Brand Noise

Ethiopian Coffee Campaigns for Recognition

Ethiopia has launched a campaign to brand and market its coffee after ending a long trademark dispute with US coffee giant Starbucks. Ethiopia, Africa's largest coffee producer, will trademark its most famous coffee names -- Sidamo, Harar and Yigacheffe. "Licensees are required to feature Ethiopia's new brand identity in their marketing as part of their licensee agreements," the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office states.

Building Brands as Character Actors

I am constantly integrating a cinema perspective to the way I plan brands.  In speaking on the topic of brand placement and integration in consumer experience, I described the process of managing these new strategies as similar in how one manages the career/brand of a good character actor.  The example I have used in the past was Christian Bale, but an interview with Alec Baldwin on 60 minutes this Sunday made the connection for me again.  It was something he said.  Good character acting is.. "learning to listen to the other actors".  I think this says a lot.  How often do brands imagine themselves as the leading man - only to realize that this position leaves them looking like a hollow talking head and disconnected from the scenes they wish to live in.  Brands need to channel the authenticity that comes from listening - the art of character acting - and cultivate a meaningful position in the mise-en-scene.  That is the formula for better experiences.

Miuccia Prada and the Marriage of Art and Fashion

(from Financial Times) Miuccia Prada symbolises perfectly the merging of these two multimillion-pound industries. Not only are her collections feted for the kind of conceptual audacity that would shame many a so-called artist but she has also acted as a generous patron for all things cutting edge.

Miuccia Prada has already shown that fashion – quick-moving, dynamic, ferociously embracing globalisation – can outsmart more ponderous forms of expression. But the problem, which she recognises as surely as anyone, is this: as art learns those lessons and becomes more approachable and, arguably, more facile, will it lose its sense of gravitas?

Last week the 58-year-old designer announced plans for a new headquarters for her 15-year-old Prada Foundation, in a former spirits distillery in Milan. The €25m project, masterminded by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, will restore most of the distillery’s original buildings as well as providing three new structures.  Read more (FT.com)

Profile of a Music Pirate

It makes for some interesting dinner conversation when when one of your friends is an intellectual property lawyer (he used to represent Apple Records while going through the DJ Dangermouse fiasco).  The topic certainly gets people's blood going.  It represents the shift into a whole new way in which companies and consumers relate to the value of goods and services.  And like other industries before them like cars and tobacco, reveals an attempt to dictate control over how the market functions. We must go through them.  The consumer sees things differently. The struggle to change gets ugly - and often results in singling out folks for litigation. In this week's BusinessWeek an article focuses on a 45-year-old single mother who, after being sued by the record industry, is now taking the record industry to court. Tanya Andersen is going after the recording industry under conspiracy laws. She argues the Recording Industry Association of America, the industry's trade group, and its affiliates worked together on a broad campaign to intimidate people into making financial payoffs.  Read more

All Over the World, Teens Crave Empowerment

Last season, Frontline/World ran a story from the Middle East that introduced viewers to the fastest selling comic book in the Arab world, The 99. The comic features characters with super powers based on the concept of Allah's 99 attributes, including wisdom and generosity, as taught in the Koran. Its creator, Naif al-Mutawa, is a 36-year-old from Kuwait who was educated in the United States and who, as a boy, devoured Marvel comics and the Hardy Boys mysteries.

Reporter Isaac Solotaroff followed al-Mutawa as he marketed his comics throughout the Middle East, hoping to spread a moderate, modern image of Islam to the world. In this update, Solotaroff catches up with al-Mutawa in Jakarta, Indonesia, where the comic creator is trying to sell his work to the largest Islamic country in the world, a country that accounts for one in six of all Muslims worldwide. An ensuing documentary, Wham! Bam! Islam!, is in the works. Go, Isaac!

Even more compelling will be to see how the Islamic comic fans evolve. Will the cosplayers take it to the next level? Spirituality already underlies many a Manga. And, apparently, you can even see lotsa hijabi girls in Malaysia attending cosplay events. Could cosplay become the common ground the world needs? Can kids who think change the world? In our own research we've found the cosplay kids to be some of the most open-minded serious global thinkers. It belies the initial impression often viewed simply as kids in costume. These are not the Star Trekkies of past generations.   

Joy Division Zune

Cool Gen X news.....Microsoft is readying a Joy Division edition of its Zune MP3 player to coincide with the June 10 release of an eponymous DVD about the band.

Apple..Stop acting like a stalking ex-girlfriend

Just when I get through writing nice things about you Apple, you go ahead and remind me of your lingering flaw.  Stop fooling yourself that I am going to start using and upgrading Safari on my computer.  The laptop you sold me is already overloaded with every graphics, video and sound editing tool known to man.  I don't have room for your weird little browser - I moved on... to Firefox - she understands me better for that kind of stuff.  sometimes you have to reach down deep and let go if you want to stay friends.  Let it go Apple - I'm not buying into Safari - stop having it show up on my Software Updater every 2 weeks.  The stalking is really weirding me out and eroding our relationship.  Can't we get past this?

Embracing Eating Alone

The TV dinner has evolved - well at least in attitude.  I was kind of surprised to see the positioning on the latest launch by DiGiorno, "DiGiorno for One".  Microwave cooking has taken some time to get in touch with the lonely reality behind it.  Embracing it seems like a smart strategy.  Implied sharing is built into so much of other heat and eat food messaging.  How long has advertising lied to us pushing those frozen foods as still connected to some ideal picture of home.  Is this really what works?  Are people who eat alone expecting some reminder of a more social eating experience? 

Good Technology Makes Good Pictures, Not Smiles

Why is a smile synonymous with a good picture? Sony has been banking on the connection with its new Cyber-Shot camera with its Smile Shutter technology. Yet reviews are less than favorable: “Smile shutter sounds appealing in theory…But it strikes me as a work in progress.”

My own favorite photos of my six-year-old daughter are when she’s at her most contemplative. Maybe they can fine-tune a camera for me with a Brood Button? This is a case of where technology is not keeping up. The smile thing as good photography is something that lives in the realm of boomers and silents.

Not such a provocative concept considering that the first successful picture was produced in June/July 1827 by Niépce required an exposure of eight hours. Who could have possibly smiled that long?  Things didn't get snappy until about a century later.

(photo: Sabine demonstrates that pain makes a great picture.)

A Moment of Zen (Imogen Heap)

Thinking about open source and making process transparent to consumers seems to be part of almost every recommendation we make as planners today. I like to see how that unbundling and transparency feels emotionally. This clip of Imogen Heap sums up the joy and passion for me. Enjoy.