Here’s a great deck on the state of social media in 2012 from Esteban Contreras
In a world of increasing customisations, Tanaka have released an automatic door that goes beyond the standard door that opens when you set off a particular sensor. This door calculates the shape of the person or object approaching and using clever horizontal sliders, opens to the optimal shape to allow entry.
Cool this door is, but it also helps in keeping the ‘cool weather’ out, minimising dust, pollen and bugs while keeping the temporature constant on the inside.
For years new products have tried to get our attention by using Sampling.
Last month I was given 3 tea bags at a Sydney train station neatly enclosed in an envelope advertising the new lipton tea favours. Train stations are not a bad way to sample in mass, particularly if your product is aimed at the mass market, however it was surprising how many of the tea bag envelopes were dumped in the bin before people had exited the station.
Many of you would have heard of or even read Seth Godin’s excellent book, Purple Cow. The book articulates in an inspiring and easy to read style the challenge facing the modern marketeer .. that of trying to create something that is truely remarkable in a world where products for the masses are pretty much saturated!
As Seth says “Cows, after you’ve seen one, or two, or ten, are boring. A Purple Cow, though…now that would be something.” Companies need to take more risks, create something remarkable that a few people care about, and make it easy for them to tell their friends. The basic concepts in Purple cow can be summarised in these 5 points.
Sell what people are buying
Focus on the early adopters and sneezers
Make it remarkable enough for them to pay attention
Make it easy for them to spread
Let it work its own way to the mass market.
As the price for LCD and Plasma screens continues to fall, marketeers are begining to use them to communicate to consumers at or close to the point of purchase.
From a subtle “Would you like fries with that?” message at consumer facing side of the checkout, to more main stream advertorials describing functional uses for products, marketeers are using them as new ways to communicate to consumers.
Now, thanks to the Egg Factory, they are being used as floor mats !
In contrast to my recent post about the small Blowfly brewery, Carlton United Breweries (Fosters) have created a big advertisement that is continuing it’s current theme of recognizing that consumers are wise to the same old ads.
Whilst this ad would have cost a packet, it did get many things right.
Firstly, it plays to an educated audience that recognises that beer is beer. Secondly, the ad is entertaining and draws on inner male passions by combining the themes of a ‘Brave Heart meets Lord of the Rings’ style cinematography that will appeal to most of the Australian beer drinker audience.
As our supermarket shelves become more and more full of home brands (generics), the desire to be different or unique is creating a whole new trend in boutique branding.
Boutique and Brands is almost an oxymoron because once the lifecycle of a product gets to a stage where the product is mainstream, the brand is no longer boutique.
Small to medium sized businesses with boutique rands often utilise viral or buzz marketing and execute them with far more success than big corporations.
As the rise and rise of Generic brands begin to dominate our grocery isles, it is any wonder Branded manufacturers are wondering what they can do to convince their consumers of the additional value in branded products. Whilst key product positioning within the supermarket shelves is a success factor in consumer propensity to purchase, consumers are becoming smarter and want to know the value of a brand before paying a premium to the generic.
Podcasting is gathering favour thanks to Apple who have now incorporated Podcasts in their menu structure of itunes version 4.9
What is a Podcast? Here’s the definition from The Podcast Network
“The long story…a podcast is an audio show similar to a radio broadcast (but better and more relevant to you…the listener) that is either downloaded from a website or delivered via an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed automatically to your desktop music application via an aggregator, or a podcatcher application as some like to call it.
We have heard of pass the salt, but how about “pass the straw”?
Yes .. you will soon be able to get your favourite flavour delivered via a straw.
Unistraw™ is a patented straw drinking system that delivers flavours, nutrition, energy, or specific pharmaceuticals through beads that dissolve in the course of drinking.
The Unistraw™ drinking system has application across the following areas:
§ Flavouring milk, water, wine, and soda
§ Deliver energy, salts and minerals for the sports market
§ Deliver health-value and vitamins for the lifestyle market, and
§ Transport proteins, antibodies, probiotics, and specific pharmaceuticals for the health market.
