Free Kindles (not yet)

I ended the below post with the speculation that Amazon should drop Kindle prices even further. Today I read some interesting pieces that actually advocate giving away free Kindles.

It makes perfect sense, in the same way as telco carriers offer subsidized phones. A monthly yearly fee for a bundle including the latest device might also make sense, provided Amazon can make an appealing bundle. We’ll probably witness more and more efforts of locking customers into platforms in this arena.

For an interesting view, including references to other opinions, read the PC World piece here.

New Selling Line for Kindle Communication

The new Kindle ad features a new tagline – “The book lives on”:

Two interesting strategic elements come out of this spot.

First, Kindle keeps taking on iPad and tablets. It’s not only the glare, but the weight, the battery life, the coolness as portrayed by the look and feel of the spot. Kindle fully dominates the market for dedicated e-readers and electronic books. But it is threatened on the long term by multimedia content and multi-purpose tablets. It’s a classic case where a dominant player needs to establish/extend/defend the category, rather than being concerned with in-category competitors.

Only partly linked with this is the tag-line, which I think shows how Amazon thinks about books. Their bet is on electronic books, not on paper. That is again fully logical, since with Kindle they fully lock their customers, while the same is not happening with paper books. I also fully believe in the death of the physical book on the longer term (with some survivors like albums etc.), but that is not necessarily the main point here. This is about controlling the platform consumers will consume media on in the future and thus getting a commission out of every sale – eventually e-readers and tablets will converge. If I’d be Amazon, I’d lower Kindle prices even more. They would more than make up for that in the future.

Geographical Positioning (in car brand communication)

Some interesting strategic choices in the Superbowl last week:

– a BMW “designed in America, built in America”:

A bit ironic, taking into account how hard the Americans are trying to be German:

An older dedicated post about Buick’s positioning here.

– totally different approach by Chrysler:

With “Imported from Detroit” as a selling line and Eminem as spokesperson. They seem to be taking the national airline approach (as in promoting the country of origin), transforming the dealership into embassies for Detroit.

This begs a few comments. From a purely rational point of view it doesn’t seem to make any sense. Detroit is hardly a reason-to-believe for luxury. The fact that the deep voice over states that itself in the ad doesn’t make it either. Nor are hard working people suggesting luxury. Nor do Eminem or the footage taken from the city – although it’s a very romanticized Detroit.

On the other hand, it does establish a clear positioning (first to claim in communication and with a proud tone of voice), seems to be making good usage of Eminem (which is definitely a stronger brand than Chrysler at this moment), does a good job of using tradition as a way to convey quality, makes maximum use of production. And maybe it’s not really luxury that they want to communicate, but more luxury for ‘hard working people’ (read lower income, affordable luxury etc.). It also caters to the national sentiment, in a nicer and more sentimental way I’d say than the above BMW’s “Built in America”.

We need some time to tell if this is a good initiative. Are they going to stick with it in the longer term? A brand to follow.

Acura is joining the team  with a more earthly approach. Not very interesting, but fits the subject:

A Revolution in Shopping? Adidas Virtual Wall

I salute Adidas for this initiative:

“Can I help you? – Just looking…” is probably the most clicheed exchange in stores. And when you truly want information, sales people in stores are not necessarily the most knowledgeable. Nor can brands control what they say about the their products.  And yes, we do need people to help us decide, but this might just allow them to focus on closing the sale.

Digital kiosks are not new, but until now they were not really appealing to shoppers. The video above seems to signal a change.

E-reader Sizes Compared: Kindle vs. Sony vs. Nook vs. iPad vs. Kobo

Nice app on blogkindle here. Below a Kindle 3 compared with Sony PRS-350 (5″ screen):

Nice Idea Gone Wrong? Nikon App Endorsment

The below photos are the first 10 that appear in an app on my iPad (last week’s iteration, as the app updates weekly):

Associating Nikon with consumer generated photography in a free app (owned by a photography magazine) is sensible. The fact that the camera and lenses used to take each photograph are mentioned should have made Nikon or the media company think.

Nikon doesn’t appear at all in the first 5 pictures, appears once in the first 10 and about 3-4 times in the first 20. Canon appears 7 times in the first 10. Checked a bit the web and it seems Nikon is trailing closely Canon in worldwide DSLR market share (both are around 30%). As far as I remember though, Canon used to have a firmer lead, so the gap in terms of cameras on the market is even wider than the 1-2% points present statistics would show. That makes this media placement quite a poor decision….

Promotional Materials Should Respect the Equity too – Glenfiddich Calendar

Discovered the other day in a restaurant in Toronto. We all did promotional materials at some point. And a lot of times we only go to the extent of painting our logo on them. Nice to see a simple example that seem to perfectly fit the brand:

Calibre – periodice pe e-readere

Calibre e promovat ca mai multe lucruri. Prin definitie este o aplicatie care ajuta la gestionarea cartilor electronice. Le organizeaza, permite stabilirea de tag-uri, downloadeaza metadata de pe web, converteste fisierele intr-un format acceptat de propriul e-reader etc.. Ultima facilitate poate fi esentiala pentru posesorii de Kindle, permitandu-le sa converteasca carti din e-pub in Mobi.

Mie insa mi se pare genial pentru ca are niste add-on-uri care iau reviste si ziare de pe web. Dupa cum spuneam aici, in afara de libraria Amazon nu prea sunt multe variante de cumparat periodice pentru e-readere. Chiar si Amazon are o selectie destul de limitata.

Ce face Calibre? Ia numarul curent de pe web. Practic are cate un add-on pentru fiecare titlu, deoarece fiecare site web al unui ziar/revista are propriile particularitati. Fiind personalizat, downloadeaza doar articolele, fara reclame. Din experienta mea functioneaza destul de bine. Majoritatea ziarelor/revistelor au numarul curent public si gratuit. Acolo unde nu este asa, Calibre are optiunea de a-ti introduce user si parola (daca le ai).

Exemplificari mai jos:

– optiunile disponibile – pe limbi – pentru romana exista evz.ro si gsp:

– optiune de dowload periodic automat:

– zona de “Periodicals” pe Sony PRS-350:

– sumarul de la “Economist” si exemplu de articol:

Totul foarte citibil, inclusiv pozele si benzile desenate.

De ce am ales Sony eReader?

Acum vreo 4 luni am cumparat un Sony PRS-350. Este modelul cu ecran de 5″ – ales pentru ca este mai mic si mai usor.

N-o sa fac un review, exista destul de pe web, inclusiv comparatii si filmulete, ci doar sumarizez pe scurt motivele:

– touch-screen: m-am jucat cu Kindle si alte readere in trecut si optiunea de touch schimba total experienta. Dublu click pe cuvant si iti apare definitia in dictionar. Click pe orice loc din sumar. In general navigatia este mai usoara. Sublinierile si selectiile se pot face foarte facil. Comparativ, Kindle-ul parca este in secolul trecut

– dimensiuni: din cauza touch-screen-ului, Sony-ul este mai mic decat Kindle-ul. Nu pare mai usor, dar dimensiunea il face o idee mai portabil – de exemplu imi incape perfect in buzunarul din spate de la blugi 🙂

– suport e-pub: nu este esential din moment ce exista tool-uri de conversie, dar Amazon este enervant cu formatul lor proprietar…

Minusuri:

– mai scump (180-200$ pentru 5″, 230-250$ pentru 6″) vs. 140-180$ pentru Kindle

– nu are wireless si nici 3G – asta inseamna ca trebuie sa te legi cu cablul la computer

– libraria Sony este jenanta; in momentul in care iesi din carti comerciale nu mai gasesti aproape nimic; la periodice stau dezastruos, desi lucrurile se rezolva bine cu Calibre

The Creative Process – the Scenic Route

Click here for a full view or buy the poster here

Would be nice to have one for account management too. And one for planning. And they should probably be done by a creative, otherwise they’d look bad 🙂