Utilizing a free focus group

There is a local radio station in Vancouver that does something I've never heard another station do - ask their audience what they think about the music they are playing. Sure other stations have phone lines and email addresses that allow you to contact them and indicate whether you like the music they are playing, but nothing like what 102.7 The Peak does. 

Every week or two I will get an email from them (I signed up as one of their Peak VIP members) asking me to take part in their "Rate the Music" survey. I click a link and listen to 30 seconds of 25 songs that they are currently playing or thinking of playing and let them know if I've heard of the song, how it rates from 1-5 and whether or not I'm sick of hearing the song. This last question "Are you sick of hearing this song" is an important and very sneaky one for the station to employ. They love to be the station in Vancouver that plays music no one else does and the first to bring new, hip music to the masses. Their group of passionate listeners has grown large as they introduce bands like Mumford & Sons, Alt-J and Black Keys to people in Vancouver.

Now they have an even better chance of continuing to provide this service for their music loving fans thanks to their willingness to give people a chance to interact with them. All this group of fanatics wants is a chance to feel like they influence the music on the station they listen to regularly. The Peak gets the benefits of having an almost weekly focus group with their customers without having to do much other than hit the Send button on their email software.

Apple's roadmap not golden for Microsoft

As I plowed through my Monday morning readings today I noticed a couple of articles about how Apple's Ipads destroyed every other tablet, including Microsoft's surface, during the huge US sales weekend that was. I'm not entirely surprised that there were images floating around of empty Microsoft stores, while people no doubt lined up to save 5% on the latest iPad or iPhone, because they haven't really given the general consumer something to get excited about.

Microsoft has always been associated as a business-y brand, so their addition of a touch pad keyboard to their good looking tablet will probably skew more towards corporate partners and small-business owners rather than the app loving market that eats up anything Apple craps out.

But where I think Microsoft has really failed is in giving people something new and different to experience which is really how Apple has built themselves to their current dominance. They have an opening because Apple is clearly running out of ways to wow people and have reached the point where they are not innovating as much. Whoever comes up with the next big thing - think iPod 7-10 years ago - will turn into the next Apple, and I think that could have been Microsoft. They have the money and the brain-power to get there, but they lack the creativity to push them over the edge. Instead of taking a leap and trying something extraordinary they just bought a copy of the map that Apple created for being a funky tech company and followed it.

Touchscreen phone? Check. Cool tablet? Check. Stores? Check.

Everything exactly as Apple did. Their marketing has always been pretty suspect, so though it's not all that surprising to see their distribution/penetration model be less-than-inspiring, it is disappointing. I still hold out hope for them as I am definitely not an Apple-lover like the majority of people, but what they really need to beat Apple is innovation. Innovative ideas for products AND full-scale-marketing.

If they really want to beat Apple they have to be the first one to launch the product that replaces peoples phones, tablets and laptops all in one.

Is Samsung Apple-ing Apple?

Remember when Apple started to make their big comeback in the computer world after years of nothingness? They had well-designed products, innovative features and great advertising that propelled them forward into the mix with the stale PCs. You may recall an advertisement or two like this:
 Apple highlighted the disadvantages of PCs in a sharp, sarcastic way and spawned a series of commercials that continued to be popular (unlike Kia's recent attempt to reuse their hamsters).

Well, it turns out they aren't the only ones that can do that. Samsung has decided to take a play out of the Apple book and go with a sarcastic commentary on Apple's most dedicated fans. It definitely made me laugh while at the same time reinforcing why i'm currently not an Apple user. This isn't their first foray into this type of commercial but it is their most aggressive thus far I would say. The most interesting part of the ad is when the seat-saver turns out to be holding a spot for his 55-65ish parents while he enjoys the Galaxy S3. Hipsters aren't going to like the fact that the iPhone5 is now in with the older demographic crowd, that takes away from it's coolness factor. At least it used to.

Even though it is a blatant use of Apple's genius marketing, it's execution makes it feel a lot different. Well done Samsung.

Why your social media needs a personality

As most people know by now, social media is a great platform for any sized business that is willing to put in the time and creativity required to keep your fans and customers engaged. Anyone that thinks all they have to do is create a Facebook or Twitter account and people will automatically pay attention either works for Red Bull or has no idea what they are talking about.  

A modified version of the old website adage that "Content is king" applies to social media. You have to constantly be finding RELEVANT content to share with your community. Not just mass quantities of information poured out minute-after-minute via Twitter. That will just overblitz your followers and make them pay less attention to you. One or two really good, relevant posts per day is all it takes. 

One reason why social media is so effective for small businesses is that it allows customers the chance to interact with the brand on a personal basis. The person updating the account is typically the owner and they know their business inside and out. Typically they don't use corporate-speak when talking to customers, they are free to use a sarcastic tone or a cringe worthy dark joke here and there, which the masses appreciate.

That is probably one of the toughest selling points for getting large corporations to use social media. If you put tough restrictions on those that will be updating the account, you will not get a return. But, if you allow your social media people to use their personalities within reason, like Samsung Canada did in this amazing bit of PR work, then you will find success and quite often will get noticed by the community.

So if your social media isn't firing on all cylinders maybe it's time to add a bit more personality into the mix.

Driving for show, putting for dough

Any golfer knows that the saying "You drive for show, putt for dough" is a good epitome of how  the game works. You may be able to smash the ball 350 yards off the tee but if you can't put the ball in the hole with your putter, then all that power is not worth a lick. 

That is sometimes how I feel while searching for creative suppliers. Many have lots of glitz and glamour on their websites, but they lack the functionality or information to actually make me send them an email regarding their services. As a marketer I know exactly what I am looking for and I know that any semblance of a reasonable marketing savvy designer should know this when designing their website. Know your target, the majority of people hiring creative companies have marketing or business backgrounds and don't want to spend too much time having to surf through your site to find what they are looking for. They will just leave. Basic things, like a listing of your services, should be included. Just a portfolio page will not suffice.

Now that being said, I also won't waste my time with a website that is complete text and is not visually appeasing. So I guess what i'm saying is you have to Drive and Putt for my dough.

When life gives you lemons, drop the price of lemonade

Traditional thinking and economical principles dictate that when demand increases so should price, at least I feel like that is what I learned in Economics 101 eight years ago. So when I read this article about what Coca-Cola is doing with their Limon Y Nada vending machines in Spain I was rather impressed with the creativity. 


Instead of sticking to the traditional vending machine model which consists of a price probably 100% higher than what you would pay at a corner store or grocery store Limon Y Nada decided to show some compassion for their sweltering customers. On the vending machine they installed a thermometer and as the thermometer rose with the heat the price of a drink dropped.

What do you think would customers appreciate a price-break when they are most desperate for your product? I think it could help make a lifetime fan of your product.  

Speed startups

There surely is merit in creating a business plan and finding investors for your start-up business, but the internet changes things and can allow some entrepreneurs to skip these processes. Maclean's posted an interesting article today related to this subject titled "How to make $100,000 a day". 

First off, amazing copywriting on that title, I guarantee you that title generated the most click-thrus of all the articles posted today. It certainly worked on me.

Getting back to the point of this post, the article goes on to talk about the book, The $100 Startup, which provides information and examples to entrepreneurs about how to start a business in a much less traditional manner. Citing examples of so-called "Solopreneurs" who invested less than $1,000 of their own money and created businesses that generated upwards of $60,000 a year in revenue.

It does show how much easier it is to get your idea/business out to people these days with the internet. Costs such as websites and marketing have become cheaper and easier with sites like Wordpress and Facebook, giving anyone with an idea or a passion the ability to start a business without necessarily sinking themselves into a heap of debt.

It leads me to wonder what the next 10 or 20 years in the future hold for employment. Will companies continue to employ individuals in the traditional manner or will everyone be a free agent that provides contracting work to multiple companies to maximize their time and profits. It may sound crazy, but freelancing/solopreneuring could be the way of the future. As Chris Guillebeau, the Author of the book, says in the article "The old choice was to work at a job or take a big risk going out on your own. The new reality is that working at a job may be the far riskier choice."


I've already taken a venture into the solopreneuring field, my new website www.retireez.ca targeting the growing population of boomers and 50 plusers going online cost me less than $100 to set up and I am hoping the content I create and word-of-mouth helps the website take off.