Musing

Got your Philosophy Degree? Great. Here’s a job as a Digital Marketer

Published on March 30, 2011 in Opinion. 0 Comments

Here’s a recent comment I made on Six Pixels of Separation regarding real-time advertising or more specificly regarding digital marketers:

“If you’re hungry for pizza and put that on your Facebook status,wouldn’t a coupon from one of your favorite pizza home delivery jointsbe perfectly appropriate at that, exact, moment in time?” – sure itwould be good to get a coupon if you are a consumer but is it for the pizza restaurant owner? Is that what online marketing is – giving things at a discount justbecause someone wants it at that time?
My expectation from the marketing expert is, if I was a restaurant owner or retailer or any business owner, that when someone enters “I want a pizza” in their status youtarget him with such a compeling and persuading message based on the data knowledge you gathered about that customer that he will order my pizza at a premium and will come back for another the moment hunger strikes him without having the time to enter a status message.
Am I wrong to expect that from a marketing expert?
I have recently taken a few emarketing evening courses at University to network and see what’s happening and here’s my take on the current DIGITAL MARKETING/SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING expert landscape: everyone thinks they are a marketing expert because they have tweeted, blogged or created a Facebook page. I have seen people who graduated with History degrees but couldn’t get a job (obviously), returned back to nightschool taking 2 or 3 e-marketing/e-business courses and landing marketing jobs at farily good corporations. These people know nothing about marketing. Nothing. The only thing they can come up with in terms of marketing is “let’s create a coupon image that says 99% Off and everyone will buy the product”.
This phenomenon is similar to what happened in the Graphic Arts industry when the PC took off with the help of Illustrator, Photoshop and Indesign. Suddenly every Geography major student became a graphic design expert creating marketing collateral for companies for a fraction of what a real designer would charge. When the files arrived at a commercial printer it was impossible to print the artwork. It had to be redone at additional cost and companies wondered why.

The Google – Groupon Meme

Published on March 23, 2011 in Opinion. 0 Comments

Here’s a comment I posted on Matt Hulett’s blog post about Groupon: “Everyone keeps propagating the $6billion Google offer which in my opinion was not different from the following: “Times Square Screen Hack – looked amazingly real to me when I saw it the moment it came on twitter only to find out the next day that it was a viral marketing campaign to promote a movie” This Google offer was in my opinion a great way to go viral for Groupon without any essence. I don’t disagree that Groupon came up with a great idea of making it simple for small local businesses to advertise online to a mass local market – ONCE. I published a free local newspaper for over two years with local business advertising supporting it, I know a tiny bit about this business. For Groupon that ONCE is enough because the huge number of local markets in North America with a huge number of small local businesses is just that – HUGE. Therefore, even getting them to advertise once is plenty of cash – instant cash, the best cash flow you want especially when you want to attract Wall Street attention.”

Become a millionaire overnight with your iPhone

Published on May 20, 2010 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

I am not a programmer. Today, I wish I was because there is an opportunity to become a millionaire overnight. And here’s how to become one:
1) there needs to be a problem that many people have (check… iphone/ipod/ipad does not play Flash files)
2) you come up with a solution to that problem (???… we can create atomic-sized cars -(thousands times smaller than the width of a single hair- but no one can come up with a solution to run Flash on a Mac OS X in the second decade of the 21st century? that really boggles my mind)
3) you sell that solution to many people with jailbroken iphones willing to pay and… boom you’re a millionaire.

Can’t get any simpler than that.

Happy programming.

Flash Steve Jobs iPhone

Published on May 6, 2010 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Recently Steve Jobs came out with an open letter about Flash. My take on this is as follows:

If the CEO has to come out defending his position in such a form it means that he’s hiding the truth and defending a product which he knows is less than perfect. I’m an iphone user and although I like the device I must admit that it has many issues. I have not been born yesterday, the device is powered by an operating system and in case of the iphone it is a majorly scaled down version of its original full fledged operating system. And we all know how dependent full fledged operating systems can be – how many of us have experience the blue screen of death, or frozen screens, or other system failures. It would be bad for the sales of his product if Steve Jobs came out and said that his miniature operating system on the iphone simply has not enough power to run Adobe’s Flash but, therefore it would be much better if he just kept quiet and said nothing instead of bashing another proven product; because,

Flash has been around for almost as long as the first version of Netscape which gave us access to the WWW. The only time I saw any faults with Flash was when I ran the first versions of Google’s Chrome browser and the issue was not Flash but Chrome. Since then I think Google has managed to catch their programming errors and adjusted. Other than that Flash programs, animations, doodles, etc have always run flawless. I think the issue that Steve Jobs has with flash is:

The fact that most ads online are powered by Flash and therefore are independent of any iAd networks. Taking away Flash from his device means gaining more control over handling ads.

Honestly, I don’t much care, it’s just a shame that a guy who was once standing up to the huge conglomerates and their closed-sources is now playing the exact same game which means that somewhere along the way he simply lost his integrity but that’s alright, he’s just human. Luckily, there are other smart individuals who are able to jailbreak the iphone and I’m sure it’s just a matter of time when someone will develop a plugin option to run Flash; and if that happens I’ll be one of the first to install it on my iphone because as much as I don’t like ads flying around on my browser window I like to know that they can.

God our Father, … , by Your command we turn to dust.

Published on April 10, 2010 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Today is a day of great tragedy. The Polish President together with the First Lady, many of the top officials including all the army’s generals and the top think tanks perished when the presidential plane fell on the “damned” soviet soil.

I’m not worried about print and paper

Published on January 15, 2010 in Print. 0 Comments

In the last couple of days I had a few interesting confrontations with the notion that the printed document is generating attention, or at least a positive vibe. I wonder if it has something to do with the bombardment of ads and media PRs about e-readers, iSlate tablets and smartphones . (By the way, for those who read my post, I am by profession a print manager which is why this topic matters to me buuuuut, no that much.)
Two examples that I want to share quickly are:
1) Wall Street Journal published a study about direct mail marketing. The study reveals that companies which traded direct mail marketing for the less expensive email marketing have suffered declines in revenues. (Ouch, maybe not that less expensive after all) Their customers have also signaled to them their disappointment, some even phoned in to ask whether they had been dropped from the mailing list.
I don’t think anyone ever calls a company to find out why they are not receiving their email newsletter in the Junk Box.
2) During a meeting with one of my clients we were discussing the launch of a new Epoxy-type floor product. We brainstormed all kinds of marketing ideas yet the company marketing people, like a boomerang, always returned to the phrase “but a printed piece just has that trust feeling attached to it.”
I say this – in the new information age there’s room for print and Internet (TV, radio & computer converged).

Self-coating super hydrophobic nano-surface

Published on January 14, 2010 in Nanotechnology. 0 Comments

Researchers have replicated the amazing effect of hydrophobia found in the lotus leaf. This discovery will, at least in the world of winter and water sports, allow athletes to perform much faster. Researchers are predicting 30-60% faster due to reduced friction because water particles do not attach to hydrophobic surfaces but simply slide off. That’s the bright side of this discovery. The dark side of it is that researchers had no idea this would happen when they first began. A piece of metal went under intensive laser burning. The result, viewed under an electron microscope, was a series of micro-level bumps covered in even smaller ripples measuring 500 billionths of a meter—a metallic lotus leaf. Next step was to send the sample out for coating with a water-repellent surface. To their amazement the substrate coated itself acquiring all the properties of super hydrophobia all on its own. The treated blades, due to their nano sized properties, simply bonded with carbon from the air, creating an ultra-water repellant surface. The researchers had no idea this would happen. What this discovery upholds is the concern and debate that’s been going on for half a decade and that is, we know that reduced to nanometers particles behave in most unusual and unpredictable ways. Sure this discovery will break Olympic records, let’s just hope it does not break anything else – on its own, if you know what I mean.

Here’s the link to the original article.

Nanotechnology – my intro

Published on January 10, 2010 in Nanotechnology. 0 Comments Tags: Nanotechnology.

Since I hope to be writing a bit about nanotechnology I think it is necessary for me to provide information as to how, what and why I know about this field of science.
How – I was first introduced to nanotechnology in my grade 10 science class. The teacher showed us a movie about how in the future things will self-assemble into all kinds of new materials and new products. That was almost 20 years ago. I had nothing to do with it after that for the next 10 years. Then, in 2003 I was in a bookstore and the book “The next big thing is really small – How nanotechnology will change the future of your business” caught my eye. So, I did not buy it but came home and put a hold on it in my local library. I don’t like to purchase books for myself. I really like purchasing books for others but myself, I prefer to go to the library. Since then I’ve subscribed to a number of scientific journals that focus on nanotechnology. I follow its developments online. I have a portfolio of nanotechnology stock that I watch carefully.
What – I know and understand (to some degree) what it is. I know when it was first talked about. I imagine what the potential this new science field has. I know about some of the startup companies. I’ve seen some go and some getting to be almost ready for full commercialization.
Why – Nanotechnology really is the next big thing. Once the scientists and researchers really get a hang of this new technology the entire world will change. Not one thing. Not many things. Everything will change. Things will really be as seen in Star Trek. We will be able to create a glass of hot tea by pressing a button on a microwave like device. Why do I find this interesting? Because it is in itself very very interesting and because I was not born during the great gold rush, I was not born during the oil discovery, but I’m here now and nanotechnology presents itself as a great new opportunity and I’m happy to be at the very beginning of it all.

“Tunnel Life”

Published on March 15, 2009 in Featured Articles and Self-development. 0 Comments

A few years back when I was publishing a local newspaper I remember stumbling on this phrase while reading a foreign blog on self-development. The term comes from “tunnel vision” which means “the loss of peripheral vision with retention of central vision, resulting in a constricted circular tunnel-like field of vision.” I will paraphrase his idea as it pertains to me.
As I reflect back on 2009 I can honestly say that I had engaged more intensively in fewer activities both in business and life. In the field of business this does have a series of advantages and in personal life I’m sure I can find arguments why this occurred. Nevertheless, this does not change the fact that such lifestyle represents a significant depletion of my experiences – its diversity and multiplicity suffer.
So, this being the beginning of a new year I am already beginning to allocate time and effort to re-introduce a greater variety into what I’m doing as well as with whom. Since humans are sensuous creatures I believe that an increase and variety of experiences will lead to a more fulfilled life.
While reflecting on my life in 2009 I obviously looked not only at myself but at all those around me. I noticed that many lead a very similar “tunnel life”. Many people occupy and fervour themselves with only a few “subjects” losing sight of the wider horizon. Under certain circumstances and for a brief period of time this is probably beneficial because it allows us to concentrate our efforts and resources but in the long-term we become a well oiled machine to perform only a certain number of tasks and that’s it. I don’t want my existence to be limited to only a few tasks.