Rumor mill churned so much in last year or so and specially in last two months that probably iPad show cased yesterday by Apple had little but no surprise. Part interesting to me was use of A4 chip. Apple’s acquisition of P.A. Semi, semiconductor company last year was sure sign of controlling everything involved in making a mobile device in-house.
At a time when subcontracting of parts is norm, Apple still believes in bringing everything in-house and doing more of it everyday. Check iPad video on Apple web site or below (from YouTube). Bob Mansfield – Senior Vice President Hardware explains around 6:10 minutes in to the video about A4 chip. Bob sums up with comment, Apple is the only place where we build battery technology, chip technology, software and bring them together in a way that no one else can do it.
If we go with what Morgan Stanley is presenting and projecting for mobile internet world then Apple defiantly has positioned itself to lead the game with gadgets like iPod touch, iPhone and now iPad. If they succeed are we go going to see more of this “bring everything under one roof ” thinking?
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With the rise of social media and online users being more eager to check their Facebook and Twitter than their email accounts, in terms of marketing strategy, one must ask, where do we go from here? Partitioning out your marketing budget used to include setting funds aside for an advertisement or two (print or web), and perhaps getting some promotional materials printed (whether it be brochures, mailers, etc). Now, it’s more like seeking out followers on Twitter that can be potential customers to you, and doing advertisements to get people to join your Facebook fan page. Are there any trends or current characteristics that we can point out to help guide us in the future of marketing as we dive deeper into the social media era?
Yes. In our research on the future of marketing we came across an article by Gareth Kay, the head of Planning for Modernista. Have you heard of the term Amara’s law? It simply states that a”we inevitably overestimate the short-term impact of new technologies while underestimating their long-term effects.” Sound familiar? Some of these social networks have literally sprouted up over night! At the same time, you shouldn’t rush into them without a plan of action. The rise of social media technology will have a lasting impact on our culture, especially with reference to how you reach your consumers. Kay had some great insights as to where the future of marketing might be headed. We are going to highlight them here and add our insight too.
Brands will be built on cultural and social missions, not commercial propositions.
So true! Kay says that “marketing historically has been obsessed with the concept of positioning – how you are different to your competitors in your category. Increasingly, great brands are realizing that people don’t see categories and don’t obsess about them.” What actually matters is your company’s point of view, your cultural mission. Your customers and potential customers are looking to connect with you and find something that you have in common. Take a look at the Dove “Campaign for Beauty” or USA networks “Characters wanted” campaign, or yet still the “Product (RED)” campaign that has united several brands under a common goal. The beliefs that your consumers have shape their lives, right down to the materials they buy. What can you do to connect with your customers on a more personal level?
Marketing will be about what you do, not what you say.
Absolutely. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Try to look at your business through the eyes of your consumer. Still lost? Ask your current customers or potential customers to look at your business and provide feedback. This can be through an online survey or simply a question and answer email after they check out your website. Your goal, as a business, is to make it natural for customers to come to you, and come back every time. You see your business through your own eyes, but what about the eyes of an outsider looking in. Are you reaching your customers? Some basic research into your own market can easily highlight common issues like “it’s hard to navigate through your website,” or “I can’t figure out what you’re trying to sell me.” Look at companies such as Zappos, who upgraded to overnight shipping, or how Amazon has one-click shopping. They are responding to the need of their customers who want things quickly. What do your customers need from you to make their experience delightful and how can you deliver to exceed their expectations?
Lots of little ideas, not one big idea.
According to Kay, “the future of marketing lies in breaking the tyranny of the big idea for two reasons. First, we must remember that while marketing (and brands) exist for a commercial purpose, they live in a cultural space.” And culture is far more richer, deeper, and complex. Marketing will be more culturally interesting if it is made up of lots of coherent ideas instead of constantly repeating one idea. “Second, given our inability to predict the future, it makes much more sense to start lots of fires to see what takes hold; to place lots of small bets, rather than putting everything on black 35.” Think about your marketing efforts. Do your research yes, but instead of picking one big idea and running with it, pick four small ideas and see where they take you. All your eggs are not in one basket, and you can monitor your results. Learn from them and then scale up behind the ideas that seem to be working. If you’re doing online advertising, there are plenty of ways to monitor whether or not an ad or article or website is working (see Google Analytics, or WordPress has a stats feature, and most websites track incoming traffic and will compile that data automatically for you). Think BIG. Start small.
People first.
Marketing will be about putting people first. Too often marketing efforts have centered around convincing people how great your company is rather than working out what people are interested in and working out how you might be able to add value. Kay sites Tate tracks, a campaign created by Fallon London for the Tate Modern Gallery. “They needed to increase the number of under-25s visiting the gallery and realized that their current marketing tactics were unlikely to change behavior. So instead they thought about what this target audience was passionate about – music – and created a campaign around art inspiring new, exclusive music.” So perhaps now is a good time to ask, what is your target audience interested in? Let’s get a clearer picture about who they are and what motivates them. Then, tap into their interests and find some way to relate them to your products and services.
To sum it up, when it comes to marketing, creating cultural value will create commercial value. The possibilities are endless.
Resource The Future of Marketing on Talent Zoo by Gareth Kay
Q3 2009 has seen a significant increase on the M&A front. With 36 deals accounted for, this is the most active quarter since Q1 2008.
The big players have been noticeably active in their acquisitions, including Nokia, Apple, Google, Research in Motion, NTT DoCoMo, AT&T and Yahoo, indicating that the market may be ripe for buyouts.
With four acquisitions in Q3 alone, Nokia was the most active major player.
On a year-on-year basis the number of funding deals grew 155% to 67 deals. The number of deals grew 148% compared to the 45 recorded in Q2 2009 and in terms of value, the total Q3 2009 recorded funding volume shrank 6% year-on-year to $530m, which also represents a significant 180% uptake compared to the previous quarter.
The average deal value grew from $6.5m in Q2 2009 to $7.9m.
Screen Digest has looked at the European funding deals on record over the past 24 months (starting October 2007 and the UK leads the EU mobile funding scene by a considerable margin, with no less than 49 deals.
In this report:
Mobile M&A: ripe market for consolidation
Company M&A Spotlight: Nokia
Mobile funding: is the worst behind us?
An uptake felt in all categories
Q3 2009: top funding deals in mobile
Regional analysis: UK king of Europe
Activity Spotlight: Mobile UGC & Social Networking
List of tables and charts:
Mobile M&A deals
Q3 2009 M&A deals per category
List of past Nokia acquisitions in mobile
Mobile funding deals
Mobile funding deal value
Q3 2009 mobile funding deals by activity
Q3 2009 mobile funding deal values by activity
Q3 2009 table of top funding deals in mobile
24 months European mobile funding value
Quarterly mobile social networking funding value
List of cumulative funding of mobile social networking companies
For more information please visit:http://www.aarkstore.com/reports/Mobile-Market-Monitor-Funding-and-M-A-trends-Q3-2009-6556.html
Ten Tips that Every Musician Should Apply to Their Career.
As the holiday season approaches, and we get in to that thing about good will to all, all those other quips about being better people for a moment—which personally, I think should go through out the whole year and not just the shopping season (sorry, holiday season), I wanted to put out a quick rant (speaking of Good Will) that I’ll call Ten Tips that Every Musician Should Apply to Their Career. These apply to both the music and business sides of he equation. Many apply to those who are not musicians but work in the music business.
Hell, a few apply to anyone working in any business. So, New title: Ten Tips for Everyone Alive on the Planet.
Number 1. – Answer your emails.
Show a little respect and answer your emails. If you can’t respond at that moment, then acknowledge that you received it, let the sender know you’re backed up and when you hope to get back to them. Then, either list the email as unread, flag it, or mark a little notch in your calendar to respond to the sender when you promised. This is one of my biggest pet peeves. I respond to every email. Sometimes it takes a while, but I get back to everyone I can that has a direct question or is requesting something. It is a common courtesy that I am sure you would want when you send out an email, so do the same.
Number 2. – Have the guts to address concerns or questions.
Kind of attached to number one, if you have a concern or a question brought to you and you are not sure how to respond or are afraid to give a solid answer, toughen up! If you need to say no, then say no. If you want to say “Maybe, but there is an issue I need cleared up before we proceed,” then say that. But the passive-aggressive non-responses, the runaround when people just delete an email, toss away a phone message, or avoid a confrontation is much more insulting than a flat out “No way.”
And you do not want to be insulting people, even if at this particular moment in time time, they are asking for something and you are in the position to say yes or no. Things change (see below). Things always change. Next time, it may well be you doing the asking. A polite, respectful “I can’t do that” or “I am not interested” goes a long way to making that later approach easier.
Show some honor and address questions, concerns, or issues without shoving them in a drawer and hoping they’ll go away. They never do.
Number 3. – If things change, then keep everyone informed and problem solve.
Things change. They change all the time. From a club burning down and a gig being cancelled to a deadline being changed or a payment being missed. It happens, and it happens all the time. The problem is that when things change, many people are affected. Too often, discomfort over the situation leads people to delay notifying everyone who will be affected. Nobody likes delivering bad news—nobody is happy there is bad news to deliver. But other parties still need to know.
If you are supposed to pay someone by a certain date, and something comes up where you can’t do it, TELL THEM! It may mean they will now be unable to pay someone else by a given date, and that is important information for them to have.
I have no problem with someone saying they can’t make a payment when it comes to my production fees or consulting fees. In this economy, it is almost a given that out of so many clients, something will happen to someone at some point. As long as they come to me and say “this isn’t happening like I thought it was going to, I am not going to be able to make that payment on the date we agreed on, but here is what I am going to do about it…” how can I complain? They are acting with honor, treating me with respect, and in many cases, backing it up with a partial payment that lets me know they take the situation seriously. That is a person I want to go on working with. In showing me respect, they just won my respect—and that’s an artist I want to do business with.
Take the initiative to make others aware when situations change—whatever the change is. If your drummer is in three bands and has a sudden conflict, share that information asap. Right now everyone has more options than they will two weeks from now. Be the communicator, the problem solver, the responsible adult, and in 6 months no one will remember what the bad news/stumbling block was, they will just remember who rose to the occasion, who was considerate of other people’s situations, and who must have left their phone off the hook that week.
Number 4. – Be on time or give a heads up.
Just like things change, things can come up that make you late to a gig, to a session, to a meeting. Still, with practically everyone having a cell phone, it seems crazy that someone who is running late cannot make contact with those who are waiting for them.
Once again, it comes down to honor and professionalism. If you are scheduled to be somewhere or simply said you were going to be somewhere, then be there. It comes down to a simple awareness of and respect for other people. As soon as you know you are going to be late, give a call, send a text. “Running late” and your new ETA. It’s easy and it will show you in a very professional light.
Number 5. – Get your gear off the stage when you are done.
I hear more bands bitch about this, and yet some of the same people that complain about other bands will leave their own instruments up on the stage while another band is waiting to load on. When your set is done, get your gear off the stage if another band is following you. There is a schedule to keep, whether the band before you loaded off fast or not, there is still a schedule. Be the better and more responsible group, and get your gear off stage so the night can continue.
Some bands say they need to promote and sell and connect immediately with the audience, and that is fine. Have one person with the least gear head to the audience while the rest of the group gets the gear off stage. Do it quickly, too. You do not need to take cymbals off stands on the stage if you are a drummer, you can take the cymbal on the cymbal stand off the stage so that next drummer can get moving on his set up.
The same thing goes if there is room in a club or venue side stage to set up some. Put together some of your set up so loading on can be faster as well. Get out of the selfish zone and consider the night, the other bands, and the club as a whole. You will get a reputation as a group that is easy to work with and professional, something that is a rarity in many places.
Number 6. – Follow up with booking agents, clubs and other bands.
A single gig can be more than a gig if you conduct yourself well. Playing one night with another band can lead to more than just that single show. Follow up with people, keep organized contacts and check in with them. Keep a spreadsheet or a file with the contact, how you connected with them, where they are and what your experience was with them. This is the real networking, and it predates the Internet, folks. This is networking in the most grassroots sense, and it can lead to many more opportunities than you realize. Send thank yous to clubs, cross link to other bands and stay in touch with people. Even if you take five minutes out of your week to keep in touch, update, or cross promote, you will create a larger more effective network that will allow you numerous opportunities instead of single one time events.
Number 7. – Stop f*%^ng over posting on Facebook and other network sites.
Stop with the stupid posts that no one cares about. Yes, maybe some larger scale stars can post, twitter and update about eating a Twinkie, but a fair amount of them have the fame and the celebrity status that draws people’s interest. For the rest of us, the technical name for that kind of post is “pointless crap.” Use quality, not quantity with your posts. While you think that all these people are reading everything you are putting up on Facebook, considert how many people have you as hidden just so they don’t have to read that stuff.
Separate your personal page from the music ones. On a music page, put up the info that will draw people to your links, your pictures, and your posts. If you are using it for a personal page, then by all means, do as you wish. But if you are trying to connect with other artists and fans, if you are trying to network and utilize the social networks as one more avenue to move yourself forward, then it is a professional tool, treat it professionally. Get away from the mafia wars, the farmer games, and anything that makes your page like a series of graffiti advertisements. As a musician, give them something that will draw them in as well as make them want more instead of giving them way too much information.
Number 8. – Be confident but not arrogant. Admit when you don’t know something.
Confidence is great, but arrogance can lock you out of opportunities and close doors that would otherwise be open for you. Too often, arrogance is clumsy camouflage for a lack of confidence or outright insecurity. Nothing is less attractive.
Lay back some on the arrogance and let your confidence shine through. Agents, venues, labels and industry executives are subjected to so much ego and arrogance-driven excesses every single day. By coming off strong, quietly confident and not over the top, you will be a breath of fresh air. You’ll be much for effective capturing the attention of whomever you’re talking to, keeping their attention longer, and being remembered afterwards in a positive light. There is simply no way to achieve that beating your chest and being an arrogant blowhard.
Number 9. – Follow the instructions when it comes to sending out packages , calling, emailing distro, etc.
File another one under “N” for “Not rocket science here”. If you are submitting music for licensing, going after a gig, a recording deal, an agent, a producer or whoever, follow the directions that are given on websites when it comes to soliciting materials. This is another one that predates the Internet. Everyone in every decision-making corner of entertainment is INUNDATED with hopefuls, wannabes, and actual legitimate applicants. They all have rules and requirements to keep this potential avalanche under control. None of them are going to toss those rules aside for you or look at your application favorably because you had to do it your way.
So, if someone has it written on their website to only send emails, then DO NOT CALL THEM. If someone has a certain format they require, then send your materials in that format. I have talked to way too many artists who send out things the way they want to send them out and ignore directions—and then wonder why they never hear back. It’s called attention to detail, and while you may still not have a response, you will at least be considered. You will not get that far if you walk in the door and announce yourself who cannot follow simple instructions.
Number 10. – Stop talking shit about other bands, people, etc.
Basically, be nice and shut your mouth. A lot of bands that rip on other bands get a reputation of being shit talkers. This is not a reputation you want to have. Be considerate. You don’t have to like everyone or everything, but as you are out there in the spotlight, in the media, and around many people who may like the person/band/thing you are tempted to bash, it is much better to keep your mouth shut. Be viewed in a positive light rather than one who is always ripping on other bands—bands which, incidentally, you may have to work with again in the future or who may be able to help (or hurt) you down the line. Be smart when it comes to opening your mouth.
Conclusion
This stuff is basic and yet often ignored. Try professionalism, open communication, attention to detail, and give consideration and respect to those you are working with. It can go a long way for you and your career.
Whether you are currently a full-on green business or a traditional business moving toward green business practices it is critical to have employees that are 100% on the green bandwagon or you may find that you will have sabatoge on your hands. If your green restaurant only uses recycled paper napkins for take out orders, but your employees give out 10 napkins for a single sandwich; you will find that both your image and any cost savings from going green will go out the take-out window with those napkins.
On your marketing calendar be sure to schedule information meetings with staff to help them better undersatnd green business, and the important part they play in promoting your green program. Here are a few suggestions to help you develop a green staff that supports and enhances your efforts.
1. Ask employees to suggest ways to reduce waste and to be more energy efficent. Then act on those suggestions when ever possible!
2. Run green employee contests with prizes like a 2 hour lunch and put their picture on your internet marketing sites with recognition for their successful efforts. Nothing (not even money) motivates employees more than recognition! Contests can include best green suggestions, least waste generation, best recycler, etc.
3. Many times when waste reduction is part of your green business plan employees will confuse your efforts with just being cheap. Make sure that you communicate how waste at your company impacts their paychecks. That is easy to understand and a great motivator.
4. Set the example! They will be watching you!
5. Hire people who care, make green lifestyles a part of your hiring criteria and offer incentives to those who car pool or ride bikes to work. Hire local residents and promote from within.
6. As part of your 2010 green marketing plan schedule green contests (monthly or bi-monthly), employee recognition (weekly), and green meetings (quarterly) to review employee efforts, and evaluate your employment applications and job announcements to best communicate your desire to have green-activists as employees.
Okay, next post will deal with your business “face”. What do customers get as a first impression of your business, is it green or just green washed?
Back in my high school days, (23 plus years…if you need to know)… I had a psychology teacher whose favorite saying was…
…”even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes!”
It was his way of telling you, you got lucky with an answer.
Was I a blind squirrel? Maybe!
Am I now? Nope!
Are you? Probably… let me explain.
If you rely on someone else to create your marketing… you are a blind squirrel.
If you don’t understand who your target audience is… you are a blind squirrel.
If you have no mechanism in place to retain current clients… you are a blind squirrel.
I could go on and on… but I think you get the picture. Stop being the blind squirrel.
Marketing, client retention, employment screening…heck you name it… you probably are just lucky so far.
Lets say that , you had systems in place…
– a marketing plan that explained in explicit detail how every ad was to look, who your target audience was, what your USP (unique selling proposition)is, and how every client was to be treated.
– an employee plan that spelled out exactly what every job was, how it was performed, your empowerment principles, payscales, etc
– a business plan that walked you through everything you ever needed to know on a daily basis to make your job easier, more lucrative and positively fun.
Now imagine if everything above was all planned out… and you got injured? (Maybe even like the squirrel who became blind.) Or maybe you wanted to go on vacation. Can you have confidence in knowing that your replacement can do the job while your gone? Most business owners relay on luck – too much luck!
Or maybe you just wanted to make sure one part of the business, say the marketing, was on track and not haphazardly being put out to attract any lucky person with 2 eyes and a nose. It’s not luck if your goals are carefully crafted and your outcome is planned.
Stop being the blind squirrel! Stop running your business on luck!
Until next time…
“Live with Passion!”
Rob Anspach
www.robanspach.com
P.S. When you’re tired of running your business on luck, email me (rob@robanspach.com)- and I’ll teach you how to refocus and get back on track.
No matter the time of year, taxes are an important topic for investors. There are quite a few investment strategies you can use to lower your tax bill, retain as much of your pretax profit as possible, and give your after-tax bottom line a money-in-the-bank boost.
Ways to save, this year and beyondTactic: Buy to hold. The IRS provides a strong incentive for doing what Fools do anyway: Invest for the long haul. Your income affects the rate you'll pay on realized capital gains (i.e., investment profits), but consider two identical investments of $10,000 by a pair of tax filers in the 28% tax bracket. Investor A gets an itchy trigger finger, sells after a heady six-month run-up of 40%, and pockets a pretax profit of $4,000. Investor B holds the position for more than a year and endures a bit more volatility but ultimately earns that same 40%.
A wash? Not at all. The IRS will ding impatient Investor A at a marginal rate of 28%, to the tune of $1,120. Investor B, however, gets the current favorable long-term rate of 15% and is liable for just $600 — saving almost half the amount.
The moral of the story? At least for this portion of the tax code, the IRS has your back. It rewards investors with a long-term ownership orientation and discourages short-term speculation. Of course, if you find a compelling reason to sell a stock, make every effort to sell shares you've held for more than a year. Doing so can boost your bottom line.
Tactic: Profit from your losses. Selling for tax reasons isn't generally a smart move, but if you have some holdings that meet our sell criteria — fundamental change, opportunity costs, juicy relative valuations — you can make the most of them by realizing a loss and using it to offset comparable capital gains. This strategy is known as tax-loss harvesting.
Tactic: Use the right bucket. Some investments, such as low-turnover mutual funds and low- or no-yield growth stocks, are inherently more tax-efficient than, say, bonds or high-churn funds, which can cause your tax tab to climb as a result of income payouts and realized capital gains. The solution? Use your taxable accounts for the IRS-averse investments we mentioned before.
Tactic: Make the most of your 401(k). Your 401(k) is a terrific vehicle for retirement savings because, in addition to socking away your hard-earned moola, you'll reduce your taxable income by the amount you kick in. Your employer may cough up a matching contribution, which makes a good deal that much better. But even if your employer offers a lousy plan, you can still whip it into fighting shape.
Tactic: Consider an annuity. Annuities aren't for everyone, but if they're right for you, the amount you plunk down can grow on a tax-deferred basis online pay day loans.
Ways to save before the filing deadlineOK, those are useful tips for next year's tax-filing deadline, but what about taxes from last year? Relax! If the filing deadline hasn't passed yet, you still have a few strategies available to cut down on the tax bill you'll owe.
Action Item: If you're self-employed and need more time to save, consider filing an extension. We're not encouraging you to procrastinate come tax time. We think it's best to get the pain out of the way, particularly since, even if you do file an extension, you'll need to estimate and pay the amount you expect to owe by the regular April filing deadline.
Still, for self-employed folks, filing an extension provides additional time to contribute to a solo 401(k), the best vehicle for serious self-employed savers. Depending on your income, you could be eligible to deduct a big part of your taxable income — up to $46,000 in 2008. So if you need more to time to scratch up the dough, take it. The more you plunk down, the more miraculous the miracle of compound interest will be.
Action Item: Open a traditional IRA. Want to reduce your taxable income this year? Consider a traditional IRA. If you file solo and don't participate in a company-sponsored retirement plan, such as a 401(k), your contribution, which is due by the regular April filing deadline, is fully deductible, no matter how much you make. Deductibility for joint filers depends on the company plan status for both you and your spouse, but if neither of you participates, you can reduce your taxable income by the combined amount of your contribution.
Action Item: Open a Roth IRA. You won't be able to deduct the amount you kick in to a Roth, but when it comes time to tap the account, you won't pay a penny in taxes on qualified withdrawals. What's more, unlike with a traditional IRA, you can withdraw contributions (but not your earnings) at any time without penalty. The bottom line? If you haven't been contributing to an IRA for fear that you might need the cash in case of emergency, that excuse — um, that concern — evaporates on contact with a Roth. Sorry.
Learn more about how to reduce your tax bill at The Motley Fool's tax center.
For more tax Foolishness:
This Could Cause the Next CrashThis Billion-Dollar Question Is Still Up in the AirDon't Let This Destroy Your Financial Future
For any business, prospecting for new business opportunities is the key to growth and survival. Unfortunately, prospecting using traditional sales and marketing techniques such as advertising, trade shows, and cold calling has become inefficient and prohibitively expensive, especially for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with limited resources and budgets.
Luckily, Marketing 2.0 techniques such as Inbound Marketing and Sales & Marketing Automation offer a much better way.
Did you know that today more than 90% of B2B buyers start their purchasing cycle by looking for solutions and suppliers on the Internet?
Chances are prospective buyers are searching the Internet right now for solutions exactly like those your company offers. Are they finding your company? And if they find your company, does your website engage them with content that establishes your company as a thought-leader in the industry, worthy of adding you to their short list of suppliers?
If your answers are NO, then you are missing out on one of the most cost-effective ways for companies – including SMBs – to prospect for new clients, channel partners, and other complimentors vital to your businesses’ future.
By leveraging the new paradigm of Inbound Marketing, and Sales & Marketing Automation, you can easily turn your website from a static “web-brochure” into a powerful business development tool. In essence, your website must accomplish 4 specific steps:
Step 1. Attract. Using techniques such as focused Search-Engine-Optimization (SEO) and Pay-per-click Advertising (PPC), and selective Social Media Marketing (SMM), you can successfully drive highly relevant traffic to your site.
Step 2. Engage. With low-cost content such as whitepapers, online videos, and webinars, you can cost-effectively establish credibility in your industry as a “thought-leader”. No matter how small your company.
Step 3. Convert. Make it easy for prospects to convert from an unidentified to an identified sales lead, by giving you their online business cards (name, title, contact information, etc), so you can establish a permission-based 1:1 relationship. Without this critical step, valuable prospects will come and go from your site, without your knowledge.
Step 4. Nurture. Using sales & marketing automation, you can nurture prospects with multi-touch email campaigns, offering prospects relevant information based on their individual interests, until they are truly “sales-ready”, and ready to be contacted by your sales team.
In upcoming posts we’ll go through each step in detail, including how to accomplish each step, with real-life examples relevant to your B2B company. Next week’s post will feature how to attract, and what you need to know about SEO, PPC, and the latest trends in Social Media Marketing for your SMB organization.
In the meantime, if you want a quick look at how your website ranks relative to others in attracting prospects, HubSpot offers a neat little tool that automatically grades your site and tells you where you need the most attention. It’s a good starting point.
In addition, if you would like some insight into the powerful shift from traditional marketing to marketing 2.0, and how to harness the power of Marketing 2.0 for your company, you can access our whitepaper on Marketing 2.0 here.
Axel Kuhn is President and Co-Founder of Gossamar Inc. Gossamar specializes in optimizing the web presence of small and mid-sized B2B companies to deliver “More Sales Prospects of Higher Quality at Lower Cost” by taking advantage of the industry shifts to Inbound Marketing and Marketing Automation.
Welcome to our first ever “guest post”. Our intention is, from time to time, to introduce a little variety into these posts by inviting occasional comment from our friends in the industry. First up, Alistair Watts. Many readers will know that Alistair has enjoyed a distinguished career in international market research having headed up at various times the Nielsen companies in Singapore, Vietnam and China as well as being regional head of Nielsen operations in Australasia and Japan. With remarkable prescience Alistair retired from market research just months before the “great recession” hit and now – in a complete change of lifestyle – is running a farm in New Zealand. This doesn’t mean he has given up all concern with marketing and research issues however, as is apparent from his first post for Research.Opinionated.Insightful:
Our Customer Service systems are similarly leading edge....
It still amazes me to see how little value so many organisations place on customer retention. Without even trying to find them, examples of plain bad customer care keep appearing. I am sure the organisations I’ll describe in this (and my follow-up) posts have some customer care strategies, want to retain current customers and (probably) conduct some kind of satisfaction survey but, apparently lacking any real understanding of how the customer may view their relationship with the service provider, they plough on regardless of any negative feedback or suggestions to the contrary.
My wife and I decided to change our electricity supplier recently. The reasons were fairly evenly divided between the pull of a better offer from the new supplier and the push from the incumbent. Pull factors will be covered in a later note. Push factors included an inability of the old supplier to communicate with us as individuals, an apparent lack of awareness of where we were located (Google Maps anyone?) and poor follow up and information during the all too frequent supply outages we experience in our locality, especially in winter. We live on a farm – no power means no water (electric pumps), no fence (also electric powered) and no Internet connection. Nothing.
Another key motivation to change was the very poor and confusing feedback about our consumption patterns and how we could better measure them and thereby better manage our energy usage.
The new supplier undertook to inform the incumbent of our decision, warning us that we would at last have contact with them once they heard news of our departure. So it proved to be. The new supplier appeared to know the habits of the old supplier better than the old one knew them. A phone call was received from the incumbent asking for confirmation of our decision and covering a few procedural details for the changeover. We did offer during this conversation to provide reasons for our decision but this did not, either at the time nor subsequently, trigger any response.
We did however receive a letter informing us that we were valued customers and hoping they could “keep you as one of our customers”. This standard letter was addressed to us as “Dear Customer”, signalling apparently that they still don’t know our names and was completed with a reproduced signature. It gave six reasons for us to stay, a better relationship clearly not being one of them.
The first was that there were “loads of ways” we could pay our bill. We already knew that but didn’t see it as a particularly important or relevant reason for staying. A bill is a bill and it has to be paid. The standard 10% prompt payment discount was also mentioned although that in fact merely reverses the traditional procedure of adding 10% if a bill is not paid.
The second reason was that “we’ve got it all”, specifically electricity, natural gas and bottled LPG. And so what?
Thirdly mentioned was the reward programme although since participation in this was about to yield a NZ$10 to $20 voucher after a year of participation as compared to monthly bills of the order of $300 to $500 per month the “reward” side of the equation was somewhat lacking.
Point four amplified point one by mentioning online bill payment and accessing bill summaries online. Don’t most companies offer this now? Is this news in 2010?
Point five covered the availability of various pricing plans and the promise to have the right one for us. In vain did we scan this paragraph looking for clues as to which plan was right for us, how that had been assessed, how being on it would advantage us and how it could be accessed and discussed.
The final point was the availability of energy saving tips and exclusive Smart Savers offers, although what they are was not explained. To get this, all we had to do was to call them and they’d “do the rest”. Not likely, thanks.
This type of approach demonstrates a clear failure to understand how the service provider’s business plans and delivery system interacts with the customer. There is no empathy with the customer, which is hardly surprising because they clearly don’t know the customer as an individual, despite all the information gathered through consumption records over the years. Nothing in the letter or other communication suggested any knowledge of the customer’s needs or, worse still, what the source of the customer’s dissatisfaction might be.
The usual riposte to that would be that in a mass-market business it can’t be done. Unfortunately that’s not so in 2010 because the new supplier showed us just how well it can be done.
Market research is the voice of the consumer, whether gained via an individual comment or a research organisation that provides it. Certainly the latter can offer interpretative advice based on experience but the core feedback is from the customer. Assuming no basic errors in the methodology, challenging or ignoring the research findings is exactly the same as challenging or ignoring the customer. I mention this because customer satisfaction results for energy suppliers in my country are available (http://www.consumer.org.nz/reports/energy-providers/survey-results) but apparently are having little impact.
Understanding the delivery and service model from the customer point of view drives customer satisfaction. In my experience, users of services are happy to provide their feedback, at least where I live, where over a drink at home or a chance meeting in the neighbourhood people will talk for hours about what pleases or displeases them about services they use. In less rural settings, new social media channels and on-line qualitative services provide easy to access alternatives to get quick and in-depth feedback. Unfortunately the provider is often too constrained by what they believe they can or can’t provide to their customers or by an untested model of what their company’s DNA says customers want. I well remember presenting research results to a multi-national client in China who challenged the findings because this wasn’t the way the market for their products had developed elsewhere. Never mind what the end consumer in China was actually doing, it wasn’t how it should be!
The approach of our former supplier to one of their “valued customers” showed that they don’t really want to know what is driving customer dissatisfaction, probably because they’ve convinced themselves that they:
(a) Know what their customers’ want
(b) Are providing as good a service as they can within the constraint of the current business model and
(c) There isn’t too much of a problem anyway
That is, until someone else starts talking to their customers!
(Editors note: We will carry the second part of this series in a week or two).
This week, we’ve been interviewing for a fairly senior marketing role on a particular project. With the current economic climate, there’s been no shortage of high-calibre applicants.
It’s not the first time I’ve conducted interviews; but it is the first time I’ve been able to sit back and watch. A colleague of mine was running the interviews and I was the “second opinion”. That gave me the chance to sit back and do what everyone should do more of in business: listening.
For starters, I heartily recommend getting a second person in to help you conduct interviews. In the past, I have always found myself concentrating as much on explaining the role and asking questions as listening properly. This time round, by only having to listen and think, my opinions have been far clearer.
I’m no psychoanalyst, but I think we all betray our strengths and weaknesses pretty easily. I also think that’s rather a good thing. I don’t want to employ the wrong person, not just because that’s bad for my business, but also because it’s bad for the applicant themselves. And there are always times in life when we don’t quite know what we want and apply for just about anything; and it’s actually better to be told by someone else that this isn’t the right job for you.
Having time to listen also means you pick up more of the subtle nuances that lie underneath what is, on the face of it, a straight answer.
One of the candidates, for example, I suddenly realised, was reeling off examples of the companies she had worked for, and why those companies were great. Excellent. Yet, nowhere – not once – did she explain why her contribution to those companies had been great.
We have also had a chap (actually, several examples like this), who clearly had an exceptional grasp of marketing strategy. But I got the feeling he had worked in the past with large marketing teams, and was happier “going by the book” than rolling his sleeves up and getting stuck into the real work required in smaller or startup companies. I still make the coffee now and then (badly, but I do it*), because in anything but the largest companies, everyone should muck in.
Then there was the lady who got the name of the product wrong, even though we’d just done a demo. Maybe that’s “interview nerves”, but I think it’s lack of either interest or focus or discipline or whatever… if you can’t be bothered to soak up a brand name, you probably shouldn’t be in marketing.
Just in case you’re reading this and thinking of applying for a job, here’s what impressed me about the candidates we’re taking forward:
They were interested in us and our company; and wanted to understand what we do before they told us how wonderful they were.
They applied their past experience clearly and concisely to our requirements and the issues we faced; rather than treating those experiences as virtues in themselves.
They were flexible. I don’t demand a bargain on time, money, commitment or anything else. Flexibility of approach is an asset long before it’s applied to any specific line of the employment contract.
They took time to think before answering. People who are desperate to make a good impression… don’t. People who aren’t afraid to think and examine always come out better.
They answered the question they were asked. If there’s one thing I notice time and again, it’s the fact that so many interviewees divert their answer to tough questions onto more comfortable ground. It’s a sidestep that I always spot, and always find disappointing.
They were honest. Nobody is likely to have the perfect blend of skills; and everyone has holes in their knowledge. I have far more respect for someone who says “I’ve never done that” than trying to bluff their way through.
It’s a weird thing, the interview process. I don’t want sympathy, but both sides would do well to remember that the interviewer is as human, fallible and prone to personal prejudices as anyone else. The laws of first impressions mean we make mistakes, we fail to listen or think - and we sometimes allow ourselves to be swayed by jargon-filled CVs or a short skirt (don’t kid yourselves, gents). It’s only by listening that we get past the first impressions, and to the facts which will better influence our gut instinct. Ignore first impressions, and ignore the rulebook too (because there are plenty of way-out candidates who deserve consideration). Then go with the gut feel: the personwho was honest, interested, energised by your company, and confident of making a difference. Deal done.
*Management Genius, No. 94: Always make terrible coffee. Sooner or later, people will stop asking you to make it.
“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.” – Warren Buffet
So many businesses are pricing their offerings to cover their own costs. This is my personal estimate, but I believe that in America less than 10% of products and services are actually sold for the value that they bring to the customer.
I remarked to my wife one time that “a bad haircut is never cheap.” If something is worthless, doesn’t improve your life in some way, it is overpriced, no matter what you paid for it.
In the same way, it’s impossible to spend too much obtaining your dreams. If a product or service can save you time, make you healthier, wealthier, or happier, its price should be more closely related to that fact than to it’s production cost.
Since this is supposed to be a marketing blog, let’s bring this principle home.
Because good marketing actually produces profit, your budget should view marketing as an investment, not an expense. Sure, it may cost some money up front, but your ROI will more than justify that. Cost-effective does not necessarily mean inexpensive. If investing in marketing doubles your sales, it would be inexpensive to throw $100 into your efforts. It would also be tremendously stupid. Why not spend a fortune? Your marketing is no longer inexpensive, but it is remarkably cost-effective. Look at what you get for the money!!
Here are two lessons we can get from this quote from Mr. Buffet:
Seek to add value to your customers’ lives through your products and services. This is the key to developing staying-power in your business.
Remember to base your prices on that value.
By the way, let me formally apologize for missing last week’s quote. I’ll try not to let that happen again.
I should thank myself for taking some time before I could write this blog entry, because this had given me some time to get some valuable insights on how the SUN Network media group has strategized its programs to take on the Star Vijay Channel here in Tamil satellite TV channel world. You could say this entry as a sequel to my earlier entry.
Inorder to take on the Star Vijay’s various programs the Sun TV channel had launched a multi-pronged attack. Let me elaborate on the strategy they are handling as of now.
They had bought the rights of Deal or No deal from Endemol Entertainment group of Netherlands. This program was a runaway hit in different geographies wherever it was telecasted. Basically this is a reality show with a chance to earn from as low as Re.1 to as high as 50 lac rupees by the contestant. Its a game of chance and its a game for the people who want to take risk and good at decision making considering the risk factors and the outcomes the situation throws out to the contestant. This program is also a good learning ground for mathematicians on the probability theory. You can also say this as a program for psychologists on getting to know about people’s decision making skills when high risks are present. But if you want to keep it simple this show is a real game show. So because of the new format of this game show and due to the fact its a show where one can earn more money without any investment this show had drawn huge audience across age groups. Also I would say that the marketing strategy adopted by Sun TV and the way this show was hosted had been the WOW factor to draw enough TRP ratings, courtesy more eyeballs during the weekend primetime which Sun TV was lacking due to the main competitor Star Vijay’s programs like “Neeya Naana” and “Anu Alavum bayamillai”. These programs were running for quite some time and had been proven, as hits. So to draw audience from these shows one has to have good program and a WOW factor. These both were present in Deal or No deal show.
The tricky part and SUN’s mastermind strategy starts from here. They ran this game show for some time so as to officially prove to the advertisers and the media pundits that this is the much awaited change driver. Once this was established they started to use this game show as a money minter and as a show which can be used to launch the attack on Star Vijay. Once they convinced the public about the program’s authenticity in earning money, there were lot of requests in wanting to participate. Also Sun TV kept the public in dark on how they are choosing the contestants which was a real ploy. So in lot of public forums related to Tamil satellite channels people started asking on how to participate in this program. This was the situation what Sun TV was waiting for. Here came the launch of multi pronged attack. They started to advertise on the ways in which people can participate.
On January first week they asked the people to watch two newly launched mega serials telecasted at 7.30 pm and 10.00 pm in Sun TV and questions were asked from those two serials one for each serial everyday. Hence whoever has answered all the 10 questions will be having a chance to participate in this Deal or No deal game show. The reason to select these two slots is Star Vijay’s hit serial of Village setup School drama “Kallikattu Pallikoodam” was running at the 7.30 pm slot and the thriller show of “Nadanthathu Enna” was telecasted in 10 pm slot. Both these programs were proven hits. Thus Sun TV went in for a double delight is what I would say. Converting the audience in the initial days for a mega serial is good enough to make them watch for serial’s lifetime also it will dent the number of eyeballs watching Star Vijay’s hit programs.
There should have been a good response is what I would guess, because of the rising demand of people wanting to participate in Deal or No deal game show. To prove it further Sun TV had extended the same strategy by extending it to a different platform. Sun Pictures has released Actor Vijay’s Vettaikaran movie which happens to be a mass entertainer and has got enough elements to make the common film goer happy after the movie. To make this movie a mega hit, again the Deal or No deal show is used as a key. In the Pongal week, questions were asked in Sun TV group about Vettaikaran movie and contestants for the game show will be chosen from those who reply for this question. Hence with a sure shot winner in Deal or No Deal game show, SUN media group is reaping good dividends by denting on the Competitor’s armoury of programs and making its own programs get enough audience in its initial days.
Thus at the moment its SUN Media group all the way….. Anyways as I already mentioned in my earlier blog entry, healthy competition brings in more stuff for audience to choose from also it leads to innovation in a world of mega serials and average reality shows which are making the audience move away from TV to new media. Let us keep our fingers for the next innovation.
Thank you for your patience to read this long article……
It’s been a grueling couple of days since the 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti.
At this moment millions are quite literally missing and families all over the world are grappling at any form of communication to possibly get word in or out.
Perhaps if there’s anything remarkable to report on, it’s how social media, be it Twitter, Facebook or Text messages have become a primary source for information and fund-raising that’s down right record-breaking.
As cell phones and landlines quickly became obsolete, throngs in and out of the country turned to social media. Within hours, fund-raising portals were set up at the American Red Cross, the Clinton Foundation and countless others, including celebrity organizations like Wyclef Jean’s YELE.
Reports are early, but according to Mashable, the American Red Cross has already raised $5,000,000 via text messages. Then tonight on Twitter, “@Anncurry: As of 7 pm total donations for Haiti relief through the SMS campaign (texting 90999) is $5.9 Million.” Amazing.
Facebook and Twitter have become gathering areas for loved ones, journalists, iReporters and everyone in between as they try to pluck reliable real-time feedback or simply show their support.
For those of us who’ve been fighting to convince others of the power of social media, but perhaps focusing too much on $$$$ or brand equity, take a step back and look at the past 72 hours. Without social media, the fate of my best friend and her family would still remain unknown. Monies would not have been so easily freed with the click of an iPhone. Now, multiply that by millions.
I know we all have just been recovered from the Christmas ‘commercial’ craze, but I just picked up this news from my Czech friends and thought this is such a great example of brands making the best use of local culture.
Kofola, a Czech soft drink that competes with the likes of Coca-Cola dropped Santa Clause (Jezisek) in the festive commercial since 03. The ad made use of a local legend, according to which a golden pig shows itself to those fasting on Christmas Day. The commercial shows while trekking through a snow-covered forest in a quest of a Christmas tree, a father tells his daughter the golden pig tale until the little girl declares she won’t have to fast because she already sees a pig. A wild boar chases them away.
One of the main challenges for global brands seeking to expand to foreign markets is the task of balancing standardization with customization. When global brands expand overseas, they are often tempted to repeat their tried and tested formula in the new market as well. In execution terms meaning they often without further exploration, will try to adopt the global advertising with minimum adjustments for the local market. The assumption is that customers would be too eager to adopt the brand because of its ‘global reputation’. However, we have to understand that each market has its own subtleties, unique characteristics and preferences. Many of these unique characteristics are deeply inspired by the local culture. The challenge in fact is how to build on the global platform and execute it creatively with local relevance. In this day and age of 360˚ communications, it could well be achieved by formulating local executions in ‘non traditional’ medium.
In the case of Kofola, obviously they do not have that ‘baggage’ since they are a home grown brand, but their creative tactics is something that global brands can take reference from.
I picked this story up about this restaurant in Oklahoma City called Iguana Mexican Grill who started a promotion to thank customers for their support their first year in business. The chef notes that they were only going to run this promotion for one month. Well, the promotion became a hit growing weekly so they kept on going. Here in this video and article he says Twitter was a big part of how this event publicized.
Click below to view the video of the chef’s interview.
Obviously he’s serving great food at a great price as well so it sounds like it’s a winning combination.
As you can see, he has only sent out 28 tweets, has 399 followers, following 200, and is on 53 lists. When I pulled his account, I could see 25 out of 28 tweets.
This story is one of many success stories in the food service space.
Iguana Favorites
TACOS
(soft or crispy) served with choice of two sides 8.95. two flour tortillas, shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, and pico de gallo with choice of:
What are you blogging about now? Is it getting you lots of traffic from Twin Falls (or anywhere else for that matter) and you want to discover how your niche can grow your income bigger than a locally grown potato (or whatever you grow)? Where just a coffee chat in Lewiston can turn your thoughts into a $100.00 $$$$PER DAY$$$$ job. (Click Here NOW) To Discover profitable blogging techniques!) P.S. Did I Mention YOU WILL SAVE TIME ON THESE BREAKTHROUGH MONEY MAKING TIPS
Ways for Internet Marketing on a Low Budget By Akash Deep
Recently I was contacted by a client who was frustrated that her marketing efforts were not producing results like she expected. In an attempt to address her concerns, I realized how many other professionals are in the same boat. What follows is an open letter to professionals everywhere who are struggling to attract new clients and make money online.
Dear Entrepreneur and Professional:
First, let’s address the issue of finances. I understand fully what it is like to invest in your own business, work hard, and see little income. Sometimes it seems as if you work for pleasure, and indeed there is much pleasure involved. It’s not unusual for entrepreneurs to be passionate about their business and services and many would do what they love for free. For more details visit to www.achieving-liftoffs.com .But it can’t work that way, and you must see the money or your business will perish. Finally, after a couple of years of trickle income, we are now seeing results in our own online business, and are making a comfortable living solely from information and services sold on the Internet.
It takes time. And it involves having lots of digital information products people can buy and download instantly. In order to sell them, you have to have a powerful web presence and be easily findable to the millions of people who Google for solutions to their problems.
People can’t find you with just a web site. You need a blog, and you need to write on it frequently – daily is best; two to three times per week is good. An electronic newsletter, or ezine, is also a great marketing tool, and it needs to be posted on the Web, or on your blog.
You need to write and submit articles to article directories so people can find you better. Your articles need to include contact information and links back to your website and products.
You need the infrastructure in place so you can follow up with automated email messages to people who contact you requesting information, purchase your products and register for your events. For more information logon to www.website-conversion-mastery.com It’s a good idea to do teleclasses, some for free, so you build your list, connect with people and get them into your higher priced seminars.
There are other business models, and I am most familiar with what I have done myself, and helped other entrepreneurs to do.
When Denise and I joined Tom Antion’s Mentee Program, it was a considerable financial commitment. We send him a check every month out of our earnings, which are steadily increasing thanks to his tutelage. It’s worth it to learn and model what works from one who has been there and is a multi-millionaire.
As the saying goes, you can’t get to Carnegie Hall without lots of practice, and that takes an investment of time, patience and money.
There are no easy solutions. Continue doing what works and invest in those areas of your business that provide the biggest payoff. Get training. Invest in the infrastructure and tools that allow you to save time and market effortlessly. Avoid overwhelm by implementing tools slowly, getting used to one and observing your results before going to the next step. Building a business on the Internet is not about getting rich quick. It’s about hard work and persistent effort that will pay off in the long run.
www.internet-marketing-online-goldmine.com
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2010 is getting off to a weird, slow start. The days do seem to be going by fast, so I guess I can’t complain too much.
Looking forward to this meeting by the Social Media Club. It will be held at the Maxwell House on January 21 from 6:30pm to 9:30pm in Pasadena. More info here.
This weekend has been somewhat relaxing. I got to catch Youth in Revolt last night and visited the Arboretum this evening. Back to another Monday tomorrow!
New year, new trends in marketing. What can we expect to see? Here are my tips.
1. More body fragmentation.
The makers of all the things we use to clean and groom ourselves are no idiots. Why sell us one bar of soap when you can sell us seven different kinds of soap (sorry, ‘cleanser’) for seven different body parts? So in 2009, we had marketing campaigns declaring that our armpit skin has rights, our eyelashes need conditioner and our under-eyes need caffeine.
This year, say no to dirty heads with Behind-The-Ear Buffer; brides, make sure your ring finger sparkles on the greatest day of your life with our dedicated Fourth Finger Spa Day; and say good-bye to dull grey pubes with Black Bush (ad slogan: Spruce Up YOUR Map of Tassie).
2. The end of “friendly” packaging.
“Hi, thanks for buying me. You thought you were getting a bottle of orange juice but actually you’ve bought an anthropomorphised label that’s going to sit here and have a lovely little chat with y… WHY HAVE YOU THROWN ME IN THE BIN? I AM RECYCLABLE YOU BASTARD. I THOUGHT WE WERE JUST STARTING TO GET ALONG. WHATEVER, I WAS ONLY PRETENDING TO LIKE YOU.”
3. Personal pronouns before brand names.
I’m boldly predicting that this hideous trend will be over. Not because of a terrible mix-up relating to “Your M&S” and an armful of undies I tried to walk off with without paying. No, it’s because of the existence of My Toilet Cleaner.
It's not mine, it's yours.
Enough! Or at least give us His Toilet Cleaner. “Hi, thanks for buying me. I like nothing more than slowly caressing the side of a dirty toile…” well, I think you get the picture there.
4. Banks being our friends.
After a brief period throwing back to a time when banks marketed themselves as being stable, they’re going to think we’ve forgotten a little incident known as taxpayers’ bailout and start being all fun and friendly again. Well, we haven’t forgotten. Unless we are the advertising ‘creatives’ who work on your account and then, conveniently, we have.
5. There will never be another celebrity ad endorsement ever again.
Not really. I’m pretty certain that even if we all swore to never buy a product endorsed by a celebrity — not even if that celebrity is Martine McCutcheon — they’d still be in ads. But it is a nice thought.
Edited. Oh good God, of course you can already buy pubic hair dye.
The reconstruction of a traditional New Orleans Tulane University was founded in New Orleans, LA, 1834. Since that time, the University has developed as part of a vibrant and historic city. With the landing of a lot has changed Katrina in New Orleans, but not the continued presence of this highly respected research Tulane University Area: New Orleans New Orleans, LA United States 70118United University. Tulane University continues today not only provide quality education to its undergraduates in many different fields of study, but to promote the idea of permanent cultural community of New Orleans who are fighting for Academics rebirth.Tulane. Not located in the Northeast or on the California coast or even a giant like metropolitan Chicago, Tulane University each year still manages to win the praise of educators and the attention of undergraduates serious researchers and post graduates. The reason is simple.Since its founding in the 19th century, Tulane has set up a university undergraduate who offers the possibility of pursuing a liberal arts education with majors in many different areas. Students who, after examination of Tulane University, New Orleans, chose to attend this fine institution to quickly find what they enjoy the fact that Tulane is a highly respected research draws a powerhouse of graduate students and teachers for many different professional programs. Tulane is known for its schools of graduate level in disciplines such as business, medicine, social work, engineering and law. The reputation of the graduate programs have gained has enabled undergraduate programs receive full beneficial effect. Students enrolled in undergraduate programs at Tulane University find themselves working with researchers from leading practitioners in the state of the art facilities and preparation for future success….
Read full article: Reviewing Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
“221B” é um dos advergames mais bacanas dos últimos tempos. Criado pela AKQA para promover o filme “Sherlock Holmes”, que estreia aqui no Brasil na próxima sexta. Falamos sobre ele mais detalhadamente nesse post no início de novembro passado.
O jogo é multiplayer e utiliza integração com Facebook, apresentando uma série de mistérios que devem ser solucionados pelos usuários. No vídeo abaixo, o desenvolvedor Rollo Carpenter conta para a BBC como funciona o sistema de inteligência artificial do projeto.
As técnicas de roteiro foram programas para reconhecer um grande número de potenciais questões feitas pelos jogadores. O objetivo, além de fazer os personagens responderem da maneira mais humana possível, é passar a sensação de que você não está, na verdade, conversando com um computador.
Esse tipo de robô é tão velho como a internet, mas é interessante observar como o comportamento evolui, muito mais devido a criação e projeção humana do que com a tecnologia em si. Roteiro muito bem planejado, acima de tudo.
O vídeo, obviamente, está em inglês. Britânico, pra ser melhor.
Optimization Petroleum Technologies Inc. (OPT), provider of integrated software solutions for oil and gas reservoir management and production analysis, announced the selection of Advertas in Houston as their marketing and public relations agency. Based in Beijing, China, OPT develops, markets and provides consulting services for the PEOffice® suite of applications for use in exploration, production and gas storage companies. PEOffice is an integrated software system for reservoir management and production optimization. OPT has appointed Advertas to assist in developing and implementing their North American go-to-market strategy.
Initiatives to be undertaken by Advertas on behalf of OPT will include a sustained public relations effort in the form of press coverage, interviews with editors, development of marketing collateral and a Web analytics campaign. The marketing and public relations program is expected to build awareness of the OPT brand, drive traffic to the company’s website, and ultimately increase the sales pipeline.
“We are excited to bring the OPT PEOffice Suite to the United States and we needed a marketing and public relations agency that could assist us in brand recognition,” said Jacoby Garcia, Vice President of OPT. “We also required a firm that had the knowledge in-house to implement an effective marketing and public relations program on behalf of OPT. We selected Advertas because they have the mix of skills we need and their specialization in energy and technology.”
“Many of our clients consist of start-ups and company/product launches,” said Hal Green, Managing Director of Advertas. “We are excited to work with OPT in getting their suite of software recognized in the US energy market. We look forward to applying our skills in building awareness of the excellent OPT brand.”
Rupert Murdoch sounded it and a lot of media companies are echoing it – pay for consuming media online.
This means you might actually have to pay to read news or other articles on the web. In Wall Street Journal (owned by Murdoch), you have two types of content – one with pictures, rich information (lot cool) and the FREE stuff (less cool).
Hulu.com is already asking for money, if you want to watch TV shows. Too bad it didn’t start its service outside the US.
This could mean few things –
1. Media firms are sick of letting their hard earned content for free. Slowly, internet will move towards the “Free is Nothing” strategy.
2. Page Views and Unique visits would recieve some serious blow. Ad rates could be affected.
3. Lot of bloggers might spring out only to publish this paid content for free. Sounds like new grounds for ad networks and such.
4. Serious net users may actually start paying to make sure they are not wading in shitty contnet.
Two years down the line, we could as well be looking at our credit card bills for ‘virtual content consumed’ and looking back at today as Good Old Days, when Shit was Free!
New year. New age. In this plugged in, always on world, I’ve notice a common attitude that’s becoming a trend. And not a good one, at that. Many are under the false belief that all you have to do is get on Twitter, Facebook, and blog your heart out, and you’ll find success through the sheer magic of the internet. It is no question that these online tools and Google search has revolutionized the world of advertising. But the question is, just because you have a skillful command of these tools, does it make you a marketing genius?
From what I’ve seen, no. Being good at online tools alone doesn’t make you a marketing god. That’s only half of the story. Circuit City didn’t go bankrupt because they lacked twitter skills. They went bust because they lost focus on their core business brand and watched Best Buys blow right by them. Burger King is one of the most progressive new media players in the fast food industry. They’ve had huge success with Subservient Chicken and Facebook Whopper Sacrifice. Still, they are a very distant second to McDonald’s.
So why isn’t new media THE answer? The problem is that too many marketers forget the second part of the equation – strategy. Marketing is made up of two components: marketing strategy and marketing tactics. Which is more important? Many believe, and so do I, that strategy is far more important than tactics. Tactics are short lived and only affect a portion of the marketing spectrum. It takes strategy to see the end game, what it will take to get there, and what tools (tactics) it will need to accomplish stated goals. Too many concentrate on the tools and not enough on what you’re building in the first place.
Instead of just trying to find new tactics or different online solutions, why not take a closer look at your overall strategy? That’s where one should begin with anyway. How do you know what tactics you should invest in without knowing the core marketing strategy and the goal that strategy is trying to accomplish? Too many marketers try to hop on the newest online toy without really understanding how that new toy will contribute to the overall strategy.
If you get your strategy right, then the tactics you employ whether it’s new media, social media, traditional advertising, etc., will pay off dividends in ROI and help you reach your established goals. By knowing what tool is best for what results, you can actually employ the right tactics for the right measurements and not expect the wrong tool for the right results.
The skillful use of Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and SEO won’t make a weak brand strong. All it will do is accelerate a weak brand’s demise. By having a strong brand linked with insightful strategy and executed with the right tactics, you’ve increased your chances of marketing success 100-fold.
"A person found in its history, and all need to express a few square inches of his face, train, and his ancestors room." ~ Emerson lives or
Her face contains clues to your true nature. This is who we are and what we have seen, and we walk in we are facing opposition – which makes us unique. Our personal and emotional energy patterns show that in our own specific functions that can help guide usOur next most appropriate economic level.
By understanding your face will be seen as a result of their own, personal power of the relationship between, and how to understand the world, including many more. Physiognomy can be more sympathetic to their own, because you know how you wired from the inside out ", then the contribution of cells, the current response and determine your memories, and help you connect with other, more健康.
Understand their own limitations, needs and desires more clearly, this is a very attractive quality. When people think your definition, they may be the next one, they – they are with the plants, obligations or the actual relationship between the expected conditions. They also open up new source of energy, it is possible to get every possible opportunity, rich and prosperous – after all, as long as you open, that is, as long as you need to be filled In order to have an opportunity. As you are attractive, and is worthy to attract you (also known as) the legal appeal.
About the company, physiognomy, you know how) to negotiate a decision-making process, such as more effective (through an understanding of each other's face, how you succeed. For example, there is one in the nose, it tells you when to delegate prompts – if not satisfied needs, you can clearly see how you bossing"Your friends and family. However, if you just listen to assistants, to meet this need, the people around you are likely to have been very satisfied!
Three things is to look at your face:
1. Remember that your lips. When the soil is very full, you are likely to be very generous. Just think, if you are above, they can be grown the wrong reasons, may be your business – it is an energy consumption. In addition, if you have a client with theThis feature may explain why they give you when they hire you "to" resolve their!
2. Keep in mind that your eyebrows. That is, if you have enough space and your eyes and your eyebrows, which you may need time and space, in order to understand the people or circumstances. It is likely that you will observe what happens, and then jump into the water – this is only your cable way. If you are a new customer with this feature, you do not want to walk, They welcomed and The Bear hug you – time and space they need to know first!
3. Please note that your chin. If you insist on your chin out, which is an indicator, may be a bit stubborn things (may actually be an entrepreneur of good quality). However, if your model, if you think have the ability to repeat the decision, dialogue and relationships, where are you, you will feel that they are, you know, stubborn. If"Your client does not have this feature, be surprised if they do not know what they want to know, jammed and thank you, you would expect to provide – they are just wired this way!
There are so many things to read out the ancient art and science of the face, but you gradually improve your understanding of trends and patterns, it is more sensitive to other people. And to increase the sensitivity of the world around you to keep what you are more likely to involveTo help you grow your business faster!
People who have known me for any length of time know that I am fascinated by the paranormal. I think the whole idea of investigating the paranormal is interesting, intriguing. It can certainly make you think, consider your own mortality and what might be ‘beyond’.
During my teen years I shared some experiences with friends that made me question what I thought I knew about life and death. No, I don’t claim to know definitively that there are spirits or ‘ghosts’, but I do know we have had paranormal experiences that we could not explain, so to watch various groups investigate such claims of others, it fascinating.
I greatly enjoy Ghost Hunters. I enjoy the cast members and their relationships with one another. Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson approach investigations in a ‘professional’ way, without the hysterics that tend to accompany paranormal reality TV. I appreciate the fact that they set out to disprove or ‘debunk’ alleged paranormal claims. They would sooner view an experience as a common occurrence misinterpreted than immediately proclaim an experience as ghostly.
I watch Paranormal State, because the group originates from Penn State University within my home state. Ryan Buell is the group’s leader. He really is ‘the boy next door’, appearing to be a very caring and compassionate young man. The group has diverse religious beliefs, but incorporate the famed “demonologist” Lorraine Warren and various “psychics” in every episode. Ryan or one of his psychics, almost without fail, determines nearly every paranormal claim to be demonic in nature, ending many episodes with a religious ceremony (often led by Ryan himself), claiming the paranormal activity has ended and the house is cleared.
Ghost Adventures is a similar paranormal investigative series featuring Zak Bagans and two of his friends, Aaron and Nick, who lock themselves in various reportedly haunted sites over night as they investigate claims made by residents, care takers, etc. Zak, Aaron and Nick are much more excitable than the casts of the previous two series I mentioned. They are not as professional, engaging in screaming, running away from unknown sounds and the Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP) sounds they collect never appear to be more than static or white noise, though they claim they can hear very specific communications in almost every EVP they highlight.
Ghost Lab is a series I’ve only just found recently. This series features a brother team, the Klinges, and their group, as they investigate reportedly haunted sites across the country. At first glance, they appear to be the most ’scientific’ of all the programs in this genre, but they appear to only view their scientific evidence in a way that supports their goal of collecting convincing evidence of paranormal phenomenon, though much of it could be viewed in an opposing manner, debunking claims of the paranormal.
I find these programs very entertaining.
I recently read that a former cast member of Ghost Hunters revealed that they were instructed to ‘act’ during the taping of the series. The person relaying this rumor indicated that it caused them to now view all their material as suspect and it made them question all these programs.
I have to say, anyone who believes “Reality TV” isn’t staged, scripted, edited, etc., should put the remote down and back away from the TV slowly.
Obviously, there is a formula to editing and broadcasting such programs. Their ‘investigations’ would have to be ’scripted’ to some degree to allow them to be formatted into the one hour or half hour time slot allotted to the programs.
Often you see a ‘teaser’ for each of these series, throughout the week prior to that episode airing that builds you up to believe something truly terrifying is going to happen. That’s a marketing tool used to draw viewers in. They edit each episode in a way that keeps your interest as they break for commercials, so you don’t turn the channel or lose interest. That’s TV.
Programs such as these are clearly intended for an audience that takes an objective position when it comes to the possibility of paranormal activity, such an audience appreciates the tension and suspense, otherwise they wouldn’t continue to tune in.
Obviously, these are my personal views, opinions and brief reviews of these television shows, what do you think?
By Axel Kuhn
Chances are prospective buyers are searching the Internet right now for solutions exactly like those your company offers. Are they finding your company? And if they find your company, does your website engage them with content that establishes your company as a thought-leader in the industry, worthy of adding you to their short list of suppliers?
2010 is getting off to a weird, slow start. The days do seem to be going by fast, so I guess I can’t complain too much.
People who have known me for any length of time know that I am fascinated by the paranormal. I think the whole idea of investigating the paranormal is interesting, intriguing. It can certainly make you think, consider your own mortality and what might be ‘beyond’.