The Girl Effect

I figure that a good way to end the year is by thinking about ways to change the world. I'm convinced that microcredit is one of those ways. A new movement around the idea of microcredit is The Girl Effect.

Check out a couple of videos:







Official Site: http://www.girleffect.org/#/splash/

Source:
http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2008/11/kinetic-typography.html

Danny

10 Tips for the Start Up Entrepreneur

Are you an entrepreneur starting a new business? If so, you'll likely be working with very little money. This means you are a bootstrapper. Author Guy Kawasaki shares 10 tips on how to bootstrap you business.

http://blogs.openforum.com/2008/11/25/the-art-of-bootstrapping/

Danny

10 Reasons Why Viral Marketing will Increase

As a final article in our series on viral marketing, here is an interesting article about why online video marketing (aka viral marketing) will continue to increase in popularity. The list is compelling, and makes the use of online videos an appealing form of marketing now and into the future.

Check out the article here:
http://www.viralblog.com/online-video/why-all-cmos-should-love-online-video/

Danny

What Makes a Good Viral Ad?

Continuing our discussion of viral videos involves looking at the question of what makes a good viral video. Some viral videos that have done well online are later found to be phony videos. The feedback then ends up hurting the brand rather than helping it. The following article takes up this discussion and ends up arguing that the purpose of viral marketing is to create discussions about a product. Check out the article (and example of phony video) is here:

http://www.viralblog.com/viral-commercials/viral-clips-are-brand-conversation-starters/

Danny

We are Falling Behind

This holiday season I'm reading a great book. It's called "Hot Flat and Crowded" and its by Tom Friedman. Friedman's previous book, The World Is Flat
is one of my favorite books, so I was eager to read this new book. The book is excellent.

While I would certainly recommend reading the entire book, if you only have a few minutes you should read Friedman's editorial from earlier this week in the New York Times. It gives you a picture of one of the book's themes, and a clear idea about why we are falling behind the rest of the world.

Article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/opinion/24friedman.html?em

Danny

Another New Viral Video

As a follow up to the last post about viral marketing, I thought I would share another example I just came across. This new Pizza Hut viral is awesome. Two guys go into pizza restaurants and have pizza hut deliver a pizza. Very funny:



Source: http://www.viralblog.com/viral-commercials/now-pizza-hut-launches-smart-viral-clip/

Enjoy!
Danny

Santa: The Proposal For Business Funding

If Santa was an entrepreneur attempting to raise money from a bank or from venture capitals, this would be his proposal:

http://blogs.openforum.com/2008/12/23/santas-perfect-pitch/

Merry Christmas!

Danny

What is Viral Marketing?

I've used the term viral marketing here several times before. Seth Godin just wrote the best definition of what viral marketing is. It's so good I'm going to use it in marketing.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/12/what-is-viral-m.html

Examples I've shared in the past:

Example #1

Example #2

Example #3

Enjoy!
Danny

Zimbabwe Needs Help

The situation in Zimbabwe is dire - on many fronts. One of those is starvation. There is not enough food. Of course the reason for this is largely because of failed political leadership. We need to help. Of course when aid agencies are being blocked from helping there is little we can do. Thankfully we can pray. Pray for leadership change and for peace; pray for food and health; pray for change.

Read this article if you want to know why:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/22/world/africa/22zimbabwe.html

Danny

Price of gas to keep falling

Some analysists predict the price of gas to go down to $1.00 per gallon this year. If it was taken at a straight comparison it would be about $0.30 per litre here in Canada. Of course it is never that direct of a relationship. If the price in Canada for gas was the same as the price in the US today the average price would be about $0.50 per litre.

The article is here:

http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-Oil/idUSTRE4BH5SG20081218

Source:
http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2008/12/1-average-retail-gasoline-in-2009.html

Danny

Four Bucks is Dumb

Here is a great ad that McDonald's is using in Seattle - the home of Starbucks.





Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/12/coffee.costs/index.html

Danny

Christianity Today: Looking for Moral Capitalism

Christianity Today has a great article about the problems of today's economy and how we can be responsible to start a change.

Here's a quote:

The painful economic crisis is forcing all of us to rethink our assumptions. Home buyers—some of whom borrowed more than they could reasonably expect to pay back, others of whom got caught up in forces they never expected—are rethinking the supposed stability of real estate. Lenders, guilty of what one financial journalist pegged as "breathtaking corruption," are rethinking acceptable sales practices. Politicians, who loosened lending standards and removed long-standing barriers to irresponsible risk taking, are rethinking their oversight role.

Economists, for their part, are rethinking the balance between free enterprise and government regulation. Irwin Stelzer, director of economic policy studies at the Hudson Institute, calls the emerging consensus the "new capitalism," an approach that rejects excessive risk and emphasizes social justice in areas such as executive compensation.

So is capitalism dead? Probably, if by capitalism we mean the ugly rush to profit at any cost that we have seen of late. But reports of the death of capitalism, which has brought more wealth to more people than any system in history, may be greatly exaggerated—if we can resurrect the idea of economics being a serious moral business. Referencing Adam Smith, Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, notes, "The economy is a moral reality. Human beings actualize their moral selves in making economic choices."

Full article:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/december/17.22.html

Source:
http://krusekronicle.typepad.com/kruse_kronicle/2008/12/looking-for-moral-capitalism.html

Danny

How to Make Money With YouTube

The New York Times has an article about how to make money with You Tube...... tempting new career for me?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/11/business/media/11youtube.html?em
Danny

The Future of Cars

Tom Friedman, author of The World is Flat has a great new editorial post about the future of the automobile industry. In this article he talks about how how the American automobile companies are missing out on the green trends, and explains a new concept comming out of Israel that might change how we all drive. You can read the article here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/opinion/10friedman.html?em

Danny

Internet Star's New Commercial

Matt Harding who became famous as a result of a You Tube video of him dancing his way around the world has a new commercial for VISA shown in Asia. Here is the ad:



Matt's story is an amazing example of the power of viral marketing and social media. If you are unfamiliar with Matt's story you can read a great article and see the videos that made him famous here:

http://www.viralblog.com/viral-commercials/matt-harding-stars-in-visas-new-ad-campaign/

Danny

Your Brand is NOT your Logo

Having a strong brand that communicates a consistent message about your product or service is important. Unfortunately too many companies simply confuse their logo with their brand. Seth Godin has a great post about how your logo is not your brand:
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/10/your-brand-is-n.html

Danny

Chinese Saving vs. Spending

The New York Times has an interesting article about the economy in China. In China, people tend to save a lot of money. This naturally means less consumption than what could be possible. The government is hoping to change this to help their economy. It's too bad governments end up promoting excess consumerism to help the economy. George Bush did this after 9/11 when he told everyone to go and spend money. American's went deeper into debt, and look what is happening now because of that. Of course, the Chinese people are unlikely to go into debt, but perhaps the issues are really the same.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/03/world/asia/03china.html

Photo: I took this photo at a Wal-Mart in Beijing

Danny

How Our Political System Works

Here is a great comment I came across from someone on Erin Ortlund's blog:

The bluntest way to describe what is happening is that what the Harper government is doing is completely at odds with how our system of government works in this country. We do not vote for a Prime Minister; we vote for a Member of Parliament who may, or may not be, a member of a particular party. It is Parliament who decides who will form the government. Usually what happens is that one party gets more seats (and thus votes) than another party and so we don't see the framework and nuances of how our system of government operates within. The party or group of members of parliament that has the confidence of the house is that which becomes government. (Remember that political parties in Canada have only been around since the mid 19th century.)
One of the trick questions a political science prof of mine used to ask was 'what is representative government in Canada?' The usual (and wrong) answer was that the government was responsible to voters. What is really means is that the government is responsible to Parliament ie the members of parliament. This is rather important because blood has been spilled in this country over this principle. There was a time that the party in charge -- the government -- could do pretty much what it wanted, regardless of what elective representatives thought. The introduction of representative government in the 19th century was a major check on this kind of arrogance. (Check out stuff written about the Family Compact or the Chateau Clique to see the historical context.) In Canada we don't have the same kind of checks and balances as exist in, say, the US. Instead what we have is representative government which requires that the party in charge has the confidence of the house/parliament. Usually what this means is if the party that gets the most votes has a majority then confidence is assured (unless, of course, there's a rift that means even members of the governing party lose confidence.) In a minority government it means that the governing party has to be more conciliatory towards the opposition parties. Under the Harper government this has NOT happened.
Interestingly, and rather worryingly, a constitutional historian I listened to on the radio this morning said he felt that Harper does not understand how the constitution of this country works. When he claims that the opposition parties are doing something unethical or illegal he is either ignorant or (I hate to say it) lying. If I was marking an undergraduate paper on Canadian politics and came across an argument such as the Prime Minister making I would not give it a good grade.
I am concerned about the long term ramifications of what's going on because the Prime Ministe appears to be deliberately saying things that are not correct about how politics works in this country. I am a firm believer in following the established rules because if you don't you are setting a precedent that may backfire.
Conservative supporters may want to remain in power but what seems to be missed is one day a Prime Minister they don't like will be able to use the precedent they have established to avoid losing power. This is not good.

So true,

Danny

The Power of Personalization

If you are able to personalize your marketing effort you will have a much better effect. This is becoming even more true today when everything seems automatic. Sure the email might have your name in it, but you know that it was entered automatically. This is where hand written notes come in. Hand written notes as part of a direct mail campaign have been shown to drastically increase the effectiveness of the mailing. Read about it here:

http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/post-it-personalization.htm

Danny