Month: March 2011

In its tenth season now, American Idol is more popular than ever.

The sensational singing competition has over 30 million viewers, each voting for their favourite contestants every week.

I have always been a big fan of American Idol, but more so this time. The diversity of talents displayed are just spectacular: each singer has their own unique style, making it so hard to single out the ‘ultimate favourite’ contestant.

Even if you are not a faithful follower of the show, just  watching one episode would make you notice the iconic alphabet ‘b’ which is found everywhere throughout the show. ‘b’ for Beats by Dr Dre.

Yes, Beats by Dr Dre is officially endorsed by American Idol to be used in their show throughout the whole season. From the microphones to the earphones used by the Idol crew, all you can see is the ‘b’ symbol.

It looks almost as though the show is an advertising ground for the whole line of Beats by Dr Dre products.

Endorsement definitely works. Especially if you are endorsed in a show with 30 million viewers. Think about how much exposure your products are getting.

Being on American Idol is a smart move by Dr Dre. He definitely knows where to place his products.

I bought a pair of Beats by Dr Dre earphones shortly before they were featured in American Idol. I already knew how great those expensive earphones are.

But watching my earphone being used by my idols definitely boosts my confidence in the product. More importantly, it made me feel good.

Google, the world’s leader in search engine, is redefining the business by its current introduction of the People Finder.

People Finder is a database that facilitates communication between people in the face of a disaster, such as the current Japan earthquake and tsunami. Basically it helps you to search for missing family members and friends and get an update of their status.

After such a huge disaster like the one in Japan, most telephone servers are down.This creates a lot of anxiety especially when we are trying to reach family members to find out if they are okay.

That was what happened to my mom.

Her sister lives in Tokyo Japan, and as soon as she heard about the disaster, she tried to reach her on her cellphone. But to no surprise, she couldn’t get the call through. She was very worried and needed to hear from her sister.

With the People Finder though, anyone who has an internet connection can easily access the database anywhere and update their current status and inform family members back home or anywhere in the world. Even though it’s not a hundred per cent accurate, at least it gives people a little bit of information, a bit of hope.

I applaud Google for taking their business to another level. Not only are they highly innovative, but more importantly, they are innovative for a purpose.

I think that should be the ultimate goal of whatever business we are in.

Google is in the business of providing information with excellence. Based on their strength, they are now helping and supporting the people in Japan in the aftermath of this disaster. What they are doing is life changing.

Reading some the status breaks my heart.I pray that someday Japan will see the rainbow after the rain.

The latest buzz about Starbucks’ new logo is spreading fast. To celebrate its 40th Anniversary on March 30, Starbucks adopted a minimalist new face : the cropped green siren (without the circle around it and the word “Starbucks Coffee”)

Starbucks dropped the word “coffee” on their logo because they don’t want to be limited to only specializing in coffee. Even though many years of branding efforts had made Starbucks synonymous to “coffee”, the goal of the new logo is to change this perception in consumers’ minds.

Along with the launch of their new logo, Starbucks introduced new product categories. One that I particularly like is their new line of small dessert treats called Starbucks Petites. Based on Canadian Press’ article, Starbucks debuts new logo, products in stores; new products also debut for 40th anniversary, this new line include ‘mini cupcakes and “cake pops,” small sweets on a stick.’ The idea of these desserts being ‘mini’-sized is such a cute temptation that’s hard to resist!

As with any other logo change attempt (i.e. Gap), there will always be a mix of responses.

The Harvards think that the change is a risky move for the company. In the Harvard Business Review article, Starbucks’ New Logo: A Risky Move, they compared Starbucks attempts to diversify to Apple. The main difference between the two is that Apple have stated at the very beginning that they are not just about computers. Their decision to drop the word “computer” is therefore logical. Starbucks, however, gained its popularity solely through coffee. Dropping the word “coffee” therefore, might put consumers’ trust at risk.

My opinions on the new logo? Well, I don’t detest it. But I definitely preferred the old familiar face.

Maybe after so many cups of Starbucks coffee, I have developed an emotional attachment to it.