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I have a good friend who always talks about ‘living the dream’. He arrives at a friends house, they go “what have you been up to?”, he replies “Living the dream”. Actually, you can pretty much ask him anything and the reply is always the same. Go figure.
Some trade shows really need to re-think their strategies. If other delegates walk out of tradeshows feeling the way I did today, then it’s not a great sign for the tradeshow.
I have tried everything. Changed screens on my computer, rummaged to the next page in newspapers and hummed la la la in my head when my staff mention it and to be honest, tried everything in the book to avoid hearing about it.
Do company owners just not listen? Do they not look back on history and see how many companies that have gone from being small and relatively unknown to large corporates through marketing in an economic downturn?
Whilst I am not one to slam anyone under the marketing umbrella, the more I meet and greet, the more I am seeing there certainly are types.
Everyone has been a victim of last minute marketing madness at least a couple of times in their lives.
It’s tradeshow season! There are hundreds of tradeshows each month in Australia and overseas and companies more so than ever are investing heavily in marketing themselves in this way.
International Women’s Day is upon us and although I don’t necessarily agree that we should have a day that celebrates women alone when there is no day that celebrates men, I am compelled to attend events whereby the keynote speakers are successful women.
I have to declare, I am a wannabe surfer. I say wannabe because I don’t go out and give it a go nearly as much as I should for someone who really wants to be able to surf some big waves.
I am clearly the amateur that is thrilled every time I catch a wave and ride it. Actually, thrilled is an understatement. I am jumping out of my pants every single time I catch a wave and stay on the board longer than 3 seconds.
The reason I am so eager to surf is that when I go out and watch people surf, they don’t have a care in the world. All they think about is catching the next wave (and of course, making sure that there are no shark fins hanging around given the media over the last couple of months reporting so many shark attacks).
I want to be just like that.
With the Quicksilver Pro on at Rainbow Bay at the moment, I ventured down to join some friends to watch the pro’s in action.
I wasn’t disappointed. I saw Joel Parkinson put in a few great heats, even though he did not make the cut.
Then I saw the man everyone has been talking about. Yes, I have read gossip magazines that picture him with Cameron Diaz, Pam Anderson (what was he thinking?), Giselle to name a few. I have also watched him a couple of times on television and until recently thought was quite a hot looking man.
Well, nothing prepared me for seeing him live at the Quicksilver Pro. As he walked down the beach, about 500 people followed him just hoping for a glimpse. Kids raced into the water and tried to swim up to him and he politely acknowledged them with some high 5’s and words of wisdom.
He is the waters version of a rock star. The 5000 strong crowd could not get enough of him. They were mesmerised by the sporting great who has won 9 world titles, more so than any other person.
Why I am writing about Kelly Slater is simple. He is a human brand that has an insane following. Insane!
I have been to every major sporting event that has hit Australian shores and yet I have never seen such a dedicated group of followers for just one man.
Now, he is not only on a mission to win his 10th world title, but also to sell a few boards through brand Kelly Slater.
Riding a radically short five foot four inch board even though he is going for the big ASP World Tour 10th win is a marketers dream. I bet after the weekend there was a sell-out of radically short boards because let’s face it, every surfer wants to be just like Kelly Slater.
What a legend!
Why is Marketing Eye the #1 ranked website when you search for a marketing consultant on google?
It’s not rocket science, let me tell you that.
Today I played golf with some amazingly talented and inspirational men and women at the Australian Women’s Open Golf Tournament ProAm at Royal Pines. I say amazing because many of these men and women have achieved great things whether it be with sport, business or the community despite where they live, what backgrounds they come from and how old they are.
It’s a phenomenal change in mindset when a big sale comes into a business. It boosts morale, creates excitement and sets a tone for accomplishment.
There are many things that make us change a service provider – bad service, not the right service for your needs, bad location, change of direction, convenience, people – the list goes on and on.
What???? Retrenching your marketing team? Has it really come to that already?
Every second person I speak to informs me that heads have been cut in the marketing department of where they work or companies have gotten rid of marketing altogether.
I am always dubious about discounted, low price or templated websites. Firstly a website that is just from a template is NOT YOUR BRAND – so why bother? It is a complete and utter waste of money to be doing the same as everyone else just because it is cheap. Your brand deserves more than that and so do you!
