I wrote about the new iPod a few weeks back. It was finally announced today...an iPod Touch and a new nano. The iPod Touch looks like iPhone minus the phone capability. As widely predicted, it is wi-fi enabled, comes with Safari browser, calendar, contacts etc. With its gorgeous 3.5-inch widescreen display, iPod touch is great for watching your favorite TV shows. The iPod touch has a built-in accelerometer that automatically senses when you rotate it into its landscape position. When you're in music, it automatically switches to Cover Flow(TM) so you can browse your music collection by album cover artwork with just a flick of a finger. When in Photos, it automatically displays the photo in its landscape aspect ratio; and when in Safari it displays the web page horizontally. iPod touch also has a built-in ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the display's brightness. They are talking about 22 hours of audio playback and up to five hours of video playback time with a charge.
What's missing is a social network capability, add a close distance sensor and a little piece of people matching application, this will become a killer gadget. Here is Apple product roadmap as I see it ( Freebie idea for Apple Inc. with compliments from Idea Couture Inc. ).
These are very insightful. We need to hear more from more people. Keep coming. For those who have registered (by leaving a note on the original posting) I will be sharing a collection of some good readings and I will push them to your mailboxes everynow and then. Pls let me know if you have not received anything, it means I 've missed some names.
I think you are now ready for some debates. Let me start by asking you what do you think are the top challenges that brand marketing faces today?
Let me start with one, for the last 100 years, marketers had almost perfected the art and science of mass marketing.It even got better when agencies such as W+K, Chiat Day and BBH pushed the creative envelope and did some great work and as a result build some great brands. Then the internet came along and created a whole new game. There was a saying back in the 80s that 50% of advertising is wasted, we just don’t know which 50%.Today I think it is reasonable to say that 80% of advertising were ignored, and we know which 80%. So the "spray and pray" formula is not working. The explosion of various form social media is shaping the future of ad industry. ..and forever changes the very idea of “brand”.
Everywhere in the world Brazil, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, China and Japan, this new class of net citizens control the means by which to create and publish content, and to some extend determine what a brand means. Yes, brand marketers are increasingly concern that they're losing control of message, medium and meanings.Ad agencies lost the exclusive role as "official storytellers" and they have a hard time coping with the fact that they are now truly becoming “agencies”, or in another words “brokers” of messages and meanings. As Mark Ury (our guest blogger) puts it “… because brands aren’t distinct, separate “things” that ad agencies create. They’re the by-product of relationships. They are behavior.” After all, he’s probably right.
In the slides that I posted here yesterday, we kinda see the evolution of brand. From being “identity” or “image” driven to now becoming more “emotion” or “experience” driven. How do you think that will evolve next?
If brands are behaviors, how can brand marketers manage these behaviors? If not, what can be done in order to influence it? What can be done to protect your brand from negative associations? I’d like to hear your views.
Finally, it's started, the first week of our Advanced Brand Strategy Masterclass. Here we will start with the definitions of branding and I will be introducing a few tools. Over the next eight to ten weeks, you will acquire an advanced understanding of branding within the context of business strategy. We will not discuss downstream activities such as identity design, naming, and nor will we go into brand measurement and analytics. We can do that another time if there's interest for it. In week three and four, you will be introduced to a brand strategy process when you will learn how to create, build or reposition brands. Week six I am considering whether to use it for luxury goods branding or technology branding. Week seven and eight we will explore web 2.0 and its implications on branding. We all agree that when properly managed, brands can be a company's most valuable asset (other than it's people).
Combining the latest thought-leadership and the collective wisdom and curiosity of this group, with dialogues and practical exercises, this eight week program will allow you to equip new skills, advance some of your thinking and make some new friends around the world. Our friends in Netherlands starting a study group and there may be interest for people in North America for the same. We have a few folks from Australia too. I suggest you to spend some time going over the slides (you can see it in full screen mode if you're on the slideshare site). Here are some of the questions I'd like you to think about:
• What is your definition of a brand?
• In your opinion what separates leader brands from the rest?
• Pick a brand that you personally feel attached to and answer the questions on slide 26-28.
• Slide 29 is a very important slide, and people often got off the wrong footings because of this. Why do you think this slide is important? Please make sure you understand that and if not please post questions and we can discuss it here.
• On slide 30, it talks about people often making the mistake of letting the brand image derive the strategy, what do you think is the problem with that?
• On slide 32, it talks about the basic logic that guides branding decisions from business strategy perspectives, post questions here if you have any. I will post some questions tomorrow to start a discussion thread. Or feel free to start one anytime.
Some suggestions for critical thinking and maximizing return in open-learning
The key benefit here is to be able to develop “critical thinking” capabilities and apply them on the subject of brand strategy. The process needs to begin with a statement of what is to be studied, proceeds to unrestricted discovery and consideration of possibilities, and concludes with a pattern for understanding. Here are some suggestions:
1/ What do you want to get out of this Masterclass?
Define your destination, what you want to learn. Clarify to yourself on what are the key questions that you need answers around the subject. What is it about this subject that you want to talk confidently or be seen as expert? Then start with a list of those questions. Some just to get some updated knowledge and some want to advance their own thinking.
2/ Think about what you already know about the subject. What do you already know that will help you in this study? What is the knowledge of foundation that you already have? Write them down and think how you want to use those foundations here during the program?
3/ Think in terms of how you would demonstrate your learning in a tangible manner. Look for new discoveries and new knowledge. You may end up knowing less ten weeks later because of the fact that you have been exposed to more. That is just fine. It is always a good idea to create a deliverable of some sort as a means to crystallize what you get out of the learning. By week three you should start to think if you have to create a deliverable to demonstrate your knowledge (and most important of all your own point-of-view) in this subject, what would that be and how would that look like. Do you want to do this on your own of should you collaborate with someone.
The Onion, a online news portal is looking for a Director of Brand Management. The job is to oversee all aspects of The Onion brand & external marketing campaigns for all Onion media - online, video, & print. Ideal candidate to have some brand and ad agency background. For those who are interested pls send cover a short letter, resume & salary expectations to [email protected]
Also a top global branding consultancy is looking for an Executive Director (Brand Strategy) who will be based in Toronto. A fairly senior position so needs to be a real branding expert, not agency planner. For those who are interested pls drop me a note and I will forward you to the recruiter.
Ready for a new iPod. Here's a preview (from Apple's patent filing). Here's how the magic works, when you touch the backside, the transparent "ghost" controls appear on the front. You'd then use your finger on the backside of the device to navigate your way through the transparent controls up front. The key to the equation is force sensitivity. As you run your finger along the backside, the cursor hovers, but when you press harder, you can click on things. This is so cool.
I wrote about the new iPod a few weeks back. It was finally announced today...an iPod Touch and a new nano. The iPod Touch looks like iPhone minus the phone capability. As widely predicted, it is wi-fi enabled, comes with Safari browser, calendar, contacts etc. With its gorgeous 3.5-inch widescreen display, iPod touch is great for watching your favorite TV shows. The iPod touch has a built-in accelerometer that automatically senses when you rotate it into its landscape position. When you're in music, it automatically switches to Cover Flow(TM) so you can browse your music collection by album cover artwork with just a flick of a finger. When in Photos, it automatically displays the photo in its landscape aspect ratio; and when in Safari it displays the web page horizontally. iPod touch also has a built-in ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the display's brightness. They are talking about 22 hours of audio playback and up to five hours of video playback time with a charge.
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