talk

The other night I was flipping through the channels and I came across Nashville Star, NBC’s country music answer to Fox’s American Idol. There were a couple of things that caught my immediate attention. The first was the public’s ability to not get bored with the multiple variations of the Idol format or that Billy Ray Cirus, of “achy breaky heart” could be given a second chance.

But more importantly than that, or that Jewel is a judge of the show and now a bonafide country-star, was the fact that one of the participants was Latino and the other one an African American. There they were, Gabe Garcia and Coffey singing contemporary western hits and making it to the next round. It seems that country is finally all-american, no guilt or shame attached.

Country is becoming bigger and more attractive to both whites and non-whites and it’s going to get bigger. Here’s why. America has become more comfortable in its cultural skin, shedding the haughtiness of the eighties. It’s something our fast-paced culture is craving in a post-911 society that values return to simpler times. As a result NY professionals welcome a restaurant called hill country, and texas hold’em poker becomes one of the most played games online, as well as watched on ESPN.

At the end it seems that the US is ready to embrace its humble Honky Tonk roots. The result is that we’ll see more country, healthy comfort food, albeit all with new touches and accents reflecting our cultural pluralism.

 And we’ll see more of this throughout this year as both Republicans and Democrats need to speak to that other disenfranchised group, the rural white.  So get your country records out, practice that two step, and put some ribs on that barbeque and celebrate the new old face of America.

Innovation, along with the power of execution, is constantly heralded in the business media as one of the cornerstones of business strategies and growth. But how do you attain it. Industries differ in their inherent capacity for innovation. It’s an art form that requires both a culture fit and a set of processes that see business ideas thrive to become profitable initiatives and products giving new life to brands and to the bottom line.

Advertising agencies should be naturals at doing this given their focus on what consumers are looking for. But unfortunately they are more concerned in the day to day of running ads. “Today’s agencies must become more open in everything they do, we need to leverage our uniqueness when speaking to consumers and come up with other innovations besides simply ads to impact our clients. ” states Roberto Ramos, President & CEO of the vox collective, a full service communication agency that comes up not only with campaigns but also with product and business ideas for clients.

The vox collective worked very closely with Regatta USA and Kohl’s to come with a clothing line for model and television personality Daisy Fuentes. The agency leveraged its extensive knowledge of the retail and female market, as well as the growing Latino market to come up with a business plan and relevant communications to launch this brand. It is currently the biggest private label brand at Kohl’s, expanding into categories such as accessories and home décor.

Should we have less actual media placements and just make them the right ones? This is the question provoked by Fox’s recent decision to limit themselves to five commercial minutes per hour in two of their new programs. Media Nerd suspects that these premium units will initially be snapped up at a package rate by long-term big spenders while the network looks at the effectiveness of this strategy. The alternative scenario is that the cost will be sufficiently high to have more :15s being placed into these programs. This certainly won’t solve the clutter problem because of the traditionally-perceived lower recall rate of the :15s, leaving everyone back where they started while paying more for it. Nobody wants their CPPs to double, so the return for this has to be more than twice the sales to make it viable.

The Spanish-language networks already run fewer commercial minutes per hour and more program promos, mostly not cluttering the screen during credits or program time. When you factor in the lower commercial load during most novela premieres, you have an audience that isn’t picking up the remote. Good opening episodes will then mean a loyal audience.

Univision’s forthcoming Video on Demand in 2009 comes as no surprise in a market with increasing media choices and comes as very welcome news to viewers who want to have choices about viewing times. The damper on this good news, however, is that their licensing agreement with Televisa doesn’t allow them to provide their blockbuster telenovelas within the VOD offerings.

No te preocupes, because Televisa’s own viewers have come to the rescue: A few of them are meticulously posting entire episodes to YouTube. Media Nerd saw the first 40 episodes of Fuego en la Sangre prior to its record-breaking US debut and saw numerous posts from regular YouTube users eager for the next installment. The stream count for most of those clips so far is in the low to middle 5 figures, not enough to cut into Univision’s normal viewing audience, most of whom clearly prefer to see their programs on a standard-size or large screen with significantly better resolution.

The ones censored by Univision, however, got over 200,000 plays each.

Media Nerd, having seen some of the badly edited DVD sets of a few past titles, would happily watch them on YouTube. Even with commercials. Muchas gracias, amigos.

Over the past few years the cost of clothing has not increased at the rate of inflation, but it looks like the tide is finally turning. From the credit crunch here at home and in the West, the rising costs of raw materials, surging oil prices with no cap in sight and the soaring price of food; the clothing industry is collapsing. So what does the price of oil have to do with my designer jeans?

Well, most synthetic fibers used in clothing are made of, you guessed it, oil. Soaring oil prices are making it difficult for manufacturers to operate their factories and cover the costs of shipping to foreign markets. The wages paid to factory workers are also increasing at a steady rate, especially in developing countries like China and India.

Food shortages are being reported all over the world as increased amounts of rice are being used to create ethanol for fuel. Subsequently, food prices have shot have shot up in response to shortages and a surge in crop prices. Fertilizer costs are also soaring, adding to the costs of raw materials used in the production of clothing. The credit crunch at home and in the West is only adding to the squeeze as low-margin clothing manufacturers are finding it harder and harder to turn a profit.

Consumers should get ready for clothing prices to follow suit as importers are faced with greater overhead costs. They will either have to raise prices for the clothes they make or go under - which in turn will reduce the supply. For consumers in Europe and the U.S. the outcome is crystal clear; prepare to pay more for clothes in years to come. I can kiss my discretionary purchases good-bye.

Many fashionistas talk about the stimulating and soothing effect of shopping when one is not feeling too fancy. The ladies in “Sex in the City” have become the ultimate symbols of this state of mind. But what happens when the carefree shopper is hit with a not so light case of dwindling disposable income and credit, as is currently the case across America. How should retail brands respond when people start putting the breaks on how much they are spending for clothes? It seems the fashion and retail categories need some retail therapy of their very own.

While a recession is not good for anyone, the limitations it engenders can motivate brands to become more focused on what they provide their consumers. By weathering the storm with a smile, a touch of class, and a lot of ingenuity, retail brands can fuel an evolution that will take them to new heights once recessionary waters subside. So retail brand managers: stay positive that better times will return, and in the meantime, work to find more creative and nuanced ways to connect with shoppers.

One of the most important lessons to remember when selling during a recession is that this unique confluence of economic variables presents a good time to remind your consumers about your unique value proposition. By doing so, you dispel the uncertainties of a recession, with the certainty of choosing the right brand for them.

continue reading “Retail Therapy for Recessionary Times”

The Roberto Cavalli at H&M collection debuted in around 200 select H&M stores worldwide in November 2007. H&M was created 60 years ago and has become a worldwide success offering a large range of trendy fashion items at low prices. The collection included 20 men’s and 25 ladies’ pieces including underwear and matching accessories all in Cavalli’s unique signature style. Stars like Madonna, Charlize Theron, Jennifer Lopez, Sharon Stone, Victoria Beckham and Lenny Kravitz have worn the exotic patterns and prints on Cavalli’s name brand lines.

H&M has perfected this formula over the years; signing a top fashion designer to create a special collection for the low-cost chain. First off was Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld in November 2004, followed by Stella McCartney, Viktor & Rolf and most recently Madonna. H&M has never disclosed the sales revenues for the unique collections, but the special labels have flown off the racks within days. A fashion revolution for the masses?

Hardly! The price points for these unique collections seem a little high for the quality and design. Fashion conscious people everywhere should know better than to squander anywhere from $49.90-$349.90 (Cavalli’s price range at H&M) on mediocre designs made from the lowest-quality materials. The brand name is irrelevant if the quality cannot justify the price. I for one would rather invest in a piece from Just Cavalli or the Roberto Cavalli annual sale.

Parents often have an image in their heads about who might offer their kids drugs that has nothing to do with reality. The members of Generation Einstein, as children born after 1988 are being called, have a good grasp on perception management. You see it in the popular teen shows like Gossip Girls; you hear it in their references to what is, or what isn’t “off brand” for them.

This is making it harder for innocent parents to discern who is a menace to their family and who isn’t. This challenge taken to another level when you throw into the equation the fact that these parents are not American ex-hippies, well aware of the subject at hand, but 1st generation Latinos, more familiar with kidnappings & violence than they are of the slow burning social ills that plague our urban centers. They face an uphill battle of cultural differences as their children adopt the language and customs of American kids, which they often have trouble understanding.

Many such parents prefer to defer such important, but often awkward, conversations to another family member or to the school system without realizing that such procrastination facilitates the opportunity for others to make that first introduction to Mary Jane. Parents also have trouble with the idea that kids as young as 11 or 12 are already getting exposed to pot.

These latest ads were developed with Latino parents in mind to bring precisely these ideas to life. The pictures are sweet and cynical meant to drive a point home. They are meant to be provocative to get kids and parents talking about the subject. The idea is that if we give parents and kids a reason to start talking about the subject, we’ve accomplished half the battle.

In the past, the perception of genius was counter-productive to the collaborative working environment so crucial for most of us today. Yet we’re still enamored with this classic sense of the genius as the steadfast individual that toils on his own towards a huge breakthrough that revolutionizes art or science. Ayn Rand’s hero in “the Fountainhead” embodied this concept, as does the perennial Albert Einstein who has been representing this “genius brand” for the past 30 years.

As defined by Wikipedia a genius is a person of great intelligence, who shows an exceptional natural capacity of intellect, especially as shown in creative and original work. But how applicable is this to our everyday? The idea of the solitary genius working in a vacuum producing breakthrough work on his or her own is swiftly going the way of the VHS players, walkmans, & Cd’s. The notion that some are “born with it” and others are not may be true but at the end it’s those that best pursue the “it” through perseverance and collaboration that will most likely snag the genius title.

continue reading “The Genius Connection”

Thomas Friedman wrote in his modern classic “The World is Flat,” about how the Internet has paved the way for a fluid cultural exchange that defies borders. As a result, young people chat with friends from other parts of the world about common interests such as manga and parkour. Many would argue then that nationalities matter less today and that brands should downplay where they come from. Should brands then have a home country, and how should they behave when they travel?

Let’s start by remembering that globalization is only part of what seems to be a nice balancing act in how people see themselves and how they interact with others. As technology brings us closer, there are other things that keep us rooted and local including business, politics and the steady and powerful tug of family and community. We live in two worlds, the ether world of global integration and the physical world that is home. Brands need to reach that perfect balance; they must be both worldly and rooted, depending on the when and where.

Country brands, or the set of associations that people have regarding a country and its also, also impact product brands from those countries as they seek to develop their brand personality. continue reading “Building a cosmopolitan brand : which flags to wave as your brand travels the world”

It makes sense when you think about it.

Ralph Lauren can remake the Great Gatsby with all its 1920’s American Royalty luxury. Juicy Couture could put out a 16th century raunchy French comedy full of dark humor and cotton candy wigs. Levis could remake Rebel without a Cause, or reinvent a great American tradition in need of an update: The Western. DKNY can tell a futuristic city sleek story of action, ambition and betrayal. Alexander McQueen could make a series of shorts: Grimms Fairy Tales, for adults.

With Product placement becoming more of the norm, it seems like only the big studios and the fashion & luxury brands will be able to rescue my favorite genre before it becomes to expensive to produce: The period piece; The historical fantasy; Those films that take you to a time and place before products.

I could go on and on, about the different designer luxury brands that could tell fabulous stories, it’s an expensive endeavor, and few will take the risk even though the rewards might very well skyrocket their brands. continue reading “Will fashion brands join the Advertainment revolution shooting movies that tell a trend story?”