Archive for November, 2008
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
Please check out my first article as a writer for AdAge, In ‘Poor But Sexy’ Berlin, Brands Need to Understand Casual.
In ‘Poor But Sexy’ Berlin, Brands Need to Understand Casual: To market successfully, you need to understand college kids
This is my first post for the Global Idea Network and I am happy to be here. I aim to post once-a-week about my experience in Berlin and around Europe as an expat. Today, I want to talk a little bit about Berlin, the city its Mayor, Klaus Wowereit, called “poor but sexy.”
Berlin is sexy, poor, and the most casual city I can imagine. Everyone wears jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, and some sort of field jacket. At first I mistook this casualness as slovenliness or poverty. No. Berlin’s casualness is very intentional. In spite of limited cash, Berliners are slaves to fashion and remain current. The moment jeans went skinny, Berlin went skinny. When the world became obsessed with Chuck Taylors, Berliners sported them. Current, as long as the fashion palette keeps to caps, jeans, t-shirts, jackets, and sneakers. When my friend Mark wore the wrong sort of casual his friends staged an intervention: the jeans were all wrong, the jacket was uncool, and the shoes had to go.
It occurred to me that successful marketing in Berlin requires marketing to college kids, who are the epitome of poor but sexy, across the board and for everything. How would you sell a car, a cell phone, a pair of panties, a watch, some gum, a bank account, or a credit card to a teenager and you’ll probably get it right here in Berlin.
When it comes to purchases, Berliners judge each others’ fashion sense like they do at college, where how you were dressed had more to do with style and selection — how you wore it — and less to do with the total cost of purchase and where you bought it. Competition in the marketplace comes from flea markets, hand-me-downs, swap meets, and eBay as easily as it may your competitor. Lots of those skinny jeans and Chuck Taylors were scored used from the 80s. I learned from my friend Libia from Mexico City that Berlin is world famous for its used clothing and consignment stores. There is no stigma associated with getting stuff used and cheap — quite the opposite.
There are other concerns when marketing to Berliners: biking, weather, exposure, and the elements. Like college students, Berliners take public transport and ride bikes every day in all sorts of Central European weather. In fact, I have been told again and again that bicycles are neither recreational nor optional. They’re essential to daily life. Like students going to class in the morning, Berliners need to carry everything they need for the day with them. Necessity demands that Manolos are pretty impractical, as are skirts, heavily-styled hairdos, and exceptionally-delicate makeup rituals.
Berlin casual is not limited to kids in their teens and twenties, however. I am talking about my 39-year-old friend Frank, who pretty much dresses in hooded sweatshirts and jeans all the time (with a fierce family brand loyalty to the G-Star brand, universally popular in Berlin) and, coincidentally, dresses just like his two sons, 8 and 10, as you can see in the photo illustrations. Yes, Frank, who runs a production company called The Lime Machine, approved this post.
I have been invited to be a European correspondent to the AdAge Global Idea Network. I am a resident of Berlin, Germany, and will be mostly reporting my experience in Central and Eastern Europe; however, GIN is a moveable feast — it is global, after all. I hope you enjoy the post. Please consider subscribing to the blog. I plan to post at least once-a-week. Plus, there are a wide assortment of other great bloggers from around the world.
Tags: Adage, aim, alls, assortment, beens, Berlin, berliner, berliners, bike, bikes, Blog, blogged, Blogger, Bloggers, Blogging, Blogs, brand, car, cards, cars, casualness, cells, chuck taylors, clothes, college kids, competitor, ebay, element, elements, epitome, europe, europeans, expat, experiences, Family, Fashion, fashion sense, flea markets, Frank, franks, friend mark, Friends, germany, global idea, Globalism, hand me downs, happiness, hoodies, hoods, imagination, intention, invitation, jeans, kids, klaus wowereit, Learning, learnings, Libia, liking, limes, littl, makeup, manolo, Mark, marketability, marketer, marketers, Marketing, Networks, obsession, pairs, photo, Photos, post, poverty, probability, productivity, Publicity, run, Running, score, sexiness, Shoes, skinny jeans, slaves, slovenliness, sneakers, sons, sorts, students, successful marketing, swaps, taked, teenagers, universe, University, Weather, Writing
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, November 25th, 2008
While I have already thanked all of the wonderful, generous bloggers who have blogged about Operation Survivor since Labor Day, there has been a countinued outpouring of support. As a result, I have added all of the new posts, banners, Twitters in addition to the initial posts — as of 25 November, this is everyone.
- 5 Minutes Around the World via 5 Minutes for Mom.
- Banner via A Disgruntled Republican.
- Survivor Corps Program-Help! via Swimming Against the Red Tide.
- Survivor Corps: Founds Operation Survivor Project to Assist U.S. Military Combat Veterans in Transitioning to Civilian Life via A DC Observer.
- Survivor Corps. Rise Above. Give Back via All 4 My Gals.
- Banner via American and Proud.
- Support ‘Survivor Corps’ this Veterans Day via American Thinker.
- Support ‘Survivor Corps’ this Veterans Day via Americanthinker.
- Returning Troops…a Noble Cause via Dodgeblogium.
- Indigenist News Items for: 11-14-2008 via Inteligentaindigena Novajoservo.
- They don’t go away when Veterans Day ends via Around the Island.
- Survivor Corps via Assoluta Tranquillita.
- Survivor Corps via Jake’s Life.
- Banner via Bearing Drift.
- Vast Write Wing via Be Logical.
- Survivor Corps Operation Survivor: A Worthwhile Cause to Consider via Mount Virtus.
- Someone alerted me to the good work that Survivor Corps via Big Bark.
- Standing up for Max Cleland on Veteran’s Day via Big Bark.
- Twittered via How to Change the World.
- Do Not Abandon Our Vets via understanding the effects of unresolved abandonment issues.
- Help Our Troops This Veterans Day via Locust Fork Blog.
- Soldiers Angels Web Surfing via MySpace: Kathie’s Soldiers Angels Account.
- Banner via Blog Mommas.
- An Appeal via Don Surber’s blog.
- Survivor Corps: Help a veteran break the cycle of violence via Hormone-Colored Days.
- Support the Survivor Corps via Burbsblogs.
- Veterans Day via Bodhi Baby.
- Supporting Our Troops via Booker Rising.
- Operation Survivor via Britannica.
- As Per Request via Budget Nomad - US Ex - Pat on the Move.
- Per a Request via Budget Nomad - US Ex - Pat on the Move.
- Help veterans through Survivor Corps via South by Southwest.
- Remembrance Day via Around the World in beautiful Shoes.
- Veteran’s Day via Danny Fisher.
- Survivor Corps via Charming Just Charming.
- Veterans Day via Chip’s Quips.
- Please Help Me Support Our Troops on Veteran’s Day via Chris Abraham.
- I Will Not Be Broken via For the Heck of It.
- Ray via Notes from the Cookie Jar.
- Survivor Corps Helps Injured Vets Cope via Connecticut Bob.
- Help Our Troops This Veteran’s Day via Culture11.
- Supporting Our Troops: Operation Survivor via Culture Kitchen.
- Supporting Our Troops: Operation Survivor via The Daily Gotham.
- Donate to help our Troops via Make it Happen.
- Survivor Corp-Returning Troops via What’s Delmer Look Like?.
- Banner via Popcorn and Sushi.
- Banner via Supercozy WorldHome.
- Supporting Returning Troops via Donklephant.
- Operation Survivor-Survivor Corps and TroopTube via Where the Hell Am I?.
- In Their Boots via Holly’s Fight for Justice.
- In Their Boots via Holly’s Fight to Stop Violence.
- Banner via Gapers Block.
- Banner via Gary Presley.
- Operation Survivor via The Political Junkie.
- Veterans Day via On the Fringe.
- Survivor Corps Supports Returning Troops and Their Families via GoMekong.com.
- Support Our Troops NOW via MamaBugs…Homeschooling Where the Air Force Sends Us!.
- Soldiers Angels Web Surfing via Hooah Wife & Friends.
- Breaking the Cycle of Violence via Another Opinion.
- New Book from the founder of Survivor Corps via The IAVA Blog.
- Some Odds and Ends of the Election via The Liberal Life of a Navy Wife .
- cross-post via Personal Injury and Social Security Disability Blog.
- Banner via Iraq The Model.
- In Honor of Veterans’ Day via James Kotecki.
- Survivorcorps.org via Jelly Mom.
- Banner via Into the Woods, Living Deliberately.
- Survivor Corps via A Leg Up.
- Standing up for Max Cleland on Veteran’s Day via Informed Comment.
- Helping Veterans (a day late) via Just Enjoy Him: Ramblings of a Mid-Life Mom.
- Soldiers Angels Web Surfing via Mail Call! Supporting the Troops.
- Survivor Corps via Kung Fu Monkey.
- Banner via Kim Stagliano.
- Survivor Corps via Knee Deep in the Hooah.
- Banner via Kentucky Progress.
- Courage via Last One Speaks.
- Banner via Leucadia Blog.
- Iraq snapshot (The Common Ills) via Like Maria Said Paz.
- Banner via Lisa’s Cookbook.
- For a Good Cause via The Local Crank.
- Banner via LooneyBin4Sure.
- Tis the season to help our troops via Manatee’s Military Moms.
- Thoughts of a conservative mind: A worthwhile charity via A different kind of Conservative Blog.
- Banner via Married to the Army.
- Veterans Day via State of Ohio Blogger Alliance.
- Veteran’s Day via Weapons of Mass Discussion.
- Operation Survivor via Big Blueberry Eyes.
- Survivor Corps offers peer support to injured vets via Media Dis&Dat.
- Survivor Corps via Tanker Bothers - Soldiers in the War on Terror.
- Survivor Corps via Tanker Brothers.
- Miss Beths Victory Dance via Miss Beth’s Victory Dance.
- Survivor Corps via Miss Cellania Blog.
- side bar Banner via Mommy Bytes.
- Survivor Corps. Help for Surviving Troops via Mommy Does it All.
- Operation Survivor via My American-Iraq Life.
- Banner via Myrtus.
- Mine removal personal ambition for Missouri State instructor via News-Release.com.
- Survivor Corps: Support for returning heroes via News Blaze.
- Veterans Deserve Your Help via New Zeal.
- Supporting Returning Troops via Northloop Neighborhood.
- Read Terrance D.C. via Oh Boy it Never Ends.
- Banner via only red head in taiwan.
- Banner via On the Upside.
- Banner via Papamoka Straight Talk.
- Banner via Pardon Me For Asking.
- Survivors of War via Ponderings on a Faith Journey.
- posted link on blogroll via Political Grind.
- Survivor Corps: Operation Survivor via Political Reps.
- A Day To Honor Those Who Have Served Their Country via Political Vindication.
- Banner via Praise and Coffee.
- Banner via Preemptive Karma.
- Survivor Corps Supports Returning Troops and their Families! via Progressive Independent.
- cross post via Quick Quotes Online.
- In Banner Rotation via Redline.
- Veteran’s deserve not just a word, but also a hand: Operation Survivor via Rich Kirkpatrick.
- Survivor Corps Supports Returning Troops and their Families! via Right Michigan.
- Banner via Rightwingchamp.
- Katrina Vanden Heuvel is an Idiot via Ruth’s Report.
- Katrina vanden Heuvel is an idiot via Ruth’s Report.
- Survivor Corps via Sanbans Lymphorama.
- Helping the Walking Wounded on November 11 via Serge the concierge.
- Banner via Seven Wheelchairs.
- palin, survivor corps, heroes and more via Sex and Politics and Creeds and Attitudes.
- Links, Awards and Other Good Blogishness via She Lives.
- Peace, be still. It’s Armistice Day. via Short Woman.
- Sick of It via SICKOFITRADLZ.
- posted Banner and review of I will not be broken via Writing in FaithWriting in Faith: Previews and Reviews.
- Banner via Socialism.
- Survivor Corps - Electronic Media News Releases via Soldiers Angels Network.
- Survivor Corps via Soldiers Angels New York.
- Survivor Corps via Soldiers’ Angels New York.
- Need a little Inspiration? via My Life As A Military Spouse.
- Banner via Stepping Right Up!.
- Survivor Corps via Straight, Not Narrow.
- Veterans Day via The Adventures of Super Mommy & Spitup Boy.
- Support ‘Survivor Corps’ this Veterans Day - American Thinker via Survivor.
- Operation Survivor - excerpt from website via Arthriticyoungthing.
- posted Banner via Screw Politically Correct B.S..
- Banner via The Political Jungle.
- Survivor Corps via Tao of Katie.
- Help veterans through Survivor Corps via The Reaction.
- The bridge, the sacrifice, more via The Common Ills.
- Banner via The Inside Dope.
- A Belated Veterans (Day) Post via The Moderate Voice.
- A Belated Veterans (Day) Post via Funny Blog.
- Veterans and PTSD via Where There’s a Will There’s a Way.
- Tuesday, November 11. 2008. via This French Life.
- we posted? via This Fucking War.
- Survivor Corps Website via Untreatable Online.
- cross post via News Updated Frequently.
- Survivor Corps via Unveal Blues.
- Banner via VDog and Little Man.
- Banner via Virginia Left Wing.
- cross post via Today on Vot3r.
- Banner via mikesmercurialmaddness.
- As Long as We’re Bailing Out CEOs… via World-O-Crap.
- Wake Up Americans via Wake Up America.
- Survivor Corps via Wake Up America.
- Xyence via The Xyience Diet Resource.
- Please Help the Veterans via Yaw and Mog.
- Survivor Corps Supports Returning Troops and their Families! via Young Philly Politics.
- Survivor Corps Supports Returning Vets and Their Families! via Zimbio.
- Mojo Mom says thank you to military families via Mojo Mom.
I daresay we’ll be get more so there might very well be another thank you email. Again, both Abraham Harrison and Survivor Corps thank you very much for all of your continued generosity and support!
Tags: abandonment issues, abraham, alls, ambitions, american thinker, Army, attitude, Babies, bearings, beautiful shoes, blaze, Blog, blogged, Blogger, Bloggers, Blogging, Blogs, bob, bobs, boots, britannica, ceo, ceos, change, Chris, coffee, coffees, combat veterans, commentator, Comments, conservatives, courage, crank, crossings, cultures, cycle of violence, don surber, elections, excerpt, excerpts, faith, Family, founders, Friends, fringe, fuck, fucked, fucking, goodness, heck, hell, heroes, holly, how to change the world, ills, inspirations, Iraq, Jerry White, journey, kindness, kirkpatrick, landmine survivor network, legs, liberals, liking, littl, locust fork, logic, mail, man, manatees, max cleland, Media, Military, military combat, models, mojo, mom, mommy, myrtus, myspace, Navy, neighborhood, Networks, News, odds, offerings, onli, online, Palin, peace, Personal, personality, post, preemptive, proud support, ptsd, Quilty, red tide, release, remembrance, remembrance day, Republican, republican survivor, republicanism, republicans, resourcefulness, reviewers, sacrifices, Scott Quilty, screw, sevens, Sex, Shoes, social, socialism, socialization, soldier, Soldiers, south by southwest, southwest, supporting our troops, survival, surviving, survivor, Survivor Corps, survivor project, survivors, sushi, Twitter, twittering, Veteran's Day, vets, violence, virtus, voices, walks, web, Writing
Posted in Army, Babies, Blog, Blogger, Bloggers, Blogging, Blogs, Chris, Comments, Family, Friends, Iraq, Media, Military, Navy, Networks, News, Palin, Personal, Republican, Sex, Shoes, Soldiers, Twitter, Veteran's Day, Writing, abandonment issues, abraham, alls, ambitions, american thinker, attitude, bearings, beautiful shoes, blaze, blogged, bob, bobs, boots, britannica, ceo, ceos, change, coffee, coffees, combat veterans, commentator, conservatives, courage, crank, crossings, cultures, cycle of violence, don surber, elections, excerpt, excerpts, faith, founders, fringe, fuck, fucked, fucking, goodness, heck, hell, heroes, holly, how to change the world, ills, inspirations, journey, kindness, kirkpatrick, legs, liberals, liking, littl, locust fork, logic, mail, man, manatees, max cleland, military combat, models, mojo, mom, mommy, myrtus, myspace, neighborhood, odds, offerings, onli, online, peace, personality, post, preemptive, proud support, ptsd, red tide, release, remembrance, remembrance day, republican survivor, republicanism, republicans, resourcefulness, reviewers, sacrifices, screw, sevens, social, socialism, socialization, soldier, south by southwest, southwest, supporting our troops, survival, surviving, survivor, survivor project, survivors, sushi, twittering, vets, violence, virtus, voices, walks, web | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
Veteran’s Day this year is especially poignant since it has been 5 years since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began. Thank you to everyone who helped Survivor Corps get the message out about Operation Survivor and all the amazing work that Survivor Corps does for vets, for returning troops, and for their families. Here’s a list of all of your fine work:
You have done an amazing thing for the vets and also for the mission of Survivor Corps domestically and around the world. Thank you for your posts and for your banner placement. Never hesitate to contact me personally or my team at Abraham Harrison. Also, always please feel free to contact the entire Survivor Corps team.
Tags: abandonment issues, abraham, afghanistan, alls, amazement, armistice day, Army, attitude, Babies, banner rotation, bearings, beautiful shoes, beens, Blog, blogged, Blogger, Bloggers, Blogging, Blogs, blueberry eyes, boots, break the cycle, britannica, Chris, Chris Abraham, commentator, Comments, courage, crank, cultures, cycle of violence, elections, excerpt, excerpts, faith, Family, feelings, free, fringe, goodness, Harrison, heck, hell, heroes, holly, homeschooling, ills, inspirations, Iraq, journey, kirkpatrick, legs, liberals, liking, littl, locust fork, logic, manatees, Media, Military, models, mojo, mom, mommy, myrtus, Navy, neighborhood, Networks, News, november 11, odds, offerings, online, Palin, peace, Personal, personality, placements, post, preemptive, ptsd, release, remembrance, remembrance day, Republican, republicanism, republicans, reviewers, sacrifices, screw, sevens, Sex, Shoes, social, socialism, socialization, soldier, Soldiers, survival, surviving, survivor, survivors, Veteran's Day, vets, violence, voices, walks, Writing
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, November 5th, 2008
Here at Survivor Corps we often talk about dates–before-and-after moments that change our lives forever. No matter if you are a Democrat or Republican, I think we can all agree the life of our nation is changed by the historic election of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America.
I read Thomas Friedman’s article “Finishing Our Work” this morning in The New York Times, he writes, “And so it came to pass that on Nov. 4, 2008, shortly after 11pm Eastern time, the American Civil War ended…that is why we awake this morning to a different country. The struggle for equal rights is far from over, but we start afresh now from a whole new baseline.” Friedman’s words struck a chord that harmonizes with our perspective at Survivor Corps as a global network helping people recover from war. It takes decades.
This election rings true to the founding principles of Survivor Corps, breaking barriers and promoting inclusion, participation and equality. Whether we are drafting legislation to protect the rights of 650 million people with disabilities or bringing survivors together to rebuild communities destroyed by war, landmines and hatred, we are creating the hope and change in the world that we all wish to see. This morning the Survivor Corps staff took a moment to reflect on this historic day; and we discussed how this election would impact our daily work with survivors in the United States and abroad.
US Army Captain (Retired) Scott Quilty pointed out Senator Obama’s longstanding campaign pledge to bring home combat troops from Iraq within 16 months, and what that may mean for service members reintegrating into families, work, school and communities upon return. ”At Survivor Corps we’re working with government, businesses and veteran service organizations to develop a strategy for homecoming and reintegration, and with this potential ‘reverse surge’ of returning service members, it seems that the urgency of that work just increased,” stated Quilty.
Tirza Leibowitz, an Israeli who serves as our Director of Rights Advocacy, spoke of the new expectations we need to set for the three major treaties we are working on: the ban of landmines and cluster bombs and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. “Now we will be able to advocate for the United States to sign onto these multilateral treaties, when before the political environment made that an impossible dream.”
Robert Mugisha, a Rwandan who works as our Africa Program Associate, spoke of his previous experience lobbying the President and Vice President Elect, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, on issues related to survivors in Darfur to Congo. Mugisha added, “There is a strong possibility we will now have leaders in the White House who have pro-African foreign policies. This could really change how the United States interacts with the entire world.”
Yes, hope is rising in tandem with survivor expectations. Survivor Corps is more dedicated than ever to breaking through historic barriers of discrimination and promoting true inclusion, participation and equality around the world. We join you in this time of hope and survivorship as we create history, break cycles of violence and build a peaceful future for survivors worldwide.
Visit Survivor Corps at http://www.survivorcorps.org
Tags: Barack Obama, Jerry White, Survivor Corps
Posted in Barack Obama, Jerry White, Survivor Corps | 3 Comments »
