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Author Topic: "Kokomo Brands" - Mike Love's Newest Business Venture Seeking Investors?  (Read 7528 times)
The LEGENDARY OSD
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« Reply #25 on: July 26, 2018, 08:15:43 PM »



http://www.bailiwickventures.com/#portfolio



Gene Simmons will be jealous.

Just a lot more reasons to laugh at this crumb who's taking the legacy down to sewer level. REVOKE THE LICENSE NOW!!!!!  Evil Evil Evil
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Lonely Summer
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« Reply #26 on: July 26, 2018, 10:26:22 PM »

Oh, good grief, I don't see anything to get upset about. It's just Mike being Mike.
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« Reply #27 on: July 27, 2018, 06:26:44 AM »

Just looking at the first link. A very poor quality copy of the Dan Rather interview where incidentally, Mike looked the worse I have ever known him to look. Lifted pictures of a faceless restaurant, clothing store etc. Amateur hour.

Again, using a picture of an established resort to promote your own brand. Mike took Brian to court over his image being used for a newspaper giveaway. Pot/ kettle/ black.

The list of themed bars and restaurants failing is extremely long. I doubt this will even get out of the gate.

Wow, I didn't even notice how amateurish the website is. The *short* clip of the Rather interview isn't even a direct copy; it appears to be a cell phone video aimed at a monitor playing it back. *And*, the video clip is hosted on Dropbox instead of on the website itself. It includes one random Dropbox comment (maybe from the person who posted it?) from nine months ago mentioning the interview was an hour long and they just recorded that one little segment.

I noticed that too. It's a cel phone video of a television screen playing the interview. Just put aside any talk of bashing or bias and the like, and looking at the presentation itself, it's amateurish although the web design itself is pretty sleek and modern looking on first click (and that's the only click that matters if this is the sales package for investors). If they can't score the rights to use the actual Dan Rather video clip for whatever reason to market this venture, then find another video to embed. Generally investors are wooed by the quality and flash of a presentation like this.

I don't know how this passed muster.

Nor as mentioned does it look good to copy and paste another corporate hotel chain's marketing photo of their cabana/grotto/getaway design to imply that's what Club Kokomo will look like. Not wanting to go too deep into those areas, unless permission as granted by that other corporation or unless that specific hotel's layout was the product of the Club Kokomo team, you just can't copy and paste advertising images that way to use as your own.

Anyway...

Even setting aside the resolution/quality of the Rather interview clip, it should be pretty telling to potential investors that Mike couldn't be bothered to record a unique, new, exclusive two-minute video pitch for his OWN company/venture.

Geez, even just YouTube links to popular songs would seem to be a better/easier sell than the haggard interview he did with Dan Rather.
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« Reply #28 on: July 27, 2018, 09:32:01 AM »

I'm perplexed as to how Mike, who tours all year and brings in a ton of money, could be either too bored or so interested in making more money that they'd want to go for this "Kokomo" theme.

Hopefully investors will do their due diligence and look back at past "Kokomo"-related branding failures. And, as I mentioned, back in the 90s Mike could use the "Beach Boys" name for such projects, whereas now he can't.

The Beach Boys have generally just not had the branding success that the Beatles or even Jimmy Buffett have had, for whatever reason. But hey, they did make a BRI-approved singing toothbrush!



HeyJude, is that from your own collection? It is amAzing! When is this from and were there other songs? 

On a more serious note, I often wonder why there hasn't been a bigger marketing push for BB merchandise in the way that the Beatles, Zeppelin etc...have done. Think about stores like Hot Topic, FYE, even Target - you can always find fairly generic t-shirts with the Stones' mouth logo, Zeppeling shirts, Bob Marley, so on but I guarantee you will NEVER find a BB shirt. Why is that? They're certainly as much of a classic band as any of the others, and God knows there can't be any worry about "diluting the brand". So what gives, any thoughts?
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« Reply #29 on: July 27, 2018, 10:04:44 AM »

Re: the toothbrush, no, definitely not in my collection. I just remembered seeing it YEARS ago, and apparently it's still around on eBay and the like. I'm guessing that's where the pic came from.

I think the time for Beach Boys merchandise has largely passed. No way it'll be put in a Hot Topic (nor would it sell if it was put in there). I'm not saying like a single "Pet Sounds" or "Smile" shirt is 100% impossible. But even most "classic rock" bands have little placement in stores like that now. Not even much Beatles. It's mostly Pop culture stuff (Harry Potter, Star Wars, Funko Pop figures), and overpriced shirts and body jewelry.

I suppose BB merch would have a bit more interest if found in general stores like Target. But I sense they don't sell well even in those venues. Target had that exclusive boxed set for the "That's Why God Made the Radio" single that included the 45 single and a "50th" t-shirt; I didn't see that flying off shelves.

The merch does move quite a bit at concerts, and I'm guessing that (and adjoining "web stores" for tour merch) is enough for the principals of the band.

We've seen a few other weird retro 80s BB shirts sold at higher end boutique sort of stores (Urban Outfitters-type places), but those fly under the radar even among BB fans. Not sure a 1985 promo shot of the Beach Boys has reached critical mass as far as pop culture nostalgia.

But yeah, I'm curious how much BRI has been trying in the past few decades to get BB merch in mainstream outlets, and other venues outside of tour merch stands.
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« Reply #30 on: July 27, 2018, 11:26:40 AM »

Just looking at the first link. A very poor quality copy of the Dan Rather interview where incidentally, Mike looked the worse I have ever known him to look. Lifted pictures of a faceless restaurant, clothing store etc. Amateur hour.

Again, using a picture of an established resort to promote your own brand. Mike took Brian to court over his image being used for a newspaper giveaway. Pot/ kettle/ black.

The list of themed bars and restaurants failing is extremely long. I doubt this will even get out of the gate.

Wow, I didn't even notice how amateurish the website is. The *short* clip of the Rather interview isn't even a direct copy; it appears to be a cell phone video aimed at a monitor playing it back. *And*, the video clip is hosted on Dropbox instead of on the website itself. It includes one random Dropbox comment (maybe from the person who posted it?) from nine months ago mentioning the interview was an hour long and they just recorded that one little segment.

I noticed that too. It's a cel phone video of a television screen playing the interview. Just put aside any talk of bashing or bias and the like, and looking at the presentation itself, it's amateurish although the web design itself is pretty sleek and modern looking on first click (and that's the only click that matters if this is the sales package for investors). If they can't score the rights to use the actual Dan Rather video clip for whatever reason to market this venture, then find another video to embed. Generally investors are wooed by the quality and flash of a presentation like this.

I don't know how this passed muster.

Nor as mentioned does it look good to copy and paste another corporate hotel chain's marketing photo of their cabana/grotto/getaway design to imply that's what Club Kokomo will look like. Not wanting to go too deep into those areas, unless permission as granted by that other corporation or unless that specific hotel's layout was the product of the Club Kokomo team, you just can't copy and paste advertising images that way to use as your own.

Anyway...

Even setting aside the resolution/quality of the Rather interview clip, it should be pretty telling to potential investors that Mike couldn't be bothered to record a unique, new, exclusive two-minute video pitch for his OWN company/venture.

Geez, even just YouTube links to popular songs would seem to be a better/easier sell than the haggard interview he did with Dan Rather.


That is a good point, and seriously, is Mike so busy touring that he couldn't record an exclusive, personalized video message for potential investors and customers on a site that has not only his name on it, but a brand which is being marketed on Mike's celebrity and image? And that's beyond even getting a first-generation copy of the Rather interview secured and licensed to use like this in a commercial venture versus someone aiming a phone at a TV monitor and capturing the video. Not to mention clipping another hotel chain's advertising photo and pasting it on the site.

Holy cow, it just makes no sense. If you put your name on a brand, and add in what fans have read and been told about Mike being in control of every aspect of his career, one would think some element of quality control would be a factor.

I could be snarky and say I wonder if this was the "sloppy" work of some hapless intern or low-level office staffer to blame as suggested with past online advertising snafus.
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« Reply #31 on: July 27, 2018, 03:10:18 PM »

Why the f does Mike think "Kokomo" is a lasting representation of The Beach Boys' "brand"? It's like middle aged Florida vibes, compared to the '60s California cool of the actual Beach Boys' appeal to the masses.
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« Reply #32 on: July 29, 2018, 06:20:21 AM »

Why the f does Mike think "Kokomo" is a lasting representation of The Beach Boys' "brand"? It's like middle aged Florida vibes, compared to the '60s California cool of the actual Beach Boys' appeal to the masses.

I'm guessing because Mike's three co-writers are deceased, as is his fellow bandmate Carl who shared the most prominent lead vocals on the track so no one can comment in the present on how it really developed, it's the success Mike can hang his hat on and try to shape the perception that it's his tune. The true California cool sounds that created an entire mythology - Mike has to both share and concede credit for that to others. "Mike's a genius too" I think someone(s) have tried to say. Sure.

To me, it's the same mindset that takes "Forever" out of Dennis' legacy and puts it into a Full House and Uncle Jesse's wedding context to highlight John Stamos at shows. I saw that element as soon as Mike took the Forever video out of the live shows. And in that case, I even think John Stamos actually respects the song as Dennis' song more than Mike.

But I digress.

I still can't believe the attempt to put ownership of Kokomo into Mike's hands, since it is a John Phillips song that *The Beach Boys* had a hit with, but somehow we're now supposed to think it's Mike's tune.
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« Reply #33 on: July 29, 2018, 10:21:53 AM »

Why the f does Mike think "Kokomo" is a lasting representation of The Beach Boys' "brand"? It's like middle aged Florida vibes, compared to the '60s California cool of the actual Beach Boys' appeal to the masses.

I'm guessing because Mike's three co-writers are deceased, as is his fellow bandmate Carl who shared the most prominent lead vocals on the track so no one can comment in the present on how it really developed, it's the success Mike can hang his hat on and try to shape the perception that it's his tune. The true California cool sounds that created an entire mythology - Mike has to both share and concede credit for that to others. "Mike's a genius too" I think someone(s) have tried to say. Sure.

To me, it's the same mindset that takes "Forever" out of Dennis' legacy and puts it into a Full House and Uncle Jesse's wedding context to highlight John Stamos at shows. I saw that element as soon as Mike took the Forever video out of the live shows. And in that case, I even think John Stamos actually respects the song as Dennis' song more than Mike.

But I digress.

I still can't believe the attempt to put ownership of Kokomo into Mike's hands, since it is a John Phillips song that *The Beach Boys* had a hit with, but somehow we're now supposed to think it's Mike's tune.

Yeh it's weird ... It's a John Phillips, etc co-write ... just like most of his other hits are B. Wilson co-writes. I'm not even sure he's attempting to inflate his association with the song as much as ... well, he seems to *prefer* the Florida vibe/Kokomo culture vs. the actual BB/California culture. If only Mike loved the Wild Honey record (equally his creation as much as "Kokomo" is ha) as much as he loves "Kokomo", then we'd have world peace.
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« Reply #34 on: July 30, 2018, 10:04:32 AM »

Why the f does Mike think "Kokomo" is a lasting representation of The Beach Boys' "brand"? It's like middle aged Florida vibes, compared to the '60s California cool of the actual Beach Boys' appeal to the masses.

I'm guessing because Mike's three co-writers are deceased, as is his fellow bandmate Carl who shared the most prominent lead vocals on the track so no one can comment in the present on how it really developed, it's the success Mike can hang his hat on and try to shape the perception that it's his tune. The true California cool sounds that created an entire mythology - Mike has to both share and concede credit for that to others. "Mike's a genius too" I think someone(s) have tried to say. Sure.

To me, it's the same mindset that takes "Forever" out of Dennis' legacy and puts it into a Full House and Uncle Jesse's wedding context to highlight John Stamos at shows. I saw that element as soon as Mike took the Forever video out of the live shows. And in that case, I even think John Stamos actually respects the song as Dennis' song more than Mike.

But I digress.

I still can't believe the attempt to put ownership of Kokomo into Mike's hands, since it is a John Phillips song that *The Beach Boys* had a hit with, but somehow we're now supposed to think it's Mike's tune.

Yeh it's weird ... It's a John Phillips, etc co-write ... just like most of his other hits are B. Wilson co-writes. I'm not even sure he's attempting to inflate his association with the song as much as ... well, he seems to *prefer* the Florida vibe/Kokomo culture vs. the actual BB/California culture. If only Mike loved the Wild Honey record (equally his creation as much as "Kokomo" is ha) as much as he loves "Kokomo", then we'd have world peace.

I'd suggest if you read through the "Kokomo Brands" literature and that website, Mike and the others involved are pinning the entire business venture on people associating Mike Love with Kokomo and Kokomo's success. If Mike were a solo act like Jimmy Buffett and someone wanted to do what Jimmy did with the branding and restaurants and beer...it would make sense. It's Jimmy Buffett's whole scene, the tropical island late-middle-aged barefoot pirate schtick warm-climate vibes and all of that. Jimmy did that in his songs and his fans picked it up to turn it into a sub-genre of fandom as Parrotheads.

But the whole notion of hinging a brand or a product line on Mike Love and "Kokomo" makes it necessary for people to connect Mike Love with creating and being responsible for the success of Kokomo, and the facts of how that song came together doesn't support that connection. It was a John Phillips/Scott McKenzie song in origin, and it was a "Beach Boys" #1 hit.
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« Reply #35 on: July 30, 2018, 11:02:15 AM »

At the end of the day Buffet has the market locked in already. Mikes proposing to dilute and confuse the same market and we know he doesn’t like that don’t we.  Roll Eyes
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« Reply #36 on: July 30, 2018, 04:06:47 PM »

At the end of the day Buffet has the market locked in already. Mikes proposing to dilute and confuse the same market and we know he doesn’t like that don’t we.  Roll Eyes
Well, I hope Mr. Love is successful in this business venture. I'm in favor of whatever it would take to make him happy; and I hope his ego gets what it needs, because he seems pretty insecure about the public perception of him as just "the guy with the hat that sings the surf and turf songs for the BB's".
So Mike, when you gonna dazzle us with another pop classic like "Kokomo"? We've been waiting......waiting 30 years for another.
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