Thursday, May 22, 2014

School's Out

Just saw E head off for her last 1/2 day of her freshmen year in high school. She had a most triumphant year (yes, that's a Bill and Ted's reference). 

Of course that meant a morning end of school music play list to start the morning.

This years playlist:

1. School's Out the Krokus cover version
2. Mutha (Don't Wanna Go To School Today) by Extreme
3. School by Nirvana
4. I Want Out by Helloween


Celebrate the year with those you know, or simply reflect on those days in your own past.

- Brian

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Amazon.com/Netflix Coupon

Today's free idea for Amazon.com or Netflix is this:  Give me a way to opt-in for coupons to buy hard copy of the things I watch.  Why aren't you doing this already.

This light bulb flicked on when a few days ago I read an article stating:
Sony has warned of heavy losses primarily due to its exit from the PC business and because "demand for physical media [is] contracting faster than anticipated."

Statements like this always lead to tales of doom regarding hard copy  Yes, hard copy sales will decline from their height, just as music hard copy declined , or leveled as I like to put it.

I, and many others like me, will always value physical copies.  I prefer CDs, LPs, DVDs, Blu-ray, and physical bound books.

To me, Netlfix or Amazon Prime viewing is similar to physical rentals but even more so.  With subscription streaming I often try things I wouldn't.  If they suck I'll stop watching in the middle and move on.  If I'm surprised by the goodness, I want to own it.

Negotiate with Sony and the other movie companies to for paid discount programs for those who watch.  I'd opt-in to get discounts on hard copies.  You could base it on my rating, etc.  You can generate special discount coding that helps you metric the conversion from my streaming viewing to hard copy purchases. I could go on, but won't.

 At it's core my watching significantly cuts through noise and promotes target marketing.  All players should want to be using it.

My idea could be extended to music streaming services as well.  I mention that even though I never have or will make use of music streaming.

So there you go.  Get back to the basic ideas of target marketing.  Sure, sure, you still make a mint selling my viewing data profile.  Give me more incentive to buy my own physical thing.

Maybe Sony will shift their perspective and realize that it's time to promote sales to those who are eager to buy hard copy.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Amazon.com + Schwan's = Grocery/Food Service

Just this morning my wife mentioned how the a fund raising promotion for the Manhattan High Rowing Club with Schwan's food (www.schwans.com) was beginning.  This led to a discussion of Schwan's and our perceptions of their use demographics, etc.

Suddenly it became clear to me.  If Amazon.com, a juggernaut of wharehouse efficiency and order fullfilment, truly wants to bring it to the grocery game they'd buy Schwan's.

So there you go Jeff Bezos.  Go buy them.  Take the lessons they've learned, their skilled staff, and the infrastructure they possess.  Combine it with your experience and might and suddenly you'll be serious about grocery delivery from online sales.  You'd acquire an already in place distribution system and facilities. 

Once owned, you could eventually consider adding the concept of the tiffin lunch delivery from India and additionally add lunch and dinner fulfillment.  Start with large metro areas with eventual tests in mid-level markets as well.

Current technology allows many avenues for daily prompts to customers for scheduling grocery resupply or meal orders for the following day.  Heck, soon your system will automatically receive orders based on my preferred on-hand refrigerator and pantry levels compared to current in-house inventory.

A slight tweak would allow you to include household necessities such as paper towels, cleaning supplies, etc.

I could go on and on mentioning such things as aging Boomer's or less people cooking traditional meals, but I'm sure you'll brainstorm those things.

So there you go. Schwan's: an Amazon.com company.

- Brian