Comments on: The Ever-Expanding Brand

By: David Louis Edelman

David Louis Edelman — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 23:18:07 +0000

Thanks, Geoffrey. I look forward to your comments when you do get around to reading the book…

By: Geoffrey Allan Plauche

Geoffrey Allan Plauche — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 18:00:41 +0000

Oops…I left out an important verb there at the end.

“I haven’t read Infoquake yet[.]“

By: Geoffrey Allan Plauche

Geoffrey Allan Plauche — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 17:39:21 +0000

Great article. I pretty much agree.

A similar kind of cycle affects states and civilizations too, although with much less benign consequences.

Regarding Coke vs. Pepsi: I actually prefer Sam’s Choice Cola (the Wal-Mart brand). To me it’s just the right mean between Pepsi’s sweetness and Coke’s dry kick. It’s also a lot cheaper.

I haven’t Infoquake yet, but I’m putting it on my list. I think I came upon your blog through SF Signal, but I can’t remember for sure.

By: » What do Star Trek and Starbucks have in common (with Apple)? | Geekend | TechRepublic.com

Tue, 22 May 2007 22:42:55 +0000

[...] What do Star Trek and Starbucks have in common? They both used to be cool, perhaps edgy, and maybe even revolutionary. What killed them both? Over-extension of the brand. Put more simply: NextGen, good; Voyager, bad; 100 Starbucks, good; 10,000 Starbucks, bad. That, according to opinions-aplenty sci-fi author David Louis Edelman. You think this has nothing to do with IT? Think again, as Edleman brings it full circle: [...]

By: Matt Jarpe

Matt Jarpe — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 13:47:54 +0000

I read an article in the Boston Phoenix last week about Dunkin Donuts. It’s been around since the early 50′s (we sometimes go to the original location, still operating in Quincy). We have four of them within a mile of our house, no Starbucks in sight. According to this article Dunkies became part of the New England self identity about the time Starbucks showed up. Real New Englanders drink Dunkies, posers drink that Seattle crap. Krispy Kreme never had a chance here. (I whatever coffee is free or closest to hand. The only bad thing about Dunkies is trying to get the person behind the counter to understand that I don’t want milk or sugar. “Small coffee, black, no sugar, please.” “Is that extra milk and three sugars?” “No, black, no sugar.” “Was that second coffee with cream and sugar or just sugar?”)

Anyway, Dunkies is taking off in other places too, mostly fueled by transplanted New Englanders. It will be interesting to see how that brand’s trajectory differs from Starbucks or Krispy Kreme. It’s already a much longer arc, but I wonder if the drop will be as steep once it reaches market saturation.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 05:19:58 +0000

I’ve finished Infoquakeby the way. Since then work got insane for a few weeks, there was a death in the family .. life happened. And I do owe you a review. It’s pretty nifty.

As it happens a few minutes ago I found the entire comment in my rss reader from my cocomnent feed. It’s not genius but it’s better than the truncated comment. Was it Hemmingway that lost a suitcase with his first novel in it?

But that would be Steve Jobs’ worst nightmare. He doesn’t want 85% of the desktop market, or even 60%; once Apple is no longer the cool, hip alternative, they become — well, Microsoft.

If the conversation I heard today is any indication – no worries.

Consultant Abe is talking with DBA Bob about upgrading to Vista. Abe spent the entire weekend buying a new laptop, returning the laptop, installing Vista on the thing, buying a copy and installing for his other machine .. in summary bending over backwards to get the thing to simply work. As of today he’s only got it to boot in 640×480 mode. The returned laptop? Met the specs for Vista – had the sticker but Vista claimed components were not suitable. Oops.

He’s not letting this stop him – he’s determined to get the thing to work. Bob is going along – he’s a guy who likes his tools to work but doesn’t much care what form they take.

They went through this upgrading from 2000 Pro to XP a few years ago, btw.

This isn’t to bash Microsoft but just to point out that the tools they perceive they need are worth the pain of upgrading – at leastan entire lost weekend, probably more by the time it’s all said and done.

But yes, brands. I’m not sure there is a way out. The market seems to demand growth – but what if your niche is just fine without growth?

By: David Louis Edelman

David Louis Edelman — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 04:39:45 +0000

I wondered what you were getting at there, Brian, but I figured I’d give you the benefit of the doubt because you’ve been a booster for my book. I’m sure it was Earth-shattering.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 06 Mar 2007 03:47:17 +0000

Hunh. My comment was truncated in some fashion. I had something about .. oh i no longer remember. It was great, great I tell you!

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 20:20:46 +0000

I wonder if people would be able to handle any level of permanence in products or a company. We’re so adjusted to constant shift, replacements and upgrades that I am curious whether we’re just going over-complicate and over-develop ourselves to death. It seems to be a part of our constant drive to reach further, jump higher, dig deeper. Boredom is the great Satan of today, and we sprinkle the holy water of constant distraction to keep him at bay, no matter whether there is any actual substance involved in our development. We’re saying screw the consequences…just keep us entertained, keep our hunger for the next new thing satisfied and we’ll walk off the cliff for you. Have we, as a world of consumers, taught companies to satisfy us this way, or have companies taught us that this is the only way we’ll ever be happy? Or is it one of those nasty cyclical things?

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 17:56:28 +0000

But that would be Steve Jobs’ worst nightmare. He doesn’t want 85% of the desktop market, or even 60%; once Apple is no longer the cool, hip alternative, they become — well, Microsoft.