Author Archives: Andy Boyer

Heat Marketing

Posted by Andy Boyer in Marketing

It’s rare that a press release about marketing can leave me without a single thing to add.  But, then I find something like this and remember why I read the Drudge Report so often.  Since this is a press release from Yahoo, I’m just going to copy and paste the whole thing.

In National Advertising First, Stove Top Stuffing Warms Up Chicago Streets This Winter

Tuesday December 2, 8:07 am ET

Stove Top Campaign Takes the ‘Bah-Humbug’ Out of Holiday Shopping with Heated Bus Shelters and Delicious Stuffing Samples

GLENVIEW, Ill., Dec. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — In a national advertising first, Stove Top Stuffing is warming up Chicagoans this December by heating 10 bus shelters throughout the Windy City’s high-traffic commuter and shopping areas to help busy consumers keep cozy throughout the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

The month-long campaign represents the first time that heat has been used in bus shelter advertising, and is part of a larger integrated Stove Top campaign to warm up Chicagoans that also includes print ads in more than 50 bus shelters and street sampling of new Stove Top Quick Cups instant stuffing.

“Stove Top Stuffing is all about warming up families with hot, delicious meals when the temperatures drop, and we wanted a stand-out way to demonstrate this to consumers this holiday season,” said Stove Top Brand Manager Ellen Thompson.

Warm Up Your Senses

Now through the end of the month, Chicago residents can enjoy a break from the cold under one of 10 bus shelter locations throughout Chicago, including:

 -- 16 S. Clark Street (Clark Street & Madison Street) -- 197 N. State Street (State Street & Lake Street) -- 300 N. Michigan Avenue (Michigan Avenue & Wacker Place) -- 431 N. Michigan Avenue (Michigan Avenue & Hubbard Street)* -- 757 N. Michigan Avenue (Michigan Avenue & Chicago Street)* -- 538 W. Madison Street (Madison Street & Clinton Street)* -- 1 E. Washington Avenue (Washington Avenue & State Street)* -- 5 N. Michigan Avenue (Michigan Avenue & Madison Street)* -- 221 N. LaSalle Drive (LaSalle Drive & Haddock Place) -- 533 N. Dearborn Street (Dearborn Street & Grand Street) *Stove Top Quick Cups sampling locations

Spreading the Warmth

To give on-the-go Chicagoans a taste of a home-cooked family favorite, Stove Top will hand out samples of its new Quick Cups instant stuffing at select heated bus shelters during the first three weeks of December, including Dec. 4-7, Dec. 12-14 and Dec. 19-21. Whether you’re noshing on holiday leftovers or grabbing a quick lunch at the office, each two-serving Quick Cups provides a warm, flavorful addition to any meal. Just add hot water and heat for up to 60 seconds in the microwave.

To learn more about Stove Top Quick Cups, leftover ideas and quick dinnertime solutions, visithttp://www.stovetop.com.

1st Hand Account From Mumbai

Posted by Andy Boyer in Politics

Last week, you probably heard about the events in Mumbai, but glossed over them due to the hoilday weekend.  On Saturday, I discovered a friend of mine from Manchester Business School is now living in Mumbai.  I asked him to write a little about what happened out there.  Here is his email, unedited:

Re: Mumbai

well i am the worst when it comes to writing. i could relate some of the events to you to make up the script:

around 10.30pm we heard from the news that a place called Leobold cafe & bar had a gang war in which some people were shot. i actually had a friend just opposite that place curious about what had happened and could not figure out much. i heard stories of someone having their bachelor party there before the wedding.

it was only by 11pm  or so that we started getting news about 3 places and then 5 places that were hit by terrorist attacks. these included this bar, followed by a busy train station, and then these three locations that were under cross fire for 3 days, i.e. Taj Mahal Hotel, Trident Oberoi (two of the most upmarket hotels in the city which is a who’s who regular) and a predominiatly Jewish occupied building.

In the these three locations, the terrorists entered shooting at random. this followed with taking american, british and irish passport holders as hostage. many visitors from these nations also died in the attack. all these three locations were random killing grounds and under fire.

A hotel like to Taj could easily accomodate over a 1000 people. We hear from those inside that there were scores of dead bodies left in the hotel and many of them having bombs below them as booby traps. So we really do not know the actual death count but believe it is far above what the media portrays.

The following day we were hit by some rumours of terrorists in other parts of the city. We do fear though that there may be some of these terrorists that managed to escape and are busy planning something or finding an escape route. It is hard to say what is safe anymore here.

The government was quite unprepared considering the news shows a lot of the intelligence being made available to the state. the army did play a great role in stopping the series of sad events. it was quite late though. three days of anxiety has for the first time killed the spirit of a city that is known for rebounding back the next day from calamities and terrorism in the past. there is a great sense of unrest in the people now seeking strong action against the culprits and demanding a fair and committed government that really is concerned about its people and not to unkept promises to win their vote banks. most politicians that have tried to politicise this event have been come down hard upon by the media and public alike. 

Here’s a Fun Blog

Posted by Andy Boyer in Sports

The Stanwood bureau of AndyBoyer.com once again shows it is worth every dime we are pouring into it.  Garrett and his team bring us “Bend it Like Bennett” a blog written by a fake Clay Bennett. Funny stuff.  And as Garrett reports:

This cannot be written by an OKC resident.  It has to be a disgruntled Seattle fan.  However, the comments indicate that the people reading it believe it is an OKC fan.  
 
http://benditlikebennett.blogspot.com/

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted by Andy Boyer in Creative Writing

Well Happy Thanksgiving, aka “Shopping Season Eve”.  I thought it was a good time to remember the early days of Thanksgiving, as described by my Grand Papa Ernest.  Grandpapa swore that his Grandpapa’s Grandpapa was there.  With a giant glass of Wild Turkey in one hand, he would gather the kids and happily relive the tale of the first Thanksgiving….  

You see, one day word came to Plymouth Rock that a Macy’s had opened in New York.  None of the men knew what a Macy’s was, but the women swore that they simply could not be caught at New Year’s in a gown that was not from this glorious place.  Tales of lavish rooms filled with every kind of merchandise imaginable excited the oldest and youngest women in the town.   And all their freshest inventory arrived the 4th week of November.

Now the trip from Plymouth to New York was at least a day in each direction.  So for a full day of shopping on Saturday, the women had to leave on Friday.  At first the men saw no problem with this, and they approved the plan that the town women had come up with.  

But on Saturday, after a full day of no one fixing them a meal, the men were singing a different tune.  They were hungry, then hungrier on Sunday, and when the women returned, the men were drunk on wine and whiskey, with no food in their bellies.

So the next year, the town elders decreed the women would not be allowed to travel to Macy’s.  One of Macy’s marketing people read the Plymouth blog in which this was discussed, and checked with other towns.  Plymouth was not the only town in which the women were flocking to Macy’s, and what seemed like sure success seemed in peril.  The marketing guy realized something must be done.

Being a man of the world, the marketing man knew quite a few Native Americans.  He quickly struck a deal with one of the chiefs.  The chief had been working with the Macy’s buyers for months to get their hand crafted moccasins and shawls into the fall season, but to no awail.  In return for Macy’s carrying the merchandise, the tribes would reach out to their pilgrim friends.

The tribes would invite the men and women of each town to a giant feast, to be held the 4th Thursday of November.  There would be way way way too much food.  And so in an act of kindness, the tribes allowed – almost forced – the pilgrims to take the leftovers home with them.  

With a house full of leftovers, and tons of extra ale and wine, the men pilgrims suddenly realized an exciting three day weekend might be had.  However, their wives, who were now stuck in town, had given them a long list of demands and chores.  

The men were not pleased, and quickly convened a meeting to discuss options.  With all the food and drink, they certainly could allow the ladies to go to New York.  But they might not make it in time.  

A few of the unmarried men said they would be happy to see this Macy’s and lead the group.  Thus they quickly organized a giant horse and buggy-pool.  They left at the break of dawn, combining the buggies together to make colorful super buggies, and played their musical instruments to pass the time.  They did not stop until they reached New York, where they saw many other caravans and combined them together.  They quickly ended up in a long line, where they proceeded straight to Macy’s.

The men were home and happy.  The women were shopping amidst a mass of chaos and frivolity.  The Native Americans had goods in the store.  And Macy’s never looked back.

My Grandpapa swears his Grandpapa’s Grandpapa was that marketing guy from Macy’s.  I suppose we’ll never know for sure.

A Few Random Unconnected Thoughts on Media Consolidation

Posted by Andy Boyer in Uncategorized

A few things are nagging at my brain about the state of the media.  I feel like I just need to throw them all out on a piece of pixels and see what comes out the other end.

  • The TV, Radio and Print industries are all getting killed since your traditional big spending advertisers (Automotive, Retail and Financials) have hit skid row.
  • People are moving from print version of newspapers to online, which is causing a further cutback in the need for local reporters.
  • Radio networks are becoming more consolidated.
  • It’s become easier and less expensive for TV news organizations to re-purpose their video content on their web property.
  • Talk radio stations can take their exclusive content, turn it into podcasts, and extend its reach.
  • Sports writers are guests on radio shows.  Radio guys are doing TV.  And TV Web sites have written content.
  • The rise of blogs gives more voice to independent writers and amateur broadcasters.
  • The general; distrust of the American media drives more people to seek out alternative media and new voices that are not tied to corporations.

In the end, it feels like there are not enough ad dollars to support 4 local TV stations, a bunch of radio stations and 2 local newspapers.  But they are all covering the same stories, just through a different medium and slightly different lens.

To me, it seems like a natural evoultion would be for TV stations to absorb newspaper writers, and then further consolidate with radio stations.  We could see broadcasting brands develop locally around political perspective or area of excellence.  One station may focus on business and economy, while one focused on social issues.  But the stories would be covered expertly and distributed by video and text.  Teams of reporters could work together to produce short form 30,000 foot overviews and long form, deep dives.

I just think a perfect storm has developed, and media is going to have to change.  There’s less money than before, greater ways to publish, and an audience with more ways to consume the same data.  This leads me to believe media could change significantly very rapidly.

Like I prefaced in the beginning of this, I can’t figure it out for sure, but am certain something has to change.  Do you have any ideas?

Apple Cup 2008 – the Immoble Force vs the Weightless Object

Posted by Andy Boyer in Sports

(Ed note: updated when predictions come true)

I do not count WSU’s win over a Division 8 school, so I consider both these teams 0-10, which makes the game historic.  You can argue that these are two of the worst 10 teams in the history of college football, so it’s almost a shame one of them will be forced to get a win.  As I said before, I am hoping the universe does not collapse upon itself when someone leaves the field with that W.

So, here are 0-11 predictions for Apple Cup 2008. 

  • There will be more missed field goals than made field goals. (UW Kicker: 1 made, 3 missed.  WSU Kicker: 3 made 0 missed.  Who knew the WSU guy was good?)
  • There will be at least 4 fumbles, 2 of which will result in easy scores for the opposition, and 2 of which will happen just as a team is getting ready to score. (Shoot, 2 INT’s, but no fumbles. – FALSE)
  • At some noticeable point in the game, one team will have more penalties than first downs, and penalty yards than yards gained. (FALSE) 
  • We won’t see a sack until the 3rd quarter, and the sacker will either get charged with a celebration or hands to the face penalty. (FALSE)
  • At least one touchdown will be nullified by a dumb penalty. (Not a touchdown, but two big returns for UW, one to start the game, and one in Q3.)
  • One of the kick return teams will *almost* return a kick for a touchdown, but be tackled by the kicker.  (1st quarter, 15:00) The same kick returner will muff a kick.
  • We will see one – if not more – play that goes 70+ yards for touchdowns  (close 57 yards, Q3, 2:56).
  • We will not see a drive that lasts more than 5:00. (FALSE)
  • One cornerback will have an easy interception for a touchdown, but will drop the pick. That cornerback will get beat on the same drive for a touchdown. (FALSE)
  • There will be one quarter in which 7 or less points are scored (Q1), and one quarter in which 28 or more points are scored (FALSE).
  • The officials will monumentally blow an important call.  The call will be so bad and so important, both teams will leave the field thinking they should have won.  (The WSU kicker should have been called for Illegal Procedure because he moved early.  not sure if you saw that.)

As bad as the UW offense is, I think the WSU defense is worse (FALSE – Both offenses were really that bad). I’m going with UW 33 WSU 31.   WSU has a freak safety which gives UW the 2 point edge (OK, that was a longshot, and FALSE – would have been cool if it came true).  At the end of the game, UW commits 3 straight pass interference penalties so WSU gets the ball to the UW 10.  But then they mismanage the clock, get forced into a hurried FG attempt, and miss it.  (OK, I was close here.  Instead of the penalties, a UW cornerback inexplicably got burned on a fly pattern.  And WSU did mismanage the clock, but they made the kick.)  

Side notes:

  • Did anyone else hear the referee, at the beginning of the 2nd OT say, “Okey dokey.”
  • Did anyone else find it funny that the Fox Sports play by play guy kept predicting what play WSU was going to run?  He kept saying things like, “Look out for thee short side sweep” and sure enough, WSU ran a short side sweep.  He should be coaching.
  • Can you really put that much blame on a kicker who is trotting out there with a knee brace on?  On his KICKING leg?! Note to coaches….if your kicker has a knee brace on his kicking leg, you need to find a new kicker.
  • I know my coaching career is limited to 15 year old soccer.  But, if one of my players is dominating the game, I have a tendency to keep that player in.  So when a guy with 88 yards rushing in the first half – a guy doing so well that the sideline reporter asks the coach at halftime, “Where have you been hiding this guy” – what thought process includes the decision of sitting him on the bench in the 2nd half?  
  • With :50 left in the game and UW with 4th and 2 against the worst defense in the NCAA, did anyone else look incredulously at the TV when Willingham punted instead of going for the game clinching first down?  If you are 0-10, and 2 yards away from a win, how do you possibly put the game in the hands of the other team?
  • Is this the worst loss in UW history?  Especially since they had it won, and then “Couged” it in classical WSU fashion.  
  • How does this UW team POSSIBLY show up for 2 weeks of practice to go lose to Cal on Dec 6?  

Idea for Auto Bailout

Posted by Andy Boyer in Big Businesses, Economy, Politics

This morning I listened to Dave Ross interview Ravi Batra, a professor of Economics and author of The New Golden Age: The Coming Revolution against Political Corruption and Economic Chaos.  Mr. Batra had what I think is a fabulous idea for the automaker bailout.

To summarize, the automakers want $50 Billion to save them.  Batra explains that for about $1 Billion, you could buy 60% of General Motors.  Then you could give all those shares to the UAW to distribute amongst their workers, making every union employee of GM a significant shareholder in the company.  Then, they could decide what woul dbe the best courses of action for the company to take.   

It’s brilliant.  It’s not socialism, because the people would get paid if they created value, and lose their jobs if they wouldn’t.  Plus, it would force the UAW to come to grips and decide whether their policies are good for the companies that employee their members.   I think it’s a great idea.  Too bad it will never be considered…

Mark Cuban vs the SEC

Posted by Andy Boyer in Big Businesses, Human Behavior, Politics, Sports

(Parts of post redacted due to learning new information)

A friend asked me my take on the Mark Cuban Insider Trading allegations yesterday.  I realized I didn’t have an opinion yet, and agreed it would make for interesting blog discussion.

If you don’t know the story, go read the report at the Silicon Valley Insider and come on back.

So assuming you have a little background on the situation, I’ll dive right into the initial thoughts that came to mind.

1) $750,000 sure seems like a small amount of money for Cuban to care about.

2) It sounds like the CEO of Momma.com convinced Cuban to buy 6% of the company in March 2004, and then about a month later the same CEO was bringing in a private equity firm which would dilute the shareholders, including Cuban.  If that timeline is accurate, it’s a pretty shady move to pull on your investors, including one who is a billionaire.

3) It also sounds like the CEO kept Cuban in the dark about the dilution until June 28.  So he had about 3 months of telling Cuban, “Oh yeah, everything is fine,” while working with the private equity firm on how to dilute everyone.  Then he calls Cuban on June 28 and said, “By the way, I’m diluting you in a week tomorrow.”

4) Cuban sounds like he was pretty annoyed by this.  And you would be too.  After all, had the CEO not brought Cuban on board as a 6% investor, the equity group may not have been interested in financing the company.  So Cuban may have gotten used by the CEO, and then since the CEO told him about the PIPE, now Cuban was stuck holding shares that he couldn’t get out of.  In his mind, they screwed him going in and now were screwing him from getting out.

5) So, Cuban’s decision at this point seems irrational and not well thought out.  He calls his financial guy and tells him to sell.  At this point, a good financial guy should look at his clock, see it’s late at night and ask why his boss suddenly wants him to stop doing what he was doing and try to unload 600,000 shares of stock in a company no one knows.  Some alarm bell should go off here.  There needed to be a, “Boss.  If the dilution isn’t for a week, lets take 12 hours and look at our options.” (Edit: The PIPE was announced the next day, June 29.)  But the financial guy should still advise him of the issues.

So my analysis:

  • I think anyone who tries to compare this to Wall St fat cats screwing the American consumer in sub-prime lending, is pretty off base.  Just from reading a few articles, I think Cuban was actually the guy screwed by the Wall St guys (the private equity group) and tried to get out of it.  
  • Unfortunately the rules are a little different for people who have conversations with CEO’s than folks like you and me, and he should have just waited for the announcement and sold everything then, taking the $750k hit.  Then he could have used his conections and power to make sure that CEO never got another dime of funding the rest of his life, and the private equity firm was on a giant blackball list.  I mean, he’s probably made 50x that amount on tips and insights from cocktail party conversations with people you and I don’t get to meet. 
  • It does seem like a pretty trivial matter for the SEC to make a big deal of 4 years after the fact.  Anytime a federal or regional judicial branch of government in a hardcore Republican state, sits on something for this long, and then launches it on a guy who helped fund an anti-George Bush movie, I agree that it kind of feels vindictive.
  • In the end, I think Cuban should pay a fine, we should all avoid ever investing in or using Momma.com and someone should ask why it takes the government 4 years to prosecute something like this.

However, this is only my first take, and if new evidence comes out, I’m willing to adjust.   Looking forward to some thoughts from you guys.