I hope everyone had a great holiday season and is healthy and happy! Now get back to work! 8)
I thought this would be a good time to talk about me for once. Versus ranting about Facebook or Mashable or trying to give some insight into how things work. I was born in a covered wagon as my family trekked to Long Island from Queens, NY....wait that is not what you want to know!
My Alien persona and why I chose it is key to everything. Not sure if anyone follows Helen Klein Ross (@adbroad) on Twitter or read her blog (see link to the left), but she is one of the founders of the Brand Fiction Factory. Prior to coming into Advertising/Marketing my background is a BS Finance, 2 years of selling Telecommunications services in Los Angeles, and 12 years of B2B Sales selling industrial parts in Southern California and the Western United States. Some from catalogs and some that didn't exist. From the 3 companies I worked at during those years I got to work in every industry except for Mining, and intimately. I have been inside Oil Refineries, Missile Factories, Movie Studios and even once Arnold Schwarzenegger's Trailer on the set for Junior.
And working for smaller companies I have been blessed to also have experience in every facet of a businesses except Accounting. I have been involved with Manufacturing, Marketing, Sales, Warehousing, Shipping, Quality Assurance, Engineering, Distribution, Customer Service, Business Development and Strategic Planning.
And working for smaller companies I have been blessed to also have experience in every facet of a businesses except Accounting. I have been involved with Manufacturing, Marketing, Sales, Warehousing, Shipping, Quality Assurance, Engineering, Distribution, Customer Service, Business Development and Strategic Planning.
I am inquisitive. I want to know how things work. Your NASA Probe crashed because you installed my part wrong? I want to see it. You are testing my Cooling Valve on your Hydrogen Fuel Cell bus, take me for a ride in the Bus. You need to find a valve to replace a broken one in your oil refinery? Take me to it. I have worn Nomex Flame Retardant Outfits and Clean Room Bunny Suits.
Advertising is a Mid-Life Career Change. Coming up on 3 years now. Sky Pulse Media is only 16 months old. I was not groomed in this 'World' and thus I am Alien to it. I have read voraciously Blogs, News, and anything I can get my hands on but not any Advertising Books. I don't read Business Books. I prefer real life observation and case studies. I don't need a Book for this. You should be reading the Harvard Business Journal, the Economist, Fortune, Business Week, Bloomberg, to learn how business works and how it is performing. Observe your customers. Ask questions. My Finance background has me crunching numbers like crazy and my B2B work has me skeptical if I can not measure ROI. There is a lot wrong with the Ad Industry. Marketers and Brands are suckers just like many of the people they get to buy their stuff.
When I read that 50% of Ad Spend is wasted I spent months observing why. Advertising is like Government. The goal is not to spend smarter it is to spend more. I want to change that. I want to show Pepsi they can spend 10% less and sell just as much Soda. Their Agency would hate me. The Media Companies would hate me. But their Shareholders would love me! I champion the Brand first, second and third. They are my customers. And every time I see a horrible media buy or crappy advertising I see waste. Big waste.
When I read that 50% of Ad Spend is wasted I spent months observing why. Advertising is like Government. The goal is not to spend smarter it is to spend more. I want to change that. I want to show Pepsi they can spend 10% less and sell just as much Soda. Their Agency would hate me. The Media Companies would hate me. But their Shareholders would love me! I champion the Brand first, second and third. They are my customers. And every time I see a horrible media buy or crappy advertising I see waste. Big waste.
So when I lay out numbers or observations here I try to have my facts straight from real data, not some fluff Mashable throws at you, or Ad Week writes up where often they are PR pieces with an Agenda. I spent time in the Personal Care section of my local Market trying to find one person buying Old Spice did you? I run a Facebook Page and a Twitter account for a client. My observations are real life because that is where real things happen. Ask your Social Media Guru if they have done this for a client directly vs just advising them.
So I am an Alien. I will challenge things that do not make sense. Logic and Hard Cold Facts rules my world. Not the Warm and Fuzzy Marketers try to use on everyone. I want to help you bring results and to have realistic goals. I want to help you value the aspects of marketing properly so that you can decide where to allocate your resources or how much you should pay for something. If I don't have an answer I hope to get you thinking and possibly we can figure one out together.
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