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Exciting and euphoric are not two words I would use to describe for Microsoft.



The fact that this clearly staged euphoria was manufactured for public consumption, note the presence of TV cameras, is a sign that Microsoft means business. I guess If you can't beat them you have no choice, but to join them.

Clearly, Microsoft understands that Apple is onto something and believes it can succeed if it provides a facsimile experience at retail.

I understand how excitement could be faked at the opening for the media, but finding people who can demonstrate passion, excitement and charisma is not going to be easy.

There's something deeper at work in the Apple store, something than can expressed in store design and that's the thing Microsoft's going to have such a hard job copying. 


Posted by Ed Cotton It might have been going on for months, but I have just heard about Best Buy releasing its entire product catalog as API- meaning "almost" anyone can take the electronics giant's entire database of products and use it any way they want.

It might not sound like the most exciting thing ever, but it's great example of a brand opening up and providing utility.

Here are some examples directly from the Best Buy site of how this stuff is being used.

Twitter bot

This is a simple example demo of the product api, a Twitter bot that  will return terse amount of product data to requesting user as direct message. (ie: "d <user> [msg]")
Using the bot:
1. Sign up for Twitter (skip this step if you already have a Twitter account)
2. Follow bbyremix
3. The bbyremix bot will follow you
4. Issue the find command to bbyremix using the syntax "@bbyremix find 1234567" where 1234567 is the SKU id you're looking for.

Updates:
[11/23/08]: You can now search for music, movies, games and hardgoods. Examples:

• @bbyremix find music U2
• @bbyremix find movie Batman Begins
• @bbyremix find game Farcry 2
• @bbyremix find hard ipod
  

SKU lookup gadget
1. go to www.igoogle.com
2. Log in
3. Click on "Add Stuff>>", on the upper right side of the page
4. Click on "Add Feed or Gadget" on left side bar at bottom
5. Copy this url into the field http://api.remix.bestbuy.com/widgets/lookup_sku.xml
6. Click OK
7. Click OK on popup
8. Click back to igoogle (top left of page)
9. Try it out (it will probably be the iframe on the top left)...plug in a sku like 8842568

Countdown gadget
This widget is a widget that allows users to say that they are waiting for a product to be released. Example: I am dieing to have a Wii so I am going to have a gadget that gives me a count down to when the Wii is going to be available in stores.



Posted by Ed Cotton It's possible that every single surface will soon be turned into a screen of some sort, flashing and blinking messages at us twenty four hours a day. These screens will be inescapable, appearing shortly on end of aisle displays and even on packaging.

While the developers of this technology seems at pains to suggest how efficient and green their solutions are, but compared to what? E-Ink is a giant leap from static packaging and the technology involved in producing it is considerable. Add on the layers of shipping and assembly and you have a production process that is likely to consume a lot of energy.

While early stage advertisers in this new media may not care about the environmental impact of someone else's technology and be looking for ways to stand out on the shelf, it will be interesting to see if retailers like Wal-Mart endorse this form of packaging, given their stricter demands on the environmental performance of their suppliers.




Posted by Ed Cotton The Timberland Boot Company isn't a new story, it's been around for a few years, but it's a good example of a sub-brand launch aimed at bringing some coolness to the parent brand. The focus of TBC is on the craft and workmanship of the company that goes back to its roots in the 1950s. The brand is available in the US after first being launched in Japan and the the UK.

The brand DNA of craft and tradition from the 50s is displayed in its products, the London store, an old banana warehouse, really does a fantastic job of adding some layer and texture to the brand story.

Clearly, this is all about patina, which Russell explained in a recent post.

It shows there's something about live spaces that can provide a rich emotional context for the brand in the way that neither advertising, product or the website can do on its own.

The store was designed by Checkland Kindleysides who have done a ton of work for Levi's and are no strangers to telling brand stories.





Posted by Ed Cotton John Dodds over at Make Marketing History has a nice post about the differences between Nokia and Apple in their retail experience.

He compares two stores in Oxford St, London and concludes;

The Nokia store is a gallery.
The Apple store is alive.
The Nokia store staff are tech sellers.
The Apple store staff are tech users.
The Nokia store is a place where you browse.
The Apple store is a place where you use.
The Nokia store is about surface.
The Apple store is about corporate DNA

In essence, it's clear that Apple has a brand and Nokia doesn't. This was fine for Nokia when they had the mobile world to themselves, but it looks like they need some serious brand work to prevent Apple from taking some major share in this space.


Posted by Ed Cotton Department stores have been trying for years to turn their private label offerings into real brands.

Most attempts have failed because they are just names with no deeper meanings making it impossible for them to compete with the genuine article.

JC Penny clearly understood the weakness in this approach and went outside to the brand master, Ralph Lauren to create its latest offering, American Living.

What's interesting about this concept, is although it has touches of Lauren's style all over it, he's created another world for the department store. Lauren's past success has been driven by the clever balancing act between present and past, His ideas were classical, but they were always believable in a contemporary context.

American Living is different, it's unabashed in highlighting the past as its inspiration. The web site suggests that the concept is anchored around the General Store and is rooted in a time when American's were practical, had a sense of humor and dreamed of a better life. This is no daily commute from the suburbs.

It's fascinating to see such a shift to the past in a country that's usually so wrapped up in the future.

Something has changed and perhaps the future no longer looks so bright.

In such a world, we are going to cling to the icons of the past for re-assurance and confirmation of who we are and where we stand.

American Living is just one example of the nostalgia for the past that America is now craving in everything from its cars to its politicians.

It's a force that cannot be ignored.


Posted by Ed Cotton