We are also very excited to announce that long-time TwoCents friend, collaborator and supporter, Cat Matson has joined the TwoCents team as Account Director.
We're incredibly lucky to be welcoming to TwoCents, Jason Vasquez.
Forget the QR code, the utterly pointless piece of faux-3D trickery. They've popped up in places we don't want them, need them or will ever use them and we should think about taking them off the marketing pitch and sending them in for an early bath.
Radical the opinion might be, but radical a QR code is not. I sense whispers in marketing WIPs around the country discussing what brands should do with a QR code, how we should embrace them and the results we're looking for. I sense the same whispers discussing whether the consumer actually, really cares.
I described the future last week to a group of wide-eyed business owners. The future where, if you're running late for a meeting, your connected car will be talking to your smartphone to work out where you should be, and then informing all the members of the meeting exactly how late you're running.
The outpouring of grief, thanks and acknowledgement with the death of Steve Jobs was phenomenal and set records across Twitter, bringing the Fail Whale out on more than one occasion. I was one of those echoing those sentiments.
Your details are valuable. Your name, age, phone number, postcode, likes, dislikes, job, experience, family - anything about you is worth money. And fortunately we're moving into a marketplace, fuelled by social media, where you can use that data to make yourself rich. Well, not rich, but at least put yourself in a better position.
Harvey Norman, amongst others, have made significant waves in the past few months complaining about Australian consumers buying products from overseas cheaper than from inside Australia, and avoiding duty taxes when doing so. Many retailers have seen their sales slump due to the influx in overseas goods and point the finger at a strong Australian dollar and cheaper overseas goods.
But really this is only one aspect of a greater problem, that has little to do with overseas prices and a strong dollar and much more to do with the ineptitude of Australian retailers.
One of the books that got me into marketing and into setting up my own company was called 'Punk Marketing' by Richard Laermer and Mark Simmons. In my opinion it's a revolutionary read and opens up your mind to how you approach marketing your own company. Richard, based in New York, has since become an email friend and someone who is still very vocal in the field of marketing and PR.
Are our friends on social networks more important than our "real-life" friends? Are we changing the way we communicate and who we communicate with for the better? Or are we becoming more and more anti-social as technology advances?
I Facebook while I'm out to dinner. I tweet at networking events. And earlier this week I was caught checking for notifications and friend requests mid-conversation with my mum. Which, as you can imagine, didn't go down well.
Social Media. You can't ignore it. Or, maybe you can. But if you're too afraid to dip your toes in, your business may suffer the consequences.
