Hello Bar – innovating with a notification bar!

by Michiel Maandag on April 1, 2011 · 0 comments

Welcome to Hello Bar, an innovation on 34 pixels in height on your web page! Hello Bar is “a simple notification bar for your website that delivers your message and drives more clicks.” And … that is exactly what it is! You see mine on top of the site.

It does two things:

  1. Let you create notification bars for many sites. You provide the text, link and color and Hello Bar will provide you the code.
  2. Provide statistics on clicks / conversion

I think it is amazing to innovate with a notification bar, who had ever thought that would happen! It is in fact a brand idea at work: reduce focus till you find something unique and start owning it, wow!

(bdw: I still have some invites left, just tweet me)

 

Statoil powered by gas

by Michiel Maandag on March 22, 2011 · 0 comments

This photo was taken inside the AirBerlin terminal at Berlin Tegel Airport. When I walked by I was very confused: Oil powered by Gas? What is this all about? I checked the Statoil website and indeed Statoil is also in the business of selling gas… Wow! I did not know! The name Satoil did not make it any easier for me!

To me this is a very nice example why not to name your company or product after a category:

  1. its harder to expand in new categories
  2. feels awkward (“Statoil powered by green electricity” anyone?)
  3. once expanded to new categories the essence of the product/company is simply harder to grasp for consumers.

Volvo: keep your brand focus on safety or be toast!

by Michiel Maandag on February 25, 2011 · 1 comment

In every brand book or brand program  there is usually the example of Volvo, the brand that has positioned itself in the car category synonymously with the word “safety”. Unfortunately, unless Volvo changes its current course this good example will turn in an example how to destroy a unique brand position.

Let me explain…

About two years ago everything was still very much on brand positioning. Take a look at the screenshot below taken from volvocars.com/us. It shows the Volvo S80 page with the key sections: Safety, Design, Performance, Environment. Yes! Safety FIRST, of course and exactly what everybody expects from Volvo! Design is obviously second. A car designed in Sweden does bring magic! Both safety and designed in Sweden are great differentiators! Performance third, it simply cannot be first because nothing can jeopardize safety. Finally the environment: Volvo is a good citizen. Everything simply makes sense!

When clicking on the Safety section it will give you all the details you need to know in order to believe that Volvo is the safest car on the planet! The above navigation structure was very consistent implemented with all Volvo models, below an example of the XC90 Safety section.

Now fast forward to 2011… and a lot of brand building has been destroyed.

Look at that same S80 web page:

That’s right! Safety has now moved to the 4th place of the “5 things to know” about the S80. Also note that it is not anymore just “Safety” but “Safety innovations”. Why is that? Would I not expect the safest car brand to innovate by default? Why would Volvo want to stop owning that one word “safety” and make it “safety innovations”?

The list of “5 things to know” consists of:  1. Sleek exterior design, 2. Interior Luxury, 3. T6 AWD Engine, 4. Safety innovations, 5. World class entertainment. Wow… It feels I am looking at audi.com…

If this was not enough Volvo is happily positioning itself away even further from Safety by introducing the concept of Naughty cars. Just check the Volvo S60 pages and you will find out that the Volvo S60 is everywhere named as the “All-New Naughty Volvo S60″. Wow! What happened at Volvo headquarters?

Naughty Volvo? What is that all about?

It obviously should look like this! Volvo = safety!

Volvo this is really bad… you really had the best position in the car category, who after all does not want a safe car? Now you give your positioning away by trying to be Audi. Your consumers will not understand because to them you always will be the brand that is about safety. That is, till you proof them wrong a little too long trying to be somebody you are not. Please change or you will be toast.

Mozy… do you really think I change my bi-yearly subscription from 83USD to 1343USD? This offer I will refuse!

by Michiel Maandag on February 2, 2011 · 0 comments

Mozy was in many ways an example of brand building. First there is a reliable service that simply works. Second there is plenty of good PR (Mossberg, trends) and word of mouth. Then when the backup category got established the TV spots came to defend the position of the brand.

I got referred to Mozy by a good friend of mine and yes … I have been referring Mozy to many friends as well! Like I said, the service simply works!

This morning however Mozy blew it big time: they changed their proposition from “unlimited backup with yearly subscription fee” to “pay for storage, pay per gigabyte”… Not smart! Once consumers perceive you as free or unlimited (even with a subscription fee) you cannot change the business model unless you are willing to start from zero in brand and relationship building.

For me it is over and out with Mozy and it seems with many others as well, just see the discussions and on Twitter. Lots of companies also participate in the discussion to grab switchers!

As I do backup everything (my music, photos, raw photos, ….) I use a bit of space. With the current plan I can do that for 83USD/2years, the new plan will set me back to 1343USD/2years (data growth not included).

Not.

Hugo… I am still the Boss!

by Michiel Maandag on January 26, 2011 · 0 comments

Walking by the Hugo Boss Store in the Friedrichstrasse, Berlin I noticed a very interesting window display:

What is this all about? Is Hugo Boss company trying to:

  • Tell me the Hugo Boss brand benefits/ brand promise? Should wearing Hugo Boss make me feel sophisticated, elegant/modern?
  • Reflect characteristics of their target audience?
  • Inform me about perceptions consumers have of the brand Hugo Boss?

Either way it felt disturbing to me. I do not want to see in a window display who I am, what I should be or what the brand I am buying things wants me to believe it is!

The only thing I ask for from Hugo Boss is to not lose focus of your brand. That way everybody can figure out why to buy Boss and how it will make you feel once you have it!

The ultimate media center setup with a Mac Mini and Plex – live 2013 in 2011 – step by step tutorial

by Michiel Maandag on January 13, 2011 · 7 comments

Forget about the “TV-internet-apps” integration you have seen on CES last week! It is really all not there yet. If you want to have The Ultimate Media Center Setup then continue to read. Follow the instructions below and you will have a setup what probably is going to be common in 2013!

On a more serious note… lots of colleagues and friends have asked me about my media center setup.  As title of this website says “brands – mobile – technology” I am happy to share it here! Personally I find it an amazing setup:)

Plex Nine for OSX - Movie view

First: forget about Google TV and Apple TV. They are simply too limited in many ways: no local storage, locked in with file formats, not being able to see TV through the internet (for me the Dutch “missed a broadcast” is very important) unless there is a specific app for it on GoogleTV and more.

Second: forget about Popcorn or any of the other media tank products. Frankly this could have likely worked if it was not for the fact that I really wanted flexibility and no limitations. Limitations became apparent when thinking about viewing content from sites that run Silverlight plugins, opening a normal browser or simply adding a RAID drive to make the media center also the storage center in the house.

So in our Mac home the choice was the Mac Mini (PC homes should go for the Dell ZinoHD or similar). Here is the basic setup:

  • Mac Mini running Silverlight and a Flash player. Previous generations of Mac Mini with mini DVI instead of HDMI require this connector to connect to an AV receiver.
  • Plex app – Media Center application for OSX and iOS (free for OSX). This application is simply amazing! It is full-blown media center app with a fantastic user interface, metadata scanners for your movies/TV shows, and above all an amazing amount of plugins that allow you to watch internet content on your big screen (CNN, Hulu, many European channels…). Plex uses a Plex Media Server app that you can install on all your Macs at home. This way you can access e.g. iTunes or iPhoto content from your iMac in the study room through your MacMini on your TV. Plex is the best!
  • Preen app, a skin manager for Plex
  • Remote Buddy app, allows you to control many applications with the Apple remote or Logitech Harmony remotes. Best of all: you can (re)define all the keys on the remote to use functions inside programs!

With the above you get the basic setup. If you want more then read on.  See the video below for an overview of this Ultimate Media Center setup! The video was made by Nuno, the author of the Mini Harmony tutorial. More on that shortly.
YouTube Preview Image

Here is what you need to make it happen:

  • A Logitech Harmony remote control, preferably the Harmony One, but the Harmony 650 that I have works fine too.
  • To control everything with the Harmony as in the video above a bit of work is required… you will need to program Remote Buddy. To make it happen follow everything that is written in the Mini Harmony blog (start with episode 0). Unfortunately the author of the blog did not finish the tutorial so go over the Plex Forums to get the final episodes (direct link). Note note note: please read everything on the blog and the forum word by word, line by line. This does require some will and determination to make it happen… but once done… wow, the result is simply the best!
  • Icons for your Harmony remote. You can upload them to your Logitech using the software that came with your Logitech
  • VPN connection through e.g. Witopia or similar providers. This will make it possible get an IP address virtually all over the world.

You can make your setup even fancier by playing good old arcade games on your Mac with the big screen using the Xbox 360 Wireless controller. This is how you do it:
YouTube Preview Image

What you need is:

That’s it folks! Have fun with the Ultimate Setup! Happy 2013! :)

Apple, what’s up with the browse buttons in your apps?

by Michiel Maandag on January 7, 2011 · 0 comments

This was a surprise for me, even at Apple the uber consistency machine there is some inconsistency after all. Take a look at the browse buttons in their various core apps:

Here is Finder

Here is Safari

And finally the App Store that came with OSX 10.6.6

3D TV will simply never fly when sun glasses are the requirement

by Michiel Maandag on December 29, 2010 · 0 comments

About a year ago I wrote about the 3D TV (link) recommending TV manufacturers to go horizontal recapturing the content space currently lost to cable providers and only do 3D TV when it really works.

A year later it seems that TV manufacturers have indeed gone horizontal with Google TV appearing in Sony TVs and Plex in LG TV.

3D remains however a hot topic and is being pushed without that a good experience really exists. Today I saw 4 guys at the Sony Center battling for 3 available 3D glasses in the demo stand… it got even better when the fourth person started to look at his friends wearing the cool glasses: he was just laughing!

Yes, there is a market for 3D and no there will not be a mass market for 3D with 3D glasses. Why? Because in a mass market setup (read a family watching TV together while having some snacks and drinks) wearing these glasses is to put it simply: a stupid idea. Just imagine the situation: there you are with family and friends watching a TV show all wearing the glasses. But then there is this one person who forget his / her own glasses. O no! No 3D TV for that person, even better, no TV at all because watching 3D without glasses will make you feel sick really fast. Glasses are not practical for a medium  that is most of the time spontaneous.

Will 3D without glasses take off? It will, I am sure about it. It will be an enriched experience without any additional hassle, simply how TV should be. You press a button and you are entertained.

Greetings… do you want my millions?

by Michiel Maandag on December 20, 2010 · 0 comments

I had really no idea that this type of SPAM was still around! For a moment I had a flashback to 1999. Amazing! Technology has evolved but SPAM messaging has not :)

Netflix focus on streaming – end of the DVD era soon?

by Michiel Maandag on November 24, 2010 · 0 comments

NY Times reported earlier this week that Netflix introduced a streaming subscription that is cheaper than their DVD rental service! Wow! This marks to me the end of the physical era for movies. Last year I witnessed the closing of the last Virgin Megastore in NYC which was the end of the physical Music era (it is now really hard to find CDs in NYC!).

Shopping streets will never again look the same: gone are the young crowds at music stores, folks renting movies for the weekend in the local video rental store and gone will be the shops filled with book lovers browsing the latest titles. It is just a matter of time… That is… unless existing shop owners are able to differentiate by adding complementary services and products. In Finland this has been happening in video/DVD rental stores for a long time: they have gone en mass in selling candies, ice cream and other sweets. That is of course not going to be enough to justify a shop.

What else besides music, movies and books will be digital soon?

Update November 25: NY times “Netflix a Fast-Growing Rival to Hollywood“, duh, that is an easy one!

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →