I'd say I was brilliant if it hadn't been so obvious.

"It’s too late for Vista, and my humble prediction is that it will go away and undergo a retooling - perhaps a later integration of key features into a different OS release. "

- Me, Your Humble Blogger, in a March blog entry, "When Did The Guys From Delta House Start Running Microsoft?"

~Seven months later~

Microsoft Introduces Windows 7, Ending Vista Brand - New York Times

"Microsoft introduced what it said would be a slimmer and more responsive version of its Windows operating system on Tuesday, while unceremoniously dropping the brand name Vista for the new product... Other new features in this very early version included an enhanced and more flexible task-bar, more powerful search features, and an easier-to-use home network and file sharing. There was also a hint that Microsoft plans to revise Windows 7 to take advantage of the coming wave of multicore microprocessors from Intel and Advanced Micro Devices. Mr. Sinofsky said the company would give more details on the ability of the new program to handle up to 256 processors."

Its a damn shame that my brilliant prognostications do not extend to the stock market.

Pepsi for Obama?

Here's the new look for Pepsi. I know I'm not alone in recognizing the logo as something strikingly familiar to a select number of yard signs around town this time of year. Pepsi and Obama - are both the choice of a new generation?

Frankly, the design does nothing for me, as I'm old enough to recognize the type design as something retro from the time when my college roommate was experimenting with 'Flock of Seagulls' hair, and my sister wrote her 'e's like that back in the late 70s. Alternatively, there is something modern and Anglo/European about the look, so the ads for this sugar water may eventually feature sublime smiles, pastel dress shirts and objectionable ties.

In an interesting use of new(est) media, to get the word out Pepsi released the design to thought leaders in social media. So the fact that now I'm blogging about it means the new look is viral. I'm officially a marketing virus.

(Photo courtesy Peter Shankman)

...dogs and cats living together - mass hysteria!

Along with this post's title, one of my favorite movie quips, offered in deadpan delivery by Howard Ramis in Ghostbusters, is "Sorry, Venkman, I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought."

Yet this is a lot of what we've been hearing lately from colleagues and pundits. But this isn't the End Of Days brought about by the Sta-Puft marshmallow man, but rather it is a long overdue reminder to focus, work hard, live within our means, and reprioritize.

While things will change over the next days and weeks, and some of it may perhaps eventually change my tone in this post, right now I'm not seeing a lot of bad news so much as a lot of fear and uncertainty, and opportunity always arrives with uncertainty. Buy into the fear and sell into the optimism. It's Warren Buffett's approach for the markets and should be all marketers' as well. Our response to a difficult situation changes our ability to handle it.

No doubt, things are going to stink in the near term, because marketers have by and large never properly positioned themselves or the function for the key role it should assume during a market slowdown, opting instead to stammer defensively and nervously paint lambs blood above our office doors. Still, a ten trillion dollar debt should worry us. The potential for a nuclear Iran is disurbing. Climate change has me checking under the bed for the bogeyman and Al Gore.

But this? Nothing that a little ingenuity and informed strategic thinking can't overcome. Now is not the time for marketers to be running for the exits. Companies that spend this time looking for greater efficiencies and new approaches will maintain in a slowdown and position themselves for exceptional share growth when the money starts flowing again.

There are a number of studies to support this. Download a few. Discover specific ideas. Seek knowledgeable advice. Recalibrate.

Smile.