Archive for the ‘Authenticity Journal’ Category
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August 19th, 2008
Borders and the Placemaking Portfolio
by Joe Pine
Borders Group, owner of the chain of Borders book stores, has been "in play", as they say, for awhile but last week Barnes & Noble indicated that it will not be the suitor of its number one (physical) competitor. See, for example: Barnes & Noble not interested in buying Borders Group, newspaper reports Jim and I have a particular nostalgic reason for wanting to see Borders continue to exist and prosper. The Borders store on Michigan Avenue, across from Water Tower Place, provided most all of the books from which we learned about theatre, so great were its ... read more
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August 14th, 2008
The “Age of Fake”?
by Joe Pine
Where is the outrage? Many are asking that (now-cliched) question regarding the latest news: China faked the singing and some of the fireworks in its (wonderfully staged) opening ceremony to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Perhaps the wittiest take on it -- courtesy of our gal-about-thinkAbout Edina Lessack, who pointed it out to us -- comes from Chicago Tribune critic Julia Keller: The 'Age of Fake': Fireworks, singers, and beyond Keller asserts we're in the "Age of Fake" where "Fake doesn't seem to bother us much anymore. Fake is an accepted part of life. Fake sells." Except, ... read more
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August 4th, 2008
Using New Technologies for Real Design
by Jim Gilmore
As ones who lives in an eighty-year-old house with three wood-burning fireplaces, gas fireplaces have always struck my wife and me as so fake. When we see one at someone's house, we glance at each other with that "What are they thinking?" look that husband and wife both readily understand. Indeed, we think: Why would anyone go with such a fakery when one can have a real, wood-burning fireplace? But then last year, while on the Ohio City Home Tour that we take in each year, Beth and I visited a condo overlooking Cleveland and encountered ... read more
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July 30th, 2008
Martha Stewart’s Authentic America
by Jim Gilmore
Martha Stewart Living devotes nearly 25% of its August 2008 issue (pp. 108-147 of 176 pages) to survey "Authentic America" (discovered courtesy of my wife). Rich with vivid photographs of food, family and home furnishings in various idyllic countryside settings, a few phrases in the minimal word copy that accompanies the piece struck me as deliberately chosen to render Martha Stewart's America authentic: "secluded valley," "small-town pleasures," "simplicity and practicality," "new varieties...[of] ubiquitous impatiens...elevate this common beauty to uncommon heights," "relaxed living with Low Country elegance," and even "hearty chowder." Few of course actually live in this airbrushed reality. ... read more
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July 20th, 2008
Rendering The Hard Way
by Jim Gilmore
We've always shared our first three Axioms of Authenticity assuming the implication to be that businesses should not self-proclaim their offerings as authentic. Re-read the Axioms (or the whole of Chapter 3) and that sentiment seems obvious: Axiom 1. If you are authentic, then you don't have to say you're authentic. Axiom 2. If you say you're authentic, then you'd better be authentic. Axiom 3. It's easier to be authentic if you don't say you're authentic. Yet I've recently watched two companies quite convincingly self-proclaim the authenticity of their offerings: Import Brands Alliance defense of "The Authentic Black & Tan: Always made with Bass ... read more
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July 13th, 2008
L’Occitane — en Brasil?
by Joe Pine
I was just telling someone about L'Occitane en Provence, and how one of the things I loved about this natural-authenticity-appealing retail chain was how every product actually came from Provence, and came with a story (a "true story" as the company likes to say). Then I found out only offering Provençal goods was not a true story. While visiting the site to re-order some shaving cream (the cream is nice, but it's shaving lotion is to die for), I was very surprised to discover that it was now offering products from Brazil! My immediate thought was "This is ... read more
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July 7th, 2008
The Anti-shoe
by Jim Gilmore
I recently happened upon this two-page ad copy in a magazine... Page one: We're anti-shoe. We're anti-boot. We're anti-sandal. And we're definitely anti-flip flop. In fact, we're anti anything that doesn't defend your back against the corrosive power of hard, flat surfaces. We're anti anything that doesn't improve your posture. We're anti anything that doesn't protect your knees or tone your muscles just by standing there. Actually, we're anti anything that doesn't change your life for the better. But something you can wear on your feet that can do all that? Now that we can get behind. Page two: www.theantishoe.com MBT® The Anti-shoe. So I checked out ... read more
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July 2nd, 2008
There Can Only Be One?
by Jim Gilmore
The recent free-styling NYC rap performance by Shaquille O'Neill www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLJ65x0mbv0 brought to mind the mix-and-mashed NBA commercial that launched just this past April: www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3vmpM2FGzU What might these two NBA stars do to render their celebrity status more real? One suggestion: a mix-and-mash rap song/album/video of the two "being themselves" together! For background on the commercial, see USA Today article: "NBA deliberately sending mixed messages"
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June 25th, 2008
And Now for my Fake-real Water-bottle Trick
by Jim Gilmore
I recently delivered the keynote address at a conference in Zurich hosted by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institut (www.gdi.ch/) which focused exclusively on the subject of authenticity. David Bosshart and company put together a fabulous line-up of speakers -- from top to bottom -- and I sat through the entire event. From Oxford's Paula Payton, I learned about a few new retailers that I'll have to check out, most notably Urban Rustic (www.urbanrusticnyc.com). I particularly enjoyed the closing presentation by Christian Mikunda (http://www.mikunda.com) -- a more compelling defense of ... read more
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June 19th, 2008
A Sparkling Principle
by Joe Pine
In Chapter 3 of Authenticity we discuss how the European Union protects scores of regionally based names from imitators. You can only call your cheese Gorganzola if comes from that region of northern Italy and you can only use the term Champagne for your sparkling wine if it comes from that region of northeastern France, which had its boundaries set in 1927. Or maybe not. It turns out the French government itself wants to expand the region to include 40 new areas that had never before grown sparkling wine; see, for example, "New Champagne areas defined". Why? Because ... read more