Big bigger biggest

We equate size with power—bigger is better, might is right, loud is better than quiet, large is preferable to small. We spend our lives in the realm of big, bigger and biggest. Think about this paradox though—just as we place greater emphasis on size so nanotechnology (nano=very small) has resulted in the miniaturization of our world. Everything from microchips, to receivers and transformers. Cell phones and computers are the smallest they have ever been and the miniaturization of surgical equipment means lives can now be saved when before they couldn’t. The better a hi-fi the smaller it is and forget those dials—now you have a remote control that does it all and you can crank the sound up to 11 if you like (check out my post on March 2, 2009).  Is it possible that ‘small’ is the new ‘big’ and that the future belongs to small smaller and smallest?  When you are on the right side of right size doesn’t count.  The majority doesn’t matter.  I suppose that the moral geniuses of our time know that …. maybe it’s time for the rest of us to catch up?

Idols 5 – what a farce

Let’s face it—SA Idols season 5 was a disaster before it even started.  First there was the announcement that in the judges opinion only 12 of the Top 24 were suitable to go through to the next level.  Anyone with the slightest understanding of how tough the media world is finding things right now would know the real reason was that the budget had been cut and this was the ‘spin’ the marketing team had come up with to sell to a gullible audience the reason for reducing the budget/number of shows/quality of the set.

 Then we had the offensive replacement of the Idols ‘face’ Colin Moss who had done a pretty decent job over the years of branding the show in a way that showed empathy without being patronizing.  But what to do when Colin decided he would rather pursue a career in movies?  Find a replacement and then ask the marketing team to come up with a suitable strategy for conveying to the audience the change.  Their response?  An offensive, tasteless and altogether without merit skit that showed Colin being hit by a car that looked like a taxi.  And instead of him carrying on where he left off he was replaced by Liezl van der Westhuizen.  What a ghastly way to replace someone.

 And now we have the debacle surrounding the counting of votes.  Talk about a public relations disaster.  So what does MNet do?  Call on the same incompetent marketing team to spin it yet again:  Get the CEO to explain to a disbelieving public how they couldn’t count less than 3 million votes in the time available and that there were no checks and balances to ensure that all the valid votes were counted.  (Idol in the USA had 46 million votes last week—that’s more than the entire South African population and they got it right).  So what does Patricia Scholtemeyer, the CEO of MNet say:  There was a problem and we have fixed it. The public will judge us on that basis. I can’t believe she actually believes that.  Calling a press conference doesn’t actually do anything for the brand when you decide to announce that … listen to this … as a world first we will now have two Idols!  How patronizing.  And she actually thinks that has solved something.  If I was Jason or Sasha-Lee I would tell them to shove it and then sell my story to make up the prize value.

I don’t get twitter

Ok I admit it:  I don’t get twitter.  Unless you are mega famous who cares what you are doing anyway?  And as for business executives using this ‘next best thing’ to communicate with employees, even 140 letters can constitute the most boring conversation ever.  Is this just another social networking site (fad?)  that finds it difficult to appeal to anyone other than the chronically idle or have I missed the plot?