Can I turn it off? Can you?

Posted on June 23, 2010 by markkolier

In case you are wondering the photo is of Ivan Pavlov.

Like most of us email flows into my inbox and my PDA at all hours of the day and night. At times I feel I am drowning in a sea of both relevant and irrelevant emails. But when I come into the office I open my MS Outlook, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, (and a couple of other sites just to check and see what’s been going on since I last looked). Recently I worked out getting those same things on my PDA.

Aside from the fact that the above makes me into some type of information junkie and perhaps even zombie, I do like the ability to monitor my own dashboard of what is going on.

But as I sat in a long meeting yesterday and my phone was buzzing with emails, texts and even a call or two (I can tell the difference by how many buzzes) I resisted the temptation to look at my PDA. And it was ok. I have been going out of my way to not look at it in meetings, at lunches or dinners, or even with my family (probably I am worst to them about that) trying to espouse the philosophy to be in the moment and that in person contact is far superior to electronic contact.

I read an article this week that many people have become so in tune with their devices that they actually to a degree get a rush of dopamine when they receive a message from someone. And some people even get more out that contact than they do a physical one.

I get the idea although I feel in my case the reason is more Pavlovian. Ring that bell and I begin to salivate perhaps? I want to deny this.

I’m going away for a few days next week for a short and needed break. I will have my PDA and my laptop to check things – but I won’t be doing it regularly. In fact I will turn it off after the morning check and not check again until the end of the day. I find that when I do that there is almost nothing that cannot wait 8 hours or so. Also almost universally whatever seems critically important and blazing seems less so with the passage of time.

So I’m going to turn it off for a bit. Can you? Will you?

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The BlackBerry Storm 2 – an improvement

Posted on June 21, 2010 by markkolier

Since the iPhone remains on the AT & T platform I am just not interested in experiencing the vagaries of AT & T service. That’s why I decided on sticking with BlackBerry in the first place.

My first BB Storm (got it in January of 2009) worked well – for about fourteen months. Then the crashing began. It was as if it was tired of being on all the time, which in my case it is. To me there’s no point in having a phone that you turn on and off to save battery life. The touch screen was a bit finicky but I adapted and did not have a problem – until the 14 month mark.

After dealing with the slow spiral downward for two months and having to reboot the phone three times or more a DAY, I finally capitulated and sprang for a new phone even before my contract was up (November – I was trying hard to hold out). Now that I have the BB Storm 2 I wonder why I waited so long! It is a waaay better machine.

The BB Storm had limited space for applications. The Storm 2 has well over 100MB of space for apps which is something like 8 times more than before. The touch screen works much better with a nearly audible click when you type – a bit off putting at first but now strangely reassuring. Phone service is excellent (it was before) and 3G internet browsing and Wi-Fi are added features – and really good ones. The digital camera is still one of the best around and shooting video is a good experience as well.

I’ve used an iPhone and acknowledge how good the technology, design and interface is. The iPhone is pretty good for email (not as good as a Blackberry but still ok), really good for web browsing and the phone service is lacking. The BB Storm 2 is a big upgrade from the BB Storm 1 but I am left with the idea that the entire BlackBerry touch screen platform should be revamped and have its own unique features that are different from the iPhone. I have heard that it is in development and I am eagerly awaiting that release. If the BB platform does not further differentiate itself my next mobile device will be an iPhone.

One can only be a resistor for so long.

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The NY ‘Digital Marketing Days’ show that weren’t

Posted on June 16, 2010 by markkolier

I just could not let it go. The DMA bought the trade show DMDays NY (DMDNY) several years ago. Not a bad move and it sort of made sense as a replacement for the now defunct DMA spring show. I’ve been in and around the direct marketing industry long enough to remember that it was once DM Day (singular). In recent years the show had moved to the cavernous Jacob Javits Center where it was one of at least two or three shows going on simultaneously, and even with that it was gobbled up by the immense expanse of the Javits.

Prior to the past several years the DMDNY show was at the NY Hilton. My associate Mickey Alam Khan – editor of Mobile Marketing Daily, put it best when he noted that the show at the Hilton promoted ‘butt-brushing’ since spaces were tight and people actually and literally ran into each other. That was a good thing! So after spotty attendance at least year’s show at the Javits the DMA decided to move the show back to the Hilton. Great move right? Well yes and no.

Well yes since it was always a giant pain to get over to lunch dates from the Javits. Restaurants abound near the NY Hilton and combined with the great Hilton bar, (where MANY meetings took place and where business really got done), made the Hilton a great choice. They got that right.

But the show itself? As my soon-to-be 17 year old daughter would note OMG! She could easily add WTF? Of course I discourage her from using that type of language. But she’d be so right. Digital Marketing Days. WTF? The name is changed but it was the same tired old show – no, it was more tired.

I readily acknowledge that the education tracks were much more shifted to digital marketing (social media, analytics, PPC, SE0/SEM) more than ever before. So some effort was made to change the tone. Yet in walking around the two floors of the exhibits it was sad, gray and depressing. Most of the people I talked to at the booths were disappointed in the turnout to put it mildly. And digital it was not. There were virtually no mobile marketing demos, and for whatever reason some printers and related companies. I could go on but you get the idea. Maybe those printers had a few digital presses, but it was not exactly what crossed my (or the people I talked to) mind when I thought of Digital Marketing Days. The show is for the most part irrelevant. There some good people speaking but for the most part you can get the tracks and discussion at a myriad of other conferences.

I insinuated in a post after the DMA annual conference last fall (held in San Diego) that AdTech had eaten the DMA’s lunch. Well to me now it looks like it’s only gotten worse. In contrast I had a very nice evening at the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation Rising Stars event down at Bridgewater’s at South Street Seaport. The DMEF is a great part of the DMA and its mission of helping promote and attract young talent to direct (and digital) marketing is right on. It’s uplifting to see young talent want to be involved in our business although after being at Digital Marketing Days I would wonder why.

Were you there? What did you think?

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BP can’t market their way out of this mess

Posted on June 14, 2010 by markkolier

When a company even half the size of British Petroleum has a big problem how they respond to the problem can go a long way toward determining its future. In 1982 Johnson and Johnson had a major problem with Tylenol and ended up pulling all Tylenol products off the shelves. It was a massive undertaking but today is lauded as the poster child on how a major business ought to handle a disaster. The handling of the 2010 Tylenol recall has not gone nearly as well.

1984 Union Carbide had a tragic and well documented industrial gas leak disaster at its plant in Bhopal, India. Now owned by Dow Chemical, Union Carbide continues to deny allegations against it on its website dedicated to the tragedy claiming it was an accident as a result of sabotage AND it had adequate safety systems in place at the time. But the Union Carbide Brand – strong at the time was never the same in large part due to the mishandling of a terrible tragedy.

Most people are aware that Exxon had its own disaster in Prince William Sound Alaska with the grounding of the Valdez in 1989 and the subsequent massive oil spill. It was one of the largest oil spills ever and perhaps one of the most devastating ones in terms of its environmental impact. Years and years of cleanup and millions of dollars were spent by Exxon and the company was subject to punitive damages in excess of $ 5 billion which was reduced to $ 2.5 billion upon Exxon’s appeal. At the time there were those that speculated that Exxon might even be taken over by another oil company or put out of business altogether. We all know how that worked out.

BP is the behind the worst corporation caused environmental disaster in history. It is a tragedy unfolding seemingly in slow motion with constant video of oil continuing to spew into the Gulf of Mexico from the broken standpipe. The advance of the leaking oil is charted on a daily, if not hourly basis as residents of the Gulf Coast brace for an impact that will last for a generation or more. There is no spin, angle or message of any kind that can help bring BP any kind of public sentiment.

BP is the fourth largest company in the world and now the one Americans have come to hate. What can Americans do? Boycott BP gas stations? That will have little or no impact since BP owns few stations on their own, and all that will do is penalize the poor guy who is operating a station that happens to have a BP logo outside. What did the BP gas station owner do to deserve everyone’s rage and vitriol?

There are many that are surmising this might be the end of BP, but I’m not one of them. Yes there were some egregious errors made by BP and its subcontractors – shortcuts and the ignoring of important and now seemingly obvious safeguards. New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg noted in defense of BP CEO Mike Hayward he ‘didn’t’ exactly blow up the well.’ And while that’s true, by not attending to the details he may have blown up the company.

The best thing BP can do now is continue to do everything it can to cap the Deepwater Horizon well, clean up the mess as quickly and efficiently as possible, help the suffering residents of the Gulf Coast and continually say they are sorry – and mean it. This is not a time for marketing – this is a time for action.

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The kids are more than alright – Hire them and let them do things

Posted on June 10, 2010 by markkolier

I still enjoy the Who’s 1979 movie ‘The Kids are alright. But in my case the years snuck up on me – the notion that I am no longer the young guy who can outdo my older coworkers and business associates. I’ve been running a company for fourteen years now and I am the second oldest on our 12 person team. I wonder if the oldest feels some job security knowing that maybe I’d prefer to not be the oldest. I had not really thought of that until now to be honest.

We have a number of really talented experienced professionals as a part of our team. Those that have been around the longest have endured what they likely feel is a state of constant reinvention. Kudos to them for embracing the changes (ok they may not have had much choice), and continuing to contribute at a high level.

Yet we’ve added a number of young (20’s and even a teen intern) to our roster and I constantly get a fresh perspective on how ‘they’ look at and do things. Some of my fellow CEO’s lament that young people are unmotivated, have unreasonably high expectations, and show little or no loyalty. But I’ve not seen any of that. And by the way – loyalty is a two way street and the past several years would not offer a young employee any confidence that companies will show loyalty to their employees when things get tough as they have been.

These ‘kids’ (I have a son who is twenty-one so I still fight the temptation to call them that) are smart, can multi-task at light speed and are better at writing than I would have imagined. They don’t have the same perspective that we more ‘experienced’ members have – and that’s a good thing. No actually it’s a VERY good thing. They think and process information differently. I somehow knew that in the back of my mind but it took me a while to actually put it into practice and now we are a better team because of it.

The integration of the younger members with the older members (doesn’t experienced sound so much better?) has its challenges but it is well worth taking on that challenge. Going forward as we continue to grow (hopefully) we will need both sides of the team equation to be filled. It makes for a more vibrant workplace and I think makes everyone a better contributor.

It’s great for our team as we can learn from each other, great for our clients and thus great for our company.

So if you are running a company and have reservations about bringing in the young and inexperienced – get over it. The future is bright and these kids are totally alright.

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For the moment Wal-mart is doing the right thing

Posted on June 7, 2010 by markkolier

One story that caught my eye last week was the one reported last Thursday http://nyti.ms/cdKHnH where Wal-Mart is planning to offer eligible employees 15% price reductions on college tuition at American Public University (www.apus.edu) which is a for-profit online university. This would go for Sam’s club employees as well.

Most of the time Wal-Mart seems to me to be the company that people love to disparage and even hate. With more than 1,400,000 employees (a number that always staggers me); Wal-Mart has to think about building a better workforce. Making college more affordable is an excellent way for Wal-mart to help people help themselves, while at the same time perhaps improving the performance of current employees.

The article notes that ‘with the work credits and tuition discounts, an associate’s degree for a Wal-Mart or Sam’s Club cashier would cost about $ 11,700 and a bachelor’s degree about $ 24,000. While those aren’t incidental costs they are a far cry from what a college education will cost in the United States currently at most 4 year universities.

Many people are of the opinion that education is the key to helping America and Americans stay competitive – and I fully agree with that opinion. Online universities are increasing in popularity for the obvious reason that they are substantially less expensive. Of course the college experience is vastly different from the campus environment that young students enjoy when they attend a 2 or 4 year university or college. The choice for many people today is not to go to college since they cannot afford it AND they could not make the time for it even if they could find a way to pay.

Wal-mart has hit on something big here. The time people spend online increases with each passing day. Offering a college education online is truly a win-win and speaks to the adage (and I paraphrase) – ‘if you want to catch fish you have to go where the fish are’. 1,400,000 employees represent a fine kettle of fish.

I like the idea a lot – how about you?

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Louisville Airport’s Altitude Club has the right attitude

Posted on June 4, 2010 by markkolier

We have a client in Lexington, Kentucky that I visit frequently. Flying direct into Lexington from the New York area while possible, is limiting in the amount of direct flights offered and expensive. Since the flight itself is only about an hour and a half – connecting makes no sense to me at all.

In the recent past I have flown into Cincinnati (whose airport is actually in Covington, KY) and driven the 80 miles or so down to Lexington. On my trip last week I decided to try flying into Louisville which is actually 70 miles from Lexington (I had only done this once in the past 12 years). It was a direct flight both ways, (yes the plane was tiny like they all seem to be these days) and the flight left out of LaGuardia (as does the flight to Cincinnati).

On the return to LaGuardia I arrived at the airport early and looked for traveler’s club as I have card that allows me into a few. No clubs of that sort. But I noticed a staircase for a ‘club’ called ‘Altitude’ – A Traveler’s club. I went upstairs and was pleased to see a traveler’s lounge with internet access, free soft drinks – a cash bar, rechargeable stations for my laptop and phone, free local and long-distance phone calls (I suppressed the desire to call my friend in Asia), televisions and comfortable seating. What pleased me more was the cost – $ 5.00 for the day.

When my flight was delayed by an hour and a half I was not all that aggravated since I was able to work in a quiet, comfortable and pleasant atmosphere. HMS Host is operating this club and I suspect it is a test – both in pricing and usage. The club only had a few people in it that came and went as their flights did.
There are ‘flexible’ membership options (daily, monthly, and annual). So for those that travel out of Louisville a great deal a monthly option might be just the ticket. Considering that if you want internet access at LaGuardia and don’t subscribe to a plan you have to pay Boingo.net at least $ 4.00 to get wireless access – but you are in the noisy and often uncomfortable terminal.

If you have not figured it out already – the Altitude club is a GREAT concept. And I hope some other airports consider bringing in this concept. It was a very good experience.

Don’t’ tell anyone but by the way – I would have paid $ 10. Got any good stories like that? Or bad ones?

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Foursquare, Loopt, Gowalla and Shopkick – they can be gamed

Posted on June 1, 2010 by markkolier

Having blogged about it a couple of times, I have also been ‘using’ Foursquare’s location based platform to ‘check-in’ over the past five months. I am dubiously proud of being able to claim that I am the ‘Mayor’ of the Acela club at CitiField in New York.

And I have been to the Acela club exactly three times this season which leads me to think that people who visit the Acela club do not subscribe or care about Foursquare. In fact the few people I asked who work there had never even heard of location based services like Foursquare. As Acela club ‘mayor’ I have not been offered the key to CitiField or even a free drink – alcoholic or not.

In an article in today’s NY Times http://nyti.ms/aDGgmn, it was noted that Loopt is offering people a mobile game that rewards people for checking in frequently to particular places. And as such one can become ‘boss’ of certain locations – sort of like being the mayor. The key thing is that companies like Gap, Burger King Etc., plan to use Loopt Star to reward loyal customers. Foursquare is also working with its partners to offer real-time rewards for check-ins and frequencies of visits.

One thing the article fails to mention is the vagaries of GPS check in on these platforms. I know for example on Foursquare when I attempt to ‘check-in’ I am given a list of nearby locations even if I am smack in the middle of one on the list. (Somehow I find it really odd that if I am sitting in a Starbucks it tells me that the one I am sitting in is somehow 137 meters away). But I can also check-in to any of these GPS-enabled locations whether I am actually physically there or not.

GPS technology is set to make a major leap forward with the advent of High Accuracy-NDGPS which will enable accuracy to the centimeter level. This will be a critical enhancement since it appears that I can check in at any number of places simultaneously/concurrently (or at least in quick sequence), so that I could gain reward points at places I actually never visited.

Think about it, you are sitting at coffee shop in the middle of the city, but you check in at Burger King (for the third time that week) even though you have been to the Burger King. Now Burger King sends you a coupon for a soda with a sandwich purchase. Retailer margins will be squeezed. People will game the system – that can be guaranteed.

I understand that companies can counter that talk about the fact the patron actually purchased something, but at the same time product is being given away for nothing. And how is that a good idea?

So join up now and get free stuff – while you can.

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The marketing of North Korea – Brand X or Death Star Nation?

Posted on May 24, 2010 by markkolier

When I was growing up print, television and radio advertisements often used comparisons between their Brand (i.e. Ivory Soap) and Brand X. Brand X was meant to not directly poke the competition and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) did not favor this which is why companies no longer portray the competition as Brand X.

With the United States and much of the world trying desperately to recover from a sustained recession, comparing oneself to Brand X could offer some consolation. Although I’ve never actually met a North Korean, my impression is that these poor people (and that is entirely meant as a double-entendre) would not relish being thought of as a Brand-X country. Meaning the one that people compare their country to in order to tell themselves – ‘Hey it could be worse’.

But North Korea does not appear (to me) to even qualify as Brand-X. Yet to most of the western world Kim Jong-Il and North Korea have a very distinctive brand identity. They are the bad guys. Nothing middle-of-the road there. Ask anyone you know about North Korea and I can almost guarantee the response will not be anything like ‘Oh North Korea is not really that bad – Kim Jong-Il is just misunderstood…’

I think that Kim Jong-Il enjoys playing the villain. He has a stranglehold on North Korean politics, is grooming his youngest son to be the next ‘President’ (i.e. in this case autocrat), and most recently appears by all accounts to have decided to stir up the pot by torpedoing a South Korean warship. That coupled with North Korea’s insistence on developing nuclear warhead capabilities, make Mr. Kim and by extension, North Korea, the Darth Vader of the world community.

Being the ‘bad guy’ can be a very unique and profitable brand (think of what Vince McMahon has done with WWF!). It’s easy and even fun to position the antithesis to good by identifying what is perceived as evil. That’s all fine and dandy when we are talking about entertainment. But the oppression, hard-line and totalitarianism exhibited by North Korea is devastating to its own people, extremely serious, and downright scary. Mr. Kim might be the most dangerous man in the world today. And that’s a brand identity as well.
I just wish that were not the case.

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Good Apple/Bad Apple

Posted on May 21, 2010 by markkolier

It is said that revolutions happen one moment at a time. Steve Jobs and Apple Inc. have been consistently gone against the grain and in so doing created a company and I daresay even a movement counterculture based on the Apple platform. In today’s Wall Street Journal ‘Apple wins Ground in Fight Over Flash’ http://bit.ly/c1vyvU , the hissy fight with Adobe and its Flash technology is highlighted.

I am a big believer in breaking the mold and trying to do things a different way. The iMac was a different approach to personal computing. The iPhone is widely considered to be even more ‘revolutionary’ (despite the lousy phone service) when Apple unveiled the device in 2007. And the iPad may well turn out to be the gateway to a future in how people consume content (a very overused term BTW).

Yet I have difficulty in understanding how Mr. Jobs’ seemingly personal war on Flash will help make things better for consumers – and make no bones about it, Mr. Jobs likes to think of himself as the leader of a movement to make things better.

The alternative that Apple is suggesting is HTML5 programming which according to some is several years away from broad adoption. Since 75% of online video uses Flash (which has the ability to secure and track videos) not having flash on the iPhone or iPad is very limiting and from what I have heard very annoying.
The article also notes that analysts estimate that only 5% of Adobe’s revenue is directly tied to Flash. So it’s not as if the (should Steve Jobs has his way) possible crash of Flash would destroy Adobe. It seems to me that Apple is trying to protect its turf. That’s not the way that I (or many people) have perceived Apple as a company and it may be an indication that Apple has gone from an upstart anti-establishment company to being an ‘establishment’ company.

I suspect that people that work for Apple like working there, and like working for Mr. Jobs thinking that at Apple you are not working for ‘the man’. Those same people then will be disappointed when they figure out that they have might have been working for ‘the man’ all along.

Good Apple or Bad Apple? Or both? What say you?

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