Monday, 27 June 2011

Life After iPhone

Do you remember when phones were phones?

If you picked up your phone it was because you wanted to speak to someone and your mind became focussed on the job in hand.

The trouble with the iPhone is that it does so many things that it encourages a constant state of partial engagement. Every time you pick it up, you have infinite choices of whether you want to talk, read, socialise, play, calculate, muse, listen, watch or create.

Following an unfortunate event at the weekend involving a sailing boat, a surprisingly rough lake and rather gusty winds, my trusty, well worn and well loved iPhone Mk. 1 no longer functions and I have been forced to resurrect my faithful old Nokia. But in the space of 24 hours I have moved from a state of "How will I cope without my iPhone!" to one of "Will I bother to replace it?". My iPad Mk. 1 does all of the distracting fun things that the iPhone used to do, and does them much better. The only exception is phone calls, which the iPhone was never very good at anyway.

So maybe I am setting a new retro trend: Ditch your iPhone, and go back to using technology that is optimised for a single purpose...

Phone = Phone.
iPad = Fun

Tuesday, 7 June 2011

Insights or Sampling?

Tibet 5100 is a Chinese brand of supposedly premium bottled spring water. It's brand credentials are compelling, being bottled at source in the purity of the Tibetan Himalayas - the highest source of spring water in the world.

So, what innovative marketing strategy is the company using to highlight the unique attributes of this aspiring Chinese brand to compete effectively with the more established French brands?

Yes - you guessed it...Supermarket sampling of the water, served in a plastic cup.

Despite what appears to be a considerable marketing budget, the company behind Tibet 5100 seems to have forgotten to get a planner involved in their marketing thinking. So, whereas Evian, for example, are selling health and well being with their insightful LIVE YOUNG positioning, Tibet 5100 are instead selling WATER.

Money down the drain.