Starbucks Lesson

Starbucks seem to be in free-fall - closing over 600 stores in the US.
I wonder why? In New Zealand I don't think we have a representative picture of Starbucks. In the US the stores are quite different (apparently) and they have headed into complex diversions from core business - music has been a distraction. Tail wags dog,

The truth for me is that I want to like Starbucks. I want to love it as I do Apple. But their core product doesn't cut it. The coffee sucks. Here in Auckland we have the most sophisticated coffee culture in the world - big claim - come down and test it. Take it from me Starbucks products are rightly shunned. If only our funky coffee houses could 'get' the idea of the third place. Any hospitality space should have free wireless. One of the best things about webstock in Wellington (and the airport) was free access to the web. Even if I smuggle good coffee in to Starbucks, at least I get a comfortable place to check my mail.

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Go figure

Took my daughter shopping tonight. We had dinner out. Got back home late. She laid her new clothes out in neat rows so she could choose what to wear for tomorrow. She's 5. I see her just every second weekend. How can such incredible errors of judgement (marrying my daughter's mother) result in such a wonderful little human being? Go figure

Mac Air Music

I love the idea of the Mac Air but, call me old fashioned, …no disk drive? How will I watch Ratatouille, Toy Story, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Cars and A Bug's Life on DVD? The music on the MacAir launch commercial is terrific. I tracked the artiste Yael Naim's video for you. What is the name for this genre (Regina Spectre et al)? Apparently Steve Jobs chose the track personally for the TVC. Order from Amazon: Splash out:

Sexist Advertising and stereotypes

Advertising lives in the short-form world. Because mass media is so expensive the 30 second commercial is conventional and because there is so much clutter simplified signals are essential to 'cut through'. One form of communication short-hand used as a default is the stereotype - "A stereotype can be a conventional and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image, based on the assumption that there are attributes that members of the "other group" have in common. Stereotypes are sometimes formed by a previous illusory correlation, a false association between two variables that are loosely correlated if correlated at all. Though generally viewed as negative perceptions, stereotypes may be either positive or negative in tone." In the 1950's and 60's when men dominated advertising stereotypical impressions of women as inferior or subservient were not only commonplace but usual. It was normal to show women as housekeepers, largely because most wer...

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