Month: March 2011

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog,” quoting Mark Twain at the 57^th Annual Advertising Festival in Cannes, Unilever Chief MarketingOfficer (CMO), Keith Weed claimed the prestigious honour of Advertiser of the Year 2010. Currently embarking on a new venture regarding hosting the “iAd” feature onsmartphones, Weed is at the forefront of developments in the marketing industry. He truly believes that the current state of the economy suggests a need for smart and targeted marketing tactics and using the tools that

consumers are using will allow promotional practices to be more successful in obtaining the results they desire. As well, he suggests that “now is a really exciting time to get into marketing. Not just because of the digital revolution and all that’s changing around it, but actually in tough

economic times, that’s when you have to do the best marketing.” In his perspective, it is a company’s clever marketing strategies that will enable them to capture the attention of this economy’s frugal consumers and still be profitable as a business. Moreover, Weed suggests that, “Marketing is the very thing in tough times. The finance guys of the business account for where all the money’s going, the marketing guys account for where the money’s coming from.” Leaders in the marketing industry provide more than insight into the future of marketing, but rather their ability to inspire companies to achieve beyond their own expectations, is priceless. A pioneer in developing marketing into the industry it is today,

Keith Weed, at age 48 is a distinct visionary and inspirational leader. As the CMO of Unilever, Weed is responsible for an “excess of $7 billion worth of adspend and announced his ultimate goal as “doubling [their] business.”

Have you joined the “Tweeple” generation? Twitter has undoubtedly expanded into one of the fastest growing social media networking tools in the industry. Boasting a record breaking average of 65 million tweets per day, amounting to 750 tweets per second, Twitter is a newfound marketing hotspot.  It is an easily accessible and freecommunication instrument for high-profile celebrities, renowned companies, small businesses, community organizations, and average people wishing to share their thoughts, ideas, actions, or even suggestions. Within a 140 character limit, tweets have the ability to capture the attention of followers and use the platform to engage in a conversation with those they are connected to.  The potential of Twitter as a marketing tool continues to enlarge and has developed into a means of connecting with customers, communicating with those interested in your business ventures, as well as gain insight into the actions of inspirational figure-heads. Twitter defined, is a “”a short burst of inconsequential information,” as well as “a chirp from a bird” which signifies the underlying idea of Twitter. The first Twitter message was posted on March 21, 2006 and has since then swelled into an online community of millions of followers and billions of tweeted messages. Jack Dorsey, one of the initial founders of Twitter, in regards to his company’s objective believed that “the concept was huge, but the velocity was surprising.” Dorsey began contemplating the idea at age 15 based primarily off the evidence of text messaging becoming increasingly popular in the United States. Although the idea was not fully developed, Dorsey believes that “people adopted the technology and made it their own” showing three main ideas emerging as the popularity of Twitter grew, which included “immediacy, approachability, and transparency.” Utilizing Twitter effectively allows lines of communication to be opened within all industries. 

“A picture says a thousand words” may be a phrase which is cliché for some, but in the corporate world, a single picture, symbol, emblem, signature, or design reflects the entire focus and direction of a business. Logo defined, “is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition.” Whether it be the “swoosh” of Nike, the golden arches of McDonalds, or the bitten apple of Apple Inc, companies essentially become defined by the logo they are represented by. However, businesses whether large or small, require distinctive logos which will set their company apart from their competition. Additionally, although new logos are developed every day in countries around the world, logos are not a recent innovation of modern-day businesses. The origin of logos dates back to the time of the cave-man when hieroglyphic images were used as a storybook for the past. Presently, simplistic logos have the most powerful impact on the global market, as evidenced by some of the most popular and recognizable logos of all time, including Apple, Coca-Cola, Nike, and FedEx to name a few. Keeping it simple, although sometimes difficult can provide a clearer picture to consumers regarding the corporate values and overall direction of the business. To illustrate, the Mercedes Benz three point star logo immediately signifies class, precision, and exclusivity, as well as symbolizes the brand’s objective of dominating the land, sea, and air. Ultimately, billion dollar businesses are defined by images as simple as an apple! Ever thought the fruit you buy almost weekly at the local grocery store could be worth a design fortune? Think again. The Apple Inc. logo itself, is worth $13.7 billion dollars. That is one apple, that won’t be carried at a grocery store near you.

What do social media and a spicy Caesar cocktail have in common? Quite simply, social media, “it’s like the largest cocktail party in the world. It’s a room filled with people driven by one desire to communicate, share, digest and relate, while carrying on many independent conversations. Some of these conversations can be about you, your competitors or your industry. Some of these conversations could be people looking for a product like yours. They will talk about all these topics regardless of whether you are listening or not. However, you wouldn’t know any of this if you weren’t listening.” This savvy analogy of social media is quoted by Mashable, the leading social and digital media online news forum in the world, whose monthly page views exceed the 25 million mark. Recently celebrating 5 years of exceptional growth, development, and success Mashable dishes out thousands of brilliant articles on a new age generation of technology with a fresh perspective of the online world. Always updated and always relevant to the social media world, Mashable has gained incredible momentum in the last five years and shows no signs of slowing down in the near future. With a limitless potential for expansion, Mashable has incorporated their brand to include news on business, entertainment, tech, web video as well as development and design, all under the Mashable umbrella.

It’s quite simply, a “smashing” success!