That’s all there is to it

My artistic impression of a street hawker.

“That’s all there is to it.” If not these specific words, then at least the sentiment is expressed all around us.Since the advent of trade there has been a need for marketing. If the consumer does not know a solution exists to their problem then even the best solution is a failure. Everything we do in marketing is an evolution of the classic street hawker. This is not an attempt to trivialize the actions of those in the marketing industry. On the contrary, it is a heartfelt compliment to everyone involved in the industry. Marketing professionals work hard everyday to understand human behaviour and then present solutions to consumers. They are the bond which links industry to consumers and vice versa.

To me, marketing is educating a potential consumer about choice. It gives the consumer the power to vote with their wallets and opinions to shape the products and services that are offered to them. To someone that does not spend their time thinking about marketing as a process (because the best marketing is invisible) the term ‘marketing’ is synonymous to advertising. This is understandable because advertising is the most visible part of marketing, but it is largely dependant on other aspects of marketing namely Research and Design.

A 360 Perspective

A comparison survey (would you prefer design A or design B) is a tool used a lot, especially by those looking for a quick fix to a declining bottom line. The reality of a truly successful brand is the combination of various elements coming together around a singular idea. If one were to walk down a busy street asking for examples of this they would hear names like Starbucks, Apple, and so on. Problem is, this whole conversation will be taking place outside a small business which insists on doing just one thing to get customer attention.

Here is a simple example courtesy of ace designer Jonathan McConell (http://workbynight.com) Take a look at the image gallery below and meet me further down by clicking the READ MORE link below the slideshow.

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Keeping Promises

When it comes to children promises are a sacred pact accompanied with elaborate rituals. This is not something that ends as a child grows up. Adults might not have the obvious elaborate rituals when accepting or giving a promise but they do go through rituals even though it may be more subtle.

The catalyst for this post was an argument i witnessed, where the act of putting a date and time in her blackberry was so sacred to a lady that she was genuinely upset that the other person was late. This may seem like an over reaction but in some shape and form we all mimic this behavior. In fact the english language has a specific word to signify an accidentally broken promise, ‘misunderstood’. Misunderstandings are a part of life be it about a place to meet or a course of action.

Pull a marketing coup with President Clinton

Yesterday we learned an important marketing lesson from Kim Jong Il of North Korea. If you dont know what i am talking about follow this link and this link from cnn.com to get caught up.

Back to marketing: As we have heard time and time dictators tend to be gifted speakers with sharp minds and beings one of the last few true dictators left in the world Kim Jong Il is definitely part of that club. With rumors circulating about a stroke earlier this year and potential of a power vaccum being filled by his youngest son Kim Jong Il leveraged the arrest of these two women amazingly well to hit many birds with one arrow.

Anonymously Viral

Firstly let me apologize for the lack of posts lately. Summer has been a little too good to me and i have been unable to sit myself down to do any real work 😀
REMINDER: Click images to see full size.

Lately i have been hearing increased buzz about using anonymous internet services like Post Secret, Post Crossing, GroupHug and ExperienceProject etc. So i got thinking there is obviously a psychological reason why people their most intimate secrets in public. I am going to leave that part to some psych major i am mostly interested to see if there are any marketing advantages to services like these.

This is if you dont know what the above mentioned services actually do. Feel free to skip.*

Quick Background: The 4 services mentioned above and many more around the web provide a way for people to connect with complete strangers while staying anonymous. For example: A guy might post his deep desire to cheat on his girlfriend with her sister and maybe someone else responds with a message like follow your heart life is too short to be miserable. Best way to understand is to go and read a few of the posts on the site.

*If you skipped read from here.

Analysing: I tried few different ways to quantify the human behavior demonstrated on these websites, here is one of the simple ones.

Understanding the needs of these individuals:

Need to connect [feel, reachout etc.]
Need to express [say out loud etc.]
Need for advice

Best Job in the World

Here is a story from everyone’s favorite AdAge. Queensland Tourism takes a very unique approach to promote its island tourism industry.

You can read a more indepth review from AdAge here: AdAge Article

All you really need to do is watch the video here to get an idea of the very successful campaign.

Marketing Lesson: Good publicity is not in big budgets it has, and always will, come from great ideas.

Until next time

Namaste.

*note – i try not to regurgitate content from other websites but this i just had to share.

LINKY

Beats for Attention

A really neat trick that advertisers have used for a long long long time is attracting “vanity” acts to gather crowds so they can pitch their products. I feel this is a very fair trade type of thing to do, the talent gets paid, consumers get free entertainment and corporations get the exposure they would like.

In a spirit to encourage such behavior from more advertisers i am linking embedding a video below on a unique use of beat boxing.

Marketing Lesson: Dont forget as advertisers our job is to sell the product dont let the talent steal the show and also dont try minimize the performers importance. Work the product into the act (more subtle the better, hit the psychograpic triggers.)

edit: this find from @ianparn can be put to the same type of application – http://www.impactlab.com/2006/03/09/amazing-3d-sidewalk-art-photos/

Until next time

Namaste.