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Not content with being in everyone's pockets and in their ears, Apple's iPod is carving out a position of ubiquity by being "dockable" anywhere you might want it to be and the places you probably don't.

Does this ecosystem ensure societal permanence for iPod, or does its very ubiquity ultimately become a turn off?

Now available on freezers and dozens of other household devices.


Posted by Ed Cotton

Posted by Ed Cotton "Advertising is a tax you pay for unremarkable thinking."

Robert Stephens, founder of GeekSquad

Via Social Customer Manifesto


Posted by Ed Cotton In the last few days, research sources confirmed Vizio, an American company, as the market leader in US sales of flat screen televisions.

This marketplace had been dominated by the big Asian brands like, Sharp and Samsung.

Vizio is now a $2 billion company, which is amazing, considering it was founded just 4 years ago. Its secret has been to leverage the excess supply in the marketplace to cost effectively produce flat screen televisions that look as good as the major brands.

However, perhaps the greatest contributuon to the brand’s success has been it’s ability to build out distribution, first by creating a strong foundation with Wal-Mart and then reaching out beyond the giant to the other players.

Incidentally, the company has just 85 employees in its Orange County HQ and spends less than 1% of sales on advertising.



Posted by Ed Cotton Here at Influx, we are big fans of the “Sense and Simplicity” brand initiative that Philips has deployed in various guises over the past couple of years.

Its been part of an advertising campaign, but it’s more substantive, its become a set of guiding principles that define the company’s direction.

“Sense and Simplicity” seems appropriate in the developed world, where people are looking to strip the complexity out of their lives.

How about the developing world?

Philips is also applying the same principles to these markets and is creating special products to meet their very different needs.

One example is a woodstove that consumes less electricity and reduces the toxic indoor pollution that accompanies most traditional cooking sources.


Source:Philips

In addition to the stove, Philips has some innovative lighting solutions that it’s been testing in India: a rechargeable, weatherproof, portable lamp and a hand-held, hand-cranked LED flashlight that provides 30 minutes light for every minute of cranking. (shown below)




Source: Philips


It's interesting to see how this brand  platform is gaining more potency as it expands its global footprint and finding new applications over time.