Here is the stage layout for the Pacifico Arena in Yokohama…show starts in 6 days…phew cutting it close..I.will video tape rehearsals this Monday and post them.

Dr. Kanbe Shunpei organizer of the Peace Boat (http://www.peaceboat.org) and pioneer in disease control in Africa will give the opening speech at the concert…I realized he plays a traditional African finger piano so I have asked him to join the African musicians for the opening song.

Last week someone posted a weblog regarding women in business and I mentioned four successful women who have faced enormous challenges as CEOs of troubled companies. Avon was one of the companies.

Since 1886, Avon has offered high quality beauty products through a unique direct sales distribution channel. In 2000, Avon’s CEO, Andrea Jung, was faced with a rapidly changing marketplace and disappointing growth rates. Andrea Jung decided to implement a number of grand strategies changing the face of Avon. These grand strategies included expanding the product line to gain greater diversity in customer ethnicity and age group. In addition, Avon began using a greater variety of distribution channels, entering the retail space and launching Internet sales capabilities.

By 2002, the company’s finances and growth rates were far more positive. In a SWOT analysis conducted of the company in 2006, Data Monitor declared “Avon posted a three year (2002-2005) revenue growth of 9.1%, significantly better than its competitors.

Moreover, the company’s return on average investment for the period of 2001 – 2005 were recorded at 35.7%, significantly higher than the industry average of 17.2%” (Data Monitor, 2006). One of the key enhancements made as part of Andrea Jung’s grand strategy was expansion of Avon’s product offering. This decision was supported by market research studies conducted by the consultants Andrea Jung hired to help her rejuvenate the company. A diverse product portfolio was credited for the above average growth experienced by Avon between 2002 and 2005.

Further contributing to Avon’s positive turn was a newly implemented web-enabled electronic ordering system. “This increased the speed and flexibility of delivery of an online order, while at the same time enhances the sales effectiveness.” Launching a website where Avon’s direct sellers could efficiently expedite orders was one of the key initiatives of Andrea Jung’s grand strategies.

Once implemented, this system not only met its initial goal of enhancing the effectiveness of Avon’s salespeople, but it also improved Avon’s order accuracy, reducing operating costs. By making it easier for reps to communicate with Avon, supplying them with contact-management tools and sales data for increasing their own business, and creating more information flow between independent sales reps and the head office, Avon hopes to pioneer a new-and-improved, Internet-fortified direct-sales model.

Jung has made a strong push for global growth. In 2003, Avon had a large presence in Russia and sales jumped 70 percent. In China, products were sold from over 5,000 storefronts with a new opportunity approved in 2005 to include direct selling. Shares of Avon traded at 25 times its estimated 2004 earnings, which is well above the market average of 19.5 percent. According to a Merrill Lynch analyst, future annual earnings could average 15 percent, making today’s share price look like a bargain.

Excite japan launched the website for the Africa Mission concert this week…they have been very helpful…the site reaches 25 million unique users per month in Japan.

Although it is in japanese here is the link please visit…http://ent2.excite.co.jp/music/africamission2008/

This is a great grassroots promotion…I will give my thoughts on this soon…a live experience with the brand is so much more powerful than a traditional TV commercial although the reach is lower the impact is longer lasting and viral.

May 30, 2008 Unicef will hold a great concert in the Pacifico Arena in Yokohama, Japan. The performances will feature artists combining African traditional music with Japanese pop, hip hop and classical musicians. Japanese famous artists include X-Japan Toshi, Blendzz, Sojiro and Murakami Ponta

The proceeds from the concert will go to Unicef and HIV/Aids relief in Africa. The concert will be recorded live and released by Apple iTunes. Apple will also donate the proceeds of the sales to Unicef.

Jett Edwards and Gerald Gentemann are producing the concert.

Wow if you think women have a long way to go in the USA you should see Japan…very few women managers in Japan and the salaries are lower than male counterparts…that being said very few of the women aspire to have a career in the workforce and typically when they marry, their husbands make them stay at home wives.

There are thousands of examples of powerful women who have made it in America…

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

Safari Day 4

An early morning departure for Mboma boat station within the Central Moremi Game Reserve. Adventure “fly camping” on an island within the Okavango Delta.

A morningís mokoro (traditional canoe) and full days boating activities on offer within the Okavango Delta with a delicious picnic lunch provided and safe swimming in a well chosen spot of paradise.

Meanwhile, the team of staff head on to the island to set up the adventure fly camp. (A simpler camp consisting of mosquito nets and bedrolls, however all the comforts and amenities are provided).
Arrive at Godikwe Island before dark.

After an orientation of the camp, refreshing basins are on offer,
followed by relaxation around the campfire and superb bush cuisine.

This example is a bit old but is a great example of the strength of a great event idea.

Sometimes the PR value from an event is much more powerful and more valuable than any paid advertisement.

Look at this GMR event for Marshall Fields…I think you may agree.

Japan has a love of manga and animation so it is no wonder these two characters for TV commercials became huge celebrities and even got invitations to appear on talk shows and events. Both TVCs were voted most popular in japan for weeks and weeks in a row and follow up spots featured them.

Please have a look and see…I think they could have worked anywhere in the world.

Marketers are rushing to tap the fast-growing purchase power of teenage consumers and of “tweens,” who are just on the brink of their teen years.

But if ever the principles of Marketing 101 applied, they are especially crucial here. Neglect fact-finding, listening, testing and follow-up, and you’d be better off not even trying to reach this savvy, cynical, evolving-at-light-speed market.

Clients often speak about the huge spending power and the impact of consumer dollars from this demographic but the reality is, not only are these young people earning more money and getting more access to money there are more choices for them and more products or services specifically targeted to them.

So you have to be different, you have to be intrusive. You have to be that much more unique relative to all the other messages they’re getting.

The spending power is indeed impressive. Aggregate spending by U.S. tweens reached nearly $41 billion in 2005, a jump of 33.3% over tween expenditures in the year 2000.

Today’s teens the leading edge of “Generation Y,” as demographers prefer to call them already constitute a bigger market than the baby boomer, USA Today has reported, citing research firm Yankelovich Partners: 77.6 million born since 1979, versus 76.8 million born between 1946 and 1964.

Teens in the USA have an average weekly expendable income of $94, says the firm; they represented a $122 billion market last year in direct expenditures, and are expected to spend $175 billion .

But those numbers are just the beginning tweens and teens have an increasing say in parents’ purchases for the entire family as well. This influence ranges from color and model of vehicle purchased to family vacations foe example, “Shall we go to the beach or the mountains?”

And then there’s the future, another compelling reason to reach the tweens age groups now. While teenagers comprise a large chunk of Burton Snowboards’ business, about one-third, the manufacturer also is ramping up efforts toward the 12-and-under group, which now totals about 8% of its business. Not just because it’s a growth market in itself, with more and more kids getting into the sport; these kids are potential long-term customers throughout their lives.

“It’s an opportunity to start a relationship through the teen years,” said David Schriber, Burton’s vice president of marketing. What’s more, “there’s good statistical evidence to show that the younger you start [with such sports], the more avid you remain later in life. It becomes part of your lifestyle.