I sometimes think the only truly original insight I’ve ever had is what I call Brooks’ Law:

Brooks’ Law: Everything is small time. Some of the largest and most strategic decisions in business get made — and made badly — because someone got up on the wrong side of the bed, someone is cranky about office politics or someone gave it no more thought than “because that’s the way I want to.”

I want to believe there are Great Minds out there thinking of Big, Important Things broader than my field of comprehension… I really do. And then a story like this comes along.

The International Herald Tribune is reporting that Hewlett-Packard’s new iPod clone will hit the streets in September. Same price point. Same functionality. Hell, they licensed the “iPodness” from Apple.

If I was an HP stockholder (I ditched my stake before the merger, thanks very much), I’d be furious; if I was their marketing team, I’d be worried. Let’s review:

HP just proved it doesn’t understand basic branding: OK, so that’s a pretty big smackdown to throw at a multi-billion-dollar tech giant. But consider: People buy the iPod because it’s cool, it’s functional and (stay with me here) because it’s an iPod. If you’re going to compete, you need to be different/better/unique, you need to have a dramatically lower price point, you need to have a better channel or you need to have God on your side. HP has demonstrated none of these things.

HP just told us it doesn’t listen to its customers. I challenge anyone in HP’s marketing organization to produce research indicating existing customers would buy an hPod (my name for it — HP can send me a royalty check) over the existing Apple product based on exact functionality. My guess is the research doesn’t exist.

Finally, HP is broadcasting the message that many of their strongest brand attributes are gone. No, I don’t expect Joe Consumer to make a statement like that — but I do expect him/her to pick up on it subtly. HP used to be about great, long-lasting products that led in their categories (printers, anyone?) both in terms of sales and innovation. They still do some innovation, but increasingly HP is trying to be all things to all people, and it’s not working out too well. The clearest branding message from the hPod? That HP is a follower, not a leader.

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