Archive for June, 2006
Word-of-Mouth Marketing
I read an interesting study the other day on Word-of-Mouth Marketing, or hyper One-to-One Marketing. The Keller Fay Group, a Word-of-Mouth Marketing and Consultancy has published the study and can be found here. According to their study, the brands that have the most “buzz” based on their sample are the following:
- Toyota
- Wal-Mart
- Honda
- Apple/iPod
- Chevrolet
- Target
- Sony
I read an interesting study the other day on Word-of-Mouth Marketing, or hyper One-to-One Marketing. The Keller Fay Group, a Word-of-Mouth Marketing and Consultancy has published the study and can be found here. According to their study, the brands that have the most “buzz” based on their sample are the following:
- Toyota
- Wal-Mart
- Honda
- Apple/iPod
- Chevrolet
- Target
- Sony
The Wisdom of Crowds
The book "The Wisdom of Crowds" by James Surowiecki explains how the aggregation of information in groups can result in outcomes better than if the decision was made by any single person in the group. He argues that there are 3 types of Crowd Wisdom:
- Cognition: Market judgment, which he argues can be much faster, more reliable, and less subject to political forces than the deliberations of experts, or expert committees.
The book "The Wisdom of Crowds" by James Surowiecki explains how the aggregation of information in groups can result in outcomes better than if the decision was made by any single person in the group. He argues that there are 3 types of Crowd Wisdom:
- Cognition: Market judgment, which he argues can be much faster, more reliable, and less subject to political forces than the deliberations of experts, or expert committees.
Landscaping and Trees
We recently finished landscaping our yard — front, side, and back. We’re really happy with how things turned out. Before landscaping, we had HUGE wheat-looking weeds all over the place, which hid the basketball-sized rocks beneath. Now, we have grass, trees, curbing, and a nice cement pad to BBQ and entertain. I’ll explain the whole landscaping process later — a lot of lessons learned. Today, however, I just want to share about the 14 trees we bought.
We recently finished landscaping our yard — front, side, and back. We’re really happy with how things turned out. Before landscaping, we had HUGE wheat-looking weeds all over the place, which hid the basketball-sized rocks beneath. Now, we have grass, trees, curbing, and a nice cement pad to BBQ and entertain. I’ll explain the whole landscaping process later — a lot of lessons learned. Today, however, I just want to share about the 14 trees we bought.
Shutterfly IPO?
Rumor has it that Shutterfly may be headed for an liquidation liquidity event soon, either an IPO or an acquisition valued at ~$500MM. Shutterfly has been profitable for 3 years, with profit estimates of around $20MM.
Shutterfly’s model is a fascinating one. Unlike 99% of their competitors, Shutterfly has its own manufacturing facility, where it houses inventory as well as several HP Indigo printers, and other machinery to make their own photo books. Shutterfly’s manufacturing facility is in Hayward, California. Their competitors outsource that process.
Rumor has it that Shutterfly may be headed for an liquidation liquidity event soon, either an IPO or an acquisition valued at ~$500MM. Shutterfly has been profitable for 3 years, with profit estimates of around $20MM.
Shutterfly’s model is a fascinating one. Unlike 99% of their competitors, Shutterfly has its own manufacturing facility, where it houses inventory as well as several HP Indigo printers, and other machinery to make their own photo books. Shutterfly’s manufacturing facility is in Hayward, California. Their competitors outsource that process.
Online Ads are big; Eyeballs are Back Again
Remember when eyeballs were the de facto business model of the web? Eyeballs are back. Yesterday’s New York Times article entitled “As Online Ads Grow, Eyeballs Are Valuable Again on the Web” is good and discusses the dynamics of Eyeballs.
Coincidentally, AdAge published their annual Largest National Advertisers report yesterday. It’s an interesting read and shows marketing spend by category, company, and other interesting crosssections. This is a must-read if you have an advertising business model.
Remember when eyeballs were the de facto business model of the web? Eyeballs are back. Yesterday’s New York Times article entitled “As Online Ads Grow, Eyeballs Are Valuable Again on the Web” is good and discusses the dynamics of Eyeballs.
Coincidentally, AdAge published their annual Largest National Advertisers report yesterday. It’s an interesting read and shows marketing spend by category, company, and other interesting crosssections. This is a must-read if you have an advertising business model.
Acquisition Cost
During dinner last night, our phone rang and on the other line was a cigarette-smoking man. He wanted a few minutes of my time to explain that he works for Arbitron, a marketing research firm. He pitched his story that all I’d have to do is carry a diary with me and write down which radio stations I listen to, the duration, for one week. In exchange I’d get paid. The rest of our conversation went like this:
During dinner last night, our phone rang and on the other line was a cigarette-smoking man. He wanted a few minutes of my time to explain that he works for Arbitron, a marketing research firm. He pitched his story that all I’d have to do is carry a diary with me and write down which radio stations I listen to, the duration, for one week. In exchange I’d get paid. The rest of our conversation went like this:
Unstructured Data: DB2 9
IBM released DB2 9 last week, previously codenamed “Viper.” It took the IBM team 5 years to develop, 750 engineers, and 68 patent filings. DB2 9 is radially different than the current database models available, which are primarily based on relational data, pioneered by Boyce-Codd (i.e., Boyce-Codd Normal Form, or BCNF). DB2 9 was built to handle both relational data and unstructured data in the form of XML.
IBM released DB2 9 last week, previously codenamed “Viper.” It took the IBM team 5 years to develop, 750 engineers, and 68 patent filings. DB2 9 is radially different than the current database models available, which are primarily based on relational data, pioneered by Boyce-Codd (i.e., Boyce-Codd Normal Form, or BCNF). DB2 9 was built to handle both relational data and unstructured data in the form of XML.
The Pareto Principle
The Pareto Principle was named after an Italian economist who discovered that 80% of the wealth in Europe was concentrated in 20% of the population. This discovery is also known as the 80/20 rule or the Law of the Vital Few. The Pareto Principle is a phenomenon that finds application in many places, such as software engineering, quality, manufacturing, word-of-mouth marketing, human resources, and government; the 80/20 rule was also popularized by the book “The Mckinsey Way” as a principle by which Mckinsey consultants follow to solve client problems.
The Pareto Principle was named after an Italian economist who discovered that 80% of the wealth in Europe was concentrated in 20% of the population. This discovery is also known as the 80/20 rule or the Law of the Vital Few. The Pareto Principle is a phenomenon that finds application in many places, such as software engineering, quality, manufacturing, word-of-mouth marketing, human resources, and government; the 80/20 rule was also popularized by the book “The Mckinsey Way” as a principle by which Mckinsey consultants follow to solve client problems.
Don’t Waste the Customer’s Time
Very few service providers, regardless of service, look at the customer’s experience — from the customer’s point of view. If they did, service providers would realize that customer’s wait around a lot and much of the customer’s time is wasted.
Very few service providers, regardless of service, look at the customer’s experience — from the customer’s point of view. If they did, service providers would realize that customer’s wait around a lot and much of the customer’s time is wasted.
Shark Bite Immunity
My wife and I watched a cool show on Shark Attacks on the Discovery Channel. The show featured several marine biologists who study the history and characteristics of shark attacks, especially Great White Sharks. One pattern they have found is that when Sharks attack and bite their victim, the limb or piece of flesh that was bitten off is almost never eaten, but found later washed on shore. Some speculate that this pattern is analogous to humans eating meatloaf made with dog food: it looks good, but when you take a bite it’s pretty gross. If this theory is true then, we, humans look good but probably taste nasty to a shark.
My wife and I watched a cool show on Shark Attacks on the Discovery Channel. The show featured several marine biologists who study the history and characteristics of shark attacks, especially Great White Sharks. One pattern they have found is that when Sharks attack and bite their victim, the limb or piece of flesh that was bitten off is almost never eaten, but found later washed on shore. Some speculate that this pattern is analogous to humans eating meatloaf made with dog food: it looks good, but when you take a bite it’s pretty gross. If this theory is true then, we, humans look good but probably taste nasty to a shark.
