Radiohead’s Bold Move
Fast Company.com blogger, Tim Manners hypothesizes: The difference between what Radiohead and Apple are doing is that where Radiohead is earning customer loyalty, Apple is spending it.
For those of you out of the loop, Radiohead, an iconic, alternative rock group from across the pond, has put its latest album online, under its own record label, and allowing fans to pay as much or as little as they see fit. The move has turned the music industry on its ear and has music fans everywhere singing the band’s praises.
Tim Manners: “think about it — it’s really not about the price; it’s about the relationship between brands and consumers and how consumers value that relationship. Apple, more than most brands, could afford to test those boundaries. The important question here is, could your brand? If the answer is no, then maybe it’s time to think some more about the value you are bringing to your customers — and whether you are earning their loyalty like Radiohead, or spending it like Apple.”
Read this interesting piece on customer loyalty at this week’s 5:
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Short Syndrome!?
London’s Daily Mail entertainment blog reports that those not blessed with height are often accused of having a chip on their shoulder. Are they? I hadn’t heard that
According to the story, a recent study has found that short people, in fact, have an unhealthy attitude to life. Apparently, researchers examined more than 14,000 responses to the 2003 Health Survey for England.
Those in the shortest height category – men shorter than 5ft 4in and women shorter than 5ft – reported much poorer health, according to the report in the journal Clinical Endocrinology.
Read the story at this week’s 4:
Shorter people have a chip on their shoulder
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And We’re Publicizing this Why?
Security screeners at two of the nation’s busiest airports failed to find fake bombs hidden on undercover agents posing as passengers in more than 60% of tests last year, according to a classified report obtained by USA TODAY.
Screeners at Los Angeles International Airport missed about 75% of simulated explosives and bomb parts that Transportation Security Administration testers hid under their clothes or in carry-on bags at checkpoints, the TSA report shows.
At Chicago O’Hare International Airport, screeners missed about 60% of hidden bomb materials that were packed in everyday carry-ons — including toiletry kits, briefcases and CD players. San Francisco International Airport screeners, who work for a private company instead of the TSA, missed about 20% of the bombs, the report shows. The TSA ran about 70 tests at Los Angeles, 75 at Chicago and 145 at San Francisco.
And for the most brilliant understatement this year…
“That’s a huge cause for concern,” said Clark Kent Ervin, the Homeland Security Department’s former inspector general. Screeners’ inability to find bombs could encourage terrorists to try to bring them on airplanes, Ervin said, and points to the need for more screener training and more powerful checkpoint scanning machines.
This story reported by USA Today can be read at this week’s 3:
Most Fake Bombs Missed By Screeners
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Get Your NASCAR Shot!
Mike Baker of MayWay.com reports:
It got the GOP’s engines revving – a Democratic official suggesting staffers get immunized for several diseases before heading south from Washington and into the Red State wilds of NASCAR country to conduct research at a pair of races.
The reaction on both sides illustrates just how valuable candidates for elected office consider the votes of NASCAR fans who pack grandstands by the thousands every weekend and the donations of business leaders who spend millions to sponsor the sport.
It started last month, when an official with the House Committee on Homeland Security suggested that staff aides get immunizations before visiting health facilities at Alabama’s Talladega Superspeedway and North Carolina’s Lowe’s Motor Speedway, where the Bank of America 500 was run Saturday.
In an e-mail, a staffer who works for committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., noted an “unusual need for whomever attending to be vaccinated against hepatitis A and B,” as well as “the more normal things – tetanus, diphtheria, and of course, seasonal influenza.”
Read this story from MyWay.com at this week’s 2:
NASCAR Flap Raises Caution Flag for Dems
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POLL: Bull!*#@ Number One Voter Issue
The political team at The Onion reveals that the No. 1 issue for 2008 voters is bullshit and identifies the various types of bullshit that will make a difference in the presidential race.
See the video on The Onion News Network at this week’s 1:
Bull*#@ Is Most Important Issue
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Slainte!