polo_pro
07-25-2007, 05:23 PM
I was listening to NPR in the car this afternoon. They were running a piece on how "branding concepts" could be applied to the war effort. The liberal proponent made several analogies that seemed naive to me. Another commentator (who happened to be conservative or at least pragmatic) felt that key points were being ignored. Such as the fact that the "audience" (ie. Iraqi citizens) receiving the message was hardly neutral, lives were on the line (unlike when you chose Pepsi over Coke) and soldiers in full battle gear made very poor spokesmen.
Now let me say that I didn't bring up this topic so that the various factions here on SC could rehash their strong opinions about the war. I do have a point...and oddly enough it isn't about polo!
Should Segway INC be concerned about the same things as folks trying to "brand" the war? Is Segway INC's audience neutral? We know for sure they're curious, but they're apprehensive like the Iraqi citizens. Sure, the typical audience considering whether segways should be part of daily life doesn't have their own life on the line, but in both cases it's a matter of getting people over their fears. Nor are segways potentially going to destabilize the fabric of the society...but some people fearing any type of change might think it's possible!
Lastly, do you think people are going to be receptive to the segway message being delivered by a glider? The similarity would be soldiers delivering their message to the Iraqi citizens. In both cases, it can be daunting to the listener to express their true feelings and concerns.
ps - Now the obvious humorous tangent is if the military suddenly orders 1000 segways for their soldiers to help them "train". The soldiers would then go out into the general public trying to convert people over to seeing segways as we do. Thus soldiers would learn how hard it truly is to win the "hearts and minds" of the population (be it here or in Iraq).
And who knows, after years of use, maybe these same segways could be given to disabled vets, eh? OK, ok...this is verging on a pipe dream (oddly enough also showing how segways can spread world peace, eh?)! But this is off topic, so anything (except a big argument about the Iraqi war) is fair game.
Now let me say that I didn't bring up this topic so that the various factions here on SC could rehash their strong opinions about the war. I do have a point...and oddly enough it isn't about polo!
Should Segway INC be concerned about the same things as folks trying to "brand" the war? Is Segway INC's audience neutral? We know for sure they're curious, but they're apprehensive like the Iraqi citizens. Sure, the typical audience considering whether segways should be part of daily life doesn't have their own life on the line, but in both cases it's a matter of getting people over their fears. Nor are segways potentially going to destabilize the fabric of the society...but some people fearing any type of change might think it's possible!
Lastly, do you think people are going to be receptive to the segway message being delivered by a glider? The similarity would be soldiers delivering their message to the Iraqi citizens. In both cases, it can be daunting to the listener to express their true feelings and concerns.
ps - Now the obvious humorous tangent is if the military suddenly orders 1000 segways for their soldiers to help them "train". The soldiers would then go out into the general public trying to convert people over to seeing segways as we do. Thus soldiers would learn how hard it truly is to win the "hearts and minds" of the population (be it here or in Iraq).
And who knows, after years of use, maybe these same segways could be given to disabled vets, eh? OK, ok...this is verging on a pipe dream (oddly enough also showing how segways can spread world peace, eh?)! But this is off topic, so anything (except a big argument about the Iraqi war) is fair game.