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22/100 If I Were an Advertiser Today

#21 was listed separately on Lategaming If I were an advertiser today, I’d be nervous. I’m talking from the point of view of being a producer or seller and that I have a product or service to advertise. There’s probably more choice in the methods of advertising now than there ever has been and to … Continue reading “22/100 If I Were an Advertiser Today”

#21 was listed separately on Lategaming

If I were an advertiser today, I’d be nervous.

I’m talking from the point of view of being a producer or seller and that I have a product or service to advertise. There’s probably more choice in the methods of advertising now than there ever has been and to my mind they are becoming increasingly less effective.

Dead Tree
I’ll tell you right now. Junk mail I receive goes in the recycler. I don’t look at adverts in magazines. I don’t look at billboards for product advice. I do look at billboards for event advice however, like a robot turning up at W5? My kids would love it. A Wedding Fayre? Her indoors will love it. A Tech conference? Yeah, sure, though my expectations will be low.

Zombie Hordes
Unsolicited commercial email, and much of the solicited commercial email just goes straight into the trash. Being spammed with ‘articles’ written by small-time CEOs doesn’t inspire either. If you’re emailing me something, make it content and make it something I want, not something I might be interested in. I’m not interested in offers of free laptops and phones, performance enhancing drugs or business opportunities where I get a commission on vast amounts of money being transferred from one place to another. Figure it out.

Jaded Eyeballs
Does anyone pay attention to commercials on TV? What about adverts on web pages? I don’t even process them these days. The only ads I watch on TV are Apple adverts because I’m a sucker for Apple. I don’t look at or click through on most adverts on web sites. Sponsors links are different however – so make your advertising targetted and relevant and make sure they’re relevant to the web site I’m on.

Conversational Media
Advertising via Blog seems to be just dishonest in some ways. Sure, I might rave about Rickshaw but that’s because I’m using it every day. It’s a product created by me and my friends (my input is solely advisory). But what about companies that give free product to bloggers? Or pay them? Or for journo-bloggers who get paid to write reviews? I think there’s a line to be drawn. If it were me I’d provide product to a group of bloggers and tell them to be honest. Because if you’re not in this to be honest in your business then why even bother. Mr Mulley has a recent post about fakeblogging which is being seized by PR houses who see it as a quick way to generate some buzz. Is this much different to the online viral campaigns being created by movie producers to support their releases (Cloverfield had one)?

Something new and exciting?
It’s not my job to think of new and exciting ways to advertise? Uh, yeah, it is. Ways that would appeal to me? The biggest issue of any business is awareness. The number of people who told Mac-Sys they were so happy to hear about a Mac Service Provider in Northern Ireland but they’d never heard of the company before. And the number who were referred from PC companies was startling as well.

You also have to consider the potential damage that unsubstantiated word of mouth can cause and you have to wonder why people have such negative things to say. That’s why it’s important for a business to engage with bloggers who have an opinion. Not so bloggers can get special treatment but so the company can show that the rumour is false and that the real performance of the company cannot be judged by mutterings from a couple of guys. I have no idea why Andy’s friends told him not to go to Mac-Sys but I would hope that Andy’s experience with us has shown him a little insight into how we work with every customer. As it happened, Apple and Mac-Sys worked together to provide a solution that was palatable to all. Not every situation will play out like that but engaging a company directly should always provide some sort of palatable result. Not everyone may be happy with the results but there’s been a miscommunication if people are badmouthing you – you’ve obviously not communicated the message correctly (or, in many cases, the individual is too angry to listen and in my experience the anger is usually at themselves but directed at others.)

If I were an advertiser I’d not waste money on TV or Radio. If I were hosting an event I’d put the event on billboards. I’d definitely start a blog and do detailed breakdowns of the products and services. I’d provide free samples to bloggers and ask, not bargain with, them to write honest reviews. Engage with bloggers, challenge their assumptions, respond to their blog posts and take on board their criticisms.

[Chris Brogan’s 100 topics]

iPhone sales predictions

IFrogz, among others speculates if Apple will sell 10 million phones by the end of 2008. I like iFrogz, I like the cases and whatnot they do, though I’m currently using a Capsule from SwitchEasy which is excellent. If Apple is to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of this year they will have … Continue reading “iPhone sales predictions”

If Apple is to sell 10 million iPhones by the end of this year they will have to sell 200,000 more per quarter than they did over the hottest time of the year, the Christmas season. During that time last year Apple sold 2.3 million.

In the first six months the iPhone was on sale, it sold 4 million units. That was in 2 quarters in the US and less than 1 quarter in France, Germany and the UK. Steve Jobs aimed at 10 million iPhones out there by the end of 2008. A rather optimistic claim but one that everyone has jumped on.

If Apple only do 9, 200, 000 iPhone sales, will the entire affair be a flop. Do the math. The extra 200 000 units per quarter only adds up to an extra 800 000 phones in the remaining 4 quarters. If they only did 8 million iPhones by the end of 2008, would it be a flop? Of course not. Some heads may roll but the sky will not fall and the sun will still rise.

Some people speculate shaving $50 off the price of the phone would create an instant surge. Maybe, maybe not. I seriously doubt it. The issue most people have is the contract but, as we saw yesterday, O2 have just doubled their voice minutes allowance and increased the text allowance on the iPhone contracts they offer. I now have 1200 minutes and 500 texts and unlimited data which is more than I will ever use. People on the cheapest Â£35 tariff will now enjoy 600 minutes and 500 texts which is a huge improvement (from 200 and 200 respectively). This is where the innovation will come. With 1200 free minutes, I almost can’t be bothered wondering if Skype will appear on the iPhone unless I’m calling internationally (which is so infrequent I wouldn’t care anywway).

The iPhone is also just onto AT&T’s business tariffs and will be added to O2’s business tariff soon. This is excellently timed as the SDK is to be released in a few days and some early access developers (such as SAP) already have their client software ready to go.

So chill out on the numbers. It could be 9 million, it could explode to 20 million. We don’t know. What we do know is that a lot of the bloody things will be sold in the next 11 months.

The Third Party Application Market on Phones and PDAs

On my Newton, I downloaded maybe 20 apps. I bought two over the wire. I even bought one in a retail package. On my Palm vX, I bought two apps. A Paris City Guide and a VT100 Terminal app. On my other phones and devices between then and now I’ve downloaded two apps. One was … Continue reading “The Third Party Application Market on Phones and PDAs”

On my Newton, I downloaded maybe 20 apps. I bought two over the wire. I even bought one in a retail package.

On my Palm vX, I bought two apps. A Paris City Guide and a VT100 Terminal app.

On my other phones and devices between then and now I’ve downloaded two apps. One was a Telnet/SSH client for my SonyEricsson K800i which was so bad that I never used it and certainly never bought it.

The other was yesterday when I bought and downloaded Sonic the Hedgehog for my 5G iPod (the one I have donated to the kids, secure in a iFrogz Tadpole wrap).

I’m beginning to think that, based on my experience, the third party application market on Phones and PDAs might be a bit of a sham. I’ve spent hundreds of pounds on software for my Mac so I’m not averse to spending a bit of cash when something catches my eye.

The logic remains. I’ve only bought software for 3 devices. My Newton, my Palm vX and my iPod. Not one purchase for any of my phones in the past.

I think this is what will make the big difference in the PDA market. I think we’ll see an explosion of sales for the iPhone in third party applications even with the premium Apple will demand for signing.

Anyone want to buy a house? In Ireland no less!

It’s an airy 4 bedroom house with a large living room and a dining room. Decent grounds. External garage. Gas central heating. Double-glazed throughout. Only 3 miles from Belfast City Centre and up on a hill just in case Al Gore is right and the sea is going to rise 20 feet sometime before Tuesday. It’s in the Four Winds area of Belfast, a short walk from The Four Winds (a wine bar and gourmet restaurant) and if you walk 100 yards in the other direction, you’re in the countryside. Traffic, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere is bad from 0800 to about 0845 but going home at 5 pm takes about 15 minutes with a quick scoot up the Ormeau Road. There’s an excellent bus service, several schools and nurserys and Forestside shopping centre as well as being minutes from Sir Thomas and Lady Dixon Park, which is great for the nippers. You’re also 15 minutes from Lisburn and the M1 which will lead you to the West and also the South.

We’re moving down the coast, probably in the direction of Ballyhalbert which means we’re pretty much buggered if Al Gore is right about the sea levels thing. We’ve viewed a heap of houses so far – so much that I’m tired of introducing myself to strangers and tramping through their pads. Our intention is to sell as quickly as possible and if we don’t have anywhere to live then, rent until something appears.

The change of pace for me will be amazing. At first I’ll be commuting quite a lot but I’ll get used to that – or change jobs (sadly there’s not much call for enterprise-focussed IT professionals along the rural Ards peninsula).

The property market in Northern Ireland has slowed a lot since last year. Houses are not selling as quickly as they did and, thankfully, prices have begun to come down as well. It was becoming impossible for first time buyers, certainly in Belfast where it was hard to find a property for less than Â£200 000 (US$400 000). There’s certainly a glut of housing at the moment and fewer houses are being torn down to make way for multi-storey apartment blocks. It’s suddenly shifted to being a buyers market with many houses going for just the asking price as opposed to much higher (I enquired about one property last year which was list price Â£80 000 for not much more than a site and a shed. The site sold to a developer for over Â£250 000.) It seems the market is reaching equilibrium so all we need is for salaries to catch up.

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