Heeeelp. I'm stuck

Photo Safari yields only one photo...

 

But it's a pretty one. :)

Adapting vs. Adopting

Sometimes free advice is... well... just free. :)

"Value-for-Money Strategies for Recessionary Times"( by Peter J. Williamson and Ming Zeng, HBR-March 09), otherwise a great read, made me think that not all marketing tactics are universally applicable. One must adapt general strategies and tactics for local impact. This is rule number one in Int'l Marketing)

For example, the text implies for multinational companies to use (promotional) tactics from emerging economies in their home markets. Acer "uses a novel channel": heavy-luggage trolleys in Asia's airports. Great idea, as business people and wealthy vacationers can be exposed to its logo while carrying their luggage. However, copy-paste-ing this initiative in Europe, for example, will most probably expose your message to more 'regular people' and 'low cost travelers' than you'd want to. When choosing a channel for one's brand message, one should put emphasis on efficiency.

'Optimizing promotional activities can be achieved by multinationals by adapting low-cost strategies from emerging markets. However, there's an important difference between adopting and adapting.'

I'm sure that the authors meant it this way as well, but the example with Acer is getting a different idea across.

Brd.ro celebrates 10 years

Will be back to take better pics.

The Goal

The Goal
Originally uploaded by brandlyyours

This squirrel almost makes any self-help book useless. Keep an eye on the prize, assume some risks and you'll get many goodies.

Is this a good way of living? well, it might be one, if you are a naturally born runner.

Applying the same logic to branding and marketing tactics:
(1) Doesn't this squirrel remind you of guerrilla marketing? Quick, nimble competitors sweep away market share from large, slow - moving giants.
(2) Let's say blood flow is cash flow. The squirrel normally has 300 heart beats per minute. On the other hand, a domestic swine, similar to wild boars, has a heart beat of only 60 - 100 beats per minute. Do these figures resemble the real cash flow for small vs large successful companies?

Anyways, don't let a squirrel get you to far from doing marketing :)

View This Data (Ep. 8)

crisis vs recession on the internet (Romania)
Originally uploaded by brandlyyours

Crisis vs. Recession
in Romania

(1) The search for "crisis" really began in the 39th week of 2008.

(2) There is no conceptual difference [later edit: "in Romanians minds"] between "crisis" and "recession", as search trends are pretty well correlated.

Alternative Ending to Toy Story

Alternative Ending to Toy Story
Originally uploaded by brandlyyours

Mami, mami, where do toys go when they are old?

The Formula for Logo Design

At first there were freelancers and now there's Mathematica.
Logo designers are in for a tough competition.

Next Proof Please

Another proof of the fact that Romania has no clear associations or a national brand. This week's The Economist presents a list of culinary identifiers: Gulash, pickles and vodka.

The Economist cover