"You Are Germany" vs. "I am Romania"

In order to lighten up consumer confidence and maybe national pride, "Du bist Deutschland" (German) is trying to show Germans that they are miracle despite all their current troubles.

Text starts like this:"You are the German miracle! Your whole family is unemployed, your parents should have used birthcontrol. One single fart of yours might eliminate a whole kindergarten a couple of kilometers away!"
Eminem-style :)

Seeing this ad, I remembered that in 2003 I took part in organizing a Summer School in Romania. As a game, we asked participants to come up with a brief text which should end with "I am Romania". We planned to publish the texts but didn't have the money...

Mara Rotundu wrote something like this: "I am laziness, mystery and hot dog. I walk barefoot in the park, I have a belly and crunch seeds. I can't stand the stench of work and my brain is disconnected from the survival instinct - begetting waiting. I am Romania.". Pretty much in the same tone.

Branding in Romania (2004)

Stefan already wrote about these figures, but I want to point to the BIG differences in profit margins. :)

Top players in 2004
Revenues: €761k
Average Profit Margin: 34% (BUT take a look at inidvidual figures!)
Employees: 29

Let's connect the dots

:)
1.) Steve Jobs offers MacOS for $100 laptop (MIT turned his offer down)
2.) MacOS runs on nonApple hardware despite Apple's hardware protection.
3.) Microsoft moves into web-based services & software as a service.
4.) iPod lineup is rumored to convert PC users to Mac and analysts also predict further iPod products&features.

It seems to me that Apple wants to compete with Windows on the desktop by attacking it with iPod switchers and Apple's own switch to Intel, while Microsoft competes with Google on the web by moving Windows to the internet (software as a service). Hm... Is Apple missing something?

Peter F Drucker dies at 95

"Drucker said: 'If you weren't already in this business, would you enter it today? And if not, what are you going to do about it?' " Welch recalled Friday night. "Simple, right? But incredibly powerful."

:(


Peter F. Drucker was the original management guru
Wikipedia on Drucker