Category Archives: Marketing Related

Book Review: Contagious

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How To Build Word of Mouth in the Digital Age…by Jonah Berger (Stanford MBA Alumni and Wharton Professor)

Over the last 3 days, I read ‘Contagious’ – at 210 pages, it’s a quick and enjoyable read filled with great examples and easy to understand language. Berger focuses on his research on defining the six qualities of how products, services, and ideas spread through the human population. You can make content contagious by following these STEPPS:

S – Social Currency – people share to make themselves look cool.

T – Triggers – people share things that are top of mind and tip of tongue.

E – Emotion – not positive versus negative emotions, but the key is high arousal.

P – Public – if you can’t see it, you can’t share it.

P – Practical Value – Useful news.

S- Stories – like the Trojan Horse, wrap your product or service into a narrative.

It’s a great book for anyone in marketing, product, or business. I’d say a 3.7/5 read. And he mentions some pretty great YouTube videos (like the Parisian Love one I posted about) or this one about corn:

Now, I’m going to start a Bulgarian comedy called ‘ожених се за веганка’ (I married a vegan). And I’m going to read the book in a lovely coffee shop in Sofia called Chucky’s Coffee & Culture.

чао за сега!

NextTECHnow Expansion

There are some exciting times ahead for NexTECHnow – the start-up outreach program for Publicis Media. We’ve been a global capability (Business Transformation) since the summer, and the past 2 weeks have shown us continuing to go through hyper growth. This means growing laterally – across the Publicis media brands such as Zenith, Optimedia Blue 449, Starcom – and globally – across new countries. We even have a new logo and website. (Yes, for those of you keeping track… this is our third logo iteration).

http://nexttechnow.net 

On the 3rd of November, NextTECHnow launched in Singapore:

And today – the 10th of November – we officially launched NextTECHnow @Zenith here in the UK.

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Qui est Louise Delage?

Now this is a true content marketing strategy that uses the Instagram platform to its fullest potential. I love the idea and execution of this campaign against alcoholism in France; it definitely understands consumers and their behaviours (even the bad ones).

This reminds me of the AI chatbot Sweetie… see more on that story here.

Consumerism

tumblr_oe4b3dsxbr1qzr04eo1_1280If I had my own company/product/brand… I would enable my consumers to create as much as they consume. That would be my promise to them and to the world.

Marketing was traditionally a ‘push’ medium – by putting ads in front of mass audiences. We now have ‘pull marketing’ – which engages consumers through alluring content and opportunities to engage.  However, likes, shares, and comments are not true interaction, but measly clicks. They are part of the consumerist culture rather than the maker culture. Brands have the budgets, authority, and power to help their consumers CREATE things… which in my opinion will build long-term brand loyalty and help the planet. We can not continue down this path of using up natural resources and continually buying products. I believe people aren’t intentionally swallowing the planet product-by-product, but we have been primed to purchase and consume through the marketing we see 24/7.

The Innovator Theorist: Clayton M. Christensen

In case you haven’t read The Innovator’s Dilemma, here’s a four-minute video version with the key themes:

I am hugely inspired by Clayton M. Christensen’s work – especially around disruptive innovation. His thinking has influenced some of the biggest managers and leaders in modern business by making his idea frameworks applicable for all sectors. He teaches you how to think, not what to think. I also love the fact that Clayton focuses on innovation rather than entrepreneurship. The start-up culture currently dominates the media press and the market growth theories; however, large organisations that pursue ‘disruptive innovation’ alongside ‘sustaining innovations’ should also be praised and examined.

Plus, here’s one of his TED talks based on his book, How Will You Measure Your Life? 

Plus, I encourage you to check out his website. 

FEMALES: Let’s unite in our search for Moderate Drinkers

I love this new ad from Heineken:

It’s so much more than just a CSR campaign (Corporate Social Responsibility). It’s based on a real insight that women ACTUALLY want to interact with men who know their limits. I think it’s funny, well shot and extremely engaging. A moderate drinking campaign in the alcohol category that is executed correctly. And it makes me proud to be working with them on their communication and marketing strategy.

TableCrowd Business Dinners

What is Tablecrowd you ask? It’s a start-up founded by Kate Jackson in London that creates networking events around London based on specific topics. Watch the video for more information from Kate herself:

I’ve known Kate for over a year now and was delighted when she asked me to be a part of the  company. I’m now at the 3-month mark of being a dinner host for the company! And I’ve met everyone from Angel Investors to SEO experts to someone starting a company for hosiery subscriptions! If you live in London and enjoy sharing conversation over good food, check out the upcoming dinner:

https://www.tablecrowd.com 

#MeetandEat

Chess, Courage, and Business.

The Unthinkable… and the Mundane. An article in Fast Company on business + Innovation. It’s DEFINITELY worth a read – takes just about 7.2398 minutes!

 But then the board became messy and complicated, and suddenly it was too late. I realised that I was losing because I didn’t have the daring to make a rudimentary move.

This is the beautiful tension that defines chess — that distinguishes between the unthinkable and the mundane. 

And for all my talk of boldness and daring, great chess players cannot lose sight of the mundane details. In business, you might call this blocking and tackling — the everyday operations that, if left untended, will undermine your organisation.

Written by: Garry Kasparov (#1 ranked chess player in the world)

RECTEE.com

While doing my Google SquaredOnline Program – I came up with an idea for a new digital disruptive business. My product is RECTEE – from merging the words Receipt and Guarantee. A place to digitally store important receipts and guarantees (for washing machines, etc.). It provides each user with a digital, searchable, and trackable database of their purchase and household product guarantees, so they don’t have to keep track of and physically store paper receipts and manuals in the house.

The main target audience is digital-first millennials that are taking on finances and housing responsibilities for the first time. My assumption is that this audience is dissatisfied with clutter and paper trails. Thus, the market opportunity is to digitise a service that has typically been only paper-based and to combine different paper trails for the end user.

The Consumer-Centric Planning:

Consumer Wants – comfort, convenience, and digital-first experiences

Consumer Fears – clutter, having to pay for repairs, wasting time to search for manuals/appliance model numbers/etc.

Consumer Needs – a way to hold manufacturing companies to their product guarantees and centralise all their main receipts/warranties