DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ

But read this:

"Global superstar or massive PR hoax?"

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FOOD TRUCKS

Read this article re Heavenly Ski Resort utilizing trucks to promote the ski area:

Marketers Discover Trucks Can Deliver More Than Food

And don’t skip over this just because you don’t like skiing.  The point of the article is:

"The challenge with buying traditional media, said John Wagnon, the vice president for marketing at Heavenly, one of the properties of the Vail Resorts group, is ‘paying for eyeballs of people who have no interest in what you’re trying to sell.’"

Zac Brown likes to cook.  Maybe to promote his new album he should drive around making meals in a truck or sponsor food trucks emblazoned with his visage.  This would create excitement for fans, get people talking.

You’ve got to be innovative these days.  People ignore traditional marketing messages.

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From: Kia Kamran Esq.
Subject: RE: Pomplamoose/Hyundai

Bob;

Thank you for this. Your take is DEAD ON.  They (Innocean Worldwide – Hyundai’s ad agency) wanted the "Videosongs" vibe, and we agreed PROVIDED THAT Jack and Nataly direct the spots with zero intrusion, and all three (yeah there’s three) commercials were shot at Jack and Nataly’s own house so as not to lose the "Videosongs" authenticity.  Those were the most essential anti-whoring safeguards that needed to be in place, and none. . . NONE of the fan emails the band have received have been negative.  This is an advertising agency that really got what the band was all about. . .

There will also be a 60 second radio spot, and the band is in the process of finalizing the POMPLAMOOSE Christmas Album with full length versions of these songs to benefit Pomplamoose’s charity project (a school book drive).

’nuff respect
Kia

From: Doug Allen
Subject: Pomplamoose

Saw you posted an item on Pomplamoose’s Hyundai ads recently, thought you might be interested in their new project:

Richmond Book Drive

You just can’t hate this.
They’re cute.
It reeks of homemade.
The charity is not tied to a TV special, there’s no payback beyond…the charitable effort!
And as Nataly says: "We get nothing!"
The fact that this is not national enhances the credibility.
Just because you’re doing it yourself, that does not mean you’ve got to be sans charisma.  Jack and Nataly are cooler than anybody on reality TV, and they’re in control of their own destiny.

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From: R. Emmett McAuliffe
Subject: Nelly tweets blasts against Universal over low album sales

Nelly tweets frustration over low album sales

Nelly’s major argument appears to be that single “sales” always should equate with album sales.  Not certain that that is true any more … or ever was.  Better than *not* having a platinum single from the album tho’, that’s for sure.

Singles don’t necessarily sell albums.  Nelly is seen as a singles artist.
But even more fascinating is the biting of the hand that feeds him.  That’s what technology has wrought, the ability for those further down the food chain to bite those on top.

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From: Joe Piecora
Subject: Re: The Amanda Ghost Story

At 08:34 PM 11/17/2010, you wrote:

"It’s the story of an infrastructure built to churn out something most people no longer want, a creator of buggy-whips in an era of automobiles."

Because of my online music interests, I have given a lot of thought to paradigm-shift analogies like this one. One of the most curious and least known was the replacement of the antebellum canal system by the railroads. In its day, canal building was to the early 1800’s what the Space Shuttle has been to the field of engineering for the last three decades. George Washington was in the canal business on the Potomac. Huge investments were made, funding provided by national lotteries, etc. But it was all wiped out by the steam engine. A lot of the canals spent a GREAT deal of the money they had made in the first 30-40 years of business trying to reinvent themselves to go up against the track system but by 1860 that was proven to be a huge mistake. The good money after bad syndrome. The existing recording houses and the RIAA are doing the same thing when they should be cutting their losses and getting out entirely. But they just can’t stop yanking on that slot machine handle.

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Subject: Re: Customer Care

Bob,

Being an Apple employee, I was cringing when I read the beginning of your "Customer Care" post. Yes—it’s true that AppleCare phone support can indeed be hit and miss…especially at the front line entry level. As you pointed out, most phone support calls are usually made by those who are perhaps not really tech saavy at all—mostly beginners. When you finally hit your more experienced tech—you witnessed an Apple phenomenon called the "Credo" kick in. Yes…it sounds like one of those goofy mission statements but any veteran Apple employee who does any type of customer service knows it by heart. The exciting thing about the Credo is that it empowers Apple team members to make gut judgement calls right there on the spot—usually always in the customer’s favor. This guy could obviously tell that you were a veteran Apple user and wanted to hook you up with something you didn’t have—not to appease you but to take the high road and let you know that Apple does value it’s customers. What’s exciting is that this guy didn’t have to ask permission from a supervisor and I guarantee you that no one gave him any grief about giving away a copy of iWork.

Apple is not a perfect company (there is probably no such thing) but what makes it a winning company is that it runs on the simple premise of trying to hire great people and then trusting them to make the best decision—using their own good judgement…unscripted! For some companies, that would be a terrifying thought but it sure works for Apple.

Please do not my print my name if you reprint this – Thanks!

Subject: Re: Customer Care (from an apple employee)

(Im an apple tech at the genius bar so don’t post my name, you’d be amazed how seriously apple takes this stuff)

Your recent article on AppleCare shows how far culture has come in 50 years. Technology is the new music, cell phones are the new albums, Apple is the new Beatles. The fact Apple now sells The Beatles is the handoff coming full circle.  Don’t believe me? Name a single musician with more fans than Steve Jobs. Name one forthcoming album people want more than a Verizon iPhone.  

Consumers in our culture don’t understand why it’s bad to pirate music. Or lip sync. Or autotune. Music is dead to this culture.

As far as The Genius Bar goes we will do anything to make customers happy. Seriously, no one cares in management how many iPhones I swap in or out of warranty. There is zero incentive to void it and pretty much never happens unless you treated your product like crap. Or got it wet (don’t do that). The entire Apple Store philosophy is to surprise and delight our customers.

Withheld.
– sent from my iPhone.