Tag Archive for ‘promotion’ at one little cog

Tag Archive for 'promotion'

My Inspiration Shared for 20081009

Published

Ehren

on October 9, 2008

in Interests, Mentions, fun and marketing

. 0 Comments

This week was a tough one for spotting things that really inspired me, but the few that stood out were priceless.

Magnetism Renewed

In elementary school, we used to have science projects and what better way to spend time with dad than for him to do the science project for me! We had this science experiments book for kids and I kept choosing to do stuff from it. Okay so he gradually made me take on all the work but nevertheless, I still remember the whole experiment surrounding magnetism and iron filings. In case you don’t know what i’m talking about — here’s a photo courtesy of School for Champions (alas, no i did not attend…it did not exist during my time in elementary school).

The idea was to actually have a magnet below the piece of paper — sprinkle the iron filings on — and then use hair spray or something similar to keep the filings glued in position so that when you remove the magnet — ta da! You’ve got yourself a natural piece of art.

Anyways, if you thought that was cool — check out these crazy magnetic fields displayed in this video because it is brilliant. Okay you’re probably asking me why I am so inspired? Simple. The opportunity to actually visualize how magnetic fields and frequencies are acting and responding to the environment is fascinating to me and if that’s a little too scientific for you — think of how people typically respond to an advertisement or a sales person or even to one another. If we can visualize the interaction in a similar manner, we can begin to understand the influencing factors — why sales people on the floor scare people like me away, or why some people adore bookstores while others (like me) dislike how booksellers have traditionally operated. Sound far-fetched? Perhaps, but I’ll leave it there for some more thought while you check out the actual video.

Magnetic Movie from Semiconductor on Vimeo.

Marketing != Good or Bad, Marketing = Ideas and Choices

I happened to over hear Sonny Gill retweet David Mullen’s call for marketers and media to wield their power for good. I guess it’s a struggle and burden that all marketing people have to carry because typically the ultimate goal for any sales and marketing role is the sell-through of a product but ultimate question would be — are we all truly profiting in the long-term by distorting perceptions and ignoring our impact on society (no matter how big or small) for short-term gain?

Perception is such a strong force in the world that it can make or break economies (just think of the stock market) — and it can do so with societies as well. So if we each have that opportunity do something greater for the world around us — why don’t we choose that over the numbers? That was rhetorical so don’t answer that …

David pointed out a number of great videos notably one called “Amy” and he states:

So I found myself asking “do marketers and media have actual influence over how consumers’ view themselves and the world around them?” I say, “yes.” That led to a bigger question. If so, do we have a responsibility to use that power for good more often? I’m interested in what you think about that.

Okay, on to the videos… My personal favorite is “Amy,” because it sums up how 99% of men feel about their significant other, even though they usually don’t believe us.

I think this is a great video and that Dove has pushed a tremendous initiative but at the same time, it is important to keep in mind that this is merely just the beginning because it is technically trying to address what we have done wrong for such a long period of time.

Getting the BIG Picture

I happened to hear Darren Barefoot over twitter mentioning some BIG photographs. Now it’s hard for me to resist checking out anything photography related so I was pleasantly surprised by some stunning photographs by Yann Arthus-Bertrand presented by The Boston Globe. He shares his photographs as wallpaper (although I wish I could get them at higher resolution) but nevertheless make sure you check them out for yourself — a whopping 2000 of them.

My favourite is this one here.

These photographs seriously changes your perception.

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Pizza, Wings, and a Story of Redundancy

Published

Ehren

on September 7, 2008

in Mentions, Ponderings, economics and marketing

. 0 Comments

Every summer (sometimes more frequently) my family enjoys travelling into the U.S. to perform the ritual that Canadian retailers just love to hate and consumers absolutely love — cross-border shopping at those renowned outlet malls.

I won’t get started on the rather horrid amount of consumption that takes place. That will be for another blog. What I did find interesting was the conversation surrounding Canadian vs. American outlet malls. My mom’s a pretty savvy shopper (in fact, she’s the only shopper in my immediate family) and I asked why not just go to the Canadian outlet mall? Her answer was simple and concise: The stuff they sell there [the Canadian ones] is substandard in quality and typically older in style.

Off topic: Ever wonder?
Just a random thought that came across my mind while I was dragging my heels during my typically painful journey across what is referred to as an outlet mall. Are you ever in the situation where you don’t know where the deals are? Well after observing people at two outlet malls this past weekend, I’ve noticed that surrounding particular stores are groups of men standing or sitting around with blank looks on their faces. After waiting between 30 minutes to an hour, there is a small family reunion. I have a feeling that those stores may just be the ones with the deals

What surprises me is that no one has thought of doing something for the many men and women who are standing or sitting around waiting for the avid shopper to return.

Wow. Way to go Canadian retailers. People cross states or countries and great distances to arrive at these American outlet malls — my mom won’t even bother going to a Canadian retailer anymore and it’s only a 15 minute drive away. I won’t even bother going to a retailer anymore, I order online (internationally thank you … thank you).

After conversing with my dad about Canadian retailers (quite the relevant topic) while waiting for my mom to finish her shopping expedition, I’ve arrived at two thoughts:

With cross-border competition and the Internet, Canadian retailers still rely enormously and depend on impulse and lazy consumers who don’t bother or want to compare prices with other places.
Canadians must love paying for convenience. What’s wrong with us?

While you may think I’m taking this opportunity to bash Canadian retailers, you’re right — I am because I think both consumers and businesses need to smarten up. On the other hand, I also wanted to show a small long-time family-run business has continued to thrive in a pure competition environment.

Almost a little more than a decade ago (I’d be 17 at the time) my family was on the road and in Niagara Falls, New York to perform the cross-border ritual when we ran across a pizza and wing place. Sure, we had plenty of places to choose from but com’on, Pizza Hut? Pizza Nova? So many other chains and pizza places – lame…

Instead my parents decided on a place called Buzzy’s. It was a very tiny place at the time but not too recently they’ve been renovating and slowly growing their business. All I have to say is that I have never ever seen that place empty before. They have some of the best “Buffalo style” chicken wings and pizza I’ve tasted in the U.S. In fact, my family makes it part of the cross-border ritual to stop off and join the mob that’s waiting in line to enjoy Buzzy’s pizza and wings. After 10+ years, I know that when I’m going to Buzzy’s, I’m going to get long lineups and awesome food. It’s part of the experience when I travel through the Buffalo, NY area. Same with so many other people who are travelling through.

Not the best looking building, but the food is good!

Is there any business you know of that creates that sort of impact and is thriving? Repeat (and ecstastic) customers from other countries and provinces/states for years?

What makes them different from the rest?

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Following that Yellow Line

Published

Ehren

on July 31, 2008

in Aspirations, blogging, fun and travel

. 0 Comments

Every year I typically take off on a road trip of some sort. Most full-time employees get vacation days from their employer. Some take a few days here and there through out the year. Others like myself don’t take holidays for the entire year until we save up enough for a long enough trip or two in some cases. This year I’m fortunate enough to have the opportunity to take off once again on the road and venture through parts of the American mid-west and Western states that I’ve never visited before or that I’ve been to but spent very little time in.

There’s still nothing quite like road tripping with your favourite music playing or tuning into the local radio station. Even better is the thought of driving into the horizon and to just keep driving past my vacation time! (Folks, I’m kidding…)

While I’m Away…

I’ve invited my colleague Erin Winzer who works as a publicist to guest blog a little while I’m away. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the change in voice — i.e. listening to me rave and rant about ideas. She hasn’t really decided whether or not she will actually guest blog so I’ve left it as an open invitation. Let’s cheer her on! She’s still learning the ropes when it comes to blogging (but she’s been blogging pretty consistently for almost a year so she’s actually quite good at it!) – so do be kind but I’m sure she won’t mind if you challenge her when it comes to ideas surrounding publicity and promotion!

Since I spend so much time blogging or conversing on twitter, I’m going to stop here. However I do invite you to join me over the next two weeks as I wander around. Depending on how much demand there is, I’ll post up to three photographs each day over the next two weeks. That said, there may be a couple of days when I lack wifi and thus won’t have access to the Internet. Don’t worry … I will make up for missing days with additional photographs!

That's all I'm bringing

Yea… I’m bringing a 24 pack of water — I’ll get food along the way. Off I go!

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Ditch That Same Old Plan

Published

Ehren

on July 24, 2008

in Aspirations, Ponderings and marketing

. 2 Comments

I’ve noticed that a growing number of companies are seeking online marketers — and generally, they are looking for someone who will lead them in the right direction. Funny thing is that they’ll ask for an assistant or coordinator to take them in the direction. After speaking with some fellow online marketers, we came to the conclusion that there is a consistent battle between online marketing initiatives and the ironically persistent perception that traditional marketing creates more progress and sales.

The Problem

This mistake in perception is caused by the poor awareness and misunderstanding of the fact that online marketing requires time and patience more than anything to develop for success. It is the act of reaching out to the customer as opposed to trying to shout at them via an advertisement.

Photograph by Cosmic Kitty

The Circumstances

One of the biggest obstacles to adopting a new approach to marketing is the fact that the traditional business model is still running. What’s more of a challenge is the fact that employees tend to receive double to quadruple the workload because the company is in transition.

The problem with this approach is that unless a business is willing to take on more employees, the workload exponentially increases. Unlike traditional marketing is generally where you promote, advertise and forget, online marketing is about listening and changing. This requires employees to constantly monitor the campaign and make the appropriate changes that suit the visitors or potential customer. Take this idea and multiply that by the number of products or marketing campaigns you are launching. There’s that looming pile of work that will crush your employees.

Forgetting about Tie-Ins or Letting them Pass

The more amusing aspect to marketing departments is that despite the awareness and understanding that print advertising no longer works the way it used to, we continue to pour money into it with no way of measuring some form of success and return. Online marketing very often gets the snubbed because it is viewed as the “new” way of doing things and since it is still “growing up”, traditional advertising is still the best way to get the word out there about the product. Let’s put it this way with some simple context:

If you set up an ad, how do you know if it is effective?

Set up an ad that contains a URL to your product, you can then determine some level of response to your ad by measuring your website statistics. No one is claiming this is 100% accurate, but it does provide an idea. The larger companies definitely grasp this, but it appears there are still too many medium-sized and small businesses that don’t. The concept is so simple, yet marketing departments let it fall through their grasp.

Don’t sell, Just Inspire

Selling will not sell anymore. As I’ve said to clients, my employer, authors, friends, colleagues, and so many others:

Why should I care about your product? Why would I take two minutes of my life to look at what you have to offer? Would I even find this worthwhile enough to share with friends and family? What am I going to do once I look at it?

One problem with so many products are that they simply exist for people to consume. They don’t offer something greater — simple inspiration. Products just aren’t prepared with inspiration in mind and when the time arrives to prepare a marketing campaign for it, there just isn’t anything to inspire with.

As an example: Check out what this guy thinks of Koodo Mobile.

What Happens?

That same old plan. Promotions with retailers. Flyers mailed out. Press releases sent out. Mass emails sent off. Include in newsletters. Pitch to television station producers. Corporate sales. Government contracts. I can keep going.

Why?

Because we are comfortable with what is here and now. We like to believe and feel that when we buy advertising space in a newspaper, that people actually pay attention to it; remember it; and will potentially go out and buy it. When we think about how many thoughts go through someone’s mind per day, let alone per minute — that is an incredibly selfish perspective. If we want people to think about the product we’re trying to promote, we better damn well have something worthwhile to say about it.

Show some respect! Do you like it when someone’s yelling into your ear constantly about nothing worthwhile?

Photograph by gwaar

How?

Michael T. Kanazawa stated in the best manner possible in his recent manifesto on change. Do more on less. NOT do more with less. Focus on marketing fewer products. Ditch the rest that just aren’t up to par.

To businesses, managers, and leaders who are reluctant in putting resources into online marketing initiatives or continue to perpetuate that same old plan, I challenge you to let go of it and develop a unique, innovative, and inspiring campaign for each of your products. If you or your staff aren’t inspired by your products to inspire others, then I’d say you need a new product.

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Every Author’s Challenge

Published

Ehren

on May 24, 2008

in Mentions, books, marketing and work

. 2 Comments

I’m really supposed to be focusing on programming a website but I felt it was necessary to share this after @nejsnave posted this link to this video(below) over twitter. This’ll be a quick post. The video is by a HarperCollins author, Dennis Cass.

This is the problem that every marketing department is facing in the book publishing industry. It is wrong for a marketing or publicity department to throw everything at the author. Promotion on the web does not require an author to throw themselves into every social medium — rather the idea is to ensure that there is a way for people to connect with an author and vice versa. Marketing departments should be working with the author to develop what I refer to as a connection point. I’ll get into that another day but I think it’s pretty self-explanatory.

That said, authors still need a blog and they still need to blog on a not necessarily frequent but consistent basis. I’d rather authors have a blog than a purely promotional website. It is pretty much the same except the fact that a blog is the old classic homepage on Geocities that has evolved into a social and communication medium that is way more versatile.

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