Fear as a marketing tool

I had a discussion with a few coworkers the other day.
Somehow, the Y2K bug was brought into the conversation as the biggest marketing ploy ever. (Enjoy this bit of fear propagation by Spock himself.)
All its success was based on the primal instinct of fear.
One of them later proclaimed emphatically that fear is the biggest marketing tool.

After some thought, I tend to agree on the whole.
Next to, of course, lust and love (http://marketing-bee.blogspot.com/2011/06/turning-up-heat.html).

Do you drink beer?
Heard of Miller Light?
Seen their ads recently? (Example: Skirt, Carry-all)

Clearly this plays on the self-esteem issues that men have (yes, men have that).
Appearing unmanly in front of the "boys" is a huge fear factor.
The general consensus is that light beers are enjoyed more by the ladies.
And it is often depicted as the burly men drinking the hard liquor or darker beers.

What Miller Light as done here is taken a different spin on the problem by shifting the focus to the taste instead of light beer vs regular/dark.
Clever.
Not directly addressing the main issue of what is deemed "unmanly" behaviour.

Actually, these lite guards are very beautiful.

Snagged from here.

golden apple

It seems that everything Apple touches now turns to gold.

This was found here.

The above pictures were spotted here.

To keep up with demand, Foxconn (the Chinese manufacturers of iPhone; and yes, your iPhones are made in my glorious motherland by unfairly-treated and overly-stressed workers) are planning to hire 1 million robots to work in their plants. Talk about robotic armageddon eh?

But that's beside the point.

What I want to talk about today is the disillusioned people that are nonsensically buying into this apple plot to take over the world.

Let's not talk apples for now, and focus on oranges.
Imagine walking into a dealership and you see someone insistently asking for a particular car.
"I want that new car I heard so many great things about. I don't care whether it's a v4 or a v6. Horsepower is irrelevant. I just want it because it's the latest thing"
Sounds stupid right?

I get furious and irate when I hear people say, "I want a new phone - oh, maybe I'll just wait for the iPhone 5 and get that". It's insane, these people doesn't even know how the phone looks like (let alone the phone's innards) and they are sold on the idea of purchasing it already.

Frankly, there are many, many phones out there that are equally good as (if not better than) the iPhone 4 and people still mindlessly get drawn in by the whole distortion field.

But this also brings up a very valid point in consumer behaviour. This is a case in point for the emotional aspect of the purchase decision-making process. Consumers (particularly the ones highlighted in this article) are ingrained with strong emotional ties to the brand and the product. It is this emotional attachment that can cause the purchase decision to be heavily influenced by the emotional processing centre of the brain rather than the rational centre.

This also can be seen in car sales.
The whole purpose of the test drive to allow you to get emotionally attached to the car. The idea of ownership and envisioning yourself driving/owning the vehicle can be a strong subconscious leveraging point even most sales people aren't aware of (I may revisit this idea with an interesting article).

In hindsight, apple deserves to the top dog. Utterly brainwashing people into believing their elegant design and unique (read: enclosed and dictatorial) ecosystem is worth the premium you are paying (not only that but you're getting a good deal).

/Apple rant

the science of product design

Did you know this is called a Taraxacum?

Ever made a wish and blown on a dandelion when you were a kid?
Or soccer kicked one out of frustration (or joy)?
I stopped doing that when I found out that the weed was  a nuisance to gardeners and what I was doing was helping the weed proliferate.

Whether you know it or not, plants reproduce in two broad categories: making a lot of seeds and investing very little energy into making them or making one seed and investing all your energy into making them.

People say you shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket; but clearly, Mother Nature thinks it's a fairly good idea.

The dandelion (if you've guessed it) employs the first method. It makes a ton of seeds and hopes that at least one of them will make it to a full plant later on. Kinda like cell phone manufacturer Nokia. In their heydays, Nokia had a huge cell phone portfolio producing inexpensive cell phones that proliferated the market.
However, due to their late entry into the smart phone arena, their strategy started shifting.
They churned out phones less and less frequent.
As with plants, if your reproductive strategy is to devote a lot of resources into making one offspring, that offspring better have a high chance of survival.
In this analogy, the cell phone that you produce better be a game changer. Or else the resources put into it will have considered been wasted.

Another case in point is RIM. As much as my patriotism demands me to sing praises for the Waterloo, On-based company, they did screw up quite a few times in the past.
Their strategy route is a mirrored opposite to Nokia's.
They were successful with pushing out well-designed corporate phones one a fairly regular basis (by no means often though). Focusing on designing the phones and the software and enterprise compatibility.
Then the Torch happened.
There was so much potential. It was touted as Blackberry's best phone, the game changer.

But it was a bit of a let-down.
Sluggish sales had a pronounced effect on the company's stock (Aug 2010 news).
Then earlier this year, with the introduction of the LG and Samsung phones, it only compounded the problem because these phones gained market share mostly at the expense of RIM.

However, there is a sliver of hope on the horizon (a silver lining if you will).
RIM recently announced the introduction of SEVEN (yes, 7!) new phones.
Read here.

With this, hopefully they can keep up with the competitors and churn out more phones within a fiscal year.
This will help them turn the company around and regain their North American market leader position that they lost to Apple in the smart phone arena.

The take home message is:
Figure out which reproductive strategy you will employ.
Each has its advantages and disadvantages; so choose carefully.

Make sure the strategy aligns with your market position and brand image.
For example, Nokia was "everyone's phone" so they produced a lot of products. They were the market leaders in the cell phone era which afforded them certain luxuries such as economies of scale.
Later, the sparse product launches did not fit very well with their market position and brand image. Soon people forgot about their phones in favour of newer cooler phones. Nokia was then swept away by the competition.
Nowadays forever relegated to commoner status. Sad.

Any how, I've been sitting on this article for way too long.
Publishing it without rereading it.

Just because I can. =P

How about some mango? How about no...kia?

This is a part anecdote and a part about marketing.

Beautiful picture from the Mango page on wikipedia.

So I found out I'm allergic to mangoes a few months ago. I've never been allergic to it my whole life leading up to this event.
The story goes:
One day, feeling a bit healthier than usual, I went and made a mango vanilla chocolate banana protein shake.
I out everything in except the mango (because I haven't peeled it yet). As I finish peeling the mango and proceeded to eat the middle part that I can't dice up (the seed part), I felt an itch in my eye. I did what any normal human being without a mango allergy would do and scratched my itching eye with my unwashed hands (dropping with mango juice).
I then took the bus and went to school for my routine without.
Unbeknownst to me, while I was napping on the bus, my eyes started to swell. By the time I arrived at school, my eye swelled up as if I'd been in a fight (also seemed like I got beaten pretty badly).
And kids, that's how I found out I'm allergic to mango.
What does this have to do with marketing? Nothing.

But thank you for indulging me there.
Now onto the marketing bit.

About half a year ago (give our take), Nokia found a new CEO in Steven Elop. This was a pivotal moment in the company's history because it was his role to steer the back on track. At the early stage of his new job, he delivered a brutally honest speech about the company's failing state and tried to address what he thought to be the main reason why Nokia went from global market leader to a failing business. This was the famous burning platform memo. You can read it here. The main analogy was a man standing on a burning offshore oil rig. The decision to change and improve the company was liken to the man's decision to stay on the rig and wait for rescue, or plunge into the freezing waters of the ocean and not burn to death along with the rig. From the company's decision to forgo their prized and beloved (newly-developed) operating system, Meego, to marry Microsoft and their Windows 7, they decided to take a leap of faith. But did they jump too early?
There are some arguments for and against.

First of all, was Meego really that bad?
This guy didn't think so. And generally I agree with him.
I don't wanna cover the same points he did, but I'll say a few things:
- Yes it was resource-demanding to maintain the upkeep (MTG reference ftw) of the department, but pay off can be huge.
- Building an entire ecosystem for the phone is not an overnight thing
- Perhaps developers aren't flocking to your system because they see the lack of support for it in the future (should adopt the "if you build it they will come" philosophy)
- From what I gather from the reviews, people actually like the Meego phones

Second, why Microsoft?
At the time, Windows 7 was horrible. Only recently, with the Mango iteration did users and critics praise the software mogul. Could they have foreseen this? Perhaps.
But really, at least keep your options open and have Android in your portfolio as well!
Most of the top mobile manufacturers own a wide option of operating systems (LG, Samsung, Motorola); maybe Nokia should do the same, make Meego phones, Symbian, and MS 7 Mobile.

Feed the crowd.
Nokia is actually doing a great job with this. They started with the design and continued on with the open SDK to developers on the Meego platform. What Nokia has to do right now is incentivize the development project.
Perhaps a contest? Funding for the developer's next project (on the order of 1000's of dollars). Or even give exclusive Nokia freebies (perhaps a customized Meego phone for bragging rights).
Key is, the people who are willing to spend their time to dabble in this are probably not looking for traditional forms of compensation, so find out what they want and provide it as an incentive to them when they build the system.

However, the main thing is: Nokia still hasn't addressed their issue.
The problem at Nokia wasn't because of the a horrible OS (okay partially it's due to a horrible OS), but it's because of their lack of focus on the smartphone arena - they missed the ride on the wave.
When they decided to play catch-up, they're not churning out smartphones as quickly and efficiently as their competitors. Even when they do launch a phone, their phone's qualities aren't on par with the benchmarks set by others (OS, ecosystem, features etc).

I really hope Nokia does better. Because when it does, hopes of picking Meego back up is exponentially higher. With their own operating system, Nokia will be able to better differentiate itself in the market.
There's very little Nokia can do right now to turn the Meego project around (especially after being so adamant about dropping it). It's also too little, too late with the marriage with Microsoft.

I think the best analogy is: Nokia's boat has a hole in it and is filling up with water quick. Microsoft was left behind at the shore. Out of desperation, Microsoft jumped onto Nokia's boat (their boat was close by and convenient since it was leaking and didn't get too far away from the shore). In the end, the hole isn't patched up. They're both still sinking.
Sad.
Unfortunate.
Fall of a giant.

/gg no re

turning up the heat

Let's face it, most of you probably came to this post because of this picture:

Snagged this screen cap from Sports Illustrated's website. Check it here.

The old adage of marketing/advertising: sex sells.
But I'm not here to discuss this.
I'm here to discuss how cinematographers clearly captured and created a new market for superhero films that are adaptations from comic books.

Case in point is Thor.

I'm a big fan of comic books. Although I didn't read them much when I was a kid, I know most of the (popular) superhero's stories. So when I knew the movie Thor was on the silver screens as a lead up to assembling the Avengers, I had to go see it.
My older sister, and my female cousin were very eager to see the movie as well. All for a different reason.
You see, they aren't fans of the genre at all. They are, however, fans of good-looking men.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present to you: exhibit A

Snagged this one here.

This is truly expanding the market and exposing the brand to people that they would otherwise have been missed. The two fanatical females would never have went to watch this movie under normal circumstances. However, their change of heart is wholly due to a conveniently placed scene in the trailer (that is rather revealing).

They are doing something similar with the Green Lantern movie.
Ryan Reynold, voted as 2010 Sexiest Man Alive, is the male lead in this movie.
Him as an actor, in a word, sucked.
But hey, he pulls in the box office numbers.
I think his physical attractiveness is probably the only reason why he was cast for this movie.
Regardless, it seemed to do the trick for Thor so it should translate to Green Lantern.

On the same note though, Subaru did an amazingly clever marketing campaign on the theme of sexiness.
Check it:
www.sexysubaru.com

Check it here.

This ironic ad was creative and eye-catching. Honestly cannot unsee some of the things Subaru showed me. But the brand is forever impressed and burned into my head.
The comedic, fun factor was extremely high. Political correctness was okay.
Did you know, sumo wrestlers were considered sex icons in Japan?

Oh btw, I do follow sumo wrestling, so I'm not making fun of them.

Another creative use of sex appeal is godaddy.com ads.
I personally don't like some of their innuendos so I will not give examples of their ads.
But they do pique interest and get their job done. I'm sure a ton of traffic is siphoned into their site each time their ads are aired.

I also like the recent Bud Light commercials. At the same time, I don't like how they exploit human emotions (more on this later).

Anyways, point is, using sex appeal has been done over and over again. Take a pointer from Subaru, the comic book movies and even godaddy.com and come up with some cleverer and refreshing.

You can probably tell there's a diminishing effort to write this as the article progressed... That's because it's late and I'm tired. Bear with me.
Once I'm rested and fully recovered from this cold, I'll be churning out better quality articles.

Stay busy.

unlimited power!

One of my favourite internet meme:

The Star Wars wiki is awesome. Check it out.

UNLIMITED POWER!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiCznGaex2c

Okay, there is a strong relevance to this post.
In that movie the balance of power of the light side and the dark side becomes strangely disturbed.
A similar tipping of the balance of power between consumers and the big corporations happened a few years back. That is of course only possible with the advent of web 2.0.
No longer do the big corporations, with their big wallets, push ideas and concepts into the consumers' minds through advertising. The ball is now in our courts (so to speak). Let's not fumble or turn it over.

Web 2.0 enables users to create and edit content. Things such as blogs, comments, and product reviews were born. These and many more, combine to give the consumers the power to express their opinions about the big corp's products.

Think about it, when you make a big purchase decision, how would you gather your information?
Often our search for information about our purchase is a mixture of online search, close friends'/relatives' recommendations and opinions, information from advertisement, and what is readily available at the store.
But back in the days, online search wasn't an option. Especially those handy dandy customer review websites. Or those blogs about the product you're looking at.

Yea, now we can form our own opinions about the products. Companies that make inferior products will be exposed extremely quickly through the blogosphere and customer reviews.

Consumers now can take advantage of this technology to make more informed choices.
But this is also advantageous for the big corps.

First thing is transparency.
To avoid negative stigma, being transparent with communication is key.
Remember back a few years there was a scandal about manufacturers of certain electronics hiring people to write positive (biased) reviews?
This creates distrust. Distrust is bad when these are the people buying your products and, in the end, paying your salaries.

Next, you should encourage more feedback from your customers.
Provide incentives for your customers to provide these reviews.
This adds to the perception that you've got nothing to hide, which will inspire more confidence in your products.

With the encouragement to provide feedback, you've gotta make these reviews accessible and easy-to-do. No point in having a ton of positive reviews when no one can access them. As well, if the process of posting reviews is overly convoluted, people won't do it.

Product reviews and other web 2.0 tools can be leveraged by the consumers and companies. Use them wisely.

Writing this while having a migraine wasn't easy.
I hope you have more fun reading it than I had writing it.

EDIT
There's a point I failed to make during the first seating at writing this.
Consumers, do keep in mind that the reviews are usually on either extremes of the spectrum. That's because the people motivated to take the time to write a product review are usually either extremely satisfied with their purchase or extremely dissatisfied with their purchase.
Hardly ever will you find reviews that are treading along the lines of moderation.
(Obviously you'll bump into them on occasion)
Point is, when doing your research through product reviews take all the reviews with a grain of salt and use common sense.
If you encounter all 10/10 reviews, that means the product is very good on average.
If you see five 10/10's and one or two 1/10, that means the product is good on the average but there are some minor flaws.
etc

Oh and do look for the reviews that point out what people don't like and what they do like. Chances are you'll care about one or two of those things and perhaps have to make concessions on those due to budget/technology restraints.

Moral of the story...
Consumers: don't believe 100% word-for-word the reviews out there.
Corporations: be more transparent and encouraging with honest reviews.

Spaceships, subways and sexy alternative revenue

So, when we think of innovations I really just mean Apple.

I mean c'mon, they started by building personal computers and forayed into person media players and now, they're building a spaceship in Cupertino!
That's moving forward. That's innovations.
Check out the spaceship pics:

Check out MSN Money here.

Check out Afterdawn.com here.

Check out geekygadgets.com here.

If this is any indication of Apple products to come, or their ambitions in the market, then it's safe to say that we're all doomed - Apple is planning to take over the world. All hail our cyborg overlord Steve Jobs (I think he'll get some cybernetic implants to prolong his life in the near future).

Introducing the iSteve:

Snagged this shooped here.

It just works! It's purely magical! This will revolutionize everything, again!

Jokes aside, when we think innovations, we often conjure up images of revolutionary products and cool new technologies. What if innovations can come in creating alternative revenue models?
Actually innovation can mean anything from a new product, method or idea. No, really!
As a Torontonian, subway delays seems like a daily occurrence (back when I worked downtown). What helped me endure the ubiquitous delays was my iPod Touch with its cornucopia of apps and games. Often though, I sensed something was missing - my connectivity to the outside world through cell phone and wifi.
Wouldn't it be amazing if you can Skype out a call while in the tunnels?
Or tweet about that large guy that's leaning on you while he's sleeping and snoring (this actually happened to me so it's not a stereotype)?
Or email to the office when you're running late?
Oh the joys of having internet access on the go.
But often, because a major part of an average Torontonian's "on the go" means underground, this is impossible.

Snagged this from CityTV's website, visit them here.

Enter my proposed alternative revenue model!
If Bell or one of the major telecoms can partner up with the TTC (Toronto Transit Commission, for those not native to this region of the True North Strong and Free) to set up access points along the subway tunnels there is serious money to be made here.
Imagine a subscription model.
TTC pays the telecom for its service and use of its infrastructure. Then the TTC charges a small monthly subscription fee that may or may not be subsidized based on metropasses (monthly/weekly transit pass). For example, if you purchase monthly passes then you will be eligible for internet access within the tunnels for the period of the metropass (or a discounted subscription fee during that period).
This encourages people to purchase metropasses as well as an extra source of revenue for the commission.

Suppose the ad model:
Before gaining full access to the internet users must go through a EULA sort of page and accept the terms and conditions. During that time, users will also be exposed to one ad. This can be an ad through the telecom or through the TTC. Either way, the infrastructure will be paid for.
If only the telecom gets the money, what's in it for the TTC?
Well, increased customer satisfaction for one. Easing the stress and frustration of riders while they are stuck in a tunnel without any means of communication with the outside would is a huge plus for them.

These are rough ideas and haven't given too much serious thought process to. If I spend some time to refine this idea, it will probably be much, much better. For now, the concept is there.

Let me know what you think about this.
If you like the idea, please leave a comment below and send it to your friends.

Oh btw, TTC if you're reading this:
Please train the operators of the trains and buses better!
Jerky subway and bus rides are not good. Especially when you're surfing the internet on the phone.
I appreciate the operators driving fast, but I do not appreciate them stopping just as fast/suddenly.
Almost killed myself this one time even while I was holding onto something!

Note: I am always courteous to TTC operators, most of them are really nice people.

and then there were four

Pretty Telus birds.

I've been using wireless mobile internet for the past 3 months in Canada. Although I shouldn't complain because I can still access my data connection inside buildings (unlike some of our unlucky AT&T cousins down south), but sometimes information just doesn't load at the speed you wish it did.
Within the telecommunications industry in Canada there's a battle for supremacy going on. The three major players, Bell, Rogers, and Telus, are vying for the top dog position. The temporary alliance of Bell and Telus drew first blood in the advertising department when they won a lawsuit against Rogers over their claim of being the fastest and most reliable network (too lazy with the research this is the best you're gonna get in terms of outside info). With Bell and Telus' HSPA+ network, it's easy to see why the courts sided with Telus on this one (didn't find something on this one, so you'll have to take my word for it).
But that's all old news.
Recently I came across a rather interesting billboard ad:

Along the DVP in Toronto.

Zoomed in.

Btw, those pictures took forever to upload.

I guess Telus drew first blood with the advertising as well!
Though through the grapevine, I hear Rogers will be rolling out LTE in 2012.
(In Mr. Bean's voice) It's a race!
I'm really looking forward to using the 4G network in Canada. Small businesses and power users will definitely reap the benefit of a faster mobile connection, especially with the utility, functionality and power of modern smartphones.
Imagine being able to respond to email purchase orders. Download and work on invoices and order sheets on the go. Connect with vendors and suppliers simultaneously through video. Ah, the possibilities.
Of course, this is an absolute nightmare for the average employee (being tethered to office work even on the go), but this will be a dream-come-true for the entrepreneur looking to increase his or her control of the flow business and increase efficiency.
Imagine doing all that at a blazingly (I made up that word) fast speed.

So in the battle of telecoms, it's a war of attrition between the big 3 (speaking of which it was a disappointing loss yesterday, Miami). Let's see who actually gets to roll out LTE first. Because it's always good to be first.

That is, of course, unless you're a rat; the second rat gets the cheese.

a rose by any other name

A rose by any other name wouldn't be called a rose.
What's in a name anyways?
Apparently, a lot.
Especially when you are marketing a consumer product. There are some really stupid names out there. So whether you're downing the Pocari Sweat, or getting Ayds (pronounced "AIDS"; because everyone loves "getting Ayds") sometimes it just misses the mark.

But honestly this has got to be the worst EVER name.
Introducing: TrekStor's iBeat Blaxx!
(fyi: pronounced I beat blacks)

Picture from cnet.com, visit them here.

Of course, it was later renamed to TrekStor Blaxx.
And of course, being a German company, a worse names till would be iBeat Juz (fyi: pronounced I beat Jews). OF COURSE, I'm not making light of the Holocaust nor am I anti-semantic (in fact, I used to work for a wonderful Jewish man).

Here's a tip for future product/brand managers:
English, being the current number 1 international language for business, is important. So make sure your product names and brands, when translated, are culturally acceptable. It pays to hire a native speaker with in-depth cultural knowledge to tweak the brand and product names. Even hiring a random college/university undergraduate from the States or Canada would suffice (and you don't even have to pay them that much because they're basically starving; literally and figuratively in the professional-experience sense).

Google translator is not your best friend, nor is that intern who claims to be proficient in English.
Chances are that intern or the translator would screw up and give you Engrish instead of English.

If your company doesn't usually give product names (I'm looking at you Panasonic televisions department - Panasonic Viera TC-P50VT25, what a mouthful), use product nicknames! I think giving product nicknames as common names for specific models is great. In the Panasonic example I gave, the Viera VT25 would be so much nicer. Although it's not an official name, it does help people refer to that particular model much easier.
Besides, it's easier for consumers to remember and recall the brand when considering the purchase. This aids in the consumer's information search phase in the purchase cycle.


Lastly I want to draw your attention to the EOS Rebel series from Canon. Their Canadian celebrity endorsement choice was brilliant. Choosing Avril Lavigne, Canadian punk/rock artist, was a good choice. Especially with her rock-star and fun-loving rebellious attitude. It really complements the casual and against-the-norm notion of the entry-level dSLR camera (this was back when dSLR are mythical semi-professional to professional grade equipment).

Snagged this here. Not sure where she got the picture from though.

Take in the subtle beauty and look of defiance in those eyes.
















I'm in a writing frenzy. We'll see if I can churn out another post before I sleep tonight.

oh you player

With the introduction of the iPod touch, the portable gaming industry faced a serious new contender: mobile devices that doubles as gaming consoles.
This new subset of the gaming industry is the new mobile gaming industry.
Solely on the premise of "why should I bring an extra console with me when I have a phone that's just as powerful?".
Though the birth of the mobile gaming industry is attributed to Apple, I think it's Sony that's upped the ante with their Xperia Play phone. The company touts it as the first Playstation certified phone.

On a side note: why is the camera focused on the phone instead of that pretty girl? I'm sure some poor photographer was forced into doing this photo. That's the sad reality of corporate stranglehold on us mere mortals.

You should go visit the Sony Ericsson website here.

Now when you first look at this phone, there's a bit of familiarity to it.
Oh right, there's a strange semblance to the PSP go!
Check it out:

Screen cap from here.

They're twins!

I really like the way Sony avoids any cannibalization of market share by discontinuing the PSP go and porting all that technology into the Xperia Play (more commonly known as the PSP phone now).
This is also one of the best examples of what some of the best cell phone companies are doing: leveraging existing technologies it has from its deep portfolio of products into newer products to capture market share.

Back on the topic of cannibalization. A good strategy is to discontinue the older products and slowly phase them out, but still providing support to existing users. This is what vendors and makers of operating systems do as well as printers and ink cartridges.

This post inspired me to write something else. So I'll cut this one short and start writing about another topic that's much more interesting.

Bye.

Liver, fava beans, chianti and the Lion

I wonder how many people can make the intended reference.


If you connected liver, fava beans and chianti to Dr. Hannibal Lecter, then you're certainly bright in my books.
Just yesterday, I received a questionaire as part of my interview process for a marketing position. One of the questions read: "What do you think is the most difficult part of ‘Marketing’ from the point management decides to add a particular product to their existing product line?".
I answered managing the cannibalization of the existing products in the line is probably the most challenging and difficult aspect of marketing.
If you push out a new product, you obviously want people to purchase it. At the same time you wouldn't want the sales of your older products to suffer.
Let's take a look at the basic principles from a case study of two companies. Their products do not go through the traditional product life cycle but the basic principles to prevent market share cannibalism within a product line are there still.
I think taking a look at the way Microsoft and Apple does their operating systems.

First, the Windows operating system.
In the past, the software giant has dealt with this problem rather poorly.
New operating systems offered little differentiating features. The reasons for switching to the new OS is not compelling. People can get by whether they are using the new version or the old.
That said, the problem back then didn't actually affect their performance as a company that significantly though - I guess that's the perk of being the acting monopoly in the market.
More recently however, they are addressing the issue much better. Creating versions of their operating system that are vastly different than the predecessors thus maintaining both versions' functionality and uniqueness.
The usability of both Vista and 7 are still high. Both are unique but the key is that Microsoft is phasing out the older systems.

The Lion

Beautiful picture from National Geographic (check them out here)

The large cat motif is rather fun when it comes to branding the big A's flagship operating system. Historically they have used: Cheetah, Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, and Lion.
The brilliance of the OS product manager is that upgrading to the new iteration is so simple for users and often inexpensive in the grand scheme of things.
The difference with the big A is that with the efficient distribution system, they aim to bring all the users of the old OS onto the new one. In essence cannibalization of the market share becomes replacement.

In the bigger picture though, cannibalization isn't too big of a factor here because the two products are still within the same company. Overall, the market share of the company may actually increase due to the new product.

My next post will revisit this topic. Look forward to it.

Best. marketing. ever.

In terms of effectiveness, cost-benefit, and execute the exchange.
Here's the king of marketing in my books:

By far the best marketing I've seen is....

Driving lesson ads posted on bus shelters.
Albeit illegal (in the UK according to my research, unknown about Toronto, ON), but dang it's so effective.

What better way to target non-drivers en masse?







Wasn't expecting that eh?
I know this is a real underdog, but I'll explain why it's the best ever.

The effectiveness is even increased when waiting for late or cancelled buses in frustration.
The idea of freedom from the inefficient and often infuriating experience of taking public transit can a strong motivator to get driving lessons. Especially on those cold winter nights when the next bus is 20-40 minutes away.
It amazing how these ads show up cyclically because this business is highly seasonal.
Most ads show up prior to the summer months, the best weather to learn how to drive.
Lastly, these ads cost no more 50 cents to print. Add another hour or so of labour in cutting out the detachable slips and another hour or so to post them and you'll have maximum $25-30 cost racked up.
C'mon, 30 bucks for a highly effective, targeted local campaign? It's a total steal.
Next best thing is scoring free PR.

This is to really prove a point in that simplicity is often the best route to take.
Especially for small, local businesses. You can run a successful marketing campaign without much work or investment. These types of ads completely blow the million dollar ads and multi-million campaigns out of the water.

Last note: I'm not 100% certain about the legality issue here, I'm not a lawyer. But it is safer to say that it shouldn't be done because it's similar to vandalism. I do not encourage the posting of these sorts of ads. It is highly frowned upon by most transit users.

Cheers and stay busy.
Just don't be busy flyering the bus shelters.

Zee Bee

If you build it they will come

Actually the famous quote from the movie Field of Dreams (1989) is, "If you build it, he will come."

Pfft, details. Totally overrated.

WINNING!
check out Maffia Clothing here

Product design and building a winning product.

Let's face it. There's a lot of junk out there. Jank designs that nobody wants. And worse still, jank designs that people go nuts over. Not gonna lie, there are tons of bad product designs/concepts that sell. There's a market for everything.

Best example of crap that sells: the pet rock. Enough said.

But this post isn't about making crap and selling it. It's about making quality products that add value to consumers' lives. Products so amazing, they'd flock to buy it. 

No, not the iPad.

First key is seeing what's out there.

This sorta links back to the prototyping article I wrote (you can read that here, go on. I'll wait here)

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.

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Okay, so you read that article. (You better have, I spent a lot of time writing it!)

Prototyping the market leader is a good place to start. Especially if your company's a no-name or you lack the innovations.

Now that you have a base to work with, it's important to find your differentiating selling point.

Actually the Zune was pretty good. With the wireless sharing feature, I was surprised it didn't do so well.

Oh right, it's Microsoft branded. D'oh. (Side note: Microsoft, if you want to release "cool" products, it's best to remove the association with Microsoft until you've repair and rebuilt the brand image amongst consumers.)

Remember that saying? It does one thing and it does it really well.

Apply that to the differentiating factor. You now have a surprising contender in the market.

Another method of starting off is listening.

Yes, if you listen, consumers actually have opinions!

Surprise!

Seriously, there will always be gripes about the market leader's product.

Take those rants and dissatisfaction and meet those needs!

If you do, people will notice. People will start jumping boats and lap up your products at an insane rate.

Then lastly, it's the "iWay".

Dubbed the "iWay" as a homage to the big A's (Apple not ass) preferred product design.

Again, I'd like to firstly clarify that I used to be a huge Apple fan boy. Bought the first gen iPod's with a month's savings and bought the second gen iPod touches once it came out. I also loved their marketing in the early stages of their iPod business. But now, not so much.

Back on topic.

This is to leverage the brand's popularity and come up with designs that are "uniquely innovative".

That is code for "not the best technology available, but we'll make it pretty, hype it up and you'll buy it".

Frankly I don't think Apple does much listening to the consumers at large. No SD card slots, no removable batteries, no flash, etc.

The benefit of this, however, is that you make whatever you want. Leverage economies of scale, cut down costs, and thus increase margins.

But if you miss the mark with your "uniquely innovative" design, it'll just become a product you want to build instead of a product consumers want to buy.

Notice the difference?

Another key to building a winning product and subsequent product lines not only do you have to look what's around today, you have to peer into that marketing crystal ball of yours to predict the future of the industry.

Why invest in building a product when it will be replaced later down the road and become obsolete.

(ahem Cisco Flip cams)

Okay so let's pretend you made a bad decision and soon realized your product can be replaced easily in the future. You better pick up your idling R&D asses and start to innovate.

"If you're stagnant, you're already dead." - John Welch

For example, the flip department of Cisco Systems can innovate by adding new features to the flip cams.

Or licensing the flip USB technology to other camera manufacturers. Or make their own digital cameras, not just camcorders.

I'd love to have a digital camera where I don't need to fumble around to find its usb cable.

My friend's tank, amazing huh?

But instead, they treated it like my pet goldfish when I was 7. I ignored it and left it to die. Eventually just flushing it down the toilet.

I was sad.

I was sad too when I heard flip was going to be killed by Cisco.

It had so much potential (the camera, not my fish).

All in all, there are several keys to make a winning product:

1. Prototype and add a nice unique feature to it. Then do that one feature really, really well.

2. Listen to what the consumers want and address the missed need in the market.

3. iWay

4. Identify trends and ride the wave. Or innovate.

There's probably more. I'll revisit this topic later if I feel inclined to write more about it.

Stay busy friends (and haters).

You wanna do something about it?

Okay, so today I wanted to review some of the basics again for myself.
This is what I found from the AMA (American Marketing Association): Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
You can find out more about the AMA here.


My main focus is the exchanging part. I personally believe the biggest measure of success for any marketing campaign is whether or not it can move people to take action. It doesn't matter if you're selling a tangible product or communicating an idea; it's successful by my books if it gets you to do something about it.


For example:
A little while back I saw a TV commercial for Kids Health (check them out here), their commercials were intriguing, and subtly shocking enough for me (who is a single, male, without children) to want to check out their website.
Definitely go search up some of their ads, pretty clever, quirky things, them ads.


Now why in the world am I writing about this?
This is all about efficiency of marketing dollars.


I've seen some really stupid ads and marketing campaigns. Makes me wonder why aren't their dollars being used more effectively. Then I realized, it's probably because there's a stupid, moron-of-a-marketer doing the creative.
OR
The idea was egotistically pushed down by some big-shot executive that "knows" what he or she is doing.


Whatever the case, it was an inefficient use of their budget and a total waste of the consumer's time as well.
(Depending on the complexity of the product/message) Companies should invest in marketing opportunities that will allow their audience to at least take in the ad and process it cognitively.
That's why I'm not a proponent of bench ads.
Dumbest idea ever.
You make large amounts of impressions and the reach is fairly wide. But there's no quality there.
It's only effective if you need people to remember a name or something (simple messages)


On a similar boat but a stark difference in effectiveness are bus shelter ads. The reason being that these ads allow the audience to process the ads in further detail but also have similar reach and impressions as bench ads.
I have to praise these shelter ads. Some of them are really effective in that it piques the interest of commuters and passer-by's. At the same time, it allows for processing of the information that can lend itself to the consumer taking action.


Other ad media I find really effective is transit ads. The ones inside the buses and trains. Imagine the long commute on the TTC to school or to work: instead of awkwardly staring at that stranger with the weird-looking shirt, you can stare at the ads!
Although the medium has such a great potential at being effective, but the ads themselves are often lackluster at best.
The ads don't provoke action from the audience.
No, not the sudden urge run out and buy the next pack of sour patch kids, or suddenly want to become a mentor for at-risk children (not to say these ads aren't effective, in fact I think both are/were great!).
No, even if they made you stop and say, "huh, that's clever" and make a mental note of the ad/brand, then they are successful!


Magazines are an amazing medium for ads. Due to the plethora of publications out there, often you'll be able to have a very well-target audience. Not to mention the amazing amount of creativity that's available when doing magazine ads.


One last effective medium: facebook.
Really, I wouldn't believe I'm saying this, but some facebook ads really does the trick.
Small companies could definitely benefit from placing ads with facebook.
People are on facebook a large majority of the time (especially that tween to 20-something age range).
Though, frankly, they're often farming or running their restaurant instead of paying attention to the ads.
But in the end, the ads do get attention and can get people to take action. And it's simply just a click for them.
The key to making facebook ads effective, I think, is to design in that square ad something funny and grab attention with the blurb.


There you have it: go with transit ads, magazines or facebook. Probably the most effective ways to advertise/market things if you want people to be taking action and creating that exchange!


I feel like I'm gonna have to post an update to this fairly soon because I feel I've cocked up somewhere.


Until then, stay busy my friends (or haters).

How far is too far... hmmm? *squints eyes

I've been ingrained at an early age that plagiarism will ruin your life, academically and otherwise.
If you dare to plagiarize, you'll become the pariah of society and be shunned in shame for all of eternity. Eventually, so full of self-loath, you'll commit suicide. End of story.

Needless to say, I've never plagiarized in my life. I have however done some "creative paraphrasing". Honestly, who's gone through post-secondary (or even high school) without doing that?
Point is, plagiarism is bad.
However, in marketing we glorify it a tad and call it "prototyping". Taking the market leader's products and prototyping our own to resemble it. Thus lending all the positive association with the market leader's product to our own. Pretty convenient.

To some extent this amazing. It leverages all the marketing the market leader's done and boosts our own products by eroding the leader's market share. But now we ask ourselves as marketers, how far is too far?
If we prototype too much isn't it just copying their product and implicitly admitting defeat to their superior products?

Case in point is the recent lawsuit between Samsung and Apple.

http://hitechanalogy.com/apple-files-lawsuit-against-samsung-blaming-samsung-galaxy-s-phone-tab-as-copies-of-iphone-ipad/

Let's start off by saying I own both company's products and am personally a huge fan of Samsung's new products and their (generally) strategic direction. Also, I have a school boy admiration of the sales and marketing skills that are masterfully displayed at each Apple keynote by Steve Jobs.


This lawsuit alleges that Samsung copies Apple's iPhone and iPad designs.
I'm not here to pass the judgment on who's in the wrong - that's the court's job.
I'm here to analyze the effectiveness of prototyping and its role it plays in modern mobile technology industry.

The industry and its trends
Since the beginning of time, prototyping has been around. From copying the designs of weapons of neighbouring countries during war-torn eras to the modern day Apple vs Everyone-Else-That-Has-Produces Tech-That-Resembles-Apple-Products, it's been around.
A recent, notable event in history is the introduction of what I'd like to call the Apple Fever. Very much akin to the b***** fever (to protect the little boy's privacy). I draw parallels because there are obviously better alternatives out there but people just flock to them. It's unimaginable and illogical, right?
Because of this craze, people started "prototyping" the iPods. There was even an episode of Simpsons that poked fun at the fact that all you need are Apple ear buds stuck in your ear to make others believe you have an iPod.
Because of this, more and more companies are copying the big A's product designs (HP Envy series, Samsung Galaxy smartphones, Galaxy Tab 10.1, etc etc).
It's harder to find "innovative" designs nowadays. Of course, it doesn't help that the innovative designs are often duds (ahem BlackBerry Torch).
So why "innovate" and risk a big R&D flop?

The role prototyping plays
In my opinion, prototyping is an important aspect in capturing market share. It is absolutely vital in the early stages when trying to slay Goliath.
The first few products pushed out should be textbook examples of prototyping with a few distinguishing features to differentiate it from the market leader.
Here's where I give kudos to Samsung.
With the introduction of their super AMOLED display, they have a strong differentiating feature.
Slowly however, as their brand matures in the market after a few products that are prototyped from the market leader's, the company should start to capitalize on the distinguishing feature and diverge away from the prototypical design.
I believe Samsung is going to approach this step near the end of the next quarter or latest, end of this year.
Sony (you and your arc/xperia play) kinda jumped the gun. But I admire the guts you displayed and give kudos to you. However, recently with the bad PR (PSN hack) and the natural disaster (3.11, prayers still with Japan), it's hard to make a strong comeback in the next little while.
All in all, to establish yourself as a strong brand, companies that aren't the market leader in their industry can do one of two things:
1. Do something radically different and hope it flies.
2. Prototype a little while and diverge.

So now that we've understood more about this prototyping business, we get back to the main question: how far is too far?
I draw the line when the two products look exactly the same when you place it a few meters away and squint really hard. Of course when you pick it up and play around with it after riding the teacups and it seems exactly the same to you then; that's also too far.

His honourable judge Brian Leung presiding.
My verdict: Samsung is not guilty of copying Apple's design.
There are so many features available only on Samsung that aren't found in the egoPods.

Final word:
Technology are like girls. All the top-notch ladies are very similar on the outside, but once you get to know them and discover their unseen attributes you'll really find out that they're all different. In the end, lucky lady you choose to keep says a lot about yourself as a person. Obviously there will be dudes who will just want to date people purely based on outward appearances, there's a market for everyone. To each their own.

To the millions of companies out there trying to climb to the top of the market by stepping on other companies: please exercise moderation and common sense when prototyping. Consumers are smart. We don't appreciate (for the most part) excessive copying.

Cheers and stay busy!

PS. If you're an xx chromosomed being or your orientations are different, change the gender thing to your liking. I write in the first person and in my personal views. Life's too short to rewrite things to accommodate everyone, I hope you understand. No hard feelings

Clearly the better choice...

This is a true story.


I was intrigued about why my friend's family got a Mercedes-Benz instead of one of those cool-looking BMW's. When I brought this up, I was hoping for a convoluted answer that would spark a very interesting debate about the awesomeness of BMW's versus Mercedes-Benz. Instead I got a very trivial answer with him replying, "We went into the BMW dealership and wasn't even greeted within the first 15 minutes. My mom got pissed and we went next door to the Mercedes dealership." Then I asked whether it was just a matter of convenience and his reply was that the order of visiting dealerships were already planned ahead: first BMW , then Mercedes-Benz next door, then Lexus down the street from there.
I was speechless. At how insignificant these points were compared to the myriad of rebuttals I came up with.

However, this story does serve a point.
Imagine the difference in sales volume a certain store can get if all customers were greeted upon immediately as they entered the store.
It's a simple concept: everyone has an ego, they want to feel important.
If you make them feel important, then they'll more likely be inclined to pry open their wallets and fork over their hard-earned disposable income during this recessionary stage.

Oh, it also helps not to judge your customer's by their appearance. I'm not implying that the sales people at that certain BMW dealership were not greeting them or acknowledging their existence because they were dressed humbly and casually. Perhaps they were just busy.

To illustrate the power of social media as customer service tool, let's take a look at one of my top picks for budding companies: ClearlyContacts.ca.

As their name suggests, they started their business with sales and distribution of contact lenses. In my opinion, it wasn't until they started to enter into the framed glasses business were they truly successful.

Their social media
With two customer relations representative extraordinare, Julia B (JB) and Maria J (MJ), at the helm their communications through facebook and twitter is fast, efficient, and effective.

http://www.facebook.com/ClearlyContacts.ca

Firstly, I was exposed to their facebook page. With frequent announcements of special deals, their facebook page is a solid vehicle through which to deliver strong promotional campaigns.

http://twitter.com/#!/ClearlyContacts

Their twitter serves in a similar capacity to announce promotions and address customers' questions and complaints.

The most powerful way they're leveraging this is replying to posts within a short period of time, often within two hours during a work day. Emails are then sent to confirm the problem is addressed and outline the actions they've already taken.
This is value-added customer service people.

Their print media
ClearlyContacts.ca has also taken a very aggressive approach to their marketing through print media. If you check out the local newspapers in Toronto right before the holidays (Christmas, New Year, Valentine's, Mother's day etc) you'll see huge ad spots for ClearlyContacts.ca.
Amazing deals such as the current buy one, get one free deal.
Also it helps to have some good-looking models.

Frankly, with how their business is set up, the company is aiming to change the purchase pattern and consumption/shopping behaviour of consumers. This is perfectly complemented by their aggressive promotional offerings as well as quality products. The highly experiential process of purchasing a pair of glasses is leveraged by creating an environment where customers are treated as royalty so as to encourage repeat business.

The take-home message for this case study is that for any company out there aiming to change purchase patterns and behaviours of consumers this is a viable strategy. But be prepared! The margins for the first year or so will definitely be a write-off. If you can tough it out through that rough patch, then the margins will surely return as you build a strong customer base and a loyal following.
Of course, those have a foundation in superior customer service.
A tool to achieve that superior customer service is through the fast, efficient and effective communications done through facebook and twitter.

For their outstanding and sound marketing strategy, ClearlyContacts.ca has earned
9 b's out of 10
b.b.b.b.b.b.b.b.b.b.


And of course, the bee Choice Award!

PS. Let me know what your inclination is: BMW or Mercedes-Benz?

marketing... the good fight

As consumers, ourselves, we all know that it's hard to grab the audience's attention.
Whether it be that we PVR our favourite shows to skip through the commercials or zap and zip while we watch TV, consumers almost never really pay full attention to the advertising and marketing that's going on.
Marketers are always fighting the consumers for their attention.
Enter the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). Standing 5 ft 11 in tall. Dana "Big Boss" White!
I honestly think this guy's brilliant.
Pushing the sport of mixed martial arts from the brink of certain death to becoming a worldwide phenomenon. And the company does amazing marketing.

I can almost say with confidence that there's only one other company that does a better job at social media marketing that I know of (more on this at a later date).
The company broadcasts fights on their facebook page, how innovative is that?
On their facebook page is says: "Like us to see the UFC 130 prelims" (see picture below).

http://www.facebook.com/UFC

Only this, but Dana White has over 1,450,000 followers on twitter.
Recently, the day before the historical first fight in Toronto, On (my hometown and favourite place in the world) Dana White gave out tickets to a sold-out event at the busiest intersection (Dundas and Yonge).
One tweet and 30 minutes later almost 200 people showed up. Can we say successful guerrilla marketing?

When I say integration, I really mean integration.
Twitter in this organization has a huge role in hyping up a fight and selling tickets.
Almost all fighters have their own twitter account; and often these accounts are used to, rather publicly, call out or taunt other fighters.
Another high point that I feel other companies can take a page out of the UFC guide to twitter marketing book is how you can tweet the big boss and often get a response back. Now that's two-way communications.
When the customer/client feels connected, things will go a lot smoother. Unless your client is like that annoying suspicious girlfriend that keeps calling you when you're not by her side. And even when you're there in front of her, she keeps asking you about what happened that time you were in the showers didn't pick up. But I digress.

Social media aside, this company has all the propaganda lined up as well (and I use this word not in the negative connotation). They have a magazine, their own videos, the UFC gym franchise, online forum, TV show/reality series, DVD's of "classic fights", and their own "fan expos".
I guess when you have money to throw around you can do all this sort of thing.

The take away message should be how twitter is being used.
Emails are nice and great, but if you want a quick response, then twitter is much more effective for a company.

Overall, the UFC with its mass marketing strategy and its amazing social media integration deserves a 9 b out of 10.
b.b.b.b.b.b.b.b.b.b.


Also it deserves a bee choice award!

Congratulations UFC!
You're doing well in my books. If that's at all meaningful or not.

Oh I forgot about the PR this company gets. But I guess that's a whole new post.
So for now, let's sit back and admire the UFC's effective use of twitter for two-way communication.
Bravo!

Actually, when it comes to effective communication and good customer service the next blog entry is a very good case study of a burgeoning online company that is revolutionizing its industry. Stay tune!