Bikes, Beans, and Brews

Nutrition Failure

2011-01-28T13:12:00.011-05:00

Getting old is no fun. That's what I've come to conclude on the eve of my 39th birthday.

I've been biking for years, but there's no hiding the fact that my biking would improve greatly if I:

Biked more often
Cut my pizza, burger, and beer intake

#1 I'm always trying. #2 just isn't going to happen.

Ok, yes, I recognize and acknowledge that my nutrition for riding has never been optimal. Despite this I've completed and enjoyed century rides, multi-day rides (including a fun three day slog through muddy fire roads across the UP), and all day mountain biking excursions. Through all of these I've enjoyed the post-ride beers and pizza, and never had to worry about making sure my nutrition was on track. My blood pressure is great and my cholesterol (last checked about two years ago) was surprising low.

But now I'm apparently old. I can pinpoint exactly when I got old for you. It was June 29, 2010. That marked the first ride where I almost passed out. I had the spinning head, tunnel vision, whole nine yards - mid ride. Holy moley was that annoying. In the past decade, I've ridden 14% grades (very slowly) in France with full paniers and not felt as whipped as I did that day only three miles into an 11 mile ride. Nothing out of the ordinary nutrition-wise for me leading up to the ride, which is why I suspect my age has caught up to me.

Spin setup in the basement with coach Troy

Since that day, it happened three more times - once on a road ride in September, once mountian biking again in November, and this morning... while spinning with coach Troy!

Again, for all of these, I can't say that my nutrition was particularly bad for any of them. In fact, it's been actually pretty good these last couple days: yesterday included a veggie burger for lunch, chicken and broccoli stir fry for dinner and a bowl of Special K with blueberries about 15 minutes before the workout this morning (perhaps that wasn't early enough?).

This morning it was the squats that did it. I did my usual 40-45 minute spin followed by a couple sets of squats which includes isometric squats for 45 seconds. Boom. It hit me right after that.

I usually drink about 20-24oz of water during these workouts, but I've been thinking my hydration (and, I'll begrudgingly acknowledge, my nutrition) needs to improve. So, I've recently been experimenting with this. But I didn't use it this morning.

That'll teach me, I guess.

Whoops! Wheat Brew

2010-10-16T09:08:00.012-04:00

My wife loves wheat beers. When I say she loves them, I don't think that really does her love for wheat beer justice. She really loves wheat beer.

At least a couple times a year, I brew a wheat beer for her. In August, I wanted to get a wheat beer fermenting for her, since we were running dangerously low on homebrew. I decided to do an extract for the simplicity and because I was doing it during the week, it's much quicker and easier to cook and clean up.

The recipe that I was planning to brew is one that I have used before and I know it is well liked by my bride:
6.5 lbs of liquid wheat extract
0.6 oz Amarillo Gold hops
0.33 oz Vanguard hops
Boil 60 minutes with all hops
(not part of the original recipe, but I have typically added 0.5oz of orange peel to the last 5 minutes of boil for a decidedly orange flavor)

However, that straightforward recipe is not written as straightforward as I've written it here, and includes the all-grain version of the recipe within the same list of ingredients:
6.0 lbs wheat malt
3.0 lbs Simpsons Golden Promise pale malt
0.5 oz Amarillo Gold hops
0.25 oz Vanguard hops

This lack of straightforwardness was my undoing when I went to the shop to pick up supplies. While I am not sure how exactly it happened, I purchased a highly convoluted mix of these two recipes:
6.0 lbs of dry wheat extract
3.0 lbs pale liquid malt extract
0.75 oz Amarillo Gold hops (leftovers)
0.4 oz Vanguard (more leftovers)
0.5 oz Lime peel (just for a twist)

This confusion resulted in a very high gravity and high alcohol beer that took substantially longer to ferment than I expected. The end result is enjoyable, though not as drinkable as the wheat I usually brew. While the 8.5% ABV wheat is sort of fun, it's also probably not likely to be a beer I'll brew again, since it doesn't go down as smooth as a traditional wheat and has a much darker color than the typical wheat. Oh well, that's just part of the joys of homebrewing, I guess.

Mad Quest for Bottling - Part Deux - Success! (Sorta)

2010-08-12T08:10:00.001-04:00

I am happy to report that I've had some success with bottling from the keg. It's not as easy as the video I posted before makes it seem, but it did work.

I think the key to bottling from the keg is high carbonation in the beer before you scale it back. I found that with the higher carbonation, the release of CO2 as you fill the bottle is not as substantial and doesn't leave the beer as flat.

The ale that I have kegged calls for 12.5 psi of CO2 according to the tastybrew.com calculator. What I found is that if I up this to about 17-20 psi to condition the beer for a few hours to be a little more carbonated than preferred and keep the bottles and the bottle filler in the freezer until just before I'm ready to bottle, then I can bottle with a decent amount of carbonation.

Another important tip is to be sure to reduce some of the pressure in the keg before bottling or (as I learned the hard way) you will get a bit of an explosion of beer within the bottle as you try to fill it (which ends up everywhere). This method of over-carbonating is not what I would prefer, but it did provide me with very acceptably carbonated bottled beer from the keg. The challenge of course is that now the beer in the keg will have a strong head to it. I just dropped the pressure in the keg while we went out of town for a few days (and enjoyed bottled homebrew while out of town!), and upon return found that it's still got a little more head then preferred. But it's not too bad.

Oh, the trials and tribulations of bottling homebrew.

The Mad Quest for Bottling

2010-07-21T18:49:00.013-04:00

Since switching over to kegging most of my homebrew, I have not had the same opportunity to bottle beer. This is not a particularly missed endeavor. Bottling homebrew is messy, time consuming, and ultimately anti-climatic because the beer has to be conditioned in the bottles for about 10 days before its ready to drink. I found it important to have homebrew already bottled, in order to have some to drink while bottling. When I started kegging I set aside the bottling stuff without hesitation.

But now that I've been kegging for a while, I've run into an unexpected challenge. When I want to share my homebrew, I have to clean the house first. Why? Because I can't take it with me, which means cleaning the house for company.

I dislike cleaning house (which is one of the very reasons that I got into kegging in the first place!), so this means that I've been thrust back into bottling again. And therein lies the challenge: How do you bottle beer that has been kegged without buying the $70 beer gun that (supposedly) makes it easy?

I started by asking my local homebrew shop. They gave me the rundown of how it can be done, so my buddy Pete and I tried it. It was a miserable failure. The beer was flat, flat, flat.

So, more research, this time via the intertubes...

This video explained basically the same process my homebrew shop had recommended. After watching this, we tried again with moderate success, but still not quite what I was hoping for - still a bit too much on the flat side. So, we improvised. We boiled up some priming sugar and combined the (already CO2 carbonated) beer and sugar and bottle as normally. This worked like a trick, but its just as labor intensive and messy as bottling from the start (plus trying to guestimate the amount of priming sugar to bottle only a 12 pack of beer gave me a math headache).

Photo Courtesy: highgravitybrew.com

Back to the homebrew store for more advice. They tell me that this isn't a foolproof way to get good carbonated beer in bottles from a keg, but recommended trying a different bottle filler than what I was using. The cheap bottle fillers have a little cap at the end of a plastic tube with a little plastic plunger. You press down on the plunger and the beer begins to flow. The one I have is spring loaded, and the homebrew shop recommended going with one that is gravity fed. Basically, instead of a spring pushing it closed, the weight of the beer pushes it closed.

To be honest, I'm not convinced this is going to make much difference at all, but hey, I'm game to try it (and the new beer filler was less than $3). Tonight I'll post up the results.

Saving American Roads... Again.

2010-07-08T21:02:00.004-04:00

I saw a short, interesting article on Autoblog Green about how bicycles built American roads:

In the late 1800s, a business man by the name of Albert Pope had noticed the growing popularity of bicycles and started up his own manufacturing company. In order to make his product more appealing to those who lived outside of well-manicured city streets, Pope began a crusade that would shape the face of transportation in America. He started a magazine with the sole purpose of bringing road quality to the public eye, donated vast sums of money to MIT to start a new road engineering program and eventually succeeded in convincing congress to found the Office of Road Inquiry – what would eventually become the Federal Highway Administration.

Many might not recognize Mr. Pope's name, but you may know about his company, Columbia bicycles.
Columbia is largely responsible for building the popularity of the current "safety bicycle" design (bikes with two wheels the same size with inflatable tires) here in the U.S. Pope was a big advocate of having road access for bicycles (largely because he wanted to sell the bicycles) between 1876 and 1900 when horses still ruled the road:

Pope fought laws banning bikers from streets and parks, spending $8,000 alone to gain access to Manhattan’s young Central Park. As a riding culture emerged, Pope financed the publication of touring guides that fed the growing urge for suburban retreat. Soon city slickers shed crowded streets for weekends in the wilderness. Courtship habits changed, and fashion soon followed: Ladies donned bloomers to keep from getting their gowns tangled in bike chains, causing a stir by exposing a then-scandalous bit of leg.

As Todd Scott has pointed out on m-bike.org last summer, Detroit enjoys a part in bicycling history as well, thanks to development of the first mile of concrete road (Woodward Ave.) in June, 1909.

[Edward] Hines, former chief consul for the League of American Wheelmen Michigan Division was a Wayne County road commissioner (along with Cass Benton and Henry Ford.) He helped oversee this project. Back in 1893, he helped create legislation that enabled county road commissions....
It’s highly ironic that some motorists question cyclists rights to the roads when we were there first and literally paving the way for improved motoring.

At the turn of last century, we had wheelmen (bicyclists) trying to create viable roads which were co-opted by motorists. Now we've got wheelmen in the form of the League of American Bicyclists with other groups, attempting to "save" American roads again, by making our streets more livable.

The streets of our cities and towns are an important part of the livability of our communities. They ought to be for everyone, whether young or old, motorist or bicyclist, walker or wheelchair user, bus rider or shopkeeper. But too many of our streets are designed only for speeding cars, or worse, creeping traffic jams.

While some drivers might not immediately see how this will "save" our roads, the goals of the coalition is to make our streets more useful for everyone. Motorists' commutes will be more tolerable thanks to reduced traffic, and life in our communities will be more pleasurable because there will be more options other than just hopping in the car. Bikes to the rescue again, I say.

Niche Brewing with Fun Ingredients

2010-07-07T09:41:00.029-04:00

I recently had the pleasure of attending a beer tasting fundraiser that a friend of mine, Tanya, held for the Mid-Michigan MS150 coming in July. She's an amazing person who does an astounding job of fundraising (to which you can donate here). Actually, while she does do great fundraising, what's really astounding is her ability to inspire others to raise funds as part of her team, thereby multiplying her impact. (This is Tanya and her dad who rides with her.)

I've tried fundraising many times before and its no easy task, but what's even more difficult is being charismatic and energizing enough to get other people to follow your vision and not just donate, but commit the time, energy, and passion to raise money as well! That's the piece that I always struggled with, and that's something Tanya excels at.

But all of this is an aside and long-winded introduction on our way to the tasty beers that Tanya introduced me to at her fundraiser. She had a wide variety of Michigan beers for everyone to try, which was really great for me, because I like beer.

Many of the beers we tried, I have enjoyed many times before (oh hello, my old friend, Hopmouth), but what was more surprising to me is that she had some beer that I had not enjoyed before!

A brewery that opened in late 2007 in Traverse City, Right Brain Brewery, was that beer.

Tanya had growlers of their Ancho Chili Dutch Double Chocolate Porter, 3 Chinook IPA, and Chi Organic Pale Ale. And because Tanya is so impossibly cool, when the fundraiser was finished and these beers remained leftover, she let me take them and give them a good home. I love trying new beers, particularly niche beers like the Ancho Chili porter or the Chi Organic. These are not beers I would drink on a regular basis, and in fact I am not likely to drink again, but they are delightful and a blast to try.

For those curious:

the Ancho Chili porter was a dark and hearty porter. It almost had a stout mouthfeel to it, rather than the more traditional porter (which is usually a bit less hearty), but then it had a flavor you were not expecting... yep, that's the chili pepper. It warms your mouth after a few seconds of tasting the porter flavor. Then it warms your throat and finally your stomach. I can't say I disliked the beer, but it wasn't for me. I did drink about three pints of it just to make sure.
The Chi organic pale ale is about as opposite of the Ancho porter as you can get. It is intensely light, almost airy, with a mellow Chi tea aftertaste. And there's the rub for me... I do not care for Chi Tea. Or any tea. To me, this wonderful pale ale was totally ruined by the Chi flavors. I still have this beer, so I am planning to try it several more times (just to make sure).
Now, the 3 Chinook IPA by contrast was my favorite. No surprise since I am a big IPA fan, but the flowery chinook flavors came through very strong, despite the bold, underlying pale ale. The malty flavors supported the bitter hops very well. I immediately polished this growler off without further research or delay.

As a homebrewer, this raises an interesting challenge for me. I would very much like to be able to experiment with crazy ingredients like Chi tea or Ancho chilies, but I am not very likely to consume (or sucker others into consuming) all three and a half to five gallons of an Ancho chili beer that a typical homebrew recipe makes. I've already tried a failed experiment with a coffee stout that was for all practical purposes undrinkable, and resulted in many bottles being dumped.

I've seen online where some folks will brew a base pale ale and then "mix" in the alternate ingredients into smaller fermenting containers (taking a five gallon recipe and splitting it into five separate one gallon brews). I suppose that might work, but having tasted both side-by-side, I doubt that the Chi organic pale ale was the same basic ale recipe as the 3 Chinook IPA. Perhaps, but I doubt it. I'm going to do some experimenting with this. I'll attempt to do some brewing in half to one gallon batches that can be scaled up to full batches if I like the results.

But in the meantime, I highly recommend stopping by the Right Brain Brewery if you find yourself in Traverse City. Their brewer, John Niedermaier, is doing some great work and brewing some very interesting beers... even if a few aren't my favorites, they might be yours.

Progress on the Berkley bike racks

2010-06-27T20:04:00.009-04:00

Some of you may recall that my town of Berkley has been attempting to do something about bike parking and bike racks. While we still don't have any bike racks, things are getting closer!

This past March I put together a plan for installing installing 9 upside-down "U" style racks along 12 Mile road (a major portion of our downtown area) within the city. The Berkley Environmental Advisory Committee (BEAC) approved it and we sent it to the city manager. In May, the City Council approved the funding for the racks. So, all that's left is sign off on the locations and quantity by the public safety (police), city planner, and the city manager, who then sends the final plan sent to council for approval (there may be others players, but those are key players). After that, assuming council approval, the racks get ordered, installed, and we have somewhere to lock up our bikes safely. In theory, this is all going to happen by the end of July.

Simple right? Well, almost. There are three concerns our city has with placing the bike racks along 12 Mile road, as related to me by our city manager, Jane Bais-DiSessa:
1) Berkley does not allow biking on sidewalks (just like Royal Oak next door) so placing bike racks on the sidewalks supposedly encourages the illegal activity of riding on sidewalks
2) Berkley's sidewalks are not wide so adding bike racks has to be done carefully as to meet ADA requirements and city code
3) There are already benches and trash cans on the sidewalks so the sidewalks will be cluttered (Note #2 above... not sure how to reconcile these two concerns, but I guess I'll do it by measuring some sidewalks?)

Her solution so far has been to suggest putting the bike racks either behind buildings or on side-streets. But there's a few concerns that I have with that:

1) Usage will drop significantly if they aren't placed in highly visible locations
2) Increased theft if not located in high traffic areas
3) Safety at night

Ms. Bais-DiSessa's response to that last one was that she didn't think anyone biked at night in Berkley, or at least she "hoped" they wouldn't.

Well, my wife and I do and I hope more will.

Anyway, I'm confident that many of our suggested locations may already meet the ADA requirements, and those that don't we'll be able to find someplace that does nearby. Plus, I'm confident that I'll be able to make a strong argument for placing the bike racks along 12 Mile road in areas where they'll actually get used... even at night.

Hoekstra's Bicycle Logo

2010-06-26T10:03:00.027-04:00

Noticed while walking the pooches yesterday morning, that Republican candidate for Michigan's governor Pete Hoekstra's campaign yard signs include a little red-white-and-blue bicycle. I did not realize he was part of the bike caucus in the U.S. House (his current job). So, I looked up his record on environmental issues.

Now I see why I wouldn't realize he was bike enthusiast.

He's pro-big-oil and anti-climate change legislation, which seems a little at odds with cycling, but hey, we're a diverse enough group that I'll can accept that there are bike fanatics out there who still want cheap gas and 10mpg Hummers.

I admit that I instantly liked him based on the bicycle logo (yeah, I'm THAT crazy), but after looking at his record, I almost as instantly, disliked him. The real question I have isn't really about the bicycle logo. The real question about Mr. Hoekstra that I have is, regardless of whether you're a bicycle fanatic like me or not, isn't opposing alternative energy incentives opposite of Michigan's green jobs push? I mean if the guy is going to vote against alternative energy incentives (twice) that included incentives for wind energy, and even an incentive to commute by bicycle, then I've got to assume that all the alternative energy jobs that are being lured to Michigan are likely to be a pretty low priority for him.

But even if I don't like his positions, I do like his little red-white-and-blue bicycle.

More biking - Less driving

2010-06-09T09:07:00.004-04:00

This weekend, I was asked whether I bike more than drive. My gut response was, "Oh no. I ride a lot, but I still drive more." But my wife thought otherwise, and I started thinking about it...

I don't commute to work anymore (work at home)
I don't drive to the grocery store (bike 90%-95% of the time)
I bike for most errands and some business meetings
My wife and I have started biking to dinners much more often in Royal Oak because its such an easy ride and we can split a bottle of wine without having to worry about a designated driver*

Hmm, maybe I do bike more than I drive?

I decided I wanted to know, so I took a sample from the last two weeks:

Biked 64 miles - lower than typical (due to medical stuff I was off the bike for most of Memorial Day weekend)
Drove 289 miles - including two drives to state parks (one of which was to go mountain biking), a 150 mile drive to a friend's birthday party in Tecumseh, and a trip to Ann Arbor

This seems to say that I drive more than I bike.

But wait!

During the week, I have a Grand Prix to drive. It has had 234 miles put on it since April 22nd, which averages out to about 33 miles per week (the car has not been so healthy of late, so been leaving it parked - the 289 miles listed above were put on the car that my wife drives to work and is the car we typically use on the weekends).
Checking my bike mileage for that same period, I've done 296 miles on my bike for an average of about 42 miles.

Bottom line: I think I bike more than I drive during the week, but drive more than I bike on the weekend.

The irony to all this is, my wife and I just bought a new car on Monday because the Grand Prix's transmission crapped out. So, now I have a fully-functioning car to use during the week again. I suspect I'll still bike more during the week. (Particularly since my wife takes the new car to work with her!)

*this is NOT an endorsement for drunk biking, which no matter how much fun it might seem to be is dangerous and can be deadly. Always ride with caution. Always wear your helmet.

I am the Cheeseman!

2010-04-25T10:50:00.004-04:00

That title may be a little premature. But I hope to be the cheeseman soon. Last year my wife got me a cheese making kit. I made a couple batches of mozzarella that did not turn out as expected.

Oh sure, it tasted like tasted like fresh mozzarella and it melted on pizza pretty similar to mozzarella, but it sure didn't look or have the consistency of mozzarella. It was more like feta in those regards.

Well, after a couple tries with the same result, I decided to contact Leeners (cheese kit makers) to see what they can recommend. Their recommendations were better straining of the whey and using non-homogenized milk.

That's all fine and dandy, but I hadn't found non-homogenized milk and I'd gotten busy, so I had not yet gone back to trying to make cheese.

That's when my lovely and fun-filled wife found that a local restaurant, The Traffic Jam and Snug, was doing a cheese making workshop and she signed us up!
Traffic Jam is one of our favorites. They brew their own beer, have their own bakery, and make their own ice cream in addition to cheese. If you go, I highly recommend their meatloaf. But they usually have terrific specials as well. Oh! They also just brewed a terrific wheat beer made with wheat from a farm in Owosso, MI (they call it, conveniently enough, Owosso Wheat). But I digress...

The cheesemaking workshop was basically watching and helping their cheesemaster/brewmaster make a batch of Asiago cheese (and yes, I do want his job). They brought in milk that had been milked from cows in Ortonville that morning and started the process of heating the milk to expand the milk fat.

While that was going on, they gave us a quick run-down on the process and what our day was going to look like. They fed us a very nice continental breakfast, and we got suited up (apron and hairnets) and headed into the dairy/brewery. They use the same facility for brewing beer because much of the equipment is the same. 300 gallons of milk were being stirred in a giant double boiler (roughly figure that you'll get 10% cheese from milk - so aiming for 30lbs of cheese). When it reached 88 degrees, they turned off the stirrers and the heat and let the milk fat solidify.

Interesting side note about the heat used for the double boiler - it's city steam heat [pdf]. Detroit has steam heat piped around the city from three different steam plants for buildings to use as heat (seem like they could have run these under sidewalks to melt snow as well, but I digress...again). So, the Traffic Jam just has to attach their double boiler to the steam pipe coming into the building and doesn't have to spend the money on additional equipment to generate the steam.

Once the milk fat has knit together (which my mozzarella never did) you then cut it with big screens and then slowly reheat it and stir it again to separate the whey from the curds. The whey is removed and the curds are set into forms. After sitting over night they are rubbed with salt and then they age for at least 60 days.

Because this milk is unpasteurized, it has to sit at least 60 days to make sure that all the bad microbes are good and dead.

We followed it up with cheese tasting (lots and lots of cheese tasting) and beer tasting (not quite as much beer tasting, but still plenty). We met new friends and had a great time.

Also, for my own cheese making endeavors, it was great to be able the process as a whole. I have a much better understanding of what I need to do, why, and hopefully as a result my next batch of cheese will be much, much better (though, I have to admit, I ate a LOT of cheese yesterday. I am not feeling the urgent need for cheese right now).

ESB on tap!

2010-04-24T09:49:00.007-04:00

My pal Pete and I started brewing together last fall, and we have several batches under our belts now. Being that we're both fans of hoppy beers (IPAs, ESBs), we've been focusing on those.

In March, we took on an ESB that has turned out terrific (we also did a pilsner at the same time that is ok, but not outstanding). Actually, we brewed a double batch of the ESB (one for Pete, one for me) and we decided that one of these we would dry hop with extra hops (more on that in a moment). We have been doing extract brewing, simply because its easier and faster and I'm kind of lazy.

Here's the original ESB Extract Recipe we used:
6 lbs - John Bull English Light Malt Extract syrup (or can use Extra Light DME)
1 lb - Crystal Malt 60L (crushed)
Hops:
1 oz - English Northern (boiling for 60 min)
1 oz - Fuggles (.5oz for 40 min, 0.5oz for 30 min)
1 oz - East Kent Goldings (finishing for 15 min)
Yeast:
Wyeast 1098 British Ale liquid yeast

Bring 1.5 gallons to 160degrees, steep grain for 20 minutes, then remove. Add 1 gallon water, bring to boil, add extract and boiling hops, complete remaining hops additions.

Cool in ice bath, add to 3 gallons of water in fermenter.
ABV: 3.5%-4%

We decided to make some changes to this original recipe:
Added 1oz of Fuggles hops for 35 min (instead of splitting in half, remember: I'm lazy)
Steeped grains at about 185degrees for 20 minutes instead of 160 (opps)
Fermented for a week, then dry hopped after 1 week of fermenting with Vanguard hops? (I had the hops in the freezer from this winter. I actually am not sure what they are, but I think they were Vanguard)

Dry hopping is simply adding uncooked hops to the fermenter during different stages of fermenting. Normally, I think I would do this when racking (transferring) to a secondary fermenter, but we had 3 batches going at once, and I was out of containers. So, it just went in the original fermenter. If I weren't lazy, I would have used the hydrometer to measure the specific gravity (SG) to tell me when in the fermenting process we added it, but I am lazy, so I didn't. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about introducing uncooked hops to the beer, for fear of contaminating the whole batch with bacteria from the hops, but everything I read on blogs of varying reputation told me not to worry about that. So, I took a swig of homebrew, ripped open the hops package, another swig of homebrew, popped-open the fermenter and sprinkled the hops over the top of the fermenting beer.

The downside to my laziness with the hydrometer is that I also have no idea what the alcohol level ultimately is, but it seems like its pretty close to the 3.5%. I am not normally THIS lazy...

As it turns out the ESB+dry hops batch is, by far, both Pete and my favorite. It's got a lot of variety in flavor and a very strong floral-hoppy aroma but I would say it's not significantly more bitter than the original recipe without the dry hopped bonus.

Now that Pete and I have a recipe that we like, I am going to see if we can make the successful switch to full-grain. Then I believe we're going to work on our consistency in results. Since we like this beer we planning to use the full-grain as a good base recipe to do some experimenting. We're going to see what we can change, refine, distort, and concoct.

Oh who am I kidding, we'll be experimenting long before we try to get any consistency....

Making the Perfect Pot of Coffee

2010-02-13T10:49:00.002-05:00

This week my folks sent me some freshly roasted coffee from their favorite coffee roaster in Altoona, Iowa (where they live). The roaster, The Coffee Barn, is run by a great guy, Carl. When I was roasting, he and I would trade ideas and thoughts periodically. Now that I'm not roasting, I drink his coffee whenever I have the opportunity. The coffee is a Dominican Gold that he roasted on Feb. 8, 2010, so it is still within the sweet spot of prime flavor (the bag of Yirgacheffe is pictured below, because the Gold bag of the Dominican didn't photograph as well).

This morning, I decided to do his coffee right and busted out the French Press... instead of dealing with trying to clean out the drip pot which requires running vinegar through it, checking temperatures, and trying to track down the paper filters. (We use a reusable filter on a regular basis, but the flavor can be a bit off with it.) I ground the coffee just before adding it to the press. Our regular coffee grinder died a few months back and it is killing me to use the little whirligig model because its so inconsistent, but it works for daily coffee and until I round up the $359 for my Rocky Rancilio (or settle on $140 for a Capresso Infinity) it will have to do. My wife had received an electric tea kettle for a gift and I used it to boil the water then transferred it to press (the slight loss in temperature from boiling to cool pot makes it perfect for extracting flavor from coffee!), added four rounded scoops of ground beans, stir, and let it set about 6-7 minutes.

It came out perfect. If you haven't tried the French Press method, I urge you to try it. It makes a world of difference (and as an added bonus clean up is dramatically easier).

Urban farming = Job growth?

2010-02-10T15:13:00.004-05:00

I recently read about plans to change Detroit's zoning to permit urban farming on the Mother Nature Network. I'm all for urban gardening/farming, but I increasingly find that I am questioning the rationale behind it:

...
In Detroit, where zoning laws ban growing crops and raising livestock for profit, city planner Kathryn Lynch Underwood is part of a work group rewriting the regulations and defining what kinds of urban farms might need more oversight.

"The city has not been treating it as an illegal use or a nuisance because it has been a good thing," Underwood said.

She is hopeful that urban agriculture and the city's nearly 1,000 community gardens will create good jobs in a city that desperately needs them and put vacant lots to use in blighted neighborhoods.
...

(You can read the full article here:
http://www.mnn.com/food/farms-gardens/stories/urban-farmers-fight-to-sow-green-biz)

This leaves me wondering, just how will small inefficient farms/gardens "create good jobs in a city that desperately needs them"? Farming has been notoriously unprofitable and often pays among the lowest wage scale.

According to a study done by Rene P. Rosenbaum, Associate Professor Department of Resource Development, at Michigan State University [pdf], residential seasonal farmworkers in Lenawee County earned $5,057 on average in 1996. I think it is fairly safe to assume that anyone creating an urban farm is likely to employ residential seasonal workers (if anyone) or migrants, which according to the same survey earned $2,228 for the season. These are clearly not "good" jobs, and they're only seasonal at that.

Often it seems that environmentalists are considered blasphemous if they say anything negative about urban farming. Particularly because there are wonderful programs like Capuchin's Earthworks Urban Farm that provide a terrific service (and food!) on a non-profit basis. However, for-profit, large-scale, urban farms strike me as a sort of goofy response to the food deserts that are many of our urban centers. Is farming in the middle of a city really the best use of that land? I know the argument is that the blighted land is not being used now and it’s a wasteland of urban decay, so why not? Farming would certainly fill that land. I don't really have a good response to that, but the point is that farming is not an economic solution. It is simply a subsidized solution to filling vacant space.

My grandfather's roughly 170-acre farm in rural Iowa was sliced up when a road was needed as Des Moines sprawled, then cut in half again when the gas company decided they needed to run a pipeline through it in the mid 1990's. After several years of court battles, his farmland was cut into three distinct chunks with strips that could not be farmed because they were claimed by eminent domain for the state and gas company. If we as a country can't keep from splitting up farms in Iowa, what kind of convoluted thinking leads to believing that a farm in an urban center is going to remain intact after the next resurgence of Detroit?

I think encouraging urban farming/gardening as supplemental income or a hobby is a terrific contribution to the need for more fresh veggies in urban centers and as an educational tool for kids. Moreover, I completely agree the zoning laws should be fixed such that urban gardens can be planted, produce sold at markets, and the owners not put themselves at risk of being hauled into court battles. However, expecting it to be a source of "good job" growth or that these could be profitable, generational farms strikes me as borderline delusional.

Columbia Bicycle Manufacturing

2010-01-14T07:53:00.001-05:00

Here's a fun little video showing the manufacturing of Columbia Bicycles in the very early 1950's. Unfortunately, by this point in history, bicycles were well under their way to being pushed out as transportation vehicles (despite the video's claim otherwise). Owning an automobile was growing tremendously as a status symbol, promoting growth of the suburbs. (The rest, as they say, is history - including almost all the bicycle manufacturing plants.)

The video is complete with a little information about the size of the auto industry, cellophane production, and nice little commercial for Stag Beer at the end.

Enjoy!

Environmentally Holiday?

2009-12-11T10:34:00.010-05:00

Earlier this week I went to a "Greening Your Holiday" workshop put on by the Sierra Club and Berkley's Environmental Advisory Committee. I got some interesting tidbits from it, some of which wasn't necessarily new information, but I needed reminding of. Here are the highlights:

- Real trees are much more "green" than fake trees

This item has generated more discussion within my household than anything else. Most fake trees today are made in China (big carbon footprint just for shipping alone) and are petroleum based plastics (more carbon footprint), many have lead in them or lead dust on them, AND there isn't a good program for recycling them. While most of your live trees often come from a farm nearby (most tree lots here in the Detroit area get trees from mid to western to northern Michigan farms), which helps reduce transportation carbon. Tree farms are, well, farms. So, while you are cutting down a tree, it was grown for that purpose, just as a cornstalk was grown for the purpose of cutting it down eventually. Additionally, live trees filter CO2 while they grow, and they can be composted. Here's an interesting article about the issue:
http://www.livescience.com/environment/091210-christmas-tree-green.html
Here's another:
http://www.sierraclubgreenhome.com/featured/oh-christmas-tree-oh-christmas-tree%E2%80%A6/

My wife and I were speculating on how long you have to keep a fake tree to make up for its carbon footprint. The first link appears to plan on keeping a tree for only 3 years - this seems short to me, but perhaps that's as long as they last these days. We have a fake tree. I inherited it from my Great Aunts Marion and Letha, and my dad believes it is from the 1960s (it sure looks like it - there is no mistaking that this is a fake - and a bad fake at that). So, I suspect that it's made up for its carbon footprint. But I'm sure this debate will rage on in my household as our poor little tree continues to look worse and worse and we contemplate replacing it.

- New LED xmas lights cut energy consumption dramatically

We recently picked up a couple strings of the LED lights, although they are still dramatically more expensive than the traditional minibulb lights. I spent about $19 (on sale) for two strings totaling 110 lights. This compares to a string of minibulb lights that I picked up at the same time that cost $2 (on sale) with 100 lights. Yeah, the LED lights use less energy, but even if you figure the traditional minibulb lights use about 50 watts compared to about 0.5 watt (or less) for the LED, that would require me to keep them lit constantly for years to make up for the additional cost.

Some conversions and math: (DTE Energy residential costs: 6.49 cents/kWh = 6.49c/3600 Watts) (50 Watts = .01389 kWh) so... 50 Watts costs nine hundredths of a cent/hour (0.01389kWh * 6.49 cents = 0.09 cents), which means I'd have to light them for about 18,888 hours to make up for the $17 additional cost (cost of string 1700 cents/0.09 cents for energy per hour).

Considering we only burn them for about 4 to 5 hours (let's be generous and say 6 hours) per night, that means I'll have to use these for 3,148 nights to make up the cost. Or energy costs will have to skyrocket.

Ok, so these are an entirely "environmental" choice and not an economic choice at this point. Let's just leave it at that for now.

- Tips for how to eat local - the 100 mile challenge (eat an entire meal of foods from within 100 mile radius)

Basically, my wife was most interested in where to find meat that is locally produced, and purportedly, the local farmer's market has local meat. We've bought Kowalski Meats, but we are still not sure whether they are actually Michigan meats or just packed in MI. Boarshead is another meat that could be from Michigan, but that's often a crap shoot, since they have plants all over the US. There are a few other brand names as well, but we'll be checking out the farmer's market for other meats that we use on a regular basis (chicken, ground beef, ground turkey, pork chops, etc.).

- Tips for how to make your own wrapping materials (some paper, some not)

My family has often talked about dumping wrapping paper in favor of wrapping fabric, fabric bags, or something of that ilk, but inevitably we've failed with the exception of a few pieces of fabric. Or we give it away on wrapped gifts and don't get it replaced. One of the thoughts that came out of the workshop though was to buy old curtains and baskets to make a nifty little designed gift package, rather than just traditional wrapping. We also did colorful paint stamps on newspaper to make your own wrapping paper designs at the workshop. This was something that... um... well, it sort of screamed "hippie" to me. And I'm pretty sure my wife thought my newspaper-stamped-wrapping paper was trash. Oh well, it was fun to make even if it's not something I'm likely to use.

After all this we had several casual discussions during the workshop about some of the things that others do to "green" their holidays. This was fun to learn what others are doing:
- No big box stores - only local shopping. Supports the local economy. Often much lower carbon footprint. Often much more unique gifts. But it also likely means no Playstation3 for Christmas.... ;)
- Only homemade presents - one couple bought themselves a home-remodel this year, so for Christmas they are "shopping" at home in order to create new gifts and not spend more money they don't have. They are trying to find stuff to give to each other that can be easily made from stuff at home. Interesting thought. I think this would be fun for a few gifts, but I love finding fun gifts for loved ones that I likely don't have in my basement. Plus, I just don't have the crafty talents to make good gifts (again, no Playstation3, either).
- Regifting - because as a culture we have so much stuff that is only used periodically at best (or never), many felt that we need to get over our disdain for regifting. I have a mixed feeling on this. I think that regifting is fine in concept (isn't that just basically how "vintage" succeeds anyway??) But often regifting is thought of as unloading your crap or unwanted stuff on others, rather than thoughtful regifting. One person at the workshop mentioned that they regift books, which I think is brilliant, and my Mom and I have done this in the past.

So, how green are your holidays? What other green tips did I miss?

2010 Felt Bikes

2009-11-11T09:50:00.000-05:00

Since the mountain bike I ride is a Felt Q720 (from 2007), I was interested to see that Felt is offering quite a few rides for commuting as well from commutebybike.com.

Of course, reading about all these new commuters makes me think I need a bike for commuting and errands. After all, I ride an old beater GT Karakoram mountain bike for my commuter/city bike with a rack, lights, lock, lots of "stuff" making it heavy and not very, um, attractive... (but then neither are my intensely pasty white legs in this photo). And, as I'm sure my wife will point out to me, I work at home, so my commute is actually a 10 foot walk from the bedroom to the office. But that's not the point at all. AT ALL.

Anyway, I did find that Felt is offering several bikes that would be great commuters (sorry, I mean "City" bikes).

However, the two I really like are the Hot Wheels Sixty 8 and the TIP. Though, I suppose neither of those would be commuters for most people. Perfect for my commute though!

Solving my Kegerator Problems (Hopefully)

2009-11-09T12:07:00.003-05:00

I picked up a kegerator off of craiglist for $100 a few months back. It had some cosmetic problems, but it got cold and seemed to be in good shape mechanically. It included a gas cylinder and a beer faucet. However, it's starting to fall under the "you get what you pay for" category. The unit is a Beverage Air Model QM20, and since most Beverage Air kegerators run about $400 or more (lots more), I was feeling pretty smug about it.

I got it home and decided to pull off the plastic top because it was cracked in several places. This wasn't too much of a problem and I replaced it with a plywood top that I painted then covered with plastic coating.

I then replaced the beer line and the gas line (previous owner had apparently never cleaned them... ewww), and picked up new connections for the smaller "corny" or soda kegs that I'm using for homebrew. This came to about $40 in parts.

So, with the top replaced, new parts installed, and beer in the fermentor, I moved it into place in the basement. However, while doing this, I broke one of the welds that held one of it's casters in place. D'oh. Oh well, easy fix with a block of wood in the back corner.

I plugged it in and put a glass of water in the fridge with a thermometer in it. Most beer needs to be 36 to 38F when served, so I wanted to make sure that it was getting that cold.

At about this time, I started to research how to turn this into a two-tap unit. Unfortunately, I found that it is an old 2.5" tower (the metal tube that has the handle on it), and there is not room inside that tower to add another faucet. This little change will require a new 3" tower (about $65) and of course, the new faucet, beer lines, and CO2 gas lines ($20 for the faucet, probably about $5-10 for beer lines, $30 for multi-port gas distributors). This is starting to sound expensive.

Time to check on that glass in the fridge... the good news is as tested before buying it, it is getting cold. However, I quickly learned that the thermostat was not working on the unit and it froze the glass of water completely solid within 2 hours. I remove the block of ice, chip out the thermostat. Get out another one, and turn the thermostat to the off position and learn that it will still freeze the water in the "off" position.

Now I've moved the Hefeweizen into a keg awaiting the kegerator... so, I decide let's just tap the thing, and unplug the fridge to make sure it doesn't freeze. Of course, almost immediately after drinking beer one night I forget to unplug the kegerator. This freezes the beer lines and pops the faucet open. I don't notice this when I unplug it and about a half hour later, I've got beer pouring out all over the floor!! NOOOO!

The other problem with this solution is that tapped beer is very temperature sensitive. Higher temps require less CO2 gas pressure, lower temps require more - basically this means huge head on the beer as the keg warms up. Additionally, once the beer drops to about 34F (or lower) the CO2 gas gets trapped in the beer and will provide very little head and leaves a flat taste to it. So, obviously, I have to get the temperature issues resolved.

I contacted Beverage Air and found out that they do not think they have ever built model QM20. I provided all the details I could, but they just recommended I contact a certified service company to look at the unit. So, I then went to parts suppliers and found they also claim Beverage Air never made a model QM20 and they can't send me a thermostat for it. Someone suggested that I take out the thermostat and see if its got any part numbers on it, but of course it doesn't.

The solution that I've come to is to buy an external temperature controller and let it control the temperature. These are about $65, so while my kegerator remains a good deal, its not looking like the bargain I originally thought.

Total price so far: $205 and some change. Still have another $125-$130 or so more to add the second tap. Though I have had (some) fun trying to figure all this stuff out.

Trading Bike Racks for Parking Spaces in Berkley

2009-11-05T10:08:00.004-05:00

My dandy little town of Berkley, Michigan just had an article in the local little paper, Woodward Talk, entitled "Berkley aims to promote greater bike usage at city businesses". This sounds like it will be all about new bike lanes and bike racks, right? Sounds encouraging, right??

Well, almost. The article is actually about how the council voted DOWN an amendment to the bicycling parking requirements for Berkley businesses and requested that the planning commission rewrite the ordinance. From there it goes on to point out that...

...the original ordinance would have allowed existing establishments to reduce their number of required off-street parking spaces. By counting bike rack spaces toward this requirement, the number of parking spaces could be decreased by as much as 25 percent for commercial businesses.

and as written, the ordinance "...would have REQUIRED [emphasis is mine] business owners to install a new bicycle rack anytime their existing parking lot is developed or resurfaced." But Councilman Dan Benton does not feel that businesses should be required to install bike racks if they don't want to. He is quoted as saying, "We should not be making businesses put in more bike racks if they don't want to." and then claimed that bike racks are too expensive (the article quotes a cost of $100-$450 each).

I admit, I don't know how much resurfacing a parking lot costs, but I'll bet that $100 (or even $450 more) is pretty damn nominal if you get to reduce the number of parking spaces provided. Plus the city already requires that businesses provide a certain number of parking spaces. So, how is requiring bicycle parking any different? A point made by Eric Auensen, chair of the Berkley Environmental Committee. (oh yeah, I know how... its cheaper!)

Ok, ok, I likely won't win many friends in the business community with this opinion, so since we've already tossed out the ordinance, and we're starting over, then let's make it a requirement for the DDA area. Hey, if you're a lawyers office or insurance agency locating in a "high traffic" area, then you should have to provide bike parking. Plus, 12 to 14 bikes fit in each singular parking place, so you lose one space and gain 14 "spaces" - seems like a pretty good trade off to me. All for 100 bucks.

As long as I'm complaining about this, might as well complain about the lack of bike lanes to safely get to businesses on Coolidge and 12 Mile Road too.... And HEY, how come our existing bike routes END at the city's edge?!? Why doesn't Berkley, Southfield, Royal Oak, and Oak Park play nice together on bike routes?!?

Battles for other days, methinks.

Photo Credit: Cyclelicio.us

Why Don't People Tell Me These Things?

2009-10-12T19:14:00.003-04:00

This post starts last week. Not the writing per se (the proofreading level alone will I'm sure convince you that this was not a week-long project), but the thought that went into it started last week.

You see, last week I was catching up on some Fat Cyclist reading that I had missed, when I read this little gem of a post: Distilled for Your Convenience: 15+ Years Worth of Acquired Wisdom. Basically, he, in his unparalleled style describes....

...three things I have learned that I think are worth sharing. It’s entirely possible that my three hard-earned epiphanies may do someone some good.

I always enjoy these types of articles and blog posts, because inevitably I pick up something from them at some point, though most of the tips are little things that have a nominal impact on my riding. However, this one was different.

The three (paraphrased) tips that Fatty goes on to share are:

Ride with less air in your tires (20-22psi)
Slower is not safer - ride faster, particularly on the downhills
Ride without a camelbak or backpack

After reading this, it was a couple days before I could get back out to the trails (mostly due to rain). The 2nd and 3rd tip I've heard before. Sometimes I ride with a camelbak, sometimes I don't. I always try to ride downhills faster (with varying levels of success), so that wasn't new.

But it was the first tip got me to thinking. I'm not entirely sure where he lives, but I believe it is in the Redmond area (Washington), which means he's probably getting a lot of similar mix of mud and hardpack that I get here in Michigan. I ride with tubes and I'm guessing that Fatty rides tubeless, which is why he can run at 20-22psi. But I was wondering, am I running my tires at too high pressure? I usually run between 40 and 50psi depending on sand, mud, and whether I remember to check my air level at all.

For yesterday's ride, I decided to try lowering my tire pressure, and ran the front at 30psi and back at 33psi. I couldn't bring myself to drop all the way to 20, because I wasn't carrying spares and didn't care to find out the hard way that tubes didn't like that low pressure. The trail was a nice mix of intensely muddy with standing water (in the woods) and dry hardpack (in the sun).

Let me tell you... this made a HUGE difference. The biggest instant change to my riding I've ever felt. I would not have believed it if I hadn't ridden it myself. The ride was smoother (much less bouncing back wheel syndrome - BBW), braking was better, handling was tighter, I think my gut was smaller, and I'm pretty sure I was more attractive to my spouse.

I had no idea how little pressure I should have been running all these years, and just how much difference it would make overall. This also helps me see the attraction of tubeless (which I could never fully understand before yesterday).

When I was running off-road events for Trips for Kids, I used to make sure tires were at about 45-50psi, but now I see that was way too much - particularly for the lighter weight kids. Sorry to make that so hard on all of you kids over the years. That'll teach you to trust a guy who self-taught how to mountain bike.

Although I am in no way a expert at mountain biking, in honor of Fatty's post, I thought today, I'd share my top three tips anyway:

Ride lower pressure than you think you should - (yep, just learned it yesterday and its now my top tip.) I'm planning to run at 30-35psi off-road from now on, though I'll probably carry spares with me just to be sure I can ride out.

And my next upgrade will be to tubeless.

Look where you want to go, not where you're going - this sounds counter-intuitive and is probably the hardest thing to do, but it also is the number one tip that improved my biking when I was getting started.

As you are headed off the trail, if you stare at the tree, you'll hit the tree. I try to look down the trail, pick a path, inevitably, the bike follows my eyes and onto the path.

Sure, at some point I suppose you might want to change where you look as you roll off the edge, but to be honest, I haven't had that happen yet (which means it will probably happen to me the next time I ride). When I roll off the edge into the woods, its because I forgot to keep my eyes on my desired path and my panicked eyeballs are now glued on the mess of trees, shrubs, river, or dirt that I'm aimed towards.

Important disclaimer - I do still crash more often than I'd like. But these crashes are usually due to a lack of good judgment or poor riding skills, not because I'm steering myself off into the wilderness.

My final tip isn't really a "skills" tip, but a recommendation: Ride with a group. There are great group rides out there, and talking to folks is how you'll learn these kind of tips without having to read them on random websites. Plus, this will help with my second tip, because you'll be able to pick a wheel/line to follow (assuming you don't pick a wheel that leads you off a cliff).

I always seem to ride better when I'm with a group. I don't know if that's because I step up to the challenge, or have examples to follow, or just that I put in more effort to avoid looking silly in front of others.

However, I must admit that I'm terrible at following my own advice on this one. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy riding with folks in group rides, but I find that I can't/don't make many of them. And I'm slow. So, there's been many times when I started with others and ended riding by myself.

Riding by oneself is not a bad thing. But then I'm having to figure out a lot of these simple tips for myself - save yourself the trouble and ride with a group. And, I guess, that answers the question from the title. People don't tell me these things because I'm not there to ask the question/hear the answer.

How come is it that I usually end up figuring out how to blame myself for my own problems? If TV has taught me one thing, it's that someone else should be to blame....

Bicycle trailers

2009-10-08T18:58:00.002-04:00

My brother just clued me in to a fun link for a variety of bicycle trailers:
http://www.sfbike.org/?racks

I'm especially a fan of the idea of a "camper" bike trailer (like the Midget Bicycle Camper pictured to the left here). Not that I want to drag one behind me, I just think they are a fun idea. I'd like you to drag one and I'll sleep in it. How about that?

I've always had this sort of crazy dream to build a mini-brewery or a coffee roaster on a bicycle trailer and then bicycle it around town makin' beer or coffee. Though, actually, as I think about it, I'm not really sure where I would bike it... other than to my pal's houses, and frankly, it's a lot less work to have them come to me.

I like the link to an instructable for building your own paniers. I've seen this instructable before (perhaps it's one of the more popular ones?), and I might try and take this on at some point. Mostly just because I'm drawn to projects like this, and if it can be done for cheap, then all the better!

I already have a BOB trailer, so I can't say that I have any need for another trailer, though "need" has never really gotten in the way of my desire for new bike gear in the past. I've been watching craigslist and curbs on trash day for a cheap kiddie trailer that I can turn into an inexpensive cargo trailer (the start to the brewery?!?), but have not found one yet that fits into this project budget (that budget is about $10 for those that are curious).

Anyway, truth be told, I'd rather just get one of these.

Michigan's Nutty Schools Count Day

2009-10-01T11:35:00.000-04:00

Michigan counts students on two days (yesterday was worth 80% and one day in Feb. from last school year is worth 20%). This is then used as a basis for calculating student populations that is used for deciding funding. I find "count day" to be a particularly annoying and disingenuous part of the school year in Michigan for two reasons:

First, if you are truly trying to figure out how many students attend a school, counting them on two days a year is going to produce a skewed result. In other words, its not a statistically valid way to measure the population that actually attends the school when that population is artificially inflated (or at least can be). I know they are trying to measure the census (that's everyone) that should be in the schools. But statistically speaking, the schools are only teaching a sample of the census. So to be accurate, they should be measuring the samples.

The second annoying part is, if you have to entice students to show up for school with TVs (does that strike anyone else as ironic?), laptops, and Ipods, then maybe you actually don't need the funding for these students? And just out of curiosity, who is paying for that big screen TV and other electronics? Does that come out of the school budget? Is there a $10,000 "Count Day Prize Budget"? No, actually there is a $500,000 "count day" budget (sort of).

I know. I get it. It's all about school funding and school choice. And don't get me wrong, I don't want to see funding fall for Detroit Public Schools... lord knows they can't afford to lose any more cash, and we as a state certainly don't spend enough on inner-city schools to begin with. And, yeah, the current system is designed to be stacked in favor of large urban school systems (DPS isn't the only one with these count day incentives). It's much easier to bolster attendance for two days rather than 40 or 50 days. But, if you want school funding based on accuracy, then this isn't the way to do it.

I am annoyed by the prizes, but the $500,000 budget isn't actually just to get kids into school for one day. It's a campaign to have parents choose to keep their kids in DPS. In that sense, this is probably a good way to spend money. However, aiming for this one day, well, that's ridiculous.

I'm happy to say that DPS Emergency Financial Manager, Robert Bobb, appears to understand this. He told WDIV:

...he’d continually fight to keep students in the district, including contacting parents to reassure them of the quality education their children get in a DPS school.
“Those are the parents we are going to start reaching out to throughout the year," Bobb said. "For all those children that are leaving the district and moving to other schools, our campaign will continue."

Well, I hope he does continue to fight. And to keep him honest, if I were in control, I drop this "count day" nonsense. I'd make it "count weeks" (one or two weeks a month for as many months as I could get) and then calculate the daily average to use as a base for the funding.

The other side benefit to doing it this, is IF you can get more kids to come to one particular school AND show up for school during count weeks, then you might actually get some consistency and be able teach them something too (and isn't that really the point??) -- note the big "if".

Obviously, if you are going to do this, then you have to address the funding disparity between suburban schools and inner-city schools. One thought on this might be to dump the separate school systems funding as they are now. Why not shift to funding based on county-wide counts, instead of separate districts? Heck, while we're at it, why not dump the separate districts all together and make county-wide districts? I know, parents at every other Wayne County school district will pitch a fit at having to help clean up the mess and corruption at DPS....

Anyway, that's obviously a whole different can of worms. However, with the state teetering on the brink of insolvency (or should that be tumbling over the edge?), I have to wonder if there is an opportunity here to change either Count Day or even the school system structure to help DPS make the most of substantially smaller state funding overall.

Moving, and yet, not really moving

2009-09-30T18:04:00.002-04:00

I have moved my professional blog from here to here. It's still about branding, beans, bikes, and beers (notice a theme here??), but this is now going to serve as a nice little repository for personal stuff too. So, stick around a learn a little bit more about me.

It's a work in progress, so don't panic that its a little generic and a little wonky at the moment. It'll get fixed... I promise.

Now, let's crack open a homebrew together and relax.

LA2M

2009-07-23T09:16:00.005-04:00

Yesterday, I attended a (new to me) networking lunch, called LA2M. It was sort of the typical format for these things, with time to network in the beginning, a presentation, and time to introduce yourself to everyone at the end. The topic was presented by Chris Kochmanski of Design Hub in Ann Arbor regarding old school marketing of direct mail and telemarketing for high-end service businesses. It was an interesting look into how these programs still work when done well.

I found the topic to be interesting, and found the group to be a good opportunity for networking with other marketing (and non-marketing) folks and entrepreneurs.

If you're interested, here's a list of upcoming topics.

National Coffee Association Coffee Consumption Study

2009-07-07T07:07:00.005-04:00

The National Coffee Association has released their annual coffee consumption study and there weren't many surprises this year.

Everyone knows its a tough year economically for a variety of reasons, and that was reflected in the study. While consumption overall has remained steady (54% of the overall respondents), gourmet beverages are down (14%, down from 17% in 2008) - likely driven by a decline espresso drinks (5%). However, coffee made at home is up significantly (7% growth in the last year). Interestingly, traditional coffees are also down.

So, as the economy tanks, people are more likely to make their coffee at home. Not surprising: as folks look to stretch their dollar, they recognize the value of making coffee at home instead of purchasing it at a shop. But those who used to buy lattes and other espresso-based drinks on their coffee break, aren't likely to start drinking low-end coffee made at home. This is an opportunity for small roasters and those in the grocery business that can provide high quality fresh beans.

Another interesting trend that may be contributing to coffee consumptions trends is the increase in freelancing. According to CNN Money, freelancers working at home have grown to 26% of the U.S. working population, up from 19% in 2006. While coffee shops are often used as meeting places by freelancers, in-person meetings are not likely happening every day, but coffee consumption does... at least in my office!

Frazz on the Independence of Biking

2009-07-06T22:51:00.004-04:00

My friend over at m-bike.org gave a very nice synopsis of the strip "Frazz" created by Michigander, Jef Mallett. I thought it was worthy of a post as well:

Started in April of 2001, the Frazz comic strip from time to time reflects author Jef Mallett’s love of biking. Today’s Fourth of July strip is a great example.

Jef was raised in Big Rapids and his addiction to cycling began with riding to school because he despised taking the bus. Jef now lives in Lansing, where his cycling addiction continues.

For those less familiar with the strip, Frazz is a thirty-something school custodian who lives an idyllic life being around well-behaved kids and getting plenty of time to ride both on-road and off.

“Frazz is who I want to be,” says Jef. “Frazz is a just a regular, likeable guy.”

You can catch your daily dose of Frazz at comics.com/frazz.

Jeff’s also written some Frazz books, which are available at Amazon.com.

Happy Fourth! (A few days late)

Good time to be a bicycle dealer?

2009-07-06T10:53:00.002-04:00

It's summer, which means I've been spending a lot of time behind the handlebars. I've also been spending a lot of time in bike shops - broken wheel, bend chainring, frayed shifter cable... its been a rough summer on both the road and mountain bikes. But this has gotten me in to talk with and hang out with some of the great folks that run independent bike shops around town. Based on these conversations, I can tell you that its both a good and bad time to be in the bike business.

Let's take a closer look:

First, inventory is a huge challenge for bike shops. Most of the bike shops I've visited have got their inventory under control. They have been focusing shifting their mix of inventory towards the products that are selling (basically away from mid-range road bikes) and reducing overall inventory. This is a tough balancing act for bike shops, particularly in the summer.

Next, as with all businesses in a downturn, its very important to find the "right" niche and keep laser sharp focus on that niche. This is where many shops are struggling. The high-end bike business has been hit particularly hard by the downturn. Shops that depend on this high-end bike business are going to have to be focused on connecting with their customers in a valuable way (rides, accessories, sponsorships, etc.). Shops that are focused on mid-range bikes are finding increasing competition from online and big box shops. Either way the solution remains the same focus, focus, focus.

Finally, I have found that shops that have the traditional bike shop attitude are losing the battle. If you ever shopped at a bike shop in the 1990's, you know the what I'm talking about. The "holier-than-thou" talking way over your head attitude that I am constantly railing against. Most shops are doing much better with this, but I still run into it. Particularly for some reason in shops that work with a lot of triathletes (Do they like that attitude? Seems doubtful).

Is it a good time to be a bike dealer? Well, its definitely a tough time, no question. But there are opportunities if you can nail down a specific niche market that you can market to, reduce inventory costs, and still keep service friendly and with a smile.

My kind of racing.

2009-06-16T11:53:00.000-04:00

My friends mmeiser and Todd of AllYearGear posted a great video.

I've always wanted to try and ride one of these, though I think the hardest part would be actually getting up on them. But if I can get on it, then I'm in for a race.

It seems like that big front wheel would be great for off-road. You'd roll over everything. And if folks can unicycle on trails, why not a penny farthing?

That looks to be somewhat customized penny farthing (probably a 36" mtn bike wheel?). Of course trying to ride the larger bike, the downsides would be pretty major... not the least of which is the header I'd be likely take with all that forward weight. Then there's the branches that would probably knock me off the bike before you even get to the first hill.

Could be fun to try though...

Beer is better than Water

2009-06-02T14:05:00.004-04:00

Here's the proof that we've all been looking for: Researchers at Granada University in Spain reveal that beer hydrates you better than drinking water immediately after exercise.

I ran across this, and thought, "well duh! I've been doing that for years!" And now, I finally have some scientific data to back up my assertions that sitting around drinking beer after mountain biking is good for me.

Garzon said that the rehydration effection in those who were given beer was "slightly better" than those who were given only water. He also believes that the carbon dioxide in beer helps quench thirst more quickly, and that beer's carbohydrates replace calories lost during physical exertion.

Since this is a scientific study, so I'll assume there is statistical significance behind that "slightly better" assertion.

I see they recommend that men drink 500ml, which is about 16.9oz (sorry ladies, only 8.5oz are recommended for you).

However, knowing that

The average person loses around 1 liter (33oz) of water for every hour of exercise in sweat.

Doesn't that imply that I should drink at least 33oz of beer to replace it? I guess there is a reason I'm not a scientist.

Marketing Science and Art

2009-05-27T09:05:00.004-04:00

This morning I read a quick post from Seth Godin's blog on whether marketing is a science or art (hint: its both).

This got me to thinking: no question that with my strategic planning background I fall into the science category in most cases, and I totally agree with Seth that the main problem for us science-types is that humans are the wild card in the "system". The artist side of marketing is much more likely to better understand the human wild-ness and react to that creatively and passionately that resonates with actual humans. However, as a science-type marketer, I come back to the fact that much of business can be measured (sales, profit, return on investment, shareholder value, debt-to-equity, share price, etc.). When it comes to marketing, many clients at the end of the day are going to be forced to tie their marketing to these measurable metrics.

So, how do you balance the two? How do you look at art and creative and make it "fit" into these business metrics? Fact is, often you can't, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. Outstanding art will often fall flat because it doesn't generate sales. Terrible creative will often excel because it does generate sales.

As Seth says at the end of his blog, "Figure out what sort of marketing you're going to do today and go do that" and I couldn't agree more. The challenge for us as marketers is to not think of these two sides of marketing as adversarial. I believe the two complement each other very well. When they work together to understand the relationship between wild card humans and bottom line business metrics, advertising works well for clients.

Photo credit: Gaetan Lee, 2007, via flickr.com

Coke Creatures inspire thirst?

2009-05-26T20:19:00.002-04:00

I saw on David Cameron's blog about a new ad for Coke featuring fuzzy little creatures. This is usually where ads lose my interest, but this ad wasn't too bad. It didn't make a lot of sense, wasn't particularly stylish, but had sort of a Muppet feel for me.

However, then I noticed that this isn't just an advertisement... this is a whole new brand direction for Coke, featuring these little Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, La, La, La creatures and suddenly it felt like the wheels were falling off.

The Coke Creatures have their own website(which I guess is not too far off into left field), and their own facebook page, flickr, and I gotta think will tweeting in no time.

All of which makes me question what the heck is going on over at the Coke branding department. If you want Coke to be equated to summer fun, do weird little musical creatures that are a cross between a mini-wookie, a muppet, and a gremlin really do it for them? Not to mention that everyone is drinking Cokes out of the classic glass bottle. I can only get those in one grocery store that happens to carry "Mexican Cokes".

Anyway, the music is pretty infectious and enjoyable, and as I said the commercial itself stands pretty well on its own. However, if coke were to ask me, trying to give life to these creatures and make them something "more" is a pretty terrible idea.

So, how to make the Coke brand = summer fun then? Running this music (even this particular ad) is fine, and I agree that its vaguely reminiscent of older Coke commercials when young people were holding hands on hills to Buy the World a Coke. Using the creatures as a tool for sprouting involvement with upcoming fun music for the summer is fine. I think that music and branding can work very well together because music has an emotional attachment and gives Coke the opportunity to get more direct interaction and actual conversations (instead of crazy made up conversations about photoshopped travel photos). If you really must include the creatures, why not have website visitors become more emotionally involved by making their own versions of the song by remixing using the creatures various "talents". (Oh lord, have I slipped into a Coke branding hallucination?)

Making the creatures the key feature and trying to build them as a branding tool, is likely to be a dismal (and creepy) failure (to wit: the facebook page has been live for almost a month and so far only 609 fans, with the power of Coke's ad spend, I would surely be disappointed with that slow a ramp-up). I have to wonder if Coke will be daring enough to measure the ROI on this ad: those little creatures are all animatronic and puppets, not digital! From an art perspective, that kicks ass. From an advertising ROI perspective, that's probably disasterous.

MIA? Nah, just busy...

2009-05-06T08:33:00.004-04:00

It may seem that I've been missing in action since the NAHBS, but no, just busy.

However, I have been doing some blogging for Pike Research, which you can find here:

How Will Bankruptcy Impact Chrysler's Electric Vehicle Programs?

Is Tesla This Generation's General Motors?

RIP Saturn Vue PHEV

The Plight of Green Auto Suppliers

Let me know your thoughts on these!

Handmade Bicycle Show - Part 2

2009-03-09T23:39:00.001-04:00

Ok, so it took me a little bit longer than a day or two to write part 2... But no worries, I haven't forgotten.

I'm going to kick off this post with a review of an oft overlooked part from many mainstream bikes: fenders. Wood fenders were all the rage at the Handmade Bicycle Show this year, and its easy to see why. They are beautiful and stylish

These photos are of Inglis Cycles (from Napa, CA), Keith Anderson Cycles (from Grants Pass, OR), and DeSalvo Custom Cycles (from Ashland, OR), respectively. All have a slightly different style to their wood with graphic designs, inlays and custom stains. There were several others as well, including from Naked Bicycles and Design and Rich Adams.

Continuing down the component path, I talked last time about the slick new electronic shifter from Shimano. Well, SRAM's not about to be outdone by Shimano and they were showing off a slick new HammerSchmidt internal front gear from their Truvativ group. There's only one chainring on the front and the internal gears give you the feel of a higher gear. On the lower gear, the gear spins with a ratio of 1:1, shift it and the gear spins 1:1.6 (you pedal around once and the gear goes around 1.6 times). They had a demo bike set up and I can tell you, this was a really smooth gear and it would be GREAT in muddy or snowy environs.

The rep was explaining that once a year you do have to take the thing apart and regrease the gears (depending on how much much your ride through, I'm guessing), which seems like a lot of maintenance to me. But I suppose your shop could probably do this for you without too much of an extra charge. I'd hope, anyway. At about $700, this won't be cheap, but it was so slick that for a tour or race where flawless operation was required, I think this definitely could be worth the money.

Another cool bike/component combo (note the sequey back to bikes...) comes from Kimori from Japan, with their very unusual suspension system.

The bikes themselves don't have 26" wheels, so they look a little, um, delicate for someone of my, um, stature (I'm not a diminutive guy). But they are definitely interesting.

Finally, let's get back to those bikes with a few of my other favorites from the show:

Bilenky Bicycles who does a lot of tandems and tandem recumbents was showing a very slick long-wheel base utility bicycles. I'm partial to these to begin with, so its no surprised I liked it. KirkLee had a road bike that they had incorporated hand painted canvas onto the top layer of the carbon fiber. Up close it was easy to tell that it was canvas and it made for a very unusual and stylish appearance on the bike. It was really not like anything else at the show (in a very good way). And finally on the track bike side of things, Vanilla Bicycles was showing a couple of very cool Speedvagen track bikes that were so light, you would think they were carbon (but they weren't).

Again, lots more to see from show on my flickr.

2009 Handmade Bicycle Show - Part 1

2009-03-04T07:12:00.016-05:00

I enjoyed the Handmade Bicycle Show in Indianapolis this past weekend. I was relieved to hear from almost everyone that the recession has only been a minor blip in the world of cycling. Most builders that I talked to were positive about their year so far and were looking forward to the spring. As Lon Kennedy's wife at Nova Bicycle Supply said, "This spring will be our stimulus package."

I was unable to connect to WIFI at the convention center (didn't feel like paying the extra charge for it). So, here's a rundown on the highlights, post event...

Mark Nobilette of Nobilette Bicycles used to live here in Ann Arbor, MI, but now resides and builds in Longmont, CO. He has been building for about 30 years. His bikes were very well put together. He was showing steel bikes, mostly road/racing bikes.

I spent a lot of time talking with the production manager, Lloyd, of Independent Fabricators from Boston. IF has been building since the mid 90's They were showing a wide range of bikes including this very stylish “Year of the Ox" Track Bike.

IF was showing the only stainless steel mountain bike that I saw at the show with some very cool etchings. There were several titanium bikes that were polished with no paint so they had a similar appearance, but this was the only stainless steel that I saw. Lloyd told me that one of the great features of stainless steel is its durability. It won't rust and it won't dent in a crash.

My next visit was to Alchemy Bicycles from Austin.

I spoke at length with builder James about his bikes and learned that he launched Alchemy about 3 months ago and he’s been have some pretty good success. You can see why, his design is well thought out with some very small but important unique touches - like how he has inverted the stabilizing bars using “holes” on the chainstays instead.

I was looking forward to talking to Calfee Designs about his bikes. I was not disappointed. He has developed a program of building bamboo bikes in Africa and selling them here to fund more bike building education in Africa. A very ambitious program to improve the conditions in the third world. The program is called "Bamboosero". The bike he was showing was built in Ghana (buyers will eventually be able to request which country their bikes come from).
One of my favorites (who also won a People's Choice award at the show) was Naked Bicycles and Design from Guadra Isl, BC Canada (north of Vancouver). Builder Sam Whittingham talked for quite a while about how successful he's been. He said that he's facing a happy problem - his sales have grown to the point where he's needing to expand, but expansion at his level is big and expensive. He wants to make sure he's still able to build, and doesn't want to be relagated to "managing" other builders. That's a problem that a lot of entrepreneurs would love to have. But unfortunately for Sam, it's a real problem too. Hopefully he can get that balancing act worked out, because his bikes are very creative and interesting. One touch that I found particularly brilliant is that he uses headsets (where your handlebars attach to your bike) as the hinges on the rear suspension. Makes them easy to maintain/replace, and they are durable. Pretty ingenious.

Serotta had a huge display at the show. Ben Serotta has been building since the 1970's and has built a successful business through contract frame building. Currently, Serotta is partnered with the Carmichael Training Systems to provide carbon fiber bikes for their training program. Serotta was showing several carbon fiber and steel racing bikes.

ANT (Alternative Needs Transportation) builds bikes for urban riding and commuting. Their bikes featured built in racks and generator hubs for powering lights. The philosophy behind how Mike builds his bikes is fantastic (again a builder since the 70's), but I found the designs to be a little too utilitarian for my taste. Don't get me wrong, utility is great, but if I'm going to spend that much on a bike I want it to stand out... dramatically. But that's just me.

I also got my opportunity to try out the newest tech from Shimano and SRAM. Shimano's new Dura Ace Di2 is basically an electronic shifter for road biking. It is very quick shifting and requires almost no effort to make the shift. It's basically like pushing a button, rather than pushing/pulling a lever that pulls a cable. I got to test it out and for me, it was good, but not worth the extra $750 or so extra that it will add to the price. I suppose if I were racing I'd be more interested.

There's plenty more to see on my flickr set from the show. I'll have more details on the show tomorrow as well.

When is Bad Branding Good?

2009-02-25T13:15:00.002-05:00

On Monday, Detroit's NPR station had a story about one of the terrific Michigan microbreweries, Michigan Brewing Company in Webberville. They are bidding on a new contract to produce and sell a new beer for ... ugh... Kid Rock. As Rex Halfpenny of the Michigan Beer Guide points out, these kind of celebrity brews are a bit of a folly: "Remember Billy Beer, capitalizing on a past president? There’s been Grateful Dead beer, sports stars, Lenny Bruce, Thelonius Monk, Cole Porter... Elvira had a beer." But hopefully Bobby Mason (owner of Michigan Brewing Company) gets that this celebrity brews won't be his golden goose, but the contract may work to finance expansion. Especially thanks to Michigan providing tax breaks that will allow Mason to "invest about seven million dollars to buy the equipment and hire the people [160 people] he needs to brew the beer at his 76-thousand square foot facility."

Here's a link to the audio of the story

This is interesting (and perhaps good) way to finance expansion, if (and this is a big, fat, bold if) he's got an outstanding plan in place to capitalize on this publicity stunt. Because let's face it, that's all this is. It's got branding implications, but its publicity. The contract may be big enough to build the brewery and sustain it for a year or two, but what then? Does Mason have a plan to leverage this publicity to increase distribution or increase awareness? Will the folks pounding the Kid Rock Beer really make the move to another MBC beer?

I hope so, but even more, I hope Mason has a plan and not just a hope.

Photo (c): CelebrityRoyale.com

Some atypically good stolen bike news

2009-02-19T11:48:00.004-05:00

Photo ©: SF Examiner

I had heard the other day that Lance Armstrong had a bike (along with a few others too) that was stolen out of the back of his team truck at the Tour of California. This bike was a one of kind track bike, so I expected that it would be returned, because really, unless you've got access to an out-of-country sale... who's going to buy it? Oh, who am I kidding, unfortunately, someone probably would.

Anyway, the interesting part of this story is what happened after it was stolen. So, the first thing that happened was that Armstrong tweeted the theft. Then someone started a Facebook group "1 Million Citizens Looking for Lance Armstrong's Stolen Bike". A few days later, the bike turns up. While that's good news obviously, the other bikes that were stolen with it have not turned up yet. While I'm sure they are high-end bikes,they probably aren't one and only custom bikes and therefore, are a lot less likely to turn up. This is the fate of many bikes in America (3,000 bikes in America are stolen every day (pdf)).

I will be interested to what impact the facebook and twittering had to do with the return of the bike (and hopefully, the other bikes as well). This interconnectedness should be a boon to the National Bike registry, it seems. Hopefully, better coordination comes from the NBR, social networking, and sales sites such as craigslist and ebay.

I am hopeful that perhaps this greater awareness and usage of these networks to will help to better cooridinate on bike theft and help others have more luck with returned bikes.

Photo ©: Sacramento Police Department via cyclingnews.com

Berkley Downtown Development Authority

2009-02-16T09:07:00.001-05:00

I have decided to volunteer with the Berkley DDA. Basically, my drive behind this is twofold: first, because I live here, its in my best interest. Secondly, Berkley is in dire need of some branding. The city does not seem to have a strong image with the folks that I've talked to. Why not? Unfortunately, I can't answer that without some wild speculation, but I'm good at wild speculation, so here goes...
Berkley for a while had a campaign that was "Berkley is unique" - the goal I think (can't stress enough, this is all speculation/personal opinion), was to not get lumped in with Royal Oak and become something different than that sort of restaurant/bar scene. While it may be unique, that doesn't really communicate a strong message of what it means for the community to be unique.

However, having said that, there are a lot of things that the DDA and city overall does very well. The city hosts a very successful art fair, a Dream Cruise parade/party, and a holiday parade. In the last year or two there are several new businesses that have been attracted to Downtown Berkley. I know there has been parking issues in the past, and the DDA is actively working on those issues.

So, I'm tossing my hat into the ring to help. Here's an except from the letter I am sending them that talks about my vision for Berkley:

For Berkley’s downtown to flourish, I envision a community that has several anchor businesses that provide a wide variety of options for individuals who wish to keep their dollars in the community, with a wide variety of business types (e.g. restaurants, bars, clothing shops, music shops, etc.). I recently saw an estimate of the amount of dollars that Detroit residents spend outside the city of Detroit, indicating how much “lost” revenue there is for Detroit businesses. I think a similar study for Berkley would be a fascinating and eye-opening assessment of how the DDA needs to target businesses to move within the city.

In my unresearched, personal opinion, I believe there are two key demographics that are driving the future of the downtown in Berkley – families and the “subculture” of young urbanites who use scooters and bicycles for transportation. The Berkley DDA should focus on attracting business that fit these niches (or really ANY niche as long as it is well defined and substantiated) for its downtown business development work. Catering to both groups will hopefully result in an attractive, lively downtown with strollers, scooters, and pedestrians sharing the pavement on their way to local businesses.

Handmade Bicycle Show

2009-02-09T21:43:00.001-05:00

I will be at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show this year. I'll provide some updates and pictures from the show floor. Urban Velo had a pretty good photo summary from last year's event in Portland, OR. This year promises to have just as many interesting frame builders as last year, and I can't wait to meet them.

Your morning cup-o-joe.

2009-02-09T08:55:00.004-05:00

I'm a coffee snob. I admit it. I roast my own coffee, ran my own coffee roasting company for a while, and I've been in tasting coffee in "cupping" sessions many times before. So, when I read that Eight O'Clock coffee won top honors from Consumer Reports I was skeptical.

But the marketer in me did wonder: is it so hard to believe that Eight O'Clock coffee could actually produce high quality coffee, just because of its chosen distribution channel?

Well, its certainly hard to believe, but not impossible, I suppose.

As a market researcher, I question the testing process that CR uses. I suspect that either one of two things are going on here:
1) CR is testing as the masses drink it - buy it off the shelf regardless of how old it is and dump it in a coffee maker that was cleaned sometime last summer

2) It's seems like slightly flawed testing to run a comparison between high-end brands, like Caribou, Kickapoo, and Peet's, with Eight O'Clock coffee if you are going to abuse the coffees in the same way, since they are not meant to be used in the same way (sort of like testing the comfort of slippers vs. high heels because they both go on your feet).

Let me explain what I mean by "abuse"... there are two things that have a huge impact on the flavor of coffee once it hits the store shelves: age (when was it roasted? when was it ground?) and how clean is the coffee maker that you make it in. (Ok, you other coffee snobs know the roast, the beans chosen, the packaging, the quality of the water, the grind fineness, and the temperature of the water also can have a huge impact on the flavor, but these are for a later discussion.)

Basically, what we've got here is a test of convenience coffee. By that I mean coffee that is available easily in the grocery store, has a much longer "good before" date, and is pre-ground, if you believe the picture. Testing these convenience coffees the way that consumers use them, is completely valid and makes perfect sense from a marketers standpoint. But from a coffee professional perspective this "test" makes me cringe. This likely is not a cup of coffee you could buy at a specialty coffee shop, and is not a cup of coffee you would tolerate from a specialty coffee shop. Though this does beg the question, has Columbia so gentrified their coffee production, that farms are not able to produce the varieties that they once were? Another discussion for another post.

If you are just looking for a basic coffee flavor, then true, almost any Columbian coffee that you buy will fill the bill to varying degrees. But, you are seeking a truly extraordinary Columbian coffee that has a much more complex taste, then you will probably have to pony up the cash for a fresher coffee, a grinder (which the article does acknowledge at the end), and you will have to actually clean your coffee maker once in a while (gasp!).

Bottom line, I think this test does tell you which coffee makes a fine coffee for your hurried morning, but I don't believe this test tells you which coffee is better for a more complex and enjoyable coffee experience.

ThisWay

2009-02-05T09:08:00.005-05:00

I've neglected to mention my new favorite blog for funtime reading (not that it's a new blog, I'm just new to the party). Bicycle Design is essentially exactly what it sounds like - a blog about Bicycle Design. It is written by James T, "an industrial designer who has a slight (but I think healthy) obsession with bicycling and cycling." It's entertaining in part because of his clear passion for the bicycle, but also because there are so many others that share that passion, but not necessarily his opinions about bicycles and their design.

Anyway, he held a design competition recently for a "commuter bicycle for the masses" that concluded in late January crowning the "ThisWay" bike design by Torkel Dohmer the winner.

©Bicycle Design

It was considered controversial by several who left comments in the blog because they felt that not only will the roof make it heavy, expensive, and difficult to use with public transit, but also because of the recumbant (sitting back, not on) positioning. However, there were many who liked it and felt it was more likely to draw interest from non-cyclists for its more car-like shape, style, seating, and roof. But as with all things, it's often difficult to project yourself into someone else's shoes.

As James said:

"Many of the people who work in the bike industry are in those positions because they are really passionate about bicycles. They absolutely love cycling, and that is great, but it also means that sometimes they have a hard time looking at the product line that they offer from the point of view of an average person. "

My personal thoughts are that it's a beautiful design and would be fun to own, but I don't see it as driving masses of people to give up their cars for it (not as I sit here in a 14 degree, windy, February in Detroit, anyway). However, I do think there's a niche for it. And that's where our marketing thoughts for today come in...

As someone who has dealt with automobile manufacturer vehicle teams in the past, I've seen a wide variety of vehicle designs, good and bad (um, some very bad), that get marketed and sold. How? It almost always comes down to finding the niche. A lot of the complaints about the design from the comments seemed to be focused on the bike not being "right" for all commuters (which may be justified since that was goal of the original competition). As James said, the bike industry needs to think about "reaching the people who currently have no interest in the products that they already make." Big manufacturers have got this (literally) down to a science. Identify a niche, develop a complex profile of that niche, and develop products that fit that niche or answer issues raised by the research.

In this case (and this is just off the top of my head without any real research into the niche at all and no mechanical background at all), I could see ThisWay being a great start to the development of a design for new parents. Some tweaking and I could see a child's car seat fitting in front of mom or dad, facing them. Add the storage on the back, and you have a fun little run-about for neighborhood errands with very easy access to babies (which parent's need), with the added security of a child's seat.

Ok, so that's not really the point of James original competition (and sure the width of the child seat may offer some additional design problems) but the point is to think about the niche first, then develop a bike to fit it. There is an outstanding video of Trek Bikes development of the Lime bike using this process: http://www.solidworksmedia.com/Trek/screencast/trek-screencast.html (click on the "Non-expert" video for an example of how to develop a bike to fit a niche).

Meme you. Meme me. Meme everybody.

2009-02-02T08:21:00.008-05:00

Let's start with a little background: Facebook now has over 150 million users. In terms of size, this would be the 8th largest country in the world and more users than there are people (in total) in France and Great Britain combined.

There is a meme burning through the Facebook society. According to wikipedia.com, a meme is "a catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet, much like an inside joke" In this case, the "25 things about me" meme is basically a little quiz that is spreading organically from person to person. You write 25 little "facts" about yourself, tag people in the message and then it gets passed along to the next person and so on. There are a lot of memes out there, and most professionals consider memes to be the basis of viral marketing. Youtube.com, blogs, twitter, and really anything you can hyperlink is essentially the concept of memes - things getting passed along to friends. But what had my interest was these quizzes, these lists that many people spend a lot of time and thought on.

I completed my "25 things" yesterday (a little late to the party), and as a marketer, this had me thinking "are there new ways I can ~~exploit~~ leverage these quizzes for branding purposes?" Seem far fetched? One of the previous memes was an iTunes quiz that asks you questions about your music library in itunes. Before that, there was one whose first instructions asked you to "Put your iTunes (or any other media player you may have) on shuffle." As a marketer, I read this and think, "wow, great marketing for Apple".

The facebook community has gotten so unwieldy large, that it makes sense to think about these in the same way we think about other marketing... locally. Why not start a quiz that asks specifically about your product? It may not get 100 million responses in 50 countries, but wouldn't it be better if it gets 100 responses within 1 mile anyway? There would be a fine line (obviously) between a fun quiz that people want to pass along to their friends vs. overt marketing, but if you think of it as a joke that you are passing along it seems that this may offer a new avenue for building brand affinity. Another option is to use it as a way of getting others to promote your product for you. Create a quiz that your product, website, or store would be the answer to some of the questions. Of course, there is a population out there that hates these memes (maybe you're one of them). They don't like to fill them out, but my experience has been that most of these folks read them anyway. For the purposes of branding, really, that's all we need.

Of course, measuring this is pretty much impossible, but with the exception of the time you'll lose writing, answering and reading your friends responses, it doesn't really have many other costs (that time cost shouldn't be underestimated, though). So, what do you think? Could you write a meme promoting your business without promoting your business? Maybe this will be your first foray into viral marketing. Give it a try, I'll fill it out!

A logo that says something

2009-01-28T13:01:00.007-05:00

If nothing else, this logo and name are entertaining:

I am not sure that I really need to add anything else to it. I saw this will reading Urban Velo and thought to myself, "that is a very logical logo."
Aggressive and targeted... those offended by this, probably aren't the target audience. Hardcore skiers, runners, bikers, workers, and others who might need this are unlikely to be offended. They are also likely to know what it does without even reading any further (fyi: its helps those who "suffer from chaffing and want something made from natural ingredients like beeswax, coconut oil, almond oil and vitamin E.")

When Grassroots isn't so Grassroots

2009-01-27T08:25:00.008-05:00

GT Bicycles has come up with a fairly unoriginal (but still not all bad) way to promote their brand through word of mouth - get grassroots folks to do it. GT is sponsoring 35 amateur mountain bike racers to ride the newest GT machines in at least 6 IMBA sponsored races. They are calling this the "Dirt Coalition." While this is a good idea, what I think is particularly good is some of the things that the company is looking for to sponsor. Specifically:

You might be right for the Dirt Coalition if…

You live to ride and race your mountain bike
You currently/have ever worked at a bike shop
You’re a leader in your cycling community
You coach other mountain bike riders/racers
You’re an active IMBA member or local trail advocate
You lead rides or organize cycling races and events
You compete in cyclocross, too

In other words, they are looking for vocal and opinion-leader people, because having a sponsor who goes to races and then goes home without talking to anyone is not really very helpful and completely misses the point to their investment. But bike shop folks who are active in the cycling community through either advocacy or organization are very likely to be those with many connections and that's who this program is targeting.

Read the details a little closer though, and the wheels start to come off the grassroots part of the program... this expands the reach (or actually probably replaces some) of the GT marketing reps. GT is likely thinking this will get more representation to smaller races, to grassroots events, trail maintenance days, etc. The theory (I'm guessing) is that by having individuals who are vocal and people know, and who aren't paid by GT represent GT at races, it will improve the affinity for GT. Here's the details on what these "grassroots" reps have to do at each race:

Race and represent GT at a minimum of 6 mountain bike races (including mountain bike tris) between Apr. 1 – Dec. 1, 2009.
Spread the GT gospel. Know the goods on GT’s patented Independent Drivetrain, what makes their carbon lay-up process the best in the biz, etc.
Fly the GT flag at races
Race and train exclusively on your GT Marathon Pro or GT Zaskar Pro
Set up your 10x10 GT Dirt Coalition tent on the race premises and prep there
Race in the GT Dirt Coalition kit…always
Hand out GT stickers, brochures and cool swag at each of the events
Get to know your local GT dealer and connect other riders with him and the GT brand
Act as an ambassador for the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) at races

To me, that sounds like a regular, ole, rep. How believable is it really, that this is not a sales pitch, if your friend shows up at your local race on a brand spankin' new $3,500 GT ride, sets up a GT tent, starts talkin' GT tech, and starts handing out GT swag? Not very.

But perhaps the hope is for deeper reach into more local events. If so, then the challenge to the marketers will be one of measurement. Sure, I get what its supposed to do. But how will GT know if it worked (particularly if this is used as a trigger to end representation at some other events or events that will now have the Dirt Coalition attending)? At the end of the season, how is GT management going to know whether the investment paid off? My gut says, they won't. The marketing chaps that came up with this will spin it and will lay out a big jargon-filled explanation of what GT's getting from it, but at the end of the day, they won't know and GT won't be able to see it.

As I said, I don't think this is an all bad idea, but I think it needs a little refining. If I were the guy managing this, I'd change a few things:

Dump the Tent - they seem to be doing a good job of targeting opinion leaders, so let them be that without placing them in the confines of a sales space - if you are going to give them a tent, then call it a sponsorship and give the other participants a reason to visit (free massage, free juiceboxes, free beer - well, that's what I'd want anyway)
Do Some Communicating - if the sponsored rider doesn't have a blog, myspace, facebook page, then get them on it. Make sure that they are doing some updating about the ride, the bike, the feeling of being sponsored. Make it interesting and make sure its something that gives some honesty to it
Maybe Some Viral Marketing? - This seems like it could be an excellent tool for building a new viral campaign. Arm some of these new coalition members with a helmet cam and let them catch the action or do interviews. Place videos online and invite other racers to come get their videos.
Get Some Numbers - No doubt - these kind of campaigns are difficult to measure. But let's make sure we're working with dealers to understand whether GT traffic improved after a race. Watch the links to GTbicycles.com from the blogs/facebook/etc. Sales would be an ideal measure, but in the current climate, I'm not so sure that measuring sales pre/post racing season is really going to reveal whether its worked or not. (But I certainly wouldn't completely ignore that either!)

I'll be watching for my local Dirt Coalition member... wonder if I'll know her/him and want to talk to them in their tent or just wait until we're at the bar after the ride?

Portland Design Group

2009-01-26T15:23:00.004-05:00

A new company launched in Portland (of course) featuring new high-design bike products, called Portland Design Works. They don't have many products listed yet, but based on what they do have now, I'm eager to see what they come up with. It will be interesting to see how their national distribution works out (if at all). I think they would not be doing too poorly, though to start with web and mail-order sales and build that first.

Oh, and I'm partial to their "Panda Treat Grips"... that's good stuff.

Here's the press release from them:

Portland, OR- January 19, 2009-

Industry veterans Erik Olson and Dan Powell have launched Portland Design Works (PDW), a new brand of urban bicycle accessories with a focus on simple, beautiful design. The first two categories of product, grips and inflation, will begin shipping in mid-February and can be viewed on the new PDW website, www.ridepdw.com. Cargo racks, tools, mini-pumps and fenders will be available by late spring.

PDW is still finalizing their national distribution lineup, but hopes to have their goods available nationwide by summer. Products will be available direct to bicycle shops in the city of Portland, and Powell and Olson will deliver the orders by bicycle.

“We want to be a part of the community, to have a connection,” says Olson, “plus making deliveries by bike is a great excuse to get out and ride.”

Olson and Powell last collaborated as the general manager and sales/marketing guy, respectively, for Planet Bike. The new venture is a dream come true for the native Midwesterners, who are excited to be living in Portland.

“You’d start a surf company near great waves, or a wind farm on an enormous plain. Likewise, we moved to Portland because its bike-friendly culture allows so many folks to get around easily by bike,” says Powell. “We wanted to design and test our gear in that great urban cycling atmosphere.”

PDW is a member of 1% For the Planet, an alliance of businesses that donate at least 1% of their annual revenues to environmental organizations worldwide.

Afterglow

2009-01-21T10:01:00.003-05:00

Yesterday's festivities were very inspiring. I am feeling the hope that we've been hearing so much about over the past year. The crowds, the music, the speech... I am feeling as though today is really the start of the new year. So, let me wish everyone a Happy New Year!

If we can just get past this debacle of a stimulus package, then I think that we may have a great new era of politics. I know that's a giant hurdle, but I'm "hopeful" today.

Positively Detroit!

2009-01-15T09:32:00.004-05:00

This article is a little off topic for me, but there's been a lot of talk about it recently so I'll try and tie it back in at the end...

Author and columnist, Mitch Albom recently wrote an article in Sports Illustrated about Detroit. Detroit's been in the news a lot recently (not in a particularly positive light, unfortunately), and it seems that Mitch was attempting to counter that news. A good friend of mine, Jamie pointed me to a reply to Albom by Jim Boyle in Model D. Unfortunately, Model D won't get the same visibility as SI (or even probably the reprint of the article in Detroit Free Press), but I wish it would because I think both articles are important.

I've never been a big fan of Albom's writing style, but I think that both his article and Boyle's article say similar things about the city. I think the difference is tone. While both articles do point out positive things about the city, I didn't read either as particularly positive in tone. Boyle spends more time on specific neighborhood places that are positive - Albom spends more time on the sports (obviously, its in SI), big development, and ends with the general hopeful attitude of Detroit.

But unfortunately, both also spend a lot of time in negativity - Albom about the city ruins, Boyle about Mitch's attitude. Both seems somewhat self-defeating to me.

End of the day, I think these speak about different Detroiters - to me it seemed that both articles missed the demographic cohorts that the other picked up, and both are necessary to get a better picture of the whole. To paraphrase my friend Jamie, he said that these articles serve to divide Detroiters, while we should be spending more time trying to unify the two Detroits. So, this is where I can tie it back into branding - what we have are different brands for Detroit:
The Albom brand of a sports, ghost town with many problems, but a big can-do attitude.
The Boyle brand of an up-and-coming city filled with energy and activity.

Both are valid, but as Jamie points out we need some unification. Those trying to brand Detroit probably were pulling their hair out as they read these (both published just as the country started focusing on the North American Auto Show in Detroit). Wouldn't it be nice if we could come up with a simple, unifying theme for Detroit that shows both of these two Detroits?

How does the high-powered executive, the auto worker, the creative class professional, and the homeless guy with the mattress in the church came together? When do they come together? Tough questions, but in Detroit I believe they are coming together in some way. In the past that tie has been automobiles - they were the glue that brought everyone together in work and in play - but as that seems to be fading, we need to find that new identity.

A fresh start to the year?

2009-01-09T09:36:00.004-05:00

I've been busy with mostly planning for myself for 2009 so far. What about you? Do you have your goals for 2009 finished?

About this time year, it seems like everyone has written a blog entry about how to make plans or how to lay out and achieve goals, etc. So, I'm not going to take the usual track of business planning. I'm going to call it life planning. Stick with me here, I'm hoping this won't get too mushy for you all...

My wife is reading the "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" for a class she's taking. I read it several years ago. I can't say that I liked or disliked it. For me, at the end of the day, it's a self-help book. I was able to take something from it, but it did not convert me into a vocal advocate or naysayer (as these books tend to do for some folks). It was just another self-help book to me.
Anyway, she read a passage that she really likes and shared it with me. The passage was about how the word "love" used to be a verb, but now thanks largely to Hollywood its considered more passive, a feeling, and therefore its not something you "do" (well, except maybe after dinner and drinks, but that's a whole different blog!).

I've also been hearing a lot recently about "The Secret" (yeah, I know both of these are older books, The Secret is from 2006 I think and a movie now, but I've been hearing a lot about them just recently). Now, I have to admit, I couldn't bring myself to finish this book. I'll give you that there's something to this theory of the "Law of Attraction" when it comes to human interaction, but the whole theory that the law of attraction will make you thin (see above link for book excerpt) or rich, seems... well, a little far-fetched to be useful. You may also be thinking that this is counter to the Seven Habits assertion that you have to "do" something, and I can't argue that.

The point is that there is something to take from both of these, and here's what I got: You gotta do something to get what you want, and positivity breeds positivity in your life. This is not really a change for me - for those that know me, know that I'm generally always positive and I've never thought you could just sit around and wait for stuff to happen to you.

So, those are the glasses that I'm wearing as I look at goal setting. Positivity can only come when my life is happy, so that's part of my strategic planning for '09. I can only be positive when I take action, so that's part of my plan too. Sales numbers for your business or department are easy to set, but how you get to those numbers require a lot more thought. So, I encourage you to think about the "whole" you, as you set goals for 2009.

Happy Planning!

Are Spokespeople really Tweeting?

2008-12-19T09:16:00.010-05:00

After having a discussion about how twitter is actually used for business purposes yesterday (something I'm still not sold on), I was reminded of this op-ed piece by Jonathan Salem Baskin in Ad Age. Baskin says:

We live in an era when people find time during the business day to tell one another what they've just put in their coffee, yet it's still possible for an executive to be "unavailable for comment" in a news story.
I find this intriguing in a quaint sort of way. It's like saying, "Sorry, he's buttoning his spats" or "Sorry, she can't come to the phone; she's busy sorting punch cards."
I think corporate communicators need to invent a better excuse, or perhaps altogether revise their approach to unwanted inquiries from the media.

As I re-read this, I had to wonder, are there really spokespeople out there who are updating on twitter and facebook, while having admins tell the press they aren't available? I'm sure there are a few, but I have to think this is the exception, not the rule. I suppose that they think their privacy filters are enough to block media folks who seeking comment, but I'm not sure this something that I'd trust. Besides, as Baskin points out, others in the department are likely to be busy blogging, tweeting, facing, etc. about it anyway. I like Baskin's idea of dumping the "on the record" concept altogether:

What does "on the record" mean anyway? It's an archaic idea. Today's social mediaverse means every tidbit of content gets captured online by somebody, with or without veracity or attribution. To paraphrase Tom Friedman, the world is hot, flat and noisy. Nothing is off the record.

As I read this is threw my brain into an interesting historical parallel. My wife and I were pretending like we old last night and watched a history of the White House during Lincoln's presidency on C-SPAN. One of the most intriguing things from this was that Lincoln used to have several hours during the week that the public was welcomed into the White House to give their opinion in-person directly to Lincoln. Talk about tossing out the concept of "the record"! Can't imagine that these days, though I wish we could.

Wouldn't it be great if a president (of either the U.S. or a corporation) set up a feedback opinion loop like that, that was actually monitored? And no, it doesn't need to be twitter - sheesh, talk about minutia overload!

The other Detroit deadline...

2008-12-16T19:56:00.001-05:00

There was much made of the special announcement today from the Detroit Newspapers (Detroit News and Detroit Free Press). Now, I don't want to sound too much like an armchair quarterback, but if anyone couldn't see this coming, then they aren't paying attention. Frankly, it was not nearly as bad as I expected. Here's the quick rundown for those that missed it:

about a 10% reduction in staff
"expanding the immediacy and impact of our digital services" (um, they haven't already???)
stop home delivery on monday to wednesday and saturday
continue to sell hard copies at newstands and stores seven days a week

I'm a little surprised they aren't doing more to eliminate the hard copies and looking harder for new revenue streams (well, that they announced anyway). If I were in charge, I'd be cutting the hard copies altogether for Mon - Wed. and Sat., and looking at new ways to deliver electronically, whether it be a subscription based access to hand-held wireless based electronics (like the Kindle from Amazon.com) or via text to voice conversion and mobile streaming. All while offering options for reading reduced versions for free - sort of the movie preview model for newspaper articles. I also would expend a lot more effort on local news, local events and local calendars pushing the local connection, local opinions and local advertising! Leave the national news to the national competitors (except that I suppose most of the national news has been involving Detroit recently).

I don't recommend clients spend their money on newspaper advertising for the exact same reason that the newspapers are going to stop existing as they are (even in their revised format). They may be printing, but very few are reading.

How about a little optimism here?

2008-12-03T12:04:00.007-05:00

I am often critical of ads or just foisting my opinion about them on unsuspecting folks who don't realize they asked. I recognize that this can come across as a somewhat pessimistic attitude towards marketing sometimes. With all the rest of the pessimistic economic news these days, I thought I'd put together a positive message with some useful information for you.

With all the bad news that we're being bombarded with these days, its easy to forget that now is a perfect time for nimble companies with well defined products for well defined customers.

That's a big concept so lets break it down a little:
Nimble companies - Many entrepreneurs that I talk to are encouraged by the economic news right now. Why? Because as the big corporate competitors are cutting on products and marketing, that's opening up an opportunity for entrepreneurs who can fill the niche left behind. But the key word here is "nimble". The risk in the market is still there, and you have to be ready to react (or better yet preempt). For example, a coffee shop that I've worked with in the past serves clientele who are professional, high-income, and are willing to pay for a high-quality product. However, the shop found that as Starbucks and another independent coffee shop closed, he was starting to see a different clientele - younger, not as affluent, more interested in quick foods to go with their coffee. Within the week of recognizing this trend, the shop partnered with a deli to offer cold sandwiches at the shop and introduced a new blend of coffee for 99 cents. However, he didn't change the current offerings and actually upgraded his chairs in order to keep his appeal to his current more affluent customers.

Well-defined customers - Most entrepreneurs that I know come to me and say something similar to "I've invented this new widget and it does X, Y, and Z" or "I've noticed there are not any widget stores in Cityville" and then they go on to talk about their product and how it will be successful. In my years in the research world, I've always found this to be the backwards way to approach the problem. Start with describing your customers. I always work to guide the conversation towards, "I've invented this new widget, and the reason it will be successful is because it solves X demographic's problems with X, Y, and Z." What this does is change the way you look at things. Seth Godin, a writer on marketing, said just yesterday on a webcast from bnet that the key to success is to seek products for your customers, not customers for your products. It takes a little creativity and a lot of hard work, but I couldn't agree with this theory more completely.

Well-defined products - As a marketing consultant, I am constantly attempting to explain to my friends what it is exactly that I do. It's an interesting challenge for those who are not in the business world (but that's ok, they don't need to know what I do). However, my potential clients do need to know. So, I've spent the last three weeks developing a very long list first of everything I offer, then I've narrowed it down into a more focused list based on the customers who I have identified as my targets. So, while I can design logos and do copywriting, my ideal clients do not care. They do care that I create marketing plans, identify targets, and develop tactics and advertising creative briefs to provide direction.

I can hear the folks getting ready to tell me now, "but if you are nimble, shouldn't that mean offering a wider variety of products to a wider audience?" I say not exactly... The target customer may be of a wider variety, but I still have to know who they are and what they are looking for in order to offer a product that caters to them. The coffee shop widened its product offering, but only after identifying what the customers wanted. If you can't identify a customer for the product, ask yourself, why would they choose me? The coffee shop didn't see that Starbucks had offered sandwiches and jumping to the conclusion that he probably needs to in order to pick up those customers. He identified what the customers wanted.

If you focus on those three things, you'll have an excellent start to an outstanding marketing plan.

Let's Get Visible!

2008-11-23T08:34:00.001-05:00

Momentum Magazine did a fun (read as: cheesy & goofy) video that was entirely lighted by bicycle lights to draw attention to the need for cyclists to have lights at night.

My friend Todd over at M-Bike.org also noted that:

MDOT recently issued a related press release:

“Drivers should always pay close attention and look out for other users of our roadways,” said MDOT Director Kirk T. Steudle. “In addition, pedestrians and bicyclists should wear bright and/or reflective clothing to significantly improve the likelihood of being noticed by motorists.”

Increasing ones visibility doesn’t have to be all that expensive. Wearing brighter clothes with reflective strips and adding bike lights are a good start. Those rear red LED blinky lights are almost a necessity.

Anyway, here's the video for your enjoyment:

Presented by: VACC, B:C:Clettes and Momentum Magazine
Videography by Gwendal Castellan and Dave Niddrie

Visibility accessories generously donated by:

Halolux - Halolight Bicycle Helmets and Haloracer Bike Illumination Light
Monkeylectric - Monkeylectric Monkey Light
Rock the Bike- Down Low Glow Lights
Sweetskinz - Reflective Coloured Tires
Knog - Frog, Gecko and Gator Lights
Hutchinson - Reflex Reflective Tires
Lazer -Urbanize Helmets

Money to Burn?

2008-11-20T14:01:00.001-05:00

It appears there isn't the political stomach in D.C. for bailing out the automakers. That's unfortunately because the main problem with the bailout is perceptions... not reality. The main problem with te auto biz right now is that automobiles aren't selling. Period. No one is selling cars, not Honda, Toyota, BMW, Ford, or GM. The photo above is from NYTimes.com showing cars stacked up in port because no one is buying them. If you look closely you will see Toyota Priuses (Priusi?) lined up. So, if no one is buying, what good is a bailout? In my opinion, if the gov. were going to truly "bailout" the big three, it would start buying a lot of American cars and bury them in Texas somewhere.

Don't take this wrong, though, I'm for the government bailout of the domestic 3. But it's not a "bailout". It's not even a good loan. I see it as a stay of execution or priming the pump for a merger of two.

As evidence: GM is burning about $1.15 Billion in cash per month, giving them cash through Jan. (as of end of Oct.). So, if we give them another $20 Billion (over two-thirds the proposed bailout), that gives them about a year and a half to turn it around. They believe that with this cash, they can cut enough to survive until the economy turns a corner. To do so, though, they have to cut their monthly spending. How do you cut $1.15 billion in spending per month at a mammoth like GM (or Ford, or Chrysler)? You cut staff. You cut vehicle programs. You shutter plants. Bottom line, even with the "bailout", we would be seeing a lot more bad news before we see good news.

This would seem to say that congress killing the bailout is a good thing, right? And why is this marketing guy talking about all this anyway? Well, to answer the first question, the problem is GM, Ford, and Chrysler need cash and they need it now. Whether it comes from this bailout or some other loan program, the fact is our economy (even in good times) can't absorb the loss of one or two of them. There's just too much as stake.

And here's why a marketing guy is talking about this: there is enough ill-will towards the big 3 for perceptions that they have lazy UAW workers, years of crappy quality, and its lack of innovation (whether right or wrong, those are perceptions often spouted on talk shows these days), that if they receive the bailout and then cut staff, programs and staff (which they will HAVE to do), there would be a LOT of crying "foul!" Politicians are essentially hoping, that without the bailout, the big 3 can tap into other loan programs that won't have the appearance or political stigma of taxpayers throwing money down a blackhole, as bad news continues to roll out.

Of course, here's the rub: the money that is going to end up giving the big 3 a stay of execution is going to be the money that had been allocated (and they need) for new programs. So, your neighborhood plant may not close this time, but there won't be new product in the pipeline for it in the next few years.

THAT's why the bailout is needed and the talking heads should be looking at the reality, not perceptions.

Keeping your market small

2008-11-18T09:06:00.002-05:00

I brewed another batch of beer on Sunday. This time I decided to do a stout for the winter. I love the process of brewing beer, but the experience of buying the supplies was yet again very, very annoying.

First off, I do not care for the homebrew stores that are closest to me. I do not care for them at all. They are dirty, have terrible customer service, and are difficult to navigate. So, my expectations going into the experience were low. Very low, actually, because I called ahead to find out that they did not have everything I needed. The only store that had everything was over an hour drive away. I decided not to make the drive and set out for the store closest to me prepared for disappointment.

I my expectations were actually exceeded. Here's what I don't get:

I don't get why they can't just simply sweep the floor. Buying grains means there are grains on the floor. Simply sweeping a few times a day would do wonders. Perhaps this is too much to ask, but I don't think so, since the guy behind the counter was watching videos online at the counter until I interrupted him with a question.
I don't get why staff can't be (even mildly) helpful. I have been brewing for about 10 years, but I'm still learning. I asked what I thought was a simple question about brewing with fruit (which I've only done once with no success) and got a response so convoluted and filled with brewer's jargon that I was in worse shape than before I asked. When I asked for further clarification, I got a big sigh and referred to a book.
I don't get why product can't get replaced in a timely fashion. The grains sit in big tubs in this particular shop. When the grains are gone, in theory, these get replaced from the sacks of grains in stacks on the floor behind the tubs. Of the 5 types of grains I needed, I found 2 were out. When I asked for these grains, I was told that they'd restock them "soon". Their "soon" must have a different reference point than my "soon" since there was no activity in that particular direction. I found the bag for one, opened it and took what I needed, but couldn't find the other.

On top of all that, I went home without everything I needed, because I already knew they were out of one of the hop varieties I needed, and as mentioned I couldn't find all the grain I needed.

And that was all just from one visit.

Ok, so I recognize that this particular shop is probably particularly bad. But having been to 5 different shops around the Detroit area, I can tell you that this is the norm, not the exception. Most people will say something like "Oh, its because homebrewers are such a small market" or "its just not viable as a standalone business in this market."

Sure that may be, but with "service" like this, is there really any question why?

Surviving the holidays

2008-11-17T09:11:00.001-05:00

If you watch or read the news or generally have see any business news at all, you will see that the economic outlook for the holidays as we know them is not so good (particularly in the D). How will your business fare in this environment? I've got three ideas that will help you answer that question positively:

CRM - Yep, those three magic little letters that are often hard to define. For the purposes of this holiday season (and beyond), I'd think of CRM as a tool for holding on to your current customers. To me, this seems of key importance right now. Doesn't now seem like a great time to launch a loyalty program? What about website revisions that make it more interactive? What about becoming more connected via facebook, myspace, or other web 2.0 sites? Do you currently have a system for customer feedback? Basically, the goal is a two way conversation that allows current customers to interact and feel like they are a part of your success.
New Incentives - why do you have loyal customers now? (If you don't know, see Research below.) How can you tap into their loyalty to spread the word? Maybe a "bring a friend" incentive. Perhaps its time to do some impromtu sweepstakes, party, or other creative event to bring in new traffic. What companies are around you? What about a special incentive for their employees or a new supplier and family discount?
Research - it may seem counterintuitive to be spending money on something right now that may not have a direct ROI calculation. These items are often the first to cut. However, I would argue that now is the PERFECT time for this. You have to better understand what consumers are willing to spend money on, why they spend their money with you vs. competitors, and what they "can't" live without. This doesn't have to be complicated. You could offer a gift certificate to get folks to come into the shop and sit down with you to talk. You could set up a short online survey using one of the many online survey tools (I personally like surveymonkey.com) or set up a new topic for improvements on your forum. I see this as an excellent the start to a conversation with your customers (see CRM above).

Any of these will give you something positive to present to customers, employees, and investors, rather than just the doom and gloom that all of them are getting anyway.

There's a lesson in all of this.

2008-11-12T09:59:00.001-05:00

In the words of reality tv show fans, the world is a "hot mess" (if you listen to the pundits, that is). That's part of the reason why President-elect Obama's message of Hope played so well this election season. But there are other marketing-related reasons why he did so well...
- he had a much more consistent and singular message than his rival
- he had a huge following of younger activists that were engaged and participating
- he presented a compelling image that was easy to understand and get behind

I'm not at all going to dive into the specifics of policies between the two campaigns or examine ideology or tax policy or anything political really, that's not the point to this article. But what I do want to look further into a few things that I gleaned from that second point...

Obama's campaign was very effective at "getting out the vote." A lot of individuals got involved and many, I believe, felt a tangible part of Obama's election because of their participation. (Ok, I'm not going to argue that this is a simplistic view of what occured, but again, we're not talking politics in this article, its just to see the lesson for us marketers. And that's all.) I have several friends who participated in the Obama campaign, some traveling great distances to canvass or offer help. Some took time off work to do community events for Obama. And when I speak to them about it (once you get past the politics), the reason is because they felt they were physically doing something that they were passionate about.

Earlier I posted an article about DIY projects and why those appeal to me. I suspect that there are fundamentally similar things going on deep inside the brain of community activists for Obama: These community activities are hands-on, they are interesting (moreso than people's day-to-day activities), they are social, and a fourth item (not included in the DIY article but I think applies to both), is that they tap into people's passion (you may not be passionate about calling strangers during dinnertime, but are passionate about the cause).

There's three important lessons for marketers in this:

To get interest from people to participate in your branding or marketing, you are going to have to make it interesting, hands-on, and social. Just putting a message out there, that doesn't have aspects these three things is going to be dropped quickly by target consumers.
To compel people (stronger than just interest in), you have to tap into their passion.
Finally, the conversion to action for both the campaign and a brand is a critical final step, that is often ignored

That final step of converting "potential customers" into current customers is what is going to make the difference between an interesting conversation with folks vs. having a business relationship with them.

The coffee wars...

2008-10-23T09:13:00.002-04:00

Dunkin Donuts is launching a new "taste test" ad that targets Starbucks. This is brilliantly timed campaign showing the results of an independent taste test (well, paid for by Dunkin Donuts, but conducted by an independent 3rd party research company) that shows that Dunkin Donuts won in a blind test of taste.

I say this is brilliantly timed because as the economy continues to slip into "recession" as consumers continue to tighten their belts, pricey luxuries (such as $4 coffee) is likely to be one of the items trimmed back by consumers. If Dunkin Donuts can convince consumers that their coffee is just as good, but cheaper and not an expensive luxury, then they could definitely positioned to see some nice customer conquests.

However, as a guy who roasts his own coffee, I see a huge opportunity to make gains on the financial incentive of brewing at home. There are some other "convenience" costs (cleaning, brewing, etc.), but with some clever positioning and promotion of some of the easy to use automatic machines that make having your coffee ready in the morning (or whenever) easier and tastier than ever.

This is where the value proposition for smaller roasters will really stand out. A cup of coffee brewed at home, even accounting for cream and sugar costs about 20-25 cents. So, the accountants will be satisfied (the "bean counters!" - sorry couldn't resist). The next hurdle will be trying to get over the extra work that is involved, particularly the cleaning process. For marketers convincing people to make the switch to home-brewed coffee will have to be demonstrate how this step is easier than most may expect. There are some larger trends that are also pointing to the success of this move, particularly an increase in homebased businesses (losing access to office coffee, definitely increased my home consumption of coffee).

With that, I'm headed back to the coffee shop (aka kitchen counter) for another cup of perfectly brewed coffee.

Do-It-Yourself

2008-10-16T09:20:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, I spent some time reading about how to build a bicycle frame. Basically, I was reading how the angles, tubes sizes, etc. are all calculated and drawn out. This led me to read about how weld and how to make carbon fiber. All of this has me thinking that I need to build my own frame.

Sure, that's a nice dream, just like the brewery I'm going to build, and the solar powered coffee roaster I'll be building.

Anyway, this had me wondering what it is about these three things that really attracts me to these activities. I'm self-delusional but not so much that I believe that I ride well enough to justify a lightweight carbon fiber, high-end, mountain bike. And contrary to popular belief, I do not drink enough beer to justify building a brewery that produces a quarter barrel of beer every month.

So, why am I drawn to these? They all have in common are three things:

they are "projects" - the act of doing - setting these items up and then working the projects (building the frame or brewing the batch of beer) is what really draws me to them. The physical act of making something.
they all very different from how I spend most of my day - they are more hands-on, compared to the research and computer work that I spend my days on
they are social - none of these projects are projects that I can do 100% by myself. Either though learning from someone else, or just getting help in assembly, I'm going to have to bring in a friend to help.

This trend of "DIY" (Do-It-Yourself) is becoming a very big force in our marketplace (similar to your Dad's woodworking "shop" that he had in your childhood garage). Industrial suppliers are finding a new market of small retail customers (a new market for copper tubing, aluminum extrusions, wiring harnesses, solar panels, etc.). Cities and banquet halls are finding new shows in DIY or handmade shows. All of this spells growing trend. And its a trend that I suspect will accelerate as dollars get tighter and the social media allows even greater collaboration of ideas to work around problems that inevitably come up with DIY projects.

And with that, I better get back to tracking down where my next bike's aluminum head tube is going to come from....

Sales Peddaling Away from the Shop

2008-10-13T09:17:00.006-04:00

I had a conversation with a shop owner near my home the other day who was complaining that he is starting to lose more shoppers to the internet over bike pricing. He was telling me that margins are so thin that he can't match the pricing information that customers often have when they come in.

I wondered about this. Is there really an epidemic of shoppers who visit shops then buy bikes online instead of at their local shop? This owner was actually complaining about a specific shopper who was looking at a very expensive tandem, used a lot of their sales time doing test rides, getting price quotes on various options, then just disappeared. The shop owner happened to run into the guy at a charity ride with his wife on their brand new tandem they purchased online.

I wanted to find out if this is a true epidemic or just a few (really annoying) instances. In my search, I found a consultant to bike industry, Jay Townley, who is very well respected and does a lot of speaking engagements with various bike business expos (including Interbike this year). He's been in the business for years, and has some very interesting market research and well thought out retail strategies that he shares with shop owners and bike industry execs.

I ran across a webpage of his that appears old (2006, I think) that discusses the challenge facing bike shops of "Over Educated Shoppers (OES)". I couldn't believe what I was reading. The basic premise is that:

"An overly educated shopper profoundly reduces close rates and diminishes the effectiveness of an under-educated sales staff.

The OES (overly educated shopper) walks into your store knowing more about your products than your staff does! Because of internet search engines like Google and Yahoo, your average shopper has spent over 10 hours educating himself on your products."

He also mentions that:

"The predominately brick and mortar bicycle shop is now challenged by the new information age where anybody can be a retailer because of the power of the Internet. At a recent conference, a representative from eBay presented research showing that the Internet will influence nearly one-half of total U.S. retail sales by 2010!"

Of course, as I mentioned this is old, it's a sales page, and perhaps he would choose to rephrase this now. But the idea that the problem with retail bike shops is that their potential customers are "over educated" makes my skin crawl!

The problem is exactly the opposite. If you have customers walking into your shop that are spending more time getting educated on bikes than the staff that you have on the sales floor, you are doing something wrong. Will your sales staff have all answers to all the questions? No, most likely not, but the answer is out there and a good sales staff will find it for the customer (preferably while the customer is there).

There are two shops that I know that both started as online shops only and then as sales grew, they got a bricks and mortar space. They have customers (as most businesses do) that do a lot of their information gathering online, then visit the shop when they've narrowed their choices. Both use their website as a funnel to bring in more qualified shoppers. Neither have ever complained to me that their customers are "too educated."

But getting back to the case of the shopper who buys online....

I guess the answer to my question, is basically, yes, there probably are a lot of folks who buy are shopping brick and mortar then buying online. And, yes, this is probably something that's growing. But it is all going to come back to service. Shops will never get all the sales (for example: the one sale described above, its obvious that shopper was planning to buy on price. period. He just wanted some test rides first. Annoying, but part of the business).

The best bet is to offer service and a sales experience that will make folks want to spend their money with you. Arm your sales staff with the tools to answer questions (or find answers) and provide value add recommendations that can't be done via a webpage (such as custom fit, custom build-up, after sale service, etc.). It will also help for sales staff to stay on top of Internet pricing and be prepared to defend your pricing to the customer that may (or may not) challenge it.

Personally, I can't imagine buying a bike online, but then I love the shop experience. (When its good.)

Good Marketing for Bad Times

2008-10-09T09:18:00.006-04:00

It's no secret that the Detroit area has been hit pretty hard by the economy. This all started about a year ago (or longer) here. The latest national news sounds like just a rehash of problems that Detroit has been living with for a while. When the economy tanks, there is a lot of news about big changes in American's lives. For example, a poll for Fortune Magazine from January 2008 shows that even back then (doesn't that seem like a long time ago now??)....

Almost half have been cutting back on spending
4 in 10 believe that their personal economic situation has gotten worse in the last 12 months
1 in 4 believe that gas (and energy) prices are responsible for the slowing economy

Add to this the horror stories about getting financing we're hearing right now (auto loan refusal is at its highest rate since 1984, according to Businessweek), and you may find yourself wanting to run for the hills.

So, is it time to close up shop and take a long nap until this storm blows over? Hardly. It's time to get to work. From that same Fortune survey...

Half believe that their personal economic situation has not changed in the last 12 months (15% believe it has improved)
Almost 3 in 4 have been able to keep up with their credit card payments, and 9 in 10 are able to keep up with other payments (such as mortgage, rent, car payments, etc.)

What this tells me is that there is still money out there, and a savvy business can survive (some may even thrive) in this difficult environment. Additionally, there's an excellent change to set the stage to have your brand be force when this storm does pass. But it's not a time to cut back on that marketing budget. The key to surviving or thriving in this kind of economic environment comes down to refocusing your brand:

Awareness Is Not the Ultimate Goal - while no one with any sense will tell you that awareness isn't important, keep in mind that just telling people you exist is not the ultimate goal of any marketing that your doing. A friend of mine runs a bike shop that sponsors a lot of events with a tent, repair equipment, staff, and even items to sell. A while back, I asked him why he sponsored them and the answer was "awareness" so that folks know about the shop. But if that's the goal, why spend the time, money, and energy to actually show up? He could have just sent a banner to do the same thing. The real goal of these sponsorships is to move one step past awareness to get entered into the consideration set for purchase (or even make a few sales at the event!). This is the start to an emotional attachment (something very difficult for banners to do by themselves).
Find Marketing Activities that Connect with Customers Emotionally - one of the first things that get cut out of a budget are a business that don't add an emotional value for consumers. Consider Netflix: as they expand further into social networking so that consumers can share their movie lists or take recommendations from friends, the activity becomes more of a social outlet, a connection. This strengthens the emotional connection to the Netflix brand and reduces the likelihood that it ends up on the household budget chopping block.
Deliver Greater Value with your Marketing - greater value is OFTEN talked about in board meetings and marketing meetings but seems to be lost or watered down too far to be actually useful by the time it hits the trenches. Award or frequent buyer programs are a great way to increase the value of marketing, and I think a very useful way to capitalize on viral marketing techniques. If you provided unique content, games, or parties for those who have X number of points or purchases at a level between your current "free stuff" or discount levels, folks are going to get more out of the path they are on with your brand.
Understand Why/How People are Spending Money with You - As the household budget gets trimmed, folks are going to have to shift the way they spend their money. Maybe you'll be lucky enough not to be impacted by this, but chances are you've seen a change in sales in the last few months. Talk to your customers. Get a better understanding of what they are buying with you and why things may have changed. There's a chance that while you may not be able to talk them into spending a lot more, you may be able to make changes to the store layout or menu or whatever to help direct customers to more profitable items or items that supplement other products and thereby increase their value while increase the overall sale. But talk to you customers before you make substantial changes. They'll tell you the why and how they are making changes to their spending habits with you.

Now, obviously, it's not a time to relax, but it's not a time to panic and undermine your brand either.

Bailing out bicycling

2008-10-06T07:54:00.001-04:00

This weekend I was catching up on the variety of things that have made their way into the bailout package, and I found one very interesting little tidbit: Congressman Earl Blumenauer had a tax incentive for bike commuting that got included in the overall end package. This unrelated addition was presumably to get Congressman Blumenauer to vote for the overall package (which he did not end up doing).

This added provision provides a tax incentive to employers to provide bikes and cover expenses related to riding to work. This new bike commuting incentive joins incentives that employers currently have for encouraging carpooling or using public transit. This is potentially a boon for commuting by bike, as it means that now employers have an incentive to provide the facilities to bike to work.

So, what's the challenge? Awareness. There ended up being so much in this new bailout bill, that its highly unlikely that employers (particularly smaller employers) are going to know all the different aspects of the bill or take advantage of some of the cycling incentives. The best bet is for bike shops to make sure that their staff is well educated on this incentive. When individuals are shopping for bikes that they could use to run errands or use in some transportation form, then pass along the incentive information.

Building awareness of policy changes like this are often left up to the community organizers and enthusiasts, which is why I'm writing about this here, and hopefully, you'll talk to your employers about it as well.

Viral Marketing

2008-10-02T08:22:00.004-04:00

This is a pretty funny new ad from "The Viral Factory" for Diesel clothing for their XXX Party.

The thing is, while its clever, funny and shocking and I'm sure will be emailed all over the place, I'm not entirely sure what the point is. From The Viral Factory website:

By tapping into our extensive network of highly influentlial media sites and blogs, we take control of the critical factors that lead to digital and viral marketing successes. ... But seeding isn't just about getting views. TVF also helps generate an unprecendented [their typo, not mine] level of engagement and depth of conversation among the audience.

I guess, I'm not sure I understand their process. I sent that above link to some of my friends. I then clicked over to my blog to write this. Does this mean I'm having an indepth conversation with Diesel? If so, how does my writing this help Diesel? I suppose the problem is, I'm not the target market for it. Perhaps if I were in my 20's, this video and website combo would make me want to be part of the XXX Party (does that mean Diesel clothing is 30?).

The interesting thing is I think the website that goes along with this campaign is pretty well done. By the time I got around to actually looking at the website, I found it to be stylish and engaging. It will be interesting to find out if it actually contributes to sales, or if Diesel is simply providing entertainment.... I'm leaning towards the latter.

Is your brand dead? Does imagery matter anymore? (Part II)

2008-10-02T05:54:00.001-04:00

I (finally) finished the book, Branding Only Works on Cattle by Jonathan Salem Baskin. The basic premise is that communicating brands as we know it is actually dead. Before you start writing a eulogy for your long, lost pal, Tony the Tiger, Baskin does have some fascinating points. As you may recall from Part 1, I claimed to not be fully on board with Baskin’s claims in the book, then he called me out on some of my points (see comments from Sept 21 post).

Now that I’ve read it, I think that Baskin and I are not that far apart actually. I think that the main area we differ is in the definition of branding. I suspect that my textbook definition that I provided was not complete enough to clarify how I actually think of branding. Baskin summed it up perfectly on page 185 of the book:

“Company activities and customer perceptions are intertwined in many ways – communities, dependencies, partnerships, outsourcing, transactions, partnerships, product or service experiences, - and it is in these relationships that brand and business are realized. Brand is the verb of these behaviors made relevant to your bottom line.”

This definition of branding is a much more “practical” form than Tony the Tiger or the lust for Louis-Vuitton handbags implies (perhaps “useful” is the word that Baskin would use). I must admit that the more I thought about it, the more I agree with Baskin. His book lays out a nice road map, particularly for small or midsize businesses that are looking to grow and don’t quite get how branding could work for them.

In my opinion, if marketers (note that I don’t just limit this to branding experts) only take one thing from the book, it is to think of branding as game theory. Baskin purports that games have:

Goals/a payoff – a purpose that requires an action (a.k.a. give branding a practical goal).
Context – the universe where the game is actually played must guide the branding
Narrative flow – prompt action, facilitate learning during the game, and then only talk to those who its relevant to talk to
Use a variety of tools – the entire company is your toolbox (customer service, shipping, finance, etc.)
Winners and Losers – engage with people to push them forward (winners), though there may be some that will therefore be pushed away (losers). That's ok, not everyone will buy your product anyway.

This kind of thinking, positive customer engagement with the company at a variety of points, is the definitely the direction branding communications needs to be moving.

So, am I a convert? Is branding dead?

Well, hold on a second. Brands are still very much alive. Another book I’m reading by Lucas Conley, “Obsessive Branding Disorder”, shows many different examples of branding out of control - both the comical (Christina Aguilera trademarking her name to market 450 separate products including modeling clay and contact lens) and the tragic (like New Orleans Mayor, Ray Nagin, who declared that New Orleans murder rate was “…not good for us, but keeps the New Orleans brand out there, and keeps people thinking about our needs…”). Conley proves that branding is still very much alive and still highly profitable (for both the branders and the branded business). People are still buying products because of its brand. But businesses are having to work harder, advertise in more places, and creative (read as, "crazy") things that in many cases make no sense to keep their brands in front of potential customers.

So, yes, Tony the Tiger is still going to don the cereal box and your kids will still scream for him. Louis-Vuitton will still drive people to buy (and make) cheap knock-offs. Paris Hilton will still draw millions of dollars for putting her name and likeness on perfume, bad music, or whatever else her agents think they can sell. A lot of companies will continue to brand in much the same method. But as Baskin (and Conley) points out, the challenges of communicating is getting increasing difficult, and the companies that can recognize this and truly connect with their customers on a variety of levels and points are the brands that will remain relevant and important.

Walking away from Starbucks...

2008-09-29T08:27:00.009-04:00

I read the (supposed) real reason that Starbucks ad agency walked away from the Starbucks account on Advertising Age this morning. There has been substantial upheaval at Starbucks recently, starting with a return of the original CEO, job losses, and store closures. This is all a result of poor financial performance starting last year. All of this has resulted in Weider & Kennedy (Starbucks ad agency of record) has decided to quit the business... not something typical of agencies.

The reason that the Ad Age article gives is that:

...Starbucks was simply a very frustrating client for Wieden, an agency that other marketers have described as unusually honest in its communication with clients. Other agencies that have worked with Starbucks have felt frustration with the marketer too. Rich Silverstein, co-founder of Omnicom Group's Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, which did two stints representing Starbucks, said much of the fault lies with the mercurial Mr. Schultz. "He does not appreciate advertising," he said. "Any agency that comes in has one foot out the door already."

The thing is, this may be the reason that Wieden & Kennedy quit working for Starbucks, but its not the reason Starbucks is having problems. The problem is that the "brand promise" of Starbucks is not being fulfilled and that's not an advertising problem... its a coffee problem. Or rather it's an experience problem.

Starbucks growth has been its own worst enemy. As the commoditization of the atomosphere has been spread across the U.S., the folks who first supported Starbucks are now turned off of it. How to fix this? Localization - not advertising. Coffee Shops are one of those businesses that has to fit very specifically with the local market demands. In many ways, Starbucks in Malibu looks and feels the same as a Starbucks in Buffalo, but what do you think? Are people in those two cities the same? If so, put someone from Malibu on a plane to Buffalo in January!

The other part of the problem is the coffee. I have argued that Starbucks roasts are all too similar to each other. A mild coffee gets the same (or at least very similar) roast as a robust coffee giving it a burned flavor. I have also argued that this reduces the quality of the Starbucks coffee itself.

So, Starbucks has found itself becoming a commodity with (arguably) mediocre quality beverages in a tough economic time when "luxuries" like $3 lattes are getting trimmed back. This is not advertising problem - Wieder & Kennedy likely recognized this, and gave up the fight rather than be doomed to failure in Starbucks marketing department's opinion. That would be my guess for the REAL reason they walked away.

Fortunately for Starbucks, Howard Schwartz (returning CEO) knows his stuff, and has taken some steps to try and fix this already. Perhaps he will fully recognize this in time to save your favorite Starbucks store.

The death of Fair Trade Certified marketing?

2008-09-26T08:57:00.003-04:00

I read in Brandweek this week that marketers at Walmart, Target, and Starbucks (among other large retailers) "eye Fair Trade Certified as the new 'green'" marketing tool.

As someone who ran/runs a independent coffee roasting company, trying to compete with big chains is always a challenge. The juggernaut Starbucks not only sells many of the same products, but also has more locations and lots of marketing bucks behind that star. However, its not impossible, despite everything Starbucks does well. And, it helps that Starbucks is closing/has closed eight of its stores in the Detroit area, including three in the city itself. One of the ways that I was able to get a favorable comparison to Starbucks (and other big chains or big roasters) has been to capitalize on selling Fair Trade Certified (F/T) products.

Overall, though this article is good news. This will help the farmers (and that is really the point to the F/T certs). "Every small coffee roaster in Bareto or Santa Cruz is important to us, but the reality is a big retailer is like a faucet," said Anthony Marek, spokesman at TransFair USA. "And if you're a drip, that faucet can help tens of thousands of farmers across the world."

As F/T gets pushed out into Target and Walmart (and hotel chains?!?), independent coffee roasters and retailers are going to be put under even more pressure to find creative ways to differentiate their products and to increase their visibility, particularly in the current economy. Lynn Dornblaser, director-CPG trend insight at Mintel asserts that with the downturn in the economy, Americans are likely to be much more focused on their wallets, rather than third world countries. Savvy marketers for smaller shops can use this along with the things that make independent shops great in the first place: location, atmosphere, quality product, customer service.... to capitalize on the downturn.

Just don't rely on F/T as a differentiator.

Interbike 2008

2008-09-22T09:07:00.001-04:00

This week is the Interbike Expo in Las Vegas. It is the premier bike industry show and showcases new products, people and trends in the bike industry.

This year they are doing an Urban cycling fashion show to showcase the equipment and clothing for the increasing cycling as transportation trend:
"A self-propelled cycling art and fashion show, Interbike's latest addition brings the cutting edge of urban cycle culture to life"

This is another example of business lagging the trend. I can tell you that just from the communities I interact with here, this trend of urban cycling has been growing for a couple years now (and if I can see that from my seat here in auto-centric Detroit, what does that say about the trend in forward looking cycling communities on the west coast!)

I applaud Interbike for adding this LONG overdue fashion show, and I'm looking forward to the seeing reaction to this show.

Is your brand dead? Does imagery matter anymore? (Part I)

2008-09-21T13:19:00.007-04:00

Yesterday I read an article on Bnet entitled "Kiss Your Brand Goodbye". This is a book review of Jonathan Salem Baskin’s new book “Branding Only Works on Cattle”.

The book is an interesting opinion on a larger trend in advertising and branding to deal with the new influence of integrated marketing (combined traditional advertising and web based marketing) and consumer mindset in the new millennium. His hypothesis is basically that a "brand" is an emotional association that marketers have created but consumers no longer buy into that association. They have become smarter and now look for product attributes that offer "actual" value rather than emotional brand attachment. This book is part of a trend to kill branding and in essence completely revise the advertising industry (some argue this has already happened). Well, I’ll throw my two cent hat into the ring (if you’ll allow me to mix sayings)...

First, brandchannel.com (article by Vincent Grimaldi) provides a pretty concise definition of branding:

Branding is the foundation of marketing and is inseparable from business strategy. It is therefore more than putting a label on a fancy product. Nowadays, a corporation, law firm, country, university, museum, hospital, celebrity, and even you in your career can be considered as a brand.
As such, a brand is a combination of attributes, communicated through a name, or a symbol, that influences a thought-process in the mind of an audience and creates value.

Ok, full disclosure, I have not yet read Baskin's book (I plan to), so I won’t be able to delve too deeply into his specific arguments. However, the article gives the background, and the book has several points that he claims prove that branding should be dead:

“There are no more trends, only moments” – shattered attention spans of consumers have killed the trends
“Subtlety is dead” because “people are more literal now” – our diversity means we no longer share as many common experiences. This means that “repetition risks becoming noise” and brand “recognition isn’t the same as brand relevance”
“Choice is real-time” – in other words, brand messaging doesn’t matter, and “forget about inspiring purchases through appealing to fantasy”
The “Virtual Experience is the new dreamscape” - social media “conversations are just the beginning”

As Michael Fitzgerald, the author of the bnet.com article points out, this is ahead of where we are in the market right now, and as such, I don’t actually agree with all his points.

I think of branding to be more like developing a friend – the brands are perceived to share consumers beliefs or interests, and consumers are likely to start the purchase process by looking at their "friends." Setting the attributes of a brand is an excellent way to set guidelines for the way a business will be marketed. For almost four years now, I’ve read about how the branding world is dying (Baskin’s book is just the latest shot across this bow), but then brands like Apple, Coke, Pepsi, BMW, Budweiser, Columbia, etc. remain stronger than ever.

In my mind, Baskin's argument only works if you don't believe consumers make image-driven purchases. Does just advertising product attributes or benefits really hold greater value than advertising a brand image? Frankly, I would argue that this isn’t the right question. We should be asking whether the current advertising model is working properly in the integrated social media millennium. Does the current media mix really work to advertise product benefits and image or is it all just becoming noise? I would argue that (as in the past) the two still can't be truly separated without disastrous results, but creating a truly integrated mix to reduce noise and target niches is the key to branding now.

Bike Sales Skyrocketing

2008-09-16T09:44:00.005-04:00

I recently read on M-bike.org that bike sales are skyrocketing. This is good news being related from a survey from Bikes Belong. Additionally, there are some very interesting details in the survey results that certainly would help with the service department at bike shop.

First, the survey highlights from Bikes Belong:

The majority of retailers who responded said their sales of transportation-related bicycles, accessories, and service have increased in 2008 compared to 2007:
73% said they are selling more bikes.
84% said they are selling more accessories.
88% said they are selling more service.
Is this increase in sales because of high gas prices? Most retailers who we surveyed think so:
95% of shops said customers cited high gas prices as a reason for their transportation-related purchases.
80% of retailers said gas prices were helping them sell more bikes for transportation.
86% thought accessory sales were getting a boost.
89% said they were selling more service because of high gas prices.

Sounds like good news? Well, it is, but the most interesting tidbit from this survey I think comes from the service side. The survey also found that a vast majority of surveyed shops believed that 75% of summer business was from people bringing in old bikes to be repaired, vs. 25% who shopping for a new bike. One shop is quoted as saying this is up from 50% in 2007.

As a shop finds their service sales increasing because of increased use of older bikes for transportation, the customer service in the service department may have to adapt to a new type of customer. Specialized shops that are used to the lycra crowd will have to make sure that their service folks are ready to respectfully and profitably serve those who don't know a sprocket from a spoke and just want a bike that goes.

Here are three key customer service items that shops need to make sure they're addressing:

Match recommendations to the rider - If your shop specializes in tri-bikes, but you are starting to see older single or three speed bikes, make sure your techs know what sort of parts are going to give the best value (cost vs. performance) to these types of riders (or partner with another shop that you can endorse for these folks).
Watch your mouth - Most techs are ARDENT cycling fans (this is great - they wouldn't be very good at their jobs if they weren't!). They tend to be able to talk very specifically about which parts are better for bikes. But customers who are switching to bikes for transportation are unlikely to be able identify specific Shimano shifters, and may not even understand some basics (like the difference between one-piece cranks and higher quality three-piece cranks). Make sure that all techs are assessing and talking with customers at their level, not the tech's level. If you don't think they can, have someone else talk to the customers.
Service follow-up - it astounds me how almost no bike shops do follow-up to make sure the service experience was satisfactory. I've only ever had one shop follow-up with me after service. Yes, this can take some substantial time in the high volume months, but even if you just follow up with new customers, it gives you a chance to make a real connection with customers.

How does your shop service rate? Don't know? Try having one of your friends mystery shop your service department.

Reference:
"Bikes Belong Survey Report: Impact of Gas Prices on Bike Sales" - August 2008 - Bikesbelong.org (pdf)

Brewing for Festivals

2008-09-15T11:50:00.001-04:00

On July 30, 2008, the Michigan Senate passed a couple bills that change the rules for brewpubs in Michigan (slightly). Under the current (well, now old) rules, brewpubs could not take their beer to beer festivals because the Liquor Control Code does not permit companies with a brewpub license to sell their beer off premise. It has to be sold at the licensed property for consumption on or off premise. The new law allows a non-profit (such as Michigan Brewers Guild) to obtain a special license that will permit brewpubs to sell off premise at beer festivals.

This may seem like a somewhat obscure rule, but it should actually make a substantial difference to brew pubs when it comes to building their brand. It will have an impact in a couple different ways: first, it will give brewpubs easy access to a substantial and very targeted audience - passionate, craft beer drinkers; second, it gives brewpubs more control over their product (more on this in a moment); and finally, it should give more access to competitions for brewpubs as well.

Some of you may be thinking that you've seen brewpubs at festivals and won competitions. That's true. But, under the old rules, brewpubs had to have their beers contract brewed at a microbrewery (a different license) to participate in festivals. This means that their beer was not brewed on their equipment by their brewers. Basically, this took away control of their own product for festivals - imagine a winning beer that wasn't actually brewed by the brewer at the brewery! Crazy.

I did discover that there is another license that brewpubs could have purchased prior to this rule to be able sell product off premise:

"The LCC application form for a special license for on-premises consumption, however, indicates that beer may be purchased by the licensee from either a licensed wholesaler or a specially designated merchant (SDM) (a person licensed to sell beer and/or wine at retail for consumption off the licensed premises). Apparently, some brewpubs have an SDM license for the retail sale of beer in addition to their brewpub license."

I am not familar with this license, but my guess is that expensive (and of course, would require new packaging equipment to take advantage of it).

While retail sale is an entirely different animal than a brewpub, the access to beer festivals is a substantially improved law for those brewpubs looking to increase their profile with consumer advocates.

Iced coffee?

2008-09-14T14:59:00.001-04:00

This summer has passed (pretty much... feeling very fall-like these days), but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the newest trend in coffee brewing - cold coffee brewing.

Now, I know what you are thinking, and yes, ice coffee has been around for a long time. But it seems that brewing coffee cold has finally come of age. While for most people, they will brew coffee hot as usual, then pour it over a pitcher full of ice. Sure, this works, but Coffee Snob offers a very stylish, albeit extremely slow way to cold brew ice coffee.

Essentially, it brews as the ice melts. The drips fall through the coffee grounds through a spiral tube into a pitcher at the bottom. You are left with a concentrated coffee that you add water or milk and sugar when serving. It's a beautiful way to brew, but slooooooow. Basically by filling a pitcher with ice and waiting for it to melt, you could be waiting for 6-7 hours to cold brew the coffee. Fun, but slow.

I've cold brewed with a french press, with mixed results. Consistency is a major challenge when doing it this way (I don't think I've ever been able to make the same brew twice). Fill your french press with about twice as much coffee as you would normally use. Add cold water, stir, wait. Stir, wait. Repeat. It takes a loooong time - I've left it overnight before, but its better if you can periodically stir the concoction.

High Fructose Corn Syrup

2008-09-09T10:40:00.000-04:00

This website reminds me of the push to make cigarettes seem healthy in the 50's.

http://www.sweetsurprise.com/

Space Beer!

2008-09-09T10:00:00.001-04:00

From BrandWeek:

Earlier this year, Andy England was deposed for eight hours by the Department of Justice. The CMO of Coors Brewing was one of many top-level executives grilled about a variety of potential antitrust issues leading up to the merger of MolsonCoors and rival SABMiller.

Amid the proceedings, an unusual document came to light. The female justice slid a memo from one of England's senior technical people across the table. "Are you familiar with this? Do you remember receiving this e-mail?" England recalled her asking him.

The subject of the memo: "Space Beer." The ploy of sending yeast into orbit on a space shuttle and bringing it back to Earth was one of the literally thousands of ideas England and his team had come up with since he joined the company in February 2006.

"They were very amused. She had to know if we'd done 'space beer,'" he said. England's team never did get around to brewing any cosmic Coors.

I wonder if space beer tastes any different than earth beer. I'll bet not, but I also bet it would have been marketed and priced much, much, differently. Heck, I'd pay a premium for the novelty of it... once. I wonder how difficult it would be to get yeast into space and back so that I could brew a batch....