Heat MWC from Google at the Mobile World Congress 2011

Photo cred: JD Hancock

In February 2011 the Mobile World Congress took place in Barcelona. This event is a great opportunity to create new business connections, present new products and services and why not, make new friends.

The app created specially for this event was the Heat MWC from Google . The entire idea of the app is to make socializing easier for the users. It helps bring down boundaries making interaction more fun. Because of its settings you can search in real time for people with common interest and then go personally meet them exchanging contact info in the easiest way possible.

MINI Getaway Stockholm - a Social Media Success

Photo cred: Erik Mörner


I'm sure you will appreciate this post since it's going to be a bit different than the others. I've thought about starting to share with you some live examples on how social media works and what you can achieve using it.

I came across the advertising agency Jung von Matt from Stockholm. As Emma Hutchings wrote in this blog post, the creative agency won numerous awards for this creative and innovative modern-day brand building idea. I'm talking about the Getaway Stockholm campaign for MINI.

The prize - a brand new MINI Countryman.

The rules

To get in the race for winning the real car you needed to download an app into your iPhone. App users could then view the location of a virtual MINI on a map of Stockholm, and once within 50 metres of it, could claim the MINI for themselves and then run away from the other participants who could try to steal it. At the end of the 7 days campaign the person with the virtual MINI in his possession won the real car.

New Marketing and Transparency

 

Photo cred: Trey Ratcliff

Marketing campaigns have a very well established plan on what, when and how to present a brand or a product to the potential customers. Every company wants to fully control the process that determines how the people will see them in the future. Do YOU think this is the natural way of doing things?

What we see and what is

A very strong businessman once told me that "Facts speak louder than words". This makes very much sense because anyone can talk, but only the results really matter in the end.

Why should you use social media for business

Photo cred: Damien do Toit

How can social media benefit my business? I'm sure that you asked yourself this question at least once since you've first heard of social media.

Before going into details, I'd like to make it clear that a business who should use social media is not necessary a large or well established company. Everyone can benefit from using it. Even we, here at Marketing Affairs are going to use social media channels to reach out to you. There are a couple of points that I'd like to cover up in this post regarding the subject.

Why use social media in the first place?

Well, that's pretty easy to guess, since you are already have at least 1 account on the social networks. But, for a business this might be a good incentive:

• the costs are smaller comparing them to the traditional advertising methods;
• due to sharing specific words, pictures, videos or audio files your company gets a lot more VISIBILITY;
• you're not the only one that talks about your brand - social media is about INTERACTIONS between people, not to mention the speed to which these interactions take place.
• you can benefit from the snowball effect that can be created around your company. Remember that every user has Facebook friends or Twitter followers which can multiply your targeted audience.

Effective Management

 

Photo cred: lumaxart

A lot of focus has been put in the last few years on management styles or techniques. Management exists for the same reason a business exists: to better serve the clients and in the process to create revenue for the company. It isn't there to waste time and energy or to stress employees with authority manifesting methods.

A little freedom never hurt anybody

A very good type of management is one that enables freedom and empowers the employees. Only when a person becomes responsible for something does he really give it his best. It becomes his creation and responsibility. He knows the result will represent him.

Your Customer's Birthday - The Perfect Time For Marketing

What happens once a year and it has something to do with you personally. That's right, your birthday. We all know that birthdays are fun, we are the center of attention and above all we get presents.

It was my birthday this week and of course that I've received a lot of messages. Among the senders there were also these messages from the top 3 recruiting sites in Romania: eJobs.ro, MyJob.ro and Bestjobs.ro . Now, I don't know how much do you know about these 3 companies but a study made 2 years ago showed that eJobs had back then a market share of 46 %, BestJobs 25 % and MyJob 10 %, the rest being other recruiting sites.

Since they all sent me email messages wishing me all the best, I thought to share them with you as well. You'll see why being the number 1 in the business isn't always something good. I'd like to start in the same order as I mentioned them since it reflects perfectly the podium (backwards).

Number 3:

This is a print screen of the birthday message eJobs.ro sent.

The good part: - they remembered my birthday

The bad part(s):

1. Well, for a company that claims to be the No. 1 recruiting website in Romania this is a message that should never be sent. It's way to short and above all doesn't make me feel special in any way.

I mean it's my birthday, if you really want me to appreciate you sending a message don't be lazy, get creative, give me a reason to recommend your service to others.

In any language you may translate this you'll find out that it says something like this: "Good morning Christian, We know it's your birthday so we would like to wish you Happy Birthday, lots of health and happiness and......good luck in your career !" If I had a talking dog, I believe he would do a better job than this.

What does doing business really mean?

Photo cred: Trey Ratcliff

This is a question that I've asked myself for some time now. The business world, the big corporate field seems very appealing nowadays for the young businessman or professional to be. It gives you a steady environment in which you can learn, grow and bring your personal contribution not only to the organization but to the business partners as well. I understand that any company wants to have better and more customers in order to raise capital and profit. The question I have is "Why are people and corporations acting like there is no limit to natural resources?" Without falling into the Greenpeace environmentalist spirit I simply ask you, the reader: "Is the way things have been going for the last fifty years sustainable?"

Leaving the Earth's resources issues aside it's important to speak about the other item on the list, which seems absolutely necessary for conducting business and obtaining profit: humans. On numerous occasions creating a life-time connection with clients has proven beneficial to companies. Sometimes all they had to do was care a little bit more, not going directly for the person's money, but looking to enrich his personal life and experience, finding a solution to his concerns.

What matters now

In one of his many books, Seth Godin asks this even without the question mark, maybe showing us that indeed questions are answers. He reminds us one of the basic things in the business world. The fact that in order to get what you want you first have to help a lot of people to get what they need and want for themselves. Offering value to others will make them want to return the favor in the future. Honestly caring for them as if their problem would be yours could really bring the best solutions for customers.

Common mistakes marketers do when using social media

Photo cred: rutlo

More and more businesses are using it to get more visibility for their brands or products. But as easy to use as they seem to be, as likely you are to make mistakes that can cost you big money. What differentiates a small business from a big business? Or, better yet, what are the common mistakes your company doesn't want to do when using social media as a marketing tool?

Here are some useful tips for you to take into consideration:

1. Master the basics

There are a lot of companies that are in their infancy using social media channels to promote their business. Just because you have a personal Facebook account with 1.000+ friends or there are 200+ followers on your Twitter account doesn't make you a social media guru. Set up a your companies goals, create a clear marketing strategy and establish the role of social media in it. These are the bricks that stay at the foundation of every successful marketing campaign.

Keep yourself informed, observe what's happening around you and learn from other marketing campaigns that went wrong.

2. Don't just talk, put it into practice !

A lot of marketers talk about how you should use social media to promote your business, what you need to do, where and when to do it. How many of them put it into practice? Change the "I should do" with the "I must do".