Andrew Lark

Apple Retails Stats...

Some stunning stats on Apple's retail stores:

• Apple will open 40 new stores this year, an average of one every nine days.
• The stores conduct approximately 3,500 special events, such as classes on software, every week.
• On average, 10,876 visitors come to an Apple Store each week, up from 9,316 per week last fiscal year.
• Average revenue per store is $441,000 per week.
• Employee turnover is 20 percent a year, compared to 50 percent on average for the retail industry.
• The average Apple Stores outsells all its neighbors, stores like Ann Taylor, Pottery Barn, Sharper Image, combined.
• The average Apple Store, with its 6,000 square feet of space, generates two-thirds of the revenue of a Best Buy, which averages 38,000 square feet.
• There are over 100,000 ProCare members, each ProCare membership generating $99 per year, plus the irritation of those waiting in line at the Genius Bar without ProCare membership.
• 20,000 children were indoctrinated participated in the Summer Camp program this year.

Everytime I go into a store I'm stunned at how alive they are. For a contrast, visit a Sony store. Each Apple store is in effect one of the community epicenters. A place to learn, meet, swap ideas and get support. They really are remarkable.

An aside: expect the next version of Office for Mac mid 2007...

The Marriage Of PR & Consulting

Paul covers the acquisition of Financial Dynamics by management consulting firm FTI last week. He's beaten me to the punch on several thoughts I had on reading this in the FT:

1. 'Technical communications' boutiques and agencies (IR, crisis comms, change management, positioning, etc.) have a natural synergy with large consulting firms.
2. The synergy isn't just in practice area, it is also in working model.
3. As the larger (McKinsey) and more niche consulting firms look for growth outside traditional services there will be more M&A in this area.
4. There are a large group of agencies of all shapes and sizes that would die a certain death inside a management consulting firm. Culturally they are not a fit and the client has an expectation of them that would not be fulfilled by the working practices of say, a McKinsey.

Here is what Paul had to say in The Holmes Report:

Nevertheless, the possibility that other management consulting or professional service firms might take an interest in public relations consultancies—particularly those at the high value-added end of the business—is intriguing, and many PR agency principals believe their firms have more in common with the consulting business than they do with the advertising business, which traditionally has been the biggest buyer of public relations agencies. Charles Watson, chief executive of FD, says financial PR has more in common with consulting than with the advertising agency businesses and predicted that there could be “other similar transactions to come. There is a growing recognition on the part of the consulting business that reputation and risk management and communications are becoming more important issues for their clients at the CEO level.”

Consolidation In Analyst Land

Mike Rothman points to continuing consolidation in analyst land as Yankee starts to flex its muscles on the back of activity from Ovum. This also reflects the continued bifurcation of the analyst market - "Big Gorillas" offering packaged insight and events vs. "Nimble Nats" offering strategic insight, commentary and thinking. Given that the "Nimble Nats" are very content and market centric I also wonder if they wont be targeted by the media companies (CMP, CNET) for acquisition or at least strategic partnerships.

Webcast Plug

Steve Rubel, (MicroPersuasion, Edelman) and I are doing a web cast at the invitation of PR Week on Thursday, September 28. Details below. Nonsubscribers can register, by the way.

Everyone is talking about new media channels such as blogs and podcasts. But what does this reality mean for the future of PR and communications? PRWeek is convening a Web cast to discuss critical issues in the ever-changing new media landscape. Moderated by Keith O’Brien, PRWeek news editor and editor of prweek.com.

Not Getting Coverage? You Might Try Sueing Someone...

 Adfreak covers what is one of the weirdest law suits in recent weeks?

Kitson, a Hollywood fashion boutique... claims that Us Weekly has caused the store harm by refusing to give it any publicity lately. Kitson is “favored by young celebs such as Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Denise Richards,” so it’s the sort of place the celeb-centric press tends to publicize endlessly. Indeed, Us Weekly used to do so, notes the article in the Los Angeles Times. But now, says Kitson’s owner, a falling out with the boutique has prompted the magazine to avoid any mention of it. And this systematic shunning “is costing the store $10,000 per week,” the suit alleges. If the boutique’s legal action is successful, will it establish a right for places like Kitson to get tons of ink in venues like Us Weekly? Stranger things have happened, though not many.

"Systematic shunning"? Isn't that something PR people deal with every day?

PR Tech Leader Doesn't Get the Blog Thing...

Paul Abrahams, ex FT hack turned flack at Wag-ED really doesn't understand what all the fuss is about...

Is blogging the 21st-century equivalent of citizen band radio, the personal radio technology that became so popular in the late 1970s that it was included in a Coronation Street plotline and spawned a generation of bad Burt Reynolds 'Good Ol' Boy' movies?

Tom fires back:

Mr Scoble created many millions of dollars in positive publicity for Microsoft, on a salary of less than $100K. I don't think WaggEd could have done a fraction of that, for 100 times the payment Mr Scoble received.

It is pretty remarkable that any communicator doesn't quite grasp the impact of participatory communications and social media - it is even more remarkable to go public with it in such a way. Don't think bad of Wag-ED though, Frank Shaw has a pretty good blog running which I follow.

If all Paul was trying to do was ignite the debate with a contrarian view - and goodness knows we need them right now - he has done a great job.

Blogs a Powerful B2B Presence @ Media Buyer Planner

Well worth a look. According to the study, Blogs have made inroads into B2B technology companies with more than 53 percent of respondents saying the content they read in blogs has an impact on their work-related purchasing decisions. Some 80 percent of respondents say they read blogs, with 51 saying they read them at least once a week.

The Cascade Of Influence

Tom highlights how the cascade of influence is changing - using the LonelyGirl15 (LG15) story. Turns out that LonelyGirl15 (LG15) is in fact and aspiring NZ actress - and - that the videos were anything but amateur.

The first parts of the story were published in online sites, then came the major newspapers: New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Times with their coverage. Their stories then helped spark the interest of TV and radio news crews.

The LG15 story is not an important story in itself, but it is an important news story. This is not a contradiction, it is a description of its place in our culture.

The LG15 story shows how the media functions, how they influence each other. It shows how the media networks: blogger, citizen, mainstream, and anything in-between -- push/pull news stories up into the broader mediasphere.

To get into the broader mediasphere, it seems news stories often have to make it into flagship publications of journalist rigor, such as the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, LA Times, the Wall Street Journal,  and The Times (London.)

Tom says it well in an earlier post.

Yes, the subject matter of this story was not about anything that matters that much. But imagine this same type of cooperation on really important stories--that's what excites me.

There is always intense competition to be first with a story--but that is good. And it is complimentary competition rather than adversarial. There is no such thing as bloggers versus mainstream media.

This is the media model for the future: a mediasphere that uses the best qualities of professional media combined with relentless pursuit of information by citizen journalists. That's a potent formula that bodes well for our society, IMHO

Links & Blinks

• 21 SEO tips and tricks. Well worth a read.
• FunkySexyCool.com - power of social networking
• Google Earth gets free premium content. Once a user clicks on a featured content vendor, markers will appear on the images being viewed, designating the special features.
• The hard disk is 50 years old... And given the death recently of my Powerbook HD, the sooner they are replaced the better...
• When selling the CEO, keep it simple...
• NZ's Warehouse founder wants to take company private...
• 50 Great design resources
• The Ultimate Mac software list

"Green" Resonates As A Message

Just in case you thought Sun and Dell were smoking something with all their Green messaging, take a read of this piece in Computerworld. In fact, Green is the new black when it comes to messaging. Take a look at the messaging leadership that GE is demonstrating.

In fact, GE is one of the few to extend it across to a brand play ("ecoimagination") while maintaining a degree of authenticity. Sun on the other hand is really doing a great job of attaching the product to tangible benefits - like energy rebates - and product branding - "cool threads".

What is going on here is interesting. Recognizing the very tangible commercial advantage of messaging green, companies like Sun, GE and Dell are moving beyond messaging as hyperbole and into making the message very real. The stand to gain from the mantra of "live the message and prosper".