廣告界一向被標籤為過度浪費、兼製造污染嘅行業，其實只要動吓腦筋，我哋都可以為環保出一分力，就好似adidas嘅「LOGROW」為例 (www.mindthecurb.com/our-gallery.asp)，以植物及石頭拼成嘅Logo，環保得來又有特色。TOYOTA Prius發佈會派對仲利害，將植物種籽藏喺邀請咭裏面，經淋水及陽光後，咭上面會生長出植物，與廣告口號「Good Ides Grow Literally」配合得天衣無縫(www.psfk.com/2009/01/detroit-auto-show-prius-ad-that-grows.html)；另有荷蘭廣告公司研發出一套字體，能夠減少20%印刷時嘅墨水用量，並放喺網上任人下載，有興趣可以於google搜尋「Ecofont」就會搵到。(www.ecofont.eu/)
上一代嘅成功方程式，就係大量生產（mass production），然後買大量電視廣告（mass media），將呢啲大眾產品（mass product）推銷俾大部份嘅普羅大眾（mass market），可惜，呢條完美方程式嘅效率已經今非昔比，點解？首先，Target Mass Market嘅產品多咗數百倍，而為咗推廣呢啲Mass Product嘅廣告亦自然地比以前多咗、密咗、煩咗，仲可以話係無處不在（連廁所尿兜裹面都時常見到！），久而久之，適應力特強嘅香港人對呢啲Mass Media Promotion嘅免疫力亦都比以前強咗百倍；換言之，我地本能地對呢啲「干擾」性嘅廣告視而不見、聽而不聞。
I just read this (again from legendary Seth) and it reminded me of something I know but lose track of in day to day activities.
- There are measurable (in $ terms) marketing investments for driving revenue and sales
- There is also a portion of investment for building a brand and shaping perception of the brand, which is sometimes forgotten or at times ignored
They are both important (although not always equally, as it varies for each brand and business). It is easy for a CEO or CMO to say we want both, but a lot of thinking and planning need to be done to come up with strategies, priorities, roadmap, transformation plan and timeline. We are also not living in a world where things happen step by step like in a chess game, everything is happening in a thousand miles simultaneously. So focus on the goals and objectives, keep moving fast but always find time to take a step back and think and revaluate.
A Singapore prime minister once said “we must get away from the idea that it is only the people at the top who should be thinking, and the job of everyone else is to do as told. Instead we need to bring about a spirit of innovation, of learning by doing, of everyone each at his (her) own level all the time asking how he (she) can do his (her) job better”.
What he said could be summed up by “Kaizen” in Japanese, which means “continuous improvement”.
In today’s fast changing digital marketing field where the core competencies required for success are ever evolving, embedding the concept of Kaizen in the corporate culture of digital agency workplace is simply business critical.
A business process reengineering exercise performed by a few key senior executives is not Kaizen.
Kaizen strategy calls for “NEVER-ENDING efforts for improvement involving EVERYONE”.
It is a daily process. It is a long-term cultural change.
Brands hire 4As digital agencies to produce marketing materials that are visually beautiful, professional, corporate and flawless. Brand managers review them and say they are perfect and approved and then they get published.
When consumers see these perfect sites and banner ads, they acknowledge these materials are pretty but they are also common, typical, ordinary, conventional and routine. This creative and execution standard has become expected and average, they are not impressed and they probably won’t tell anyone.
Besides aiming for perfect and flawless, try aiming for remarkable, too.
Being remarkable is being extraordinary, unusual, surprising, amazing and spectacular. Most importantly, it is something worth talking about.
This article on The Guardian tells you how to be remarkable.
By the way, remarkable becomes unremarkable over time, you need to reinvest and reinvent all the time.
“We are very experienced in making X, we are very good at making X, we working very hard in making X; and now, all the clients care about is price”
They are only seeing price because they believe “X” is a commodity.
If what you do has turned into a commodity, don’t take it personal, it has nothing to do with how good you are at making X, if they believe X is a commodity, all they want is the cheapest.
You can try to change their belief or you can re-invent what you do instead, how about making “X 2.0″ or “Y” or “Z” or “xyz”?
How many times have you read / heard / said that the agency’s unique proposition is…
“We are an integrated, full service digital agency that specializes in creative brand building solutions”
Point of difference is what makes you different from your competitors.
When 80% of agencies have the same point of “difference”, it is time for a change.
We have a surplus of similar brands, with similar brand positioning, similar marketing messages, making similar brand promises, selling at similar prices, with similar quality.
AND
There is a surplus of similar agencies, employing similar people, with similar educational backgrounds, working in similar jobs, coming up with similar ideas, producing similar ads, with similar prices and similar quality.
*Inspired by Kjell Nordstrom
On most of the signup pages for newsletter or membership, you would see a check box for you to decide if you want to receive future email information about the company or products. Some of them are default to yes and users have to click “no” to opt out of receiving emails. You cost me my time and risk annoying me.
Opt out = junk mail / spam
Another example, when you sign up for netvigator broadband, the sales person will convince you to take some free trial services for 2 months, i didn’t want it but he insisted so i said ok do whatever you want. Then 2 months later, they started charging me for the extra services that i didn’t want and didn’t use, they said i had to contact them to cancel the service. I complained and they waived the charges, the decision was made in an instance, they probably get the same complaints a lot.
Why do they keep pissing off their new customers like that? Instead, why don’t you offer the 2 months free trail and then have the same sales person to follow up after 2 months and ask if i want to continue the services and start paying for them?
Just remember this rather inspiring conversation with a cab driver on my way to the airport about the year of the ox.
He thinks it should be called the year of the cow as it sounds more gentle. And I think it should be named the year of the bull, he thinks it sounds too threathening and reminds people of the economic crisis.
But the term “crisis” in Chinese is a combination of the characters of “danger” and “opportunity”, sounds rather exciting to me.
Everyone in the 4As advertising industry is panicking, but now that clients have less money to spend on TVC, outdoor and print ads, they turn to us for digital, viral and word of mouth campaigns that deliver measurable results.
Businesses also realize that only their loyal customers and fans are still spending on them, we help them formulate permission based marketing strategies and build, feed and nuture their tribes, allowing them to find and build products for their customers instead of finding customers for their products.
