100 Best Global Brands

Every year I study with interest Business Week's 100 Best Global Brands issue. Coca-Cola, IBM, Google, Toyota, Disney, Intel, etc. They all vie for the top slots. Deservedly so. But last weekend I was in Providence, RI with my wife and daughters. We were visiting family at RISD and took the prospective student tour at Brown. While doing the obligatory visit to the Brown bookstore (Brown logoed everything was for sale!) I realized there are some global brands conspicuously absent from the list.

I would argue that Harvard deserves consideration on Business Week's list. As the oldest university in the nation it's certainly "Built to Last." Put the Harvard name on anything and there's instant credibility. In fact many of our top U.S. colleges and universities have brand values greater than Prada or from the title of this blog, say Nescafe.

Dogging it at Work

Visitors to our agency know Webster. They seek out Webster. They guard their food from Webster. Who's Webster? Some hot-shot new creative talent? No, he's my father's dog who comes to our offices every day. A sometimes too-smart-for-his-own-good Labradoodle. Why is there so much fascination about the symbiotic relationship between ad people and dogs at work?

It's a given that advertising is a stress-filled profession and it’s well known that reducing stress is a key to a healthy life. So why dogs? Well, for every complex stress in life, it helps to balance it with a simple pleasure. Pets in the workplace reduce stress among owners who worry about home-alone dogs, they are a calming presence, and they often provide a welcome distraction. So come visit us at SMZ. I won't be offended if you're really most interested in Webster.

Believe in Michigan

Anyone running a business today in Michigan had better be a cheerleader for the state. (I know I try!) Minus the pom-poms, one of the finest arguments I've heard for the future of Michigan was put forth by Bobby Taubman, Chairman, President and CEO of Taubman Centers in his second quarter earnings conference call.

Michigan is now in its sixth year of negative GDP growth, as it has been working through a long and difficult restructuring of the auto industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics at the end of June, employment in automotive vehicle and parts manufacturing is now down to only 2.4% of nonfarm jobs in Michigan, a remarkable change from about 7% in 2000.

With the ripple effect commonly associated with the loss of manufacturing jobs, it’s not surprising our state recently reported 15% unemployment. That’s the highest in the nation and unfortunately, we believe that it will get worse before it gets better. Nonetheless, we are encouraged that a protracted bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler has been avoided. The companies are now able to stabilize and position themselves to begin growing again once the national economy improves.

Our state, the eighth most populous state, has about 10 million people. It has great resources and significantly more diversity in employment than is recognized. The R&D and high-tech sectors that were originally built around the automotive industry are morphing into countless other industries. Today’s southeastern Michigan has over 8,000 tech establishments and there are more engineers per capita than any other state in the U.S.

This leads to the second highest overall R&D expenditures of any state. With this growing knowledge base in place and favorable cost of living, the state has become a hub for advanced technologies. Numerous entities from battery research to clean technologies to defense research are already located here. Others have announced investments to take advantage of the available talent pool.

In June, General Electric announced it will be opening its Advanced Manufacturing Technology and Software Center in southeast Michigan in late 2009. They will be investing $100 million in a former Visteon automotive parts plant and eventually will employ 1,100 people. Announcing the facility, chief executive Jeff Immelt told reporters, “we can be low cost and still access a great work force in Michigan.”

We're proud to serve as one of Taubman Centers' advertising agencies. We're also proud to share a strong positive outlook on Michigan. Now, off to the mall ...

Oops, I did it the first time

She generally rates in the top ten most searched list. It's Britney Spears and I attended her sold-out concert last week with my wife and daughters at The Palace of Auburn Hills. I'm clearly not the target, but I was there and entitled to an opinion. This was one of the most un-fun nights of my life. Before the concert they ran commercials for Britney's "Circus Fantasy" fragrance. I've been to the Ringling Brothers circus. It smelled bad. Real bad. Who wants to smell like the circus? (Or "toxic" for that matter?)

I was appalled at how the 14 year olds going on 25 were dressed. Or not dressed. Sure it's slickly staged yet I was shocked how accepting the audience was of lip-synced singing. What happened to a live concert being live? As my wife said, "where's the band??" To cap off a "perfect" night the girl in the row behind me spilled her beer all over me. Just my luck to be seated in front of one of the ten girls of legal drinking age at the show. Baby I really wanted to "hit her one more time," but I controlled myself. And in front of me Britney got to change into dry clothes every ten seconds. Where's the justice?

This blog is a semi-regular, semi-humorous attempt to comment on consumer escapes. A great live concert can be the ultimate escape. Britney Spears' concert just made me want to get out. So I did. In Britney-speak I turned to my daughter and said, "I'm not a slave 2 this." So I escaped to our car and listened to the baseball game. All-in-all I'm "stronger" for the experience.

Tweets and Talk Radio

Am I doing it wrong? I listen to all sorts of talk radio. From liberal to conservative; from sports to music; on am and fm. Talk radio is a form of social media yet I've NEVER called in to a show. I've been tempted, but ultimately I'm just a listener. Long time listener, no time caller.

The same holds true for Twitter. I opened an account and have been following a few individuals and corporate entities. I barely tweet myself. So am I being anti-social in the world of social media? I don't think so. If listening is an underutilized skill, I think I'm just honing my listening skills. In the process I'm entertained and learn a few things. I hope someone "hears" this and comments.

Test driving a bed

Our mattress is 15 years old. I figure that's over 40,000 hours of use. (I'll allow the reader to break out the various uses.) So my wife and I went to Mattress World. It's on Woodward Avenue in Royal Oak, next to another mattress store and across the street from Art Van the self-proclaimed largest mattress retailer in North America. Sort of an auto mall for mattresses.

So we shopped the showroom by looking at bed after bed after bed. From my days watching the Serta team at Doner I know they're amazingly all "S" brands. Following Serta is Simmons, Sealy, and even Sterns and Foster. But my wife and I gravitated to the "T" brand, Tempur-Pedic. I had a great experience with that bed at a recent Courtyard by Marriott stay. Then I read online that Tempur-Pedic, while Swedish engineering, was developed by NASA scientists. Can't argue with that combination. After playing Goldilocks and trying out every model, one felt "just right." The retailer offered financing, free delivery and free pillows (the floor mats of mattress sales I guess). Ultimately, given the magnitude of the purchase we decided to "sleep on it" for a few days. Now if the government will just classify our high mileage bed as a "clunker" ...

The Cereal Project

Our kitchen pantry looks like a Seinfeld episode. We've got cereal in every size and shape. (The cereal itself and the newfangled, space-saving packaging.) I was remembering how long before I read a newspaper my sisters and I would fight over who got to read the back of the cereal box. I know that my ability to solve anagrams comes from 1970s era boxes of cereal.

Thanks to Mintel Research I've been alerted to a great escape - The Cereal Project, the quintessential resource for all things around the 140+ year history of breakfast cereals. Another affirmation of the power of advertising, the importance of packaging, and the ability of Cap'n Crunch to defeat the pirate Jean LaFoote. As this thoroughly enjoyable site says, "please tell your friends about discovering The Cereal Project. Enjoy your visit and don't forget to comment on your favorite cereals."