I was talking with some of my colleagues from the Silicon Valley American Marketing Association (SVAMA) yesterday and we were speculating on social media and how this arena is changing traditional media. Michael was saying that it's actually not true that current media replaces old media--it just gets re-innovated. Radios didn't get replaced by Walkmans, and even though we don't use the old tapes format anymore, we don't listen to music any differently than we did after Walkman. And books haven't gotten replaced by things like the Kindle or Sony e-Reader and so far, it doesn't seem like they will. It's almost impossible to have a true "paperless office" even with cool tools made by Google Apps and Zoho but one thing that remains true is that innovation is constant and changing.
I'm no expert, but some good conclusions came out of our group conversation, but I keep noticing some of the same themes. The group I was speaking with were fairly knowledagable about social media. But in general, a lot of marketers aren't sure how social media works and there a lot of fear surrounding blogs, social networks and such to use them as a marketing tool. I think we just need to get back to basics and remember some marketing 101: who is your target market and will the tools you want to use serve your business/marketing objectives?
Of course, it's easier said than done, so feel free to post your thoughts on social media approaches and/or the latest trends in technology innovation that you see.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Communication, a Media Invasion
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Time and ROI
I was in a cafe today, where the people watching was good, and a guy from the East coast was going on about business relationships, how to cultivate them and how it's different on the West Coast. I didn't catch most of what he said, and just tuned in to Pandora radio shortly after, but there was a snippet in his conversation that I could identify: A lot of business can be developed through conversations and building relationships--Californians don't do enough of that here in California because they only care about making a profit.
I don't know if what he says is true about Californians and relationship building. Maybe we don't want to lose our "coolness factor" by acting too interested but from an economic perspective, it looks business is important here and many people are benefiting from the opportunities made possible through start-ups and more mature companies. If it wasn't important here, then a number of the best 100 businesses to work for wouldn't be here. The question is, is it true what he says about Californians? Do we take the time to cultivate our relationships for mutual business benefit and show good will towards others?
How much time do you spend in your relationships for mutual benefit and staying dynamic versus trying to solicit immediate profit via hard sales? Is relationship ROI always a measurable number like how many people you are connected to on LinkedIn or is it more actionable where you see a few quality business relationships bring you steady business and more opportunities?
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
First Movers: Strive through the narrow gate
Early last week, Amazon.com announced the release of the Kindle, the latest device for e-books, thus taking over the market space once occupied by the Sony Reader, which I've seen a couple of times at Borders in Palo Alto.
It's hard to say just which e-reader is going to win out in the battle, but it's not the first time that Sony has come out with a "first-mover" product to be later taken over by competitors with better resources and positioning.
Also true for the Blu-ray, which is in fierce battle now with the HD-DVD. The last I heard, Blu-ray was in the lead and then HD-DVD was winning, mostly measured by number of units sold. Does anyone know where this is now? There is a fair amount of noise around this subject.
I'm definitely not making any eye-opening comments here but I dare say that Sony has had to struggle really hard to keep their brand on the forefront, which confirms that first-mover advantage doesn't always mean that you've won the game.
Even though Sony revolutionized the music market with the Walkman roughly about 20 years ago Apple came and trumped them with the trendy, life-style icon, the iPod and didn't just stop there.
It just seems that whenever Sony comes up with something, no matter which market, somebody else always seems to come up with something better.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Lucky - Albertson's struggle
Last night, I went to my neighborhood Albertson's grocery store to get myself an after-dinner treat to find that the store was closed, and they were changing the Albertson's banner to Lucky's.
I know that legal issues are at stake here, and people's pride is also at stake, but it's really annoying to me as a consumer to be in the middle of a legal struggle.
OK so this is an old issue, but if a company is intelligent, are they going to spend a ton of time and money on licensing issues and spend a lot of money putting up new signs across Northern California just get the "Lucky" brand out there again. I mean, it has been a little less than 10 years since Lucky was originally popular.
Oh well, it's not me spending the money.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Why Green is More Important
Green vs. Green. Which is better? Being rich or being environmentally-sound? This is the new dilemma of our century.
This morning I was listening to NPR and an interesting issue came up: if we keep going at the rate that we are going, heating up the ozone and causing global warming, some frozen areas on the Earth (I forgot what they are called) will melt, thus causing over 50 feet of water to be added to the Earth's surface. This is akin to over-flowing your bath tub with water, but with more serious results. A lot of cities are located near coastlines and our cities could be under water.
I have a fear of drowning. So to be a little bit naive, I would say I prefer to be alive than to be dead and rich.
Monday, June 18, 2007
What's Your Net Impact?
My 5 every-day environmental guilt trips:
1. Buying groceries: Plastic bags can add about 13 cents to your bill, and depending on how often you buy groceries, this can add up. Plus, it creates waste & carbon emissions every time you recycle.
2. Individual-sized anything: Plastic water bottles (the ones that come in a huge carton with about 16 or 20 bottles per pack) or paper coffee cups. Bottom line: bring lunch and your own thermos to your fave cafe.
3. Transportation: The cost of gas prices + lack of advertising to inform commuters how to take the train!
4. Garbage: Landfills are basically holes sealed off with something to prevent toxic waste from seeping into our ground water. Every time I take the trash out, I get paranoid that I could be poisoning people by adding to the wreckage.
5. Unnecessary air conditioning/heating: Carbon emissions & waste of energy. Blankets are cosier for cold days and windows do wonders for creating more air circulation.
***
Green News:
The Economist, June 14th 2007
A who's who of technology firms launched an industry initiative to reduce computer energy consumption. The campaign, which is being led by Google and Intel, commits makers of PCs and servers to higher efficiency standards.
Europe pumped out fewer greenhouse gases in 2005, according to new data from the European Environment Agency. Emissions from the European Union's 27 member states dropped by 0.7% compared with a year earlier. Finland, Germany and the Netherlands contributed most to the drop.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Social Business Enterprises
Have you ever thought about starting your own business? What about a business that addresses global social issues that are happening right now in the world?
Here's something to think about: www.invisiblechildren.com
I cannot emphasize enough how little people think about opportunities outside of their own comfort zone. Everyone, including myself, is guilty of pursuing the "American dream" but we do not realize that there are children who are continuously under the threat of terrorism today. The shock is immense and perhaps very easy for us, in the comfort of our own homes and offices to simply forget and move on with our daily lives.
But what if we moved beyond this comfort level and push ourselves just a little bit to think of solutions? Of course we have our own problems with American soldiers in Iraq, civil problems, national problems and so forth. But if you were to go look on this website, you might find something that will motivate you to act just as much as I was to write this posting.
In my own childhood, I, like any other child, had the right to curiosity, play and innocence. Truly, I would not want other children to be denied the same right.
