by admin | Apr 18, 2011 | Blog, Promotion
These 2 reports which aired on the ABC confirm our opinion about the potential of Social Media for most professional services companies
Catching the Social Media Vision
While many small businesses are being left behind the social media bandwagon, some are already using it to drive sales.
Big Business Catches The Social Media Bug
Social media sites are being embraced by big business, while being dismissed as irrelevant by smaller players.
by admin | Apr 18, 2011 | Blog
[flv:http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/themiddayreport/video/201104/r744170_6117213.flv]
| Source: |
The Midday Report |
| Published: |
Friday, April 1, 2011 5:42 AEDT |
| Expires: |
Thursday, June 30, 2011 5:42 AEDT |
Social media sites are being embraced by big business, while being dismissed as irrelevant by smaller players.
Related Articles:
Catching the Social Media Vision
While many small businesses are being left behind the social media bandwagon, some are already using it to drive sales.
by admin | Apr 18, 2011 | Blog, Promotion
| Source: |
Lateline Business |
| Published: |
Thursday, March 31, 2011 11:29 AEDT |
| Expires: |
Wednesday, June 29, 2011 11:29 AEDT |
While many small businesses are being left behind the social media bandwagon, some are already using it to drive sales.
Related Articles:
Social media sites are being embraced by big business, while being dismissed as irrelevant by smaller players.
by admin | Feb 16, 2011 | Blog, Design
“Most people can agree on what Santa Clause looks like – jolly, with a red suit and a white beard. But he did not always look that way, and Coca-Cola advertising actually helped shape this modern-day image of Santa.
2006 marked the 75th anniversary of the famous Coca-Cola Santa Clause. Starting in 1931, magazine ads for Coca-Cola featured St. nick as a kind, jolly man in a red suit. Because magazines were as widely viewed, and because the image of Santa appeared for more than three decades, the image of Santa most people have today is largely based on our advertising… Before the 1931 introduction of the Coca-Cola Santa Claus created by artist Haddon Sundbiom, the image of Santa ranged from big to small to fat to tall. Santa even appeared as an elf and looked a bit spooky…
The Cocacola Company began its christmas advertising in the 1920s with shopping-related ads in magazines like The Saturday Evening Post… At this time, many people thought of Coca-Cola as a drink only for warm weather. The Coca-Cola Company began a campaign to remind people that coca-Cola was a great choice in any month. This began with the 1922 slogan “Thrist Knows No Season”, and continued with a campaign connecting a true icon of winter – Santa Claus – with the beverage.”
Many of the older brands have rich histories that make them “legendary”, however new and small brands can benefit similarly if they follow the rules of being interesting and authentic. Keep in mind these “legends” were also just a small business, with nothing more than the vision and passion of their founders.
Did Coca Cola really invent Santa Claus? Maybe not but it certainly made him their brand ambassador and part of our popular culture for ever!
by admin | Feb 16, 2011 | Blog, Content, Promotion, Strategy
Cover via Amazon
People love stories from children’s fairy tales to books and movies. A story is more memorable than a straightforward message. A story is easy to re-tell and pass on to other consumers, hence providing your brand with more Word of Mouth Marketing opportunities.
A brand story needs to be:
- Real and authentic
- Colourful and interesting
Advertisements are nothing more than stories with the best ones engaging their audience. Famous brands such as Virgin and Apple have real stories surrounding their founders and form an important element of their positioning strategy.
Most common marketing stories:
Blake Snyder (professional screenwriter) has story scenarios that align to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs:
- Physical Needs
- Safety Needs
- Social Needs (Buddy Love & Rights of Passage)
- Self Esteem Needs (Fool Triumphant & Superhero)
- Cognitive Needs (Everyman v Big Brother)
- Aesthetic Needs (Look good, Feel Good)
- Self Actualisation (Search for Meaning & Personal Salvation)
Gerald Zaltman, author of “How Customers Think” and Professor at Harvard Business School identifies deep metaphors in the minds of consumers in “Marketing Metaphoria”:
- Balance
- Transformation
- Journey
- Container
- Connection
- Resource
- Control
and Christopher Booker’s book, “Seven Basic Plots – Why We Tell Stories” (which took him 35 years to write) has the following:
- Overcoming the monster: Defeating a force which threatens safety, existence, success – David v Goliath
- The Quest: A group in search of something (who may find it or something ‘better’)
- Journey and Return: The hero journeys away from home and comes back (having experienced something and maybe having changed for the better)
- Comedy: Not necessarily ‘haha’ funny. a misunderstanding or ignorance is created that keeps parties apart, which is resolved, by the end, bringing them back together
- Tragedy: Someone, tempted (vanity, greed, etc), becomes increasingly desperate, or trapped by their actions, until the climax where they usually die
- Rebirth: Hero is captured or oppressed (a living death existence) until they are miraculously freed
- Rags to Riches: Overcoming a state of poverty, want, and/or need.
By telling your brand story you can differentiate your business and form a stronger connection with your customers and prospects. By understanding why you started the business, or for example why you named it in a certain way, customers will feel like they know you and understand you. After all it is hard to connect with someone you don’t understand.
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