Out of the imagination of a single mother came one of the greatest modern stories of all time. How can a bespectacled, very ordinary orphan with quaint magical powers, spawn such enormous success for one J. K. Rowlings? Now the richest women in the U.K. her make believe prodigy, Harry Potter is the most famous story of the century. So much fame and so simple a formula – that of the great art of story telling.
Explore our historical blog articles for nuggets of wisdom (and random musings) from our crew.
Product Placement is everywhere. Today you can’t see a movie, a TV series, or even a ‘candid’ celebrity photo in New Idea without some form of it. Master Chef was debated in advertising circles last year for over-doing the product placement when Matt Preston got down on his hands and knees and cleaned up a spill with some ‘Handee Ultra’ paper towel, after which followed a ‘coincidental’ advertisement for the product which he personally endorses. However, one place where I thought I’d never encounter blatant, purposeful product placement was in books. But alas, I have just finished reading ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ and it was everywhere!
When opening a new business, the first weeks of marketing are often the only advertising your customers will ever actively pay attention to, or even seek out. After that, they glance at it, grab key information, or ignore it, depending on how you have ‘positioned’ yourself in their mind. If implemented correctly, it can be the most successful marketing you will ever do. Something I saw recently for a brand new business in their first weeks of trade however, sent shivers down my spine: ‘opening sale – 20% off’.
With the dollar so strong at the moment, I like so many people, are purchasing goods from America and around the globe on the internet. So it was over a few drinks (Aussie beer and NZ wine) with friends that the question of supporting locally produced versus imported goods was ‘debated’.
I’ve yet to meet a ‘Do It Yourself Brain Surgeon’ but I’m sure if it were physically possible there would be a website to promote it along with the usual instructions for pituitary tumours, brain aneurism etc. A vital advancement in the field of medicine, brain surgery is a mystery to most of us but one we all agree is best left to someone else, preferably someone with great skill.
I had a conversation this morning with the rest of the Jack in the box team about the amount of annoying phonecalls we receive selling us all kinds of stuff. As a business, we receive at least 5 of these phonecalls a day, and it drives us all mad. I was recently surprised to hear a local company I did actually recognise using the medium, but no matter how fantastic the offer, I just couldn’t accept it.
My journey to the CBD recently wasn’t that unusual, although I have to admit I stay away from the maddening crowd these days. It was a pleasant enough day but I couldn’t help notice the predominance of red and white signs signifying the retail heartbreak of the ‘SALE’. I admit that I don’t respond like other people when it comes to shopping, but on this occasion I couldn’t help thinking that the only businesses that are making money out of the proverbial SALE are the chaps who make the signs and posters.