Could Scenario Planning offer salvation for your brand?

As a passionate brand marketer is there anything sadder than the demise of a once-storied brand? I'm sure you could probably name five brands from your childhood that haven't survived the bloodbath of consumerism and globalization.

I get it. Nothing lasts forever. Some brands were never going to survive (Pop Rocks anyone?) but to that I call "Bullshit"

I  read recently that of the 25 brands leading their categories in 1923, twenty are still category leaders today. Twenty! That means that building iconic, immortal even, brands is possible.

So with some sadness I read the Sony article in this weekend's New York Times? Wanna talk iconic brand. Or the much storied decline of Eastman-Kodak? Brands that once epitomized innovation, defined categories, reinvented consumer behaviour and yet, with the inevitability of an ice cream cone on a summer's day, have become a dripping, sticky mess of frustration and tears. Mainly the tears of shareholders. 

Read the blog here...

Motivating your consumers on mobile: Instant gratification programs

Mobile promotions leverage the rapid market penetration of mobile devices. They allow you to reach your target audience on a platform consumers can easily access regardless of their location. The prevalence and increasing popularity of mobile devices make mobile promotions a clear choice for companies reaching out to consumers.

Through mobile talktime/top-up, DTH recharge, mCoupons (for coffee, movies, health clubs, discount coupons), music downloads, instant win games, ringtones, and other forms of digital entertainment incentives, your company can create excitement, among potential users on mobile phones, and generate sales. However, the value of mobile promotions extends much further than simply producing sales. You can use them to build a database of customer information that plays a pivotal role in your ongoing marketing campaigns

Mobile promotions are one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies you can harness. Not only do they allow you to deliver digital incentives quickly and easily to consumers' mobile devices, but also they allow your company to offer customers instant gratification. Below, we'll explain how mobile promotions work and how you can use them to drive activations/sales, increase brand awareness, and strengthen customer loyalty within your market.

Read tips on how to motivate your consumers here...

Jennifer Sheridan, Founder & CEO, Togeva, on Her Top Ten Entrepreneur Status   

Jennifer G Sheridan is the award-winning Founder and CEO of Togeva Ltd. (pronounced "Together" but with a London East End accent), a startup in Tech City formed in July 2011.

Togeva has developed a Live Sharing Platform for smartphones and tablets that allows people to share digital content in realtime even when far apart.

In 2010, Jennifer noticed that there was a lack of collaborative design apps on the market and so she used whatever spare time she had in the evenings and after work to develop art and design mobile apps. She piloted her first app, Graffito, which allows users to paint graffiti-like art on their mobiles, in the summer of 2010. Several months later, she decided to leave her job as a software developer in educational research and a consultant at an investment bank in order to work on her new venture full time.

After piloting her first app, Jennifer's won an ICtomorrow Digital Innovation Award presented at the BAFTA and Best Interactive Experience at the British Computer Society's Conference on Human Computer Interaction. She then caught the attention of the UK Department of Trade and Industry (UKTI) and was selected for the UKTI's Global Entrepreneur Programme. Recently she was awarded Top Ten Entrepreneur status at the UKTI's Tech City Entrepreneur Festival.

Jennifer's Live Sharing Platform and Apps have amassed tens of thousands of users in over 100 countries and she recently secured seed funding which she is using to expand her team.

Read the interview where she talks about the value of mentoring; her top tips for work life balance; and about launching her first app at a UK music festival. 

Dos and Don'ts for Keeping Control over Your Social Media Content   

Have you experienced trouble with the social media side of your content marketing? Are you worried that you can't maintain controls over the content produced under your company's banner? Does the thought of using blog posts, Facebook, Twitter, or other forms of online conversation starters strike fear in your heart?

Not every content marketer is comfortable with all the media we have to deal with these days. This is partly due to the fact that we all want to maintain control of our content, which isn't always possible. So how about settling for some assurance instead? Quality assurance, that is.

The American Society for Quality defines quality assurance as: The planned and systematic activities implemented in a quality system so that quality requirements for a product or service will be fulfilled.

In content marketing, this means creating a system to help create quality content each and every time. Of course, even the best-laid content marketing plans can go awry for one reason or another.But having a quality assurance program integrated into your plan will help minimize those occasions and enable you to feel comfortable with your content, no matter where it appears across the web.

Here are the do's and don'ts...

A Paul Writer Survey on Digital Agencies 

Job Listings on Paulwriter.com 

Watch this space for new job listings on Paulwriter.com every week for mid to senior level marketers. Or post a job here...  

Marketing Head (Field Marketing leader), Emerging markets - Polaris

This position will develop and execute marketing programs to drive demand for Intellect banking solutions in the emerging markets. The countries include India, Indian subcontinent countries, Middle East and Africa (IMEA) managed by IMEA Business Unit. IMEA BU is integral to Polaris product strategy and leadership in Financial Technology space. The position offers exciting opportunities for growth and leadership in the medium to long term 

Apply Now...