Branded with Sheepish Transparency

David Kahn, President Basketball Operations, Timberwolves

In the past two years, we’ve steadily witnessed brands from all categories trying to flip a switch in their customer-facing organizational philosophy as a way to jump on the trend of transparency. Moving from ‘What they don’t know won’t hurt them’, to ‘It seems like they’re going to find out, anyway, so let’s tell them something to make them happy’, to finally, ‘We surrender, here is everything we know, please still like us’. While the latter is still on the upswing, as customers and brand loyalists, we should be proud. Like Jake Bauer in an interrogation room, we have collectively broken down some corporate giants. We can thank ourselves and, of course, the Internet, technology, social media, and the constant exchange of information online for giving us the power to stand up and scream, ‘We’re not going to take it anymore!’ Even if we’re actually sitting instead of standing, and texting instead of screaming. Regardless, the Corporate World has responded with everything from Nutritional labels on food, to openly run company forums and, in some cases, full-blown web sites that are dedicated to listening and implementing customer ideas (thank you, mystarbucksidea.com). We have even been more open and transparent with each other, through our Tweets, Yelp reviews, Flickr pictures, and the latest to join the party, Geo-tracking apps like Foursquare and Facebook Places.

The trend of transparency is not going away. And, I believe, it will lead to a more competitive corporate environment that will result in better innovations, more sustainability and a stronger economy.

That being said, can someone take brand transparency too far, and possibly use it as an excuse to not succeed? Let’s say that a popular local brand or sports team tells you that the product they’re selling you this year is going to flat-out suck, and if you want to engage in a different, better product, you’re going to have to pay big to get it or watch it. This would make you angry, right? Question management, your loyalty, and the money you’ve spent with this brand over the years?

This is life as a Minnesota TimerberWolves fan.

The team sheepishly took out a full-page ad in Monday’s Star Tribune sports section, featuring a long open letter to fans that acknowledged the negatives, pointed to the positives, and spelt out plan for improvement. Included in the letter are these words: "So will we challenge for the NBA championship this year? Not likely."

Read the full ‘long-winded’ ad here.

As the AP reports, Chief marketing officer Ted Johnson said that it was part of the team's attempt to establish a new relationship with fans, and bring some transparency to how it operates.

It goes to show in a world of increasing transparency between brand and customer, somethings are still better left unsaid. ~ p

Internet Killed the Video Star

Between Facebook and Twitter, we have all become quasi famous, if only amongst our followers and friends. Now with the Internet convergence of television, anyone is going to be able to get into your living room, and vice versa. The company called Blip.tv jumped on this trend before we knew it was a trend. They recently reported that its ‘Original Web series are finding a niche at night, getting nearly 100 million views a month, and directly competing in prime time, from 8-11pm, with the big networks.’ If that sounds huge, it’s because it is. This site is getting 10% of the audience of network television shows from ABC, NBC and FOX combined! (Hulu does about 950 million video views per month). On the Social side of the fence, according to Facebook, ‘half a billion users were uploading 20 million videos each month, many of which are shared through mobile phones. These same users were consuming more than 30 billion videos online each month.’ If we look beyond Facebook, research from ComScore found that 135 million Web surfers are consuming 13 billion videos on YouTube each month, most of which are user generated. To top it off, a report released by Nielsen found that consumers are watching video on their mobile phones and computers on an increasingly regular basis. Meaning that this trend isn’t going away. So, what does all this mean? Get out the video camera and sharpen up your acting skills from grade-10 drama class. Your career as an Internet-TV and Mobile-Video star could be coming soon. ~ p

(Photo caption: iJustine is a self-made 'lifecaster' who has made more than 360 videos. She has over 1 million Twitter followers and 300,000 YouTube subscribers, and USA Today estimated that her videos have attracted 64 million viewers.)

Live on YouTube for Two Days Only

In 2008, YouTube live-streamed a special concert to 700,000 viewers. Since then, we’ve seen live streams of a U2 concert, Presidential speeches, and the Indian Premiere League. YouTube’s political blog/channel CitizenTube has also featured live streaming. But, with the exception of CitizenTube, these have all been one-off events that have given no real indication of a permanent, game-changing feature.

Until now.

Starting this morning and running through Tuesday night, four select YouTube partners — Next New Networks, Howcast, Young Hollywood, and Rocketboom — will be streaming live footage on YouTube. Check out the show listings with the widget above. For years, it’s been talked about. Though this is only a test, and only available for two days, the company has confirmed that it plans to offer live streaming to all its content partners. This will put them in direct competition with the likes of Ustream, Justin.tv, and Livestream. It's only two days, but I know this puts me one step closer to joining the ranks of cable-free TV and watching all live sports online. ~ p

(Source: TechCrunch)

You 'Like' What You Eat

Photo credit: Alejo Malia

How much easier and cooler would it be if Google Maps could be seen in a 3-dimensional way right through your car’s windshield? Or if you could pull up holographic Yelp reviews from restaurants you walked past. Plus, if I knew who 'liked' things before I ate them, I probably wouldn't have been sick off of that Smoked (mystery) Meat sandwich at the football game yesterday. As a step in the right direction, Facebook just launched a new web app called 'Discover Facebook’s Popular Pages'. It’s designed to help you find more pages to 'Like' based on your past selections, what’s popular and what your friends like. While watching Back to the Future 2 this afternoon, it made me realize how far we’ve come since 1985, and how much closer we are to that futuristic society. With Augmented Reality (AR) becoming more and more usable, we can’t be that far away from this stuff coming to life. Until then, we still have classic movies and the imagination of people like Alejo Malia. ~ p 

P Diddy is Forrest Gump

I follow Diddy on Twitter. If you don’t, I suggest you do @iamdiddy. He’s motivating, smart, funny, and he’s wired for sound. Last week, he tweeted while running on the treadmill about tweeting while running on the treadmill (yes, you read that right). He ended the tweet, as he does many, with a ‘Let’s GOOOO!!!!!!!!!’. Hilarious? Yes. Crazy? Like a fox. At that moment, it hit me: P Diddy is like a real life Forrest Gump. Sure, take away the learning disability and general awkwardness; keep all the energy, passion, luck, success, and talent; then add in some GQ-ness, and…Bam! You’ve got P Gumpy. Here’s your homework: 1) Follow @iamdiddy on Twitter. 2) Watch the scene in Forrest Gump when Forrest runs right through a high school football game so fast that he passes every player on the field. 3) Now picture P Gumpy going on his morning run, motoring across three states, still going strong, charging right through a Boise State game, cell phone in one hand, movie script in the other, three assistants on super-charged Segways trying to keep up, as he kicks the game-winning field goal without breaking stride and simultaneously ties his shoe. It could happen. ~ p  

Tom Lehrer's Instant Elements

To end a week full of Instant, this is one for all of the scientists out there. And, really, for anyone who ever took a science class. I tell ya, if this video existed when I was a kid, it would've been a lot easier to...oh wait, I should really wait another 10 years before I start pulling that line out. Enjoy. ~ p

Funny Friday: Dancing with the Dogs

I can't dance. When I try, I resemble something between a drunk chicken and a wounded grizzly bear. But now, I have no excuse not to learn. Dancing with the Stars, here is your first spin-off...'Dancing with the Dogs'. If every performance was like the one in this video, I'd tune in every week. My money says that you would, too.  

Prank Your Coworker With Google Chrome

Do you have a friend or coworker whose been pushing your buttons lately? Yeah, you know who I’m talking about. Well, here’s a cool prank that’ll get them back, without turning you over to the dark side. FYI, this will only work if they use Google Chrome.

1)    Wait for them to step away from the computer.

2)    Open or click on their Google Chrome browser.

3)    Click on a popular, non-work related site, like Facebook or Twitter.  Let’s use Facebook for this example.

4)    Right-click and choose ‘Inspect element’. This will split the screen into two or three sections. 

5)    In the bottom area, you’ll see a bunch of code mumbo jumbo. Find the line that says, ‘<div class="WelcomePage_MainMessage">Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life.</div>’. You might have to down click on some of the arrows to find it.

6)    In that code, click on the copy that says, ‘Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life’ and change it to whatever you want. As an example, ‘Mark, Facebook thinks you spend too much time on this site and wonders how you still have a job!’ You can even change the measurements, etc., if you’re crafty with HTML.

7)    Click on the X in the top left-hand corner of the ‘code box’ to put the page back to normal.

8)    Sit back and laugh as your buddy wonders how Facebook knows their dirty little secret. 

Happy pranking. ~ p