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I’ve been working in the media industry for the five years I’ve lived here in Fiji and for more than ten years in the United States before that. Although the first couple years locally had me primarily focused on the online side of the industry, I personally believe very little differs between the mediums. Advertising and marketing is about communication at the end of the day and whether that communication takes place on a computer screen, over the radio or on the pages of a magazine, it should still have the responsibility of being effective.
If this is the case, then why does it seem the advertising industry in Fiji is more focused on pushing pixels rather than actually creating communication strategies for its clients? Many of our clients approach us with requests for products and/or services they want to advertise to the public. Very rarely, however, are we given directives that require a percentage increase in sales after running a campaign. This is not the fault of the client. I think it’s the fault of agencies for not pushing and marketing the value of the work they’re bringing to the table.
The Digital Talanoa from a few weeks back referred to a retailer in India who spent a lot of money to create artificial chaos in his stores. It brought some interesting comments back to me. One person reflected on the changing nature of consumers everywhere in the world and how businesses need to constantly change their approach in order to stay fresh with their customers. I agree but also realise that for many businesses set in a particular way of doing something, that is much easier said than done. In fact, my own experience doing business in Fiji leads me to realise that âchangeâ is not always welcome, especially from those in the same industry that might also be forced to adapt.
I love the New York Times. It is, without a doubt, the greatest news resource available online and offline.
This week, they opened up their entire archive for free and turned off their TimesSelect paid-article service. They've effectively made all of their content free including archives back into the 1800s. I don't have the time or motivation to get into my own perspective of the business decision to drop a pay service except to say it's extremely customer friendly. It has been blogged and discussed plenty elsewhere. I am, however, in awe at some of the historical stories available in their archives. I would encourage everyone to dive deep and explore the way news stories were reported in the past. Just a few samples:
CAPE RACE, N. F., April 15. -- The White Star liner Olympic reports by wireless this evening that the Cunarder Carpathia reached, at daybreak this morning, the position from which wireless calls for help were sent out last night by the Titanic after her collision with an iceberg.
I find it fascinating to see the first mention of a story which touched the global psyche of the world in such a dramatic way.
It’s been a year now that I’ve been writing Digital Talanoa articles and I’d like to take just a moment and thank the people that read the column and especially the ones that have taken the time to write me with comments and feedback. Much appreciated. A recap on some recent topics is on for this week.
My last column about email management and how not to drown under the tidal wave of data in our lives resulted, ironically, with a flood of new email in my INBOX. Errr...thanks again. The topic clearly seemed to touch a familiar nerve and almost everyone who wrote in seemed able to relate to the issue in some way. A few of the writers described followed very strict regimens when it came to separating work time from personal time. Some went so far as to turn off their phones upon returning home from the office. I’m envious of that behaviour. It’s not as if I feel the world would come crashing down if I did it but I do think it’s important for me to be reachable. Call it “inflated self-worth”. I think I’ll start off slow, turn off the mobile from 11 p.m. to 11:05 p.m. and see if anything happens.
On September 13, 2001, I wrote out my experiences from being at the World Trade Center two days earlier. I was a complete wreck at the time, floating around in some sort of zombie-like haze. My head was just reeling. When I posted my essay online and sent to about five of my immediate family, I began feeling better.
I tend to gravitate back to my experience in New York on September 11th every year. I try to relive and remember exactly how I felt, what I smelled, what I witnessed and what I did that day. I have no interest in trying to purge it from my mind. I always want to remember that day and how it changed so many things about our world.
I'm reposting that essay here.
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One View of Many…
It has been a little more than 48 hours since the attacks began on the World Trade Center and I’m finally able to sit down and attempt to write out what I experienced that morning in the city. My hands continue to shake and have been on and off for the past two days. I’m experiencing a wide range of rolling emotions which seem to change from hour to hour. I walk around my house and without warning will suddenly break down in tears and shakes.
On September 2, the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) rejected the controversial Microsoft OOXML document format as a standard.
Electronic Frontier Finland studied the relation between corruption level and voting behaviors of the countries that participated and although the results are not definitive, of course, it is an interesting analysis to say the least. Then again, it's just an analysis.
Throughout this entire lobbying process from Microsoft, there was plenty of accusations about vote rigging. Microsoft formed special interest groups in Europe and elsewhere to support their case as well. These are pretty complicated issues that potentially touch on enormous amounts of new revenue for Microsoft if the standard was accepted so it's not surprising that they would take on an aggressive role.
However, some of the information that has come out of shows some really damaging behavior. Consider the following excerpt from a memo Microsoft sent to it's partners in Sweden trying to gain support for their initiative:
Cadbury's new tv spot is destined for greatness. Although the most common argument against it will always be "but where's the product?", the agency which developed the campaign appears to want the viewer to feel how they would feel if using (or in this case, eating) chocolate. It makes you smile.
Is it ballsy, risky and different? Yes...absolutely. One of the comments I read about it referred to the Phil Collins song and how the ad has incorporated the greatest drum solo of all time. I have to agree with that and perhaps for that very reason, the impact might be lost on people who don't know the emotion and history of the tune. Just amazing. The detail of the gorilla (look for the earpiece, too) is definitely a star of the spot but the entire 90 seconds is riveting. I couldn't look away. That, in itself, is great advertising and very much creates an emotional connection to Cadbury chocolate.
Embarrassingly, it took me more than twenty years to quit smoking cigarettes. To be honest, I suppose I only tried to quit for the latter ten of those years. During the first ten, I convinced myself that I both enjoyed and could control the smoking. I’ve just recently found myself in the exact same situation with another nasty habit. E-mail.
For the past 15 years, I’ve been slowly living more and more out of my e-mail INBOX. I use e-mail to organise many things in my life. I plan meetings, I take notes and I set up to-do lists. I’ve send messages to myself in order to remind me of some pending event (i.e.; birthday, anniversary, etc...). I should have realised much sooner that if I’m sending myself e-mails so as not to forget to do something on my anniversary, I’ve got some problems. It’s not that I’m forgetful (err...yes, actually, I am but that’s not the main reason). It’s more related to the fact that I’m simply unable to efficiently process all the information around me. In my last Digital Talanoa, I referenced the accepted statistic that a typical weekday edition of the New York Times contained more information in it than an average person would learn over the course of their entire lifetime in 17th century England. We are simply bombarded with more information now than we know what to do with.
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