What is Google doing wrong with Google+ (or innovation never follows)
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.
What can Google do which Facebook can't? Get rid of the central nervous system, get out of the “home base” and integrate into every and all of Google’s current offerings across all touch points. If a central nervous system is needed it should be Gmail - socialize your inbox - similar to Gist and link all your search data to your friends search data – read that last sentence again and think about it.
While advising a new creative start-up and preparing to launch an app and quarterly newsprint I came across this brief I wrote for a new magazine one month after 9/11 while sitting in a friend’s backyard. The first internet revolution crashed and we were all feeling the effects of our missing expense accounts and diminishing music video budgets – clear barometer of the creative economy (thankfully Kanye and Gaga have gotten them back up the seven figures again).
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."
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:
Impessive, someone actually managed to make it look worse. Definitely not looking forward to seeing what that looks like giant-sized and three-Dimensional.
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.
The current iteration of the Chelsea can be experienced at the Dillon Gallery along with nine other scent sculptures created by Christophe– run because it closes tomorrow! If you like what you smell, would like to find out more about the Chelsea or are interested in buying some, feel free to contact me.
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?
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.
Now that 3D printing is finally coming to masses has anyone created a 3D printable sneaker? If not who would like to?
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.
What is it like working with them?
The Japanese are extremely peculiar because they embrace all outsiders: meaning, all people from outside of Japan. And yet at the same time, they have an extreme pride for their own country beyond what might be the best solution. They are also very respectful and often will not criticize you even if they disagree, which makes it a very peculiar working environment.
Do you get bored of things quickly?
I never get bored.
I don’t trust you.
I only get bored, if I want to be bored. Otherwise, I find something that is entertaining.
What project has given you the most happiness or made you feel the luckiest?
I would say dropping out of school in 1995 to consult for Honda motors in the development of a new way to design cars by using virtual reality, while working with John Hopkins to make a 16-screen Head Mounted Display. I had a room set up on Madison Avenue which moved to measure the sense of space and the first SGI Onyx2 reality engine in New York, a half a million dollar computer.
What are you currently working on?
How to sustain a working life in the middle of the woods and defining the value proposition and user experience for a new travel start up called Tripstr.
Is there any place you would like to return to?
It’s always good to have a place in New York.
How has New York changed in the past few years?
New York has suffered from all signs of modern progress in terms of overbuilding, putting high rises everywhere, and over-expanding…
Probably the same thing that has happened in Spain.
Who are the people that you think are doing the most interesting things in New York City right now?
By far the best, my friend Cyril Mazard. Several people I know are also creating some of the best nighttime and dining experiences in New York.
I can imagine for you that it is very important to establish lot of important relationships through your work. How important is for you to create these relationships and connections?
Relationships are always important. Some of them are through friends and others are established through having a meaningful experience on a project. One of the greatest takeaways in life is learning.
Do you have a very active social life?
I’ve been a bit of a recluse.
Do you identify yourself with any particular artistic discipline?
Not necessarily. I was trained in the school formed through Bauhaus.
Do you consider yourself to be an artist?
People would consider industrial design or product design as one of the arts, but I wouldn’t traditionally consider myself an artist.
Which discipline do you feel more comfortable working with?
I have been fortunate to experience a lot of disciplines: graphic design, motion, illustration, photography, music and film. In the end it is a visual
discipline.
Do you consider yourself an entrepreneur?
Not necessarily. I understand the mindset of an entrepreneur and have endless ideas for new business, but no vigor for all the fundraising. I’d rather help shape the idea and the brand.
Are there any projects that you’ve collaborated on where you were surprised when you were asked to participate?
A friend called me to direct a music video and I ended up re-recording the record instead. I also created a fragrance inspired from living in the Hotel Chelsea.
How did you confront the project? Was it was easy to develop the ideas for them?
Yes, the perfume was my idea, the nose is a renegade. I worked with Christophe Laudamiel, who likes to push the boundaries of the olfactory experience. We walked the halls and my brief to him was “sex, sweat, weed and ketchup.”
Do you think you are part of the type of modern professions that people from your family still have trouble understanding?
It seems that way. I don’t know about modern, but definitely misunderstood. I’m an outsider, an observer who likes to process a lot of random information – like in the movie The Matrix.
What are the tools you use in your work? Is everything very mental?
LSD. [Laughs] I use lot of paper, pens and stuff like that.
What about from your insides, what things do you use from your background?
My background is social science and product design, so a lot of that is cross-section of society and human nature, ergonomics and how people think.
Are you a committed person? Is there any social or political involvement in your work?
I’m committed to my family and friends, but not to politics.
Now in Spain we are living in a very difficult time. We are having a huge economical crisis, and this has affected the industrial and real estate fields. It especially affects young people and people in creative environments. What was it like living in New York from 2008 to 2009? How did that economical crisis affect the people around you and your work?
It affected to me drastically because I was involved in converting a tobacco farm in North Carolina to an organic neighborhood called Harvest, and this crisis derailed years of work. Also, for the first time ever in New York the economy was not doing well, and I got mugged that year! Overall, I think it’s just the reality of what has been going on for all of these years before the shit really hit the fan.
Was something unexpected born within you because of the crisis? Did it make you look in an unexpected direction to find other answers?
No, because personally I put myself through this economic crisis many times, so it wasn’t a major of factor in my life.
Here in America in the art environment, there is a high level of cooperation – is this a phenomenon of the crisis? In Spain people are more individualist, while here it seems that people like to work together.
I don’t think the crisis has made us come together.
How do you see the role of young American people? What do you think that they can do to contribute to the country?
I think young people are doing interesting things in terms of the fact they are bringing back a type of cottage industry. A lot of small manufacturing is being made in America, from whisky to food, to products and all if these things. Young Americans are also obviously leading the whole technology movement. While I believe all these constant interruptions are destroying an important aspect of “doing nothing,” it is a measure for the overall world and economy. These kinds of shifts are helping to reverse the fuckedup idea of moving all our jobs to other countries. People can’t spend money if they have no chance to make it.
What is your motto?
‘Just do it.’
Are you more reflective or impulsive?
Ideally, I’m just trying to be present.
Do you go to a lot of exhibitions? Which exhibition has shocked you the most lately?
Unfortunately I don’t, I wish I did.
What is your relationship with the film industry like?
It is a loose one.
A lot of common sense also?
That’s a big part of it. Some people would call that intuition or instincts.
You handle macroeconomic information that orients you about what you should do – but do you ever trust your own impulses instead?
I always go with what I want do but what I want to do is based on that macroeconomic data as well as my own instincts. This is because what I do is not art per se. It is creating solutions to everyday problems – whether that is a new aircraft interior or creating content that embodies a brand. I may be the end user, but I am not the only one, it has work and appeal to a wide audience. The goal is to take this information and to synthesize it into a new usable outcome. A lot of people take statistical data too critically, when it almost always needs to be looked at through a different lens.
Where have you lived?
New York, North Carolina, Tokyo, Zurich.
You’ve spent a lot of time living in hotels. What is life like when you’re never at your own home for long?
Spending a lot time in hotels is one thing and eventually you really want to get home. However, turning a hotel room into your home is another thing. The great thing about that is someone else will change your sheets each day and clean your room.
Let’s talk about the production company you’ve worked with in the past.
Cary Wood’s Independent Pictures is known for discovering a lot of young talent, giving them their first break and creating films like Scream andSwingers for a fraction of what they grossed.
Was that the time when you collaborated with Harmony Korine?
Yes.
How long did you work there?
That company was only in existence for two years.
And then it fucked up?
Yes, Cary refers to it as the “most expensive business school.” He had never run his own company before, so while it was great to spend Sundance in Neil Armstrong’s villa or to run full page ads in the Sunday Times, it wasn’t always great on the balance sheet – especially when you are taking huge risks on unknown talent.
And after that, you didn’t want to continue working on films?
I did, I launched Wanted, a DVD magazine.
Can you tell us more about it?
While there were curated DVD’s out there, they lived in the miscellaneous section of the shelves in between the yoga and self-help DVD’s – whereas Wanted was for the newsstands. I also wanted to watch Chris Cunningham’s new music video, rather then see photos of it.
Who collaborated on the project?
The first and only issue had Gus Van Sant, Harmony Korine, Terry Richardson, Mike Mills, Jonas Mekas, Johnny Depp and Donald Baechlor… fuck, someone needs to republish this.
How do you see yourself in ten years?
I don’t know.
As a bon vivant?
I’ll write a novel.
“WHAT I do is not art per se. It is creating solutions to everyday problems – whether that is a new aircraft interior or creating content that embodies a brand.”
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:
The music was loud. Ear-bleeding loud. This is true of most events, but keep in mind this was at 8pm when the event started. Just because your speakers are able to go to 12, please save that till later-- ostensibly the goal at such events is to converse with fellow attendees and Microsoft Product Specialists.
Microsoft Product Specialists: I was told they were the kids in the different solid colored windbreakers (is this branding?). I only saw them talking to each other and not to two guys poking at every machine in bewilderment.
Bewilderment – my hip shot guess would be that 2% of the people in attendance actually use a Windows machine. The other 98% had no idea whatsoever how to operate the machinery; or to hit alt+tab to cycle through the myriad of screens parading in front of them or the Windows Key to get back to the home screen.
Most computers were not connected to the Wi-Fi available, or logged in to the premium services highlighted by the impressive new interface (such as Netflix or any of the social media accounts). Your machine can be the greatest thing but if it’s not hooked up to the internet, you’re showing me a car without wheels.
The ‘Curated Neighborhood’ concept: I had initially left when I heard about the Curated Neighborhoods, and I re-entered the event to see them. Even though I am (as previously stated) a Windows user, and I do know how to get to the home screen (see #4), the only thing to “discover” in these neighborhoods were a small collection of photos and a handful of people the curators were following, however their feeds were not active (see #5) so there wasn’t really anything to see.
And so, respectfully offered, some considerations for the next event:
More explanation, the better. Don’t assume people know what they are walking into or that they know how to use a Windows computer, create a handout or infographic at the computer.
If you are paying the guys in the windbreakers to be there, then coach them how to talk to people and how to walk them through the experience.
Tell the DJ to chill with the volume until the final hour when everyone is ready to stop talking and start dancing.
When engaging with curators give them guidelines for content, i.e., I want to know about their neighborhood not the outside of their office.
Introduce the curators: who are they, what do they do, and why do I care about ‘their’ city? Create some content, make a “City Guide” booklet which people will take with them and can later use to tour the real cities with, thanks to Microsoft.
More robust user experience: I can’t at this point comment fully on Windows 8 until I have a copy, however Bing Travel showed promise so why not truly curate the cities (see above) in an engaging way with places to go and see while strutting your stuff.
Make it easier to connect – not only to the internet, premium services and social media but to each other. If I am in Soho why can’t I chat with the interesting person over in the LES? Make groups in the Messenger for each neighborhood in a city and be able to chat. One can argue that social media exists to bring people closer together, but has proven better at keeping us apart. Who needs OK Cupid when you can break the ice via proximity, and be a total geek about it.
Launch events have tremendous potential to connect a person directly to a brand. The first stages of the decision process (to connect or support a brand, to change their perception of yours) being awareness, attraction and evaluation – but what about the next step: engagement – sealing the deal? What is the real takeaway at an event like this? Everyone I spoke to was a Mac user and when asked if they would switch they said they wouldn’t. How do you take advantage of having hundreds of people in your “showroom,” evaluating your product? In this case, your best chance is to show them the value of your proposition and the best possible user experience. ‘Want to be the most connected?’ – Yes, show me. ‘Want the Creative Class?’ – show me how easy it is to use Adobe products on Windows 8.
Otherwise events like these are like most social media – lots of users, yet no consumers.
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.
Check out the newsgroup name comp.sys.palmtops -- palmtop??
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