Refocus

It is quite disappointing that I started this blog and have only posted 4 times since I started.  A lot of factors have contributed to this fact.  However, this is a new year, and I have committed to give my blog the attention it deserves in 2013.  I love writing.  I started writing in 2004 and was a regular blogger until I became a mother in 2006 when my writing became less frequent and my focus was on my new born son, and then my new born daughter which arrived 11 months after my son!

Having said all that, my aim is to REFOCUS.  With this in mind, I will endeavour to post at least once per week on topics of interest to me and hopefully to you, my readers.  I do not want to bore you, I do not want to upset you. I certainly would like to stimulate your mind and engage you in discussion on topics related to Marketing as this blog is about and any other topic that may be of great interest. 

So, having said all that, please look out for a post in the upcoming week that will pique your interest and hopefully blow your mind!

Thank you all for your support and look forward to your continued interest in what I have to say.  Bless.

And Marketing Lives On

If you really think about it, Marketing is really the oldest profession, contrary to popular  belief.  The concept of marketing is practiced by every single human being in this world.  This activity is not exclusive to companies trying to compete for that hard earned dollar the consumer has to spend on goods and services.


Every parent executes some aspect of basic marketing every day interacting with their children.  Bosses execute marketing every day on employees, perhaps getting them to buy in to the company's latest strategy.  A husband will use various marketing strategies to get his wife to prepare a specific meal for dinner or persuade her to accept his parenting methods.  Whether you are a CEO of a company or an average Joe in the world, Marketing impact you, every second of every day.

With the ever changing landscape of marketing today, expanding from the traditional methods I mentioned in my post Tweet Tweet, companies with contracting marketing dollars are forced to adapt most cost effective channels in the marketplace.  Several companies are now investing in another FTE (full time employee) to their human resources, with the sole purpose of managing online marketing activities including interactive websites, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

Recently, Red Stripe®, a Jamaican brand of beer, embarked on a unique marketing campaign.  While the concept may have been thought of as corny (A bear drinking beer), the approach was quite interesting as through its TV commercial, forced persons to visit their facebook page to see what happened next.  The TV commercial was a 3 part, to be continued series of approximately 1 minute, each left you hanging on to see what the bear would do.  Today, this page has over 33k likes.

Several other companies have followed suit, utilizing Facebook and Twitter to engage existing and potential customers through innovative themes, productions, and of course give-a-way to boot.  The recent Jamaica Jazz n Blues Festival enjoyed great presence on social media with many groups giving away tickets to the premier event.

In fact, charity organizations, social groups, even churches have now logged on to social media which is seen as one sure way of reaching the younger audience.

In spite of the popularity of online marketing tools, there are some who continue to utilize traditional marketing channels - Posters, flyers, inserts, newspaper, billboard, basic instructions from parent to child - to name a few.  Without a doubt, these still continue to play a part in the scope of product placement and promotion. So, what does this say about marketing? In its purest and truest form, once at attempt is made in any way to draw attention to a product or service, it is guaranteed to get a response, one way or the other.

Tweet Tweet ...

Who would have thought 10 years ago that you would be defined by the type of mobile phone you carried around in your pocket or purse, whether or not you have a facebook or twitter account, a blog and what kind of PC you used.

Yes! We are definitely living in the digital age. The popularity of Blackberry and Twitter by Research in Motion and the Iphone by Apple have taken the world by storm.  We are virtually online 24/7 which sometimes triggers questions about actual personal interaction.  We communicate so much by Blackberry Pins, Facebook status updates, tweets, etc... You hardly see people actually talking on a cell phone anymore.  9 out of 10 persons you see with a cell phone will have their fingers pinging away on their qwerty keyboard sending a text or a BBM messenger to their contacts, updating Facebook or Twitter with the latest picture of them sitting in traffic to posting to their blog.

This transcends even beyond a social level.  Companies who are indeed making all attempts to connect with current and prospective clients have raised the bar in terms of communication.  Companies are making the advertorial transition to cheaper marketing tactics that cost less and have the potential to give them every bang for their buck in reaching the marketplace.  Traditional brick and mortar companies that have been successful over the years, are keeping up with the Jones' when it comes to technology.  Websites enabled to conduct sale transactions by the use of a credit card, paypal account or the old fashioned money order are the order of the day.  Pages on facebook for fans to join, Tweets on twitter for customers to follow - the reach of the internet and by extension social networking  is indeed interesting.  A simple search in Google for how to improve your small business through online marketplaces, social networking pages, etc. are now a dime a dozen. 

On the internal side, employees are now being equipped with Blackberry phones to keep them connected to work outside of working hours, on weekends, even while on vacation.  The impact these on the all important work life balance cannot be ignored.  I'll cover this topic in my next post.

Are we becoming slaves to the Blackberry era?  Is it enabling us to communicate more in a virtual world to the point where we are no longer in touch with reality - a flesh and blood human being sitting across from us ready to have an actual conversation VS an IM/Twitter session with someone you met on the internet or a friend from across town.

What says you?

The Transition of Advertising

Advertising: a form of communication intended to persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners) to take some action. It includes the name of a product or service and how that product or service could benefit the consumer, to persuade potential customers to purchase or to consume that particular brand - Wikipedia

According to the Advertising Age, the first newspaper advertisement was an announcement for a buyer of a Long Island estate, published in the Boston Newsletter in 1704. It of course appears as though America were the pioneers in Advertising with this inaugural placement. This was followed by several milestone events in the 18th and 19th century which saw advertising evolve into magazines, the use of slogans, the formation of professional groups, commission-based sales, and so much more. You can view the chronology of advertising timeline at http://adage.com/century/timeline/index.html .

Fast forward to the 21st century – what has become known as the digital age, the age of the information super highway, the age of information at your finger tips, the age of the obsoleteness of traditional communication of all forms, including advertising. The publishing of advertisements in the print media – newspapers and magazines primarily – are now being replaced by Internet web banners, strategic placement of advertisement buttons on websites that see high traffic, ultimately resulting in a high click through rate for retailers of all types and sizes.

It would be amiss of me to speak about the digital age and not mention Social Networking as the catalyst of marketing today. I’ll dedicate a whole different post to Social Networking in the coming week. However, it is noteworthy to mention the increased popularity of Social Networking as a means of communication and promotion of goods and services for consumption. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace just to name a few, have opened many opportunities to entrepreneurs, small business professionals, large multinational corporations, Charitable and non-profit organizations who are seeking a low cost alternative to expensive advertising methods. The reach of the internet through social networking is tremendous. By creating your online space through a website, Facebook account of a blog, you have the capacity to reach thousands of thousands of people, target persons who have an interest in the product or service you have to offer, and lure the prospective client into your world through email subscriptions, joining online groups and more.

So, what is the fate of traditional advertising in the form of print media? Certainly, we can all appreciate that there will always be a place for this type of advertising. We can also acknowledge that we won't be seeing the back of the ordinary newspaper and magazine ad placement any time soon. Even though there are online versions of most paper publications today, believe it or not, there are still some people in the universe who are technologically challenged and always will be. The thought of using a computer to wire money overseas for example, would be thought of as some demonic attempt to steal our money or that using a telephone that is not by a bedside table or nightstand is so liberal it has to be a sin.

Charting the Path to Success

The marketing profession has been a passion of mine since pursuing studies at the University of Technology.  As a student who was pegged to excel in the field of Accounting, I took the road no one expected me to travel, and explored the realm of Marketing.  It was nothing short of life changing to say the least. 

I remember my first exposure to Marketing in my academic life.  I was in awe of this wonderful technique of using various methods and techniques to obtain buy in to a good or service, through the use of the tools of Marketing.  As I continue to learn more about this profession, it became clear to me that this was a career, guaranteed to  always exist no matter what happened.  I remember thinking back then, in what I thought was my young and naive state of mind, that the role of the Marketer would never become extinct or redundant, so longs as goods and services exist.  Yes, the marketer will never suffer at the hands of downsizing.  The marketer will be the shining beacon in the dark, leading companies and professionals to the promised land.  The marketer would in all its glory, show wayward companies the way to increased revenues, greater profits, increased customer base, brand recognition and the list could go on.

I have come a long way from a young marketing student to a budding marketing professional who is still learning more about the art of the field and continues to be excited and passionate about the role marketing plays in our world today.  All human beings - every single one of us - markets something to someone on a daily basis.  Whether it is an idea we pitch to our boss at work, a meal we try to convince our child to eat, or a discount we try to negotiate at the boutique while buying a fabulous pair of shoes.  It is all done, through that simple, underestimated process of marketing.

This blog, as the name suggests, will be a forum for marketers at all levels, who want to keep abreast of the profession, learn more about trends in this evolving global marketplace in which we are all trying to survive and provide an opportunity to share views, concepts and ideas with others.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Hope you enjoyed reading this with a cup of coffee in hand.