Ever since I logged in for the very first time I have been one of those “free” users. I didn’t feel like paying some 99 SEK a month, so I have been listening to those annoying ads just like you. Today one of them made me follow the link to Spotify’s website–it introduced Spotify Unlimited. It is just like Spotify Premium, except that it costs 49 SEK.
Having options is cool.
]]>This video has been played 136K times since Sean uploaded it two days ago. The video is awesome, purely awesome. I just watched it for the sixth time.
Anyway, go check it out. How many of those, let’s say, more than 100K unique witnesses of this guy’s fantastic experience have thought about buying the Canon 5D mkII? I wonder how many of them will actually leave, if not already left, a store with this camera in hand.
By the way, Jónsi’s album Go is worth your time too.
]]>I hate people complaining for the sake of it. You log in to your Facebook account just to feed your cows. Then you read an article on the web saying how bad Facebook is. And then you realise that all of it is true. Your very private pictures and, and, oh, yeah, your mood messages might be visible to everyone on this virtual planet.
May I ask you something? How many people have seen your childhood pictures? Yeah, the ones you are naked on? Not many. Why? Because they are not posted on your front door, that’s why. Pretty simple. Common sense, people would say. And it’s not like you haven’t thought about that. You like “Tokio Hotel”, but you don’t want other people to know you do? Just don’t then, they are disgusting anyway.
Now it’s advertising’s turn. People seem to be afraid of all those really well targeted ads. Companies know you like red socks and offer you some from the sidebar, be it Facebook’s or any other’s. Do you click on them? Do you even see them? I guess not. I hope not. Because, otherwise, you belong to this surprisingly big group of people who do click on random links. So long as this group of people is that big, companies will still use those boring methods of attracting attention and driving sales. And, hey, why do you add information about yourself anyway? Do you really need to have it there, under the “Info” tab? Nope.
What I am afraid of is the so-called “herd behaviour”.
Thing is, you always have a choice. However, if you want to live in a cave, don’t look for one on Facebook. As far as I know, caves are not available in FarmVille either. Yet.
If you are a good programmer, build a better Facebook. If you aren’t, you still have plenty of options. Sharing of pictures? Print and deliver them to the door of your friends. On foot. Just don’t be narrow, please.
]]>This time it was about SAAB. There was something he said that struck me. If I recall it correctly, back in time, the company had the idea to expand production in Malmö because of the great consumers’ interest for 900 turbo and 9000 turbo.
Why would you intentionally diminish your brand’s strength? Cars are a status symbol and we all know it (now I sound a bit like John Locke). Let’s say your present and potential clients can be divided into two groups. Those from the first group are there for you because your cars are not a typical mass-produced four wheeled thing. Their purchase decision is assisted by high involvement and boosted by the somewhat exclusive nuance of your brand. The others are looking for a reliable nice car.
Would you risk the first group of clients leaving you?
]]>If you stumble upon a problem, look for a solution. Don’t be afraid to offer what others don’t and your efforts will pay off. This guy didn’t reinvent the wheel, he just found another way to roll it. What is more, he focused on building customer relationships, something big companies offen fail to do.
]]>Thanks to the organizers, sponsors and mentors, listed on the event’s webpage, I had three lovely days. After the introduction of the whole “consider the risks, don’t care too much about them and be your own boss” concept, each one of us took on one of the ideas that we shared and liked and started working.
Having Peter Sunde talking about being a rebel, challenging the system and its rules, listening to Sean Duffy and his thoughts on being an entrepreneur, having a break with Clint Nelsen and Alex Falcet and Mattias from JayWay at the stage, wasn’t just fun. It was incredibly inspiring.
Formed the teams, talked about the ideas, got things done, had snacks, salads, drinks and fresh air. In the meantime, got away from our boring day-to-day tasks and solved a problem. Or, at least, found a way to.
Hopefully, this one will be up and running anytime soon. Count me in next time too, guys!
]]>When I asked Gerry Keaney, Senior VP Marketing and Sales, about their future plans for the expansion in China, he said that they will keep on being humble. According to him, trying to educate consumers is not an easy task. What is more, it may not be a winning strategy. Thus, if a client from China wants a long-base S80, equiped with shiny instruments and carbon body elements, he is very likely to get one. In fact, Gerry showed us a long-base, dark and shiny S80, designed for the Chinese market. A man of vision, like the whole Volvo team, he does not underestimate consumers. Although Volvo Cars have had troubles, now their way to the biggest auto market in the world is far more clear. Their saver, Geely, will be an incredibly valuable partner in this journey.
My point is that companies listen to what consumers want. Further, they even ask them – go to the S60’s page, click on the Naughty tests and switch to level 4 of Naughtiness. By the way, S60 is really remarkable! I was there, I saw it, I touched it…
The moment when companies will actually let consumers design the product and market it themselves is not far away. In the meantime, Nokia succeeded again in making their customers happy by releasing the newest version of Ovi Maps for the business headsets E71 and E66. They heard consumers’ feedback.
]]>No, seriously, if you can say something in two paragraphs, do you really need twenty pages? By using sophisticated words and phrases you don’t look sophisticated to me. It sounds more like gibberish. In high school my sentences were 150 words long. Each. And they were in German, not in my mother tongue. Do you really think that this is what makes you better at what you do? Get yourself together, dude.
]]>Applying for a job through an ugly looking “we-will-filter-you” page, hidden under a long and even uglier domain name is even more boring. Drop-down menus, click here, click there. Just great, makes you feel somewhat desperate, knowing that hundreds of others will do the same. What’s more, most of them will press the very same keyboard buttons in the very same sequence and will choose the same options.
What if I want to do something more than that? You don’t want me to?
]]>In fact, when I go to the grocery shop, I grab the first package of spaghetti that I see and that doesn’t cost too much, but isn’t too cheap either. Actually, that’s true for everything I buy in a grocery shop. And I go there very often – I am young and a large proportion of my budget goes for food.
How are you going to make me buy your product? By letting me try out each and every one on the shelves?
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