Friday, July 30, 2021

What would you do with this one and precious world?

I've always been fascinated behind the development of “consumer behaviour” and the influence authors and artists have had on society and their ability to influence change through their work. How the zeitgeist imprints on how science evolves in different areas of the world and affects the rate of evolution or more recently de-evolution. I am curious about how they are all linked, how thought-provoking ideas which are stimulated through design or communication influences political and scientific developments. Even down to the imbibe of the time influences the development of social interaction and creativity vs the constraights of prohibition and the current lockdown. Suppression of ideas and lack of communal areas or social gatherings affects the stimulation and development of creative and scientific progress.


What fascinates me is how the two (science and creativity) can develop in conjunction and different disciplines simultaneously affect how society develops and deals with moral and ethical issues. The struggle of balance between government, science and public opinion. Obviously, they’re always aligned and they certainly have a cause and effect relationship. Science, before politics, before ethics, before change? Or Art and ideas before Science…? I do believe it's a role of a modern marketer to help align those complimentary ideas in disciplines and bring them together and act as the conduit between science, art, ethics and politics. Modern day Andy Wahol. How do you drive mass consumer understanding towards things that are meant to be better for you and better for the planet? In my humble opinion, this is what a good marketer should do. We can no longer afford to be consumerists putting our selfish human values before those of the planet’s. We have to restore the balance, and use the expression of the time, the medium of choice, the language of the generations (can be various forms of communication levels) to provoke change, affecting buying and social behavior. The circular economy with the Plant as a key stakeholder is how businesses should  be structuring their “supply and demand” improving de-materialisation, enhancing transparency, and improving system intelligence and efficiencies. Less is more. 


I believe that there's such a thing as “ethical marketing” and that's not me being an idealist or a dreamer, I just choose to market things that are “right” for people or what I think is right. A true marketer understands what's right for the person at that time, in that place and in due course is able to target the offers and the solutions for that person over the course of the product (ideally consumers lifespan). A good marketer is able to engage with somebody throughout their journey and understand their needs on day one or prior to day one, as they might not even be aware of their need for it yet. However, the future understanding that somebody is going to be in that phase of life or will require that support, marketing is able to understand that journey and appeal to them each step of the way, doing it in an honest way. Honest marketing or ethical marketing is not about lying / misleading someone, it's about providing them or enticing them with something they need or want before they have even recognised it. If it is a genuine requirement then trust is built and a sustainable long term relationship is built. Consumer loyalty is a costly long game, but pay’s off for all stakeholders and shareholders in the end.

The buzzwords of “green and sustainable” are overused to the point that I am not sure consumers even know what it actually means any more. How do consumers know if hey are doing the right thing, or why are they doing it? At the end of the day, consumers are led by what businesses, art, social media tells them they should be doing. We need to be leading the change and help consumers make the right decision and not expect them to choose the right decision. More often than not they do not understand the benefits of their actions and will default to the easiest, cheapest or what their friends say they should do. It is our responsibility from this day forward to do the right thing, we are stronger together, we're not solo inhabitants of this earth, everything is a relationship, a partnership and our most powerful and influential partner is the planet. Sustainability is the only goal that the Planet (as the most powerful stakeholder) cares about and managing that relationship is just as important as managing the consumer or a shareholder.

How does one manage the planet and the consumer so they both understand the responsibility of each other? We need to start rebuilding the trust with the planet and that means respecting it, respecting nature, giving back. It is not too late, we don't have to make people afraid, or at least I don't believe so. you just have to tell the truth. I believe every business that operates today should be a sustainable business, everything that we do should be preserving and protecting the planet. Marketeers aren't politicians (thankfully!), they're not artists, magicians, scientist or poets. However, the marketer works with all of these people to ensure that they’re reaching the consumers at the right place, at the right time and providing the right product or service. This means that in 2021 and going forward we really need to respond to the effects of climate change and do our best to reverse what's happened, we need to understand that the planet is in distress and we need to make a difference to how consumers live and that doesn't need to cost more and it shouldn't cost more. Businesses have a responsibility to do everything that we can do, to ensure that we are giving the consumer the best price and not charging them for “being good”, not charging them for being green, they should be encouraged  to be green because that is the right thing to do. It's not about fear mongering or being preachy, if anything it's just about being honest. 


What I would do to make a difference in this one and precious World is to create a product or service that enhances the way people interact with one another, how they communicate, how they share ideas and how they work, giving more time to do the things that enhance their lives and makes the world healthier. Like laughter, cultural expression, debating and sharing ideas. It's about helping businesses create spaces, whether it be online or physically that allows people to come together safely and communicate, because communication is the only way that we can move forward safely and respectfully. Creating platforms physically, socially and digitally, creating collaborations of like minded people who can move forward as a sustainable force of good. I want to help businesses create environments that encourage people to collaborate, hangout, and share products and services, it is not about buying or selling. It is about upcycling, de-materialisation and co-ownership. Even if it is not always possible to create “green” physical spaces with enhanced sensory experiences. Social platforms allow us to bridge the gap from being alone to engagement with future friends, and family. Technology allows us to enhance experiences safely.  I always disagreed when they said the mobile phone caused bad habits, sure there has been a decrease in physical communication, however it has also given us an opportunity to develop communication with people we wouldn't have dreamed of knowing, but to do so in a way that builds communities that lets us take care of our environment in a socially conscious, easy, accessible and fun way.  


I want to help create spaces where working is playing, playing is collaborating and collaborating is the changing force to how we live sustainability and looking after our circular economy with the planet at the beginning, middle and end. I want to influence ideas through the 1st, 2nd and 3rd space out of a consumerist society into shared ownership forms of eBay, customer service and data of sophistication of Amazon, a platform for social, sustainable collaboration that morphis Reddit and Facebook, and the visual fun of TikTok. Using my marketing experience I want to combine all these different elements for sharing knowledge, borrowing items and discussing products and services that are better for the planet. Not just online, but physical spaces that gives everyone a chance to learn, use and share, safely and sustainably. I want to create environments that make you feel and never forget the butterfly feeling of hope, goodness and love that nature brings. Bringing people together.  


Today’s consumers aren’t looking for prolonged engagements. They want businesses to eliminate frustrations and make interactions quick, effortless, and effective. This is more important than ever during the stressed-out state of our professional and personal lives. If consumers have to expend what feels like unnecessary effort to receive support, they will ultimately spend less, leave earlier, and share negative word of mouth.


My curated environments will promote the opposite, the businesses used and marketed will encourage consumers to collaborate and “feel” good about their decisions, they will now know the positive difference that is being made to their lives, the lives of their family and friends, but in turn is protecting the planet. The businesses I help develop, promote happiness of usage from loyalty and doing good, understanding with these businesses the future that is stronger when we are together. 


I will understand what people want by looking at the developments in technology and science and bringing these to market, using mediums of today to communicate with the different consumer groups, the best in art, music and culture symbolism to allow people to make the right decision. Helping businesses become “green” and then migrate to the platform to be showcased to communities who truly care what they are sharing. Always connected, taking data from various sources, taking consumers feedback and recommending products and services that are right for them. Even down to bringing people together who are like minded to strengthen relationships. 


My marketing knowledge is not going to save lives or lead the way in political negotiations, improve sustainable development or win grammys. I just want to understand the effects of modern behaviour and use it to help businesses do what is right and only promote product and services that truly matter and don't leave a negative impact on our one and precious world. I want to bring people together and help them realise the difference our attitudes can make on our future. #wearestrongertogether. I am no longer the marketing voice of one. Today I change to try and become the marketing voice to help the world.

Thursday, July 29, 2021

Ok, so the time is now - it has never been more true

It is finally too late...or is it. 

We have just recorded the most extreme weather conditions in one year in recorded history...it will only get worse.

Surely, we can not live on just the hope it will be ok... if we just continue as we are. Or will our efforts actually make a difference, can we turn around the titanic, can we change the world, can we be better. YES let's be better. It is too scary, too depressing, too disgusting to think we have actually ruined it all and our children's children will be born into a world of heat, darkness and extremes. Let's not let distopia win. 

It is the time for positive change, circular economic recovery, green thinking / washing / shooting! 

Let's go green. 

But let's be honest, what does that actually mean, and do i really need to give up on all the things i enjoy...i want a healthy planet and still eat all the things i love and travel on a plane and drink a bottle of coca cola. 

Ok you are right i have not done that last point for decades, but i do often question how green do i need to be to make a difference. It all seems a bit too hard to even start. 

If i think that, if i find it too difficult than what chance do we have. I love this world, i believe in the better of community (of europe...that's another story!) we are stronger in making change together...so where do i start. 

I want to build a community that shares green, positive, better living life hacks that count all the values of positive change together and protects the world for the better. 

I want to rap our little planet up in cotton wool, but i need help to do it, i need guidance and advice. What labels actually matter, where do i buy second hand bits and bobs, how do i share my resources such as mobility, energy, left over food. How do i measure my carbon footprint. How do i know if the companies i actually buy from, support, love and respect, actually love and respect my planet back. Who has my values, who shares my opinions and who actually cares about tomorrow?

I do not want buzz words, i do not want green washing or fear mongering. I am not a child and do not talk to me like one. I am an adult who cares, who likes to spend (i am a true blooded consumerist) i am not rich, but not poor either, i just want to make a difference. I do not want to say it is too late, it is over...my mental health could not cope with that. 

I believe we still have a chance, we can be stronger together, so let’s start by sharing ideas. Let's go green together, little things matter, lets find the brands that do taste good and are vegan! Wines that are biodynamic and organic, holiday's that plant trees and say no to plastic. 

#wearestronger together

Friday, April 5, 2013

so the marketing degree and the first job is complete...

wow it has been just over 2.5 years since i completed my bachelors degree. since i left australia. since i arrived in the uk. since i decided i would give it everything i have got.

the first job, that was interesting, what an amazing, amazing experience, i have loved every second. but did the degree really prepare me for what was next...

in all honesty, no...no it did not! there are very few times were i was able to put back-in practically what i had learnt without it taking too much time. learning so much on the job made me resilient and tough against the idea that i might or might not succeed.

i guess it will be the next job that will define what is next, how i have progressed, what i have learnt.
the degree certainly taught me how to learn, how to think and how to ask questions. what the job taught me is, how to work, how to behave and more importantly how to succeed.

my first 2 years in the real world...the real working environment has been a huge learning curve, there has been ups...and downs and a journey worth celebrating due to the people i have met and the projects i have completed.

i am stronger for studying, but is work all it is cracked to be...perhaps...i know work is not meant to define you, but i want to love what i do, i want to be passionate about who i am and what i believe in and i want to make the world a better place because of it.

my next role will be that, i will have more courage, more conviction and will bring a greater understanding of what “my” success looks like with an implementation strategy that will change the course of history!

(well maybe not quite just yet, but maybe it could do at some point...)

so the degree is over…so then comes the first job…so the first job is over…so then comes…
passion, excitement and reward!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Mastering the silence

How do you master the silence, how do you quieten the mind. How do you find out what you deserve without folding you deck of cards. How do you survive listening to your mind when  all you want to do is shout out loud and scream till your heard. I want the discipline of finding the truth, of knowing what is right and where not to go wrong. The ability to know thy self and thy self be true. To flight to be the best and shine above the crowd. I will follow, I will listen, i will let everyone know who I am and where I will go. No one has to tell me what to do and who I have to be. I am in charge, you hear me I am in charge. Fighting the fear alone, battling the plague of the mind, the real hurdle is knowing when to start not when to stop and let go. What makes me different how will you know not to let me go....I am myself I am the queen of my temple the head of my heart, the only one available to my soul. I am holding on tight, some dreams do disappear, I hate it but I know they do go. The dream becomes the reality if your lucky, I am lucky, I will be lucky. I watch and learn, I listen and hear. No time is wasted, no time " just disappears" I will wait till it is right, till I know it's perfect. How do you master the silence how do I quieten my mind....?

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The way we are, the way I am...

The world scares me.... Sometimes I am prepared for the obstacles, battles and challenges. Other times I am caught so far off-guard that I wonder what happened. How could I of missed the obvious signs. perhaps there were not any? Perhaps no one is responsible and the reason the incident happened was purely life itself. I believe we all build resilience up in life, not barricades or thick skin but force fields of knowledge which provide confidence towards our instinctive actions. I laugh aloud sometimes at the comedy of life, the tragedy makes me cry out with laughter. The comedy makes me silently sob. The normal times for me are far and few between and I relish those rare occasions. Surly I would miss the tragic moments once it goes, when it goes, if it ever dose. Because it reminds me how "rich" life is. "alone we are born, and we die alone " a snippet of a poem from my 3rd form English class. I prefer my life filled with magnificent moments, being on the ecstasy of life. I will look back on this feeling and smile I know I will. Right now I just have to learn from my experiences and get better at life.... 

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

All is well that ends well....


My twelve-week internship, without sounding drab and borderline pathetic was all that I ever expected and a little bit more. It was challenging, engaging, emotional, a complete Disney World roller coaster learning experience. Would this have been different if my placement was not at ZigZag Advertising Agency? Probably, but it was all the better for happening at ZigZag Advertising under the careful guidance of Managing Director Mr Vince Dickson.

Why did I decide to do an internship? Was it because of the amazing workplace opportunities, networking possibilities and the rewarding nature of the program, promising to offer me endless hours of extended learning? I would honestly like to say that I chose to partake in the internship because of all those things, but rather my decision was far more utilitarian than that. I needed another 20 credit points to receive my degree and rather than take two subjects I chose to take the internship, which is a 20 credit point subject.

The internship at Griffith University is intended to be as demanding as two subjects together and is ideally taken in a student’s final semester; it has a GPA requirement of 5.5 and is convened under close observation by a leading marketing professor who guides students from beginning to end in the writing and production of an industry report.

I did not select my placement at ZigZag rather it selected me! I had a choice of course but my suggestions were actually given to others and I was recommended to go to ZigZag as I would enjoy the experience of being placed in a Boutique Advertising Agency with an intimate team of ten. An Advertising agency I thought, wow what an opportunity, it will be just like Mad Men (The American CBS T.V show recreating the events of an Advertising Agency in the 1960’s) with all the dramatic highs and incestuous lows, smoking in the office, receptionists in tights skirts and trying to build relationships with homogenous business men. Yes I agree, my daydreamed version of an advertising agency is far more fictional and rather grotesque in current employment relations standards, but there is something about that era of creativity and marketing to the masses that has an innate appeal to me. Something raw and naked about the marketing conditions that fills me with excitement and reinforces the art of relationships needed to survive in the industry.

So once this dream was dispelled, I quickly became aware of what I needed to do to stay ahead in the project. I would like to mention that my final mark for my report has not been posted so I do not know how I have been graded and wether the work I produced was to the academic standard required. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the task and was very happy with the quality of the report produced.

My industry report was on Blogging and producing Blogging guidelines for of Boutique Advertising Agency. It started as a general analysis on the functional effects of social media on small businesses. This task was interesting but completely impractical for a twelve week university course where I only spent eight hours once a week in the ZigZag office. This was then narrowed down to the specific information that MD Vince Dickson wanted. Vince already had in mind the social media tools he wished to use but wanted a thorough analysis of the tool before he was to implement them in his business. From here I started my research into Blogging.

I really had no previous concept of social media in business and certainly no logical idea of what Blogging was when I started. I am voyeur on facebook and I dabbled in Twitter and Myspace only to find I much prefer communicating with people face to face! I do however see the benefits and the progression of social media in business and I believe now it should be adopted as part of a businesses E-Marketing strategy.

As previously stated, my internship required me to spend eight hours once a week at ZigZag. During this time the hardest part was to remain sitting still at my desk for eight hours straight and not really talk to anyone. I am social person I like listening and interacting and learning. At ZigZag I remained silent unless I attempted to speak to the kind graphic designer Gavin, about technology related topics, which I thought would be of interest to him. Even then, it had been drilled into me that when you’re at your internship you are seen and not heard, and the placement is doing you a favour by having you in, so you must not disturb those around you. So basically I obeyed this rule as much as possible without trying to seem completely insignificant.

The internship at ZigZag was an experience I am happy I conquered, I may have grumbled and cried, sworn and winged, but I found the process at the end to be far more fulfilling than any other previous University subject. My only irritations came from the University itself and the teaching method employed to get students through the program. I felt neglected by the University and left in the dark about how I should achieve the objectives I had set in place in the beginning. I new it would not be an easy subject, but I did not believe I would have to quite literally figure everything out for myself. Maybe this was the intention of the University to develop students to stand on their own two feet in the business world. However, after paying $2500 for the course I did expect a little more guidance and one to one supervision.

This aside I cannot really complain about what I have achieved. The relationship I have made with the Agency itself where I feel apart of me is left behind in the report, which hopefully in someway will be used. Also the relationship I have built with Vince who has taught me more valuable lesions in four conversations over twelve weeks than I could ever have imagined. To where I am now, two months on, where I am about to embark on another internship, where I will help develop in a more hands on approach the social media strategies for a rapidly growing personal development company in London. I would like to think that in five years time (or sooner) I will reflect on this period of my life and say that my internship at ZigZag has really helped shape my carer and develop my abilities in marketing in a way which has helped me succeed over others.

Time as they say will tell. I know it will take hard work, perseverance, rejection and determination but I keep my fingers crossed all the same. Hoping that the experience I have gained from ZigZag and the completion of my Business Degree, can transcend further than University to the rapidly changing business world that now awaits me. 

Social Media Revolution