I originally wrote this memo to myself two years ago in October 2012.  Google recently made it non mandatory to create a Google + account signaling to many that they might ditch their social network and while I never use it other than to “hangout” (because Microsoft crippled Skype) I imagine my observations below remain true.

    What is Google doing wrong with Google+ (or innovation never follows)

  Google unquestionably is a behemoth leader in the current set of technology which controls and interacts with almost everyone on the internet in least some form or fashion. Google hopes to extend that into the social media space Facebook currently dominates and while their offering has some useful features such as circles they are met with a (finally) proper version of Facebook lists - what is Google doing wrong?  The same thing ever power player in any industry does when they get annihilated by a competitor who comes out with a product which changes (aka ‘disrupts’ for you buzzy readers) the industry.

  Consider iPod and then iPhone, which dominated the portable music industry while all the major players scrambled to catch up they ultimately rendered themselves extinct. In 2005 I consulted Sony Japan’s Design Center and Walkman group on the design and branding of their "iPod killer." This business was won in part by telling Sony that they invented portable audio (William Gibson claimed the original Walkman to be the greatest invention ever), they went to supreme court for home video and I asked if they were going to let a puny computer company (Apple) without the history and R+D of Sony kick their butt.  What did Sony do? They chased after the iPod. What happened? They produced a sub average iPod experience and failed. 

  How does this pertain to Google+? Let's consider Google, it is the number one search engine, web, blogs, news, directions, pictures and videos including YouTube. Gmail is used by nearly everyone I know, Google docs, Picasa and now Places integrate into maps. So what is Google? Google is the tool which we use at every touch point to access and find information and content.  What is Google+? A wanna be Facebook ultimately based on the same principles of logging in, having friends and commenting on things and sharing them with status updates or a wall.

The New Economist

In Japan, Shochu is, without question, the Spirit of choice among the locals. Often referred to as the "Japanese vodka," it can be distilled from rice, barley and, my favorite "imo," a.k.a. sweet potato.  Unlike its Korean counterpart, Soju which, while also a local staple of liberation, is somewhat medicinal in taste and often consumed using shot glasses, Shochu lends itself to a more artisan approach.

In late 2007, a Japanese colleague of mine had the idea to create a Shochu brand and export it to the U.S., so while he was touring Kyushu and sampling the goods, I developed the brand concepts and product segmentation spanning RTD to high-end single malt Scotch style.  I am still envisioning a day when I can walk into a convince store and pick-up a can of "Oolong-hi."

JCP:  Branding gone wrong

I will admit, I have not been keeping up with J.C. Penny. But today, as I walked past their retail store two blocks south of Macy’s, something caught my attention; notably, how terrible their branding is. 

Of course, no reputable brand would hang two different marks on the facade of its store, especially in a high-traffic location.  Yet the fact that the main signage looked like a mistake or even a joke is what really paralyzed me. Curious to know what the real JCP mark looks like I did a quick Google search and found this:

The Chelsea: Recreating the Smell of an Iconic Hotel

  I recently lived in the infamous Chelsea Hotel, in part because I was infatuated with the building, its architecture and the fact that I never set foot in the building apart from getting my hair cut from Mariano in Suite 303 during the late 90s. I managed to secure a lease in hopes of helping the original owners not “mess the place up.” After several months of meetings and proposing the future of public spaces, food and beverage, room design and segmentation, loyalty programs, amenities, merchandise, partnerships, customer adoption and art curation, I was able to renovate (with the help of my dear friend Tobias Funk) Arthur Miller’s room where he once lived with Marilyn  Monroe.  Needless to say the end result was so undesirable; I refused to even take a single picture of it. My efforts were helpful, though, as they ultimately managed to sell the building.

  So on the verge of extinction and moving out, I happened to meet the perfumer Christophe Laudamiel (crashing a meeting my dear friend, Carrie Keagan, was having with him) to whom I proposed the concept of creating the smell of the Chelsea.  In the past, he recreated every scene for the movie Perfume into an exclusive $1,800 box set of scents, as well as a smell opera for the Guggenheim Museum and mainstream hits like Polo Blue.

  I invited Christophe to the hotel where we proceeded to the top story walking down every floor and corridor, pausing to examine the wide range of smells from clean clothes, mahogany, incense, etc.  We retreated to my room, where, to my surprise, he was able to guess the tablespoon of pecorino romano cheese I put in my sauce some eight hours earlier and that night the brief was born: sex, sweat, weed and ketchup.

  What happened next was many trips to Christophe’s laboratory, 80+ formulas (some did not meet perfume regulations to which he exclaimed “It’s great; the Chelsea; wear at your own risk.”) and many friends and strangers approval of the captivating animalistic fragrance.

  Last year, I started to source the manufacturer, Delbia Do Company. The bottles, however, have yet to meet my satisfaction with the limitations and designs of the current crop of stock bottles so thus I will begin my search again.

Lexus – Not so big in Japan or: How to shift consumer perceptions

Lexus arrived in America in 1989 as part of Toyota’s effort to compete directly with German’s top luxury sedans without challenging its economically conservative image by importing high-end domestic automobiles and rebranding them; Honda and Nissan did the same with Acura and Infiniti, respectively.

 Their approach was simple – leverage the renowned Japanese manufacturing expertise, over-engineer the heck out of the car, use compelling advertising and sell it at a significant savings over a Mercedes Benz. As they say, “The proof is in the pudding,” and for nearly a decade Lexus was the automotive industry’s leading luxury sedan. Of course, having rappers like Jay-Z and Notorious B.I.G idolize the brand didn’t hurt, either.

 So naturally, when my Japanese colleagues told me that Toyota is making significant effort to compete domestically against Mercedes, Audi and BMW, I quickly responded “Why not get some rappers to rap about it?” After several minutes of playing charades and grasping for a more suitable word for “rapper,” I remembered how vastly different Japan is from America and switched gears.

 During my three year stint in Tokyo, I became quite familiar with the older, conservative Celsior owner who - through no choice of his own - is now driving a Lexus LS series sedan.  Of course he could care less because he wouldn’t think of driving anything foreign or even driving for that matter as a majority of these cars sold are chauffeured.

 Strangely enough, the younger audience Toyota is targeting shares this extreme sense of pride and although they want a BMW as soon as they get one they often end up driving their father’s Lexus because they don’t like the harsh handling German sedans are renowned for.

 So why are they buying a BMW in the first place, and what can be done to change this? Here are a couple of quick thoughts:

   Communication

The first thing you notice when you go to Lexus Japan LS web page is a “gaijin” (foreigner) who is eventually driving with a beautiful Japanese woman. While Japan may be perceived to be enamored with Western trends (John and Yoko aside), if you are a young Japanese man with an inherited sense of national pride, are you really dreaming up this image? Loose the gaijin (unless they are wildly famous and speak to your audience, i.e., when Leonardo DiCaprio started driving a Prius, everyone was talking about it in Japan). Make the car and being Japanese the hero. Make it undesirable to buy anything except a Lexus and show the car driving in Tokyo and not some mountain road because who really goes there anyway?

   The Hero – Limited Edition

The Japanese are masters of the “limited edition.” They love them. So why not take the “F-line” and make it relevant to this audience. Create a new version of it - and whatever it is, keep the naming direct and simple. The best part about this is that it can be entirely cosmetic:

 Lose all the chrome

 Body match or use limited edition accent color for all emblems, trim, etc.

Offer limited edition paint in three colors – with one additional color only available that specific model year

Make one unique branded style of wheels – make them good!

Monochrome the interior instrumentation and illumination

Custom stitch the leather and wrap the entire interior in it including the dashboard.

It is possible to take this a step further and tweak the performance, in which case you would delineate it  as ”Stage 2” or something akin to Audi’s “S” and “RS” lines.

  Curated Lifestyle

Japan does not have the same dealer network as the United States and therefore cannot distinguish itself with luxury amenities and services that America does.  What it does have is an endless sea of new restaurants, cocktail lounges, high-end clubs and luxury stores hidden behind secret entrances or flaunted in Aoyama and the tops of skyscrapers. Now that we made the car “cool,” curate the rest with an exclusive membership card providing access to pre-openings, shopping events, exclusive nights out, etc.  If all else fails, do a massive collaboration with Louis Vuitton … who wouldn’t want an LV-LEXUS?

The Pirates Dilemma

Five years ago the author Matt Mason was promoting his book the Pirates Dilemma  which portrayed the future where illegal downloads would extent outside of traditional media like music and movies and into actual objects.  As a promotional stunt Matt asked me to create a sneaker which could theoretically be downloaded and printed at home. At the time 3D printers were not readily available and we would have to rely on traditional and costly rapid prototyping services, if memory serves me correct this sneaker would have cost around one thousand dollars.

If you are not familiar with 3D printing and in NYC check out 3DEA, a 3D pop-up shop at the Eventi Hotel, where you can print whatever you want for $6 a cubic inch.

ACE OF INTUITION

PDF VERSION

When I met David Komurek, I thought that he is a friend that anyone would love to have, someone with a great eye to capture the Zeitgeist of today. He is a modern visionary and an expert on contemporary society.

In times where we are more worried about finding ourselves and our own voices, I love interviewing a person who thinks in plural, like a guru of the herd. He could be the captain of a ship at the time of discovery. He is the kind of person who traces a useful path for us in these advanced times, mixing daunting technology with our society and spreading consistency from the future to the here and now. David Komurek creates a world where technology and great strategies come together to make our daily lives easier and more enjoyable.

How would you describe what you do?

I create solutions, collaborations and hopefully outcomes that create positive change in people’s lives and society.

I guess intuition and you are best friends. This must be very important for your work. Where does this intuition come from?

A lot of intuition comes from experience, right? Real time processing of outcomes. Products that are intuitive rely on familiar concepts.

Which timeline would you like to have as a reference to convert a project into something beautiful? Past, present or future? Where do you like to look to find solutions?

All three. I like to look at everything. You have to look to the past to see what people have done, what went well and what went badly, you have to look at current situations, and you have to look at what is emerging: trends and technology.

Are your projects more artistic or corporate?

Most are initiated with an outcome in mind, therefore they exist in a corporate framework – even if it is something artistic, like creating illustrations for Tom Petty or six foot tall punk and rap Hello Kitty’s for Sanrio’s 30th Anniversary.

How do you get your assignments? How does the work come to you?

People find me.

What is a ‘yes’ project for you? What kind of factors does it have to have?

Something that makes a positive change in the overall, environment, work and society. I want to create a non-profit for adolescents to encourage creativity and self esteem.

What do you think that people expect from you when they ask you to collaborate with them?

Great results.

How peculiar it is to work with the Japanese market?

Extremely.

To the stated surprise of many, I am a Windows user. Namely, a tablet user, after buying a Toshiba Protégé m200 in 2002 (my current machine being a Samsung 700T). So it should come to no surprise that upon my discovery of Microsoft’s event (over a lunch of only desserts at the Nomad earlier in the day), I was determined to check it out – despite my not having been invited.

The event was taking place at Pier 57 on the West Side Highway and after a friend and I finessed our way pass the clipboards, security and mandatory coat check we walked into an expansive black space intersected with white glowing pedestals of all sizes and heights largely reminiscent of a Bauhaus design experiment.  We walked the perimeter prodding and probing the sleek new hardware – unquestionably, some of the most innovative notebook design since the IBM ThinkPad 701, or at least as ‘cool.’  However, while the hardware was notably impressive, and the OS appeared fresh, I came away disappointed:

Back in 1995 I was obsessed with personal digital assistants and owned a Apple Newton and a Sony Magic Link, the later being my favorite of the two.  As a designer you are never content with what is available and so my quest started to create a better user experience which eventually evolved into augmented reality and wearable computers.

New 2011 BMW 6 series