I would like to apologize from Estonia as a state, Estonians in general and my friends specifically, Kait, Martin, Meelis, Alger, Andre, Heigo, Jaanika, Kairit, Kris, Maiu, Mart, Mikk, Piret, Rainer, Sigrid.
For those who are wondering why, it is because the fate of seven Estonian nationals kidnapped in the Bekaa Valley remains unknown. (DailyStar Article1, Article2).

I have no idea who did this and why he did it, but this is stupid, so stupid.

Why Estonians, why anyone, why now, why anytime, millions of why… is this our culture of 6000 years of Lebanon? is this the Lebanon Blues we want out visitors to have after they visit us and go back home?

I have been to Estonia many times, have lots of good friends there and every time I was in Tallinn, I did not stop talking about Lebanon and that they should come and visit the place and some of them had plan to come next month (April 2011) but today I feel so ashamed about this kidnap story that I am not sure what to say to my Estonians friends, who will ask if they should come or not.

Estonians are wonderful people, peaceful, nonviolent, they know how to make business and they know how to have fun, as Meelis said to me once.

I can’t stop telling people about my trip(s) to Estonia, specially the one on 08.08.08 and the fun and good times I had. (check old posts on my blog), you can also check some photos here (set1, set2).

Until the Lebanese authorities end up finding the missing persons very soon and bring them back safely to their families and beloved ones, my apologies one more time.

I was reading this morning an article, about the net’s authority over domain names ICANN is set to pull the plug on an Estonia-based seller of domain names that security researchers say has been a refuge for cyber-criminals for years.

ICANN told the EstDomains on Tuesday that it was revoking its accreditation since it learned the company’s president Vladimir Tsastin had been convicted in February in Estonia for online credit card fraud and money laundering.

For me, this was not the real reason for writing this post, actually it is the logo of EstDomains that reminded me of another logo I have seen for years and it became a worldwide icon. Check both logos down here.

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ee_map.gif

Estonia, the smallest of the Baltic States, was ruled for many centuries by Danish, Swedish, German, and Russian factions.

When the former Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, it gained its long-awaited independence.

Official Name : Republic of Estonia
Population : 1,268,000
Capital City : Tallinn (379,000)
Languages : Estonian
Official Currency : Kroon
Religions : Lutheran, Orthodox Christain, others
Land Area : 45,125 sq km (17,423 sq miles)

Norway is not a member state of the European Union (EU), but is closely associated with the Union through its membership in the European Economic Area (EEA), in the context of being a European Free Trade Association (EFTA) member.

Few years back, while assisting to a business conference in Estonia, I have met 2 nice Norwegians, Carmel and Anders. And during one of the side conversations I go asking, why Norway is not stepping into the European Union? They both smiled and Anders answers me: “Norway does not need the EU, we have oil and salmon, we can take care of ourselves”.

And such an answer was enough to show everyone how proud Norwegians are, which made the other friends, Finnish and Swedish sitting with us in the same circle, look at each other.

After the shocking news of what happened in Oslo and in Utoya, my thoughts and prayers are with my Norwegian friends, the victims and their families.

Yes retailers do kill brands, and don’t be surprised because I have seen it today and it is happening everyday in supermarkets or hypermarkets around the globe, I was a buyer previously and buyers are known to be arrogant people and pushing brands to fight between each other in order for them to grab the best deals out of this inter-brands competition to gain shelf space in any given category.

Brand owners want to have the best visible space for their products, in order to push consumers helping them rotating their stocks, and sometimes such spaces can cost a fortune that some multinational are willing to pay, which I believe they are getting back from the consumers’ pocket, just to have their product at the “eye level”.

But if you pay all this money and your product is not really showing well on the shelf ?

Today, while I was having my market visit with our distributor in Estonia, I was really shocked to see what I am sharing with you below (sorry for the bad quality, the security guy had big muscles, could not jeopardize).

How a brand or product shall sell if the consumer can barely see it? How the companies will help consumers build their brand awareness if he is not able to see the brand while strolling between the shelves?

Definitely a retailer can kill a brand if their shelves are not well organized, knowing that some of them say they are reflecting category management on their spaces, which if also is not maintained the right way, can also kill a brand.

Having said the above & seen the below, now I say: Bye Bye $$$$ we pay for listing !

image082

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Official Name: Republic of Estonia
Population: 1,307,605
Capital City: Tallinn (382,000)
Languages: Estonian
Latitude/Longitude: 59° 00’N, 26° 00’E
Official Currency: Kroon
Religions: Lutheran, Orthodox Christain, others
Land Area: 45,125 sq km (17,423 sq miles)
Calling Code: +372
Internet Code: EE


Official Name: Republic of Latvia
Population: 2,290,000
Capital City: Riga (706,000)
Latitude/Longitude: 57° 00’N, 25° 00’E
Languages: Lettish (official), Lithuanian, Russian
Official Currency: Lats
Religions: Lutheran, Catholic, Russian Orthodox
Land Area: 64,589 sq km (24,938 sq miles)
Calling Code: +371
Internet Code: LV


Official Name: Republic of Lithuania
Population: 3,491,000
Capital City: Vilnius (543,000)
Latitude/Longitude: 56° 00’N, 24° 00’E
Languages: Lithuanian, Polish, Russian
Official Currency: Litas
Religions: Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Protestant, others
Land Area: 65,200 sq km (25,174 sq miles)
Calling Code: +370
Internet Code: LT

I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to all of you, my friends at Jungent, for the wonderful 3 days we had together during your summer conference, from Tallinn to Tartu, from Etopaa to Lake Leigo, I had excellent and great time in all of those cities and places, discovering what a wonderful country you have.
Without forgetting those funny moments, games and chats with all of you, specially Martin & Meelis.

Jungent Guys, You Are The Best, Keep Rocking !!!