Min Soo Yoo's Blog

I was going over the blogs and find out some interesting post about American Idol, “The One and Only Simon Cowell” I completely agree with what Ofumi said about Simon. I definitely believe Simon is the American Idol’s sustainable competitive advantage. However, I think Simon was more than sustainable competitive advantage.

 For myself, when I was young I also used to watch American Idol but now I don’t even know the judges because they have kept changing and it is just completely out of my interest. So after reading Ofumi’s blogs, I thought of why I stopped watching American Idol and it was because of Simon Cowell. After Simon Cowell left, I stopped watching it. I loved Simon because even though he was giving out very harsh comments to the participants, what he said was right. If Simon was giving awful comment which did not even make sense, people would not have enjoyed or watched American Idol. Even though Simon’s comments are harsh, it was honest, and thoughtful. In my opinion, this differentiated Simon Cowell from others and lead to American Idol different from other competitor’s shows. Therefore, from my perspective, he was more than sustainable competitive advantage because he contributed a lot for American Idol’s image and brand. For example, when people thought of American Idol, they automatically thought of Simon Cowell. It is almost parallel to a brand association. Also, he made so many people loyal to American Idol (with Simon) like me and Ofumi. For me, Simon Cowell was the “brand equity” that added value to American Idol.

Here is Simon giving comments to the participants.