The Critical State of Greece

Protests in Greece are spreading due to the Greek Government imposing fiscal austerity in the country in order to receive European funding to lower the government costs that were caused by growing government deficits (overly borrowing) and the decrease in tourism and shipping that was caused by the late-2000s financial crisis.

According to Business Insider, an issue occurred in the beginning of 2010 where it was reported that Greece had paid Goldman Sachs and other banks hundreds of millions of dollars in fees since 2001 in order to hide the country's actual level of borrowing. The purpose was to give Greece the capabilities of spending beyond their means in order to hide their deficit from the European Union over-seers.

The Greek Government deficit is still a serious burden. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the Greek Government deficit was estimated to be 13.6% of the country's GDP which according to London's Daily Telegraph is one of the highest deficits in the world relative to GDP.

As a visual, below is a graph showing Greece as well as other European countries government surplus/deficit as a percentage of their GDP.



Provided by Wikimedia

 As emergency measures, the EU has established a European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF)  which is meant to stabilize the european countries that are members of the EU and are experiencing substantial government deficits. As an affect of this vehicle, fiscal austerity have been occurring  which have resulted in less public sector jobs provided contributing to the 17% unemployment rate Greece is experiencing.

Greek protestors believe the fiscal austerity, haven tightened the fiscal and monetary policies of the country, will as an end result diminish investment and economic growth for the country in the long term. This could lead to a lower employment and GDP rate in order to battle the huge government deficit.

On CNBC, John Taylor mentioned that Greece cannot take on any more borrowing and will most likely need to be given monetary funds from the EU as a gift in order to stabilize their economy. If Greece defaults then they will be excluded from the Euro Dollar and the country will be in a much worse situation then they currently are now.

Although this will not have a drastic affect upon the European Union, more Greek citizens will lose their jobs and even their homes if the government does not act right and exacerbate their debt in a smart and strategic manner.

The Key to Win an NBA Title: Teamwork and Persistence

Being a Texan you would expect me to go for a Texas-based NBA team to win the Finals. And although I support Texas teams, I instead was rooting for the Miami Heats.

If you have not yet closed out from this post or leave a harsh comment by now then I am surprised.

Many of my friends gave me a hard time for supporting the Heats and I do not blame them. Either way I am satisfied that the Dallas Mavericks won the title. Dirk Norwitzki, Jason Kidd and Jason Terry brought the team together and proved that to win the game you don't need the best athletes, rather, good teamwork, sportsmanship, unstoppable drive and harwork in achieving an NBA title.

It is unfortunate that Lebron James "The King" built up much publicity of winnng the 2011 NBA Title and choked when push came to shove.  I do not bash the man for this but I was disappointed in how his mind was not in the game during game five and six. However it is not just all on Lebron, the team as a whole including Wade and Bosch did not push it as much as the Mavericks did.

The Miami Heat are indeed the under-dogs which fuels more reason for why they would want to win the title next season. And with more competition brewing not just from the West but the East (Chicago and Memphis) the team has much to work on, including the "Batman" of the team; Dwyane Wade. He is the backbone and leader of the Heats and is a well-respected player due to his  drive in wanting to win the title.

Rather than perfecting the team's defensive and offensive coordinations, specifically their rebounds, blocks, field goal shots and assists per game, Wade needs to instill persistence and most of all team work among all the players rather than just the big three. I do hope the Heat perfect on these flaws and come back stronger next season.

After looking back at the Mavericks play-by-play in game six, ALL the players were heavily used and involved both offensively and defensively and achieved high turnovers, rebounds and assists.

I admit I was wrong in believing in order to win the NBA finals you need the best athletes (the Big Three), rather you need good teamwork among your peers with strong leadership and drive. These are key characteristics needed to achieve any form of success.

Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks and especially Dirk Norwitzki, after 13 years of playing the game, you earned it!

Computer Love

Thanks to fast broadband connections and other innovations in technology, love is now found through the digital world of online dating. In 2010, one in five singles have dated someone they met on a dating site or are currently in a committed relationship with someone they met online according to datingsitereviews.com. Topped with membership fee's and advertising, this makes the online dating industry valued between $3 billion - 4 billion a year according to the Economist.

Online dating has been driven by several trends in society. One of these is that people now move around more often for work, distancing themselves from friends and family members who would normally play matchmakers. Another is that people are living longer, making them more likely to look for new love later in life. Also, with the spread of fast broadband connectivity and innovation of technology in many countries, singles are being encouraged to dabble in online dating. Some of these innovations in technology are forms of electronic communication such as social networks, e-mail and instant messaging. 

Mobile Dating

The next big bubble to happen in on-line dating is the adoption of it through mobile smartphones. According to mobile research group Ground Truth, mobile dating saw a 92% increase in users since the summer began with the average user of a mobile phone spending 12 minutes and 44 seconds on mobile dating sites per week.

Although this new form of soul-mate searching and intimacy have resulted in positive outcomes for people, there has also been some negative affects.

Cyber Affairs

An increase in what many call "Cyber Affairs," where married couples create single profiles on online dating sites and indulge extramarital affairs, have left many marriages and families ruined.

According to authorsden.com, "In the past 10 years, divorce attorneys have reported seeing an increase in divorces and separations resulting from cyber infidelity.  According to the Fortino Group, one-third of divorce litigation is caused by online affairs."

The website also mentioned the following statistics about Cyber Affairs:  

1. According to statistics, 50 percent of people who engage in internet chats have made phone contact with someone they chatted with online.
2. 30 percent of cyber affairs escalate from e-mail to telephone calls to personal contact.
3. 31 percent of people had an online conversation which eventually led to real-time sex.

This shows the likelihood of cyber affairs occurring and is one of many reasons why online daters to be cautious for whom they pursue.

Virtual Girlfriends

A new trend occurring, specifically in Japan, is the adoption of virtual girlfriends/boyfriends for busy and single men and women. One of these popular virtual dating games is the Nintendo DS Love Plus+.

Since the marriage rate among Japan's shrinking population is falling and with many of the country's remaining lovebirds heading for Hawai or Australia's Gold Coast, the resort town Atami attracted single men who play Love Plus+ for a romantic cavation with their virtual girlfriends.

In the frst month of the city's promotional campaign, more than 1,500 male fans of the Japanese dating-simulation game Love Plus+ travelled to Atami for a fomantic date with their videogame character girlfriends.

Love Plus+ re-creates the experience of an adolescent romance while the goal is not just to get the girl but to maintain a relationship with her.

"There isn't a lot of romance in my life and this helps me cope with some of the loneliness," said Love Plus+ video game player Mr. Fukazawa.

The city is still running a yearly promotion with Love Plus+. The Wall Street Journal conducted a special interview with the local businesses and resorts. To view the video, click here.

Virtual dating is also popular in other countries and a virtual boyfriend/girlfriend can be found as applications within the iPhone and Android.

In 2008, NYU Student Drew Burrows invented a 2-D virtual girlfriend from a software and infrared program. The virtual girlfriend curls and speaks to you once you lie in bed based upon movements of one's body. To read the full story, click here.

Although I am an advocate for technology and innovation, I find that romance is best experienced through face-to-face encounters. Romance and love finding isn't always best to find through a computer algorithm that correlates and distinghuishes one's compatbility with another. Nor is it ideal to make up your own girlfriend and have a romantic dinner with a portable game console or cuddle next to a 2-D girlfriend.

However, it does fulfill the gap of loneliness that many people are experiencing. Wonder what new ways of romance are in store for society within the near future.

Source of US Consumer Confidence: Increased Employment Rate

On CNBC today there are talks of the US Economy hitting a "Soft Patch" due to published statistics and analysis from the US Labor Bureau of the unemployment rate increasing to 9.1 percent. Several arguments arose as to whether the Fed should look into the possibility of a QE3, or in other words, the possibility of more cash printed and pushed into the secondary market. All in all, the government is wanting to arouse or increase the consumer confidence in order to nurture and strengthen the US economy.





US Unemplyment Rate
Provided by US Labor Bureau



  Although this may deem effective for the short-term, history has shown this to be ineffective. During QE1, big banks such as JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs held on to the cash provided by the government as excess reserves due to a complacent economic environment. The cash printed and given to the banks were meant to unfreeze the credit market so consumers can use the monetary funds as buying power to keep the economy afloat.
Although consumption of US goods is deemed necessary, it should be done through the proper causes of mediary channels. The main solution I believe in strenghening the US economy is by instilling a long-term perspective in creating more jobs and opportunities for consumers. Once this is done, consumer confidence will increase resulting in a multiplier effect of proper consumption and spending that are derived from consumer's discretionary income.

Although this theoretically sounds easy, it is very difficult to apply due to other external variables such as: increase in outsourced jobs for cheap labor, non-increase in wages or salaries to offset inflation, companies unwilling to spend to create jobs due to economic complacency and a substantial increase in US consumer and government debt due to stimulus packages from QE1 and QE2.

On a positive note; The Conference Board, a global, independent business membership and research association that works in the economic public interest of society, forecast the US economy's real GDP to increase throughout the third and fourth quarter. Which in some part may be due to the stimulus affects of QE2. However, they base their forecasts off the progression of technology and innovation.



Provided by the Conference Board

 Technology and innovation are great, but will they spur more job opportunities? Hopefully our choppy economy will turn out progressively smooth by the beginning of the third quarter and the issue of consumer confidence will diminish. In the end, it will all be based upon US employment rising to surge the economic growth which should be of more importance in both a short-term and long-term perspective.

How a Marketer Views a SouthPark Episode

So I started off my weekday doing my normal routine of job-hunting, until I decided to take a break and watch a random episode of SouthPark.

While I sat at my desk with my cold Big Red in my hand with left-over Valentino Pizza, I ended up watching season 10 episode two aka Smug Alert.

Season 10, Episode 2: Smug Alert

The synopsis of this episode is how Kyle's dad, Gerald Broflovski, buys a hybrid car and showcases the vehicle throughout the town of SouthPark. Since he believes he is ahead of the curve in being more green and fuel efficient resulting in him thinking he is better than others (showcasing his smug), Kyle's Dad soon becomes alienated by the locals of the town. He decides to move his family to San Francisco where he aspires to live among the progressors of the new-age liberal city who also drive hybrids and think they are better than others. A marketer would surely conclude this DMA's social class as innovators.



The Broflovski's interacting with new neighbors in San Francisco

 As Stan, Kyle's friend and confidante, finds out about his move he attempts to bring his friend back by getting the town into accepting and driving hybrids. In marketing words: he attempts to change the town's social norms through altering it's socio-cultural influences. He does this by making a song about buying hybrids and promoting it through the towns local radio station, a standard and traditional grassroot publicity tactic.

Random and weird for a person to see: YES. But is it strange for a marketer to see this: NO.

What triggered this thought process of mine was a particular scene where Randy Marsh drives around town with his new hybrid and comes across other locals who drive hybrids. I noticed their acknowledgement and acceptance of each other's vehicle and the fulfillment of being among a higher elite group/social class. Each person driving a hybrid felt accepted among their peers which is an effective marketing tactic if implemented well.

Implementation is the difficult part in this process since the message is extremely viral and vague to measure. What makes a message viral is that consumers can be very irrational and motivated more so by their family-cultural norms, consumer behavior patterns and their surroundings. This is also shown through the SouthPark episode.

Only in a crazy world like SouthPark would a little song work in changing the town's perception and acceptance of hybrid vehicles. However in the real world, multi-million dollars are spent doing this through a trickle effect of what most marketers call the Integrated Marketing Communications plan.

Deemed a curse at times, a marketer will always view their surroundings (even a cartoon show) from a marketing perspective.

Feel free to watch the full link episode: Smug Alert

Exploitation of the REAL Captain Morgan's Life, Love and Loot

I was recently on Facebook today and I noticed the new Captain Morgan USA video. After watching it, I was intrigued so much with the new brand positioning that Diageo, the world's leading premium drink business took with the real-life privateer that I had to make a blog about it.

Last month I remember posting a blog in regards to Ben Silverstein and his idea of advancing TV production companies into the undeveloped realm of advertainment. I barked down on the idea because their needs to be an underlying story of the brand. Also the brand needs to have a strong rememberance of the characteristics the brand encompasses among consumers in order to implement this. If not, then the content would not be effective in growing the market share of participating companies optimizing their brands and all their money wasted in producing, marketing and exploiting it through TV networks would all fall to pieces.

But in the case of Captain Henry Morgan, I find it to be possible. This is because Captain Henry Morgan, as mentioned earlier, was a real-life privateer!

According to the Captain Morgan website, "In 1654 a young Henry Morgan left his native Wales for the West Indies...A born leader, he quickly became Captain Henry Morgan and became famous as a legal pirate or Buccaneer, defending British interests and generally rocking the Caribbean...exploits on the high seas earned him a knighthood and by 1680 Sir Henry Morgan was a plantation owner and Governor of Jamaica. There he lived out his final days until his death in 1688."

Because there literally lived a Captain Henry Morgan, I can visually see a motion-pictured mini-series with what Academy-Award winning Director Tom Hooper, is in the mist of creating.

This works because you already have a story embedded within the brand. And not to even mention, rarely any consumer, especially those who drink Captain Morgan's Spice Rum, know about that story. So why not exploit it with the product to grasp more of the Rum Market?

PRNewswire ran a press release last month of the production of the new AD campaign Captain Morgan USA was taking with renowned director Tom Hooper. As mentioned verbatim in the press release by Tom Herbst, Brand Director of Captain Morgan USA, "For the first time, we're bringing to life the mystery and intrigue surrounding Henry Morgan...we are ecstatic to have Tom play an integral role in revealing an exciting new side of the brand."

PRNewswire also mentioned this is the first within a series the company will produce in broadcast televison later this month of May. I find this campaign to be much more effective than the other commercial broadcasts in penetrating a market.

I can see the company really going far with their new take of the brand, and while doing so, really grasp a new market share with the Spicy Rum.

Why, I can even see their new film content being cross-sold or product placed on Pirates of the Caribbean. (Makes me wonder who can outdrink the other: Captain Jack Sparrow or Captain Henry Morgan???)

Either way, I definitely see so much potential for the new positioning of this brand and I most certainly see advertainment being utilized within it.

Thoughts??

Microsoft Buys Skype, What Now?

According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Microsoft will be acquistioning the world's most popular Internet calling service as well as its 663 million customers for $8.5 billion. The acquisition is the biggest Internet takeover since the age of the Internet bubble.

The reason for the purchase was for both companies to catch up in the online and mobile advertising realm. This takeover could help Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, tempt Skype users to try Microsoft's phones and software in order to limit Google Inc.'s market share in internet and mobile advertising. This will also help Skype in finally obtaining revenue.

According to Skype's financial statements, in 2010 it recorded a loss of $7m on revenues of $860m – $1.30 per registered user a year, or $5 per "connected" user a year. While revenue loss have been decreasing for the past year-on-years, it has been able to negotiate better call termination rates around the world with telephone companies.

Ballmer mentions, ""Skype is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the world. Together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world." This will be implemented by Microsoft connecting Skype to Microsoft Outlook e-mail, Xbox and Kinect game consoles, Windows mobile phones and corporate-phone software.

Skype CEO Tony Bates will be president of the Microsoft Skype Division and will over-see the newly established Microsoft strategic business unit.

All of this is very great news and due to the high volume of "Skypers" out there, it also poses some trouble.

Due to Skype's partnerships with AT&T and Verizon Wireless, Microsoft may a have a difficult time in convincing wireless operators to support mobile phones with Windows mobile software, which is deemed a laggard within the mobile telecommunication world. The acquistion also poses a threat to AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless because it could cut into their voice revenues since Skype lets members make free voice and video calls to each other as well as to outsiders for on average 2.3 cents a minute.

It would probably be ideal for Microsoft and Skype to still maintain good relationships with cell-phone carriers in order to drive a possible adoption of Windows Mobile. But while pursuing this, I would strongly focus on effectively embedding Skype within the Xbox and Kinect game console in order to increase sales of the console and usage of its Xbox network. Imagine not just playing a controlless home video-game console while video chatting with a friend through Skype's premium VoIP, but through the Xbox network being able to view your buddy playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare! How cool could that be!!

Microsoft could make Xbox members become Skype users and enjoy all the services both the Xbox and Skype already offers.

Dut don't forget Tablet PC's.

Traditional PC's are being replaced with tablets and if you throw Skype into the mix Microsoft will have a unique edge compared to its competitors Apple and Google.

In the near future, I predict wireless operators such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless lowering their prices in order to compete in this dynamic market.

For more information on the acquistion, please click here: Bloomberg BusinessWeek and Guardian.co.uk