Posts from — May 2011

Capturing consumers while shopping is a moving experience. By Tom Conti. I’m taking my family on a two-week-long trip to Italy this summer, and since it’ll be one of those once-in-a-lifetime vacations, I’m hoping to capture as many of the experiences as possible in photographs. That means I’m in the market for a new digital camera.

Like all technologies, digital cameras are subject to Moore’s Law, which posits that advancements in technology double approximately every two years. In the digital age, however, that window of time has quickly been reduced to something like 18 days instead of 18 months. The exponential speed at which things change and improve can turn the process of finding and buying a product like the right vacation-ready camera into a frustrating pursuit … read>>

At Scoops, food is whatever Tony "Scoops" Fongyit is scooping that day, and it comes in either "large" or "small," reports Freda Moon in the New York Times (5/15/11). What "food" isn’t, at Scoops, is any kind of animal product — just things like "stewed vegetables, whole grains, thick soups and soy meats." For dessert, there is a choice of non-dairy ice cream — eight flavors — with names like Better Pecan and Great Nut. "Everything is for the body," says Tony, whose customers nicknamed him Scoops. The man is, himself, the brand.

Scoops hails from Trinidad, and wears a long gray beard, his "dreadlocks gathered atop his head in a towering cap." From the outside, his shop, "with its candy-colored awning decorated with green and pink ice cream cones, looks like a run-of-the-mill Caribbean sweets shop." Inside, "the air is thick with incense and spice." A televised soccer match competes with "reggae playing on the stereo and the crackle of mock salmon steaks frying on the stove."

Shelves are lined with cans of meatless sausages, powdered egg replacement, and vegetarian oyster sauce. Scoops has been at it for almost three decades now, this "dedication to good Rastafarian living," building "a loyal following among those who adhere to the meat- and dairy-free ital, or vital diet; the occasional vegan; and people in the neighborhood who simply like" the food. Among them is Nicole Mark, who has been a Scoops regular for years. "When I was growing up, we always went here," says Nicole. "I didn’t know it wasn’t real food."

Archangel Antiques in New York’s East Village says it stocks "more than a million buttons, most from 1860 to 1960," reports Paul Berger in the New York Times (5/22/11). Its collection originated some 25 years ago, when Gail Busche "bought a cookie tin that had black glass Victorian buttons in it … People got interested in them," says Gail, "so whenever I traveled I would advertise for button collection." Her inventory "often provides inspiration for designers from fashion companies like Anthropologie and Ralph Lauren," says Michael Duggan, who works for Gail.

Sometimes film, television and theater stylists stop by the store, "searching for hard-to-find period details." Michael, himself, over his 18 years at the store, has become a buttons expert. "After hard rubber, they went into celluloid, which is the first of the synthetic materials," says Michael. "But celluloid was a derivative of gunpowder, so they had to develop a thermoplastic, and that’s what Bakelite is … But when Bakelite was ground down it was poisonous, so they had to stop making that, too."

Michael has been working at Archangel ever since Gail "asked him to ‘mind the store’ for a few days" nearly two decades ago. Most days, he can "be found sitting toward the back of the musty space, peering out from behind a pair of beige 1950s tortoiseshell glasses." As he explains: "Being a collector is why I get inspired to sell to other people." But that’s a mixed blessing sometimes, says Michael, because "whenever an interesting piece sold" he feels "joy that the item would brighten someone’s life and sorrow that it would no longer delight and intrigue customers." As he puts it, "It’s the exceptional things that draw you in."

"Gorgeous design costs no more than boring design," says Hyundai’s John Krafcik in a Wall Street Journal piece by Joseph B. White (5/25/11). John, who is president of Hyundai’s marketing arm, is referring specifically to the Hyundai Elantra‘s "bold creases along the sides and well-defined wheel arches" that are not unlike the flourishes found on much more expensive cars. The Elantra’s interior isn’t bad either, using materials and design that compare favorably with those of its arch-competitor, the Honda Civic.

The Civic hasn’t been standing still, design-wise, either, having transformed its old, "three-box" design into a "mono-form" featuring a "downward sloping hood, an arching roof line and a split-level dashboard." The improvements aren’t just cosmetic — for either the Elantra or the Civic. The Elantra has heated rear seats, while the Civic offers voice-activated navigation, blue-tooth connections and an iPod dock. The Ford Focus "Titanium" model meanwhile offers "rain-activated wipers and a rear-view camera." It’s a far cry from the econboxes of old, with hand-cranked windows and no air-conditioning.

"You’ve got content on this vehicle that you had to go buy a European luxury car to get," says Robert Parker of Ford. Of course, this comes at a price — these cars can cost more than $20,000. But Mike Jackson of AutoNation says consumers are happy to spring for touches of luxury. They also appreciate that some of the technology enables better gas mileage. For example: "Ford offers a dual-clutch, six-speed transmission on the Focus — a gearbox that delivers the fuel economy of a manual shifter without the requirement to manually change gears." It’s a feature that five years ago was only available on far more expensive cars.

Pat Seashore has the unlikely job of finding the perfect car horn for Ford, reports Chris Woodyard in USA Today (5/18/11). "Horns are tremendously important," says Pat. "The horn is a communication device. You alert someone that something is happening." Her challenge, as Ford’s horn czar, is to "balance the demands of keeping horn choices simple for the global automaker, yet trying to get just the right honk for each market." The problem is that "there are different requirements in the many countries where Ford sells cars."

In the European Union, for example, as well as South Korea and Japan, "horns are required to be at least 93 decibels. That’s more than a lawnmower engine (90 db) but less than a loud motorcycle (95 db)." The United States "doesn’t have a minimum level for horn noise," however "Ford tries to keep it at about 94 to 95 db because many of its models are exported to countries that might have the requirement." The only real requirement is that the horn wins attention, which is another way of saying that it isn’t "terribly pleasing to the ear."

The horn used in Ford’s trucks and larger cars, for example, is a dissonant combination of two notes, "roughly the G and the B on a keyboard." Hyundai recently ran into trouble with the horn on its 2011 Sonata, which was criticized as "wimpy," and compared unfavorably "to bicycle or moped horns." Hyundai quickly remedied this with "a more robust horn." In Europe, meanwhile, "horns don’t just honk, but are being given capabilities like a staccato of friendly chirps or other gentle warnings."

The reason scientists can’t find the truth, says Alexander Melamid, is that they don’t know that the truth is funny, reports Charles McGrath in the New York Times (5/25/11). For Alexander, a Russian-born conceptual artist, the truth is that art can heal what ails you. To advance his idea, Alexander has opened a clinic — The Art Healing Ministry — "where people can come in by appointment and be treated, by means of exposure to fine art, for a variety of physical and psychological ailments," such as "angioedema and urticaria … and benign prostatic hyperplasia."

"I was always told that art was good for me," says Alexander, "but until recently I didn’t know what it was good for. What is good? What is good in the USA is health and health products." He says that art’s healing power "may involve invisible particles called creatons." These creatons, says Alexander, if they are "used properly and nicely, they can enhance your bodily functions. They will help you to live happier and will also get rid of impurities." For $125, Alexander will evaluate your malady in 20 minutes and offer a prescription, which might involve a trip to a an art museum.

"If you have hay fever, you go to see Claude Monet, that’s for sure," says Alexander. For stress, he recommends Paul Cezanne. In-house therapy includes projecting a Modigliani on the patient’s forehead. Alexander also sells "shoe insoles printed with a van Gogh self-portrait." He offers "prayer cards, one for Picasso, patron saint of motorists, and one for George Seurat, patron saint of clear, youthful, radiant skin." But Alexander says he’s not in it for the money; he’s in it for the health. "You can art charge your water or your vodka … And it’s funny," he says. "Not everything that’s funny is true, for sure. But whatever is not funny is not true."

"The past undergoes mitosis, becoming the originality of the future," says Lady Gaga, as quoted by Eric Wilson in the New York Times (5/12/11). The quote is from a new column about fashion and art that the Lady is writing for V Magazine. She got the job by writing to the magazine’s editor, Stephen Gan, and asking him for it. "She’s got a lot to say," says Stephen. "She’s got her own very personal, very special viewpoint that comes from a well-informed place."

Lady Gaga confirms this, writing: "I myself can look at almost any hemline, silhouette, beadwork or heel architecture and tell you very precisely who designed it first, what French painter they stole it from, how many designers reinvented it after them and what cultural and musical movement parented the birth, death and resurrection of that particular trend."

Such knowledge is not only impressive, but useful in response to those who say that she, herself, "is only copying what "Lady" Madonna did 20 years ago." As far as Lady Gaga is concerned, "all artists interpret the past." If Picasso, Matisse and Yves Saint Laurent did it, so can she. That disco ball dress she wore? Got that one from Marc Bolan’s mirror-encrusted scuba suit. "Art gives birth to new art," she says. "There is no chicken or egg."

Technology is no substitute for shopper-focused collaboration. By Spencer L. Hapoienu. How often do you get an offer that is truly relevant to you? What percentage of the offers that you receive online or in the mail are actually of interest? Of the billions of dollars spent by manufacturers and retailers on marketing, it’s likely that less than five percent of the money spent is actually customer-specific and relevant.

With all of the technology and data horsepower available to track purchases, behavior, and lifestyles — which makes it so much easier than ever before to know which customers fall into which categories and to market to them with specific offers and creative messaging — retailer-manufacturer partnership marketing is still way down on the list of priorities and way down on the percent of dollars invested … read>>

Tina Rosenberg explores "how social networks can address some of the world’s most recalcitrant problems in Join The Club, as reviewed by Jeffrey D. Sachs in the New York Times (5/22/11). Her premise is that "the search for status and peer approval is the most powerful motivator of our personal behavior and that it can be employed to remedy social ills." For example: "In Jamkhed, an impoverished district in western India, the training of women to become community health workers broke down the normally high barriers between Indian castes." The newly-trained "low-caste women" earn new respect and, as a result, "the villages change."

In the United States, Hispanic and African-American students exceed expectations "when they enter an innovative setting that encourages collaborative learning." As one analyst reported, "good grades depended on making friends to study with." In another case, "the message that non-smoking raises one’s social status" proved effective. The notion that "tobacco companies lie to the public about the danger of smoking" resonated with teens, effectively turning non-smoking into "a kind of rebellion, an anti-authority stance."

The limitation is that such initiatives tend to be short-term and tactical, and on a small scale. The group study program, for instance "has not caught on widely in American universities" and the "community health workers … are still not deployed in most poor regions and countries … Even the successful advertising campaigns to fight teenage smoking were mostly discontinued despite their successes … because of the sway of the tobacco lobby." The problem is that "economic and political relationships often trump the interpersonal." And yet, the author "reminds us that the success of a society depends on the strength of communities, because the development of our best traits … depends upon our close interactions with others."

The lightbulb went off for Michael Mignogna when a customer asked him what was in the mascarpone dumplings, reports Sophia Hollander in the Wall Street Journal (5/24/11). When he’s not waiting tables at Eatery, Michael is a standup comic, and so the answer was easy: Mascarpone. Ever the improv artist, he went on to fabricate nine imaginary ingredients. Well, his boss heard everything and didn’t think it was so funny. He told Michael either to learn what was on the menu or he’d be out of a job. That’s when Michael got the idea for Restaurant Reason, "a social-networking site that enables restaurants to train staff, do online scheduling and provide an internal discussion forum."

The site effectively replaces the thick, informational packets typically issued to waitstaff and obviates the need for staff "to come to the restaurant to view their shifts and stations." It will also enable managers to complete various employment forms online. The site is still in development, but Michael says waiters soon "will be able to print out cheat-sheets the size of a checkbook to consult while working." That should come in handy, given that diners today tend to have lots of questions, not only in terms of food preparation, but also provenance and sustatinability. Allergens, too.

So far, Michael has three restaurants signed up, including Eatery, although he says it’s not necessarily an easy sell. "You’ve got to start from square one and really educate the people you meet with about what it is," says Michael. Laurence Kertchmer, who partners with Bobby Flay, initially scoffed at the idea, saying he’d rather his waiters "come spend four hours in the kitchen." But he’s now working on a portal for Bobby’s Burger Palace, and conceded that he would also pursue the idea for fine dining. Michael, meanwhile, hasn’t yet quit his day job, but has high hopes. "To me, this fulfilled my desire to be creative more than comedy did," he says.