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Monthly Archives: October 2011

I watch the Superbowl because of the advertisements. They are usually put on by beer and chip companies, and 90% of the time they are hilarious. While they try to make people laugh, above all they are still trying to sell a product. Companies such as Bud Lite and Doritos use humour to market their product because it is the easiest, effective way to engage and recruit customers.

This technique is called Content marketing. Content marketing engages potential customers with information relevant to them.  The essence of this content strategy is the belief that if a company delivers consistent, ongoing valuable information to buyers, the buyers will ultimately reward the company with their business and loyalty. iTunes’ Genius Bar, which enables you to create new playlists from your stored music or to discover new tunes that you’re likely to love based on a song that you have chosen from your own iTunes collection, is a strong example of Content Marketing.

More towards TV ads, I thought I’d share this one on Carlton Beer. Simply brilliant–even if you don’t appreciate a good pint!

Carlton Draught

 

Strong leaders can definitely make or a break a company. Apple’s loss of Steve Jobs is so massive that “[w]ith him gone, the cult may soon dissolve,” says Anver Mandelman from The Globe and Mail.

Mandelman’s reasoning comes from a past event: in 1985 Jobs was pushed out of Apple and the company nearly went belly-up. Jobs eventually returned to save the day. Now that “Apple’s sparkplug is gone” forever, Mandelman thinks, “so is the company’s rosy future.”[1]

Is it possible for Apple to actually turn into a mediocre company? It is really hard to tell at this point, and I think over the next few years it will remain that way. As some years go by, though, I think we may witness changes in Apple and its products. Steve Jobs’ knack for inspiring innovation was what lead the company to what it is today. Larry Ellison, the billionaire chief of Oracle[2], said “[t]he difference between me and Steve is that I’m willing to live with the best the world can provide. With Steve that’s not always good enough.”

For the sake of Jobs and also tech-users worldwide, I hope Apple can continue producing better than good products.

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