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Constantly Changing, Always The Same
Jul. 29th, 2007 10:38 amWhile I still remember, Aaron Brown has written an interesting response to a post that I made a few days ago (http://peterbirks.livejournal.com/232712.html?thread=1090824#t1090824). Sometimes (albeit not often) one is glad that Google Alerts exists, and this is one of them. Maybe if I mention The Black Swan often enough, Nassin Nicholas Taleb will pop by.
Of course, it might be an idea if I got round to reading it first.
+++++++++
Things are not looking shiny for Mr Pickle at the moment. Only a few days after he said that he spent most of his time abroad these days looking at his more important projects (thus neatly sidestepping any awkward questions about Virgin Media, or the fact that Virgin has stopped some of its rail services and failed to attempt provide any kind of replacement service, blaming the weather), his planned commercial space travel project suffered a slight setback when there was a massive explosion and some workers died. No-one from Virgin was available for comment. Strange how silent and "unobtainable" he can go when it suits him so to do, isn't it?
Oh, and the Virgin Airlines staff are apparently considering strike action.
The "brand" of Virgin is remarkably lopsided. Never mind that Virgin Cola is undrinkable (one would think that Virgin Airlines would stop serving it for that reason alone), and that NTL, sorry, Virgin Media, can't supply half the programmes that many people signed up for, or that the high street shops are suffering from the online revolution in music-stealing/sales. No, never mind all that; because, provided the airline maintains its reputation, then the Virgin brand does very well. The problem is, the Virgin Airlines reputation is gradually sinking, and once that starts, it's very very hard to build it back up.
Interbrand published its fascinating brand league table on Friday. Coca Cola tops the list (that's a hard one to argue with), although I think it's difficult to assign specific "values" in the way that Interbrand does (in C-C's case, $62m). In the wake of Cocal Cola come the other behemoths - Microsoft and McDonald's, (and Marlboro in 14th; rock on, the letter "M", clearly). Also in the top 10 are IBM, GE, Toyota, Intel, Nokia, Disney and Mercedes-Benz. Wot, no Mr Pickle? Staggering. Also, note, not a single financial institution.
Ford fell from 30th to 41st. As a mark of warning, Mr Pickle might like to take note.
I think that this last sentence is vital. Not for nothing does Interbrand call Apple "the master of demand creation". In the past the thing which has distinguished Virgin "in a meaningful way" has been its youthfulness and vitality (traits it shared with Microsoft) - its "non-business but businesslike" nature. As a company ages, this has to be replaced with something else, or the brand begins to look simply tired. Virgin Airlines's customer support is in India; its poker offering is, basically, embarrassing, with the errors of the site runners (Boss) spreading to brand devaluation at Virgin, rather than the other way round. "Promotions" frequently entail cross-selling of other Virgin interests (i.e., at the instructions of people above). See the Kensington Gardens Roof for an example of this.
++++++++++
I had an irritating week on the markets. I went short cable at 2.0620, but stuck to the intra-day rolling spot contract (spread is much narrower, but you have to pay it every 24 hours). This worked fine on Tuesday and Wednesday (twice on Wednesday, actually), while on Thursday I decided to get out when Finspreads' online service crashed -- never used to happen before City Index bought them -- so I phoned up and closed it out for break-even. There's little worse than trying to get through on the phone to close a position that's collapsing by the second.
Then on Friday, because of the dentist, and a fairly ambiguous chart, I decided to leave it alone. Needless to say, while I was away getting my gum chopped open, Sterling fell another two cents.
Bugger.
I'm still minded to maintain a short position on Sterling down to the $2 (maybe $1.9950) mark. Then it's the upward trek again. Probably $2.09 or $2.10 by the end of the year I guess. The peak seems to have come around December time.
++++++++++
The online Singapore Straits Times had a headline this morning that would not have calmed the fears of many in the spreads-betting industry that dodgy things are happening in the land of Asian football.
S. Korea to beat Japan on penalties to finish 3rd in Asian Cup
Fortunately, it was just down to the poor English of the sub-editor (see! it does matter!) rather than the soccer scandal of the century being laid bare.
At least, I hope that it was.
_________________________
Of course, it might be an idea if I got round to reading it first.
+++++++++
Things are not looking shiny for Mr Pickle at the moment. Only a few days after he said that he spent most of his time abroad these days looking at his more important projects (thus neatly sidestepping any awkward questions about Virgin Media, or the fact that Virgin has stopped some of its rail services and failed to attempt provide any kind of replacement service, blaming the weather), his planned commercial space travel project suffered a slight setback when there was a massive explosion and some workers died. No-one from Virgin was available for comment. Strange how silent and "unobtainable" he can go when it suits him so to do, isn't it?
Oh, and the Virgin Airlines staff are apparently considering strike action.
The "brand" of Virgin is remarkably lopsided. Never mind that Virgin Cola is undrinkable (one would think that Virgin Airlines would stop serving it for that reason alone), and that NTL, sorry, Virgin Media, can't supply half the programmes that many people signed up for, or that the high street shops are suffering from the online revolution in music-stealing/sales. No, never mind all that; because, provided the airline maintains its reputation, then the Virgin brand does very well. The problem is, the Virgin Airlines reputation is gradually sinking, and once that starts, it's very very hard to build it back up.
Interbrand published its fascinating brand league table on Friday. Coca Cola tops the list (that's a hard one to argue with), although I think it's difficult to assign specific "values" in the way that Interbrand does (in C-C's case, $62m). In the wake of Cocal Cola come the other behemoths - Microsoft and McDonald's, (and Marlboro in 14th; rock on, the letter "M", clearly). Also in the top 10 are IBM, GE, Toyota, Intel, Nokia, Disney and Mercedes-Benz. Wot, no Mr Pickle? Staggering. Also, note, not a single financial institution.
Ford fell from 30th to 41st. As a mark of warning, Mr Pickle might like to take note.
"The Ford brand continues its long-term decline demonstrating how an iconic brand can lose its way. Ford, unlike the competition, has not invested in distinguishing itself in any meaningful way."
I think that this last sentence is vital. Not for nothing does Interbrand call Apple "the master of demand creation". In the past the thing which has distinguished Virgin "in a meaningful way" has been its youthfulness and vitality (traits it shared with Microsoft) - its "non-business but businesslike" nature. As a company ages, this has to be replaced with something else, or the brand begins to look simply tired. Virgin Airlines's customer support is in India; its poker offering is, basically, embarrassing, with the errors of the site runners (Boss) spreading to brand devaluation at Virgin, rather than the other way round. "Promotions" frequently entail cross-selling of other Virgin interests (i.e., at the instructions of people above). See the Kensington Gardens Roof for an example of this.
++++++++++
I had an irritating week on the markets. I went short cable at 2.0620, but stuck to the intra-day rolling spot contract (spread is much narrower, but you have to pay it every 24 hours). This worked fine on Tuesday and Wednesday (twice on Wednesday, actually), while on Thursday I decided to get out when Finspreads' online service crashed -- never used to happen before City Index bought them -- so I phoned up and closed it out for break-even. There's little worse than trying to get through on the phone to close a position that's collapsing by the second.
Then on Friday, because of the dentist, and a fairly ambiguous chart, I decided to leave it alone. Needless to say, while I was away getting my gum chopped open, Sterling fell another two cents.
Bugger.
I'm still minded to maintain a short position on Sterling down to the $2 (maybe $1.9950) mark. Then it's the upward trek again. Probably $2.09 or $2.10 by the end of the year I guess. The peak seems to have come around December time.
++++++++++
The online Singapore Straits Times had a headline this morning that would not have calmed the fears of many in the spreads-betting industry that dodgy things are happening in the land of Asian football.
S. Korea to beat Japan on penalties to finish 3rd in Asian Cup
Fortunately, it was just down to the poor English of the sub-editor (see! it does matter!) rather than the soccer scandal of the century being laid bare.
At least, I hope that it was.
_________________________
