╠ This is for real ╣

After going through some personal phone strife and discovering a lust for the iPhone I heard about Google's mobile that it has created to combat it. Figuring I should get in the know as a seller of such items I went searching quickly and I stopped by the main site.

Now what got me first off was the music that played as it loaded up. My first thought was that I really recognized the song and therefore thought they must have had a massive budget for this to be a song I know because not a lot of my non mainstream likes are all that popular.

To my surprise as the song lifted up I realized it was Motion City Soundtrack which is actually my favourite band. The interesting thing though is that nobody I know really knows them unless I introduce them to it so for me at least it appears to be an obscure band, yet here it is advertising this product.

Much to my surprise they also made a feature appearance in the amazon store part where you can actually choose to play their music to test out what the store is like. The amazing thing is that I know without this music looking at the entire thing I would be like 'The iPhone can do that plus some' which is quite true to be honest however simply using my favourite band so unexpectedly puts me in a positive light. If they were competing against anyone other than apple I may have just been won over.

So basically what I'm trying to point out is how much value we can put on factors that aren't even features of the original product. Whatever band the advertising uses is neglible to the phone features...yet this can increase values if used on the right users. So either there is incredible value in marketing or humans are all stupid. I know which one I'd rather believe

╠ Tall Jan is Malicious ╣

I know the end of February is a late time to be contemplating all the goods and bads of last year but I'm always a few months behind schedule. I thought about all the messages that were communicated to me last year through promotional forms. While some may have been more set in I chose this one as the most successful for getting a tagline across for something I wouldn't have an inherent interest.

When it comes to breakfast I've pretty much had a set breakfast of weetbix for as long as I can remember. However should I ever look at other breakfast this tagline would come to mind. Obviously it is subject to first off the individual interpretation of 'delicious' and also whether a tagline can make you believe it. But the point is the tagline is there and memorable.

What I like about it is that the ad itself isn't particularly standout or one that you'd probably wouldn't watch and think you've got something special. It simply just works. It's not annoying but you end up with a tagline stuck in your head.

╠ The Numbers Game╣

I've always grown up believing that everything can be broken down into numbers. The reasons why we do things can always be broken down into a cost/benefit analysis and thus the best outcome can always be reached.

However my stint in retail has made me rethink this. Following my method you should easily be able to write programs to tell you where to put what products in order to get the highest sales. But life is not so simple. There are far too many random factors the main one of which is that all people while possibly similar are inherently different.

Before I was blindly believing that my up and down days were something to do with myself. One such fear I had was that if I was ever late my nerves got the better of me for not performing and it made me perform worse. However after turning up an hour late one day I had a scorcher that put this fear to rest.

As much as statistics can help us, when it comes day to day there are simply too many elements to factor them all in. Of course overall your average may be higher if you use statistics as a guide, but they are by no means a be all and end all.

This applies to marketing as much as it does retail. Much like with any day you get a different set of customers walking through the door, with each communication of an ad, the audience changes. The past helps but situations are never the same.

Thus I must change my view, life cannot be ruled by statistic driven decisions. Statistics are simply guides. It is our ability to simply consider the stats and then make gut decisions that gives us the best possible outcome.

╠ Victoria Burns, Samboy Earns ╣

Some of you have probably seen the Samboy is Back facebook group for donating to the bushfire appeal. When Samboy started this group I doubt they would have believed this could ever be so successful. The idea itself is one you would never really believe to be all that successful. Basically come Feb 15th whatever group has the most members hilst having 'Samboy is back' in the title wins $10,000 and a bunch of chips.

One user took this as an opportunity to start a group that will donate the money to the bushfire appeal and within days has 50,000+ members. If this group wins then basically Samboy has inadvertently donated $10,000 to a current hot appeal while probably getting a return equal to if that amount was spent on advertising. In just this group alone they've paid less than 20c per person to see the 'samboy is back tagline' and this is without factoring in any other groups created in this competition that has been open for months. It's odd to think that something like this could turn what seems like a not too optimistic campaign into a hugely succesful one.

One thing I have been thinking about recently is what companies would do to promote their donations. Companies as a whole are soulless and only interested in doing things for profit so I was thinking of the best way to donate whilst making it known that you are giving without wasting money on advertising that could go to the donation. The two chain supermarkets have taken two different approaches.

Woolworths gave a cool $1 million off the bat, whilst Coles is donating a day of profit. You have the woolworths option which is most likely known by little more than the staff themselves whilst Coles is common knowledge and has facebook groups and the such as well as causing people to use Coles services for the day. Personally I doubt the profit donated will probably be as high as woolworths yet Coles have built a lot of brand equity.

Whilst it technically is not really the point of donating to get a little back but when it comes down to it why not get a little back, be it the Facebook Samboy group leader getting to keep the samboy chips for her gracious donation or Brands ssimply getting recognized for their donation. Don't just donate, donate smart because not only does it promote you but it promotes the appeal itself which encourages more donation. It's win win.

╠ I'm So Postmodern╣

This video is a representation of how I'd like to be with my marketing and I don't mean by doing crazy things of what is seemingly irrelevant. I'm referring to how the artist says something which is seemingly attention grabbing and then you start thinking 'oh that's weird' but before you finish the thought he's tagged something else onto the line making it even more odd.

It's been clearly thought out and he always appears to be one step ahead of the listener/viewer. I must admit it's a little less of a mind trip just listening without watching but the point still stands. I'd really like to be this clever with marketing, to be one step ahead of your audience because it would just give you that much of an edge.

Look out world because I want to get to the stage where I can screw with your minds like this video, only for profit!