Feed Your Marketing Head

For those of you Red Slicers who wanna hear more about marketing, branding or business, don't forget to tap into the Brand Slice blog. Would love if you'd set up a feed to this newly christened site and lend me your feedback.

More Red Slice urban musings coming - I know I have been lax!

Holographic Madness

Star Trek really was ahead of its time.

Click here to see how people like my husband will not have to fly over 2000 miles (with a Denver connection) just to give a 45 minute presentation is sticky-hot Orlando.

I'm all about the personal touch and being able to interact with attendees, but sometimes this will do.

Making Microsoft Cool

If you get the chance, pick up the latest issue of Fast Company and read about advertising guru Alex Bogusky and his firm's quest to help Microsoft connect with its market and become "cool." It's a fascinating read into a monolith trying to steer clear of the iceberg and change its image. I don't agree, however, with the controversial F.C. website comment of "All Microsoft needs to make products like Vista and Zune cool is better advertising" (Hello? Have you used Vista? Maybe if it didn't freeze up every 5 seconds, I might think it's, like totally hellacool, without needing any ads featuring funny Daily Show comedians, thank you). The print article is a voyeuristic journey into a company's high school insecurities and how they are taking on the bullies with their checkbooks:

MSFT: Mom, all the kids want to play with Apple and they picked me last for dodgeball again.

MOM: Well, dear, let's go to store and buy you some new clothes and pricey sneakers because I hear that's what all the cool kids are doing.


MSFT: You mean, all I have to do is change my clothes? Don't I need to be more user-friendly, less prone to viruses and hacking, not need to be restarted so often, and play obscure European indie musicians in my ads to get attention?

MOM: (laughs) Don't be stupid, dear. This is America. Just look the part.

In all seriousness, I am proud of MSFT for taking this $300 million look at their reputation and attempting to finally get their branding house in order. For too long, each group within MSFT has acted like a completely different company, even those targeting the same audience groups (One of the article's treats is it's timeline through MSFT's bad advertising). Now, stepping across the aisle, I don't think any company can "buy" their way to cool with sexy advertising. And part of what makes Apple great is what is at it's core (pardon the pun) - the advertising is just a representation, an extension of that inner soul. You can't glam up even the worst products - what is that famous quote that good advertising will just make a bad product fail faster?

But again stepping back over the aisle, bad product is not all together MSFT's problem. This company has a lot of smart people making amazing products. Indeed, companies have been built and serve the masses based on MSFT products, and even this blogger runs her life on Outlook and Vista. But the company's problems to date can be summarized as follows:

1) lack of cohesive brand
2) lack of cohesive messaging
3) lack of thinking that any of that is important for growth

It's like the smart kid in class who stubbornly scoffs at others, saying, "I'm smarter than all of you so that should be enough to bag the prettiest girl in school" and yet, the Homecoming Queen will settle for a guy of average intellect is he takes a shower and smells nice. Sometimes, you just have to try a little bit, you know? I'm also haunted by visions of Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers movies. While trying to endear himself to his son, Scott, he says, "Look, I'm cool" and proceeds to do a robotic version of the Macarena. Scott rolls his eyes and storms out. Most likely to pour out his angst onto his iBook.

MSFT does has glimmers of genius in the branding world. Just ask any gamer about the marekting blitz for Halo 3. It included mockumentaries with "interviews" of the war "veterans" and the story of a monument to those killed to create an even more realistic and intricate world for fans. You can't fake that kind of cool. Unfortunately, I think it was a purposeful decision to create an "XBOX" brand that separated itself from the MSFT brand for a reason. I mean, that rebellious Goth kid doesn't want you to know his dad's really a preacher and a pretty boring, stable guy.

Even as a branding and marketing consultant, I would never advocate that "all it takes" is good advertising. I'm just saying branding in general (which BTW goes beyond just advertising) can and will make a difference if you get the core of your house in order. You can't just buy cool - you have to walk the talk. Otherwise, everyone would be doing it. And I'm thinking MSFT's own worst enemy in the branding war is itself; when asked for a comment for the article on this exciting effort to really connect with its market, all MSFT would say, from an undisclosed spokesperson, was "They understand our company and where we want to take it." Seriously? A whole article on how MSFT is trying to overcome it's "out of touch", nerdish, self-conscious and self-absorbed image and one bland sentence of ink is all you can spare for the reporter? Ladies and gents, actions speak louder than words. MSFT has a ways to go to creating a rabid fan base - and understanding how brand needs to permeate everything you do.

The new branding efforts are due to arive in July. I can't wait as I really do want them to finally get it. The most humorous quote in the article was from Rob Enderle, an influential advisory analyst for tech companies. He said, "Nobody messes with anyone in the tech industry the way Apple messes with Microsoft. It's the first time I've seen a major national campaign that disparages a competitor, and the competitor just sits back and takes it. If somebody tried to do that to Oracle, you wouldn't be able to find the body."

Let the games begin.

**In full disclosure, I am a consultant on a MSFT project - unfortunately, not the branding one.

Logos Gone Wild

Check out this great site that critiques reinvented logos for companies small and large. Very good insight into why and how certain brands are reinventing themselves or delving into new markets. Of particular note is the Rossignol brand shift and the horror show that is the new Animal Planet log (as a former employee of Discovery when they launched Animal Planet, this makes me feel like I've lost a favorite cousin to a cult or something). And don't miss the "How Not to Logo" ridiculousness that is the South Dakota State University logo redesign project. Let's just say never let too many cooks (or jackrabbits) into the kitchen - regardless of the fact that the end logo turned out pretty damn good. The lesson here is that this result happens in 1 out of 10 billion cases of logo by committee or contest.

PS: Did you know Discovery initally had the old logo design with the elephant's trunk facing down, but changed it when they found out that this meant bad luck in a particular culture (which one escapes me right now). Also the globe was part of that logo to associate it with the parent network, Discovery Channel and bring new viewers over.

SHOP '08: Inspiration on a Rainy Day

Yesterday I had the good fortune to be in a room with over 100 women for 8 hours - and I wanted to hear every one of their zany and inspirational stories. How often do you get to attend a conference where everyone in the room is an interesting person? Exactly.

I'm talking about SHOP '08, a conference for independent women business owners here in Seattle. Networking diva and my new best friend Melody Biringer brought together women who have launched everything from eco-boutiques to consulting businesses to crafts shops to catered meals on the go to production companies to design firms to spas to you name it. The day featured panels for each session, not just one speaker, which offered a triple play of content for each hour. I even got to moderate a panel in a pinch when the fabulous Kelley L. Moore, lifestyle editor, could not make it due to illness (I'm not one for questioning opportunities when they land at my feet - I just snatch them up). My panel was "How to Turn Your Passion into Profit" featuring gorgeous smarties Anne-Marie Faiola of Bramble Berry, Larisa Goldin of DreamClinic and Rachel Brandzel of Real Card Company. Other panel topics ranged from to "Capital with Confidence - Decreasing your costs and improving your bottom line to "Be True to Your Brand - Do you have a business soul?" to Building Your Brand" to HELP! Can you build me a website?" All of the panels were chock full of sage wisdom from women who bear the scars and want to save you the hassle.

I thoroughly enjoyed the branding discussion (brand diva that I like to think I am) and the focused point that "Brand is not just a logo." Amen, sisters. Founder Sharelle Klaus of Dry Soda has created a lifestyle brand that is elegant and cool - all from her dilemma of not being able to drink wine when she was pregnant. They are so fanatical about their luxury, sophisticated brand, they carefully choose the types of paper clips used in the office. I think I've totally found my people. Oh, and their Rhubarb soda zips along your tongue like a firefly on a hot summer night in Eastern Long Island. Now I know why the French Laundry serves Dry Soda (and why they won't let discount blue box chains of which we will not speak sell them and spoil the brand image - at least not yet.)

Overall, it was a great day of inspiration and wisdom that I will not soon forget - both for the content and the lively connections I made. This beats my old IT/Application Development/Data Warehousing trade shows I was forced to endure for so many years where attendees care more about which booth has better free giveaways than the actual content presented. Thanks Ladies!

Geeked out on the WSJ

As a writer, I've always been a sucker for a good news story, well told. I never subscribed to the paper, because I was either a) traveling and preferred the USA Today soundbites and colorful graphs on important topics like Most Popular Pickle Varieties Around the World; b) stealing reads of abandoned papers or magazines in doctor's waiting rooms; c) catching Good Morning America each morning - when they actually had more real news on then they do now; d) listening to NPR which my husband got me hooked on during our former 1 and a 1/2 hour one way commutes/death marches down 101 in San Francisco; or e) Trying to read news sites online.

With the recent move and job changes in my life, I got out of my news-thirsty habits and was feeling a bit adrift. So we recently got a subscription to the Wall Street Journal (after chucking the poorly written Seattle Times) and I gotta tell ya, I'm hooked. I've never devoured a paper like I do this one - there are so many enticing stories, brilliantly written that I often jump from one to the other like a fat kid in a candy factory.

I get a good view of political and world news that is interesting, informative and seemingly unbiased - at least to me. But I also get fascinating marketplace coverage and even the lifestyle articles seem more evolved and make me see things - and people - in a new way. For example:

Today I learned that there's more to Ryan Seacrest than bleached teeth and Paula Abdul wrangling. He's a savvy businessman, this one. This 33-year old not only hosts "Idol", he co-anchors E! News, hosts American Top 40, does something with Dick Clark Productions, does a 5 hour morning radio show in LA and produces one show for E! and has another in the works. Now, in partnership with Clear Channel, he's syndicating his talk show in a mini-format of 3 hours for markets all across the nation. But here's the kicker: he's keeping a percentage of the ad space to sell to sponsors he's already personally affiliated with through TV. Most radio personalities own their show but let the network deal with selling ads. But Ryan has found a way to keep his sugar daddies coming back for more and imbedding promos in his content. He recently hosted a VIP dinner at his house (Wolfgang Puck prepared Kobe steaks and mac and cheese with truffles - oh yeah) for top execs and clients of Coca Cola to pitch his proposal and get their support for rejuvenating radio advertising. They were ga ga for it. Ryan, from a brand standpoint, is a squeaky clean, perfect pitchman with his finger on the pulse of the youth market. I like the way he rolls. What raised him up a few notches in my book was that he learned from one of the best personalites/deal makers in TV: Merv Griffith. Nice.

Kind of makes you wonder whatever happened to that other guy from Season 1 of "Idol", Brian Dunkleman. Do you think he sits on his shabby couch in his boxers, torturing himself by watching new episodes of "Idol" while downing Jack Daniels, screaming "Curse you, Seacrest! I shall have my blood!" Or maybe that's just me.

High-Tech Cat Fight? Yee Ha, Party Like it's 1999!

Readers, allow me to exchange my sassy hat for my marketing hat once again, as I am wont (or is it 'want'?) to do. The past few weeks in the glam life of enterprise software has been like the Great Land Grab of the 1800's. Aside from numerous acquisitions that have occured in drips and drabs the past year, most recently SAP buys Business Objects for $6.8 Billion to take out the largest independent Business Intelligence play. Oracle responds by bidding $6.7 for BEA to further imprison their customers with a middleware story - and gets rejected by them, even though major stockholder and puppet master Carl Icahn wants this baby to sell (how will this one end?) And SAP still has bullets left in its holster to make a bid for Yasu, a little known business rules engine player. For the down-lo on the first two, just catch the more entertaining round up here at my beloved Performance Guys site.

Paris and Nicole. Britney and Christina. Angelina and Jen. Facebook and MySpace. Larry and...everyone not named Carl? Kids, grab your popcorn and cherry Icee, sit back and enjoy the catfights. But what does it all mean?

One, it means major consolidation of enterprise software categories. The past few years have seen big league ERP vendors meld with CRM vendors meld with Database vendors to provide uber-infrastuctures that address substantial components of the technology stack. With dollars behind them, these "borgs" just keep getting bigger and bigger by acquiring ready-made customer bases. I won't pretend to go into all the techno-babble about EAI, ESB, CPM, etc. Dashboards, analytics, process management, and performance management are the belles of the ball these days - which is good for my company, BPM leader Savvion. Suffice it to say, these gigantors like Oracle, IBM, SAP, etc. want to eventually own your company's entire stack.

Two, it means major shifts in what is considered innovative, nice to have vs. critical business systems. Customers are now demanding more sophistication and agility around their technology infrastructure to meet real business objectives for real business people.

Three (and my favorite), it means major "Melrose Place"-style drama is back in Silicon Valley, baby, YEAH! Who will be left standing? In my opinion, this coincides nicely with the new micro-bubble that has been brewing in the Valley after the long, slow hangover recovery from the dot.com bust. The Tums have kicked in and, even though you said you'd never do it again, it's time to re-commence drinking!

Tons of little start-ups have popped up again, trying to capitalize on Web 2.0, social networking, user generated content (insert favorite buzzword here). Don't believe me? Check out my friend Sean's company Stirr: : a network to hook up entrepreneurs with VC funders and other resources in the Bay Area. Here's a list of alumni presenters - haven't seen company names like those since 1999. Party. Of course, right on this upswing, I have to move to Seattle but that's for another post. Anyway, the void created by the big guys gobbling each other up, means another vaccum of innovation and bleeding-edge technology, which means - hello, Stirr. The field is once again prime for planting after years of laying dormant since our beloved Pets.com's Sock Puppet died.... Ah, the circle of life.

For those of you who are like, "What the...?" maybe this will help you relate: Checking out Yahoo! Finance each day has become just as exciting for me these days as guiltily indulging in Us Magazine at the nail salon.

What, what is that flutter in my chest? Oh, I giddily feel the bubble growing in the streets once again in the Valley. Time for the gloves to come off, ladies and gentlemen. It's dark, back corner booth wheeling and dealing time. It's business plans over seared ahi at Sushi Groove SOMA. It's launch party come-backs at Vessel or Swig, complete with scandalous drunken hookups. It's beer Friday's, exposed brick office lofts, and Herman Miller Aeron chairs. It's daily catered lunches of curry, pasta and weird lo meins for developers who never see natural light for days on end. And most of all - could it be? What is that? Is that a lavishly produced, way too expensive, blow the entire marketing budget Super Bowl ad I see on the horizon?! Tune in to see who will make the next move. Meow!