The iPad as a case study of China vs. U.S.

Posted on April 6, 2010 by danielenskat

It’s only been since last Saturday, but I already am in love with the iPad and it’s potential technological implications.

Of course, one of the key success factors for Apple and countless developers are the apps.

And by some accounts, it’s China:1, U.S.:0

The Wall Street Journal and the NY Times had access to the iPad pre-release, yet the NYT has not released an app and the WSJ had to install a patch to fix bugs three days after launch (not even mentioning the anachronistic business model).

Yet China Daily, despite being thousands of miles away and not having the luxury of testing on an actual device, already has an iPad app for the paper.

The developed world better start developing their game – and apps.

Posted in asia, Brand, China, management | Leave a comment

The iPad Show

Posted on April 4, 2010 by danielenskat

April 3, 2010, birthday of the iPad. Remembering the hype of the iPod and iPhone from a few years ago I am curious on how Steve Jobs will handle the unveiling of this new hybrid device.

Since nobody can actually imagine something that is entirely new, people have been comparing the device to either a large iPod touch or a small(er) laptop/netbook. Well, it isn’t either, but more on that later.

As car manufacturers know, hybrids are a fickle thing, but as I see the masses in front of the Apple soho store from a few blocks away, including TV crews, reporters (“anyone here British” one of them asks later as we are waiting), and innocent bystanders, it is clear that apple fans are willing to spend a K on being part of this technological revolution.

The line is massive at 9am – apparently some jokers have been waiting here since 3pm the day before and then are too tired to actually play with the device once they have it in their hands – and Jobs is in for a challenge satisfying these customers.

But that’s what he does best. It ends up being the best shopping experience I ever had.

The lines are perfectly set up and managed. Apple employees walk around offering free smart water and starbucks coffee.

Better than a rock concert. You appreciate the little details with age:

A little boy in front of me is there with his grandmother… Grandma wants the iPad and is excited, the boy looks at the line and goes “you’ve got to be kidding me”, calls his mom and begs to be rescued.

Mom later on shows up and sarcastically remarks to her mother that they give out a price for the oldest person buying an iPad – “good for you, mom.”

Ironically, as they all get into the store and the employees cheer and clap, she (mom) is overcome by emotion, starts highfiving the staff and wants one. Well, grandma was the only one with the reservation so. Grandma:1, Mom:0.

I would probably have pushed mom down the stairs but grandma didn’t. Grace and age. I am clearly not there yet, but am getting ahead of myself.

As we get to the front of the line the staff pulls up our name, greets us and a dozen employees forming two lines scream, clap and cheer as we walk in – to club chillout music.

You can’t help but smile. Nicole, our sales associate, asks us whether we want anything with the iPad and helps us pick out a cover, keyboard, the works. Then on to the genius bar, ring it up on an iPhone and please sign…

Me: “Where is the pen?”
Nicole: “Just sign with your finger.”

Ok then. Receipt is emailed to you.

The iPad is fully charged so we can start playing with it right away. The movie theater in the store features short introductory presentations every half hour. But, most users are already good to go, because the darn thing is so intuitive.

I am writing this blog on the ipad with the virtual keyboard and will return the physical keyboard later- if you commit to typing on it it actually is easy- unlike what most reviewers complained about.

The thing is genius. April 3, 2010 will be remembered as a day as important as the invention of the radio, TV, or the internet. I will write about the apps and the completely futuristic user experience later- just one bonmot:

I have never played video games in my life and, having heard about the unbelievable graphics, see an app for a car game: drive a Ferrari 599 through Paris…. Sounds nice.

Turns out they don’t let you drive the Ferrari and you also don’t get to be in Paris. You have to start with a mini cooper in St. Tropez. Fine. Sitting in my weekend coffee spot I plug in the headphones and get going. After 10 seconds all my competitors have left the screen and I am alternating between hitting houses and boats while screaming like a little girl.

The two barristas look at me perplexed as i toss away the headphones and hit the escape/home button, smiling to myself. I was cool when I first walked in with the iPad, now I think all the cool points are out the window.

Time for that NY Times iPad app, old man.

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As the U.S. sleeps…

Posted on March 25, 2010 by danielenskat

Finally, about 100 years late (thank you, Bismarck), the U.S. this week passed something reminiscent of health care reform. Just to show Obama that the concept of bipartisanship is anathema to U.S. politics, Republicans honored it with exactly zero votes. Rush Limbaugh promised to move to Costa Rica if the reform gets implemented, but Gail Collins reminded him that Costa Rica already has national health care, so he unfortunately might reconsider.

Well, since you shouldn’t cry over spilled milk, Tom Coburn (R) of Oklahoma started adding essential amendments to the bill, such as “No Erectile Dysfunction Drugs to Sex Offenders.” It’s good to know that the last global superpower focuses on the right things.

Unlike the childish U.S., the Tories in the UK at least treat politics with the respectability it deserves. Sir Nicholas Winterton, the honor-vener-able conservative member of parliament for almost four decades, explained recently why legislators should always travel first class to avoid exposure to the common man: “they are a totally different type of people”.

Since bankers are already really popular these days, one of them running for the UK parliament decided to top this statement and went on television to declare that getting more women and minorities elected was the triumph of “potted plants over intellectually able people” (according to the NY times and many many other sources). Go Tories.

Given that the U.S. and the UK have their eyes firmly on the ball, China invested $35 billion into clean energy last year, two and a half times as much as the U.S. (according to a Pew study), to make sure it will be the only superpower in clean energy in a few years time.

Fine, the Chinese tiger also plays with the Google kitten, buys Swiss watches, travels to Milan for a shopping spree and buys the Porsche Panamera, but considering the state of political affairs in the west I might have to review last year’s 60th Anniversary celebrations with a different predisposition.

Off to Las Vegas to find some sanity and talk to mature people.

Posted in Brand, China, politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Global asset management – will the U.S. & Europe be left behind?

Posted on March 20, 2010 by danielenskat

Wherever you look these days, the metatrend “West-to-East” manifests itself.

A few observations from my discussions in Europe and the Middle East this week:

Despite the wide-spread criticism of its domestic focus, China is doing its share to stimulate the global economy. Let’s take two interesting proxies, oil and Swiss watches.

– Chinese shoppers in Milan: The Annual Report of China Outbound Tourism Development 2009-2010 estimates 54 million tourists would go abroad in 2010 – and indeed, most of the high-end shops near Via Spiga in Milan this week were frequented by Chinese (while Europeans window-shopped). Having breakfast with a reporter in Milan at the Principe di Savoia this week, the waiters didn’t care much about Mary J. Blige being there, but were intrigued by all the Chinese businessmen.

– A quarterly review of Swiss luxury watches showed that Asia, and especially China, helped the industry survive the downturn. Bernard Fornas, CEO of Cartier, in a recent FT interview stated: “If you go to Shanghai or Beijing, you see all these very rich young people and they buy. They buy like crazy.” Swiss watch export figures showed an 87% rise in sales to the country in January. Thus, just like auto or digital camera makers, Swiss watch makers are now creating designs specifically catered to the preferences of Chinese customers. Au revoir, old Europe.

– Saudi Arabia focuses on China instead of U.S.: The NY Times this weekend commented on a shift in the geopolitics of oil due to China’s growth. Saudi Arabia exported more oil to China than the U.S. last year. The head of Saudi Aramco, Khalid al-Falih sees this as a “long-term transition… the writing is on the wall. China is the growth market for petroleum.”

Discussing Middle East business trends this week with clients and boards, the expanding links between the Middle East, Southeast Asia and China will influence thematic product preferences (and distribution trends) for SWFs, HNW investors and pension funds greatly. ADIA this week published its first ever annual report and highlighted that 36% of its workforce is from Asia, compared to 31% from the UAE, 12% from Europe and 8% from the U.S.

The ratio of Asia employees to the U.S. and Europe for the largest SWF in the world is 5:1 and 3:1 respectively, and the chairman of the Singapore SWF calls it a “once in a lifetime opportunity” for Asian firms to take away global market share from the west… west-to-east on steroids. U.S. and European firms need to act now to not be left behind.

Posted in asia, China, management, Middle East, money, SWFs | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Distribution research: SWFs & Transparency

Posted on March 18, 2010 by danielenskat

As mentioned in some of my recent posts, I spent the last few months talking to over 100 leading global institutions and professional fund buyers to determine how the financial crisis impacted their organizations, asset allocation approaches and outlook.

The top priority for the majority of them in 2010: transparency – followed by liquidity, safety and performance. Not surprising, but here is how it is changing the industry.

Back to basics and an independent brand were the key ingredients to gathering net cash flows last year, while media themes such as ‘newcits’ were and are perceived as naive (with negligible flows thus far).

Enter the other time consuming project early this year, an in-depth Middle East study.

One of the most coveted pots of wealth in recent years has been the multi-trillion sovereign wealth fund industry. They are sophisticated, international, ambitious and… transparent? Not quite, but the largest of them this week took a big step out of the black box by publishing its first ever annual review.

Welcome to the new and improved ADIA.

Until recently, akin to Monsieur Paulson (John, not Hank) and company, one could only find a name, address and general phone number on ADIA’s website. The fund in 35 years literally only gave a handful of interviews, but things turned around in 2008, when MD HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Zayed Al-Nehayan opened his doors to Businessweek, published an open editorial with Henry Paulson and Tharman Shanmugaratnam, and adopted the Santiago Principles and IMF guidelines. He also hired internationally, including Jean-Paul Villain (former CEO for BNP Paribas AM), Cyrille Urfer (Head of fund selection for LODH), or Chris Koski (Canadian Pension Plan).

Fast forward to 2010. The Sheikh gives a detailed interview to the German Handelsblatt, launches a sleek new website and publishes its first-ever annual report.

Some of the key points from the report include:

– 36% of the 1,200 employees are from Asia (speaking of building strategic links), compared to 31% from the UAE and 12% from Europe. Overall, 40 nationalities are represented.

– 80% of assets are managed externally; but 60% of assets are invested in index-replicating strategies.

– In USD terms, the 30-year annualized rate of return is 8%.

– The Strategy Unit drives the risk parameters and asset allocation, leading to a portfolio that contains more than two dozen asset classes and sub-categories, each with a fixed weighting, which together form ADIA’s shared, long-term view of the world, or “neutral benchmark.”

– The neutral benchmark includes 35%-45% in developed equities and 10%-20% in emerging equities, followed by 10%-20% in government bonds.

– To enhance returns, this may include occasional “off-benchmark” opportunistic investments.

– ADIA does not invest in the UAE.

External fund selection follows the “4 Ps Framework”: Philosophy > Process > People > Performance. Not surprisingly, the process mirrors what is used in Europe and the US.

Transparency 2010: different markets, multiple segments, similar principles, same lessons.

… and big opportunities.

Welcome to the global asset management industry of the 21st century – information is ubiquitous, knowledge is scarce.

Posted in distribution, management, Middle East, money, SWFs | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Reinventing brand in the age of metatrends… a case study.

Posted on March 7, 2010 by danielenskat

Porsche, which went from consultant to carmakers to the most profitable automaker in the world, is in the middle of an extreme brand makeover – not an easy call for a company that only a few years ago received the title of most prestigious automobile brand in the world and year after year occupies a leading position in the 100 top brands globally.

Two metatrends convinced Porsche to undergo this painful and risky transition: wealth is now primarily driven by emerging markets (led by china), and sustainability is becoming a global force.

Emerging wealth is changing the world: There are now more rich people in China than in the UK and more millionaires in Brazil than in Australia – within the next three years the Asia-Pacific region will surpass the United States in regard to the number of high net worth investors.

Sustainability beyond trash: Germans have long paid attention to recycling, but it was limited to penniless perennial students: now, across Europe and the world (even the U.S.), the wealthy ask about sustainability beyond trash. As discussed in a recent blog on sustainability, everything from food to investments and clothing is being looked at through an ethical screen. It is no surprise that an emerging superpower such as China in just a few years has become the world leader in renewable energy.

Combining the power of both trends, Porsche decided to act – quickly.

In 2009 it unveiled the Panamera. The Panamera was presented at the Shanghai motor show and was the first of its models completely redesigned with more space in the backseat area for its Chinese customers, who prefer to be driven by a chauffeur.

And last week in Geneva it continued its makeover with the 918 Spyder, a plug-in-hybrid that is faster than the Porsche Carrera GT due to its combined 718 horsepower total power output. Porsche is not alone in embracing this sustainability trend (partially due to upcoming regulatory changes): Ferrari in Geneva presented its HY-KERS experimental vehicle, Volkswagen voiced its ambition to be the leading electric carmaker in the world by 2018 and Daimler announced a partnership with Chinese automaker BYD.

We are, as recently speculated by me based on our global data, at a great historical turning point, and many of the leading companies understand the urgency of change.

Kodak had to reinvent itself twice in the last few years, first when film died and digital took over (no more Kodak moments) and then when growth for the firm shifted to Asia (with heavy investments in emerging markets).

Although finance is a bit more sleepy, Prudential PLC last week announced its intention to buy AIA from AIG in Asia for a deal worth north of $35 billion to further strengthen and expand its flourishing Asia business.

AIA, by the way, has been behind two of the most innovative and influential marketing campaigns of the recent past, “We are Asia” and “The Power of We”. We are Asia was featured in the second half of 2009 and the Power of We introduced in January 2010. The campaign shows visuals formed by faces, handwritings, and thumbprints of AIA employees (as compared to countries that like to take too many fingerprints in a non-marketing related context).

In an era where one company can collect $50 billion in net new cash in one year from investors to one product alone, brand matters.

Posted in Brand, distribution, management | 1 Comment

Warren Buffett’s Annual Letter to Shareholders – bon mots

Posted on March 4, 2010 by danielenskat

Bill Gross tweets multiple times a day, Warren Buffett publishes his letter to shareholders once a year. But even Buffett goes with the times and speaks much more frequently with the media these days (he immediately returned Andrew Sorkin’s call from the NY Times this week). Still, the investment world cherishes his bon mots (remember last year’s “when the tide goes out”?) and the 2010 version of the letter again showed why Buffett is admired around the world and how he uses his reputation to inform and educate the investment community – Buffett Business Management 101:

Advice: Buffett doesn’t like it. In the past he said that “diversification is only needed when you don’t know what you are doing”, but this year he went much further when discussing investment bankers. Are they useful? “Our recommendation in respect to the use of advisors remains: “Don’t
ask the barber whether you need a haircut.””

Social Media Use, Buffett-style: While not on Twitter or Facebook, Warren Buffett for years has advocated direct communication with clients instead of going through gatekeepers. “We try to post our quarterly and annual financial information on the Internet early on weekends, thereby giving you and other investors plenty of time during a non-trading period to digest just what has happened at our multi-faceted enterprise… Given a few experiences we’ve had (referring to “terrible journalism”, you can understand why I prefer that our communications with you remain as direct and unabridged as possible.

Having fun:: “Now 66, Tony (Nicely, CEO of GEICO) still tap-dances to the office every day, just as I do at 79. We both feel lucky to work at a business we love.” Tony also has a $800 million annual advertising budget (twice that of the runner-up advertiser, as Buffett points out), so that might help with the dancing.

People skills: Buffett loves to tell anecdotes about his managers and how much he values them. His comment in regard to Ajit Jain (he met him in 1985, Ajin runs National Indemnity): “If Charlie, I and Ajit are ever in a sinking boat – and you can only save one of us – swim to Ajit.” He also mentions that Ajit was discovered by Mike Goldberg, “now elevated to St. Mike”). It shows his way of managing people and results in low turnover. Buffett points out the group of his companies that increased profits despite sales decreasing, along with the “CEOs who made it happen”.

Self-deprecation: Buffett knows he is the Sage of Omaha and the most admired investor in the world, but routinely points out his mistakes in his letters to shareholders. This year is no exception: And now a painful confession: “Last year your chairman closed the book on a very expensive business
fiasco entirely of his own making… I subtly indicated that I was older and wiser. I was just older.”

Financial markets: Of course, Buffett has, again, some strong views on the markets, especially during times of crisis: “We’ve put a lot of money to work during the chaos of the last two years. It’s been an ideal period for investors: A climate of fear is their best friend. Those who invest only when commentators are upbeat end up paying a heavy price for meaningless reassurance”.

Before getting into his favorite topic of derivatives, Buffett reviewed the corporate and muni bond markets and that they “were ridiculously cheap relative to U.S. Treasuries. We backed this view with some purchases, but I should have done far more. Big opportunities come infrequently. When it’s raining gold, reach for a bucket, not a thimble.”

Derivatives and risk control: Berkshire has held derivative contracts since 1998. Buffett thinks derivatives are dangerous “for both participants and society” when they lead to leverage and/or counterparty risk that is extreme. “At Berkshire nothing like that has occurred – nor will it. It’s my job to keep Berkshire far away from such problems. Charlie and I believe that a CEO must not delegate risk control. It’s simply too important.”

And taking the not so subtle criticism of certain large institutions further: “At Berkshire, I both initiate and monitor every derivatives contract on our books … If Berkshire ever gets in trouble, it will be my fault.
It will not be because of misjudgments made by a Risk Committee or Chief Risk Officer.”

In Buffet’s view a board is “derelict” if it does not insist on the CEO bearing full responsibility for risk control: ”
If he’s (Buffett thinks most of them are men) incapable of handling that job, he should look for other
employment. And if he fails at it – with the government thereupon required to step in with funds or guarantees – the financial consequences for him and his board should be severe… CEOs and, in many cases, directors have long benefitted from oversized financial carrots; some meaningful sticks now need to be part of their employment picture as well. ”

“An Inconvenient Truth (Boardroom Overheating)”: Berskhire had to issue some 100,000 shares for its BNSF acquisition. “Charlie and I enjoy issuing Berkshire stock about as much as we relish prepping for a colonoscopy”. After explaining the close call for the purchase, Buffett continues with a 101 on investment banking and a little IB bashing a la “I have been in dozens of board meetings in which acquisitions have been deliberated, often with the directors being instructed by high-priced investment bankers (are there any other kind?)…behave like teenage boys who had just discovered girls.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Inflection point for the asset management industr

Posted on February 28, 2010 by danielenskat

INFLECTION POINT FOR THE ASSET MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY: $4 TRILLION IN FIVE-YEAR FLOWS, A ‘GOLDEN AGE’ FOR ASIA AND RE-DISTRIBUTION OF ASSETS IN EUROPE AND THE US

NEW YORK, NY – February 24, 2010 – Largely untarnished by the global credit crisis, the mutual fund industry gathered $4.2 trillion in net cash flows worldwide in the second half of the decade, according to Strategic Insight (SI), a business intelligence provider to the fund industry.

“Equity and mixed funds led the way with $1.7 trillion in cash contributions, followed by almost $900 billion to fixed-income funds, mostly from the US, but with meaningful contributions from Asia”, commented Daniel Enskat, Senior Managing Director and Head of Global Consulting at SI. In 2009, investors withdrew $650 billion from money market funds, but in turn contributed almost $900 billion globally to long-term funds across asset classes.

“The data and our primary research with distributors points to a historical turning point for the global fund industry, due to a number of secular trends outlined in detail in the SI study”, Enskat said, including:

$60 trillion in cash on the sidelines earning near-zero yields: Demand for income yielding investments will benefit mutual funds.

Year of the tiger, decade of the dragons: Asia local long-term fund flows of $850 billion in the last five years were almost ten times larger than in Europe. Adding to this total, Asia-attributable offshore flows of about $120 billion brings Asia almost on par with the US. In other words, Asia with only a fraction of US assets under management and only about 5% mutual fund household penetration across the region (compared to close to 50% in the US) generated almost equivalent net flows.

An emerging market revolution for HNW investing: Asia-Pacific is expected to surpass North America in terms of the number of high net worth investors at some point in the next three years. Different investment cultures, goals and asset allocation frameworks could result in a new era for wealth management in emerging markets with regard to portfolio construction and client segmentation.

A “Golden Age” for Asia: Global money managers are relocating CEOs to Asia, while Asian institutions see a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to take market share away from global competitors.

Re-distribution of assets in Europe: After a few challenging years, Strategic Insight data points to a rare opportunity in the European fund management industry to benefit from hundreds of billions in net flows back to funds in 2010 as investors continue to cautiously shift back to equities and long-term investments.

Asia industry more stable then Europe: Product turnover ratios in Asia remain high, but SI aggregate data suggests greater stability in Asia than in Europe. Asia since 2005 gathered $1 trillion in long-term flows, while Europe totaled $430 billion.

“To build distribution in Europe and Asia, top asset managers should focus on becoming a strategic partner for global financial institutions – in fact many firms are now establishing dedicated units for this channel or are significantly strengthening existing sales/support structures. Boutiques and mid-size firms can benefit from the growth in other channels, such as IFAs, tied agents, insurance firms, smaller private banks and selected platforms and FOFs”, Enskat commented.

“However, in addition to specific distribution channel opportunities, non-proprietary asset managers today more than ever need to be mindful of the vastly different framework and moods by market and tailor penetration approaches accordingly”.

“Our distribution research shows that professional fund buyers award the business because of the people they encounter and work with (qualitative screens); performance opens any door (quant screens), but it does not get you an invitation to stay for dinner – or to move in.

Top asset gatherers like Blackrock or PIMCO have better dedicated websites and information delivery on their sites than their competitors, while smaller firms stand out with thought leadership. We believe that this could become a meaningful battle ground for companies, as distributors choose to work with fewer companies and rely on them more for tailored real-time information”.

About Strategic Insight
Strategic Insight is a research and consulting firm that supports over 250 companies around the world with analysis, perspective, and data on the fund industry; its Simfund databases, the world’s analytical source for mutual fund business intelligence, track flows, assets, performance, ratings, and other intelligence on more than 65,000 portfolios and many more fund share classes globally.

STRATEGIC INSIGHT an Asset International company
805 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022
http://www.StrategicInsightGlobal.com

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Asianinvestor: Asia records $1 trillion of net fund inflows since 2005

Posted on February 26, 2010 by danielenskat

Strategic Insight research shows that Asian net flows to mutual funds over the past five years have been nearly as big as in the US, and more stable than in Europe.

…

“In other words,” says Daniel Enskat, head of global consulting at Strategic Insight, “Asia, with only a fraction of US assets under management and only about 5% of mutual-fund household penetration across the region, generated almost equivalent net flows” to the US, which has nearly 50% fund household penetration.

Full article on AsianInvestorMagazine

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The E.N.D. – 21st century branding

Posted on February 25, 2010 by danielenskat

Life in the 21st century is accelerating with great speed – one can reminisce about pre-email business practices, but it is hard to imagine life or work without the recent technological advances.

Some habits, however, die hard.

Last night I finished writing a new study until 3am, two of my analysts working alongside me on gchat, while conducting Skype video conference calls with Europe and Asia executives. Today the team finished the tables and graphs, I wrote the press release and talked to our PR company, had the quarterly board meeting of our holding company, decided on a the LOI for a potential acquisition, met with clients and journalists and will finish another 100 page client project tonight. None of this would be able without the intelligence of our people and the IT connectivity of Skype, google, Apple, et al.

But before getting back to the computer, I am now writing this post on my iPhone at the MSG to see the Black Eyed Peas in concert and, comparing it to my experience at city center for the kings of dance, am astonished how concert viewing has changed and how ignorant and paranoid “old art/business” is.

Anyone that took a picture of the artists bowing at the end was harassed by the outdated city center employees.

In contrast, we are coming in for the MSG preshow and all kids video text message and are fully engaged with the act (I didn’t know who they were (outdated myself), but later found out their name is LMFAO – if this doesn’t mean anything to you, upgrade yourself).

Ludacris is the second warmup act and unlike city center, he actually tells the audience to get their phones up in the air (in the past those would have been lighters, I guess).

In between warm-up acts (three altogether), the screens display an announcement for the afterparty and the ability to RSVP via social networks and Blackberry announces onscreen that any messages sent to Will.I.Am’s blackberry address might be displayed during the show – ever conscious of bridging old and new school, Will.I.Am ends up freestyling with those messages during one of his solo segments.

The last time we saw them was as struggling artists at SOBs weeks before they blew up in 2005 (with Justin Timberlakde and Cameron Diaz there).

Now they are cultural ambassadors of cool. Will.I.Am as the creative genius and brain trust, apl.de.ap the powerful Philippino force (he rapped in Takalog and his dancers mixed breaking and traditional dance), Taboo representing Mexican and Native American cultures and Stacy Ann Ferguson aka Fergie as the new female powerhouse of the group.

Their futuristic video “Boom Boom Pow” has been viewed over 50 million times on vevo alone and they organized the first ever flash mob dance for Oprah’s 2009 Chicago “block party”.

20,000 people moved in unison live on the show during the BEPs performance – they had learned the choreography via social networks and videos.

Tellingly, the video was removed by outdated industry executives from public sites due to copyright claims, but is of course still floating around on the web.

The peas and this generation of entertainers knows the power of marketing and to not upset their young customers – and businesses should learn from them. Will.I.Am during the concert thanked the fans with “I don’t care whether you bought or ripped our record, the fact that our music gives you joy and is part of your life is what matters.”

While I felt out of place at the concert at times it was a lesson in client centricity and, more importantly, branding.

The tens of thousands of fans were free to record whatever they wanted and will post those videos all over the world to their friends. The Black Eyed Peas always have been futurlogists, while continuing their old school style of using a band, rapping, breakdancing and knowing their dancers by name.

In with the new, while keeping the old.

Welcome to the future of music and branding.

Posted in Brand, money, movement | 1 Comment