tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-221209882016-09-27T13:24:37.476-07:00A West-coaster's take on the world of marketingRyanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-61280314014529209582007-06-08T13:18:00.000-07:002007-06-08T13:21:14.096-07:00

This is VERY cool.Microsoft SurfaceLike a 21st century version of table-top Pac-Man. :o)

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-66002498456120177892007-06-08T10:32:00.001-07:002007-06-08T13:14:28.024-07:00

A little marketing perspective, Canadian-style...Inspired by Mack's post today about evangelism and a loyal fan base, I thought I'd write about something near and dear to my heart, both personally and professionally.The National Hockey League has always been an enigma, to me. From a marketing standpoint, I see nothing but opportunity for the league and its member teams to superserve its core fan

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-48450669600537336982007-05-31T15:42:00.000-07:002007-05-31T16:08:43.960-07:00

Well, lookie here...If it isn't an old familiar name showing his face 'round these parts once again. Me.The hiatus has been much longer than originally anticipated, and there are endless stories and whatnot to recount as I ease back into the saddle. But I'll save those tales for another day.Today is a day of celebration and renewed enthusiasm as I start afresh, looking to pick up where I left off

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1155833317222797632006-08-17T09:44:00.000-07:002006-10-26T08:02:47.216-07:00

People prefer routine. I'm pretty sure.Wake up at 5am. Make coffee. Have a shower. Go to work. It's lather, rinse, repeat, right?From a marketing and business standpoint, the same holds true. What I mean is, don't go doing things so out of the ordinary of your day to day business that people don't know what to expect. All of a sudden you'll have a bunch of confused customers not knowing what

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1153175664765317462006-07-17T15:29:00.000-07:002006-07-27T15:06:51.796-07:00

As if we all needed a reminder about the ongoing shift in media, Mr Rubel brings it firmly to our attention:Coincidence? You tell me:1) YouTube reaches the milestone of 100 million video streams per day.2) The four major television networks see record ratings lows.Welcome to the new world, everyone. The train's a' comin', folks. You can let it hit you straight on, or you can jump on for the

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1148428137774681942006-06-18T10:00:00.000-07:002006-07-13T13:53:54.160-07:00

This is an absolute beauty. I couldn't help but bring this to the attention of my faithful followers.Not the usual 'emotionally compelling' creative that I like - but beer ads never are. They're just plain funny.Imagine Burt Reynolds, Triple H, Jerome Bettis, and the mountain climber who cut his own arm off to save himself around a table passing 'man laws.' That's what you get here.Oh, and

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1150232235132375622006-06-13T11:07:00.000-07:002006-06-13T22:24:43.086-07:00

So does my last post relate to marketing?Sure it does. Well, kinda. And even if it doesn't, I still feel proud and excited to write about it. So read on. If there's a marketing thread, great. If not, it doesn't bother me.Living in Korea for the better part of a year, I was lucky enough to experience what I feel (in hindsight) was one of the most enchanting and exhilarating experiences of my

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1150216794851132172006-06-13T09:32:00.000-07:002006-06-13T09:42:18.910-07:00

I was fortunate enough to have been a part of World Cup 2002 in Korea / Japan, living in Seoul when the 'Red Devils' (as they are affectionately known in Korea) made history by finishing fourth in the World Cup Finals, going down to Germany (1:0) in the semi-finals.This time around, they're battling to repeat their cinderella performance in 2002, and so far they've started off in solid fashion,

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1150129009886461792006-06-12T09:03:00.000-07:002006-06-14T10:10:35.963-07:00

I subscribe to a weekly e-mail newsletter from The Wizard of Ads. Each Monday morning, I come into my office, open my e-mail, and find a gem of a read from Mr Williams himself to pore over as I enjoy my AM cuppa joe.It's a ritual I look forward to each Monday (helps me actually forget it's a Monday too), as more often than not, I find some sort of valuable nugget in what Roy has to say.Roy

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1149861188690737102006-06-09T06:32:00.000-07:002006-06-13T03:09:13.246-07:00

So there you are, behind the counter of your store. You just finished a big sale, and your new customer just walked out the door, box in hand, completely satisfied with the purchase he / she just made.It took some work, but you overcame their objections and were fortunate enough to show them enough reason for this particular person to exchange their hard-earned money for your product. Now

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1149723526119925032006-06-07T16:35:00.000-07:002007-03-10T02:23:07.493-08:00

I was reading Allen Weiss' post this afternoon, and it spurred me to write this.Nothing bugs me more than seeing / hearing / experiencing a piece of copy that borders on meaningless, due to the poor wording chosen by the copywriter. I can't even count how many pieces of creative I've seen / heard that have gone in the tank thanks to a lack of thought in terms of planning. As many of you know, I'm

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1149699871357265512006-06-07T09:18:00.000-07:002007-03-05T08:17:25.706-08:00

There have been a few posts lately around the blogosphere about newspaper advertising and what's happening to the medium as a viable entity for advertising. All this talk about newspapers going the way of the dinosaur had got me wondering what the actual numbers looked like.Luckily enough, I stumbed across this gem at The New York Times website this morning. A brief summary tells us that

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1149537307265993102006-06-05T12:47:00.000-07:002007-04-11T04:03:34.843-07:00

Well, well, well...It appears as though there is, in fact, some merit to a campaign that involves Bloggers. Nice to see it properly recognized.Hugh and the folks at Stormhoek have taken top nod for Consumer Campaign at the 2006 Drinks Business Awards, for their recent '100 bottles of wine to 100 bloggers' campaign. Hmmm. I seem to remember how someone else was keen on a similar idea for the

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1148960343367165112006-05-29T20:20:00.000-07:002006-05-30T09:12:54.606-07:00

As some of you may already know, my media background prior to my current role was in radio. When I first got into the industry (working for the station I grew up listening to, might I add), I didn't know the rules of the game. I always thought the cardinal rule in media was to be where all the eyeballs / ears / etc are.I was blindfolded by the university textbooks and marketing tomes I read in

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1148442935831009472006-05-23T20:44:00.000-07:002006-05-25T20:03:10.380-07:00

Have you ever walked down the aisle of your local supermarket and closely examined the labels of some of the packaged goods that you see before you?It's a damn shouting match. They're all iterations of the same damn items, just repackaged and forced down our throats as the next best thing."New formula""Improved grease cutting"All of these companies are setting a bad example for the businesses out

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1148388134527959682006-05-23T05:38:00.000-07:002006-05-24T06:57:28.183-07:00

As I watched the season 5 finale of 24 last night (Jack's been captured by the Chinese government, by the way - here comes season 6), I was struck by the image / sound of a new foray into advertising by a long-term fixture in the marketing world.My only question, while watching the telly, was whether it has the legitimacy to succeed.I'm talking about Burger King's latest campaign that includes a

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1148350651363812742006-05-22T19:16:00.000-07:002007-03-23T05:07:39.483-07:00

Just a quick note to say that I'll be out of blogging range for a day or so, as I skip out of town on some business. It's a damn shame that this new job is allowing me to fly to the warmth of the Okanagan and take in three days of golf. I almost don't want to go. I can't say that with a straight face.When I get back, I expect to see Nettwerks' execution of '100 CDs for 100 Bloggers' the

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1148276998455564412006-05-21T22:08:00.000-07:002006-05-22T14:38:28.826-07:00

Well, no more than you already are, I mean. Here's the deal: You're a small business. Every penny counts. You can't afford to spend your hard-earned money on every sugar-coated, flashy new marketing idea that comes your way. You do what you do, and you do it well. But how can you still increase your business' bottom line without that extra marketing expense? Instead of focusing your

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1148274214436552482006-05-21T21:59:00.000-07:002006-05-23T23:30:24.150-07:00

My bad. Just realized that the e-mail subscription service to my blog has been disabled for, oh I don't know, the past two months. Nice work Ashton. The good news is, I caught it this evening and have remedied the situation. Which means that all 7 of my subscribers will now continue to receive my updated posts. Go on. Tell your friends. Heck, tell ten.R.

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1148158552729290032006-05-20T13:55:00.000-07:002006-05-22T17:27:48.903-07:00

I'm also brainstorming for a new name for Command HQ... Ashton Media bores me.Any suggestions, fire away.

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1148158410083516652006-05-20T13:49:00.000-07:002006-05-22T00:55:04.946-07:00

So you'll see that things here at Ashton Media have changed. I've decided to give the look and feel of Command HQ a bit of a different spin. Besides, I had been having problems with my comments section lately (thanks in large part to my lack of knowledge of HTML coding), so I thought I'd fix it up. Make it easier for the masses to give their opinion, ya dig?So anyway, I have a feeling that

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1148070889022526462006-05-19T13:17:00.000-07:002006-05-22T00:52:48.096-07:00

Over lunch I managed to take a look through the notes I took last night during the seminar at Nettwerk's office.Not to take anything away from Jordan's stellar recap of the event, but there were a few other points that I just came across which I felt worthy of another go 'round. Hence, this post.As Jordan alluded to much of the conversation centred around the marketing of music from the artist's

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1148049332258507742006-05-19T07:25:00.000-07:002006-05-22T20:45:41.220-07:00

Well, I was going to spend a good part of this morning's coffee consumption period waxing poetic about my experience at Nettwerk's Marketing in Music seminar, held last night in their office on W2nd Avenue in Vancouver. It looks like Jordan beat me to the punch.Instead of trying to improve on perfection, I'll simply point you over to his post. His explanation is succinct, his recounting

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1148047277294745792006-05-19T06:40:00.000-07:002006-05-19T07:01:17.296-07:00

I posted the other day about the sense of 'community' with your brand, and what it can mean to instilling a feeling of loyalty and passion about the products you sell and the company you operate. It's about extending the conversation beyond the four walls of your organization, and into the breath of the people that, in all truth, really make it run - the customer.Mack happened to stop in and

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22120988.post-1147909287782969892006-05-17T16:22:00.000-07:002006-05-20T06:59:27.726-07:00

Although I haven't been doing as much posting as I'd have liked lately, I have been doing a lot of reading. And much of what I've read seems to have the same theme:Creating a community.Mack has said it a number of times. Musicians are starting to do it. I read an article on it just five minutes ago. And it was spoken to me loud a clear a few months ago in a book I read - The Culting of Brands (by

Ryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10879167010578028815noreply@blogger.com7