Highlights of the issue: November 2009

Intel Risks it All (Again), by Ellen McGirt, page 88
Andy Grove famously bet Intel on a new chip architecture in the 1980s. Today CEO Paul Otellini is engaged in an even more dramatic bet. The goal: a new kind of Intel -- one defined as much by market insights as faster-than-fast technology. How Otellini and right-hand Sean Maloney are reengineering Chipzilla -- with assists from Apple, China, and a hip indie ad shop.

The Unlikely Mogul, by Chuck Salter, page 98
"Even for Hollywood, where long odds and high stakes are staples of storytelling, the plotline is a doozy," writes Chuck Salter about Hulu, which in two years has become the premier broadcast video site on the Web. Jason Kilar, Hulu's 38-year-old CEO, has drawn in millions of viewers and gobs of ad dollars. Despite competitors on all sides -- including his own backers, NBC, Fox and ABC -- Kilar is on a mission to save traditional TV from itself.

Cassandra's Revenge, by Danielle Sacks, page 112
"Not long ago, economist Noreena Hertz lived at the lefty margins of her field," writes Danielle Sacks. "But her (widely ignored) prediction of the credit crisis and her call for a more evolved form of capitalism have put her in the spotlight." Big corporations and governments now turn to the Cambridge professor for insights into what she calls "co-op capitalism." Says Bono, who enlisted Hertz for his Red campaign: "The Hertz brain is hardwired to the Hertz heart, but it's the unsentimental economic analysis that makes her such an effective instrument for change."

The Gene Bubble, by David H. Freedman, page 116
Billions have been spent in search of miracle cures promised by the decoding of the human genome. Yet as David H. Freedman reports, most geneticists now quietly admit that such miracles are still far, far away -- if they ever arrive at all: "Genome-based treatments are in the drug pipeline in the same way that the Cleveland Indians are in the World Series pipeline."

iPhone's Eye-popping Future, by Farhad Manjoo, page 51
The rise of "augmented reality" apps -- such as Yelp's iPhone app -- and how layering data on top of smartphone and computer screens is both a fad and the future.

Selling to The $700 Billion Gay-and-Lesbian Market, by Kate Rockwood, page 21
American Airlines, Viacom, Macy's, Hyatt, and more.

Tequila Madness, by Mark Borden and David Lidsky, page 32
As Diageo celebrates the 250th anniversary of Cuervo on Nov. 2, an agave-eye view on the fascinating (and salty) history of the margarita -- now the most popular cocktail in America.

How the $45 Billion Pet-Care Biz is Going High Tech, by Zachary Wilson, page 64
Breakthrough products and services, from doggie DNA tests to the Ruffwear swimvest.

Real Estate Highs and Lows , By The Numbers by Anne C. Lee, page 40
The most expensive home, the lowest sale prices, the highest foreclosure locales and more.

For more of the November 2009 issue of Fast Company, please visit www.fastcompany.com beginning October 14.

Media Contact:
Terry McDevitt
McDevitt Media Group LLC
210 822-0066 or 210 232-5759 (cell)
mcdmedia@mac.com
######

Highlights of the issue: Fast Company Masters of Design
October 2009

Why Coke's David Butler Is The Real Thing, by Linda Tischler, page 90
David Butler has a nearly uncontainable design challenge: making Coke even bigger -- and staying ahead of Pepsi. Butler, Coke's first in-house VP of Global Design, has risen to the challenge by applying design principles to a multibillion-dollar operation -- using whiz-bang initiatives such as a Ferrari-inspired beverage dispenser and sexy aluminum versions of the classic contour bottle -- to help refresh the once-stodgy Coke. "I understand that there are some people who would like to hear the words 'design-driven' come out of our CEO's mouth," says Butler. "Honestly, I don't care. We're leveraging design to drive innovation and to win at the point of sale, which is fundamental to our business. Full stop."

The Chosen One, by Jeff Chu, page 98
Tapped to create the Smithsonian's new National Museum of African-American History, David Adjaye -- at the age of 43 -- is already considered one of the world's top architects, an accomplishment that makes him a young man in "an old man's field," Jeff Chu writes. His belief that high design shouldn't be exclusive to rich people has helped him deliver more project variety than any other top-tier architect. "What's the point of building if you're just doing the same thing over and over again?" he says. "That would kill me."

Confessions of an Infomaniac, by Linda Tischler, page 108
Pentagram's Lisa Strausfeld is a visual force on the web. Now she wants to redesign government. "I'd love to do a project making government activity a spectator sport," says Strausfeld. "If we could be as obsessive with government data as we are with baseball stats, maybe it would change the form of democracy."

The Five Tenets of Designing for Woman, by Kate Rockwood, page 120
The Femme Den -- Whitney Hopkins, Agnete Enga, Erica Eden, and Yvonne Lin -- "is an internal collective at Smart Design that's devoted to thinking about the bodies and brains of women and how to design -- smartly -- for them," writes Kate Rockwood. By pushing for designs that reflect what women really want, The Den is helping companies, from Target to BP to Nike, tap the $2 trillion female market. "When most people think of designing for women, they automatically think of tampons and birth control," says Lin. "Even when companies think that a product is for both genders, in reality they're just designing for men." According to Lin, "designers are working with male procedurals, probably going back to the beginning of time." Fast Company presents the five rules that animate the Femme Den -- plus an array of best-in-class products.

Creative Leaps at Best Buy, P&G, and more, by Kate Rockwood, page 27
How big brands are venturing into unexplored turf, from Reebok's Cirque-du-Soleil-inspired exercise gear to Mr. Clean Car Wash, and McCafé coffees.

Viral Loop, by Adam L. Penenberg, page 55
"Some of the most iconic companies of our time -- Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, Twitter -- have attracted millions of users practically overnight," Adam L. Penenberg writes. They have accomplished this by tapping into the power of viral loops to build massive audiences in record time. "Now, they're using these growth engines to create the future of online advertising."

The Best-Performing Restaurant Stock of the Decade, by Kate Rockwood, page 69
No, it's not McDonald's or Darden. It's St. Louis-based Panera Bread -- and Panera is "on a roll," as Kate Rockwood reports. The company, which "opens a new bakery-café every five days," is thriving by selling to an audience that is more "Food Network than fast food." "The recipe," Rockwood writes, "is succeeding."

For more of the October 2009 issue of Fast Company, please visit www.fastcompany.com beginning September 16.

Media Contact:
Terry McDevitt
McDevitt Media Group LLC
210 822-0066 or 210 232-5759 (cell)
mcdmedia@mac.com

######

MASTERS OF DESIGN 2009:
WHY COKE'S DAVID BUTLER IS THE REAL THING
HOW ONCE-STODGY COKE IS LEVERAGING DESIGN TO DRIVE INNOVATION -- AND SALES

New York, September 16, 2009 -- David Butler has a nearly uncontainable design challenge: making Coke even bigger -- and staying ahead of Pepsi. Butler, Coke's first in-house VP of Global Design, has risen to the challenge by applying design principles to a multibillion-dollar operation -- using whiz-bang initiatives such as a Ferrari-inspired beverage dispenser and sexy aluminum versions of the classic contour bottle -- to help refresh the once-stodgy Coke. In "Pop Artist," the cover story for Fast Company's October issue, senior writer Linda Tischler profiles Butler and Coke as part of the annual "Masters of Design" special report.

In contrast to the controversy earlier this year surrounding Pepsi's revamped logo -- and disappointing sales after Pepsi launched new packaging for Tropicana orange juice and the rebranded Gatorade as G -- Butler's quiet efforts at Coca-Cola have helped boost market share and drive sales upward.

That Ferrari-inspired beverage dispenser -- the Freestyle fountain -- provides a case study of Butler's tactics. Developed over 4 years in top secret, Freestyle is a sleek silver soda-fountain machine that dispenses more than 100 different Coca-Cola variants, and represents the largest investment in equipment innovation in the company's history -- hundreds of millions of dollars.

Butler designed the machine to address a host of business conundrums: how to satisfy a consumer base that has been increasingly moving away from carbonated sodas; how to lighten the carbon footprint generated by hauling millions of gallons of syrup around the world; how to offer a maximum variety within the cramped confines of a fast-food restaurant or cafeteria; and how to get accurate, real-time feedback on customer choices. This is the kind of project that rings Butler's chimes: "I love big, giant, enormous systems, no matter what they are," Butler tells Tischler.

The October issue of Fast Company is on newsstands beginning September 21 and online at www.fastcompany.com beginning September 16.

Media Contact:
Terry McDevitt
210 822-0066 or 210 232-5759
mcdmedia@mac.com
######

Highlights of the issue: Fast Company
September 2009

Cover Story: Nokia Rocks the World, by Mark Borden, page 66
Fast Company's Mark Borden profiles Tero Ojanperä's plan to "rule the world" and bold bid to trounce the opposition and transform Nokia into a media company. "You can laugh and say, 'What is the point? Nokia is a cell-phone company; it will never get into the entertainment business.' That's okay. Laugh," Ojanperä says. "That's what people did when we said we were going to be the biggest cell-phone company in the world -- back when we were making car tires and rubber boots."

Daddy Givebucks, by Jeff Bailey, page 74
Fast Company examines multi-billionaire Warren Buffett's promise of $1 billion in shares to each of his three children, Howie, Peter, and Susie. The catch? All money must go toward their charitable foundations. "In a letter that accompanied his pledges to them, Buffett wrote, 'I consider myself lucky to have three children who want to spend much of their time and energy working on projects that will benefit others.' That set out his expectation -- that they will personally manage the assets and aggressively direct them to their chosen causes. 'Anyone can go around and get a hospital wing named after them,' Buffett says." In interviews with all three children, writer Jeff Bailey details their foundations, their efforts, and the one major lesson that each of them has learned along the way.

Hacking Education, by Anya Kamenetz, page 84
Who needs Harvard? Anya Kamenetz writes about how American higher education is being transformed by a cadre of Web-savvy edupunks. "Today we've gone from scarcity of knowledge to unimaginable abundance," she writes. "The string-quartet model of education in no longer sustainable. The university of the future can't be far away."

Fast Talk: Transit Authorities, interviews by Kate Rockwood, page 17
Congestion, pollution, and volatile fuel costs are inspiring cities and companies -- even automakers -- to entice urbanites out of using their cars.
• Janette Sadik-Khan, NYC DOT Commissioner, cut through the congested knots of Manhattan traffic with a novel concept: Close some roads, specifically high pedestrian traffic areas, to cars.
• Jerome Guillen, director of business innovation for Daimler Ag, has used Daimler's Smart brand to launch Car2Go, a car-sharing service. Its program pilot in Germany has attracted nearly 10% of the city's driving population; it's first U.S. initiative begins later this year, in Austin.
• " The biggest reasons people give for not biking to work are fear of theft and the inconvience of showing of sweaty and in bike clothes," says Andrea White-Kjoss, CEO of Mobis Transportation/Bikestation. "With a service hub like Bikestation, people can not only securely store their bikes but also use the shower rooms and changing facilities, buy equipment, take classes, use on-site maintenance-and-service stations, and ask for advice."
• Grant Harrison, vice-president of Humana, created B-cycle -- automated kiosks that let riders rent bikes at prices akin to mass transit -- at Humana in partnership with Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Trek. The national rollout will bring 50,000 bikes to a dozen U.S. cities in the next three years.
• "Public transportation has never been a cool idea in Los Angeles. We probably have the worst traffic in the country…" says Michael Lejeune, creative director of Metro Design Studio. "Our goal is to make Metro cool."
• Kerstin Hanson, business innovation manager with Volvo Group, developed a "CO2 pedometer" application for cell-phones, which measures commuters' carbon emissions. Inspired by the data, Hanson's test group altered its behavior and reduced its carbon footprint by 30%.
######

NOKIA TAKES ON "THAT FRUIT COMPANY FROM CUPERTINO"
They make 13 phones every second -- but don't call them a cell-phone company: Nokia has bigger things in mind

New York, August 11, 2009 -- Nokia's share of the global cell-phone market is greater than its next three competitors combined, but when asked for a definition, CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo has a quick answer. "We are not a cell-phone company," he says. Rather, Nokia is launching the world's biggest delivery system for services, apps, and entertainment. In the September issue of Fast Company, Mark Borden reports on the launch of Ovi, the company's counter to iTunes and the App Store, and dissects the Finnish phone king's plan to redefine its business and become the world's biggest entertainment media network. The September issue of Fast Company is available on newsstands now and online at www.fastcompany.com beginning August 12.

Borden also profiles Nokia's 43-year-old executive vice president of entertainment and communities, Tero Ojanpera, whose innovative approach to content and partnerships is helping lead the reinvention. At a dinner recently in New York for music executives from the industry's remaining major labels, Ojanpera reminded the group that reinvention is nothing new for Nokia by showing them an early company advertisement -- for tires. When he makes the claim that Nokia "will quickly be the world's biggest entertainment media network," the music execs are snickering. "You can laugh and say ' What is the point? Nokia is a cell-phone company; it will never get into the entertainment business.' That's okay. Laugh," Ojanpera tells the crowd. "That's what people did when we said we were going to be the biggest cell-phone company in the world -- back when we were making car tires and rubber boots."

Nokia's evolution from tires and boots to cell-phones to providing content is happening with a series of creative partnerships, including an unlikely one with Eurythmics polymath Dave Stewart, whose function is to connect the company with talent, opportunities and new ideas. As Nokia's ambassador to the entertainment world, Stewart wants to create an open-source rival to Apple's closed ecosystem. (Ojanpera refers to Apple as "that fruit company from Cupertino.") Stewart credits Ojanpera with being able to steer a clear course in this brave new world. "He's the one who can comprehend the two worlds of creativity and engineering and this vast enormous network and how they can possibly come together," Stewart tells Borden. "It's like he sees these two enormous ships floating in space yet moving hundreds of miles an hour; with Nokia, he can direct them to a docking point."

Ojanpera tells Borden that while his ambition for Nokia is to be the biggest entertainment base in the world, the even greater ambition is to be the largest network in the world -- period -- and to use its billion-person base as an opportunity to insert itself into all types of commercial transactions. The company is focused on bottom and middle-tier customers, and not just on the highest-end consumers, Borden writes, but the Finnish company "still has work to do before it is a leader, or even a contender, in the finicky minds of the American techno elite."

Nokia seems content to focus on the long-term game as it continues to evolve. "We now think of ourselves as a devices-and-services company that is deeply involved in media, music, gaming, and navigation," CEO Kallasvuo tells Borden. "Still, that doesn't mean evolution can't turn you into something quite different," Borden observes. "As Kallasvuo says of Ojanpera: 'Tero is looking more and more like Dave Stewart every day.' "

Note: Mark Borden is available for interviews regarding this article. Please contact Terry McDevitt at McDevitt Media Group: 210 822-0066 or 210 232-5759, or by e-mail at tmcdevitt@mcdevittmedia.com.
######

Highlights of the issue: Fast Company
July/August 2009

Cover Story: The Evolution of Amazon, by Adam L. Penenberg, page 66
Fast Company explores how Amazon is tapping its inner Apple, and how Jeff Bezos's push into e-books may be putting him on a collision course with Steve Jobs. Adam L. Penenberg offers insights into a fascinating strategic battle that spans tech firms, publishing houses and even, potentially, entertainment firms.

Beyond the Grid, by Anya Kamenetz, page 80
Staff writer Anya Kamenetz delivers both a compelling call to action and a cautionary tale about the power of entrenched interests in this examination of the "microgrid" -- potentially a cheaper, faster, and more effective way to update our energy system. Kamenetz takes dead aim at admired environmental leaders such as Al Gore and politicians such as Senator Harry Reid, both of whom are calling for an "electric superhighway," a parallel to the information superhighway that enables the Internet. "The microgrid poses an existential threat to the business models the utilities have happily depended on for more than a century," Kamenetz writes. "No wonder so many of them are fighting it every step of the way."

The Scarlet Woman of Bentonville, by Danielle Sacks, page 76
Nearly three years after being fired by Wal-Mart, former marketing superstar Julie Roehm faces her toughest rebranding campaign ever. Can Roehm, once the face of innovative advertising for Ford and Chrysler, recover from the scandal that derailed her career and cast her as the "Hester Prynne of Bentonville"? Danielle Sacks goes behind the scenes of Roehm's Arkansas exile and reports that going into hiding is not exactly in the cards. "If I'm going to be stuck with this scarlet letter," Roehm tells Sacks, "I'm going to dress it up and make it the prettiest damn scarlet letter I can possibly make it."

Gavin Newsom Wants a Job, by Ellen McGirt, page 88
Ellen McGirt uses a colorful, controversial character -- Gavin Newsom, who wants to be Governor -- to explore assumptions about the world's eighth largest economy. "The state is bedeviled by plunging revenues, widespread foreclosures, failing schools, crumbling infrastructure, and a shaky credit rating, all being tackled by an openly loathed legislature with an 11% approval rating -- and a governance system that seems frozen in a bygone era," McGirt writes. "By all best estimates, California, the eighth-largest economy in the world, is staring into a $20 billion black hole." Will Californians vote for the hate-him-or-love-him mayor of San Francisco to lead them out of this mess?

The CEO Who Feeds America, by Chuck Salter, page 102
Fast Company takes a look at how Darden Restaurants -- the world's biggest casual-dining operation (Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Longhorn Steakhouse) -- is using technology, savvy brand management, and a little bit of soul to keep growing even in tough times. Chuck Salter profiles CEO Clarence Otis, the man who helps deliver a tasty profit for Darden as they serve 400 million meals a year.

Media Contact:
Terry McDevitt
McDevitt Media Group LLC
210 822-0066 or 210 232-5759 (cell)
mcdmedia@mac.com
######

THE ELECTRIC SUPERHIGHWAY TO NOWHERE
Wasteful, Costly and Slow: Why spend billions on long-haul power lines?
Fast Company reveals how small-scale, local power -- the microgrid -- could solve the nation's energy crisis
Why are the big utilities fighting it every step of the way?

New York, June 16, 2009 -- In the July/August issue of Fast Company, staff writer Anya Kamenetz takes aim at admired environmental leaders including Al Gore and Harry Reid who are calling for an "electric superhighway" -- a parallel to the "information superhighway" that enables the Internet. Offering both a compelling call to action and a cautionary tale about the far-reaching power of entrenched interests, Kamenetz argues in "Beyond the Grid" that local, renewable power -- windmills and solar panels on every roof -- offers a cheaper, faster and more effective way to update the nation's energy system. The July/August issue of Fast Company is on newsstands beginning June __ and available at www.fastcompany.com beginning June ___.

"The evidence is growing that privately owned, consumer-driven, small-scale, geographically distributed renewables could deliver a 100% green-energy future faster and cheaper than big power projects alone," Kamenetz writes. "Companies like GE and IBM are talking in terms of up to half of American homes generating their own electricity, renewably, within a decade. But distributed power -- call it "the microgrid" -- poses an existential threat to the business model the utilities have happily depended on for more than a century. No wonder so many of them are fighting the microgrid every step of the way."

The microgrid is all about consumer control, Kamenetz says: aligning monetary incentives, with the help of information technology, to make renewables and efficiency pay off for the average homeowner, commercial developer, or even a town. Kamenetz writes that the "killer app comes when you, the consumer, can actually profit by using power intelligently. What we're talking about here is potentially a shift every bit as profound as the switch from mainframes to PCs, or from landline to cellular -- a movement from behemoth centralized power plants to a network of privately owned, renewable, geographically distributed installations, managed using the same kind of packet-switching software that regulates the flow of information over the Internet."

Kamenetz cites examples of how "the microgrid" is already working in several locales.
"It's inevitable that consumers will continue to want to exercise more involvement in energy decisions," Allan Schurr at IBM tells Fast Company. "I don't think utilities can make unilateral choices here. The force is very strong."

Anya Kamenetz is available for interview and commentary on "Beyond the Grid." Please contact Terry McDevtt at 210 822-0066 or 210 232-5759.
#######

New York, March 23, 2009 -- Adweek magazine today named Robert Safian, editor of Fast Company magazine and fastcompany.com, "Editor of the Year" as part of its annual Hot List and Magazine Special Report. Fast Company was also named to the No. 2 spot on Adweek's Hot List ranking of "Ten Under 60" for magazines with annual revenue of $60 million and under.

"As Editor of the Year, Fast Company's Robert Safian looks for stories with an element of fun, surprise and overcoming adversity," Lucia Moses wrote in the intro to the Adweek Special Report. "He need not look further than his own magazine. Fast Company was widely written off for dead [before] Morningstar founder (and white knight) Joe Mansueto bankrolled a dramatic advertising and circulation turnaround. Key to that success was Safian, AdweekMedia's Editor of the Year, who reestablished the business book as the authority on innovation while reviving a stodgy category. As the nation looks towards a recovery, a magazine about innovation that will drive that recovery would appear well-positioned for growth itself."

Safian, who became editor and managing director of Fast Company in 2007, previously served as executive editor at Fortune, executive editor at Time and, for six years, as the top editor at Money. He has led Fast Company to numerous accolades including Magazine of the Year honors from the Society of Business Editors and Writers and both the Adweek Hot List and the Ad Age A-list in 2008. Safian was personally recognized with an Innovator of the Year Award from B-2-B Media. He has appeared on CNN and other TV networks and has been a featured speaker at events ranging from the Cisco Systems CIO Summit to Chicago's City of the Year luncheon with Mayor Richard Daley. Already in 2009, Fast Company has been nominated for two National Magazine Awards, in the categories of Reporting and General Excellence, by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME).

"Bob is the consummate brand ambassador," says Fast Company publisher Christine Osekoski. "He also truly understands the importance of having a solid base of progressive and innovative advertising partners."

Mansueto Ventures CEO John Koten who hired Safian in 2007 says: "American business is going through a revolution unlike anything most of us have experienced in our lifetimes. Under Bob's leadership, Fast Company is - both in print and online - on the cutting edge of describing the creative and innovative elements of this revolution in a way that really helps our passionate readers make the most of it."
#####