Business Management Infographics - What it takes to support marquee brands.

If Net Neutrality Disappears

Here’s a scary graphic from Quink on what the Internet might look like if ISPs win the Net Neutrality battle currently going on in Congress.

The web works because no one in particular controls it. The businesses that first dropped per-minute web pricing and tore down "walled gardens" have seen the greatest economic return and best advanced public dialog and ideas.

Life Lessons from an Ad Man

This presentation is definitely worth your time - Rory Sutherland talks about how human happiness is based on our perceptions, not directly in a change in reality. Therefore, why do we work so hard to change reality when all we need to do is alter our perceptions for the same result? If you read the Wired Magazine article recently about placebos you'll understand what he means.

Your TV is Stalking You

TiVo sure threw a big rock into the still waters of TV network advertising.

With fewer people watching "live" TV, your friendly neighborhood TV network has decided to follow you around whether you want it to or not. Public video monitors are popping up all over to make sure you don't miss a golden chance for someone to sell to you.

Pumping gas? Introducing ShamWow! Going up to the 45th floor? Lose weight with Nutrisystem. Catching a cab downtown? Refinance your mortgage!

And this is impressive....now they're embedding TV ads into your magazines (watch this clip)!

I'm a marketer, and I love marketing. But sometimes I think we marketers won't be happy until each of us can beam our USP directly into the frontal lobe of every earthling with a checking account.

Where are the Sinners?

A team at Kansas State put together a clever graphic showing us where most sinners live. Southern Cal? Greedy. Bible Belt? Envious and lustful. Texas? Gluttonous. Montana? Slothful. Pretty much everywhere else is prideful.

What I learned: If you want to avoid temptation, move to North Dakota.

4 Billion Phone Users : 1.6 Billion Bank Accounts

Nokia has noticed that there are 4 billion global cell phone users, but only 1.6 billion bank accounts. They're about to launch Nokia Money, a new way to send and receive payments using your cell phone number. This move could make Nokia a leading global ATM really fast, especially in third-world countries where it's more common to own a phone than a checking account.

If Nokia gets its way, the next time you're splitting the bill, buying groceries or that Diet Coke at a vending machine, you might be paying with your phone.

Security is obviously the big concern here which is why I think it's just a matter of time before biometrics are integrated into mobile devices.

How Americans Spend The Day

Here's an insightful survey infographic from the NY Times on how Americans spend their days. I've created a composite (static) image here, and you can see the interactive graph here that lets you drill down to different demographic segments.

Computer use is suspiciously low, though survey respondents may have lumped it into leisure or work time. My big takeaway? Higher education = longer lunch break.

"Authenticity" - It's a Buzzword but it's True

You can't speak with a marketing consultant today for more than 3 minutes without hearing the word "authenticity". Your products need to project authenticity. Your marketing needs to be honest and authentic.

Of course, it's a buzzword because your marketing and products should have always been authentic - what's the alternative? But now even the biggest brands are trying to fake authenticity by "buying" fans. Michael Jackson is a brand, and according to Tech Crunch his team purchased 25,000 Twitter followers from the sketchy service uSocial.

First of all, even before he died I doubt MJ had to buy fans or followers. Second, they had to know that something like this would eventually get out and dent up the brand by making MJ look desperate and unpopular.

And all those celebs who have hired Twitter Ghost Writers, your brand dress-down is coming too once your fans find out.

Authenticity - sure it's today's marketing buzzword but it's something you earn, not something you buy.

Do Something Different Through Imitation?

Absolut Vodka just released a web ad hyping the virtues of being different. Their ad features artists bending nature to the audio backdrop of an emotive New Order remake - a solid effort at a viral advertising coup, right? But bloggers and message boards aren't raving about the originality of the ad - they're saying the ad rips off Stegan Sagmeister, an influential graphic designer.

So here's the rub for Absolut. They want creative people to spread the ad it to a wider circle, but when those creatives smell a fake they won't play ball. Absolut should "think responsibly" in the future when it rips others off to inspire originality.

Real or Subtle Viral Marketing?

Disney may have a hand in this fantastic marriage proposal on Main Street USA. Note the professional production, the multiple camera set-ups at high angles, the mikes, the sound system and the Disney-esque couple. How could this guy pull this off so flawlessly without some help from Disney. Even the song lyrics were right in line with Disney's brand messages. And was the girlfriend in on it?

Whether it was authentic or planned, it's a pleasure to watch - and it's generating lots of buzz on web video sites and blogs. Nice job, Disney.

Mobile Apps - Now With Tracking Metrics!

Mobile devices are acting less like phones and more like media. Now there are companies that embed into your mobile device app to track usage, just like an Omniture or AC Nielson tracks usage. Here are a few takeaways from one of these companies, Pinch Media...

1. Only 20% of app users come back to use it the second day
2. Paid apps retain users longer than free apps
3. Free apps supported by ads are likely to collect an average $8.75 CPM
4. Certain apps that cater to niches can command better ad rates than average

Pinch's overall conclusion is that unless your app scream's "free", sell it.

Free Isn't Working

August 9, 1995 was an infamous day in the history of business. That was the day that Netscape’s IPO set lips a flutter all over the business world about this new, ingenious strategy: Give your product away for free. Now we have free browsers. free online content, free memberships, free PCs, free web TV, free internet access, free software and free music.

The idea was that if you offered your product for free, soon you would have a massive volume of "customers" and you could sell them peripheral services. But for most companies free has been a bad deal.

Newspapers conditioned readers to free web content and then realized they couldn't make enough with online advertising. MySpace just laid off 30% of its workforce because of cash flow problems. Facebook is on the rocks. Up-sell conversion rates for free software are mostly miserable. Hulu is re-thinking their free programming strategy. Free browsers are subsidized by other products the company sells.

It's time for the age of free to end. Customers have enjoyed the free ride, but most companies are realizing they just can’t survive as chumps. Newspapers need to charge subscriptions or micro-payments for their most valuable content. Facebook needs to charge a yearly subscription. Services like Hulu need to charge for their programming. Browsers and other web software need to charge for all but the most basic functionality.

It's time for media, web and software companies to realize that it's ok to charge customers for the value they get. Free isn't a strategy, it's a dead end.

1 Billion Apps in 10 Months!

Did you hear that?

It's the sound of the iPhone app revolution. Each revolution has a driving idea and here's the idea for the iPhone revolution: The next 8 times out of 10 that you use your i"Phone", it probably won't be to talk to anyone. That's certainly true for me.

Maybe it's wrong to even call it a phone since talking on it is secondary. We'd rather use it to charge a credit card, straighten a picture frame, catch last night's Family Guy, buy movie tickets or check the weather in Cuzco Peru.

Apple has sold 1 billion apps in 10 months. I haven't checked, but wouldn't the adoption curve for that be close to vertical?

The Secret to the "New Marketing".

Seth Godin's blog post this morning perfectly captures the state of marketing today; Be real or be gone.

Fancy-schmancy launches and big ad budgets are bowing to the simplicity of creating a product that works enough for people to talk about with social networking tools. It's no longer being famous for 15 minutes, it's being famous to 15 people.

Here's Seth's post...

This, in two words, is the secret of the new marketing.

Find ten people. Ten people who trust you/respect you/need you/listen to you...

Those ten people need what you have to sell, or want it. And if they love it, you win. If they love it, they'll each find you ten more people (or a hundred or a thousand or, perhaps, just three). Repeat.

If they don't love it, you need a new product. Start over.

Your idea spreads. Your business grows. Not as fast as you want, but faster than you could ever imagine. This approach changes the posture and timing of everything you do. You can no longer market to the anonymous masses. They're not anonymous and they're not masses. You can only market to people who are willing participants. Like this group of ten.

The timing means that the idea of a 'launch' and press releases and the big unveiling is nuts. Instead, plan on the gradual build that turns into a tidal wave. Organize for it and spend money appropriately. The fact is, the curve of money spent (big hump, then it tails off) is precisely backwards to what you actually need.

Three years from now, this advice will be so common as to be boring. Today, it's almost certainly the opposite of what you're doing.

Robots - Fascinating and Creepy

The military is using a new robot pack mule called BigDog in the high elevations of Afghanistan. This machine was designed as a supply transport aid to troops as they pass over rough terrain on foot.

I'm in awe of how this thing moves, almost exactly like a lama or deer. It uses a laser gyroscope, robotic brain and locomotive sensors to "walk" over rocks, on ice and snow, and up steep pitches. You can't even kick it over. Watch this video and take inventory of your emotions. For me they ranged from unease to fascination to even sympathy as I rooted for it to find sure footing on the ice almost as if it were a live animal. But mount a machine gun on this sucker and it would be straight out of your worst nightmare.

Within 15 years, robots will play a significant role in our lives. They will assist the handicapped, conduct dangerous work (like today's bomb unit bots), assemble products in 100% automated factories, perform low-invasive surgery, help grow our crops and perform routine household tasks.

And as that famous Simpsons clip says: I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords.

Product Line Extension Gone Too Far

Here's what happens when you milk a successful product line one time too many. Plus the packaging is bad because it doesn't tell you if the force is the light or dark side. It's surely a choking hazzard.

Yes, I know these aren't real products, but they're still funny.

Microsoft's Vision Of 2019

Some interesting ideas in this footage from Microsoft with their vision of what to expect by 2019. 10 years doesn't seem too far away and this is a lot to break off, especially considering they still have yet to make a good web browser.

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-GB&amp;playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:a517b260-bb6b-48b9-87ac-8e2743a28ec5&amp;showPlaylist=true&amp;from=shared" target="_new" title="Future Vision Montage">Video: Future Vision Montage</a>

Toy Blocks that Think and Talk to Each Other

And you thought Legos were cool. This may inspire a whole new generation of toys, math aids, video games, presention tools and marketing campaigns.

Insane Pepsi Logo Research

When I worked at 3M doing marketing for Post-it Notes we spent over 1 year researching a design for a new Post-it Note brand mark. I thought that was pretty intense, but it ain't nothing compared to the planning that apparently went into the new Pepsi brand mark.

Below is video and some screen grabs from their brand planning document. Yes, they really did manage to weave in the earth's magnetic fields, nature's Golden Ratio (1.618033) and the expansion pace of the universe.

.....or you could just rip off Barack Obama's campaign logo.

In Advertising, Context Makes a Big Difference

Those of us in marketing know that despite our best efforts, outside forces can take a campaign off course. Here are some interesting examples of context affecting the message.

Men Vs. Women

Here's a snappy poster campaign that appeared only in men's bar restrooms. Very well done. Any ad that compels you to spend extra time at a urinal trying to figure it out and then snicker is a positive brand contact.

Black Light Tattoos

I'm not a fan of tattoos, but there's a new breed of black light tattoos that are.....well.....what's the word? Interesting? A handful of cutting-edge tattoo artists invented the technique and it's quickly growing virally.

With this, you'll look really cool at the club or riding the Snow White ride at Disneyland.

This concept might make interesting street campaigns where billboards and posters contain "secret" messages painted in black light ink.

Nightmare Jell-O Clown

Another bad idea from a marketing department in the 1950's. One look at this Jell-O sampling clown will haunt your dreams the rest of your days.

Just me, but somehow hulking, toothless, hunchbacked clowns in Devo hats are probably the wrong way to build the Jell-O brand among kids. Then again, as a child I had frequent nightmares about Grimace the purple McDonalds blob, but I still occasionally eat at McDonalds so perhaps there's some psychological counter-brand strategy at work here.

Now is the Time to Win Market Share

Opportunities abound, even during a down market.

Back in 2000 I was working at a web start-up when the market gave us a huge gift...the dot-com crash. Thanks to that crash, we recognized that web advertising CPMs were quickly descending from outrageous highs and it was now affordable to acquire customers with web advertising. With fingers crossed we poured everything we had into new customer acquisition campaigns, and after 12 months we had acquired enough new customers to become profitable. That couldn't have happened so quickly without the dot-com crash and resulting lower ad rates.

Here is a beautiful presentation from The Economist about the opportunity recession gives you to increase market share by investing more in marketing now instead of cutting it. Sure, some of it is self-serving since they obviously want to keep selling ad space, but they present many insightful points and it's worth your time if you're a marketer.

Ads on Edge

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: branding recession)

Been a Tough Year?

Leading companies updated their logos to reflect their experience in 2008.