Why I fight against Gay Marriage:
“In the context of America’s muddled infatuation with tolerance, which demands we accept homosexual behavior as normative, we draw the line. Normalizing homosexual behavior as an ‘alternative lifestyle’ inevitably requires the recognition of homosexual marriage: the most direct assault on God’s created order, and the surest way to undermine a society, which depends on the family for its propagation.”
(Chuck Colson, “Neither Busybodies nor Bigots,” (Prison Fellowship Jubliee, March 1993, p7.)
To the fallacy that homosexual behavior is natural:
This is not like some say of being born right or left handed or an issue of race like being black or white or your ethnicity. They claim homosexuality is hereditary just as hetero sexuality is. This is not scientifically proven. There are those that are bi-sexual which goes against any hereditary arguments, it is a choice of preference a learned lifestyle. Heterosexuality is a natural built in biological function of the human anatomy. Homosexuality has always been an extreme minority in all cultures through time.
A lifestyle that destroys life
Since San Francisco passed it’s gay-rights laws: Hepatitis A increased 100%, Hepatitis B 300% (casual contraction). In the last 10 years 85% of the people who were infected by the aids virus throughout the world were homosexual men. All one has to do is look to the Obituaries of men in homosexual journals to see the facts of their lifestyle. Most have a average age of death at 39 with AIDS, 42 without AIDS. The average age for lesbians is 45 or younger. 75 to 80% of straight married men live to be 65, while only 2% of homosexuals live to be past 65. A British study of 18,403 homosexuals found little improvement in lifespan if they married each other. So marriage may become a legality, but it will not change the consequences of their lifestyle.
Interesting and disturbing fact on homosexuals:
The top six male serial killers were homosexuals. 1) Donald Harvey claimed 37 victims. 2) John Wayne Gacy raped and killed 33 boys. 3) Patrick Kearney cut his 32 victims up into small pieces. 4) Bruce Davis molested and killed 27 young men and boys. 5) A homosexual sex-murder-torture ring of Corll, Henley and Brooks sent 27 men and boys to their grave. 6) Juan Corona murdered 25 migrant workers and molested the corpses. The worst female killer of 1992 was lesbian, Aileen Wuornos, killing seven. A study of 518 mass murders involving sex from 1966 to 1983 determined that 68% of the victims were killed by homosexuals, 44% of the murderers were bisexual or homosexual. Why so much cruelty from a small minority? Because deviant behavior is contagious and never affects only one person, it has a appetite. It is a known fact that many homosexuals can have numerous sex partners in one night.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
What is Dominos Pizza Thinking??
As a student of marketing, I often critique ads and marketing campaigns. Lately, I have seen none worse than those put forth by Dominos Pizza. Here are the latest three marketing disasters executed by Dominos:
Most current: The “Oh, Yes We Did” Campaign
What Dominos must have innocently thought was a good honest American turnaround story is in fact a potentially very damaging advertising campaign. While it is important for companies to face the brutal facts and pay attention to and respond to customer feedback, it is folly to make this negative feedback the focal point of one’s marketing campaign. Domino’s actually starts the commercial by showing customer feedback that states that their pizza crust tastes like cardboard, sauce resembles catsup, and cheese is processed. Sadly, in the ad the employees of Dominos and even the CEO agree with this feedback.
Companies and the product they make will always have haters. Call this the hate group. No matter how much time, money, and energy the company puts in to convince this hate group otherwise, it is not going to budge much from its original position. Conversely, the company and product will have a love group. I am sure that Dominos has a secure market of heavy users that prefer Dominos over any other Pizza franchise. These lovers need little convincing to buy Dominos, but they do like deals and the adventure of trying new products. Yet, the large majority of users will be indifferent, or the swing group. The goal of marketing is to swing this large group to the views of the love group and away from the hate group.
So when Dominos gives credit to the views of the haters, even to the extent to present their views on national TV, it only can cause harm. First, Dominos isolates the love group. Obviously now, the lovers of Dominos pizza have enjoyed a steady diet of catsup covered cardboard. You might as well tell them there is no Santa or an Easter Bunny for that matter. Second, the swing group, who was indifferent to these facts now associates Dominos Pizza with cardboard, catsup, and processed cheese. While this is not the main point of the message of the ad, it is in fact the most memorable, and alas, a brand exists only in the mind of the consumer. Last, the hate group is unlikely to switch back to Dominos, and if they do, it is reasonable to assume many of them will find new reasons to dislike the new pizza.
Finally, there is an old saying I like very much when it comes to marketing, “desperation is a very stinky cologne”. A sure sign of a desperate company is when it begins using its President/CEO in its advertising explaining how the company is improving. Until the latest from Dominos, my favorite was Dan Hess from Sprint and that black guy from Saturn who states with sad puppy dog eyes, “Saturn build cars Americans want to buy”. Another is when the company advertises its “turnaround”. Both stink of desperate acts. So how did Dominos arrive to such desperate measures? The answer lies in the last two miserable failures of marketing campaigns.
Domino’s Atkins Nightmare: the pasta bread bowl
A prime rule of food advertising is to make it look as appetizing as possible. People expect bigger than life visuals of a juicy burger. Even a McDonald’s hamburger looks like Turkish Delight. It may be a far cry from reality, but those are the rules.
Simply, the Domino’s pasta bread bowls appear hideously unappetizing- even in advertising. Most resemble a large circular discolored scab. Thus, in reality, I assume they look like something that should be flushed. Repeat purchases are unlikely, even by the disturbed.
Another flaw of this strategy was to fly in the face of current market trends. Current health trends do not like carbs. Putting pasta in a bread bowl mocks this trend the same way a man with a mullet mocks Abercrombie and Fitch.
Dominos threatens Subway with nasty sandwiches
Still not satisfied with finding new ways to abuse a pizza oven? I guess Dominos wanted to cash in on the toasted sub craze. However, putting nasty pizza meat and cheese between bread and rolling it through the pizza oven is not very competitive. Dominos missed the mark here in food quality, but that was not the biggest error.
Sandwiches are consumed, and will always be consumed primarily as a convenience food which is highly customizable. There is nothing convenient or customizable about ordering a sandwich and waiting 30 to 60 minutes. It is not cost effective for the consumer or the delivery company, assuming delivery charges and tips.
Attacking Subway was predictable, and stupid. Subway owns low cost, fresh, customizable, consistent, and convenient. That is why people eat at Subway. Dominos would have to knock down at least one of these pins to influence people to switch. Dominos chose to focus on food quality. This was a failure for Dominos because it is not a prime driver of Subway consumers, just as it is not a prime driver of McDonald’s consumers. Idiotic yes. Especially when your end product looks as horrible as this.
Conclusion: Stick to what you know, sell to the swing group through the eyes of the love group, focus on growing the average profit per customer by introducing complimentary products and bundling. Make your food look amazingly delicious. Show people eating it and saying yum. It is always “new and improved” and not “doesn’t taste like catsup covered cardboard anymore”.
Most current: The “Oh, Yes We Did” Campaign
What Dominos must have innocently thought was a good honest American turnaround story is in fact a potentially very damaging advertising campaign. While it is important for companies to face the brutal facts and pay attention to and respond to customer feedback, it is folly to make this negative feedback the focal point of one’s marketing campaign. Domino’s actually starts the commercial by showing customer feedback that states that their pizza crust tastes like cardboard, sauce resembles catsup, and cheese is processed. Sadly, in the ad the employees of Dominos and even the CEO agree with this feedback.
Companies and the product they make will always have haters. Call this the hate group. No matter how much time, money, and energy the company puts in to convince this hate group otherwise, it is not going to budge much from its original position. Conversely, the company and product will have a love group. I am sure that Dominos has a secure market of heavy users that prefer Dominos over any other Pizza franchise. These lovers need little convincing to buy Dominos, but they do like deals and the adventure of trying new products. Yet, the large majority of users will be indifferent, or the swing group. The goal of marketing is to swing this large group to the views of the love group and away from the hate group.
So when Dominos gives credit to the views of the haters, even to the extent to present their views on national TV, it only can cause harm. First, Dominos isolates the love group. Obviously now, the lovers of Dominos pizza have enjoyed a steady diet of catsup covered cardboard. You might as well tell them there is no Santa or an Easter Bunny for that matter. Second, the swing group, who was indifferent to these facts now associates Dominos Pizza with cardboard, catsup, and processed cheese. While this is not the main point of the message of the ad, it is in fact the most memorable, and alas, a brand exists only in the mind of the consumer. Last, the hate group is unlikely to switch back to Dominos, and if they do, it is reasonable to assume many of them will find new reasons to dislike the new pizza.
Finally, there is an old saying I like very much when it comes to marketing, “desperation is a very stinky cologne”. A sure sign of a desperate company is when it begins using its President/CEO in its advertising explaining how the company is improving. Until the latest from Dominos, my favorite was Dan Hess from Sprint and that black guy from Saturn who states with sad puppy dog eyes, “Saturn build cars Americans want to buy”. Another is when the company advertises its “turnaround”. Both stink of desperate acts. So how did Dominos arrive to such desperate measures? The answer lies in the last two miserable failures of marketing campaigns.
Domino’s Atkins Nightmare: the pasta bread bowl
A prime rule of food advertising is to make it look as appetizing as possible. People expect bigger than life visuals of a juicy burger. Even a McDonald’s hamburger looks like Turkish Delight. It may be a far cry from reality, but those are the rules.
Simply, the Domino’s pasta bread bowls appear hideously unappetizing- even in advertising. Most resemble a large circular discolored scab. Thus, in reality, I assume they look like something that should be flushed. Repeat purchases are unlikely, even by the disturbed.
Another flaw of this strategy was to fly in the face of current market trends. Current health trends do not like carbs. Putting pasta in a bread bowl mocks this trend the same way a man with a mullet mocks Abercrombie and Fitch.
Dominos threatens Subway with nasty sandwiches
Still not satisfied with finding new ways to abuse a pizza oven? I guess Dominos wanted to cash in on the toasted sub craze. However, putting nasty pizza meat and cheese between bread and rolling it through the pizza oven is not very competitive. Dominos missed the mark here in food quality, but that was not the biggest error.
Sandwiches are consumed, and will always be consumed primarily as a convenience food which is highly customizable. There is nothing convenient or customizable about ordering a sandwich and waiting 30 to 60 minutes. It is not cost effective for the consumer or the delivery company, assuming delivery charges and tips.
Attacking Subway was predictable, and stupid. Subway owns low cost, fresh, customizable, consistent, and convenient. That is why people eat at Subway. Dominos would have to knock down at least one of these pins to influence people to switch. Dominos chose to focus on food quality. This was a failure for Dominos because it is not a prime driver of Subway consumers, just as it is not a prime driver of McDonald’s consumers. Idiotic yes. Especially when your end product looks as horrible as this.
Conclusion: Stick to what you know, sell to the swing group through the eyes of the love group, focus on growing the average profit per customer by introducing complimentary products and bundling. Make your food look amazingly delicious. Show people eating it and saying yum. It is always “new and improved” and not “doesn’t taste like catsup covered cardboard anymore”.
Strategy and the Freeway Theory
For years I have beheld the most magnificent of long term strategies. The wealth of Shangri-La lies at the destination. Optimistic projections and financial wizardry carve the path to its doorstep. However, the vast majority of the time these strategies fail to bear the promised harvest. To me the problem lies with the audacity to project future results based on present realities. This also includes the near myth that the past can predict the future. The belief that past and present realities can predict the future must be used with extreme care, if at all.
Let me introduce to you my Freeway Theory. Most of us drive often. Imagine that your strategy is to get to your destination the fastest, safest, way that you can. The first inherent problem is that you are not the only car on the road. Often, you must compete with other vehicles. Second, you are regulated by the same traffic systems. Here, luck has much to do with your ability to hit more green lights than red. Some commuters even cheat and bend the rules by speeding up as the light turns yellow.
Next, your distance to the freeway is different than everyone else. You could be far away, in an area with terrible infrastructure and congestion, or you can be very close to the freeway entrance. This criterion is unique to yourself and your competitors. Others are simply more capable of reaching the freeway faster.
As you drive, and once on the freeway, you have a strategic choice of lanes. You often can only see what is immediately in front of you. Often you may use heuristics to determine what lane to drive. For example, the left most lanes are conventionally known as the fastest, while the right lane is the slowest. You may also have expert knowledge that during this stretch of highway, the larger and slower commercial vehicles all use the center lane. The choice is yours to choose a lane.
I often witness some aggressive drivers that constantly change lanes based on their short vision, as to which lane is the fastest. However, this effort requires them to employ much effort, as well as expose themselves to the most risk. In the end, it is not uncommon for these vehicles to only be a few hundred yards ahead of my position if I stick with a lane the entire time. Often, these drivers end up worse than when they started, because their lack of vision ultimately ended trapping them behind a slow vehicle.
The problem with changing lanes is that you often expect for all vehicles to remain constant. However, the vehicle in front of you may change lanes, and often if there is a break in an open lane, a car in back of you will take it and thus ruin your timed opportunity. Occasionally, another car will merge in front of you, slowing you down.
Picking one lane and sticking with it is predictable, but not the best overall strategy. You will need to change lanes strategically to get to your destination fastest. For this, you need to be prepared to act when a good opportunity presents itself. You also need to be aware of your current location and have knowledge of the road ahead to avoid merges and traditionally slower areas.
To conclude, in place of formulating extravagant strategy, often the best approach is to know the basic path to your destination. Basically, there are too many constantly changing variables for you to be able to always execute your preferred strategy. Your best opportunities will always have a short window of opportunity in which the risk is low, and you must be prepared and aware enough to take them.
Let me introduce to you my Freeway Theory. Most of us drive often. Imagine that your strategy is to get to your destination the fastest, safest, way that you can. The first inherent problem is that you are not the only car on the road. Often, you must compete with other vehicles. Second, you are regulated by the same traffic systems. Here, luck has much to do with your ability to hit more green lights than red. Some commuters even cheat and bend the rules by speeding up as the light turns yellow.
Next, your distance to the freeway is different than everyone else. You could be far away, in an area with terrible infrastructure and congestion, or you can be very close to the freeway entrance. This criterion is unique to yourself and your competitors. Others are simply more capable of reaching the freeway faster.
As you drive, and once on the freeway, you have a strategic choice of lanes. You often can only see what is immediately in front of you. Often you may use heuristics to determine what lane to drive. For example, the left most lanes are conventionally known as the fastest, while the right lane is the slowest. You may also have expert knowledge that during this stretch of highway, the larger and slower commercial vehicles all use the center lane. The choice is yours to choose a lane.
I often witness some aggressive drivers that constantly change lanes based on their short vision, as to which lane is the fastest. However, this effort requires them to employ much effort, as well as expose themselves to the most risk. In the end, it is not uncommon for these vehicles to only be a few hundred yards ahead of my position if I stick with a lane the entire time. Often, these drivers end up worse than when they started, because their lack of vision ultimately ended trapping them behind a slow vehicle.
The problem with changing lanes is that you often expect for all vehicles to remain constant. However, the vehicle in front of you may change lanes, and often if there is a break in an open lane, a car in back of you will take it and thus ruin your timed opportunity. Occasionally, another car will merge in front of you, slowing you down.
Picking one lane and sticking with it is predictable, but not the best overall strategy. You will need to change lanes strategically to get to your destination fastest. For this, you need to be prepared to act when a good opportunity presents itself. You also need to be aware of your current location and have knowledge of the road ahead to avoid merges and traditionally slower areas.
To conclude, in place of formulating extravagant strategy, often the best approach is to know the basic path to your destination. Basically, there are too many constantly changing variables for you to be able to always execute your preferred strategy. Your best opportunities will always have a short window of opportunity in which the risk is low, and you must be prepared and aware enough to take them.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
The real value of a new employee
Too often new employees are beaten down by those with tenure who still hold on to some archaic sense of seniority which priviledges them to hazing like the company is a fraternity or something. However, these same tenured people are absent of any innovative life. Just like the elephant that was once teathered, they no longer need a teather to stay in their place- they are just conditioned to do so.
However, the new employee does not know what they can't do. This is their value, because it sparks innovation. Management would do well to foster, learn from, and harness such energy.
However, the new employee does not know what they can't do. This is their value, because it sparks innovation. Management would do well to foster, learn from, and harness such energy.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Check Plus for Subway $5 footlong promo
Its has really been amazing how a $1 drop of a sandwich price has triggered over 1 billion dollars in profit. Kudo's goes to Subway for having the corporate communicaiton in place to hear and recognize a great innovation that happened in the front lines of their business. A simple store owner found a way to reinvent the wheel (or sandwich), and the rest is history.
Check Plus for Philips
As a marketer, I am always on the lookout for great, and poor marketing. Recently, Philips North America executed an amazing marketing event that I am sure cost very little compared to how much they got out of it.
What they did was sponsor the Time Square New Years Eve Ball. They replaced all the bulbs in the ball with energy efficient LED lights. Soon, every news outlet in the world was featuring the story, and millions of people watched the new energy efficient ball drop to start 2010.
Philips get's a check plus for executing a perfect event and sponsorship.
What they did was sponsor the Time Square New Years Eve Ball. They replaced all the bulbs in the ball with energy efficient LED lights. Soon, every news outlet in the world was featuring the story, and millions of people watched the new energy efficient ball drop to start 2010.
Philips get's a check plus for executing a perfect event and sponsorship.
Fun with Geometric Progression
I have been enthralled with this puzzle recently:
Imagine you have a paper large enough, and capable of being folded in half 50 times. How thick will it be?
Most people imagine in folding paper in their minds eye. Common answers are as thick as a phone book. However, if you do the math, you get a much different answer. 1x2^50 is the answer. By the time you fold it 20 times, you will have thickness equivellent to 2 million Harry Potter books, or around 200 miles. By the time you get to 50, you have met the distance from the earth to the sun.
Imagine you have a paper large enough, and capable of being folded in half 50 times. How thick will it be?
Most people imagine in folding paper in their minds eye. Common answers are as thick as a phone book. However, if you do the math, you get a much different answer. 1x2^50 is the answer. By the time you fold it 20 times, you will have thickness equivellent to 2 million Harry Potter books, or around 200 miles. By the time you get to 50, you have met the distance from the earth to the sun.
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