We’re all familiar with this story. A business is at the top of its game, makes a trajectory-decision based on an assumption, and subsequently misses the mark. In this case, the business is Netflix…
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From the category archives:
News
KIVA, the micro-lending entity is beginning operations in the United States, helping nascent entrepreneurs, with big ambition but more bite-sized dreams, accomplish those dreams through micro-loans. The significance, of course, is that we are now entering a world with a new normal in the economy – the reluctant entrepreneur.
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I recently read 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam and I found that it spoke a great and new truth regarding time and life management connected to time. Amazingly, this book pulled out some obvious facts about time – and placed them into a fresh context. It provides a context that is powerfully liberating for anyone (like me) who’s been trying to put 2 gallons of life and work into a 1 gallon jug.
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When Old Spice and its advertising agency, Wieden + Kennedy, saw its latest campaign was becoming a viral success, they immediately capitalized on it. Now, not only has the Old Spice Guy, perpetually wrapped in a bath towel and flashing a debonair smile, become a household name; product sales are growing and the company is enjoying a breath of new life in its industry.
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To what degree does a personality sell? Look at Tiger Woods. There is an obvious risk with associating your brand too tightly to a single person. So, what is it that Tiger brings or what has he brought to Accenture or Gatorade (besides great embarrassment)?
A presumption of excellence.
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A recent MSNBC article on “Scientists, lawyers mull effects of home robots” had some interesting observations on how people FEEL about their purchases.
Specifically, there was a paragraph and quote that caught my eye: “Shoppers personalize their Roombas, naming and decorating them, for example. Angle recalled an incident when a soldier plucked a banged-up military robot nicknamed Scooby from an Iraqi battlefield and carried it to a depot to be fixed. It’s doing you a service, you’re going to get attached to it.”
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AT&T’s response to Verizon’s brilliant “Map for That” campaign is this: Make stuff up! The core problem with AT&T’s response is that anyone who uses AT&T – myself included – knows that it’s just not true. See the ad below and hear the galling “spin”. AT&T has a shoddy, overburdened and unreliable network. Verizon’s is the class of the field. Consumer Reports’ annual survey of 20 metro centers lists Verizon as number one in ALL markets surveyed. It’s not even close.
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Consumers are using the iPhone to read eBooks. I know I do, and it’s not a great experience. The selling point is that since I always have my iPhone with me, the service is accessible to me at any time, day or night. Regardless of what I want to read, or when I want to read it – from Chris Anderson’s “Free” to Malcolm Gladwell’s “Outliers” – the service is always there. I might listen to the audio book, or I might listen to the audio book and read along, which cognitively for me makes things stick.
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