Month: November 2011

I just read Sam Ng’s post on the importance of presentation skills, and it made me realize that many people underestimate how important the ability to present and communicate effectvely actually is…Bottom Line: If you cannot present, you will not be a successful business person. 

All of one’s research, creative ideas, and suggestions mean absolutely nothing if they cannot be effectively communicated to a target audience. Sure, your ideas may be laid out perfectly in your head, but if nobody can understand them, how useful are they? This should always be kept in a student’s mind preparing for a career in business.  

I found an external blog post by Heidi Jackman of sliderocket titled 7 Spicy Secrets, which provides 7 main tools needed to deliver an engaging presentation, and I’ll focus on 3 of these points..

1.CLEAR THE CLUTTER: Give your audience something that they can actually remember and take home, “inspire (rather than tire)”.

2. STRIKE UP A CONVERSATION: Don’t merely be a “talking head”; get your audence involved and “stimulate discussion”.

3.GET FEEDBACK: Use your audience as a tool to learn and grow. Let guests voice their opinions to inform you what worked (and what failed).

 Steve Jobs introduces the iPad: A great presentation…take many notes.

After reading Hilary Johnson’s post titled “White Spot shifts direction”, it made me realize that old-school marketing techniques, such as White Spot’s great taste since 1928 campaign are still relevant and used in business today…not only are these campaigns still occuring, but they can be very effective as they appeal to older demographics who value reliability, dependability, and simplicity in a time of high paced technology, where many consumers can feel lost.

However, a company’s marketing plan is dependent on who they are targeting…White Spot may have conducted research which indicated that a large number of their clients were members of older generations, or even senior citizens, prompting them to switch to an old-school style campaign.

Conversely, Apple Inc. would never have an ad titled “computers since 1976″ because they are focussed on future technology, not past technology, which would make the brand seem old and out-dated

A great exaple of “since” marketing, as I like to call it, includes Budweiser’s since 1876 campaign, which delivers the message that Budweiser has provided a great-tasting product for over a hundred years suggesting that the Budweiser is a dependable product, and is never a bad choice for a consumer.

 Through some reseach regarding the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility, I have found that since CSR is becoming such a necessary and vital component in a business model, it is no longer viable to just simply have a CSR plan…it now needs to be effective. In recent times, the only CSR plans that recieve exposure (leading to increased sales) are those that are highly detailed and effective. Paul Klein’s blog post in Canadian Business describes 5 key elements that successful CSR programs contain. 

 1.Bunsiness-Based Social Purpose: CSR directly reflects what the business does- “Campbell’s Nourish”

2.Clear Theory of Change: Sparking a new and collective change

3.Quality + Depth of Informaton: Customers and stakeholders must be recieve detailed information regarding the importance of the initiative 

4.Concentrated Effort: Focus on one issue and concentrate your effort- “P&G’s Protecting Future’s”

5.Partnering with experts– Programs need credibility to be valid and accepted

Klein’s blog post, which outlines these CSR tactics, is so important for business leaders because without these 5 elements, their initiative will hardly recieve any exposure from the public; their CSR plan will simply turn into a “feel-good” mission, rather than a sales + marketing program which is the overall goal.

 Coca Cola CSR Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoOL2KfDuAA

After reading Dane Peterson’s post titled “The Old Spice Guy“, I had the realization that there is a certain trait that consumers are drawn to: MASCULINITY…and the agency Wieden+Kennedy were aware of this when they created “The man your man could smell like” campaign for Old Spice. 

Through some research, I found that these campaigns are more successful when there is one single figure that a consumer can label masculine, manly, or tough…it provides easier and simplistic brand identity for a consumer and establishes a spot in our minds.

For example, “The Marlboro Man“, one of the most  successful ad campaigns in history, made the typical masculine American Cowboy the new representation of  Marlboro Cigarettes. Just as the built actor Isaiah Mustafa fuelled the Old Spice Campaign, Darrell Winfield, a real-life ranch cowboy, was recruited by Leo Burnett in 1954 to be the man behind the brand for 20 years.

Sales in 1955 amounted to 5 billion, and in 2 short years, climbed to 20 billion in 1957, for a 300% increase.

Even more amazing, is that Marlboro used to be a feminine brand, with the slogan “Mild as May”…

        The social networking website for mobile phones, Foursquare, has taken the simple concept of “checking in” to a venue, (coffee shop, mall, pub, arena, etc.) and communicated it to the world. By innovating this simple concept, Founder Denns Crowley has created a new method of mobile globalization, and has motivated users to travel and visit different locations. For example, if you visit a location, log into your Foursquare account on your smartphone, and write a small message or “tip” about the location. If you have visted the place more times than any other user in the past 60 days, you are declared the mayor! You may even earn a “badge” for going to certain places! How motivating!

          Foursquare hs organized the details  for countless businesses, shops, etc., and most of these businesses are actively engaged in the foursquare community, tracking how many people visit and liked/disliked their location, and even offering discounts for people that visist multiple times. By organizing and sharing this data, Foursquare opens up multiple streams of possible revenue, and during its short 2.5 year existence, the company has already recieved approximately $70 million in funding and is valued at $600 million, boasting over 10 million registered users.

A source from British agency Reuters has reported that Best Buy has agreed to purchase the U.S. mobile phone venture of Britain’s Carphone Warehouse, which is the largest independent phone retailer in Europe. Set to be announced on Moday, sources have reported that the deal is being made for 1 billion dollars. This is the second transaction between the two companies as Best Buy purchased a 50% share of Carphone Warehouse in May of 2008 for 2.1 billion to launch Best Buy Europe, which failed mainly due to “a lack of brand recognition” in Britain. Best Buy “opened just 11 megastores in Britain” before ending expansion.

Instead of competing with electronic retailers in Britain with superior brand recognition, Best Buy has decided to focus on the U.S. market, notably the mobile phone market…how is this billion dollar purchase going to benefit them? I have a few thoughts..

1.Best Buy operates approximately 13 mobile stand-alone stores in the U.S., and they may be eager to open more of these locations as they may have been tremendously succesful.

2.Internal research may suggest that the mobile phone industry will see continuous growth, meaning that Best Buy will improve their in-store mobile phone department.

Original Article