Shop to a beat

Since the birth of the iPod and now the iPhone, people constantly have earbuds wedged into their heads. Whether on the subway, walking the streets, or shopping, more and more people’s lives have a soundtrack. It's not the most social activity, but I can attest that it turns a mundane stroll down the street into a music video. More and more people are acquiring mobile devices with mp3 players and more and more people are listening to music. That shift in behavior creates a whole new opportunity for retailers and record labels.

Music has the ability to make you feel a certain way, and it's not coincidence that some of the world's most influential brands regularly feature music in their commercials. Can you remember the last Apple or Nike commercial that didn't have some awesome background music? Probably not.

Using music to enhance a shopping experience is nothing new. Walk into an Abercrombie & Fitch and brace yourself for a cacophony of "brand appropriate" music. Maybe it’s just me, but I think taste in clothing doesn't necessarily correlate to taste in music. Generally the retailers select the right genre e.g. you don't hear rap or classical in an Abercrombie, but that doesn't mean you like what you are hearing. So how can retailers connect with different shoppers using in-store music without deferring to the current broadcast approach?

Imagine walking into an Abercrombie. [Just for the record, I don't shop there] Instead of heading directly to the table of pre-torn button downs, you approach a screen with a long list of songs ranging in genre. Next to each song is a 2D barcode. You whip out your iPhone, snap a pic of the song your want to listen to, and off you go. Your earbuds are securely fastened and you are shopping and bopping in your own world. You've attainted that perfect balance of privacy in a public space and now you actually want to spend time in the store because you are streaming some free new music you really like. Retailers love having more people in their store and record labels love having new avenues to distribute their artists. Abercrombie wins because you had a great shopping experience and reinforced their brand with cool music that's tailored for you. I don't know what to call this idea or business, but it needs a name or handle so for now let's go with Soundtrack Shopping.

The Value of a Voice

The other day I called my friend Josh on his work line and was shocked to hear the voice on the other end. "Josh Green's Office" said his female assistant. I laughed aloud. It was surreal hearing someone answer the phone for my 23 year-old friend who only graduated from Dartmouth 8 month prior. I felt like I dialed the CEO, not my friend, and it was then I realized the value of a voice.

Nowadays everything is digitally automated. You dial numbers for businesses and assume you are going to get a recording. It's par for the course, but it's not a sonically pleasing. Calling Josh made me appreciate how nice it is to place a phone call and hear a well spoken human being on the other end. Boom! An idea struck me. What if you could have an answering service whenever you wanted and remotely activated and deactivated it through a text message, email, or cell phone application for a nominal fee? It would be incredible! You'd have your own personal secretary whenever you needed it.

There have been so many articles published about Americans having side businesses. Someone is a teacher during the week and runs a SAT tutoring office on the weekends, or a CPA is creating proprietary tax software on the side etc... It would be such an advantage to have a human being answer your phone calls. It sounds so incredibly professional and the caller would never know the person answering your phone wasn't your own personal secretary.

So how does it work? What makes it so much different from a traditional answering service? The remote ON/OFF switch and ability to change your status on the fly.

Let's say you are a full-time businesswoman and in your free time you are writing a screenplay. You've distributed the script, established your own LLC and want producers to think you are a full-time screenwriter with a bustling office. All you have to do is send a text message to 12345 that reads "ON: Stacy Heath's office. She's in a meeting right now, may I take a message or put you through to her voicemail?" When your number gets dialed, the person answering the phone reads your message verbatim. Immediately the dialer assumes you are important and successful. So much of life is based on a first impression, and hearing a well spoken human being on the phone is the best way to start a conversation.

As soon as you want to turn the service off simply text OFF to 12345, send an email or do it via an iPhone or BlackBerry app. You can even create a schedule that coincides with your workday so you can directly receive calls starting at 7pm without manually disabling the service. You can edit the message as often as you like because it's only a text message/email/smartphone application entry away. Each person can handle many different accounts because all they do is answer the phone, redirect the call, or take a message and relay it to you via email. You can establish a monthly fee of $10-$20 or employ a pay-as-you-go or pay-per-use billing method.

This would totally change the way people approach their businesses because labor costs are so prohibitive. With this system you can effectively start a company on a shoestring budget and appear like you're hitting on all cylinders, primed and ready to conquer the world. That's the value of a voice.

New DVD Formats are already obsolete

It doesn't matter that Blu Ray is becoming the new accepted DVD format because it too is already old news. With ability to download HD movies and TV shows without ever leaving the comfort of your home, Blu Ray will live a very short life. People love to make the argument that "we" material westerners always love tangible things, and that there will always be a desire to physically "own" the movie. This notion is false. Of course there will always be a group of people that need to touch their possessions, but for the rest of the material westerners, we'll put the movies on our peripherals. The peripherals are the desired material item, not the content.

There is nothing physically cool about a DVD. The content may be cool, but the actual device does not say anything about who you are other than your taste. A Blackberry however, speaks volumes. A Blackberry lets the people around you know that you think you are important. It tells people that you know how important business is, and you need to be in touch with the world at every second. Even swankier than a Blackberry is an iPhone. Oooooo! An iPhone really lets the world know who you are and what you truly value. For those who want an iPhone strictly because "it's that damn functional" have to catch all the flack for being similar to the superficial iPhone users. Just like sports cars, there are true enthusiasts and then there are truly insecure wealthy people.

DVD's are different. A bookshelf full of DVD's will never impress people the way it used to. Too many people have access to the content. It might be hard to imagine, but one day your neighbor with "all those movies" is going to look "old school" because you have all your content on a little pocket sized flash drive. Good bye Blu Ray, I am committed to never buying one single Blu Ray or HD DVD. The future is already obsolete.