marketing

As a modern marketer it is vital to stay on top of current trends and brush up on forgotten or underutilized skills. In my last blog post I was asked by several folks what books I am currently reading and what books I recommend to become a better writer. As I mentioned, becoming a better writer starts with the basics, but you also need some inspiration and ideas along the way.

Recently I posted about global digital camera shipments out of Japan decreasing by 40%+ - 48% when it comes to entry level cameras.

The reason is of course the increased use of smartphones as people’s main cameras.

I found this presentation by Patrick Dixon - titled: "Older Health Consumers: Marketing To Ageing Customers - the future for Pharma" interesting, but I have a couple of 'buts'.

Written by Jason Miller.

Social media is the Wild West of differing opinions. In a split second you can find yourself receiving a virtual hi-five and then immediately involved in a shootout at the OK corral. This is both the beauty and the beast of social media. It can be a marketer’s best friend or your worst enemy depending on your ability to keep your cool.

Unrestrained commerce. Soapboxes for every possible voice. Loud, endless arguments. False identities. Hidden agendas. Regulators chasing after the latest innovation. People thrown together in explosively novel, sometimes threatening ways, in a place where the rules of normal society don’t seem to apply.

Innovation is a common topic of debate and strategies in most businesses (be they new or well established). In the current economic climate, and with the huge potential of the likes of social media data, brands are increasingly looking at innovation (large and small) as a way to beat the competition.

I recently had great fun presenting at an event organised by aging2.0 and held at the Google Campus in London.  Please have a look at the video and slides.

The accepted wisdom is that the marketing function and marketers have the best grasp of customers – their lives, their desires, their concerns…..   Along with this is another piece of accepted wisdom: that the marketing function and marketers are customer-centric or they are the function/people who are the most customer-centric in the organisation. 

I've been following John Battelle's thinking on the future of digital display. Earlier this year he wrote a long post on the so-called 'death of display', the rumours of which have been greatly exaggerated.

The rumors are that Microsoft is planning to spend between $1.5 and $1.8 billion marketing its newest operating system, Windows 8. It’s a fair guesstimate that we’ll get lots of glossy ads, tons of “content” on social platforms, and pretty much every other trick and tool that a veritably endless amount of money will buy. Some of the stuff will win awards at industry conferences, and some of it will get dinged for being useless.