edged insights are going to turn heads and make everyone smarter communicators. Responsible for the Burger King king, the Mini Cooper launch and Miller Lite’s misunderstood but effective Man Laws campaign, I’ve been advertising’s most visible spokesperson for the past 5 years.  
     
    Surprise! It’s not Alex, it’s me, Steve. I had you going, didn’t I? 
     
    This is the tactic Ford is taking with their new “Swap My Ride” campaign. The campaign positions Ford by allowing new owners of other car brands, e.g., Toyota, Nissan, to drive Fords with the Ford identity concealed – under the guise of market research. Low and behold, the tricked consumers like the Ford automobile and say so in TV commercials. 
     
    OMG. This is challenger brand stuff. It says to consumers, “we’re just as good” as our competition. The problem with this approach is it puts competitors into the equation. It uses them as context.  Ford needs to tell its own story.  
     
    If Ford continues to act like a challenger brand, it will remain a challenger brand. They are beginning to exhibit some vision and nice car designs. How about looking within? THAT would be a bold move.
     

    The web (lower case) and society.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    There was an Associated Press news item today about a huge once-in-a-lifetime spider web in Texas. It measures close to 200 yards. The web is by some accounts world’s largest mosquito catching device. Where am I going with this, you ask? Well, if you read my post yesterday and that of Nico MacDonald on whether or not the Web (cap “W”) can change society, you might ask yourself “Why don’t spiders work together more often and create an easier food source?”  They certainly have the technology.  It would seem they just don’t have the “societal” desire for change. Hmmm. Society changes society, not technology.  Score another point for Nico.

    Societal Change and the Internet

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Today I received an email from Nico MacDonald which pointed me to an important post he wrote on whether or not the Web can change society. I plan on reading Nico’s blog moving forward. The guy is a thinker.  This particular entry can be found here: 
     
     
    I agree with much of what he says: society changes society, technology doesn’t. But look at this simple act of communication. I found Nico, read him, learned from him, and have been inspired by him to opine. And, I’m not doing it in a one-to-one email. I’m doing it on the searchable web. Society does changes society. Absolutely. However society is made up of people, and as the Web allows more and more of these people into the process of governance, the change may change.  Or, inaction may turn to action. 
     
    Our loftiest goal at Zude (my employer) is to give the Web to all the people. Where a kid can write a school paper about the invasion of Normandy and get first-hand information, through a dialog, with someone who actually landed on the beach. This can happen not just because of search, but because a new class of people — those who heretofore have not had a web presence – can now have a tool by which to publish their thoughts online. The Web can break down social gerrymandering on a massive scale if used correctly.  (Why do you think North Korea is so afraid of the Internet?)
     
    Democracy gives all the people a voice and a vote. The Web and Web 2.0 technology brings more people into the process. 
     
    Stay tuned for more on how the Web can create societal change. And thanks Nico.
     

    Tactics before strategy.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Tactics before strategy makes me crazy. Today’s digital world sometimes creates this environment. I read yesterday about H-P’s new $300 million dollar advertising effort to promote its printer business, and though I read about the effort in national newspapers and an advertising trade weekly, never really understood the idea. Goodby? H-P? What’s the idea?
     
    One item that was reported and was apparently newsworthy was this:
     
    “For out of home, there will be electronic billboards in Las Vegas and New York’s Time’s Square. In New York, users will be able to build their own (Gwen) Stefani doll and e-mail it to their cell phones. In Las Vegas, they will be able to move around a stream of digital photos that center on Stefani and Burton (the CEO of Burton Snowboards).”
     
    Need I say more?
     

    Drinking and Driving

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    There were two interesting announcements today that point to trends in the marketing world and both originate in China. Tsingtao Beer profits and sales are way up, due to increased consumption of brew in China and Chinese car companies like Great Wall Motor and Cherry Automobile Co. are growing faster than expected — and not just because they are selling to a new, emerging class of Chinese with disposable income. It’s because other developing countries, such as those in Africa, are finding value in Chinese automobiles. A new car in Africa doesn’t have 10 airbags or new age catalytic converters (not that there’s anything wrong with them), so their prices are lower and they’re outselling US and European brands. China is growing, consuming and growing smart.

     
    I was driving around Puerto Rico a couple of months ago and was amazed at the number of Suzuki cars on the road. They outnumbered other brands 4 to 1. Now Suzuki’s aren’t Chinese, but they are a value brand and though the Puerto Rican economy has been dinged lately, by and large it’s doing okay. Many of these Suzukis were new. Clearly, Puerto Ricans want value. And the leading local beer in Puerto Rico, by the way, is Medalla. Why does it lead the market? It tastes good and costs less.
     
    As China goes on line (not online) with more and more low wage jobs pushing out mass-produced products of value, we need to carefully watch the lower end of our market. We have only scratched the surface of what’s to come from China and other foreign-based value brand marketers. If you want a case to study, check out the growth of the Hyundai automobile brand in the U.S.
     

    Ugly American Brands

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    A GfK Roper Consulting study just reported that American brands are taking a major image hit around the world. Iconic brands like Coke, MacDonald’s and Gillette are losing their luster, while BMW, Sony and Honda are gaining. Could this be tied to our foreign policies around the world? Of course, it is.

     
    The Ugly American was once cartoonish notion of boisterous, demanding tourists. It was almost real enough to be true. Today, however, it’s different.  Abroad, American’s are being painted with a single ideological brush and, fair or not, it is rubbing off on our products. If our products are become negative symbols of America and American culture, things are starting to go downhill fast. 
     
    It’s every American’s responsibility to improve our country’s image. Let take control of our image. Leadership begins at home. The home where you park your car.
     
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