Spitzer Swallows…Hard

Happy St. Patrick’s Day and congratulations and best wishes to New York Governor David Patterson. Patterson takes over after a week of sordid and titillating news about Eliot Spitzer.

As the stories of Spitzer continue to come out, I wanted to highlight two symbolic identity elements involving the former gov and the now (in)famous Emperors’ Club.

First with Spitzer, he (and his political advisers) created a symbolic persona of one that fights crime and more specifically government corruption. This key element is now lost as he moved money around to hide the fact that he was spending thousands on prostitutes. His symbolic identity has imploded. All symbolic dramas have the seeds of their destruction sewn in there “genesis” story. When those items are no longer grounded in reality the vision collapses. Cheating one one’s spouse is not illegal, prostitution is. So, now the one wanting to stop corruption and crime, especially in government, becomes the criminal. From brand perspective, we need to be diligent about protecting and grounding an authentic persona with our constituents.

Now, a bit more lighthearted example with The Emperors’ Club. Part of the club’s appeal was to be highly educated, sophisticated women. Clearly, not the main value prop, but part of the identity. I liked seeing screen shots of the site (which has been disabled) with no apostrophe on the site design and what appears to be one of the product/services with a prison-yard tat on her hand. I suppose if you pay enough, you can stick the apostrophe anywhere you want.

(Hat tip to Andrew for the insight on the apostrophe.)

Take-aways:
Your symbolic identity already contains the seeds for its destruction.
When you can’t ground the vision, the vision declines (some more rapidly than others)

Social Not-Working

Last night I was at a MIMA event regarding branding in the “age of participation.” Interesting presentation by Rachel Marret of MRM Worldwide. Rachel talked about Mark Burnett (Survivor producer) saying that “9 – 5 is the new prime time” as more and more people use computers at work to update Facebook, go to spoiler sites, etc. Someone in the crowd (oh, the wisdom of crowds), referred to this phenomenon as social not-working. Good stuff.

Electric Kool Aid Reebok Test?

Reeboks that smell like Kool Aid? More at BrandWeek.

Pick your preferred glib comment:

1. I just hope the converse isn't true. (Pun intended)
2. I'm not drinking the Reebok Kool Aid
3. Where's my wallet?

Compact Disc (1982 – 2007)

R.I.P. Compact Disc. From today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Once praised for its clear, crisp audio quality but panned for its susceptibility to scratches and smudges, the compact disc passed away in 2007 after a quick but painful illness. It was 25 years old.

You can read the entire obit here.

I’m guessing that the AP has the obit for appointment television already prepared.

(Thanks to Bret for the article.)

Meta Tipping Point: The Tipping Point of "The Tipping Point"

Interesting article in Fast Company regarding The Tipping Point and influentials.

Whopper Freakout - Great Campaign

This is a great campaign. Fun, memorable, and highlights people's emotional connection to the product.

http://www.whopperfreakout.com/

From MPR's "Future Tense": YouTube for ideas

From today's Future Tense:

BigThink is a new video site that features intellectuals from the world of politics, law, business and the arts talking about issues like global warming, the future of newspapers, and the sub-prime mortgage mess. Interviewees so far include Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, presidential candidate John McCain, and business leader Richard Branson. Users can engage in debate on the site, and embed the videos in their own blogs.

David Byrne on the music industry

Happy New Year. Death and rebirth. The blog is dead, long live the blog. As many of you know, my original blog (co-authored with some great co-conspirators) ran its course and was officially put to rest today. Now I will continue to blog here. For any new readers, this blog is mostly about business trends, marketing ideas, pop culture, communication, and other nerd fest things that interest me and that I’d like to share.

My admittedly nerdish love of music and fascination with the music industry have led to more than a few music related posts here on Notes from the Field. To kick off the new year, I’d like to share this great article from Wired. David Byrne writes about the music industry (death) and where it is going (possible rebirth).

What is called the music business today, however, is not the business of producing music. At some point it became the business of selling CDs in plastic cases, and that business will soon be over. But that's not bad news for music, and it's certainly not bad news for musicians. Indeed, with all the ways to reach an audience, there have never been more opportunities for artists.

You may ask yourself where is my bloated record company? Where is my beautiful margin?

There’s also a nice exchange in a related article between Thom Yorke (of Radiohead) and David Byrne.