Category: Marketing Insight

Crazy John

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Yesterday a great Australian entrepreneur ‘Crazy’ John Ilhan passed away. I won’t replicate the many newspaper articles about his life or fortune. You can Google him to see all of that. What I will point out is the many personal qualities he was documented as having:

 

Self belief

Highly motivated

Family man

Big ideas

Philanthropic

Risk taker

Failed quick, failed often

Bootstrapper

Game changer

PR machine

Knew how to dance with gorillas

– Telstra in his case. (topic of coming blog entry)

crazy-john.jpg

At the age of 41, it reminds us of the most important thing of all – our health.

Number 1 tip for web entrepreneurs

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

 

GO OUTSIDE !

 crowded-city.jpg  

Sounds ironic or even slightly crazy. But here’s what we must consider.

We are not really in the ‘online’ business. We have a business which just so happens to have an ‘online’ presence.

Itunes is in the music business

Ebay is in the second hand (new) goods business

Google is in the advertising business

McDonalds is in the real estate business

Wikipedia is in the democracy business

Everything is not what it seems. The best opportunities are out in the world where our people are living their lives. The best ideas come from conversations we have, not spreadsheets we do. The best way to engage business associates and customers is to meet and interact with them…

…The best way to market to our world is by being in it, not isolated from it.

In the words of marketing polymaths Reis & Trout: “An office is a very dangerous place to watch the world from”

Cut through v2.0

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

In March of this year I did a post on a small business gaining some cut through which you can see by clicking here.

And just yesterday local water manufacturer ‘Another Bloody Water’ had a delivery truck driving around with the entire truck covered in grass, which can be seen below.

 s2400066.JPG 

In the middle of a concrete grey city you know it turned heads and had plenty of cut through.

 

I know a trend when I see one!

Now Get Lost – Hummer?

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Hummer have recently launched in Australia. The opinion of the Hummer is quite a divide of love / hate.

 

Below is a picture of the outdoor campaign which is running on trams and outdoor super sites.

 hummer.jpg 

The tag line “Now get lost” – Hummer, is not without a subtle sense of irony.

 

Did the marketing team in charge consider the negative flack many give the Hummer? The unwanted gas guzzler? Is the copy line appropriate for launch a campaign?

 

The startup blog opinion on Hummers isn’t relevant. What is relevant is the lesson for entrepreneurs:

 

Always consider the ‘multiple angles’ of any copy line.

Great Viral – Wilkinson Sword

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

When you click on the link below I’m sure you’ll agree why Fight for Kisses is a benchmark viral. It’s nearly as good as the Mini Copper S campaign last year. It’s much better than the Cadbury Gorilla this year, and here’s why:

It’s relevant to the product they’re selling.

Not simply entertaining and funny. (which by the way it is)

Click here to watch it.

Kudos – Wilkinson Sword.

Self help books

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

Self help books are great. How to books are great. Blogs are great.

 

In fact there is probably no better way to learn how to do anything, improve our life and achieve our goals. But at some point we need to put the books down, and resist the temptation to buy another one when next browsing through the local bookstore.

We have to implement instead.

Every book on entrepreneurship, finance (insert topic here) has a slightly different spin – the next big idea. One which could change our thinking and even tempt us to re-do our plans. It’s at this point we need to test things in the real world. The only thing more valuable than planning and learning is doing. If things don’t work, then we can go back and look at another theory or method.

So let’s all turn off our computers, stop reading (writing) this blog and get out there and implement our vision. Good bye, and good luck.

Me vs We

Posted on by Steve Sammartino

The greatest , Muhammed Ali was credited as delivering the shortest poem of all time while addressing Harvard University with:

‘Me We’

 ali.jpg 

And it’s not lost on entrepreneurs either. Given the brands, markets and business evolve from conversations we need to pay attention to tiny details in the way we speak. So here’s a start up blog view on some best practice.

Whenever we can, we ought use the word “we” before we use the words “I” or “me”.

Here’s why:

It’s inclusive

It’s generous

It’s team oriented

It’s bigger than ‘me’

It confirms in a subconscious way that any business is about much more than the founder.

Successful start ups and businesses involve we, not just me.