Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category

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Watching the mistake

July 17, 2012
Maitre d'

Very Fancy!

“Guess who is selling his bar and buying a 5 star restaurant” Tommy, my Sales Manager said to me. I was the General Manager of Deasy & Co at the time, a subsidiary of Guinness.

“Oh My God, you can’t be serious” I said to him “That will be a total disaster“. “I know, we all know ….it will never work”

One of our loyal customers who was running a good solid suburban bar had done a decent job with the place and he was made an offer to sell up. The offer was “too good to be true” and our customer was going to make a clear profit from the deal.

His plan was to buy and run this very successful five star, fine dining restaurant whose reputation had been built around a well known chef. He reckoned he could manage the purchase with the windfall from the pub sale and even be in a position to upgrade the restaurant premises with some support from the bank.

The problem as we all saw it was that our guy wasn’t exactly Mr.Sophistication and in truth he was the last person that we could imagine operating this 5 star restaurant. He always did well in the pub but that was with a very different, country type crowd.

My buddy Tommy was really close to him – should he have a strong word with him and advise him against his dream?

Our customer was determined, full of enthusiasm so maybe we were the ones that were wrong – who were we to say anything? If Tommy said something to him it could backfire and damage the professional friendship they had.

Shortly after the restaurant opened under the new owner we went there for a meal to support him. Our worst fears were realised as we had a poor meal and you could see that our customer, who was a really nice guy just wasn’t able for this level of fine dining. Maybe he was on a learning curve and it would get better?

Unfortunately within a year the place was shut, the “fine dining” reputation in tatters, he had lost huge money and the building was handed back to the bank and our customer had lost everything.

The crazy thing was that we all saw it coming ….

Would you have said something ?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Business Start Ups, Hospitality, Marketing, Personal development, Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

“It’s a Long way to Tipperary”

July 14, 2012
Its a Long way to Tipperary festival

Everyone is Happy !

“Everyone is happy” we heard the old gentleman say to the person he was with as we walked past him on the street.

“Everyone is happy” he repeated, this time a little louder to make sure what he was saying registered with his buddy.

This was the main street in Tipperary town, and the “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary” Festival that our client , Tipperary Co-op were sponsoring was in full swing.

We had just left the Tipperary Co-op Hardware store, or Top Creamery as the locals know it and there was a great buzz with threshing, old kids games, people enjoying the BBQ and of course plenty of banter. I spoke to a friendly gentleman from Rossmore called Liam O’Dwyer who was giving a blacksmith demonstration – he had an incredible display of old signs and as part of this was an old “Death Penny” from World War 1 (I’ll tell you about that in a separate blog!).

In our stroll down the town the locals were in full spirits, stopping to chat and enquiring where we were from. A old woman stopped me and I had to sign a book that apparently promised her a dance later! We popped into a small shop that had a full display of war memorabilia including war posters and a full history of the iconic song. Once again we were overwhelmed by the friendliness and warmth of the people there. The immortal song was made famous during World War 1 by the soldiers all over Europe.

Making the whole festival (which was celebrating 100 years of the iconic song) really special and great fun was that many people in the town were dressed in costume from that era.

It's a Long Way to Tipperary

Altogether now ….

(Imagine the anniversary of this famous song passing without marking it in any way – in Fuzion we refer to this as “Never Wasting a Good Story” – there is a huge PR tip for you!)

When we arrived in the town we had parked at the other side and walked all the way through. There were vintage cars, old tractors and motorbikes, people dressed up, everyone posing for photos, posters and banners and a fabulous, genuine “feel good atmosphere“.

Before we left the town we popped into the Tipperary Co-op owned SuperValu, which had its own exhibitions, competitions and the team there joined in the spirit of the festival wearing clothes from that era as well – all except for Pierce, the manager of course!

When we were there we were chatting to the guys from Tipperary Co-op, Richard, Pierce and Tom. They were thrilled with how their sponsorship of the festival had worked out but more than that they explained how the festival seemed to “unlock” a sense of spirit and fun in the town that seemed to have disappeared over the last few years through a mixture or recession, bad weather and general worries.

Maybe, everyone took a step back and grabbed onto some old values from a time when life was a little simpler.

As the old gentleman had said ..”Everyone is happy“.

It was worth repeating.

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Entertainment, Hospitality, Ireland, Marketing, Positivity, PR, Tourism | 8 Comments »

Do we all need to be a Circus Act?

July 13, 2012
Circus Trick - Fuzion PR

Round of applause please!

On the last night of our holidays in Cuba we found ourselves watching a “circus” show as part of the entertainment that the resort puts on every night to satisfy all of the holiday makers including, young couples, newly weds, young families and older couples.

It must be a tough gig entertaining such a mixed crowd but this troop did really well. There were two really acrobatic guys who were skilled, flexible and strong as they worked a number of different routines.

There was a very attractive young woman (of course!) who was equally skilled with a mixture of acrobatics, operating a unicycle, juggling and joining in on some of the routines with the guys.

There was a older guy who was skilled with a whip, who could remove an item from your mouth with one lash and of course there was a Charlie Chaplin type character in an oversized suit with extra large shoes who joked, tripped, fell over, participating in the different tricks, adding humour in equal measure with getting the crowd involved in the show.

All of the performers as well as being really skilled at what they did were all very competent “showmen” (or women!).. for each trick, there was a moment of deliberate tension, a pose, a smile or some other crucial, perfectly timed gesture that gave that important cue to the crowd to applaud and fully appreciate the feats that they had just witnessed.

These crucial “show” elements transformed the demonstration of skills into a “wow” performance, which were the little pieces of magic that was needed to leave everyone knowing they had witnessed something extra special.

Art of the Pitch - Peter Coughter

Ready for the Show?

The circus reminded me of the simple lesson that Peter Coughter gave in his book “The Art of the Pitch”

Often the best plans never see the light of day..

When you are presenting your proposal to a prospect that you have put huge work into, always remember that’s it’s not enough to show that you are competent, skilled and can deliver what’s required.

You must deliver a performance to win the business… in his excellent book he tells you how!

Remember …. It’s Showtime!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a PR firm with offices in Dublin and Cork that specialise in campaigns integrating traditional media with social media

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Posted in Entertainment, Marketing, Personal development, PR | 3 Comments »

Deirdre – When does a business start?

July 8, 2012
Deirdre Waldron - Fuzion PR

Deirdre Waldron – Fuzion PR

Deirdre Waldron or Dee as most of you know her, started the Fuzion journey many moons ago.

She will admit herself that the very last job she had before she started Fuzion was with a newspaper in Kerry and it was literally nearly killing her!

She will tell you quietly that there were days she was feeling so miserable that she wished for a small car crash that would put her out of action for a while (with only minor injuries of course!).

Can you imagine, someone that talented being that miserable in their job – whatever was going on in that newspaper they managed to squeeze the life out of her and she eventually quit.

Even though there was a lot going on in her life Dee decided it was time to try things on her own and Fuzion was borne.

When I met her first towards the end of 2000 I was well impressed by her determination, her tenacity and her willingness to get results for her first clients, which included the Kerryman newspaper and some other businesses in the Kerry region. Within no time she had taken on an assistant and I watched her close hand at events and dealing with the media.

I could see the results she was achieving for her clients as a result of her talent and this incredible work ethic that she had picked up in no small way from her formidable mother Joan, who was quite an able businesswoman herself.

As the Marketing Director of the Rose of Tralee I witnessed her skilfully dealing with the local and national press and I watched her protect the girls and the eventual winner with the media. She worked tirelessly on this project  – and this was a voluntary role!

I clearly remember one day en route to Limerick listening to her on the radio cleverly defending and promoting the merits of the Rose of Tralee to Ray D’Arcy on national radio (in later years he went on to present the event – I think she left a lasting impression on him!) . This Cork boy was very impressed with the Kerry girl who had no idea how good she was.

Deirdre Waldron and Greg Canty - Fuzion PR

Fuzion 10 Year Party!

After some persuasion I convinced Deirdre of the attributes of  Cork and the opportunities that would be available to her and in late 2001 she packed her bags and Fuzion HQ had moved!

Since then I packed up my full time job and joined Deirdre in Fuzion and gradually we went from working from home to opening an office in Cork city and in the last few years one in Dublin. We carefully added more members and skill-set to the team despite it being a tough time for business and each of them have benefited from working with Dee in the same way that I have.

I have had an incredible journey and absolutely love the work we do in Fuzion and for that I have to thank Deirdre for making that decision to go it alone a long time ago ..

Thanks Dee, you’re a star!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a PR firm with offices in Cork and Dublin

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Posted in Business Planning, Business Start Ups, Marketing, Positivity, PR | 4 Comments »

Social Media – End of the Auto-Post?

July 2, 2012
Social Media Training - LinkedIn

How often do you post an update on LinkedIn? – thought so !

Over the last few days you may have noticed a message from LinkedIn advising that your “tweets” will no longer appear automatically as status updates on LinkedIn.

If you didn’t have this feature switched on it obviously makes  no difference to you but if you did you need to consider how this affects your social media activity.

Twitter to LinkedIn

I’m not sure what is behind this change but I am suspecting that LinkedIn may want you to post directly from their platform – at least this way you will have to open up your LinkedIn dashboard to make a post and hopefully (for them) notice some adverts that are of interest to you. Clicking these makes them money by the way!

The big problem that I see here is that most people do not consume their social media from LinkedIn – yep, we connect, search for contacts but very very few of us are actually consuming – am I wrong? Is this their effort to make themselves part of the conversation and more relevant?

LinkedIn to Twitter

You can see from the graphic above that it is still possible to push your LinkedIn posts to Twitter once you click the little twitter box at the bottom of the post.

Twitter to Facebook

Another recent development I have noticed is that my Twitter posts are no longer being pushed to Facebook  despite all the connections being switched on. I have disconnected and refreshed the connection but it has made no difference.

I am starting to think that Facebook like LinkedIn want the user to log on directly to their platform to post updates, again in the hope that you will spot some adverts and make them a few bob!

Facebook to Twitter

I’m not sure if it is a coincidence but in line with this lapse in functionality Facebook are promoting their auto posts to Twitter feature quite actively when you log on. Hmmm ..

Robot Using a Computer!

Automation isn’t always good ..

Consequence?

So what does all of this mean to the heavy social media user who is quite active on all platforms and was enjoying the benefit of these time saving applications. Effectively you could post once on Twitter and this post would replicate on both Facebook and LinkedIn. This is what I was doing myself.

Maybe it’s a good thing?

I think you should embrace the change and treat it as a good thing.

Auto posts from Twitter were never the best idea for a number of reasons:

  • You can allow yourself to post more often and repeat posts on Twitter (this frequency could come across as “spam” on Facebook and LinkedIn)
  • If you have posts of a visual nature you are better going to Facebook and posting there directly – when you post from Twitter any link was just appearing as a link.
  • The platforms are quite different and while auto-post can be ok most of the time, often your “tweet” may be inappropriate on LinkedIn and maybe on Facebook
  • I find that if you use the “auto-post” feature you actually start to miss some of the action on the other platforms – they all do a different job for you, don’t forget that.
  • Users of LinkedIn and Facebook may not get all of the @gregcantyfuzion and the hash tag #FF, #Positivity “stuff” and can find it quite annoying and distracting from the actual message

My best advice is to treat each of the social media platforms differently, post separately as appropriate and for ultimate control use tools like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite as time saving devices. Using these you can select the destination for each of your updates (be it to any of your twitter accounts, your facebook personal or business pages).

The schedule facility on these platforms is an extra bonus, which can also be very handy.

LinkedIn

Regarding LinkedIn status updates I don’t see the change making the platform more relevant – If anything it could actually have the opposite effect!

If you wish to make an impact here try:

  • Participating in discussions on Groups you have joined
  • Start discussions in Groups you have joined
  • Start Asking and Answering Questions that have been posted for your industry sector/area of expertise

But I don’t have the time .. (this must be the one thing I hear most from people about social media)

Heh, that’s not my problem …if you have figured out that social media is good for your business then you’ll make the time!

Happy Posting ..

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion PR

Note:

If you need a helping hand with your social media effectiveness check out our Social Media Training / Social Media Consultancy services.

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Posted in Facebook, LinkedIn, Marketing, Social Media, Training, Twitter | 10 Comments »

A Silicon Valley “State of Mind”

June 20, 2012
John Hartnett - ITLG

A Silicon Valley “State of Mind”

I am just back from a really uplifting Cork Chamber breakfast where the attendees had the pleasure of listening to John Hartnett, a Limerick man who is now working and living in Silicon Valley.

He was speaking about an initiative he is involved in called ITLG (Irish Technology Leadership Group), which is all about facilitating the Irish to succeed in Silicon Valley.

While the topic was absolutely fascinating what was even more interesting was his observations about Ireland and the Irish, which he can now do quite well “as an outsider, looking in” as he put it and the differences with Silicon Valley.

He spoke about Silicon Valley not being a place but being a “State of  Mind” and after listening to him speak for half an hour you get to understand exactly what he meant even by the language he chose in his presentation and in the Q&A afterwards.

The people in Silicon Valley work with a focused intensity, everything is possible, failure is often considered as a natural step on the ladder to success, mega opportunity is better than “niche”, we need to change the game and it’s all about “out of the park” ideas ….I was enthralled!

OK, we can see the big American influence but the language, both tone and content was totally infectious.

John spoke of the Irish having natural advantages such as being smart and sociable with great story telling ability but not being so great when it came to pitching and selling – “our kids should be presenting regularly at school so standing up in front of an audience and pitching your idea should be the most natural thing in the world when it matters”  he commented.

Silicon ValleyHe spoke about the very tangible “Negativity Bubble” in Ireland that we need to lose as quick as possible .. we need to get aggressive and go after it, we need to shake things up and make positive things happen. He spoke about getting more of the successful ex-pat Irish community in the US involved in the right organisations in Ireland such as the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the Science Council.

Not only did John make perfect sense but he gave everyone in the room a huge injection of positivity – Thank you John.

Cancel all flights …don’t let him leave the country!

What’s your State of Mind?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Note:

Colm Healy from Skelligs Chocolate gave me a great link to a “Ted” talk by Cameron Herold about “raising kids to be entrepreneurs“.

 

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Posted in Business Start Ups, Ireland, Irish Economy, Marketing, Personal development, Positivity, Recession | 11 Comments »

1780 Cork Silver and things much more valuable!

June 17, 2012
Cork Silver

1780 Cork Silver

We’ve never ever been to an auction but for some reason, wandering around Cork City on a miserable Saturday in June (yep …rain, rain, rain!) we spotted a sign outside Woodwards Auctioneers on Cook Street.

They were showing a preview of items that would be on auction the following  week so for some reason we decided that we would have a little snoop around to see what all of this “auction” stuff was about.

The items on display were apparently from a few estates and there was a huge mix of furniture, ornaments, paintings and other assorted bits and pieces. There was even a pair of children’s shoes that were made by a prisoner in 1916!

After a few minutes in the display hall I heard my name being called and I spotted Pascal McNamara who is the Antique Auction Manager. Up until now I had only ever bumped into Pascal on the street and we always have fascinating chats about all sorts. It always struck me how much he loves Cork and the incredible knowledge he has about our city.

Pascal McNamara

Pascal McNamara

Pascal was standing behind an impressive display of silver, which was part of the following weeks auction. A minute later we found ourselves totally mesmerised by Pascal, listening to stories about the history of Cork silver as he showed us some items from the display.

He showed us his favourite piece, a large Cork George III silver sauceboat by John Warner circa 1780. To be honest I had no real interest in silver or anything like this but this piece came to life for me after listening to Pascal telling us passionately about the history of Cork silver. He spoke of the pride we should have in the Cork craftspeople who carefully manufactured these beautiful pieces.

Pascal told us the incredible story of what he called the “Golden Age of Cork Silver” which can be found in his Antiques, Art & Interiors blog, where he talks passionately about his work.

We stole a little bit too much of his time but decided we would come back for the auction. We left the display hall to get on with our Saturday with a little spring in our step, a little extra pride in our city and its history and an interest in antiques!

I reflected on the precious 1780 Cork Silver that would be going on auction but also on the even more valuable Pascal McNamara who’s passion for what he does brought the silver to life and left both of us totally mesmerised.

In all of our businesses the most valuable thing we will ever have is people who are passionate about what they do.

Pascal …thank you for sharing your passion.

Greg Canty is a Partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Customer Care, Marketing, Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

Facebook – “Show Me the Money !”

June 11, 2012
Show me the money

Show me the money !!

I was doing a simple status update on the Fuzion Facebook business page and I noticed a “notification” window open up that I had not spotted before.

“Promote this post to get more views and comments” the notification window shouted at me. I already knew that I could create an advert for specific posts but it had never been waved at me so blatantly.

Between the changes to business pages that went through at the end of March, the stricter rules about running competitions and no longer being able to specify “landing” pages, Facebook are really hitting the brakes on your ability to generate activity and “likes” without writing a cheque…. the free ride is over.

promoted posts - facebookFor the business page owner/administrator you need to provide huge value, personality and clever content to make it attractive for users to “like” your page or you must simply write a cheque.

Facebook is now serious business and we have officially entered the era of “Show me the Money”

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Advertising, Facebook, Marketing, Online Advertising, Social Media | 1 Comment »

Searching for the Authentic

May 26, 2012

Havana in CubaWe landed in Havana in Cuba and wanted to explore the nightlife, the real Havana … Not the typical “tourist ” offering but something genuine and authentic that the locals would enjoy …. Isn’t that what we are all looking for?

We see the tour guides in their branded polo shirts with their clip boards and we reject them, knowing you are just getting the “tourist” serving, the typical places who are all probably taking you to the spots that are expensive opposed to the genuine , authentic places. What’s more in some places you know they will probably get a few quid for bringing a group there.

So … Off we walk, avoiding the taxis , heading down a road to the “old town”.

In no time at all a friendly couple start chatting to us, asking about where we are from and generously telling us about their lives …. They seem to know we want the “genuine” experience and guide us to a little bar where and old musician is behind a keyboard, who was from the original Beuna Vista Social Club!

Before we can scratch we’ve bought two rounds of drinks , which for some reason ended up being more expensive than the five star hotel, we’ve bought a CD by this old codger and we’ve bought cigars (don’t smoke, never will!) ….. Hmmmm, a genuine “authentic” Cuban experience.

The following morning (after being conned again in the street by a young woman who didn’t want money for herself but wanted some help for her baby … All of this happened in just 10 minutes while we were simply trying to buy a bottle of water…long story !) we opt for a tour from the hotel with a tour guide, which was really great.

He did give us good tips about being conned by people on the street!

The big problem with searching for the “authentic” is that it is often so hard to find. Delivering it and packaging it properly in a way that people will recognise is that little bit of illusive magic that will keep us from being conned and deliver the best possible experience.

I must head out now to find an authentic Cuban restaurant, it’s probably out there but we’ll never find it!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Hospitality, Marketing, Tourism, Travel, Uncategorized | 9 Comments »

Celebrate those individuals making it happen for themselves

May 14, 2012
Beata

Making it Happen

On our usual Sunday walk with the four legged one (Bing for those who haven’t seen previous posts!) a little poster caught my eye on the pole of a housing estate we walk through on the way to the park.

It was placed on a pole where you might expect a picture of a missing dog but when I peeped a little closer it was an advert for someone advertising their house cleaning services.

The poster was typed up with a simple cartoon graphic of a cleaning lady and housed inside a sheet of plastic to protect it from the elements and it had the contact phone number repeated on little vertical strips for those who wanted to tear them off to make an enquiry later.

I’m sure this simple poster with a clear message “A completely clean home – my cleaning services are thorough, consistent and customised. If you want to change your cleaning routine, Call me” will bring Beata the customers she is looking for.

I started thinking about Beata on the rest of my walk whoever she is.. I pictured her deciding to start her cleaning business to earn money, drafting up her posters, printing them, cutting the phone number strips, housing them in plastic covers and then walking around finding poles in the housing estates she was targeting. She had her mini campaign for her house cleaning service well thought out and there was a real honesty to how it was delivered.

Often we celebrate the big companies with the big job numbers and the vital role they are playing in our economy but we should also celebrate those out there who are digging deep, making things happen for themselves instead of sitting back and waiting on someone else or the state to look after them.

Beata and all the other startups , I Salute you!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Business Start Ups, Direct Marketing, Graphic Design, Irish Economy, Marketing, Positivity, Recession, Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

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