We’re going to take a short vacation and will return to this blog (and our offices) Wednesday, January 2, 2008.As we are best known for our predictive metrics, we offer up two, final year-end forecasts:
The holidays will give you all a time for reflection, wonder, and discovery, and
The New Year will bring you health, happiness, and good times.
Needless to say, both come with the thanks – and very best wishes – from The Brand Keys Team.
Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!
That’s not us. That was Jose Canseco appearing before Congress back in March 2005. I guess someone should have listened to him, because after the release of the Mitchell Report last week announcing the widespread use of illegal, Performance-Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) by professional baseball players, MLB brand was rated the lowest its ever been.To say that fans were disappointed would be an understatement. Major League Baseball once had the highest Loyalty Index of any Major Spectator Sport, indexing at a 111 (versus the Ideal at 119). The general allegations years ago were damaging enough (MLB went down to 107 and has inched back to an early 2007 rating of 109). But the new revelations have been just devastating. Yesterday it indexed at a 101. That’s the bad news. The worse news is that these indexed rankings correlate extremely high with TV viewership and purchase of licensed team merchandise.
Four drivers govern fan loyalty: Pure Entertainment, Authenticity, Fan-to-Player Bonding, and History & Tradition. The MLB brand took its biggest beating on Authenticity (that deals with the unadulterated skill-set expected from a player in the “Big Show”) and on Fan Bonding (where fans don’t want to be disappointed by players in whom they’ve invested real time and trust). But the biggest change was on the History & Tradition driver. It transcends win/loss ratios, and for the first time since we’ve been conducting the study, the MLB brand is down on that driver too.
Last Thursday's report identified 86 names of players alleged to have used PEDs. Seven MVPs and 31 All-Stars – every position on the field – were named as illegal users of steroids! This is ‘America’s Game’ we’re talking about here. It was supposed to be real. And unadulterated. Not any more. Maybe never again.
Doping is apparently so widespread by stars as well as rookies, that it can’t help but put a question mark in fans’ minds, if not an asterisk in the baseball records.
And in all businesses, including sports, question marks never engender loyalty.
Approximately $2.7 million is being spent on a 30-second commercial spot in the up-coming Super Bowl. And after a decade of absence, Coke is back.Coke last advertised on the Super Bowl in 1998. In recent years, they’ve been content to buy the pods immediately prior to the telecasts and let competitor, Pepsi, dominate the in-game airwaves. This year, however, Coke and Pepsi will go head-to-head with at least 90 seconds each during the game itself.
Want to know what market and consumer influences changed Coke’s mind?
We invite you to listen to Dr. Robert Passikoff, Brand Keys Founder and President, when he discusses why – right now – Coke may very well go better with the Super Bowl.
Listen for his interview and insights all this week on MarketWatch radio.
Apple is considering cutting the price of TV show downloads virtually in half, making the cost of most TV episodes sold via iTunes just 99¢, which is also what Apple charges for most music singles. Entertainment companies don't seem to love the idea, and the half-price plan may have contributed to NBC's decision last week not to renew its current distribution deal with Apple.Apple's argument to studios and networks is that they will end up making more money from digital downloads under the new proposal, believing that the volume of sales will rise dramatically, thereby offsetting the price cut.
In the meantime, the top-5 TV shows that were downloaded on iTunes last week were:
Among the network and retail concerns is that at 99¢, iTunes downloads could impact sales of DVD boxed sets. With a 23-episode season set of DVDs going for around $35.00, the downloaded cost would be less than $23.00.
You have to come up with a heck of a lot of bonus features to engage consumers enough to make up that kind of difference!
You don’t have to look far back in history to recognize that complex systems that work are invariably found to have evolved from simple systems that worked. That thought came to me recently while I was facing the challenge of getting through some Holiday Promotion offers that showed up in the mail.There was a time when retailers and brands kept it simple for the consumer. Come in, get money off. Buy one, get one. Here’s a coupon for an additional 10% off. You remember. Well, the tactics may not have evolved, but the complexity sure has! Here’s what I mean. The actual retail brands have been eliminated. Given the time of year, the quality of mercy is not strained, even in the marketing profession.
“Take an extra 50% off our entire selection of already reduced Brand X clothes when you buy any combination of three shirts and ties or a combination of four or more pairs of shoes or sneakers which results in an additional 30% off. Loungewear not in our Midtown location. Offers cannot be combined. No adjustments to prior purchases. Savings certificates cannot be earned on purchases of premium denim, cosmetics and fragrances, fine jewelry, men’s electronics, small electronics, or gift cards. A $15.00 savings certificate allows you to save $15.00 on almost any purchase of $75.00 or more from December 3 – 24, 2007. Exclusions apply: specials, everyday values, super buys, sportswear and intimates, premium tops and bottoms for him, trim, cards, and wrap (designer exclusions don’t apply to outerwear departments).”
Challenges may make life interesting, and overcoming them may make life meaningful, but given the economic climate, retailers shouldn’t make it so difficult for customers to figure their promotions out. It’s a waste of time, and it annoys the customer.
So remember the acronym K-I-S-S. Simplicity is the peak of civilization. It’s also the pinnacle of consumer engagement.
There’s a lot of chatter about how weak the dollar is. In 2002, you could buy a euro for 86 cents. Today, it costs $1.40. It all sounds so ominous on the news, but is a weak dollar really so terrible?Not necessarily. A weak dollar can be good for the U.S. economy, because it makes American exports cheaper and, therefore, helps to close the trade deficit. And then there’s the cost of haircuts.
Having traveled extensively throughout the world this past year (and wanting to look my very best), I took note of the costs of a men’s haircut by a head stylist at some cities’ top salons. The prices include applicable taxes, but not gratuities.
Rome 28 Euros
Brussels 37 Euros
Frankfurt 55 Euros
Tokyo 9,833 Yen/61 Euros
Hong Kong 1,217 HK$/107 Euros
New York 182 US$/125 Euros
London 92 Pounds/130 Euros
Paris 141Euros
So it’s worth keeping in mind while it may be a mistake to sell the US dollar short, some of the worst mistakes ever made have been bad haircuts!
