Canadian Marketing Blog

Radio with Penguins

A few months ago, I had my first ever radio interviews on 1010 CFRB in Toronto and 800 CJAD in Montreal. Yes, I know I have a face for radio.

We were promoting a new online ticketing partnership with Anheuser Busch theme parks (i.e. SeaWorld) hence we shared the studio with penguins!

Candidly, I was nervous as each show was an hour long and also battling a brutal cold. Not the best combo when you are a 'radio-virgin' as one of the announcers put it ever so mildly.

As I was figuring out how to prepare prior to my debut, I remembered my old man worked in broadcasting so I asked for his advice. Below are the 'Eight is Enough' pointers he gave me.

Perhaps they may may be of help if you're ever on television, radio or a podcast.

(1) Make sure you have a clear objective of what you're speaking about. It is not sufficient to simply say "I want to promote my website". The objective must be more clear.

(2) Have a list of the strengths of your business clearly written down. In other words, a list of benefits you could quickly spell out without any difficulty.

(3) Be aware of improvements that need to be done vis-a-vis your business. Especially if people call in to tell you about them. What are your faults?

(4) Be aware of the general statistics about the users in your industry. You want to inform people about trends and current issues so you come off as a subject matter expert. When you are on the radio or a podcast, you can easily refer to your notes.

(5) If you do not know the answer to a question a caller is asking, do not attempt a snow job. Otherwise you could be buried under an avalanche. Tell them you do not know. Never lie.

(6) Get colleagues to grill you on the subject as a trial run. Especially on the weak points. Sometimes people do not think about the weaknesses of their product or business. This is an important exercise before going on air.

(7) When a caller asks a question, hear them out first. Better to have a pen and paper and write the question down. You will also have the host of the show doing traffic control. He/she will give you the signal to answer. Compose your thoughts before answering.

(8) Avoid answering on the defensive or negative. Even if the question is designed to illicit a negative response try to answer in a positive way.

And yes, the interviews went quite well. Except for the small dab of penguin-poop that ended up on my jacket sleeve. No wonder the little bugger looks so content...

How to Become an Expert, Whatever That Means

If you want to see me blush, you need only refer to me in person as an "expert." That's because I always feel I have so much more to learn. And that, it would seem, includes understanding how to become an expert.

You see, I was recently asked what my "secret" was to becoming an expert in one's field. It was a great question, however I didn't know what to say at the time, and I'm sure my answer was most unsatisfactory (and un-expert like).

Now that I've had some time to reflect on the question, I've compiled a few suggestions for anyone seeking to be an "expert," regardless of the topic.

Pick a topic that interests you.
It's easy to devote time to researching and learning more about a subject if you're passionate, or at least curious, about it in the first place. In fact, when you've chosen the right topic, devoting time to learning about it won't feel like work; it will feel like play.

Always say "yes" to learning.
Never turn down the opportunity to learn something new, even if at first it doesn't appear to be relevant. You never know when that seemingly obscure bit of knowledge may come in handy.

Find other "experts" to support and inspire you.
In your day-to-day interactions with other subject matter experts, whether that's in person or online, they will undoubtedly say or do things that you can learn from. If you've chosen them well, you may also find that they will gently (or not so gently!) nudge you to explore new areas, and there may even be a healthy atmosphere of competitive one-upmanship.

"I don't know," is only the beginning.
If a colleague asks you a question that you don't know the answer to, be honest and say "I don't know." There's nothing wrong with that. Then - and this is the key - go find the answer, from somewhere or someone, both for your colleague and yourself.

Being an expert is relative.
You do not need to know everything about a particular topic or subject. Nobody, and I mean nobody, does. You just have to know more than most people, especially your clients, as well as where to go for additional information.

Hmmm, does this now make me an expert on experts? ;+)

When Not If... 2006 Holiday eCommerce Perspective

Spurred by Jeffrey Grau’s recent eMarketer report on the state of eCommerce in Canada, I thought I would add my own perspective around the Holiday online shopping season. Grau’s report picks up on a theme that I have been promulgating for several years – that the dialogue in Canada should be about when eCommerce hits the tipping point in Canada, not if.

What does a tipping point look like? Look to the South my friends, where ComScore Networks is first out of the gate with a forecasted 26% year-over-year growth this holiday season for online B2C eCommerce retail (not including the huge online travel segment). These growth numbers are now almost routine for U.S.retailers (though I’m sure they don’t feel routine – amazon.com had 4 million orders on December 11th alone – it’s biggest day ever), even within a Holiday retail season that was by most reports coming in on the low end of the single digit forecasts.

Growth in Canadian eCommerce is solid, with eMarketer reporting that Canadians are ‘poised” to double their online spending for retail goods from $8 billion in 2006 to $16 billion by 2009. The key difference here is that these numbers include online travel, event ticket and digital downloads – each of which is a huge component of that eight billion dollar number.

Why do online sales of physical, DSTM (Department Store Type Merchandise) merchandise in Canada trail the U.S. retail market? It’s a simple question with a complicated answer. While there are indeed several great online retailers serving the Canadian marketplace (The Shopping Channel, canadiantire.ca, sears.ca, futureshop.ca/bestbuy.ca to risk naming but a few) there remains essentially both a supply side and demand side deficit. In other words, more retailers would go to the expense and effort of selling online in Canada if more consumers were shopping online, and more consumers would shop online if only there were more retailers selling online.

One of the catalysts that will drive greater adoption of B2C eCommerce in Canada is a greater influx of U.S. merchants serving the Canadian marketplace. Not necessarily because they are better online merchants, but because their big brand names drive awareness, and they help “make the market” in terms of breadth and depth of assortment available online.

Don’t look for that to happen in 2007 however – with the growth rates that we’re witnessing in the U.S. right now it’s difficult to see the big online retail brands looking North for growth any time soon – their focus will continue to be keeping up with double-digit growth rates in their core online domestic business and serve their customers well.

So where does that leave us? Watch this blog space for more!

Apple unveils the new Apple iPhone

My prediction for 2007... I can see the future, there will be much longer line-ups at the Apple store. Hot damn, I gotta get me one of these!

Here is the breaking news over at Engadget - The Apple iPhone.

Hat tip to Mitch Joel for sending the link.

CBC Takes A Risk

The CBC has taken a pounding over the past few years. It's not easy being a public broadcaster when the politicians in power whom your reporters may be criticizing, are the very same ones determining your budget as a crown corporation.

Television advertising revenues are down. And are going to be harder to generate as the CBC lost the broadcasting rights to sporting events such as the Olympics, Grey Cup and other major curling events such as the Tournament of Hearts. All of which have been mainstays at the network for years.

The CBC then went south of the border and promoted "The One" and the less said about that exercise the better. We can't possibly produce great television programming in Canada, right? Shows such as "This Hour has 22 Minutes", "Hockey Night in Canada", "Air Farce" and "Talking to Americans" would indicate otherwise.

For obvious reasons, the CBC took a big creative risk and launched a Canadian created, directed, produced and starred television show called Little Mosque on the Prairie. The show is about a small Muslim community living in rural Saskatchewan. Kind of like your "Corner Gas" but with an 'exotic' feel to it. (Little Mosque on the Prairie airs tonight on CBC at 8:30pm EST but check your local listings.)

Creator Zarqa Nawaz has said that "This is an equal opportunity show. Both Muslims and non-Muslims will watch and ask, 'Are they making fun of me?' I don't think either group can claim we're picking on them." That's perfect as humour is a great way to demonstrate to others how foolish ignorance, fear and racism are regardless of your religious denomination.

Given the state of current world events and the perception of Muslims and Islam, I think this show is very refreshing. There are undoubtedly conservative Muslims or right-wing conservatives who will get offended and start criticizing. But as one person so aptly remarked in the online comments section of a Globe & Mail article, "It's a sitcom people - relax."

The cyncial side of me says that "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was a great movie but the television series wasn't as good. Only so much juice one can get out of an orange after all. I also wonder if some of jokes will be too geared towards the Muslim community for others to understand.

Candidly, I hope this show has even a quarter of the same impact that 'Will & Grace' did for the gay community and the mainstream public. Muslims (you could replace that with 'Gays', 'Jews', 'Hindus', 'African-Americans' and others) aren't so bad once you get to know them. Despite what Fox News says but I digress.

The CBC has done an excellent job of marketing the show. One may disagree but they have gotten extensive coverage in the New York times, CNN, BBC, Stephen Colbert and other television shows and media outlets around the globe. Do you ever recall the Beach Combers being covered on CNN?

From an online marketing perspective the CBC have a simple yet informative website, ability to opt-in for emails and have also uploaded clips on to YouTube. The only things they are missing are an online viral campaign, a blog and keyword bidding in search engines. When you look at the clip below, how can you not laugh?

A recent event in Toronto where they promoted the show and served tons of chicken shwarma was very successful. The CBC seems to have done many things right in terms of online and offline marketing of the show.

It will now be up to the viewers to decide on how good the show really is. At the end of the day I'm going to reserve judgement until I see it. In the interim, you have to give the CBC kudos for taking a risk on something like this.

Second Life

I would love to start a dialogue about the next generation of social networking and more – Second Life

For those not familiar with the site, Second Life is a 3-D virtual world built and owned by its residents. It inhabits over a million people from around the globe.

The Wikipedia definition of Second Life is “a privately owned, partly subscription-based 3-D virtual world, made publicly available by San Francisco based Linden Lab, and founded by former RealNetworks CTO Philip Rosedale. The SL world resides in a large array of servers that are owned and maintained by Linden Lab, known collectively as “the grid”. The SL client program provides its users with tools to view and modify the SL world and participate in its virtual economy, which concurrently has begun to operate as a “real” market. At precisely 8:05 AM PDT, October 18th, 2006, the population of SL hit 1 million residents”.

Second Life is not just for networking. There is also a strong e-commerce aspect.

I just read today in www.dmnews.com that both Sears and IBM have opened shop in Second Life. Sears created a virtual “room” where consumers can interact with Sears products. There are at least 3,000 entrepreneurs making $20,000 or more a year on Second Life businesses. BusinessWeek recently devoted a cover story to Anshe Chung, Second Life’s largest real-estate mogul.

Companies have also been created to take people through Second Life virtual “tours”. Admittedly, mine is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. I would love to hear your thoughts on the Second Life virtual world. What are your predictions? Personally, I think we as marketers need to get on board. Companies have already lost control of their brands to consumers. If we don’t play in their world, our brands will die the way of the Dodo.

And the survey says….

Sometime ago I read an article untitled ‘Customer Surveys: All Talk, No Action’. The article asks us why surveys are being done if no action is derived from the results. The article suggests that survey data is merely used to validate existing products and services instead of using the information to make change.

Recently I sat through a meeting recapping results of a customer survey and heard comments like, “the customer doesn’t get it”, or “they are missing the point”. I think great … now lets fix it so they get the point. Then I hear, “must be something wrong with the data”. Something wrong with the data … what?

I got back to my office and I thought I would check and see what the blogsphere is saying. Sure enough I found hundreds of entries. Real customers pointing out the same problems as did the results of the survey.

I am not saying this happens all the time. I have also sat in meetings where the client has embraced this and made changes to their products and services based on customer feedback.

I know change can be difficult…not to mention costly. I also know that corporate culture has not always rewarded employees for … well … ‘rocking the boat’. However, simply pointing out what’s right with your products and services does not help anyone. In a day and age where consumers are in control you need to ask tough questions to really understand what’s going on.

The New Year is only 15 days old and here we go again not listening to our customers. So … SHHHH … the customer is speaking!

An iPhone by any other name is still a phone

As the local IP lawyer and trade-mark agent of this blog, it is incumbent on me to say something about the iPhone debate. I promise to blog about topics other than trade-marks next time.

Basically, the iPhone is not a terribly good mark. Trade-marks are supposed to distinguish a product from its competitors. There are too many competitors using the mark to make it very distinctive.

Here’s a breakdown of the situation:

Cisco has registered and used the mark since 2000 in the US.

Cisco applied for the mark in Canada, but the application was abandoned for unknown reasons.

Comwave Telecom Inc., has applied for the mark in Canada, but it is not yet registered.

Apple has applied for the mark in Canada, but the application is being opposed, presumably by Comwave.

Cisco has a decent argument in the US, since it has registered and used the mark, and since Apple and Cisco are in very similar industries.

In Canada, the picture is less clear, since Cisco’s application was abandoned.

One far out argument Apple might try is that the iPod is widely recognized as an Apple product, and so it should be entited to the iPhone. But it seems unlikely that this recognition precludes other people from using iWhatever for their products, because so many products have jumped on the iProduct bandwagon.

I guess that Cisco and Apple will reach a deal in the US: Cisco uses iPhone along with the Cisco name, and Apple uses iPhone along with the Apple name.

Or, Apple will choose a new name: a creative and distinctive one. It’s not like Apple has a shortage of creative people working there.

The press about the lawsuit has already done lots of promotion for Apple’s new product. when you play in the big leagues, a good debate may be worth the lawyers, even if you lose the debate.

Product Innovation, Database Marketing Services

Over the past few years I've had the opportunity to work with many Canadian and American database marketing service and tool providers. Personally, I have found that the quality of services in Canada to be quite inconsistent and generally not as strong as those of our American counterparts in areas such as data hygiene, hosted marketing databases, multichannel campaign analytics, and others. The problem is that many of the U.S. services and tools are priced for use in a much larger market so the cost to a Canadian marketer may be unjustifiable. What do you folks think? What tools and services would you like to see available and tailored to the Canadian database marketing community? What would you like to be able to do? And of course, what pricing structure would make sense based on your P&L?

Other than that, how was the show Mrs. Lincoln?

On the scale of “this is bad”, the news about the security breach at U.S. based retailer TJX (Winners and HomeSense in Canada) is, well, bad. Consumers are already pretty weary about their credit card security, and this certainly won’t help. If there is a bright spot in all of this it’s that the security breach is not related to online retail/eCommerce – TJX closed their eCommerce operations in the U.S. in 2005, and (other than gift cards via a 3rd party provider) have never ventured into the space in Canada.

Let’s hope/help the message stays precise – this is not an eCommerce/online shopping issue.

Event: 'How to Satisfy Irrational Callers'

Quick post about an event of interest (Feb 14) to those in a contact centre environment. Put on by the Contact Professional Alliance, the topic is about responding to ‘difficult’ callers. Former Staff Sgt. Barney McNeilly who was second-in-command at the Toronto Police Emergency Task Force will share his experience and insight on the issue.

Isn't it time you got an RSS reader?

Are you still searching for bookmarks in your browser's sagging drop-down menus? Wasting time navigating those sub-sub folders looking for blogs you visit everyday? Will you admit that you're still typing out URL's blog by blog? Friend, you need an RSS reader... Today, we're going to change your life.

RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication" and/or "Rich Site Summary," although that may have changed in the last ten minutes (you know how this business is).

Wikipedia says:

Users of RSS content use programs called feed 'readers' or 'aggregators': the user 'subscribes' to a feed by supplying to their reader a link to the feed; the reader can then check the user's subscribed feeds to see if any of those feeds have new content since the last time it checked, and if so, retrieve that content and present it to the user.

So...

Download and install a good RSS Reader. I recommend NewsFire for Mac or RSS Reader for Windows.

The Mac version costs about $20 bucks. And it's the best $20 bucks you'll spend this year on your career... do it now.

Once you have it installed, the fun begins...

Every time you see an RSS icon, you can subscribe to the content for that site. It will come to you! Click on the icon and follow the instructions indicated by your software on how to subscribe to a feed.

This is a great way to stay on top of all sorts of "work" related things... like marketing trends, ski reports, sport scores, Brittany Spears' "wardrobe," David Beckham's hair... you know... the important stuff.

You can have dozens, even hundreds of sites "feeding" your RSS reader. Unsubscribing to a site is as simple as deleting it from the list in your reader.

Below is an appetizer list of blogs to begin your feeding frenzy!

The CMA

Advertising - Adrants, Adverbox

Viral Video - Viral Video Charts

Online Media - Banner Blog

PR - PRWorks

Trends - Meme

For more RSS smorgasbords, these two websites have compiled remarkable lists:

Check out Buzz Canuck's 1% List. A detailed listing of 150+ marketing and social media blogs across Canada.

For the top 150 US skewed marketing blogs, visit here.

To You From Failing Hands

I remember this book called "Lions of Winter" about the Montreal Canadiens hockey club. It's a facinating read about the storied franchise.

Maple Leafs fans may disagree but the Canadiens are one of the most successful sports teams in the globe. They rank with other iconic teams such as the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Lakers and Manchester United. They have won more Stanley Cups than any other team in history. Their fans expected nothing less than success.

That was until the past decade where a series of poor management and player personnel decisions affected their performance. A team used to lifting the Stanley Cup a few times per decade was now not even making the playoffs.

Ownership brought in a new management team and things have improved both on and off the ice. The team is performing better than expected, attendance is up and every home game has been sold-out this year. The future looks even more promising with great young players coming up through the ranks.

One of the biggest reasons for the turn-around was that ownership recruited former players (each Stanley-Cup winning captains) to became the General-Manager, Coach and Assistant Coach respectively.

The rot for the Canadiens set in when they started getting rid of all of their veteran players. Those who knew what it took to be successful. It made me reflect, how some companies and marketing departments don't appear to value the veterans on their teams anymore.

The standard reasons are given. They are too expensive. Their production is down. They have no more drive/enthusiasm. Nonsense. I can't begin to explain how much I value the experience and mentorship "veterans" provided (and continue to provide) me during my career.

How many times have we all seen talented and experienced people get pushed out the door? Leaving with them invaluable knowledge and expertise that benefited their companies for years. And then take a wild guess who is left holding the bag?

Smart companies and marketers are ones that value their people, including the veterans who can show rookies a thing or two.

Larry Robinson, a hall of fame defencemen, said he became the player he was because of hard-work and the veterans who helped him when he first started with the Canadiens. And those veterans were guided by greats before them and so on. Call it a tradition of excellence.

So when people join your team - are veterans around to show them how to become successful? Do you have mentorship programs and/or succession-planning? Or are people left to their own devices?

There is no question this kind of strategy requires a specific culture to flourish. If we marketers are going to progress to the point where we look beyond quarter to quarter success but sustainable long-term growth, it's something we must consider.

As the motto in the Canadiens lockeroom states:"To you from failing hands we throw the torch. Be it yours to hold high."

Cranky…but still frisky

Noted the launch of a whole new concept for a search engine recently – cranky.com claims to be the “first age-relevant search engine”. The philosophy behind the site is based on research that the cranky.com folks conducted that told them 50+ surfers are overwhelmed by the amount of information that a typical search returns, and further that their audience wanted search results filtered by relevance. So let’s do a quick, fun quiz to see if you are up to speed on the needs, wants and desires of this demographic - is the No.1 searched term:

a) Travel
b) Retirement Planning
c) Estate Planning
d) Health
e) Sex

Yes, you may have guessed it from the title – e) “Sex” is the number one searched item in cranky.com. Interestingly, “bloogs” ranks number seven (something lost in the relevance on that one perhaps).

All Star Hockey Marketing

A recent Globe and Mail story contained the following pasage:

Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, the outspoken owner of basketball's Dallas Mavericks, has some intriguing advice for the NHL when it comes to marketing its stars."

"One of the biggest challenges the NHL has is that there isn't one player that we all know is going to be quotable, and the media is going to run with and pay too much attention to," he wrote in his blog. Cuban would love to see Crosby or one of the sport's other young guns show some flare and self-promotion on the ice.

Is it true that we watch sports for the storyline? Are displays of athletics and teamwork less easy to sell than quips from players?

I think so. Why does Don Cherry get to keep his job? Because he knows the stories, and because he says the occasional outrageous thing that gets people talking. Muhammad Ali was popular becasue he was a great boxer and orator. Click on his website, and you will hear him say "I am still the greatest of all time". why did the LA Galaxy hire David Beckham for $250 million over 5 years? For the story.

The advice Kevin Costner's character gave to Tim Robbin's character in Bull Durham was funny, because it sums up what we've heard a million times from players:
1) We gotta play 'em one day at a time.
2) I'm just happy to be here. Hope I can help the ballclub.
3) I just want to give it my best shot, and the good Lord willing, things will work out.

OK, so Bull Durham is about baseball. The quotes are the same.

So, bring on the rivalries and the trash talk. Maybe it will make people talk. Oh, and watch the all star game.

Beginning a Conversation for a President

Its not just marketers that are using the cool buzzwords, so are the politicians. If you heard Hillary's recent announcement about her "exploratory committee" its pretty apparent to me she might have had a peek into Joseph Jaffe's new book "Join the Conversation"

But it’s not just about using the cool words, it’s the new way of doing business. Here is how I see it ---- Hillary is going to launch a new previously untested product out in the market (possibly the first female president). To do so, instead of just laying out what she thinks should be the right "product benefits" or in other words her manifesto, she is letting the consumer drive it -- "let’s start a dialogue", she says. She is attempting to let her customers design the product and state what its benefits should be.

It would be foolish of me to forecast the outcome, but it will be interesting to see how and if the product changes -- to a certain extent the product is already designed --all her characteristics and her past are well known and she can't change them. But through this dialogue will she manage to make the benefits of that product more relevant to the consumer? Can she change a few of the user experience touch points to make it a preferred choice?

I am really looking forward to see if she can be the iPod of the candidates who clearly differentiates herself by the likeability (usability) and what's important to the public (relevancy). Will the "conversation" help her design it, or will it just be another market research report that is used to validate already existing product features as Steve pointed out in his previous post.

Let the conversation begin.

Success

There are tons of books, conferences, magazine and newspaper articles, blogs, podcasts and other things that explain, elaborate or attempt to establish why people succeed.

My wife sent me this video this morning. It's a 3 minute presentation by Richard St. John which explains how to be successful more succintly than I ever could.

Enjoy.

Cabinet Makers

You are Time Magazine's Person of the Year. You are a digital citizen of the world. You are also an immigrant.

No, my coffee was not spiked this morning. You are an immigrant or the descendant of immigrants, unless your ancestors hail from the First Nations. Now being an immigrant or a descendant of one is nothing to be ashamed about. Everyone comes to Canada to find a better life for themselves. That's what makes this such a magnificent country.

So if we can agree on that, there isn't much difference between the man who arrived on the plane from Lagos last week or someone's great-great grandparents who arrived on a boat from London centuries ago. Why do I bring this up?

Recently, you may have noticed some advertising on television, print and outdoor media promoting the "hireimmigrants.ca" campaign of TRIEC, an initiative funded by the Government of Canada, Government of Ontario and The Maytree Foundation. The campaign is running from December until April and the creative was developed (pro-bono) by the folks at Ethos-JWT.

According to Ratna Omidvar, executive director of TRIEC and The Maytree Foundation, "The purpose of the ads are to raise public awareness facing skilled immigrants and encourage everyone to become an active part of the solution."

The tagline on the creative is self-explanatory. Someone applying for or working a minimum wage job and they are infinitely more qualified. As the tagline states, "If Canada is the land of opportunity, why is an MBA serving fast-food?"

If you think that is an exaggeration, the next time you are in a cab try a little litmus test. Ask the driver when they came to Canada and what was their profession before arriving.

Here are the answers the last three drivers gave me:

1 - Banking Officer
2 - Dentist
3 - Investment Advisor

My sister recently had cabinets installed and the gentleman installing them used to be a doctor in Bulgaria before coming to Canada. Don't get me wrong, home construction/decor is a booming industry but have you been to a hospital lately? Not enough funding or staff. Wait times are brutal. But at least we have enough cabinet makers!

Hospitals in small towns across Canada are being closed down. No one wants to work there. If you think people in e-commerce are getting headhunted like crazy, try the medical field. So I wonder if the aforementioned cabinet maker would mind working in a small town, if it meant he could practice medicine again? Hmm, I wonder what his answer would be...

And I suggest this for purely selfish reasons. If that cabinet-marker was a doctor, wouldn't he be at a higher income-tax bracket that would further help fund our social programs instead of him being potentially dependant on them?

Wouldn't you rather have that lady serving you fries at Burger King, working in a hospital where she might make the difference in the life/death of a loved one? Or be the creative genius behind your next award winning marketing campaign? Or advise how to break out successfully in that foreign market because no one on your team has a clue what to do?

Granted, educational and work experience here in North America is not always equal to other nations in the globe. However, if someone has experience why do we make it so difficult for people to qualify and move ahead?

Why should you as a potential employer hire an immigrant? Not because of charity but as noted on the website:

1.The Canadian-born workforce is shrinking and the demand for labour is growing.
2. Skilled immigrants can help Canadian companies do business with the world.
3. Skilled immigrants bring international expertise.
4. The local market is changing.

After the sponsorship scandal I became cynical about government initiatives but this one has merit. Good on them for bringing attention to the issue and doing it with a compelling campaign.

There are enough cabinet makers in Canada.

Welcome to the big leagues Apple!

If you have an MP3 player these days, it's most likely an Apple Ipod. If you have an Ipod, you are using iTunes to download your music (and may even be dowloading movies now).

Both are ubiquitous. Sales of the Ipod are fast approaching the 100 million mark. In fact, Apple sold 22 million iPods during the 2006 Christmas season alone!

People are in love with their iPods. The well designed software and ease of perfectly connecting with iTunes has made it the music media player choice for the past 3+ years.

I would argue that the vast music choice and well designed iTunes music store has had more to do with the incredible success of the iPod than the other way around. Apple was the first to create a legal music download site with the selection that consumers demanded. Apple sold 600,000 iPods before iTunes came out on April 29th 2003. They have sold 87 million since then. Although I have to admit that the ease of using the iPod itself and the excellent marketing programs have had a huge impact on the success as well.

As Microsoft found out from a number of government anti-trust lawsuits, being the undisputed dominant champion in an industry has it's drawbacks.

Holland, Germany and France are launching serious investigations into the iTunes software. They're investigating the fact that the music purchased on iTunes cannot play on any other personal media player (other than iPods). Holland and France has already claimed this software locking is illegal, and are meeting with Apple representatives to decide on next steps.

What does this mean? There is a very real possibility that Apple will be forced to unlock the software and allow the songs to be played on other personal media devices in Holland, Germany and France. If this should happen, it won't be long before other countries jump on the bandwagon and Apple will have no choice but to license the software to competitors (to allow iTunes music to play on a competitors digital media player).

I have to say I agree. If I'm legally buying something such as a song, I should be able to own it outright, and play it anywhere I want on any machine I want.

Most of us remember the Sony Walkman. For those that don't, the Walkman was a portable tape player made by Sony, and was easily the most popular personal media device in the 1980's. In fact, Sony sold 186 million Walkman's between 1979 and 1999 (Apple has sold about 90 million iPods so far). When you bought a Walkman, you went out and bought tapes (lots and lots of bulky tapes). Once you bought that cassette tape, you could play it on any cassette player made by any manufacturer. Some competitors made better "walkmans" as the years went on, such as Panasonic (in my opinion). When it came time to buy a new cassette player, I could choose any one of them, knowing they would play all the cassette tapes I bought. The same thing happened when CD's came out.

In the coming years, competitors are sure to develop a better "iPod". It would be nice to know that the music I have already paid for will be able to load up on my new digital player from another company without any problems. Apple, of course, doesn't want this to happen.

When governments are looking into your business practices because of your size and domination, you know you've reached the big time.

Apple has done an incredible job with iTunes and the iPod. They are now facing the challenges of that success.

More Global Warming Rhetoric

As a Canadian interested in addressing global warming, I am embarrassed by the Liberals' recent ploy to discredit Stephen Harper's environmental efforts. No wonder we lag the G7, given the in-fighting of our political parties. To suggest a letter written by Harper in 2002 is evidence of his disinterest in the issue in 2007 is preposterous. Social attitudes evolve over time as information becomes available, leaders take a stand and a variety of factors converge (i.e. Tipping Point). Consider the time it has taken us to address cigarette smoking, drunk driving or even wearing a seat belt - today we can't imagine being any less vigilant whereas a few years ago there was some debate.

Politicians are not perfect and are prone to changing their views to suit the times and their constituents, but whether you're Conservative or Liberal, let's not drag the man down if he's now raising awareness of the Climate Change issue. Let's focus on the global issue, not position for the fall election.