Communities Dominate Brands

Good Books: (via Emergic) Tomi Ahonen and Alan Moore's Communities Dominate Brands: Business and Marketing Challenges for the 21st Century is about the new phenomenon in everything we do; from computing, blogging, videogaming, modified mobile phones and so on. It's an interesting book to read because it's happening quietly.

From the book description:
[It] is a book about how the new phenomenon of digitally connected and empowered customer-communities, such as blogging, videogaming and mobile phone smart mobs are emerging as a force to counterbalance the power of the business and marketing. The book discusses how disruptive effects of digitalisation and connectedness introduce threats to business opportunities. The authors compellingly illustrate how modern consumers are forming communities and peer-groups to pool their power resulting in a dramatic revolution of how businesses interact with their customers. The book explores the problems faced by branding, marketing and advertising in this decade.

Here is an excerpt from the foreword by Stephen Jones:
It is difficult to put a lens on a developing social trend moving as fast as connected communities but Alan and Tomi have done that. Together they have made a rare and important breakthrough insight, have developed a credible hypothesis and backed it up with validated supporting points. This is not radical misinformed extremist hype. This work is an accurate description of the issue, the opportunity and the crisis confronting marketers if they don’t cut loose the shackles of the traditional advertising agency and TV network model and explore the world of possibilities recommended by this book.

Move quickly but act thoughtfully, even slowly. You want to implement this without sending your organization into a tail spin. The traditional marketing company that wastes its investments solely on TV advertising is underpinned by bureaucratic values of safety, efficiency and control. The marketing group that embraces these insights and moves forward to implement them is underpinned by interdependent values of sharing, listening, equity rights, global harmony and synergy. That’s a big leap.

One of the chapters in the book is about Generation-C: Generation-C stands for the Community Generation. The defining and distinguishing characteristic for Gen-C is the continuous connection to and responding to digital communities. This is very different from any other communities. Even a die-hard 40 year old football fan of Chelsea may wear his colours every day and spend most of his free time with friends who are also fans. Yes, he is obviously a member of the Chelsea fan community. But when that Chelsea fan goes to visit his parents and suddenly gets into an argument, he is no longer a Chelsea community member. He probably will tell his Chelsea mates what happened, afterwards, next day at the pub. The difference is that a Gen-C member carries his/her community in the pocket and accesses that community at all times. Thus the young Gen-C member would share the anger and frustration of the argument with parents, within the next few minutes, via a text message to close friends...Members of Generation-C will regularly, on a daily basis, consult with friends and colleagues from their various communities. To do so, they have to have continous access to their network. They must be 'always-on' and only the mobile phone allows this.

For more, you can also read the blog by the authors.

Forger Back At Work - And This Time It's All Above Board

Hugh Muir writes about Robert Thwaites + the audacious frauds that stunned and embarrassed the art world + other viewpoints @ http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/news/story/0,,2137637,00.html

The story reminds of treated/synthetic/imitation gemstones sold as natural in the gem and jewelry industry. Today only a very few may know to recognize the tell-tale signs; even the so-called trained gemologists and jewelers make spectacular mistakes. Rapid sight identification is a natural gift from the gods. One may be trained to describe the fine details but spotting an unnatural stone (s) at the right time require (s) more than textbook knowledge and diplomas. I think we are going to experience 'momentary autism' periodically forever.

De Beers After 2008: No Russian Rough – Forever!

Chaim Even-Zohar writes about the legal commitment between De Beers and Alrosa + the impact + other viewpoints @ http://www.idexonline.com/portal_FullEditorial.asp?TextSearch=&KeyMatch=0&id=25298

Aqua Aura

(via Wikipedia) Aqua Aura is a term used to describe a natural crystal that has been coated with gold fumes. It is created in a vacuum chamber from quartz crystals and gold vapor. The quartz is heated to 1600 degrees Fahrenheit in a vacuum, and then gold vapor is added to the chamber. The gold atoms fuse to the crystal's surface, which gives the crystal an iridescent metallic sheen. The process was awarded the United States Patent No. 6997014 on Feb 14, 2006. The process was invented by Steven F. Starcke, Ronald H. Kearnes and Keven E. Bennet. While the patent might have been given in 2006, this material has been produced by this method for dozens of years prior.

The patent says "The invention provides a decorative object comprising a transparent or translucent substrate having a body and at least one surface bearing a thin film coating. The coating imparts in the substrate a body color that appears substantially constant at different angles of observation. This body color is imparted in the substrate at least in part by absorption of visible radiation that is transmitted through said coating. The coating includes a high absorption layer comprising film that is highly absorptive of visible radiation. Also provided are methods of coating gems and other decorative objects, as well as methods of heat treating coated gems and other decorative objects."

Aqua Aura is a very popular item in metaphysical items and a popular item in jewellery. It is the exact same process that is used to coat steel balls used as bearings. The term Aqua aura specifically is used for the blue colored quartz. Additional elements can be used to treat quartz, such as indium, titanium and copper. The coloring of this treatment is only on the surface, so all faceted and polished material you find has been treated after it has been made originally. Often, quartz of lesser quality, with fractures and weak spots, will break apart during the coating process.

A little known fact is that the Aqua aura treatment can be used to reveal twinning in quartz crystals that would otherwise go undetected. While most all treated quartz is destined for the metaphysical marketplace, it does have a use in the field of mineralogy. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_aura)

Aqua Aura treated quartz or topaz could be visually confused for heat treated zircons because the prominent iridescence in treated specimens may be confused for dispersion. Standard gemological tests such as refractive index, birefringence and specific gravity should easily identify the stones. Also cobalt-doped blue synthetic quartz may look very similar to Aqua Aura treated stones. In this case Chelsea color filter reaction and absorption spectrum should easily provide diagnostic results; as the synthetic quartz will show pink through the Chelsea color filter + cobalt absorption spectrum. Aqua Aura treated topaz may be confused for irradiated blue topaz. In the case of quartz and topaz the unnatural iridescence is the indicator + magnification. The absence of pleochroism is also another indicator. Another interested aspect is when you study the treated quartz + topaz under proper magnification you may notice dark color concentrations of color along facet junctions + the uneven coloration very similar to blue diffusion-treated sapphires. Buyer beware!

Tugtupite

(Reindeer Stone)
Chemistry: Sodium aluminum beryllium silicate
Crystal system: Tetragonal; massive allied to sodalite; crystals rare.
Color: Various shades of red, from pale pink to violetish red and violet; may contain black needles or yellow spots; transparent materials rare, facetable material also found.
Hardness: 6.5
Cleavage: Massive: none; Fracture: granular
Specific gravity: 2.3 – 2.57; 2.3 depending on porosity and other minerals present.
Refractive index: 1.496 – 1.502; Uniaxial positive; 0.006 (0.004-0.006)
Luster: Vitreous to greasy
Dispersion:-
Dichroism: Bluish red; orange red
Occurrence: Red angular masses in Albite-rich hydrothermal veins; Greenland, Russia.

Notes
Found in 1960; ornamental stone may resemble rhodochrosite; massive is mottled white with shades of red; fluorescence: orange (LW), salmon (SW), bright red (UV); cabochon, carvings, beads.

Can You Identify This Stone?

(via The Canadian Gemmologist, Vol.III, No.3, Spring, 1982) I am a calcium aluminum silicate, crystallizing in the tetragonal system, and occurring in various colors. I am most often seen in a massive form, sometimes masquerading as a much more expensive green gemstone. They give me quite a variety of names, and one of them sounds like a famous volcano. What am I?
Answer: Vesuvianite (Idocrase)

The New Wave Of Silicon Valley Start-ups

New Business Model (s): Spencer Kelly writes about Silcon Valley's new breed of entrepreneurs + modified mash-ups with interactive content (s) + green innovations + other viewpoints @ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/6929569.stm

Capitalism At The Crossroads

Good Books: (via Emergic) Stuart Hart's book, Capitalism at the Crossroads: The Unlimited Business Opportunities in Solving the World's Most Difficult Problems highlights the nature of challenges for multinational companies + development of native capabilities + the concept of leadership genius to innovation + its results. An interesting book.

Stuart Hart writes in the prologue:
In a single lifetime, the human population will have grown from two billion to eight billion. This growth is truly unprecedented. Never before in human history has a single generation witnessed such explosive change. It seems self-evident, therefore, that the policies we adopt, the decisions we make, and the strategies we pursue over the next decade will determine the future of our species and the trajectory of our planet for the foreseeable future. That is an awesome responsibility, to say the least. It is also a huge opportunity.

One of the chapters has a discussion on HLL:
Unilever's Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL), provides an interesting glimpse of the development of native capabilities in its efforts to pioneer new markets among the rural poor. HLL requires all employees in India to spend six weeks living in rural villages, actively seeks local consumer insights and preferences as it develops new products, and sources raw materials almost exclusively from local producers. The company also created an R&D center in rural India focused specifically on technology and product development to serve the needs of the poor. HLL uses a wide variety of local partners to distribute its products and also supports the efforts of these partners to build local capabilities. In addition, HLL provides opportunities and training to local entrepreneurs and actively experiments with new types of distribution, such as selling via local product demonstrations and village street theaters.

By developing local understanding, building local capacity, and encouraging a creative and flexible market entry process, HLL has been able to generate substantial revenues and profits from operating in low-income markets. Today more than half of HLL's revenues come from customers at the base of the economic pyramid. Using the approach to product development, marketing, and distribution pioneered in rural India, Unilever has also been able to leverage a rapidly growing and profitable business focused on low-income markets in other parts of the developing world. Even more important, through its new strategy, HLL has created tens of thousands of jobs, improved hygiene and quality of life, and become an accepted partner in development among the poor themselves.