An extensive report by the Wall Street Journal takes a look behind the scenes of a 117 billion dollar success story – that represents 15% of Apple’s total revenue. The WSJ reveals that a pretty looking store and a good product isn’t enough for Apple. True to their modus operandi, Apple takes their stores, sales and their training very seriously. At Jivaldi, we consistently use Apple as a great reference on why design (both product, media, UX..ect) is extremely important in marketing a product, but we were pleasantly surprised that this attention to detail extends all the way down to the the employees on the floor of Apple stores…
Yet Another Shift in Google Search and Advertising
Today Google announced another earth-shaking shift in how things work in search – Instant Previews for Ads. The interesting point here is that the advertiser doesn’t pay for the preview. Read more…
“Got the Skillz to pay the bills?
Your website’s so fly!”
This is a classic and could turn into one of my favorite videos (right up there with this one). I can only imagine how much time / resources that this required. Nevertheless, props to Dave Berzack for a brilliant video. All the hard work will pay off.
But this also got me to thinking about how to tackle a project of this nature – and the resources and budgeting involved.
Picture if you would, an entrepreneur with a great Internet business idea. Let’s call him “Ken”. Ken is an expert in his field and is a successful business person. With a solid background in engineering, Ken was instrumental in bringing his company to the pinnacle of success. His only downside is that his success gives him a slightly inflated view of his capabilities in his efforts to market his new online venture.
On the other side of the country, there is a young female we will call “Barbie,” who is as equally charismatic as Ken. She is bright, resourceful and is always looking to improve her business model. She too has a ton of experience and is very competitive. You see, Barbie has successfully launched her own retail chain, understands the fundamentals of marketing but has yet to embrace the Internet. Despite her offline success, she knows that she’ll need to effectively enter the online space to take her business to the next level. She’s been successful by way of good product lines, great customer service and a solid vision for her brand. Barbie has worked hard to get to where she is…
Developers, Designers and Marketers are Ready for Work
This is a challenging time for the media & marketing industry no doubt. It will put some out of business and create opportunities for others. Hourly rates have gone down and engineers, developers, designers, producers and marketers have all been shaken to the core.
A long time ago in a (‘Tomorrow’) Land far, far away, I learned a lesson about marketing. This lesson in anti-humility and standing out in a crowd came from a Jedi Master – by way of Darth Maul.
…And the ‘Big Things’ will take care of themselves.
I heard a quote from an NFL coach while watching a game the other night. Peyton Manning once again led his team from behind in the 4th quarter to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars. The announcers were talking about the success of the Colts and the coaching philosophy behind their success and their unbelievable (record-setting) winning streak. When I heard this quote, (“Worry about the small things and the big things will take care of themselves.”) this struck me as very true on the Internet.
Both fear and a new product line is what I’m thinking.
In mid 2009 I turned my attention to Goodbarry. Not sure how I found the site, but when I got there, the site was not only well designed (old site no longer available after Adobe’s purchase) but it was very intriguing. Goodbarry was the retail brand for the core system called Business Catalyst.
First, for over 10 years companies have tried to make a product that makes it ‘easy’ to create and build a website. Pretty much all of them have failed. Why?
I remember in the not so distant past, the idea for any website was to make it look as robust as possible. We’d be constantly asked questions like, ‘can we add this section to the home page?’ or ‘we need to find a way to fit this and this into the site’. It then became [...]
“Got the Skillz to pay the bills?
