2006 in Satellite Radio

As 2006 comes to a close, I analyzed the data from Wal-Mart online retail this holiday season compared to last, and noticed a considerable increase year-to-year. Naysayer journalists have spoken to soon: we posted a 5 percent increase over last year’s season totals in a highly competitive industry (satellite radio). My thoughts immediately are about Sirius, their golden boy Howard Stern, and if Sirius Satellite Radio is close to viability?

Yes and No.

The “Howard Stern Effect” seems to have bolstered subscriber numbers significantly through the first two years of his contract, but Sirius has yet to turn a profit and everyone wonders how long before the red ink turns black. Subscriber acquisition costs have gone up, and Sirius is still on the hook for a significant portion of Howard’s paycheck. This all adds up to bad news for Sirius and Mel Karmazin who boasted of seeing black ink in 2006 but it now looks like 2007 may be a generous afterthought.

Higher acquisition costs, dwindling buzz, HD Radio and lowering hardware cost have all added to the growing pains of an industry still trying to gain a foothold. In the last 2 years, I have been on the frontlines and as my time there comes to a close, I am left with one big question when it comes to Sirius. What will the New Year bring?

OMIT NEEDLESS THINGS!

I recently started reading "The Elements of Style" to help with my prose. The beginning of the book states to OMIT NEEDLESS WORDS! I continually struggle with the idea. Life. Work. Hobbies. I need to OMIT NEEDLESS WORDS or THINGS!!! SIMPLIFY!!!

OMIT NEEDLESS THINGS! OMIT NEEDLESS THINGS! OMIT NEEDLESS THINGS!

Today's Youth

I was just riding the train when I saw a young man reading Wikipedia articles and studying. I immediately started to think about my time in College and the amount of infomation available to me. The Internet was just taking off and things like Wikipedia had not been invented so we had to rely on a far klunkier internet and old-fashioned books. (Wow, am I that old?)

All this information available to Kids today is amazing. We are constantly being bombarded in this distribution age of the internet. I have to think that youth of today are eons smarter than just my generation and able to quickly process information. It was nice to think of how much we can advance in such a short time as a species. So too the youth of today take advantage you can be the Bill Gates of the next generation!

Gift of the Day.

The direct marketing campaign ongoing by H&M seems to be shear genius. They placed a insert into local newspapers in NY and advertised a gift a day until Christmas. The above dress being an example. I became particularly fond of a leather jacket that was today's (December 5th) Gift of the Day. I waited and was really excited to purchase it after work. I even consulted a friend that thought I would be okay waiting.

After work I promptly walked over to H&M to find that they were sold out. As were 3 other stores I went too. By sending the flyer out ahead of the merchadise the were able to generate enough buzz to sell out of these items. Kudos H&M on a job well done now open your online store its long overdue!!!!

Brand Utility or Utilitarian?

I recently had the pleasure of meeting with some people regarding direct mail and to take a look at their work. The work was quite successful but it left me feeling really like it had not been pushed to the limit. I realize that it was from the financial sector and they tend to stay inside the box but I still feel things can be stretched and pushed until a creative and innovative product was made.

How many boring letters do I throw away everyday from my mail? It occurred to me this letter writing approach to financial, insurance, and credit card direct mail has grown into the poster child for Brand Utility gone terribly awry!!!!! Sure they "brand" you in a way that is useful. But is it brand utility or brand utilitarian?