MURKETING

Flickr Interlude

39-365 2/8/08 – Abandoned Dairy Queen, originally uploaded by The Joy Of The Mundane.

An abandoned DQ in Duluth, MN.

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In The New York Times Mazine: “Bush’s Last Day” Memorabilia

NEGATIVE CAMPAIGN
Winning consumer votes by catering to political disdain.

In Consumed this week, a look at a business with a rather broad potential audience — but also a built-in expiration date.

Given all the excitement generated by heated contests for both the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations, it’s easy to forget that the current resident of the White House will not be moving out for nearly a year.

Then again, maybe you know precisely when that particular change occurs, since the date — Jan. 20, 2009 — has found its way onto a variety of buttons, bumper stickers, T-shirts and even golf balls and hot sauce. In fact, the rendering of that date as 1.20.09 was trademarked by a small company that sold more than $1 million worth of “Bush’s Last Day” merchandise in 2007.

Read the column in today’s issue of the New York Times Magazine, or here.

The Consumed archive is here, and FAQ is here. The all-new Consumed Facebook page is here.

Possible new inspiration for better consumer behavior: The grim economy

I’ve never really been a big believer in the theory that American consumers are going to be led to more ethical and/or less “wasteful” behavior because the trendy thought leaders are all buying Priuses and shunning plastic bags.

But I had an interesting conversation with somebody recently about whether, perhaps, consumers behavior will evolve in less-wasteful directions for a very different reason — a tanking economy.

This conversation was a result of an NYT story this week that was the most-emailed thing on the Times site for a day or two: “Economy Fitful, Americans Start To Pay As they Go.” Snippet:

With the number of jobs shrinking, housing prices falling and debt levels swelling, the same nation that pioneered the no-money-down mortgage suddenly confronts an unfamiliar imperative: more Americans must live within their means.

The shift under way feels to some analysts like a cultural inflection point, one with huge implications for an economy driven overwhelmingly by consumer spending.

Is there some chance that this will have an effect on “consumer ethics” — meaning everything from recycling to thinking about sustainability to simply being less wasteful and more thoughtful about consumption?

It’s not like everybody will become a Freegan, or join The Compact, or become a hardcore “simple living” adherent. But seriously. Will those sorts of ideas trickle more into the mainstream? Will Freecycle get more popular? Might style obsolescence slow? Could more people start thinking about their own consumer behavior in a different way — not because it’s “cool,” but because they sort of have to (or just fear that they will)?

Just a thought, but I’d love to know if you see anecdotal evidence (the friend I was chatting with did) and/or what you think.

Update 2/9/08: Treehugger offers reasons why the grim economy is bad for eco-ness.

Oil and filter change, and women’s cardiovascular health … of course!

Perhaps the whole “cause marketing” thing is getting a little out of hand. Promo Magazine reports:

In its first national cause marketing campaign, Jiffy Lube is encouraging women to focus on their cardiovascular health. Jiffy Lube’s “Maintenance Partners for Life” twins the concepts of maintaining heart and vehicle health.

Riiiiight.

Selling Deere

Brandweek says John Deere jeans, among other things, are on the way, to be unveiled at Magic, the apparel trade show, this week:

The clothing line, which will also include jackets and shirts, is the first produced by John Deere, which until now was best known in style circles for its green caps donned by farmers and celebrities alike.

Actually, there was a big John Deere push at Magic in spring 2005. I’m not sure how this arrangement differs, exactly, as I can’t recall who the company was [2/8/08 update: see comments for details] that was doing this back then — it was some sort of a licensing deal, so maybe this is different. (Although Brandweek says Deere “this week announced, that the Buntin Group, Nashville, Tenn., will now handle its licensed product strategy.”) Or maybe back then it was just T-shirts — that’s all I remember — and thus not an “apparel line.” Although you’ll notice that in the pic above, which I happened to snap at the time, they were calling it an “apparel line.” Whatever.

Back then they were peddling Deere T-shirts and so on in the “Street Wear” section of Magic. This seemed ludicrous to me, but I guess it was a hipster-irony kind of play. I have no idea if that went anywhere. I do remember the company pushing Deere back then had an immense booth, and also had stuff with the FFA logo on it, which I thought was pretty funny.

Coincidentally, I was reminded of all this just a couple of months ago. We were at a truck stop, in Alabama I think, and I was astonished at all the Deere-branded merch for sale — I wish I’d had my camera on me. I remember thinking that while I never saw any evidence of Deere merch taking off with hipsters, whoever owns this place sure must believe that it’ll sell to the actual truck stop demo.

Brandweek says “John Deere merchandise sales, which include hats, watches, golf umbrellas and clocks, hit about $300 million last year.” That’s the kind of stuff they had at the truck stop.

But wow, $300 million — that’s a much bigger number than I would have guessed.

I won’t be at Magic this time around, but I’m curious if the new strategy has them pushing Deere as something other than “Street Wear.” Seems like that might be a good idea?

Flickr Interlude

havana club near la sagrada familia, originally uploaded by _cheryl.

Barcelona, Spain.

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Kid Robot should have an interesting 2008

UnBeige points to this WWD article about Kid Robot‘s collaboration with a firm called Schifter + Partners to bring “a handbag and small accessories collection” into some 200 department stores in the fall. (Previously: 1/20/08 Consumed about Yo Gabba Gabba notes Kid Robot’s involvement in that show and other projects of production company Wildbrain, which is a majority investor in Kid Robot. Also: Schifter + Partners produces Harajuku Lovers, covered in 6/19/05 Consumed.)

The WWD article suggets Kid Robot’s revenue for 2007 was around $24 million.

If I ran a magazine about the merger of creativity and entrepreneurism, I would put Kid Robot on the cover.

A new PR record

Yesterday three publicists at the same PR firm pitched me three different stories in the space of less than four hours.

All three were on the same basic theme — weight loss — and two were kind of just different versions of pitches for essentially the same client. All were clearly canned pitches, but addressed to me personally.

None of it was interesting, and the net effect was further annoyance with a firm that pitches me way too often as it is.

But putting that aside, it doesn’t suggest a great deal of internal efficiency and coordination, does it?

Imaginary endorsement

The folks at Last Exit to Nowhere, purveyors of imaginary-brand T-shirts (Consumed 11/18/07) have a new design out that I gather is doing well among U.S. customers right now. Given current interest in politics, maybe that makes sense: It’s for an imaginary candidate. Senator Palantine, you may recall, is the guy that mohawked Travis Bickle is aiming to kill in Taxi Driver. Should you wish to show your support for the fictional Palantine, here you go. And if this gets you a second glance from fans of the film, you can always as: Are you lookin’ at me?

Honest (Tea) critique

Samuel Fromartz of Organic Inc./Chews Wise offers a fairly skeptical take on Honest Tea (7/3/05 Consumed subject) selling a big ownership chunk to Coke. One excerpt, addressed to co-founder Seth Goldman:

Remember your name, Honest Tea? The name implies that there is something less honest or dishonest out there that is being sold, and you are the alternative. Being the alternative – it’s part of your DNA.

So you have to make the case that Coke will not compromise all that your brand stands for, and has stood for, over the years. Heck, all that YOU stand for.

Q&A: Artist AshleyG

One of the many people I interviewed for the Handmade 2.0 story a while back, but was not able to include in the article itself, was a young artist known as AshleyG. Based in St. Louis, she’s sold thousands of prints through her Etsy shop, and her work is now finding its way into both gallery and retail settings. The Q&A that follows is a revised and condensed version of my original interview with her, with some updates and follow-ups built in.

We talked about her career, about discovering blogs and Etsy on the same night, about digital elements of her work and the “handmade” idea, about online selling as an antidote to the fear of rejection, and about what she hopes might happen next.

So what are the basics? I think you’re making a living from your art now, but at what point did that happen?

Yes, I do this full time, along withy my boyfriend, Drew Bell. He is kind of the less-visible part, but our LLC is actually AshleyG and Drew. I do all the drawing, and he’s the computer genius. He scans everything, and I make the color decisions but he’s usually the one physically doing the PhotoShopping, and the actual printing.

Etsy for me was definitely a turning point. I hadn’t gone to a lot of college; I’d taken some art classes, but I’d been waitressing and bar-tending forever. I met Drew met at a restaurant where I was bar-tending and he was waiting tables. We both had a common passion for art, but really no outlet for it. We’re in St. Louis where, maybe there’s a growing community now, but even four years ago when we met, there really wasn’t. So we started working on some collaborations, my drawings and digital stuff – but I was kind of putting drawings in drawers and just forgetting about them, and going back to hating my job.

When I was little it was drawing drawing drawing, that’s what I wanted to do, but I didn’t really even know that was a possibility for me. And I don’t know, if Etsy hadn’t come to be, if it would have been a possibility for me. I had sort of thought: “Okay, now from age 16 on I’ll work in the restaurant industry, and maybe slowly go to school and things can happen. But I don’t know when I’m gonna get a career, or what career.” So this came as a total surprise, and I just feel exceptionally lucky.

So how did Etsy come onto your radar then? Read more

Shoes, lifestyle, and the absurd

I think is really absurd for a sneaker to represent a lifestyle, it is really absurd to me. Somehow, these shoe companies have managed to insert themselves into people’s identity through repetition, through sponsorship deals, where they really hammer it down that shoes are a status symbol. But at some point in time people are going to realize that that is the most absurd thing.

So says Ian MacKaye, in this long interview with a site called Black Lodges. He talks about the Nike/Minor Threat stuff, and also about running Dischord, and more broadly about the “lifestyle” idea (which he makes quite clear doesn’t interest him in the least).

I came upon it by way of The Hundreds’ blog, where Bobby Hundreds briefly recounts approaching MacKay for his blessing on a Fugazi-lyric-inspired T-shirt, which evidently MacKaye begged off on giving, and so I guess there will be no such shirt.

Related previous items: Q&A with Anne Elizabeth Moore about her book Unmarketable, in which MacKaye and the Nike/Minor Threat incident figures prominently; Minor Threat Hot Sauce; “Brand Underground” article in which The Hundreds figure prominently, as does the idea of “representing a lifestyle.”

Agenda Inc. reveals “luxury vote”

The ever-clever Agenda Inc. has taken the time to tot up the political donations made by those with registered affiliations with “100 luxury — or near-luxury — brands.” Among these luxe-affiliated and politically minded citizens, the clear favorite appears to be Hillary Clinton, whose donations from the posh demo put her well ahead of nearest rival Barack Obama.

Details, here, include who Tommy Hilfiger, Michael Kors, and Dian Von Fursternberg, among others, have given to. Sample finding:

The most right-wing leaning couture brand is Valentino, where an employee gave $2,300 to McCain. Gucci is a hung vote with $500 to Giuliani and $500 to Obama, while the democratic ladies of Chanel are solidly behind Obama $2,800. Louis Vuitton puts $1,250 behind Obama and $250 behind Clinton. Prada is 100% Clinton country. A lone voice at Dior has given $300 to Ron Paul.

In The New York Times Mazine: Tide

CLEAN LOOK
How a mass brand’s iconic design fares in a niche-ified world.

In Consumed this week, a look at a brand icon: Tide. The orange-and-yellow circles of its logo have that rare instant-read power that suggests not just Tide but branding in general. But while once there was a thing called Tide, today there are 39 different kinds of Tide. (Not counting Tide To Go, which will be the subject of the brand’s first-ever Super Bowl ad this weekend.)

While this responds to consumer demand for variety, it brings certain challenges to the iconic power that is one of Tide’s marketplace strengths: namely, balancing that recognizable design with the idea of a range of choices.

To assess the Tide logo in the contemporary marketplace, I consulted J. Duncan Berry of Applied Iconology. Berry has a Ph.D. in art history from Brown and for a time taught there and at the Rhode Island School of Design, but these days his specialty is semiotic analysis of package design for consumer-product companies.

Read the column in The New York Times Magazine, or here.

The brand-new Consumed Facebook page is here.

Welcome to the secret “Buying In” page. How about a free gift?

[** November 2008 update: Sorry! All done on the special offer described below! Keep an eye on Murketing.com for new offers, etc….]

Hi. Rob Walker here. Odds are that if you’ve made your way to this page, you have a copy of Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are, in your hands. And since my author bio is just below the QR Code that got you here, you already know a little about me, and my book. Maybe you’re looking for a little more information? How about the opinion of a neutral third party? Try this:

Publisher’s Weekly (starred review): “Marked by meticulous research and careful conclusions, this superbly readable book confirms New York Times journalist Walker as an expert on consumerism. … [A] thoughtful and unhurried investigation into consumerism that pushes the analysis to the maximum…”

Okay but you’re not here for a sales job. For all I know, you already own the book, and are reading this on your sofa. So for your trouble in coming here, I offer the following: My publisher has printed a limited number of bookplates specifically for Buying In.

Also, I have made some of my own — an even more limited number, designed by me, to the best of my very limited abilities, and printed on a Gocco printer.

See below for images.

If you email me with your address, I will sign one and send it to you, for free. It’s like having a signed edition … sort of. This offer is good while supplies last, as they say. Email [redacted] with your mailing address, any requests you may have about who I’m signing it for — you? someone you’re giving the book to? etc. — and which one you prefer (the publisher version, which looks professional, or mine and has the title and my name on it; or the ones I made — and you can request thumb orientation, top or bottom, on mine). If you can, please put the word “Bookplate” in the subject heading. Thanks…