We have all been victims at one point or other. Apparently, the older one gets, the more one suffers from it.
This syndrome is manifested in a periodic penchant for the past. Life was more carefree then, unfettered by the stresses and strains of modernity and technology.
Art or sheer marketing brilliance? (Damien Hirst’s £50 million For The Love of God courtesy of Secretly Ironic)
There is an underlying tension in the field of cultural management where one has to balance between giving customers what they want and preserving artistic integrity. This is especially prevalent in what we term as the ‘high arts’ like classical music, ballet, theatre and museums.
Against the ever growing competition from lifestyle activities coupled with the ever shrinking discretionary time of today’s consumers, it appears suicidal for art organisations to hold their ground for the sake of their art. Considered by many to be a discretionary expense (compared to purchasing groceries, fuel and homes), cultural activities have never faced such tremendous competition as the present age.
Extreme co-branding in action! (courtesy of Haendal Dantas)
Here are some interesting little snippets that I picked up this week.
To kick it off, Seth Godin warns us that marketing isn’t just about being better or more efficient, but rather, just being the right thing for customers, no matter how idiosyncratic those demands may be. Its interesting to read about his new middle-aged fetish for button fly jeans though.
Are Marketers Going The Way of the Dodo? (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
Do marketers still have a job in this day and age? What happens when everybody becomes a marketer?
With WhatsApp, blogs, Skype, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter, everybody – from the CEO down to the company driver – can be accessible online, 24 by 7, 365 days a week.
One of the greatest challenges facing communicators and marketers in the arts is the balance between satisfying artistic input and commercial (or public) interest.
Courtesy of woodleywonderworks
I was invited to a sharing session yesterday afternoon by David Shaw, Director at Effective Brands and a former marketing stalwart at both Lenovo and HP. Founded by Marc De Swaan Arons, the company embarked on a worldwide global brand study seven-years ago which now includes close to 100 global brands with a database of about 40,000 marketers. In the study, the branding consultancy focused on global marketing challenges and possible solutions to overcome them.
Here are some of the key highlights which I picked up.
I spotted the above spider making his home at the lift lobby just outside my home. The little guy has been there for weeks, and interestingly, no efforts have been made to clean up his silky home. I don’t really mind though as I have a thing for spiders.
In fact, there are some lessons that you can learn from them, which relates pretty well to the world of marketing.
New age marketing maven Seth Godin in action (courtesy of ashbuckles)
What is the future of marketing like? How can your company ride these trends?
To find out, I consulted my favourite marketing guru Seth Godin and his recently published book Meatball Sundae.
In the age of increasing emphasis on individual preferences, coupled with the prevalence of social media, the traditional rules of marketing would need to change. We are no longer talking about market segments that aggregate themselves neatly into discrete demographic groups, or consumer preferences that follow neat patterns. Information is available fast and free, and the general levels of trust in advertising has descended to an all-time low.
How do marketers hope to thrive in this landscape? Enter the concept of I-Marketing.
Child’s Play or a Lesson in Marketing?
As I was going for a run this evening at the neighbourhood park, I noticed how kids have this boundless energy aimed at the sole purpose of having non-stop fun. Jumping and skipping from one activity to another, they appear not to have a care in the world, and are focused on their agenda of having pure, unadulterated fun. While watching them play in glee, it hit me that perhaps there are lessons there that we can learn from in the realm of marketing.
Indeed, some of the traits of childhood – especially at play – are invaluable to us jaded marketers. They include the following:
