The new Skoda Fabia is counting on it. After years (no, decades) of car companies preaching their technical and mechanical worth, it’s fascinating to see the slow yet powerful evolution in the auto sector. From Mazda to Volvo; Kia to Mercedes, not a single manufacturer is exempt from the need to create clear differentiation and memorable results.
The question remains: does this ad from Skoda Fabia have your attention?
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that any future students who use these images in a class presentation will receive bonus marks. One *has* to appreciate these not only for their aesthetic value, but also for the marketing genius behind such a stunt. Well played Twentieth Century Fox, well played.
Read the AdWeek article or get the actual images from Getty Images now! Do it!
Yesterday my MRKT 4201 (Integrated Marketing Communications) class had a 3-hour creative workshop to help inspire them as they approach Phase 2 of their major IMC project. We spend years teaching our students structure, methodology, formatting, rules, perfection, accuracy, and so on. But in this class my instructions stood in the face of all that. I asked them to play, experiment, take risks, and fail. Yes, fail. In fact, I gave them space and time and plenty of materials to fail repeatedly so they could allow themselves the opportunity to suspend self-judgement and have fun and see what comes of “letting go”.
To my delight, it worked. They managed to get in touch with their “inner artists” and carried a number of creative exercises that not only surprised them, but one another as well. We learned a lot about ourselves and our classmates.
Here are some highlights of our session. Note: our creative exercises came from the delightful book by Danielle Krysa, “Creative Block”.
If there ever was a video that accurately captured my sentiments regarding students’ use of email, this would be it. It’s important to note that this does not reflect all students: only those rare few “gems” who perhaps don’t think things through before pressing “send”.
(Welcome to my soapbox.)
I’m always excited to see articles (supported by research) that contain information about what millennials want when it comes to jobs & careers.
Fast Company has published a number of articles as part of their “Change Generation” series. The most recent article, “4 Tips To Help Millennials Find Meaningful Work”, was written by Adam Smiley Poswolsky.
We all have it from time to time. You know, a creative block. Artists, designers, sculptors, and yes, even marketers occasionally hit that wall and aren’t quite sure how to overcome the block and complete the mission assigned.
Well, fortunately there’s a book for that! Danielle Krysa is a local artist, designer, and former creative director who has interviewed 50 artists for her first book, “Creative Block” about how to overcome the inevitable. It is filled with gorgeous pictures, artists’ testimonies, and activities perfect for students and creative-types alike.
Disclosure: Danielle is also a friend so I’m thrilled to showcase her work here and share with everyone that I will be using her creative resources this fall in my IMC course.
Nothing has made me happier than this article about Nixon’s annual secret surf challenge. The company invites the top elite surfers from Europe every year to a secret location somewhere remote in the world: free from media, fans, cameras, and hype, to just surf their brains out and enjoy one another’s company. To celebrate their sport and lifestyle. All courtesy of a company that is willing to make the arrangements and forego the publicity (yes, ok there is this video but it hardly compares to the thousands of media that show up to publicized surfing events).
Yesterday I heard about a new study and book published by UBC sociologist, Amin Ghaziani about how, “traditionally gay neighbourhoods are becoming increasingly ‘straight’ places.”
In his book, “There goes the Gayborhood”, Ghaziani draws from studies conducted in major US cities over the past 10 years where the concentration of LGBT has diminished in notable gay districts (e.g. Castro in San Francisco, Boys Town in Chicago, Chelsea in NYC). He believes the same trend applies to Davie St. in Vancouver and other similar neighbourhoods across Canada.
In consumer behaviour we talk about geodemographics and how distinct neighbourhoods in any urban setting provide an abundance of information for marketers. What a great example this study provides for our discussions around changing geodemographics!
Perfect timing as I enter into the Personal Selling and Sales Process module this week in our Introduction to Marketing course.
(My apologies for not having the technical know-how to edit Salesman to just “Sales”)
Students in an American university were asked this question and together they came up with a collaborative and creative response using today’s standard technology to capture, design, and share their opinions. Love it.
Kwantlen Polytechnic University 