Weekend of Tech Toys

With the fires burning throughout California, the Bay Area skies are filled with smoke and ash. So what is a girl to do on an overcast summer Sunday? Head to Blockbuster and pick up the latest instantiation of Guitar Hero – Aerosmith Expansion Pack.

The truth is, I have been channeling my inner Rock Star since Christmas when my nephew introduced me to Guitar Hero. While I’ve been in and around its marketing since version one, I’ve never really spent any time playing. I’ve always been a fan of the dance pad and old-school games like Pacman, however never before did I find myself totally obsessed with a game. After my first Guitar Hero game, I started going online for tips, tricks and cheats, playing multi-player online, and running to the store like a mad-woman after misplacing my USB adapter for the wireless guitar. I’ve studied the manual and basically chew the ear off of any 13 year old boy I can find who likes the game.

You see, this is what I love about technology. You put the CD in the machine (PlayStation 3) it runs, and the game just works. It’s really easy, and it’s fun. And now, I can play wirelessly with my daughter or go wild and have a complete family jam with Rockband. It’s music. It’s games. It’s old school tunes and rock and roll dreams. It’s together time in quick 15 minute nuggets. Bite size, big fun.

Thanks Guitar Hero for allowing me to feel like a kid again.

Are you a Guitar Hero too? Send me your tips for mastering the game. There is always room for improvement.

-Kim

Babe or No Babe?

Most of us in the marcom industry have been faced with the following tradeshow decision – to booth babe or not to booth babe? What is the objective of this time-honored marketing technique? Is it to gain attention, create a lingering presence among the demos in your booth, or to capture a plethora of unqualified leads?

I’ll be the first to readily admit that there is a benefit to creating something crowd-pleasing to garner the attention of weary trade-show attendees. This week at Interop 2008, I noticed quite a presence of girls in short checked skirts, high heels and other mini-clothing items. But for the most part, something was missing – the company’s brand.

I realize that I am not the target audience for this particular type of marketing stunt, but after three days of observation I couldn’t tell you whose babe belonged to whose booth.

My recommendation for those who just can’t resist the temptation to ply attendees with hot girls and games of Nintendo Wii golf – take a lesson from Hooters. Show your brand. And if you don’t want to or it just doesn't feel right, maybe to babe is not the right marketing decision for you.

Simple. Fun. Fabulous.

One of the biggest challenges with today's technology marketing is simplicity. It's easy to get wrapped up in speeds, feeds and tech talk.

The reason I am in tech is the mere fact that I enjoy technology. Frequently, my clients "wow" me with some cool new electronics innovation that truly solves business problems or offers instant entertainment gratification.

My favorite tech product today is the FlipVideo (http://www.theflip.com/). From their simple yet impactful website to their irresistably to-the-point packaging (only 10 words on the front), the company has taken something that's been gathering dust in my closet and put it in the palm of my hand. While I already had a video camera with all the bells and whistles, FlipVideo has solved the problems of endless battery charges, cable management and software search.

I applaud their marketing team for taking consumer tech simplicity to a new level.

Now only if they could figure out a better way to wrap it other than the blister pack. It took me longer to open the box than it did to capture a video and send it in an e-Card.

Oh well, this gives us marketers something to strive for.

The Joy of CES

Well, it’s that crazy time of year again, where the holidays are muddled together with CES programs. I am excited this year to share with you my client’s promotion at CES. Not only because they are my client, but their product is really cool and it just works!

DisplayLink (www.displaylink.com) makes network display software, hardware and technology for creating simple connections between devices and multiple displays. Their chip can be found in a simple adapter that connects your notebook or PC to an additional monitor with an easy USB connection. The product is called a USB Graphics Adapter (UGA) or also has been called an external video card, and is available from manufacturers like IOGEAR, Sewell Direct and others.

For those of us in marketing, we often have a zillion windows open at a time and are juggling at least five open apps at once. That’s why this UGA is so great. You just connect, expand your desktop and work away…or play..or shop, as I like to do. Then, it’s easy to disconnect and go. (see my laptop on DisplayLink above)

Check out their site between January 4 and January 15, and you can enter to win one of 50 UGAs online at http://www.displaylink.com/ces08/. Or, it would be great to see you live at CES!

Happy New Year!

Brand Loyalty Creates Marketing Envy

Apple’s marketing approach has been the envy and emulation of marketing folks the world over.  As a student at San Jose State in advertising, I would strive to create campaigns with the simplicity and elegance of the “striped apple”.   In working with PortalPlayer, I witnessed first-hand the marketing machine and benefited from their uncanny ability to create and market products that change the way people experience and enjoy life. 

With the holiday shopping season here, you cannot set foot into a store that doesn’t sell some sort of iPod accessory.  Many of the world’s biggest brands are piggy-backing their brand to the iPod brand, like Louis Vuitton. 

So, today, when I ran into this iPod lover License plate, I felt that old familiar feeling of striving to market like Apple.  When your customer uses your brand as an identifier of themselves, you’ve hit the branding jackpot.

 

Simplicity Rules

When it comes to marketing, simplicity rules.  However, unless you are lucky, getting to simple can be a long and somewhat painful process.  Ask yourself these three questions to get the ball rolling:

 

 

1.       In ten words or less, what does your customer desire or dream of achieving?

 

2.       How do you support that dream?

 

3.       What is the one thing that makes you invaluable to your customers?

 

 

Write your answers, then, drill down to five words or less. Simple, hardly.  Worth the effort, you bet. 

 

National, a leading rental car company, has one of my favorite taglines out there today.  Green Means Go.  I don’t know about you, but when I am travelling, picking up a rental car is just a speed bump to the fun, business, or whatever the case may be.  So the idea of a company that gets that resonates.  It’s so obvious, it must have taken some serious marketing genius to come up with it.  Way to go National.

 

Five Million, Five Years - That Could Be You

Admittedly, I’m a business Geek…and I enjoy Danny Deutsch “The Big Idea” show.  I believe in the dream of working hard, following your passion and success will follow.  Well tonight he featured “Five Million in Five Years”, with a variety of successful entrepreneurs from syrup to underwear to shoes. 

At the end of the show, he does a summary, where each guest gives their last minute nuggets of advice.  My favorite tips were:

1.       Use Freelancers, who are experts in their fields and can help you see things from a different point of view.

2.       Focus on PR, “because when people see it written in a magazine they believe it to be true.”

Good advice I say, being a consulting group that helps startup technology companies with strategic messaging, marketing and PR.  Check out these entrepreneurs, you may find a bit of inspiration in their stories.  (http://www.cnbc.com/id/20968948)