The Staufenberger Repository

Kids and Money

This was out earlier in the month but not being a regular NY Times reader I've only just come across it. Film maker Lauren Greenfield has made a nice short film for the New York Times Magazine about kids and money. Although shot in LA its probably true of kids in cities all over the world where rich and poor live virtually side by side. Watching this I can't help but feel a little bit guilty about the work we do. As planners it's easy to treat marketing as an intellectual pursuit devoid of morality. As Peter Parker learnt very early on in his superhero career, "with great power comes a great responsibility".

The Fixie Biz

No doubt prompted by coverage here at The Repository, none other than The Wall Street Journal recently ran its own story on the fixed-gear bike phenomenon.

In addition to the usual blather, it includes an interesting aside about the profit margins for fixies. Apparently, the fixed models that the major manufacturers are beginning to produce are roughly 5% more profitable than your regular road/mountain going bike. And the margins on these are already pretty healthy at around 25% to 30%.

Which just goes to show how important this new fashion dimension is to any market, bike or otherwise. The fashion dimension makes the market less price sensitive.

(Original WSJ article is behind its paywall, but can be found pastebombed on the Cycling Plus forum here.)

Insight v. observation

OK, lets dispense with the word "insight".

It's a bit self-important. An insight should be a profound, hard-earned truth. Often, in the communications world, it's applied to the bleeding obvious. And it's overused.

So let's try "observation" instead.

It's a bit more humble. It can apply to the mundane as well as the exceptional. In terms of consumer research, it implies a degree of distance (in a positive way).