Ziad.com – The Old blog of Ziad Hussain

Well, it looks like the world is awakening to something that has been happening for a long time.  First I noticed Hugh MacLeod detailed the concept of The Global Microbrand back in October of ‘05.  MacLeod described the concept as:

“A small, tiny brand, that “sells” all over the world.

The Global Microbrand is nothing new; they’ve existed for a while,
long before the Internet was  invented. Imagine a well-known author or
painter, selling his work all over the world. Or a small whisky
distillery in Scotland. Or a small cheese maker in rural France, whose
produce is exported to Paris, London, Tokyo etc. Ditto with a violin
maker in Italy. A classical guitar maker in Spain. Or a small English firm making $50,000 shotguns.”

However, MacLeod is a savvy talking head who I expect to be aware of such trends.  He is a pioneer.  He existed and exists in the mainstream marketing culture, but openly acknowledges the changes that are coming.  He sees the mashup between marketing/technology/culture/counterculture/art and realized we’ve got a new phenomenon on our hands.

Now it is time for the mainstream to acknowledge this once and for all, and for corporations to come up with a better strategy than simply copying the Microbrands.  The signs that the concept is going mainstream can be seen in last weeks New York Times article “The Brand Underground.”

Check out the article.  If you are an industry insider, and this is news to you, it might be time to make a mad dash for the train platform before it totally passes you by.

Momochicago was a good time today.  Lots of smart people talking about the future of mobile computing.  I feel some momentum behind all of these events and there is a snowball effect beginning to happen.  Also what has been great is most of the events have been attended by some people with real clout in the industry.  Christy Wyatt VP of Ecosystem Development Motorola Mobile Devices spoke at tonights momochicago meeting and was very forward thinking about the future of mobile computing.  Motorola is putting money where it’s mouth is and promoting Linux as THE open platform for mobile computing.  Christy did mention that Windows based portables are still very much in the picture, but that Motorola would really like to see a platform that would give developers more versatility across platforms and make good on the promises and premises that Java never fully delivered on.  Interesting times we live in!

Lately I’ve noticed a new trend in gonzo journalism in blogs. Someone puts out an article or review of an event, and it turns out that they were actually a big part of the even themselves. If you disclose that this is the case, I think that is fine. It is unethical however if you report with a style of non-bias when in fact you changed the course of the events significantly. If this blog has a gonzo post, i’ll be the first to let you know.

Here Here for innnovation!

Be there, or be some curmugeonly old fashioned talking head whose job will be obsolete in 5 years (if you’re lucky)