Tag Archives: Chanel

G-monopoly to the rescue?

Yup, that as the setting that imploded in my mind. It came at the doorstep of my sneaky sneaky creativity. You see when we consider the article at Reuters (with https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-says-monopolist-google-cant-avoid-app-store-reforms-2024-08-14/) we might handle the stage of ‘US judge says ‘monopolist’ Google can’t avoid app store reforms’, we can agree, we can disagree (I disagree) but the setting is a stage that is not merely a mere ‘monopoliser’ it is quite a blanket cover of social inheritance. It comes at the dawn of a legion of Microsoft sycophants (agents of mediocrity) and that is a more dangerous stage then you realise. And always there is Microsoft trying to cut a nice corner for themselves. They failed five times over and they just can’t quit falling short of the rest of the pack where they want to ‘capture’ market share. For the non-regular readers of my blog the list is Adobe, Apple, Amazon, Google and Sony. And the loudest failures are Solarwinds and CrowdStrike. Even within the last week we saw several sources stage the boxing square using the Microsoft version of AI setting the dangerous premise of MAI (Microsoft AI) collecting the optional access of cloud systems. Now this is a premise that it is possible, not the setting that it has or currently is happening. But for reference when L’Oreal sees their revenue dwindle as one of the possible culprits namely Yatsen Holding, Estee Lauder, Avon Worldwide, Revlon, Coty, or CHANEL decides to take that short cut, L’Oreal will have a clear path what to do next. For their reference AWS can be found at Tour Carpe Diem, 31 Pl. des Corolles, 92400 Courbevoie, France. With the optional phone number is 3 315 660 2600.

Am I overreaching? 
It is a fair question, you see, I never much trusted cloud computing under Microsoft, not whilst there are valid options like Amazon (AWS), Apple, Google, and IBM available. I personally feel that Amazon is the superior provider, but I am NOT the best source of this information. I know too little about the G-Cloud, or the IBM version of that. Still the articles I read a few days ago scare my literally out of my skin. So there you have it.

So back to that, mainly judge James Donato in San Francisco. He heard Google and that greed driven Epic. You see Epic is in denial of an important factor. They accused Google of monopolising how consumers access apps on Android devices and how they pay for in-app transactions. The part that everyone seems to overlook is that Apple and Google had a similar plan in motion. This setting allowed Google and Apple to let everyone on-board. The small designers did not have to pay for massive amounts of money to get secure systems on-line. It is all done by these two providers. So they pay a little contribution and Epic immensely enjoyed that part of the equation and as they became more successful there need for more money (for stake holders and share holders) they decided to bite the had that fed them from poverty into wealth. Now that this part is over the hundreds of thousands developers can release an unbridled hatred towards Epic. But that is not merely the end of it. In this day and age of scammers and organised crime Epic is opening the floodgates towards these two players and I reckon that the first case (with evidence) that this is happening, both companies will both set a class action against Epic. So at that point where will the profits of Epic go? I reckon not too much towards their share holders, on the upside for them, litigation and trials are tax deductible. 

And whilst the media is all about the small player (multi billion Epic) against the titans of Industry (Apple and Google) I saw a new light. What if there was a new kind of monopoly game, with 4 players Amazon, Apple, Google and IBM and the board doesn’t represent streets, they represent cloud domains. There are still the utilities Electricity and Water (optionally called cooling) and the parks when all are obtained will give you a server-park item (hotel in the original game) and under that we get servers (up to 4) and the locations united will give you the upper hand in a server domain. The stations become continental backbones and they will have a secondary part. Should you get a station in a location, the servers get a +10% if you have all 4 you get a +20%. Now this is plenty of ‘over shadowing’ this game should have an educational side. So we have locations that invoke cyber security, social networking, AI and Data Warehousing. All have a -1% cost to your locations, if you have all 4 in one side of the board you get -10% costings (or 10% more efficiency). You see this might be a game, but the bulk or current users do not seem to comprehend the dangers that this case invoked. When the masses get to comprehend what is at stake and the fact that this is not completely set to a monopoly driven Google (or Apple for that matter), people might wake up to the danger they are exposing themselves to. And that part has been missing the to flame hungry (for the sake of money) media outlets. 

I always believed that games are a great way to teach people (when it is not Elden ring or Assassins creed) how to look at the image a little more clearly. So in that trend after the new movie yesterday, I decided to create a game for the occasion. It is the best move? OK, I am willing to concede that it might not be, but a free game that millions embrace tends to have a decent impact, more than we get now. And I am alway happy to engage with my sneaky sneaky creativity.

Well, the day is almost over, as such I will snore a forest into firewood and relax for my tomorrow hustle towards a morning with chicken and optionally some chili con carne. Enjoy your day.

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Ding Dong, push it

This is the stage, it is not exactly ding dong ditch, but the stage is not that far off. Some would state kiddingly “How do you tell the difference between a male door from a female door ? One’s got a ding dong and the other knockers.” Yet the larger truth is hidden here. It is a combination of anticipation and expectation. In market research it is about engagement that engagement is depending on Business Intelligence and most brands have been slacking off, they can no longer tell the difference between what the party lines tells THEM and what the consumers expect. There is a misalignment (not some Miss Alignment). The ITP (at https://www.itp.net/business/uae-consumers-expect-brands-to-get-them-report) gives us ‘UAE consumers expect brands to ‘get’ them: Report’ in this I am referring to places like the Dubai Mall. They are doing a much better job, but they are also vying for attention. That place has more than 1200 outlets and places like Louis Vuitton are vying for the attention of people also seeing Burberry, Armani, Dior, Cartier, Hermes and Prada , all in the same mall. A place that is over 12,100,000 square ft in size, so they need to get it right the first time. You see these places aren’t really competitive for people with a misers purse. When you see a person walking with a shopping bag that might not fit a sandwich, that person is likely to have spend $5000, as such he or she is done for the day. And that mall has 200,000 of visitors a day, as such they need to get on point to get their fair share. Business Intelligence is the currency that assists and here we see “According to the study, a staggering 92 percent of respondents claimed that it’s important for brands to “get” them. These findings come at a time when brand loyalty is plummeting, with 91 percent of consumers surveyed in the UAE (15 percentage points higher than the EMEA average) claiming to be less loyal to brands compared to two years ago. Nearly one in four individuals (23 percent) attribute this decline in loyalty to disappointing experiences.” I personally believe that it comes from the people expecting some kind of engagement, and to be honest, outside of the videos on the Dubai Kids Zone, I have not seen to much engagement. One of My IP solves that, but it is not mean for one shop, it is meant for the entire mall. It is the brands that require to create some level of engagement and to be honest. In all the mall walkthrough videos I have not seen any. You might wonder what that means. You see, the video walker will call attention and thus far, apart from the sensational views that the mall offers, I have not seen any. And my personal view is seen with “When asked about specific expectations, the researchers discovered that 79 percent of the UAE sample population emphasised the importance of brands consistently being aware of their purchasing habits. Furthermore, 86 percent of respondents insisted that companies should remember their preferred communication channel. A staggering 91 percent called for personalised discounts, while 86 percent urged brands to offer tailored recommendations during engagement sessions.” And consider this ‘86 percent urged brands to offer tailored recommendations during engagement’ Now there is debate on how to go about it and I reckon that this is on their marketing groups, but when we get a number like 86% it matter, it matters a great deal. I myself am on the fence, not on what is done, but how it is done.How to do cater to a Muslim population? In New York you set the Victory Secrets line in the open and the people come gushing, that will not work in Dubai. In other versions I prefer to have fun, as such the Mall could do something like below. 

Not real people of course, but the heads do not fall into a number, but into a slot with a brand and the ‘winner’ gets a small token from that brand. Perhaps to add a factor, the numbers 5,10,8,5 will be replaced by “Diesel, Adidas, Nike”, “Burberry, Dior, Hermes”, “Prada, Chanel, Cartier” and “Virgin, Sony and Nespresso” the (animated) head falls down the ramp and falls into one slot, then the visitor gets to grab one present from a barrel. An element of surprise and one of excitement. I reckon that line will fill up massively and fast. This is not the only way, some companies have their own way of engagement and they need to dig deep to create engagement, because when a place that rocks 200,000 visitors a day state that 86% of them had a less than great experience, it is time to evaluate what you are doing and the images below show great views, but it is lacking engagement. So why is that? And don’t think it is one shop, Louis Vuitton and Virgin both rock the view, and lack the engagement as far as I can tell.

So how to get the attention?
This is a much harder question, it is how to get them and that has been a life long struggle right from the bat. Customer engagement starts at one point and goes around towards what grabs them and Market Research is about masses, engagement is about that person, as such BI needs to evolve into new areas of engagement and that is the rub, how to go about it? The study gives us “The study revealed that 86 percent of respondents (15 percentage points higher than the EMEA average) considered it important for brands to provide a customer experience supported by the latest technology. Similarly, 85 percent (21 percentage points higher than the EMEA average) expressed their likelihood of being more loyal to a brand that invests in technology to enhance the customer experience.” And yes a TV screen creates more engagement, but at the Virgin Megastore, where were the gaming corners? 

Where are the places that interacts with people? It is not merely the best TV or the best screen size, it is what grabs a persons attention and there places like Adidas could benefit by adding a sport element in the store, it could benefit by having a place like Hermes open a creative corner. 

Consider buying a pyjama. One of the dreariest acts I ever face, but what happens when you can create your favourite pyjama (optionally in a more privacy setting)? It seems that the Arabic world is all about sports, as such what happens when you get to create your next polo-shirt based on YOUR favourite team? The Dubai Mall sports two Hockey teams, so why aren’t brands using that for more interaction? They might, but I never saw it. If the world of consumers is about engagement, the lack of attempts is equally staggering. You see, one of these walk throughs would have shown something. And it wouldn’t need to be ‘horrific’ like feeding a mermaid to the sharks, but between doing nothing and doing something horrific is quite literally an ocean of sand. So when this all starts with data, how is it captured? How are people engaged in this stream? That is equally important a side to manage correctly and even as I like the article, we see nothing on that. Especially in the UAE where tourism is at an all time high. What separates the local shopper from the tourist? It is not always clear and I believe that Harrods had its own set of problems in the 90’s. And when you have a study that boasts “21 percentage points higher than the EMEA average” I personally believe it matters a great deal, but the first observation is clear, there is seemingly a lack of engagement in the UAE (specifically the Dubai Mall). Oh, and this is not all me, places like the TRO group have been rocking the  Omni-Channel Advertising for well over a decade and they have been showing that there is power in engagement. So it is not just me, there are expert voices all over the place, but the larger Market Research and marketing community doesn’t know how to interact in an engaging sphere, as such they do not touch it. Yet that might merely be my view on the matter.

Enjoy the day and take the time to smell your cup of coffee, because that too is engagement. 

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IP that is to be admired

This happens, some of us (including me) we admire IP, not ours, we love ours. But we notice someone else coming up with a golden idea. We might be a little envious, but in the end, they came up with the idea in THEIR field, which might not be our field and in this case it wasn’t my field. But I took notice a year ago of the invention and I was amazed. Someone came up with the innovative idea that would never have come to me and that is an IP that is to be admired. Before I let the curtain drop, a small set of numbers need to be handed to you. In the US alone 11,000,000 women get drugged EVERY year before they get the wiener up the canal. That amounts to over 30,000 women each day and considering that the EU has twice the population these numbers are staggering. So every Friday evening when the girls go out together 212,000 women will be taking it up the canal (there are two options) without their consent. So when we think of Revlon, Inc., Sinful Colors, Estee Lauder, Maybelline New York, Cover Girl, Chanel, L’Oreal, Lancome, Rimmel and several other brands. They filled their pockets through the purses of millions of women, but what did THEY do to keep them safe. Take your time, in the last weekend alone around 250,000 women took it up one of the canals without their consent. What was done?

Consider this question whilst I introduce the IP. I saw a rehash of an article I saw a year ago. The article at (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/05/date-rape-drug-test-allows-women-to-discreetly-check-for-spiked-drinks.html) was from September 2018, so in 5 years these firms did nothing? In almost 5 years something should have been achieved. There are some issues with what I read, but the idea has a much larger merit. And 4 students from the North Carolina State University came up with this innovative measure. The idea of nail polish when it is covered with the drink will turn a shade when it is chemically enhanced. They could detect Xanex, Rohypnol and a whole score of drugs. They do not detect all, but the drugging weasels could soon be made to run before they shoot their load. So when I see that undercover colors CEO Barbara Cook give us “They do not screen for other common date rape drugs, such as GHB or ketamine” we see progress. OK, improvements could be made but that is with every IP, I myself reinvented the same IP close to half a dozen times before it seemed decent and that is before others go to town on that 5G IP. But the almost simplistic stage of making nail polish a drug detector is true innovation at the core and we see Undercover Colors, So what about the other brands? They made over $11 billion in 2022. Don’t you think that they owe women some level of safety? I would seriously reconsider what you buy and from whom you buy it. It seems that only Undercover Colors is trying to keep you safe, so why we give salute to the quarter of a million women taking it up their canal without consent this coming weekend, I actually wonder how long they will let this happen. How long until all colours in any nail polish will turn a shade or two when it detects certain chemicals. So I salute these four students from the North Carolina State University for being one of the true innovators of tomorrow. We give credit where credit is due.

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Where idea’s die

I have been tossing and turning on an idea. I am not sure whether it is a good idea, whether it can be adapted to anything, but for some reason the idea would not let go. Almost like the first time I considered the Augmented Reality approach. The idea is related to that. It is a new approach to visibility in jewellery, and if the Mobile can be adjusted this could bring a much larger stage than we see now. Yet I only see the approach for rings and bracelets. There are a few more, but that is open for interpretation and that is where doubt creeps in. A ‘What if’ approach. And the doubt creeps in and makes an appearance. Doubt, it is the place where ideas die. 

And make no mistake, I have doubts just like any other idea man, I believe a decent amount of doubt is good, it makes you redo what you have and test it for yourself but that too comes at a price and my mind is no different than anyone else’s. So, what to do?

Now, I am decently certain that mobiles cannot do what I have in mind, but should that stop the idea? I merely need to find the one maker (Google or Tesla) to add that functionality and a new market is created and I do believe that this market could grow by a lot. And as my mind was filling in blanks and create additional opportunities doubt stepped in and wrecked the train of thought. Yet I feel that pushing on will create the idea stronger and more adapt, but at every step doubt comes in and rears its ugly head. I am ready for doubt and self doubt, it merely makes the idea and my conviction stronger. It was Atropos who stated again and again “μέχρι εκεί θα πάτε” (that is as far as you will go) every time she cut the wire, and at some point he will cut my thread too. Will there be enough time? I hope so, there are plenty of ideas coming forward, and there is a certain satisfaction that my IP bundle keeps on growing (even if it goes nowhere at present). But that is OK, I feel that Tencent is waiting for their steps, I believe that they are making steps to grow League of legends and I believe that the Patent for their console is merely a first step. They might have stopped their game streaming, but the hardware is still there. I think they are awaiting a signal, no idea what signal it is, but it will upset the American streaming player to no end (Amazon Luna, Google Stadia, Netflix, Apple) and whatever Microsoft has. And they are all looking in the same places and that is where my $500M a month idea goes to town, no one is looking in that place and I should consider adding a new player to that field. Yet I feel certain that they will see if it can be done via Tencent (not a given, merely a hunch). And yes there is some doubt, but the larger doubts were crushed when I saw the Unreal Engine 5 presentation of Riverwood. I had the same feeling in 1992 after all the GIF files when I saw the first JPG files. Those who are that old forgot about that moment, didn’t you? And it also gave me the idea that could get the streamers over 50 million subscriptions. Doubt faded and it will for the other idea too. We fight to prevent the ideas to die, but a good amount of doubt keeps the idea strong and that is the stage where I am now, I merely need to convince someone high up in the Tesla Pi department that there is a place where other phones are not looking, or they decided to dump the idea and I believe that there is a market and when it takes off the others will fight to catch up, but they will lose a year, so how to push for the idea that will make that idea fly? And jewellers are the first step. 46,776 Jewellery Stores businesses in the US as of 2022, EU jewellery industry includes some 27,850 companies and whilst we crunch those numbers and we see that there is a little decline in that market we need to realise that those around have their own doubts, they also fight for survival. It might not hinder the larger players like LVMH who declined 17%, Rajesh Exports grew and processes 35% of all the gold produced worldwide, Chanel, Chow Tai Fook, Cartier, Signet, Tiffany and a few more. These larger players might not need that new idea but do you think they stay behind when the idea takes off? They are in it for the numbers and some might have merely declined only 0.41%, but that is enough to set up all the lights and markers, my doubt is not doing well when I see the opportunity as it is and when I saw the Line presentation. A place with 9 million people all in a stage where presentation and representation is key and there my idea will find a voice box. One building with a population that equals London and is larger than Sydney or New York. Yes, my doubt is fading and it is merely one of at least 3 ideas that could find its way there. There is a place where Ideas die, but I feel that I can void that place a little while longer, especially with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia making these kinds of turns and when it starts there the other places can follow or fade. You see, a place like Monaco gets 159,000 tourists and it has as one source stated a mere 128 jewellery stores. So my idea is doing just fine and the idea works 24:7. But I need not worry doubt will come again and test the ideas I have, for now I can see that Andy Jassy and Sundar Pichai have no idea what they are missing out on and it is only half a billion a month, optionally a lot more. So Tencent has options as do two other new players.

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