Dr. Neil Hair

It appears British humor has made it's way to the colonies after all. Several things highlight the cultural similarity of the UK and Canada, the language for one (watch the commercial), humor for two (watch the commercial), and most impressively the music (ok you get it). To hear another nation state use Land of Hope and Glory brings a big smile to my face. Pity the beer isn't similarly spectacular. Enjoy a GREAT commercial aimed at national pride and a harmless poke at their American cousins, but be mindful that this is a total rip off of the Tango advert I posted a while back!

A recent BBC story (a reliable news source Josh) about one of my all time hero's prompted me to start thinking about the importance of repositioning of personal brands. Whilst I wont be swapping dark clothing anytime soon in the classroom it is perhaps now high time I adopted something new. David Hasselhoff is big in Germany - and has successfully repositioned himself over time in most distant memory starting off as a policeman (driver of KIT) a member of a synchronized swimming team (wearer of red shorts) and most amusingly as a singer (with several albums to his name - again you've gotta love the Germans). Now it seems he adds shaving and chandelier maintenance to his repertoire of skills along with public service announcements extolling the benefits of avoiding alcohol whilst on medication. Would it not be amusing to see him use these news skills to his advantage? Gillette's new poster boy (now Beckham is history), Yankee Candle (because they're safer then chandeliers) and Johnny Walker 'Red Label' Whiskey? Throw in a Tylenol campaign for good measure and you're golden - again.

Here I am earlier practicing David's cool stance which I will use at the classroom podium.

Just when I thought I was safe. Roger Daltrey appears to be living on another planet when he says he cant see how the internet will affect their careers. This is as preposterous as one of my ex Sheffield Hallam university colleagues insiting the internet was not relevant to an MBA's education (I left shortly afterwards). So what has he done? Pulled the plug and taken his mic home. Here's my take on how the internet is affecting their careers. There's the revenue stream from the live webcasts (granted, not much money to be made here); there is the publicity of being a band that does something as a 'first' (lets face it The Who isn't exactly subject to a media frenzy these days especially since Pete stopped doing his research); this creates a knock-on effect of more ticket sales and finally a more financially rewarding career for Roger. Then of course there's the viral nature of this innovation, people like me talking about it. I give up. Roger probably still believes people buy his music on vinyl.

29th July update:

The Times has reported the apparent real reason why Daltry is off of the internet - charity of all things. It gets worse, Townsend wanted to donate proceeds of the streaming concerts to charity and Mr Daltrey didn't think this was fair. ie there was no money in it for him (the reason behind the reunion tour). A spectacular own goal if you ask me and one indicative of shallow thinking as a businessman, not to mention mean spirited.

Once again a popular iconic renegade attempts to go legitimate but I suspect to no avail. The similarities between Kazaa and no hoper Napster are all too plain to see. The story is painful from a Marketers point of view. You develop a cultural ledgend through viral marketing with a massive customer base, then sit back and wait for the legal team to arrive who then attempt to shut you down. At its peak Kazaa must have been worth millions of dollars in advertising revenue alone, and now? Falling numbers of users (especially in Australia where it was particularly popular), no real business model underlying its new look (because lets face it if we want to buy music we'll all go to iTunes who have stolen much of the online music scenes momentum) and to sit back and wait, this time for the money to roll in. I don't think so. Too little too late Kazaa - your time has passed. It does pose the interesting question of when to migrate or adapt a business model however and there is much to be learned in this area. The first sign of a loss of its iconic status should have had the management team looking for buyers, I say this because original management teams are notoriously unable to adapt their styles or their vision for a company from the outset (the few exceptions to the rule are Jobs and the Google lads of course). New management, will bring with it new insight. New marketing managers who know the terrain and aren't afraid to assist in the reinventing of the core service offering, partnerships with other entities, and innovative takes on old problems. Ah to be out in the field… exciting times for marketers, this isn't work - it's fun! Feel sorry for the accountants and HR specialists who don't get to play.  

Another high profile case of cyber squatting with a pleasing outcome. I'm always coming across students who think its a great idea to buy a few domain names because they're there. I blame the domain name suppliers in part for in some cases helping to artificially hike the value of a name. Confusion though still exists in a number of cases, you cant for instance purchase a friends domain name and expect to keep it if this is done in bad faith. In simple terms this means you cant then go ahead and post compromising pictures of the individual partying in Bermudas or sipping beer through a funnel.  A costly court case to recover the domain may ensue and you're left paying costs. Confusion does exist however in areas such as the misspelt domain name - a marketers nightmare once again - mircrosoft was a good example of this as was amazom back in the late 90's (they own it now but at the time this forwarded you onto competing e-retailers sites). I also recall the rit sucks fiasco of the late 90's, what started as a harmless prank soon led to the lawyers getting involved. What was interesting about that site was the fact that it's primary purpose was to offer a forum for people to complain. Granted some of these weren't legitimate but some did prove interesting reading. That's another story. The point is - who owns the right to a 'bitch back' domain? Interesting times…

Those of you that know me appreciate my healthy skepticism for all things Macintosh. They look nice and for some, they play nice too. Not for me. However, their latest ad campaign IS for me. It's one of the most effective I've seen in quite some time and for those of you not in the States it could probably be best described as 'gloves off' time over in Mac HQ. The message is simple, things are easier with a Mac then they are on a pc. Several ads are running on various media platforms identifying several weaknesses of the PC (such as drivers install for new devices, the lack of viruses and so on). Begs the question how will PC advocates respond? What I like about it is its simplicity, its not aggressive and its messages are crystal. In all rather convincing it must be said.

Business models and bands dont tend to go hand in hand. What with Robby Williams finding the internet's influence on free music 'funny', Madonna offering free web conferences in the early 00's, David Bowie and U2 offering early online releases of their music and then complaining about theft - I'm left scratching my head as to whether the industry actually gets the internet. Finally someone appears to have. The Who have identified another stream of revenue, the die hard fans who want to watch and listen to their concerts online. And why not? You have a product that already exists (the concert) and find less then world shattering 'innovative' ideas to spin alternative revenue streams from this (the internet). Why not go further and offer it through i-tunes? What about the tricky world of philanthropy and offer free access to troops serving overseas? Add charity to your model. Then when all is sung and finished, offer the high definition recording of the event online, direct from your own site. Come on guys, it's not rocket science, and there is good money to be made here. I don't currently consult (focusing on my research and tenure requirements), but I'm getting to the point of frustration where I may have to come out of self imposed exile and kick some.

SCexperts (so called experts) are now saying its going to take ten years before digital homes reach the mainstream. Mine is already somewhat there but it's not been brought on by the advent of new technology - more to do with the 'what the hell am I going to do with this Pentium III rubbish?'. It's been a while since I threw out old wires and so forth, wires I can come to terms with. I suffer no insurmountable loss when I cut a wire in half. However, chucking technology that once cost me a months wages is a different matter. So, what to do? First off there is the always on, wireless, portege that I use through my sound system to listen to internet radio when the fancy takes me. Who needs an expensive Sonos or multimedia PC network for that? D-link media hub? Please… don't waste my hard earned dollars when I now have a wife who is perfectly capable of doing that for me. What to do with a couple of tired Tosh Satellites? Rip the screen off, break it down (with the help of someone who knows what they're doing - no - not my trusty wife but a COB (now SCOB) technician, turn it around on itself and build it into a ready made wooden shadow box and bada'BING! you have the equivalent of a very expensive for what it is CompUSA picture box that will do exactly the same thing but without a poor screen. Whack that on slide-show and away you go (also thinking of making it wifi so I can stream the pictures of mine and friends flickr accounts). The other tired Satellite now streams my slingbox tv to the bathroom. You've guessed it, tv in the tub. My next project will be to upgrade the PC and use the old one as a media storage unit for all my video patched to the TV's pc port. The market my friends is not NEW gear. It's assistance in converting the old stuff which makes everyone (including the environmentalists) feel better. Why arent we marketing this instead? Here's one I wished I'd made earlier.

How amusing, poor Peugeot - tired of being fobbed off by the dealer this poor man who has had his car fixed for over 30 different issues since 2002 has decided to take matters into his own hands. He's crushing the car and having it delivered back to the dealer. His business model? Sponsorship - you can make donations which he says will be given to a cancer charity if he doesn't make enough for a new car (a reliable Toyota). Publicity like this cant be bought - splashed all over the BBC's international site for one and countless other news organizations carrying the story. Toyota 1, disgruntled customer 1, Peugeot 0. We will see more of these in the future I am sure as consumers get fed up with poor service and decide to use the pervasiveness of the net to enforce painful retribution! Marketers be afraid - be very afraid…

It's official, we're the recipient of a $13m gift and have a new name. The building is currently open to the elements (quite literally) with workers fitting the new auditoriums and preparing for the new front door. I'm really looking forward to going back to work! Students often complained about the place lacking any real collegial feel. You come in for class, you sit class, you leave. With new break-out rooms, the odd comfy cushion, better light and new furniture the look and feel will be totally different. Importantly I think we will also start to see a change in its culture. My take on this is that everyone, staff, students and faculty work longer and happier when they have nice surroundings. Who knows, it might even start to cure rampant building envy (Gollisano).