According to the AMA – Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. This has contained a wide range of content as a section over the years including
Super Bowl advertising
Spanx
Content marketing
Fake product reviews on Amazon
Fear of finding out
Genesis the Korean luxury car brand
Guo chao – Chinese national pride
Harmony Korine’s creative work for 7-Eleven
Advertising legend Bill Bernbach
Japanese consumer insights
Chinese New Year adverts from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore
Doughnutism
Consumer Electronics Show (CES)
Influencer promotions
A media diary
Luxe streetwear
Consumerology by marketing behaviour expert Phil Graves
Payola
Dettol’s back to work advertising campaign
Eat Your Greens edited by Wiemer Snijders
Dove #washtocare advertising campaign
The fallacy of generations such as gen-z
Cultural marketing with Stüssy
How Brands Grow Part 2 by Jenni Romaniuk and Byron Sharp
Facebook’s misleading ad metrics
The role of salience in advertising
SAS – What is truly Scandinavian? advertising campaign
Brand winter
Treasure hunt as defined by NPD is the process of consumers bargain hunting
Lovemarks
How Louis Vuitton has re-engineered its business to handle the modern luxury consumer’s needs and tastes
When you think about electric cars you usually think of Tesla. But the reality is that electric cars have been about for almost 200 years. I was reminded of Bob Cringely’s analogy about technology success being about ‘surfing waves‘. The first electric car turned up sometimes in the 1830s. By the beginning of the 20th century there was 30,000 electric cars. But petrol engined cars were cheaper to make and quicker to refill than charging electric cars.
That didn’t stop Irish inventors converting a Volvo 66 saloon to run as an electric car, 23 years before Tesla even existed.
Abducted Canadian billionaire Xiao Jianhua faces trial in Shanghai court | Financial Times – the question not being asked is how many Chinese government officials will the legal action ensnare? They’ve sat on him for five years as they unwound the Tomorrow Group and are only now prosecuting him in the run up to the 20th National Party Congress in November. It is at this event that Xi Jingping is likely to become president for life. The reality is that Mr Xiao’s goose was cooked as soon as he was snatched from the Four Seasons. This trial could affect demand for high-end Hong Kong property adversely
The BBC had Darren McGarvey on, reading is own book The Social Distance Between Us. Something is added to the content through McGarvey’s own voice reciting his own book adapted for the ‘book of the week’ slot. His Glaswegian accent and experience recording Scottish tinged rap helps in his delivery. Darren McGarvey is better known in music circles as Loki and his two albums published in the 2010s before he became an author and fronted documentaries (like working-class Londoner Professor Green). This is McGarvey’s second book after Poverty Safari, which was released in 2018. Both of the books deal with the realities for the British working class.
Revlon files for bankruptcy – CNN – one would normally expect a brand like Revlon to be resilient in a recession for being an affordable luxury a la Esteé Lauder. Ron Perelman overburdened Revlon with too much debt and its impressive that it lasted this long
China
Chinese courts flex intellectual property muscle across borders | Financial Times – Chinese courts have issued four key cross-border “anti-suit injunctions” following claims made by the country’s massive telecom equipment and smartphone groups — Huawei, Xiaomi, ZTE and Oppo — in disputes against Germany’s Conversant, US group InterDigital, and Japan’s Sharp. These rulings have essentially sought to block non-Chinese companies from enforcing IP rights in other jurisdictions, meaning Chinese companies cannot be sued for alleged infringements.They are enforced via daily penalties on a foreign company’s local operations in China, if that company insists on pursuing a case. According to Rieko Michishita, a veteran China IP lawyer at Bird & Bird, the rapidly mounting penalties make the injunctions akin to “taking a hostage”. And the cases are an indication, she warns, of how Chinese companies and courts will become more confident in deploying such legal manoeuvres as the country’s technological prowess steams ahead
Fears of data abuse as Chinese health code turns red for financial scandal protesters | South China Morning Post – Victims of what could be one of China’s largest financial scandals found themselves unable to step outside to join planned protests because their health QR codes had turned red, reigniting fears that the large-scale data collected for contact tracing would be abused for other uses. Since late May, hundreds of people have taken to the streets in China’s central Henan province, calling for authorities to ensure the return of their deposits that were frozen in four rural banks in the province.
Redefine Meat are a brand that is competing in the meat alternative space from Beyond Meat to Quorn. Redefine Meat is plant based and has support of chef Marco Pierre White. The premise of the ad addresses a thorny question in a humorous way. What happens to the herds of livestock who would be no longer needed, if the world became a vegan utopia? Their solution is the cow repurposing institute – a job training centre for cattle. Of course, the likely solution will be much less vegan friendly.
The trailing edge chip shortage
Asianometry goes into the shortage of trailing edge process manufactured processors. These produce chips with a low cost per unit as the capital costs of the chips were covered years ago. Older foundries are running at very high utilisation rates. There is a problem trying to get hold of older equipment. Interesting point mentioned that MEMS are in particular demand due to the Ukraine invasion.
Skinner on Machiavelli
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli is so well known his family name became a noun and and adjective to describe someone who was cunning. The Prince – his book on governance is cited by far more people than have actually read it. I liked this talk by historian Quentin Skinner on the man and his work. Skinner is from the Cambridge school of historians that seeks to contextualise the environment of historical figures (and so better understand their actions).
McDonalds goes ambient
This seems to be an ad that was commissioned for a Spanish speaking market, but I suspect that it might be a student piece of work. The craft is stunning. Given that McDonalds has worked hard to point out that its food is made from ‘real’ ingredients, this ad might be counterproductive – hence the reason why I think it might be a student project. It promotes McDonald’s range of McMuffin breakfast sandwiches.
Transforming logos for Pride has lost brand impact | Marketing Week – When the mass market starts arguing over who gets the specially altered distinctive asset for the month, it’s probably time to retire the whole code-playing business forever. Monkeys cannot run the zoo – especially the zoo’s Special Surprise Tricks Unit, which designs things to influence the monkeys without them knowing anything about it. Pride month clashed with the platinum jubilee. Brands got involved with the platinum jubilee celebrations as planning got under way by local councils and British embassies by mid-May. The platinum jubilee allowed brands to reach a wider swathe of consumers than would otherwise be the case and increase their relevance to consumers lives. Celebration of pride month was seen as brands ‘deprioritising’ the platinum jubilee on one side, while platinum jubilee critics were seen as been prejudiced in nature. What struck me was the quiet of the voices in the middle ground of the Pride – platinum jubilee dispute. Perhaps its better for brands to stay out?
The West’s Struggle for Mental Health – WSJ – American psychiatrists have been studying rates of functional mental illness, such as depressive disorders and schizophrenia, since the 1840s. These studies show that the ratio of those suffering from such diseases to the mentally healthy population has been consistently rising. Ten years ago, based on the annual Healthy Minds study of college students, 1 in 5 college students was dealing with mental illness. – and depression has surged 135 percent over an 18 year period. The finding are that “The more a society is dedicated to the value of equality and the more choices it offers for individual self-determination, the higher its rates of functional mental illness.”
☕️ Candy in your coffee – this seems to be an extension of the ‘sweet flavours’ available historically from the likes of Dunkin Donuts and other coffee outlets
National security law: can Hongkongers still hold June 4 commemorative events marking anniversary of Tiananmen Square crackdown? | South China Morning Post – political scholar Steve Tsang, director of the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, also said the security law was intended to ensure activities that were deemed unpatriotic could not take place in Hong Kong. “It has been enforced in a way to secure an intimidation effect,” he said. “Unless someone or members of a civil society organisation are prepared to be charged and jailed … they will not hold a public event of any sort.” Lau Siu-kai, vice-president of the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said a large vigil commemorating June 4 might be seen as an act that undermined China’s sovereignty and therefore was not worth the risk. Asked what kinds of June 4 events might be allowed in the future, the pro-Beijing scholar said: “Some implicit actions, in private, and in small groups, should be fine under the current political atmosphere.” Simon Young Ngai-man, associate dean of research at HKU’s law faculty, said the question centred on whether such acts signalled “seditious intent”, which might risk violating the Crimes Ordinance – an offence punishable by up to two years in prison for first-time offenders. “Note that intending to promote feelings of ill will and enmity between different classes of the population is also a seditious intent,” he said. “The precise meaning of ‘exciting disaffection’ is unclear. Does it cover any kind of criticism of the Chinese and Hong Kong governments?”
Diabetes drug leads to notable weight loss in people with obesity – study | The Guardian – interesting article that touches on multiple aspects of obesity as a chronic condition. The biggest issue is that government’s aren’t looking to treat it as the chronic condition related to an an endocrine system imbalance that it is. I worked on a rival drug to the one mentioned, which is being promoted in the US and other countries at the moment
An Oxford case study explains why SpaceX is more efficient than NASA — Space Business — Quartz – Planners behind projects that attempt to achieve a massive gain in a single leap, they posit, enmesh themselves in psychological patterns that lead to failure. They delude themselves in thinking the actual costs of the project will be much less than expected, because if the real costs were known, the projects would never be attempted. Platforms, on the other hand, grow incrementally. These aren’t just digital constructions but real world activities that share several characteristics: Repeatability, extendability, the ability to absorb new knowledge and adapt to new situations.
Microsoft Azure cross-tenant cloud security flaws concerning – Protocol – “It’s concerning. And it is a pattern,” said Rich Mogull, CEO at independent security research firm Securosis and a longtime security industry analyst. “And so the question is: Do we believe that that’s because they’re under greater scrutiny? Or is it that they have more problems? It might be a little bit of both.” At cloud security firm Orca Security, whose researchers have found two of the cross-tenant vulnerabilities in Azure services, the issues strongly suggest that Azure is not withstanding the pressure applied by researchers to the same degree as AWS and Google Cloud, according to Orca CTO Yoav Alon. – the more things change, the more they stay the same
Deadly secret: Electronic warfare shapes Russia-Ukraine war | AP News – Russian jamming of GPS receivers on drones that Ukraine uses to locate the enemy and direct artillery fire is particularly intense “on the line of contact,” he said. Ukraine has scored some successes in countering Russia’s electronic warfare efforts. It has captured important pieces of hardware — a significant intelligence coup — and destroyed at least two multi-vehicle mobile electronic warfare units.
A primary metaverse leader is leaving Microsoft at the wrong time — Quartz – Kipman’s exit came as a surprise to some AR industry insiders. Kipman has been the leading evangelist for Microsoft’s immersive computing efforts since the launch of the HoloLens AR headset in 2015, which he helped develop. In addition to the HoloLens, Microsoft offers its bleeding-edge Azure Kinect spatial computing depth camera, which captures and tracks 3D objects. The company has also developed Microsoft Mesh for shared AR interactions, supports a wide array of VR headsets via its Windows Mixed Reality platform, and boasts one of the most popular VR communities in AltspaceVR. Quietly, Microsoft has become the biggest name in the metaverse next to Meta, largely due to its focus on business enterprise users. But now that Microsoft is losing its immersive computing champion, where does the company’s metaverse path lead? And why is Kipman leaving at such a crucial moment?
Sheryl Sandberg is leaving Meta. She has roughly 1.6 billion reasons never to work again – that isn’t lives ruined by Facebook, but her net worth on leaving Meta after 21 years at Google and Facebook building advertising sales operations teams.
Sandberg’s resignation has been a long time coming, and was repeatedly predicted since the early 2010s when the toxic nature of Facebook’s ad model became apparent. You had the sense that she viewed herself as a presidential candidate in waiting. Her exhortations to lean in were at odds with the ‘tech bro’ culture that still permeates Meta and other Silicon Valley firms. Sandberg leaves Meta with her reputation in tatters and with less chance of becoming president than More on Sheryl Sandberg leaving Meta here: Sheryl Sandberg calls it quits – by Casey Newton & Axios Login: Sandberg’s ad jackpot
Number of Hongkongers applying for BN(O) scheme rises 25 per cent in first quarter of 2022, likely from families applying before new school year | South China Morning Post – Some 123,400 Hongkongers have applied for pathway to British citizenship since January 31 last year, with 92 per cent of them successful. Canada, Australia have offered alternative routes, but immigration experts say BN(O) and Canadian programmes will remain most popular. – A few observations on this. There has been a strong historic connection between Hong Kong and Vancouver going back to at least the 1967 riots. The South China Morning Post used to have a Vancouver column until April this year. Prominent people like Li Ka-shing had their families there. There is a similar connection with the UK, though I found that I was running into more Canadians than British born Chinese during my time in Hong Kong. Secondly, the dominance of mainland Chinese in creating a threatening atmosphere for Hongkongers in Australia is a big issue
Ideas
Should Cities Disband their Police Departments? – ScienceDirect – the short answer social science data research says no they shouldn’t. The long answer. Unlike the UK, in the US large towns can have their own police forces. There are then county sheriffs departments and state police as well. Closing a ‘city police department just means less responsive policing with less crime solved, less transparent data indicating the quality of policing going on. Crime still happens.
FT’s How To Spend It magazine rebrands as big spenders go out of style | Financial Times | The Guardian – The How To Spend It name was created in 1967, when the FT’s first female employee suggested the wives of its readers might enjoy a section on how to spend their husband’s income. It later became a standalone magazine, riding the luxury goods – and financial services boom – of the 1990s and 2000s. Alice Pickthall, of Enders Analysis, told a 2018 Guardian long read that the magazine was best understood as the “Argos catalogue for rich people” – my issue with HTSI has been less about nice things and more about the lack of quality many of the items have in terms of design, build quality and longevity
Marketing
How the 968CS rebuilt the Porsche powerhouse | Financial Times – ‘You don’t understand: if we don’t get a car at under £29,000 then we’re dead’,” says Gaskell, now 63, a multiple non-executive director, investor and speaker – and a transatlantic rowing record-holder too. He got together with some colleagues to work out how to get a 968 priced at £28,995. “Out went air conditioning, electric windows, rear seat, rear wiper, boot lock – and the big electric driver and passenger seats were replaced with lighter ones.” They got it down to £28,975, then realised they had another problem: “Buyers wouldn’t like saying they’d bought a cheap Porsche.” The solution was to position it as a “lightweight” road-racer. “We lowered the suspension, quietly had a special steering wheel made for us by Italian manufacturer Momo – the factory would have gone nuts if they’d known – and called it the ‘Club Sport’. A couple of professional drivers reported that it was a fantastic driver’s car. We’d accidentally created a game-changer, and in 1993 it was named ‘Performance Car of the Year’.” – interesting tale about innovating in adversity. There are a some bits missing however. Porsche had form making lightweight cars like this, notably the Porsche 911 Club Sport from 1987. So there was a ready use case, concept and language that could be adapted for the cheap 968 rather than a completely new creation as implied by this article.
Media
Amazon to close China Kindle Store after losing out to domestic rivals | Financial Times – Amazon will leave behind a growing customer base of digital book lovers. More than 500mn Chinese listened to or read books on a digital device in 2021, according to research by the China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association. China’s digital reading market generated more than Rmb40bn ($6bn) of sales last year, an increase of more than 18 per cent from 2020 – back when I started going to China there was a substantial trade in purchasing Kindle tablets from the US and Japan. For regulatory reasons Amazon China has been slow to get into e-books. So local competitors fuelled a parallel trade in Kindles. These tablets were then refreshed and pointed to local e-book stores. It must be galling to Amazon to know that not only did they lose out on e-tailing in China, but the subsidised Kindles from other markets built China’s rivals in e-book sales.
