(MSc) Sebinomics

The year 2008 is coming to an end and we are looking back on a year with many interesting new cover versions of songs that have been redone in sometimes rather interesting ways. There is Stefanie Heinzmann’s very funky cover of Metallica’s The Unforgiven, which upset some hardcore Metallica fans in different forums, but put a smile on my face, because of its tremendously funky groove. Good job Stefanie! Very important to mention is Jason Castro’s cover version of Israel Kamakawiwo’s Somewhere Over The Rainbow-cover during the Final 8 American Idol 2008 Episode. And for those of you who like the ukulele (as well as for everyone else), I’d like to add I’m Yours by Jason Mraz covered by Wade Johnston. Wade performed at Youtube Live with Julia Nunes, Narciso Lobo and others and his video was viewed more than 100,000 time on Youtube within less than two months.

Tom Dice from the Belgian X Factor show made a very unique cover of Leona Lewis’ Bleeding Love, which I consider to be one of the best interpretations of a ballade in 2008. But my favorite cover song 2008 is Britney Spears’ Womanizer covered by The All-American Rejects for Pepsi Smash on Yahoo! Music. I was deeply impressed when I saw their version because I was actually thinking of covering the song on my ukulele, but had no clue how to do it, and the All-American Rejects just showed me how to do it. Their instrumentation and arrangement for the song is simply great and very remarkable. 

UPDATE: After a few people asked why I haven’t mentioned the following ukulele cover of Rihanna’s Umbrella, I thought I should maybe add it to the list. It wasn’t too bad after all, and I had a lot of fun:

Garr Reynolds, author of Presentation Zen, had a slide from Marty Neumeier’s new book ‘The Designful Company‘ up on his blog that stated, ‘Americans view 7,200,000,000 online amateur videos in a single month.’ That is an enormous number even without the rest of the world surfing on Youtube or any other video platform.

The Designful Company

Checking out Wikipedia’s Video Clip article today, I read under Rise of amateurs, ‘Unlike traditional movies largely dominated by studios, clip movies were overwhelmingly supplied by amateurs. In May 2006, The Economist reported that 90% of clips on YouTube came from amateurs, a few of whom are young comedians. It, in effect, also brought amateur talents. In 2005, two Chinese students Huang Yixin and Wei Wei, now dubbed as “Back Dorm Boys” showed their talent in lip-synching in a song of the Backstreet Boys, with their self-conscious grimaces in a video uploaded to some clip websites, has instantly become renown. Not only did they appear on television shows, concerts, but were also granted a contract by a media company in Beijing for lip-syncing for cash. An earlier celebrity was David Elsewhere, a talent at popping and liquiding. His performance to Kraftwerk’s song Expo 2000 at the talent show Kollaboration in 2001 was widely spread on the internet leading later to his being hired to participate as a dancer in advertisements for Heineken, iPod and Pepsi.‘ And these are not the only names one can mention when taking about Youtube making stars.

Barack Obama on Youtube

Fred Aun writes in his Over Long Campaign, Obama Videos Drew Nearly a Billion Views article, ‘Social network video dissemination certainly wasn’t the reason Barack Obama won the election, but his campaign’s deft use of it played a role in the senator’s success, according to digital video expert Rajeev Kadam, [CEO of divinity Metrics]. According to divinity, 104,454 videos about Obama were uploaded during the campaign, and these were viewed about 889 million times. The 64,092 videos about McCain were viewed 554 million times. “You can see just how much Barack Obama did with social video,” said Kadam. “He was very, very participatory in that field and it really did help him with younger audiences.” ‘ Living in Switzerland and being interested in news from every possible source, I tried to keep up with the US presidential elections and have to admit that I got way more news from Barack Obama, because I use social networking platforms a lot. And because of that, I knew more about Obama than about his opponent, John McCain.

I signed up for a Youtube account about two years ago and never really knew what to do with with other than uploading my own music videos and hope that people would watch them. Unfortunately, not many found their way to those videos until I uploaded a bass guitar battle I did with my friend T.M. Stevens, a living music legend. Then, in November 2008, I started playing the ukulele and got inspired by many Youtubbers and their awesome videos. Especially ukulele players like Julia Nunes, Wade Johnston, Seeso, Paulina Sinaga, Lisaxy424, Keone Pax, among others inspired me a lot to create videos for a small niche of music lovers. These artists made me realize that you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to create a remarkable music video. All you need is a great idea, a song, a camera (a webcam already does it), and film editing software to entertain thousands, if not millions, of people with your online videos. 

Andrew Keen, author of The Cult of the Amateur: How blogs, MySpace, YouTube, and the rest of today’s user-generated media are destroying our economy, our culture, and our values says that a sea of amateur content threatens to swamp the most vital information and that blogs often reinforce one’s own views rather than expand horizons. I disagree. We should embrace amateurism as an addition to professionalism. Amateurs are generally not trying to sell their ideas. They simply want to share their work with others, which usually promotes the original, like ukulele covers of top 10 pop songs or music videos for Japanese animation. Go Amateurism!

Many markters try to find the ideal marketing solution for their brand. Some try viral videos, other try a remarkable design, the really crazy one try with free prizes in exchange for a tattoo (read here). But what about just being nice? Couldn’t that be the best marketing for your brand? Here comes my little Christmas tale:

I live in a suburb of a rather small Swiss city with about 7,000 other people. There is not much to see and not much to do. But, we got three kebab diners in the center, about 3 minutes walking distance from each other. I’ve been going to one of these diners for the past ten or more years and I have always liked their kebab. There was absolutely no reason for me to go to another one. In the end, a kebab is a kebab, and as Seth Godin says, “I don’t have a kebab problem,” or something like that. But then one evening, coming back from work, I just felt that I need to try something new. This kebab diner was almost empty and I remembered they were moving in new furniture the week before. So I thought, “What the heck. Let me try their kebab.” I entered the rather small place and the first thing I saw was an old Turkish lady that obviously belonged to the family running the diner, was feeding a disabled person that couldn’t eat his kebab by himself. I know they are not related to each other because I know both families since I was a little kid growing up in that suburb. That scene really touched me, and it wasn’t because of Christmas or anything like that. I got my kebab and I told myself, I will support them and get my kebab only from their diner. Every time I go there, the owners are very humble and nice, and that is better than every marketing concept.

When I shared this story with my friends, they all shared similar experiences and we agreed that this kind of human touch is better than any kind of marketing. Ever since my first step into the Uygar diner, I haven’t had any other kebab in our area. This made me realize that the strongest brands are created with passion and love.

Picture art work and copyright by Riiko Sakkinen.

Karaoke

Karaoke, the (maybe) most popular group entertainment activity in Japan, can be a great way to promote your band. ‘How?’ you might ask. By simply engaging your audience in your playing.

My friends Ago Totaro, Flavio Mezzodi, and I play party gigs every now and then. Yesterday, we played at a birthday party with about 90 people. We played many covers and people started dancing. As we all know, dancing makes thirsty and everyone was drinking. After a few hours of playing everything from the 60s to today’s hits the audience took over the microphone and the band simply accompanied the non-band singers. And that’s when the audience started getting crazy — everyone wanted to sing!

That episode reminded me of Bryan Adams having someone from his audience on stage to sing his hit Summer of 69, or T.M. Stevens bass-battling his fans, and Karaoke From Hell. The concept of Karaoke From Hell is that there is a band consisting of guitars, bass and drums, and the only thing missing is the singer. I know of three Karaoke From Hell bands: in Portland/USA, Oslo/Norway, and Zurich/Switzerland. At their shows, audience members pick from a list of many songs, then get up on stage and perform with the band. 

The concept is fantastic! Every band tries to find a way to connect with the audience and engage in a conversation. Karaoke From Hell lets the audience experience the stage, and it is open to anyone. Also, it is not a simple karaoke experience. It’s a live-stage experience, giving regular people the opportunity to become rockstars for 5 minutes. In my opinion, it is easier for audience members to be on stage with a band instead of singing karaoke with a machine. Therefore, even if the singer is no pro, adrenaline pumps more rock’n'roll through their veins and the performance will obviously be hotter!

Kevin Sites writes on People Of The Web: New York on a Million a Day, “Does America really need a thousand-dollar pizza? Probably not, but we’ve got one anyway. … Take Nino’s Bellissima Pizza, where a cool thousand can get you a 12-inch, thin-crusted pie layered with crème fraiche and topped with lobster tail and four different types of caviar. It’s the fish eggs that turn a ten dollar pizza into a wallet-busting event. Nino’s owner, Nino Selimaj, said that after spreading $750 worth of caviar, he’s left with a measly $250 profit.” 

I think it is a great idea to position yourself like that. As I explained in my post The $99 Burger, there are not many chefs who want to position themselves in a deluxe segment, but if they can, they should do it! There are many fast-food chains, and there are restaurants that sell rather high-priced pizzas, but there are not many extremely expensive pizza restaurants like Nino’s. Seth Godin always pointed out in his presentations that the best thing to do is to go to the edges. Wal-Mart sells things at the lowest possible price, and Tiffany’s sells expensive jewelry in a blue box, and both are remarkable in their own way.

That is what the chefs of the $1,000 pizza and the $99 burger are doing: They are positioning their creations at the very top of the ladder.

Did you know that there were restaurants and bistros that offer burgers for $99 or more? Daniel Boulud’s DB Bistro Moderne in New York City, offers deluxe burgers from $29. A Royale version is $59, and if you want a double-truffle version you’re going to pay at least $99. 

The $99 Burger

A chef might ask, ‘Why should I create a burger that costs 50 times more than a BicMac?’ If you really have the possibility to make a burger that is not just remarkable because of its price, but also because of its taste and the ambient it gets served at, pricing a burger $99, while the costs of goods sold might be $50, is the best thing a chef can do. There are already way too many fast-food chains competing for being the cheapest burger chain. Restaurants and bistros that want to position themselves as ‘chefs de deluxe burgers’ don’t have to fight very hard, because there are not many who want to make deluxe burgers.

Despite the financial crisis, luxury goods are still going strong. It doesn’t have to be a Rolex or a Ferrari. People with money like to experience something other than ‘normal,’ say, a $99 burger or a $1,000 pizza. More about the $1,000 pizza in my next post.

In my post Riding the Train on a Monday Morning, I documented a Monday morning in Switzerland with train delays. As mentioned before, I let all respective companies know of my posts about them, also SBB, the Swiss national railway company. Only four days later I received a letter with an explanation of why the SBB is having that many problems.

I’m not going to point out every single detail, but I would like to emphasize that Swiss are world champions in riding the train—about 2,000 kilometers a year per capita. Rank 2 is taken by Japan. Furthermore, the SBB runs 9,000 trains per day and a little discontinuity can cause delays and unhappy customers. The company is committed to guarantee that everyone who pays for a service get from A to B, and if for some reason a train cannot run, buses will ensure the connection. Since June 2005, SBB remunerates its customers if a long-distance train caries a delay of mare than 60 minutes. Obviously, it depends on the situation.

The fact that Mr. Hannes Geissmann from the SBB Customer Care Center signed the letter by hand and that it is almost two pages long, proves once more that the company is very serious on customer relations. And, two thumbs up for sending me a coupon for 2 free coffees in their in-train restaurant. 

When I write about a product or a service, I let the respective company know what I wrote about them. In case of the Coca-Cola Zero and Promoters post, Coca-Cola Switzerland replied after only a few days and explained why they chose to do the things I thought were off. Here the summary of the email I received in German from Mrs. Jasmin Kienast of the Coca-Cola Infoline (please read Coca-Cola Zero and Promoters pt.1 to have a better understanding of what the below means):

Coca-Cola Infoline wrote:

0,33 l cans instead of 0,5 l PET
Promo agents are supposed to collect and recycle all cans, which lay around the sampling area. Usually, we have smaller cans, since it is supposed to be a sampling. 
0,5 l PET is more than just a sample and the shops selling Coke in that area will rightly complain about giving away Coke for free. Those shops are also our customers, which we cannot disregard.

One can per consumer
The Sampling is expensive and therefore we want to reach as many consumers as possible with one can. We do not see a second sample as very target oriented and could lead to conflicts with points of sale in the area.

Promoters in a bad mood
We were at the promo spot ourself and we did not notice that promoters were in a bad mood. We apologize, if you felt so. All promoter were very friendly and highly motivated, in our opinion.

Why another Sampling Coke Zero?
Coke Zero is already very popular in Switzerland, but many have not tasted it yet. A sampling gives consumers the opportunity to do so and persuade them of the great taste without sugar. 

I gave my best with the translation from German to English. If something’s not clear, please contact me. 

A big thank you to Mrs Kienast for her answer. By the way, after writing my post Riding the Train on a Monday Morning the national railway company of Switzerland, sent me a two page personal letter. More about this in my next post.

Fashion designer Coco Chanel once said, “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” 

JAMOSA, Japanese pop singer

I don’t know much about fashion, but having lived in Japan for about one year made me realize that fashion trends are not necessarily set by fashion designers. Eimi Graham writes in her Who sets the fashion trends? “Japanese society is obsessed with its idols. It appears that every single fashion trend in Japan appears to have been started by an idol or a TV talent rather than a fashion designer. It would not be an exaggeration to say that if a Japanese idol were to start dressing in metal or paper or plastic dresses, half of Japan will embrace it.” She continues, “The trends in Japanese fashion are moving in a direction when it is perfectly fine to show off as much skin as possible – something that was not common a decade or so ago. Some of the developments in fashion these days are mind-blowing since they have simply changed the very fundamentals of Japanese values.”

Tokyo Street Fashion

Especially in Tokyo and Osaka, I saw many girls looking like cover girls and pop singers. And, I mean, looking exactly the same. These girls recreate the styles of tarentos and idols from outfit to make-up and could steel their mentors’ show in the blink of an eye. Japanese companies have realized this kind of behavior and have brought well known faces into their campaigns. If stars like Hamasaki Ayumi, JAMOSA, DOUBLE, or Shion show up with stylish boots, a cool MP3 player, or a trendy hairstyle, girls will want to copy them. It’s as easy as that. 

It doesn’t happen only in Asia. Just think of all our ‘homies‘ wearing baggy pants, bandanas, and sports shirts from NBA, NHL, or NFL teams. That style was introduced by Hip Hop artists like 5 Fab Freddy, Snoop Dogg, and others, and has ever since been part of that kind of lifestyle. Again, no designer created it. Stars brought it to the masses. 

As a marketer, I see the trend going towards sponsored branding. Give your products to celebrities and let them spread the buzz. I wrote about it in my Remarkable Rivella vs Fashionable Sigg article. The same idea is entering the music market, but I’ll write about it in another post.