Stuff I like

Here's a list of my recent favorite brands & products. You might like them, too.

6.  Dermalogica skin care products
My mom (a hair stylist) gave me a bunch of this stuff for Christmas. What a great gift! Especially because I not only love the products, but because I hate shopping for and trying out new cosmetics products. (I hate wasting money and finding out something isn't good).  Anyway, I've used the cleanser, moisturizer and exfoliant and they all work well and feel good. I'm not into makeup, but skin care is one thing I'll spend on -- because I figure that you'll have it forever, so you'd better take care of it.

5. Starbucks
I'm not amazed by Starbucks, and I wouldn't quite call myself a brand ambassador (yet). I like their espresso drinks usually, hate their coffee, and tolerate their pastries. BUT, I really like the changes I see with the new CEO. The focus is going back to coffee. Thank goodness!  This is just what the brand needed. Golf clap, Howard. I'm looking forward to the Starbucks experience in the future.

Here's a change I'd love to see: I would like the cashier to actively listen to my order. It's a small thing, but important... they always end up asking me "and what?" so I repeat the order at least once. Just listen, and then start writing it on the cup. Please. :)

4. Nike
As a marketer, I love their advertising, and loooove their branding. Brilliance. The swoosh...who doesn't love it? It seems like a marketing- and design-driven company. Nike really owns their brand. As a consumer, I also really like their products -- at least, their apparel, which is what I've purchased. It fits well, is stylish, and comfortable. It makes a big difference in my workouts, actually - because it keeps me dry and not too hot, I can run longer and faster.

3. Yogurtworld 
My current obssession, ever since Miso and JSinGood introduced me to it. I wasn't a frozen yogurt lover to begin with. I love ice cream. I hate most diet versions of food. But this isn't a diet version of the real McCoy. It is its own thing: real yogurt just trying to be yogurt -- a delightfully, slightly sour taste. (Side note: Pinkberry doesn't use real yogurt. You'll notice they have to call the product itself "pinkberry" instead of "yogurt"). 

Yogurtworld boasts 14 flavors, ranging from the normal stuff (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry) to Asian-inspired flavors (green coconut, green tea, Asian peach tart). It's self-service, which I think is a good business model and I'd rather serve myself anyway so I can pick out a stellar Hapa-combination of flavors. And then you get to the toppings -- there are probably around 30-35 to choose from. The best part!  Cap'n Crunch, non-pareils, lychees, cheesecake, rainbow rice krispies, mochi -- you name it, they got it. And you can pile on as little or as much as you want.  They charge $.38 per ounce, for yogurt and toppings, which ends up being a steal compared to other places. Of course, it's on Convoy, so you kind of expect it to be cheap... and it doesn't disappoint.

Love the yogurt, toppings, business model, and oh yeah, the marketing in the store is pretty entertaining too. It's sort of in Engrish, but I think tongue-in-cheek and probably written by a Native English speaker. There is a sign with a list of steps to get and enjoy your yogurt, which includes:

"Take a last loving glance at your creation before enjoying. But careful!  Eat slowly so you don't get brain freeze."

There's another sign which lists the benefits of eating frozen yogurt, including "Clear acne" and "Get rid of lactose intolerance" (um, by eating dairy?). Lol. Anyway, try it... it's fun.  But, if you hate high school kids, get yours to go.

2. Amazon.com
I've loved this company for years. I love books, and I like to own them (part of my plan to build a library someday, something my future kids could pull from anytime). Amazon has good prices, and free shipping if you order $25 or more, and it saves me a lot of trips to the bookstore. Now, I still love going to bookstores once in a while, just to browse or hang out, but Amazon makes my life a lot easier. I almost always get my products on time or early.

I had one bad experience with a rebate with Amazon (it was really, really late). So I wrote the CEO an email. Yes, the CEO... I was tired of dealing with their customer service team, who usually is great, but in this one case they weren't empowered to send me my check as fast as they should have.  And indeed, Jeff Bezos (or some assistant) actually did something about the problem. Because the next day I got an email back with an apology, and they sent my check out immediately. After that, I was back to being a happy customer, and I was impressed that the CEO lives up to his promise of being "all about the customer." If only every company dealt with customer complaints this way!

1. Pageflake 
This isn't so much about the brand - it's all about the product. Pageflake is the one product (a website) that has most improved my life this past year.

A pageflake is a webpage you create, of snippets of your favorite websites. You can put snapshots of the latest content of the websites you like to read, all on this one page (via RSS feeds). So, all at once, I can see the updated content for an unlimited amount of webpages.

I have to look at a lot of webpages, for personal and for work, and it can take up a ton of time. I like to keep up with blogs on marketing, consumer electronics, food and San Diego events, as well as miscellaneous stuff like weather, traffic on my commute, friends' blogs... etc. Now I just look at my 4 pageflake tabs, and that nearly covers my web surfing. My day is so much more organized!

The sharing feature is nice, too. I've shared my flakes with friends who may be interested. If you want to check them out, click on these links:

Consumer electronics - focusing on the connected home and multimedia

Yum Yum - Foodie blogs for the San Diego region, and a few on Orange County and L.A.

Stuff to do - Events, entertainment and nightlife in San Diego.

And JSinGood has a great foodie pageflake.

So, there it is - fave brands and products of the year.