This is what you call ‘being connected’?

Nike is on the promo war path spreading the word about its upcoming “The Human Race 10K,” scheduled for August 31. The basic idea is to gather one million iPod-plugged runners across twenty-some locations around the globe and have them run a race in order to promote the Nike+ product line.

Sounds like fun: run in a crowd of 1,000s of people, each off in their own world listening to their playlists and unable to hear a word they might say to each. Then go home, plug in your iPod to see how you did and “interact” with others and your results all alone at your computer.

Sounds about as interactive as a treadmill in a basement.

Pet Peeve?

Am I the only one who fails to see the need for dogs being allowed to roam the halls of the OR Summer Market trade show? I mean, I understand the affection people have for their pets, but where does this end?

After all, lot of folks also love their pet snakes, rabbits and pigs, which can be as tame or as wild as any dog, so should they be granted access too? If dogs are somehow on the same level as humans (and that seems to be suggested by the news about available dog care and child day care continually running right next to each other in the OR materials), aren't snakes and pigs on the same level as dogs?

It's not that dogs on the show floor bothers me, per se. And if you are selling dog wares, it makes sense to have a dog model them or attract attention to them in your booth. It just seems kinda silly otherwise.

Back from the Dead Zone

I know, I know, it has been waaaaay tooooo loooong since the last posting. Probably starting to look like Off the Grid was heading off the radar.

But no, we've just been buried by the production of a record issue of Inside Outdoor magazine (yeah, we know, print is dead, people tell us all the time), followed by a record issue of our magazine covering a segment of the telecommunications industry. So, to say the least, our modest staff has been highly distracted.

We should be back in the game now, at least until the trade show season warms up ... whew ... so call off the grim reaper over at the death pool blog.

Soap Box

Proctor & Gamble chairman and chief executive A.G. Lafley gave some sound advice to the presidential candidates that anyone involved in the retailing of consumer products and services should heed.

Lafley urged Barack Obama and John McCain not to talk the U.S. into a “worse recession” during the presidential election by being overly pessimistic about the state of the economy.

“In my business we don’t need excessive negativism,” said Lafley. “You know we are in a business where psychology matters – even in the staples business – and in the economy psychology matters. It could go negative on the economy, that could be a problem . . . We will talk ourselves into a worse recession.”

The advice is particularly pertinent to democratic candidates and delegates, who tend to focus on the negative as part of their charge toward “change.”

Lemons into Lemonade

One company has developed a clever way to keep BPA-laced water bottles out of the landfill. “Just pull off the old cap and replace it with a safe, bright, environmentally friendly solar-powered LED LightCap200,” suggest SolLight.

The light may not be bright enough to light up a campsite, but if nothing else, it’s a colorful conversation starter.

www.sollight.com

Get on the Bus

12 Dartmouth students, one veggie-powered bus, 13,000 sustainable miles. For the 4th year students from Dartmouth are taking the road to promote the messages of sustainable living, the viability of alternative energy sources and solutions to local and global energy issues.

The Big Green Bus has stops scheduled in 23 states for this year's tour. Check out the tour map to see if the bus is coming your way. Maybe you can convince them to pop by your store or offices. College kids always like free beer and food.

Here’s the link: http://www.thebiggreenbus.org/index.html

More Channels, So What?

American TV watchers have more options than ever for their viewing pleasure. Thing is, they’re not really watching any more of them.

Overall, the number of channels received by the average household hit a record high 118.6 in 2007, but the number actually viewed was only 16, just a fraction more than the 15.7 channels tuned to in 2006, the 15.4 channels tuned to in 2005 or the 15 channels tuned to in 2004.

It’s certainly an argument for a la carte programming, something the cable companies will never go for. But the wider implication for marketers is the reality that while we increasingly hear about media fragmentation and “all the places” a brand needs to be in order to have an “integrated” presence, consumer attention has its limits.


One could say that the lower percentage of channels watched is related to the shift to online entertainment options, but the number of folks going online for entertainment, though growing, is still rather small. Likewise, several studies show that the time spent watching TV hasn’t dropped, at least not in any significant way. So the opportunity to watch more is there. Evidently, the desire is not.