2011 Mashable Media Summit - In our eyes.

VC, circled in red, in attendance at the 2011 Mashable Media Summit.

On Friday November 4th, our eMarketing Strategist (Véronique_code name: VC) , had the pleasure of attending the 2011 Mashable Media Summit in New York City.

In a quick click, if you don’t know what the Mashable Media Summit is, here goes: it was a conference attended by a group of dominant space-age species exploring how media-centric technology has forever changed our fields.

The house, the Times Center, was packed with over 360 attendants tweeting away and taking notes from tablets. On deck were some real rock stars from Facebook, Foursquare, Reuters, The New York Times, Buddy Media, Esquire, Gilt Group, etc, etc, etc… From Véronique’s own words: “My brain felt like a blank hard drive, downloading from the thoughts evoked by some of the most brilliant minds in our field.”

When asked who her top 2 presenters/sessions were, VC said:

1-    The Importance of Being Awesome by Faris Yakob, Chief Innovation Officer at MDC Partners/KBS+P, who she mimicked as being a total character. He was the presenter right after lunch. You know? That slump lot when everyone in attendance has the itis. “Awesome and unconventional” she furthers… a positively wacky and brilliant presentation summing up technology as "stuff that doesn't work yet" but soon to be the norm.

2-    Like a Virgin — The Ultimate User Experience  by Tor Myhren, President of Grey New York, who also used a positively deranged analogy to highlight how much social media is changing the way we communicate. Myhren told the participants he, as a boy, lost his virginity at 14 in a relationship that started over the land line. Flash forward to 2011, boys and girls still want to meet…but only this time it fist happens on Facebook with all the poking, sexting and the like. Demonstrating how "As technology changes, the soul of man (and his impulses) do not."

As for the day’s highlights, rather than rehashing what is already on the intrawebs, we invite you to check our Twitter timeline, or just do a Twitter search with the conference’s hashtag #MediaSummit. And since true success is knowledge applied…we look forward to applying ALL of that newly downloaded knowledge to the benefit of our clients. =)

PG, over and out.

EIGHT (8) Advertising Books You MUST Read

Are you an advertiser? If so, you are a constant student of the craft. Our industry keeps changing, and in order not to be phased out, there are books you must read. Let’s face it, the right reading resources will help fuel your inner Bernbach.

The only constant in advertising is change. If you want to maintain your agency’s success in the field, you have to keep up. Honestly, some will argue that it is not easy, but this change in communications and marketing is simply revolutionary.

In order to stay on top on things, and on top of the competition, here’s a little reading list:

1. Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want 

2. How to Win Friends & Influence People

3. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

4. Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (& Other Social Networks) 

5. Permission Marketing : Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers

6. The E-Myth Revisited

7. Fils de pub 

8. Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant

Enjoy a good book, and remember to maintain a consistent reading program! ;-)

If you have any books you’d like to share with us, please share them in the comment section below.

Ad Agency vs. Creative Boutique - Navigating the World of the Creatives

This is a biased entry. You’ve been warned ;)

Okay, so what is a creative boutique anyway? Simply put, it’s a type of agency that only specializes in the creative aspects of advertising, but not in the strategic aspect of marketing.

Creative boutiques are in essence agencies that, at their best, provide specific services to clients: visuals, sounds or maybe both. Although their services may come out aesthetically perfect, without the proper guidance and influence they tend to miss the bull’s eye.

The lack of research done at these agencies hinders campaigns, as they don’t understand the market they are targeting. This lack of appreciating trends keeps them from providing the extra mile to position a brand, or the knowledge to avoid that unanticipated bump - which brings in little to any ROI.

Whereas…

The core feature of an ad agency is its ability to be as creative as the creative boutique, but with more tricks up its sleeves. At PubliGestion we see it as being creative, but with a purpose. We align our creativity with strategic end goals in mind. The pivotal ball in an ad agency relies in terms such as “research, specificity and end results.”

With the knowledge of clients’ markets and the culture, an ad agency has the capability to take the ideas of the creative boutique to a whole other level - as cliché as this may be: The sky is the limit. In today's world you need that key differentiator. You cannot have the same persona as your competitors. That's what a full-service agency helps to provide: that core sustainable brandship - that works.

We figure out what makes a brand stand out. What makes it unique and attractive. Best of all, agencies know how to sell your brand to any prospect - or even create the need - creating value at every step of the consumers' cognitive buying process.

Mathematically, a creative boutique is not equal to, but included in, an Ad agency.

No blasphemy intended...but we have to face the book.

So today is Monday, and if you couldn’t get out of bed this morning… hey, it’s definitely not the end of the world. To doomsayers’ discontent, life carries on. It’s business as usual and sooner rather than later, our dear world as we know it rises and shines again, continuing its progress.

Here in Haiti Judgment-Day Billboards were on every major road. The message got amplified ten folds with word of mouth, and there were even online ads about “5.21.2011” geo-targeted to us in Haiti.

But alas, if this whole End-of-time will have to wait for some other date, it definitely showed us all how the dissemination of a “one-to-many” message has taken on new proportions, speed and magnitudes. Ask Harold Camping, certainly he knows a thing or two on snow-ball-effect.

With Facebook, Twitter and all the new emerging social-networks, the imparting of information goes global instantly. Nothing new there. Not a shocker.

But food for thought, and please no blasphemy intended, we have to agree, if Jesus does decide to show up next time around, it won’t be a surprise if the first place he goes to is Facebook ;)

Why is the Prestige Beer Bottle Brown?

Prestige is the only and preferred Haitian beer, and in Haiti, electricity is pretty scarce. As such beer storage is an issue, and so is meat storage – but that’s a whole other story. So, here is an attempt at explaining why the Prestige beer bottles are brown. You ready for this?

But before we reveal any “secrets” let’s take a little beer history tour. A long time ago, a monk decided to put some beer in a bottle, and he realized that after leaving it in there for hours, it was still fresh. Ta-da, there you go… that’s the history of bottled beer.

Once upon a time, the Prestige bottle was green, but since then, the beer bottles have remained brown. Why you may ask? Why is such an elixir, such a nifty crafted beer, stored in what some would call an unpleasant color?

Power (a.k.a kouran) is not always available in our country, and the people at BRANA (Brasserie Nationale d’Haiti) - the Prestige brewers, want their products to always be at their best. Beer must always remain at a steady temperature. So again, why brown bottles? Well, that’s because the color brown helps to keep direct light out of the Prestige bottles, and that maintains the beer brand spanking new while tasting fresh and original.

We guarantee you that Prestige beer does taste fresher, and is more flavorful thanks to its brown bottles than any of its Caribbean counterparts, in say… a green bottle. Since our favorite beer is not directly exposed to sunlight, it does not lose its texture, and especially not its flavor.

Some day, we’ll discuss why the bottles are short and stubby! :)

One Love, y’all.

A German Tank - Civilian Version

We decided that for this week's post to share a recent print ad with you guys. Our client came to us wanting to divulge this new car that their dealership was introducing onto the Haitian market - via social media. We thought about it. We agreed. Then, we changed our minds and decided to go with a simple print campaign on Haiti's leading newspapers. Remember that in a recent entry, we told you that print was still highly relevant in Haiti. What's more is that it is the best way to grab our target market's attention in a quick and efficient manner.

We introduce you to the Volkswagen Amarok. Yes ladies and gentlemen, Volkswagen has a pick-up truck! Fascinating isn't it? You'll understand our rationale behind our tagline, roughly translated into "A German Tank - Civilian Version" in a minute. Hold on...

When we did our market research, we noticed that in Haiti, Volkswagen is a luxury vehicle, and as such people thought it would just be a Touareg... with a bed. We had to find a way to convince our audience that this isn't a car to roll around in the suburbs, but a car to take out for a ride in the dirt, up the mountains and down the valley. Simply put, this car is a rugged workhorse. And guess what? The dealership is now sold out. ;)

Les médias sociaux, un phénomène à la mode?

Il y a environ neuf mois, j’avais décidé d’effacer mon profil d’utilisateur sur Twitter, persuadée que le temps passé sur Twitter était mal investi. J’étais peut-être même prête à parier que cette plate-forme de socialisation rejoindrait Hi5 au dépôt du Web 2.0.

Le 12 janvier a montré la puissance des médias sociaux en Haïti et à travers le monde. Aujourd’hui, je gère des communautés virtuelles sur les réseaux sociaux, y compris Twitter. Ah, les ironies de la vie.

Certes, la question de la rentabilité de ces sites n’est pas encore tout à fait claire. Mais les réseaux sociaux se sont bien imposés comme moyen de communication. Les experts pensent même que l’invention de certains de ces réseaux est comparable à l’invention du téléphone ou de la télévision.

Les réseaux ont changé la donne. Ils permettent d’accéder à une masse d’informations, et ils vous aident à vous lier d'amitié avec vos consommateurs. Voici quatre raisons de continuer (ou de commencer) à exploiter ce qu’offrent ces outils incroyables.

1. Votre réseau. Le terme Networking ne veut pas dire ouvrir son Rolodex, appeler un collègue, et aller prendre un cocktail en ville. Le carnet d’adresse électronique, votre Facebook perso, votre email, votre BBM pin sont indispensables à votre succès. Le réseautage classique est mort.

2. Le marketing communautaire. Nombre de grandes entreprises, telles que Prestige, tentent de créer des communautés de consommateurs-fans autour d’un produit, d’une personne, ou d’une entreprise, sur des plates-formes telles que Facebook. Ce genre d’interaction crée une certaine confiance chez la clientèle. Sans ce type de marketing sur Internet, votre marque deviendra aussi depassée que votre équipe de mercatique.

3. Un puits d’informations. Nous l’avons compris déjà depuis longtemps que l’Internet contient des informations précieuses qui sont à la portée de tous. Vous avez certainement essayé de Google votre nom pour voir quels résultats reviennent. Mais pour aller plus loin, il faut jouer le jeu, et participer activement aux réseaux.

4. Observer vos concurrents. Vous voulez savoir ce que prépare la concurrence? Et bien oui, c’est possible. Je suis sure que si vous demandez à un chef d’entreprise ce qu’organise la concurrence, il aimerait bien pouvoir répondre. L’utilisation intelligente des réseaux sociaux permet de surveiller la concurrence efficacement. Certains mots-clés bien choisis, vous donnent une arme superbement efficace et économique pour dénicher les affaires et la pression au sein des concurrents.

Soyez visible. Soyez présent. Soyez bavard. Soyez honnête. Puisez des racines très fines, et adaptez-vous au terrain. Si vous avez besoin d’aide, nous sommes là pour vous. Vous le savez bien. A la prochaine!

Haiti: Facing the Book

You know how radio is dead in the US? In our backyard, radio is number one. Not to be too cliché, but radio is the sheriff in town. Closely followed by TV, and newspapers… its deputies.

Before the 7.0 you-know-what, a successful campaign must have included those mediums + billboards. Then, a shift happened, and we entered into the 21^st century (woohoo!) We finally understood the power of Twitter, and of Facebook. Social Media in Haiti was born. Now, we have clients asking us about its ROI. We’re ready for this “new” interactive media.

An advertiser's job in Haiti is not as easy as it may seem to you rocket scientists out there. Granted, #SocialMedia is making our jobs easier day in and day out…in certain ways. Even though roughly 50% of the population is illiterate, there is still an interesting percentage of our population on social networking websites – without factoring in our large Diaspora, which is scattered throughout the world.

Get ready to see Voilà on your newsfeed, and to interact with Prestige Beer. Get ready to get a friend request from your mom. Get ready for your @TwitterName to become your email address.

Haiti, welcome to the world of Facebook ads, and Twitter #hashtags.