The Automobile Facet of my Brand Identity

I have been loyal to the BMW brand going on about 7 years now. I currently drive a 2001 BMW 525i and before that I drove a 1995 BMW 325is. Why am I loyal? It's all about where I came from. My parents drove them throughout most of my childhood, initially swearing by their quality and their engineering. They drove them for as long as I can remember, literally driving at least three of them into the ground.

One thing I noticed as time passed was the common weaknesses in the vehicles. After about 5 years they were consistently in the shop about every 6 months. All of them started out as wonderful examples of engineering. Unfortunately that engineering proved unable to stand the test of time. The problems were always the same; electrical system faults and environmental system bugs.

Now that my BMW 525i has exceeded it's 5 year limit I am seeing the same things happening. Over the last month my environmental controls have become gummed up to the the point the buttons are very hard to press. I think it might have something to do with the Starbucks Cinnamon Apple Cider I spilled on the dash, but that's another story.

Last week the fan button literally fell off when I tried to turn the fan down which brings me to my fun story. I called Karl Knauz BMW, the local dealer where I bought my car, to bring it in to be fixed and they had me schedule an appointment for last Monday at 7:30am. At that time I would bring my car in and they would give me a loaner.

Well guess what... I forgot all about the appointment. I made it from my cell phone while driving and did not write it down (yes, their number is programmed into my BlackBerry, that should be sign enough I guess).

I got no reminder call, not that it's their responsibility to remind me, but for goodness sake, even Mario Tricoci calls to remind me the day before for a simple hair cut. So I just dismissed it thinking I saved a little money for the month. I'll reschedule in a week or two.

That is, until... They called me today to ask how my appointment had gone and if I was happy with their service! Woah. What kind of craziness is that?! I'm dreading the bill I'm sure to get in the mail for this ghostly service that they can perform through some kind of remote telekinesis.

So now I have another issue with BMW, a loss of confidence in their service. (BTW, this is the second time I have gotten wacky service from a BMW dealer. Once when I took my 325is into Patrick BMW Schaumberg they literally lost my car)

Um yeah, that brand equation's not really working for me anymore. Now I need to find a new brand that I trust. I need a vehicle that is built with quality and engineered for the long haul. I also need something that I will truly enjoy to drive. An environment that will energize me towards innovation on the way to work everyday and also help me to relax and shed stress on the way back home each night.

Will the real Ultimate Driving Machine please stand up?
(go ahead, you know you want to sing that phase to the tune of Slim Shady)

Time to start saving my penny's because I think I've found it. It's the Infiniti M35x. It's engineered by Nissan so I know it's made well. But here is the kicker for me, the interior. It's nothing short of a work of art. Crafted for luxury and underpinned with technology. That got Andrew D. Goodfellow branding written all over it. Go to a dealer and sit inside one quietly for 60 seconds. I dare you not to fall in love with it.

2008 will bring a new brand direction into my life and I will no longer tie my personal brand to BMW. Oh but wait, what will my parents say when they find out?! Well one of their BMWs' just died on them about a month ago and they replaced it with... a Toyota RAV4.

The Blackberry 8830 World Phone

Today my new Blackberry 8830 World Phone arrived. Thus ends my experiment with non-digital time managment and planning.

I have been a Blackberry user since the devices first came out. I purchased mine (or rather my company did) at the JavaOne conference around 1998. I remember watching the RIM guys at the conference and finding it amazing how fast they could type with their thumbs. I learned to type the same way pretty quickly.

As I progressed in my career I used the Blackberry to it's fullest potential. It worked great for email (duh) and calendaring, but it was horrible for note taking. I hated the fact that I had to have a notebook or tablet to take notes on. I really wanted only one device for everything.

About a year ago I began to notice that all the other officers in my company and all the good managers, directors, and C-level client folk I interacted with used Franklin-Covey planners to manage their lives. I figured I must be missing something. So I decided at that time to try something new and abandon my Blackberry, buy a Franklin-Covey planner and just use a regular cell phone. I chose a full day view planner and the Sanyo Katana.

Now, after about a year I find I still do all my time management online thanks to Googles slick SaaS tools. Despite how hard I tried I never found the secret to blocking out time using a pencil on paper. I found myself using my Katana phone in ways that I never thought the little device capable and I got very good at T9 and SMS text messaging with it.

Then it happened. July hit. I went into my drawer to retrieve my Franklin-Covey July notebook to replace June in my planner and guess what. No July. Hmm... Do I go give Franklin-Covey another $100 or so for the next 12 months of notebooks so I can fit in with my less than technical peers and clients?

Forget that garbage. It's time for me to get over it. I now realize that, despite common opinion, there is such a thing as a technically savvy executive and I fit the bill quite nicely thank you.

So from now on as I track performance, measure billable efficiency, and decide on what market direction to create or follow I'll also be typing like a crazy man with my two wonderful opposable thumbs. I'll also use a Moleskine as a backup for more free hand things.

Long live the Blackberry, may it become the device that unifies all devices into one. Down with paper notebook planners, may they become 100% post-consumer material and find a better use containing my morning coffee.