Check this...

Contradictions in marketing campaigns

A nice marketing campaign where I’d like to write something about is ‘the Dove campaign for real beauty’, a Unilever campaign which is really innovative. Instead of using perfect looking models, Dove choose for a different approach. The campaign showed how fake all the ads are and how dangerous it is to influence young girls with images that are not realistic. The message is clear: ‘’All the cosmetic ads are dangerous and it should be different’’. Check this short ‘film’ to see what I mean. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ei6JvK0W60I

I think the approach of Unilever in the campaign is good, but I doubt their intentions.

Because if you look at this Axe campaign, also a Unilever brand, you see the exact opposite image concerning ‘real beauty’. Check this movie to see what I mean.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9tWZB7OUSU

And then you’ll know…

It’s all about making more money and the ‘good intentions’ are just a way to distinguish a brand.

Money..money..money...

My solution...

Time for a new blog :)

I was thinking where a should write something about this time and I’ll write about an idea I have for a new software application. It is inspired by the problems I see at the university when it comes to computers.

Always when I go to school and I don’t take my laptop with me, I have to look for a computer and always it takes me way too long. This is a problem I’ve seen at almost every high school or university. I am not the only one with this problem, especially on the HBO schools in Holland you always see people wandering around in search for a computer.

Now…my solution...

An application which is connected to all the computers on a campus/school or company. When you arrive at school and you need a computer, you simply go the one of the main administration computers and you immediately see if there is a free computer somewhere on the campus. You register yourself to that computer and it will be locked for 10 minutes, then you have ten minutes to go to the computer and log in on your account. No more wandering through the campus all day in search for a computer. Problem solved.

Social media

Social media

There are different forms of social media. There are micro blogs, network sites, weblogs and video sites like youtube and the dutch dumpert.nl. Who hasn’t got a facebook or hyves account these days? Social media is more popular then ever and there is an online society for everything. The companies behind the websites make a lot of money. How do they make that money?? Advertising!

These days social media marketing is very popular and even a must for companies and their marketing strategies. One of the success factors of social media and marketing is that the target group is differed in many different subgroups. If you, for instance, like the Bacardi Mojito, you can link yourself to the Mojito hyve. Bacardi can advertise for their new mojitos on that hyve. But maybe the amount of members of the Bacardi Mojito hyve is the best way to create (free) exposure.

At the moment there is one group of people that are using social media a lot to achieve their goals and that group is the politicians. These days there are elections in Holland and the politicians are showing up everywhere. The dutch prime minister; Jan Peter Balkenende has is own hyve: http://jpb.hyves.nl/ and off course Twitter: http://twitter.com/JPdeMP. The success of these ways to connect to your targetgroup is that it feels very personal. If Balkenende is your friend on hyves, this feels really personal.

In political campains Social media is the key factor to success. Obama probably won the elections because of social media. He understood the importance of Social media and used it perfectly. The interresting thing is that the U.S. elections in 2004 where very different and social media didn’t play such a big role. That shows that Social media became very important in only 4 years. Check out this video about Social media and polics:

Marketing and modern technologies

As everybody knows, ICT and modern technologies are present everywhere. Brands use fancy websites to build strong brands and use the internet to sell products. Companies that are very good at using the internet to sell products, are tour operators, mobile phone companies and companies for fast moving consumer goods. Who hasn't bought a cell phone or booked a holiday on the internet?

Also dutch event organisers like ID&T and Q Dance build beautiful websites to create a certain feeling for their events. check: http://www.save-exit-planet.org/. If you go to the website, you get the feeling that you're watching a trailer for a science fiction movie, but it's a promotional website for a rave party.

One of my favorite companies that uses modern technologies in their marketing, is Heineken. Their tactics are to not just build a website that promotes their brand, but to create a community with many possibilities. Too late for concert tickets? you can get them at Heineken.nl. Wanna play a game? Go to Heineken.nl. And the website offers many other services for their customers. Check: http://www.heineken.nl

I work for one of the largest health club operators (gyms) in the Netherlands, and our ICT strategies are not as efficient as they should be. The funny thing is our competitors also don't use ICT to attract new members, or keep current members. There is no possibility to buy a membership online, there is no online training program and the websites of healthclubs are mostly unattractive.
Also the software that is used for CRM and customer databases are not efficient in most health clubs. That is why I think if there are good software programmers and website builders out there; the health club industry is great target group to sell your products!

after carnaval

Hi there people!

Another blog from me, after 3 days of intensive carnival it's time to come back to the real world. There also are people who celebrate carnaval today but for me that would be lethal :p.

I was thinking what a strange cultural thing carnival is in North Brabant. Everybody dresses up crazy and do things they normally would never do, like listening to songs like: ''I'm jetty and I love spaghetti'' and dress up like Bjorn Borg. When it's carnival, everything is possible. I never really look forward to carnival but once I started I really love it, but after 3 days of intensive singing, drinking and dancing I'm done.

I wonder how many people did not show up to work or school today, I've read that lot's of people get ill after carnival.

3 years ago I was in Curacao during carnival. Totally different then here. It's almost like brazilian carnival; with steelbands and women with beautiful dresses. Also an amazing experience.

And at the moment I'm studying again. I've got the idea that this semester is harder then the last one, unfortunately. But everything is really interesting, so that is positive :)

Ciao!

Incredible inventions

Todays media use in organisations lecture was pretty interesting. Mindbogling that the microchip was such a world changing invention. What would we be without the microchip these days? Even my 84 old grandpa uses his laptop to buy books online.

I think that the internet is an even greater invention. It has done so much for so many people and businesses. The music/entertainment industry changed dramatically and dating is totally different then 15 years ago. And who buys a enceclopedia these days when you can find everything on wikipedia?

We also talked about specialized software in organisations in todays lecture. When I thought about the company where I work I realized only my department (sales) uses 4 specialized software programs and I can't imagine working without them.

One thing is for sure! A lot of things changed completely with the microchip!



Well guys,

Have a nice carnival :)

Bye!

Hi people,

This is my first blog.