Posts Tagged ‘Marketing’:
Written by Mihai Dragan on Friday, April 10th, 2009 ( 4 responses )
Tags: brands, conversation, death of advertising, evolution, management, Marketing
I can safely assume that advertising as we know it is bound to disappear in the next 10-15 years. Why? Because it’s loud and boring. Useless most of the time.
The internet, our fastest media yet is a conversation. People talk, discuss and engage one another just like they do in the real world. The best online advertising does the same thing. Once in a while something, which I would define as conventional-to-online advertising comes in and bothers them. Screaming. Waving hands. Going all “look at me, I am here!” on the users.
Just like TV. Just like print. Just like outdoor advertising. All of them scream. I belong to a generation that was born with advertising in its current form and that can’t be tricked into “seeing” ads. We want what we want.
We will google before buying, read reviews, ask friends and google again. We need to trust a brand before engaging it. We need to bond with it. We need to know this brand gets close to us and has a chat whenever we feel like.
The advertising as we know it can’t provide this. And it goes beyond advertising. The changes companies need to make to survive are also in their marketing department, in their management attitude and just as well in the R&D department.
The death of advertising is coming. Long live the brand conversation.
Written by Mihai Dragan on Monday, March 23rd, 2009 ( One response )
Tags: branding, crisis, long term, Marketing, oportunity, sales, short term
Why did I use VS between Brand building and Sales? Couldn’t they just team up? Can’t we have both of them in our marketing strategy?
Sure we can but in times of crisis management seems to focus on short term clear results and want to see sales figures going up or at least staying afloat. The longer term strategy of building brands, earning consumers’ hearts and adding intangible value to the company seems a little too “fancy” and expensive to be considered. But is it?
Short term sales versus long term vision
Crisis separates followers from leaders in the economic world and in the battle for mind and pocket share. Truly visionary brands innovate, invest and develop during the hard times. Today’s big brands are the ones that not only survived but made the most out of the difficulties they’ve encountered.
Short term tactics may add profit points but if we were to take into account the brand value losses companies cutting corners end up losing more than they’ve initially planned.
If everyone is doing something, that thing is probably wrong. I know it may seem risky but companies need to differentiate, even in terms of marketing strategy.
So, when your competitors are focusing on short term tactics, focus on tomorrow and build your strategy and brand around the bigger picture. The crisis may be the only oportunity you’ll get.
Written by Mihai Dragan on Friday, January 9th, 2009 ( Start discussion )
Tags: book review, branding, differentiate, Marketing, marty neumeier, the brand gap, zag
“Zag” is probably the book with the best title of the decade. Why? Because it says it all. You don’t need to read the book. Just the title.
I would like to say that Marty Neumeier is a great author (I loved The Brand Gap) but Zag is a book that should not have been written and sold. It’s a pity they had to cut down all these trees so people can read 192 pages of … nothing.
Instead of reading it, here’s the summary: “Differentiate from your competitors”. Doh!
Written by Mihai Dragan on Monday, October 27th, 2008 ( Start discussion )
Tags: list, long tail, Marketing, social media, tribes
Nick Fell, planner at Ogilvy Advertising in London put together a list containing 10 pieces of content defining these days’ marketing reality.
You will find there the Long Tail Theory, the Tribes concept, 2008 State of Social Media and some others I am sure you will find interesting. Enjoy.
Written by Mihai Dragan on Sunday, October 19th, 2008 ( One response )
Tags: australian, blogs, Marketing, top 100
Julian Cole, Social Media Strategist for The Population, has gathered a list of the best 100 Australian marketing blogs.
Number one is Bannerblog, probably one of the most popular blogs in the creative department of each and every interactive agency.
To have a chance making the list a blog had to either be written by an Australian or by someone living in Australia. I found out about this great resource reading London Calling, one of my favorite blogs, which made the list at number 7.
