Started in December 08, global banking giant HSBC started offering passengers at Heathrow’s Terminal 1 a chance to select magazine articles on topics they’re interested in and have them bound into a hardback form they can take on their flight, according to Springwise. The concept was pretty simple: as travelers enter the enclosure, they are handed a hardback magazine cover. They can then pick and choose from a large selection of loose-leaf articles arranged on the kiosk’s shelves. When they’re done, a staff member at the ‘binding bar’ neatly binds them into the cover to create a personal magazine.
Although this pilot marketing campaign was HSBC trying to promote its Premier banking package, it was definitely a laudable initiative heading in the right direction. As the world becoming more personalized – companies realize they would have to provide customized experience one way or the other. They might not be in charge of the content production, but there is an increasing demand in customization and curation that’s waiting to be fulfilled.
I sincerely hope such perks will roll out to other places around the world in the near future.
Website: www.hsbc.com
Contact: www.hsbc.com/1/2/contact-us
The very first New York City Entrepreneur Week (NYC ENT) was full of energy and ideas, as more than 2,000 entrepreneurs came together to share experiences, spark conversations, and strengthen relationships within the local start-up community.
I only made it to one panel discussion, but jotted down the most practical and inspirational words of wisdom below
Research first, Research again
Market Research may seem like an overwhelming task, especially to those “original thinkers.” Nevertheless, research is a MUST before jumping into any conclusions. Market Research not only links the marketing variables with the environment and the consumers, it also bring you closer to the like-minded people who might have paved the road ahead of you. In today’s connected world, don’t forget to leverage technology to find out the unknowns! Scrutinize the first 10 pages of Google results; look for relevant links through Del.icio.us bookmarks; collect user-generated mentions in Social Mention; discover similar content in Digg; gather computational knowledge via Wolfram/Alpha, etc. The technology and information are mostly free, but it does take TIME and EFFORT to conduct a thorough research.
Know your market, Test the market
Once you’ve got enough information on the market trends, target audience behaviors, market size & market variables, then it’s time to TEST the market! It helps remove some of the uncertainties and largely reduce investment risks. Sometimes, testing the market could simply mean running a sanity check with your friends and family. Other times, it helps to build a prototype and see how far it takes you. Venture capitalists always welcome prototypes, because it also helps them to better determine the product’s potential growth value.
Have a plan, Build a budget
Just like planning a wedding or buying a house, translating ideas into reality requires a concrete plan and a reasonable budget. This is supposed to be common sense, but VCs have seen far too many entrepreneurs walking in with a 10-page sloppy power point presentation and asking for 5 to 10 million investment money. Although it is not advisable to develop a 150-page word document illustrating every single step of the implementation, a well through-out, well-researched presentation is absolutely necessary. Also, the budget proposal needs to be data-driven and research oriented, not according to so and so’s imagination or past experience.
Minimize the fixed cost, Track the variable cost
While this project is the love of your life and you desire the best of the best to work for you and make it perfect, reduce the fixed costs as much as possible! For example, if you need to build a website, give the developers shares of your equity instead of promising cold hard cash. Introduce new businesses to the designer instead of paying $1000 for the layout. Hire a webmaster who is interested in your business idea instead of someone who just wants to make $50 an hour. Develop long-term friendships and partnerships, but keep your cash abundant. Of course, there will be those one-off costs that can not be avoided, closely track them and make sure you are staying on top of your financial status at all times.
Gather all metrics, Run A/B test
Project development involves a great deal of trail-and-error, so please ACCESS, MEASURE, TEST! Aside from statistical numbers, look for qualitative feedback as well. Systematic assessment during the development phase should be and will be your best friend during the development.
Find sponsorship, Find affiliated markets
This is the “Age of Collaboration.” The more hands you hold, the stronger you will become in the market.
Hire slowly, Fire quickly
Again, CASH IS KING. Don’t let labor resources quickly drain your financial resources. Find the talented versatile who is willing to wear multiple hats, fire those who are not contributing effectively as soon as possible. One important side note, every organization needs at least one Super Star Salesman! (1 out of 1500 ratio)
Build traffic, build SEO strategies
Search Engine Optimization has been a widespread marketing practice for years because it shows a measurable ROI and revenue growth. Although those prestigious marketing agencies and consultants might break your bank, basic SEO/SEM tips and guidelines can be easily sefl-taught. However, be cautious, as it is not hard to be barking up the wrong tree when it comes to getting search engine traffic because there is so much out of date information being circulated. For a beginner, spending 20 hours on Google’s Starter Guide and AdWords Guide is worth the time investment =)
Do you have anything else to add on the list? A powerpoint presentation might do a better job presenting these key takeaways, stay tuned ^^
There are SO many reasons to completely fall in love with HIMYM (How I Met Your Mother), brilliant writing, in-depth charecterization, awesome cast and increasing loyal fanbase. Aside from the usual ingredients of a succesful TV show, HIMYM has gone an extra mile both online and offline to win our LOLs and free word-of-mouth promotions!
After the recent episode – Old King Clancy, I couldn’t help to search if the site Barney (Legendary Neil Patrick Harris) mentioned actually exists. I followed the search link to canadiansexacts.org, and soon realized it was yet another show-related creation by the geniuses behind HIMYM. Impressed by the seamless experience they’ve bought us, I conducted some good ol’ fashion research. Here is the list of digital assets which have been created by HIMYM’s staff to complement the show.
Barney’s Blog (Must read!!! It’s obnoxiously hilarious ^^ Barney is the womanizer who is known to use the words “Awesome” and “Legendary” too liberally and often invents his own High Fives.)
HIMYM MySpace Page (Characters all have their own pages, tons of videos and extra “show-notes” you will find intriguing)
Barney’s Video Resume (Barney also has an unknown corporate job. When asked about what he exactly does, Barney merely responds; “Ha….Please.”)
marshallandlilywedding.com (not mentioned on the show, but contains photos and webisode-type footage from within the show’s continuity)
www.slapcountdown.com (“Slapsgiving”; now links to a fan forum; If you haven’t seen the episode, watch it, it will get you hooked on the series.)
www.tedmosbyisajerk.com (“The Bracket”; Note that tedmosbyisnotajerk.com is fan-created and unofficial)
Lily & Marshall sell their stuff dot com (“Everything Must Go”; linked to a real charity auction of HIMYM props and wardrobe)
MysteriousDrX.com (mysterious doctor x web site from the episode “The Possimpible”, not mentioned on the show)
Now we can add the new discovery to the legendary list
www.canadiansexacts.org (“Old King Clancy”; according to Barney “they really just want to get the information out there…” No worries though, it’s completely safe for work)
Shifting gear to the marketing perspective, if HIMYM were a brand, it has done a remarkable job to maximize the brand enthusiasm and engagament. “How I met your mother” makes us laugh when we tune in to CBS on Monday 8:30, but the show creators know they could excite us more in this hyperconnected world. From the Bro Code on Amazon to the various show-related sites above, HIMYM has energized us, the enthusiasts, with additional creative content to further strenghen the relationships. This is not only a good model for other TV shows, but the principle could apply to all brands who have promoters/fans.
If we agree all businesses are media businesses in a way, then it’s all about transferring knowledge/information from the creators to the outside world. Carter Bays & Craig Thomas have done it, now what’s your way of keeping brand enthusiasm going?
Many of you probably have heard of FriendFeed, some of you might have registered, but very few of you have spent the time exploring the possibilities FriendFeed has to offer. I wasn’t part of the early adopter crowd either, but recently I learned what a powerful & unique communication platform FriendFeed could be.
- First thing first, what exactly is FriendFeed (FF)?
Founded by a handful of ex-google employees, FF is a cross-platform aggregator that continuously lifestream the various social activities of those individuals you follow and allow others to follow what you’re doing on the socialweb. It currently supports feeds from more than 60 social sites, ranging from the well-known Facebook, LinkedIn, twitter, youtube, Google reader, del.icio.us, flickr to the less well-known Disqus and Zoomr. Pretty much any social media service that generates a RSS feed can be imported. Friendfeed is a way for you to connect with other people through their posts and discoveries on various social websites: you can read the stories they have submitted to Reddit, tune in their favorite music on Last.fm and learn about what they recently updated on Facebook status all in one web page. Additionally, it’s also an interactive network itself where users can comment or reshare people’s stories to continue the conversation.
- Why you should consider using FF?
Back in March 2008, Mashable conducted a poll to learn how people are reacting towards this newly established conversational platform. Near 80% of participants stated it was adding noise to the social fishbowl; only 20% argued that it enriched the conversation. Fast forward 11 months, I’m sure this number is no longer true, proven by the steady growth of the user base and increasing volume of FF evangelists. However, the question remains that in a era when you constantly experiencing information overload, why would you bother with another social site? Hmm…it’s a not an easy case to make, but let’s take a closer look at what FriendFeed can do for you.
If you are a casual user or social media wannabe – FF provides you the most comprehensive way to observe how your friends and those social media thought leaders cruise the social web. Instead of simply subscribing to their blog and following them on Twitter, it gives you more opportunities to interact with them dynamically. If nothing else, at least it’s a stepping stone to relationship building with those you find genuinely interesting or trustworthy. Also, you can join FriendFeed “rooms” which are like mini FriendFeed channels for a specific niche or subject matter. Whether it’s social media or movie reviews, FF enables you to stay tuned by getting realtime streams, opinions and even make more like-minded friends while tracking the news.
If you are a twitterholic – FF might very likely become your new addiction once you give these tips a try. Under FF’s new “find your Twitter friends” feature, subcribing to your Twitter pals is only one click away. Not only can you extend the Twitter dialogue on FF, you can also send the comment back to the Twitter community so the thread is continuous and lives on both platforms. However, I agree with xx , FF is not much of a threat to Twitter, it is actually more comparable to Facebook’s news feed due it’s capability to stream activities to one centralized location. FriendFeed will increase in value as its user base (near 1 million now) expands and may potentially become a competitor of Facebook Connect.
If you are a small business owner or a team lead who is looking for a collaborative tool – FF allows you to easily set up your own private room and replace the traditional mailing list approach of knowledge sharing. The private chat room could be used for brainstorm, sharing links, relevant search feeds, or even broadcast service announcements and the like. Here are some more use cases from Chris Brogan. If you are seeking an integrated knowledge sharing wiki without pulling away from all the social sites your team has been comfortable using, then FriendFeed is the FREE one-stop solution you should consider.
Like all things in social media, you have to swim in the fishbowl in order to truly “get” it. Give FriendFeed a try, I believe you will find its service to be more valuable than what you originally think.
Last black Friday March 13th 2009 was the 20th anniversary of the World Wide Web. While many of us take this information-sharing protocol for granted like it has always been there, it’s rather difficult to believe the fact that the social web is merely 20 years young, a year away from its legal drinking age. Of course we need to thank
Sir Tim Berners-Lee for his incredible vision on this “play project,” which should have earned him an international holiday. But more importantly, 20 years after the inception of the World Wide Web, companies have just started treating their presence on the Web more seriously than an online brochure. It’s about time, companies! Although the learning curve is steep, the cost of change is high, it is still absolutely necessary to participate in this intangible revolution. Why? Here are two basic facts about the Web that might help you understand why.
- The Web is a lively place where people connect & converse, it is not an extension of media channels
Does communication technology have to roll out incrementally? Many people seem to assume so. If TV is radio + visual stimulus, then Internet should be Television + something else! But what is that “something else?” Cheaper ad spaces ? Infinite channels ? A “buy” button ? Companies and marketers desperately tried to fill in the blank in order to superglue the Web onto the back of the TV’s history. That way this online market can be monetized, advertising can thrive again, everybody can go back to do their business as usual. Such wishful thinking didn’t go far at all, because the Web is a whole different beast that challenges everything we’ve experienced for the past 200 years. It is a global conversational space where everyone on it can have his/her own voice without any hierarchical management and control. So far it has attracted close to 1.6 billion people in the world, and it’s continuing to expand. t is a real place where people can learn from each other, debate, argue, comment; connect to those who share the same interests, form communities; access information, exchange knowledge; look for business vendors, do business with each other, and the list of activities goes on and on.Sounds different from what TV can do us? Ask the early founders of the Internet, it was intended to be a revolution. What does it mean for companies and marketers then? If TV was the perfect medium for advertising, then the Web is the anti-advertising medium by nature. If TV was the glamorous broadcasting tool for big companies, then the Web is the free playground for ordinary you and me who longs to have a voice. So before developing your next marketing communication plan, think again, 1.6 billion of us are no longer the same passive couch-potato audience.
- The Web is where authenticity lives, exaggeration dies
The word “authenticity” has been dancing next to our ears lately, thanks to the advocates of social media =) The reason why authenticity matters more on the Web is very simple: we get smarter as the network gets larger. In the old days of mass media, messages were distributed on a one-way street via the one-to-many megaphone. We had no way of verifying our doubts, no immediate access to satisfy our curiosity. But now with a quick search on Google or 3rd party forums, the truth we’ve always desired will easily rise above the puffery & targeted corporate messages. If nothing more, the Web reveals corporations’ problems. And those problems are not new, they have been there for a long time. The difference is that what these little voices used to say to a single friend now becomes accessible to the whole world. You can continue to produce corporate propaganda and fancy banners, but they would never be able to outnumber the pure human voices on the Web. The wisdom of crowds plus the speed of the Internet can smell those
PR spins & advertising exaggerations from miles away. Maybe truth hurts, but remember the
big brother is watching, and it’s us.
- What’s the solution then?
Listen to the little voices, mock yourself if you dare & most importantly, get closer to your customers! We will reciprocate your effort by linking you, digging you, tweeting you and talking about you…After all, the most successful form of advertising is word-of-mouth, isn’t it? Luckily, the technology available today can amplify the “word-of-mouth” effect that goes beyond your wildest dream. One thing to keep in mind though, history doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes. Many savvy marketers have recognized that technology is not leading to a new way of doing business but rather to an old way of doing business based on social need and human touch. It’s going to be a long and arduous road to go back to the old-fashion way after you have indulged in benefits coming out of mass production and mass media for two centuries. But we are in this revolution with you. We are not expecting you to be “perfect,” we just want you to be honest and try to be “better.” You can start by talking in our language , showing us who you really are (not your brand positioning statement, but the actual employees behind the firewall), sharing your resources and knowledge base. As long as making money is not your only incentive, the Web welcomes your participation!
