September 19, 2005

Hiatus caused by trip to hike the trails of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. No e-mail and no phone and no TV and no newspaper. It worked for Lewis and Clark. And it still works.

Mountains are beautiful, dramatic, awe-inspiring. That's a generally accepted perception now, and has been for a few centuries. We are conditioned to share that perception...in a way not dissimilar to the ways in which we are conditioned to enjoy certain other sights, sounds, tastes and smells.

It's important to recognize that these responses are conditioned and not absolute. Michael Kimmelman points out that the ancient Greeks felt repelled by mountains, the Romans found them desolate and hostile, and Martin Luther believed them to be part of God's retribution for man's fall.

It was the romantic writers of the 18th and 19th centuries that changed our perceptions of mountains. So that now we view them, go "aaah," and do so because of a response that is not isolated and absolute but rather instead has been conditioned by all that we've heard, read, and been taught.

The distinction is critical and an essential element of effective marketing. Great products resonate with a memory or conditioned perception that each of us has. Everything - everything - is relative. Making the connections, evoking those memories, resonating with those perceptions...these are the hallmarks of great product marketing.


Wal-Mart Goes Stylin'

I can't resist reading anything about Wal-Mart. I had the same problem some years ago with articles about Michael Ovitz. I couldn't resist them. Then I realized that Michael Ovitz is totally irrelevant and I was wasting my time and needed serious psychiatric counseling. Wal-Mart is NOT totally irrelevant. Not by a long shot.

The latest on Wal-Mart is that they are going for more upscale customers by introducing more fashionable merchandise to their stores. Target's stock is up about 18% this year...and Wal-Mart's stock is down by a similar amount. So, what's Wal-Mart's response: Try to be more like Target.

Strange, I think. K-Mart tried to be like Wal-Mart and look what happened to them. Target found its OWN niche, and they prospered. Now, is Wal-Mart going to become a 'me-too' brand?

Wal-Mart has launched a fashion show in New York, taken a multi-page ad spread in Vogue, and will flood the airways with new fashion-focused ads.

Racks will be less chock-a-block with clothes. New, more fashionable merchandise will be more attractively displayed.

Is Wal-Mart being true to its brand?

Maybe not with the emphasis on fashion. But I think the wider aisles, better displays, and more attractive lighting that they're proposing will certainly improve their shopping experience.

Wal-Mart may see Target as the enemy, but I believe it's Costco that is eating Wal-Mart's lunch. And, it may have something to do with the way Costco pays and treats its employees.