Just do it

There aren’t too many opportunities to immerse yourself in the business and marketing world at the movie theatre, so take advantage of two great films showing in selected theatres right now.

The September Issue

This narrates the creation of American Vogue's seminal ‘September’ issue (in 2007). The standout drama comes from the fascinating relationship between Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington, where methodical and meticulous editing alongside visionary creativity coexist - beautiful and truly fascinating.

Art and Copy

The film is a masterpiece that tells the magic stories behind seminal ad campaigns such as ‘got milk’, and of course 'Just Do it' from Nike. It's so much fun to revel in the journey of the campaigns and become mesmerized by the genius and talent of the protagonists.

The simple way I connect both films is that in these industries breakthrough success can only arise from three things:

• passion for what you do
• rejection of mediocrity
• Unbridled joy at expressing your creative self

Check them both out now !

The World's softest sock

So what makes a great claim?

1.It must be simple
2.It needs to have stopping power
3.It needs to be believable, (or at least make you feel that its believable)
4.It needs to make you buy
5.It needs to make you come back and buy again

Well this one certainly meets all 5 criteria. My wife has purchased 4 pairs of these socks in the last 4 months, and at c. $8-10 a pair (in stores) they certainly are high margin for the manufacturer and retailer alike.

I cannot figure out how they substantiate this claim "world's softest sock", unless of course they test each and every sock in the world for softness (unlikely)…..or perhaps this counts as ‘marketing puffery’ (more likely)?

In any case its fantastic marketing, because it works !

Twitter 101 – Smart Twips and Top Links

As a fan of Twitter and self taught user (via trial and error) I have collated dozen's of sources to write a 2 page guide called "Twitter 101 - Smart Twips and Top Links". It's ideal for beginners and intermediate users. Find it at the following link.

Hope it helps and please leave comments on the blog.

Mraketing – how to make Sreach work for you….

So now I got your attention didn’t I ! Think about it - how often do you miss-spell a word in an email – 50% of the time ? How about miss-spelling a word in a search ? I would guess its MOST of the time.

So If marketing is about gaining attention, and search marketing is about defining and choosing the optimum words for your 'bsusines' or 'barnd'…then you may be missing a trick by not actively buying miss-spelled words.

Simply, get someone to type your top 5 search words out 20 times, and keep the mistakes for some of your key words!

I credit this highly original thought to the great guys at the Marketing over Coffee site and podcast ….listen to the show dated 16th Sept (at 06:25) to learn more….

Rebranding London - 3 tips for success

As a former resident I’m a big fan of London. However, it does need to step up its game to keep up with wonderful cities such as Barcelona, Stockholm and Melbourne. So Im watching the rebranding London campaign brief and pitch process with interest. Moving Brands have breathed some great energy into the process by leveraging crowdsourcing - with some amazing ideas sent in : check them out here .

My three tips for success

1. Bring the Outside In
The opportunity to re-brand london should be championed outside of the country – after all visitors and tourists will be the key customers of any new identity.

2. Engage the Masses
Internally, It could be a great opportunity to reach out to the wider community of ‘brands’ that actively touch London – eg airlines, sports teams, retailers that also have a vested stake in the success of the output, tapping into their creative minds and ample resources – encouraging them to submit.

3.Inspire the Kids
This could be a great school project – to get kids engaged in the discussion – reaching out to school bodies to encourage submissions. Good Luck London.