For control freaks like Apple, partnerships must be really frustrating. Famous for wanting to control every aspect of their product - hardware and software - plus sales, service etc., the torrid iPhone experience over the last 24 hours must have sent Steve Jobs fuming to say the least. It’s not absolutely clear who is to blame, but the guns are pointing at Apple’s partner, AT&T (and other carriers overseas).

So even though many decry Apple for being a relatively closed platform, the events of the last 24 hours may have brought some people round to Apple’s way of thinking, or at least made them more sympathetic.

But the reality is that partnerships in most sectors are an increasing necessity. As markets mature, product life cycles and development lead times shrink in today’s ever competitive landscape, organisations have to pair up to provide services they couldn’t do themselves, or at least not cost/time effectively.

Apple clearly sees the mobile market as a crucial one. So would it make sense for them to become a mobile carrier to control the experience end-to-end? Well, that would seem overkill. The bad experience involves activation, the general experience using AT&T and other carriers doesn’t seem to be a particularly big issue (or is it?). Apple is not in the pipes business, so why worry about the mobile pipes if it doesn’t worry too much about the fixed broadband pipes?

So, this got us thinking. As the title of this post conjectures, is the Apple/iPhone brand damaged by having a partner that is a weaker link in the brand experience chain? Anecdotal evidence from people being interviewed outside Apple/AT&T stores would seem to suggest (a) many folks attributed the blame to AT&T, and (b) the diehards waiting in line, sometimes for hours, love the iPhone so much that hurricanes probably wouldn’t have stopped them. And although mainstream news covered the travails, we can’t really see it denting iPhone desirability or demand.

But then you wonder, did Apple anticipate this beforehand and decide to accept the consequences because to have improved it (the back-end systems supporting activation) significantly may have cost too much or been too much hassle? Was there a trade-off?

We are, of course, drawing a parallel here with the BAA/BA fiasco a few months ago at Heathrow’s Terminal 5, where some believe BA may have skimped on the staff training to try to save a bit of money. If that were true, it would have been a spectacular own goal given how much it’s cost BA in compensation and negative publicity, not to mention the senior heads that rolled.

Conspiracy theories aside, it seems we need a clearer way of showing senior decision-makers the short and long-term costs of making key decisions like those discussed above. Because just as environmental costs are starting to be factored into the price of goods, businesses need to be aware of the full hinterland affected by the occassional short-sighted decision.

Series:AdTalk
Series:MarketingTalk

Forrester Research recently published an 18-page report/detailed thought-piece provocatively titled ‘The Connected Agency’, discussing the model they foresee successful advertising agencies migrating towards to overcome many of the disruptive influences and changes in consumer behaviour we’re seeing.

Needless to say we were interested in exploring these issues and challenges with one of the authors of the report. And we roped in Tony Effik, planning head at a digital agency, to better understand the ramifications not just for the advertising world but also for brand marketers, and for media, marketing and research agencies.

It’s not a pretty picture…

UPDATE: In the podcast we mention that the report’s free. Actually, it was free for a while but now they’ve started charging!

 STARRING 

• Mary Beth Kemp, report co-author and Principal analyst, Forrester Research
• Tony Effik, Head of planning, Publicis Modem. Tony also blogs about the social graph here

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10mins | Produced @ ESOMAR Congress ‘07 | More podcasts in this series

 STARRING 

• Caroline Hayter (Whitehill), Co-founder and Strategist , Acacia Avenue (host)
• Geert van Kuyck, Senior Vice President of Global Marketing Management, Philips

Geert van Kuyck of Philips is a seasoned marketing executive, having previously worked at very senior levels in Starbucks and Procter & Gamble. Here he chats with Caroline about the overwhelming need for a more authentic understanding of consumers, among both the research and marketing communities. It may surprise you to learn that he believes there’s such a big gap here (between rhetoric and reality). Have a listen to his take, and on why he regards engagement and humility as key qualities for success.

Thanks to BrainJuicer for making the video possible.

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Our headline was “borrowed” from this recent Economist article which discusses the latest revelation that PepsiCo’s Aquafina brand of bottled water is actually purified tap water from public sources (but was not clearly described as such). And it goes on to analyse why consumers seem willing to believe that bottled water is better despite compelling doubts (e.g here, here and here).

Below is Penn and Teller’s characteristically witty but poignant take on this, which just goes to show how lucrative FUD marketing can be - last year the US bottled water industry raked in $11bn.

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Poke digital agency co-founder Iain Tait pokes fun at traditional advertising thinking by listing ten ways in which digital paradigms reign supreme. Funny presentation where the subtext is really about the divide between spectators who prefer to watch from the sidelines, and do-ers who like to try new things, experiment, fail and try again.

26mins | Via PSFK Conference London ‘07

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Series:MarketingTalk Series:AdTalk

The assumption is that by-and-large, individuals make decisions on their own. My Herd point-of-view is that people influence each other, often without realising it

Mark Earls’ latest contribution to life, the universe and everything is gaining traction. His new book rethinks how people make decisions and discovers as a result that much of current research practice is fundamentally flawed in its assumptions and interpretation of consumer behaviour. Quite fitting for this self-styled ‘Contrarian’. The book provides psychology underpinning for many recent phenomena such as social networking, engagement, conversations, ethnography, blogging and predictive markets by showing how we act as groups and not individually. Part of our monthly column for ESOMAR’s Research World magazine

 STARRING 

• Mark Earls, author, Herd: How to Change Mass Behaviour by Harnessing Our True Nature, Head Honcho, Herd Consulting

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 Sponsored by 
Our team of brand specialists tell us what’s hot in branding, why they love the iPod brand, and why staff need to live the brand and product experience to maximise brand effectiveness. Markets mentioned: drinks, electronics, financial, Internet, retail, social media, telecoms

 STARRING 

• Bob Morrison, Elephants Can’t Jump
• Peter Walshe, Global Brand Director, Millward Brown
• Rob Holdaway, Clear Ideas

This JuiceCast has been produced by ResearchTalk for BrainJuicer. BrainJuicer’s Chief Juicer, John Kearon, has kindly allowed us to host the podcast as a service to the community, to stimulate debate and innovation

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 EXCLUSIVE  ESOMAR Congress 2006 keynoters Julia Hailes MBE talks about the environment and sustainability, and Interbrand’s Rita Clifton talks about branding and engagement

 STARRING 

• Julia Hailes MBE, prolific environmental author, and Sustainability Consultant
• Rita Clifton, Chairman, Interbrand
• John Kearon, BrainJuicer (Host)

Recorded live at ESOMAR CONGRESS ‘06

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 Sponsored by 
Joseph Jaffe, the innovative marketing thinker, is the author of Life After the 30-second Spot in which he passionately argues for marketers and advertisers to embrace the more imaginative and engaging techniques in an era of media fragmentation and consumer generated media

 STARRING 

• Joseph Jaffe, Author, Life After the 30-second Spot and Founder, Jaffe Juice LLC
• Simon Andrews, Big Picture Ad. agency (Host)

(more…)