Personal budgeting via Internet bank

What if I could have a better overview of my incomes and spendings in the Internet bank. What if money movement would be classified and I could follow it in a simple chart. Then I could keep better track and have a clue what to save and how much money do I really have. Mortgage, grocery, entertainment etc. If its too complicated for a bank to make deals while making payment contracts with companies, I could have a possibility to classify those numbers my self (and a program would memorize my moves), what is what and see the result in a simple chart. Far better, it could be pegged to my husbands Internet bank and we could run a family budget together. After all that I would liked to see forecasts and future periods’ planners as well.

Please someone write a program. Not just some excel chart they offer in the Internet, but some kind of a mix-up of what I see, when filling in my tax return papers and Google analytics.

2020 - Traditional is dead

Baby made on board

Dodge is a large car. Yes indeed…

The brief was to sell the first Dodge family wagon, while strengthening the macho image of the brand at the same time.

Positioning it just as a macho car would not have done the trick, so they went all the way to the other end. Baby involvement!!!

As test-drive is the main tool for actual selling, then this campaign encourages to test-drive. Instead of picnic baskets or free opera admissions they simply ask test drivers to test the rear seat and make babies. Personally I do not find any other reason why to climb into it.

Idea itself is nothing new, but the image speaks for it self.

Although I’m not really certain that besides many adventurers in the back seat and 72 babies, they managed to create actual increase in sales numbers. Perhaps now after 9 months, when all those babies need a ride… so skip the idea this being a call to test drive and take it as a long term image campaign.

Read the case study here.

Forward thinking

I got a warmhearted letter from sisustus.ee congratulating me on my birthday. Only thing is, that today is not my birthday. Tomorrow is. Seeing the headline I thought, nice, somebody has messed with their database. But, it was not an accident.

It is known that on birthday you receive so many mails, messages and calls that a message like that would be unnoticed. This letter shows that they have put some thought into customer service and it was totally not unnoticed.

Nice way of forward thinking.

In search of the perfect plane ticket

It’s summer. Vacation time. Whatever the reason - plane tickets or vacation vouchers might become a subject.

This is the time where " the economical slowdown" has played a trick on decision-making. Airline companies and travel agents have undermined the ground they are walking on by great discounts and if not in a great need, no one wants to purchase a plane ticket with a full price. Perhaps some emotional buyers, filthy rich people or those who have worked hard all year and do not want to get into the hurdle of price wars, they pay what it takes, but major amount of flyers around the world are waiting for the right price or the right offer. As vacation time is limited, this time might never come... to the destination you are dreaming about.

Millions of plane tickets unsold because of the wrong pricing - or the wrong mindset planted by the discounts. Who can tell the difference?

Just delicious

I think we have done some pretty nice designs for Nipernaadi Vodka. Have a look:

Private Labels taking over

As counting pennies is the new trend this year, then smart consumers are aware of the percentage added to the product, due to branding. They are not willing to pay it anymore. No Logo and Private Labels have their time to flourish. Anyone can manufacture a product they reason. Their only concern is filling the order on time and under the budget. Supermarkets have figured this out and are forcing their Private Labels in a quite powerful way. Not marketing them. No, that would seem wasteful. But through pricing policy. Together in the shelf with “ordinary” products, Private Labels have the competitive edge by the fact that supermarkets itself direct the prices. They are 15%- 35% cheaper than the others.

To me, they seem like commodities without a soul. Its not that I do not like cheap things. I love cheap things. But I do not like things made to be cheap in the robust way. There is no meaning in these raw objects.

But who says that sugar and eggs have to have a deep corporate mythology behind?

Electronic Time Management - the art of sharing

I missed appointment with my hairdresser. It’s not that I did not write it down or was not able to go. It just happened to be one of these hectic weeks. Again. You know what I’m talking about.

It would be very nice to receive sms or e-mail form my hairdresser, day before the appointment, to remind me that this very important day is coming and she is waiting for me.

Or she could ask in my first appointment: do I use old-school calendar or telephone/laptop calendar. In old-school’s case she could give me a post-it with dates written red on it and in electronical calendar’s case send me a reminder from her calendar into mine.

It would be just nice. Not some outrageous marketing trick. But just NICE.

The Worst Hotel In The World

In marketing, sometimes it pays off just being honest. In Hans Brinker Budget Hotel's case in Amsterdam, it brought them 42% increase in occupancy. They’r slogan is: “Similar to hell, but without proper heating.” And it works. Targeted to young backpacers.

It's all about positioning.

Read more.

Apple juice ad gone bad

Translation: Do you feel the apple’s heart (pit)?

Do I want to know that apple juice contains apple pits? No! I want sweet apples grown in pure nature, carefully selected, sliced and then made into juice. I'm a country girl, therefore know very well how apple juice is made, but is it necessary to advertise the content that nobody wants to acknowledge? Now the image and the slogan tell me it’s juice made of apple pits that usually are thrown away. Logically thinking it should be priced then also as a low budget product. Like fish fingers, which contain fish heads and fish bones. Yak. No more Põltsamaa apple juice for me.

Start a movement TODAY

He is ugly as hell, but I like how he talks. Seth Godin on tribes:




I also like my find www.ted.com. Entertainment to last a week at least.

Simple truth

Self-contained and beyond

Besides fun and arrogant people in advertising, there are some pearls who are introverts in a deepest level. Beyond that. You talk to them, they do not watch you in the eye. You ask, did you understand what the brief was about, they remain silent and stare the giant MAC screen, where nothing happens. You ask, do you have any questions regarding to the ongoing project, you get silent “no”. One day before the deadline you ask to see the progress, you get “ I haven’t started it yet ”. Next day morning, opening the mailbox, you get the most outrageously talented and awesome drafts you even were not able to dream about. Time sent: minutes before midnight.

PS: During time they open up and start even composing complex sentences and arguing back. I think of them as flowers who bloom at night.

Arrogance

A while ago I was discussing the fact that advertising people seem to be so fun. Today I’m going to the other end and trying to understand why people think that advertising people are arrogant and is it really so?

 

Firsthand it seemed  that they are arrogant, but only with those, whom they do not want to waste their energy on (I’m talking about advertising heavy machinery, not those show-off rookies). Otherwise in their inner circle and with people they like- they are quite ok. 

Now I’m forced to acknowledge that yes, there are some positive pearls, but is it the recession or cold weather, damn some are really arrogant. They make you feel small and stupid. Even with the matters less important. Their opinion is "The Gold" and others can turn to dust. Although I admit, they have the experience and the knowledge to think that and I do not doubt that this really is gold, they're saying, but there are more pleasant ways to make yourself heard and respected.

Actually it’s funny to watch. Clients are afraid of them, as they do not want to say anything stupid and get "The Look" that burns in the heartbeat. Young creatives are presenting few ideas, which are crushed in the scratch. Now they are shivering before presenting new ones. Is this the environment to work in? It might suit to some people. To those who need strong guidance and authority, to get the wheels going. But what about teamwork, free spirit, open ideas, synergy? Positive thinking attracts positive results. 

Gosh do I love, that I work in a company full of young and free spirits, without a trace of arrogance. 

Windvertising

Windvertising means placing advertisements on turbine blades and creating actual electricity alongside with solar panels installed into the aggregate. The idea originates form WePower, who offers PacWind turbines, cylindrical apparatus lined with blades that create wind power as they spin. The blades display outward, so that a series of images can be shown, creating a short animated advertisement.

Some problems I started to think of :

• If there is no wind and sunshine, the images displayed on the turbine are not seen.

• The turbine has only very limited options to display advertisement and if not told, lookers on do not understand that this is actually a turbine creating electricity and therefore saving the environment. So here is the challenge to promote your brand in a way so everybody can understand you are using natural resources to create electricity for your billboard. Otherwise it’s a waste of money.
  

I can imagine it could have been a nice option for Eesti Energia outdoor ads, which advertised lately greener future. So not completely dumb idea. Although the idea they used now, did the trick for estonians also and was cheaper aswell.

Viral marketing does not work

It's fun (in better cases), but it does not make you go and buy stuff. So no ROI. Go tell everyone.

Social business design

There are number of companies who think of marketing as directing all efforts and resources into customer service, hoping to generate positive WOM. This has been so from the start. Upgrade to just being good and hoping somebody to notice, is being visibly and actively close to your customers - strategically choosing your channels. Regarding to previous, it would be interesting to stop on social business design, as a great mean to bring your company really close to your customers. It’s a interesting and growing field I would liked to know more about, so anyone more acquainted, please drop me a line here.

CiniMini Wacky Slider

My kid is a victim of advertising. So I was forced to buy Nestle CiniMinis. As I amuse myself from time to time with clumsy text adaptions, then this package was a real treat for me. This particular package is translated into 5 languages, although in some places 3 of them was chosen, to save some space. How considerate (Estonian was left out).

I can imagine the lengthy process of this package adaption into all these five fabulous languages (Czech, Hungarian, Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian). And the enormous effort the designer has put into compressing all this information into this box. It must have been hard work.

I’m not going into details, as blog entries should maintain a snappy content and length.  Let’s just say Google translator is a linguist god compared to this case.

Advertising career evolution.

Sunday morning speculations

Everybody is talking about it; few are brave enough to experiment.

Are you using classical media in a classical way to promote classical product or service? If you’re not Procter & Gamble with endless budget, then it means for you driving a car looking in the rear-view mirror. You need to stand out. Be special in what you do. Extraordinary. Otherwise you may be living, but what a life it is, being gray and boring and bringing nobody to think, laugh or cry. If you earn enough to get your mortgage payments in time and are satisfied with it – fine. Your one of those who has a lack of imagination combined with willpower. This is the combination that leads on. Safe is boring. If you do not happen to be a guy with a golden brain - outsource it. Besides that you need to be passionate about your field of activity and smart enough to recognize a good idea.

Although changing marketing mix isn’t the solution anymore. Not today. Very special and extraordinary advertising alone does not give you the long-term results you are longing for. The innovation has to come from the product or service you are offering. Offering a memorable user experience is the key.

In today’s situation consumers are looking for security and many companies are offering secure products and services to survive. No one has the resources, willpower or courage to experiment. It s a perfect ground for creating something outstanding, as the market situation is making it possible. By being outstanding I do not mean outrageous or scandalous. This is already despair. Scandalous redeems itself only if this is the core essence of your brand. But in the longer run intelligent kind of outstanding creates more brand value. The trick is to think small before thinking big. It’s the details that count today.

Second life for killed ideas

How many times my team has created fabulous, crème de la crème ideas that are a knock out. Some at least… How many times my team has been rejected those brilliant ideas. Countless times. Why?
• It’s very interesting, but we are afraid... (does not matter what follows, client is afraid - that’s it).
• It’s out of our budget range.
• Our CEO does not like it. No comments. Just his face was not happy seeing it.
• They take the idea and send it to the big round inside their company and come back with a totally different idea.
• It’s just too crazy.
• Nobody understands it (except the creative team).
• Sometimes you present many fabulous ideas for one brand and only one is to be chosen, others left out.

Well at least now all those killed ideas have a second chance. Killedideas.com is a place to submit all those ideas that have been rejected for one reason or another. They publish them in a book or/and display on a blog. Although there is a deeper financial meaning for this initiative, as it seems to be a campaign for Blurb - bookmaking software and publishing, its a good idea. Targeting those who won’t get recognition naturally, offering them the tools for being a published author.

Submission ends on 31. March 2009, so few days to go, for running through archives.

If you re not having fun, you re not doing it right.

My first days in the advertising business brought me to the cold knowledge: I was told that the fun guys in the industry are the ones that can’t be taken seriously. The most successful and respected are the ones that come and leave unnoticed and do their work perfectly and leave a mark in the longer run.

I thought „yeah right“. I was driven by the passion for advertising and had no idea how to suppress it down and work like a machine, showing no passion at all.

Almost 2 years have passed and now I understand. Those people DO have passion for advertising and are no machines. Instead of living their passion out, they live it in and convert it into their work. This is what gives excellent and impressing results. „Fun guys“ waste all energy for being „so fun“ and leave no reserves for actual nut cracking.

I m not going to classify myself, as obviously I m not the serious type- writing this blog, and no fun either- so says my husband. Which leaves me empty handed.

Right now the moto to live by is: if you’re not having fun, you re not doing it right. By not having fun - you start looking fun from elsewhere. Synergy coming from passion directed right can be mind-blowing. Advertising is fun. Not just outside.

Seriously – inside.

You've got mail

I have a friend who runs a niche business and instead of many suggestions to stop, sends me over totally boring monthly newsletter. I have nothing against receiving this carefully composed newsletter. But I‘m afraid that this newsletter does not serve the purpose he hopes for. I believe his goal is to develop a long-term impact on the readers. It should provide the readers value, which means more than just sales messages. It should contain information, which informs, entertains or otherwise benefits the readers. He invests his time and money on it and value of ROI, I believe, is zero.

So here, dear friend and everybody else, trying to really reach somebody via e-mail, are some soft reminders:

• Do not send your newsletter, so everybody can see the entire cc list. It’s just plain rude.

• Make a decision. Are you sending a direct mail or a newsletter? Direct mail fits into e-mail without having to open it. Newsletter is usually composed into PDF file, so parties interested can browse through it or print it out and it usually contains more than one page. You can’t be both at the same time.

• Avoid plain long text. No one wants to read it. Add a link to your website for further information, if somebody is really interested.

• Bring out reader benefit - BIG AND RED - at the beginning, so highly occupied people would have interest to read further.

• Be focused and understand what's important for your clients.

• It’s very nice that somebody has composed a thorough PDF of your companis summer vacation; two more pitches won and a new improvement on your business. So what? Ditch the information, that is not crucial and put all the emotions into the new product introduction, new skills owned by your staff or innovations in your field of activity.

• If you do not have anything important to say, do not send it, just because you think you should… people do not want to read it. Value the time of your customers.

• Innovation in your field of activity still exists. Please find it and spread the message. If you are in the dead end and think there is no innovation - be a man, and invent it.

• Act like a market leader, not like someone who is trying his best to become one.(Its recommendation just for him , as he is the market leader. Other folks who are not - accept your position and compose your strategies accordingly.)

• I understand it is hard to come up with some illustrations or something else that catches the eye. If you already came to a point sending this newsletter, please be so kind to hire somebody who makes it look more edible.
  

Flogo clouds

Interesting.

A new way for marketers to use a new form of ambient advertising. “Environmentally friendly” clouds that can be produced to resemble advertising logos etc. called Flogos.

It’s made of soap-based formula mixed with helium and vegetable dye. A new Flogo cloud can be produced after every 7 seconds. Each Flogo lasts approximately 30 minutes.

Watch on YouTube how Flogos are made:


Although it can be used for commercial purposes, an artist Stuart Stemple, used smiley faces in London, to promote the value of creativity. Whatever the reason, most of all it made many people smile ☺