2009 December – Simren Deogun

Quick & Dirty: Resolution

December 29, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

res⋅o⋅lu⋅tion [rez-uh-loo-shuhn]
–noun

1. a resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something.
2. the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.

I bypassed the first definition listed by Dictionary.com because at this time of year with New Year’s a couple days away, we all have our minds on the age-old tradition of setting resolutions and, funnily enough, embracing change.

So, I resolve:
That in the toughest of times, I will find light.
That I will continue to learn and grow.
That a challenge will never be backed down from.
That amongst the clutter and noise, a message and a voice will be heard.

The determination, albeit the resolve, to take risks and opt for change is what makes marketing compelling for me. It has never been easy and if it ever got easy, I, no doubt, would lose interest. We as marketers should perhaps resolve to not be afraid of those risks and that change.

I still have so many discoveries to make in marketing. And it is my onus to search, find and unravel; to communicate; to talk loud enough; to pay it forward! So, finally, I resolve 2010 to be my Year of Discoveries.

Have you set any resolutions?

Filed Under: Quick & Dirty Tagged With: New Year's, Resolutions

Boxing Day – Marketing Heaven or Hell?

December 27, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

I love Boxing Day. Indubitably because I love to shop. It is one of those traditions celebrated by few in the world (i.e. the Commonwealth) that allows consumerism to really shine.

Akin to Black Friday in the U.S., Boxing Day marks a close to the Christmas-tied holiday season. As if the gift-giving and unparalleled spending at Christmas wasn’t enough, why not take advantage of 50% off everything at your local mall?

The oft-referred-to origin of the day revolves around giving to those less fortunate after Christmas, but, for Canada and England in particular, it has become a money-making holiday with more thought placed on plastic then on giving.

Marketing Heaven
The beauty of the Canadian Boxing Day is that it is not-so-much bolstered by marketing but more so by clever advertising to ensure awareness of specific sales and spike turnout. The day, in all actuality, sells itself. It’s anticipated and planned for with alarm clocks at the ready.

The shoppers will come to you in droves with hopefully little inhibition and itchy wallets. Since the customer is doing all the work, the onus is on the big retailer to show its appreciation by offering that “blowout annual sale.”

Ensuring this high-level of satisfaction translates into mounds of goodwill, ergo, a recurring stream of revenue.

Marketing Hell
The same applies: the shoppers will come to you in droves with hopefully little inhibition and itchy wallets. And since the retailers are afforded all the pressure, they can disappoint quickly and swiftly.

Immediately compared to the competition down the aisle with the unbelievable sale. Suddenly, you’re not so highly regarded.

It’s certainly astonishing what people will remember, many Boxing Days from now. I know I remember it all — which retailer treated me well and which did not.

Sales are king, of course, but they do more then spit out the profit you’ve earned, they also reveal the customers you won over or, perhaps, lost.

Filed Under: Business, Campaigns Tagged With: Boxing Day, Christmas

Everyone Is In A Rush

December 25, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

Head down to your local train station, mall, or highway and you’ll encounter the same thing: everyone rushing, running, honking in a hectic frenzy. The same is true online, only difference is the average visitor can’t physically see those around them.

In the midst of every person’s journey from point A to point B, marketers are trying to talk to them. But how do we find the best way to communicate and cut through the clutter?

Multiple touch points. Building brand awareness, recognizability, consistency and engagement through a variety of media that exists where your market exists.

Think about how many times a day you encounter some of your favourite brands. Those brands are already on your radar by virtue of your affinity to them, but the most important part of that communication is that the brand continues to engage you so that you don’t forget.

Again, multiple touch points. Advertisements, magazines, emails, search, display and all the rest, a successful consumer brand finds a way to be memorable without being annoying.

A successful enterprise brand can use the same methodology just with a different strategy — think about trading traditional for interactive marketing and leveraging your internal knowledge bank.

Here’s Wishing You a Happy Holiday Season to You and Yours!

Filed Under: Best Practices Tagged With: Brand, Brand Awareness, Communication, Touch Points

New RSS Feed

December 24, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

To coordinate with the relaunch of my blog, I’ve also updated the RSS feed to the following: http://feeds.feedburner.com/simrendeogun.

If you are currently a subscriber of the old feed, please update your subscription. The old feed will remain active for the next couple of weeks, to subscribe to the new feed, click here.

Thanks!

Also, thanks to Smashing Magazine and Dirceu Veiga for the great RSS icon.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: RSS

What Is Content Marketing?

December 21, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

Thanks to Copyblogger and their piece on Content Marketing 101, we all get to know!

In my own words, content marketing is the consistent distribution of content to prospects and customers that is relevant, truthful and engaging.

Copyblogger does a much better job at extrapolating the intricacies of content marketing but I think the most important takeaway is that content marketing is everywhere and should be entrenched in everything we as marketers do. As long as there is copy, we need to understand how to drive a message that is laden with honest, novel and credible information.

It’s about starting a conversation and being able to sustain that line of communication long-term. To engage via emails, blogs and news, to provide case studies, white papers and reports, and, finally, to talk through and inside of social media.

Don’t let content suffer as an after-thought, as Sonia Simone states “do not publish content that sucks”!

P.S. Today is the first day of Winter a.k.a. Winter Solstice, so, in honour, I’ve adorned the site with self-made snowflakes, enjoy!

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: content marketing, copyblogger, sonia simone

I Want To Be A Fan Of Mint.com

December 20, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

Their website design has to be one of the most refreshing I’ve encountered to date:

It’s bright, engaging, colourful, distinct and does everything right to force me to that next click: Free! Get Started here.

Only one problem – the product they offer for online money management is limited to the American population. I had to go through two clicks before I determined this, more like before I was bestowed the privilege of receiving this decision-altering information. I was ready to sign up, filled out the appropriate form only to discover that the Zip Code field was just that and did not offer the ability to accommodate another country — not even a neighbouring country.

We can talk financials and the legalities of offering this service across borders but take another glance at that homepage, it is the perfect representation of ambiguous marketing, nowhere is the geographical restriction stated.

They had me eating out of their pretty green hands only to leave me sorely disappointed. So at the heart of this experience is the question of how much information is enough?

On the one hand, they surely do not want to drive me away because of my place of residence but, on the other hand, there is nothing they can offer me due to the restrictions of their product. How do we strike that balance in communicating just enough without leaving prospects hoodwinked?

In Mint’s circumstance, I haven’t dug deep enough to understand why it is a US-only offering, though their reasons may be sufficiently legitimate, who knows now if I’ll ever return. I’m more likely to opt for a competitor looking to pounce in the near future on what Mint has neglected.

Filed Under: Business Tagged With: Information, Mint.com, website design

The Power of Trust

December 16, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

Trust is one of the key factors for a successful customer-brand relationship.

Trust enables influence.

Trust builds reputability.

Trust fosters growth.

Trust will allow you to take measured risks.

And trust will turn your customers into your best marketers.

Filed Under: Thoughts Tagged With: customer-brand, trust

New Resource: Compete.com

December 13, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

I just came across this new (and what seems like power-house) resource for web analytics: Compete. Enter in your website, or compare up to 3 sites, without having to create an account or login and view real-time analytics from over the last year.

They describe themselves as a “new breed” backed by high-level market research and behavioural data.

Now you can see how much traffic is being driven to your competitor’s website and they can see how much is driven to yours. I’m struggling with the advantages of this, however. Of course, as a marketer, I want to know more, actually I want to know as much as possible, but how open do I want this information to be.

Understanding the intricacies of my customers and how they are interacting with my web presence is extremely valuable. Also, understanding that a resource like Compete brings everyone closer to a level playing field is slightly invigorating yet scary.

From my brief exposure to Compete, I can already see the impact they will have on not only site analytics but also search and SEO — let the strategizing begin.

Have a look, plugin a few URLs and experience the power of this resource, and I will be sure to be back with more!

Filed Under: Resources Tagged With: Compete.com, Search Analytics, SEO, Site Analytics

Why Listening Is So Important

December 9, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

I listen because I wish to be listened to.

As a customer, a user, a prospect, a person. I take the time to hear because I want the same courtesy to be returned. And it is a courtesy. A conscious effort to demonstrate equity in a relationship.

If you don’t listen to your customers, what do you stand to gain?

If you don’t offer the opportunity for your customers to speak, what do you stand to gain?

Instead of being enlightened by the masses that make our livelihood possible we opt for blind content and ignorance.

I opt for open forums, discussions, interactions, back-and-forth, learning, trying, succeeding.

You tell me what it is that you want and I will do my best to mould you an offering. Web 2.0 is the perfect example, it demands this 2-way interaction. Web 3.0 will transform that interaction and make it immediate.

So, are you listening yet?

Filed Under: Best Practices, Digital Tagged With: e-marketing, listening, web 2.0, web 3.0

Saying Goodbye to The Eye…

December 2, 2009 By Simren Deogun Leave a Comment

If you take a look around, you can see that I’ve made quite a significant change in the identity of my blog. No longer is it ‘The Eye’ but rather ‘Simren Deogun’s Marketing Blog’.

‘The Eye’ was symbolic of many things and on February 11 of this year I wrote the following in my first post:

In one aspect, “the eye” refers to my own, a physical entity able to perceive and appreciate design. From a different perspective, “the eye” also references my passion for marketing and the often sought-after yet difficult to achieve inner eye, as I like to refer to it. To me, the inner eye is not an all-seeing psychic-like ability but instead is the integration of marketing theory with the ability to detect successful campaigns, communication and design, both external and internal.

It was always a bit of an experiment. How would the branding of my blog unfold? What type of identity would I carve for it and what would it carve for itself?

I realized that though the previous title possessed intrinsic value in the metaphoric meaning it inferred, the real brand was me. This blog has always been marketing through my eyes and even though ‘The Eye’ no longer floats in that top-left corner, the perspective and the voice is still mine. I just know now the value of a name.

Filed Under: Lessons Learned Tagged With: Blogging, Brand, The Eye