It Doesn't Matter If It's Food, Fashion, Music, Cars or? Branding is a Science

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody - Bill Cosby

I had a meeting with a nice gentleman the other day who is working on the branding of his company. I was a bit alarmed at what he said. It was obvious that this person wasn't exactly clear as to what Branding means.

He is in the restaurant industry and said to me,

"We can't be sure the age of our customers or who they are so we can't decide on what kind of food we will serve, we just have to make sure that the food we serve always tastes great."

Well, yes and no. He can't decide what kind of customers he's going to get or their age. That's true... But if he thinks he is making things to please everyone, he certainly can't do that either. He's wrong there. Also, if he's thinking is that his only competition are other restaurants, then he is dead wrong on that issue too. 

I'll explain why in a moment. 

Just like the old adage that Bill Cosby made into his own above, this kind of thinking is a time proven key to failure. It astounds me that to this day, with all the many example around us on why this sort of thinking doesn't work anymore (please think: Apple, Google, famous fashion makers, etc.) When you try to please everyone, you please no one. This is obvious and has been repeated over and over again throughout history since the Industrial Revolution. The serve-all method is a sure-fire way to fail.

Here's why...

The success of corporations like Coca-Cola, Apple, Google and Mercedes Benz, just to name a few; proves that specialization is the key to success in this day and age.

The sushi-ya is good at what they do. "But they can't be sure of the customers or their age!" Should the sushi-ya now add Chinese Food, Hamburgers, Indian Curry, etc. to the menu? Of course not!

There are lessons around us everywhere. Let's look at the restaurant industry for an easy example. Quick name one highly successful and profitable family restaurant? Denny's? Nope. They are rumored to be on the verge of bankruptcy. How about in Japan? What others are there? There's Gusto and Jonathans and Skylark to name a few. All rumored to be nearing bankruptcy. Skylark did go belly up.

How about Royal Host and Sizzler? Well, the Royal Host chain isn't doing well, but is better off financially than Gusto and Jonathans... Why? They own Sizzler in Japan.

Sizzler?! Well, yes, folks, Sizzler is doing well in Japan, thank you. Why? They specialize. They realized years ago that they needed to set themselves apart from the others in their market space. Sizzler is a steak house and its steak meals start at over ¥3,190 a plate! (about $35.77). Sizzler may be considered a family restaurant but they are doing all they can to destroy that image and change to a higher end steak restaurant.

That's Branding. That's smart. That niche marketing.

Branding is doing thorough market research and then focusing on one part of the market.

The example above I gave where the boss said, "We can't be sure the age of our customers so we can't decide on what kind of food we will serve, we just have to make sure that the food we serve always tastes great." He is so completely wrong on that point that it makes me wonder if he has ever bothered to read any books on Branding and Marketing? Or, does he even understand the concept? I don't think so, that sort of thinking is like something out of the 1950s.

Let me get back to that point and prove to you why the other restaurants are not his only competition in this day and age and why trying to please everyone will fail with a simple example.

Imagine: It is your free time, say lunch time. You have one hour. There are so many things for you to do and to choose from on how you spend your one hour. You could go shopping or you could go to the gym, or for a walk, or to a coffee shop. You could go to a book store or meet friends, you could listen to music on your iPod or iPhone or Android or at a record store nearby. You could eat your own homemade lunch or, you could go to a restaurant. The choices are endless.

But, since it is lunch time, and you didn't bring your own lunch, you are hungry. 

In your immediate area there are 5 family restaurants. There's the Denny's, the Skylark, Gusto, Jonathan's or Royal Host... Those restaurants have everything, but I'm sure you'll agree that even though they do have everything, everything is not particularly delicious.

Besides the above, there's also a plethora of choices. There's a McDonalds (Definitely a niche restaurant), a standing soba shop, a delicious sushi restaurant, Chinese food, Indian food, Korean Barbeque, Japanese lunch of baked fish and miso soup, Wendy's, Pizza, etc...

Now, it's not rocket science but most people would go to the specialty shops. 

"How to triple your users and sales by doing just one thing..."

This movement of the market and people's tastes have dictated why this science of Branding is so very important.

Once again, take Apple Store for example. What if they thought that, "...there's all sorts of people who come here of all different ages. We need to please them!" Do you think Apple store would then start carrying Epson printers and ink cartridges? How about printer paper and office supplies? Should Apple start carrying Android phone or old-fashioned cell phones to please the older crowd? See? If one were to stop and think about this for just one second, they'd realize the absurdity of not specializing towards a niche market...

And, I'm sorry, food, music, fashions, etc. are all very broad topics. Anyone who thinks they can't be treated in a scientific fashion for Branding purposes simply just hasn't been paying attention.

For more on the Scientific Method and how Branding is a science, may I recommend: Brands and Brand Management - Contemporary Research Perspectives  

From the publisher review: "Very few books exist that meaningfully integrate the rich and vast body of scientific research and theories that have accumulated in the field, relating to both traditional and contemporary topics in branding. This book accomplishes that task, with contributions from leading experts in the science of branding, national and international. The book should appeal to all students, faculty, and marketing professionals with an interest in research findings about brands, and an interest in deepening their understanding of how consumers view brands."

Thanks to Kevin Riley for the TED link.

Pure Genius in Marketing: Star Wars Lego! The World's Most Popular Boys Toy? The Best Educational Toy Ever Made?

UPDATE DIRECT FROM LEGO AT BOTTOM!


I think it is pretty safe to say that judging from my son, and all of his friends, as well as what I've seen from older boys (and adults) that Lego is most definitely the most popular boys toy in the world. 

Lego Imperial Star Destroyer

May I also venture to say that, what Apple computers are for adult men over 25, Lego is to the 4-years-old boys to 16-years-old market for young men. Lego is, perhaps, one of the greatest toys ever made. Lego is a hands-on solutions for science, mathematics, spatial concepts, designing and 3D skills (there's probably more that I'm not seeing). Through Lego, kids learn to combine logic with reasoning and eye hand coordination. They get to transform, explore and combine ideas and objects. Not only that! The kids get to use their imaginations after the toy is constructed and deconstructed (which they all inevitably seem to be at my house) into brand new objects that are conceived of whatever my son wants and imagines them to be! 


I am convinced that Lego is pure genius and probably one of the greatest toys ever made! I think Star Wars Lego is the greatest boys toy ever made bar none! Why I say that is because my son and his friends have been Star Wars Lego crazy since he was four years old. Lego sets start at 4 years old and up. Currently, my son is eight but he is now working on a Lego Star Wars set that was designed for sixteen-years-old and up. 


Ah! Say "Star Wars" and what child between 4 and 40 doesn't light up with extreme interest immediately? Say "puzzle" or "3D puzzle" and you'll get yawns and a distinct lack of enthusiasm from the recipient, but say "Star Wars" or "Star Wars Lego" and you'll have your kid all over it and jumping up and down saying, "Daddy I want one!"

Buy these when they first come out and they are $200 ~ $300. Later they become collectors items like this... This is no longer a child's toy. I bought this one for my son new when it was $180 (about).

Find me one other educational toy that invokes such a strong desire and reaction out of the average child and you'll be showing be another genius invention. I can't think of any, can you?


Some people will say that Lego is "So expensive" but I don't think so. If you consider Lego just a toy, then maybe it is expensive. But Lego is not just a toy. Lego is a toy, a learning experience, a science tool, a babysitter, a world of imagination all it's own and much more. A Lego toy is played with for months if not years after it is first taken from the box and assembled! 


Lego is not expensive at all when you consider all that you get for your money.


I especially enjoy the fact that my child can learn at his own speed. If he is five and is ready for the Lego designed for 7 years old boys, have at it. If he is 7 and can do the 12 years old and up, then take the challenge! Why not? He is learning as he is having fun!


Learning and having fun while doing so is the key to the perfect education.


For the more advanced Star Wars Lego sets, there's no way that a child (along with dad, who needs to spend more time with son, by the way... Ahem) can put one of these things together in one sitting. The current model my son and I are working on is a Lego Star Wars Imperial Shuttle. It is for 16 years old and up. It has 2503 pieces so, knowing that, you'd know that it will take quite a while to construct this toy.


It is taking all the resources the empire can muster to put this shuttle together in time to be ready for battle!


I always try to work together with my son when he is constructing his Lego sets. As I mentioned, it is a great time (and future memory) together. He does all the assembling and I help with pushing in difficult or extremely tight fitting pieces (and refrain from doing so unless absolutely necessary - I want him to have strong hands). He assembles and I sit and find pieces for him (mom helps when were stuck). We chat about various things while doing so. It's a great way to spend time together.

We've been working on this one for two weeks at about 30 minutes a day. Very cheap entertainment for father and son (especially when raining or dark outside). Quality and fun time together.

We usually block off 30 ~ 40 minutes at once to work on the kit. So far, we've been working on this one model on and off for nearly two weeks and we're not even half way done so you can see that this is a great way to spend time learning with your child and having fun while doing it.


Another amazing thing I have to point out to everyone about the value of Lego is the customer service is great. Over these last four and one half years, my son has constructed every single Lego Star Wars that was made. I think that must be easily 40 or 50 different models. Many of those models have had over 1,000 pieces. It doesn't happen often, but, there have been times when pieces were missing...


Now, usually when something like pieces missing happens, it's a major headache; find the receipt, take the toy back, wait in line, hassle with details, ... Not with Lego! With Lego, you go online to their Lego customer service page for Replacement Parts and order the parts you need. They then send them to you in three weeks for FREE! Now that is killer customer service!


Out of well over 50 Lego sets that my son has assembled over these few years, we've discovered missing parts only three times. Three times I ordered the pieces and got them delivered to my home with no hassles and No Questions Asked! They didn't ask where I purchased the toy, where my receipt was, or any intrusive questions! They just shipped me what I needed! They even ship them to Japan, where many of the models are not sold, with free shipping too! (I buy the models overseas as many are not available in Japan and bring them back!) 


Wasn't I saying something about, what Apple computers are for adult men over 25, Lego is to the 4-years-old to 16-years-old market for boys and young men. 


Lego's service might even be better than Apple's and that is hard to do!


Like I said, I think Lego is a genius toy and probably one of, if not the, greatest boys toy ever invented.


(Disclaimer: No I do not own Lego company shares nor do I have any plan to. If there are any complaints about Lego, then may I say that I wish they'd license all the Star Wars Lego's for the territory of Japan also so that I may order them directly in Japan? I always have to order in the USA and then sent to my family then to be sent to me! I sure hate bothering the folks.... Or, how about this; "Hey Japanese toy manufacturer! License these products for Japan!")

Lego Star Wars Motorized Walking AT-AT

If you can still find this Lego Star Wars Imperial Walker buy it. This is, I think, the best one at the best price so far. I bought it at $170 new (now sells for $199) and had about 1100 pieces as well as a motorized engine that made it walk. It was wonderful for my son to see how and engine works and turns gears. He built it a year ago and still plays with it!

-----


UPDATE: 


Just to show what a fine and quality company Lego is, they found this article written about them (smart companies are checking the Internet t see what people are saying about them!):


Dear Mike,

I really enjoyed your article and I must say your son's LEGO Star Wars collection is rather impressive! I'm glad you've been so content with our customer service and I must say I really liked this phrase:

"Lego's service might even be better than Apple's and that is hard to do!"- very nice compliment, thanks a lot!

I hope you will continue your LEGO Star Wars collection for years because no one is too old for LEGO sets!

Best wishes,

Malgorzata Napierala
LEGO Direct


---------


For the history of Lego see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lego   

Kids Say the Darndest Things

It's a cold Saturday morning in Tokyo and my 8-year old is doing his homework. Sometimes he asks for my help and we look at the questions together.


Like Art Linkletter said, "Sometimes kids say the darndest things!"

There is a True and False section of the homework that my son is doing right now that has to do with Science, specifically Paleontology.

I look at the question. It is about humans and dinosaurs and the time line of their existence on this earth.

The question said, 

"Answer True or False:

'Humans and dinosaurs lived during the same time.'"

I think most adults would just assume that the question means something "did they live together millions of years ago." But my son made me laugh when he read the question out loud. 

He said,

"Humans and dinosaurs lived during the same time!? Duh! No. Do you see any dinosaurs around?"

I said, "No, son. I think they mean a long time ago."

My son retorted,

"No, dad. They don't say "when." They could be talking about yesterday. They just asked if humans and dinosaurs lived together, that's all. I've never seen any dinosaurs around. Have you?"

I chuckled. He had me there.

"Nope. You're right." I answered.

Kids certainly do say the darndest things.  

Doing and Playing are Two Very Different Things

"Do or do not. There is no try." - Yoda

I know way too many people who play all the time. Of course, like anyone else, I like playing too. But there comes a time when we must all "do" and not "play."


I suppose, in this example, my use of the word, "play" could also be used interchangeably with "pose." There are far too many poseurs around.

People think they understand the difference between "do" and "play." But allow me to explain the big difference here.

I learned a great lesson about not "playing" when I was a student. In High School, I was president of the Science Club. I don't really remember how I got that title, it's just that a Biology teacher thought my grades were good enough and the other geeks decided that they'd vote me in as president.


Being president of the Science Club was sort of fun, I guess.


As president of the Science Club, I was King Geek. In Science classes and Biology, I didn't have to attend classes like the other kids did. I was the guy who assisted the Science instructor with handing out Petri dishes and feeding the pets in the Science Department.


I also learned that the cutest girls in my school were basically stupid in Biology so they were nice to me so that I would tell them the answers to test questions. I thought that this would translate to me being popular outside of Science class but I was totally wrong on that front.


While the classes were going on, I'd get to sit in the back room and do "experiments." Mr. Holts, my biology instructor allowed me to do any sort of experiments that I wanted to. I grew plants, did experiments with bacteria and learned all sorts of things about feeding and breeding animals and fish.


I learned stuff like most lizards won't eat food when they are in captivity so you have to force feed them. I also learned that mice are so freaked out by snakes that if you put a mouse in a snakes cage or terrarium, often times the mouse will freeze up and just sit there in fear.


Well, back to the difference between "do" and "play"....


One day, I was bored out of my wits as I sat in the back room at the Science department. There, I spied a cockroach and some silverfish. I captured them as I intended to use them for lizard or fish food... As I was searching for a container to put them in, I spotted a large glass beaker and, to my surprise, a bottle of Hydrochloric acid.

That gave me an idea... The devil horns slowly creeped up on the sides of my head.


I put the insects in the large beaker and saw that they could not climb up the sides. They were trapped. I then pulled up a chair and took an eyedropper and squeezed out a drop of acid and dropped it into the beaker.


The cockroaches and silverfish would run as mightily as they could towards the top of the beaker trying to get out. But run as hard as they may, they would give up and slowly slide back down the sides of the glass until their tails hit the acid at which time they'd take off again, full speed, up the sides of the glass.


They did this over and over. 


To make a lame o excuse for my deliberately torturing some of god's creatures, I found it interesting how and why the insects seemed to run as hard as they could up the glass but then "get tired," give up and slide back down. I mean, insects don't have muscles! How can they get tired.


Well, as a twisted little high school brat (and president of the Science Club) I got my jollies torturing these insects (I was probably laughing like a mad scientist too) when a big hand slapped right down on my shoulder. It was Mr. Holts. He said to me,


"Mister Rogers! You have so much talent and ability but you waste it. Do you know what your problem is? Your problem is that you don't want to "do" science; you want to "play" science. There is a big difference."


He was right. I have never forgotten that moment. 


I think about that and I can see his face whenever I see people doing crappy work. Or people whose primary concern at work (mostly middle management people) having the protection of their position as the number one priority over the success of the project. I can also hear his words whenever I feel that I am not doing my best and letting other people down.


Life is too short for us to waste it on dead end efforts. In my thinking, there is no such thing as a dead-end job. A job is a dead-end if you make it that way. If you view it as a opportunity, then how can it be a dead-end if you use it to motivate yourself for bigger and better things? 


Never sell yourself short.


Remember to always do and not play.

Fukushima Nuclear Power Risks and a Real World Example

Everyday, at the very top of this blog, you can see a link to what the daily radiation rates are in Tokyo and Tsukuba (75 miles north of Tokyo, towards Fukushima). The rates have fallen well within safe limits (actually hundreds of times within safe limits since the earthquake on March 11, 2011). 

Beach Boys - Don't Worry Baby

Nevertheless, I still get comments from people who mention nonsense along the lines of "background radiation levels are not the same as ingested radiation levels." Oh really? Thanks for all the Little Einstein's who have popped up recently and have become experts at radiation. No, ingested levels of radiation are not the same as background radiation levels. Absolutely correct.

That's why I do not show levels of radioactivity at the Fukushima power plant. I only show the levels in Tokyo and surrounding areas. I'm sure that if you are one of the few hundred people working at or in the plant for clean up then there is a danger. But I am not talking about the levels at Fukushima. I am talking about the levels in Tokyo. 

Tokyo is 230 kilometers away from Fukushima. No one in Tokyo is inhaling Plutonium... I'm sure there's lots of things people in Tokyo are inhaling, but Plutonium or other dangerous airborne radioactive particles are not some of them.

Once again, as I have written before, the issue comes down to facts and technology. Tabloid sensationalism that the mass media is giving the public is pure and simple nonsense.   

Why do people have such short memories? Don't people remember how the mass media said that Swine Flu was going to kill over 50 million people? As I wrote just 5 days into the nuclear accident in: Japan Nuclear Disaster Update & Strong Criticism of Western Media Sensationalism:

Actually, it astounds me that people do accept what what the media says as gospel truth. Don't forget that this is the very same media that told us 3 years ago that Swine Flu was going to kill more than 50 million people worldwide. This was the same media that told us that the USA had to invade Iraq because of Saddam's nooklar weapons. This was the same media that told us that SARS also was a killer virus that was going to wipe out entire populations. This was the same media that told us that Bird Flu was going to do the same.

As of today, worldwide  deaths from Swine Flu: 82. No nuclear weapons for Saddam (if he had any, do you really think we would have invaded Iraq?). Worldwide deaths from SARS: 100. Worldwidedeaths from Bird Flu: 80. Don't even get me started on Man Made Global Warming!

Fact of the matter is that this is the same media who constantly exaggerates stories in order to sell advertising space to an extremely gullible public. When will people ever learn? If history is any example then the answer is: Never. They'll never learn.

Just wait a year or three for the next killer disease and we can start all over again. 

I've stated it over and over; we live in a world of hype versus reality. You can choose which to believe. It seems that far too many wish to believe tabloid hype. 

Well, now, once again, a technlogy publication has come out with the facts to try to battle it out with those who are spouting off nonsense.

Today's recommended article comes from Boing Boing, one of the premiere technology publications in the world today. In this article, they break down the facts very simply. I'd like to quote it in full:

Japan nuclear crisis: A real-world example of radiation risks

Maggie Koerth-Baker

Last night, Xeni posted a link to this chart, showing radiation readings taken in all of Japan's different prefectures, except for Fukushima. I thought it might be useful to put this chart in context with what I've learned about radiation dosages and health from speaking with several health physicists over the last couple of days.

First off, a little bit of background. These measurements are coming from the Japanese government, and they're only showing what's going on at one place in each prefecture. It's entirely possible that other people, taking measurements at other locations, would get different numbers. Also, as you can see in the image above, this is showing change in radiation levels over the course of this Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday—March 16 through March 18. The measurements might have been higher or lower in the days preceding this sample, or in the days to come.

Disclaimers thus made, let's talk about what these charts show ...

The Basics

• Thanks to the magic of Google Translate, we can see that the measurements are taken in micrograys per hour. There are a lot of different units of measurement for radiation levels. I've been working mostly in either millisieverts or rems. So I'm going to convert this: 1 microgray = .001 millisievert

• So, now let's look at the prefecture with the highest spike in radiation levels. That would be Ibaraki Prefecture. If I'm understanding the chart correctly, the name in parenthesis tells you where, in general, the measurement was taken within the prefecture. So, in this case, the measurement comes from Mito, a city about 2.5 hours North and East of Tokyo.


On Wednesday, radiation levels at this one location in Mito spiked at .001 millisievert per hour (1 microgray), but didn't stay there for very long. Before Thursday, levels had fallen back to 0.00025 millisievert per hour, and they've mostly stayed about that level ever since—though it looks like the levels might be falling further today.

What The Doses Mean

• Let's look back at the dose and risk table put together for BoingBoing by the Mayo Clinic health physicist Kelly Classic. There's no entry for .001 millisievert on that table. The lowest it goes is .04 millisievert—the equivalent of a flight from New York to LA. It's a dose so small that it isn't associated with any increase in the lifetime risk of cancer.

• But time matters too, not just dose. This isn't just .001 millisievert, but .001 millisievertper hour. If you were exposed to that steadily, for 12.5 days, you'd end up with an actual dose of .3 millisievert—the equivalent of 30 days of natural background radiation, according to Kelly Classic's dose table. That's well above normal levels, but, again, even .3 millisieverts is still a dose that's so low, scientists can't find any evidence that it raises the lifetime risk of cancer.
More importantly, the radiation readings in Mito were only picking up .001 millisievert per hour for a short period of time. So, while that spike was big, it's unlikely to represent an equally significant increase in health risk.

• There's one final thing that matters here, though. Radiation levels in Mito started out at .00025 millisieverts an hour on Wednesday morning. That's where they fell back to after the spike. And they've been roughly around that same level ever since.

.00025 millisieverts an hour isn't normal. And that can start to add up.

There's 72 hours in three days. At .00025 millisieverts an hour, that gets you to a true dose of .018 millisieverts. Assume the spike lasted 3 hours, and that means the people of Mito have probably gotten close to .021 millisieverts over the last few days—about half the radiation exposure of a flight from New York to LA. The good news is that their overall risk is still low. To reach the point where your lifetime risk of cancer increases by 1%, you'd have to be exposed to 100 millisieverts. That could happen, if radiation keeps leaking out of Fukushima long enough, or if levels go up. But, so far, even though the dose is far higher than normal, the risk is lower than you might think.

Putting It All Together

• I think this is a really useful example, because it does a particularly good job of showing you how radiation dosages can add up for people living in the direct path of radioactive fallout—there's a reason why we're worried right now about the people who live in places like Mito. But it also demonstrates how fear can be larger than risk. This far from the nuclear power plant—Mito is three hours south of Fukushima—it would take a much larger output of radioactive materials and/or a much longer crisis to really put people at any noticeable risk. (Tokyo is easily 4.5 hours by car - traveling at 80 km per hour - south of Fukushima).


Right now, according to these numbers, the only people in serious danger are still the ones working inside the damaged power plant, and the only people with measurable risks are the ones who live very close nearby.


Here is a chart showing the radiation levels in Tokyo as of right now:

To see the comparison of levels starting March 1 (10 days before the accident) up to today, see here: http://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/emergency/monitoring.tokyo-eiken.go.jp/monitoring/past_data.html .

The levels today are a about twice as high as they were on March 1, 2011. Which still makes Tokyo having a radiation level at about 1/4th that of the daily levels in Rome, Italy.

The facts speak for themselves. In spite of that, if you still want to panic, be my guest. It's doing nothing but ruining your mental health.