TREVORLANDIA

Establishing a Carbon Strategy

2010-05-11T12:01:00.001-07:00

So, its been almost 4 months since I have touched TREVORLANDIA, but here I am and with a new motivation to write here with a new topics at hand in creating green businesses, marketing green businesses, and just talking about what we can do in the business world to help decrease our carbon footprint. As we all know, and can see by now, what was once Al Gore's obsession is now a harsh reality for all of us. Just this year, we have seen way too many natural distasters (and human produced distasters - gulf of mexico spill) directly related to climate change.

I just got done attending greenbiz.com's webinar called Carbon Strategy, which is what I will discuss a little here today. And starting next week, I will be attending a two week course in alternative energy development provided by the Valencian Government here in Canet Den Berenguer, Valencia. I will be happy to try to share the information that I will be learning with the rest of the world via TREVORLANDIA: business and other cool issues.

In today's webinar, we received a brief overview of creating a carbon strategy. We started out by asking why? Well I guess the most prominent reason, other than the actual climate change, would be that there has been increased sustainability pressures. Those pressures have come from society in general and being part of the business community. Other pressures are coming from government regulations, although they are quite minimum. There are also marketing pressures because we are seeing more and more brands align themselves with green initiatives and those brands that don't may be frowned upon. Finally, investors are becoming more demanding. Mostly because it is more efficient to become sustainable and therefore secures higher returns over the long run.

So now that we have some good reasons to implement a carbon strategy. What are the environmental impact areas of business? And what functions of business affect those areas?

Surely we can say that energy, carbon, water, and waste are the 4 most relevant impact areas in operations and in products. So we must be aware of these four impact areas when we begin to study our operations and the products that we are making. Furthermore, those areas can be broken down into emision scopes. For example, scope 1 would be your business' direct impact (vehicle fleet). Scope 2 would be indirect impacts such as energy purchased from utility companies and your scope 3 would be other impacts such as in the supply chain to be able to provide your service or products.

Ufff....thats a lot to work on! Where does one begin. First, it is always helpful to have director support on project of this magnitude and if you are the director, excellent! It will now just depend on your own motivation to help save the planet. However, if you aren't keep bringing the topic to the table in your projects and meetings with the directors, talk with co-workers, and start your own internal movement without stepping on anybody's feet.

If you are your own boss or have a role like mine where you have a direct influence on the directing team of the business, get started by determining your strategy profile, set goals and objectives (try starting small first), then set up a structure to be able to manage these changes in the organization. Later you'll want to implement a reporting program by planning and measuring those plans with some sort of measurement tool. It always helps to make sure your right by hiring an external auditor. You might find it easier to go straight to optimizing your business activities by reducing raw material purchases, energy consuption or finding renewable sources and recycling all your waste in some manner. You might even be able to restore some of those materials or activities. Every business is different and only you can understand and apply these concepts. When you've been working on this a while, give it an evaluation. Identify your top emmitors and rate yourself on your performance.

On the marketing side and internal management side, communication and transparency is vital.

The webinar's case study was by AT&T but thier practices are quite new however applicable for every business. For example, they have started finding ways to green up the data center, which every business can do. They have also looked into finding alternative energy sources for facilities and thier vehicle fleet. You can, too! For more complex situations, managers can find energy saving software for machines and streamline real estate (whatever that means??).

Needless to say, there is a lot of re-directing investment that has to happen for all this to take place. Unless you have an endless bucket of money (if so, contact me because I would like to work for you!), it is probably best to start small and work in larger projects as opportunities arise or as your investors start aligning to your motivation if they aren't already. It was said that pay-back times vary depending on goals, objectives, and the scope of projects at hand, but most businesses can see returns from 18 months to 6 years.

Summit Energy is one of the leading companies that help businesses track their carbon footprint. Just tell them you saw it on TREVORLANDIA and ask for Bill Brewer.

Bono and the changing music industry

2010-01-05T00:41:00.001-08:00

For quite some time now, Bono has been one of the main figures against ISPs and P2P file sharing. These two (relatively old) technologies put together have been the reason for music industry's dwindling income over the last 10 years. Personally, I have been using P2P file sharing since the birth of the original free Napster in 1999 (wikipedia.com). My sister downloaded the application on our family HP and digital music became the musical medium of our entire household. We then bought a CD burner and took those CDs to our cars, friends, and parties.

So here's how it works: about 10 years ago, Napster flew on the scene offering free file sharing - mostly music - between all connected users. This means that if I my computer is connected to the internet, anyone in the world can download from my shared file. Most of the content in my shared file could be music for example. Let's just say I have U2. Everyone that is searching U2 on a P2P file sharing software can find my files and download for free. Hence eliminating the need to go buy a CD.

Flash forward to 2001: iTunes. Apple launched its revoluitonary music application iTunes. It was the second statement that the music industry has changed. While Napster was ruled illegal in 2001, Steve Job's idea of selling music song by song for around $1 over the internet (Music Store launch in 2003), showed big label music that the internet will be the medium of the future (wikipedia.com).

Yet, somehow, they just don't get it.

Lets take an example from the Grateful Dead:

Back in the late 60s & early 70's the Dead began a subculture called "tapers". They let their devoted fans come to live shows and record the show, pass the tapes to friends as long as they didn't sell their tapes. WOW! What a concept! The Dead is one of the most successful bands in history and they promoted P2P sharing some 20 years BEFORE the internet. Thanks to thier "tapers", some of the most spectacular live moments in Dead history have been recorded.

So, what is Bono complaining about??

Here's a nice cut from Softpedia.com.

The music industry has been content with blaming everyone else for its lack of vision and has been issuing the same arguments over and over again without much proof on its part and without addressing the numerous critics. Many artists, even established ones, are starting to wake up to new opportunities and make the best of them, but there are those who see it differently. U2 frontman Bono is one of them and has stirred quite a few people with his op-ed in the New York Times, in which he goes after ISPs which, he believes, are getting rich at the expense of budding artists while doing nothing to stop the scourge of file sharing.

"A decade’s worth of music file-sharing and swiping has made clear that the people it hurts are the creators — in this case, the young, fledgling songwriters who can’t live off ticket and T-shirt sales like the least sympathetic among us — and the people this reverse Robin Hooding benefits are rich service providers, whose swollen profits perfectly mirror the lost receipts of the music business," he writes.

It certainly paints a bleak picture for struggling artists whose hopes and dreams are being squashed by the greed of the Internet service providers. But while aspiring songwriters are forced into a life of mediocrity and delusion and reduced "to write jingles," the ISPs are raking it in.

"Perhaps movie moguls will succeed where musicians and their moguls have failed so far, and rally America to defend the most creative economy in the world," he ends his plea. One can only hope.

Luckily, Bono sees hope yet and finds a great example in an unlikely candidate. By his own account, we should all be learning a thing or two in how to deal with troublesome pirates from China, who's "ignoble effort to suppress online dissent" proves "that it’s perfectly possible to track content." If China, home of the world's largest Internet population, can monitor and restrict access for its citizens to all manner of 'illegal' content, it should be perfectly feasible for ISPs all over the world to do it as well, despite their claims otherwise.

With more than two decades of successful songwriting for U2, it's to be expected that Bono would write a convincing piece of fiction. And, indeed, he doesn't let us down this time around. The only issue is that he's presenting his claims as facts even as numerous accounts show new artists embracing or at least coming to terms that piracy is now a fact of life and learning how to not only cope with it but use it for their own advantage by using peer to peer networks as great and free avenues for promotion.

Softpedia.com has hit it on the nail! P2P has become a way of life and in my opinion does not classify as piracy. Should the Grateful Dead tapers be called pirates? Are my family members music pirates? Free P2P music sharing has been practiced for over 40 years by law abiding citizens that contribute to their community. As far as I'm concerned Bono has become a greedy musician. He has made himself a rich punk (remember he started out playing punk rock) by recording and playing live music for big labels. His current statements show his lack of education in technologies and public trends. What's even more interesting is how recorded music has changed mediums over the years and how quickly it has adapt to those changes, until now.

Recorded music has been sold in many formats over the years - LPs, 8-tracks, cassettes, CD, and now, digital. The big labels have adapted well to previous formats because they could control the dispersment of recorded music. Now in digital format and internet/search technology, this content cannot be controlled. The big labels are having a hard time adjusting to the changing industry and creating a flexible business model to accomodate to free P2P shared music.

In my opinion, free shared P2P music is the result of a changing society based on technology. So to all those greedy musicians out there and those that wish to be great:

GO PLAY LIVE MUSIC!

Get out of the label bought studio, make a wicked tour, and be creative with your recorded music. As Bob Dylan says: "The times are a changing". Create live music with higher value buy decreasing the label recorded output, perhaps "tapers" are not a bad idea. Devaluate big labels (another words - don't sign to a label) create your own team to promote, record, tour, and produce. But don't expect to get rich like Bono. He's a label baby.

Guerrilla Marketing by Vodafone Holland

2009-09-06T23:49:00.000-07:00

Something to laugh at, smile, and think about.

2009-06-23T11:08:00.000-07:00

Seth Godin's Guy#3

Facebook Junkie for Life - The story of the Y & Z generation.

2009-06-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

Wow! I'm back. I know I have been away for a while. My relationship with by beloved blog is on the rocks. I'm cheating on her with another blog, maybe you know it. But I'm here and typing and I think I've got something good for my beloved blog today!

Today, I want to talk about how the Y & Z generations will be junkies for life.

(Photo:http://phillipian.net/image/3079/med.jpg)

Ok, so lets get the generations straight first.

Gen X 1964-1980
Gen Y 1980-2000
Gen Z 2000-

We are the digital junkies, us Gen Yers and our first drug was Facebook. You see, I ran into several articles today as I was reading around. The first, you may have seen me tweet about it. It's from MarketingDirecto.com. It is an interesting article suggesting that adolescents (Late Generation Y or early Z) are starting to create abusive behaviors with the obsessive use of technology. Obviously, this little piece was written by someone from early Generation X, right? You know, the hippy generation...?? Hmm..

The second article I came across was actually a slideshow on slideshare.net. Take a look at slide 6. I know its in Spanish but bear with me. The slide shows a green bar at the bottom that ranks each generation from Inactive at the far left in Gen X to Creators at the far right in Gen Z, passing through Spectators in Gen X, Affiliates & Recollectors in Gen Y, and Critics before Creators in Gen Z.

The slides also define each generation as follows:

Gen X
Live in an online world 24hrs.
Tend to be Individualist
Look for the Work-Life balance
Value informality
Look for challenges and feedback
Results-Oriented

Gen Y
Have solid technological knowledge
Hard to attract.
Optimistic and Pragmatic or concerned with practical matters (eg. "as a matter of fact")
Look for well-being
Time-management is crucial
Look for pleasure and fun at the office
Results-Oriented

Gen Z
Very connected
Live in a virtual world
Ultra-independent
Multitaskers
In High demand

Take a close look at the last set of descriptions. Gen Z live in a virtual world, ultra independent....and very connected.....Could that be confused with abusive behavior or drug-addiction like behavior? Or could it be the consumption of a new media?

What the slides don't remind us in relation to the first article that I found this morning from MarketingDirecto.com, is that the Generation X grew-up watching television. It was Generation X that made TV big business. TV was the X generations way of communicating and interacting with the rest of the world. It was and still is the main channel of communication. Meanwhile we are seeing TV advertisements fallout as more marketing budgets are geared towards digital media. Marketers are seeing the power of the digital junkie. The new buying generation, Gen Y and their kids (who really make the buying decisions), Gen Z. So we have to ask ourselves, what will be the new medium? Just last week we saw Twitter beat CNN to real news from Iran. As these online communication channels become faster and leaner, when will mainstream news and broadcast leave traditional TV?

To answer that question, our main online communication channels must become profitable first. Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and MySpace are still very expensive businesses that don't make money building a bubble and we all know what happens to a bubble, right?

So the story of the Y & Z generations and their main communication medium comes down to whether they can understand and build a business model for online communication channels like social networks and video networks. Its the only way we can truly be Facebook junkies for life!

(Source: http://www.slideshare.net/NETINER)
(Source: http://www.marketingdirecto.com/noticias/noticia.php?idnoticia=33940&utm_source=MarketingDirecto&utm_medium=RSS)

5 Steps to Online One-to-One Marketing - Where relationships really matter.

2009-06-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

(Photo: http://www.networkingwave.com/images/online_business_networking_groups.jpg)

If you have been by this blog recently, I apologize for not adding any recent reading material. I have not been posting to my personal blog because I have been posting material on the company blog where I work. But today, I wanted to share a marketing/lead generation strategy that I am using at my most recent project - one-to-one in online social networks.

The strategy is straight-forward, direct. The idea is to reach your clients online and engage them in a business relationship where customer service and transparency dominate interaction. This strategy consist of several easy but time consuming processes.

1. Research and gather data on prospective clients
In order to directly target clients, a good amount of research should be done to identify those clients that can really use your service. This helps keep your interactions relevant. In my case, I work for a supplier. I have researched my industry and have found around 200 clients that could use my products and services. I have gathered information such as website address, annual income, and client location. In many cases, there are contact names available on company websites which become useful when searching for contacts in social networks.

2. Identify contacts' professional profiles in social networks
Most contacts will be found in professional networks such as LinkedIn or Xing. Record whether your contacts have profiles in one, both, or several networks. As this strategy is still in experimentation, I hope to find that the more profiles contacts have online, the more engaged contacts will be in our interactions. At this point of the strategy, you still have not made contact with your clients. Just read profiles and get to know your contacts. Also study just how you are going to position yourself after you establish contact.

3. Establish contact
Since most contacts are in professional networks, it is easy to establish contact with most. A simple, "would you like to join my network?" should usually work. Or "Keep me as a contact in [insert sector]." Always keeping track along with way. Track how they respond. Do your contacts respond with acceptance and a message? This indicates upmost interest. Do they respond by simply accepting? Or is there no response? These behaviors are tracked so that you can prepare your next step.

4. Initial offering
According to previous records that you have kept, make some sort of offering. Here is where the customization comes in the strategy. I can't say too much here because this is where each contact will be different. You should make some sort of idea of how to communicate with each contact and personalize the message by keeping the content relevant to each contact's situation. Be creative and to the point. Too long and you lose the point - too short and you don't get to the point. The real goal in this step is to automatically engage the contact. Perhaps it is simply providing a link to the webiste/blog/FB page/twitter or perhaps your organization can develop a relevant tool to engage your contact on the initial offering.

5. Continuous content publication and relationship management
Once you have caught the attention of your contact, keep giving them something that can remind them of your organization. Always provide relevant content and give them content that they can learn from. If you have landed a contact as a client, manage the relationship by recording all the interactions. Meanwhile exceed the clients' expectations! If your client want 2 test releases, give them 4. All with the same quality and relevance. While you keep exceeding thier expectations, all the while educating them, they will never go away.

Have more input to this article? Leave a comment!!!

Marketing Conference Review: Hoy es Marketing Valencia (HEM)

2009-05-06T01:00:00.000-07:00

In Valencia, marketers get few chances to attend conference events catered directly to marketers. Yesterday, the "Palace of Congresses" was packed with eager marketers for the marketing conference Hoy es Marketing.

The conference had a basic format. Eight speakers, sponsor booths, and a complementary cocktail afterward. No Q&A and no interactive function, which was a huge downer, but it was offset by great speakers and a wealth of information.

Javier Rovira started the show with a presentation of his latest read, "Consumering", which I found very similar to other publications by other American authors I wont name here. However, Mr. Rovira has his own way of explaining how marketing has changed from product-centric planning to customer-centric planning. He explained that marketing is about generating demand from your clients needs. He found that there are 4 elements to Consumering - Identity, Performance, Intensity, and Freedom. These 4 elements relate respectively to branding, need marketing, experience marketing, and marketing FOR the consumer. The latter carries the most importance, hence the name of the book. You can find Javier's publication here and here. I didn't take interest in buying the book, but if you would like a good read from a Spanish marketing stand-point, I would imagine that this would be a great choice.

After Javier Rovira's presentation, HEM took it up a notch and presented Google's marketing manager for Spain and Portugal, Laurence Fontinoy, BAM! With a strong accent that I couldn't place (by the name I would say French) and true to google culture, she gave us some real, data driven information with Youtube videos and applicable examples. She started off by showing us some relevant numbers like ..."51% of Spaniards have wide band Internet"..."22 million Spaniards online"..."Spain is the 2nd largest community using Blogger"...Cool stuff! Then she got into the first part of her presentation which showed the audience how companies are partnering with google and youtube to make cutting edge stuff. She exhibited some of google's work with the Prado museum as seen here. Also, she presented google's work with the "Orquesta Sinfonia" and "Mass Communication to One" (I didn't have time to jot down the links, sorry). The examples led to the conclusion that branding has been reinvented, implying digital marketing's role in the branding function. So with some good examples and the audience captured, Ms. Fontinoy began to talk about some solutions that google offers in the economic crisis. She gave us a great comparison of the Euribor and Web search, saying that if web search was the Euribor, we would have an increase of 170%. A smile came to my face as she hit home pointing to an impressive line graph showing the 170% increase in the last YEAR!!! If that doesn't get digital marketers in Spain excited, I don't know what will. She said that within this increase, trends show that eco-friendly searches are the most prominent. She used this example to tell the audience that it is time to redirect marketing online and ask yourself, "What are my users looking for?". Then build agility and efficiency around that vision using some of Google's tools like adwords and analytics. She put the whole digital movement into perspective. She also named some factors of success used in the Prado example, but I think they apply to virtually any project: innovation, access to information, speed, partnership, and public relations. Great presentation by Ms. Fontinoy!

Moving on, the conference then went through a very dull moment with presentations by Director of Aviva, Jose Fuentes Soriano and Telefonica's Director of Client Relations, Jesus Angel Pastor. I wont say too much about these particular presentations because they didn't present information very relevant to the audience. Mr. Fuentes Soriano spoke about his business and how its structured to position itself as a leader in the "bancaseguros" industry. I almost fell asleep. Mr. Pastor gave more data and information for the audience but related that data to Telefonica's products. I do have to say that Telefonica is offering something much different from other telecommunications companies, check it out here. Its sort of a customized communications pack for small business owners, an all-in-one bill. Not bad.

I managed to stay awake and alert for a true rock star in the Spanish market, Pedro Valdes, Director of Daemon Quest Spain. This was a no-BS kind of guy. Straight to the point and vulgar. Yeah, he slipped some questionable comments during the presentation (eg. "currar como un negro" or "como cono...?") but gave the audience the best information of the afternoon. He went through his 5 rules of survival. I'll go ahead and jot them out here.

Create new sources of income
Specialize in few segments
Reinvent the advertising budget
Reinvent the buying experience
Create an online strategy
Sell!

He went through each rule with very creative examples such as showing us how a outdoor equipment store has reinvented the buying experience by turning the store into a test area, letting customers test jackets with falling water and test sleeping bags on blocks of ice. He made his presentation super relevant and entertaining. He didn't sell Daemon Quest. He just showed that he was the bad-ass in the marketplace and proved himself a thought leader in the industry. Meanwhile he related back to a basic equation in marketing: clients+innovation=growth. Cool presentation Mr. Valdes pero no hace falta los comentarios tan chulos.

We had a short break, then we were back in the conference hall for the last part of the afternoon focused on experience marketing. This portion of the conference was opened up by a charismatic professor from ESIC, Jose Luis Pastor. He showed us how marketing the customer's experiences makes an invisible difference. He used examples such as Haagen Das' "Peace" icecream in Libano, Nespresso's elegant coffee experience, and Nike/Apple collaboration using software in shoes. It was a motivating segment that came to the conclusion that brands will end up telling the story of the product, transforming the brand into an experience.

The ESIC professor set up Vueling's CMO, Vicenc Marti. For those who aren't familiar with Vueling, you could compare it to Southwest Airline's culture. Vueling is an airline with an experience and Mr. Marti has help position Vueling as one of the top airline companies in Europe. He spoke extremely fast and provided an impossible amount of information about the company and its innovative marketing system. He showed us examples of how Vueling creates experiences in a boring flight by hiring world-class DJs for in flight parties to Ibiza, or in flight quartet concerts, or in flight fashion shows. Vueling has spend lots of money in using customer experiences to positioning its brand. Mr. Marti finished up his presentation by saying that the most important aspect of branding Vueling today is managing the efficient balance using online and offline channels. Even though Marti's presentation was focused around Vueling instead of the audience, he made his presentation relevant to experience marketing for all of us to learn from.

The last speaker of the day was a wine marketer, Javier Gandia, the marketing director for Bodegas Gandia. He showed us how his corporate communication plan is based in experiences. He relates his family wines to art, dining out, sporting events, and the movie theater - all very common experiences. His wines relate to each experience by positioning different product lines to the experience. A very interesting and creative approach to marketing a winery. He even told us that the industry shunned his ideas a few year ago, but now his work has paid off and reaps success in almost all product lines. Thanks to Mr. Gandia's work, Valencian wines are now greatly respected in the wine industry.

The conference concluded with a few glasses of wine and food over a light conversation between old colleagues. I greatly enjoyed the afternoon. If you were at the event and would like to share your experience, leave a comment!

Webinar Review: Integrate Email with SEO & Social Media

2009-05-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

If there is a company that does great webinars, its ExactTarget!

One of the most recent webinars done by ExactTarget focused on integrating email with social media and SEO. As it was a free webinar, the information remained basic yet informative. ExactTarget quoted research such as...

..."92% of b2b buyers go to the internet first"...
..."the sales process is 22% longer"...
...the loyalty effect: "a 5% decrease in defection can increase profits 20%"...

The first quote on "92% of buyers" has already helped me in my career. The following day, I used that quote in a presentation to help change a corporate webiste. The webinar went on to define several purposes of email integration with SEO and Social media strategy. For example, the speaker from Mighty Interactive laid out its digital capabilities.

Attraction: Search, online ads, offline integration
Conversion: Website, landing pages, capture
Interaction: Social media, blog
Retention: email, customer service

I see these capabilities as keystones of any digital marketing plan. Furthermore, the webinar provided listeners with great suggestions. Listeners were recommended to use rich media for online ad banners, inform social network about email program and provide them with ways to interact through contests or events, and listeners were recommended to keep improving the subscription page.

I especially enjoyed the recommendation and ideas posed for informing social network about an email program. Yet, I think I would have to think of more creative ways to involve my social network than contests or events. I think something more relative to the customer's goals would be more effective.

Finally, I'll leave you with some points for planning success as ExactTarget points out in the webinar.

An "editorial" calendar should be set in place to manage online content.
Communication should be planned across all channels while maintaining its brand and key messages.

I hope you enjoyed my short review. Sign up for ExactTarget's next free webinar on June 3rd. Leave comments as you please.

Trends in the MBA Marketplace

2009-04-27T01:58:00.001-07:00

(Photo: http://www.globecampus.ca/)

As promised a few weeks ago, you will find a complete report on the MBA market trends. These findings are results of research done by myself and Diego Castillo in consulting an MBA program in Madrid. Please take the time to read through...

Market Analysis

Application Volume
The application volume in the MBA market has been increasing steadily since 2006. According to extensive research done in the field, almost 77% of programs have experienced an increase in the volume of applications, and they declare that they have received more applications than in the previous year.
Full-time MBA programs benefited the most from this increase in application volume. Approximately 80% of these programs declared they had received more applications than in the previous year. Flexible MBAs also ripped the benefits of this boom in applications, showing an increase in application volume in 82% of these programs. The MBA programs that benefited less from this boom was the Part-Time MBA; only 58% of these programs declared an increase in application volume.
Parallel to this, specialized Masters in Science (MS) in Business and specialized MBAs also showed a steady increase in application volume. Those programs specialized in Finance experienced the best of this boom with 73% of these programs declaring they had received more applications in for the academic year 2008-2009 than for the previous year. The Part-Time programs specialized in Accounting and other fields also showed increases in application volume; 68% of specialized Part-Time Accounting programs featured increases in application volume, while 67% of specialized programs in other business fields (Marketing and Consulting) also experienced an increase in application volume. On a different plain, specialized Full-Time Accounting programs showed the smallest increase in application volume with only 58% of these programs receiving more applications than they received the year before.
It can be concluded that the overall MBA market is experiencing sharp increases in application volume. Full-Time MBA programs showcase the biggest increases in application volume and Part-Time MBAs present the smallest increase in application volume. In comparison, specialized programs in Finance featured the biggest increases in application volume while specialized Full-Time Accounting programs show the smallest increase in application volume. (See appendix 1)

Net Trend in Application Volume
The net trend is calculated by using the percentage of schools showing an increase in application volume minus those showing a decrease in application volume. The significance of net trends is that they express the difference by which increases in application volumes surpass decreases in application volumes for each of the programs in the market. This means that the number of schools offering a program (Full-Time MBA, for example) receiving more applications surpass those schools that received less applications. To illustrate better, an upward net trend of 68% would mean that increases in application volume surpassed decreases in application volume by 68%.
Research has shown that the MBA programs with the highest net trends were Full-Time traditional MBAs and Flexible MBAs with upward net trends of 68% and 67% respectively. Part-Time MBAs and Executive MBAs showed the lowest upward net trend at 38% and 32% respectively.
On the other hand, specialized business programs with the highest upward net trends were Finance programs, showing an outstanding 66% upward net trend. The programs with the lowest upward trends in application volume were those offering specializations in Management or Business Administration; these programs showed an upward net trend of only 25%. (See appendix 3)
From this data it could be concluded that most schools offering Full-Time MBA programs receive increasing numbers of applications at higher rates from one year to the next. Meanwhile, most schools offering Part-Time MBA programs receive increasing numbers of applications, but at lower rates. On the other hand, most schools offering specialized programs in Finance experienced the highest rates in application volume increase while most schools offering specializations in Management or Business Administration experienced smaller rates in increases in application volumes.

Net Trends in Application Volume Outside the US
The net trends in application volumes for MBA programs, MS in Business and specialized MBAs located outside the United States have presented constant upward movement. In fact, net trends in application volume for programs outside the US are even higher. Research shows that the net trend for Full-Time MBA programs located outside the US showed an astonishing 80%; recall that the significance of this is that the number of programs with increased application volumes surpassed the number of programs with decreasing application volumes by 80%. On the other hand, the MBA program outside the US that showed the smallest net trend was the Executive MBA.
MS in Business and specialized MBAs located outside the US also showed an impressive upward net trend at 50%. From this it can be concluded that most schools offering Full-Time MBAs outside the US receive increasing numbers of application at higher rates each year. Adversely, most Executive MBAs outside the US receive increasing number of applications at the lowest rate. Also, schools that offer MS in Business and specialized MBAs receive increasing numbers of applications at steady rates. Overall, though, the majority of business programs outside the US receive increasing numbers of applications year after year. (See appendix 2)

Comparison between the Application Volume of US Programs and Foreign Programs
The trends in application volume have been much higher for most foreign business programs. For example, US Full-Time MBAs have shown a net application volume trend of 67%, while Foreign Full-Time MBAs show a net trend of 80%. Full-Time Accelerated MBAs in the US show a 56% upward net trend while foreign Full-Time Accelerated MBAs show a trend of 61%. Executive MBAs in the US were more popular than those in foreign locations. Executive MBAs inside the US showed a net trend of 38%, while those in foreign locations showed an 18% trend. While US MS in Business and specialized MBAs showed a 38% upward trend, foreign MS in Business and specialized MBAs showed a 50% trend.
From this research it can be concluded that the number of schools receiving increasing volumes in applications is higher in foreign locations than in the US. It can also be concluded that Executive MBAs in the US are more popular than their foreign counterparts, while MS in Business and specialized MBAs are more popular outside the US. (See appendix 2)

Numbers of Applications by Program
The number of applications for business graduate programs is unequally distributed among different programs across the MBA market. The programs driving the biggest number of applications on a yearly basis are Full-Time MBAs, featuring an average of yearly applications of 889. Full-Time Accelerated MBAs and Masters in Management or Business Administration are the next best application drivers, showing average yearly application levels of 287 and 283 respectively. Executive MBAs and Part-Time Masters in Finance present the lowest average of yearly applications at 125 and 117 respectively.
From this research it can be concluded that the most popular programs in the global MBA market are Full-Time MBAs and Full-Time Accelerated MBAs. MS in Management or Business administration are the biggest drivers of applications among non-MBA degrees. The least popular programs are Executive MBAs and Part-Time Masters in Finance. (See appendix 3)

Applicant Profiles and Application Trends
Applicants to Business programs vary significantly across several demographic factors. However, there is one factor that seems to be the factor of choice by which MBA employers abide when recruiting new MBA hires: years of work experience. Research shows that 90% of MBA employers find it desirable that candidates have one or more years of work experience, while 67% are looking for candidates with three or more years of experience.
In comparison, 77% of employers looking for graduates from MS in Business and specialized MBAs expect candidates to have one or more years of experience. From this research it can be concluded that years of work experience is of significant importance for employers of MBAs, and employers of MS in Business and specialized MBAs.
Application patterns follow the profiling trends set by employers. Applicants with more work experience aim more for MBA programs; less experienced applicants tend to apply more to MS in Business and specialized MBAs. An impressive 79% of applications to Full-Time MBAs (the most popular program in the market) come from applicants with work experience. Approximately 56% of total applications come from applicants with 3 to 10 years of experience, while 23% of applications come from applicants with more than one year of work experience, but less than three.
On the other hand, 45% of applications to Masters in Management or Business Administration and other specialized MBAs come from applicants with less than one year of experience; 23% of applications come from applicants with more than one year of experience but less than three. This means that 68% of the total application volume received by programs offering Masters in Management or Business Administration come from applicants with less than 3 years of work experience.
From these facts it can be concluded that MBA graduates with more work experience are preferred by MBA employers, and applicants with more work experience tend to apply to Full-Time MBAs, while employers of graduates from MS in Business and specialized MBAs look for applicants with at least one year of work experience, and applicants with less years of experience tend to apply to MS in Business and specialized MBAs over any other program in the market. (See appendix 4)

Trends in Applicants’ Valuation of MBA Programs
Brand equity is the most important asset that a school can have in its books. For a MBA program, brand equity is crucial to succeed. Research shows that applicants to MBA programs and MBA employers utilize schools’ brand equity as the factor of choice by which they assess the quality of a graduate business programs.
According to research, applicants rank the reputation of the programs to which they are considering attending as the most important element influencing their final choice. On the second slot, applicants rank personal contact with alumni while the program’s prospectus (a printed statement describing an enterprise) ranked as the third most important element in applicant decision-making among various programs. The information on the program’s website and the program’s direct marketing strategies ranked fourth and fifth respectively.
From this it can be corroborated that a program’s brand equity is the most important asset a MBA program can have. Also, the influence of a program’s alumni is crucial in the decision-making process applicants go through. Overall, all of the five factors listed above refer to the image a MBA program portrays, and thus, safeguarding this image is essential for success.

Trends in Salary Compensation of MBA Graduates
MBA graduates tend to receive higher salary compensations than graduates from any other business programs. Those candidates with more years of experience tend to receive higher salaries when employed. Research shows that a MBA graduate with one to five years of work experience is likely to receive greater compensation than are other graduates with similar work experience. In addition, MBA graduates tend to be hired for mid-level position, and earn salaries that are almost double the salary of a recent graduate with a bachelor’s degree.
In comparison, research in the field has found that graduates of MS in Business and other specialized MBAs tend to be employed at entry level positions and they tend to have less than three years of experience. The salaries that these graduates tend to receive are usually 30% higher than salaries received by graduates with bachelor’s degrees.
Overall, years of experience seem to be the main determinant of salary levels. MBA graduates and graduates from MS in Business and from other specialized MBAs receive about the same salary compensation when they have no work experience. However, as the number of years of work experience increase, the salary compensation of MBA graduates begins to pull away from the salary compensations offered to the other graduates with the same number of years of experience.
From this research it can be concluded that MBA graduates with more years of experience receive the highest salary compensation among graduates from all business programs. It can also be concluded that graduates from MS in Business and specialized MBAs tend to have less than three years of experience. In addition, they tend to earn 70% less of what an experienced MBA graduate earns after graduation. Finally, it can be concluded that experienced MBAs tend to occupy mid-level posts while MS in Business and graduates from other specialized MBAs tend to land in entry-level positions.

Conclusions on Statistics

Application volume according to products in the market
• The MBA market is experiencing sharp increases in application volume in all programs in the market.
• Full-Time MBA programs show the highest increases in application volume
• Part-Time MBAs show the lowest increase in application volume.
• Specialized programs in Finance show the highest increases in application volume among non-MBA programs.
• Full-Time Accounting programs show the smallest increase in application volume among non-MBA programs.
• Full-Time MBA programs show higher application volumes than specialized programs in Finance.

Fastest growing application volumes according to programs in the US market
• Most schools offering Full-Time MBA programs show higher rates of application increases.
• Most schools offering Part-Time MBA programs show the lowest rates in application increase.
• Most schools offering specialized programs in Finance show higher the rates in application increase among non-MBA business programs.
• Most schools offering specializations in Management or Business Administration show the lowest rates in application increase.
Fastest growing application volumes according to programs in the foreign market
• Most schools offering Full-Time MBAs outside the US receive increasing numbers of application at the highest rates each year.
• Most Executive MBAs outside the US receive the lowest rate of increasing number of applications.
• Schools that offer MS in Business and specialized MBAs outside the US receive increasing numbers of applications at steady rates.
• The majority of business programs outside the US receive increasing numbers of applications year after year at steady rates.
• The number of schools receiving the highest rates in application volume is higher in foreign locations than in the US.

Program popularity in the global MBA market
• The most popular programs in the global MBA market are Full-Time MBAs and Full-Time Accelerated MBAs.
• MS in Management or Business administration drive the highest number of applications among non-MBA degrees.
• Executive MBAs in the US are more popular than their foreign counterparts.
• MS in Business and specialized MSs in Business are more popular outside the US.

Applicant Profile
• Experienced applicants tend to apply to Full-Time MBAs and other MBA programs.
• Inexperienced applicants tend to apply to MS in Business and specialized MBAs over any other program in the market.

Trends in Applicants’ Valuation of MBA Programs
• Applicants value reputation the most when deciding between MBA programs.
• Personal contact with a program’s alumni is the second most valued element by MBA applicants.
• The program’s prospectus, the information available in the program’s website and direct marketing tools implemented by the program to target students are the next three most important factors.
• These five factors refer back to the image of the program. Thus, the program’s image is crucial to the present and future success it will enjoy attracting students.

Recruitment Profile of Business Graduate Employers
• MBA employers prefer MBA graduates with more work experience
• Employers of graduates from MS in Business and specialized MBAs look for applicants with at least one year of work experience.
• MBA graduates with more years of experience receive the highest salary compensations.
• Graduates from MS in Business and specialized MBAs tend to have less than three years of experience.
• Graduates from MS in Business tend to earn 70% less of what an experienced MBA graduate earns after graduation.
• Experienced MBAs tend to occupy mid-level posts.
• Graduates from other specialized MBAs tend to land in entry-level positions.

Appendixes

1) Net Trend in Application Volume MBA Programs

2) Net Trends in Application Volume Masters in Business

3) Net Trends in Application Volume Outside the US

4) Number of Applications by Program

5) Applicant Profiles and Application Trends

Reference List

• Graduate Management Admissions Council. Application Trends Survey 2008. Survey Report.
• Graduate Management Admissions Council. Corporate Recruiters Survey 2008. Survey Report.
• Ivy, Jonathan and Peter Naude. Succeeding in the MBA market place: Identifying the underlying factors. Journal of Higher Education Policy. Vol. 26, No. 3. November 2004.

If you have gotten this far, GREAT! You are obviously interested in this research and our work. We have already made several recommendations for a company in Madrid based on our findings here and additional findings that are not exposed here. If you would like to see how our research might help your small business, please leave me a comment and I'll be in touch!

2009-04-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

I got a call from a good friend on Weds. who is working on an interesting project in Madrid. He needed help. As I continue without a full-time job, I am in Madrid to help him.

(Photo: nytimes.com)
He is working to provide solutions in enrollment and marketing an American MBA program taught in Madrid.

Over the course of the next week we will be studying trends in the MBA marketplace, how online marketing can help international education programs - more specifically how blogging can increase visibility of an institution's value, how to better an MBA curriculum, how to increase enrollment of young, American students with low-income, and many other topics as this project moves forward.

I am certain that we will come away from this project with some excellent research material for the MBA market and MBA institutions. I will be happy to share the research on this blog. Furthermore, I will look into sharing the full written consultation on Trevorlandia Manages blog sometime after the work has been completed.

If you are interested in our research and would like a copy of our report, please leave your email in the comments below and I will be in contact.

My online marketing plan for Roca & Roza Village Barcelona & Value Retail UK

2009-03-31T08:37:00.000-07:00

Good Afternoon from Valencia.

About a month ago I got a call from Barcelona. It was a head hunter and he was interested in me for Value Retail's Roca Village. It was for the Digital Marketer position taking charge of Value Retail's digital marketing for the spanish market. I was thrilled and got to work right away investigating its current situation, risks, limitations and more importantly, where I could get to work. So, eventhough I dont work for Value Retail, I made a short online marketing plan with ideas to increase Value Retail's online presence in the Spanish market.

This plan has 3 iniciatives:

1. Search Engine Optimization Upgrade
At the time of this study, Value Retail's SEO for the spanish market webs is poorly developed. This is a good start to driving online traffic.

2. Online Media Room Launch
Again, poorly developed social media. Well, better said, the Roca Village has NO social media strategy. I'm going to jump-start Roca's social media and implement an online media room with social networks and a BLOG!

3. Leverage Email to become Outlet Knowledge Leader
I am not a part of Value Retail's email lists, but I got to speak with a email reciever and she gave me the downlow on Value Retail's email communication. I'm sorry but communicating discounts and special prices just doesn't cut it. Besides, its an outlet shopping center, the discount is implied.

SEO Upgrade

-Keywords

It seems that the current SEO strategy is focused around few keywords. One of those keywords is "chic". Part of the phrase "chic outlet shopping". As I said before, I dont work for Value Retail, but it seems that the online marketing team or agency (they use View {UK} as its web agency) didn't do a keyword analysis and develop prime keywords that would drive traffic to the website and into the sales process. So, the first task at hand for this business is keyword analysis and implementation. For example, they can start by changing the title of the webpage which currently does not reflect any keyword besides "Roca Village". Developing keywords start by asking questions like "What is important to the business?" "What will attract customers?" After developing a good hundred keywords or more, Roca can start to develop content and implement keywords into the website and blog content. Once keywords in place, it is important to measure the traffic keyworks attract and compare keywords. It is also important to monitor competitive keywords and where they rank in comparison.

-Link Building

Link building is also very important for SEO. Where can this company start? First, register with directories online. They drive great, relevant traffic. Second, identify good online partners. Do they have a good blog/Website with lots of traffic? If so, trade links from good, relevant content. Third and most important in today's Web 2.0, become a blogger with a mission. Start commenting on outlet shopping influencial blogs. For example, there are a ton of people out there blogging about the next cool shirt at Hugo Boss and they even have pictures of the item, price, size, etc. These influencials are your WOM drivers through the internet. That's where you need to build conversations and get to know your influencials and what they talk about. Now, this leads me to blogging and social media which is part of the link building process.

Online Media Room

The online media room is for buyers and publishers (bloggers, newpaper, etc). The online media room should be a very visible, attractive part of the website home page. A place where a buyer or publisher can find the most current information on the company, products, and all the content the company publishes. This online media room should be like a live feed - always updating - from social media, blogs, and PR people and it should have fixed information related to the company and products. So, how does this company create the online media room? First, have a meeting. Meet up with Value Retail's marketing department, PR people, web designers/agency and let them know whats up. Share ideas and become excited. Then...create a blog.

-Blog

A blog is the first step in the online media room in my opinion because its the easiest way to start developing content and feeding it to the online media room. However, you might ask what does Roca write about? Hmmm....store changes, parking issues, shopping tips, fashion shows, inside info....do I need to go on??...product updates at lacoste, the hot waitress at the italian restaurant, the video of the shoplifter...get creative! Make sure all your blog content is sharable through share links. It will drive traffic and breed loyal bloggers who will in turn become loyal customers, tweeters, diggers, facebookers, tuenties, etc. This leads me to....

-Social Networking

Social network marketing is a hot topic right now and when things are hot, you don't want to touch it too much. So, a good objective for Roca's social media would be to drive traffic to the website and then lead that traffic to the sales process. I think the best way to do this would be to build social groups in Facebook and Tuenti with a link to a sign up for email. However, limit your direct messages in Facebook and Tuenti and develop the groups from a REAL person's profile - effectively the Digital Manager. Then feed your new, relevant, keyword rich content to the group home page, not to all the group members.

Also promote content in twitter (also from a real person's account), digg, and other communities. Feed your tweets and diggs to the online media room. Same with Youtube or more segmented video communities.

What is important about social media is this:
1. Go where your customers are. If you recieve more traffic from Facebook, use it more. If not, stay away. You don't want to waste time where no one listens.
2. Be real. Dont sell.

Leverage Email Communication

In this online marketing plan, the email function is where Roca convinces customers to go shopping. Like I said before, communicating discounts and special pricing doesn't make the cut. Roca's communication must be different from that of other retailers. So how do we do this? First, buy a good third party emailing software. I would suggest ExactTarget. They probably provide the best software for retailers. By using ExactTarget we can communicate with our customers on a more personal level and measure the effectiveness of the email campaign closely. Second, start developing content plans for email campaigns. This is where Roca needs to set itself apart from the rest by becoming sort of a knowledge leader - making it obvious that Roca does it better. Roca can start by asking, "What interests my customers?". Once they have a few good answers, start developing content or incentives for customers to leave the house and drive to the outlet center.

There are still many things left out of this plan like the development of buyer profiles, integrating traditional media, video content, and much, much more. If you take a look at Value Retail's online presence you can see that this simple and short plan will go a LONG way to turning its lacking presence into cash flow.

Well there, thats my short online marketing plan for Value Retail's Roca & Roza Village in Spain. Like I said, I don't work for Value Retail, obviously I didn't get the job but I didn't want my time to go to waste. So I have shared it with you. Please don't hesitate to add on to my plan by commenting below.

Social Networking in Spain and tendencies for Social Media Marketing

2009-03-26T03:08:00.000-07:00

Good Morning from Valenica!

Its a beautiful sunny morning here in Valencia and it seems that summer has already begun!

(Photo: http://www.genbeta.com/web-20/tuenti-vs-facebook)

Upon waking up this morning, I am happy to find a great column in El Pais titled "Internet no nos cambia tanto" - Internet doesn't change us that much. It truely is a great column that talks about our behavior on the internet's most powerful social networks, Facebook, MySpace, Linkedin, and here in Spain, Tuenti.

Some of the mentions in this article include quotes from Harvard University authors in Taste, Ties, and Time, an important look at social network behavior. Here's what El Pais had to say:

... "the first data that they found was that 97.4% of college students have thier online profile in Facebook"...

..."if you put a picture of you smiling, you more likely to connect with other people that have a picture of them smiling"... and likely to connect with other people of the same race....

Those of us that have been apart of the Facebook boom in the early 2000 when it was still a college thing, know that all of your college friends are still connected by Facebook. And when I say all of your friends, I mean ALL of your friends! We have stayed in touch by posting pictures, wall posts, and sending messages. The Facebook early adopters know exactly how Facebookers interact just by looking at the way our hundreds or thousands of network friends interact. Those of us in social network marketing that have been apart of this boom should take our experiences into consideration when developing communication strategies to social network members. Remember that Facebook was made popular by friends wanting to connect and know more about other friends from college, where rumors, stories, and personal lives get mixed up online through facebook. Its personal territory, so be careful how you communicate.

(Photo: http://blog.stuvu.com/2009/02/facebook-etiquette-for-college-students/)

This could be true for the Spanish version of Facebook, Tuenti. Tuenti is made up of mostly young, female members in college or high-school and formatted in Spanish only. Members of Tuenti have an average friend base of 30 people compared to Facebook's 120 average friend base. These are important facts to have if you want to target communication to Tuenti. Keeping messages relevant and personal is essential for high conversion rates and ROI.

Social Marketers can also utilize Tuenti as a segmentation tool. We know that Facebook has more members and is growing membership at an astounding pace everyday. Tuenti, as a smaller community with more personal members, may provide a communication vehicle to communicate with a specific market. I think this is the true value of social networks in today's marketing world. Social networks provide marketers with the ability to analyze and segment the market without doing the research themselves.

(Photo: http://www.todolideres.com/2008/10/16/zaryn-dentel/zaryn-dentel-equipo-tuenti/)

Also, within the social networks, there are more smaller segments such as Facebook's groups, fans, and events. Tuenti has a similar function. Connecting with potential and existing customers has become really easy using social networks. According to El Pais, "In 26 countries, 10% of the population is on Facebook"...in Spain 9%. This is increasingly important but what is even more important is that if the marketing strategy/budget includes social network marketing, social marketers much remember to be human, part of the community, a Facebooker, a Tuenti user. Another words, if you aren't really a part of the social network, you will stand out like a sore thumb. Before communicating with potential and existing customers, make sure you know how, when, and why.

Thats it for today. Leave me comments!

Takin it to the street! Hierbay.es guerilla marketing example

2009-03-16T02:27:00.000-07:00

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT SUPPORT THE USE OR SALE OF MARIJUANA. THIS POST COINCIDES WITH THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG "BUSINESS & OTHER COOL ISSUES".

Good morning!

For those of you who do not know, Valencia is in Fallas! Fallas is the largest and most popular festival of the Valencian Community next to the Tomatina in Buñol. Fallas is a month long festival with the most intensity in the last 5 days of festivities which include fireworks at 2pm and 1:30 am, large, elegant scupltures in each neighborhood plaza, and a swift burning of the same scupltures at the end of the festival. The Fallas are an important part of the Valencian economy and culture.

On Friday I went to the city hall square (Plaza del Ajuntamiento) to participate in the Mascletá (2pm fireworks). While waiting for the noise driven fireworks, a young guy about my age with an eye catching t-shirt hands me this little flyer.

Take a close look. The brand, the website, its function ("growshop", lower right hand corner), and did you notice that the flyer is made of perforated strips, or rolling tips? Its a good way to make the flyer not only relevant but useful! I immediately noticed the value that hierbay.es is giving to its audience. I thought it as a great example of guerrilla marketing so I followed the guy that handed me the flyer and eventually came to the hierbay.es street stand in the middle of the town hall square with an audience of over 3,000 valencians.

Meet hierbay.es. Its a growshop online formed by 3 guys and launched about a month ago according to the representative in the picture above. Like in one of my previous posts about Desigual's guerrilla marketing, hierbay.es has gone straight to its target market. This is no better place to find pot growers/smokers than at a free, open air event with plenty of sun and beer for 1 euro. Hierbay.es has come to its market and has made itself relevant and useful through a cheap guerrilla marketing effort and rolling tips. Brilliant! Hats off!

Keep Thinking Series: Article 1

2009-03-12T08:39:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the first input in the Keep Thinking Series!

This series will be sort of the opinion and observation column for TREVORLANDIA. Since I keep coming up with ideas and observations, I want to dedicate this series to short, powerful topics.

Article 1: Taking your message where your clients are...the next mobile wave.

I was on the internet today, very immobile, just sitting while participating in a webinar. As I was sitting there, I felt extremely unproductive. Sure; I'm learning something through the web-based seminar and could use that knowledge to improve in my job in the future. Yet, what if I could do a real webinar with slides, voice, and chat functions but on my cell phone??

Instead of using the company computer to educate yourself, we could use our smart phone while to attend the webinar while in the airport, on the train, in traffic, on the way home......

Webinars are great right now while millions & millions of people world-wide are out of work due to the world economic crisis. However, when I get a job and the few other millions like me get a job, we want to keep learning while working and applying what we learn to our work....on our cell phone.

I think it will be the next mobile wave for consumers. You know how Apple's SDKs have opened up collaboration for software development for iPhone applications? Well, it would be a good place to start. Companies that develop thought leadership content for consumers through webinars could look into developing an iPhone application to carry those webinars to the consumer via cell phone.

Keep Thinking.

Takin it to the street! Desigual's guerrilla marketing.

2009-03-10T02:37:00.000-07:00

Hello readers!

I have been out of the loop for the most part of this past week due to a quick trip to Barcelona. I was without a reliable connection to the internet most of the weekend. However, I kept this blog in mind when I came across Desigual's street advertising.

Desigual, in my opinion, is an affordable (but pricey for those who shop rebajas) Spanish alternative-luxury brand. They implement high levels of creativity in thier fashionable clothes appealing to those liberal minded folks with a heavy wallet. Check out thier blog for some really interesting posts and updates from the company.

I wanted to mention Desigual today because I came across a really cool way of increasing brand visibility in the Plaza del Catedral in the heart of Barcelona. Three tricycles with stylish, elongated body painted with desigual's image together in the Plaza del Catedral.

At 5PM in the afternoon, while walking through the ancient downtown streets in Barcelona, you should find the Catedral plaza full of sun and people warming thier faces and listening to the sounds of the street musicians. I found these three tricycles bathing in the sun while preparations for a benefit concert where underway at the far end of the plaza. Sun, music, and activism - the perfect meeting place for liberal minds.

It is proof of desigual's true connection with its customers. Desigual knows where to find its target market. Not on a billboard, not in GQ magazine, but on the street taking a presence in the local benefit concert. A touchdown cheer for desigual's guerrilla marketing!

But what would this blog be, if I didn't make a few comments about my finding?? So, lets take this a little bit further. How can desigual use this type of guerrilla marketing to create loyalty, action, and participation?? Drive customers to the blog!!

Okay, its really cool to have the bikes on the street, the perfect placement too. Really! Yet, desigual needs to get its customers to participate. Instead of putting the brand on the bike, put the brand's blog on the bike (the brand is promoted in the blog URL). This way the company can promote the brand and involve its customers - create relationships!! Not only will this create loyalty and participation in the brand but the marketing manager can track its effectiveness to some effect by keeping an eye on its blog traffic metrics. There could be an increase in unique visits from the day of the benefit concert which could be directly coorelated to the street promo. A good way to track ROI from the street bikes.

The web's ability to track and measure should not be avoided in guerrilla marketing. We must remember that the people participating on the street are likely to be participating on the internet too. Guerrilla marketing is a good way to spark online conversation about products and brands by taking the social forum to them, show them where to talk about thier favorite brand or product. No better place than the internet for more exposure and accessability.

Okay, that's it. I'll have some more stuff sometime later this week. Enjoy and please comment!

The Ultimate Personalized Email & Video Email Service Provider

2009-03-03T07:28:00.000-08:00

Need to make a sale? Want to make your case? Begging to get your client back?

MAKE A VIDEO!

If you are in tune with online marketing, you will know that video email is the next step. We still don't have the capability to send v-mails with sound or even have dependability like regular email due to spam controls and an array of email clients, but we are working in that direction. VHD Technology seems to be taking the lead in v-mails by working with heavy-hitters such as Sears, Nike and SAP. You can check out the VHD website here.

What we do have in today's online environment is the ability to create, post, and promote a video online. Here is where I would like to introduce you to a cool new thing I found online called:

Eyejot.com made its splash on the scene a little over a year ago in publications such as the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Now they are developing iPhone apps and surely building a client base. However, I am not writing today to promote eyejot directly. What I would like to focus on is the idea of making your case, selling your product, or convincing your client by video.

Check out this link and tell me whether Bob Rodkin has convinced you.

Right now, services such as eyejot have the ability for you to make a personalized video for your recipient. A video where you can talk by addressing your client with his or her name, addressing the issues that involve only you and the client, and building your case. As you see in Bob Rodkin's video, he got a response to 5 out of 6 of his eyejot emails within a half hour. There is nothing more pursuasive than showing up and talking to your client. A generalized email with your client's name inserted doesn't even come close to a personalized video email where the clients name come out of your mouth.

Right now, eyejot is a really cool thing to use but, I want to take an extra step further. What about a web-based program on my computer that allows me to do what eyejot does, like in my email service provider??? For example, I may want to send an email with attachments and links AND a video of me (physical expressions and all!!) embedded and playing in the email. Now, that would be cool! So go on Gmail....build the web interface for v-mail!! What are we waiting for?

Meanwhile, we can use eyejot, or upload videos on youtube, or buy expensive v-mail services like VHD.

A v-mail ESP is the next flattener in the increasingly flat world.

(Photo: stratstars.pbwiki.com)

Notes from "Building a Retail Email Marketing Powerhouse"

2009-02-26T01:35:00.000-08:00

I attended an ExactTarget.com webinar last night on "Building a Retail Email Marketing Powerhouse". It was a very informative webinar showing how an online retail business has built its email marketing program. What was really interesting is how ExactTarget's client uses behavioral data in almost all its email targeting. They really get down to the nitty gritty in predicting the buyers next move in the buyer life cycle. My responses in italics.

The course started out showing some data on the best ways to communicate to your buyers according to ROI. Online marketing was at the top. Email showed a ROI at $45.65/$1 and non-email online marketing was at $20.19/$1. After email and non-email, direct marketing followed. This data is a good follow-up from yesterday's post for my statements on how company blogging serves as a great marketing tool from an ROI perspective.

After a short introduction to some figures in ROI, ExactTarget's client goes through some of the ways they have developed their program.

The clients customers opt-in to emails both in-store and on the website. In-store managers gain incentives on email capture over a monthly basis and the data capture is controlled for quality (making sure they didn't input their sister's 8 email addresses and all her friends different email addresses). A good control method for the store manager's data capture would be a purchase receipt. Not only will we prove that data is quality customer data, we will also have direct data on the customer's purchase and behavior. What did they purchase? At what price? How did they pay? Etc.

Then the client's customers are inserted into a database where they will be segmented by channel of purchase, end use of product, price points, and purchase history. These are the defining segmentation of the client's buyer life cycle and predictive modeling email programs.

In the client's buyer life cycle program, the life cycle has 3 stages. First, the welcome stage where the customer will receive a series of 3 emails. A thank you email, a branding email, and a services offered email. All 3 emails are not delivered in the same moment nor the same week. Each customer has overload controls where ExactTarget's software will alert the client if the customer is receiving too many emails. However, the controls are not made by ExactTarget, ExactTarget has designed its software so that the client can make the control inputs. This first stage is called the nurturing stage. I think 3 emails in the nurturing stage are too many even though all 3 emails have a good purpose. In this stage such emails as branding and services can be consolidated. So instead of receiving three emails, the customer will receive 2 - one welcoming and one showing the brand and its services. Overloading the customer can happen too quick and once you lose a customer, it takes triple the effort to gain her back.

The second stage is the repurchase stage. In this stage the predictive modeling comes into play. The client's predictive modeling is done manually and is very targeting looking at the segmentation noted earlier. They build groups with similar behavior through the segmentation and email to those groups on what, where, and how much they might purchase next. If there is a low conversion rate, they beef up the repurchase email stage by tweaking the group predictive model and offering a discount. I think this was the best part of the webinar and the real quality in this type of program. The predictive modeling is great yet it costs lots of hours and may make a small marketing team inefficient due to its manual segmentation. As an e-marketing manager, I would hope that I could depend on a good assistant to sort out the data and segment the customer profile.

The third stage is reactivation. Here an email is sent if the client is inactive after two years. In this stage the client sends an email offer to its customers with deeper discounts like free shipping or gifts with a purchase. A two year lapse is WAYYYY too long. I would give a client no more than 6 months of inactivity, offer an opt-out and a better way to get involved again. For example, an email stating something like "I have seen that you have been inactive for more than 6 months so I wanted to offer you a $25 gift card to come back to the store and see if you like anything we have". And at the bottom of the email, a clear option to opt-out of the email program. This helps keep my list lean and mean.

After an extensive session of examples and explanations, the clients offers some keys to success:

Customer's first: Always develop material thinking from the customer's perspective
Singles: Don't try to do everything at once. Email programs take time and testing
Improvement: Always keep improving
Relevance: If you are not relevant, nobody pays attention
Not all customers are equal: No one formula works for all of us

Further information can be found at exacttarget.com.

I hope you liked today's post. Have a good day and leave comments.

Basic points of an online marketing strategy

2009-02-25T00:53:00.000-08:00

I have recently run across a business with a confusing online marketing strategy. So I wanted to outline SOME basic points in an online marketing strategy in today's post.

(Photo: highimpact.co.uk)

#1 If you don't have a blog for your company online strategy, its already late, BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME!

Having a blog for your company is incredibly beneficial. The more post your company makes over time will increase your SEO and increase your ROI as compared to PPC strategies. Blogs put more content on the web and make it easier and cheaper for an online customer to find you through search engines. Also, a blog increases your company's face online. I believe that a company should have an employee blogging program focused on solutions to customers problems using keywords. Most marketers know how to talk to customers and write in some way. We see problems everyday in our job, maybe with customers or within the organization. Why not express those problems in a constructive way?

For example, your client has a problem and you solved the problem. Put that on the blog! Yet, do it in such a manner explaining what happened and how it was solved for the benefit of the CLIENT, not the company.

Another example, your company has a problem and the problem has been solved. Put that on the blog! And do it in such a manner explaining how it happened, apologizing, and how it has been solved for the benefit of the CLIENTS, not the company.

There are problems and solutions across all departments of a company, not just the marketing department. So this goes back to that #1, integrate your communications. So perhaps some sort of employee blogging program might be something a marketing manager might benefit from. Also, be sure to clearly link your social media and website to the blog.

Video content is important if you want your company to be in the leading pack of your industry. Find out what customers want to see in your video and develop that content. I think lots of video content is best. Different customers want different things. I like to see what is happening behind the scenes with my favorite companies, so I prefer behind the scenes type videos. For example, interviews with important figures in the organization, not just the CEO, but the small people that are making things happen day to day. Clients want to see how the organization is working to help them. Here's a short and simple video but a decent example.

Connect industry influencials to your blog. Contact them directly and offer them the ability to participate in your business. Have them write posts for your blog and get their voice heard through you. These industry influencials will be the ones that will make your next product or strategic move a "world wide rave".

Blogs are a great monitoring tool, too. Many times your industry influencials will post articles and their readers will comment. Monitoring these conversations is important. You may find ways to expand you business, create new ideas, or find even more solutions for your customers.

#2 Build a social network
Again, this is beneficial in many ways such as SEO initiatives, ROI goals, and client face time. In social media I like to stress the idea of being part the gossip in your industry. Social media is like going to an industry trade show, party, conference, or any other type of industry/company event. What do people do at these type of events? They talk and some talk more than they should. In social media, we want to replicate that feel. We want to talk to our network, gossip about the industry. Rumor your next product or strategic move...build hype or buzz. In social media your content runs wild! So make sure you say the right things at the right time. If you don't have great gossip material, continue building your network and staying in contact with important customers and industry influencials. Still need more room to develop though your social network? Develop your own network though ning.com.

#3 Use integrated communications techniques in your websites, blogs, & social media

If your company has more than one website, make them look like they are from the same company and talk like they are from the same company. Unless! the websites are brand specific with different buyer personas. However, if you have websites focused on local markets with different languages, I believe the best strategy will be to use integrated communications.

This means several things. First, visual communication - design the websites and blogs to have the same feel and look. Second, content - integrate your content throughout the organization and let the online manager decide if the content is right for the region. For example, your PR dept. has a good story. That story should spread out over the organization on all websites to communicate to all your stakeholders. Third, integrate social media and blogs! Your websites should have a clear link to blogs and your social media. This not only helps integrate your communications but also helps SEO initiatives.

So there you have 3 things to help your online marketing plan.
Build a blog!
Build a social network!
and integrate everything so that they feed and work off each other.

The worst thing an online marketer can do, is sporadically engage in the Internet. Plan your strategy and structure your online presence. Not only will it organize you but it will serve your online customer better.

Please comment.

World Wide Rave - Q&A

2009-02-16T01:36:00.000-08:00

This past Friday, Hubspot.com hosted a very interesting webinar with David Meerman Scott. For those who are not familiar with David Meerman Scott, check out his blog here. David Meerman Scott is an international thought leader in Marketing and using the tools of the internet to make your product or service stand out from the rest.

After reading his book "The New Rules for Marketing & PR", I have become a follower of DM Scott. So after I ran across an ad sent to my email in a MarketingProfs newsletter noting a new webinar called "Viral Marketing: How to create a World Wide Rave" through Hubspot.com featuring David Meerman Scott, I signed up and it was FREE! If you haven't seen my previous notes on Webinars, check them out here.

In today's post, I'm going to go through some of the questions and answers from the webinar and I will express some of my thoughts on most of them. I could do a whole report of the webinar but I would rather keep Mr. David Meerman Scott in the loop for a while, so why don't you look for his new book coming out sometime this week!! Let's get started.

"How do you launch a world wide rave?"
DM Scott stated that using various outlets would be the best way. He says using tools such as email, blogs, trade shows (postcards w/ links), webpage, and social networks are a good start.

I would like to add on this and say that all this is a good start but it will be most efficient with a strategy behind all of it. First, set a target market or buyer personas to understand not who your target market is but what your target market wants - the solutions to their problems. Second, develop a message. Third, vehicle the message - here we cannot sound like marketers, we must sound like the reader and act in a community fashion. This doesn't necessarily mean the message must come directly from you, the marketer. And fourth, set your goals.

"What are the time commitments to the world wide rave and is it cheaper?"
DM Scott says that YES! it is cheaper but it takes time for all the factors to play out. Also he says that most in most cases and especially for larger companies, a specialist will be needed to develop content for the rave and execute the functions needed to nurture this viral marketing process.

"How do you measure?"
DM Scott commented on the importance of this question. All good marketers want to see results. He says that good tools to measure are by looking at views for your youtube.com video, attendance to your webinar, downloads of your whitepaper, followers of your blog, replies on twitter, or you may simply be able to see your results in sales or in conversion rates from webinars, whitepapers, etc.

I just want to say that I think its a little bit more complicated to measure a world wide rave. Why? Well, not everyone who downloads the whitepaper will read it, not all your followers are really followers (especially on twitter). So numbers may not tell the whole story. However, measuring a world wide rave is not about the bottom line, its about feeding a virus. DM Scott might say its about losing control of the content that is out there on your business and your product. The ultimate goal is to create conversation both online and offline.

"Is a celebrity (sponsor/mention) a trigger for a world wide rave?"
DM Scott says YES but NO, it could be but it is not required. In the end you must create value for your audience.

True, true yet it could be a trigger for other unwanted results too. For example, you may not want to relate your product to Britney Spears or Phelps. Or then again, you might. What is important is knowing who the celebrity is and developing a relationship with that celebrity and connecting your product or service. Celebrities are people and they make "mistakes" just like all normal human beings - that has to be part of the strategy when using a celebrity to market your product. For example, if I want Phelps to market my product I also want to know ABOUT Phelps. I want to know or have an idea that he smokes pot before he endorses my product. The fact that he smokes pot may help or hurt my business - its all in the relationship that you develop and how well you know your celebrity.

"Can you start a rave too early?"
DM Scott says that it is most certain that you can start a rave too early. He says that you want to have a rave brewing when a sale is possible. This way, at anytime a conversation is happening, a buyer can be born.

I think this is mostly true for tangible products. But what about intangible products? What about products that induce emotion??? Concerts, for example, is something that can benefit from starting a rave early, real early!! Why? From my experience from working in a concert promotion company in OKC, the viral aspect of marketing is where promoters find big bucks. Not only do they find big bucks in the viral aspect but they can build confidence throughout the boundaries of their business (artists, tour managers, artist agencies, etc.). Imagine that you want to contract a moderately famous local group to your venue. Tickets don't go on sale until June. However, you can start talking about this band NOW! Create conversations and create demand for this group. Then in June you could sell out in one day or make a huge attendance the day the tickets go on sale. Afterwards, when the artist agency and tour managers find out...wouldn't they want to give you more business?

So there! Things to think about. I hope you have liked this post. I certainly think this is full of good viral marketing information. Have fun reading more posts and please comment.

Shout out!

2009-02-15T12:35:00.000-08:00

Hey Dad!

I just wanted to give you a shout out and I want to thank you for following my blog! You have encouraged me to keep writing and keep researching.

Now, I want to encourage YOU to take advantage of your down time and incredible experiences. Start blogging!!! Make your mark in the online blogging community! I'm not the only one that would like to hear about backcountry patrols, learning from experienced packers, rescue missions, and, of course, your greatly awaited Hawaiian adventure.

Love Trevor!

FlashMob Watch

2009-02-10T02:33:00.000-08:00

FACEBOOK FLASHMOB - LONDON

How cool is this folks!??!??! It made CNN news!

When I saw this on the headlines yesterday, I immediately wanted to be there! There is nothing cooler than participating in a genuine, original event. Crazzy Eve and Ay Kings on Facebook are putting together the T-Mobile inspired flashmob silent dance events for the general public in London.

If this is not a great example of viral marketing, then I don't know what is. What is even better is that this event has been, by what it seems, mostly promoted via Facebook. Social Networking, Social Marketing! I have a good friend that does event promotions in Valencia and his group doesn't quite respond like this. Elite Valencia has nearly 2,000 members and the actual group participation for events has been quite minimal - around 1% attendance. In so, I have lost faith in the power of social network events, until now!

It is real, happening proof how relationships, content, and "coolness" drive action!

Want to attend the next flashmob events in London? Find them here!

The Day We Don't Watch TV

2009-02-04T13:27:00.000-08:00

or TDWDWT.

Have you noticed that TV has become almost obsolete? hmm...Almost obsolete? I may not be the first to say this but....TV has become useless!

I don't watch TV anymore. If you catch me watching TV, its because I would be sitting with my father or my father-in-law, just "going through the motions".

If you follow me on Twitter you will notice that yesterday I was doing a little research. I came across two articles. One focused on subject line length and the other focused on the rise of the elderly population online. Check out my profile on Twitter and find the links. In the subject line research, I found that shorter, front loaded subject lines will produce a higher click through rates for email campaigns. As I read the research article, the examples used for subject lines seemed to sound like TV commercials.

In the other article, you can see that there has been a sharp increase in the usage of Internet by the elderly population. While Gen Xers have increased usage in 4-8% of the population, we see that there has been an increase of 19% & 10% by age groups 70-74 and 75+ respectively. This shows us that more elders are using the Internet. This is significant because as years pass and as the baby boomers become the elderly population, how will this data change? I suspect that since baby boomers use the Internet for certain tasks as much as Gen X, we will see a huge increase in the Internet population.

Why?
I think this is rooted in Web 2.0. Have you seen the changes in the Internet? I certainly have! Let me give you some examples. A year ago, it was difficult to get on the computer and watch free movies online, streaming from the Internet. Now, you have more than a handful of sites to choose from with endless selections of movies. The best thing is NBC, CBS, ABC, MTV, or any other network doesn't get to chose the movie for you. YOU chose what you watch. Of course, you can buy a service that will let you watch whatever program you want at any time on your TV, but why pay? The Internet is free!!! This idea will lead to the end of the movie rental store.

Another example of how Web 2.0 will lead us away from TV and other business sectors. The NEWS! If you are a Twitter, you can see this coming. Twitters are on the cutting edge. I am astounded by the information that can be found through Twitter. When the plane went down in the Hudson, Twitter got it first. When Obama farts, Twitter smells it first. Furthermore, most Twitter users will post a link to where they find interesting information. There you can read, watch a video, or listen to a podcast on the news before the 5 o'clock broadcast. More often than not, the information that you receive on the Internet via Twitter link will be more complete and useful than the information your favorite anchorman can give you. "Keep it classy San Diego!"

Web 2.0 will soon become Web 3.0, you know, kind of like an iPhone. Web 3.0 will take 2.0 interaction to more "intelligent" levels. In Web generations we have gone from "read-only" to "read & interact", hence Web 2.0. Now that we have this capability to chose what we watch, to find information faster, and to learn via the Internet better than ever, TV will become the lost medium because everything that makes TV a successful business will be overtaken by Internet.

First, advertising. Advertising is what makes TV a business. For those who are in the marketing world, compare your expenditures on TV advertising compared to Internet advertising - then compare your ROI. Internet is much more measurable and effective for those who buy advertising spaces. For now, advertising on TV is an essential part of the marketing plan but as that baby boomer generation becomes the elderly generation and the Gen X generation become the bulk of the consumer market, how will TV advertising work? or will it?

I have already shown how movies and news is now more efficient on the Internet but what about TV shows produced by the networks. I think this will be the last standing pillar for TV. It will be the last product they can offer. However, when TV finally sees that news watchers get their information on the news website and movie watchers already saw the movie on the Internet the day after it was released in theaters, TV shows will soon follow suit. Yet, I don't think it will be suitable to simply put TV shows on Youtube.com for viewers. I think TV networks with all their money and power will soon invest ENTIRELY in the Internet. What will Web 4.0 look like?

So imagine the day we don't watch TV. It will make advertisements more competitive and direct. It will make it possible for anyone to compete with lousy shows posted by ABC on their super charged website, for example. How will this change the structure of the TV industry? Remember how Apple changed the structure of the music industry years after Napster? I am certainly looking for new, emerging changes in the TV industry because soon it won't be the TV industry. Have you checked out Exxon Mobil recently? They have certainly started changing how they go about business.

A 'City of Business' in Valencia

2009-01-30T01:51:00.000-08:00

Hello!

Business news from the Valencian front! Yesterday, Valencia's "city of business" celebrated its inauguration. This new city of business will consist of (according to "Levante") 7,000 workers and 14 buildings.

Located on the outskirts of the Valencian capital, the press has noted that this new city is the first of its kind in Spain. The idea is the complete integration of work life and family life. In other words, you can go to work in the same building that you live or in the building next to your flat. You could forget about your car and leave it in the garage for months at a time. The Real Estate promoters note that all the services that you might need to live will be within the "city of business". You will be walking distance from the hair salon, grocery store, etc. Why leave the city for the things you need? It will be a life based in profession and work. May seem gloomy to some and a dream to others.

The lofts are very modern and European with whites color tones and large windows. Take a look at the pictures! All the homes are equipped with the latest technology in communication and cooking. The whole city will have its own wi-fi connection. Most of the homes consist of a terrace, sun room, and loft. Very chic!

It cant be a city without some green. Of almost 70,000 square meters, 34,000 will be dedicated to greenery. The project allocated around a quarter of a million euros to gardening and green space.

Hurry up and save your spot in Valencia! Around half of the space will be dedicated to Valencian owned businesses and residents but the other half is open for whoever puts down the dough. Already 42% of the available space has been occupied or bought. The city plans to be up and running within a month and a half.

For those of us professionals living in Valencia, what a great opportunity! Valencia is not necessarily the capital of business here in Spain. Usually, professionals have to look to Madrid or Barcelona to find work. Hopefully, this new "city of business" will offer something more to more professionals who would rather reside in the Valencian capital.

Although I'm not a fan of the conservative political party PP, I surely think that they have some good ideas for Valencia!

Webinars! If you're not hooked, you will be.

2009-01-26T02:17:00.001-08:00

Hello!

I know my last post said that I wouldn't be back in action until tomorrow but I just couldn't wait to get some blog time! So here I am and it wont be a long post today. Today's material is a simple promotion for webinars.

I did my last webinar with Joost Van Nispen on Second Life last week. I have to say that it was one of the most interesting seminars I have done. This is not necessarily due to Joost's comments, eventhough he had wonderful things to say. He addressed the different mindset of marketing between europeans and americans. He said that europeans usually say the word "survive" in a marketplace and americans usually say the word "succeed" in the marketplace. This was in his opening remarks. The seminar lasted around an hour - half hour talk by Joost and half hour Q&A. His main message was that marketing today is about being direct, interactive, and relational. I totally agree! However, I have already read what Joost's message was and didn't get a whole lot of new information. So, what was really interesting about this conference was its medium. We did this webinar in Second Life. If you like video games and the virtual world, you are going to love Second Life. For those out there that do lots of seminars and conferences, webinars are the newest, easiest, fastest, and cheapest ways to break your new research. The fact that Infojobs.net and Joost Van Nispen collaborated to do this webinar on Second Life was very, very cool.

Let me suggest some webinars that are coming up that I, too, will be attending and have already signed up. Both are free!

MarketingProfs has several seminars coming up! Check them out!

And I will be attending a webinar on Chief Marketer tomorrow! Okay folks, have fun and keep learning!

Until Tuesday

2009-01-24T11:53:00.000-08:00

Hello!

For the few who are following this blog or have come across this blog, please be patient. I am currently focusing on landing a job at the moment and will not be dedicating any time to this blog until Tuesday.

Meanwhile! Look me up on twitter!!

http://twitter.com/trevorlandia

Talk to you soon!

New flights to Valencia aim to help Valencian Economy

2009-01-20T02:53:00.000-08:00

Good Morning from Valencia!

"Levante" reports this morning that Delta will be promoting new service from NY to Valencia starting in June! The round trip flight starts at 378 Euros (without taxes, 500+ with taxes).

This is very good news for Valencia and business people in Valencia. This gives us the ability for easy quick travel to the capitalism capital of the world and visa versa. I like the idea and support Rita and Delta for opening negotiations. All we can do now is keep marketing the idea and hope that over time results will be produced by this cheap flight to the Valencian capital. Over the years, Delta has noticed an increase in American travelers to the Valencian community. Obviously, they are capitalizing on this observation by offering cheap flights and starting the offer in the summer time. I imagine that this is geared more for tourist rather than business folks but I would like to see that this move help facilitate international investments on both sides.

Also Ryanair will recup 5 routs out of Valencia to England and Germany direct and Burberry closes its factory in Spain this morning, 250 more employees without jobs.

The hope for America reaches Valenica on the eve of Mr. President Obama.

2009-01-19T04:20:00.000-08:00

First off, I just want to say that if you are following this blog and would like to comment please don't hesitate (positives or negatives). I love feedback!

Okay, lets get to work. I have a lot to talk about today. It will steer away from my main objective in this blog - growing in the online marketing community - but I feel that what I will write about today will give some a great insight of an (sort of) expatriated american's thoughts in the current world situation. I'm sure I will weave in and out of thoughts but hang on, keep reading, I'll get to the point...somehow....here we go.

You can always tell what is most important to a newspaper by just glancing at the cover page. Have you ever read BLINK by Malcolm Gladwell? Its been a popular book, but it looks at (for example) how we don't have to read the whole paper to really understand what is important to that paper or what is important to the politicians behind the paper. I picked up "El Pais" and "Levante" this morning while I was waiting for my fiancee who was in line as number 91 at the unemployment office, we'll get back to that point in a bit. Levante, which happens to be the local paper for the Valencian community, read on the front page "LOCURA en San Mamés" refering to an irrelevant loss incurred by the Valencian soccer (futbol) team. Not a word about the rest of the world. In the same paper, I found a small half page article on Barack and Israel both on page 24. El Pais, which is a national newpaper, features a large color picture of our President (as of tomorrow) sitting with his family at his inauguration party with the Washington memorial, its reflection pool, and 400,000 onlookers in the backgroud. The front page also includes something about Gaza, CO2 output, and something about corruption between the Spanish political parties. Hmmm...which newpaper should be more interesting and informative? Oh yeah, I found Barack in a full two page article starting on page 4.

So, this morning, I decided to write about Obama and the Spanish opinion of him. As you may know, Spain is in a terrible economic crisis just as the United States. Here in spain we are suffering from an unemployment rate of 16% and it keeps going up each week. This brings me back to my fiancee. Actually, we went to the employment office to do two things. One, check how many unemployment checks we still have left and, two, turn in a one-page work report. We arrived at the office, which is a suboffice located in Puerto de Sagunto in the Valencian Community, at 9:30 and left at 12:30. So after three hours, we left happy. We have four more months of unemployment. Contradictory to our previous thought that we would be without money as of March 10th. Let me remind you that I graduated from the University of Oklahoma in marketing, speak spanish fluently, and well qualified to work. I have been actively unemployed since September. Needless to say, I'm nervous. I have also been looking for work in the United States, mostly in the DC area since I have family there. No luck. The U.S. as we know, is reaching the double digits in unemployment. Have you ever done the math? Its nearing 30 million people without jobs!! This does not include Spain which is has 7.5 million citizens unemployed. Oh where, oh where will we find jobs Mr. Obama?

Yes, I did study over the years at OU and other international universities. I realize that investors need to feel confident to begin investing again and that our banks need to reform and be bailed out (gotta love Bank of America and Citigroup). All of which does not sit right with me. If investors and banks did not over extend in the first place, we would not be in such a rut. Just as if it was the family check book - you should not spend what you do not have. But, we are Americans, thats what we do. We spend, eat, drink, build, talk, walk, and shit better than the rest. The rest of the democratic world thinks the same in most part. Just ask my father-in-law. He's a spanish taxidriver with thick, bullfighting spanish blood running through his veins. He'll tell you that America needs to get the rest of the world out of the economic crisis. Oh where, oh where will we find the money Mr. Obama?

Dont go to war Mr. Obama! We have had enough!!

I find it comforting the news reports that Obama will be getting us out of the Iraq war as soon as possible. I just hope its not a political move. According to research done by a colleague of mine, The American Antiwar Movement is as strong as ever. They are putting serious input in DC and not taking no for an answer. I support them! Totally! Check out UPJ. Against the wishes of our founding fathers, we have not excaped imperialism. When international writers such as Jose Ignacio Torreblancas writes such articles translated as "The Path of Evil" underneath the two-page article mentioned earlier, we are a total reflection of Ancient Rome and Spain & England in the age of imperialism. Do we want to reflect the evils done during those times? Do we want to be unilateralist? Is this not a flat world? Shouldn't we all work together? Besides, there are more serious questions at hand besides war. How much pollution will the earth take? Al Gore please! Anyways, where, oh where will you lead us Mr. Obama???

So you've had a look at some of my thoughts. Now, what is the spanish opinion? In my opinion, the spanish are hopeful for us Americans. Just as my father-in-law has expressed. Europe and Spain have their eyes on us! This afternoon as I sat down to eat "arroz al horno" for lunch, one of the top news channels did a full minute section with Obama, comparing him to MLK, Kennedy, and other greats of the past century. What high expectancy! Check out this video on CNN. Did you see that??? Bye, Bye Bush Parties and sand murals on Barcelona's beach! Good stuff. I am going to a Mr. President Obama celebration on Weds. night in the old Valencian town center, too.

Here's my point. Right now, America is on bad terms with the world. Obama has brought hope to Americans and Spainards alike. All my colleagues, friends, and family are asking me, probing me, and most importantly, smiling. I just hope it lasts Mr. Obama.

Atheist Bus - Following up in Valencia

2009-01-17T07:17:00.000-08:00

So after yesterday's post, I opened the newspaper today and what a coincidence! The headline on page 21 says (for those who can read spanish) "Las cosas de la EMT van despacio". The EMT translates as the Municipal Transportation Company. According to the Levante, city officials are taking extra long to approve the solicitation for the popular atheist message. The solicitation is now pending 12 days. Eventhough, the spanish govt is reknown to delay solicitations of all kind. Speedy approvals are in coorelation to spanish beauracratic interest. Obviously, if the message, permit, event, or company's function is in the interest of the spanish officials, then a speedy approval is put in place. However, as we see in this case, there happens to be a lot of negative publicity created by christian organizations and officials and it seems that the Ajuntamiento de Valencia is taking its time to think it over. Not to mention that 12 days of thinking puts $4000 on the line.

The UAL (local atheist union) has put up the money for these advertisements to go in effect during Fallas (March festival). According to Levante, a similar union executed the same process in Madrid and the the Madrileños quickly approved the advertisement after one week, following suit of Barcelona. Meanwhile, the ex-consulate of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the president of E-Christians are presenting a counter ad in Barcelona with plans to continue to Madrid and Valencia. Supposedly, this counter ad will state "When all the others abandon you, God is still with you." Does this remind you of the little comment from yesterday? "Burn and Burn...because thats how these things go". Ha ha!

Anyways, for my opinion, I think that Valencia is holding up on the approval for the opportunity for other businesses to jump in and put a higher bid for the same advertisement space. If it were not for this, then why? It seems to me that Valencia is looking for an excuse to drop the solicitation. Afterall, Valencia does not want the image of atheist or conformist. Remember, the UAL wants this image in FALLAS! This is a very good strategy on part of the UAL organization. Fallas is one of the two largest festivals in Spain (behind San Fermin) in terms of international influx. Young people from all over europe will plague the city to the point where civilian vehicles cannot circulate, but the municipal buses still move. Furthermore, does Valencia want to follow Madrid and Barcelona? You have to really take a look at what Valencian politicians are promoting in the past couple of years with huge international events like the Formula One and America's Cup.

These events are directed, watched, sponsored, and taken part by mostly white, christian, conservative individuals. Does Valencia want to bite the hand that feeds? The city apart from Barcelona and Madrid must look out for its interests, so they sit back and wait till the last minute or wait until there is too much pressure from citizens or the media.

I'll follow up some more as I get more info...

as for now...be looking for my two cents on our Mr. President OBAMA.

The Atheist Bus - is it Atheism or damn good piece of Marketing on accident?

2009-01-16T09:39:00.000-08:00

As you may have seen, I live in Valencia, Spain. This is the old stomping ground of the ancient Spanish inquisition. Yeah, you've heard that somewhere before, right? Well that's the same organization that chopped the heads off hundreds, if not thousands or millions of good people for lots of trivial reasons but all these heads rolled in the name of baby Jesus. And let me tell you that Catholicism is still a very live, healthy, breathing entity here in Spain and throughout most of Europe. Here in Valencia, its not uncommon to see a nun walking across Calatrava bridge, priest in the ancient town center, and even in the most famous festivities of Fallas the local valencianos mount a large statue of flowers of the "virgin" Mary. Precious.

Recently, I came across an article in one of the local papers here in Spain stating that Barcelona has the infamous Atheist Bus. Truthfully, I had not heard of the Atheist bus (now a popular, well known advertisement in London) until the media broke the story here in Valencia. The bus appeared in the first week of January. This may seem insignificant for most Americans or other largely protestant cultures, but the first week in January is when most die-hard Catholics celebrate (or at least in Spain) the coming of the kings to Bethlehem. And here we had a public bus owned by the Catholic state of Spain, though its powerful province Barcelona, sporting a huge colorful ad stating "There's probably no god. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life." Now that is precious.
So, let me get down to the nitty-gritty of the message that I want to transmit here...

After you read this, or perhaps you might have already opened another tab to google 'atheist bus', you will find a whirlwind of blogs, press reports, christian blogs, websites...you know it...so on and so forth...ETC! This has set a wildfire on the internet and it will still burn and burn until there is none left to burn because that is how these types of things go. It will also burn and burn because atheist groups, here in Spain and in other countries that have caught the wildfire, are spreading this popular message. I, too, google-d "bus ateo valencia" and guess what? Yes! Valencia will soon enough have the infamous Atheist Bus during the famous festivities of Fallas. How ironic. Will it come to your city? I hope so. And this is why...

I'm a believer. I am not a believer in God or any other invisible ultimate being waiting for us in the sky, I'm a believer in the human spirit. And I love this ad for its humanitary message. Afterall, this Atheist bus movement began as a humanitarian movement. Check out the website. A fellow blogger started this movement Ariane Sherine. You'll find her all over the internet in videos, blogs, websites....you know it...ETC! This leads me to another point I want to get at here. ONE HELL OF AN IDEA ARIANE! You know, most marketers and writers work thier whole lives and never have one slogan, one piece of communication get as much exposure as our lovely Ms. Sherine's idea. Eventhough she is a prominent writer in London and has her fair share of fame, she (all of the sudden) is getting publicity as if she was an international rock star. You know what is even better, she got it all for free.

We marketers can learn from our "queen" Sherine.

CONSTRUCTION

2009-01-16T02:44:00.000-08:00

Hello!

This is my new blog. I am in construction!

Check back for new rants and raves, information and education!