Brian Feener

Hey all!  Thanks for reading this site so far.  It’s been great getting comments… er… a comment.

Anyways… I’ve upgraded to Feed Burner so if you’re getting the RSS feed already, I’m asking that you re-subscribe through Feed Burner. (Link is in the sidebar.)

Thanks again!  And I won’t hold it against you if you don’t.

Also, I’ve got a new blog - - Marquette Basketblog, all about Marquette Golden Eagle basketball.

From Uniwatchblog:

Meanwhile, just to bring things full circle, I caught a quick glimpse of a Mitt Romney campaign rally on TV yesterday and noticed that many of the people in the crowd were holding up signs shaped like baseball gloves — mitts, get it? Only problem is, a regular fielder’s glove is not a mitt, because “mitt” is short for “mitten” and only applies to the fingerless gloves worn by catchers and first basemen.

This isn’t an endorsement or slander, but proof that everything you company does, no matter how small it may seem, WILL be noticed by someone.  Most likely, that person can put it on the web.

This is proof that your message, no matter how simple (mitt=baseball glove), is determined by those listening - not by those speaking, right?

Rupert Murdoch has said, out loud, to a group of people, that the leder may be too long.

http://www.observer.com/2008/murdoch-bury-leder-rethinks-journal-strategy.html

(Update: The link doesn’t work anymore and I can’t find anything online about it.  Weird.  Did I just imagine this?)

Ugh.

You have got to be kidding me with these top-down decisions. I understand that Mr. Murdoch has made a lot of money making top-down decisions, but the journal has never been (and probably shouldn’t be) just like everyone else.

It’s been able to separate itself from the pack by delivering news that a certain segment of the population can use. Its as much a status symbol of wealth as it is of knowledge. Its competition is not the Times… its competition is itself.

Update:  This post doesn’t make any sense without the link.  My apologies.  I promise not to link to the Observer anymore.  Mea culpa.  Here’s an article about what people think about the WSJ Weekend Edition. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/19/business/media/19journal.html

Question: If newspapers are in business are in business to support advertising, does that justify maintaining a church-and-state-like separation between the journalists and the people selling ads?

Watch the video and read along…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cRU-F2NKpA]

(Skip to the 7 min mark.)

For those who haven’t seen This is Spinal Tap, the movie centers around a heavy metal band who is on the down-turn of their career, promoting the release of their latest album “Smell the Glove.” In the midst of the release, there is a problem. The big box stores like K-Mart refuse to carry an album with “a greased, naked woman on all fours with a dog collar around her neck and a leash … and a man’s arm holding on to the leash extended out to her shoving a black glove in her face to sniff it.”

So, the album comes back to the group and it features an all black cover. (”It’s like, ‘how much more black could this be?’ and the answer is none. None more black.”) The band is angry at the record company’s decision to change the cover and, in my opinion, rightly so.

When you have an overarching vision, I believe that representations of that vision must stay as true as possible.

Take the example of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, an album that was contained no radio singles and was so experimental and “unaccessible” that it caused the band to get dropped from Warner.

It also happens to be their best reviewed and best selling album to date.

I’m not saying that corporations can’t be right; however, too many cooks in the kitchen can spoil the pot.

Don’t agree? Use the comments.

Update:  Does “It’s going to be that simple, beautiful, classic,” sound like anyone you know?

Illy: Producer of fine coffee.
Lilly: Producer of fine medications.

These wordmarks are really similar, and I’d have for there to be a screw-up in my morning coffee.

(Update: Sorry for the poor placement of the pics.  Wordpress isn’t so picture-friendly for me.)

From AP Wire:

… wait… before I get to that let me put the proper tags in.

<head action=”bang” location=”wall”>

From the AP Wire:

SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT announced the launch of Platinum MusicPass, a series of digital album cards that enable consumers to download full-length albums, and in many cases special bonus content, in the form of high-quality MP3 files. The first 37 titles in the series … will be available at 4,500 retail outlets across the United States.

“The introduction of MusicPass is an important part of SONY BMG’s ongoing campaign to bring its artists’ music to fans in new and innovative ways, and to develop compelling new business models,” commented Thomas Hesse, President, Global Digital Business & U.S. Sales, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT. “The MP3 files delivered through MusicPass play on computers, as well as on all MP3 players, including iPods. This makes them a simple, easy to use solution that will appeal to fans who already access their music on the Internet, as well as to consumers who are just getting into the digital realm.”

“We are excited to be working with SONY BMG on Platinum MusicPass,” commented Brooks Smith, InComm President and CEO, “We believe people want a physical product as part of their music purchase, and these cards speak directly to that desire — they have great graphics and a quality look and feel that will make them highly collectible.”

</head>

Holy toledo.

My gut reaction to this story is “you gotta be kidding me.”

After thinking about it for a couple of moments, I figured out where it all went from right to wrong. It’s illustrated here:

“The introduction of MusicPass is an important part of SONY BMG’s ongoing campaign to bring its artists’ music to fans in new and innovative ways, and to develop compelling new business models.”

For once, Sony BMG got it right. Consumers want more than just the music itself. Torrents and file sharing have made music a commodity. It no longer special to have an album, even with great cover art.

Sony BMG is trying to keep the album sale is one of the top sources of income - ensuring their company’s place in the revenue stream, while allowing the artists to profit handsomely. They believe (correctly), that in order to keep that stream going, they need to re-work it so that consumers want to get it from them.

Digital content does not NEED physical accompaniment.

By instituting a physical product, the company has made it harder on the customer to make the purchase (also, more expensive). They need to scratch off special codes and go to specific sites that accept the code. It is as much of a collector’s item as a gift card is.

If Sony wants people to have an interaction with the music while in a Target, Wal-Mart, etc, I have a good remarkable idea: Buy shelf space for post-card sized pictures of the artists. On the back, there can be information about where to go to make a purchase for digital music. Place the cards either next to the physical CDs, or next to the cash registers. People will take the FREE items, go home, and make their purchase or move on. At the very least, the company made a low investment and reminded people that they can buy their music online. At the very least, it’s easy, doesn’t require special investment in the digital media department, and uses existing resources.

Additional Reading:

The full press release from Sony BMG

I love cooking. I think it’s a great way to be creative, experimental, take calculated risks, and get some complex carbohydrates.

Last night, I was cooking with some onion, garlic, green pepper, and a jalapeño. I was all done and relaxing on the couch, watching t.v. when I casually rubbed my eye.

From Wikipedia:

The jalapeño rates between 2,500 and 10,000 Scoville units in heat. Handling fresh jalapeños may cause mild skin irritation in some individuals.

They ain’t kiddin’.

The jalapeño justifies the need for an eye-wash station in every kitchen. In speaking with my roommate, he said, “Yeah, you maced yourself.”

We can all learn one two lessons about marketing and business from this event:

1. Just because you’re done, it doesn’t mean your audience is. What promotion, advertising campaign, or “viral” marketing campaign did your company run that is no longer updating its website? Remember Terry Tate, from the old Reebok campaign? [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzToNo7A-94] The URL at the end of the ad http://www.reebok.com/terrytate is now a 400 error. When will WhopperFreakout.com stop being updated?
2. Wear latex gloves when handling hot peppers.