Missed Oscar’s Night Ads? Catch up with the NYT Article

Filed Under Cool Ideas, Creative Marketing | 1 Comment

I am catching up on the Oscar night, watching E!, doing research and simply catching up on the Google Reader that simply serves a role of a TiVo for me. No matter if I got busy with the offline = real life, I can always catch stuff later. The most enjoyable item was the article from NYT on the ads shown on Oscar’s night. Go and feed your great ads cravings, especially when the presentation is so appropriate, in Oscar’s style! And of course, cannot get enough of Fergie’s song! Turn it on every morning to start a day with a smile!

It Pays Off To Start Actively Developing Emotional Intelligence

Filed Under Ruminations | 6 Comments

This week I felt a need to seriously engage into learning more about emotional intelligence. Juggling a myriad of projects, interests sometimes get on the way of being always present and aware of what is going on in the current environment. I started looking for a good book to immerse into the subject and went through a number of HBR articles. I found a few on leadership, controlling emotions and becoming a master that can perform under stress continously and can make his team deliver quality results.  It takes practice to achieve that and sometimes takes years. For me it is a challenge as my passion for a topic or a project or an idea gets on my way sometimes. It is great in its nature to support continious delivery, but it gets on the way of being a good leader. Can one have both? Yes. I met a few people who were passionate and emphatic. Some people are born with it, some people get it through experience. It is also something that can be learnt as long as you practice every day or at least intensively in the beginning. So, this is hope! Being realistic, learning continously, watching the language and connecting on the emotional level are the basics of EI. I wish I could find bloggers - experts on the topic. Perhaps, it would be a good supplemental reading before going to bed.

One Minute Business Plan Pitches That I Got A Chance To Observe at Angel Oregon

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Today, I got a chance to attend a session of one-minute pitches at the Angel Oregon 2007, hosted by Oregon Entreprenuers Network. Very interesting crowd! It was very educational to see how a number of presenters compete for the attention. The idea is to communicate how your product is going to solve pressing needs and how it will return your investment in spades.  At the same time,  the secondary thought would be to be able to infuse your own enthusiasm into angels’ hearts. Some presenters used visual aids, some used strong openings, some dressed up in costumes. I must say that being original helps, at the same time, you have to make 3 major points why your company deserves an investment. Some folks approached it by starting with a problem (using voice pitch and intonation to stress the urgency) and weaved into their product that resolves it. Some painted imaginative pictures of a perfect future their product can create. I think I only remember those just because they involved emotion and engaged one’s mind as opposing to the majority that “gunned” their 1 minute spill. Another interesting element is how visual aids are used: only a few, perhaps 4 out of 20 (random number based on observation) utilized this opportunity. Cards with numbers, posters and product samples showed up today. I really liked the idea of cards with $ numbers or market size estimates (all crucial info) that can engage angel’s attention.  Finally, the most important part is being a strong speaker: being able to express the idea with confidence, clarity and passion.

Why I Love Skype and Happy Birthday Mom!

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Today, I used Skype for the first time to call my mom to Russia. Yes, I am slow, but I had a call card for a long time and had to use it all up. However, it is the quality of sound and the overall atmospherics of the calling experience that finally made me buy a decent headset and use Skype for international calls. Even though the rates were somewhat closer, I had a hard time talking to my folks (always yelling for better hearing, which prompted me to find a secluded place (car) or something). The worst part was with calling through the card from my cell phone to my sister’s cell (the call dropped a few times, testing my patience). No more pain. Today, I called mom to tell her “Happy Birthday and do our weekly chat”. She was amazed: “I can hear you as if you are next to me!” :) I was trying to explain her that I used Internet, not a phone to do that and she was stunned. It takes an effort for me to explain to my folks how technology works, especially while translating it in Russian. Generationwise it is challenging for them to comprehend a new “computer-related”, which is the same as “web-related” in their minds, tool without illustration. For me, it is a task to translate new technology and words that describe it that I usually learnt and use in English into Russian. Sometimes, I have to check a dictionary as I learnt the new word for new application in English first.

At any rate, I highly recommend using Skype for the rest late adopters, because you would be amazed why you did not start before! Check Skype’s blog for unique stories on its application overseas.

The Truth About Ad Agencies Parody Video from Seth Godin and B.L. Ochman

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Catching up and scanning my RSS marketing library this week, I saw a great video that B.L. Ocham posted on his blog. Seth Godin has comments on it. I am sure if you watch it, you might have a de ja vu feeling. Most agency presentations have some elements that are “hyperbolized” in this video. Very amusing and worth passing around. Perhaps, agency folks can get a bigger kick out of it rather than the client side compatriots. My favorite part are the actual presentation: “inflated numbers and…so on”

No Time to Stay Up-To-Date on Web Marketing Trends? One Click Solution - Jeremiah’s Blog

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Again, Jeremiah, web strategist, treated his readers with some web marketing nuggets, that he patiently collected through his passionate blogging. Being under the impression and current influence of business case readings for weekly commercialization and enterpreneurship class, I was inspired to write an elevator pitch for Jeremiah. Main reasons: to practice the newly learnt skill and share my respect for Jeremiah’s content.

“FOR busy web marketing professionals WHO have no time to read books and articles and check in with 100 + feeds, while joggling work/family/school or any other type of “life”, Web Strategist Blog is convenient one-click/one-post alternative of web industry catch up THAT provides such benefits as a reservoir of fresh ideas and well-thought online strategies.  UNLIKE currently available books, online publications with premium content and implied time investment, Jeremiah’s blog PROVIDES FOR free, sound, corporate friendly, web marketing advice on demand in single post. ”

The elevator pitch formula source: Randy Dipner & Mark Henry, PBC Inc

 

I tend to like talking in pitch mode, helps to make communications efficient and explain complex stuff faster!  Jeremiah, call me if you need to hire an agent. :)

Ads that Make a Difference

Filed Under Cool Ideas | 2 Comments

With the whole Super Bowl fever, which is a greatest time to see all the good work of advertisers, I went to old videos and some of them were funny, some were histerical, and some were truly thought - provoking and awakening. One of those was “Children see. Children do.” Very true, even though I do not have my own kids yet, it made me pause and think. All of us do not choose our parents, but we can choose what kind of parents we can be for our children. Seeing this type of ad is a good exercise to be able to understand other people around us.

    • RFID and Creative Marketing

    Filed Under Creative Marketing | Leave a Comment

    Wow, now we are talking about great marketing.  Using RFID, Mini Couper marketers talk to Mini Couper drivers and deliver customized messages. See the whole article by NYT. Can you imagine the first reaction of a driver that has not read this article or somehow forgot to remember what he/she signed on for? Creepy feeling of talking objects! Actually, I see the privacy issue come up, but it is nice to get personalized service from your favorite brands, talking to you, checking in with you and reinforcing your loyalty. Interesting aspect of interactive brand “romancing”.

    The Price of Being Creative

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    Recent article in NY Times by Louise Story on how a Boston Marketing Campaign generated unexpected attention of the city police, caught my attention this afternoon. The campaign did work as eventually lots of media coverage is generated. However, there is some negative publicity that adds to the whole effect. The team was creative and used all the gorilla tactics (being enigmatic and puzzling the audience), however it is always easy to forget that someone eventually will be offended or hurt. In this particular case, I think it was a blooper not to be aware of the “suspicious black boxes” perception in the minds of at least US population. When I see a black package with no sign unattended, I make sure I am a number feet away of it, even if it seems paranoid. So, I thought it the team lacked the “due diligence” and forgot to notify the city authorities that it is part of the campaign. Marketers should keep taking risks, but perhaps ran the idea by a number of “unattached” folks or sleep on it to make sure such important details are not missed. 

      Content Disclaimer

        Everything posted on this blog is a product of my own thoughts, ideas, reflections based on the professional interests. It is based on the public information, works of the colleagues and fellow researchers that are cited respectfully and my opinions as an industry professional.