It's Marketing Day

If they can't close the deal before they film - not to worry - there's still time. From the New York Times today (Advertising's Twilight Zone: That Signpost Up Ahead May Be a Virtual Product) "digital placement gives advertisers and producers the option of cutting multiple deals with advertisers, placing one brand of soda in a first-run movie, selling placement for another brand in that movie's DVD release and a third in the portable video player version." So it may not exactly be Reeses' pieces in E.T. (will M&M ever get THAT egg off its face?) - but it's pretty darn close.

And then there's that article from the Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago - It's the Purpose Brand, Stupid - brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Until I read Grant McCracken's response - which seems equally brilliant. And absolutely contrary to Mssrs. Christensen, Cook and Hall. Hmmm. If, and pardon the heresy, one were to combine the two theories - that good brands do start with a purpose, a "job" for which they are hired (whether the consumer is looking for that "employee" or is nicely surprised), but that great brands take that job and make it their own - they impart the wow factor that the best brands deliver seemingly effortlessly (or, as McCracken puts it, they "deliver... an understanding of not just what the product does but what it stands for, how it may be used, for whom it may stand, and where it is located in the larger scheme of things, commercial and cultural"). That is so true that I would argue that McCracken's examples are not only disingenous, but that they in fact prove the first point. Patek Phillippe is different from Timex, and therefore it performs a different 'job' - it would be naive to think that one buys a PP to tell time, and only to tell time. But if one were entranced by the history of time-keeping pieces, by their complexity, their elegance, their potential complications, by their very beauty, then one would look to PP. If all one wanted was a clock on one's wrist, one would look to Timex. The same can be said for Ford/Volkswagen (an odd pairing after Patek Phillippe vs. Timex - did Porsche, Bentley or Ferrari not come to mind?) and Intuit is only a few features away from MS Money... It is not that marketing and branding are not important - they are all-important - it is that without a valid category (or "job") to occupy, they are meaningless. Al Ries and Jack Trout wrote "be first", and if someone else is already first in your category, then create a new one where you can be first (if this is unfamiliar, run, don't walk, to the nearest copy of The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing - some of it may be out of date, but there are some gems, absolute gems, in this book). The WSJ article doesn't claim that there is only one brand per job, or that all brands are created equal - simply that marketing a solution can build a brand, but marketing a brand will not build you a solution (or revenue).

EAT
I never go home without having the prosciutto pizza and fried baby artichokes (Carciofi al giudea) at Fiorello's on Broadway and 63rd street. They're open late and you can almost always get a seat at the bar, perched in front of platters upon platters of fresh antipasti. I've yet to eat there without being offered a complimentary glass of Muscat with my coffee or dessert - a nice gesture of hospitality to cap off what is always a verrry tasty meal.


DRINK
When I was taken to Maroon's (a hidden gem of a restaurant on West 16th Street - if you go, make sure to have their ribs!) for the first time, I ordered a Manchester cocktail to start the evening and I've been hooked ever since. Make them at home yourself - with Appleton's light rum, ginger beer (try D&G, or Barritt's) over ice with a squeeze of fresh lime.


BE MERRY
On the recommendation of my friend David, I picked up Eragon - a book he described as a cross between Tolkien's trilogy and Harry Potter. I devoured it on the ten hour flight home from London - David told no lies! And then I found out it had been written by a 16-year old from Montana - have I mentioned my inferiority complex lately?? The good news is, if he's starting that young, we can hope to see tomes and tomes from young Paolini! In return, I sent David the first trilogy by Mercedes Lackey in the Valdemar series - Arrows of the Queen, Arrow's Flight and Arrow's Fall. Great stories, really great. I've also just finished Blink, by Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point) -- thin-slicing may be the one of the most interesting things I've read about in ages. Of course, I've had a thing for Gladwell ever since he published that fabulous SUV article in The New Yorker... if you haven't read it, do!

Joining the fray

So, the year has ended - and in more ways than one. I was fired (for the first time) -- my friend, Deidre (the best recruiter on the planet!), put it best - "when one door closes, another one opens, but it's hell in the hallway." And, sweetie-pie, am I ever in that hallway, going full steam ahead for that open door!

In fact, I'm thinking I can build that door to be just the height, width and weight that I want. While I may not start a restaurant on an island in the Caribbean, nor be a CEO on Madison Avenue, right now I'm all about the Blanchards in Anguilla (check out their book Live What You Love), and Kevin Roberts, CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi (check his book and website and philosophy, not so new, but fabulous, Lovemarks, the future beyond brands).

And why start a blog now? It's all part of that door I'm building... loving what I'm living and living what I love. Like Charles and Marie (check out their awesome site) - who have a passion for travel, for cool, for innovative, for design - and that's what they live. Add to that a passion for marketing and problem-solving, a knack for seeing connections others don't, and my door, not to mention my blog, begins to take shape.

I'm not sure the world needs another blog - even with blogidators like bloglines and newsgator to help - nonetheless, like Gene Kelly said, "gotta dance!" - though, somehow, "gotta blog" doesn't have quite the same ring. There's a glut of trendwatching with perspective out there already - some of it excellent, much of it good, some of it, well... But to share from the excellent category: Morning News Beat (don't let the food/retail slant fool you - this site has some of the best current consumer and marketing insight around!), Daily Candy (like Google, simple, true to its roots, and phenomenal), Gen Art Pulse (all that's of the moment - clothes, movies, travel, and more), Splendora (pop culture with personality - what more could you ask for?). That's it for today - have to keep some in reserve for the next post, after all.

So going forward, eat, drink and be merry (I figure being merry can incorporate all activities eating and drinking leave out)...


EAT
For those who haven't - go to The Griddle in Hollywood (Sunset & Fairfax) for breakfast, and go hungry, go starving, go famished - going hung-over would be best. This is one of the few places where the huge pancakes (the size of a dinner plate - and you get THREE!) are tasty and light, not frisbees made of pancake colored cardboard. The coffee is super dark, the bacon excellent, and the Manhattan frittata is a don't miss.

DRINK
Make your margaritas at home with Dr. Swami and Bone Daddy's incredible marg mix - use with fresh lime juice, and lots of it, for a margarita that isn't too sweet, too tart, or too sour - perfect!

BE MERRY
Go to the movies -- seriously, go. Cache - you can't quite believe it holds you the way it does, and you don't want to believe it ends the way it does. Walk the Line - it may be trite to say, but the performances really are amazing... personally, I think it's patently unfair that Reese and Joaquin look the way they do, perform they way do, and can also sing?? I already had an inferiority complex, thank you very much. King Kong - it's a spectacle, maybe a little too much so - I can just hear the visual effects team: "come on Peter, how can you NOT use our fabulous slug with teeth and slimy pink gums that can swallow a guy from the head down?" - but still, any movie that can have you believe that not only would a girl choose someone over Adrien Brody, but would choose an ape - that's filmmaking worth seeing. The Matador - a louche 007... is this what Daniel Craig has to look forward to? see it, if only to see Hope Davis utter every variation of the word "fuck" 63 times in 63 seconds (not an exact figure). Syriana - yes, it is like Traffic (go figure, same writer, same director) - this is a good reason to see it... just don't expect to get it all (that's why God invented DVDs and rewind for crying out loud), but if you miss the message, you must be deaf (or stubborn). Good Night and Good Luck - purely beautiful - and riveting. David Strathairn (whom I've loved since Passion Fish, which also stars Mary McDonnell - who is completely underrated, or at least underutilized (remember High Society on TV? No? Neither does anyone else, unfortunately. 'twas the only sitcom I've ever loved... alas, alack), but I digress...) is pitch-perfect, the cinematography is exquisite, and the cast is golden. Don't miss this. Fun with Dick and Jane - I walked out of this. You know me - for me to walk out - that's saying something, and saying enough, I think.
Still on my list - Munich, Capote, Brokeback Mountain, Chronicles of Narnia, Casanova.