Bill Geist's Zeitgeist

One of Eighty

As those of you that follow us on Facebook and Twitter learned yesterday, the Zeitgeist blog got a nice bump from the folks at Online Colleges, naming us one of the "80 Essential Blogs for the Modern Day Marketing Student."

As honored as we are to be linked to some of the best and the brightest marketing minds we know...we encourage you to check out the other 79. 

Pretty cool stuff from some way cool people.

Stuck in the Middle with You

General Motors and Sears are just two examples of once successful legacy corporations that became successful because they focused on the middle. After all, there are (or at least were) more of them than upper and lower class customers. Makes perfect sense...or, it did.

My friend Harvey Briggs (whose recent entry into the blogosphere is a refreshing addition to my daily read) hipped me to a great article in the New York Times that suggests that trying to appeal to the middle isn't necessarily where you want to be in today's marketplace.

Because, if you are...then everyone knows that (you are) nowhere.

Sorry...couldn't hep mice elf.

Ooops...I did it again.

The Last Tailgate Party

In less than two weeks, one of the NFL's most iconic stadiums will be "blowed up" by 11 year old Casey Rogers.

Here's a great blog post by the Dallas Observer's Robert Wilonsky, who gives a shout out to the logo...and our friend Maura Gast of the Irving CVB.

Should be a hell of "Cheddar Explosion"...err, implosion.

Disruptive Competition

My friend Stuart Levitan subtly reminded me yesterday that I have a number of non-DMO (Destination Marketing Organization) people that read my daily blog posts through a very funny comment on the feed that runs through my Facebook Profile. And, I'll try to be better about avoiding the alphabet soup of acronyms that we in the tourism industry so often use.

Of course, my point yesterday was that, if DMOs don't start paying attention, we'll be disintermediated from our customers by insanely entrepreneurial companies like Google. Just as Blockbuster has been by Netflix.

Great article in Forbes by John Tamny that chronicles Blockbuster's dogged attention to besting its competition (Hollywood Video, Family Video, etc.) while totally missing the Borg at the door (Netflix).

Tamny posits that some companies need to go brankrupt to save future capital from being squandered on a failed business model. Indeed, such failures are a sign that capitalism is still working.

It's time to take stock of the forces seeking to disrupt what you do, regardless of what it is. 'Cause, I guarantee you, they're out there.

Image courtesy of Racked.com

The Next Shot Across the Bow

They are getting closer and closer.

This week, Google freaked out the online travel community by testing a new feature on its already killer Google Maps...hotel search and price functionality.

As I've said before, when Google figures out travel, the relevance of DMOs will come into question. 

Of all the breathless posts on Google's grand experiment yesterday, Kevin May nailed it on tnooz.

I think you need to read it.

Really...

The Importance of International Tourism

I'm a little late in sharing this one (hey, I've been busy)...but wanted to make sure that you weren't late in picking up on it. The decline in International travel to America over the past decade has caused this country to shed almost a half a million jobs and forfeit over $500 billion in spending.

That would be $500 billion in OTHER COUNTRY'S MONEY.

Share that with anyone that challenges the need for the just passed Travel Promotion Act.

The Obnoxious Business Traveler

We all know them. They are everywhere. And, seemingly increasing in number by the day.

What? You haven't noticed? Well, then...courtesy of Scott Carmichael at Gadling, here are the Top Ten ways to identify the most obnoxious of the species.

I will admit to only one...and only in rare instances. I am guilty of angling to be the first to board a plane...but only when I'm seated in a bulkhead seat so that I can secure overhead bin space for my laptop.

'Cause...if I don't, the obnoxious business travelers will hoard said space and then my laptop gets checked and ends up like Dave Carroll's guitar. So, I think I get a day-pass on that one, because I actually have a rational reason for my actions...and not because I'm "all that."

The rest of Scott's examples...maybe we'll consider them for additions to our Air Laws.

Being True to the Brand

Just back from MCing the Wisconsin Governor's Conference on Tourism in Milwaukee where I discovered a little jem of a brand reminder on one of the escalators at the Midwest Airlines Center.

As you prepare to step on said escalator, you have the option (which most can't resist) to press a button to listen to polka music on your journey between floors. Too funny.

While I know that polka doesn't figure prominently in Milwaukee's intended brand messaging, it is still a tip of the hat to one of the things for which the city is well known. And, one that never fails to bring a smile to the faces of the attendees that push that button.

Well played...

The Census Envelope: FAIL

Just got my Census form in the mail. Guessing you did too.

And, after all the messaging I've received over the past month about how important the Census is to making sure that our State and my City get our fair share of the Federal Government's largess...I'm faced with an envelope that screams this message: "Your Response is Required by Law."

WTF? You had me at hello. Now, before I even open the envelope, you've caused me to rethink my position. Because, right now, the Federal Government is not held in very high esteem by a large segment of the population (especially just as we are being forced to give up hours of our time or hundreds of dollars of our money for the "privilege" of paying our taxes). And, for Boomers, it's a double whammy. We didn't trust you in the 60s...and we're beginning to think we were right, as Roy William's pendulum begins to swing back.

It is truly sad when a government believes they have to resort to coercion to get its citizens to participate in something that so clearly benefits them. I guess they know how we feel about them. How much we mistrust them.

And that they must resort to threats to gain our compliance.

I do believe I hear the drums of revolution in the distance.

For Every Action...

...there is a reaction.

The children that run our nation's airlines have petchulantly announced that they will engage in wholesale flight cancellations rather than adhere to new DOT regulations that require planes to return to the gate if they've been on the tarmac more than three hours.

Which is probably what they should do anyway, if there's a probability that the flight won't leave within three hours of its scheduled departure. I'm mean, really...think of the savings in fuel and crew stress.

But, it's not just the airlines that are at fault here...it's also the DOT. After all, nicking the airlines $27,500 per passenger (and, just how did they arrive at that number?) per occurrence is just as "stupid" as Continental Airline's CEO Jeff Smisek says it is (there's a big boy word). Because, that would mean a $4 million fine on a fully loaded 737.

What did the DOT expect the airlines to do?

I just can't wait to fly this summer.