Honda again has created an incredibly cool commerical. In this latest ad, Legos fly in to build a Honda Element.

Of course, their previous cool ad was this Rube Goldburgesque one.

In what seems to be one of the worst idea I've heard in years, Disney is releasing disposable DVDs. Once opened, they will only be viewable for 48 hours. But they will sell for $6.99, when renting the movie is only about $4.00. Disney claims that it's a benefit because you don't have to worry about late fees, but most movies are 1 week rentals now at Blockbuster and even if you paid a late fee half the time you rented movies, you'd come out ahead.

On top of that, they are bad for the environment! To which Disney responds that you can mail them in for recycling. But if you're too lazy to return the movie, why would you bother mailing in the dead disc?

For those interested, here's the list of titles available when these EZ-D's hit stores.

Here is the list if

I am constantly amazed at how little effort many businesses put into their customer service. It's like they don't seem to realize that their customers, in most cases, have dozens of options from which to buy the identical or nearly identical goods and services. And we care about more than just price.

Last week, while looking for a pair of New Balance running shoes at Sports Authority, I asked if they had more pairs in stock because I did not see my size in stock. The salesperson replied, "Everything we have is out" before walking away. While this may have technically been true, some of the stock "out" was 10 feet up in the air above the main shelves, and may or may not have been rows deep up there. But did he offer to get up and look for my size? Of course not! So I left the store empty-handed.

In stark contrast, today I went into the New Balance store around the corner from my apartment. The second I picked up a shoe off the rack the salesperson commented that they were the updated model to the ones I was presently wearing. He noticed a crease in the shoes I was wearing and said that meant they were a size too small. Tried on the shoes and success! So maybe I paid $5 more than the Sports Authority sale price, but the service I received was worth it.

In another interesting customer service experience I encountered today, I tried Treat, this this new frozen yougurt place nearby. When I got the the table, I realized that the cup of my blizzard-like dessert was barely half full. For $4.25, I expected a full cup! I went back inside and the staff was appologetic and topped off my cup to the appropriate level. When I returned to the table outside, I found out that the owner's wife had overheard my comments! She explained that they were still learning to deal with the new blender, asked whether they remedied the problem and was relieved to hear that they had She thanked me for speaking up. While I may have intitally written off the place, the staff's response and the owner's concern changed my perception of the place 180 degrees in the matter of 5 minutes. If only more businesses could appreciate the importance of customer service.

Westfield America Inc., an Australian shopping mall company, strikes again buying a stake in North Bridge Mall on Michigan Ave. in Chicago.

"As a part of the deal, the Nordstrom-anchored center will be renamed Westfield Shoppingtown North Bridge, a branding campaign that's a key part of the company's rapid expansion, sources said."

I believe this is now the 4th Chicago area to get the Westfield Shoppingtown name, along with the malls formerly known as Old Orchard, Hawthorne and Oak Brook.

I just don't get this idea to brand a group of malls. For one thing, the malls are not all that similar in regards to their design, their target shopper, etc. They range from mainstream middle class mall to super upscale; two are outdoor malls; one is an urban Michigan Ave. vertical mall.

More importantly, people don't use the "Westfield Shoppingtown" name! It sounds rediculous and it's pointless in regards to giving any sort of description of location. Imagine the conversation:

"Hey, let's meet at Westfield Shoppingtown."

"OK. Which one?"

"The one on Route 60."

"OK. That's the one that used to be Hawthorne, right?"

"Right."

But people don't like things being more complicated so they're just going to continue to say:

"Hey let's meet at Hawthorne"

"OK."

So what's the point of spending dollars on a branding campaign that's going to do nothing in change what the consumer calls the place, and doesn't give any cohesive brand image? I'm wondering how long before the Westfield Shoppingtown name comes down.

It's getting tougher to be an employee every day. While only a few short years ago, the employee rules the roost, the balance has so clearly swung the other way. Now companies are treating their employees like children.

SBC SmartPages salespeople face Friday afternoon "detention" for failing to hit sales targets. These sessions include getting yelled at by managers and being forced to read from the bonus plan manual.

And ebay is now strictly forbidding its employees from talking at their desks. "If you are caught talking at your desk, you will be escorted into a meeting room and questioned as to why you are talking, and if it is relevant to your job. If not, you may be subjected to disciplinary actions." Maybe they can assign them to SmartPage's detention, too?

A historic milestone was passed this week, when my Amazon.com stock, bought in August 2000 for 33.62/sh., actually climed back into the black! That's right, I'm actually making money on an internet stock bought 3 years ago!

Now where's my Webvan stock trading at these days? Oh.

Ever wonder why some bottles of wine cost $5 and others $500? The New York Times offers an explanation of why wine costs what it does.

I guess I hadn't given it much thought, but everything from the quality of the cork used, to whether the aging barrels are reused, to the yield per acre of grapes factor into the price. So, too, do the good old rules of supply and demand. And wine is also priced to some extent in order to create a perception of its quality. As the article explains:

Price also plays into the perception of value, said Vic Motto, a senior partner at Motto Kryla Fisher, a wine industry consulting company in St. Helena, Calif. "If I made the best wine in the world and charged $1 for it," he said, "no one would believe it was the best. They'd say it's a great bottle of $1 wine."

Now if only they'd explained why the same bottle of wine that is $15 at the liquor store is $50 at a steakhouse...

Rumors that Apple is negotiating to buy Universal Record from Vivendi circulated across the web yesterday. At first, this sounds like strange bedfellows. This rumor, along with Apple's upcoming download service that's supposed to launch at the end of the month and the next generation iPods really could push Apple to the leading edge of the music industry. Maybe Apple's onto something...

While Apple has supposedly gotten a good response from the major labels to this new service in part because the fact it'll initially only be available to Mac users (only 3% of the computer population), Apple's pursuit of Universal means that they would have a 100% committed label as part of the new service in case the others get cold feet or want to back out early on.

Such a service needs content to succeed, and depending on the labels is a risky proposition because there is an obvious disconnect between what the major labels are willing to offer, what music consumers want and what the artists deserve. I believe that the rise of Napster, iMesh et al was due to this fact. But rather than respond by offering the consumers what they wanted, the labels decided to go on the defensive, blasting the mp3 format and blaming music sales decreases on illegal file swapping. And now Apple may just have positioned itself to become the hub of digitally distributed music, giving music consumers, artists, and the labels what they want accessed through their iTunes software.

iTunes is part of Apple's iLife software suite. They've been positioning their products, at least when targeting home comsumers, as the digital media hub.

Apple is beginning to grasp how different technologies are finally converging in ways that are easy to use and make sense. It used to be that a camera interacted with film and the drugstore. Your stereo interacted with cassettes and CDs. Your video camera with the VCR and TV. Each their own little domain.

But its changing, and Apple's bringing it all together. They're not going to take your vacation pictures of videotape your family events, because that's personal to you. But they can provide the music and movie content pipeline!

How long before we see iTunes servers connected to our home stereos and serving up music to our iPods, iCar and who knows what else. And then it could replicate it all with movies. Could digital entertainment be the killer app that brings Apple to the forefront of the consumer market again?

Apple may just be positioning itself as the next great home entertainment electronics company. Apple is known for their product design and ease of use, both common compaints with many current home electronics. Combine these qualities with the newly emerging digital entertainment formats, and Apple could well be poise to become the next Sony.

Chris Pirillo, of Tech TV fame ponders the Raging Cow hype of the past week. He wonders if they expected the blogger backlash and the ensuing press across the web. Maybe they did know what they were up to?

Look at some of the blogs who've picked up on this story:
Doc Searls
Glenn Reynolds
Blogroots
me3dia.com
In My Experience
Jeneane Sessum
Stir
and I'm sure there'll be more to add once I relocate them...

Plus there's already parody sites popping up:
http://ragingcow.blogspot.com/

But the thing I haven't seen anyone grasp onto yet is that in addition to the 6 bloggers invited to Dallas to become "influencers"

www.aboutagirl.org
www.suchadork.net
www.aboutagirl.org
www.kelleyrogers.com
www.italianize.com
www.sparkley.net

there are at least a couple associated blogs which tie directly into the storyline of Raging Cow.

Barnyard Rant is supposedly the farmer's daughter's blog. She's run off with the Raging Cow on a little road trip, it seems. Notice the “Raging Cow” tile on the left and the webcam shots go to some of the 6 indoctrinated bloggers.

This pig's blog is supposedly written by a pig from the family farm. Raging Pig bacon-flavored milk? Or will it be fruit-flavored bacon?

And this fly's blog is also part of the game. Haven't figured out where they're going with this one...

This whole campaign is bigger than we first suspected. What is Dr. Pepper up to????

So who's to blame?
Here's a link to the agency responsible for this program:
Richards Interactive

And here's where bloggers can register to become shills:
Project Blogger

Dr. Pepper is attempting to create a grassroots marketing campaign for its new milk-based beverages via a weblog called Raging Cow.

But can such a tactic work? MSNBC reportsthat not only has Dr. Pepper created their own blog, but that they've also recruited other popular bloggers in the target demographic to help with the campaign. Six bloggers and their parents were flown to Dallas with their parents for an induction session.

Dr Pepper hopes to develop a "blogging network" to hype Raging Cow and "be part of the ‘in the know’ crowd," says its brand-marketing honcho Andrew Springate. Those spreading the news via their blogs won’t disclose their flackitude, says Springate, because officially they’re not paid Dr Pepper employees; they only get promo items like hats and T shirts. "We’re independent and can advertise Raging Cow the way we want," says Nicole, 18, a Louisiana high-school senior with a popular blog.

But are these bloggers really going to be impartial, even if all they've received are hats and t-shirts? And what Blog reader isn't going to see through the product plugs and just disregard the message like he/she does with traditional marketing messages? Maybe had this story not slipped out and people didn't know what Dr. Pepper was up to, maybe then it might be effective. But in the effort to drum up some PR, the campaign will backfire. Blog readers will know it's just a corporate shill and not only not listen to the message but also probably tune out to whatever else these bloggers have to say.

Is red the new blue? Seems that red is the latest trendy branding cliche, as the Chicago Tribune launched RedEye and the Chicago Sun-TImes launched Red Streak yesterday. Both are newspapers targeting the 18-34 demographic, who are more likely to read alternative newspapers like the Reader (Chicago) or Creative Loafing (Atlanta).

So is red replacing Blue (JetBlue, SkyyBlue, Bluetooth) in branding as the latest cliche? It's always intersting how these things catch on. I remember One was big a decade ago or so, with the likes of BankOne, CellularOne, Capital One, CarpetOne, etc. And who can forget how in fashion it was to be a .com a few years back?

Update: In perhaps a telling indication of how little the two "red" papers understand their target demographic, the Trib's RedEye isn't even online! Oh, you can find out advertising info and editorial bios, but that's it. Red Streak does have some of its content online, but it still seems like it was pretty half-assed. If one's going to launch a new product targeting 18-34 year olds, then the web should be equally important as the print versions. And they wonder why (collectively -- I've got a Trib subscription) we've stopped reading the paper.

Business 2.0 has a great article that explains why Ikea is so successful. Their unique product development process allows IKEA to offer attractive and fairly well-built funiture and furnishings for less and less each year. I am contastly amazed at the cool furniture and housewares I see in there for such low prices. My apartment looks like it's straight out of the catalog. And from their sales numbers, I'm guessing I'm not the only one!

Want a really cool souvenir from the dot.com era? How about an actual dot.com company? For the price of a nice Mercedes, you could own Webvan or for the price of a mid-priced computer (without monitor) you could own Scient.

His assets frozen, former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski may be headed to Riker's Island if he cannot post his $10 million bail by Thursday. I'm thinking they probably don't have $6000 shower curtains in the big house.

CNNmoney reports that a class-action lawsuit has been filed against Martha Stewart and other Omnimedia insiders for selling shares ahead of the ImClone investigation. Some things never change, I guess.

BTW, just want to point out how I mentioned her little legal troubles way back on June 14, a full 10 days before the story really picked up steam!

This Slate article discussed the confusing state of United Airlines, which seems poised to be the next bankruptcy in the airline industry.

What makes United's situation so interesting is that the company is majority-owned by the employees! While I'd have to think that union members would rather give wage concessions then see the company go out of business in any case, the United employees not only stand to lose their wages but also see their stock holdings drop to nothing as well. And yet the classic labor-management battle continues.

My only thought is that the unions think the government wouldn't possibly let United fail. I sense this might be true, given the company's size and the fact they two of their planes were used in the Sep. 11 attacks.

Dominoes Pizza, which has used Free Delivery as one of their key marketing messages since they began, is now testing a delivery fee in some of their locations. Dominoes cites rising costs as the reason, but it seems to me that this would be just about the worst way to make money. You got something for free before, but now you have to pay for it! Who would even notice if they were to raise pizza prices 50 or 75 cents, or even just cut down on the number of coupons they distribute! I'd have to think that they must discount an average of $1 an order because of all their promos. And these changes wouldn't even get any notice or press.

So MEOW MIX is going to startTV show for cats!?! Not quite sure what to think of this one. No network has yet been named to air the show. Guess it couldn't be any worse that most of the stuff they're putting on TV.

Looks like Martha Stewart is being investigated for insider trading related to ImClone, a company headed by a former boyfriend. I have a feeling they don't allow down comforters or imported cheeses in the slammer.