At the World Creative Forum, a number of speakers referred to how Starbucks is described in the book The Experience Economy. They each repeated the view that people were paying a premium in Starbucks for the great experience that they have there.
I'm normally a great proponent of the idea that a brand, when sincerely and distinctively deployed, can deliver a positive consumer experience that goes beyond the mere matter-of-factness of the transaction and that people are willing to pay a premium for this.
Tags: One of my favourite moments from Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest is when, even though they are in the middle of an argument, etiquette demands that Cecily offers Gwendolyn a cup of tea. The offer is accepted, but with the pained explanation to the audience:
"Detestable girl! But I require tea!"
Following my earlier post about trust, transparency and visibility, here's a recent real-world example.
A few months ago Mark Blacklock interviewed me for his forthcoming book on the illegal drugs industry. His idea was to explore the differences between the drugs trade and legitimate business practice. We were talking about the branding and marketing of drugs like ecstasy, heroin, cocaine, speed and cannabis. Aside from youthful experimentation in the milder of these substances, I didn't know much about drugs except what you read in the papers or see in movies and TV. It was therefore fascinating to hear about Mark's research.
Only a few years ago, advertising was accused of making children too thin. It seems that it has now overcompensated.
[Extract from my earlier paper, The Intangible Revolution]Merriam Webster's Dictionary defines the term yuppie as:
Function: noun
Usage: often capitalised
Etymology: probably from young urban professional + -ie
Date: 1983
: a young college-educated adult who is employed in a well-paying profession and who lives and works in or near a large city
There are few cliches more persistent in business writing than the comparison of a company with an orchestra. The implied ideal, of course, is that everyone works in unison in their particular roles to deliver spectacular results. It helps, too, that managers are flattered because the conductor has the most status of any of the performers. There are even courses where business managers can try their hand at conducting.
How Sony’s intangible assets have driven their development as a company.
[previously published in Brand Strategy magazine]
In 1999 I wrote a piece about the value and relevance of intangible assets to business called 'The Intangible Revolution'. As a result I was invited to speak at various conferences around the world about brands and intangible assets. Looking back at it, it still has some relevance although what at the time were views that were not very widely held have now become commonplace, and I was pretty much wrong about Amazon. You can read it here.
There have been at least 20 film versions of “The Invisible Man”. With a few minor variations, the plot is always largely the same: A scientist discovers the secret of invisibility, goes on to commit various crimes and finally becomes murderously insane. Plato’s Republic has perhaps one of the earliest versions of the story. In it, a shepherd called Gyges finds a ring that makes the wearer invisible. Using it, he seduces the queen and then murders and replaces the king.
Zenith Optimedia has made gloomy predictions about the immediate future for television advertising. Their analysis suggests that part of the problem is inappropriate public spending affecting UK economic growth, but there may also be other problems closer to home.
- Touchable Holography
- Rabbis take to the skies to ward off swine flu
- SOUR - Hibi no neiro
- PowerPoint is actively hostile to thoughtful decision-making.
- Tomas Saraceno
- Claire Morgan
- The world doesn't need...
- Youtube video about demanding work for free
- Michael Jackson Shrine at O2 Centre (Millenium Dome)
- 4800-Year-Old Artificial Eyeball - Medgadget - www.medgadget.com