Le Web 3

I'm attending Le Web 3 conference in Paris.
The first day has been rather interesting about the magic world of the Web 2.0 business.

Well, I have some feelings and not at all positive:

1. the market is trying to squeeze in a new world an old school model of revenue
2. this model is apparently not working (see the Facebook awfull move)
3. no one has any idea on how to make it working

Worst, the boss of Twitter admitted that they have no idea of the future development of Twitter.

So, now, I have some questions and an advice for all of you reading this post:

1. is a new bubble is behind the corner?
2. any suggestion to the people in the board of the social network companies?
3. is the ability to write business plan more important than the ability to design a revenue model?

The advice is : if you plan to buy a house in the valley, just wait a while. Prices may drop down soon.

Technorati Tags: Le Web 3, Loic Lemuir, Social network, Business model, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Plaxo

I said that

I've been very very busy lately and neglected my blog. And today is just a quick post to say: I said that! here and here
Yes, sometimes it's good to acknowledge when you anticipate an event, even if it is not so good for an icon brand.

Apparently, Apple is facing some issue in the troubled european mobile market.

For more:
C|net

Technorati Tags: Apple, IPhone, Cnet, Bizandbuzz, mobile market

The times they are a-changin'

Once upon a time, there were icon brands that had never to regret for their strategy: everything they did was ok, at least for many fans.

But today, oh today, nothing is granted for anybody. And this is true for them as well.

Take the Apple recent history: for two times in few weeks, the company went under fire.
The first time was with the IPhone price drop.
The second one was some weeks ago, when Apple released an update to the iPhone that erased programs made by independent developers and caused some phones to freeze up.

Then yesterday the NYTimes published this news: Apple to Open iPhone Programming to Outsiders.

What impressed me was a comment from a Gartner analyst, Michael McGuire, who said that
"the developer kit came as little surprise and that Apple probably had planned one all along".

Now, if this is so, why the hell they did not announced timely?
If what Steve Jobs say is right, why they did not announced when launched the IPhone?

On the other side, if they did a misjudgment, why do not just acknowledge?

Companies do not longer live in an ebony tower.

Technorati Tags: NYTimes, Apple, IPhone, Gartner

A share over 600 usd

(Screenshot image with Paparazzi)

Yesterday I was reading the New York Times online Tech page and was amazed by this consideration: in the same page, there are 5 articles about Google.
One was about Google, You Tube and advertising, the second one about Google shares, the third one about GPhone, the fourth one about advertising and phone going together and the fifth one about cloud computing.
Now I pose myself some questions:

1. Do journalists have Google shares?
2. Google is the hottest company right now?
3. Google is expected to become the most influent company in the world?
4. Google does have an outstanding pr and press office?
5. Google management is done by geniuses only?

What's your opinion?

Technorati Tags: New York Times, Google, You Tube, marketing, advertising, GPhone

Facebook and the naked truth

Reading Tangerine Toad post on Daily Fix, I have had some bad feelings on many supposed smart marketers and cool companies.
And it got worst when I thought about many of the latest hype of the net.

And when I think about Facebook I have some question of what I believe Facebook is and isn't.

Facebook is a playground and it is not the panacea for the marketing of the future. Right or wrong?

Facebook is a spot where marketers have to learn how people interact and not to step in and try to generate not required conversation. Right or wrong?

Facebook is not another Second Life. Right or wrong?

Facebook is another bandwagon to jump on now. Right or wrong?

Facebook is just a smarter community but for how long? Right or wrong?

Facebook is ..... what the hell is it?

Technorati Tags: Facebook, Daily Fix, Tangerine Toad, community, conversation

1USD=0,70€ but not for Apple

I still have to blame my beloved Apple for a policy that could alienate a significant number of customers and prospects in Europe.
The European currency is still very strong vs the USD and the current exchange rate is close to 1USD equivalent to 0,70 €.
This is a great advantage for the US companies exporting their goods to Europe as far as it is not seen by the European customers as an unfair tax.

Apple is benefitting as many other companies but its policy of the same price everywhere is putting this excessive benefit in display.

Give a look at Apple site and choose a product.

US store IPod Touch 16 gb at 399 USD
Italy store IPod Touch 16 gb at 399 €

Wait a minute this is a parity between USD and € and I can see it in Apple website.

Again I recognize that a company is looking for the highest revenue but this is rather offensive from my point of view.
And if a friend of mine is travelling to the US, should I feel guilty in purchasing the product there and saving a huge amount of money?

How do you feel when you think that somebody is profiting too much?
What's your opinion whe you feel that you pay too much a product?

Technorati Tags: Apple, exchange rate, IPod Touch, marketing, fair price

Think different? Not even this time

For the second time in few weeks, Apple does another huge mistake.
The launch in the European market of the IPhone may prove to be another loss of grip on the reality of a different market.

The first launch will be in Uk, then France and Germany. Then Italy.
The technology adopted to support the web browsing is based on Wi-fi spots.

Now, I do not know who was building the business plan for the launch but:

Italy is by far the biggest market in Europe for Smartphone
Italian consumers are by far the fastest in adopting new smart devices and in replacing the older devices
Italy is not covered by a significant network of Wi-fi spots
Italy is the second market in Europe for density of mobile phones (number of device vs population), first is Luxembourg

Not to take in consideration these figures in developing the product was a huge mistake as it is now to market it with huge limitation for the biggest market.

Technorati Tags: Apple, IPhone, Smartphone, Wi fi, marketing

Think different? Not this time.

I've been thinking lately about the Apple move to rebate the IPhone cost, all the discussion and the comments. Than I read today this interesting analysis by Ruth Sherman in Fast Company.

In all the comments, and in this one too, I feel that there is a missing link: Apple acted as the major mobile phone device producers do.
They launch a cutting edge model at high price, after three months reduce the price and after six/nine months sell a mssive quantity to the phone carriers to give it for free to their subscribers.
This is the rule except for the top seeling product like the Motorola Rzrs, which remained at very high price longer than usual.
IPhone was not seeling good and Apple followed the industry track.

If the commenters do not get this point, any analysis, even the smarter one, is based on wrong assumption.

The real mistake was that Apple does not probably felt comfortable in this new industry and the business model does reflect it clearly.
To enter in such a market for the first time ever and sign an exclusive deal with one carrier is a stupid move. IPhone should have been sold in the Apple store without any obligation to subscribe a plan with given carrier.

The Apple mistake was not to act as Apple is expected to do.
They were not confident enough to challenge the market and changed as it was for IPod and ITunes.

Apple did not think different and now pay the price for the betrayal of the core brand philosophy.

Technorati Tags: Apple, IPhone, IPod, ITunes, Fast Company, Ruth Sherman, Marketing, Branding

The naked truth

Well, eventually someone from the recording industry, had the guts to admit a reality revelead on blogs since months: the recording business model is done.
Rick Rubin, the new co-chairman of Columbia Records, is the first man from the industry to face the reality.
His solution is to transform the way to purchase music: instead of buying a cd or download an mp3 and pay money for each purchase, the new model is based on a monthly subscription that allow to download a free number of tracks.
Apparently Columbia new model could look for additional revenue from live venues and merchandise.
Read on Cnet and on NYTimes
Sorry if I quote myself but I could have tell this to Columbia for definitely a smaller amount of money and few months ago.
Still the approach is questionable.

The real issue is that Recording industry must shift to Music industry.
Today a Recoding company launch an artist an get revenue from CDs and legal download, period.
Tomorrow, the Music company should sign an artist for his/her entire artistic life: CDs, Download, live venues, merchandising.

Until that day, Recording companies will be in the dark ages.

Sept. 5th Apple news

The so much rumoured news, to be released by Apple next Wednedsday, is the revolution in the phone bill: the IBill.

The IBill is a doc sized around 10 gb that will include all the info you need to know to remember how you used your I-Phone.
To have access to I-bill you need to expand the memory size of your I-Phone and the doc will remain on the device for 6 months before selfdestructing.
This is the sneak preview.

Technorati Tags: Iphone, Apple, AT&T, IPhone bill, marketing

Feeling unsafe: NFL looks for a image rebirth

In some of the previous posts, here at Bizandbuzz, and in a late comment at CK's blog, I was asking: what about is you are a sport sponsor? Still feeling safe in putting money in major sport events?

Just to recap what happened in the last months:

- the Tour de France was hit by several case of doping and some cyclists were kicked out the race, anyway too late: the two German major TV stations drop the the race from their programming.

- a NBA referee admitted he was betting on his own matches and said several other referees and athletes can be involved

- a McLaren manager supposedly bought secret papers from a Ferrari engineer about the latest F1 cars

- an acclaimed quarterback, Michael Vick, pleaded guilty to a federal felony charge of conspiracy stemming from a dog-fighting kennel

Indeed several others events happened to tarnish the image of the sport world.

Today the New York Times has an interesting comment about the adv campaign launched by NFL to mend its bruise image.
It's a warning sign that supporters and, maybe, sponsors do feel that sport is no longer such a safe world where to bring your children or put your money.

I suppose that we will see more adv and pr activities like this one, but we need something more if we want to refresh a rather damaged image.

Read more: Mending a bruised image

Technorati Tags: Marketing, sport sponsorship, NBA, NFL, Formula 1, Michael Vick, Tour de France, cyclism, football, New York Times

Blogger Social '08

As for every communities, there is always a time to meet and know each other.
If The age of conversation has been a tremendous way of gathering and then spreading the thoughts and the words of 103 bloggers from all over the world, the Blogger Social '08 in New York will be the time for the off line reunion.
An event that will mark for many of us, to me for sure, a new level of engagement in a worldwide community and the chance to further ignite our conversations.

Go there and see the no rules policy to attend the event and be a social animal.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, community, Blogger Social '08, New York, CK

Turn the table and see what happens

While some commenters, such as CK and Lewis Green, make efforts to understand why so many products made in China are dangerous to our health and where the responsibilities are, the Chinese government is turning the table and shifting every responsibilities on the western companies.

My personal opinion is:

1. western companies are indeed liable for concentrating only on saving money but with no control on method, rules to achieve the financial result
2. the Chinese government shows once more that in a country without democracy it's rather difficult to hear voices admitting problems and corruption is higher than everywhere else

China is currently manufacturing most of the products sold around the world but at what price:

1. a high rate of pollution and, as we know, pollution does not know borders and this is a price we are going to pay sooner or later
2. a significant number of concerns about quality and safety for these products, food, garments, toys, etc.
3. an incredible number of infringments of copyright and patent laws; a German car magazine, Automobilwoche, claims today that BMW and Daimler are issuing legal actions to avoid the exhibition of three chinese cars equal to three model produced in Germany, just to mention the last
4. the civil, human and animal rights are bypassed every single day

Am I a bit paranoic?
Or are we just running without considering in whole the consequences of what's going on?
What's your opinion?

Technorati Tags: Marketing, China, Mattel, BMW, Daimler, Lewis Green, CK, Automobilwoche

Would you......(3)

(picture from AndreasNYC Flickr photostream)

A football superstar, Michael Vick, is expected to plead guilty for an horrible crime: dogs fighting and dogs murder.
Why it' s horrible: cause Vick and partners were training the dogs, make them fight and kill the dogs underperforming. And they did so in a very professional way, a real industry.
He will be probably sent to jail, fired from the Falcons and by the sponsors.
But th best reaction came from the Falcons supporters: they ask the worst for him.

I ate him and his partners because I love animals and dogs, specifically, and I hope that his career is ended and not to see him anymore on a football field.


But I want to see the story from a marketing point of view.

Everyday there is more and more story involving athletes of any sports, football, basket, cyclism, etc.
And I feel that sport sponsorship is becoming a mine field.

Winning is everything, no matter the way, but this is becoming a threat to the sponsors: who wants to have his carefully nurtured brand or product linked to an athlete or a sport accused of bribery?

Would you put your money on an athlet or a sport with more or less trust today than it was in the past?
Which question would you ask for to stay as safe as possible?
Would you accept to sponsor not the questioned big winner but the one who plays ethically?

Technorati Tags: Michael Vick, marketing, sport sponsorship, brand, dogs, dog fighting

Would you...... (2)

The late Mattel case is the latest warning sign that China is a real and tangible problem to the world.

Forget all the bullshit about China being the engine of the world economy. China is a polluting engine that could kill the world.

Products are manufactured without any rules, by underpaid workers, sometimes by political prisoners.

And we close our eyes to the human rights violation for the sake of our greed.
This nation will organize the next Olympic games and there is always open discussion about the possibility for the athletes to show and tell their concerns about these violations.

The responsibilities are not only on China but on all the companies that moved productions over there: they should control and be held responsible for those manufacturing under their labels.
Since years now, labour issues and now safety and health issues are linked with products manufactured in the emerging countries, where the greed of few is creating troubles for the health of a lot of people everywhere in the world.

It’s time to give to China and to all the companies manufacturing there a strong sign that this situation has to come to an end.

Would you be willing to pay a premium for safer products manufactured in a safe environment?

Technorati Tags: marketing, china, mattel, barbie, olympic games, human rights, ethic, business

Would you.......(1)

Everyday hundreds of thousands of animals are slaughtered for the only purpose of men.
Food, skin, furs everything that can create a benefit to men.
But is this sacrifice worth?
The cruelty of men is justified by the need of food? Shouldn’t we pay a tribute to these animals and ensure to them a soft death?

All these questions are not new to me but, lately, had become more and more crucial, especially after having seen frames from Fast food nation.

We are so entangled in the quest of food at cheap price, the we lost the sense of the rituality.

In the past, the sacrifice of the animals were full of this rituality and had a extremely high value.
Today we are cruel without even think about it.

Would you be willing to pay a premium for food coming by a company investing on a gentle death for animals?

Or you just don’t give a damn?

Technorati Tags: animals, vegetarian, vegan, meatpacking, fast food nation, marketing, ethic, business

Close for holidays

Bizandbuzz goes on holidays!
Back on line August 15th!

Ciao, G.

Marketing and sport: a tricky situation part 2

While the situation for the cyclism is gettin worst and worst (yesterday Rasmussen, the leader of the Tour de France, was kicked out from his team, one other racer was arrested for doping and the French press claim the Tour is dead), other sports have no reason to be happy.

NBA: even if David Stern try to minimise the story, to have a referee who admit to put money of the matches he had to run and is involved with the mob, well this is a real mess.
Tim Donaghy undermined the legacy of the NBA. How many match final results were affected by the referee? Are we sure that he is the only one? No other referee, no other players were involved?

F1: in the meantime, in Paris, the International Federation is helding a trial against Mercedes McLaren team. The team is accused to have spied the Ferrari team. Lot of documents proving this story have been found at the house of one top engineer of the McLaren team. The team could be excluded by the World Championship with huge economic damage and image damage for McLaren and Mercedes. The main sponsor is Vodafone.

As we all can see, the sport world is under a big threat.

Should we expect a decrease of the audience for the sports involved in these events?
In your position of consultant and marketing men and women, what would you suggest to a client of yours?

Technorati Tags: Marketing, sport event, nba, formula 1, tour de france, mercedes mclaren, ferrari, tim donaghy, rasmussen, david stern

Marketing and sport: a tricky situation

The latest news from the Tour de France are a very bad sign for cyclism and for sport.

To recap:

- the former leader of the Tour was found positive to a banned drug
- the two major german TV Stations immediately stop to broadcast the race
- the new hero of the Tour, and the favourite racer at the beginning of the race, was found positive to testosterone

All this in a race who claimed to be the cleanest one.
Most of the sponsors will probably withdraw their money for the next season.

Is this story limited to cyclism?
I'm afraid not. And if I was a marketing manager who put money in sport events I would worry about it.
Who can reassure me that my brand is not linked to a doped athlete?
How badly my brand can be hurt by such a correlation?

If you were is such a tricky situation, how would you react?
Withdraw?
Resist?

Technorati Tags: Marketing, sport sponsorship, tour de france, doping

Ethic, honesty, transparency (to be cont'd)

Few weeks ago, I made a post about the Guillaume Prébois, the journalist running the his own Tour the France under medical control in clean condition.

The Tour organization has made a statement to fight against any form of doping and to stay a clean race and banning cyclists who were caught doping or under trial for doping.
A clear marketing move to retain sponsors, sell the race to the TV Stations.

But yesterday something went broken.

A German cyclist has been found positive to an antidoping control on June 8, well before the Tour, but he was in the race until three days ago.

The two major German Television, ZDF and ARD, decided to stop to broadcast the Tour.
Nikolaus Brender, from ZDF on behalf of the two TV channels, said: "We cannot air an event with athlets and teams that may be using drugs. We want to show that we can sustain the movement if and only if it is clean. And this is a message for all the other sports, too."

This is a move that should make all the marketers to think about how the sponsorship in sport events are a delicate topic, how is important to carefully choose the sport and the face to marry your brand.

The fastest is not always the best.
The honest, yes.
At least for your brand.

Technorati Tags: Tour de France, ZDF, ARD, doping, marketing, sport sponsorship