PHD's bad in the office

By now everyone, and I mean everyone, will have seen the PHD film about the future challenges for Marketing and agency professionals. It seems to have been passed around, posted to every social media platform and generally shared with a relish for black humour that even Jimmy Carr would appreciate.

There is another perspective on this and it starts with having the humility to recognise that we've all fallen the wrong side of the fine line of judgement on numerous occasions. The film is about a fundamental and thought provoking truth. I guess there are a few places where it falls apart a bit, especially in the ever so slightly acerbic tone towards clients...there's no point in biting the paymaster, we all share the same challenges.

What I find genuinely disturbing is the complete absence of constructive dialogue. There's a dark side to any form of virtual community which is that the vacuous and dim wits are empowered by anonymity. Most noteable the pure vitriol and abuse that is posted by characters using ludicrously fictitious names. From behind that comfortable screen all they indulge in is play ground bullying of the lowest common denominator. PHD definitely got it wrong, they went up a rather overly-intellectualised and poorly phrased cul de sac but they apologised (perhaps a bit too desperately). What is far, far sadder are the cowards; who let McCarthyism loose on the web?

Perspective needed on the years most miserable day

Apparently today is scientifically the most miserable day of the year.

Topically radio 5 was running a phone in for ways to cheer you up. Food, drink, staying in bed were the usual suspects but the best idea was just to be grateful for what you've got.

Which got me thinking about a film I saw on ESPN over the weekend about Terry Fox. He had a leg amputated because of cancer and decided to run across Canada to raise money for research into the disease. Read about him here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Fox

Be warned, it doesn't have a happy ending. But on this allegedly grey day it's inspiring & humbling. A bit of perspective is the greatest pick up.

How the quickly the media world turns on it's axis

Like many people I saw the 'Facebook film' Social Network the other day; Jesse Eisenberg is completely believable as Mark Zuckerberg and the Aaron Sorkin script is brilliantly balanced across a maze of intriguing characters. The film signs off by reminding us that Facebook is worth $25 Billion today. Really? And exactly what credible logic went into that valuation?
The (probable) argument runs that with 500 million active users worldwide that the user base is too 'locked in' to Facebook to move elsewhere....I mean you wouldn't, would you, all of your friends are already on Facebook so why move to a new or rival offer? Facebook has the momentum and whilst the contextural targeting revenue doesn't currently come close to justifying the $25 Billion valuation (unless you want to apply la-la land multiples) it's only a matter of time.
That sounds awfully like the kind of investment banker flaky nonsense peddled in the first dot.com boom...and where did that go? Cash, not eyeballs or headcount, is king. Meanwhile News Corp has just announced a 3.2% increase in revenues (3 mths to end Sept 2010) with growth from 'old media' and the notable low light of a 25.5% decline in revenues within the Digital Media Group division (including My Space). Within this Rupert Murdoch is trying to change the free content model. All of a sudden digital is looking like a potential balance sheet drag.
It's not, and never will be, given the way it's changed the (profitable) retail landscape and consumer behaviour but within that there are no sacred cows including Facebook. What marks out so many digital business models (including Facebook) are the low barriers to entry and fragility of brand loyalty...you're one mistake away from oblivion. Rather than the 500 million active users being the fortress walls that repel new pretenders and the possible renaissance of the old guard (like My Space), it could be the achilles heel and a reminder of that digital brand fragility. Given any abuse of the customer relationship with Facebook (data confidentiality?) the reaction may not be individuals leaving one by one but entire friendship communities up rooting and moving elsewhere...and of course that binnary, 6 degrees of seperation, benefit that once sent Facebook into the stratosphere suddenly consigns it to the dustbin of yesterday's 'not cool' stuff. $25 Billion...really? I'm not so sure.

Telecoms in 2010 – a sector struggling to be distinctive?

For the second year running, Polestar joined 18 other brand and communication strategists in Berlin for the annual Telco Summit hosted by our friends at Musiol Munzinger Sasserath.

Exchanging knowledge from 15 global markets we were left with a clear picture of the need for telco brands to drive towards greater differentiation, meaning and consumer centricity. And in so doing ensure they retain consumer relevance.

Price competition and commoditisation remain critical issues. Being all things to all people from a positioning and product perspective might have its up sides from an acquisition perspective, but the lack of stickiness for brands inevitably means it’s an expensive strategy.

How many telco brand owners could (hand on heart) say that they have a meaningful and distinct market proposition backed by a strong perspective about what they stand for in the market? Very few one suspects.

Why not focus for effect, excelling in fewer core areas rather than providing a plethora of average offerings?

How about being a champion for causes relevant to consumer’s lives, excelling as a responsible corporate citizen?

Offer a distinct point of view?

Or acknowledge and leverage consumer power instead of restricting it?

Many telco brands have found themselves creating cynicism, distrust and disconnection simply because they fail to recognise consumer demand and seem intent on leading the consumer rather than embracing consumer input.

None too radical you’d have thought but there’s currently a real dearth of brands achieving this with any great consistency.

Somewhat ironically, the sector is crying out for more innovation. But not innovation of the tech led variety necessarily. Just the guts to dare to be different and lead consumers with a more relevant, more distinctive brand proposition that justifies their role in our lives.

Click here for a summary version of the summit output or feel free to get in touch if you'd like us to take you through the trends and observations in full

"Mums" the word

After a very interesting conversation with a friend of mine, when she referred to a friend of hers primarily as a “mum”, I got thinking about the way in which these young women were beginning to see themselves in today’s society. There appeared to be a sense of pride and status when they described themselves as a “mum”. It seemed to me that gone were the days of feeling “mumsy”, completely isolated from one’s peers as a result of having children or feeling inferior to those career girls left behind at the office and resigning oneself to an existence of solitude, speaking in baby-talk for the majority of the day. The 2010 Mum seemed different to me– she seemed more “connected”.
Here at Polestar, we thought this trend was so interesting that we commissioned our own research into the subject and decided to ask these women directly about their thoughts and opinions on a whole array of topics; from self-identity to advertisers marketing to them. The 2010 Mum emerges intelligent, well-connected, collectively very influential and the ultimate source of advocacy. What’s really interesting is the way in which these women have professionalised the role of being a mum and are actually tackling it in the same way they would a high-powered job in a corporate environment. This has clearly had an effect on the way in which they see themselves, individually and as a group. For more information about some other fascinating new insights into this vital, high-spending Mum Mafia within the traditional housewives with kids’ audience, take a look at our article on Mediatel and for the full report, drop me a line on 0207 089 6588 or email me on kirank@polestarcommunications.com.

What's Trendy?

The other day I was making my usual commute into Waterloo, surrounded by South West Trains’ finest customers; some reading papers or engrossed in a book on their Kindle and others contorting their posture in all sorts of weird ways to try and get a signal on their new iPhone 4. As I scanned the carriage with my blurry eyes, taking in this very familiar scene, my eyes locked on not one but two young women, knitting. Yes, knitting. You know, with proper needles and a ball of wool and everything. On a train. In London. In rush hour. In 2010. My gaze fell on the ball of wool bobbing around one of the ladies’ Mulberry handbags. I was mesmerised by how relaxed they looked, completely oblivious to my stupefied expression and carried on clicking their needles rapidly until it was time to mind the gap between the train and the platform. As I got off the train I started thinking about how various friends of mine had re-joined a library, a bake club or a book club recently, which led me to consider that this was a definite trend emerging here amongst a very valuable target market for advertisers. So once back in the office I decided to explore a little deeper into this phenomenon and found that it wasn’t just the two knitting ladies on my train or my strange friends who were reclaiming traditional pursuits but brands and advertisers seemed to be doing so too. But what’s the reason behind this? To find out, take a peek at our new Brand Trends Report, showcasing the most important trends of 2010 from Polestar’s point of view. So if you want to learn more about how people are using online to enhance their offline experiences in the real world or want to find out more about how everyone (yes everyone) seems to be crowd-sourcing or indeed knitting, then take a look or get in touch for a more comprehensive version.

Last World Cup post - the office sweepstake results are announced

You'll have noticed that the football cropped up in a couple of our Polestar blog posts. Meanwhile, behind the scenes here at Polestar there was an office sweepstake, organised by the blokes. As it was organised by blokes it had a proper spreadsheet, a points-based system, and a tie-breaker.

None of your girly names out of a hat nonsense.

It was all terribly exciting, if you like that sort of thing. Which roughly half the office do, it seems.
And the winners have just been announced, in league-table fashion. In the bottom half of the table are all the boys. Brilliantly, joint second place went to Kiran and Tambo and the winner is 'lil ole me.

All of us ladies are very excited about our big cash prize. Almost this excited, in fact.