Wednesday, June 27th, 2007
The New York Times recently posted an article on the latest, second highest paid guest teacher. Paris Hilton. The Learning Annex has reportedly offered her a cool $1,000,000 to speak on “Building Your Brand” to businessmen. Yes, you read right, and no, the world is not ending, the moon is not being filled with blood, nor are fish turning up dead in oceans around the world. I am still trying to wrap my head around this one. Obviously, this makes for great publicity for both sides.
What she will say during the seminar are beyond me. It is true, she has built a phenomenal brand around herself (for better or worse, you decide), but how is she as a speaker and mentor? After hearing her in interviews, I shudder to think about what comes out (no offense, perhaps I have just not heard the “real Paris”). My best guess is that she will have highly paid advisors coaching her and preparing the workshop for her. Or, perhaps I am not giving enough credit where credit is do? Time will tell. Either way, this is buzz for her that is a step in a more positive direction, and not about skin or alcohol.
Posted in Buzz, Marketing | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 19th, 2007
Well, not quite my car, but Kent Floral’s is. While eating my lunch earlier I noticed their van pass by, and their colors and design really caught my eye. It passed by so quickly I didn’t have time to snap a picture, and Google search isn’t giving me results, so the most I can do is describe it to you. It was a very clean, white van with large flowers all over its side (I only got to see one side of it). Just picture Scooby Doo’s Mystery Mobile but white. Notice I mentioned clean, just read Ron McDaniel’s post on company imagery and you’ll see why. It stood out very well, and stayed with me long enough to want to post about it.
It had me thinking about other great advertising I’ve seen on automobiles. Sure, you see semi-trucks with products plastered on their side, but I mean something that becomes instantly recognizable and synonymous with the company. The best examples I can think of now are the Best Buy Geek Squad and Oscar Mayer car/truck/moving food product… whatever it is. Both are unique and recognized instantly. There is no mistaking who their for. Alright, so you don’t go around seeing the Oscar Mayer weiner-mobile driving around the road, but the Geek Squad cars are everywhere, and the fact that they are makes a great advertisement for them while they are out on house calls.
Having the Geek Squad bug and uniforms really established an identity for them that separates them from normal customer service. It goes beyond the expected. The question is, then, what do you do to stand out?
Posted in Buzz, Marketing | 7 Comments »
Friday, June 8th, 2007
How many times have you seen this? A company gets ready to roll out a new product or service that starts out as one great idea, and slowy evolves into a multi-featured giant nightmare by adding new components over and over through the course of time. This is the “that’s good, but wouldn’t it be great if we added this?” syndrome better known as feature creep. A few things added to improve on the main goal may be okay, but it is best to stay on target and keep things simple. Unless your product is supposed to be an all-in-one swiss army knife of products, take a step back and go to the basics. This means making sure your product delivers on its original promise and goals, and retains its definition.
Posted in Small Business | 2 Comments »
Monday, June 4th, 2007
After a nice, week long vacation I return to my pc. It’s strange how much I rely on using a pc in my life yet I went on for one week without missing it much. I did sneak in a few peaks at my email, but otherwise my vacation was computer free.
Coming back, I see there is a lot of work ahead of me. I will be writing more now that I am back again. In the mean time, take a look at this neat piece of innovation from Microsoft, called Microsoft Surface. It looks like something from the future right in your home. How practical, affordable, and the likelihood of it catching on remains to be seen, but the nerdy side of me drools over the possibilities.
Posted in Miscellaneous, Tech | No Comments »
