Fran goes Dutch

New home for 2010

2010-02-11T17:28:00.002+01:00

http://notawhiteboard.blogspot.com/
(this was boring)

I love people

2009-09-01T10:22:00.001+02:00

Yorkshire man complains about shagging lemon and lime on Maoam package. Priceless
http://www.brandrepublic.com/Discipline/Marketing/News/929986/Maoam-says-carnal-wrapper-complaint-genuine/

A Map Of Social (Network) Dominance

2009-08-19T16:51:00.002+02:00

A Map Of Social (Network) Dominance

Posted using ShareThis

bike

2009-08-19T08:23:00.001+02:00

Utrecht, holland, Wednesday morning

red

2009-08-18T18:41:00.002+02:00

Trying out Shozu as a way to publish content from Iphone onto several digital platforms.

2009-08-06T13:51:00.001+02:00

What the F**K is Social Media: One Year Later

View more documents from Marta Kagan.

barefoot running

2009-04-23T09:59:00.002+02:00

prompted by Nike's new campaign for the Nike Free running shoe, I began to become interested in barefoot running. Discovered there is a whole (small? large?) movement out there of folks who run barefoot, and perhaps also some scientific basis behind the whole thing.

Reminder to self

2009-03-19T10:05:00.000+01:00

read this

USP or non USP?

2009-03-15T09:20:00.003+01:00

I never quite bought into the fact that each ad should have a clear USP (Unique Selling Proposition). To me, it's always sounded like "the consumer is a bit dumb. he can only understand one simple message at a time. if you put two messages it will be too much".

But now I found that Rosser Reeves himself (the inventor of USP) puts it in a more agreeable way (quoting from branding strategy insider):

In his book, Reality in Advertising, he laments that the popularity of the USP does not reflect a wide-spread understanding of the term. He defines the USP in three parts:

* Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each advertisement must say to each reader: ‘Buy this product and you will get this specific benefit.
* The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not, offer. It must be unique -- either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.
* The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions, i.e., pull over new customers to your product.

Reeves recommended thinking of the USP as something the consumer takes from the ad, rather than as something the copywriter puts into the ad.

More agreeable, still ... a bit too simple.

Mayfly

2009-03-11T09:46:00.004+01:00

I bought a pair of Nike Mayfly at a sample sale. 135 grams running shoes, so light it will only last 100k (and then explode?). They look like they are made of paper. You put them on and they feel like they are not there. The name comes from the mayfly, who allegedly is born, lives and dies in the space of one day. I will probably never use them, just keep them on my desk. But I love the insanity of this shoe. Reminds me of what I like about Nike.

Custom football kit

2009-03-04T16:41:00.002+01:00

I like what these guys are doing. Damn it's good!

Twitter again

2009-03-03T20:17:00.005+01:00

I finally managed to read Ogilvy's presentation on twitter. I did it quickly to be fair, but I was a bit disappointed. Nothing really new, or insightful or useful. I much rather enjoyed Micha's post on twitter. Just as I like his whole blog.

to do list

2009-02-28T15:07:00.001+01:00

I haven't gone through this yet but the topic sounds interesting and I want to come back to it. So by posting it to my blog, I hope to remind to myself to check it out later. No-one reads my blog anyways so I might as well use it as a to do list :)

Ogilvy PR 360 DI Twitter Webinar

View more presentations from guestfd8f1. (tags: ogilvypr pr)

meetings again

2009-02-26T18:23:00.002+01:00

I came to the conclusion that some of the meeting nightmare I was blogging about a few days ago is due to the fact that people arrive late (at least 15min) into meetings and are very undisciplined in meetings. I decided to tackle this meeting nightmare with a positive attitude.

I will keep at least my meetings short and sweet, by following the following five rules (which I learned by my former boss at Profero, who at the time I considered a bit of a a pain in the arse but wasn't):

1. meeting starts 5 minutes early (so everyone is there on time)
2. meeting ends 15 minutes late (so you have time to make notes, follow-ups,etc)
3. no laptops (so people listen to each other)
4. no phones (obvious one)

perhaps if I get a few people on board with this it will start making an impact

Meetings

2009-02-23T18:02:00.004+01:00

As unexciting as it may sound, one of the biggest challenges I have at work is how to find time to sit down with people at work and talk.

Thing is, people's diaries are booked off for days and days and so even getting 4-5 people together for a few minutes is a big task. Example:

The causes? No idea. I guess it's a combination of little delegation, too many meetings, to long meetings, poor time management in meetings ... whatever it is, everyone seems to be busy meeting everyone else, all the time!

I am trying all sorts of things to get around the problem (keeping my meetings short and organised, meeting few people separately instead of all people at once, scheduling meetings early in the morning) but I have a feeling the system is still winning.

And then I wonder: if the people I am trying to meet are this busy, how must the diary of someone's really important look like? (Barack Obama, Mahatma Ghandi, you name it).

downturn game plan

2008-12-19T13:48:00.001+01:00

copying and pasting from always interesting Freek Vermuelen: http://freekvermeulen.blogspot.com/

In a downturn, manage your revenues, not your costs

Here's a hypothesis:

In prosperous times, companies often fall victim to not being able to resist the many opportunities for growth that present themselves to them. In isolation, many initiatives with respect to new products, new markets or new customers look good but when pursued in combination they have a negative effect and hamper growth. Yet, wealthy firms find all these options difficult to resist precisely because in isolation they look so good. They have the funds to spare and therefore they are inclined to do too much of a good thing.

Andrew Grove, former CEO of Intel, understood this well. Their best-selling product – microprocessors – had endowed them with much cash to spare. However, he resisted temptations to spend it on other initiatives and entering adjacent businesses, telling his people “this is all a distraction; focus on job 1 [microprocessors]”. It made them one of the most successful companies ever.

In a down-turn, companies should look different

However, companies in distress – such as in a downturn – often do the reverse. In academic research, we call this the “threat-rigidity” effect. They focus on their core business, shedding all other things, doing more of what they did before, and which they consider their strongest points, while trying to reduce their cost base to weather the storm, till it all blows over and they can come out of hibernation.

By itself, minimising one’s cost base is never a bad idea (also in prosperous times!) but these companies forget one thing: You have to not only manage your costs; you also need to manage your revenues. And, what’s more, the composition of a revenue base in lean times will have to look different from its composition when times are good. Where in happy times firms are often seduced to spread out too much, while they would be better off focusing on job 1, in meagre times firms are often inclined to focus too much, when diversifying one’s revenue base makes more sense.

Accessing different pockets of revenue

So why does spreading one’s revenue base in meagre times make more sense? It is, among others, because no job will be big enough to sustain the whole firm. What keeps firms afloat is accessing a variety of smaller pockets of revenues. Hence, rather than focus on job 1, hoping it will be enough to sustain the firm, the company’s effort should be aimed at identifying and creating additional sources of revenue. In the downturn, none of these additional sources will be big enough by itself. Moreover, many of these sources would not be attractive in prosperous times, because the firm would not be able to make them grow. However, this is not a time of growth, but of survival.

A diversified revenue base will also reduce dependency and with it risk. In a downturn, the probability of individual sources drying up is large, so a firm can’t afford to be focused on just one or a few of them.

But will searching for additional sources of revenue not be costly? If will not be costless but, by definition, it should not be expensive. Paradoxically, firms should not be focused on winning any big accounts, major new products or customers; they should aim for many smaller ones. They are relatively cheap to access and often the firm will already have knowledge about them; they shunned them in the past considering them too small to advance at the time.

Concurrently, this strategy of exploring multiple smaller pockets of revenue will equip firms well for the economic dawn, which will inevitably come. Their diverse revenue base has laid the foundation for new sources of growth. The firm will be able to quickly benefit from the upheaval in the economy. Many of the smaller pockets of revenue will stay small – and the firm would do well to shed quite a few of them – but the newly formed strategic landscape will be conducive to different sources of revenue than before. Although you can’t tell beforehand which ones it will be, some of the small pockets of revenue will be the new stars on the firm’s firmament.

odd

2008-12-17T13:26:00.001+01:00

plain interesting

2008-12-16T11:19:00.000+01:00

on digital's obsession with measuring results
http://www.adliterate.com/archives/2008/12/occasionally_i.html

spot the difference

2008-12-12T16:54:00.003+01:00

ahrghh!

2008-11-09T09:51:00.000+01:00

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Silvio_Berlusconi

what politics can teach to brands

2008-11-04T22:19:00.005+01:00

"campaigns in a web 2.0 world". Interesting article from the New York times (thanks gianni for posting about it), reflects on how web 2.0 (whatever that means) has been a key medium in this US presidential campaign. It seems that some of the key tactics of both campaigns have been:

- to disseminate content via many online channels (websites, youtube, facebook);
- to offer online more content of a richer nature than elsewhere;
- to offer people many ways to consume content (read, watch, own, distribute).

Once again, I can't help thinking that brands should do the same: abandon their strict policy of content ownership and make (more/ special) content accessible via many platforms. Yes they would have to relinquish a bit of control but would get in exchange tons consumer advocacy (look at the amount of facebook advocacy that the obama campaign is receiving these days!). This should then in turn convert into improved brand equity (improved brand awareness + stronger brand associations) and therefore brand equity should be the metric upon which to measure success.

food for (my own) thoughts

next book I'd like to read

2008-11-04T21:10:00.001+01:00

http://www.adliterate.com/

Diesel builds brand equity by relinquishing control over logo

2008-10-24T12:32:00.004+02:00

A few folks in the office are keeping an eye Diesel, who are running a contest in which consumers are invited to redesign their logo.

Some people are raising concerns around ownership, particularly from a legal perspective (it "will have them loose any possibility to defend themselves against logo infringements later on"). I see the point, but I personally think this is a great way to relinquish some (=little) control over your brand in exchange for tons of consumer engagement.

Also, I like how the contest is centered around the '55 seconds' concept. In other words, by asking people to redesign its logo around a specific concept, Diesel are strengthening a specific brand association and ultimately improving brand equity. It reminds me of the 'brand next' philosophy that WolffOlins came up with earlier in the year.

Back running

2008-10-23T10:51:00.005+02:00

I am finally back running. Ankle improving, although I am bound to the treadmill or to the track, which are flat. But I am happy.

AAA - looking for new nationality

2008-10-21T10:04:00.005+02:00

After reading this story yesterday, which reports that the Italian government is asking the EU to relax the rules that bind it to meet certain environmental targets, I was reflecting on how as a nation we consistently seem to do two things:

1. not achieve any target that is set for us, whatever its nature, and
2. try to cheat our way out of the troubles we find ourselves in as a consequence.

We have been doing this for decades in business and politics, and as a result we are economically as healthy as Zimbawe (nothing against them, I am just to pick a random third world country). Now we are attempting this with the environment too.

In the end of the day, my sad conclusion was that I am ashamed of being an Italian.

Having lived in an international context for quite a few years now, I often find myself downplaying my italian-ness. For example, when people ask me 'where are you from', I find myself answering 'from Italy' and then quickly adding 'but I lived and worked in the UK for the past five years'.

The point is that being Italian does nothing to add to one's credibility. As a nation we are building a reputation for ourselves as those 'unreliable cheating insignificant people who cook nice food and have a joke of a prime minister'.

Today, coincidence, I found this post from Gianni, which elaborates a bit on this sentiment. I couldn't agree more with it.

campaign

2008-10-20T15:23:00.001+02:00

Oddities of a casual company

2008-10-16T16:15:00.000+02:00

From: xxx
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2008 3:41 PM
To: xxx

Subject: Non-casual Friday

Hi all,

Tomorrow is yet another Friday, and yet a non-casual one!

So if you want to join the force, then show up tomorrow at work on something less casual! :)

Monument to tonsillitis

2008-10-15T21:14:00.000+02:00

Utrecht, the Netherlands

Mits

2008-10-13T22:29:00.001+02:00

Thus is mits-San, wicked guy

2008-10-11T21:45:00.001+02:00

Be first. Be fastest

2008-10-10T15:26:00.004+02:00

My first Nike campaign is live. See Nike Store or go straight here.
so many things I would have done differently, but at the same time kinda proud.

ahah

2008-10-10T11:44:00.002+02:00

obviously fake

click here, I beg you!

2008-10-03T12:48:00.001+02:00

For some reason there is a breed of marketers out there who insists that banners (online ads) should have a big bold blinking 'click here' callout at the bottom. I am seriously beginning to be annoyed by this.

Research, they say, suggests that by having such an annoying blinking thing increases consumers' propensity to notice the ad (and therefore to click on it). This makes sense: any moving object on a page will catch your attention.

Actually any moving object will attract your attention. It's a survival instinct: if you are walking in the street and a moving car is about to hit you, your eyes will isolate that that moving object from the background and your brain will tell your legs to jump out of the way.

However, I would argue that an ad that is very effective at attracting your attention isn't necessarily a good ad. Things that attract your attention aren't necessarily things that you wold like or buy. If my ugly neighbour started walking naked in the garden, I wouldn't necessarily like him.

And here is my point: as a consumer I am increasingly annoyed by flashy, blinking online creative that tells me to 'click here'. I find it patronizing. It insults my intelligence and distracts me from what I am doing.

Good advertising should be effective because it understands consumers and offers an answer to their need. Get this right and you won't have to beg for a click.

Bottom line: I am amazed that one little piece of stinking research can cause marketers to spend 90% of their time thinking how fast and big their 'click here' should blink, and only 10% of their time trying to understand their consumer.

Corporate

2008-10-01T19:58:00.001+02:00

Other than wearing jeans, trainers and a hoodie, I feel very corporate
at the end of a long day

Checking email in an Internet cafe

2008-09-28T12:46:00.000+02:00

Kpn, our Internet provider, won't install our Internet till at least
the end of October. I miss the good old British competition, so good
for the consumer. But at least Stefi and I found a nice Internet cafe
this morning.

Sunday morning

2008-09-21T12:21:00.000+02:00

Outside our window

2008-09-20T18:29:00.001+02:00

so leave me alone ...

2008-09-17T22:12:00.003+02:00

If you are ever so lucky to go to London Business School, make sure you don't miss Prof Freek Vermuelen's courses. He is the best professor there by miles. Last year my class nominated him as best teacher, and I think it was the second time he was awarded that. I love his latest blog post. It gives me comfort to think that someone as competent as him might too be fed up with 'corporate bla bla'. I'll walk in the office a different man tomorrow. oh and yes ... I might get a t-shirt printed with the final sentence.

Things we noticed about holland, 2 weeks into holland.

2008-09-16T20:20:00.003+02:00

I won't write here about cheese being cheesy and bikes attempting to kill you at every junction. Those are known things. But I'd like to write about a little cultural shocks that stefi and I are experiencing here in Holland. I am aware this is incredibly superficial but ... hey ... we've only been here 2 weeks!

1) Everything takes ages. Ages to get a contract for our flat. Ages to get a bank account. Ages to set up utilities. Ages to get an internet connection. I am not sure if this is because people are relaxed (which is good) or because bureaucracy is a tad more complex than in Britain. I suspect it's the latter. My passport, which has hardly ever been required in the UK, has already been refused by two separate institutions: the first time because it was too shiny to be scanned by a machine at the bank (!), the second time because I wasn't able to replicate the signature on it in front of a tax officer (we later discovered that he was actually comparing the signature I was making to the signature of the Italian consul, which is printed on my passport).

2) Beer is served in small glasses, at a table, in cafes. I LOVE it! After so much time in the UK I had almost forgotten the pleasure of sitting down at a cafe and taking the time to drink a small beer. Don't get me wrong, I used to like pints and pubs, but I find that here there is a more relaxed attitude to drinking here. Perhaps it is a very european thing, but small beer doesn't get warm. Small beer goes down a pleasure. You can always have another small beer.

3) If the English are understated, then the dutch are definitely assertive. Not rude, but they say it the way it is. I had been warned about this and I thought I would like it, but to be true, I miss the British way of being polite and respectful of others even when delivering bad news. It took me so long to get used to it and now I miss it. I guess politeness played an important part in making my British work experience so enjoyable and I'd like to retain some of that if I can.

4) There is a very different concept of privacy here. Actually: there is less privacy. One funny anecdote: Stefi and I are sitting on a bench in the city centre, facing each otehr and eating our lunch on sunday. The bench clearly only has space for the two of us but nonetheless a lady comes to sit between the two of us. She wasn't old, ill, pregnant ... I had to let her sit. Stef's and my reaction was almost of disbelief, but I guess we have become a bit too English in the last few years.

5) I love the fact that there are few cars, at least in the two cities that we visited (Utrecht and Amsterdam). Apparently the rest of the Netherlands is a massive traffic jam, but city centres seem healthier, quieter. People cycle or walk. And amazingly to me, it is possible to live without a car. Italians wouldn't believe it.

overall we are still adapting I guess.

My first 250k

2008-09-15T17:17:00.005+02:00

This season I ran 250k. Life is good. I am proud. I hope I can keep it up this winter

So this is Nike

2008-09-05T17:31:00.002+02:00

A bit of a blurry photo. It mirrors my grasp of this huge place so far. But it's only week one and it's nice to be here.

We are in Amsterdam

2008-08-30T22:36:00.004+02:00

All three of us. (24 weeks)

clever stuff

2008-08-29T16:45:00.002+02:00

http://labs.mozilla.com/2008/08/introducing-ubiquity/

Italy: first we screw up, then we cheat our way out

2008-08-28T17:32:00.005+02:00

I hardly ever post about politics, but today I really feel I should express my dissent and anger at what is happening in my country.

As business week reports, along with many other sources today, the Italian government found a solution to the troubles of Alitalia, our troubled flagship airline, after it has been loosing money for decades. The plan involves breaking antitrust law, amending bankruptcy law, screwing consumers and a huge bill for the taxpayer. The winners, as far as I understand, are the allmighty unions and Mr Berlusconi's government. Classic!

This victory by 'changing the rules' feels particularly disheartening and it is in my opinion very representative of how badly the country is run. The Italian press today reports the news but it is extraordinarily dry of criticism. The opposition doesn't seem to disagree much either. Guess I won't be going back soon. Luckily on Friday I'll go dutch!

Corporate moving

2008-08-27T14:11:00.004+02:00

is relaxing

Do brands have to be original?

2008-08-26T10:36:00.005+02:00

Mark Ritson writes in a super-interesting article about Chinese brands and imitation:

"In China, there is often a vague but accepted disparity between what is seen as genuine and what is real. [...] Copies and fakery can be better than the real thing. That's important, given the influence China is about to have on branding over the next century. [...] The automotive producer Shuanghuan made headlines last year by producing new cars that looked uncannily like the BMW X5 and Mercedes' Smart car. Li Ning [is made special by] its lack of difference from its two key international sportswear rivals, Nike and Adidas".

As far as I am concerned, if there is one thing I learned at business school is to try and keep a pragmatic perspective on this kind of things. Watching without judging.
I wonder, pragmatically, how Chinese brands will be received in the west, where originality is a value, at least when it comes to the premium end of the market. Will they adapt to our values? Will we adapt to theirs? Or will they be happy to occupy a low-cost/commodity space?

I like

2008-08-22T13:15:00.003+02:00

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: digitalthinking accountplanning)

A lot of interesting stuff in here. There is a sense of marketing folks starting to get their act together, finally. Although I don't think they quite got there yet. Not until they are able to express their ideas in 10 slides instead of 91. Found via IMLI

About to take off

2008-08-21T13:44:00.007+02:00

The movers will be here in 6 days to take our stuff. Our plane is in 9 days. Still haven't started packing. Well at least I have a new blog. I was missing it. I am keeping it simple. Comments are welcome, especially if there are things that I need fixing.