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)

.

.

.

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).