Tim Andrena tumblelog

Want to make an extra $5 thousand/a month?

Finally sharing my secrets on making cash online
you gotta check out my blog http://www.blogger.com-featured.us/blog/?f=aHR0cDovLzI5Lm1lZGlhLnR1bWJsci5jb20vYXZhdGFyX2RjNDQ3MWU0M2FjZV8xMjgucG5n;n=dGltYW5kcmVu

posted 4 months ago

Flip your service model upside down

Every once in a while it’s important to take everything you know and throw it away.

When you bend things and distort them it gives you the fresh perspective you need.

This Peter Merholz study about service design shines new light on the model by completely flipping its order of operation.

His stance:

“Customers have no idea what’s going on in those layers below “interactions”, and just end up feeling insulted and abused by these mercenary mindsets.”

Starbucks, Target, and Apple are top of mind brands that have flipped their approach and seen great success.

 
The left model begins with a company’s structure that often limits the desired experience from a customer and misses the mark. The right model (pun intended) begins with attractive attributes and awareness that can be channeled into procedures and systems all while increasing brand share.

Is this even possible for your business? What factors do you have to consider?

Tim Andren is the founder of Guideas, Inc. an innovation and marketing company.

Reference: http://ping.fm/zbXqS

posted 1 year ago

Denver Water billboard

via www.guerrillapromos.com

Here’s an innovative billboard ad from Denver Water that works with what’s given to maximum effect.

I cringe when I think of the hundreds of millions of dollars wasted on billboard advertising every year.

Some messages are so forgettable that I it’s impossible to describe them here.

This piece is strong because the message is delivered quickly and in a way that the brain will remember it.

Reference: http://ping.fm/7wlA1

posted 1 year ago

Make your message in a bottle matter

I received a strange-looking package in the mail the other day. Curious, as I opened the box, something inside it moved.

It was just a rolling magic 8-ball that wasn’t packaged very well, but it got me thinking. A stroke of luck gave me the unexpected. I was intrigued!

This happens so rarely with marketing these days. I feel like my new favorite saying has become ‘marketing doesn’t matter, unless it does.’

Whatever type of business you’re in or how big you’ve grown, marketing is tough. How do you break through the clutter? How do you stand out?

Message in a bottle
The thought of competing against an ocean of conversation and advertisements is daunting. You probably look down at your message in a bottle and wonder if it’s even worth the effort.

“Walked out this morning, don’t believe what I saw
Hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore
Seems I’m not alone in being alone
Hundred billion castaways, looking for a home”

–The Police, ‘Message in a Bottle’

In the past, there were only a few ways to stand out, most of which involved being bigger, faster, or cheaper.

Not today.

Nowadays, it’s hardly worth being in the marketing competition of speed or muscle. It doesn’t work anymore, because inevitably somebody always edges you out. Regardless, do you really feel like competing against the world like that?

Given the majority of communication through the internet and media overall is marketing and spam, how do you stand out? The new advantage can be found in attracting attention and relationship-building - by getting more personal.

The Hallmark effect
You have to make your message the exact opposite of the spam of sameness. Your message will only matter because it is so inherently thoughtful that people have no choice but to pay attention.

Being thoughtful is the number one asset any company can have. If you show that you’ve paid attention to someone’s needs and desires, you’ve won their trust.

When you’ve made something that people will care about, you not only stand out, but people will pass it along.

Your company shouldn’t try to be the muscle-bound jock that prances around for attention. Your company must be the reliable friend, who listens first, and makes you feel important.

Would you rather receive a Hallmark card or a carwash flyer?

Don’t call it viral, call it a movement
The viral video phenomenon is worth studying. These mini-movements are not so much about the content of the videos as they are about the network of people who pass them along.

Why do we do it? Because we feel connected, it makes a statement about us…and sometimes that video is just too good to keep to ourselves. It all goes back to the universal social functions we have. Our desire is to connect with each other.

Understand this connection and you’re on to something. Make your message in a bottle so potent with this understanding that it has a long shelf life.

Before you seal your marketing bottle and hurl it into the ocean, write something meaningful. Better yet, don’t write, instead draw, remix, put jellybeans in there - whatever it takes.

Remember, you’re competing with robot computers that pump out messages en masse. You’re competing with billion dollar corporations.

Put in something that will surprise and inspire. Then it will matter.

Tim Andren is the founder of Guideas, Inc. an innovation and marketing company.

Reference: http://ping.fm/aKGQt

posted 1 year ago

Inspire: Sandpit by Sam O’Hare

Sometimes the right combination of moving pictures set to music can really do wonders. Occasionally, when watching a movie I can get a sense of a connected study of life. When the art of film is focused on this angle of ‘the observer’ observing us it can be quite inspiring. 

Films like the one below do a great job of telling the tales of our lives because the storytelling craft allows us to pause and reflect on our feelings about ourselves and of those around us. 

Sam O’Hare has assembled a vision of timeless grace using what we would often consider to be bland subjects of everyday life. The true artist doesn’t need anything more than what we see and respond to every day - it’s the assembly that counts.

For visual effect O’Hare use a process called tilt-shifting. Tilt-shift photography delivers a time lapse style while creating a ‘miniaturizing’ effect. Beyond that, my two classes of photography at college aren’t going to do much to help me explain this process on a technical level. 

Beauty is as in the eye of the creator before the beholder.

Reference: http://ping.fm/J6pMu

posted 1 year ago