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DOES GOOGLE GLASS HAVE A BRANDING PROBLEM? MARKETING EXPERTS MAP STEPS TO MAINSTREAM SUCCESS

Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin wears a pair of Google Glass AR glasses (Click Image To Enlarge)

Still in its test phase, Google Glass may be dorked to death before it gets the opportunity to take off. Here, marketing players from a range of agencies provide their assessment of Glass’s chances and some suggestions for paving the way to mainstream success.

Google’s much-hyped wearable computer, Google Glass, has been touted by the tech elite as one of the leaps forward of recent times, but those same elites may hobble mainstream adoption of the device.

While privacy concerns have blossomed (the device may be on its way to being banned at a number of locations), it may comfort those worried that we are all about to become spies for Google that the early adopters of Google Glass are helping to give it an image problem it might not recover from.

Technology venture capitalists Marc Andreessen, Bill Maris and John Doerr model Google Glass AR glasses (Click Image To Enlarge)

Marc Andreessen, a partner in the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, said, 

”You put it on and you’re like ‘Oh my God, I have the entire Internet in my vision. Where have you been all my life?’ ”

Kleiner Perkins venture capitalist John Doerr noted last month when unveiling Kleiner Perkins’ Google Glass-focused investment fund. 

"For paraplegics and quadriplegics, Glass could be a stunningly useful way to get information and interact with it."

The futuristic-looking headset can augment our everyday reality by putting data in our field of vision as well as allowing us to take pictures, and translating the spoken word on the move. But unfortunately, it also appears to have unintended contraceptive powers, as illustrated by this Tumblr featuring members of its decidedly unhip core fanbase.

Google CEO & Co-Founder Larry Page wears a pair of Google Glass AR glasses (Click Image To Enlarge)

It’s all very well having wearable technology that lets you livestream yourself hang gliding. But if it has all the sex appeal of orthodontic headgear, it’s unlikely to catch on. Google’s Glass Explorer program has put Google Glass in the hands and on the heads of developers and tech pundits who Google has selected to test it and have paid $1,500. Google chief executive Larry Page has indicated that the product won’t be in stores for about another year, by which time it may be hard to separate it from its association with tech fanatics.

Arguably, success in wearable technology hinges on making people look and feel good as much as providing a functional service. Developers might be happy to fork vast sums for the privilege of being a Google Glass owner, but when the product goes to mass market, fashion, or at least some sort of coolness and covetability will be as critical as functionality.

Tech pundit Robert Scoble wrote a glowing review about the augmented reality glasses and said, "I will never live a day without them." He then showed off a picture of himself showering while wearing the glasses.  Google co-founder Sergey Brin looking cool wearing a pair of Google Glass AR glasses onboard a bus (Click Image To Enlarge)

With this in mind, we asked five marketing experts: How would you position Google Glass to make sure it achieves mainstream success?

AFTER NAILING THE EARLY ADOPTERS, FOCUS ON LESS-EXPECTED APPLICATIONS.

Jinal Shah, digital strategy director, JWT New York

Google is embracing its influencers. Make no mistake though--they aren’t just going after the nerds. They are strategic in who they’ve invited to their Glass Explorers program, an influencer program that allows a handpicked group to use the first generation of Google Glass. Google has carefully curated a group of people who sit at the intersection of nerd and celebrity. For example, tech celebrity Soraya Darabi, among others. People like her not only bring their passion for technology but also their massive audiences (500K+ followers in the case of Soraya) into the conversation.

California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, and former mayor of San Francisco, tries the glasses on Current TV (Click Image To Enlarge)

There’s incremental innovation and there’s wow-your-pants-off innovation. Google Glass is in the latter category. We tried it on last week at Google and it was pretty amazing. Mainstream success will happen as it expands the breadth of its audience and also as its simplifies its technology. What we’ll end up with in a few years is just a tiny camera that we’ll be able to attach to any eyewear. To the broader point, wearable technology is the future. Making it as nerdy as possible at the outset is a smart strategic move to get those who will engage most with the glasses to develop their capabilities and advance them to a place of general adoption. It should be no surprise that Google has already developed a partnership with Warby Parker. The aesthetic will change over time, and this will be one of the many norms of wearable tech.

The Google Glass initial approach has focused on driving exclusivity in select communities. And they’ve nailed it. In the next stage, I’d focus on creating desire by introducing a library of plain interesting to bizarre applications of Glass. Think government, music, Hollywood, retail partnerships--maybe even an episode of Family Guy with Stewie touting Glass.

THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT NERDS.

Jonah Disend, CEO and Founder of Redscout

When we look at the challenge of extending Google Glasses out of nerdom, we believe that the challenge is first, one of execution and second, one of positioning and targeting.

• First, in terms of execution, Google Glasses inherently plays in two worlds--fashion and technology--and they haven’t created “cool kid” lust in either area.  It is neither an incredible fashion accessory that you would want to wear, nor is it a beautiful or obviously useful gadget that you would want to own.
• Second, in terms of positioning and targeting, today Google Glasses is seen as a barrier to social engagement as opposed to an enabler. While it may make your world more exciting and dynamic (as the promotional video might suggest), it does not currently enhance socialization nor have they shown how the value of the glasses increases with additional users (there is currently no clear Network Effect).

Now for our gross generalization about nerds versus everyone else. Nerds actively look to create barriers to protect them from the world, mitigate social engagement, and connect through virtual worlds (thinkWorld of Warcraft). In this context, Google Glasses are the ultimate tool for nerds to add a layer of protection between them and others and potentially seal the fate of Google Glasses as something that only the geekiest of the geeks would ever want to wear (or even own).

WORK WITH TRENDSETTERS.

Lloyd Salmons, Director of Digital, Saatchi & Saatchi London

I love Google. It gives me convenient access to a world of information and that’s something I want. I don’t love their glasses, because they don’t give me what I want. What I want is my glasses. If you’ve ever chosen a pair of glasses you’ll know how long it takes, how many opinions you seek, how many photos you’ve texted and images of celebrities you’ve looked at, be they fashion, sport or sunglasses. What I want is the Google I love, in the glasses I love. I want Google in my glasses.

Open APIs, products as platforms, and cocreation are the norm for tech companies. There is no way Apple or Android could have brought the level of innovation needed to create so many apps personalized to individual needs. Just because Google Glass is a physical product doesn’t mean Google should change the approach to creating the range of glasses needed to facilitate individual tastes.

To facilitate this, we’d build a platform allowing us to work with a range of individuals and the people who make their glasses. These people would range from well-known celebrities in fashion and sport, to everyday style leaders. The content generated across the journey from inception, build, and trial to launch would provide both broadcast content and ways to engage.

Google in Bradley Wiggins’s glasses: We follow the journey of Bradley and his glasses climaxing at the start of the Tour de France. Google in Elton John’s glasses: No one has more glasses than Elton John; he’s given us a hundred of his best to create a range of Google glasses and we’re going to find the perfect person for each of them. You get the picture. Google in P.Diddy’s glasses. Google in Sven Göran Eriksson’s glasses. Google in Victoria Beckham’s sunglasses.

If you try on anyone else’s glasses, you look like a nerd; that’s just a law of the universe. If you don’t believe me, try it. What I need is Google in my glasses.

IDENTIFY AND EMBRACE THE USAGE SWEET SPOT.

Brian Carley, SVP, Executive Creative Director, Rokkan

It’s a challenge, specifically because of the stigma that was quickly attached to them. Putting aside all flaws in its physical appearance, it would be ideal to tap into how people would realistically use them day to day. Very few people are going be wearing them ALL the time, but there are times when it would be useful to have a device such as this and also have complete use of your hands. We all assume that our mobile devices have no boundaries, but there are instances when we are apprehensive about having them on our person. I think that utilizing those moments is the sweet spot for this product. It’s a more useful Go-Pro and those are wildly popular within their specific usage, which is quite broad. There’s no real need for these beyond enjoyment, and so it would be wise to illustrate the truly hands-free experiences that surround the product beyond the dorkiness we’ve experienced already. At least they’re not as cumbersome as a Segway.

DON’T CHANGE A THING.

Bud Caddell, SVP, Director of Invention and Digital Strategy, Deutsch LA

Yes, white middle-aged men love Google Glass. Is it a problem? Of course not. Wearable tech has hardly fallen down Geoffrey Moore’s chasm. We’re seeing early adoption, and in tech (if we’re not counting Pinterest), white men from the Valley with disposable income tend to be first in, first out. And that didn’t stop iPads, laptops, or the mobile phone from reaching mass adoption. Yes, Robert Scoble in the shower is frightening. But take a breath. Google has already tapped Warby Parker, who I personally trust in putting things on my face, and I think Google Glass (in one iteration or another) is here to stay.

COMMENTARY:    

What Tech Guru's Are Saying About Google Glass

I am discounting by about 95% the positive comments made by most of the above technology pundits, expecially some of the above VC's in favor of what other technology pundits are saying:

Marcus Wohlsen, a tech reporter for Wired, on May 2, 2013, gave some hints that Google Glass could end in failure by making these comparisons: 

“The Segway. The Bluetooth headset. The pocket protector.”  

Rebecca Greenfield of The Atlantic, called the secret photo-taking application a “privacy nightmare,” and she also said:

“The Creepiest Google Glass App Is a Stalker’s Dream.” 

Jason Perlow of ZDNet wrote:

“Google Glass: Let the evil commence."   

Perlow also noted that in the “Explorer” version of Google Glass that shipped in early May to first generation of users,

"There is no recording LED indicator light on the device, so that one could stealthily record without any indication to the subject that they are being captured on-camera.”

Jason Zada, an award winning director, wrote on Twitter.  

 ”White Men Wearing Google Glass. This doesn’t make me want a pair.”

Another person simply wrote that Google Glass looks “lame.”

The Google Glass Is Banned List Grows

Privacy and security have become major concerns and as the list of concerned protesters continues to grow, we began to wonder: Where will we be most likely to see this Glass resistance moving forward?  This is a short list of businesses and places who will ban Google Glass:

• Movie theaters and concert venues - It's interesting to consider what Glass could do for film piracy and that annoying guy in front of you who waved his phone snapping photos through an entire two-hours concert. But these are two of the most obvious examples of places that traditionally prohibit cameras.
• Public schools - Or nurseries, or playgrounds. Really, anywhere with an influx of children is going to be a potential hotbed of legal headaches.
• Behind the wheel - The West Virginia legislators' attempt to ban Glass while driving will inevitably gain favor within other states, which will likely include many of the country's 39 states and Washington, D.C., where texting while driving is prohibited.
• Hospitals - Hospitals house boatloads of some of our most personal data, including medical records and insurance information. A stray paper or tilted clipboard could easily find its way into a Glass photo.
• Banks and ATMs - Similar to the hospital example, it's not unfathomable to imagine a Glass-clad someone hovering a little too close to your left shoulder to peep a glance at (not to mention a photo of) your credit card.
• Dressing rooms, locker rooms, and other rooms with people who are potentially naked - Think everywhere from department stores to your gym to strip clubs.

I might also add to the above list:

• Law enforcement - The police will absolutely hate Google Glass.  They don't want you recording their every move and what they say, because this could be used against them in court.
• Courts rooms - Court rooms often ban photographers from their court rooms, especially high-profile and controversial cases.  This is often necessary in order to protect the identity of the jurors and individuals making testimony.  
• Military bases - Any military personnel on military bases who enter or work in highly classified and secured areas will definitely be banned from wearing Google Glass. 
• Schools and colleges - Google Glass will definitely be banned from the classroom. Instructors will be weary of students who might use Google Glass to teach on tests.

On the other hand, I can definitely see immigration inspectors, airline security, law enforcement and even retailing establishments benefiting from Google Glass, in helping them identify criminals, security risks, people of interest and shoplifters before they commit crimes. Companies that want to protect their valuable intellectual property as a matter of practice will ban Google Glass.    

In my opinion, any technology that raises the high level of privacy and security concerns and could lead to consumer litigation potentially in the billions, has a huge PR image and this has the ability to permanently damage or destroy a brand.  This is what I see happening with Google Glass.  If Google wants to market Google Glass to the masses, they will have to severely limit or block its use in certain situations.  

Google needs to be careful that it does not damage its own brand reputation as the company whose motto is: "Don't Be Evil."   Google Glass has the potential to turn Google into the feared "Big Brother,"  that Steve Jobs warned us about when he tried to portray IBM as "Big Brother" in the famous TV commercial.  The company has to be very careful how they launch Google Glass. The company has a social responsibility to uphold (its motto) and it should not take us for granted.   The small cadre of tech geeks and very early adopters who now love and applaud Google Glass as the next big thing, may later learn to hate if they are not too careful.

I keep hearing that Google Glass represents the next evolution of the social network. Bringing the social network experience into the real world and sharing what we see and do with others.  Is this what Google (and Facebook) really wants?  God help us if this is where social networks are headed.  I don't want that kind of "social media experience" biting me in the butt, and I am sure you don't either.   Left to its own accord, without any controls, I believe that Google Glass crosses a line in the sand where our privacy is not only violated, but completely destroyed.  We lose our individuality as human beings, and we become an open book to anyone and everyone.

So keep in mind the old adage: "What goes around, comes around."       

Courtesy of an article dated May 15, 2013 appearing in Fast Company, an article dated May 4, 2013 appearing in CNN Tech, and an article date May 3, 2013 appearing in The New York Times Bits and an article dated May 15, 2013 appearing in VentureBeat

 

A LOOK INSIDE ONLINE EYEWEAR E-TAILER WARBY PARKER'S NEW NYC FLAGSHIP STORE

 

THE STYLISH EYEWEAR PURVEYOR OPENS ITS FLAGSHIP STORE TODAY. COFOUNDERS NEIL BLUMENTHAL AND DAVID GILBOA SHOW US THE MAGIC BEHIND 121 GREENE.

Warby Parker stormed the retail glasses industry in 2010 with a novel way to sell its affordable, stylish specs: online. Hundreds of thousands of sold pairs later, the boutique glasses purveyor is today opening the doors to its brick-and-mortar flagship store, at 121 Greene Street in NYC's SoHo neighborhood.

The Warby Parker storefront at 121 Greene Street in New York City (Click Image To Enlarge)

Front door entrance to the new Warby Parker store on Greene Street in the SOHO district of New York City (Click Image To Enlarge)

Warby Parker rapidly built a thriving e-commerce business through an innovative model that eschewed costly expenses, such as brand licensing fees, and sold product directly to consumers, allowing the company to sell glasses for as low as $95 a pair.

Warby Parker cofounders Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa in the new Greene Street store (Click Image To Enlarge)

But cofounders David Gilboa and Neil Blumenthal tell Fast Company their brand has had a brick-and-mortar presence almost since its inception. Their first retail location? Blumenthal's apartment.

Blumenthal says.

"We literally would invite people to come to the apartment and we’d lay the glasses on the dining room table.  We thought it was going to be this sub-optimal experience, and it ended up being something really special."

They eventually opened up a showroom in New York City and set up displays within several smaller boutique retailers across the country, including The Standard hotel chain's Los Angeles and Miami locations, where guests can visit Warby's kitschy, '60s-themed "Readery" kiosks.

What you see when you walk in. Hopefully you see it even clearer when exiting (Click Image To Enlarge)

Custom terrazzo flooring embedded with the Warby Parker logo. Partners & Spade dreamed up the store's design conceit (Click Image To Enlarge)

Books by 14 partner publishers in Warby Parker's lobby remind you just how bad you need to be at this place (Click Image To Enlarge)

But Blumenthal and Gilboa have sprinkled the flagship store with an extra dusting of retail magic, taking a few cues from their neighbor across Greene Street: the Apple Store.

 Gilboa says. 

"What I think Apple did tremendously well when they launched retail was not to focus on how to shove as many products into the footprint as possible.  It was really focused around creating a magical experience.  That's what we've tried to create here."

When you walk into 121 Greene, you'll find rolling library ladders, a photo booth, reading materials from Warby-approved independent presses, and mirrors upon mirrors, so you'll never have to travel far to peep a glance at your bespectacled self.

Literary themes abound: The look of the store is inspired by a library. Books on Warby Parker's shelves are color-coded--eggshell, kelly, cerulean, crimson, and aubergine. And the cofounders combined the name of two early Jack Kerouac characters, Zagg Parker and Warby Pepper, to name their company (Click Image To Enlarge)

Warby Parker eyewear is prominantly displayed on well-lit shelves for close inspection and test wearing by customers (Clik Image To Enlarge)

Blumenthal and Gilboa say the store is an early testament to where the retail industry is headed.

Gilboa says.

"The future of our business and all retail is going to have some online and some offline component.  The world doesn’t have to be black and white."

The store's high ceiling has four rolling ladders attached to the walls. Here's the view from a top one of the ladders (Click Image To Enlarge)

Sunglasses and optical glasses--men's and women's--are mixed throughout the display around the store (Click Image To Enlarge)

The store sells books, too. Warby Parker teamed up with 14 publishers to display selected books from their catalogs on 14 different shelves. Shown here are Melville House Books (Click Image To Enlarge)

COMMENTARY:   What was inevitable that Warby Parker would have to open retail stores. Eye vision examinations, filling eyewear prescriptions and fitting glasses requires a lot of personalized service.  You cannot do this online.  It's a real hassle for Warby Parker customers to have to go to an optometrist to have their eyes examined and obtain a prescription for their lenses, then have to provide this information to Warby Parker so that the lense prescription can be filled.  A store provides a completely new customer retail experience that you cannot get from an online store, no matter how well designed your online store is.  

Having a brick-and-mortar eyewear store fills another very useful purpose -- it provides an additional level of convenience for existing Warby Parker customers.  Warby Parker probably sold a lot of eyewear to customers living in New York City, and having a local store to serve those customers, and future customers, will be very good for business.  

The New York store will doubtless increase Warby Parker's operating expenses.  Retail space is very expense in New York, and you have also have the added cost of store clerks and an on-premise optrometist.  

Warby Parker's original strategy was to disrupt the present retail eyewear industry, but it now appears to have taken a 180 degree turn in that strategy.  Only time will tell whether operating real stores will economicaly feasible without disrupting its original strategy.      

Courtesy of an article dated April 14, 2013 appearing in Fast Company 

WITH 480 STORES WORLDWIDE, FOREVER 21 IS EXPANDING AGGRESSIVELY, AND THE COMPETITION SHOULD BE TERRIFIED

Forever 21's grand opening on June 25, 2010 at their new store located in Times Square, New York City (Click Image To Enlarge)

Forever 21 is growing like crazy, and the fast fashion retailer is becoming a major threat to the rest of the industry.

Analysts Lorraine Hutchinson, Paul Alexander, and Jessica A. Lebo at Bank of America warned that competitors need to start paying attention to the privately-held retailer right now.

Forever 21's grand opening on June 25, 2010 at their new store located in Times Square, New York City (Click Image To Enlarge)

They declared Forever 21 "the most transformative retail concept" in a note to clients.

The analysts wrote.

"Forever 21 is becoming too big for the specialty retailers to ignore.   At this size, rapid growth could have ripple effects on the other retailers as Forever 21 takes more share."

Forever21 oepns New York's largest clothing store in Times Square (CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW VIDEO)

Back in 2008, Forever 21 SVP Christopher Lee told the Los Angeles Times that the company's goal is to become a "global retail conglomerate."

And it's well on its way.

Don Chang (right) and wife Jin Sook Chang (left) opened the first Forever 21 in 1984 (Click Image To Enlarge)

Forever 21 has expanded to more than 450 stores in the U.S. and nearly 100 locations internationally.  It charged into Europe, put its foot into China, and now has its sights on Latin America. Bank of America estimates the company's sales at upwards of $3.5 billion — in line with many big teen retailers.

Don Won (Don) Chang founder and CEO of Forever 21 and daughters Linda Chang who is the Marketing Director and Esther Chang who is the Retail Merchandising Director (Click Image To Enlarge) 

The big players in teen retail, like Abercrombie & Fitch, Aeropostale, and American Eagle, will feel the pressure. Gap has also been squeezed by Forever 21, as it sees revenues and margins getting eaten away, according to ACM Partners' Margaret Bogenrief.

Don Chang, Founder and CEO of Forever21 speaks about his company (CLICK TO VIEW VIDEO)

Why should they be worried?

Forever 21 is faster and cheaper — It uses the fast fashion model, getting new fashion trends to stores as quickly as it possibly can, then selling at a low price. Traditional retailers try to establish a brand with a signature look, so it's very unlikely that others will try to copy Forever 21 after spending so much time and effort building their own brands.

 

And it simply sells clothing for less than its rivals do. "Forever 21 sells jeans for as low as $15, where teen retailers generally start at $30 for this important category," noted the Bank of America analysts.

Forever 21 is expanding its customer base — Forever 21 is becoming a fashion department store that caters to all members of the family — not just teens. 

That means a broader set of customers are being gobbled up by the retailer as it releases new lines targeting men and older demographics. Yet, at its core, Forever 21 still has a similar target as the big teen retailers – 18- to 24-year-olds.

Forever 21 is fighting its competitors head-on — The retailer used to settle for second-tier malls and mediocre space in the big malls. But now, Forever 21 is done being timid. 

Wrote the analysts.

"We have seen Forever 21 take on much better located spaces and often larger sized stores."

It even has a Times Square flagship directly across the street from both Aeropostale and American Eagle. 

COMMENTARY:   In a blog post date Janaury 21, 2011, I profiled Forever21 for the first time. The company had revenues of $3 billion at the end of 2010, and has probably reached $4 billion plus in revenues by the end of 2012.

Forever21 has now become a mainstay in every budget stylista’s shopping arsenal, yet few know the beginnings of one of the most popular stores in America. In this “History of Budget Fashion”, we explore the beginnings of the retail chain as well as some of the challenges faced by the store.

The first Forever21 store, originally named “Fashion 21”, was founded in 1984 by Korean immigrant/entrepreneur Do Won “Don” Chang in the community of Highland Park, with the goal to sell Korean fashions stateside. According to a 2010 Los Angeles Times article, Chang got the idea for a retail store after he noticed “…the people who drove the nicest cars were all in the garment business”. Soon the store became popular and started to expand into other areas of Southern California.

While Chang’s interest was more economic than sartorial, he was unknowingly at the forefront of a new trend (along with Halston, Jaclyn Smith, Wal-Mart, etc) in retail– the bridging of the gap between high fashion and the American mass market consumer. During this time period, the rise of networked computers and retail technologies reduced the “supply chain”, which meant the time and cost it took for a piece of apparel to go from production to the store was significantly reduced. So, that shirt on scene during New York’s Fall 1984 fashion week could go from concept to reality in a significantly faster time.

Fashion became faster, allowing chains like Forever21 to deliver high fashion (at least in concept, if not in quality) to consumers in a matter of days.

Forever21 and It’s forever list of issues

Forever21's incredible success has not come without controversey.  According to Forbes, the company has been sued for copyright infringement dozens of times from “borrowing” heavily from established designers like Diane Von Furstenberg and Gwen Stefani.  Designer Anna Sui has also filed a lawsuit against Forever 21 alleging that Forever 21 sold and offered for sale numerous women's fast fashion clothing items bearing a striking similarity to her products featured at the most recent New York Fashion Week shows. The suits could stem from the fact that Forever21, unlike H&M, the company didn’t hire designers to “alter” designs, so the resulting pieces were extremely similar to the originals by top designers and brands.

Forever 21 has recently been subject of additional controversy, stemming from an interactive billboard installation in Times Square, in New York. It is alleged that Forever 21's advertising agency, space150 and director Nicholaus Goossen, copied a similar piece - created in 2009 - from London by interactive artist Chris O'Shea. These allegations have led to heated exchanges on the Vimeo page showing the work between Goossen and other users, including well-known members of the interactive and new media art communities. Both space150 and Goossen have since apologized publicly on Vimeo.

In January 2012, a class action lawsuit was filed against Forever 21 by its employees stating that Forever 21 systematically failed to pay them for hours worked. Employees of Forever 21 are required to subject their personal belongings to a "Bag Check Policy" to ensure there is no stolen merchandise. As part of this policy employees are required to have their belongings checked while still clocked in, however according to former and present Forever 21 employees the bag check has been done while clocked-out resulting in unpaid time while working.

The store also experienced worker rights issues in California (note: most of Forever21’s items are made in their factories in Southern California), which have been resolved and several shoppers have complained about the perceived overt Christian ties of the store (Chang and his family are devout Christians and a reference to the bible passage John 3:16 is printed on the bottom of every bag).

The Future of the Store

However, these problems have not slowed down the rocket growth of the company, which is one of the fastest growing retail chains in the world. The chain has purchased several spaces once occupied by the old Meryvn’s department store chain to turn into large Forever21s.

Forever21 Forbes Ranking

According to Forbes, Don Won Chang and Jin Sook Chang have an estiated  combined net worth of $4.5 billion as of March 2013, and they rank #276 on Forbes Billionaire list for 2012 and rank #76 on Forbes 400 List.

Courtesy of an article dated March 11, 2013 appearing in Business Insider and an article dated August 21, 2011 appearing in The Budget Fashionista and Forbes 400 List an Forbes Billionaire List for the year 2012

 

http://vmsd.com/content/forever-21-0

NEW VIDEO SHOWS HOW GOOGLE'S GLASS AUGMENTED REALITY GLASSES WORK FROM THE WEARER'S POINT-OF-VIEW

A beautiful young lady wears a pair of Google's new augmented reality glasses (Click Image To Enlarge)

Developers, start your laptops. Google depicts how it'll feel using the augmented reality headset.

Google's Glass augmented reality hardware isn't yet available and the project's development is generally kept secret, but the company has now released a video that gives us a hint about how its user interface will work. In it many users are seen interacting with Glass's systems. The video shows the point of view of normal vision plus the Glass augmented reality-style window in the field of view.

Googler shows what Google's new augmented reality glasses see from the wearer's point-of-view (Click To Enlarge Image)

Users demonstrate searching for information, taking a picture or recording video, and even asking for a Google translation into Thai.

 

In many ways, these are the same details we've seen in other Glass PR stunts, but this conceptualized video shows it from the "inside" glass point of view, presumably to demonstrate the power of the device and its seamless UI. Google has recently allowed developer access to Glass hardware, and will soon be releasing 8,000 new headsets to promising app developers. Still, a consumer launch is not expected any time too soon.

COMMENTARY:   Since I last blogged about Google's Project Glass, a lot has happened, and it looks like things are cranking up and preparation are being made for a launch in either late 2013 or early 2014.

Facebook Wants A Piece of the Google Glass Action

Face1book founder, Mark Zuckerberg, can’t wait for the Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) release of its Google Glass device. The tech entrepreneur made the comments at a charity function that both he and Google founder, Sergey Brin, were attending. According to Forbes, this is what Mark Zuckerberg said about Google's new augmented reality glasses.  

“I can’t wait to get my own.”

There is a heated rivalry between Facebook and Google, as both companies compete for the same advertisement revenue. The firms’ executives are not above honest appreciation of each others products, as evidenced by the statement from Zuckerberg.

Both tech luminaries were attending an event at the University of California medical campus at Mission Bay. They were there promoting the Breakthrough Prize For The Life Sciences, a new $3 million award for excellence in the Life Sciences. Brin and Zuckerberg are both prominent backers of the prize.

Brin, who has been spotted sporting Google Glass eye wear in public since last May, was wearing the device at the event, and offered Zuckerberg a sneak peak at their capabilities, fixing his pair onto the CEO’s head at the back of the hall after media comments. Google Glass is billed as a social experience, that means that Facebook integration will be absolutely necessary.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin demonstrates Google's new Glass, the wearable internet glasses shown at the Google I-O conference in San Francisco, June 27, 2012 (Click Image To Enlarge)

Despite the growth in Google’s own social platform, Facebook is still the gold standard in social networking. Google will need absolute cooperation from the Menlo Park company if its glass product is going to succeed, and judging by the mood surrounding it, it will need all the help it can get.

Here's an early video when Google announced Google Glass back at Google I/O 2012:

 

Google announced just two days ago that it would offer Google Glass to early adopters for $1,500 a pair. In order to avail of the offer, hopefuls will have to fill in an application demonstrating their ability to add to the Google Glass project. Developers have already been able to apply for a pair.

Facebook employees will no doubt be involved in the development of applications for the device, though it remains to be seen whether or not the firm will be able to release an early application. The firm showed weakness with its release of poor iPad apps more than a year after that products release.

Facebook will be essential to Google Glass in the early days. The product will almost certainly require apps specifically designed for it. It does not seem like full web pages will be useable on the device. If Zuckerberg’s comments are anything to go by, Facebook engineers might jump right in.

Warby Parker To Design Glass AR Frames For Google

In a blog post dated April 18, 2013, I reported on what Fast Company felt Google needed to do in order to make its Glass AR glasses a commercial success.   It now appears that Google listened. A New York Times report claims that Google is talking to Warby Parker, the online glasses store with a heart, and it's one of Fast Company's Most Innovative in Retail 2012, in an attempt to make its glasses look like something you'd want to wear out without making people point, scream, faint (optional) and shriek, "Cyborg, Incoming!" when they see you.  Neither firm, of course, would comment on the claim, which emanated from "two people briefed on the negotiations." The current model is glassless, but there is an idea to fit them with either tinted or prescription lenses. There is still no clue as to when Google Glass will be available, but the firm yesterday ratcheted up the excitement another notch with this, the If I Had Glass project. Consider yourself cool, curious, creative, and a U.S. resident over 18? Should Google feel the same about you, then you could become an Explorer (nothing so mundane as testing, eh?) for the project.

Google Glass Undergoes FCC Tests

Earlier this month, it was reported that the F.C.C. has been giving the glasses the once-over.  Every electronic device that transmits radio signals must undergo FCC tests and meet stringent radio frequency and communications requirements before a product is approved for the commercial market. 

New York Fashion Week Test Drives Google Glass

Google Glass AR glasses have been seen out in the wild at New York Fashion Week last September, at DVF's runway show (she later released a short film, DVF Through Glass, about the specs).

Apple iWatch Under Development

Snapping at the heels of Google's AR glasses could be the iWatch, a wearable gadget which, according to a report last week, has 100 product designers seeing to its every whim.

From the look of things, Google is taking extra care and is very serious about launching Google Glass AR glasses, and doing it the right way.  From everything I have seen so far, I think the era of wearable electronic devies is about to take a significant jump into our daily lives, and tying the whole thing with a social platform, whether its Google+, Facebook or Twitter, makes obvious sense for enriching our online experience in a new and more dramatic fashion than we ever thought possible.  

The $1,500 price tag is hefty, but there will always be a small group of early adopters ready, willing and able to pay the price for the next new thing in electronic gadgetry.  The fact that that Google is making it a requirement that buyers fill out an application demonstrating that they can add to the overall Google Glass project user experience, makes it appear very likely that the initial launch rollout will be to a relatively small group of customers.       

It also seems very likely that the first owners of Google Glass AR glasses will be running an a Google app that will integrate the glasses with Google+.  I have often commented that Google+ users are mostly affluent male social media and technology geeks, so this could be a rich proving ground for the new Glass AR glasses.  You can expect a lot of the will already be Googler's.  

This also raises a lot of questions as to how Google intends to make money off of Glass AR glasses.  I don't think it will be the glasses themselves, but a grand plan involving mobile ads appearing in the lens.   Example:  If I look at a McDonald's restaurant while wearing a pair of Glass AR glasses, the software will recognize McD's and immediately prompt me with a small add promoting a free fries if I buy a Big Mac.  I think that's Google's grand scheme to monetize Google+, by making users much more pro-active within its social platform, and then coupling the whole thing with advetising.  

Google could also integrate Google Glass AR glasses with your moble phone to give you instintaneous location information and tell you how many of your Google+ fans are nearby, what they are doing, and you can either text them or call them from your smartphone.  

The capabilities are endless, and Google is about to change the social media landscape several notches.  Whether it will share this technology with Facebook and Twitter remains to be seen.  I know that Zuck would love a pair of those AR glasses, and he probably will get a shot, but I have a feeling that Google may not want to integrate the Facebook or Twitter platforms with its AR glass technology, keeping that competititve edge for itself.  This makes me very happy, since I am already a Google+ user.  :) 

Courtesy of an article dated February 20, 2013 appearing in Fast Company and an article dated February 21, 2013 appearing in Fast Company and an article dated February 20, 2013 appearing in IGN

COULD GOOGLE'S AUGMENTED REALITY GLASSES BE THE GAME-CHANGER THAT GOOGLE+ NEEDS TO BEAT FACEBOOK IN SOCIAL?

Google's augmented reality headsup display glasses are scheduled for delivery in 2013 (Click Image To Enlarge)

If Google Plus were Google’s sole attempt to compete with Facebook in the realm of social, then Google would be screwed. Google+ does everything that Facebook does – with some features that are even better than Facebook’s – but it hasn’t been able to get much traction as a social network. It’s like a really great night spot in a part of town that no one goes to; the bar is well-stocked, the seats are comfy, and the interior decoration is superb, but the place is sparsely populated. With both bars and social networks, we want a bit of a crowd.

Photo taken by someone wearing a pair of Google's augmented reality headsup display glasses during a press conference (Click Image To Enlarge)

The real challenge Google has for Facebook is the secretive Google X lab’s creation, “Project Glass,” which New York Times refers to as “Terminator Style Glasses” (check the url) and what the rest of us fondly call “Google Glasses.” The augmented reality glasses would bring smartphone computing straight to your eyeballs, and allow wearers to capture photos and videos of the world as they see it.   In the first Project Glass video released, a Googler tramps it up:

 

Person wearing a pair of Google's augmented reality headsup display glasses, doing backflips on a trampoline 

Creating video and images like these is a visual social experience. In fact, sharing the world as you see it with someone else may be the ultimate social experience. The Project Glass output has the same allure as Instagram — capturing where someone is at a given moment, and what they’re doing — but has an enhanced intimacy from seeing the world as that person sees it, rather than as they see it through their phone. I’m calling it now: Google Glass stalking is going to be way more fun than Facebook stalking.

Googler Sebastian Thrun, playing with his son, Jasper, while wearing Google's augmented reality headsup display glasses (Click Image To Enlarge)

Facebook bought Instagram and created a Facebook Camera because photos — and specifically photos of people — are at the heart of Facebook and the social experience. With Google Glasses — which Google's co-founder Sergey Brin says may be available commercially as early as 2013 and which NYT has said will cost between $250 and $600 — Google is muscling its way into the social photo space in a big way.

Media/tech thinker Robin Sloan pegs this as the next big battle between the tech giants: “Facebook Camera vs. Project Glass” or “pictures vs. vision”:

"When you think Facebook, think: photos. And don’t be surprised if you see Facebook do even more to cement this incredible position."

Speaking of, Facebook is rumored to be acquiring Face.com, an Israeli start-up that uses facial recognition to tag people in photos and even allows them to ‘check in’ at events via a facial scan.

"And when you think Google, think… well, think long-term. I feel like Facebook is probably an easier place to work than Google these days. Facebook is all huge numbers going up, up, up everyday—everything except the share price, but that will come in time. Google, on the other hand, is Google+ and its undead shambling… but damn, it’s also Project Glass, and those cars that can drive themselves! Google is getting good, really good, at building things that see the world around them and actually understand what they’re seeing."

"In this context, Google+ is not the company’s most strategic project. That distinction goes to Glass, to the self-driving cars, and to Google Maps, Street View, and Earth: Google’s detailed model of the real, physical world."

And because Google Glasses will have the ability to send text messages, take phone calls, and give directions, Apple‘s iPhone will also be in the boxing ring here.

Another advantage Google Glasses may have: taking us out of a world of screens and little boxes, and into a world where the technology around us is near invisible (beyond the geek-hipster frames sitting on your face). At the very least, it’s hand-less. Apple made a similar move in this direction with Siri, allowing people to gradually phase keyboards out of their computing.

Google CEO Larry Page wearing a pair of Google augmented reality headsup display glasses (Click Image To Enlarge)

We’re constantly being told these days that sitting is killing us, and that the amount of time we spend planted in a chair, glued to computers and tablets, is dangerously unhealthy. Technologies that allow us to be mobile and engaged with the world, while still connected to the Internet, are going to continue to be attractive, even if we don’t look our most attractive while wearing them.

COMMENTARY:   It's debatable whether Google Glasses will be enough of a leap forward in technology to give Google+ the inertia it needs to jump ahead of Facebook.  It's a nice device to have if you constantly need to share what you see in your world to the rest of your social circle.

The high price tag is going to be a big hurdle towards mainstream adoption. The price needs to come down substantially so that it is as affordable as a pair of headphones.    

The glasses themselves are due for a complete redesign.  Looking Geeky just isn't cool enough.  In a blog post dated April 14, 2012, I mentioned the design issue and believe that licensing the technology to fashion designers like Prada and Gucci, could be a way around this, but users would have to pay an even higher designer price tag.  

In a blog posts dated February 8, 2012 and February 23, 2012, I mentioned several problems with the glasses.  The location-based and face recognition technology that will undoubtedly be built into the software behind the Google Glasses will definite raise some serious privacy concerns.  

Advertisers might use the glasses to reach potential customers, but will users be receptive to receiving small display ads or text announcements when they are near a retailer's store running those ads on Google+ or Google Search?   This could certainly give advertising a huge punch, but those ads are awful intrusive if you ask me.

I definitely see the Google Glasses providing a huge boost to the travel and tourism industry.   

Courtesy of an article dated May 30, 2012 appearing in Forbes

HOW SAKS FIFTH AVENUE CREATED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE, BY USING ROBOTS TO AUTOMATE ITS ORDER FULFILLMENT

Saks Direct 500,000-sq.-ft. distribution center in Aberdeen, MD (Click Image To Enlarge)

R etailers always seem to be fighting through notoriously tight operating margins, so any competitive advantage that accrues to the bottom line is welcome.

Saks Direct, the high-flying e-commerce division of Saks and companion of the high-end Saks Fifth Avenue retail stores, is certain it has found a nice fulfillment advantage over some of its rivals for consumers’ online shopping dollars.

The humdrum world of order fulfillment and product distribution hardly matches the luxurious and legendary Saks brand. But an ambitious decision two years ago to revamp the company’s fulfillment processes allowed Saks Direct to meet equally ambitious 2011 holiday shopping season delivery opportunities.

Casting aside its fixed warehouse automation systems for moving product, Saks took a capital-intensive leap of faith and began implementing a mobile-robotic approach to picking and packing for Saks Direct at its 500,000-sq.-ft. distribution center in Aberdeen, Md. Michael Rodgers, executive vice president and CIO for Saks, says the new fulfillment system allowed Saks Direct to promise Christmas Eve delivery for customers ordering as late as the day before.It seemed to make a difference: Saks Direct reported a 21 percent increase in fourth quarter sales from the same period in 2010.

Rodgers says. 

“That’s a competitive advantage.  I don’t know how many of our competitors were able to do that and how many weren’t. I just know that we were, and we didn’t break a sweat doing it.”

Efficiencies created

Breaking a sweat in the Aberdeen DC isn’t for humans anymore. With the Kiva Mobile-robotic Fulfillment System, hundreds of “robots” do the grunt work, automatically moving products of different shapes and sizes on mobile, modular shelving units across the DC floor. The robotic-drive shelving units are guided to workstations where associates await — a process Kiva markets as “Goods-to-Man Order Picking.”

 

Peter Blair, Kiva senior director of marketing, says the system reduces cycle time through efficiencies of scale as associates can pick, pack and ship orders more quickly without having to move around the warehouse floor to locate products.

Blair says.

“Say Mrs. Smith orders a pair of shoes, a dress and some earrings.  In most cases, you have two options. Either one person goes out with the cart and walks miles around the warehouse … [or you] take three people and send one over to get the dress, one over to get the shoes and one over to get the earrings.”

The heart of the Kiva Systems' mobile-robotic fulfillment are the bright orange mobile robotic units which move inventory shelves from their warehouse floor locations to the worker stations where a human picker pulls the items ordered.  This eliminates warehouse people from having to walk all over the warehouse to pull inventory items off the shelves (Click Image To Enlarge)

Kiva Systems stations include a stock picker who pulls stock items, mobile inventory pods attached to shelves and mobile packaging pods which bring empty boxes for packing (Click Image To Enlarge)

Blair explains that efficiencies are created because all the robotic drives do is ferry products to workstations. Associates use hand-held barcode scanners to point to the shelf to verify the product. A light on the shelf activates indicating the location of the item, accommodating product elements like size and color. Once done, the robotic drive moves to the next workstation, leaving another pod ready in the queue to deliver product.

The scanning system leaves little to chance, while enabling associates to pick multiple orders simultaneously and completely.  Blair says.

“It’s very nice for the worker because it is very accurate.  They don’t have to think too much about what they are doing. It’s very clear.”

Increased space & flexibility

The Kiva system covers inventory control, forward replenishment, picking, packing, shipping sortation, finishing and quality assurance. With shipping sortation, for instance, orders can be picked depending on their destination. If the delivery is going from the East Coast to the West Coast, the order might get picked and packaged earlier in the workday to accommodate air travel schedules.

Rodgers says going to robotic fulfillment from a manual operation was a strategic decision to create leverage from expanding consumer interest in online shopping. Online spending during the 2011 holiday season (November 1 through December 31) reached $35.3 billion, according to digital research firm comScore – a 15 percent increase from 2010.

Rodgers says.

“This was a big bet Saks made ... during the throes of the recession.  We asked, ‘What are some of the big bets we can make that are going to make a difference when we come out of this recession?’”

Rodgers says mobile-robotic fulfillment worked so well for Saks that the company implemented the system at Aberdeen much sooner than anticipated. Saks Direct initially converted four departments to Kiva, completing that phase by September 2010. The company waited to complete the remainder of the conversion so as to not interfere with the impending 2010 holiday shopping season, though executives already were convinced of its benefits, Rodgers says. Saks completed the makeover by June 2011, well ahead of the 30 months planned.

Rodgers says.  

“It is a relatively new technology, bu5t from the day it started to today we haven’t had problem one. The biggest thing was how fast we could get the rest of it converted.”

Rodgers says two other benefits of the robotic system are space and flexibility. As online shopping is expanding rapidly among consumers, so is the need for retailers to keep more inventory in warehouses to satisfy service requirements for shipping and delivery. With dynamic shelving, Saks could create 30 percent more space at Aberdeen.

He says.  

“It maximizes the issue of shelving [because] it’s a non-human environment.  People don’t have to walk up and down aisles, and you can pack items in more closely.”

Rapid product delivery 

As it expands its omni-channel marketing efforts, Saks is seeking to grow its distribution footprint – possibly to new facilities. Since the Kiva system is based on a mobile principle.  Rogers says.  

“I can pick it up and move it to other locations."

Blair says that in today’s e-commerce consumer environment, superior customer service demands super-fast product delivery.

He says.  

“It used to be that [retailers] could take a week to get you something.  That has changed. Everyone now expects that shipping is going to be quick and that it may even be free. Consumers also expect to have value-added services like gift wrapping and all those other things. Expectations have gone way up.”

Rodgers says the benefits from robotic fulfillment have been like a rallying cry for Saks.

He says.  

“We’ve done things our competition hasn’t done.  Everybody feels really happy about it. It is one of the things we hold up as a strategic investment that is paying big dividends for the company, not only from a return on investment standpoint but also from a service standpoint. That’s probably the most important thing in the dot-com arena.”

COMMENTARY:  Kiva Systems delivers accuracy, productivity and flexibility across a wide range of products, processes and industries.  Kiva distribution operations handle products from aspirin to audio components, books to bath towels, crutches to candles, diapers to dishes, elbow pads to earrings, fan belts to folders, golf balls to ball gowns, hair gel to hand bags…well, you get the picture. If a product is picked as eaches or cases to satisfy orders, a Kiva system will handle it more accurately, productively and cost-effectively than any traditional automation approach.

Kiva automates eCommerce and catalog direct-to-consumer fulfillment, business-to-business order fulfillment, retail store re-stocking operations, industrial MRO and parts distribution, work-in-process parts supply functions, medical and hospital restocking programs and other order processing operations across a diverse spectrum of vertical markets. Kiva Systems has implemented its mobile-robotic order fulfillment system in these markets.

• eCommerce - Kiva is widely recognized as THE solution for eCommerce fulfillment.
  For internet retailers the fulfillment center is the store and customer satisfaction is the top priority. Kiva makes it possible to pick eaches and cases as productively as full pallets. Kiva builds accuracy into the solution and enables just-in-time order fulfillment. Light directed picking, put-away and order consolidation combined with barcode scanning and multiple methods for confirming quantity ensure that inventory and orders are 99.9% accurate. Kiva does not require batching and waving of orders so any online order can be processed in as little as 15 minutes from the time a consumer submits an order to when a picked, packed and labeled package is sitting on a delivery truck.  Additionally, Internet retailing often involves large assortments and strategies for offering the 'long tail' of goods selection that's impractical in brick-and-mortar stores. This imposes both storage and productivity challenges on eCommerce fulfillment operations tasked with handling high volumes of individually slow-moving goods.
• Retail - The Kiva solution allows retail distribution centers to improve service and lower inventory levels for the enterprise while improving distribution productivity.  Kiva makes it possible to pick eaches and cases as productively as full pallets.  Kiva delivers just-in-time store replenishment.  By integrating store front-end systems with Kiva's back-end order processing system, retailers are capable of selling an item at store level and picking a replacement item in the distribution center within minutes. It is even viable to ship the store replenishment order on the same day. 
• Medical Devices & Supplies - The Kiva solution simultaneously delivers speed, accuracy, productivity, and flexibility while meeting the challenges imposed on distribution operations by the inherent quality concerns of the medical supply chain.  With Kiva it is possible to pick eaches and cases as productively as full pallets. Kiva builds accuracy into the solution and enables just-in-time order fulfillment. Light-directed picking, put-away and order consolidation, combined with barcode scanning and multiple methods for confirming quantity, ensure that inventory and orders are 99.9% accurate.  The Kiva warehouse automation system was designed to meet medical device order fulfillment challenges while delivering operational efficiency and labor savings for distribution center operators.
• Apparel & Footwear - The Kiva solution enables apparel and footwear distribution centers to improve service and lower inventory levels for the enterprise while actually improving distribution productivity. Kiva makes it possible to pick eaches and cases as productively as full pallets. Kiva delivers just-in-time order processing. Kiva customers use the system to store and process single garment picks, cut-case picking, full case picking, garment-on-hanger selection, lay-flat handling, bagged goods, boxed goods and shoes of all size, shape and type. If your company is involved with distributing apparel and footwear products, Kiva has a solution that works for you.
• Health & Beauty - Operations that deal with health and beauty care (HBC) products are excellent candidates for automating with a Kiva solution. Cosmetics, skin care, hair products, vitamins, supplements and similar goods are often picked in each and case quantities to replenish retail stores and salons or to ship directly to consumers. High SKU counts are normal. There are a multitude of packaging configurations to deal with - inner packs, outer packs, cases, clamshells, peg-and-hook-friendly hanging packages, tubes, vials, bottles, and boxes of various shapes and sizes. Additionally, due to formulations and color choices many different products look almost identical which makes it a challenge to pick them accurately. The average warehouse worker would be hard pressed to tell the difference between tubes of red, ruby, scarlet and passion sunset lipstick without some systematic aid in the picking process.
• Other - Kiva automation solutions deliver accuracy, productivity and flexibility across a wide range of products, processes and industries. As opposed to traditional systems where many items are considered "non-conveyable," most items will work with Kiva. Kiva is flexible enough to handle just about any product that a single human can pick alone. Every new customer challenges us to handle at least one item we haven't seen before.

Kiva Systems' major customers include:

• Acumen Brands - ecommerce retailer
• Boston Scientific - medical device manufacturer
• Crate & Barrell - Housewares retailer
• Dansko - Footwear, socks and healthcare apparel manufacturer
• Diapers.com - ecommerce retailer 
• Dillard's - Fashion apparel, cosmetics and home furnishings retailer
• Drugstore.com - Drug internet retailer
• Gap - Apparel, footwear and accessories retailer
• Gilt Group - Designer fashions retailer
• Office Depot - Office supplies and equipment retailer
• Saks Fifth Avenue - Apparel, footwear and accessories retailer
• Staples - Office supplies and equipment retailer
• Timberland - Footwear manufacturer and retailer
• Toys R Us - Toys retailer
• Walgreens - Drug retailer

UPDATE: On March 19, 2012, Amazon.com announced that it has agreed to acquire Kiva Systems for about $775 million in cash. It is considered the latest bid by the online retailer to streamline its growing distribution network.

 Courtesy of an article appearing in the April 2012 issue of Stores Magazine

WHAT GOOGLE'S AUGMENTED REALITY HEADSUP DISPLAY (HUD) GLASSES NEED TO SUCCEED: DESIGNERS LIKE PRADA AND GUCCI

Google's augmented reality headsup display (HUD) glasses (Click Image To Enlarge)

ANDROID IS SLOPPY BECAUSE GOOGLE LICENSES THE SOFTWARE FOR ANYONE TO USE. BUT OPENING PROJECT GLASS’S HARDWARE TO EVERY FASHION DESIGNER IN THE WORLD COULD HAVE A VERY DIFFERENT RESULT.

When you buy an Android phone, it means very little. The phone could be made by anyone. The case could be bulky, thin, sturdy, or clunky. The screen could be one of the sharpest or blurriest on the market. And worse still, the software itself could be skinned to something unintelligible. Android is a fragmented mess.

Google has handed over the keys to their flagship mobile product to a bunch of companies who are often brilliant at engineering but rarely all that tasteful when it comes to design. So despite having every company but Apple making Google phones, Apple is still, somehow, making the most beautiful hardware. An iPhone might not have 4G like some Android phones on the market, but Apple has style and that counts for a lot.

 

While Apple’s closed system offers covetable design, Google’s open line of phones only gets larger and more confusing. Google is ostensibly selling every phone in the world but the best one. But Project Glass could be very different. It could be the time where, like the early days of Windows PCs, open hardware again becomes a huge advantage. Why? Because Project Glass isn’t a gadget that’s tucked away in your pocket. It’s a fashion accessory that sits on your face. Fashion has its trends, sure, but ultimately, fashion is an expression of individual taste that’s fueled by an uncountable amount of options.

Right now, most of us are cringing at Google’s proposed Geordi-friendly geekwear. But imagine a scenario where Google offered Project Glass as a small hardware kit that any company in the world could use to make Google Glasses. (Somewhat like Microsoft, Google could close the software and open the hardware--or at least parts of the hardware.)

While the typical electronics manufacturers would still produce Google Glasses, it could bring in a new wave of designer manufacturers, too. Instead of HTC, Motorola, and Samsung, we could buy Google products designed by Ray-Ban, Fendi, and Gucci. Then, even retail stores like Target, who spend big bucks to subsidize designer labels for the masses, could get behind the technological platform to create whole new lines of the product. Every corner of the market is covered--from the techies to the moms to those who can actually afford high fashion.

Ultra couture fashion designer Tom Ford's mens and womens eyewear lineup for Spring 2012 (Click Image To Enlarge)

Prada's Spring 2012 Campaign eyewear (Click Image To Enlarge)

The result could be a refreshed paradigm for gadgets. A world once dominated by engineering decisions could be dictated by artistic tastes. Construction wouldn’t just be through milled aluminum or new composite plastics, but wood, textile, fur--any whim of the fashion industry.

And a company like Apple, who could conceivably release a competing product, would be in a much different position. Right now, Apple is the electronics design equivalent to Michael Phelps racing a bunch of children around the kiddie pool. But with every desirable fashion brand in the world behind Project Glass, Apple wouldn’t have nearly this margin on style. They’d finally have some decent competition, all arising from the smallest boutiques to the largest retail stores.

With Apple’s closed approach, their products would resemble a uniform at worst and a single label at best. And Google? They’d run the entire fashion industry.

COMMENTARY:   In a blog post dated April 5, 2012, I reported on the four things that Google needed to do in order to succeed with its new augmented reality headsup display (HUD) glasses.  I also said, 

"Yes, design is important. Yes, its important to do a beta test and get customer feedback, but Steve Jobs said it better with his secrets to innovation, 'Say no to a thousand things,' 'Make a dent in the universe,' and 'Design insanely great products that people will lust for.'"  

I never mentioned licensing Google's AR HUD glasses technology, but it is beginning to make sense to me.  Google is a great developer of technology, but they are not known for their design and distribution.  When they launched their Nexus smartphone, the design was there, but the distribution was a total disaster, and the new phone failed to make it in the marketplace.

Turning the design of the new glasses over to real world designers who are known for their skill in designing fashion will be hugely important.  Well known designers like Gucci, Fendi, Louis Vuitton and Prada could have fun designing Google's new glasses.   Having a well known designer name, instead of just Google, will give the new glasses instant creditability. 

Consumers may not know if they need a pair of Google's new glasses yet, but design above everything else will play a huge role in convincing them they have to get a pair.  The design of the new glasses will have to be truly earth shaking and make a fashion statement.       

Courtesy of an article dated April 15, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design 

HARRODS OFFERS HIGH-FASHION ABAYAS FOR MUSLIM WOMEN THAT RIVAL GUCCI SHOES AND HERMES SCARFS AND HANDBAGS

 

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates.  Fashion designer Hind Beljafla makes abayas to match the Gucci shoes and Hermes handbags of high-spending women in the Gulf.

 

Incorporating local tradition with influences from high-end fashion, Hind Beljafla and her sister Reem run successful fashion label Das. Based around the Abaya, Hind has continued to be avant-garde in everything from material application to her pursuit of inspirational locations around the world. While the influence from abroad is something they embrace, the Abaya in itself is a specialty piece looking to incorporate the sensibilities of high-fashion. 

Now these women can buy her elegant versions of the black Islamic robes, which obscure the contours of a woman’s body, when they head to London this summer to escape the Arabian Peninsula’s sweltering heat. Harrods started selling abayas by Beljafla’s DAS Collection in June, a month after Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund bought the landmark store.

Muslim women are like any women around the world: They love fashion and love shopping, Beljafla, 24, said in her store here.

Fashion houses in Milan and Paris are waking up to the commercial potential for Muslim women’s clothing that respects religious values and sets new standards for style.

Gas exporter Qatar ranks among the world’s wealthiest nations, with a gross domestic product per capita of $121,000, while Saudi Arabia sits on a fifth of the planet’s oil reserves.

Last year, John Galliano was among 21 designers who participated in a Paris show at Hotel George V, owned by Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal. The made-to-measure abayas displayed there were worth up to $10,000.

Saks Fifth Avenue, which hosted the event, then put designer abayas on sale for as much as $12,000 at its stores in the Saudi cities of Riyadh and Jeddah. The abayas are displayed alongside designer evening gowns on the women-only floor of a shopping mall in Riyadh’s glass skyscraper, the Kingdom Center, owned by Alwaleed.

Saudi Arabia, which follows a strict interpretation of Islam, forbids mixing in public between unrelated men and women.

Clients have asked DAS to make abayas to match the color of their designer bags and high heels by brands such as Christian Dior, Hermes, Channel, and Gucci, Beljafla said.

Four years ago, Christian Dior SA had one store in the Middle East, in Dubai. It has since opened 10 in the region, in locations including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Lebanon, and Kuwait.

 

Paris-based Jean-Claude Jitrois has made abayas for several Saudi princesses as well as a collection of 40 for sale at Saks Fifth Avenue.

He said. 

"There is no contradiction between the modernity of European fashion and modernity of Middle Eastern women.  Every culture has its traditions, and you have to respect this while giving it a twist."

Abayas have proved popular at Harrods in London, where summertime visitors from the Gulf throng the streets of the upscale Knightsbridge district.

COMMENTARY:  

Those abayas are so beautiful and ornate.  They look almost royal.  

There are 600 million muslim females, and they definitely have a passion for designer jewelery, accessories and handbags.  Especially handbags.  I can clearly understand why so many designers are flocking to target and design abayas for them.   It's a no-brainer.   I wonder why this has taken so long. 

There are some very extraordinary abayas like the above.  Abayas spelled backwards is SayAba.  Could be a neat name for an Abayas designer line.  

Courtesy of an article dated July 14, 2010 appearing in The Boston Globe    

 

LADYGAGA TO LAUNCH LITTLEMONSTERS.COM, HER OWN SOCIAL NETWORK, A PLACE WHERE HER FANS CAN CONNECT

When you have become so famous that there is no more famous to become, what do you do next? Found a social network devoted entirely to yourself, naturally.

That’s the word from Lady Gaga, the world’s most unsettling pop diva, who is preparing to launch littlemonsters.com, an online home for her millions of fans, in collaboration with Backplane, a social media start-up that counts Gaga as one of its investors with a 20% stake. The network is still being set up, but visitors to the Web address can register for an invitation by submitting their email addresses.

The social network is a key step for the pop superstar, allowing fans to find each other and fuse their energies into a great Gaga vortex, perhaps as a preamble to some kind of cosmic pop event (I’m thinking the star-baby from 2001). After all, successful pop stardom is all about the mystical rapport between the celebrity and her fans, but also between the fans themselves, as they join together in a cult-like, communal appreciation of the celebrity, egging each other on in a mutually reinforcing cycle of teenage tweakedness. This naturally also includes lots of extra-crazy fan-generated content.

It’s not clear how, or whether, Gaga intends the new site to integrate with her many other social media platforms, especially Twitter, which has until now enjoyed something of a symbiotic relationship with Gaga, growing along with her fame. However, if all of Gaga’s 18 million Twitter followers join her new social network and visit at least once a month, it would put littlemonsters.com ahead of sites including Pinterest (with 7.5 million unique visitors in December 2011, per comScore), Barnes & Noble (14 million), and the U.S. Postal Service (15.5 million).

COMMENTARY:    I must confess that I used to follow Lady Gaga on Twitter, but she never followed me back, so I decided right there and then, to dump her.  No pop Diva, no matter how many fans she has, is entitled to call me a her "little monster,".   I looked it up, and Lady Gaga now 18.9 million followers on Twitter 47.6 million fans on Facebook.

Lady Gaga is without any doubt very talented and a great entertainer, but she is also one of the best self-promoters and marketers around.  She is not just a celebrity, but a brand.   The famous "Meat Dress" that she wore to the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards is legendary and is ranked as one of the top marketing coops of all time. Checkout any of Lady Gaga's YouTube videos, and there isn't a single one that has been viewed less than 10 million times.  On May 20, 2011, she partnered with Starbucks to promote her album "Born This Way," and offered free downloads for her hit song "The Edge of Glory."

Lady Gaga is unique among entertainers.  She is totally over-the-top and never willing to be upstaged.  Below is her famous "Egg Capsule" she used to make her grand entrance at the 2011 Grammy Music Awards.

 

Lady Gaga appeared at the 2010 Brit Awards wearing a see-through costume and towering hairpiece designed by the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen.

Click Image To Enlarge

Make no mistake, LadyGaga is quite an entrepreneur, and having her own social network will be a seamless way to drive more traffic to her LadyGaga.com site where she spreads the latest news about her upcoming events and appearances, provides the lyrics to her songs, has a chat room for her fans and has an online shop where she sells her branded merchandise, from jewelry to outerwear, and in five different languages.  Her Lady Gaga Helvetica Monster Sunglasses sell for $25.o0.  You can also purchase music CD's of all her albums from $6.98 to $29.95. 

Here just a few of her Twitter Tweets:

"Really wanna get a new tattoo. Can't decide where. Was thinking on inside of my forearm under the peace sign. Whatcha think." 

"Screw it. I had too much wine."

"Can't believe I have 18,000,000 TwitterMonsters, really rad, was just a few years ago I had barely any."

"Merry X-mas Little Monsters! Listen Here to my UNRELEASED SONG "Stuck On Fuckin' You": bit.ly/t2MVBl 

"@LadyGaga's hot-selling album Born This Way has moved over 8 million copies around the world, Billboard magazine reports." 

It's difficult not to ignore Lady Gaga, but I do hope that you enjoy reading some of my other blog posts about her dated May 20, 2011, June 1, 2011, June 18, 2011, August 20, 2011, December 1, 2011, 

Courtesy of an article dated February 7, 2012 appearing in MediaPost Publications The Social Graf

FOREVER 21'S JAW DROPPING HOLOGRAPHIC FASHION SHOW USES NO LIVE MODELS, WOWS THE CROWDS, COULD SPARK A NEW TREND

Fashion retailer Forever 21 is hosting a series of unique fashion shows worldwide that use holographic images instead of live models.

The promotion, conceived and produced with the help of digital agency space150, kicked off last week in Vienna, Austria. A total of eight shows are currently scheduled, including Brussels (June) and London (July).   Says Los Angeles-based Forever 21 Marketing Manager Kirstin Nagle. A New York show, currently the only U.S. show scheduled, will be in the fall.

The Vienna show, timed to celebrate the opening of the flagship Vienna retail store, gave invited fans and customers the chance to see breaking fashion trends in a runway show comprised entirely of holographic models. It was both a press and consumer event, she says.

FOREVER 21 Holographic Fashion Show - Vienna Austria: 04/29/11 from space150 on Vimeo.

Nagel told Marketing Daily,

"Consumers obtained invites to the event through becoming fans of our Facebook Grand Opening event page.  For our upcoming events marketing and outreach will also be done through social media. Depending on each market and size of venue, a certain number of consumer invites will be given."

The show features a runway first: no live models. Holographic models, wearing designs from Forever 21's new line, walk the runway, disappear into starbursts and climb invisible staircases that light up underfoot.

Says Nagle,

"We know that our customers are tech savvy and stay on top of trends in both fashion and technology.  These shows are a way of connecting with our consumers in both areas."

Forever 21's program of digital brand entertainment began in June 2010 with the introduction of an interactive Forever 21 billboard in Times Square, New York. Also conceived in partnership with space150, the board located on the site of the iconic Virgin billboard, features giant onscreen models interacting in real-time with customers on the streets outside the store. Models snap Polaroids of the crowd in real-time or pick people up and drop them into a store shopping bag.

The brand operates 450 stores in the United States with operations internationally in Bahrain, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand and UAE (Dubai and Abu Dahbi).

COMMENTARY:   I love Forever 21's leading edge use of holographic technology that does not use live models could be come the way future fashion shows will be staged.  You shoot the fashion show once, using live models, shoot the show using holographic cameras, then take the show on the road.  

Forever 21 repeated its incredible holographic fashion shows in London, Brussels and Glasgow. Here are the videos for these groundbreaking holographic fashion shows:

Forever 21 Holographic Fashion Show in London:

  

Forever 21's Holographic Fashion Show in Brussels, Belgium:

 

Forever 21's Holographic Fashion Show in Glasgow, Scotland: 

 

Forever 21's Holographic Fashion Show in New York City:

 

Holographic fashion shows are destined to become the latest new trend in fashion technology.  The folks at Burberry and Diesel thought so too, and held their own holographic fashion showa:

 

 

Billy Jurewicz, founder and CEO of space150 leads agency’s evolution and approach to modern marketing.

Billy started space150 in March of 2000, during the height of the dot-com crash (I was also there), with only $20,000 of working capital.  Since then, space150 has grown to 140 employees and was named to the Growth 50 by the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal in both 2005 and 2006. (The publication also recognized Billy as a member of their "Forty Under 40" in 2005.)

Before founding space150, Billy worked in the creative department at Fallon Worldwide, on accounts such as Starbucks, Miller Lite, EDS, and Lee Jeans. Prior to Fallon, he worked for the DDB Needham affiliate Milici Valenti Ng Pack in Hawaii, and on several major accounts for BBDS in Chicago, including McDonald’s, Sheraton Hotels, Sprint, Midwest Express, and Aloha Airlines.

Says space150 founder and CEO Billy Jurewicz,

“Forever 21 is a phenomenon. They’re a leader in bringing accessible, up-to-the-minute fashion to customers everywhere.  We designed these holographic shows as a more advanced way to premiere a new line that is more controllable, less hassle and has much greater impact for the same price as a traditional runway event.

Our whole approach at space150 is about destroying convention to create demand. We’re not saying the traditional runway show has seen its end, but this technology and concept really rethinks the idea of what a runway can now do.”

Says Linda Chang, Forever 21's senior marketing manager,

“Our customers are always searching for the next big thing, or fashion trends before they happen. We love that about them, so we are always thinking about how to surprise them, show them things they’ve never seen before and give them new exciting ways to get involved with Forever 21.”

Fashion shows can be very extravagant and costly affairs.  In an article dated November 23, 2009 appearing in New York Magazine, this is what they said about the fashion show costs for Victoria's Secret fashion show (see above)held during New York's 2009 Fashion Week:

"If this past Fashion Week didn't teach you that trying not to be extravagant out of respect for the economic climate and the hardships induced on much of the population is a thing of the past, the Victoria's Secret fashion show is here to remind you! The show, which taped last Thursday in New York, included 35 models along with host Heidi Klum, 1,034 guests, and one $3 million Harlequin Fantasy Bra  (see my blog entry dated October 25, 2010) worn on the runway by Miranda Kerr. Designed by Damiani, it includes more than 2,300 diamonds in various shades. The total cost for the whole affair? About $10 million (not including the bling bra, presumably). But to be fair, they do two tapings." 

Fashion show savings and efficiences could be considerable, including reductions in talent agency fees, make-up and hairstylists, wardrobe transportation, maintenance and storage, travel and entertainment, venue rent, and the list goes on.   I am sure that the model agencies and their models are not going to like the holographic fashion show format since this drastically cuts into their talent fees.  

Forever 21's clever use of social media to market and communicate their fashion shows is part of a growing trend in the fashion industry.  In a blog post dated September 8, 2010, I wrote about the use of social media during the 2010 New York Fashion Week.  Retail designer brands Marc Jacobs, Ann Taylor, Bluberry are just a few of the names that made use of Facebook and Twitter to market and promote their fashion show events and engage with their fans.  Social media marketing is taken so seriously, that there is even a Fashion 2.0 Media Awards event held during New York's Fashion Week, to award the brands and agencies with the best social media marketing campaigns. 

Forever 21 has 4.4 million fans on Facebook and 159,00 followers on Twitter.  They need to get moving on Twitter.  You can read all of @forever21's tweets about the Vienna holographic fashion show HERE.   

In another blog article dated September 14, 2010, I wrote about New York fashion designer Betsey Johnson's (she's one of my favorites) desire to reduce her marketing costs, and her use of location-based social media to promote her brand. Betsey Johnson's use Facebook Places, was the first time that location-based marketing was used in the fashion industry.   

Forever 21's historic holographic fashion show is truly a pioneering effort, but it is still too early to tell whether other fashion designers will adopt holographic technology for their fashion shows.  I am still trying to find out more information about this technology.

Courtesy of an article dated May 3, 2011 appearing in MediaPost Publications Marketing Daily, an article dated November 23, 2009 appearing in New York Magazine