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Retail is in a very tough position,

2011-09-01T22:36:00.000-07:00

...the toughest it has been for a long time.

Times ‘have’ changed, I believe it is not so much a market shift, but a consumer shift.

The consumer paradigm is now demanding more attention, more access, more loyalty, more knowledge from retailers because the digital age provides them with almost everything whenever they want it.- BUT they still cannot touch it, so retailers still have a unique selling proposition.

With a few quick Google searches, frequenting a few blogs and joining discussions on a few forums I can find out more than the than i used to and seemingly a lot more than average retailer of a product. Product knowledge is a very important aspect for retailers to absorb over the next decade or so.

Last month I was trying to find a product. First I visited a retailer and tried to find it there, with no luck I went online and did find it there, but discovered that the brand was only distributing through Authorized retailers.

So I called the Authorised retailer and asked for them to source the product for me. They had limited idea about what I was talking about and in the end I educated the retailer about the product, the sizing, the colour etc. All of which I had already previously researched online.

2 days later I received a call letting me know that they cannot order my product in for me, as it is not available.

So I could find it online, I just cannot order it online as it is only distributed through Authorised retailers. The authorised dealer who has the license in my part of the world has limited idea about the product and cannot order that product in. With further questioning, there was no justifiable reason for this.

In the end, I gave up and moved on.

Here are some of my thoughts on retailing:
• Educate retailers before you authorise them (or immediately after)
• The digital age means that your customers are more demanding than ever before.
• There is a high likelihood that they might be more knowledgeable than your retailers.
• Invest in education strategy to accompany a sales and marketing strategy
• Your brand is only as memorable as my last touch point with it (I say touch point as I cannot touch it on the internet)
• It makes limited sense to a customer that they cannot order a product because of where they live
• Your customers should not have to work for you, research for you, and create a system to fill in your gaps.
• In the end if you continually fail to connect and engage your prospects will give up and move on.
• …and the digital world will be waiting.

What are you selling...

2011-03-08T18:41:00.000-08:00

When you visit a massage therapist and receive a massage it feels great at the time, it’s a combination of the touch, the feel, the attention and the hope that it is actually making you better. It does loosen the muscles and temporally take away the tension and pain. It does not however deliver any long lasting results. From the moment you step down from the table you will put your muscles through the same stress and tension. Most people get a massage once or twice a year.

It applies to all industries...Advertising is like giving your brand a massage, it feels good at the time to see your add on TV, hear it on radio or see it in a big glossy mag. You might get some attention out of it and it may or may not deliver results. Chances are the moment you go to work the next day, you’re delivering the same message and attitude to your clients/consumers and the advertising has had no long lasting results. Most brands advertisers once or twice a year.

The focus should be on retention or diversifying your product offering. Imagine, upon leaving the massage table the masseuse gave you a little talk about how you feeling, what to expect and what to work on during the next fortnight. The following day/week the masseuse gives you a call to see how you are feeling, tells you to drink lots of water (not too much) get lots of sleep and continue stretching. You would feel the attention, and you would refresh your hope that you are actually feeling better.

Same goes for Advertising, you receive a call from the advertising manager, he asks you if you saw/heard your advertisement, how are you feeling, he proposes a strategy to build on, and mentions two or three learning’s that he gathered from other clients advertising with him. The problem is that this doesn’t happen, the speed of business is quick, the thinking shifts to the next client and the new dollars.

A local mariner in Australlia has just over 3,500 members with only 375 berths for boats and yachts. Every month they have a lunch with a guest speaker, twice a year an open day, four times a year a family day. Yes it’s a yacht club, but this isn’t the product they are selling, they are selling the community. Long gone are the days when they were trying to sell yearly (or 5 yearly) memberships to owners of boats, when they are whole heatedly remembered for the community they have built above and beyond the berths.

The secret here is the product you are selling, really isn’t the product you are remembered for at all. You will be remembered for how much you care, your attention, your diverse product offering and integrity. You can’t put a dollar value next to these products but you sure can measure it when your old clients/consumers keep coming back and spreading the word for you.

The modern tour guide continued

2011-02-04T12:58:00.001-08:00

In 2009 I wrote a post about the 'The Modern Tour Guide" can read here: http://mistercicada.blogspot.com/2010/02/modern-tour-guide.html

In 2011, just the other week in fact, Google unveiled a Virtual Museum Tour that allows the user to visit over 385 galleries in 17 of the worlds leading museums. The virtual tour will take the user through pictures in up to 14 billion pixels and allow them to navigate their way through the space with 360 degree movement exactly like Google Maps.

So what does this all mean?

it means we now have access to information and experiences (debatable) on demand and at our fingertips, It also means we are nudging closer and closer to a virtual world, that will not require any human interaction to exist in.

I wonder in the decades to come if we will value a student of the Virtual Museum knowledge, or directions from a man that clicked through every google street map in a foreign town.

Contingency plans...

2010-12-20T18:41:00.001-08:00

So important you can’t afford not to have it?
In a modern economy supported by a super information highway where news is travelling on par with the speed of light, a contingency plan is the single most important part of your strategy.
In this landscape we are constantly seeing brands failing when the unexpected, unforeseeable and ultimately inevitable happens. Brands spend a lot of time on creative marketing, management and resources on building the brand that when the proverbial hits the fan they have no options, plan or further resources to implement, so they watch and hope it doesn’t fall too hard.
A contingency is a provision for a certain event in the future. This may or may not come to fruition, but if you’re spending precious resources building a brand for a future financial position there is equal as much probability that the unexpected will happen. So develop a contingency that kicks in as soon as the outlook shifts.
A contingency plan should:
Always be ‘on’ gathering information, data and analytics in the background & foreground.
Be relevant to your market and your consumers
Reach your opinion leaders and brand loyal consumers first (they can take some hard work off your hands)
Be revisited as often as sales forecasts (future sales haven’t yet occurred, nor too has the unexpected brand damaging news- they could both occur or not occur)
A contingency plan- Think of it as your brands seatbelt.

Chase the cheese, or write your name and leave a legacy?

2010-09-28T21:12:00.000-07:00

ColaBook

2010-09-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

Mid last month, Coca Cola and Facebook teamed up to bring to life this very cool and very social project for this years Coca Cola Village. Have a look for yourself...

Franck Muller

2010-09-01T21:37:00.001-07:00

This gentleman was born in Switzerland in 1958. From a very early age, he developed and nurtured a growing interest for all things mechanical. From an early age he was disassembling all the machines in his house to study how they worked. As a teenager he collected antique astrological instruments. He then joined the Geneva School of Watchmaking, graduated with flying colours and then chose a very difficult path to follow but he had enough devotion, passion and interest to create his own watchmaking company and a very successful one at that- Franck Muller. (It’s fair to say that Franck Muller has gone on to sensational influence the global watchmaking industry.)

So now, consider my before mentioned question: “What have you done over the last 12 months that aligns your interests and passions with your future employment?” Franck Muller could name a few, so many that he could launch his own company. If some of the applicants out there had half the ingredients someone like Franck had then sky is the limit.

You will create your own job through your devotion, passion, and interest FOR the industry. An occupation should be your devotion, interest and passion remunerated.

Failing to make sense...

2010-06-09T17:11:00.000-07:00

Every now and again there are some things which fail to make sense to me.

Why are school uniforms still so unfashionable, uncomfortable and impractical? If our youth are spending 75% of their adolescent lives in clothing with has no practicality, style and or comfort there seems to be little thought injected into why it is the way it is.

I understand tradition, but every Olympics the nations deliver traditional, alternate and practical uniform offerings for their athletes. Now, how is it relevant in today’s society that young adolescents are wearing short skirts, hard shoes with limited support, over sized blazers all with out of date styling and colouring.

Can they not create some art? Create a uniform that would be better suited to the nature of the youth and the fashions of at least the last 10 years?

What if just one school revisited the uniform with a modern thought process and an understanding of their students needs?

The very busy generation

2010-05-19T17:11:00.000-07:00

If you are busy, you can just read the words that are underlined.

Most of us are busy...getting more busy.

We are all busy, we are all busy doing what everyone else is doing and doing things that if we had a real choice we really wouldn’t do it at all. It’s part of life, the ups and the downs and the plodding along the ground- well at least that is what we tell ourselves.

Busy you see, really isn’t a response to how you have been travelling, it’s an excuse. It’s something we say when we actually cannot remember the exact thing we did 3 hours ago let alone 3 days ago. It’s an excuse as to why we have been engaged in work we wouldn’t do if we had the choice or if we could find another way to spend our day. It’s an excuse for the reason we are in the position we are in.

We are getting very good at being busy and that is the very reason why we think we have no choice at all.

Highly efficient people are not busy, they are actioning and shipping. In fact most highly efficient people will almost always seem like they have all the time in the world, that it’s their time and the rest of us ‘busy people’ are skipping to their beat.

We ‘busy people’ often say ‘If I was a millionaire I would do this, if I was a rock star I would have this, I can’t wait to retire etc.’ Whatever the descriptor they use; millionaire, rock star, retiree is irrelevant it is basically us busy people saying that if we had achieved a certain level of efficiency we would be doing things differently to what we are doing right now. We believe the highly efficient people leading their lives are not doing what we are doing, they are not busy.

This is true, they are actioning and shipping and consistently.

Achieving an outcome you are passionate about (actioning and shipping) is the first cure for ‘busy.’

The Middle, The Market and The Media

2010-05-09T17:21:00.000-07:00

Two kids gather in the woods and begin to pick berries; they pick enough to fill their jumpers full and stop to make a plan. They plan to walk into town and sell the berries. So up and off they go into town, they find a spot just under the clock in city centre and start calling out ‘Berries for sale!” They sell a few, but not all.

One of the kids goes for a walk around the town and continues to shout “Berries for sale” He sells a few more berries but not all. He stumbles across an old box of matches, stops to pick it up and begins putting his berries in the old box. He runs back to his friend and continues to help him out by yelling “Berries for sale” with the old box in his hand.

A lady comes over and asks, what is in the box? Berries, the kid responds...’are they the same berries she asks?, yes they are! And do you get them in box? Yes you do, he says, are they the same price she says? No they are 5c more he says. ‘Sold!’ she says.

The next week, the kids go through the town and gather all the old match boxes and run up to the woods to start picking berries. They fill all the boxes with berries and sit down to make a plan. They decide to each go their separate ways to the nearest town to start selling the berries.

“Berries in Boxes for sale!” they scream

Two months later:

“Special Berries in boxes for sale”

1 year later:

“Bring your box, pick your Special Berries”

The two kids turned out to be berry berry successful.

Mind Sets

2010-05-03T21:33:00.001-07:00

Consumer buying behaviour:

The web can be broken down into a calculus of mindsets, assumptions and theories.

Be entertained

e.g. Games, blogs, forums, porn

Be informed

e.g. News, Wikipedia, learn, google, websites

Be social (a branch of ‘entertained’ highly personal to self)

e.g. Engage, meet, network, connect Facebook etc

Be Transactional

e.g. Banking, ecomm, shopping, pre-shopping- the intent to purchase; a certain mindset that allows for searching, browsing that may or may not lead to a physical purchase.

The psychology of the internet:

The mouse takes ownership of the future, part of the human brain sacrifices its control to the mouse and allows for it to determine the future of the online experience. E.g. a link may be clicked on out of habit, to see what lies on the other side. Yet the overall mindset of the experience is owned by one of the calculus above.

People can switch between mindsets however the opportunity to deliver a message is filtered by the intent of the experience. E.g An advertisement on Facebook promoting a ‘sale of any given product’ will receive much less ‘click through’ than if it was positioned on ebay.

the very Super Markets

2010-03-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

Supermarkets will become a lot more ‘super’ in the next decade. Rightly so, they can’t just give in to their fast emerging competition- online. Internet retailers are attracting more unique visitations and selling more products than ever before. Do the research on how Woolworths are tracking compared to Amazon.

Supermarkets and retailers will always survive, in what capacity I am really not too sure. I think a few of the big guys will hang around and withstand the online storm a while longer, but I think it’s a case of, for how long?

Consumers are becoming more forward thinking; their modern networked lives are very automated, regimented and planned. Therefore they are purchasing accordingly and taking advantage of online shopping. Where you can take as long as you like, compare all products in the category, make an informed purchase decision, pay immediately and then instruct where you want the goods delivered all the while sitting in your comfy chair with your unfinished work document still open on your desktop. Make sense?

So just how do the supermarkets and retails compete? Technology- think online, in store. Think about how you can generate revenue when your sales are dropping and online figures are sky rocketing. Think about:

Loyalty smart cards- Triggering a whole new shopping experience that remembers your past purchases, brand favourites and alerts you of promotions of the day.
Eye ball tracking- Cameras that detect the gender of a consumer and digital adverts change accordingly.
Intelligent Trolleys- equipped with GPS RFiD, navigation style on board screen and infrared scanning also linked to adverts that are aisle specific. This is also to cater for a proposed 'personalised shopping' experience- The more you shop the cheaper the items.
Self replenishing shelves
Smart phone compatible products.
Self check out.

So stay tuned for the next developments in high street shopping. The day is not far away when we can enter a shop, scan our smart card, pick up a trolley or basket, use our smart phones to research promotions and specials, load our basket then push it through an infrared beam which totals the sum of all products and then commence a self check out. Hang on…isn’t that what I can do online right now?

believing

2010-03-11T21:44:00.000-08:00

A little girl was depressed growing up, feeling no one shared her thought, loved her, no vision no future-counterpoint

Someone told her 23 words...

“Every time you walk under the sun, its kissing your with its shiny love. In the rain, the tongue of opportunity licks you”

What do you believe in?

Just a thought.

2010-03-11T19:53:00.001-08:00

Cezanne, Ferdinand Porsche , Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Michael Jackson, Mandela ,Anselm Kiefer, Ricky Gervais, Andrew Carnegie all did it. They all did it in different times, with different inspiration and they are all resulted in one outcome- Leaving a legacy far greater than all others around them at the time, even today they are selling out, causing continued controversy or further inspiration and the topic of conversation in plenty of class rooms.

When you have a chance to do something, do it with the greatest of gusto or don’t bother doing at all. The world doesn’t need more mediocrity, it doesn’t need someone else that responds day in day out ‘not bad’ to a question about how they are.

You will not leave a legacy or a story to be told some other day by putting in ‘not bad’ efforts.

No one gets in the way of a moving truck/no one will get in the way of your gusto.

something wrong with this sentence...

2010-03-03T14:51:00.001-08:00

Get your free limited edition 2010 Diary now!

Empire of dust

2010-02-22T21:12:00.000-08:00

I was asked to speak to a young group of individuals about career choices, the future, how to get what you want and above all how to sustain your motivation for a ‘better’ tomorrow.

I started compiling a few thoughts, getting my ahead around the right angle to propose this thought process/processes when I was watching the Prime Minister discuss a few current affairs. He was talking his way out or into yet another controversy and it occurred to me that for the majority of his role as Prime Minister of a Nation he was under fire, under scrutiny and under the pump.

The challenge here was not in the 'challenge'; it lay in the ability to employ foresight. When the dust settles how will it all unfold? Being able to employ this thought process alone will liberate you, give you breathing room and allow you the confidence to deliver to the task at hand.

The Prime Minister looks over an empire of dust; the greater the ability to see what it will look like when the dust settles the greater the serving of the role.

To paraphrase my little talk touched on the following:

Most of us are good; our job NOW is to find out how good?

Success starts when you know there are only ever two outcomes; Winning/Learning.

The future is sleeping; the loudest, the most courageous, the innovators and the kindest (the list goes on) will be the only ones it will wake for.

So my little talk went something on the lines of; Yesterday is gone, tomorrow doesn’t exist (yet), and all you really have and will ever have is NOW.

Successful mistakes

2010-02-18T21:03:00.000-08:00

A good friend rang me late last year and said he ‘has had enough and he has nothing more to learn here.’

By his account he has had enough of his job, his lack of workplace camaraderie, his colleagues all working for different goals, he was tired of being undervalued, shut down, his skills where not being utilised to the full extent.

My friend was an ambassador of change; he had the ideas, the will, but not the power. He was a cog, he was being under resourced and he was frustrated.

After a few minutes of listening to his rant, I mentioned my thoughts;

Success only happens twice- Once in someone’s mind and twice in the real world. It will only ever happen twice. There can be variations of that success, a similar business model, a similar outcome to a competition and an almost identical product. It will be slightly different every time- Success will never be replicated.

Mistakes happen infinitely. The same mistakes happen frequently, businesses fail in the same way continually; a competition will be lost by making the same mistake, people will lose loved ones by making the same mistakes.- Mistakes will always happen again.

Focus on the mistakes, there are plenty of them, you will never learn enough of them, you will never be able to avoid all of them but the more you know and understand the less the likelihood of them reoccurring in your own equation.

My friend was closer than ever to achieving his own slice of success as he was surrounded by it every time he went to work.

n.b. My friend is still working for the same company, but recently got a promotion.

Who's your company?

2010-02-15T13:29:00.000-08:00

These days there a lot of people with a lot of acquaintances, people that want to spend time with you when they want to, when the sun is out, when there is a memory on the table or a lack of things to do at their end. Yes, they are friends, friends that do not care overly much other than the company and the passing of time with someone- Anyone.

Friends it seems are becoming passé, good friends even more so. An older women mentioned to me the other week that she cannot believe how many friends all the younger generation have these days- she people watched at her local cafe for a few months and saw one group of 20 something girls with different people, only once were they in the company of the same people. In her time, she proclaimed “I had two friends, best friends “

We are all spending a lot less time with the same people, and a lot more time with more people. Is it a good thing? It’s a good thing if the company you are keeping is making you a better person but too often we keep company for the wrong reasons.

If you can’t comfortably and with no awkwardness hold the hands of the ones next you, you shouldn’t be standing there for long.

Head in the sand

2010-02-07T20:38:00.001-08:00

Too often companies are sacrificing their brand equity by putting their creative and media responsibilities in the hands of people that actually do not care.

The in house marketing team are ‘too busy’ about the real world because they are focusing on their insular world and rarely devising the strategy anyway so why would they care how it gets implemented.

So some companies outsource to agencies...

Most agencies operate on a retainer or a perecentage of transactional media, some are performance based (all should be performance based) and some even ask for a fee from the brands on top of the percentage kick backs the suppliers are offering.

Let’s face it, the suppliers write revenue and they don’t overly care about the agencies because they are not the brand, they only hold the responsibility for a period of time. These Account execs, managers, directors receive a nominal wage per year (few get commissions on top of that) and their time is broken up between the accounts they hold. They didn’t build the brand, the empire of which the hold the budgets for. They just spend it. Sound like a spoilt little rich kid doesn’t it?

So when the agency for company ‘x’ says that they are not interested what do you think they are really saying? When they don’t reply to emails, or even entertain a thought, how do you think the brand would feel? Isn’t this their job, to care about the brand?

But then again how often do you meet a discerning little rich kid?

The modern tour guide

2010-02-02T19:05:00.000-08:00

Over the next 6 months we will see a very different media landscape. Over the next 3 years there will be a very different thought process being applied to all media action. Of course there will be the age old, archaic and traditional theories that will be strewn out against any brand not willing to think outside the square. What square?

I implore you to think about your objectives under a night light of seemingly endless possibilities.

e.g I am your new Tour Guide...

In 2010, I’ll be co-coordinating virtual tours via Skype on your mobile phones. I will be taking you on a journey through Google maps to the Seven Wonders of the World, all in 4 hours. I will be selling ''screen shots' as e-postcards in the Facebook marketplace.

You can book your tours by sending me an email or find me on foursquared.

Im happy to discuss, if you don’t scare me.

2010-01-17T20:12:00.000-08:00

Both in business and personal life it can be difficult having efficient and productive conversations. Conversations that create action and update the current status quo (deliver desired results.)

Because of this (or in spite of this) most businesses and people operate within a comfort zone. They employ a way of thinking and actioning that is comfortable and ‘just’ works- The comfort formula. It happens across many industries and infiltrates into nearly all departments.

‘We already use a similar service at the moment’ upon further analyses, they do use a similar service that is more expensive and delivers minimal results and maximum comfort.

Making people aware that they could possibly be doing their jobs better, using better services or even better people can be a scary thing. It means they have to open their mind, challenge what they know, make a hard decision and be ready to be scared.

Planaholics and Goalism

2010-01-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

Plans are important as they give us a certain discipline, a procedure and a line of attack. More often than not the plan becomes the goal- “everything went according to plan.” This is not the objective, nor the goal nor the outcome. You do not want a plan to be put together and the objective/goal been to fulfil that plan.

Plans take you in a direction, any direction. Some plans succeed, some fail. They also do not give the actual goal enough credit, as when plans are finalised they do not allow for much scope- scope can achieve a goal more efficiently.

The key here is the Goal, the objective, the pot of gold, the outcome and the re-evaluation stage. The time when the goal has been achieved and then we can sit down and re-evaluate if that goal has put us in the position that we intended to be in?

Then we start over.

Focus on the goal. What exactly is it that I want to happen? Increase sales by 12%, grow my data base by 12,000, save 15,000 dollars this year.

Put simply; Plan: To drink more water.

Goal: drink 6 glasses a day. (3 before 3pm and 3 after 3pm)

2010-01-11T19:04:00.000-08:00

"your just two eyes in a box,

and a fairly small box at that!"

Are we all getting the point?

2010-01-10T19:03:00.000-08:00

The papers print old news.

2010-01-10T14:59:00.000-08:00

With the speed of modern media channels and the rate at which we are absorbing news, information, social interaction and entertainment increasing so dramatically It comes to no surprise that the traditional media channels, press/magazines/TV are now broadcasting (more than likely narrowcasting by now) old news.

This is not to say they can still have a play at the market for a decade or so longer, but as the younger generation, sitting around 8-15 y.o are inhabiting the world wide web so frequently it will nearly be impossible for the Traditionals to keep up.

Things progress and things digress. The web is progressing, the traditionals are in need of digression- traditional media need to take a path of interest, or specialty, they can no longer be the source of breaking news, the go-to platform for all things relevant, the current affair broadcaster-as the Web has this covered.

They need to digress, publish creative content. There are no surprises the most popular issues of the local rag are the ones containing memorabilia, or the ratings boom when a TV show pays tributes to a particular individual or event.

Most of us are getting our news, info and entertainment 2-5 times a day 5 days a week with 2 clicks- we are no longer waiting for the old news in the paper the next morning.

The Action Man

2010-01-07T16:19:00.000-08:00

Do something,

Do something Now!

Now, Do something better.

All you need is love

2010-01-07T16:12:00.000-08:00

Do you love your job?

Do you love your boss?

Do you love your responsibilities?

Do you love getting interrupted by new opportunities that could benefit the company you work for?

Are you going to love the outcome?

A little love goes a long way, especially in Business. Most people are similar, not the same, but very similar. They will take the same road/decision/opportunities that were taken by the person sitting in the role before them or the year before. They will take few new leads, enter few new conversations, reply to few inbound emails providing new opportunities and take few risks (let alone, merely understanding the opportunity that was given to them). Why? Well why not, more often than not it’s not their company (and never will be), it’s not their money, and they don’t love the outcome.

Everyone in a similar position is acting very similar to you- And because of this there is an opportunity to do something different and DO SOMETHING!

There are very few people in the Business landscape that are open minded, that DON’T believe they know it all, that admit when something needs to be fixed-even if it isn’t broken (yet!)

Here is a thought; If your consumers acted the same way you do when you launch or offer a new product, where would your company be?

A risk is safe- a risk an opportunity- an opportunity is an operation on your company.

n.b. 'Banksy' image displayed above.

Happy New Year

2010-01-06T01:58:00.000-08:00

2009 year was a big year!

It was a big year for many reasons; there was a very big financial crisis, big decisions to be made, big opportunities on the table, big developments occurred, little companies became big companies and big companies expired, big people made big mistakes, big celebrities past away, little media continued achieving big results, and started demanding big budgets...just to rattle off a small few.

The big year is over and an even bigger year awaits, A new decade awaits, It hasn't unfolded yet- it is nothing more than an empty space for you to build whatever you desire. There is no future, the future is now.

What are you trying to achieve?

2009-12-20T15:44:00.001-08:00

Some Advertisers search for the ‘creative’ in everything. Elongate and lengthen an element of the brand and its message and then play with that.

It can be great entertainment and it may build a sensational story that consumers love but how effective and simple is it?

An example of this is ‘humour.’ It does work well but there other genres of entertainment that could work just as effectively if not more than humour and all its brothers and sisters i.e. Sarcasm..

Most times advertisers are always looking for the ‘funny’ in the brand or the 'creative' in the message that they have to ‘think outside the square’ when they should be ‘thinking like their perfect consumer’ Most times advertisers are playing off their ideas and concepts against each other. Most times the results don’t matter because the idea is so great. This often loses the audience and in turn they often just don’t get it.

I cannot count how many times I have witnessed perfect target audiences watch an advertisement in all its forms and heard them say I don’t get it?, what does that have to do with ‘brand’? or ‘that is just silly!" (Not in those words.)

Advertising and art are too very different things. If you have a great idea, be disciplined and save it for a short film festival, a public installation, a canvas, a book or website.

They are getting good

2009-12-20T15:35:00.000-08:00

Serial genius photographer Sartorlist http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/, Pulled this together over 14 months...it connects people, inspires people, sells products and stamps the brands authority on the product category...what more could you want?

You will forget this

2009-09-08T17:37:00.001-07:00

Ask anyone around the room you are in right now what the chemical symbol for Calcium is? or what does pi r squared mean? There will be a few confused looks followed by a smile, because they know that at one time or another they were presented with the answers to these questions.
The thing about effective learning is to ignite a thirst for the information. Information that you can relate to during a time of need for that information and then remind yourself of its relativity in the future- turning it into knowledge

Ask for a story before you try and teach someone something.

just to reiterate

2009-09-08T17:36:00.000-07:00

Brands are loving it, but is the audience reciprocating?
Are they networking or observing? Either way it is a form of Sociology. Furthermore it’s an adoption of modern technology to observe, participate and interact in a purely man made environment.The ‘status updates’ and ‘tweets’ (to name a couple) that we read about are no longer relevant by the time we read them. Moods change, thoughts expire in just over a few seconds and people are now onto the next topic- But we need take part because everyone else is taking part.
We are actually very emotionally involved in our day to day online social networking and therefore the advertising surrounding it has little relevance to us.It’s the high speed online emotional evolution and what does this mean for brands?
It means be relevant, be as relevant as you possibly can-Encourage your Marketing to meet with the minds, not with the eyes

Thought

2009-09-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

An opportunity is an operation on your life.

Are you the leader or the one with all the potential to lead?

2009-08-28T00:25:00.000-07:00

I witnessed a gentleman roll out of a Ferrari showroom with his brand new black supercar yesterday. The ‘prancing horse’ was reflecting light from all angles. It was a 599 for the record. Not the point.

He pulled out, the engine burbling and immediately got stuck behind an 1976 Datsun travelling at 35mph . There were cars parked on the left for kilometres and there was no opportunity to pass for a while. Frustrating, I would imagine.

At the time, I said to my brother “would you rather be in the Datsun at the front travelling comfortable at 30mph with no one holding you back and you dictating the speed of all the cars that follow or in the Ferrari stuck behind the Datsun?”

It’s not about speed; it’s about potential or ‘propensity’ we thought. The speed is not relevant as that is dictated by the whatever is travelling in front of you, The potential is what is important and in this case the Ferrari is not utilising its full potential no matter how much fun, comfortable and exciting it would be to be sitting in the driver seat.

The true leaders will want to be in the Datsun, the ones with all the potential (who may or may not reach it-it is up to them!) will want to be in the Ferrari.

Learning from Lavoisier

2009-08-24T16:10:00.001-07:00

In the late 18th century Antoine Lavoisier discovered through his numerous experiments that when matter changes its state say from a gas to a liquid and back again, there is no ‘weight’ or volume that is lost or gained it in fact remains exactly the same.

The other week I was chatting to a company that was launching their new website. It was a great website, it looked good, seemed to have worthwhile functionality and was easy to navigate through and find what you are looking for. This, conversely was the biggest problem- exactly what was it that their clients where looking for?

This particular company was looking to support the launch of the new site with a second burst of strategy aimed to increase firstly, awareness and secondly visitations to their new site.

I asked them if they had undertaken some research to ascertain what their clients would like to see on their new website. The response was, in short, that they were cutting costs and pushed for time so it was developed in-house with their marketing team. (Whom, by the way, have never bought or had any experience with this company’s products and therefore other than working for the company would never visit the site in question.)

Interesting…As this ‘cutting costs’ exercise only shifted the costs from the commencement of the project to the launch of the project and then furthermore to a second burst as the first burst was not as effective as they had hoped.

Just like Antoine Lavoisier’s discovery, this company was experiencing the marketing and business equivalent of ‘conservation of mass.’ Dollars they attempted to gain in the early stages of the project were in turn lost in the latter stages of the project or put another way, as the project progressed through its stages so too did the dollars- Overall, the total website investment remained unchanged whether the dollars where spent on R&D or a launch campaign (to support the lack of R&D)

Is The Christian Church moving forward?

2009-08-18T22:10:00.000-07:00

I recently read that The Christian church is launching its biggest ever Australian marketing campaign. I was enthralled by this news and I decided to do some similar research- not on the campaign itself, which by the way will be incorporating many traditional and new advertising mediums- virals and social media and the like. I wanted to know about The Christian Church and its products, offerings and how they deliver these to a modern community* (their targeted market).

Apparently, the campaign is aimed at the ‘believers’ that do not practice and the ‘non believers’ who obviously do not practice. The part that I found most interesting was the fact that there was limited research and development done into the products and moreover how these products are delivered (logistics). This is where I see the majority of the marketing focus needing to hover- in R&D. There is no real problem with the awareness of The Christian Church, the health is strong and the affiliation with the brand is relatively positive in my opinion.

To employ a campaign to create awareness and promote a presence in the community without consideration of the product and offerings and the way it is delivered is seemingly a waste of time and money. The reason why a conversation fades to an echo is because the products have not been aligned with the audience.

A local shopping complex just finished renovations to align its proposition with the demands of the shopper. It was indicated through R&D that although the demand to shop is still alive as ever, this particular shopping complex failed to meet these demands and therefore its weekly attendance figures were merely a shadow of its former self. 5 years on, developments, renovations and accusations completed , the half million dollar marketing campaign is just about to launch. True story!

One of Australia’s biggest icons have also realised this fact and as a reflection just sold out of the second run of their new 4 cylinder range of cars. Sticking with the automotive theme, a German performance car manufacture has also realised this and starting production of a new ‘clutchless’ manual transmission and as a reflection of this they are experiencing a substantial increase in sales. There are many stories like it and even more with a contrary disposition. The products need to be aligned with the audience.

The moral of the story, it’s a fantastic development to target your audience with new and innovative mediums. To understand the channels that need to be infiltrated to influence the conversation but without offering the right product and service- one that the meets the needs and demands of the audience, it will only fall on deaf ears.

*“We have developed the campaign to promote a presence in the community in which all Australians will consider faith in Jesus as an option, especially in the difficult times we are facing at present,” said Daniel Willis, Bible Society CEO and co-founder.

N.B. This is a post about the marketing campaign not the Christian Faith or Religion in any way. Additionally, I know we are talking about Religion here and there are 2000 years of history and tradition behind it, but we are also talking about moving forward in a modern world and if its not considered it will only be a memory, whether it be in 100 years or 10,000 years. It will struggle to stay in the presence of the modern community.

To spend or not to spend

2009-08-17T23:20:00.000-07:00

Marketers are faced with an interesting forecast; they have slimmer budgets because of any number of reasons but mainly due to the turn of the economy and the apprehension it has created. In saying that, some have larger budgets if they are the special few that were outstanding with their strategies and managed to defy odds, increase profits and gain market share.

This is exactly why marketers are faced with an interesting forecast-They are up against unfair, unsure and unpredictable circumstances.

The focus for marketers today is understanding the overall health of their market and their position. A good way to consider this is not how healthy your brand is but how good your immunity and tolerance is.

A brand must be fit and healthy to grow. It is only then that marketers can start considering where to spend.

The unwritten rules

2009-08-13T01:26:00.000-07:00

Every country* has unwritten laws/rules.

Of course they have all the generic laws/rules, the usual ones where some will drastically differ and some will be very similar to most other countries*. The majority of rules however are unwritten. You won’t find them in a book, on a wall or etched on a grand stone somewhere. They only exist in the minds of those that inhabit, interact and experience that country*.

The country* operates day to day on these unwritten and rarely spoken rules.

When you visit a country* other than your own you will have a memorable experience. For better or for worse you will be intrigued about how the country* operates and you will talk about it with all the people that care to listen.

In the future these unwritten laws/rules will formulate your memories. It will be your predominant memory of that country* and your experiences with it.

*Country, countries = brand(s)

Now you may re-read if you can find the time.

Media, Marketing and 'The illusion'

2009-07-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

Everyone searches for the truth. I remember thinking when I was a bit younger that I can’t wait for the day when everything makes complete sense. When I was a little bit older I realised that maybe I didn’t want that day to come at all because the truth in its rawness and conception is boring.

Brands have an interesting time developing this theme in their communication. Portraying the truth in their message, a promotion of honesty and transparency is not an easy task. At the best of times the truth about your brand is probably not a great proposition, nor will it help sales or grow market share. In fact, it most likely could do the opposite.

Enter the creative minds and begin ‘the illusion’ and you already have half a chance at throwing your consumers off their search for the truth.

The Simpsons are the most successful brand at achieving this illusion. We know Homer is not the best father; he actually isn’t a father at all. He is a figment of a couple of genius gentleman’s imagination from the U.S. Nonetheless our involvement and association with Homer and this brand is as real as ever. It is as real as ever because the brand is consistently and faultlessly appealing to the elements we know as truth in our lives.

To a certain degree, what we know is true are the many elements within the creations, the plethora of A grade celebrities, current social and political issues, and important figureheads of our time and yet another Rock & Roll band is making an appearance in the show. Coldplay are set to appear in The Simpsons for the 20th Anniversary edition. Ironic, considering their most famous and popular song is ‘Yellow.’

Now I’m a little older again I am starting to realise that the day may never arrive when everything makes complete sense. More often than not the truth is in our association with something- With a brand, a product, even a TV series about a yellow family. The illusion: The space between the truth and our interpretation, and this will have to suffice.

The Risk and the Reward

2009-07-27T00:00:00.000-07:00

As the world evolves so too does the universe of marketing. The stories, propositions and messages always remain very similar and as the saying goes, “it’s almost impossible to have an original thought.”

What you can do is have an original execution.

This is where exploring the potential and opportunity for online and digital marketing for your brand gets exciting. It gets exciting for two reasons; the ‘risk’ and the ‘reward.’

The risk is always something to consider. This consideration is exciting, there is always the possibility that taking your brand online may not turn out exactly as planned. Brands have been considering it for a while now. Your consumers are being exposed to it more and more and increasingly it is becoming the most dominating and highly influential mediums available-Online is in line with the future.

If you are trying to sell your house and you want the most you can possible get for it, you need to expose the sale to as many potential buyers as possible. You know exactly where this is going; you know that a little 2x3m board on your front fence or a photo and a brief description in a brochure isn’t enough to achieve the results you want.

This is because of the rewards. If online marketing is executed correctly your brand will reap in the benefits of an extended market, increased traffic, ease of interaction and purchase process and capabilities to share content all the while knowing what your consumers are doing all the time.

The rewards are well worth considering. It’s now time to understand your consumers in TRUE relation to your market and this isn’t the same market you analysed last year.

A small thought for big returns

2009-07-21T21:57:00.000-07:00

Here is a thought, imagine we had the ability to attend our own funerals. Imagine yourself in the front row, listening to your friends, family and work colleagues talk and tell stories about your life.

What would you want to hear?

Are you doing everything you can to ensure these wonderful stories are told?

Don’t look for a job, create a job.

2009-07-19T19:31:00.000-07:00

There are many people out there looking for work, they tweak their CV's, learn how to talk themselves up in a unique yet humble way and then go through the interview process, and what a tedious process that is.

One question I always ask someone that is making applications for certain jobs in a certain industry category is: “What have you done over the last 12 months that aligns your interests and passions with your future employment?” Funnily enough, this is not a question you will get asked often in an interview.

More often than not the response to this question is something on the lines of, well I have been applying for jobs, researching companies and deciding where I would like to work. They might mention that they are just about to finish or have just completed University. Hopefully, they may mention they are reading a book or two.

This is clearly missing the point. It isn’t about where you want to work, a small percentage is related to what other companies are out there in the category and it sure as hell is not about the jobs that are available in that industry (something like 67% of jobs are not advertised.)

It is however, about your devotion, passion and interest FOR the Industry. Let me draw on the great Franck Muller as an example.

This gentleman was born in Switzerland in 1958. From a very early age, he developed and nurtured a growing interest for all things mechanical. From an early age he was disassembling all the machines in his house to study how they worked. As a teenager he collected antique astrological instruments. He then joined the Geneva School of Watchmaking, graduated with flying colours and then chose a very difficult path to follow but he had enough devotion, passion and interest to create his own watchmaking company and a very successful one at that- Franck Muller. (It’s fair to say that Franck Muller has gone on to sensational influence the global watchmaking industry.)

So now, consider my before mentioned question: “What have you done over the last 12 months that aligns your interests and passions with your future employment?” Franck Muller could name a few, so many that he could launch his own company. If some of the applicants out there had half the ingredients someone like Franck had then sky is the limit.

You will create your own job through your devotion, passion, and interest FOR the industry. An occupation should be your devotion, interest and passion remunerated.

A simple and effective process

2009-07-19T17:22:00.000-07:00

Excite – Engage- Activate

Print it out, Learn the process and implement it. It’s the most simple and effective way to achieve your desired outcome (You might even create a following)

Learn from the 'Sharpies'

2009-07-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

For the minority of the time- Marketing is a very interesting world. It houses some great individual thinkers. Thinkers that think outside the square, thinkers that think within the square and some that create a phenomenal movement.

Over the last decade I have been admiring the development and progression of ‘Sharpie.’ The minds behind this 40 year old brand are very good. I have admired their successful attempts to align their products with a relatively untouched and impressionable market. It may seem simple how they have gone about achieving their brand dominance but just like most things, simple only after you have learnt how to do it first.

There is too many subtleties too mention about their ingenious and infections marketing campaigns. It has multiple touch points both emotionally and physically, spans multiple platforms and incorporates a host of medias. It is impressive to say the least.

I recommend researching the Sandford owned brand beyond their TVC’s with David Beckham.

There is no place for 'fear' in your workplace.

2009-07-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

One way to ensure you get the worst out of your employees is to instil them with fear: Make them fearful of their future within the company, continually make them double check their actions and cross examine their activity. Make them feel lucky that they have a job and continually mention ‘that it’s tough out there.’

‘Fear’ is the easiest, oldest and most detrimental way to manage people. It cramps the productivity of your employees and your company.

Captain Cook was a remarkable leader. From the day ‘The Endeavour’ sailed out of Port Plymouth, his job was to manage the ‘fear’. Why? Because the day that ‘fear’ slipped into the hearts and minds of his crew was the day the discovery changed course and ultimately ended.

The day your partner says to you that you are lucky to be with them is the day your relationship ends-Whether you realise it then or in the very near future.

Employees are not lucky that they have a job and businesses are not doing favours by keeping people on the payroll. If companies ever start to believe and deliver this message to their employees, they are managing and working with ‘fear’ and ultimately changing the direction of the company for the worse- Whether companies realise it now or in the very near future.

It’s in the best interests of a Company to instil confidence and hope within their employees, to continually remind them that although it’s tough out there, their efforts are not going unnoticed and that they are appreciated. The benefits will come in the near future if they keep making the most of their opportunities.

Employment is not doing someone a favour. It is giving someone an ‘opportunity’ and their job is to make the most of it.

Social media rises as the need to interact online increases.

2009-07-14T22:59:00.000-07:00

There is no doubt that the rise of online social networking and in turn the broadening online social mediascape is because of the increasing desire to know what everyone else is doing. We all want to know what everyone else is up to, where they have been, who they are in a relationship with and what are their thoughts and we want to do it regularly. It’s an emotionally fuelled pastime.

We almost need to be part of it to validate ourselves and find out what is going on in everyone else’s world. We feel the need to peruse through profiles, pages and posts and take part in what can be at times refereed to as Comparative Voyeurism. It’s what’s making social media grow and evolve into the almost infinite mediascape it is right now.

Brands are loving it, but is the audience reciprocating?

Are they networking or observing? Either way it is a form of Sociology. Furthermore it’s an adoption of modern technology to observe, participate and interact in a purely man made environment.

The ‘status updates’ and ‘tweets’ (to name a couple) that we read about are no longer relevant by the time we read them. Moods change, thoughts expire in just over a few seconds and people are now onto the next topic- But we need take part because everyone else is taking part. We are actually very emotionally involved in our day to day online social networking and therefore the advertising surrounding it has little relevance to us.

It’s the high speed online emotional evolution and what does this mean for brands?

It means be relevant, be as relevant as you possibly can-Encourage your Marketing to meet with the minds, not with the eyes

Social Media in full swing on traditional media's

2009-07-14T01:37:00.000-07:00

I was listening to the radio the other night and the hosts were saying how Twitter have announced that celebrities need to be accepted and validated by Twitter to launch their Twitter profile if you are celebrity. This is to stop imposter celebrity accounts been set up.

I turned the radio off and checked this out on my friends Iphone. It turns out to be true.

I was watching TV the other day and the host was talking about how he had a Facebook Fan page dedicated to him. You would feel pretty good about yourself if you had a fan page dedicated to you or your brand wouldn’t you?

I turned the TV off and went to go check out if Mr Cicada had a fan page. Go on, check if your brand has one.

It’s quite interesting how when I’m watching TV and listening to the Radio (traditional media's) online social media is still in full swing. Radio and TV are a free media that is covered by the selling of ‘space’ in the form of advertisements. From an advertising perscpective 'online' is a very dangerous competitor so much so that its ironically getting a helping hand from the traditional media's by plugging it so frequently. -Keep your friends close and your enemies closer I suppose.

p.s. I hope the brands that were advertising on these stations were also running a social media campaign as well or they just got seriously stung.

Excuse me, but how do you assess the health of your brand?

2009-07-12T18:53:00.000-07:00

I was asked at an informal meeting last week just how can the health of our brand be assessed? Great question, I was glad they were interested in such climates as these.

This is something that I always ask a brand or business and more often than not they reply with conversation about products, P&L, tracking, share, activity and overheads etc. Not bad, but they are all looking at their brand from the inside out. I suggest looking from the outside in.

A great way to consider the health assessment of your brand is not so much how healthy it is, but how strong is its immunity and tolerance? Brands are often seen as living, breathing and functioning organisms so let’s assess them accordingly. Just like the health of humans, where it’s not about your strengths but more about how strong your weaknesses are. The humans that are continually getting sick are the ones that have a low tolerance and weak immune system. Therefore the ‘healthiest’ ones are the ones with the greatest tolerance.

Brands are exactly the same!

Brands are getting sick and losing market share, some are falling all together because they have low tolerance especially in a volatile market. This can be because of any number of things but quite often it’s because the brand didn’t focus on strengthening their weaknesses.

Think like your perfect consumer

2009-07-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

Prescript: Oliviero Toscani is worth ‘googling’ if you don’t know of him already.

Some Advertisers search for the ‘creative’ in everything. Elongate and lengthen an element of the brand and its message and then play with that.

It can be great entertainment and it may build a sensational story that consumers love but how effective and simple is it?

An example of this is ‘humour.’ It does work well but there other genres of entertainment that could work just as effectively if not more than humour and all its brothers and sisters i.e. Sarcasm..

Most times advertisers are always looking for the ‘funny’ in the brand or the 'creative' in the message that they have to ‘think outside the square’ when they should be ‘thinking like their perfect consumer’ Most times advertisers are playing off their ideas and concepts against each other. Most times the results don’t matter because the idea is so great. This often loses the audience and in turn they often just don’t get it.

I cannot count how many times I have witnessed perfect target audiences watch an advertisement in all its forms and heard them say I don’t get it?, what does that have to do with ‘brand’? or ‘that is just silly!" (Not in those words.)

Advertising and art are too very different things. If you have a great idea, be disciplined and save it for a short film festival, a public installation, a canvas, a book or website.

How to change the world around you…

2009-07-07T00:35:00.000-07:00

In the late 1990’s there was a gentleman named Christopher who lived on a street off a little street that had no name. Everyday, he would walk down his street, then through the little street with no name to get to work.

It annoyed him how this street had no name. He researched the street directory, he asked shop owners, spoke with locals and approached the council. The street was known as ‘the street with no name.’ The council was not willing to do anything and no one seemed to care.

After much thought over many months he spoke with a friend of his that worked in sheet metal. He asked him to make a sign that looked quite similar to that of others in the area. He then proceeded to thump the newly made sign with a hammer and mullet until it was unrecognisable.

Christopher then went to the local council and said that this battered sign had fallen off the wall of the corner shop, he gave the location and mentioned that the sign once read ‘Christopher’s little St’ and that it should be remade and reinstalled.

It was four days later when the new authentic “Christopher’s little street’ was reinstalled and it was on this day that Christopher then contacted the street directory company to alert them of the fact that he was in ‘Christopher’s little St’ and it did not seem to be in the directory. He was told that occasionally this happened and that a surveyor will venture down to the location to gather details for the next edition of the directory.

This is all history now and it’s documented in every edition of the street directory.

Complexity through simplicity

2009-07-05T19:33:00.000-07:00

The mobile phone was a huge development, but the first mobile phones where very large and would usually sit in your car while you were mobile. It certainly could not be put in your pocket but at least you could be contacted if you weren’t at your office. It’s fair to say one communication process could last a few days.

Computers changed everything. Funnily enough though, at their onset they were only seriously adopted in the late eighties and early nineties. There was still a cloud of mystery surrounding them well into the mid nineties and companies were not sure if this was the way business was going. They needed more convincing. Well, it was always going this way and this was only the beginning.

When the World Wide Web came around it really shook things up, businesses where either in or out. Some businesses where at the forefront of this movement others just had their head in the sand and thought the storm would pass. (Coincidently some companies are still around others no longer exist)

How could business be opened and closed online? Surely this could not be done via the internet.

We have almost done a complete revolution, the web has been reinvented and conversely the way you do business has changed forever. The way your consumers interact with your brand is like nothing we have ever seen before. With the rise of a new networked economy, social media and a multitude of communication platforms available to touch your consumers. Your consumers know just as much about your brand as you do.

Funnily enough, there is a similar ‘mood’ surrounding this movement as there was when the internet first came around. Businesses are either in or they are out. Adopt or put your head in the sand and wait for the storm to pass- It’s not going to pass, it’s only getting heavier.

Think about the progression of mobile phones to computers, the internet, hotmail, messenger chat, SMS and then MMS, blogs, forums and second life, then the rise of Myspace (bands, too many to mention built their empire on Myspace alone) the development and the cross adoption of Facebook and now the almighty and mysterious Twitter.

It’s all complexity through simplicity. The way we communicate is complex. We are getting more complex because the conversation has changed and is forever changing- This also means we are searching for a simple method, a simple execution.

Your consumers are talking about you right now through these modern channels, if you don’t answer the phone, they are checking you out online, and then will read and write blogs about you, see if you have a Facebook group and if your active on Twitter.

You have two choices; join them or watch them interact with your competitors.

Simple is the new genius.

2009-07-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

Marketing, first and foremost is an ‘Understanding.’

Seeking to understand your brand, listen to your audience and put a stethoscope to your market is in essence at the core of what marketing is about. From here you can create Art or you can employ Science. Either way it requires an understanding of your brand in your market.

Some products/services need the art of marketing and some need the science of marketing. They all need ‘understanding’ through listening. These days listening has never been so important and with the unstoppable growth of social media and the world wide web marketers should all have their ears to the keyboard.

So rather then attempting to be creatively ingenious and firing your message way over your audiences head- stop to ‘understand’ your audience, brand and your market. Eliminating the want to be so out there creative or analytically anal about measurement and theories is what’s making a successful marketer today.

Listen before you speak.

Simple is the new genius.

Thinking about it...

2009-07-02T19:11:00.000-07:00

I was reminded the other week by my Mother, that when I was a lot younger I had explained to her that I always felt as if I was watching myself live. My Mother triggered memories of me playing sport, when I was at school and my reasonably small stint at university and how I always felt as if I were on the sidelines, in the lecture theatre and classrooms sitting along side myself. Odd, I know but that is just the way I went about my life, as an acute observer of not only others, but myself as well.

I find the small things the most interesting about people that have left amazing legacies. Let’s face it, it is all about our legacy and how we leave it. Yes, living in the moment is very important, but trying to make this moment and the sequences of moments the follow, live forever in the hearts and minds of people around you is by far more important- Hence, it’s all about your Legacy.

I love the idea of a small and unknown gentleman working in a patent office (without promotion until he mastered the machines) in Switzerland in the very early 1900’s. How, he still had the tenacity to consider some of the biggest thoughts that had ever occurred to man. How, although his few applications for a teaching position were refused and he failed entrance examines, he went on to change the world.

I love the idea of the hardest working and most exhibited artist in the early 1900’s wasn’t even accepted as a great artist in his own country until he was nearly half a century old. By then he had already changed the art world. I love the irony of how ‘The Scream’ is his most famous work.

I could go on…

I remember a very successful lady once said when I asked her what she often thinks about on a day to day basis.
“I envisage I am someone that I hold in very high regard and I am watching myself. I then make up a conversation this person would have about me and I listen very carefully” she said.

I liked this idea, it made me feel like she was always trying to impress herself, grow the concept and push the boundaries of her own reality.
Deep, but it is interesting to consider our own cognitive science, how our own thought processes can be our secret disadvantage or advantage.

Work on achievement not activity.

2009-07-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

"I’m so busy." "I can't believe its Friday tomorrow and half the year has already gone."

People are constantly getting stuck, they get stuck doing what they are doing. They get busy getting busy. Living turns into existing, existing to surviving and then you live from pay cycle to pay cycle and monitor your activity in between.

The better you get, the easier things should get. This makes sense doesn’t it?
This is the case for all companies too, not just humans- We learn, we commit and we should acquire.

Eating is nowhere near as hard as when I first attempted it many decades ago and I no longer fall off my bike in the rare case I go for a ride.

The interesting thing is more often than not it’s the complete opposite. The better we get, the busier we get. This is because we continually focus on activity and forget about achievement. Achievement in the broader scheme of things is guiding you towards accomplishment.

How many people can look back to the last few months (let alone the last few years) and feel a great sense of accomplishment?

The irony of all this is we think that activity is what gets results- most companies believe this as well and will have some form of measuring your activity in your workplace. Fact is that activity will cost a company money and achievement will make a company money.

Work on achievement not activity.

Activity gets you stuck. Achievement sets you free.

BRÜNO, IS THAT YOU?

2009-06-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

Bruno rolled up to his Australian Movie Premiere in Sydney in a hot pink Hummer limousine and stepped out onto the red carpet wearing bright green lycra and cow boy boots. He was surrounded by good looking girls. The girls started covering themselves with red paint and unravelled signs that said something about ‘Nando’s uncovers chicks with Peri Peri’

Who is Peri Peri? and why does he/she get to uncover the hot chicks?

Bruno didn’t roll up to the Sydney premier of his movie in a hummer, he had a horse and he didn’t wear lycra and cow boy boots, he borrowed Brad Pitts costume from Troy…and there was no paint… I mean sauce.

This was all an attempt at the perfect guerrilla marketing stunt. Not a bad attempt at all. It had all the elements that could make it a very infectious news-worthy story- semi creative, semi daring, humorous and entertaining. The coming of Bruno, before Bruno- I love it. I just wish the news loved it…

My only criticism is less brand presence- The audience will work out what all the fuss was about, let them connect the dots and keep them guessing.

Guessing = search for answers = research = discovering= networking = conversation about your brand.

I love guerrilla marketing and I really liked this attempt. The difference between a failed marketing stunt and a successful one, besides the creative of course is the back end- work on working and integrating the media, not the audience.

Client: Nando’s
Agency: The Sphere Agency (Australia)
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkJPDHQ9djo

Some good reading and seriously good lessons

2009-06-28T23:17:00.000-07:00

The Mckinsey Quaterly asks Brad Bird from Pixar: what does stimulating the creativity of animators have in common with developing new product ideas or technology breakthroughs? Apparently, a lot.

check out the interview here: http://www.mckinsey.it/storage/first/uploadfile/attach/140140/file/inle08.pdf

Interestingly, Brad Bird has left Pixar to work in Live Action on 1906 (which is another story for another day) and Steve Jobs is no longer the CEO, but sits on the board of directors.

Supermarkets have to become more super

2009-06-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

Loyalty smart cards- Triggering a whole new shopping experience that remembers your past purchases, brand favourites and alerts you of promotions of the day.
Eye ball tracking- Cameras that detect the gender of a consumer and digital adverts change accordingly.
Intelligent Trolleys- equipped with GPS, navigation style on board screen and infrared scanning also linked to adverts that are aisle specific. This is also to cater for a proposed 'personalised shopping' experience- The more you shop the cheaper the items.
Self replenishing shelves
Smart phone compatible products.
Self check out.

A Kodak Moment in a few days

2009-06-28T03:12:00.000-07:00

Well, for those of you who have been following the "Megan Fox snubs boy" story you will be glad to know that there are even further developments and to no surprise, a big brand has got involved.

For the rest of the world that has at least heard about it you will be entertainment about what Kodak have propositioned the online community.

All those marketers out there will be staying close to this one, or at least they should be- do yourself a favour and google it.

It seems a Kodak moment is only days away and a pure genius marketing attempt to align a brand with a 'celebrity of the moment' for next to nothing is unfolding as I type.

Cold Hearted Dollars

2009-06-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

A good friend was moving into his new house, I offered to help him so he could finish the job in good time and we could head down the coast for a few nights- this never happened.

Most people I know, for the better parts of their employment make reasonable amounts of money in positions where they are required to void themselves of emotion.

It is fair to say that the high earning positions in the business world require limited emotion when in work mode- a very calculated and measured mode. They make the decisions based on in depth analyses, statistics, facts and forecasts etc- emotion very rarely plays a part.

The majority of people assume a similar disposition with their day to day occupations. This is a good thing…until people start spending their hard earned cold hearted dollars.

Money should be used with the same attitude that it was acquired- calculated and measured.

So often people make purchases, investments and take on liabilities with an emotional mindset. So often people spend their money on things that they do not need and over time these things will only gather dust.

This is the role of the great marketer/advertiser- To play the consumer off against their needs and wants.

The great consumer earns and spends money with similar mindsets to avoid a life of dusting but we all know this already, don’t we?

My friend certainly does now after taking 3 long days to move his dust covered belongings 2km down the road.

The Formula- Making your brand go 'chk chk' BOOM!

2009-06-24T22:10:00.000-07:00

If an online viral campaign’s success could (which it can’t) be boiled down to a formula it would be:

A very short creative story (which creatively involves your brand) + loveable/hateable personality + entertaining/engaging/user friendly content vehicle = online viral campaign success.

If you really want to create a super successful viral then ensure your content can evolve and continue to capture your audience time and time again.

A great example of this, although not involving a brand or proposition but an inaccurate account of a crime was- The infamous ‘Chk Chk Boom’ story from Australia.

The community went crazy by watching and distributing the video amongst their peers and within 24 hours it had well over 2 million hits worldwide. The mainstream media followed, the story was in almost every newspaper on newstands and interviews with the girl at the centre of it (personality) on TV screens accross the country.

So here we have a short creative story, a loveable or hateable (debateable) personality and sensationally entertaining content. Added to this, the content was evolving-. Everyone wanted to know about the ‘Chk Chk Boom’ girl and her story.

What unfolded was outstanding. The media played on the story for a good week and it was finally established that Miss Chk Chk Boom had in fact created the story herself and didn’t actually witness any ‘Chk-Chk boom’ at all.

Nonetheless- the formula was correct and it saturated the media for just over a week.

A current guerrilla marketing and viral campaign well worth checking out is:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p797QYActtU
http://www.tictacmicha.com/

Good news travels fast- bad news is travelling a hell of a lot faster.

2009-06-24T15:32:00.000-07:00

In this modern networked world, where the majority of us are living online and communicating with friends and complete strangers through various social utilities, hubs, forums and websites- Bad news is travelling at a rapid rate.

If you’re a celebrity or a somewhat famous brand, watch out!. If you don’t want to be a celebrity or a world renowned brand then watch out too!.

Megan Fox allegedly snubbed a young boy that was attempting to pass her a rose as a sign of his undying love for her body… I mean work. Hours later, photos circulated the web of Megan looking amazing as she stepped out at the launch of ‘Transformers’ and there were some photos of the little boy looking rejected in the background too.

That was all it needed for the online voice to turn negative. So negative in fact that Megan has come out and released a video of her apologising to the ‘sweet boy’.

"There were, like, 80 million people everywhere. It's dark, all I see are flashes. Everyone's yelling different things... and I didn't know that was happening," Megan said in her video.

Megan was right, there was “like, 80 million people everywhere.” They just were not all at the movie launch…they were sitting at home in front of their computers, reading, watching, blogging, emailing, twittering, facebooking, youtubing and networking about Megan..

Good news travels fast -Bad news is travelling a hell of a lot faster these days.

To see the video apology:
http://www.usmagazine.com/news/video-megan-fox-apologizes-for-snubbing-boy-fan-2009226

Dr Media

2009-06-23T23:30:00.000-07:00

My friend was feeling very ordinary the other day. She complained of feeling a little run down and a bit flat.

“Maybe I should go to the doctor?’ she said after 2 days.

“…and see someone that read text books composed by someone else whom they probably have never met and more than likely graduated more than a decade ago?’
She laughed and proceeded to make an appointment anyway.
3 hours later and $90 out of pocket my friend called me.
‘The doc thinks I could have Swine flu’

Isn’t it interesting that after more than 10 years studying and absorbing a wealth of information and practicing medicine for 5 years, this Doc was more influenced by what was circulating in the media at present than the last 15 years of her life.
My friend’s test results came back; she is ok and just burning the candle at both ends.

I was relieved because we had Mexican tacos for dinner the other week.

FIGHT FOR KISSES

2009-06-23T22:46:00.000-07:00

Wilkinson Sword Razor Blades (owned by Energizer holdings) have launched a very entertaining TVC advertisment in France linked with online marketing.

The TVC scores very highly for creatively thinking outside the square and bonus points for their campaign execution. 'Fight for kisses' has a very engaging story line brought to life with just above average 3d animation. The TVC was heavily supported by Digital marketing- the campaign created by French Agency JWT Paris became an instant viral overnight and attracted huge traffic to their microsite.

http://www.ffk-wilkinson.com/
Advertising Agency: JWT Paris, FranceArt Director : Xavier BeauregardCopywriter : Vincent PedrocchiDirector : AkamaProduction : Wanda

The Creative Movement

2009-06-23T22:04:00.001-07:00

If Pablo Picasso lived in today’s society he would be prosecuted by media. At any one time Pablo had 20 female girls (mostly under the age of 18) on the go. He would paint them, have sex with them and never allow them back into his studio. His thousands of sculptures, paintings, collages, drawings and mixed media’s would struggle to fetch over 1000k inclusively. Now we look back and call that the behaviour of a flawed genius-

If William Shakespeare lived today he would be writing plays, love sonnets and poems about how Jacky was in love with Phil until Phil invited Jacky to a house party and she got triple-teamed by the wingman, waterboy and the coach while Phil filmed on his Iphone and sent it to all his team mates for their enjoyment.. It would be a love story always destined for failure, full of beautiful turn of prose and skanky MMS. It could even be called ‘Mid Summer nights dream- until Jacky realised she could make money from telling the media her Nightmare”

If Claude Monet lived today he would be painting stunning landscapes of Coca Cola bottles and cans, slightly discoloured floating in every single one of our polluted and drying up lakes, rivers, waterways and ponds around the world. He would also paint landmarks, landscapes, and seascapes with a beautiful plume of pollution hovering in the distance.

And food for thought...

If humans got wiped out, say by the Swine flu and literally all human beings became extinct. It would be another few hundred thousand years before another life form became intelligent enough to dominate all the other life forms.It would be at this point that they will learn how to understand our languages and derive meaning from their findings. Harry Potter would be found (JK Rowling would be Mathew, Mark Luke and John all wrapped in one ) and a new religion would evolve and unfortunately wars would break out against Starwarism