Thanksgiving is the best holiday

Posted on November 22, 2010 by markkolier

I posted this three years ago and rarely do my sentiments remain exactly the same when it comes to past posts – this one is an exception!   Happy Thanksgiving 2013 style!

Of all the holidays in the United States Thanksgiving Day is by far the best. There is not another holiday of the year that I like more than Thanksgiving. Kids come home from college to see their friends and families. We all get together and don’t exchange gifts. There’s an epic and gargantuan meal, football and three days afterward before we have to go back to work and school.

Travel wise, the airports are absolute madness and traffic miserable but these days trouble at the airport seems not to be limited to Thanksgiving.

For whatever reason having the television on with the Thanksgiving Day parade is a tradition (yes I’ve gone and it’s better on TV for sure.) And you don’t really sit down and watch the parade, it’s more like you steal a glance every now and again to see if the Snoopy, Bart Simpson or whatever cartoon character will crash into a light pole heading down Broadway at Macy’s. Also, for whatever reason, the people on the street all look really cold – sort of like New Year’s Eve.

Oh and there’s football too. Nothing beats falling into a wine (any alcohol will do) and tryptophan induced sleep watching a game between two NFL teams you really don’t care about. And the football games that seemingly continue all weekend both professional and college are only matched by the seemingly unending leftovers which seem to last the entire weekend and beyond. (I know I always come upon some unidentifiable thing in the refrigerator in mid-December that is an uneaten relic from Thanksgiving).

Retailers love Thanksgiving as the prospect of Black Friday is like sugar plums dancing before their eyes. Although with the American economy still muddling along it might be more of a Grey Friday than a Black one.

Thanksgiving has come a long way since the 1621 feast enjoyed by the colonists and Wampanoag Indians. In 1789 George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation by the national government of the United States; in it, he called upon Americans to express their gratitude for the happy conclusion to the country’s war of independence and the successful ratification of the U.S. Constitution. It was not until 1863 in the middle of the Civil War that Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed a national holiday to be held each November. The rumor that Joe Paterno was coaching his Nittany Lions that day is apparently untrue.

And while I suppose that the loss of the practice actually giving thanks for the blessing bestowed upon us is unfortunate, I wouldn’t change a thing about Thanksgiving.

What’s your favorite holiday?

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Yelp and Foursquare should go to the altar together

Posted on November 17, 2010 by markkolier

Being on the road again in mostly unfamiliar cities I have been using Yelp – www.yelp.com more and more. Enabled with GPS technology on my smartphone, Yelp allows me to search out the nearest coffee shops, wine bars, restaurants and other local places of interest from wherever I am. In fact as I was driving to the airport this evening I wished I could have used Yelp to find the nearest gas station prior to returning my rental car. But texting while driving (or in this case Yelping while driving) is a no-no so I did it the old fashioned way.

Yelp also offers user reviews of the various establishments listed. While the accuracy and unbiased nature of those reviews might be in question, it’s somewhat amusing to read what people wrote about their experiences in the various locations. I thought about how Foursquare links with your friends to check in at locations (and even sends updates to Facebook if you so desire) and it dawned on me that Foursquare and Yelp might be made for each other. I want to find a location for coffee on Yelp, I go there, then check in on Foursquare and tell my ‘friends’. I also can rate the place (something that Foursquare offers in terms of a comment but it is a vastly underused feature), and share that too.

Then the rating has much more meaning since it is going to my selected friends and is not a random posting on how some stranger liked or disliked an establishment. I know nothing about this person save for their name (and photo if they so choose to post that) on Yelp and thus their recommendation holds little value for me or anyone else.

As I have noted in previous posts, Facebook Places has picked up some of the elements of Foursquare but to this point Foursquare has not pulled their link to FB nor has FB dropped Foursquare as a partner.

The combination of Yelp and Facebook would make an attractive property don’t you think?

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California Dreamin’ – Why I am attending the Governor’s Global Climate Summit

Posted on November 15, 2010 by markkolier

Not that I have any problem coming to the Golden State in mid-November, (although it figures that I missed a gorgeous mid-fall weather weekend in Connecticut with temperatures way above normal) , but my interest in helping Chinese companies bring products into the U.S. has led me here to the Governor’s Climate Change Summitt 3 http://www.ggcs3.org on an invitation from the Jiangsu Province delegation.

It was a beautiful Sunday here in Sacramento. After a nice 90 minute drive from San Francisco I proceeded to spend the day inside, downstairs at the California- Chinese roundtable discussion from 10AM – 5PM. BTW there was not a roundtable to be found. In fact the panelists throughout the day took 5-15 minutes to outline their organization’s role in working on the California-China relationship regarding climate change, greenhouse gases, as well as the future of low emission vehicles to name a few subjects. And yes at times it was a bit mind numbing.

A few interesting ‘highlights’ included the idea that California’s government (whose economic output is the 8th largest in the world if measured as a nation-state which made me wonder if California was thinking about secession?), has a better relationship with China than does the U.S. government. This was mentioned a couple of times during the day with some source of pride but I’m not exactly sure why.

I also learned a new word today ‘decarbonized’- the practice of removing carbon from fuels and energy sources. This too was mentioned on several occasions by more than one speaker. In the advertising business we make up words to describe new product features so why can’t academics?

China’s stratospheric growth has led to a host of ecological problems which are only likely going to get worse before they get better. The Chinese love affair with the automobile is reminiscent of the United States in the 1950’s, yet at a much higher level because of the population. Consequently China is championing green energy initiatives for domestic reasons as well as creating exportable products. Solar panels, wind turbines, fuel cells, all combine to create a huge growth industry for China and it creates badly needed jobs for China – that’s right the Chinese need to create jobs just as we do in America.

It was only day one and I have another two days but what I walked away with is that American technological innovation is what will help us at home as well as help China face some if its challengesl. Solar panels are expensive to make and ship to the United States. So are wind turbines. It’s conceivable that the U.S. can have a burgeoning domestic green technology industry as long as we concentrate on innovation and lowering the cost to manufacture. At a certain point it will become impractical to import Chinese made solar panels to the United States. But that’s still a number of years away.

Another thought I had was regarding truly electric vehicles. Americans are skeptical and not without reason due to concerns about range, comfort and reliability. More out of a lack of understanding than anything else since those Americans that drive electric vehicles report a high level of satisfaction. And those experiences are not only limited to the early eco-conscious. So why not incent Zipcar or CarShare to move toward offering electric vehicles as the majority of their fleet? Hertz is also moving into the car-sharing area. This way people could actually experience electric vehicles first hand and most Zipcar rides are shorter than they are longer.

Changing consumer behavior is a tricky thing but experiential usage and thus marketing of electric vehicles could be a path to faster adoption.

What do you think?

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Airlines – they can’t get away with this – can they?

Posted on November 12, 2010 by markkolier

Actually I am convinced that airlines can and will try to get away with everything they can. For instance I am traveling on American to the west coast next week and decided to change my flight from the redeye on Wednesday night to the redeye on Tuesday night. I fully anticipated having to pay the fee to change. A change fee of $ 150 mind you. Not thrilling me when the entire discounted fare was $ 267 roundtrip!

However that’s not the rub. Somehow since I am on a discounted fare I have to pay the fare difference since it is inside a different fare price time frame when it would be more expensive to book the flight now than when we did 2 weeks ago. Huh? Wha? The idea being that if I booked the fare today for next week it would cost more than $ 267 round trip. Ok I get that. But I am changing the return time only and changing nothing else. The exact same origination, exact same itinerary.

So now the fare difference plus the change fee makes the change worth $ 339.00. That’s right the cost to change my flight one-way is MORE than the cost of the original round-trip flight itself. Kind of makes my head want to explode! But wait friends, there’s more. Oh yes there’s definitely more. Let’s say that I booked the flight and somehow in the interim period the actual fare went down. You’d think that I’d pay the change fee ($ 150) and then the difference would be credited back. But noooooo! The airlines don’t do that. It’s a one way street folks and you know which side of the street the customers are on.

I wish Southwest would have offered a flight that worked for me here. They don’t do the additional fee hustle and somehow they make money. No frills perhaps but no BS either. And while I am singling out American (they’ve incurred my wrath before), Delta and Continental do the same things for the most part.

What choices do we have? Not many. I fully realize that $ 267.00 roundtrip is a very low fare – below market even. How can an airline fly me back and forth in this day and age for $ 133.50 each way? I mean a $ 200 round trip fare in 1980 to the coast was an amazing bargain even then. What really toasts my bagels is that most people (including me) don’t really know what the risks are when you buy a cheap fare. And that’s just what the major carriers are counting on.

Air travel is now nothing more than Greyhound in the air and that’s obvious but somehow the carriers would like us to think it’s better than that.

All I can hope for now is to be happy I avoided the hated middle seat on a 6 hour flight. Since at a low fare that’s what’s coming next. Low fare = middle seat. You want an aisle or window – reach for the credit card. It’s coming folks, get ready for it.

Rant over. Or help me rant on?

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Where have all the great advertising tag lines gone?

Posted on November 10, 2010 by markkolier

Even before I was firmly entrenched in the advertising and marketing business I always admired a good tag line.
– 7up – The Uncola
– Coke – It’s the real thing
– DeBeers – A diamond is forever
– United – Fly the Friendly skies

I could easily go on ad (no pun intended) infinitum. I’ve also wondered why brands move away from what would seemingly be an iconic tagline. Why kill ‘It’s the real thing’? In a world of ever increasing marketing noise wouldn’t an iconic tag line stand out more than some new one (unless it was killer)?

McDonald’s, for instance has gone through many, as have most brands, and they like most brands that change have had good ones and not so good ones (“I’m lovin’ it” does not really do it for me).

So why do brands change their tag lines if they are so memorable and admired? At what point do the brand managers decide that what has been working no longer does and it’s time for a new one. Of course if you ask any advertising or marketing agency about changing an iconic tag line the almost universal response will be “Sure”. After all there’s money to be made.

But what if a brand marketer came to an ad agency and suggested they felt their tag line was stale, and consequently was considering a change. Could an agency have the cajones to say – ‘Actually we think your tag line is awesome even if it did not come from us.” The rule of ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ can be applied can’t it?

I’ve noticed that Facebook has no tag line. In fact there are a number of brands whose tag line is either non-existent or completely unmemorable. And yet when I think of brands that have had great tag lines “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is” (bet you know that one) I wonder what made them think – yes it’s time to retire that one?

As you can probably tell I am a big believer in a great, iconic tag line. But am I part of a vanishing breed?
Are tag lines less relevant today than they were twenty or thirty years ago? And if you think so why?

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LinkedIn should be your first resource for learning about business people

Posted on November 8, 2010 by markkolier

Many people I talk to remark that they see me all over LinkedIn. I am always posting blogs, recommending people, making comments, asking and answering questions, etc. I find the time because using LinkedIn has become one of my most valuable tools for gaining insight and information. And no we do not have LinkedIn as an account nor are we trying to attract them.

Most business people I know have at least a bare bones profile on LinkedIn. But not all. And that in itself is a bit strange in my view. In fact when I become aware of someone that I don’t know and find to be of interest the first thing I do is search their profile on LinkedIn.

Why don’t I ‘Google’ them first? Two reasons. 1) Google (or Bing for that matter) has too much noise going on for me to sift through to find some relevant information on someone. 2) LinkedIn’s information is self-reported. You get to see what someone has reported about themselves. It’s a bit like a D & B report for an individual (I always keep in mind that D & B information is largely provided by the company itself except for payment history and that information can be lacking if non-existent).

It’s actually gotten to the point that if I look to find information on LinkedIn about someone and they do not have a profile I am surprised and disappointed. But not completely puzzled. Ten years ago (ok maybe a lot less than that) I had the notion that I was ‘reveling in my anonymity’. The idea was that if people did not know about me/our company and clients they could not attempt to pilfer them. I could not have been more mistaken and starting in 2007 I have done a complete 180 degree turn on that idea.

Why the change? I realized that our clients and relationships will always be at risk if we do not continue to deliver the great work and service that is expected of our team every time. And LinkedIn offers an opportunity to not only help others (via answering questions, making recommendations and acting as a resource), at the same time it affords you the opportunity to build your personal brand the way YOU want it to be.

This year in particular I’ve seen people I am interested in meeting on television, read articles by them in various publications, or heard them on the radio and have reached out to them on LinkedIn. They don’t know me at all. The cool thing is that on a number of occasions these people have replied and we’ve begun a dialog. I’ve even met a number of these people after starting the relationship on LinkedIn. It does not work all the time nor do I have any expectation that it will work every time. And I am never put off if someone decides to ignore my request. You take your best shot and then move on.

I don’t accept every invitation but probably more than 90% of the time I say yes. Of course I do not want a new connection to sift through my contacts to bother/solicit people in my network so one has to be discerning to a certain degree.

But never before has the ability to reach people on a one to one basis been so readily available and LinkedIn (unlike Facebook) is the best way to help people, meet people, and build your personal brand.

Are you using LinkedIn to help build your network and personal brand?

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Have you pre-ordered your own personal drone?

Posted on November 5, 2010 by markkolier

Articles this week in the Wall Street Journal http://on.wsj.com/aMR2bD and the New York Times http://nyti.ms/bLeAiA both covered the emergence of new technology that could be very useful while (to me) being extremely frightening at the same time. You can now think about owning your own personal drone. Ok maybe you have not given the idea much – or any – thought but the same might not be true of your neighbors.

Think about miniature flying drones ‘mounted with tiny cameras’ for the bargain price of $ 300 it was noted that personal drones would certainly not be welcomed by celebrities. The idea has generated the interest of the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) which of course controls United States domestic airways. From the Journal article – ”The FAA doesn’t have explicit rules governing such uses, but Ms. Brown said an advisory that applies to pilotless drones recommends—but doesn’t require— that such aircraft be flown away from populated areas; away from regular airplanes; at an altitude below 400 feet; and that airports be notified if the craft is flying nearby. Mr. (attorney Raoul) Felder said the recreational exception could provide clever lawyers with an opening for use of the drones.”

”The ability to share software and hardware designs on the Internet has sped drone development”, said Christopher Anderson, founder of the website DIY Drones, a clearinghouse for the nearly 12,000 drone hobbyists around the world.

Let’s forget for a moment that there is a group of 12,000 drone hobbyists as I am having difficulty getting my tiny brain around that one. The military uses make total sense to me. But the idea of citizens having their own ‘personal drone’ to ‘keep an eye on things’ is (to me) a sure sign that the apocalypse is nearly here. The fact that they can only stay in the air 30 minutes at present is hardly a salve. For young Moms whose offspring are on that neighborhood play date things would never be the same. Once a kid comes home and says ‘Jimmy hit me’ and like Warner Wolf all Mom has to say is – ‘let’s go to the videotape!’ Or at least the digitally recorded files.

Mr. Felder, the divorce lawyer, said clever attorneys will find ways to get around FAA restrictions, perhaps by claiming their drones are for personal use—a distinction that should steer clear of FAA rules.
“This thing would be totally legal. There’s no violation of anybody’s premises,” he said. Thrilling.
Reassuringly the article in the Journal noted that Navy fighter pilot Missy Cummings predicted it’s just a matter of time before drone technology and safety improvements make the gadgets a common part of the urban landscape.

Privacy issues could emerge if such drones become common. While the military has rules of engagement governing drone use, there is no similar set of rules to protect privacy for domestic use of drones.
“If everybody had enough money to buy one of these things, we could all be wandering around with little networks of vehicles flying over our heads spying on us,” Ms. Cummings said. “It really opens up a whole new Pandora’s Box of: What does it mean to have privacy?” Of course there is the positive idea that personal drones would no doubt cut down on paparazzi car crashes since it would put a whole new spin on celebrity pursuits.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Are you as afraid of this technological leap as am I?

Posted in Living in the World Today, Media, Personal Privacy | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Cablevision and Time-Warner – When Monopoly is no fun at all

Posted on November 3, 2010 by markkolier

When I was a kid playing Monopoly was one of my favorite board games. It was fun to try to dominate the competition. The cable companies apparently paid close attention. Many people feel the American economy relies so much on the tenet of fair market competition. I share that view. So I have great difficulty understanding how today cable company monopolies are able to exist so unabashedly.

Take for instance where I live in Connecticut. As on much of Long Island, Cablevision is the ONLY provider of cable television service. In most of the area there is absolutely no competition for cable. True you can sign up for Dish network, DirecTV, or even Verizon FIOS but when it comes to cable – it’s a one trick pony. We happen to also get our internet connection (lightning fast BTW) as well as our telephone from Cablevision using their ‘Triple Play’ offer. For the most part it has worked out well.

Yet this year at New Year’s a bitter dispute with HGTV, and Food Network just to name a few had people aggravated since the threat was to have those channels pulled from the cable system. Up until this past Sunday (Halloween) for the past nearly three weeks Fox and Cablevision were locked in a bitter war of words that finally was settled. While providers like Dish Network, and DirecTV offered to help you switch my sense is that for most people this was not their desired path or they would been with those satellite networks already. Cablevision came up with a lame offer to its subscribers over the weekend to have them go online and ‘buy’ Major League Baseball (mlb.com) over the internet and then they would be reimbursed for the $ 10.00 so people could watch the World Series. I’d love to see the number of people who actually took them up on that one.

This week we opened our New York City office. It’s all very exciting but the excitement was tempered a bit when we considered that in order to have internet service in the building the ONLY provider is Time-Warner. And our friends told us that the internet service is often spotty and slow and the customer service from Time Warner cable not much better. That bore out right away when Time Warner failed to show for the appointment on Monday. They claimed to have been there but we had someone in the space all day. With no options we have to just grin (or grimace more like it) and bear it.

Having an option of an entirely different service is better than no option at all but having only one choice of cable providers does not motivate providers or serve customers well at all. Government broadcast licenses play a big role here as does lobbying but as usual it’s the consumer who gets the shaft.
We can gripe about it but that’s about all we can do.

Got any novel ideas on how to get around the cable monopoly game?

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AOL’s finally making some big changes – but is it just whistling while walking through the internet graveyard?

Posted on November 1, 2010 by markkolier

An interesting story in this past Saturday’s NY Times – http://nyti.ms/b2RQFQ discussed the revamping of AOL’s website to give a greater emphasis to news created by AOL’s staff as well as original video clips. This appears to me that it could be a good idea – had it happened three years ago.

AOL’s CEO Tim Armstrong touted that AOL is,”still a very desirable place to advertise – very high household income, and more women than men”. All I could think was – so they’re old. In many cases very old. I don’t know the statistics but it’s hard to imagine very many people under the age of 35 that use AOL for anything else than an email address.

The article goes on to note that since January 2010, the number of unique visitors to AOL’s home page has declined 27 percent. Revenue during the first half of this year is down 25%. So it’s happening right now that AOL is becoming more irrelevant with each passing day.

And is it really any surprise? With the online world taking on a truly global focus how does AMERICA ONLINE fit in with a world view? Is there any way that anyone outside the United States would ever use AOL? That’s not true of Google, or Yahoo or even Microsoft’s home page. They have users from all over the globe. Somehow AOL in French or Chinese does not really work does it?

The new design will also move video near the top of the page – WOW – revolutionary! Clips will include a series called – “You’ve Got”. Is that like “You’ve Got Mail”? The 1998 hit movie starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan? That was 12 years ago folks – and I hate to break it to AOL but things have changed in the online world just a bit over the past 12 years.

Maybe I am missing something big here. After all AOL’s revenue was $ 1.24 billion in the first six months even if it was down 25%. But comments that Mr. Armstrong made like blaming AOL’s shrinking (maybe shriveling would be a better word?) dial-up access (Dial-up??? Are you kidding?) is responsible for the declines. Ya think?

With AOL’s first overhaul of the home page since 2008, Mr. Armstrong went on to say that the philosophy behind the page was to inform visitors while also entertaining them. The focus will shift during the day from being news-oriented in the morning to a focus on lifestyle in the afternoon. I guess he’s not too concerned about the evening and night’s since most of the users are fast asleep by 9PM.

Finally the article notes Mr. Armstrong commenting “We are basically trying to make sure that our users are prepared for the day and they don’t get caught with their pants off.” If that were to happen it would likely only be because they forgot to put them on in the first place.

Ok all you AOL lovers out there – let me have it. Speak up now – it’s your turn.

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Do you sleep with your PDA or smartphone under your pillow?

Posted on October 29, 2010 by markkolier

Maybe you sleep with your mobile device right next to your bed? I’m continually impressed when I find out that many people I know keep their iPhone, Blackberry or Droid on their nightstand when they go to bed at night. I’ve come to expect that teenagers will take their phone to bed with them and at times text the night away. But adults? Has it come to that?

I’m a tech-loving guy and sometime (but not every time) early adopter of new and emerging technologies. But I have not (and I hope to be strong) yet found the desire to plug in my Blackberry and keep it in the bedroom. I figure anyone who really is important in my life and needs to find me at an hour where I am hopefully cutting zzz’s, will have the good sense to call me at home. And yes we still have an old fashioned landline even if supplied by our cable provider.

This is not to deny that before I go to bed I take a quick look at my BB and after I’ve made the coffee in the morning, collected the papers (yes I know so old school again!) and let the cat out or in, I check my BB to see what might have flowed in overnight (usually only 15-30 emails in 8 hours).

When I am on the road and staying in a hotel room obviously I have my phone plugged in such that I could answer it at any time since it is within earshot. And that’s ok as there would not be another easy way for someone to reach me. In fact we’ve become so reliant on mobile connection that my wife does not always know specifically in which hotel I might be staying on any given night. If for some reason I did not answer my phone I am confident she could find me if she really needed to. And she’s fully capable of going places without her smartphone – and that amazes me too. That’s a place I just cannot go.

Given that our agency has gone global and we have connections from China to Europe to New York and California at any given moment some amount of people we are connected to will be working. It’s a 24/7 world after all and I like so many people work at odd hours, nights, weekends, whatever it takes to keep up and get the job done.

But I’m going to try my hardest to hold out here and not bring my BB in the bedroom at home. It might be a last stand but I want to believe that I can live without the tether at least for 8 hours.

How about you? Is it with you all the time? In the bedroom? And if not do you look at your phone first thing every morning even on weekends?

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