Kohler Media

In 2021, Nike was worth five times what it is now.

Then one problem became two… then problems started feeding on each other.

Now it’s a shadow of its former self and athletes have been racing for the exit.

Can it recover? Yes.

Will it ever be the same? Probably not.

Visit AirWallex

Napster made music free in 2000 and the music industry was never the same. So why are we still paying for music decades later? Chris talks to Osher Günsberg and consumer behaviour expert Dr Paul Harrison about Shawn Fanning, Metallica's war on Napster, and why a service that’s convenient will usually beat a service that’s free.

IKEA is a barn filled with two types of things - furniture... and psychology.The story of the world's biggest furniture business is one filled with tricks and traps that are designed to exist just below our awareness. The origins of the business are also a mix of things the company does, and doesn't, want you to know about.

Australia just gave gig delivery workers a legal minimum wage. It's a big win for workers - and it means your Uber Eats order is about to get even more expensive. Here's how UberEats built an empire on the bait... and made billions on the switch.

0:00 Intro

6:00 Two truths and a lie

8:13 The guy who couldn't get a car

20:42 The deal

26:59 How they get you

34:50 The business in the middle of it

38:17 Last one standing

40:08 A tricky business to actually run

41:40 Solving the pay problem

48:10 Two truths and a lie

Chris and Alan Kohler talk about the housing crisis that is shaping the Australian economy. It's a puzzle, so Chris made Alan a crossword - can he crack it while simultaneously explaining why nobody can afford homes anymore?

0:00 Intro

5:05 Supply

17:30 Demand

24:00 Density

26:30 Auction

30:50 Incentives

34:05 Transport

42:30 Investor & Rent

55:00 Summary

The video game industry makes more money than movies and music combined - and it got there by deploying the greatest hits of dark consumer psychology.

Gambling, paywalls, and slowly but surely chiselling ownership out of the hands of their customers. It’s doing so well, in fact, that it’ll start growing outwards. 

This episode explores the origin of modern gaming and the moments that ensured it ended up being a sinkhole for money and frustration.

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When we watch a movie we see 4-5 brands every 10 minutes. The advertising is hidden in plain sight and this episode goes looking for where and how that trick first came to Hollywood.

E.T. and a bag of Reese's Pieces, Lois Lane chain smoking Marlboros, Happy Gilmore’s Subway t-shirts… and Jerry McGuire taking Reebok’s money and then screwing them over. All steps on the path to the situation audiences now find themselves in - marketing campaigns dressed up as movies.

All that… plus a two truths and a lie with a twist - one "casual" mention in this very episode was a paid placement.

Check out Cool Shirtz - https://shirtz.cool/

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Tupperware is one of those words so common we forgot it's a brand. It's also one of the great untold business stories, with a pioneer who was deliberately erased from view.

Did she design a pyramid scheme? Not really.

There's more to it than that.

This is the story of Brownie Wise... and what it costs to build something you don't own.

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A cheap flight… that ends up feeling expensive. 

This episode: how Ryanair and Michael O'Leary perfected drip pricing and made billions doing it. 

Removing olives, lukewarm off-brand soft drinks, expensive wheelchair hire… and the hardest two truths and a lie segment yet.

0:00 Intro

5:05 Two Truths & A Lie

7:10 The Industry That Counts Olives

11:00 Enter The Accountant

16:10 The Southwest Effect

21:55 O'Leary Takes The Controls

28:02 Since When Is A Wheelchair A Frill?

35:52 The Charge Sheet - And Why It Works

41:05 The Point

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Kodak didn’t make a mistake. The digital camera was invented in their own building but it was missing more than film. It was missing a business model.

0:00 Intro

3:15 Two Truths & A Lie

4:15 The Man Who Gave Everyone A Camera

15:40 Advertising Done To Perfection

23:06 Welcome Steve

35:25 The Point

39:15 The Ending

44:10 Two Truths & A lie

Madmen Scene - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq3n2sJ43Hg&t=4s

A Long Time In Finance w/ Steve Sasson - https://open.spotify.com/episode/407q6PT4umq9BVECyJsLhy

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This episode contains adult topics and themes

Ever wondered how the world's most popular cereal ended up in your breakfast bowl?

The story behind Cornflakes is stranger than you'd think, meet John Harvey Kellogg, the man whose obsession with gut health and moral purity accidentally changed the way the world eats breakfast.

0:00 Intro

5:40 Two truths and a lie

7:30 The religious pipeline

10:40 Picking the doctor

13:35 The San

17:45 Gut Health

24:34 The anti masturbation crusade

29:41 The accidental invention

35:11 The rival next door

37:26 The brothers split

43:52 A note on more dark stuff

46:06 The end

50:42 Two truths and a lie

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A complete corporate disaster.

Blockbuster stuffed up so badly that the world started walking down a path away from one-off payments and towards subscriptions. And the best part is, Blockbuster's demise was baked in from the start. It just grew so fast the problems were hard to see... for a few years.

0:00 Intro

9:10 The VCR

19:09 The War

24:42 Hello Rental Industry

28:15 Welcome To BlockBuster

36:00 Huizenga

40:27 Viacom Era

44:51 Injured By DVD

48:59 Enter The Wolf

50:43 The Collapse

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Adidas vs. Puma. Two brothers. One town. A feud that changed sport forever.

Adolf and Rudolf began as partners, cobbling shoes together in central Germany before a family fallout split them into bitter rivals. What followed was decades of corporate warfare, played out on the world's biggest stages, that transformed sports marketing into one of the most powerful industries of the 20th century.

Howe We Got Here

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Money, business and the economy, with a few laughs along the way.

Kohler Media is home to two podcasts:

How We Got Here: Chris Kohler tells the weird and wild business stories that shaped the economy we're all now trudging through. The deals that collapsed empires, the blunders that accidentally built them, and why it still matters to your wallet.

Kohler & Kohler: A father-and-son finance and economics podcast. Alan Kohler is one of Australia's best-known finance journalists, with decades of experience. Chris brings… less experience… but plenty of good vibes.