Image from studentbrand.com

For the second time this semester my wife’s has been tasked with the challenge of getting people to click on a link (ex: http://tinyurl.com/nyumarkconf) as part of a contest for her brand strategy class.  Her professor, Scott Galloway, is a Clinical Associate Professor of Marketing for NYU.  He founded Red Envelope and Firebrand Partners so he has proven himself to be very successful in creating brands and is obviously very knowledgeable about marketing.  My wife even tells me he has a reputation for no nonsense (read his email to a student that became a viral sensation) and his lectures often draw visitors who aren’t enrolled in the MBA programs.

Still, I can’t help but wish my wife’s assignment would be more challenging than to get someone to click URLs about marketing and innovation conferences they probably could care less about.  Sure, it takes some acumen and a bit of ingenuity to get a large number of people to click on a URL, but I’d argue that this is more akin to spamming not branding.  If one were technically inclined he could even mask proxy requests to the URL, but this would likely be better reserved for a class in computer science.  Now I confess I do not know much about branding myself, but I would have expected that a branding exercise would at the very least:

• Convey some sort of message
• Make some sort of connection (emotional, intellectual, spiritual, etc.)
• Create some loyal following

I fail to see how getting others to click on a tracking URL accomplishes this.  Now perhaps I’m a bit biased because of my background in tech, but I wish these MBA students learned more technological skills and created some brand strategy utilizing a combination of social media, web services and open source software.

For example, why not teach the students how to implement a CRM strategy using something like SugarCRM?  The students could be given the challenge to write about some particular subjects they are passionate about using something like blogger from Google.  They could then setup an AdSense account to see if they may even monetize web traffic and generate a little income.  They may even purchase keywords on AdWords to drive traffic to their blog.  Using Twitter, they can cultivate a following and direct people to complete lead forms into SugarCRM.  With these leads in hand, they can create targeted email campaigns to keep their users informed about their blog and even track activities with such followers.  I believe that such a broad exercise utilizing various technologies will better equip the students with experience in branding and give them more technical skills.

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Today marks the second anniversary of my mother’s passing.  It’s true that time has brought some healing.  Still, not a day has passed without me thinking of my parents.

Not too much commentary on the markets.  $FEED and $ONP have been a disappointment.  I’d say raise some cash where possible.  Don’t buy short ETFs; instead buy gold via $GLD.

This post was done via WordPress for Android phones.  =)

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Image from www.simpsontrivia.com

Tonight I read that Matt Garza pitched the 5th no-hitter of the 2010 season.  The way the 2010 season started it seemed as if we were on pace to see the total number of no-hitters games fall outside the three-sigma rule of statistics.  My initial suspicion was that something had changed about the baseball that was giving pitchers an edge.

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[Not an investment post]

I walked by the nearby Chinese fast food restaurant off 38th and 3rd the other evening on my way back from a four-mile run at the gym.  Sometimes I forget the restaurant even exists as I have only dined there on two occasions.  Nestled between one of those ubiquitous Korean run nail salons and a Mediterranean fast food restaurant that serves a tasty Shwarma lamb wraps, this was the type of joint that puzzled you as to how it remained in business.  Truth be told there is a constant clockwork of activity involving takeout delivery food.  From the time the cashier greeted you with her unmistakable immigrant accent to take your order to the time the chow mein with that red roasted pork showed up at your apartment door, brought to you by the delivery man who didn’t seem like he knew much English but always slightly bow graciously and say thank you while receiving your tip, the whole incident seemed almost like a celebration of technology and supply chain management.  And yet it was so unforgettable the minute you chased the first gulp of food with your beer.

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On this Mother’s Day I came across this picture.  It’s one my brother took of my nephew yesterday.  I am almost certain there’s a picture of me watching pigeons just like this at the Waikiki zoo many many years ago.  That was so long ago now.  I thought about my mom last night and how best it would have been to show her my appreciation on Mother’s Day.  Though I can only wish I did more now, I believe that it was the simple pleasures in life that gave her the most joy… like watching me grow up.  Perhaps a mother wonders how one day her children may take care of when she becomes elderly… how the child fascinated with pigeons will grapple with eventually losing his mother.   When we go from being a newborn to an child to a adult we gain more responsibilities and life can become stressful (this past week’s drop in the markets for instance).  But it’s pleasant sometimes to remember and cherish our youth.  So don’t get too bogged down about what will happen next week with the markets and how Europe will respond within the next 24 hours to contain the credit crisis there.  Today serves as a gentle reminder to keep things in perspective.  Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there!

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Okay, so now that I got your attention with my blog title, I wanted to take a break from the norm to write  about something that has been on my mind.  When I write that NYC can give one a hard on, I mean that the city may cause you to toughen up in your daily interactions with others.  Not just jaded and defensive, but also hostile perhaps.

Image from Flickr.com

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I read another excerpt tonight from Vanity Fair about the wives of Lehman Brothers executives that got me thinking about life.  The excerpt was taken from Vicky Ward’s upcoming book titled The Devil’s Casino: Friendship, Betrayal, and High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers.

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