I'm not totally sure about if this a dream for Egypt. I'm also a little worried it might disintegrate into a rant. Let's hope for the best.
There were two triggers. Two ads. For a while Egyptian streets have been peppered with billboards that say 'The President' in both Arabic and English in white letters on a blue background. Nobody really knows who's doing it but we all know it is expensive. Less than a week ago I started to see a new ad. In golden letters on a background the signs say 'Ra'ees Masr' in Arabic meaning The President of Egypt and in English the sign also says 'President Egypt'. Boy did I laugh. A copy cat campaign burning money and not associated with a face and done by someone that who doesn't know English but just had to use it. I hate that.
But then the second ad campaign didn't provide the same level of entertainment. Pepsi has been giving out free minutes on Vodafone with every bottle you buy. And well low and behold Coca Cola has copied that and is giving out minutes on the other two carriers. The difference between the promotions is Pepsi having cash for grand prizes and Coca Cola having a few BMWs. But of course my thinking is: there was nothing else they could do? Why do competing companies feel they have to match promotions or ad campaigns? What's wrong with being unique? Do we value the unique?
I totally understand that every business or idea does attract copy cats. And yes, Steve Jobs did say: 'Good artists copy, great artists steal'. But the extent that we take copying is a little too far. When you copy you should try to add a twist, a variation or anything that should give me a reason to chose you over the original.
The problem is that it has become a cultural phenomenon. To not mind copying is one thing but we seem to award it. Plagiarism is rampant in our schools and universities and it continues virtually unchecked. We reward copying because it takes so little effort compared to originality. To make things worse Egypt doesn't have the legal structure to help protect intellectual property effectively.
But the biggest problem is in our minds. We collectively as a people just do not value the innovators. We don't like to venture beyond the norm. When we want to open a shop we look around and see two pharmacies and decide to open a third. We don't give enough social rewards to our innovators and we don't give them enough incentive to innovate.
I think we can train and educate ourselves to embrace innovation. It will take time and effort and will also need some very brave innovators to do it.
There were two triggers. Two ads. For a while Egyptian streets have been peppered with billboards that say 'The President' in both Arabic and English in white letters on a blue background. Nobody really knows who's doing it but we all know it is expensive. Less than a week ago I started to see a new ad. In golden letters on a background the signs say 'Ra'ees Masr' in Arabic meaning The President of Egypt and in English the sign also says 'President Egypt'. Boy did I laugh. A copy cat campaign burning money and not associated with a face and done by someone that who doesn't know English but just had to use it. I hate that.
But then the second ad campaign didn't provide the same level of entertainment. Pepsi has been giving out free minutes on Vodafone with every bottle you buy. And well low and behold Coca Cola has copied that and is giving out minutes on the other two carriers. The difference between the promotions is Pepsi having cash for grand prizes and Coca Cola having a few BMWs. But of course my thinking is: there was nothing else they could do? Why do competing companies feel they have to match promotions or ad campaigns? What's wrong with being unique? Do we value the unique?
I totally understand that every business or idea does attract copy cats. And yes, Steve Jobs did say: 'Good artists copy, great artists steal'. But the extent that we take copying is a little too far. When you copy you should try to add a twist, a variation or anything that should give me a reason to chose you over the original.
The problem is that it has become a cultural phenomenon. To not mind copying is one thing but we seem to award it. Plagiarism is rampant in our schools and universities and it continues virtually unchecked. We reward copying because it takes so little effort compared to originality. To make things worse Egypt doesn't have the legal structure to help protect intellectual property effectively.
But the biggest problem is in our minds. We collectively as a people just do not value the innovators. We don't like to venture beyond the norm. When we want to open a shop we look around and see two pharmacies and decide to open a third. We don't give enough social rewards to our innovators and we don't give them enough incentive to innovate.
I think we can train and educate ourselves to embrace innovation. It will take time and effort and will also need some very brave innovators to do it.
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