Monthly Archives: January 2012

6 questions for advertisers with Apps.

Traditional paper publishing is going down the slot, we all know that, but it still has a place, particularly the magazines, and most particularly the lower  volume, niche end, high fashion and  exotic cars for example.  So what happens to … Continue reading

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Human costs of innovation.

In the December 2011 quarter, Apple made  $13 billion in profits, an extraordinary figure, 3 billion more than the revenue of Google in the quarter. Apple is an innovation machine, making it so is the legacy of Steve Jobs. However, there is … Continue reading

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5 key Leadership attributes

 Libraries have been written on this topic, so perhaps a summary for 2012 is warranted, particularly as we go into tougher, and more ambiguous times. Plot a course that others can relate to, buy into, and understand. Inspire and energise … Continue reading

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Australia’s meaningless celebration.

It’s Australia day, a celebration of nationhood, opportunity for pollies to grandstand, excuse for a piss-up, whatever floats your boat. Perhaps it should be a day for articulating our national challenges, in a manner that encourages rational debate based on … Continue reading

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Social Media & the Iceberg metaphor.

The term “Social Media”  is catch-all for a multitude of web based services that bear little similarity to each other beyond their location on your nearest device. Each tries to deliver a compelling and differentiated benefit, often to a very … Continue reading

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Budgeting, storytelling, and 4 questions.

 Budgeting and storytelling are synonyms in many companies I have seen. The budgeting process usually is a source of much angst, optimism, gaming, heavy workload, and often intimidation. We all bitch about the inflexibility and unreality of the budget setting … Continue reading

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Management crash diet.

 Most of us know that if we set out to lose weight, a crash diet usually just works in the short term, what we really need is a change in lifestyle, or at least, some aspects of our lifestyle. Obvious. … Continue reading

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Assistance hypocrisy

The Federal Government is regularly blackmailed into providing assistance for the Australian car making industry, hundreds of millions on the basis that the industry is strategically important. The real reason is the political poison that closure of a plant causes, … Continue reading

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SOPA nonsense

If you have not yet caught up with SOPA,  the “Stop Online Piracy Act” working its way through the US legislative system, you probably soon will, because if it gets up, the troglodytes in Canberra will pile onto the bandwagon … Continue reading

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Marketing KPI

In the good old days of mass marketing, you could survive in a marketing role, even a senior one, with a pretty generic set of analytical, project management and people management skills. That is no more, just as mass marketing … Continue reading

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Media: Paid or earned?

Marketers have long understand that word of mouth advertising is the most powerful form of advertising, now enhanced by social media tools, evolving into the term “word of mouse” to describe the phenomenon. This leads to a further distinction: media … Continue reading

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Another brick ripped from the wall

The wall I refer to is the Australian processed food industry. It is being torn down by the high $A, the strategies of the two retail gorillas who are stocking shelves with housebrands, global sourcing of product, and lack of … Continue reading

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The biggest insult.

Surely in this day and age of total and transparent communication, putting out a contrarian view, and having no-one respond is the greatest insult we can make. Putting out a view that is deliberately contrarian takes guts, as you will … Continue reading

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The disruption of photography

Kodak used to “own” photography, having a massive share of the film market, end to end. No more, Kodak is virtually broke, subject to continuous take-over speculation. The really interesting thing is that one of the assets that makes Kodak … Continue reading

Posted in Change, Customers, Innovation, Marketing, Strategy | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Differentiation to making a difference

As a marketer, I have always sought to differentiate my products from those of my competitors in a meaningful way, to add value to the experience of use. In a hyper-connected, multi-branded world,  where most people don’t care too much … Continue reading

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Invest in the process.

A friend of mine, a smart bloke, has coached local soccer teams for ages, and seems to be able to take a bunch of ordinary 15 year olds, and mould them into a winning team. He has done  it time … Continue reading

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The purpose of advertising.

“Advertising is what you do when you cannot get there in person” This has been a pretty regularly heard quote over my 40 years in this business, attributed to Fairfax Cone, one of the founders of Foote Cone & Belding … Continue reading

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God help the NBN

In the communication revolution going on currently, the infrastructure to carry it all is vital, but how relevant will the 2010 infrastructure be to the world that greets it when it is finally completed roll-out in, when?, what was the … Continue reading

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Pavlov’s customers.

We are in the middle of the post Christmas sales, an orgy of discount opportunities for consumers as retailers rush to clear stock, and take advantage of the behavior consumers exhibit every new year, “buy, buy, grab the discount”. Whoops? … Continue reading

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What’s coming for 2012?

It is the time of year for predictions and reviews, so here is my shot. Three general predictions, and one very specific one, followed by a review of my predictions of this time last year. The barriers to communication are … Continue reading

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