* robfrankel   Yes, there IS a Free Clinic today, Monday, March 22, 2010! It will begin at the top of the hour as designated by the clock in the upper right hand corner of your browser.
At that time, I'll be back here, hanging out for an hour to help anyone who drops by with their branding, business and other issues.
So grab a cup of coffee, a muffin and limber up your fingers for the web's longest-running, publicly archived business chat!
* robfrankel   Alrighty then, I'll be here for the next hour, keeping my browser open for whoever drops by with a business or branding issue.
- patrick_kilhoffer   Morning Rob, top of the morning to ya!
* robfrankel   Hey Patrick!
- patrick_kilhoffer   How are you doing on this fine morning?
- patrysha   Happy Monday Everyone!
* robfrankel   I'm workin' it! How's retirement?
- patrick_kilhoffer   Morning Patrysha!
- patrick_kilhoffer   Hard to get excited about making money. I worked on a couple of things, made a little money and discovered I didn't care. I've got enough money now.
* robfrankel   You're a fortunate man. Enjoy it.
- patrick_kilhoffer   So I'm working on a project to show people how to eat healthy on one dollar a day. They can lose weight if they want, but also they save $200 a month if they are average Americans.
* robfrankel   That's a great product!
- patrick_kilhoffer   Thanks. Trying to give something back.
- patrysha   I would love to see that product. Knowing it would of course be double or triple up here, but that could save me a lot of $$
- patrysha   Not that I need to lose weight...most of the family is on the skinny side
- patrick_kilhoffer   Patrysha, I would be willing to wager you can eat healthy anywhere in the US or Canada for a doillar a day.
- patrysha   if I could feed my family for $5 a day that would be awesome...
- patrick_kilhoffer   You don't have to lose weight, I'm getting 2,400 calories a day pretty easily, but it will be easy to lose weight if a person wanted to.
- patrysha   most dinners come in between $7 & $15
- patrick_kilhoffer   That's very common. The average is about $8 a day per person.
- patrick_kilhoffer   Hopefully the book will be on the shelves by the end of the year.
- patrysha   Yep, I used to be a childcare provider and for some reason one year I figured out what each meal on our menu cost...
* robfrankel   Book? Why isn't it an online course?
- patrick_kilhoffer   I suppose it could be both, or just online. Not really married to a vehicle at this point.
- patrysha   I think I wanted to see if the hard costs were higher or the standard daily rate that we were allotted was...
- patrick_kilhoffer   I could have some videos of my nieces cooking the meals, that would probably pull well.
- patrysha   I've struggled at times to put 2000 into me over the course of a day...I eat when I'm hungry and some days that means 5000 cals and others 1500...
* robfrankel   Wouldn't you want to let them track stuff and remind them of things via mobile?
- patrick_kilhoffer   If a person got bored, and if you weren't bored when you started you would be when you were done, you could live on less than 50 cents per day and not be hungry.
* robfrankel   I don't eat unless I'm hungry, as well. But I think we're in the minority.
- patrick_kilhoffer   Rob, hadn't given that any thought. Literally no thinking along those lines. Not sure what they would be tracking, although it would be so easy to lose weight, maybe they would want to track their calories just to make sure they didn't lose more than 2 pounds a week.
* robfrankel   I'm often amazed at how some people center their lives around food.
- patrysha   I'd rather spend money than have to fixate on food overmuch...I think
- patrysha   I love saving money but I LOVE to eat!
* robfrankel   Patrick, if nothing else, they'd probably want to track progress, no?
* robfrankel   The consumer mind is very different from the entrepreneur's and manager's.
- patrysha   When I allow the budget to dip too low for food, I find we can't eat as healthy...
- patrick_kilhoffer   Yep, you pay for people to decide what you are going to eat, then you pay them to mix it up, frequently you pay them to cook it, sometimes you pay them to serve it to you. And I like a good steak restaraunt too. But you can eat a lot healthier and cheaper if you want.
- patrysha   I'd be fascinated to see how that could be accomplished...
- patrick_kilhoffer   Actually healthier to eat cheap, you just have to understand what you are spending money on.
* robfrankel   You should strike while the iron's hot: Michelle Obama is leading the anti-obesity crusade.
* robfrankel   That's a helluva bandwagon to jump on. Lots of momentum there.
* robfrankel   UNFORTUNATELY, I don't believe that the obese are reached through books and reading.
- patrick_kilhoffer   Yeah, considered positioning it as weight loss instead of money saving, but was concerned people might take the sound bite and decide it was just about eating less food.
- patrysha   I agree...my mom was obese...
- patrysha   i think at her highest she had climbed just past 400 lbs
- patrick_kilhoffer   Yeah, if she wanted to fight obesity, she would be all about a tax on added sugar, added sodium, transfats. That would work, but solving the problem isn't her goal, it's to be safe politically.
- patrysha   Mind you, she had other challenges too...the weight was a symptom as much as anything else
* robfrankel   Actually, sin taxes generally DON'T work. People just trade off other expenses for their vices.
* robfrankel   Taxing tobacco and alcohol has never worked. It just funds other government projects.
- patrick_kilhoffer   Rob, in what sense do you mean they don't work? Tobacco taxes work great, for example.
* robfrankel   Plus, sugar is a big culprit. But so are cheap, empty calorie fast foods. And you can't simply slap taxes on those.
- patrick_kilhoffer   It reduces consumption, which is the point.
* robfrankel   There's no indication I've ever seen that tobacco taxes curb the use of tobacco.
- patrysha   In what way do they work other than generating revenue?
* robfrankel   Not to mention that in many cases of addiction, people are never cured of addictive behavior, they merely switch to another addiction.
- patrick_kilhoffer   whoa, Rob that's pretty well established. Consumption falls after every new tax is put in place.
- patrick_kilhoffer   Yes, they have emotional issues, and that's why they use sugar, tobacco, etc.
* robfrankel   Patrick, I know that's the party line. But look at the longer term and I think you'll find that cigarette smokers don't quit over expense. Most are usually scared into quitting.
- patrysha   who doesn't have emotional issues...
* robfrankel   Just like gasoline. The price goes up, some people stop driving -- for a little while. Then they make adjustments in their lifestyles and start using again.
- patrick_kilhoffer   And I'd love for everyone to get their heads on straight, but that seems impossible. Taxing sugar is at least possible.
- patrysha   And smoking is constantly being reduced by methods other than taxation
- patrysha   And it goes up for everyone who uses it in moderate amounts too...
- patrysha   And honey and other natural sweeteners are way more expensive
* robfrankel   Taxing isn't a COMPLETE myth, but it's not nearly the deterrent people like to think of it. In fact, if taxing WERE a deterrent, there would be NO TAX REVENUE because people would stop.
* robfrankel   Taxing authorities HOPE people don't recover from their vices because if they did, nobody would be left to pay the tax.
- patrick_kilhoffer   Rob, I think maybe you should dig a little deeper into this if you care about the subject. Taxes don't stop everyone from doing anything, but it impacts the margins. A few stop driving cars, most drive slightly less.
- patrick_kilhoffer   What confuses the issue is that for 30 years the average lifestyle was improving and the population was growing.
* robfrankel   Patrick, the ultimate argument against sin taxes is illegal drugs. Those prices are artificially high, yet addicts continue to pay them.
- patrick_kilhoffer   So the impact lasted about two years before rising incomes and increased population drove the numbers back up.
* robfrankel   Patrick, YEARS ago, I did a project for Pillsbury, for a healthy frozen dinner product. Their research showed that from 1965 to 1985, the only shift in dietary habits among Americans was a 1% shift from beef to chicken.
- patrick_kilhoffer   Rob, the argument against making drugs legal is that prices would fall and consumption would increase. The high prices are reducing demand, just not eliminating it.
* robfrankel   And the market, in response to the "health food" perception, manufacturers removed calories by pouring in more sodium.
* robfrankel   Patrick, high drug prices merely increase the crime rate.
- patrick_kilhoffer   Rob, I haven't seen the stats for 1965 to 1985, but I do remember in 1980 it was cheaper to buy beer than soda. Sin taxes came after that, me thinks.
* robfrankel   That's how addiction often works:
People will resort to irrational means to afford their addictions.
- patrysha   Yeah, and there are some illegal drugs that do less harm to society than alchohol
* robfrankel   Another interesting aspect is that in my experience, few consumers will pro-actively change their lifestyles. Health clubs are a perfect example of this. People will pay their dues, but never go to the club.
- patrick_kilhoffer   Rob, high drug prices do motivate the suppliers, no question. They fight hard for their market share. And the customers who don't quit may take extreeme measures to get the money to get the product. Doesn't change the point.
* robfrankel   They'll renew their memberships to relieve their guilt. But never work out.
- patrick_kilhoffer   I'm actually in favor of making drugs legal. At least pot for gods sake. Beer is a lot more dangerous and we aren't stupid enough to make that illegal...twice.
* robfrankel   Sure it does, point being that today's consumer is possibly the most helpless, directionless and least capable/motivated in recent history. Our culture promotes dependaency -- in both vice and cure issues.
* robfrankel   Prior to my generation, NOBODY even thought about calling in a "professional" to handle their issues for them. Now, it's a fait accomplit, result of too much wealth bestowed on the children of boomers.
- patrick_kilhoffer   Tobacco kills 1/3 of it's customers. It's still legal because you can't make tobacco into fuel oil. Pot makes a cheap, high quality oil, and is thus illegal. Now why it's STILL illegal has more to do with polititions taking the easy path instead of the right path.
* robfrankel   As I'm sure you know, we have an entire generation of incompetent, graying children who have no idea how to raise children. Self-reliance is rapidly fading away, which is why we see such a lack of accountability today.
* robfrankel   These people are not self-motivated, which is why I brought up the mobile thing inthe first place. They want (and likely need) baby-sitters and guidance.
- patrick_kilhoffer   Ya, sadly, when offered a french fry in exchange for their freedom, Americans grabbed the starchy pleasure....
* robfrankel   A dependent culture = a consumer culture that spends more on everything, even though they don't need to.
- patrick_kilhoffer   Rob, you hit it on the head.
* eydryan   wow, just dropped in, did the conference hour just change or, oh crap i;m on a different DST damn
* robfrankel   Anyway, this is the basis for my claim that your idea is great, but may be served via the wrong vehicle.
* eydryan   hi by the way :D
- patrysha   Oops gotta run, just spotted a story in the city paper that I can use to piggyback for a local client...gotta make some calls!
* robfrankel   Hey Eydryan!
* eydryan   actually have a question for you this time rob
* robfrankel   Bye Patrysha!
* eydryan   let me know when i can... impede
* robfrankel   Okay, E, shoot!
- patrick_kilhoffer   Not arguing with you there. Considering a book msigning tour to lower income churches, etc.
- patrick_kilhoffer   Ya, I'm off my soapbox :)
* robfrankel   They want a screen, Patrick, not a book.
- patrick_kilhoffer   I'll give 'em a screen. :)
* robfrankel   Edryan?
* eydryan   Ok Rob I have to do my masters paper and my topic is story telling in business. I was wondering if you can let me know of a company that was literally reborn through branding, ideally one that has public financial data.
* eydryan   if you wish to of course
* robfrankel   TEN MINUTE WARNING - Still plenty of time
- patrick_kilhoffer   Go Eydryan, go!
* robfrankel   Eydryan, that's what my case studies are about.
* eydryan   ah, did not see those :D
* eydryan   oh, on robfrankel.com
* robfrankel   If you want to go back through the ages, I can tell you to research Marlboro cigarettes. Originally, they were introduced and failed as a cigarette for women. The company then withdrew the brand and re-positioned it for men (with advertising that followed featuring cowboys). It's been the #1 brand ever since.
* eydryan   yeah, that's perfect :) wanted to do a thing on branding but since i'm doing business management i have to present some financial ratios and stuff
* eydryan   sounds interesting, did not know about it, definitely putting that on my list
* eydryan   could try the opposite too i think, like also show a brand that has fallen due to branding like syphy whatever
* robfrankel   In later years, you can look at Volkswagen -- originally commissioned by Hitler as "the people's car". Fifteen years after Hitler was defeated, the car became popular in America.
* robfrankel   Oh, if you want failure, look at what hacks at Arnell did to Tropicana last year. Their re-design (not branding, but they call it that) cost the company $30 million in the first quester alone. Consumers confused the brand with generics and bought the latter.
* eydryan   they both sound like interesting topics, wow, thanks rob i knew you were the man to ask :D
* eydryan   oh yeah forgot about tropicana
* robfrankel   http://robfrankel.blogspot.com/search?q=Bernie+madoff+of+brands
* eydryan   and if i could, another question
* robfrankel   Sure, we got a few minutes left
* eydryan   what would you go about publicizing about an interfaith necklace
http://interfaithing.com/necklace
* eydryan   point is the guy who makes em is a friend of mine and my point to this is we want to promote like interaction because of the necklace
* eydryan   cause it's always a conversation starter
* robfrankel   I think we looked at that before....it would depend on the amount of resources that the company had.
* eydryan   which is poor
* eydryan   i put the wrong question
* eydryan   what i meant was like main focus
* robfrankel   And what it's task is. Are you selling these? Giving them away? Interfaith stuff can be touchy because so many people think it can't be monetized.
* eydryan   what should we focus on as a quality of the product, a benefit
* eydryan   selling them
* robfrankel   TWO MINUTES
* eydryan   so basically what do you see in it as its main benefit?
* eydryan   no rush by the way, we can always talk next week
* robfrankel   A main benefit? Not sure I see one. It makes a statement, but it's a motherhood statement. Who's NOT going to say they want everyone to live in harmony?
* robfrankel   Alrighty then, that should do it for another Monday! Thanks everyone for your insights. I've gotta run, but the room stays open for 15 more minutes. Archives should be up in a day or two! Have a great week. I'll see you online!
* eydryan   thanks a lot rob
* eydryan   you're totally awesome :)
* eydryan   have a great week
* eydryan   bye everyone