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February 28, 2007

Low Cost And Long Haul: Can It Work?

Last November Hong Kong-based Oasis Airlines started offering flights from Hong Kong to London's Gatwick airport at ridiculously low prices. Hong Kong being a former British colony means that there is enough traffic between the two countries. Over the years British Airways and Cathay Pacific had established a cozy duopoly on the route. Now, Oasis, the new challenger, has shaken things up a bit. Oasis's economy class passengers pay between two-thirds and half (about 250 pounds for a return ticket) of what they would have previously paid to travel between the two cities.

Smart idea I thought -- one that would work even though it is almost impossible to consistently make money in the airline business.

Continue reading "Low Cost And Long Haul: Can It Work?"

Posted by Samar Srivastava at 5:36 PM | 1 Comments

MySpace is Starting to Suck

The fun thing about MySpace was the ability to customize your profile page with widgets from other (smaller) services such as media-sharing service Imeem or social content-sharing site esnips or slideshow-generating service Slide, or even more well known sites such as YouTube or Photobucket.

For users who don't own a personal domain or blog, MySpace (despite its privacy issues) is a great way for them to share their identities and personal tastes with both offline and online friends. Besides all of the cool bands there, the personalization is one of the big draws for the millions of teens who hang out there. But lately, it's becoming more difficult to use third party services on MySpace. I know this because though I've found workarounds in the past, now even I'm unable to use many of the third-party services on my personal page.

Granted, the easiest way to hack MySpace is to inject scripts through some of these third-party applications, as has happened there with java-based widgets and Flash-based widgets in the past. But it's not like MySpace has the business model of either Wallop or Cyworld, where the user's creative expression is the focus. On both social networking sites, users can purchase widgets and items that enable them to personalize their pages. MySpace isn't even in the same business as Vox, which accesses the backend of services such as Amazon or Flickr and enables users to feature content from these services on their blog pages. So if that's not MySpace's deal, why can't it figure out a way to make the third=party applications work? The truth is, MySpace could have these services work, but good old competition definitely serves as a factor in disabling access to widgets from services other than MySpace.

Michael Arrington over at TechCrunch had this to say about the issue:

"It’s clear that MySpace isn’t happy with the fact that other services are building their business on the back of their massive user numbers - Peter Chernin, the COO of News Corp. (MySpace’s parent company) said as much late last year and specifically named YouTube, Flickr and Photobucket as services that were “really driven off the back of MySpace.”

Industry insiders have said (and continue to say) that MySpace has had enough of building third party widget providers into massive businesses. They say MySpace is preparing to block all widget providers over time and will let only those who pay a “toll” back in. MySpace PR denies this as well, saying that the January block was a developer error, and not commenting at all on the recent service-specific blockages.

If MySpace does eventually go the route of generally blocking widget providers, except those willing to pay a fee, they’ll be called to the mat for previously saying that they have no plans to do so. And whether these blockages really are developer errors, or in fact shots across their bow, widget companies that rely on MySpace for users are literally quaking in their boots, waiting to see who’s next to get blocked."

The potential of users becoming frustrated enough with MySpace's blockage of widget providers to the point of leaving the service could become inevitable at some point. So as a business, what is MySpace to do to keep its users? Does it let down the barriers entirely or does it go into business with widget providers and offer them a revenue share? Or does MySpace think about becoming a widget provider itself? It's a tough call.

Posted by Lynne d Johnson at 1:25 PM | 13 Comments

February 27, 2007

Say it Isn't so Taco-Bell

As a fast-food connoisseur, I enjoy many different take-out eateries from Chik-fil-A, to Subway, and even McDonalds at times, but my favorite place has always been Taco-Bell. The tacos, flavorful, the nachos, deliciously messy and filling, and the hot sauce plentiful, but while living in New York the chain’s debacles has, sadly, left me gun-shy.

I had almost built up enough courage to enter the establishment after the e-coli breakout. I had a craving for a 7-Layer Burrito, and was willing to concede that it was not the fault of Taco-Bell, but the fault of its onion distributor. Then the rats were found. The guilty restaurant happens to also be the location I went to, to get my chalupa fix. Now, I will not go to the one near the lower East side, or enter any other Taco-Bell because of what I have seen.

Continue reading "Say it Isn't so Taco-Bell"

Posted by Ryan Derousseau at 5:52 PM | 17 Comments

Take the Money and Run?

News Corp.'s 2005 purchase of MySpace for $580 million and Google's recent acquisition of YouTube for $1.76 billion have illustrated that established companies are willing to invest big bucks in social media. So much money is being thrown at Web 2.0 startups that the (usually young) founders of innovative Internet startups find themselves in an enviable position. Like farmers in an oil-rich region, entrepreneurs in online media, possess properties that large entities want to purchase and fully exploit.

According to a report by Thomson Financial and the National Venture Capital Asociation, in 2006 the average sale price of a VC-backed start-up was $114 million -- the highest it has been since the free-spending madness of the dot-com hey-day. Yet, while there may be gold in them thar' hills, social networking has not yet been fully monetized. Companies who buy a social networking or other Web 2.0 site are paying for what they see as the site's potential.

Web 2.0 founders can capitalize on their start-ups either by selling a larger organization on their site's potential, or by hang onto their site in the hopes of realizing that potential on their own. Mark Zuckerberg, the 22-year-old founder of Facebook finds himself at the build-or-sell crossroads again, after spurning a $1 billion offer from Yahoo last year.

Continue reading "Take the Money and Run?"

Posted by Leslie Taylor at 2:12 PM | 4 Comments

C Is For Cookie

You said it, Cookie Monster. Cookies are a great way to teach kids about literacy. But did you know they are also a great way for the future businesswomen of America to learn about financial and economic literacy?

By buying more than 200 million boxes of Tagalongs, Thin Mints and Do-Si-Dos from enterprising Girl Scouts, Americans help girls build important leadership skills and support the "nation's premier business and economic literacy program," says Girl Scouts CEO Kathy Cloninger.

"Through cookie activities, girls learn how to plan, build teams, speak up, make decisions, solve problems and manage resources. These skills add up, so that ultimately, girls learn to be leaders--in their own lives--and in our communities," she says.

I'd be interested to know if there are any former Girl Scouts reading this blog who attribute their success in the business world to the skills they learned selling cookies.

Continue reading "C Is For Cookie"

Posted by Alex Pasquariello at 12:58 PM | 6 Comments

February 26, 2007

Green and Gold

On Friday, I blogged about the celebrity initiative to be more environmentally conscious (or maybe just be part of the trend) by arriving at the Academy Awards via a fuel-efficient vehicle. But apparently that wasn't the only way the noms showed their support for the green movement.

Best Actor Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker was sporting a bracelet made by Simmons Jewelery Company from their Green Initiative Collection. The bracelet; made of stainless steel, green rubber, and diamonds; was worn by Whitaker to show support for the The Diamond Empowerment Fund (DEF). About 25% of sales of the Green Initiative Collection go to the DEF to fund educational programs in Africa.

Heard of any other cool green initiatives celebs were supporting on the big night?

Posted by Lisa LaMotta at 12:03 PM | 7 Comments

February 23, 2007

Oscar Takes on a Green Sheen

With awards season in full-swing and the Oscars set to take center stage on Sunday, all eyes will be on the Red Carpet or now -- more appropriately -- the Green Carpet. With the world up in arms about climate change and everyone from Al Gore to Richard Branson proposing a solution, the entertainment industry has teamed up with the automobile industry to make green cars the new bling of celebrity awards shows.

Chevrolet jumped in on the trend in August when it hired Chip Foos to custom build a green car to take alt-rock band, The All-American Rejects, to the MTV Video Music Awards as part of the Auto giant's ReduceUrUse campaign.

But it is Global Green USA that is really making the world a cleaner place -- 30 pimped out green celebrity rides at a time. The organization first starting supplying celebrity rides five years ago at the Academy Awards and is now creating buzz with stars vying to step out into the flashbulb light from the fuel-efficient transport. Big names like Leo DiCaprio (a hybrid driver) and Penelope Cruz will reportedly be arriving to the Academy Awards in the super-chic, earth-friendly style.

Continue reading "Oscar Takes on a Green Sheen"

Posted by Lisa LaMotta at 10:00 AM | 1 Comment

EntrepreneurshipWeek USA at Stanford

via Guy Kawasaki

The Kauffman Foundation is launching EntrepreneurshipWeek USA from February 23rd to March 3rd. The theme is "What's Your Big Idea? Take it On!" There will be educational programs around the country. Stanford is embracing this program in a big way starting with the kickoff event on Saturday. The schedule for the week is packed with interesting sessions:

2/24 Saturday

OPENING CEREMONY & LAUNCH PARTY, 4:00-6:00 PM, William R. Hewlett Teaching Center, Room 200, Host: Stanford Entrepreneurship Network, Join the National Kickoff of EntrepreneurshipWeek USA with President Hennessy, Carl Schramm, and Steve Jurvetson. Festivities include audience prizes and the unveiling of the campus-wide Innovation Challenge competition.

2/25 Sunday

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP: MAKE A DIFFERENCE, 3:00-5:00 PM, Wallenberg Learning Theater, Wallenberg Hall, Hosts: Center for Social Innovation, Graduate School of Business, and Reuters Digital Vision Fellowship Program. Hear leading funders discuss ways to support social ventures, and attend a fair showcasing early-stage social ventures from around the world.

2/26 Monday

INTERNATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP: TRAILBLAZERS IN CHINA, 4:00-6:00 PM, Bechtel Conference Center, Encina Hall, Hosts: Stanford Project on Regions of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SPRIE) and Asia-Pacific Student Entrepreneurship Society (ASES). Think global. Meet Stanford entrepreneurs breaking ground in China’s dynamic high-technology industries, from mobile to Web 2.0. Hear their advice, meet in groups, and network over Chinese appetizers.

2/27 Tuesday

ENTREPRENEURSHIP MIXER, 5:00-7:00 PM, Lower Arbuckle Lounge, Graduate School of Business, Host: Graduate School of Business. Network with entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, students, and other members of the entrepreneurial community.

2/28 Wednesday

DFJ Entrepreneurial Thought Leader Seminar Series:
THE ROLE OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN SOLVING WORLD PROBLEMS, 4:30-6:00 PM, William R. Hewlett Teaching Center, Room 200, Hosts: Stanford Technology Ventures Program and Business Association of Stanford Engineering Students (BASES). Hear a panel of Stanford University leaders and successful entrepreneurs discuss approaches to solving major world problems related to energy, health sciences, and international security.

STANFORD TECHNOLOGY SHOWCASE AND RECEPTION, 6:00-7:30 PM, D. Packard Electrical Engineering Building Atrium, Host: Office of Technology Licensing. Network at a reception following the Entrepreneurial Thought Leader Seminar and see products developed from technologies licensed from Stanford.

3/01 Thursday

BASES START-UP JOB FAIR, 10:00-4:00 PM, White Plaza, Host: Business Association of Stanford Engineering Students (BASES). Explore job opportunities with over 100 startups representing a wide range of industries, from Web 2.0 to clean energy. Raffle prizes will be given away throughout the event.

INTERVIEW: SILICON VALLEY’S FAVORITE F-WORD – FAILURE, 5:30-6:30 PM, Wallenberg Learning Theater, Wallenberg Hall, Host: Stanford Graduate Program in Journalism. Listen to Guy Kawasaki of Garage Technology Ventures share his provocative views on risk-taking, failure and success in this live interview with journalism professor Ann Grimes, formerly of The Wall Street Journal.

3/02 Friday

GREEN IS THE NEW RED, WHITE, AND BLUE, Presentation by Thomas Friedman, Author, The World is Flat, 1:00-2:30 PM, Memorial Auditorium, Host: Energy Crossroads Consortium. Hear renowned author and columnist Thomas Friedman address the strategic role of sustainability and conservation for the U.S. and world at large. President Hennessy will give the introduction.

VENTURE CAPITAL SPEED-DATING, 3:30-6:30 PM, Wallenberg Learning Theater, Wallenberg Hall, Host: Asia-Pacific Student Entrepreneurship Society (ASES). Students, pitch your business idea to Silicon Valley venture capitalists. Apply in advance for opportunities to give three-minute pitches and receive feedback. The networking reception at 5:30 PM is open to all members of the Stanford community.

3/03 Saturday

ENTREPRENEURSHIP WEEK CLOSING CEREMONY, 4:00-5:30 PM, William R. Hewlett Teaching Center, Room 200, Host: Stanford Entrepreneurship Network. Watch an entertaining showcase of the Innovation Challenge results. Prizes will be awarded to teams that make the most money, generate the most social value, are the most creative, and have the biggest flop.

Posted by Lynne d Johnson at 9:00 AM | Add Comment

February 22, 2007

Using The Bush Name For a Good Cause

Lauren Bush, the 22-year-old niece of President Bush, is getting political with fashion. The Princeton University senior and fashion model is designing a line of shoulder bags to help combat world hunger. Lauren Bush was seen sporting her tote a couple weeks ago at the Mercedes-Benz fashion week in New York City. The side of the bag reads "Feed the Children of the World, and is being dubbed her "Feed Bag" tote.

Bush will reportedly not be making any profits off of her new line, but instead give the money to the United Nations World Food Program, where each bag will help feed one child for a year. As a student ambassador of the U.N. World Food Program, Bush has helped rally other University students for the cause. Last October, she participated in a campaign at Georgetown University that established an alliance of American colleges and universities that are helping to fight the war on hunger.

But Bush believes her appreciation for fashion is what will get more people dedicated to her cause. "We all need to encourage students to use their individual talents to fight hunger," she said in a VOA news report in October.

Continue reading "Using The Bush Name For a Good Cause"

Posted by Tamara Schweitzer at 3:48 PM | 3 Comments

Mobile Homing Signal

I wouldn't say that I've lost a lot of sleep over it, but it still kind of boggles my mind that Warren Buffett owns a mobile home company. In my mind, stereotypes admitted, mobile homes are all about the downtrodden, tornadoes, the Trailer Park Boys, and perhaps even The Last Starfighter -- not a man who's arguably the world's greatest investor.

The real estate market is in the news quite regularly these days. It's up, it's down, it's bouncing back, it never went away. And this week, Advertising Age takes a look at the state of the mobile home market. (Subscription may be required.)

The industry as a whole is going through some changes, and compared to when Fast Company first covered Buffett's acquisition, unit sales of mobile homes are up 10 percent. More interesting, however, are the stats that litter the AdAge piece. For example: about 20% of households living outside of urban areas live in mobile homes.

Oh, so? I'm not sure what to do with that information, but it's fascinating.

Posted by Heath Row at 2:12 PM | 4 Comments

To Vaccinate, or not to Vaccinate

Nothing causes an uproar in this country more than the sex lives of young girls: Who's doing it? And where? How many? And why? How young? And what can be done about it? There's always some crisis when it comes to women and sex. But there's rarely a solution.

Enter Gardasil, the vaccine manufactured by Merck, which prevents four of the strains of HPV (human papillomavirus), associated with 70 percent of cervical cancer cases. Unfortunately for us women, HPV is another one of those infections that invariably afflict women more often than men. With 80 percent of women acquiring HPV by the time they reach 50, this vaccine seems like a no-brainer. But that's far from the case.

Continue reading "To Vaccinate, or not to Vaccinate"

Posted by Ruthie Ackerman at 1:25 PM | 11 Comments

Not So Good With Names (Update)

Last week, I wrote about Apple Inc. and Cisco Systems dispute over the right to use the name iPhone. They settled yesterday and according to an article in today's New York Times, the companies will no longer have any legal disputes and the oh so witty monicker will be given to Apple's smartphone due out in June. Yet, Cisco wasn't the big loser in the settlement. The company secured the right to also use the name for products that will be compatible with Apple's iPhone. It seems Cisco achieved exactly what it was hoping for when it set out with its legal venture six weeks ago.

Posted by Lisa LaMotta at 12:49 PM | Add Comment

February 21, 2007

Whole Foods Gets a Whole Lot Bigger

MarketWatch has reported that Whole Foods has purchased rival natural-foods grocer, Wild Oats, for $565 million.

Whole Foods has struggled in recent months, reporting a decline in fiscal first-quarter profit, largely due to increased competition from larger grocery store chains -- including Wal-Mart -- that have begun offering natural and organic foods. As conventional supermarkets try to cash in on Americans' increased health consciousness and willingness to pay more for luxury food items, shoppers no longer need to visit specialized food markets to get their soy-milk, organic vegetables, or tempeh-burgers.

By purchasing its smaller rival, Whole Foods can increase its presence in the Pacific Northwest, the Rocky Mountain regions, and Florida which may help it to slow the erosion of its marketshare by its conventional counterparts. The merger follows on the heels of another recent grand gesture by Whole Foods CEO, John Mackey.

Continue reading "Whole Foods Gets a Whole Lot Bigger"

Posted by Leslie Taylor at 6:05 PM | 7 Comments

Troubling Times For YouTube

A fortnight after Viacom flooded YouTube with 100,000 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices its problems continue unabated. In the past two weeks Viacom has chosen to hitch a ride with Joost. Copyrighted content from the Viacom stable of shows will be up on the site soon and in return Joost will share revenue with Viacom.

And now, talks between YouTube and CBS have ended without an agreement.

Continue reading "Troubling Times For YouTube"

Posted by Samar Srivastava at 5:02 PM | Add Comment

The Future of Music

What will the music business look like in a decade? How can a recording artist use the Web to connect with and build a fan base? Do viral marketing campaigns work as well for established recording artists as they do for up-and-coming acts?

These were among the questions considered last night in a Fast Company panel discussion featuring R&B singer / songwriter / businessman John Legend.

Note: If you haven't fully absorbed Chuck Salter's February Fast Company cover story--Way Behind the Music--on Legend and Musictoday, the behind-the-scenes company empowering artists to control their music and brand while connecting them with fans, do so; it's the basis of the panel discussion.

Joining Legend on the panel were Nathan Hubbard, CEO at Musictoday; Jorge Just, Web "guru" for rockers OK Go; Jason King, Artistic Director at Tish's The Clive Davis School of Recorded Music; and Dave Wolter, V.P. A&R at Capitol Music Group.

FastCompany.com will be podcasting the discussion in its entirety tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some highlights from the panel.

Continue reading "The Future of Music"

Posted by Alex Pasquariello at 3:08 PM | 3 Comments

February 20, 2007

Viacom and Joost Succeed with Deal

Viacom has reached a deal with Joost, which will allow content from its networks including MTV, BET and Paramount pictures to be shown on Joost for free, according to Reuters. This marriage with Joost, a site that allows viewers to watch television online, comes two weeks after Viacom ended conversation with YouTube, and forced the user-generated site to pull over 100,000 copyrighted videos.

This deal is the answer to both companies’ recent problems, and/or concerns. Viacom no longer has to worry about user-generated videos, in which it has copyright to, popping up on the eclectic site of YouTube. It can now control the release of shows it wishes viewers to watch. Joost, who has expressed concern about the copyright issue, now has legitimate television content watched by millions

Continue reading "Viacom and Joost Succeed with Deal"

Posted by Ryan Derousseau at 5:54 PM | Add Comment

Consumer Bill of RightsBlues

Were you one of the chosen ones?

Were you one of the brave tarmac pioneers who endured 10 hours trapped in a JetGlue--oops, JetBlue--airplane at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport last Wednesday?

Were you the stranded guy who called the New York Daily News on your cell phone to report your airplane's toilets were overflowing and the "blue chips" were making you sick?

If so, the once and future discount jet setters of America thank you. Unless ticket prices go up, in which case you are all a bunch of whiners.

After a week of disruptions, cancellations and downright horrible headlines, New York-based discount airline JetBlue announced it's new Consumer Bill of Rights on NBC's Today Show…er…today.

JetBlue CEO and Founder David Neeleman told Matt Lauer that under the protections now afforded his airline's passengers, departure and ground delays will earn affected passengers travel vouchers ranging from $25 for an hour delay to round trip tickets for delays of four hours or more.

Continue reading "Consumer Bill of RightsBlues"

Posted by Alex Pasquariello at 12:54 PM | 3 Comments

February 19, 2007

Merging Questions

Fast Company first wrote about the competition between XM and Sirius a couple of years ago, and while rereading the piece might not be a lesson in "I told you so," the companies' recent merger (subscription may be required) might be of interest.

For me, the merger raises several questions. One, does the merger indicate that the very idea of satellite radio has promise -- or that it might be an idea before its time? If there's truly a sizable business opportunity here, might it not be able to support more than one company? Secondly, I'm somewhat confused by broadcasters' plans to challenge the merger. Mightn't another satellite radio company be formed some day? Is a company a trust if there's still the opportunity for other businesses to enter a market?

And thirdly, what's the appeal? I personally have little interest in satellite radio. I'm not an avid radio listener, and part of me still feels like satellite radio is basically Music Choice (the cable television audio music channels) without the lame trivia questions and karaoke-quality visuals. I'm also curious whether the company's attempts to differentiate themselves content-wise is working. Is Howard Stern appeal enough to sign up for the service?

Maybe the market's too small for one company.

Posted by Heath Row at 8:48 PM | 3 Comments

February 16, 2007

Not So Good With Names

Apple Inc, much like its Mac avatar in commercials, is the "hip, with-it" company of the tech world. This behemoth epitomizes innovation and style with CEO Steve Jobs reigning as the god of the must-have gadget universe. Yet, while the iPod is still going strong (21,066,000 iPods were shipped in Q1 2007) putting Gates' Zune to shame, and I listen to my iPod as I write this, there are the frequent news articles about naming rights that should make the Apple avatar a little red in the face.

Founded in 1976, Apple Inc was not so good with names from the start. The company started out as an innovator in the personal computer arena and has since led the way in technology with the iPod. Despite its success with its creative technology, Apple Inc was not the first Apple around -- the Beatles (the music group your hippie aunt listened to, not the kind that mingles with ants and the band currently playing on my iPod) named their recording company Apple Corp in 1968.

Continue reading "Not So Good With Names"

Posted by Lisa LaMotta at 4:34 PM | 12 Comments

Go Ahead Stick Your Head in the Sand, Just Don't Do it in Haiti

As globalization bridges the gap between the developed and the developing world, countries and cultures that were once off-limits are now as close as a mouse click away. Not only is it possible to look up information about the Dominican Republic on the Web, but within hours you can be sitting on its white sandy beaches, appreciating the local food, and learning about the culture. So, what is the responsibility of the world traveler who ventures into another country, camera and dollars in hand? Is it a right or a privilege? And does all tourism by default help the local economy?

Pro-poor tourism is tourism that consciously gives back to poor people, helping to alleviate poverty from the ground up. A pro-poor tourist may decide to stay in a locally owned hotel or buy locally made products, instead of going on a package tour. Or they may decide to go with a package deal to save money, but venture out of the confines of the hotel in order to spread their wealth around. Another option is to book travel with a company that gives back a percentage of the profits to boost the local economy.

Continue reading "Go Ahead Stick Your Head in the Sand, Just Don't Do it in Haiti"

Posted by Ruthie Ackerman at 3:16 PM | 7 Comments

February 15, 2007

The Man on the Moon Goes Green in the Face

NASA has proposed a livable lunar structure by 2028 where astronauts will be able to live on the moon for periods of six months at a time. In preparation for this trip, NASA has developed a guide, 181 Things to Do on the Moon, which lays out how the astronauts will spend their time.

NASA made up the document after consulting more than 1000 people from business, academia, and 13 space agencies. It takes a page out of Al Gore's book, with initiatives that will keep the moon "green." While it probably won't be LEED certified, the moon structure will have waste management systems that "store, process, and dispose" of human waste in an effort to recycle, as well as aqueous and air management systems that will use components of the soil to replenish the air and water supplies.

It seems that some of the lessons we have learned here on earth (and have heard Al Gore spouting for years) have sunk into the NASA mega-brain. What else do you think the space-folk can do to make the moon more eco-friendly?

Posted by Lisa LaMotta at 3:44 PM | 3 Comments

Paying For Convenience

Not many cities have capitalized on delivery services quite like Manhattan, where people have the luxury of grocery or laundry delivery, or even a delivery from their shopping spree at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Yet it seems that the delivery market has not been completely tapped, because there's now a new service that delivers your spare keys, just in case you lock yourself out or misplace your keys.

The company, NewYourKey, has a very clever and practical idea and they claim that they will save your butt in any location, at any time. Their process is simple. First you make an appointment with the company so your keys can be copied and you can create a profile of yourself for identification purposes. Your keys are then housed in a secured storage facility -- a high-tech vault -- where the company's website says there will be 24-hour personnel and electronic surveillance.

Continue reading "Paying For Convenience"

Posted by Tamara Schweitzer at 3:15 PM | 5 Comments

Move Over Batman, Make Room for Bauer

I swear I'm not the type to watch a television show just because everyone else is watching it. I’ve never even seen any of Carrie’s ubiquitous dating foibles on Sex and the City, nor have I paid attention to all of the plot twists and cliffhanger hysteria on "Lost." Yet when it comes to 24, I am completely hooked.

No, I'm not just watching 24 because every media outlet and worth-her-weight-in-gold blogger is talking about it. Nor am I here to put my two cents in about 24's “meaning” for the larger anti-terrorism effort and whether real-life agents are more likely to torture suspects because they’ve seen Jack do it on the show. Really, truly, I watch "24" as an escape from my real life, which some could say is torturous, but is nothing compared to the 24/7 non-stop rollercoaster ride that is Mr. Bauer's.

Continue reading "Move Over Batman, Make Room for Bauer"

Posted by Ruthie Ackerman at 10:48 AM | 2 Comments

February 14, 2007

YouTube and MySpace: Pulling Out Copyrighted Content

In the past week YouTube and MySpace have taken steps to reduce the copyrighted content on their websites. But that is where the similarity ends. While YouTube has been forced by Viacom to take down its copyrighted content, MySpace is experimenting with a video filtering system on its own. And in the end the consequences for both companies could be very different. As more owners of copyrighted music and video content pull out of the social networking space, it's possible that YouTube could become devasted, while MySpace may not be harmed at all.

Continue reading "YouTube and MySpace: Pulling Out Copyrighted Content"

Posted by Samar Srivastava at 4:34 PM | 1 Comment

Buying American Citizenship…on Credit

While comprehensive immigration reform simmers on the political backburner in Washington D.C., banks are embracing the nation's 12 million-plus illegal immigrants, targeting their financial products--checking accounts, mortgages and, now, credit cards--to help them achieve the American Dream, even if they're not American.

Bank of America (BofA) has "quietly" begun issuing credit cards to customers without social security numbers or credit history in Los Angeles--typically illegal immigrants, the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) reported yesterday.

The new program is open to people without a Social Security number or credit history, as long as they have held a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft, according to the Journal. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank has been testing the program at five Los Angeles branches since last year and last week expanded it to 51 branches in Los Angeles County, home to the largest concentration of illegal immigrants in the U.S. The bank hopes to roll out the program nationally later this year.

Immigration may be a hot-button issue, but BofA 's credit program is based on profits, not politics.

Continue reading "Buying American Citizenship…on Credit"

Posted by Alex Pasquariello at 3:30 PM | 17 Comments

No iPod Street Crossings

Put those Blackberries away, and take those headphones out of your ears if you work or live in New York. Well not yet, but the possibility has arisen. New York State Senator Carl Kruger (D) has proposed a bill that would fine anyone $100 caught using Blackberries or iPods while crossing the streets of New York.

"IPod oblivion" Kruger has dubbed it, and he uses the term to describe someone’s state of mind when he/she walks down the street with a Blackberry, iPod, cell phone, and or video game. Instead of paying attention to the street in front of them, one focuses on the electronic tool in front of them and causes injury to oneself because of the inattention to the crosswalk signs.

Continue reading "No iPod Street Crossings"

Posted by Ryan Derousseau at 11:39 AM | 6 Comments

February 13, 2007

Footballers' Billionaires

Will soccer--henceforth to be referred to as football in this post--ever be a profitable business in America?

A bevy of Colorado billionaires seem to think so.

Last Friday, Wal-Mart developer turned sports mogul Stan Kroenke announced a collaboration between his Major League Soccer club, Colorado Rapids, and England Premier League's famed Arsenal club.

The agreement includes the creation of the Arsenal Center of Excellence, a football skills training center, and the launch of the Arsenal Cup, a club tournament that will be open to American teams, reports the Denver Post.

Both will take place at Kroenke's Dick's Sporting Goods Park east of Denver, "the largest and most state of the art football complex on earth." The facility--set to open April 7--includes an 18,000-seat outdoor stadium for the Rapids and 24 full-sized outdoor fields for the state's prolific youth football programs. Through either an ironic stroke of luck or a brilliant marketing ploy, the property abuts the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge--A World War II-era chemical weapons plant (think mustard gas, Lewisite and chlorine gas) turned nature preserve--and will include the refuge's new visitors center.

The Rapids will help promote the Arsenal brand in the U.S., while Arsenal will help train promising Rapids players, according to the Post. The deal doesn't give Kroenke an equity stake in Arsenal, however.

The Rapid-Arsenal partnership follows the purchase of the Premiership's Liverpool club for $430.8 million by George Gillett Jr., former owner of the Vail ski area, current owner of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team and chairman of the Greeley, Colorado-based Swift & Co., the America's third-largest beef processor.

You can bet a Kroenke-style Liverpool-MLS club partnership is in the works.

Last month Denver-based billionaire Philip Anschutz's Los Angeles Galaxy MLS club made international headlines when they signed English football star David Beckham to a five-year contract worth $250 million in salary and endorsements.

Why the sudden surge in American interest and investment in English football?

Continue reading "Footballers' Billionaires"

Posted by Alex Pasquariello at 2:45 PM | 15 Comments

Online "Will and Grace" Sell Apartments

Product placement in TV and movies has become common practice. The placement may be casual, as when a character drinks a diet Coke while bemoaning their lackluster sex life, or it may be blatant, as when an entire storyline revolves around Oreos and milk. With the proliferation of online video content, advertisers are looking beyond the small screen for ways -- outside of traditional ad spots -- to insinuate their product into the mind of the consumer.

An article in the Chicago Tribune, drew my attention to an intriguing example of "advertainment" -- original entertainment content, that is not a commercial, but is financed by advertisers. The series of professionally-produced videos chronicle the adventures of a single gal in the city and her gay best friend. Just as in a traditional sitcom, the young duo lives in a fabulous urban apartment. However, the webisodes, unlike a network sitcom such as "Will and Grace," purposefully showcase that apartment, because the webisodes were created on behalf of Cressy Developers, a Vancouver-based builder.

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Posted by Leslie Taylor at 12:51 PM | 2 Comments

Women's Intuition at Work

Lots has been written lately about the difference between men and women in business -- from their leadership styles to the amount of VC financing they attract (less than 10% of all venture capital funding.)

Margaret Heffernan’s new book, “How She Does It: How Women Entrepreneurs are Changing the Rules of Business Success” adds an interesting observation to the conversation.

Women, she says, are increasingly successful in business because they’re hard-wired to capture the zeitgeist. Speaking at a breakfast meeting at the Cornell Club in Manhattan last week, Heffernan, who has been the CEO of five different businesses in the US and the UK, said that women have a unique ability “to connect the dots,” to see patterns in masses of information.

“Women’s brains are like street sweepers,” she says. Every day, women are out there canvassing their environment, from the office to the school to the mall to the kitchen to the church to the supermarket, and on and on, taking in information, often in a commercial context. The extent of women’s purchasing power has been well documented, of course: 88% of all retail purchases, 89% of bank accounts, more than 50% of credit card use, etc. While they're shopping, they're also sucking up dust balls of data, like some crazed Roomba of the marketplace.

That makes women “deeply and often chaotically informed,” Heffernan says. It also enables them to understand the market on a visceral level, as they notice new products, trends, tastes, and failures. And, it enables the savvy ones to see market opportunities.

Eileen Fisher did just that when she noticed that women’s lives were getting more complex, and they wanted clothes that would work well for the different parts of their lives.

Carol Latham, a physical chemist, noticed many years ago that the thing that prevented computers from getting smaller was the problem of heat build-up. Her bosses pooh poohed her insight. So she left to form her own company, Thermagon, to make polymer semiconductors. Soon, Intel was on the phone, asking if they could use some of her company’s products to help with the heat issue on the Pentium chip.

Calling this ability ‘women’s intuition’ degrades how important it can be in a business context. Daniel Goleman, the author of Emotional Intelligence, analyzed research on hundreds of top executives at fifteen global companies. The one cognitive ability that distinguished star performers from their less accomplished peers was their knack for pattern recognition, he says. That’s women’s intuition in a Hugo Boss suit.

“It’s the ‘big picture’ thinking that allows leaders to pick out the meaningful trends from the welter of information around them, and to think far into the future,” he says.

This should not be confused with market research, Heffernan says, which is always historical. Capturing the zeitgeist is about the future, an inexact – but invaluable – ability to sense where the world is going before it gets there.

No woman business owner would tell you that intuition trumps discipline, focus, and hard work. But leaven those business necessities with a dash of old fashioned intuition, and you’ve got a potentially powerful engine for innovation.

Posted by Linda Tischler at 12:38 PM | 2 Comments

February 12, 2007

A New Age of Leadership at Harvard

The naming of the first female president of Harvard University, a place where, as recently as the mid-1970s, women were barred from entering the main door of the faculty club, has prompted the expected chorus of folks wondering if Drew Gilpin Faust’s gender was the main reason for her appointment. That’s not an unreasonable question since her predecessor, Larry Summers, was pretty much run out of office on a rail after speculating if women were biologically cut out for quant disciplines like science and math.

But the more interesting reason for Faust’s selection may be the one alluded to in last Saturday’s New York Times. Richard Chait, a professor of higher education at Harvard, told the paper that he thought the presidential search committee was attracted to Faust because of her management style. “My own sense is that it’s a new template for leadership, and that probably is not unrelated to gender, but it ought not get eclipsed by it.”

Dr. Chait, who studies university management, noted that several major American corporations have recently ousted their tough, even bullying leaders, in favor of more diplomatic, people-oriented managers.

It seems that the softer side of leadership is getting a lot of attention these days. Just last week, Thomas Kuczmarski, who teaches courses on innovation at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, was in our office talking about a new book he wrote about leadership with his wife, Susan Kuczmarski, a cultural anthropologist. It’s called “Apples are Square: Thinking Differently About Leadership,’ (to be published in July.)

One of the things he says he’s now telling his budding MBAs is that the old Jack Welch model of leadership --- assertive, aggressive, controlling, and competitive – has to change. “We need more feminine characteristics in management,” he says.

Just don’t call them that, he warned me. Might spook the fellas.

Nancy Pelosi aside, the modern workplace is not yet ready to sign on to something that might lead someone to call the CEO a girly man. The acceptable way of talking about a leadership model that’s more collaborative, consensus-driven, compassionate, and inclusive, he says, is the gender-neutral term “values-based leadership.”

Call it what you will. But keep your eyes open and chances are good you’ll start recognizing it in the most unlikely places….like at P&G, where A.G. Lafley replaced Durk Jager (who was known as “an aggressive change agent with a confrontational style”) and Disney, where Robert Iger succeeded Michael Eisner (called, by the BBC, “direct, domineering, and harsh.” )

And now even Harvard. Can the Age of Aquarius be far behind?

Posted by Linda Tischler at 4:27 PM | 7 Comments

File Under: Bad Idea

You can now adorn Kleenex boxes with photos of your loved ones. What's next: personalized toilet paper?

A lot of consumer-generated media is disposable, but this takes the cake. Good idea? Bad idea? Discuss.

Posted by Heath Row at 1:15 PM | 10 Comments

February 9, 2007

Park Life Balance

In the United States, we've got Take Our Daughters to Work Day. We've got Job Shadow Day. And there are various organizations and resources targeting young entrepreneurs.

But in Japan, Kidzania puts the "fun" back in "job function." (Subscription may be required.) The indoor theme park for children comprises 50 company-sponsored exhibits that enable young thrill seekers to role play various career choices -- from gas station attendant to surgeon.

First opened in Mexico, the park has been a tremendous success since it opened last fall. Entry fees can near $25, parents aren't allowed in the exhibits, and the park can accommodate about 3,000 children at a time. But the upshot is important to the Japanese economy as a whole, not just the company behind Kidzania.

With the rigorous attention -- and expectations -- paid to schoolwork and studying, students often graduate without knowing what they want to be "when they grow up." Kidzania gives children a chance to plan while playing.

Posted by Heath Row at 2:04 PM | Add Comment

Global Warming: Lucrative and Sexy

Economists believe that market forces, not government policies, will provide the most efficient solutions to the looming global warming crises. But why wait for the market to tip the balances in the planet's favor when you can create your own market altogether?

Airline tycoon Sir Richard Branson announced a $25 million prize for the first person to come up with a way of scrubbing greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere, reports Reuters.

To cash in, the winner will have to devise a method of removing one billion metric tons of carbon gases a year from the atmosphere for 10 years.

"Unless we can devise a way of removing CO2 (carbon dioxide) from the earth's atmosphere we will lose half of all species on earth, all the coral reefs, 100 million people will be displaced, farmlands will become deserts and rain forests wastelands," Branson said at the conference announcing the prize.

Gee, if you put it that way Richard, the situation sounds kind of grim. Luckily, Italian designer Diesel reminds us that Armageddon can still be sexy.

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Posted by Alex Pasquariello at 12:25 PM | 8 Comments

February 8, 2007

The Mystery of Marketing Movies

Tomorrow's release of the new Eddie Murphy film, Norbit, got me wondering if there is any method to when the big movie studios plan to put out their films. Norbit is another one of Eddie Murphy's low-brow physical comedies, similar to the Nutty Professor series where Murphy plays multiple characters, which almost always entails him putting on a fat suit.

The movie is the story of Norbit, an orphaned child (Murphy) who grows up and is forced into a horrible marriage with a manipulating and obese black woman named Rasputia (also played by Murphy). When I started seeing movie trailers for Norbit, I was suddenly bothered by Eddie Murphy's quick return to the slapstick genre of films after what was considered a departure role for him in Dreamgirls portraying the famed R&B singer, James "Thunder" Early. After such a long career acting in Norbit-like movies, Murphy got his first Oscar nomination this year for Dreamgirls.

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Posted by Tamara Schweitzer at 3:31 PM | 2 Comments

Ad Nausea

Few people at Masterfoods are snickering behind their hands this week, as the company, a division of Mars, has come under fire for the Snickers ad that aired during the Super Bowl. After complaints from organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, marketers have pulled the ad.

At the same time, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has publicly denounced a GM ad that also aired during the game. While it's debatable whether either ad was bad -- in terms of creativity or political correctness and cultural sensitivity -- the hue and cry raises some interesting questions.

As was seen in the recent Aqua Teen Boston Farce, controversial marketing campaigns can increase the reach a campaign might have otherwise had. But that street goes two ways. Controversial ads also give political and cultural advocacy groups the opportunity to protest publicly -- attracting media attention the groups might not have gotten otherwise, and attracting attention to the groups' causes and issues.

So it's arguable that controversial ad campaigns benefit the very organizations that react negatively in response to the campaigns -- by providing them a mass-market platform for their messages.

Posted by Heath Row at 10:22 AM | Add Comment

If It Quacks Like a Duck...

In the current issue of New York, Kurt Andersen laments America's age of lame-duckism, "in which the discredited and obsolete and totally over shuffle around in the limelight for years after their sell-by dates."

Andersen artfully skewers the "great flock" of lame ducks in American business--including Ford, GM, MTV and Clear Channel Communications--and the baby boomers running them, among other national institutions. But the springboard for the meditation is the presidency of lame "gung ho daffy duck" George W. Bush.

Andersen argues that lame-duck presidents are crippled domestically not militarily and, implicitly, that the boots on the ground in Iraq stand to lose the most in the remaining two years of the Bush presidency. "It was almost two years ago--almost 1,500 American military deaths ago--that Dick Cheney assured us the Iraqi insurgency was 'in the last throes,'" Andersen observes.

But for the time being, set aside the politics of war and especially the valor and sacrifice of America's military men and women serving over seas. Think locally. What U.S. businesses are most directly affected by a lame duck president--with abysmal poll numbers to boot?

Angela K. Brown of the Associated Press finds mom and pop souvenir-shop owners in Bush's hometown of Crawford, Texas, home of "The Western White House," have been hit particularly hard by Bush's quack-up.

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Posted by Alex Pasquariello at 10:16 AM | 4 Comments

February 7, 2007

No Text Messaging in America

Americans have been far slower to take to text messaging than Europeans and Asians.
Having lived in India until about six months ago I would regularly send about half a dozen text messages a day. On some days that number exceeded a dozen. Most were to friends (making plans for the weekend or simply asking what route to take to their house) and there were occasional queries from my bosses (when are you filing that story?). If I were to make a guess I’d say that so far in my six months here I have sent less text messages than I would send on a typical day in India.

Don’t get me wrong. Some Americans are very ‘text message savvy’ and send out many messages a day but on average, numbers don’t compare favorably with other nations. Text message savvy Americans still, on an average, send half as many text messages every year when compared to Europeans and only about a third when compared to the Chinese.

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Posted by Samar Srivastava at 3:19 PM | 15 Comments

Play for Pay

Progressive leaders such as Whole Foods's John Mackey are capping their pay in order to lead by example. "The tremendous success of Whole Foods Market has provided me with far more money than I ever dreamed I'd have and far more than is necessary for either my financial security or personal happiness," Mackey wrote in a letter to employees. "Beginning on January 1, 2007, my salary will be reduced to $1, and I will no longer take any other cash compensation."

Jan. 1 has come and gone, and executive pay could well become an even bigger issue soon, even on the national stage. Earlier this week, an article in USA Today foreshadowed some possible changes to CEO payrolls.

Lawmakers in both houses of Congress plan to make laws affecting executive pay packages, and a new rule from the Securities and Exchange Commission is forcing companies to provide a simplified summary of top executives' compensation in their public filings. Even President Bush weighed in on the subject last week in New York, exhorting corporate boards to tie CEOs' salaries and bonuses to their success in improving companies and bringing value to shareholders.

It's interesting that President Bush is discussing the issue -- it indicates that concern about pay gaps might not follow party lines. That goes against conventional wisdom. What do you think?

Posted by Heath Row at 10:23 AM | 7 Comments

February 6, 2007

Using Fashion to Tap Into the Female Consumer

In the midst of New York's Mercedes-Benz (formerly-Olympus) Fashion Week, IMG Fashion announced that it will bring a Mercedes Benz sponsored Fashion Week to Berlin in July for the spring 2008 season.

If you haven't already caught on, Fashion Week means big-time exposure for up-and-coming, as well as, seasoned designers, but also even bigger exposure to brands that hope to capitalize on the throngs of people making their way to the tents. Mercedes-Benz already sponsors Fashion Weeks in Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, and Canada.

According to Fashion Week Daily, more than 14,000 people per day visited the tents at Bryant Park in February 2005; this doesn't include the number of people who watch the shows from streaming video on the Internet. For an event sponsor, like Olympus or Mercedes Benz, or even a regional sponsor, this means direct access to the movers and shakers of the fashion world -- the celebutants, the designers, the buyers, and the media.

Even AT&T's wireless unit, formerly Cingular Wireless is jumping into the mix with coverage of Fashion Week offered to its customers . . . for a price. Cingular customers can download designer wallpaper sketches from Tracy Reese and Jenni Kayne for $1.99 each and customers who have the Unlimited Media package ($19.99) can watch the shows from the comfort of their cell.

Generally, this is an effort by these major brands to reach the female consumer who boasts 83% of the buying power in the US. Mark McNabb, Mercedes-Benz US VP of sales told MediaPost, "We have been trying to improve our marketing to a female audience over the past sixteen to eighteen months."

So with Fashion Week being the best way for traditionally macho companies like Mercedes-Benz to reach the female consumer and the power of her Louis Vuitton wallet, will other megla-macho companies jump into the mix soon?

Posted by Lisa LaMotta at 5:17 PM | 2 Comments

Steve Jobs -- "Let DRM Die"

If you have an iPod, you probably use iTunes and may even buy music from the iTunes store. Those songs can't be played (legally) on other players. It is a similar case with Microsoft's Zune. The software that keeps these song files limited to certain players or computers is called DRM -- Digital Rights Management. Many enthusiasts hate such systems that put limits on something you bought and own. And, it turns out, so does Steve Jobs.

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