Archive for the ‘Authenticity Journal’ Category
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August 16th, 2010
Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries
by Joe Pine
The National Gallery of Art in London is running an exhibit through September 12 entitled "Close Examination: Fakes, Mistakes and Discoveries". It examines -- closely -- "the vital contributions of applied science to the understanding of Old Master paintings in the National Gallery" with an eye toward uncovering "the true origins of works with disputed authorship or authenticity". In a New York Times review of the exhibit, "Chemistry, Authenticity and the Meaning of Art," Michael Kimmelman focuses on "The Allegory", a painting thought to be by Botticelli when it was acquired over a century ago. ... read more
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August 6th, 2010
Starbucks Staying True
by Joe Pine
The HBR Interview in the July-August issue of the Harvard Business Review is with Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. One of the things the venerable journal notes is that "every company that begins small and 'authentic' eventually finds it hard to retain that image as it expands. How can you combat that?" Great question, that. In direct reference to Starbucks, Jim and I state on the second page of the book that "nothing kills authenticity like ubiquity" and go on to note, "The success of Starbucks no longer depends on its operational prowess or taste superiority; it lies solely in ... read more
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July 30th, 2010
Rendering an Authentic Toy Story
by Joe Pine
While I have discussed Referential Authenticity & the Movies before, never has the link between the two seemed more powerful than in reading A.O. Scott's recent review of "Toy Story 3". In "Voyage to the Bottom of the Day Care Center", The New York Times reviewer first of all sings the movie's praises (as does this AuthenticityBook.com reviewer, who saw it on opening night in 3D with no kids in tow), calling it "as sweet, as touching, as humane a movie as you are likely to see this summer, and yet it is all about ... read more
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July 17th, 2010
BP & “Beyond Petroleum”
by Joe Pine
With BP all over the news these days, I decided to look up what Jim and I wrote about the company in Chapter 9 -- the strategy chapter. Here's what I found (less the endnotes) on pp. 213-4, with two quick comments at the end: Consider British Petroleum -- or BP p.l.c. as it is now named. Two years after it bought Amoco and renamed itself in 1998, it launched a series of advertising campaigns to the effect that its initials stood for "Beyond Petroleum." These ads trumpeted BP's investments in solar, wind, and hydrogen energy (and even not-so-green-but-at-least-it's-not-oil natural gas) ... read more
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July 7th, 2010
Noma, the #1 Restaurant in All the World
by Joe Pine
I am not a foodie, but occasionally have very nice hosts who treat me right, and such was the case a little over a year ago when Nikolaj Stagis took me to Noma in Copenhagen. He told me it was the #3 restaurant in the world, so I knew it was out of my gustatory league, but what a marvelous meal it was. Our waiter was in fact a chef, who asked us what we liked to eat, and then proceeded to craft and cook a wonderful Scandinavian meal just for us. He even worked ... read more
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June 26th, 2010
KFC Failing the Polonius Test
by Joe Pine
Advertising consultant Bob Garfield recently penned a great piece for AdvertisingAge, "KFC Could Learn Something About Itself and Marketing if it Listened to Consumers" in which he opened the KFC-blasting article by quoting Polonius: "To thine own self be true." Except there is no period at the end of that line, just a semi-colon; Polonius goes on to say in that sentence: "And it must follow, as the night the day, / Thou canst not then be false to any man." All together we find here the two key standards of authenticity Jim and I talk about in ... read more
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June 15th, 2010
Heritage Brands
by Joe Pine
In a front page article in Saturday's New York Times, Stephanie Clifford cites a number of brands that "are combing their archives in the hope that old clothing styles with a classic feel will assuage consumer anxiety in shaky times." In "A Bet on Last Century's Styles To Open This Century's Wallets," the journalist cites Jantzen, Eddie Bauer, Lands' End, L.L. Bean, General Mills, and Pepsi-Cola, among others. The tenor of the piece attributes this desire for nostalgia to the economic times; Eddie Bauer CEO Neil Fiske gets it right when he says "There's something major going on right ... read more
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May 1st, 2010
New Coke, Old Coke. Fake Coke, Real Coke.
by Joe Pine
The last few weeks have been banner weeks for anniversaries. Not only was it the 40th anniversary of Earth Day but the 25th anniversary of the launch of New Coke, as I learned from American Public Media's report on "How the beverage industry's changed". As I've mentioned before -- see Coca-Cola Classic, RIP -- New Coke is an offering that failed entirely because it was perceived as inauthentic by the very people who Coca-Cola wanted to buy it. New Coke was Pepsi clothed in Coke red (as it was designed to be!), ... read more
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April 25th, 2010
Earth Day
by Joe Pine
One would be hard pressed to think of a greater event tied to natural authenticity than Earth Day. So naturally companies seeking to appeal to authenticity the natural way use the day as pretext for offerings and marketing campaigns, as pointed out in this USA Today article, "Companies turn Earth Day into freebie day with giveaways". Daniel Howard, marketing professor at Southern Methodist University, says it is brilliant marketing, while noting the irony: "They're celebrating the Earth and nature by producing goods that require the use of natural resources to make." Meanwhile, over at The New York Times, in ... read more
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April 23rd, 2010
In Beholding the Eye of Authenticity
by Jim Gilmore
What kind of eye do you have for authenticity? In other words, how do you go about looking at the very issue of authenticity? I highly recommend getting and reading A Pint of Plain: Tradition, Change and the Fate of the Irish Pub by Bill Barich. I just finished this delightful book while vacationing in the U.K. this month. It's full of passages wrestling with issues of authenticity, as Barich details his travels -- and travails -- in search of an authentic Irish pub in Ireland. An excerpt of chapter 4 from the book is available here, courtesy of The New York Times: ... read more