Category Archives: What’s Going On

August 31, 2012 · 8:07 am

Forced Endorsements

 

Our Foodie Friday Fun this week isn’t directly about food

English: American cook, author, and television...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

at all but about one of the most entertaining people ever to prepare it. That would be Julia Child, about whom I’ve expressed my admiration before. I’m not sure if you’re following what is going on with her estate and the Thermador people but it instructive on a number of levels.
Let me say at the outset that I own a Thermador oven. Two of them, in fact, and I’m quite happy with them, so there’s no axe to grind against the company. That said, they’re behaving badly.  You see, they’ve been using the fact that Julia Child had a Thermador ovens in her home and TV kitchens as the basis for an implied endorsement.  So much so that magazine ads that showed photos of Julia and two of the brand’s ovens with the caption, “An American Icon and Her American Icons.”

Well, you say, sounds like a typical celebrity endorsement.  As we all know the notion is that people who like the celebrity will like the product the celebrity likes too.  There’s only problem.  Julia Child NEVER endorsed products.  Nothing.  She always felt she was a teacher, and anything that wasn’t of the highest quality could undermine her reputation.  The foundation that owns her intellectual property has sued since they were never approached in advance of the use and turned down a license when they were since they won’t license her name or image for endorsements.  Pretty straightforward so far.

Here is what’s interesting.  Thermador is claiming it’s not an endorsement.  As the L.A. Times reported, they:

filed a suit in Boston on Friday asking a federal judge to make a legal declaration that they had the right to use Child’s connection to the brand in its marketing materials. In its complaint, BSH’s lawyers wrote that the company’s use of Child’s photo and name “do not state or imply any endorsement” but “reflect on the long history, significance and influence of Thermador products on American society and culture.”

Right.  It’s a statement of fact.  So if an athlete is photographed drinking a Coke, it’s fine if Coke uses that statement of fact in an ad.  I don’t think so.  More importantly, to those of us who admire Julia, this is having exactly the opposite effect as an endorsement.  You can’t force people to endorse your products, you can’t use their likeness without permission, and you can’t rationalize your way into it being OK.  This is a good lesson on why bad behavior seldom works out in business. I can’t imagine anyone who has ever done anything in marketing wouldn’t have known that this is wrong.

Thermador, I use your products and like them – feel free to use that endorsement.  But stop behaving badly, please.  You’re better than this, or at least your ovens are.

 

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August 1, 2012 · 8:31 am

Jerry Is 70

Happy Birthday Jerry Garcia, wherever you are!

Jerry Garcia in 1969

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you’ve spent any time here on the screed you’re probably aware that I’m a Deadhead. I’ve written about them a lot and I often find business thoughts inspired by their music and their business practices. Besides liking their music, I have a real appreciation of their acumen as business people. Marketing Secrets Of The Grateful Dead is a must-read for anyone who is trying to understand the marketing paradigm these days and Jerry, despite his reluctance to say so, was the leader of the band. In fact, in their own words:

I’m gonna sing you a hundred verses in ragtime
I know this song it ain’t never gonna end
I’m gonna march you up and down the local county line
Take you to the leader of the band

Jerry had his struggles with drugs and food, so much so that they killed him at age 53.  While the band continues on in various forms, it’s not the same without him and the remaining band members would be the first to tell you that.

Since this is a business blog, let me interject a business thought.  I’m sure when the Dead started making music in 1965 they didn’t think that we’d be listening to recordings of their live shows almost half a century later.  Nevertheless, recordings of shows from the late 60’s all the way through 1995 when Jerry passed are a staple on their own Sirius XM channel and the band continues to release CD’s of them.  The fact that they took the time to assure high quality recordings would be placed in an archive long before they were a huge act shows that they appreciated what they were creating.  How many other bands have/need an archivist or have their own collection at a university?  You might know they also allowed fans to tape their shows, going so far as to set up a special “tapers” area to encourage it.  In tech terms, they created huge redundancy of their product in case their own system of soundboard recording ever failed.

The business point is this.  While many businesses find themselves pivoting – altering their business plan to suit changing tastes or market conditions – you can’t assume that what you’re doing today will be gone tomorrow.  The Dead changed their sound and styles over the years – Shakedown Street‘s disco beat is very different from Dark Star’s spacey vibe – but their core appreciation for their product and their fans never changed.  The Dead on a bad night are really awful and those recordings are out there, often issued by the band.  They’re far outweighed by the good nights and the great nights trump them all.  That transparency and looking at their work through their fans’ eyes is long-term thinking regardless of today’s product.

Jerry was far from a saint.  He died in drug rehab with a couple of failed marriages and shaky finances.  He’s also the most recorded guitarist in history, with 2,200 Dead shows, 1,000 side project shows, and other studio work totaling some 15,000 hours of playing preserved for our enjoyment.  So Happy Birthday, Jerry, and thanks for the gifts.

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July 18, 2012 · 9:49 am

This Is My 1,000th Post!

I posted my first bit of drivel on May 22, 2008.  It was all of 218 words and by way of introduction I said:

My name is Keith, and I’m a guy who works with companies on using media to grow their businesses. It could be that nasty old traditional stuff like radio and TV or it could be that newfangled stuff like social media. Either way, bubba. Since it’s not about the channel.

Hopefully the writing has improved a little but what I like is that the basic mission hasn’t:

You would be surprised how many folks I’ve met over the years do something because it’s cool…rather than because it ties in nicely to their business goals, strategies, and tactics.  So that’s what we’ll look at in this blog, with a particular emphasis on the emerging media business as well as sports. I’ll probably throw in a few food tips as well since we can’t be all work and no play.

Which is pretty much where we still are although I guess there’s the odd tip I’ve learned over the last 35 years about managing thrown in as well.  The technology has changed a lot in four years but business hasn’t.  We’ve committed to Friday as our food day and I probably don’t write as much about sports now as I used to.  We still generally avoid politics other than to use them to illustrate a broader point (although I’m thinking about using one day a week to focus on facts without advocacy as we hit election time – thoughts?).

Here’s the most important thing I can say to you after 999 other attempts:  thank you.  Thank you for reading, for sharing posts with others, and for taking the time to comment, both here on the screed and back to me via email (I realize some of you don’t want your thoughts quite so public – fine with me!).  Hopefully you’ll do more of each of them in the future.  I’m always surprised and grateful when someone I’m just meeting or with whom I’m reconnecting says “I like your blog.”  I can see readership numbers but it’s always better for me to meet just one actual reader.

If you had asked me a few years back if I’d still be posting every work day four years down the road, I’d have said that I don’t have that many words or cogent thoughts in me.  Turns out I was wrong.  Thank you all very much!

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