Tag Archives: marketing

MailChimp Announces Free Marketing Automation for Everyone



Mailchimp logoThe internet provides a plethora of communications options. Along with e-mail, there’s an ever-expanding array of social media channels that businesses can use to keep in touch with both new and established customers. It can be a real challenge for most businesses (especially the smaller ones) to keep up with. Mailing list and marketing services provider MailChimp recently announced it will be providing automation tools to help users manage their marketing communications:

Automation helps you communicate with your customers exactly how you would, but eliminates the need to create and send every message manually. Think of it as an extra set of hands that help you operate—and grow—your business each day.

And:

Whether you operate an online store, head a nonprofit, or run a creative side project, automation makes it easy to send the right message to the right people at exactly the right time, giving you a competitive edge without burning a hole in your budget.

Our collection of preset automations gives you the power to choose the right workflow for your business, customize its settings, and start sending in just a few clicks. Greet your new subscribers with a welcome message, educate readers about a specific topic, follow up after a purchase, increase brand awareness, and more.

MailChimp is making its new automation tools available to all customers for no extra charge. The company has created a getting-started guide to help users learn about everything this service has to offer.


Perfect Packaging by Orlebar Brown



Apple’s a master at the complete end-to-end user experience and has elevated product packaging to an art form. Tech companies aren’t the only ones at this; I recently ordered some swim shorts from Orlebar Brown and this nondescript box arrived in the post.

Orlebar Brown Box

Pretty dull on the outside but open the box up and everything is a visual and sensory treat. The inside of the box is a rich red, the swimwear (not shown) is neatly folded within a branded drawstring bag, the clothing tags are quality card, and with Orlebar Brown one doesn’t simply get a receipt stuffed in the box; one gets a receipt in a crisp brilliant white envelope, reminiscent of an invite to an exclusive event. Glorious.

Orlebar Brown Inside Box

In all honesty, I have never seen mail order done better – I’m sold and I’m now customer for life. And that’s before I’ve even put on the swim shorts, which are equally fabulous. Now, if I can just get that six pack sorted over the winter.


Apple Doesn’t Need Heroes



Apple LogoThe iPhone 5 was launched yesterday with the usual Apple pizazz. It looks like a good solid update but there’s the inevitable criticism about the lack of NFC, wireless charging, average screen size, etc. Much as I’d like to see a high-end device, Apple doesn’t need a hero phone based on hardware features and it doesn’t take much analysis to figure out why.

First of all, the Apple fanbois is not your average iPhone user. The vast majority of iPhone owners I know are comfortable with technology but they’re not techies, geeks or nerds. If you ask them why they got the iPhone, it’s quite often because they’d heard about on TV or because they’re friend had one. It certainly wasn’t because it had a Retina display or an 5MP camera. Fundamentally, it was “you can’t go wrong with an iPhone” and the specific features are largely irrelevant.

Secondly, let’s assume that the majority of Apple iPhones are sold on a 2 year contract. No-one wants a new phone of a model they already have so there has to be an upgrade path hence there has to be a new phone has at least every two years. This is self-evident. But on the other hand, at upgrade time, the upfront cost of the phone cannot be too high as to put people off. If Apple suddenly put a whole pile of new features into the iPhone, the upfront cost is likely to jump. Consequently, I would suggest that generally Apple will only introduce one significant or costly improvement with each iteration of the phone. And with the iPhone 5, it’s the new screen.

Similarly, people tend to like what they know and the iPhone is well-liked. Apple isn’t going to introduce an iPhone with a 4.8″ screen. Why not? Because a big screen is sufficiently different that lots of people will not want to buy the phone and if we bear in mind the previous point, there has to be a viable upgrade for those on 2 year contracts. Apple is then into the situation of having a range of different devices and having to keep them all fresh.

Finally, this argument wouldn’t be complete without mention of the ecosystem. In many ways, this is the killer feature of the iPhone and Apple needs to keep the apps and the media fresh and exciting. Apple very much knows this – it doesn’t trumpet the AppStore numbers for nothing, though Apple has taken it’s time over the iTunes refresh.

In summary, Apple simply needs to provide an upgrade path that offers better phones than last time and doesn’t alienate existing customers by being too different. Only one or two cutting-edge features are needed to maintain the iPhone’s lead; there’s no need for it to be the best at everything. Much as we might want a hero phone, it’s incremental improvement that will continue to bring in the cash.


Prize Monkey



We all like to get prizes, especially if we don’t have to do much. That is the concept behind Prize Monkey. Prize Monkey was being shown off at CES 2012, when Nick Dimeo, host of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology stopped by to find out what it was all about.

Prize Monkey is a kiosk, but instead of working like a normal kiosk, it interacts with your phone. A monkey ask if you want to play, if you answer yes then it sends a message to your phone. Hit the right answer and the Prize Monkey kiosk produces a prize. There is no application to download or install. Each monkey acts a little differently and can be programmed for a specific demographic. It is being marketed toward social campaigns, promotional campaigns, loyalty programs, product sampling and more. Managers can build the campaign they want based on the demographic they are going for with the dynamic campaign tool provided. It has in-depth metrics and analytic tools built right in. Prize Monkey is an example of a product that is shown at CES that is being marketed toward businesses and not directly toward consumers.

I am curious to know if anyone has seen or used a Prize Monkey Kiosk? How well did it work, was it fun to use? If you are a business or social group who installed a Prize Monkey kiosk did it work for your business?

Interviewed by Nick Dimeo, Host of [F5 Live: Refreshing Technology]((http://www.f5live.tv/radio/1-f5-live-refreshing-technology.html)

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Flash Drives….Now in Color



Pantone Orange Flash DriveFlash drives are ten-a-penny these days but these color matched thumb drives from Pantone are pretty cool, especially if you are interested in design. Currently available in fourteen different Pantone colors, the aluminum designed drives can be laser engraved on the front and back with a company logo, web address or simply your name and phone number. Great idea as a corporate gift that includes your design portfolio but fun as your personal drive too.

Capacities range from 1 GB up to 16 GB, with pricing from $12.99 to $49.99.


GNC-2011-12-29 #733 Soapbox Time!



Happy New Year, this is an epic show. For those of you that are long time supporters of the show thank your for your continued and ongoing support. For the Haters well I can’t say what I really want to say.

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GNC #686 Now Your Bank is Tracking You!



Internet connection died half, way through my show tonight. No idea what happened but it made for an interesting show. The Blue Man makes an appearance plus a lot more cool tech, news, and information. Huge Mahalo to our Ohana for your continued support of the show.

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