What We’re Watching

eBay Auction: 2008 Sweet Spot Swatch Cal Ripken Jr. Memorabilia

BID NOW! visit
http://bit.ly/I19XSd

What’s ‘Lin’ A Name?

As Seen on the Stage 4 Solutions Blog: (With a slight title change, I wrote it I can do it).

When you look at the common denominator among successful businesses, be them local, small businesses or large, multinational corporations, one thing is certain; each actively maintain, promote, and protect their strong brand name. The task is no simple act, especially for small businesses, considering the countless channels, both online and offline, in which a brand has visibility.  Why is this important?

“Your brand is your most important asset,” explained Laurel Sutton, Co-Founder of Catchword Branding, a cross vertical naming and branding leader. Things can go “viral in seconds” she said, so it’s essential to “be aware and make a plan.” At last night’s Business Marketing Association event, Laurel shared with us some brand-protection “Do’s and Don’ts,” shedding insight on the many challenges brand managers face.

Just ask Jeremy Lin, the New York Knicks new point guard sensation – far from a brand manager by any stretch of the imagination. Just a month ago, Jeremy spent most of his game-time minutes on the Knicks bench, an unknown and unproven player. Now, Jeremy finds himself on the front page of newspapers and websites, globally. True “Linsanity.”

But Jeremy, a Harvard grad, is smart, very aware and has made a plan. (No he wasn’t at the BMA event last night, but his actions certainly reflect a working knowledge in the brand management field).

Knowing the trademark landscape is extremely crowded; Jeremy hired a lawyer and applied to trademark “Linsanity.” With T-shirts, mugs, and other souvenirs appearing everywhere proudly sporting the tagline, Jeremy sought to capitalize on the opportunity and make money off of his own success. Not so fast. Two other individuals had already applied to trademark the term! Again aware, this time of his intellectual-property rights, Jeremy is prepared to oppose the other applications – which he would probably be successful in opposing, sources close to the matter claim.

Laurel would wholeheartedly support his decision. “Don’t sign away rights to your name,” she defended, stressing the need to be diligent in sending cease and desist letters to protect what is yours. If one person has rights to your name, what’s stopping the next person and the next person?

Ultimately, Jeremy Lin seems to be following Laurel’s advice perfectly. He is aware, has made a plan, and has set aside time in his busy schedule to make brand management a part of his daily business routine.

So What Can You Do For Your Business?

Below are some brand management “Do’s & Don’ts,” shared with us by Laurel.

Procure

Superbowl Silliness

Weekly recaps?

Alright if you have been following this blog it’s pretty obvious I’m a big fan of television. In fact I find it hard to watch all my shows each week because I get addicted to them all. I thought I could possibly do some reviews each week and give you a little insight into my thoughts. It’s late January so most shows have started airing or have finished their seasons, so I’ll choose the ones that have just started, or will be running until the end of the season(usually around the end of May). Here’s a few shows I am currently watching. If you would like my opinions on them tell me so in the comments section. If nobody does then I’ll probably do whatever the fuck I want. Well either way I’ll probably do whatever the fuck I want, but it’s nice to know you think I value your opinion.

-Parks and Recreation

-Shameless

-Californication

-Community

-Eastbound and Down

-Modern Family

-Happy Endings

-Psych

-The Walking Dead

-The Big Bang Theory (Just Kidding)

Rethinking Capitalism – Video – Harvard Business Review

Rethinking Capitalism – Video – Harvard Business Review.

As seen on HBR.org:
Michael E. Porter, Harvard University professor, explains why business leaders must focus onshared value—creating products and services that benefit not only the company but also society. He is the coauthor of the HBR article Creating Shared Value.

Recycled Movie Footage

collider.com

I apologize for not knowing what is going on and not knowing how to upload a YouTube video into this post but I’m new and instead I will give you all the web address at the end.  Anyway, I saw this yesterday and just could not belive that this could happen and actually did happen by the famous Michael Bay….

The Dark Knight Rises

Here is the 2nd trailer for the much anticipated sequel to The Dark Knight. We get a look at a few new faces as well. Tom Hardy will play Bane, Anne Hathaway is slated to play Selina Kyle, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is to play a Gotham police officer named John Blake, and Marion Cotillard is playing Miranda Tate. It will be hard to live up to the expectations of many people who loved The Dark Knight, but I believe Christopher Nolan will succeed. It’s a tall task replacing the Joker and Heath Ledger, but look no further than Tom Hardy’s work in the movie Bronson to see he can surely play a villain. Take a look at the trailer and give me your thoughts.

Everybody Loves a Dancing Chicken

Funky Chicken

►

K: “How much do you think that guy gets paid?”
M: “Not enough.”

Great article on NBC’s move to bench critically acclaimed “Community”

NBC recently opted to move “Community” from its Thursday night lineup. A move that has made myself, and many other fans of the show extremely angry. Do yourself a favor and read this article, and hopefully it will sway you into watching the show.

\”Community\” on Hiatus: Why NBC is making a mistake.

TV Shows You Should Be Watching.

I love to watch TV and I’m sure most of you like to as well. Isn’t is nice to settle down after a tough day, and turn on that favorite show of yours. Here’s a list of some shows that you’re probably not watching, but ones that you should definitely be watching

Community-
This NBC sitcom has flown under the radar throughout its three season run. The show stars Joel McHale(The Soup) as Jeff Winger, a thirty-something lawyer who is forced to back to college because of a false diploma. The show also stars Chevy Chase(Vacation movies, Caddyshack) as Pierce, Donald Glover(30 Rock) as Troy, Alison Brie(Mad Men) as Annie, Danny Pudi (Greek) as Abed, Gillian Jacobs (Choke) as Britta, Yvette Nicole Brown (500 Days of Summer) as Shirley, Ken Jeong(The Hangover) as Senor Chang, and Jim Rash(Reno 911) as Dean Pelton. Community is truely and ensemble comedy, and each character plays a huge part in why it works.

I could describe Community in many ways, but I’ll just tell you the reasons why I like it. Community does numerous parodies (Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, Die Hard, etc) of other shows and movies. It has been described as being “meta”, but I still have yet to figure out what the fuck that word means. All I can tell you is that this show is extremely inventive and original. I can’t name a show that follows this style. They did an entire episode about the college having a paintball war. How fucking awesome is that.

The part that I love most about Community is their characters. The writers and cast do an incredible job of creating characters that don’t become stale. In the 3 season run, every character has evolved. Character depth in any show, or movie is what makes the show great. I promise you will grow to love these characters that you get to hang out with every Thursday night, and like me you’ll wonder why this show gets such low ratings. Oh and by the way, ratings are bullshit. I could go into a whole essay about how they are such a terrible way to gauge a shows popularity, but I’ll save that for another post.

Community airs Thursday nights at 8pm on NBC.

Psych-
I know, that you know, that I know. Watch the show and you’ll get that opening sentence. Psych stars the charming James Roday and Dule Hill(The West Wing), as Shawn Spencer and Burton “Gus” Guster, childhood friends who consult with the Santa Barbara Police Department on cases. This is based upon the idea that Shawn is an actual psychic.You quickly find out that Shawn is not an actual psychic, but a person who just has a remarkable talent for the minor details. It’s a lot like The Mentalist. You’ll get that joke too when you watch the show.

Psych is smart, witty and just a fun show to watch. The show is a comedy, but each week solves a different crime. What I like about Psych is it also references other movies and TV shows quite often. Roday does a brilliant job, and is one of the main reasons why the show succeeds.  Shawn and Gus a new mystery each week  with the help of Santa Barbara PD detectives Lassiter(Timothy Omundson) and O’hara(Maggie Lawson), along with occasional help from Shawn’s father, Henry Spencer(Corbin Bernsen).

Overall Psych is a fun show to watch. It won’t ever win an Emmy, or be talked about as one of the greatest shows on TV, but season after season Psych is consistently funny and smart. So watch it and hopefully you enjoy it as much as I do.

Psych airs Wednesday nights at 10pm on USA.

Homeland-

Homeland is in its first season on Showtime, starring Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison, a CIA operations officer who has come to believe that a Marine(Damain Lewis), who was held captive by Al-Qaeda as a prisoner of war, was turned by the enemy and now poses a significant risk to national security.

The show was created by the producers of 24 and has that same type of feel when watching it. It keeps you on the edge of you seat the entire episode. I don’t want you to think that this show is exactly like 24, because Homeland certainly is not. In 24 Jack Bauer was a strong, bad-ass lead character. In Homeland Carrie Mathison, is a bi-polar CIA agent who screwed up and missed an opportunity to stop the events of September 11th. Now almost 10 years later she believes that Brody (The US Marine who was imprisoned for many years) has turned, and now plans to facilitate in an attack on the United States.

Homeland offers so many possibilities on how the event can turn out. The writers give just enough to let  you formulate an opinion, before revealing something else and making you change it. I’m on episode six and I’m hooked. I think if you watch the pilot you will be too.

Homeland airs Sunday nights at 10pm on Showtime.

I’ve given you three shows that you should be watching, so let me know what you think of them. Hopefully you like them as much as I do. If there are any shows that I missed(I’m sure there’s plenty) let me know and I would be happy to watch them. As long as it’s not Glee. That show it terrible.