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    Smile as a predictor.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Mario Batali of Del Posto, Sirio Maccioni of Le Cirque and
    Jean-Georges Vongerichten of Perry St., Nougatine and
    Matsugen really really want you to visit.
    (Photo illustration by Tony Cenicola, NY Times)

     

    I’m no foodie, but I do know who Mario Batali and Jean-George are — and I’ve certainly heard of Le Cirque. The picture above attempts to put a smile on the harsh economic reality of the NYC restaurants business, but it doesn’t.  I wouldn’t want to have been the photo editor for this piece in today’s New York Times Dining section. If you look beneath these stiff smiles you can actually feel their pain.  

    In a recent article about Ben Benson’s Steak House, also in NY, Ben said the first 200 covers pay the bills while the next 25 make the profit. Today, many restaurants are not getting close to the next 25 and if world-famous restauranteurs like these are losing their smiles you can well imagine what’s going on in the family run places. A big NYC restaurant shake out is a coming.

     

    Mattel’s feelin’ it.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    What’s the idea with the economy? As I wandered the village last Saturday doing chores I asked retailers how the economy is hitting them. Bert the dry cleaner says the volume of shirts is the same but that people are waiting longer to bring in suits. (It’s not good for the suits, BTW, says Bert.) Linda of the barbershop believes people need haircuts to look good so she doesn’t see a downturn.  She’s a bit of a hottie, though, so her role in the survey may not count. Derek the busboy says the weekend dinner business at Al Atalia has slowed.  

    Then I read that Mattel’s profits have been halved and sales of Barbie and Hot Wheels are off  21 and 22 percent. Ouch!  When parents stop buying their kids toys it is bad. Forget that my retirement fund lost some serious zeros last year — toy sales are down. What would Warren Buffet say?  We’re in some shizzz boys and girls. Well he might not say that, but you get it. Peace!

    Art and commerce.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    What’s the idea with money and art?

    The best art is, and always has been, created by people without a piss to pot in. As a student of rock, I’ve seen great bands lose their way as the money gathers. Today’s geezer rock is so bad because the oldsters never were able to recreate their earlier art after becoming flush and tour with old material.  And today I’ve been reading about the downward spiral of Conde Nast magazines which, it would appear, have been written and produced under the thumb of such opulence that the editorial edge has retreated. 

    Money impacts the conscience. Hotel rooms and breakfasts in bed soften and deadens artists’ feelings. Drive is de minims in those who are waited upon. Imagination becomes fettered. They are a rare few who maintain their art when fame and money become a way of life.

    One of my favorite questions to ask when interviewing people is “What is your art?” Sadly, the question often requires explanation. Marketers who favor art over science are still the most pure and prolific. Peace!

     

    For Amazon the price is right.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

     

     

    Let’s face it, the economy has sucked for the last 3 years. Why else would Hyundai have grown into one of America’s best selling car brands? It’s just this year the economy is dinging the top rungs of the ladder. Hard. And it’s not trickling down, it’s pouring down.

    Marketing has always been about the 4 Ps (Product, Price, Place and Promotion). Most marketers rarely concern themselves with the price P. Though they spend some time with Product and Place (the sales channel) they focus mainly on Promotion. Well, when the economy sucks price becomes very important. And when price is important the cost of goods going in to the product are important. The entire supply chain is important and manufacturers view with a close eye suppliers, efficiencies, headcount and margins. It creates a thinning of the herd, as it were, which isn’t a bad thing long term.

    Amazon reported its best ever December. Why? Because it is a price and value leader. Its cost of goods is low thanks to volume, it doesn’t have to promote, shopping is easy and people are confident in the brand. As more people get hooked on shopping Amazon, it will be hard for them to go back. When the price is right, people spend.   Peace!

    ThemTube

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0


    When is YouTube not YouTube? 

    The answer: When Google makes a deal with Hollywood to include stars and starlets in professionally developed, made-for-web content and host it on YouTube.  That’s just what is happening as they negotiate with The William Morris agency to get professional programming on the net, bypassing the TV model. The idea is a good one, but it shouldn’t be marketed as YouTube. The new entity needs its own name and brand.  The people still want to broadcast to the public and they don’t want to compete with Blake Lively. Leave TV rebroadcasts to the Hulus of the world. Leave YouTube to the consumer generated segment and create a new online property for the pros.

    Yahoo’s Growing Pains.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

     I’m pulling for Yahoo and I’m pulling for Carol Bartz, its new CEO. Anyone worth his or her salt (whatever that means) has had some tough years. Yahoo is no different. Internetly speaking, Yahoo’s a geezer. So is AOL. At beer parties the technorati are embarrassed to say they work at AOL. And at MIT graduations, kids don’t toss their caps in the air screaming “Yahoo.”

    Now that the venture dudes are feeling the pain, they’re spending hundreds more hours focusing on corporate leadership and strategy.  And — check it out — even TechCrunch has grown a whisker. The best businesses have always been built upon the fundamentals: leadership, strategy and revenue generation. Even creatively-driven businesses like advertising have always been built upon solid business fundamentals.   

    Yahoo is going to focus. It is going to make big money. It is going to re-gather itself and command tech respect. It was a leader…and will be again. Just consider these growing pains. Peace!

    When refresh meant… Coke

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    If ever a brand owned an idea it was Coca Cola. McCann-Erickson got it. Early Coke brand managers got it. The people definitely got it. The idea was “refreshment.” Coke ads made you feel in your bones the total and utter refreshment from its unique, thirst-quenching taste. 

    (Not a big Coke drinker, I once came off the Appalachian Trail parched, craving a Coke. I found one and it was other-worldly.)

    Pepsi which has always had smart marketers on its team realizes “refreshment” is Coke’s provenance and has for the most part stayed away. But today Pepsi is jumping on the word in its new “refresh everything” campaign tied to change in America.  As it is with much of Pepsi’s work, this is a borrowed interest approach (not based on an inherent product quality) so it won’t be that effective. And the consumer generated content side of the program is a bit weak. But Pepsi will spend so it may muddle the “refreshment” waters.  

    Coke needs to defend its refreshment position and it needs to do it now. Get back to what refresh meant.  

    Return on Strategy (ROS)

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Measurement in marketing is the “only” thing. Are sales increasing? Where? Who’s buying? Who’s not?  How are the ads communicating? What are the ads really saying to consumers about the product? Answers to these questions can help build effective programs. No doubt.

    But then there is ROI. Return on investment. If you’re in a marketing or meeting and people are prattling on about ROI, you can bet they aren’t getting it. The whole ROI movement began in the 70s with the birth of direct marketing. Then promotion became the ROI pop marketing darling. Today it is pay-per-click and Internet marketing. But what often falls by the wayside while the Excel geeks are crunching the ROI numbers is the role of the strategy. More specifically, the brand strategy. This needs to be measured first and foremost. Return on strategy (ROS) is a marketing building block most overlook. And it is a long term recipe for failure.

    The Geier Plan.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Philip Geier was the chairman of the Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG), an advertising agency holding company, while it was riding high in the 80s and 90s. A cigar-chomping, Ben Benson’s Steakhouses-eating executive, Mr. Geier oversaw some of the top agencies in the world, including McCann and Lowe. He is a brilliant business man. When a huge bank account was up for grabs and the final decision to be made between McCann and another agency, Mr. Geier (it is my belief) offered the bank all of IPGs global banking business. Winning idea!

    If anyone knows about the power of advertising, the power of the consumer spending, it is Mr. Geier, so his full page newspaper ad yesterday to Timothy Geithner, the Obama team, and other financial opinion leaders to issue American families stimulus checks with a twist was worth reading. Unlike bail-out checks, Mr. Geier wants to issue money that “can be used only for consumer purchasing over a short period of time.”  It’s a bit complicated, but doable. Certificate checks will be issued which must be spend quickly and must be paired with real money to make a purchase. The solution will  jump start sales and build consumer confidence.

    Glad to know that Mr. Geier (The Geier Group) is still chomping. I think it’s time to get him back to IPG and allow Michael Roth to take a sabbatical.

                                            

    Carbon Carbon Everywhere.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    What’s the idea carbon footprints?

    The Coke vs. Pepsi argument has always been about taste and marketing. Some say the taste difference is hard to tell. The difference maker has long been the marketing — the words, songs and colors. Today, Pepsi has found another means to change the game: It is looking into the carbon footprint of its products. First out of the box: Tropicana orange juice.

    Now this may seem irrelevant today and it may even seem a little off-message, but believe me carbon emissions are important and will grow in importance. So much so that Coke will need to match Pepsi very soon in its efforts.

    Carbon emission, it will turn out, are not only bad for the planet but for individuals health. As China and India start selling $2500 cars without catalytic converters, emission will grow at unprecedented levels. And health issues will become quite noticeable. Like asthma in the Bronx. In years the "haves" (have low emissions) will be fighting with the "have nots" (high emissions).  Carbon neutral companies will very much be in favor. Their products will actually seem to taste better and perform better. Peace!

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