valentine ads that will turn you red in the face, for better or worst

here are three ads that has the power to turn you red in the face, for better or worst.

 

beer on valentine’s? that is not the usual alcohol usually considered during velantines. something italian or some bubbly perhaps but not beer. this heineken ad gives beer a new respectability and yes a romantic twist to what happens when you see the bubbles coming out of the chilled heineken. romance with a beer, that works very well.

 

this ad got replies from a lot of people in my timeline in twitter, all of them ladies.

a girlfriend who wanted to be an ex bought ad space in a place where her boyfriend goes to buy his lunch at work. in that ad space, she told her boyfriend she was breaking up with him, complete with the boyfriend’s name and some important information like where his stuff are. for sure the boyfriend would read the message, plus a few more hundreds who go to the same place, the ad space was rented for a month.

and the replies from the ladies in my twitter timeline was unkind and in disagreement with laura. your take?

 

 

this ikea promo ad is for what i think is just a brilliant promo for ikea.

it’s an ads that reads the habits of its target market very well. call it consumer insight that hits home and sits very well on reality among the target market. aside from roses, chocolates and dinner, what else do you do on valentine’s day to celebrate the day of love?

this promises to give a free crib for babies born exactly nine (9) months from valentine day 2013.

for sure this ad will give smiles to couples who read the ad and will generate such an abundance of brand loyalty and goodwill among those who goes to ikea to claim their crib.

my only want on this ad is this – it should have been a full page ad in the leading newspaper with better graphic design and copy. that is really a minor point. on its bare bones design and copy writing, it is still a brilliant ad and promotion. 10 stars plus one!

 

the goat and the kiss at super bowl 2013

there are two of the many interesting TV ads shown in this year’s Super Bowl 2013.

the Doritos ad does not take itself seriously, pokes fun at itself and succeeds in making it a memorable ad. of course the question ism after seeing a goat devour doritos, will it make people want to buy it and devour it themselves?

one of the pillars of food advertising, which we assume doritos is still under this category, is “appetite appeal”.  not sure many will find a goat eating doritos as appetizing. unless you are a goat yourself, of course.

one more to why doritos does not take itself seriously – the male character in this had has facial hair that resembles what we expect in goats. as i watched the ad, i thought there will be some role reversal in the end or something will be made out of the facial hair. i was disappointed, it did not end there.

the other ad with super model bar rafaeli and the lucky geek can be taken seriously by internet types who deal with GoDaddy. this ad did not score well in trackings for its too sexy content, the super bowl is typically watched by the whole family which includes children, hence the poor score.

but if you are an adult and you are into computers and the internet, this ad is an excellent fodder for dreams, wet or dry. geez, who can beat french kissing with a super model?

and a last note on the acting and production – the kiss seemed very real. in interviews given by the geek in the ad on US TV, they shot the ad for a whole day. yes, geek friends, they were exchanging kisses for the whole day!

there you go…..

the power of the picture in capturing and communicating ideas

 

 

we have heard it many times before – a picture captures a thousand words. this picture has 10 words in it but beyond that, the picture speaks of a thousand unspoken words on what the picture is communicating, the title of the picture  “judgement”. or how women are judged on the length of her skirt or dress. we don’t just enjoy looking, we also enjoy attaching one of the 10 words based on the length of the dress or skirt about the woman wearing it.

it is a very simple picture and yet it communicates the message very well, with utmost ease and in a very provocative way. words need not be used to communicate the message, we just have to look at the picture.

this is one of the amazing pictures we have even seen in our entire career.

 

 

source:

Rosea Lake, Vancouver Student, Posts Powerful ‘Judgments’ Photo Of Skirt Lengths (PHOTO)

Prudish. Flirty. Whore. Proper. Cheeky. Slut. These are just a few of the words that could be used to describe a woman’s sexual behavior based on her appearance alone, and 18-year-old college freshman Rosea Lake chose to display them starkly — on a young woman’s legs in a photo that has since gone viral. (Scroll down to see the image.)

Lake, who studies graphic design and illustration at Capilano University in Vancouver, never thought she’d become an Internet sensation when she posted her“Judgments” photo project to her Tumblr on January 5th. But something about the picture struck a chord with those who saw it, and within 24 hours the image had been re-blogged 100,000 times.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/18/rosea-lake-vancouver-judgments-skirt-length-photo_n_2504950.html

Real Leaf Frutcy Apple Green Iced Tea – schocking new product launch that is more like an ampalaya juice drink

it was an interesting packaging and i was thirsty and this was the only drink available at the store. it was the first time that i saw this brand and i thought i should get an apple drink variant. i thought choosing the apple variant was the safest bet, how can you go wrong with an apple flavor?

well, i was wrong. this one tasted bad.

the drink i bought was Real Leaf Frutcy, an apple green iced tea. okay, fine the brand name “frutcy” was trying too much to be cutie, but it had an interesting packaging – the green frosted plastic bottle was unique and it had a wide ribbed body that felt good on the grip.

it was cold when i bought it. being thirsty, i thought a cold apple drink will be great. but i was disappointed – the drink had a bitter after taste. the bitter after taste was so strong that it felt like i drank some kind of ampalaya juice drink. to make things worst, the ampalaya bitter taste stayed in my mouth for a long time, a few hours after i had take the drink. the drink tasted so bad that i was able to drink only 1/3 of the 480 mL drink.

i wondered who made this lousy product, i thought this must have been made by a cheap run of the mill juice drink maker. i was driving when i drank the green tea drink so i was unable to read who made it.

when i hit a stop light, i looked at the label to see who was the manufacturer of the Real Leaf Frutcy drink. i was shocked when i read the label – it was from the Coca Cola Company (Coca Cola Bottlers Philippines Inc.).

first thing that came to my mind – how can coca cola launch such a lousy product into the philippine market?

coca cola is not only the leading drink company in the country but also in the world. it is also one of the best marketing companies in the world. they do everything right and takes pains on doing things right.

coca cola does a lot of consumer research and for sure they must have done not one but a few consumer researches on this product before they launched it into the market. a product consumer research must have been done to vet the flavor and other things about the product.

how did coca cola miss on this one big time on the bitter ampalaya taste of this product?

for sure this one is the equivalent of a WAWAM on product launches. it’s not a waste of advertising money but a waste of product launch money.

must see Thailand anti-smoking TV ad – one of the best ever

it is said that the simplest ads are the best ads. that certainly applies to this anti-smoking tv ad from thailand.

cinematic and directorial techniques used were simple and direct to the point, very much like the reality tv shows that is the rage on tv. this directorial style lends to the reality of the ad, making us believe these are real people with real problems on smoking.

the story is also a simple one but its delivery to good dramatic effect. it dramatizes very well the dilemma faced by many smokers – they know it’s bad for them but they keep on smoking cigarettes just the same. they know that it is so bad to their health that they will not recommend it to kids.

the irony in the ad is what makes this ad works very well – smokers consume something that they know can kill will not recommend it to kids but does not seem to realize it is actually on the way in  kilingl them. the note the children give to the smokers hits us who see the ad – don’t worry about me, worry about yourself.

it pulls the right strings in our hearts. let’s hope it does the same in the hearts of smokers that they take action for themselves and stop smoking.

Ford Focus direct mail effort – impressive spending but unimpressive mailer material that fails

i got a surprising knock at my house from LBC – they delivered an odd sized package to me. quickly, i made a mental audit – am i expecting a package or document from anyone? the quick answer was – none. bells in my mind  rang!  oh, is this a surprise from someone? 

i opened the pack and i found a mailer from Ford on their new car, the Focus. i checked the envelope and yes it was addressed to me and it had my address. i wondered if it was sent to “occupant” or if it was sent to my house by mistake. no such mistake.

i was impressed with the direct mailing effort of Ford!

it was impressive as this was the first direct mail i got through LBC and this was addressed specifically to me. sending direct mail through LBC is a very expensive proposition. LBC cost alone is a killer of advertising budgets.

the other thing that is equally impressive was that it was  specifically for me. i was surprised they got my name and address. coming from marketing and advertising myself, i have for many years not given out my name, address and even cell phone number to almost anyone or any organization that i thought can  turn my personal information into data in a direct mail effort.

the most i do is sign my name when asked by any organization, including the schools of my children, retail outlets, stores or any other organization. when an address is required, all i put is the city name, not the complete address. for telephone or cell phone numbers, i would usually put some random number and very far from my real cell phone number.

this ford focus mailer was very targeted, having the ability to reach potential buyers. a targeted direct mail effort is very difficult for many direct mail agencies to pull off. this means this direct mail agency has a very good data base.

although i was impressed with the direct mail effort, i was not at all impressed with the mailer material they sent out.

front page & letter

the main weakness of the mailer is that it is just a re-layout of their print ads and a restating of the key elements of their TV ad. not saying the mailer should have a different advertising strategy and ad components from the TV and print ad, as  they should have the same but they should have changed the execution and implementation of the elements.

the mailer does not look like a mailer, it looks like a print ad but printed in glossy paper and folded. except for the letter that came with it, the mailer had nothing in it from a design and content standpoint that will get the recipient to take action or even just enjoy the mailer.

aside from coming up with a new design appropriate for a mailer, it should have some elements that exploit the mailer format medium. it could have been more interactive or leading where the recipient will want to read, interact with or manipulate  the mailer because it is interesting or creative.

the Focus has a few features that are unique in the market and potentially very attractive to potential car buyers. while these were mentioned in the mailer, it was not exploited in a way that is creative and compelling.

the mailer as an advertising medium is self contained and has the target audience practically as captive, designing the mailer to exploit the great features of the car and the characteristics of the medium would have served Ford very well.

inside pages

another key weakness of this mailer is that it does not include some kind of an incentive for the recipient to take action – for the recipient to go to the Ford showroom and look at the car or as the letter suggests to test drive the car.

the end objective of this mailer is not just to generate awareness on the features of the car, it is to get the target audience to go to the showroom to look and test drive the car. the weak design of the mailer fails in achieving this key objective.

the mailer may succeed in informing the target audience of the features of the car but it may be failing in getting them to take action.

lacking this incentive and the weakness of the design and concept makes this mailer a WAWAM! What A Waste Of Advertising Money!

———-

we will be going to a Ford showroom to complete the experience and effort of this mailer. will post a write-up here.

 

~~~ mindscape landmark ~~~
carrlo arvisu

 

wawamTECH: steve ballmer announces major strategic shift for microsoft’s business model – software, hardware, integration & the cloud

note: underscoring are mine.

TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS, CUSTOMERS, PARTNERS AND EMPLOYEES:

Last year was a big year — we delivered strong results, launched fantastic new products and services, and positioned Microsoft for an incredible future.

For fiscal year 2012, revenue grew to a record $73.7 billion. We also maintained strong cost discipline resulting in cash flow from operations of $31.6 billion, an increase of 17 percent from the prior year. In addition, we returned $10.7 billion to shareholders through stock buybacks and dividends.

We delivered these results while preparing a pipeline of new and updated products that will launch in the year ahead. To best understand what we are about to deliver and what we’re building toward, it’s important to recognize a fundamental shift underway in our business and the areas of technology that we believe will drive the greatest opportunity in the future.

Our Business: Devices and Services

Last year in this letter I said that over time, the full value of our software will be seen and felt in how people use devices and services at work and in their personal lives. This is a significant shift, both in what we do and how we see ourselves — as a devices and services company. It impacts how we run the company, how we develop new experiences, and how we take products to market for both consumers and businesses. The work we have accomplished in the past year and the roadmap in front of us brings this to life.

Devices With End-User Services

We will continue to work with a vast ecosystem of partners to deliver a broad spectrum of Windows PCs, tablets and phones. We do this because our customers want great choices and we believe there is no way one size suits over 1.3 billion Windows users around the world. There will be times when we build specific devices for specific purposes, as we have chosen to do with Xbox and the recently announced Microsoft Surface. In all our work with partners and on our own devices, we will focus relentlessly on delivering delightful, seamless experiences across hardware, software and services. This means as we, with our partners, develop new Windows devices we’ll build in services people want. Further, as we develop and update our consumer services, we’ll do so in ways that take full advantage of hardware advances, that complement one another and that unify all the devices people use daily. So right out of the box, a customer will get a stunning device that is connected to unique communications, productivity and entertainment services from Microsoft as well as access to great services and applications from our partners and developers around the world.

A great example of this shift is Windows 8. Windows 8 will come to market Oct. 26, 2012, with beautiful hardware that will light up with our consumer cloud services. Windows 8 unites the light, thin and fun aspects of a tablet with the power of a PC. It’s beautiful, it’s functional, and it’s perfect for both personal and professional use. Xbox Music, Video, Games and SmartGlass apps make it possible to select a movie from a PC, start playing it on the TV, and finish watching it on a phone. SkyDrive, our cloud storage solution, effortlessly connects content across a user’s devices. Bing’s powerful search technologies in Windows 8 will help customers get more done. Skype has a beautiful new Windows 8 app and connects directly into the new Office.

Office, too, is taking a major leap forward. The new Office was designed from the ground up for Windows 8 and takes full advantage of new mobile form factors with touch and pen capabilities. It unlocks new experiences for reading, note taking, meetings and communications and brings social directly into productivity and collaboration scenarios. The combination of a Windows 8 tablet with OneNote and SkyDrive has truly revolutionized how to take notes, annotate documents and share information. The ultimate experience with the new Office for both consumers and businesses will come when it is paired with a Windows 8 device and delivered as a cloud subscription service with Office 365.

Services for the Enterprise

Fantastic devices and services for end users will drive our enterprise businesses forward given the increasing influence employees have in the technology they use at work — a trend commonly referred to as the Consumerization of IT. It’s one more reason Microsoft is committed to delivering devices and services that people love and businesses need.

Today, businesses face a number of important opportunities and challenges. Enterprise IT departments are tasked with deploying technology that drives the business strategy forward. They decide what solutions will make employees more productive, collaborative and satisfied. They work to unlock business insights from a world of data. At the same time they must manage and secure corporate information that employees access across a growing number of personal and corporate devices.

To address these opportunities, businesses turn to Microsoft. They count on our world-class business applications like Microsoft Dynamics, Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, and our business intelligence solutions. They rely on our technology to manage employee corporate identity and to protect their corporate data. And, increasingly, businesses of all sizes are looking to Microsoft to realize the benefits of the cloud.

Helping businesses move to the cloud is one of our largest opportunities. All the online services people use today — both from Microsoft and other companies — run on servers in datacenters around the globe. The volume of Internet services used will continue to grow as people connect to the Internet from more devices for more purposes — fueling incredible opportunity in our server business. Unique to Microsoft, we continue to design and deliver world-class cloud solutions that allow our customers to move to the cloud on their terms. For example, a company can choose to deploy Office or Microsoft Dynamics on premises, as a cloud service or a combination of both. With Windows Server 2012, Windows Azure and System Center infrastructure, businesses can deploy applications in their own datacenter, a partner’s datacenter or in Microsoft’s datacenter with common security, management and administration across all environments, with ultimate flexibility and scale. Our business customers tell us these capabilities are critical to harnessing the power of the cloud so they can reach new levels of efficiency and tap new areas of growth.

when “50 shades of grey” joins an advertising agency

(double click image to enlarge)

cut and pasted here:

“How hard is it for you to do as you’re told?” she bellowed, infuriated at my defiance. I could feel her gaze burning through my pitiful existence. My heartbeat racing, I held my breath, anticipating the punishment that was in store for me. “Let’s start over, shall we?” she said, as she stood up. “Try these briefs on for me. Remember, just these briefs.” I glanced at what she held in her hand. My eyes widened. I knew I was going to be disciplined, but three briefs all due tomorrow is just too much!

interesting take on “50 shades of grey” when it joins grey advertising one of the largest ad agencies in the world.

bayo apologizes and pulls out their mixed race ad campaign – what’s next for bayo?

bayo finally does the right thing by recognizing their error, not making excuses for it, apologizing for their error  and announcing they will pull out the offensive ad campaign.

Bayo says sorry for ads, will bring down billboards

By Francine M. Marquez, InterAksyon.com · Thursday, June 7, 2012 · 11:06 pm

On Thursday evening, an official statement issued by the company through its VP for Product Research and Development, Lyn Agustin, said: “We at BAYO deeply apologize for the message our campaign—‘What’s Your Mix?’—has unintentionally conveyed. We would like to express our regret to those who have been offended or felt discriminated against.

“Our company and our partners have always taken pride in being pro-Filipino as we continue to celebrate our uniqueness and achievements. We believe that being a Filipino will always make you 100% beautiful. It is unfortunate that this message got lost along the way.

“We thank everyone who has shown support for our thrust of promoting Filipino beauty, talent, and creativity.”

In a phone interview with Bayo’s GM Pinky Estrebillo, the clothing brand’s executive said that the company will also temporarily bring down all its billboards with the said ads. The campaign, she said, was conceptualized by its in-house creative team with the help of a consultant.

http://www.interaksyon.com/lifestyle/bayo-says-sorry-for-ad-will-bring-down-billboards

the statements of apology no longer come from the spokesperson but two other company officials. that is a good move. the spokesperson who released a statement first did not do a good job at it and we even think may have harmed the brand even more by attempting to rationalize their error.

they should have released the latest statement of apology and ad recall at the very start. people have been offended by the ads,. no amount of debate, argument or excuses can change that. making excuses for the error will only deepen the hurt and prolong the agony of a failed and insulting ad campaign.

what’s next for bayo?

1. new ad campaign – quick! they need to release a new ad campaign quickly. this may take longer than usual as they need to do some very serious thinking on the next ad campaign. this will be a tough assignment as the new ad campaign need to take into consideration the ill effects of mixed race ad campaign.

they need to find the correct balance. in a situation like this, doing too little and too much are both detrimental to the brand. will they ignore what happened? or will they recognize it?

very serious strategic thinking need to be applied on the next ad campaign.  more importantly, they should do things other than just advertising. a holistic, strategy driven and integrated effort need to be done.

2. comprehensive PR campaign – now! while they are developing their new ads, they need to go on a PR offensive to smooth things out with the public  and their target market.

equally important, they need to do a PR campaign for their suppliers, the malls that house their retail outlets and their employees. for sure many of their partners and employees feel demoralized from what happened. bayo needs to restore confidence and faith on the company and company management.

3. get rid of  the consultant, do not engage in house communication group to do next ad campaign –  the press statement said a consultant and their in house communication group did the ads. getting them to do the next ad campaign will be counter productive. getting them involve will not result to good things as they will for sure feel defensive and tainted.

4. re-train and re-tool in store dealing with customers by sales personnel -  byo should not forget that being a retail operation, the company does have direct contact with their customers at the stores. theirs is  unlike mass consumer goods marketers whose contact with the customers is mostly through advertising. people who buy a bottle of coke or sanitary napkin for example just go to the stores and buy the product, no other interaction takes place with the customer.

that is not true with retail stores. the clothing company actually has direct contact with their customers via the sales ladies in their retail stores. these sales ladies need to be given guidelines and training as to how they will behave and what to say to customers.  for sure the bayo sales ladies will be faced with questions on the ad campaign by customers. they need to know what to say and how to say it.

5. completely drop the mixed race advertising campaign, not even with a ten foot pole   – they should NOT, not even put a hint on the mixed race campaign.

the fact is the ad campaign they had was a race-driven campaign, it was not even about clothes or fashion, it was about race. race and religion are the two things in this world that no advertising or brand should have in their advertising campaign. race and religion are always very touchy subject matters where the line between doing good for the brand and doing bad is a very, very thin line.

to begin with, the advertising strategy for their mixed race ad campaign was a total failure. the ad campaign was selling the idea of mixed-fashion which is not unique to their brand and something that other clothing companies can claim. it is a very generic claim that does not build brand equity for them.

just to simplify the point, they could have for example sold their clothing line on the basis of having the best yellow color in the industry. that is ownable and unique . mixed fashion is not.

the ad campaign was selling the idea of mixed race, zeroing in on the celebrity talents they had in their ads. race has nothing to do with clothes or fashion.

this ad campaign is a celebrity endorsement ad campaign gone wrong and done badly.   they took the idea of celebrity endorsement ad campaign to the extreme – selling their endorsers instead of the product which is clothes.

this is the weakness of the philippine advertising industry as a whole. the ad industry in this country knows nothing else but celebrity endorsement ad campaigns. a huge 80% to 90% of the total ads aired on tv and radio and published in print feature celebrity endorsers. celebrity endorsement has become a go-to ad campaign concept for the industry.  it has become the default ad campaign concept.

the bayo mixed-race ad campaign has taken that ad campaign concept to the extreme that they were already selling the mixed race element of their celebrity endorser rather than the clothes they were supposed to advertise.

in developing all of the above, the company needs to face the fact that they have offended the general public and their target market.  not only that, most people will now know them as the clothing brand that insulted the filipino. that is no easy issue to face.

~~~ mindscape landmark ~~~
carlo p arvisu 

“its more fun in the philippines” campaign should get Jessica Sanchez in advertising campaign

the department of tourism of the philippinjes just launched its new tourism advertising campaign, “it’s more fun in the philippines”. it’s a great tourism ad campaign and we have seen it’s execution in tv ads somewhat when ads were aired at CNN when the news network featured the philippines just a few weeks ago. how good are those ads aired at CNN? that will  be for another topic.

one of advertising 101 principles is recency and relevance. this is pretty basic – for an ad to work you need it to talk to the audience of today. it does not matter what the age of the target audience is, the ad needs to feel, look and contain advertising promises and execution that says to the audience, the product being advertised exist right now and is talking to them right now.

just yesterday is one such event – jessica sanchez, the filipina-mexican-american 16 year old girl came in second in the very popular american idol singing reality tv show. jessica was born in the US, that’s where she got the “american” part while she has a mexican father and a filipina mother.

american idol is not only a popular tv show in the US but also all over the world. the show is closely followed by audiences worldwide.  for most watching the telecast after it’s aired in the US and in this case social media giving a blow by blow account of the performances. it follows that the contestants who battle it out in the show also gain worldwide acclaim and popularity.

and this is where jessica sanchez and the DOT’s  (department of tourism) tourism advertising campaign meet each other. the country’s tourism campaign by the nature of tourism being global, where tourists from all over the world is a target market makes jessica sanchez a natural choice for its ad campaign. aside from it is safe to assume jessica has a global following , jessica coming in as runner up at american idol says she has a very wide  fan base in the US, one of the largest if not largest market for tourism for the country.  the finale had a total of 130M votes, an american idol record. taking out multiple votes, at least 90 M people in the US know who jessica sanchez is. 90M people is the population size of some countries, like the philippines. having asian roots also make her a naturally strong magnet for tourists in asian countries.

bloggers and social media citizens have pointed out that based on social media responses to the results of the american idol finals,  philip philips who won is the “american idol” but jessica sanchez is the “world idol”. jessica apparently has gotten more positive feedback from all over the world than philip philips had.

the recency factor is also a big plus for jessica as an effective endorser.  but that also puts a lot of urgency for the department of tourism to sign up jessica for an ad campaign.  getting her to appear in an ad sooner will be better for the campaign as a whole.

a tv ad featuring jessica necessarily will need to involve jessica to sing. it is what she is known for and it is what people worldwide admire her for. the DOT may p[erhaps commission a filipino song writer to write the jingle. there are many talented song writers in the country and for sure it will be easy to get a most appropriate one.  this jingle needs to work well in english and in filipino. we;re thinking the ad needs to be shot in both languages.

the filipino version can be used mostly in the philippines  and not only will that generate domestic tourism, it will unite and generate nationalistic pride among the pinoys. the onky question of course is can jessica sing in filipino?

jessica’s global popularity is a built in advantage for the tourism ad campaign. people not only know her but also admire her. having her in a tourism ad will automatically generate a lot of goodwill and call attention.  it also helps a lot that pinoys in general like music and are known to be good singers. there is no hotel in asia that do not have filipino bands playing in the bar or restaurants. a tourism ad for the philippines that features a popular singer is a perfect combination.

the talent who will appear in the ad clearly determined, the only question will be what is the content of the tv ad. – what is the advertising strategy and what are the consumer insights. and how this will fold in nicely to the “it.s more fun on the philippines” concept. we think the last part is a must.

the risk of getting a popular endorser like jessica sanchez in an ad is that the ad agency forgets about strategies. insights and campaign concept and just write copy to exploit the power of the endorser. while this type of ads may pull in audience and recall, it will fail in building a brand for the country.

 

~~~mindscape landmark ~~~
carlo p arvisu 

nokia trips on day 3 of the Lumia 900 US launch – windows phone software bug triggers a 100% refund

US nokia decided to launch the Lumia 900 on Easter Sunday when most of AT&T and Microsoft stores are closed.  every brand manager worth his or her high paying job knows you choose a launch date for a new product only when you are sure your product will be available in the retail stores for consumers to buy it from.

choosing a date when the retail stores themselves are closed is the first time nokia tripped on their Lumia 900 product launch.  now, nokia not only trips but takes a fall – on day 3 of the launch, nokia announces a 100% rebate to those who bought or will buy Lumia 900 due to a data connectivity problem with the windows phone OS. the product is priced at $100 with contract with AT&T, giving a $100 rebate is like givng it away for free.

it’s a magnificent gesture to nokia customers (hello, apple are you listening?) but it does leave a bad taste in the mount for those who have not bought their Lumia 900 yet. this fear that even though it has been fixed (to be done in the future) getting a brand new Lumia 900 that will not work can be very real even if its for free or back to the regular $100 price.

potential buyers will definitely think twice before buying the Lumia 900 or for those decided on it will probably postpone the purchase for as long as they can. with aggressive and more popular competitors lurking, nokia might just lose the sale.

this windows phone OS problem is puzzling to us –  doesn’t  nokia test their products before they launch it in the market? we would think extensive lab and field testing would be in order for cellphones  before they are launched. discovering the OS defect on day 3 of the market launch just sounds too amateurish for such a huge company.

bad news does not end there.  nokia  sent out a press re;lease as advance notice to their 1qtr call scheduled next week:

Our disappointing Devices & Services first quarter 2012 financial results and outlook for the second quarter 2012 illustrates that our Devices & Services business continues to be in the midst of transition.

nokia has announced it will have first and second quarter 2012 results will be below expectation.  it looks like the business decline for nokia that has been going on for sometime has not been arrested.

but here is what puzzles us as well – the announcement states 1st quarter and 2nd quarter results will be bwlow expectations. our question is this – what is the share of  Lumia 900′s launch in their first and second quarter forecast?

there are several possibilities here :

• Lumia 900 was forecasted  very low versus the rest of the Nokia business that its impact to its business is very minimal. marketers typically show a bump in sales forecast when new products are launched.
• if nokia forecasted this very low, does that indicate nokia has little confidence on the success of Lumia 900?
• this early nokia is already anticipating very low sales on the Lumia 900?
• the rest of the business is nokia is expected to perform so poorly that even the bump in sales from the lumia 900 will not be able to push its total sales up?

we have seen thousands of new product launches before but this lumia 900 launch we think is one of the weirdest ever and to some degree has gotten a lot of  bad luck.

————-

from the above, a big  sell down in the stock market for Nokia.  investors sold down NOK by almost -16% to just $4.24 at close. NOK also reached its 52 week all time low last night at $4.20.

 

 

 

 

 

 

why in the world nokia chose the wrong date to launch Lumia 900 in the US – on a day when AT&T and Microsoft stores are closed!

nokia and even microsoft has been making a big deal out of the launch of their flagship cell phone in the US, the Lumia. they even had a pre-launch featuring nicki minaj in times square. the lumia  for both companies is a very important product t launch.

microsoft has launched their mobile phone platform windows but it has not really taken off in the US market with its market share still low even though it has gotten relatively good reviews. the lumia launch with their latest microsoft mobile OS is supposed to bring microsoft back into play in the smartphone market.

the lumia is even more important for nokia. nokia has lost a lot of market share in the past years when it decided to ignore the iphone and stuck with the dumbphone market. it’s key competitors samsung and lg did not ignore the iphone and went after it by coming out with touch phones of their own using the android platform. the result is that samsung and lg are the top two smartphone makers in the US, followed by the iphone. nokia on the other hand is a poor and far 6th or 7th in the market.

though few understood why it went with windows rather than android, the lumia 900 is supposed to give nokia its stage to get back to the smartphone market.

that is great, except that for another strange move nokia chose april 8, Easter Sunday to launch the lumia 900 in the US.

some news articles and bloggers reported that most AT&T and microsoft stores, the outlets who are supposed to sell the lumia 900  are closed for easter sunday.

On Release Date, Crucial Nokia Phone Is Hard to Buy in New York

AT&T said last month that when Nokia’s new Lumia 900 phone went on sale April 8, it would benefit from the company’s biggest product introduction ever, exceeding even the iPhone’s.

The big day is here. But nearly all 39 AT&T stores within proximity of Times Square in Manhattan were either closed for Easter Sunday or did not answer phone calls. The few that were open did not have the handset in stock.

When AT&T stores within five miles of Times Square were contacted around noon, 18 of them played an automated message saying they were closed for Easter. Nineteen stores that were authorized AT&T resellers did not answer the phone, and two AT&T resellers that were open said they did not have the Lumia 900 yet.

The stores that played the automated voice message also played a short advertisement for the iPhone 4S and made no mention of the Lumia 900. “Visit our store to see the exciting iPhone 4S and how only AT&T’s network lets your iPhone 4S download three times faster,” a female voice said.

There was some Lumia-related action in Times Square on Friday night, when Nokia sponsored a performance by the pop singer Nicki Minaj to spread the word about the phone. Nokia roped off a section of Times Square and blasted promotional messages on screens for the show, and even served free signature cocktails with names like “Lumia Light” and “Beautifully Different.” There was only a single table of Lumia 900 phones on display, ignored by most of the guests in attendance.

It’s odd that such a highly anticipated phone is so difficult to purchase in a store on its release date, at least in New York. Analysts and tech followers view the Lumia 900, priced at $100, as the make-it-or-break-it device for Microsoft and Nokia, two tech giants who are struggling to gain a foothold in the smartphone market. Nokia made the Lumia’s hardware, and Microsoft made its software, Windows Phone 7.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/0…easter-sunday/

here is another article on the matter:

Why Is AT&T Releasing Nokia’s Big Phone on Easter?

AT&T has said that the release of the Nokia Lumia 900 will be its biggest product introduction ever. But the phone is coming out on Easter Sunday, when some AT&T stores won’t even be open.

Melissa Havel, a spokeswoman representing Microsoft, confirmed thatonly some AT&T stores carrying the Lumia 900 would be open on Sunday. And she said that “many but not all” of Microsoft’s own stores would be closed. The phone will also be available online.

Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman, said: “The Lumia has received tremendous product reviews and we have been taking pre-orders online and in our stores all week. We are already off to the races.”

The choice of date is a puzzling one. Many analysts and tech watchers view the Lumia 900 as the make-it-or-break-it product for Microsoft and Nokia, who teamed up to make Lumia handsets. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 mobile software, which had its debut in 2010, has barely gained any traction in the United States, and Nokia’s share of the phone market has been rapidly shrinking. The Lumia 900, a Nokia-made phone with Windows Phone 7, was supposed to be the “hero” device with the potential to turn things around for both companies.

It’s difficult to imagine that American shoppers will scout for an AT&T store that’s open on Easter just to try a Lumia 900. And for companies, day one sales are important, because they can serve as a measure of the public’s excitement about a product and determine how it will sell over all.

New models of the iPhone, which is the best-selling handset for AT&T, are typically released on Fridays, giving shoppers a full weekend to line up at an Apple store and buy the phone. And these product introductions consistently turn in big numbers. For instance, first-weekend sales for the the iPhone 4S last year topped four million, according to Apple.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/0…ia-900-easter/

first day,  first weekend and first week sales and internet pre-orders are important milestones to cellphones. actually its apple who has started this trend. apple would make a big deal about how much they have sold and whether records have been broken by their first day, first week-end, first week and pre-order sales on their gadgets. even the length of the lines in front of apple stores during the first day sale has become some kind of measure for the success of its new products.  analysts, techies and consumers apparently have learned to look for these numbers to judge whether a gadget is a success or not.

it’s really just for brownie points and bragging rights,   but as anything apple does, it has become an important yardstick of success.

it drives us nuts to think the marketing team of nokia missed out on the fact that they picked a day 1 launch for their most important new product on a day when most of their retail stores are closed. distribution and sales . specially pipelining sales is one of the most important things you worry about in launching a product into the market. every brand manager makes sure his pipelining sales or month 1 sales is a huge success.  choosing day 1 when the stores are closed is a really dumb idea.

we’re wondering why easter sunday was chosen. it really does not make sense that nokia will choose a launch date when most of its retail stores are closed.

we can only make a guess – the marketing director or whoever it is that chose the date must probably be a christian or catholic. easter is one of the most important dates for chritians and catholics. it is the day when Christ rises from the dead.it is like a new beginning , a restart and the glorious resurrection of Christ from death.

that must be have been the  thought behind the choice for the date. the lumia 900 is meant to resurrect nokia from the grave. launching it on easter sunday totally echoed that sentiment and hope,.

the religious undertone and meaning  is a great idea but it is the same religion that has  kept customers from buying the nokia lumia. stores are closed, not even a religious miracle can save the day for nokia.

12 years ago Kodak was warned of Chapter 11 bankruptcy risk

in september 2000 a power point presentation was sent to the chief marketing officer of eastman kodak that essentially warned the company of a collapse of its business if it did not take action in response to the emerging changes in consumer habits and the market it operated in.

the market that kodak was operating then was fast changing brought about by stand alone digital cameras, cameras in cell phones, the computer and the internet. at that time less and less people were using cameras that needed film, and therefore less pictures were printed and more and more pictures were being shared electronically or digitally.  while smartphones were not yet widespread then, cell phones already had basic cameras and were able to take acceptable pictures. cameras in cell phones was an emerging trend during that time.

that development among consumers were affecting the very market thatr kodak was operating in. it was starting to shrink at a rapid pace.

the market situation kodak was in in 2000

the change that was happening was among the consumers themselves. habits were being changed, usage was altered and consumers were substituting kodak products with other forms of products outside film and picture printing.  this was a major revolution in consumer needs and wants. kodak in effect was becoming irrelevant to the consumer and not even considered as a choice or option.

the powerpoint presentation was not based on any consumer or market research or any business data. it was just based on observing what was happening to consumers, the environment and the author’s personal experience.  it  was calling for a major and almost reinvention of the marketing philosophy and strategy for kodak.

not having real data, it was not exhaustive but the idea was to spark some start page thinking and to develop a roadmap for a major change in strategy for kodak with the end view of not just growing the business but actually helping ensure its survival as a company.

the powerpoint presentation intended to paint a preliminary picture of changing consumer habits, needs and wants that will change the market that kodak was competing in for a change in marketing strategy for the company and eventually lead to new product development for the company that will probably be very different from what kodak was manufacturing and selling at that time.

the powerpoint presentation was sent to another marketing officer, a woman but no action was taken on it.

we wonder now what would have happened if kodak took the contents of the powerpoint presentation and how kodak would have avoided filing a chapter 11 bankruptcy protection that it filed in january this year.

read the full powerpoint presentation here: KODAK Growth Focus

~~mindscape landmark~~
carlo arvisu 

willie revillame will sue everyone, enumerates good deeds, vents on sponsors, show off the air on live tv – watch video here

this is a video shown on live tv of an embattled  man – willie revillame as he rants on live tv in his show “willing willie” at abc 5. wait a minute, this is willie revillame, so what else is new? we have seen willie do this on live tv before. not the same topic but on the same sort of emotions and yes the same sort of topic – his misdeeds on his tv shows.

this one is in relation to his most recent misdeed on his new tv show at abc 5 where he allowed a 6 year old, jan-jan,  boy do a macho dance (read : male striptease dance) on live tv. he not only allowed the boy do his macho dance, he also asked the boy to repeat the dance several times with the proper annotation from him on why the boy is doing the dance. what made it worst was that the boy was in tears while he was dancing and the audience, including revillame not only approving the performance but also wildly cheering the boy on. (watch the macho dance video here: http://wp.me/paTrm-1ut)

pinoy internet universe reacted to the macho dance when it was posted in youtube with calls, actually howling, of protest against willie revillame and willing willie. pinoy netizens of twitter and facebook  took to thye streets ofr the internet and called for the ouster of revillame from the show. this is not new to these netizens, they have done similar protests before.

shortly thereafter,  government agencies took notice and declared revillame’s action on the show was child abuse.  the mtcrb, human rights commission and DSWD have put revillame on notice for his latest infraction on the 6 year old boy.

part 1:

this went on for a few days. revillame and abc 5 of course went on a defensive and yes offensive move agaisnt the new storm hitting on the revillame franchise. revillame and the tv station was of course not repentant, not even humble. they clearly declared no child abuse occurred. they did not even admit to a moral mistake, not even a disrespect against the boy. the show went on in between the offensive fight theyput up to defent the honor of revillame and the tv show, unmindful of what has been done to the honor of the boy.

until Ad Power (read : as in People Power) hit the tv show – major advertisers, jollibee, procter & gamble, CDO, lhuillier, del monte and uni-lever pulled their ads off the tv show.l (read it here:   http://wp.me/paTrm-1uy). these advertisers are major advertisers, that means they are the biggest ad spenders in the industry. uni-levfer, procter & gamble and jollibee most probably belong to the top 5 biggest ad spenders in the industry.

Ad Power got the attention of revillame. it’s not surprising, as this power hits revillame and the show where it hurts the most – at the wallet. money is something revillame understands very well. the pull out of these advertisers mean the show cannot go on airing as every day they go on air, they will lose money. and this is not just small change, we are talking of possibly millions of pesos on a daily basis.

with Ad Power slamming its face on the willing willie tv show, revillame last friday announced the show will be off the air for two weeks. revillame is a businessman, he knows the power of Ad Power. revillame will not only lose his salary, he will also lose profit as revillame owns the show and produces it. he finances the show. a pull out of advertisers mean  not only a loss of salary but also profit for his company.

part 2:

this particular live performance  of revillame was supposed to be a simple announcement of the tv show taking a 2 week hiatus but it actually became a stand-up performance of revillame which was actually not funny. it became a rant not only against certain groups but against the world as well.

he first said his tv show will be temporarily off the air for two weeks to return after holy week but in succeeding rants, by accident he let it slip out that the show might not come back on the air.  if the show does not return on air,  we can only conclude abc 5 management had decided to cancel the show  to avoid further problems in the future. he mentioned that he had talked to the GM of the tv station and owner, manny pangilinan.

revillame also ranted, actually threatened to sue fellow celebrities who criticized him on this macho dancing scandal. apparently he felt his fellow celebrities should have just kept quiet about their displeasure on other celebrities.

list of celebrities revillame will sue:

Revillame delivered an emotional 25-minute speech at the end of his program on Friday night. Among other things, he accused celebrities Lea Salonga, Jim Paredes, Aiza Seguerra, Tuesday Vargas, Agot Isidro, Mylene Dizon and Bianca Gonzalez of “prejudging” him on the microblogging site Twitter.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20110410-330314/Revillame-Dont-pulverize-me-I-want-to-help-poor

when he enumerated  the list of celebrities he will sue,  we thought he was unkind to aiza seguera. he challeneged sequera “to be a man”  (“magpakalalake ka”). seguera is a lesbian. he also mentioned the fact that aiza was once a child star herself. we are not sure the connection to the issue at hand, but we think aiza being a child star herself is in a very good position to know how it is to feel exploited as a child which is the charge government agencies are lodging against revillame. we do not know if aiza was exploited when she was a child star, but for sure she has a clear understanding of what is right and wrong for child stars.

with such a long list of celebrities that revillame is planning to take to court for whatever alleged crime/s, we like to congratulate revillame’s lawyers for what might be windfall profits and revenues this year.

where is revillame now after this announcement on tv? we think he is in bigger trouble than before the announcement.

nothing about the announcement was humble, apologetic, reconciliatory or even wholesome. he turned a simple  announcement of a hiatus of the show into a rant and whining about his problems and detractors.  he couls have used the opportunity to gain sympathy from a wider audience other than his fans but instead he may have angered more.l with this announcement he draw the battle lines even deeper and wider.

he may have said things that can be used legally against him, if it comes to a court trialo. for sure, the MTRCB, the human rights group and DSWD will be hard put to kinder and more lenient on revillame with hyis performance in this rant. the message that these government agencies is getting is that revillame will deserve whatever punishment they might put on revillame.

from a PR standpoint, revillame loses badly, dramatically in many ways. his performance in this rant is a PR nightmare. revillame did not defuse anything, did not gain sympathy, he may have ignited more disagreement with what he has done and those against him hardening their positions.

for sure, revillame has a talent in getting ratings. he did it again here but for the wrong reasons and it will hurt him more.

Ad Power puts willie revillame’s “willing willie” tv show off air – uni-lever is 6th company to stop ads

this is called advertising power – with withdrawals of ads from the tv show, willie revillame has announced his willing willie tv show will go off the air for 2 weeks.

before the exodus of major advertisers from the tv show, willie revillame in his show and in interviews, including the tv station’s spokespersons were adamant and strong about no infractions and no child abuse occurred in the show.

it appears money talks and it talks loud to willie revillame. as soon as 5 major advertisers pulled off their ads from the show, revillame showed repentance so it seems and decided to pull off the air his tv show for 2 weeks. without the ad moneys in his tv show, it would have been a huge financial loss for revillame who is the producer and financier of the show.

uni-lever is the 6th advertiser to pull off its ads from the show with procter & gamble, jollibee, del monte, CDO and lhuiller announcing ad pull outs earlier on.  procter & gamble, uni-lever and jollibee are the country’s top advertisers, probably belonging to the top 5 biggest ad spenders in the industry.  private businesses is doing the country a very good favor in pulling out its ads from willie revillame’s tv show.

it is interesting how this is playing out as abc 5 is owned by manny pangilinan whose company PLDT also owns Smart Telecommunications, the country’s leading mobile phone service provider and also one of the top advertisers in the country. will Smart pull its ads as well?

read here : http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20110409-330148/Ad-pullouts-hit-Willie-show

‘Willing Willie’ to go off air for 2 weeks, Revillame says

INQUIRER.net
First Posted 22:17:00 04/08/2011
Filed Under: Entertainment (general), Television, Celebrities
MANILA, Philippines—Controversial television host Willie Revillame announced Friday night that his primetime game show “Willing Willie” will go off air for two weeks starting Monday next week (April 11).

Revillame expressed disappointment over the companies that pulled out their ad placements from his show.

He maintained that he did not commit child abuse in an episode of “Willing Willie” exposing a boy simulating a striptease.

Revillame also warned to file charges against some celebrities who “attacked” him on the social networking site Twitter.

List of companies who have withdrawn their ads from Willie Revillame’s “Wiling Willie” tv show:

1. jollibee corporation
2. procter & gamble philippines
3. del monte philippines
4. lhuillier pawnshop
5. CDO
6. uni-lever

calls by local singers to regulate and tax higher foreign acts are way out of tune, very pitchy

in the last few days, we have been seeing in the news some local singers like ogie alcasid and kuh ledesma  calling for the regulation of foreign acts holding concerts in the country. kuh ledesma was on the forefornt of that one.  ogie alcasid on the other hand has suggested foreign acts should be taxed higher while the amusement tax levied on local artists should be removed.

all this noise from the local singers  is being made as we approach valentine’s day.  there is a large market for valentine’s day concerts in the philippiunes where many go out on dinner and concert dates. on that day, heavy traffic is expected the whole evening through early morning and all the restaurants, hotels and concert venues will be full.

producers of foreign acts know this and they have also made it a point to bring foreign acts to the country on valentines day or a few days before and after valentines itself. bringing the foreign acts to the country on or around valentines day ensures a market for them. there is a ready and willing set of concert goers for these acts even though they will need to pay much,much more for the concert tickets. after all, lovers will not scrimp on a valentine’s date.

why are the local artists calling for regulation and higher taxes?

well, the local singers are singing this tune because they know these foreign acts are very strong competitors for their own valentines concert plans.  many if not all the local singers also have their own valentines concerts. they do this in all types of venues, hotels, restaurants big and small and for the brave ones big venues like he araneta coliseum.

in other words, the local signers are scared shit of competition.

is the solution regulation or banning foreign acts in the country or imposing higher amusement taxes on these foreign acts as the local singers are singing?

these local singers are suggesting these to basically ensure that the local singers have an audience during their valentines concerts, that the foreign acts do not siphon out all the concert goers and leave the venues of the local artists empty or not full. in other words, this is a question of their target market or their audience buying  in to their concerts.

what are the local signers afraid of?

are local concert goers not buying tickets to local concerts because there are foreign acts around?  or because  tickets to foreign acts are cheap that as ogie alcasid is suggesting, the amusement tax on local acts need to be removed and the foreign acts increased?

they are all out of tune.

the reality is the prices of tickets of foreign acts as they stand now are already way costly versus local concerts, anywhere from 3 times to 5 times the cost of local acts.  if price is the issue which the taxes are supposed  to fix, then the foreign acts will not get an audience. but the fact is the foreign acts scheduled for valentines are already sold out since late last year when the tickets went on sale.

these foreign acts are being sold out for one reason – they are world-class performers, world-class singers and they have world-class acts.

we are talking here of someone like justin bieber who at the moment is one of the hottest acts not only in the US but all over the world. bieber has sold many millions of records worldwide. has won awards in the US and considered a phenom in the US music industry. that is the kind of entertainment and performance one buys in spending 3 tp 5 times more on a bieber ticket versus local concerts. and to us that is very much worth it.

if these foreign acts did not go to the philippines, the only way we can see them perform live is for us to fly to the US and watch one of their concerts there. how much is a plane ticket to the US? and how much will you need to spend in hotel and food just to watch a bieber concert in the US? spending 3 to 5 times more than a cost of a local concert ticket is definitely much cheaper than all of the above one needs to spend in the US.

the local artists need to accept that not only do they compete among themselves, they also compete with other singers from abroad. we do hear their songs on philippine radio, watch them on tv in their music videos and other US shows. we even hear the local singers perform their songs on tv almost on a daily basis.

and that is where the core of the problem of the local singers lie.

these foreign acts are popular not only in the philippines but all over the world because they sing and perform their own original songs! they have an audience basically because of the original songs they sing and perform.  some of them have even started trends in music and have changed the music industry in the US and in the rest of the world.

bieber, swift and gaga have their own very distinct styles and universe. they are loved for their individuality and the messages they have in their songs.

our local singers cannot even compare to any of them. in this regard. when was the last time that kuh ledesma and ogie alcasid release an original song of theirs?

the local singers , ledesma and alcasid in particular need to accept that the local acts are nothing, as in zero compared to these foreign acts. the local singers are just that – singers. the foreign acts on the other hand are “acts”, “preformers”, “entertainers” and yes they do carry their own message both in terms of music and lyrics.

the foreign acts have set trends in the music  world with their own unique brand of originality while the local artists have done nothing but sing the songs of foreign singers and composers. that is the reason why local concert goers do not mind buying concert tickets that are 3 to 5 times more expensive than local concerts. if the local singers want to compete with the foreign acts, then they should start singing their own original songs and setting the trends in the local music industry.

our local singers really need to stop being just singers but more being artists. that is what the foreign acts are – artists.

regulating the concerts of foreign acts will not stop the foreign acts from being popular in the country. we see them on tv and hear their songs on radio. tey are already famous and have a wide fan base in the country even without them being seen in the country in person.  the local singers on the other hand are based in the country  and we see them in our tv sets almost daily or at least weekly. but when we see them perform on tv, we hear them sing other people’s songs, often the very songs of the foreign acts that they want to regulate.

imposing higher amusement taxes on the foreign acts will also not do it. ticket price is not the issue. local concert goers do not buy the tickets of the foreign acts because they are cheap. these tickets in fact are already way too expensive. they buy them because of the artistry of these foreign acts. they like to see them perform the original songs they are famous for.

martin niviera in this article said it right – he is not afraid of the foreign acts because he knows what to do to compete with them. he says he will deliver a great concert to compete with the foreign acts.  i do not think he meant original songs, but martin is on the right track.  it’s a good beginning.

alcasid and ledesma on the other hand are way out of tune and yes very pitchy.

Ogie Alcasid wants higher tax rates for foreign acts

abs-cbnNEWS.com

Posted at 01/07/2011 5:30 PM | Updated as of 01/07/2011 5:30 PM

MANILA, Philippines – Amid all the preparations for his Valentine concert, Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-aawit (OPM) board member Ogie Alcasid has also called for immediate regulation of foreign acts here in the country.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News on Friday, Alcasid seconded Filipino pop diva Kuh Ledesma’s suggestion to regulate concerts of international recording artists in the Philippines.

He said higher tax rates must apply to international artists who wish to hold concerts here.

“We must push for higher taxes on foreign shows and lowering of taxation sa local concerts,” he said.

Meanwhile, Concert King Matin Niever and Popstar Princess Sarah Geronimo refused to get affected by the upcoming foreign shows.

new starbucks logo – the resto without a name or the queen with two tails

what? the starbucks logo has a siren? where? since when?

seriously, until now i did not realize the starbucks logo had a siren in it. i know there is some kind of image in it but i didn’t realize it is a siren until i read this whole new thing that is happening to starbucks.

starbucks on it’s 40th year anniversary has announced a change in it’s logo. – from a siren in the middle and around is a band of green with the words in white that says “starbucks coffee”.  they have now changed that to having just the siren and the words all together taken out. the starbucks CEO says it is reflective of the changes that will happen for the companystarung this spring.

to me the starbucks logo are the words “Starbucks Coffee” in white over green, dominant, strong and very clean, very simple and great or in many cases those words on green. geea, they just removed the logo i am familiar with and like from their logo. it  might be the end of the world!

we don’t get it – starbucks just removed from it’s logo their own name. and the one element that most people can relate to and have come to appreciate.  they have removed the equity they have successfully built over the years and during the years when starbucks was most successful.

we think starbucks has 3 enduring brand equities – the logo and name, the decor and design of their shops and their coffee. they just removed 1 of 3 equities that they own.

with the siren logo without a name, what are we supposed to call starbucks now?

we can just see a new generation of consumers, those who are children and not yet coffee drinkers referring to starbucks as The Siren resto or as someoen attempted a similar thing – The Resto Without A Name.

we have seen that happen with  Prince. prince built his act and popularity with the name prince. but for some reason and i am sure a stroke of genius in his mind, he changed his name into this characters or symbols that nobody understood, much more pronounce. (they had a sound?) with the name change, he was then called The Artist Withyout A Name or the Artist Formerly Known As Prince. Prince eventually gave up on his creative idea and brought back his old name.

So now we have the same two options to call this resto – The Resto Without A Name (TRWAN?) or The Resto Formerly Known As Starbucks (TRFKAS?).

Oh, there is a 3rd option, people can call it The Siren. That is of course assuming it will be obvious to people the image in their logo is a siren. Come on, let’s face it, with that logo, people can vfery well call it Queen With Two Tails (QWTT?)

if starbucks persists on using this logo, we can have the next generation of starbucks consumers all confused and referring to their restaurant in many names other than starbucks or the options we have  here.

why a big company with fiercely loyal customers will want to confuse their future customers is beyond us.

not that they are not having problems with their present customers. there is va firestorm being raised by its customers over the internet complaining and disliking the nameless logo.  seriously, we think the starbucks logo is exactly like the Coke or Gap logos – you simply do not mess with it.

this is a WAWAM!

 

reason for change, from thestarbucks website (source: http://www.starbucks.com/blog/looking-forward-to-starbucks-next-chapter):

As we look forward to Starbucks next chapter, we see a world in which we are a vital part of over 16,000 neighborhoods around the world, in more than 50 countries, forming connections with millions of customers every day in our stores, in grocery aisles, at home and at work. Starbucks will continue to offer the highest-quality coffee, but we will offer other products as well – and while the integrity, quality and consistency of these products must remain true to who we are, our new brand identity will give us the freedom and flexibility to explore innovations and new channels of distribution that will keep us in step with our current customers and build strong connections with new customers.

You’ll begin to see our evolution starting this Spring. And there will be much more to come, as we celebrate our 40th anniversary by honoring the millions of customers and thousands of partners who’ve made Starbucks such a welcoming presence around the world. We think you’ll like what you see.

the creatives explain the design change, from the starbucks website (source:  http://www.starbucks.com/blog/so-who-is-the-siren

As a writer, though, I can tell you that there is a lot more to her than just the design and how she looks. This is what she means to me, and to us.

She is a storyteller, carrying the lore of Starbucks ahead, and remembering our past. In a lot of ways, she’s a muse –always there, inspiring us and pushing us ahead.

And she’s a promise too, inviting all of us to find what we’re looking for, even if it’s something we haven’t even imagined yet.

She means something different to every one who sees her, who knows her. For me she’s kind of the final say on the spirit of everything I write and everything we do. Even as I’m writing this, I wonder what she thinks. (She likes it, by the way.)

Here we are today. Our new evolution liberates the Siren from the outer ring, making her the true, welcoming face of Starbucks. For people all over the globe, she is a signal of the world’s finest coffee – and much more. She stands unbound, sharing our stories, inviting all of us in to explore, to find something new and to connect with each other. And as always, she is urging all of us forward to the next thing. After all, who can resist her?

Not me.

Toyota’s Biggest Savings promo turn to Customer’s Biggest Customer Satisfaction failure

toyota is presently running a promo, Toyota’s  Biggest Savings , started in june and extended to july. it’s meant to increase purchases of toyotas with some cash discounts and low down payment and amortization terms.

it sounds good on paper but it fails in customer satisfaction after you have concluded the purchase. the problem is not the car itself, the problem is the way customers are handled after you buy the car.

toyota’s biggest  savings promo promises turned into a customer’s  biggest  satisfaction failure.  there are a few components to this whole bad experience but for today, we like to focus on one aspect – the failure of customer relations.

after you buy a toyota from this dealer, you get a letter signed by the vehicle sales manager, the customer relations manager and the service manager.  the letter welcomes the buyer into the “toyota family”, promises “Total Customer Satisfaction”. it also informs the buyer of the discounts the customer can avail of when the brand new car is brought in to the dealer for the standard 1,000 and 5,000 km check up.

at the end of the letter, this paragraph appears:

there were two problems with the car we bought plus we wanted to give feedback to customer relations on the experience of buying a toyota that we decided to write an email to them.

we first talked to the toyota sales representative on a monday morning, paid for the car same day in the afternoon and on wednesday we got the car. we noticed a problem with the car on thursday evening and informed the sales representative of the problems on friday morning and on the same day wrote  and sent the email. we called the office of the customer relations friday afternoon but the manager was unavailable.

we wrote the email in response to the invitation from letter we got from the toyota dealership. also, we thought it was proper to write them. the first email was sent on friday and sent a second email next day, saturday.

wanting to talk, we also made calls to the customer relations manager on saturday. we were unable to talk to the customer relations manager after trying the whole day, making  more than a dozen calls at different times of the day. instead, we talked to several staff of the customer relations manager who kept telling us the manager was on a meeting. we were able to track down the manager who was in a meeting in another dealership , a sister company of the one we bought the car from. but same story, the customer relations manager did not attend to our call.

since that time last friday, we have not received a call from the customer relations manager or her staff or any email in response to my emails to them except for one which was some kind of an automatic response to everyone who sends them an email.

we received this email from them on saturday morning:

that was the only communication we got from the customer relations group since friday until today as we write this piece for this blog.

we actually got shocked by the email we received – it was in shocking pink.  the whole email looked unprofessional and not business like at all. aside from the shocking pink background,  the sender used multi-colored fonts to sign her name and in a style that was kiddie-like.  we had the feeling the sender was most probably on OJT, still a high student. it was too childish and playful an email for a company that sells products worth P1 Million or more.

we do not know what customer relations are being built by the customer relations at toyota when it is almost one week now and we have not gotten a response from them on the emails and calls i have made to them.the emails we sent clearly stated we were lodging a customer complaint, we wrote that on the subject matter of the email we sent. with that kind of topic on the subject matter, you would expect they would give the email quick and proper attention. but we have not gotten any kind of response from them, so it looks this group called Customer Relations  do not intend to build good relations with its customer nor address a customer complaint.

it makes you wonder why bother putting up such a department in a company like this toyota dealership when it does not do it’s job. we doubt if they even know what it is.

the clock is ticking, we wait for their response.

the globe handyphone experience – when customer relations hot line service is not hot and a disservice

there was a time not long ago getting some customer service  was very difficult. if something goes wrong with the telephone service you subscribe to, it was not easy to get it resolved. first you might not know what number to call. if you get connected to someone, that might not be the person who can help you. if you talk to somebody, it will take a long time to get it resolved.

a silver bullet called customer relations service was invented. companies have set up these with the thinking it is  best from a  business standpoint  to satisfy an existing customer and prevent that customer from dropping your service or product and move to competition.  studies show that it is much more costly and much more difficult for a company to get new users or customers than keeping an existing one. the thinking is that you do your best to prevent your customers from dropping your service to move to other companies. this is much easier to services like a mobile service  than products like toothpaste or shampoo. service companies have the luxury of talking directly to their customers, making customer retention an easier task.

modern marketing is also a very competitive one. two to three competing companies are fighting for the same customer. when a current customer is already using your product/service, it will be much easier to convince that customer to stay on since he/she already has experience with your product/service. converting a new customer puts you on stage 1 of the product preference cycle not to mention your competitors are most likely also going after the same customer.

pair the idea of customer relations with another emerging trend called the call center makes it even more potent. with call centers, dispensing customer relations will be much more efficient, makes it standard and more importantly very quick. this pair builds more loyal customers.

or at least so goes the theory.

that is the theory part because in practice, in this case with globe handyphone in particular, that might not be true at all and has the effect of the exact opposite.

we have been experiencing globe handyphone’s customer service hotline in the past weeks and this is where we are:

• the first call we made to globe handyphone’s hotline service was on march 20. it has been unresolved as of this writing – now  30 days.
• since march 20, to follow-up, we have made a call to the hotline number at least 14 days out of  the 30 days for an average of 1 call every other day.  since april 1, this was more frequent with calls almost on a daily basis. the average will go much higher if you subtract 4 days from the total because of the holy week period when there  was no work.
• we have accumulated a total of 6 reference numbers on the same topic and complaint
• we have on file the names of at least 16 call center agents and 4 supervisors  (with their corresponding ID numbers),  in total at least 20 who we have talked to on the phone
• we have talked to 3 supervisors who promised me they will call me back within the day to tell me when someone will call me but he/she never did

obviously, the globe handyphone customer service hot line is a failure in my case.  i have been calling them for the same problem for 30 days now and it continue to be unresolved. some observations:

• i don’t understand why they need to give me a separate reference number every time i call when it is exactly the same topic.  towards the end, i refused to accept a new reference number as having a new one gives it a more recent time stamp and just delays the call back time aside from the fact that it is just confusing.
• every time i called them, they will tell me someone will call me within 3 to 5 working days.
• first, i don’t understand why it will take them 3 to 5 working days. taking a full work  week i think is just too long.  that is extremely slow service specially when it is to resolove a problem. it will take half a day to stop subscription and move to another mobile company.
• saying each time someone will call you in 3 to 5 working days just extends the period. they actually never called back. it has been 12 working days since april 1 and no one has called me back yet. it has been 11 working days since april 2 and no one has called me back either.  the list goes on.
• the call center agents keep asking me for my number where they can call me back. this question kills me and is most irritating.  i am a subscriber to their cell phone service why will they not know how to call me? is my cell phone number not in their record? i have also given them my landline number a long time ago, they did not keep that on file?
• that is the same problem with my email address. one of the agents asked for my email address. i gave it to them but 5 days after, talking to another call center agent, she asks me again for my email address. that means the first person who asked me the info did not file it in their system.
• what is the point of asking a customers for their contact numbers and email address when they don’t bother to save it in their system?
• they also have this habit of asking for the past history of the calls when these are supposed to be recorded in their system.  we would be asked when and with whom we  have talked to during previous calla.
• instead of answering, we asked  them – do you have my file open on your monitor? a few would say yes. most will ask for 30 seconds to open my record on their computer. i don’t understand this – why would they not open my record at  the start of the call?
• then i ask another question –  can you not see the history of my calls on your computer screen? the answer is yes sir, it’s here. so we ask – why are you asking that question when you will know the answer just by looking at your computer screen? no reply. then change topic.

customer relations dispensed through call centers is supposed to make customer servicing much more efficient and quicker. my experience so far with globe handyphone is it is mostly inefficient and very much slow. the whole system simply does not work nor is it giving globe the speed and efficiency they were supposed to get in investing in computer systems and hiring or outsourcing call center services.

neither are their customers happier and more satisfied with their service. if at all this customer is angrier and more disappointed at the kind of service they were giving us. we have been a globe handyphone customer for the past 11 years and never missed paying a single monthly bill. this is my first major call to them that is service related. we have made  no more than 4 calls within that 11 year period. globe is making a lot of money out of my subscription to their service – monthly bills paid on time for 11 years and with only 5 calls made to their call center. we are not a bother to them and we pay them good money.

the systems they have put in place, the customer service and call center facility is meant to make things easier and faster for customers, our experience with them so far is anything but fats and efficient.

the above customer service experience is just on the first level in resolving the issue we have brought to them. apparently there is another department who is in charge of resolving the issue. unfortunately it is this other department that has been very unresponsive.

all the call center agents and supervisors we have talked to have said they have sent urgent requests to have my issue resolved by that other department.  it is also the other department who is supposed to call me about my problem.  it looks like the continuing problems i have been encountering with them is being caused by that other department.

the name of the department — the Loyalty Group or the Customer Relations Management.

we think it is the ultimate irony that the department who has been unresponsive to a customer relations complaint is the one in charge of “loyalty” and “customer relations”.

the experience so far, for the past 30 days is one that does not inspire loyalty to globe handyphone on our side nor do we think their non-action and unresponsiveness is good “customer relations”.  for sure the mission of the department is to “build loyalty” among current customers and  to “ensure good customer relations” among subscribers.

with this performance and the way they have set up their system – what then is the point of putting up a “loyalty group” and a “customer relations group”?

tomorrow will be 31 days of unresolved loyalty and customer relations for us.

apple airs ipad intro tv ad at oscars telecast

we are a fan the ipod touch but we’re not a fan of the ipad. don’t get it why its necessary to buy a bigger ipod touch. we would have bought the ipad if it was a smaller, lighter and thinner macbook, but that is not what happened here.

the tv ad shows it. read more about it here: apple ipad’s intro tv ad – the magic is in simplicity