Apple wins trial against Samsung

Today will be a day marked in the history of both technology and lawsuits. In an unprecedented and controversial decision, a nine person jury found Samsung guilty patent infringement of several Apple patents related to cell phone and tablet products. Let the war of haters and lovers begin, and here is my take on it.

I've been reading a lot of forums and comments, and the first impression I'm getting is that time will be a better judge than the nine people or any of the people who have been throwing their opinions. One thing for sure is from now and on corporations will now think twice when copying similar products from their competitors. I'm going to throw my two cents and try to analyze the decision, its causes and consequences.

The first thing that we must understand is the stature of the law and patents. Patents exist for a reason  and that reason is to honor the originality, creativeness, work and effort people (or corporations) put into developing something. That's as simple as it is... to a certain extent. Now how bad is the case of Samsung against Apple? Well, in a nutshell Apple submitted a lawsuit that states Samsung "copied" some design and software characteristics from their iPhone and implemented them in their cell phones. So let's back up one second and put things in perspective.

I wonder if back in the late 1800s, what would have happened if Fiat would have sued Mercedes Benz for taking their idea of a 4-wheel car that ran with a gasoline engine (or the other way around). I could already visualize the picture: "Hey, why can't you come up with an alternative fuel source, oh and by the way why don't you place your tires somewhere else as well?". The case here is that objectively speaking, there aren't many ways of building a car: I mean, you have to have two pair of wheels aligned, running on a fuel engine, and controlled by a steering wheel. Another example would be Airbus suing Boeing; again, you can only put together an airplane in a very limited amount of ways. Another -more recent example- would be Samsung suing LG for their design of LCD 42 inch TVs, but once again, you can only put together a TV in a certain number of ways: at the end of the day, they'll all have a rectangular screen, speakers, power buttons and a remote control. Most of Apple haters will use these examples as solid arguments to defend Samsung, but doing so is insufficient.

The cell phone industry however is a bit different. If you watch Steve Jobs' presentation of the iPhone back in 2007, he makes a very bold statement when he mentions how different (and complicated) smartphones were: the only thing they had in common was the huge keypad with 20 or 30 keys, but other than that the designs were quite different in the sense of colors, weight, software, functionality and so on. Comparing Samsung's latest cell phone to the iPhone is like comparing two 42 inch LCD TVs from say Sony and LG, in the sense that if you cover the logo underneath of the screen, it would be very hard to tell which is which. So what Apple is looking for is to see that their competitors are able to develop something original and different from their products. That is all they are asking for.

Like it or not, Samsung made a move and the move implicated a lot of risk: they didn't re-invent the wheel. Yes, you may argue that their phone is faster or better than the iPhone, but in the end it is nothing else but a carbon copy of the iPhone.

The physical design is astonishingly similar to the iPhone.
The buttons are conveniently located in the same place as the iPhone.
The home screen is similar to the iPhone.
The concept of fav-icons is identical to the iPhone.

Contrary to what happens with cars, airplanes and TVs, there ARE many different ways to design and put together a cell phone and Steve Jobs proved it during his iPhone presentation. The only thing in common cell phones can have is that they make calls, but apart from that, it is up to the manufacturer to conceive a unique product. Before the iPhone, a Blackberry was different from a Nokia, or a Sony.

So is Apple being greedy or unethical by suing Samsung and asking for $2 billion? Not at all. They are making a clear case that has concrete evidence that despite their contractual relations, Samsung took advantage of them. Do we have to agree with the decision? We have to. Yes, prices may go up and this can set up the base for a monopoly in the cell phone industry, but nothing anywhere suggests that other competitors may be able to create a new innovative design of a cell phone. So why not play a fair game? Apple did when they came up with the iMac.

As I stated at the beginning of my entry, I do believe time will be the better judge, but all in all I am quite sure that this will go as an important lesson in the history of corporations and research and development.

The future of the Euro

I've always been fascinated by the Forex Market as it has been one of my passions through my teenage years, college and my professional life. I have even had the luck of working with a Forex related Financial Firm for six years and learn (and earn) so much from the interesting currency exchange market.

Last week was one of those rare occasions in which a lot of eyes in the financial world turned to a specific currency and wondered whether if "this is it", that is, the end and the beginning debacle for it. The case is the Euro, who for the second time in the last couple of years found itself trading at the rate of $1.22 per Euro, a value that hadn't been touched since July 2010.

Recent trend in European economics are putting a lot of pressure in those who own the currency, given the fact that they have several elements to worry about in their hands: the faulty Greece bailout, the current issue of Spain's bailout, Ireland's and Portugal's terrible financial numbers; in essence, one could say there is a lot of skepticism and lost faith in the Eurozone.

I have watched countless debates, where economists state the reasons why the Euro will survive, and many others where it is affirmed the failure of the Euro is imminent. I guess everyone has reasons to pull towards their respective side. In my opinion -that is, the opinion of a technical analyst-, there are two key values that hold Euro's fate: the 1.22 and 1.16 support levels. Whether if it's cycles, Fibonacci, Elliot waves, ratios, whatever methods you use to analyze the financial markets, any consistent close underneath the 1.22 support, will likely signal a trend towards 1.16. Furthermore, any consistent close below 1.16 will probably be enough to begin a trend that will send Euro towards parity with the US Dollar. Man... this means I have to bring my reserves back from my European savings account!


Now the big question is: Will this happen? What will happen? When will it happen? The only one who has the answer of those questions is our friend TIME and no one else. It doesn't matter how well involved or connected anyone is in the market, I believe that there are too many interests and variables related to this puzzle, that would allow anyone to make a fair statement on the future of the Euro.


So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

How word of mouth helps your business

Walking through a mall in the city today had me wondering about the different degrees of success stores have, some of them being empty, some others a bit packed. The question is: What does it take to attract customers?

In the current era where we live in, the web 2.0, where anything and everything circulates around the web in a matter of seconds and gets spread in just hours across hundreds if not thousands of people, word of mouth has become a very integral part of the marketing process, and while not recognized as a textbook advertising method, the implications it has carry a large weight when talking about the promotional mix. So how exactly does word of mouth work?

Body Language

Let's say you own a mini store that cells gadgets for cellular phones, like cases and other accessories. You (or your salesman) are sitting at the store doing whatever activity that comes out, like checking your text messages or email -even though you did the same thing an hour ago-. Clients walk by and they notice this and perhaps not everyone is a body language reader, but one could say there is a fair chance that a random potential customer may feel whether if he is going to be an annoyance at the store or if he will be helped and treated nicely.

Good morning!

You don't want to sound like an alarm clock to everyone that walks by, but you definitely want to demonstrate a little bit of proactive attitude. I know this is very hard because it is a task that requires endurance and stamina. Out of 100 people, perhaps less than 30% will respond positively to your gesture, and let's say only eight will actually engage in business with you. This means that your focus has to be placed on leaving a great impression on those eight people, and why not also on the 30% that simply answered you.

Remember: it's easier for bad things to go out through word of mouth.

Active listening

When someone walks or drops by your store and requests either information or want to buy something, you have to understand that what's taking place is nothing but the beauty of the "Decision Making Process applied to Purchases". The customer has an unfulfilled need and he's scanning the options that are available to him. This includes from a pin to guidance on something, to a new cell phone to a brand new dress. If he doesn't like what he sees on you (or your store), he's going to walk away. So regardless of whether if you can help him or not, you want him to leave with a positive impression, because eventually he may have the need to come back to you, and after having scanned you before, he will know whether if you are a possible option or not in the near by future.

Be nice, look nice

Another important ingredient of working in a mall is the visual aspect. You want to look good, which means dress nicely, wash your face, smell good, comb your hair. People always take kindly to appeal and there are greater of attracting customers if you are visually appealing. You don't have to be Brad Pitt or Salma Hayek; you just have to look nice, be friendly and display a positive body language.

Closing Thoughts

These little details will add up for a positive reaction that more sooner than later, will bring more people to your business. Remember, the more satisfied your customers are with your attention, the more likely they will return the favor with positive recommendations.

Treat your customers just as you would like to be treated.

Are you a workaholic?

I was driving home yesterday in the middle of one of those huge traffic jams and I had the radio on, with a couple of hosts discussing that they had put in some serious extra hours at the station a few days earlier and that they had started thinking they were becoming "workaholics", so I wanted to blog a little about this interesting subject.

A workaholic by definition, is someone who is "addicted to work", pretty much like an alcoholic is addicted to the bottle. It's a mental state in which the individual feels he or she must be doing something work related, regardless of the surrounding circumstances or people that are in his or her environment. Now, here I want to state something that is very key, which is people who like their work, but are able to differenciate themselves from workaholics. You see, there is a difference between loving what you do for living, and living your life for what you do. The latter is a typical behavior of a workaholic.

In order to figure out whether if you're a workaholic or not, you should ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you find yourself working over the weekend... every weekend?

It's ok to put in some extra hours just for the sake of it the eventual weekend of the month, just to impress your boss and/or colleagues. Now, if you are doing this every Saturday and Sunday, we then have a situation here. Either you are running short on your week day hours or your workload is not being properly managed.

To solve this you have to do two things: first, ask yourself what does your day work look like. If you are putting 9 hours, then you should be fine with the amount of tasks you have to do. Next, find out what tasks are you doing on the weekend. Checking email? Reviewing briefs? Preparing budgets? Something that is key to understand is that things won't happen sooner if you make them happen sooner and there's no one around to collaborate with your effort.

• Do you pass on family and/or social invitations because you have to work?

Life has to have a certain balance and ventilating through other activities helps you clean your mind from the day to day work responsibilities. What good is it to live in an apartment with swimming pool if you use it twice a year (on Christmas and on independence day, and only because everything else is closed).

The more you begin to get into non-work related activities, interact with your social circle, family and friends, the more you will appreciate the value of your spare time, the value of doing something different other than work, and of course the value of your own life.

• Do you find yourself finishing your work and immediately going to bed and waking up and going straight to work?

Sleeping is one of the greatest pleasures in life, so why deprive yourself from it? Research has determined that over a third of the Earth's population does not have a healthy sleep routine, for a variety of reasons -one of them being stress from work-. The human brain works exactly like any engine you know: after running at cruise control for most part of the day, you have to cool it down before switching it off. Just like in the mornings you have to warm it up before going at full speed.

The healthier your sleep is, the more efficient you will become in your work, which will likely lead to better management of hours and increased productivity during those hours. Also, make a note of how many times have you fallen asleep with nothing in your mind, and compare those times to the occasions you fell into bed thinking about tomorrow's meeting.

• Do you keep in touch with your co-workers after work hours?

It's ok to have co-workers friends, but chances are that if you hang out with your co-workers, you will inevitably find yourself talking about work! Whether if it's criticizing the last meeting, or making fun of your boss, or discussing plans of the week ahead, you are still encouraging your brain to think about work. Again, there is nothing wrong with doing this, but you have to separate your spaces. You must draw the line.

Instead, why don't you hang out with your friends or family, and if you feel too stressed, you can ventilate some of the issues of the last meeting at work, make fun of your boss and talk about the upcoming week. What will happen is that you will feel that same relief sensation you would have felt if talking to your co-workers, but now you will know when to put an end to your work thoughts and transition into social every day thoughts. Having a nice night out with someone and talk about many things is very relaxing.

Next time someone from work calls or emails you after work hours or the weekend, just be polite and say "hey, I'm currently with my family (or friends), I'll talk to you on Monday at the office"



Stay tuned for my Part II of this entry: "Are you a workaholic?"

Marketing a Viral Video

Browsing through youtube these days is a fascinating experience. You can find pretty much about anything and everything you can imagine: funny, unfunny, terrible, excellent, helpful, bogus, cooking recipes, music lessons, songs, highlights... the universe is so big, I don't think there is an actual way to measure it. Just today I was wondering... I wonder if there is a number to quantify all the total views of all videos in youtube; it would be such a HUGE number I don't think there are enough servers to compute it (well, maybe yes).

Anyway as a marketer, I always get the question of Viral Videos in conversations with friends or co-workers. Much has been said about the "key tips" or "how to" viral videos, but none of the articles I have read are either realistic or does an in-depth analysis of viral videos. Most of the articles ponder the obvious "keep it simple", "be natural", "use SEM" and "play with fantasy and reality", but I believe there is more to this art; yes, I think it is a form of art.

The first thing that I believe a video uploader has to ask himself is "Am I interested in having this video become viral?" Because if the answer is "No", then the majority of the suggestions and recommendations from current articles are true and apply perfectly, but what if the answer is "Yes"? I believe that in that case the person has to create a plan of action that will implement several steps to improve the probability of having the video reach tons of hits in a decent time frame. Let's keep in mind that it's VERY hard to see a video go viral in less than a year; in fact, it is a bit unrealistic, granted there are hundreds if not thousands of exceptions, and an example of this is the video of the sedated daughter in the car after the dentist pulled her wisdom teeth. I really believe nobody in that family hoped that video would become viral, less in the amount of time it did. It was an "accidental success", or in a better context "their 15 minutes of fame."

Being a video game fan, it is natural to see my youtube suggestions display videos about games and similar affiliations. About four years ago one of those suggestions was a video called "Castlevania II Angry Nintendo Nerd Review" (or something like that, the name has changed now ever since). The video was a satiric review of all the odd situations and challenges the game Castlevania II had compared to other games of the same genre. Along with other similar reviews, the video went on to become viral about a year or so after it was uploaded on youtube, and the Angry Nintendo Nerd has now become a famous name in the video game industry, posting more of these rants against games and movies. The bottom line here is that if you look at the first videos, the production values were actually very decent. Note that I don't say high or strong; the videos were done in a way that the message intended to be transmitted was delivered in an effective way. Not simple, not complicated, just right. So since the nature of this video is not accidental, there has to be some thought (make that decent thought) into the production of the video. Questions like "Am I saying the right thing", "am I showing the right angle", or "Is what I want to transmit easy to understand and relate to" are and should be main stars in your production. All Angry Nintendo Nerd videos maintain these standards, and that is why he has achieved viral status with his video. Also, he concentrated on his target market and never deviated from it. This is a case of a video with nature of standards. It is a product that was intended to actually become something. Note that I don't say "it wasn't intended to become successful".

Then we have the easiest videos to go viral (at least in my opinion): songs. Six or eight months ago I was out dining with my friends when one of the who had just been at Brazil for three weeks taking a course for his company, showed us the "most recent and trending song at the moment in Brazil"...Ai se eu te pego. The first thing that surprised me when I watched the video wasn't the amount of gorgeous women on screen, or the catchy lyrics of the song; it was the 80 million (yes EIGHTY MILLION) hits the video had. Definitely the majority of the coming from Brazilians themselves, yet seeing an eight digit views video wasn't something you see every day. While the official video had cemented a strong trend in youtube's universe, which is hard to match... there are alternatives that can be juiced from this product. So what people come up with is simply to create a bunch of slides with the lyrics of the trending song; another variant of this is to post translated lyrics to a convenient world wide spoken language. I'm not really familiar with youtube's policies on this subject, but from my location I am able to browse many videos posted five years ago with this scheme, still current and still counting views. Personally I don't see any harm on this, but that's another subject.

Instructional procedures are another way to market a viral video, and it's actually one of my favorites. It is tough though because of two factors: a) you have to be the first in your area (or compete against existing ones), and b) you have to have decent production values. Again, I emphasize on b).... I didn't say high quality production values; it's just like the Angry Nintendo Nerd: make sure it's clear, the message is well sent, and it's effective. Details like these can make a substantial difference on your "How to make a tie-knot" video against "COol wAy 2 wear A TIe!" video. Again, ask yourself questions like: "do I want to be funny, or effective?" -- "is my message clear and can people understand it?" In this case you have to consider the goal you want to accomplish and the various methods and alternatives available to you. Depending on the instruction, higher production values may have an edge, though it's not quite mandatory: there's a user called patrickJMT who explains math in videos where all he does is film his hand writing on a piece of paper. His drawings aren't exactly artful, but they aren't sloppy either, they're decent/good. His lighting is good and his voice tone is good too. More importantly, the examples he uses are perfect, which makes up for a wonderful product. I mean, 140 thousands hits on a math video of derivatives is a HUGE accomplishment in my world.

The other group of viral videos is the actual segment of people who upload their videos with the core intention of becoming viral. These are the videos I believe follow to the tip each one of the recommendations that are out there circulating across the web. "be yourself", "don't try to force being funny", "SEO, SEM, SE this SE that..." all of these are actual products in my mind. Result of long thought and investment (both time and sometimes even money). There is no real new advise to these, because getting one of these video to become viral is similar to being able to score a pilot for a Sitcom at NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX or TBS. It requires effort and dedication, as well as practice and perseverance. 

In all, the marketing of a viral video cannot be summarized into a list of tips because like I stated at the beginning, the user must be able to identify the core competencies of the video. Once this is done, then the path will be clear to let things flow naturally, and see the results happen as time goes by.

Seven tips about travellingt's

It's been a while since I've blogged and I have a good reason for it, as I was busy doing some travelling, which brings me to the topic I want to write about.While not a business topic per se, I wanted to give some insight about the whole travelling experience of flying from city to city in our beloved airlines.

The first thing I would like to share is my set of three rules I use when flying:

1. It's a day you have lost in your life: doesn't matter where are you flying, why or what time. The day when you fly is normally a day you can't get much done and unless you are scheduled for a very early and short flight, it's a day in which your energy is drained to the point that the maximum amount of worthy hours can be about three, maybe four. Basically, set your hopes low about running errands on the day you fly, because it's a lost day.

2. Prepare yourself mentally for anything: there are dozens of unexpected events that can happen to you when flying. Lost luggage, late luggage, being searched by customs, missing items in your bags, broken locks, delayed flights and so on. The list is so big that almost every time I fly I add a new item to it. Just this recent time, I was on my seat and there was this 30 something woman about two rows behind me who apparently had never flown before on a plane. No offense, but she looked like one of the "Beverly Hillbillies", because as the plane started to move she started yelling and coughing and eventually threw up out of her nerves. She kept asking questions about the noises and anything. One of the stewardess sat down with her and got her to calm down.

3. Be patient, extremely patient: flying from town to town means going through a lot of painful experiences, beginning with all the lines. Although some airports are quicker than others, lines can be really demanding both physically and mentally. However depending on the nature of your trip, doing these lines can be a bit more relaxing and easy going. I believe that with a bit of common sense and travelling education, there would be a lot of improvement in interacting with all these tough assignments.

So having that said, here are my 10 key tips for travelling:

1. Travel light on carry on, heavy on checked bags.

The more comfortable you are with your carry on, the smoother your day will go. Keep in mind you have to walk long distances in the airport, to catch your plane, to go to the bathroom, to go eat, to catch the new gate of your flight after there was a gate change, and so on. Also, it is quicker to go pass the security checkpoints, not only for you but for the people behind you. Place everything you can in the bags you intend to check in, and leave only light items on your carry on. By the way, try... try REAL HARD to have just one carry on. 

2. Buy smart bags.

The process of placing your luggage on a scale to see if they meet the 50 pound (or whatever) allowed per bag, especially when you fly to do some shopping and want to bring clothes, shoes and anything you bought back to your home. The trick here lies in the bag, not the shopping. Years ago I bought myself one of these extra large tennis bags, which I consider the best investment I've done when we talk about flying. It's a huge bag that has lots of room, and more importantly the bag itself weights less than 3 pounds. The problem with excess weight is that people buy bags that are heavy by themselves. Any regular sized bag can weight around 15 pounds, meaning that it takes close to 30% of the weight you have. So next time you plan to buy something, do yourself a favor and buy a huge large bag.

3. Pack wisely.

The #1 mistake people make when travelling is buying (or bringing) inappropriate stuff, not because of their nature but because how dysfunctional they are for shipping. Try as hard as you can not to carry: jeans, lotions, creams, metal objects, books, and any combination of high density low volume. This will create leverage when your bag is weighted, preventing more efficient things to be in your bags.

4. Do not underestimate the power of being organized.

That is, FOLD. Don't just throw in you clothes, take your time and fold them nicely and properly. The reward will be breathtaking. You will have lots of free space for those extra items you didn't believe were possible to fit in your bag. Also, help yourself taking full advantage of the size of your luggage. If you're carrying something delicate, then use your clothes to protect it from the corners and borders.

5. Take your time to exit the plane.

This is something I have never understood. Why do people get up and get their carry ons as soon as the plane is parked (sometimes I've even see people do it as quick as soon as the plane landed!!!). What is the rush? There is no reason anyone can state to perform this "hurry up or we'll be late" routine. Once you leave the plane you have to go pick your luggage, and if it's international you have to go through immigration and then through customs. This one time, a lady sitting next to me asked if I could help her get her carry on because she was "late for an appointment". I laughed on the spot: exiting the plane quicker than anyone will hardly make a difference. I have seen countless times, people who leave the plane first, but pick their bags last.

6. Light shoes, sweatpants and sweaters.

Unless an extreme formality, like your company VP is picking you up at the airport, I don't see any reason why anyone want to travel so flamboyant... except for well, people who want to meet/hit on someone at the airport or during the flight. Personally I dislike to fly with complex shoes, or wear a belt or cufflinks, earings, anything that can become a hassle during the security checkpoints. Besides, it's so comfortable to travel in a nice warm sweater that even serves as a pajamas in case you want to take a nap.

7.  Be nice and have empathy.

Flying is stressful for a lot of people. Some people enjoy it, some people don't, and some people don't really care. Regardless of the background, you don't normally know what's in the mind of the person next to you (or behind or in-front of you). I'm very relaxed when flying and I try to make the best out of it on any occasion. I am very laid back and proactive towards anything that can make the day better for me and those around me. However, this one time I was flying and I already had taken my seat, placed my carry on and buckled my seat belt, when this lady like three rows behind me asked if I wanted to switch seats with her because she wanted to sit next to her daughter, who was at my right. Under normal circumstances I would have accepted, but that day I had just came from an 11 hour connecting flight, had almost no sleep and I was a bit tired. She practically woke me up when she requested the favor. I politely declined, citing that I was indeed tired. She went berserk and got mad at me as if I was the IRS. I remember thinking something like: "so, I was supposed to say YES? Can't I exercise my right of saying NO?" I felt like I was nice to her, but she didn't have empathy for me.

Anyway, details like this make up for a very pleasant travelling day. I hope you liked my suggestions and let me know if you have more!

Seven qualities of a great leader

There have been many topics of discussion about leadership and organizational behavior, yet there are businesses who keep missing the important things to look for when identifying qualities of a good leader. So what are some of the tips that you have to pay attention to?

1. Intelligence: A smart person may likely make smart decisions and come up with smart ideas. It doesn't have to be a genius. It has to be someone that reunites multiple abilities that allow him to understand situations and all their implications. Warren Buffett is a man who clearly thinks of all possible scenarios and visualizes the future of his investments.

He is both an intelligent investor and he is also an intelligent manager of Berkshire Hathway

2. Communication: While not a great spokesperson, a good leader has to practice the process of sending and receiving messages between him and the group of people he is working with. He has to be an active listener, speak hard when needed and sincerely when required. He must manage the different communication levels that exist. Five time World Series Champion, New York Yankee's Joe Torre and two time UEFA CL Champion FC Barcelona's coach Josep Guardiola always say the right thing at the right time. They also encourage the team to give suggestions and to speak openly and freely at all times.

3. Authority: By this I do not mean either a loud voice or a commanding tone. It's as simple as being able to make yourself clear to your group, delivering punctual instructions that are well stated and designed impeccably. Bill Gates has anything but both, yet I am impressed every time I see him on TV, as each word that comes out from him is the product of rationality and thought.

4. Efficiency: Resources won't be handed easily all the time, nor there will be full availability of them. Some times leaders will have to deal with shortages and/or incomplete tangibles. Those are the occasions when he or she must step in and use the best of anything and everything that is around him or her to reach the desired objectives. Darwin Smith was able to turn Kimberly Clark into the giant that we know today by using a completely new business model that required tools he didn't have at the time it was developed.

Many thought that soft spoken Darwin Smith didn't have what it takes to be a good CEO. They were wrong 

5. Fairness: Never overestimate the people you work with, nor underestimate them either. Punish when needed and reward when deserved. The proper management of balance in a team group is critical to accomplish goals. Jack Welch has been known to be a prime example of justice and proper leadership.

6. Confidence: If there is one aspect that is a powerful force that can drive you to new levels, it's the trust and belief that you have in yourself. It comes with a combination of skill that include knowledge, logic and rationale, with the most important ingredient which is self-esteem. Watch Band of Brothers and see how Richard Winters carried himself and his men through the toughest of situations by simply having the confidence of applying what he knew.

7. Innovation: Out of the box thinking and developing strategies to implement the dreams you pursue is essential to set a new standard for you group. Don't be a conformist; instead settle for new challenges every day. That's what Steve Jobs did.

Always go for more...

American Airlines announces mass layoffs

Dozens of American Airlines employees protested in Miami International Airport against the announcement the airline made to cut around 14,000 jobs in the upcoming months. So far things are looking cloudy for the giant subsidiary of parent group AMR who filed for protection of bankruptcy in November last year. Personally, I'm not so big about the already existing analysis on the current travel situation around the world and that is why I'd rather give my impression as a customer.

"Thank you for choosing American Airlines"
yw !!

Since the beginning of commercial airline industry and for some time, flying was for the rich and wealthy, meaning that it was a luxury even for middle-class. Then aviation got regulated and with the help of low gas prices, flying became accessible to almost everyone in our planet. Now, high gas prices and poor operation from these businesses apparently are making flying a luxury again. So what is going on here? 

It looks like the Airilnes had a successful (or almost) model that worked for a while, and now since they have been caught of guard with rising costs of wages and salaries, capital expenses and bad planning, have no other option than to take it on the passenger to make up for their mistakes. American Airlines is a particularly special case because we are talking about the third biggest airline in the world, and to think that they are on the verge of bankruptcy means that even though their revenue is in the billions figure, their expenses are even higher. So what has been their solution? Let's make the passenger pay.

I flew with them last year three times and I have flown with them regularly in the years, first of all because when it comes to delivery of service, you can say I'm quite pleased with them, and secondly because I have a bunch of frequent flyer miles I expect to cash in someday. Most of my friends fly AA too, so I have about enough information on pricing updates they have implemented. One of changes I have noticed in their pricing is... well, what am I saying, there are changes all over the place.

AA's new updated website. Seems to me the website probably was a bargain too.

1) Departure/Arrival dates: If you want to change a schedule date on a purchased ticket, there is no $100 fee for doing it. No sir-ee. Now it TWO HUNDRED Dollars. Not $125, not $150.... no no. $200! ... and you better be serious!

2) Second bag: After several changes like they were trying to come up with the right thing to do for the passenger, well if you want to check a second bag you have to pay... wait! Depends on where you're going. It can vary from $30 to $50. If by any chance you have to check a third bag.... $150! ... and you better be serious!

Everytime I see this sign it has a new face... I mean price

3) Online vs Phone fares: This is my personal favorite. If you make a trial to book a flight online, say from New York to Rome for example, and you get to the check-out page on their website, let's say the ticket costs $789. Hold it right there and call an AA agent to try to book the ticket by phone. He will tell you a totally different price. Not only that. He will tell you that he doesn't have access to the online prices from the website, and very politely (not) he will tell you that if you don't want to book the ticket on the phone then go ahead and buy it online. It's funny because when that happened, the guy sounded as if he had 3,000 guys on hold waiting for him eager to buy the ticket. 

I want to be fair: it's not all about AA. A friend of mine wanted to fly to Panama and he somehow got to Copa Airlines' website, which showed cheaper prices than AA. However once he got to the "Proceed to Place Order" page, he noticed there was an additional charge to the ticket that actually drove the price even higher than AA's. The extra charge was called "Charge to compensate fuel rise". This is no joke... I'm serious as I can be. Are you kidding me? So since gas prices go up, the passenger has to make up for the increase? Are there any words for that?

Please sir, teach those
newbies how to run
an airline business

I honestly believe that someone has to take a new approach to the entire airline business model. It's quite evident that things aren't working the way they are. It's one thing to take Southwest's approach to make a company work, but it's another one to impose the passenger to pay for the bad planning the company did. Maybe Sir Richard Branson can share some of his strategy, as Virgin Atlantic is the only well-known airline business with remarkable profits. And to think he was denied purchasing the Concorde. I just hope Virgin doesn't turn to be another ponzi scheme and here I am talking good things about them.

To make matters more interesting, gas prices are expected to soar this year, which can only meen airline fares will likely go up as well. So let's see if AA's massive layoff will be enough to save the business from an inminent test that is coming to them.

Have you ever come across a video on youtube about something you have always wanted to watch, because it represented a memory from your childhood or a special moment, or it was a special event that sticked in your mind and you just wanted to revive? Sometimes you get to this video and then a few days later, just like that... it's gone...

Everytime I see this image (or any of its variants) I want to... 

It's so frustrating there aren't pretty words to express what it feels, so I'll ponder about it in today's blog asking the following question: What is the reason why someone can't come up with a business model that can stop this from happening?

"If you build it, they will come"....
In marketing it's "if you build it, it can be marketed"

One of my Marketing teachers taught me that one the principle rules that marketers must learn is that if it can be built it can be marketed. Recently we have had a lot of tension between congress, the MPAA, anonymous, the internet community, dealing about all these copyright rules that are supposed to protect intelectual property. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against copyright, but the position that both parties are taking make the situation very uncomfortable for the community who is neither interesting in stealing anyone's property, nor they want to sabotage the empire of a chaotic cyber society. Let's face it, if I want to watch the highlights of the 1999 All Star MLB game when Pedro Martinez struck out those six hitters like they were 8 year old kids, I should be able to do it. But I can't because there isn't a place where it can be hosted without being taken down for legal reasons; so what if I want to show it to a friend? or a boy who wants to know how good Pedro Martinez was? Why is it a crime to upload a video of content that potentially millions of users want to view. How many of these accounts have been shut down for making information public that has no harm to anyone.

Are you looking for this video on youtube? Sometime soon it may become a myth...

If today February 27th you do a youtube search on Ronaldinho highlights, the first thing that you will notice is how almost every single Ronaldinho highlight video has been removed. You can tell because all the videos that come up as results of the search have less than 1,000 views and the quality of them is very low. About six months ago you could get about ten high quality Ronaldinho video with over a million hits each one. By the way, is it true that the first youtube video that got 1,000,000 hits was that Nike Ronaldinho ad of him hitting the post with the football? Anyway let's move on.

Facebook has proven that advertising is a profitable business as long as you get people interested and hooked to your service. They follow a formula that was developed early by the inital .com portals from the late 90s and was perfected by Google through their resources of Ads. The principle is very simple: you pay what you use and that's it. It has also been translated to other fields in the form of subscription and virtual credits. So in my opinion it is all about finding a balance between those two elements that define economics: supply and demand. Companies like Netflix and Blizzard with their signature product World of Warcraft have been able to find a balance between those two variables, and the harmony works so well that revenues are extremely high and both supplier and consumer are happy with the relationship. What is it that you pay for all monthly movies you want on NetFlix? or how much you pay for a full month of countless hours of play in WOW?

Among the many reasons why the internet got so big to the point where it's at today, I have to say it is because it allowed users to search, find and enjoy bits of information that at some point were thought lost forever or simply too hard to obtain. I'm not only referring to sports highlights, I mean concerts, bloopers from our favorite shows, never seen footage, documentals, historic events that were caught on film, lectures... so many useful resources that can be part of our society and also part of a profitable business.

Only a few -including myself- had seen this rare clip of
John Lennon and Mick Jagger before it was made public on youtube.
Today it's a miracle if it lasts a month without being removed.

I understand youtube's position and the responsibility their are intitled to by having to remove every video that has a copyright infringement; what I don't and can't understand is how come there hasn't been an initiative to meet the needs of supply in demand when it comes to these type of videos. There are a lot of internet users out there who would easily pay for a monthly subscribed service that would feature all their videos on demand, just like there are a lot of companies who would pay to advertise on a website that showed these videos. Instead, we are left today with either poor quality videos or content that is not up to the standards that we are looking for.

When youtube started to get popular, I remember I had serious doubts about its future and the possibility to have an actual website that hosted media survive in time, because I figured most companies and artists were not going to be happy of their free content online. Yet youtube survived and went on to maintain videos that included ranges from cooking lessons, to football or baseball player highlights, to rare concerts and never seen footage from musicians or actors we know and like. Today, we have landed just where I thought we were eventually going to be. A bit later than expected, but well... I can't make perfect accurate predictions.

Certainly no movie studio wants to see a movie of theirs posted on youtube from start to end. I agree with that assessment, however: what if I'm a psycology undergraduate student and I'm fascinated by the interaction scene between Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter  in their initial meeting, and I want to use a small segment of that five minute scene as a resource for a college paper I am writing? Wasn't it easier and more convenient that that particular moment had been uploaded to youtube by another fan who also shared my fascination for it? Instead, I'm left with no choice but to buy the entire movie and find myself a video editor to cut that specific segment. Yes, of course it can be done... but isn't technology supposed to take us forward and not backwards? Isn't technology supposed to make things easier for us and improve our quality of life?

I think that classic scenes deserve their own spot on the web too. They never get old

I may be speculating -as my sources on youtube numbers are non existant-, but I'm willing to put $100 on a table, affirming that youtube's page views have decreased dramatically in the past years due to all the videos that have been removed from their engine. I'll even toss in another example:

The 2012 Australian Open final played last month... Nadal vs Djokovic. It was a live event that drove millions of viewers all over the world, not only to the actual live transmission but also to the re-run of it later the following day. Once it's passed, it exactly ...a thing of the past. The money to be made from it was the day of the actual live event; if anyone wants to make more money from it, I would classify that revenue as "marginal", so any money made from then an onwards is "marginal revenue".  So why not allow its content to become part of a subscribed website that charges consumers a small fee to view any video they want that has copyright laws but can also bring money to their respective sponsors (or producers) on a marginal revenue principle? Six months from now, people will still be interested and looking back to watch the highlights from that classic six hour match, especially when you consider that it was six hours long, and rarely someone is going to sit through it entirely. Thinking that online videos can generate a profit that is entitled and traceable to the original production costs is like saying that Beethoven should receive royalties for everytime his symphonies are posted on youtube. Whoever is interested in either watching the full Nadal vs Djokovic match, or watching Silence of the Lambs, will likely go the extra mile and buy them.

iTunes biggest contribution to us: it revolutioned the whole music and software industry
youtube was close to doing it but now fell behind and has stepped back.
However the opportunity for a business model that combines both is still present. 

Steve Jobs changed the music industry with the introduction of iTunes, a store that makes every bit of sense a business man can make of it. Someone can do a similar model for online videos. Let's sit down, and let's see how can my company can make a profit with the service of offering these videos that so many people demand, and give you a piece of those profits given the fact that you provide the supply for the videos.





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Small details that make a huge difference

I am a big football (soccer) fan and I'm also into video games. You can picture what the combination of both actually means.

EA Sports' FIFA 12

For a long time I have been playing RTS games, mostly Starcraft to be quite honest. However just recently last year I decided to pick up a football (soccer) simulator, as some of my friends were into it to. I bought myself FIFA 12, one of the many signature games from Electronic Arts. The FIFA franchise is a collection of great games, ever since they began producing them in the 90s. Nowadays they are more then just a simple simulator where you can play Barcelona vs Real Madrid as long as you want to. The online platform that is built to support them is huge... I mean ENORMOUS. You can play with a team, you can play as part of a team, you can buy and sell real life players to build your own team... the spectrum covered is never ending.

Konami's PES

FIFA's biggest rival and competitor is a game called "Pro Evolution Soccer" or simply PES, which is developed by one of the greatest video game companies of all time: Konami, the creators of classics like Castlevania and Super C. Sports hasn't really been Konami's strength through their history, but make no mistake; PES is a great game and a very realistic simulator. I got a copy myself after a played it with a friend, and I was clearly convinced that the game was worth owning. However when comparing this year's editions, FIFA12 against PES 12, reviewers agree how close good both games are, but in the end there seems to be a slight preference towards FIFA 12. Does it have better graphics? Is the simulation better? Is the gameplay faster? Not exactly.

Comparison between
PES and FIFA

The biggest selling point that FIFA 12 has is not exactly a direct characteristic that can be traced to the root of the game. It is something that I would refer to as an additional feature: the licenses of the teams and players names. You see, not all teams and players in PES feature their actual real name; the English Premier League has only two teams, with all the rest being named ... whatever the programmers came up with. So the frequent complaint that comes from anti-PES gamers is that they don't like to use a team called North London, instead of the real Arsenal; or Red Bunch, instead of Manchester United. Now you may ask, how significant is this? Very.

A snapshot of a player carrying
a laser rail gun in Quake 

A few years ago I was having drinks with my video gamer friends and the conversation topic was about the emergence of shooter games, like Quake and Counter Strike, Call of Duty. When questioned about Quake's difficulty and skill needed to be good at it, one of my friends, who at the time was a hardcore Counter Strike gamer, said that he wouldn't ever play Quake and the reason that he gave was that Quake has "fake weapons", whereas Counter Strike you are able to use "real weapons." I thought about it and I found the affirmation a bit ironic. Really?? Fake vs Real weapons ?? In a video game??

The thing is that when it comes to numbers, the amount of gamers playing Counter Strike or Call of Duty is way overwhelming than those who play Quake. You see, CS or COD look "realistic." Of course you are not actually using a real AK47 rifle, but it transmits the sensation as if you were. FIFA 12 does the same thing.

Call of Duty means business

In FIFA 12 a player has ALL teams with ALL the players' real names available at ALL times. Not only that, FIFA 12 has a feature called "live season" that automatically updates your squad to reflect real life conditions. So if a player is injured in real life, he will be injured in your FIFA 12. If a player is in the zone and scoring goals like crazy, he will have a higher skill in your FIFA 12.

I believe this small detail is the reason why FIFA 12 has been able to hold an advantage over PES 12, despite PES being a better game simulator of the actual game per se. So why doesn't Konami buy the licenses? Have they actually studied what would happen to their revenue if they were to spend the cash in this venture? Have they acknowledged that they have the power to become bigger and larger than FIFA12? Who knows....

Counter Strike and COD are games that are easy to play and offer the gamer a sensation of realism that their competitors don't. That's whty they have been so popular.

The bottom line is that I have learned that regardless of what your company does and what the nature of your product or service is, it is VERY important to pay attention to the small details. They can make a huge difference on the demand of your product and therefore your revenue. Even if it costs you a bit of money and you see it as an expense, it may in fact be an investment that may pay off if you are patient enough.

Strengths in the business world and personal life

Strengths vs Weaknesses ...
or just strengths??

I was having a conversation today with three of my MBA professors, and the topic on hand was how do each employee's strengths and weaknesses play into the work environment in an organization. Actually, how to get the best out of your strengths. You may ask: but what about my weaknesses, do I ignore them? Yes.

I remember about last month I was watching the Australian Open tennis grand slam, and the sixteen grand slam title holder and one of the best players in the history of the sport, Roger Federer was being interviewed by the ESPN team of analysts including Brad Gilbert and Patrick McEnroe. They were asking him about how we trains and what did his practice sessions look like nowadays that he is a veteran in the tour, meaning that at this stage it is likely he may not be focused on "improving" a certain aspect of his game, as say his backhand which has always been considered Roger's weakness. Roger's answer was an eye opener:

Roger Federer's strength -his forehand-
has helped him win 16 Grand Slams.
What can your strength do for you?

"I don't really focus on my backhand. I don't practice much of it in my sessions. I kind of concentrate more on my forehand." (which many consider not only Roger's greatest strength, but also the one of the greatest shots of all time in tenis). Roger also added: "I want to practice my forehand because it is my strength, so I want to work on it because it is my greatest weapon. The backhand, I just deal with it during a match." It was amazing to me that one of the greatest tennis players of all time had such a professional approach to the game of tennis and his work model. It is exactly the same reasoning I had acquired in my classes.

I guess it all makes sense when you think that you can exploit your talents when you develop and dedicate all your efforts to make yourself a better professional and a better person. Whether if it's that you are a terrific competitor, you are a relator, an analytical, communicative, responsible, or any other characteristic, the bottom line is that you have a talent inside and this is your strength. It is a quality that can make you become a difference in your organization, and can make you achieve that progress and professional growth you have always been looking for.

Take your time and get yourself an appointment for an assessment test, so you can find out what strengths do you possess and how can you take advantage of them.

Facebook's IPO

By now almost everyone in the business world should be aware of the upcoming IPO of the social network giant called Facebook. Is this good ? bad? I think it's going to be interesting.

From my perspective, there has been a lot of attention towards this event in an unprecedented situation that has rarely be seen in another company. Just about a year ago LinkedIn filled for an IPO and according to several sources, the value of its stock has performed exactly as it was expected. Other companies have performed better or worse, but it is the giants like Google or Apple that were able to keep surpassing their corporate goals time over time, and it is in this matter where tension is high on the potential outcome of the offering of Facebook stock.

I'm going to put the financial goals and expectations to a side and I'm going to concentrate on what I think worries potential investors nowadays: what will Facebook's next move be? You see, when Google went public in 2004, they had already started to expand towards related areas in the internet market: they had figured Google Ads and began laying plans out for products that are normal to most of us today, like Google Chrome and Google Analytics; they also but youtube and the license for Google Earth. The bottom line is that Google had many doors open and many opportunities, and they took them.

So what is Facebook going to do? They can't buy youtube, it's already taken. They can't create Google Ads or Analytics, or Facebook LinkedIn and so on: they are pretty much on their own. Since they are now going to be a public company, they have to live to the expectations of their investors. So this means that they must set goals and new objectives that keep the company growing. It is as simple as if company growth doesn't happen, the value of the stock will not rise. So I guess this is where the core of the problem is.

It is good to become a public company and to raise money from investors that increases the equity of the company, however I they will have to take on the responsibilities that are entitled of being a public.

Who knows: in a few years, we may be seeing a Facebook browser, or a Facebook cell phone software. Those are the kind of goals they have to work on from now and on.

Feb 19 is the birth anniversary of one of the greatest minds that have lived in our planet: Nicolaus Copernicus, the man who began the scientific revolution in Europe and set the foundation for the birth of modern science as we know it today.

In his last published book, "On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres", Copernicus detailed a new theory of planetary motion for our Solar System, which up until the mid 1500s was thought of the Earth as center of the universe, with all the planets and starts moving around it. Copernicus new vision called "heliocentric model" proposed that the Earth was not the center of the universe, but instead just like the other planets known at the time, it revolves around the Sun. It also justified that the reason behind sunset and sunrise was the Earth's rotation around its own axis. Years later, Kepler, Galileo and Newton would confirm and cement Copernicus' place in the history of science.

What is not well known about Copernicus and is part of the reason why I decide to blog about him, is that he also contributed to other fields, like law, strategy, engineering and economy. Copernicus came up with an early theory of the effect of "quantity of money", an early predecessor of the Quantitative Easing (or money supply) theory and also wrote about the "value of money" and how bad coinage drives good coinage out of circulation. Oh and he also spoke five languages: Latin, German, Polish, Greek and Italian.

An all around genius, Copernicus contribution to our society is priceless and his legacy will live among us forever. If you ever get the chance to go to Poland, see if you can step by Copernicus tomb and visit the place where the man who defined our Solar System now rests.

Test of my Business, Opinion and.... blog !