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    Mashup Week

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    OMG (Ogilvy Media Group?), I just returned from 4-days in San Jose and San Francisco at more Mashup events than a man deserves.  I couldn’t even watch Mash on TVLand flying home on JetBlue.
     
    Mashup Camp and Mashup University are run by David Berlind, one of ZDNet’s alpha bloggers.  Dave’s got tech chops like nobody’s business. MashUp 2007, held in San Franciso, was run by Anastasia Goodstein, whose well-read blog Ypulse covers the youth sector with grace and insight.
     
    I loved all of the Mashup events. The minute John Herren, in his keynote speech at Mashup University, asked “Is there a nerd around,” in reference to a technical presentation problem, I knew we were in for a week of code…but a fun week. The first person I met at Mashup University was Bebo White, with the Stanford Linear Accelerator and physics dept. I was kind of scared, but it turned out he was brilliant, warm and very down to earth. Most everyone at Mashup University/Camp was this way. Geeked out, yes. But approachable, smart, friendly and all about the code. Oh yeah, 95% male.
     
    At Mashup 2007, a youth marketing event, women were the majority. The show was opened by Danah Boyd (Annenberg) and Henry Jenkins (MIT), two beacons of light in social computing. They knew their stuff and complimented one another beautifully.  Interestingly, they were talking about the exact same topic yet Mr. Jenkins called it “participatory culture” and Ms. Boyd “fan culture.” I’d be interested to know why they couldn’t agree on taxonomy (geek word.)  Lot’s more to come about Mashup week. Stay tuned.
     

    Consumer generated content.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0
    I don’t want to sound like a broken CD, but this whole consumer generated content (CGC) thing in marketing is really getting to me. Consumers recommending products to other consumers is an important, integral part of marketing. It’s what happens to good products during the normal course of the selling and buying process. Traditionally, that happens after marketers and ad agencies have done their jobs and a transaction has occurred. But CGC takes the agencies and marketer out of the process. It’s lazy. 
     
    Are marketers and ad agencies so burned out that they can’t figure out new, compelling ways sell? Isn’t that what they are saying every time they sponsor a CGC contest? Where have all the industry’s creative people gone?
     
    I believe it has something to do with the way we ingest media. For entertainment and relaxation most Americans ingest media. They take in TV, radio, and video games. Often this is mindless, inbound entertainment. Reading books is a form of ingested media, but it does require interpretation, concentration and visualization.
     
    Creative individuals do less ingesting of media and more thinking. They look for patterns and lack of patterns, mashing up things to form new ideas. Artists has always gravitated toward advertising, because they are more right brained. They ingest less drivel.
     
    As the industry cedes more and more of its creativity to consumers, it will dig itself deeper into a hole, out of which it will be hard to crawl.
     

    truTV

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Court TV is now truTV. The change was made to signal a move from court-related content to a broader spectrum of programming, built around series that depict true and real-life stories. As American programming concentrates more and more on reality TV (Aren’t we almost done with this fad?), truTV is establishing itself as “the” cable network devoted to real and “istic” stories. 
     
    Some in the “naming” business like the name truTV; others think it bland and uninspired. Naming is always a bi-otch. Sometimes it comes easily, most of the time it doesn’t. My wife named our second born (I got to name the first), and I wasn’t a big fan. But I loved the boy and it grew on me.  Names, for the most part, are vessels into which you pour meaning. In naming, marketers always look for descriptive and evocative words, but mostly they are just letters tied together waiting a brand plan.
     
    Since cable channels, unlike the big national networks, can segment their content, it should be easy to create and purchase programming for truTV. If they find the right stuff, if it is true to the name, and the programs entertaining, truTV should be a success. (At least, now people will know where to start looking for that British “seal” dude who is always dropped on top of mountains with his knife. If they don’t find him there, they can go to the wilderness channel.)   
     

    Loveideas.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Back in February I wrote about J.C. Penney and Saatchi & Saatchi’s plans to launch a new branding idea — Every Day Matters – to replace the tired “It’s all inside.” I blogged glowingly (http://spoppe.livejournal.com/6146.html) in anticipation of the execution. Well, it seems the client and agency have delivered.
     
    Penney’s CMO Mike Boylston sounds like a man with some sand. He’s opted to go against the grain and do image rather than product advertising; pushing to rebuild the Penney’s brand. Everybody knows what Penny’s sells, consumers don’t need to see the products. The new advertising addresses the end-benefit customers experience when shopping at Penny’s — having a great day. It uses a one-day-at-a-time approach to building a good life. An idea that both aspires and inspires. 
     
    The work doesn’t tell you outright to go to the store and buy something that will brighten your day, that would be heavy handed.  It focuses on the results of shopping. Through wonderful story-telling — still the most compelling means of selling — the campaign puts consumers in the right frame of mind to purchase. And while those consumers are in that frame of mind, they will gravitate toward J.C. Penney.
     
    In all deference to Saatchi’s Kevin Roberts and his “lovemarks,” this is just a good strategy, a better idea, and fine execution. 
     

    No gerrymandering .

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0
    One of the cooler things I’m seeing on our social computing site Zude (www.zude.com) is interaction among a diverse group of users.  No gerrymandering here. 
     
    A couple of analogues come to mind. One is Billy Bob’s Texas: a big old honky tonk in Fort Worth, where 20-somethings rub shoulders with 60-somethings — especially when there’s a good country band in town. The other analog is the NYC borough of Queens — the world’s most successful melting pot — where there is more tolerance of different cultures and religions than anywhere on earth. It doesn’t make the papers, mind you, but it’s there.
     
    On Zude, kids learn about 70s Punk Rock from people who were there. Northerners experience Zydeco line dancing for the first time. People continents apart share their “art.” People seem to engage one another on Zude, whereas they might never do so out in the world.  More important, we haven’t been labeled “for students” or “business people” or “friends.” Hopefully we won’t. Our sweet spot is user freedom and so far it’s attracting all kinds.  That’s new…and that’s news!
     
     

    Leadership

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    Leadership.  It is the key to successful business and governance. Iraq needs a good leader — a homegrown person who can capture the imagination, hearts and conscience of all Iraqis. Unfortunately, Iraq has to get to the point where it is so utterly f’ed up that all factions look beyond ethnicity and religion and actually can hear the voice of a true leader. 
     
    NBC Television also lacks leadership; that’s why it has tanked in recent years and anointed Ben Silverman co-chairman of entertainment. It is his job to right the ship. He’s got good credentials and seems in touch with today’s entertainment sensibilities, but can he lead? Mr. Silverman needs to be decisive, selfless and focused. If he is, and he makes good programming and personnel moves, people will follow.  
     
    Jock Ewing once said to JR’s brother Bobby “You don’t give power, Bobby, you take it.” As much as I’ve always loved this sound bite, it really isn’t true. You don’t take power, you lead your way to it.  To become an American Indian chief you have to put the tribe first. Not the individual, not a small group…the tribe. 
     
    Let’s hope against hope that a leader emerges in Iraq, and let’s also keep an eye on Mr. Silverman and see if he has the stuff to herd some NBC cats.
     

    Coke or GM?

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0

    Coke is Coke because of its strong, concentrated, unique taste.  It’s refreshing on a hot day, energizing when one needs a jolt, and a drink that almost reflexively makes you smile. Coca-Cola, the company, suffers from a lack of this same “concentration.”

     

    The Coca-Cola Company (stock symbol KO) is looking into buying Cadbury Schweppes PLCs Motts and Snapple brands and probably will do so soon, as a way to grow sales in the hot non-carbonated drink areas and maintain shareholder value. 

     

    In my opinion, Coke’s growth has been retarded by the broadening of its portfolio over the years.  Juices, waters, teas, and other non-carbonated drinks are the enemy of Coke, not its sisters.  For years Coke has attempted to fend off these competing drink categories by marketing Minute Maid, Nestea, Dasani, etc.  But these separate brands in the Company portfolio are diluting Coke’s manpower, womanpower, fiscal resources and strategic focus. 

     

    Coke needs to get Sergio Zyman back…and listen to him.  Now before you say “this doofus  doesn’t know Coke or the beverage category,” know this, I predicted Mary Minnick’s failure, without having ever stepped foot inside the Coke building. 

     

    Coke should focus its portfolio on carbonated drinks – albeit healthier drinks – and put its best people on the task.  Right now, Coke is more like General Motors than Coke.

     

    Coke or GM?

    By
    Steve Poppe
    -
    0
    Coke is Coke because of its strong, concentrated, unique taste. It’s refreshing on a hot day, energizing when one needs a jolt, and a drink that almost reflexively makes you smile. Coca-Cola, the company, suffers from a lack of this same “concentration.”
     
    The Coca-Cola Company (stock symbol KO) is looking into buying Cadbury Schweppes PLCs Motts and Snapple brands and probably will do so soon, as a way to grow sales in the hot non-carbonated drink areas and maintain shareholder value. 
     
    In my book, Coke’s growth has been retarded by the broadening of its portfolio over the years.  Juices, waters, teas, and other non-carbonated drinks are the enemy of Coke, not its sisters. For years Coke has attempted to fend off these competing drink categories by marketing Minute Maid, Nestea, Dasani, etc. But these separate brands in the Company portfolio are diluting Coke’s manpower, womanpower, fiscal resources and strategic focus. 
     
    Coke needs to get Sergio Zyman back…and listen to him. Now before you say “this doofus doesn’t know Coke or the beverage category,” know this, I predicted Mary Minnick’s failure, without having ever stepped foot inside the Coke building. 
     
    Coke should focus its portfolio down to carbonated drinks – albeit healthier drink – and put its best people on the task. Right now, Coke is more like General Motors than Coke.

    The world’s most expensive dye job.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0
    A few summers ago the New York Mets’ Mike Piazza emerged from the dugout one day with brilliant blond hair.  With one bottle of dye, the normally dark haired Piazza created an opportunity to double the size of the hair color business. And what a business that is. I understand a coloring job can cost anywhere from $35-$140. Before tips (and I don’t mean gratuities.)
     
    Had a smart hair products company, e.g., Clairol, L’Oreal, Garnier, recognized that changing men’s hair color was more about style than vanity, and had they targeted kids and twenty somethings – an age from which most trends emerge – I would probably sporting some serious blond hair right now rather than this grey along the equator “do.”
     
    Because Mike Piazza had the huevos and style sense to do it (he really did look cool), it gave the rest of us permission to do it. (That’s product placement, celebrity endorsement, and image marketing all rolled into one.)
     
    Changing a culture’s accepted behavior is not easy, but it can be. Changing markets is not easy, but it can be. Good account planners and good marketers keep their eyes and ears open.    

    The Summer of Love.

    By
    Steve Poppe
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    0
    In a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed piece today, geezer rock guitarist Ted Nugent puts on a three-piece suit and utterly disses the summer of love as the summer of drugs. Many of his points related to drug abuse and premature death are valid, but I think Mr. Nugent is missing the point.  The drugs, the free love, the mind altering intentions were the jewelry, the adornments, of the time. The summer of love was a cultural phenomenon. It was an expression of freedom. Kids attempting to change the course of their future. A way to delay turning into their parents.  Rebellion with a lower case “r.” 
     
    Yes, it went too far eventually. Acid and acid rock were found to be debilitating. American music quickly morphed from acid rock to a mellower countrified, acoustic sound, right around the tipping point time of Altamont.
     
    “Tune in, turn on and drop out” was Timothy Leary’s call to arms for the summer of love. At my college, our tribal mantra was “Get as loose as you can without falling apart.” Kids will always need to be free, to stretch their wings. Drugs, alcohol and various lawbreaking devices will always be expressions of freedom. The adornments will change (read piercing and tattoos), but the need to express freedom will not.
     
    The summer of love culture was one of acceptance, inclusion, freedom and getting along. Some were free to make poor choices and they did. Jimi, Janis, Jim and Pig Pen may not have lived long enough to write an Op-Ed piece, but I’m betting their expressions of freedom, their art, outlast those of Mr. Nugent.  
     
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