Basic Online Social Engagement
It sucks being a small business all the time. You don't have the tools, resources or the money to develop all these crazy ideas you want to experiment with, like the super hybrid thing you wanted to do involving every single social media application out there. Heck, I'm still trying to emulate Toys R Us' Facebook Page campaign and their successful drive during the Christmas period collecting fans. I sell toys too!
But no it doesn't work that way.
This entry was written by , posted on February 13, 2010 at 6:36 am, filed under Blueprints and tagged linkedin, social analogy. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Social Media: A Simple Analogy
This is an attempt for me to better understand the concept of social media and try to explain it in simple terms.
A lot of businesses are misinterpreting the concept of social media. Rather than seeing it as a platform to interact/ socialise, they see it more as a medium to propagate self-serving news. In other words, one way communication (I'm talking, you're listening).
Let's use a very familiar analogy: making friends. When a business gathers twitter followers and facebook fans, and bombards them with nothing but sales ads, it is like a guy who goes around making tonnes of friends only to use them to buy stuff off him. He doesn't call back or really make an effort to hang out; his friends are there for him to make money off. Basically, he is a crap friend, and before long, he will either lose his friends or have no close friends.
This entry was written by , posted on January 23, 2010 at 2:41 am, filed under Blueprints and tagged linkedin, social media. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
‘Follow the Yellow Brick Road’ Wrangler Commercial
I must be the only guy who thinks this ad positioned the brand really well.
It was a brilliant 61 seconds.
Now I need a pair of Wranglers.
This entry was written by , posted on December 3, 2009 at 8:32 am, filed under Blueprints and tagged Jonathon Glazer, linkedin, Wrangler, youtube. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
The easiest way becoming a millionaire is to start off a billionaire and go into the airline business
AM: ...you launched your mobile phone service surrounded by near-naked ladies...
RB: They were naked actually
Before 5:00, check out his BA wheel story; hilarious!
When asked why Richard Branson tried to compete with Coca-cola in the soft-drink business, he replied, 'it would be fun.'
This entry was written by , posted on October 21, 2009 at 2:03 am, filed under Blueprints and tagged business, inspirational, leaders, linkedin, Richard Branson, risk, Video, Virgin, Wall Street Journal. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Jonathan Glazer’s Commercials
Just had to share these; they were on a Director's series box set I own. Jonathan Glazer is one of the featured directors and has directed some pretty recognisable music videos (Unkle's Rabbit in your Headlights and Radiohead's Street Spirit). He also did some amazing television commercials; clearly you can see why some people want to get into the creative side of marketing.
This entry was written by , posted on September 22, 2009 at 2:48 pm, filed under Blueprints and tagged commercials, guiness, jonathan glazer, levis, linkedin, stella artois, youtube. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Are we just selling the product alone?
It is vital to know what drives particular products within a particular industry. What's challenging is understanding how it is done within a young one and recognising it within the context of what market you're directly dealing with.
Kathie Olivas Instant Sell-out Scavengers Series 1
It is a sad and common trend to see a lot of designer toy retailers in Australia fall off the map in the past few months. Although there are other limitations beyond their control preventing them from being successful (the biggest factor being that Australia is such a small country with a culture saturated with everything), a lot of them missed one really vital point.
This entry was written by , posted on September 15, 2009 at 11:50 am, filed under Blueprints and tagged australian market, linkedin, vinyl toys. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Get the Japanese to do the creatives of your marketing
There is a series of ads branding Mameshiba, a set of characters who are beans who give you a cute piece of trivia then its awkwardness to the max.
Genius!
This entry was written by , posted on September 3, 2009 at 1:25 am, filed under Blueprints and tagged awkward, funny, japanese ads, mameshiba, marketing, trivia, youtube. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Art and Copy
So me and my lovely friend went to see a movie as part of the Sydney Film Festival today, and watched a film about the advertising industry. The movie was part history lesson, on how the industry got to where it is today, part social analysis of the profound effect of advertising on modern culture, and part personal stories of how the most influential creative forces behind the ads and changed the way we live.
There were some pretty awesome vintage ads shown in the movie:
One point that was discussed in the movie particularly resonated with me. This advertisement was shown:
The ad was revolutionary at the time it was made because up to that point, all ads were made to sell a product based on design or functionality. This ad barely mentions the product. It instead tells a story with a particular kind of humour. Budweisser is then no longer a beer, it becomes badge for all those who subscribe to this kind of humour.
Overall I thought it was a pretty good film, not only was it insightful, funny, immensely charming, it was also the perfect advertisement for the industry. I left the cinema with the unyielding urge to sell something.
This entry was written by , posted on June 15, 2009 at 12:48 pm, filed under Blueprints, Moving Pictures and tagged advertising, art and copy, linkedin, marketing, sydney film festival. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Online Content & the Media
Taken from a SMH article on the media's 'clumsy embrace' of the internet.
She goes on to dispense some critical-sounding advice, implying that the mainstream media does not understand online and that newspapers are partly to blame for their own predicament.
"The approach, 'Let's just take whatever appeared in the print paper and put it on a web page' doesn't work," she says.
She points out how sites such as YouTube and the online retailer Amazon.com construct their content so that there is always more to buy or more to watch. "I can go to various newspapers and when you scroll down to the bottom, what do you do next?
"There were related stories and related videos but those were up on the top. So now the most committed user - the one that reads through the entire piece - is now looking at the bottom of the page with nothing to do."
Ms Mayer says linking to more information, engaging readers in dialogue and making the content more interactive are part of the "web fundamentals" that could be used to "end up with a product that will look different than news online does today".
I cannot stress how this strategy of 'constant information bombardment' is a make or break for any web company specialising in content or shopping. That was how Youtube became so ridiculously viral, how you could impulse buy tenfold via Amazon and how some major blogs have bounce rates of 0%.
Dannychoo's blog is an excellent example of this, and it is obvious that his employment background in Amazon Japan reflects on how his blog functions to be the leading Japanese lifestyle blog for westerners. A lot of content is contributed by fans, there are sharp photos everywhere to get you clicking, and at least 3 related stories at the end of each article followed by user comments. It is hard to leave the website! I am not endorsing the blog for the content, but for the pure genius of the entire setup!
It is not simply just the idea of 'linking back to other content', but also the complex algorithms behind ensuring that these links are sharply targetted to your interests.
It is upselling in the most grandest of scales and ensures that every cent you pay for marketing your website online is well worth it.
What keeps you going back to a website and what keeps you there?
This entry was written by , posted on June 11, 2009 at 11:03 am, filed under Blueprints and tagged content management, dannychoo, google, linkedin, marketing. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Is this the best time for small companies to recruit?
Well, the economy wasn't as strong as it used to be. This means that companies are cutting back on staff, which means that more people, especially young and less-experienced ones, may miss out on getting jobs.
Does this mean this is the best time for small companies to recruit? That there are more bright minds out there in the job market then there either will be, who may be willing to work for less to seek potential opportunities within growing companies?
I'm sometimes overwhelmed by the possible prospects if the strengths of all the bright minds in my industry got together, it can create something pretty phenomenal in Australia. Now I feel slightly uneasy as this thinking may be an insult to the founding fathers of capitalism.
One of the largest things holding back one of my projects is the inability to recruit, attract or keep excellent staff. My business colleagues are suffering the same problems as well , and I think it's one of those things that all businesses need to take into account. It also doesn't help that the market in which my company caters for does not attract the brightest of young people (and if they are bright, they move on very, very quickly). It is rather frustrating. It makes me wonder if I should join them and move onto something else.
This entry was written by , posted on April 19, 2009 at 10:08 am, filed under Blueprints and tagged business, linkedin, rant, recruitment. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
‘If you can’t advertise yourself, you can’t advertise anything.’
Fei suggested I watch a documentary on SBS on 'mad men', a label used to describe advertising pioneers in the early 90s (edit: came from men who worked on Madison Ave in New York, where all the world's biggest ad agencies are - Fei) . The documentary was to be followed by a drama series based on the same era/ context next week. The particular focus was on a gentleman by the name of David Ogilvy. Very interesting insight; had I've seen this earlier, I might've pursued that marketing major!
The Hathaway Man; Selling a Simple Shirt using an Eye Patch
- Research: Coming, as he did, from a background in research, he never underestimated its importance in advertising. In fact, in 1952, when he opened his own agency, he billed himself as Research Director.
- Professional discipline: "I prefer the discipline of knowledge to the chaos of ignorance." He codified knowledge into slide and film presentations he called Magic Lanterns. He also instituted several training programs for young advertising professionals.
- Creative brilliance: A strong emphasis on the "BIG IDEA."
- Results for clients: "In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative, original thinker unless you can also sell what you create."
Extract taken from David Ogilvy's wikipedia entry.
Entrepreneurship, from all levels, whether it's advertising, selling, logistics, resources: is a craft.
This entry was written by , posted on April 9, 2009 at 8:01 pm, filed under Blueprints and tagged advertising, david ogilvy, hathaway man, mad men, marketing. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Guy Kawasaki’s “10-20-30″ Presentation Rule
3 very insightful yet simple guidelines to a sales presentation. Great way to mould what you have on offer. It could really be applicable to any presentation you ever make! I'll let the video do all the talking.
This entry was written by , posted on February 26, 2009 at 12:41 pm, filed under Blueprints and tagged 10-20-30 rule, business, entrepreneurship, Guy Kawasaki, internet marketing, linkedin, presentations, youtube. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Strategic Buying During An Economic Downturn
I'm preparing and finalising some buying within a few minutes and hoping that the best choices were made. Is it something that needs serious qualifications and training, or just experience and knowing your market, their buying patterns and such? I guess it depends on the scale (buying for Myer as opposed to buying for a tiny boutique shop).
Magic Faeces on a Stick
During an economic downturn, people tend to have less to spend and will start looking at cheaper alternatives and/ or dropping luxury goods. Therefore, choice of buying should be based on:
- Following basic buying principles (matches your business product mix, ability to complement across the store, ease of merchandising and branding, etc.)
- Higher affordability for both the consumers and the retailer
- Higher in value (getting more out of their dollar)
- Lower in absolute price terms (more...)
This entry was written by , posted on February 20, 2009 at 12:27 pm, filed under Blueprints and tagged business, buying, importing, mobile business, ranting, retail, strategy, weird toys. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Midas Touch Skittles Commercial
Whatever this man touches, turns into skittles.
This entry was written by , posted on at 3:52 am, filed under Blueprints, Miscellaneous and tagged commercials, funny, skittles, youtube. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Successful internet marketing …
Successful internet marketing is like pulling off a good Magic combo. Now, something irrelevant: http://tinyurl.com/by575f
This entry was written by , posted on February 17, 2009 at 1:05 am, filed under Blueprints and tagged random, tweets. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
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