Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

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Chris, Seth, Mitch, Wisdom and the Power of Reply

March 17, 2013

Chris Brogan

It’s Sunday morning and I’m waiting for my weekly email from Chris Brogan, CEO of Human Business Works and co-author of the excellent books Trust Agents and Impact Equation about online and human behaviour.

Every Sunday he writes to me and shares some experience or learning, which is nearly always enriching and really valuable. He does this without fail and incredibly this costs me nothing. I really appreciate his generous spirit and openness and the fact that he does take time to write to me.

Of course he doesn’t write to just me – he has a huge “fan” (he’d never call us that but I’m going to use the word) base and we are all privileged to get his Sunday best!

The other amazing thing about Chris is that he has mastered the art of “reply”. If you send him a simple reply to his Sunday email telling you enjoyed it, he’ll actually come back to you and say thanks.

There is an actual person at the other end of that email who is quite happy to interact with you as well as just broadcast his message ..he’s genuinely interested in what I have to say.

I do appreciate that if he has to reply to thousands of emails he won’t have a life and we do need him to be bright and rested and able to send us those nuggets of wisdom – thanks Chris for your valuable time.

We’re really lucky to have so many really clever and quite brilliant people sharing their insights, experience and very often genius with us online.

I’m talking about bloggers who quite freely share their gems of wisdom on a regular basis with us including people like Chris, Seth Godin and Mitch Joel.

ReplyThe big difference with Chris is that he replies and interacts.

This in my view is the most powerful thing that he does and it’s this that sets him apart from the others..

Click here to sign up for his Sunday Service.

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing, PR and Graphic Design firm with offices in Cork and Dublin

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Posted in Blogging, Brand Loyalty, Marketing, Motivation, Positivity, Publishing | 10 Comments »

Jane Maas, Mass and the miracle of twitter!

March 10, 2013

Mad Women - Jane MaasThis woman was determined …is that any surprise to any of us?

Jane Maas, advertising legend from New York, author of Mad Women and the creator of the famous “I Love New York” campaign announced over dinner on Friday evening that on Sunday she wanted to go to mass and preferably one with a good choir!

We had spent a few days with this very special lady, who at the age of 82 would teach us all so much with her energy and determination.

She stole the show at the Network event in Cork for International Women’s Day enchanting the audience with her tales from an incredible career and how she sparkled in an industry, which was dominated by men.

It’s easy to see how she has had such a terrific career – every time myself and Deirdre had a work conversation while we were in her company she sprang into life with interest, words of wisdom and encouragement.

So …our dilemma – a church with a choir on Sunday in Cork?

I called my mother first and she wasn’t sure – the choir in her church weren’t up to much she reckoned!

I wasn’t feeling very optimistic but I decided to put the question out on twitter ..

To my huge surprise within minutes I found myself back and forth on twitter with Saint Fin Barres Cathedral – not only was there mass at 11:15 on Sunday but they sent me a link to their website with information about the choir!

There we were, on a wet and miserable Sunday morning with our special American friend being greeted warmly by the priest and we were treated with a really lovely service and a fabulous choir at Saint Fin Barres Cathedral ..how did I end up here – its a miracle !

Jane ..you are some woman

Twitter ..you are some resource

Saint Fin barres ..you are on the ball!!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion PR

Fuzion offer social media consultancy and training from our offices in Cork and Dublin

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Posted in Marketing, Personal development, Positivity, Social Media, Twitter | 1 Comment »

Are you throwing away the Wow?

February 18, 2013

Fitting Carpets

We were excited as we pulled into the drive after a long day – after work we had to attend an event and eventually we were on the way home ..after midnight!

That day we knew the new carpets that we had ordered were laid and we were nervously looking forward to seeing our home transformed – the old carpets had been there for over 12 years and it was time for a change ..

After picking the carpets in the showroom you can never be quite sure if what you picked out actually does in fact work with the colours in the house – we were nervous but we were hoping that the little investment would be worth it and our home would be transformed for the better.

We opened the front door and switched on the hall lights ….

A wall of upset hit both of us as we saw the mess everywhere – the carpets were installed but the fitters had left the place like a bomb hit it. There were carpet cuttings everywhere, loose pieces of carpet, nails, broken grips. The fitters had stormed through the house moving furniture from one room to the other and returning them randomly, there was a pile of rubbish in the corner of the bedroom and the bedside lockers were stacked in the bathroom.

We couldn’t close the bedroom door because the carpet was a deeper pile – who would leave it without being able to close the door? We felt like the place had been violated, people had been in our home who didn’t give a damn how they left the place – nearly as if robbers had been through the place.

We were raging and really very upset. I wanted to just return all of the carpets  – Dee just wanted to go to bed but I knew I couldn’t face the mess in the morning and carry this horrible feeling into another day.

I started tidying, gathering up the nails, the loose pieces of carpet and I hoovered the whole place with Dee’s help. Miraculously after about 40 minutes the place transformed and we were able to see that the carpet was in fact gorgeous and despite our initial feelings it looked like the carpets were fitted really well!

We didn’t want this crew back in our home so we agreed to ask a friend in the morning to sort the door problem.

With just a little bit of extra care and attention and a quick tidy up, the carpet fitters could have easily delivered us a huge “Wow” but instead they carelessly threw this away and destroyed a great customer experience.

Sometimes when we are operating to tight budgets do we end up throwing away the valuable “wow” that ends up costing us a lot more in real terms?

The “wow” is the most important part of the whole transaction – don’t throw it away? 

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing & PR firm with offices in Cork and Dublin

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Posted in Customer Care, Marketing, Retailing, Sales | 24 Comments »

USP – Real People!

February 11, 2013

Businessman on the phone

I was listening to a radio interview this morning on one of those early morning business shows.

When the Managing Director was asked what made his business special one of the things he said was “When our clients ring up they get to speak to a real person who knows what they are talking about..someone who can really help them”

Strangely, it probably is a USP

Hmm…we’ve come a long way!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing, PR and Graphic Design firm with offices in Cork and Dublin

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Posted in Customer Care, Marketing | 9 Comments »

Game Changing Interviews

February 3, 2013

job vacanciesJust before the New Year we decided to publicise a vacancy for a Senior PR post in our Dublin office.

We deliberately wanted to leave the job description open so that it would invite interest from  a wide range of people leaving us with the opportunity of shaping the role around the successful “right” candidate instead of letting everything be dictated by a very specific role ..it has been an interesting journey with some really good learnings!

  1. The job vacancy posted on our website and the use of social media alone was enough to generate a huge number of responses and enough quality candidates
  2. From the minute we tweeted and posted the link for the vacancy we could see huge traffic hitting our website
  3. People are really happy to retweet and share news about job vacancies
  4. So many people apply for jobs without reading what the job is about!! – I would say about 40% of the enquiries were totally irrelevant
  5. The role attracted a lot of attention because of the way we described it – avoid cliches (dynamic person…)!
  6. People in really good roles are now prepared to move to new jobs – is that recession fear easing off?
  7. Some people are caught in “fur lined” mouse traps – they are getting no satisfaction from their jobs but are stuck because their packages are too good to leave. We met a few of these!
  8. Many people have taken roles in the recession because they needed the money – most are really unfulfilled now, which is bad for them and their employers.
  9. There are a lot of really talented, hard working people out there – the quality of the people we met was amazing
  10. Employment agencies – I can’t see us ever having to use one..

After just one week of searching we found more than one ideal candidate for the role but we also met a number of quite diverse people all with something unique to offer who we know we will stay in touch with and work together in some way on various projects..

The game of recruiting is changing, the game of looking for a job is changing and hopefully this simple interview process could turn out to be a valuable “game changer” for us.

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing & PR firm with offices in Dublin and Cork

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Posted in Irish Economy, LinkedIn, Marketing, Online Advertising, Personal development, Recruitment, Social Media, Web Marketing | 3 Comments »

Can you teach someone to Speak like you?

January 28, 2013
His Masters Voice

Learning to speak like you?

That penny has finally dropped and businesses seem to be embracing social media – judging from the level of enquiries we have for consultancy and training and judging by the new social media agencies that are setting up it looks like that moment is here.

Social media is a huge opportunity to communicate, to interact, to make new connections and to build genuine rapport with customers, prospects and other people in business.

Have a peep at a lot of the adverts by some of the large companies and notice how they are all including their Facebook address prominently – why are they pushing this instead of their website?

They want to bring people to a place where they can interact with their brand, bring their unique personality to life and have the opportunity to build genuine “followers” instead of taking to them to their website.

Getting there ..

While this penny seems to have dropped many businesses while realising the importance of social media believe they do not have the skills to execute it properly. Often the solution to this dilemma is to outsource their social media activity to an agency, which is creating opportunities for all of us working in this space.

While this may seem like a solution it really isn’t – I’m probably shooting myself in both feet by saying this but it is our genuine belief that your voice should not be outsourced.

Expertise - Einstein

It’s really simple – no one will have your knowledge, your passion and your insights and this is what you need to fuel and maximise your social media activity.

Passing your voice to an agency, who will never understand your business the same way that you do is giving away the magic that brings social media to life. Not only will you miss the magic but you will also miss the valuable learnings that social media interactions will bring you about your business, your products, services, sector and your competition.

My only exception here might be during an interim period or during a busy campaign where you might require an extra pair of hands and eyes to support your own teams efforts.

Instead of paying someone to speak on your behalf (in a way that will never be as good as you) why not you or some member of your team spend the time and budget to learn how to use these social media platforms properly – once you know how, you will fly!.

You can never teach someone to speak with your voice – it’s impossible.

It’s your voice they want to hear ..

Greg Canty is a parter in Fuzion

Fuzion provide social media training and consultancy from our offices in Dublin and Cork

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Posted in Facebook, Marketing, Social Media, Twitter, Web Marketing | 7 Comments »

Are you ready to Leapfrog?

January 28, 2013

Can you Leapfrog - Fuzion PRAccording to Wikipedia “Leapfrog” is a children’s game in which players vault over each others stooped backs.

I’m not sure about you but I certainly played it loads of times as a kid!

In Fuzion, Leapfrog is a real business game where you try to identify something you can do or some move you can make that will help your business jump to another level or even better to a new place.

Apple is a great example of this with iTunes or the iPhone.

At times progress can be small and steady and sometimes hardly noticeable – maybe at your next management meeting think hard and spend time with your team looking for that thing that will help you Leapfrog your competition or take you somewhere totally new.

Is it time to start leapfrogging?

Greg Canty is a partner in Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing and PR firm with offices in Cork and Dublin

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Posted in Business Planning, Marketing, Motivation, Positivity | Leave a Comment »

Nothing like that here

January 18, 2013

London CallingI was 14, it was the summer of 1979 and my dad took me to London for the day to shop for records!

We took the ferry from Cork to Wales and a coach to London. We were supposed to arrive late at night, book into a hotel and then get up early for a days’ shopping – the poor coach driver took a wrong turn as a result of road works so we ended up pulling into London at 5 am

…there was no point booking into a hotel so we just grabbed a breakfast and wandered the streets until the shops opened.

We went to London quite simply because the music stores there were incredible – there was “nothing like that here“, just a few limited shops (Eason’s, Lee Records and Woolworths) with a tiny selection of records.

I’ll never forget that scorching summer’s day with my poor dad standing  patiently at the door of HMV and Virgin as I spent hour after hour browsing these mega-stores, shelf by shelf.   I can still remember the excitement in those stores – packed with possibility, undiscovered gems, fabulous artwork ..it was theatre.

HMVI eventually purchased over 20 records, rare items, bargains and basically music that I just couldn’t buy in Ireland.

Another memory of that day was the huge amount of women walking around London wearing no bras!! It must have been fashionable but I had never seen the likes of it before and I can promise you it made a big impression on this impressionable 14 year old … between the lack of sleep, the intense heat and the “scenery”, I remember feeling quite dizzy!

As we know Ireland gradually caught up with London and even in Cork we ended up with Golden Discs, HMV and Virgin. My own love for music resulted in me opening my own stores …the dream of a 14 year old!

Despite all of our progress and advances in technology we are very close to a situation where there will be “nothing like that here” and even worse “nothing like that there” – HMV are nearly gone and the others are not far behind (I sold my stores a number of years back and the crew that bought them have since gone out of business).

Browsing for recordsWe can thank unsustainable rents, record companies who handed their Top sellers at big discounts to supermarkets, record companies who switched to digital technology that it couldn’t manage and music stores who lost their passion for music, for where we have ended up today.

That incredible feeling of browsing for magic in the shelves of music stores was one of the special things in my life that has brought me so much pleasure..

Progress?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Customer Care, Holidays, Irish Economy, Marketing, Retailing, Sales | 14 Comments »

Those Days are well and truly gone

January 11, 2013
Apple Umbrellas

Handy brand ?

“Those days are well and truly gone” she said with a nod that demonstrated clarity and conviction around the topic. Around the table everyone nodded their heads agreeing with the wise statement and more importantly the sentiment.

We were working on an event with some very high profile, weighty organisations. This was a planning meeting and the marketing representatives from each organisation were in attendance. The event was very progressive and was targeting attendees that were perfect for each of the participating organisations.

It sounded like a blast from the past when someone around the table suggested a “goodie bag” for the attendees. I hate that description – I immediately think of a branded plastic bag with some literature and a few bits. However I always saw the absolute sense in the “right” branded item that helps make your brand connect with the attendees.

If it is the right item and is useful and durable your brand could appear in all sorts of places being used over and over by your target audience – how bad?

The big danger is that we sit and discuss and because of the “economic climate” we too easily reject things that could make total sense without thinking properly about our objectives.

Why did we do this “stuff” before – was it because we had loads of money and we wanted to chuck it away or was it because it was simply a great idea ?

It”s pouring outside and I grab my really decent umbrella with that “logo” on it ….that brand has done a lot of travelling since the event I got it at!

A lot of what we did before made sense – those days may not be gone after all!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing & PR firm with offices in Dublin and Cork

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Posted in Direct Marketing, Marketing, Positivity | 9 Comments »

Last work day before Christmas..

November 30, 2012

turning off lightsYou know that feeling on the last work day of the year  – you’ve worked hard and you are finishing off those last few bits before you shut off your computer, tun off the lights and head home for a well earned break after a tough slog of a year.

With a few weeks left in the year it’s natural to start easing off, it’s job nearly done and after all everyone is thinking about Christmas – we find ourselves switching down the gears and cruising till the end of year ….

STOP!! ….there’s good business still to be done, get onto people’s radar now, for next year so you can hit the ground running when it comes to January – picture how good you will feel turning off those lights after a productive few weeks –  now you can really go and enjoy your Christmas Break ..

Make the list of what you want to achieve before the break kicks in and get cracking!

Lights out ..

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing and PR firm with offices in Cork and Dublin

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Posted in Marketing, Motivation, Positivity | 13 Comments »

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