I recently had a job interview and the manager expressed a certain level of discomfort towards my Facebook page entries and pictures. Should we now start worrying about our Facebook communication when it comes to getting hired? Isn’t finding a job already difficult enough?

Getting a job is difficult and finding the right job should be even more difficult. Smart and successful companies don’t hire employees based on education and CVs, they look for a corporate culture fit and a match in personalities and behavior. So you can see why they might go to great lengths just to be sure that a candidate is genuine. And availability of published information makes it tempting to use it as a quick reference check or a tool to gage true personality traits away for the staged interview act that many employees have learned how to master with time.

As what you do offline matters, what you do online reflects on you too. The fact that it’s online doesn’t mean it’s invisible. Divide your Facebook contacts into lists to control who can see what content you publish. You might want to create an acquaintance and co-worker list and keep it viewable by the public but keep close friends and family lists private. This way you control who sees what news and pictures you publish. Having said that, don’t keep your public page vague and so carefully articulated to an extent where your character is not visible anymore. Be yourself but know what you’re saying and who you are saying it to…and that’s just my two cents.read what others have read

• two cents: you’ve got ephoto!
• two cents: saving private Facebook
• two cents: how do I email thee?
  let me count the ways

What’s the best way to measure the brand’s perception?

There are books, articles and lectures that talk about metrics for gauging brand perceptions. The tricky thing about brands is that the word brand itself is nothing but an impression in someone’s mind. It’s a mix of rational and irrational feelings, thoughts and experiences. Regular quantitative research with multiple options and tables is incapable of truly understanding that impression. Customer Satisfaction surveys can’t reflect the brand’s core perception. 40% of satisfied customers leave the businesses they purchase their products or services from regardless. Qualitative methods like focus groups can’t provide accurate information because there’s a certain gap between what people sometimes think, say, and do. It requires the mastered skill of research design and moderation to reach reliable results.

So, what’s the solution? Face impressions with impressions. Get off of your desk and go to the showroom, take phone calls from the Call Center, or answer their emails. Interacting with customers will give you a vivid picture of how they feel and behave around your brand. Another method is to know what they didn’t tell you when they interacted with you by searching your brand’s name on social websites and blogs to know what their raw and impulsive feelings are…and that’s just my two cents.read what others have read

• two cents: I say quality, you say price
• two cents: how do I email thee?
  let me count the ways
• two cents: saving private Facebook

Some of my colleagues sent me Facebook invitations wanting to be friends. They’re decent people, but they’re not close friends and family. If I reject or ignore their requests, it might affect my relationship with them at work. If I accept them, I’m giving them access to my personal life and contacts, which is not something I’m comfortable with. How do I solve it without getting evil looks at work?

Ah, to poke, or not to poke, that is the question. Contrary to the misconception, this is not a new challenge that we’re just facing now because of a technology that didn’t exist before. Take the home telephone number as an example: while some see it acceptable to share it with their neighbors, colleagues and clients, others find it proper to share it only with close relatives. Who is to say which style is right and which is wrong?

So, let’s get into a Time Machine and go back to the ancient era of the 1980’s. Everyone is in shoulder-padded suits, blown-out hairdos, and men have supersized mustaches. A colleague stops by and says, “Hi, newbie. I would like to review the policy manual with you tonight. It’s important. Give me your home number and we’ll go over it at seven o’clock.” What would you do?

1. Pass them your number reluctantly.
2. Explain that you prefer to separate between home and work time, and suggest meeting early before work to finish it.
3. Give your colleague the wrong number.

While it might be tempting and naughty to choose the last option, it’s wiser to go with the second option. Facebook is used by a lot of people as a ‘social’ tool. A few use it as a ‘personal’ tool. If you allow only close family members and best friends to follow your updates, explain it politely and invite your colleague to a drink during your break the next day just to clear the air…and that’s just my two cents.read what others have read

• two cents: the spy who hired me
• two cents: born to email
• two cents: dad is dead. long live the son

When we emailed people on our list about our new product only once or twice the response rate was very low. But when we started to send them multiple emails about different products some complained about the volume of emails and others opted out from the list. What can we do to manage email marketing more effectively?

As with food, your brand communication can be like gourmet restaurants where they are visited less often while their offering is filling and memorable. Alternatively, your emails can be like fast greasy food; nice at the beginning but heartburning after having it a number of times in the week. Which direction you take depends on your brand’s journey, but you know what fast food can do to your health! Email Marketing rarely works from just one email. Sometimes, it goes to the junk box, gets overlooked, or gets deleted by mistake. And this is why many brands repeat their email communication several times. Smart brands, however, get creative in repackaging the content to test different ways of capturing their target’s attention.

Having said that, it doesn’t mean that your readers won’t see through it, and in time, will react the same way they do to repeated emails of the same layout. Consider other techniques like using email as a teasing tool with links to the material rather than pushing an online brochure in one email. You may also want to consider mixing offline with online so you don’t overdo emails. All in all, regardless of the frequency or approach you choose, just remember that you’re not the only brand communicating with your prospects and customers. Living in the information age has its advantages, but it also makes people easily have ‘communication overload’; so balance is key…and that’s just my two cents.read what others have read

• two cents: you’ve got ephoto!
• two cents: born to email
• we behave online today like the 1950s

I recently saw the documentary movie Food, Inc. It made me hate the quality of food we’re being offered in supermarkets and served in restaurants. What can we do as consumers to force businesses to improve the quality of food they give us?

As consumers, we have the ultimate power that kill any business. We have the power of choice. We can choose to buy a specific product and not the other. If you don’t buy low quality products, the businesses will lose money and they’ll be forced to change what they offer or go out of business. It’s all about the numbers at the end. The problem in many markets worldwide is that consumers complain to their family and friends, but they don’t usually tell that brand face to face what their complaint is about. Yes, companies will eventually figure out they’re not doing well because people are not buying. However, they wouldn’t necessarily know why.

If you don’t like a certain dish in a restaurant, don’t just return it or leave it on the table. Talk to the manager. Explain what’s wrong with it. Once they’re aware of the problem, they can think of solutions or ignore the issue and bear the consequences. Tell the supermarkets managers what you want to see available. Tell them why you’re not buying certain products. Most of them will oblige your needs if other consumers are saying the same thing. They’ll do it not because they care about your desires and needs, but because they don’t want to lose your business, which is fine. As consumers, we can do many things about brands we don’t like. Complaining to each other or keeping it buried inside is not one of them…and that’s just my two cents.read what others have read

• two cents: to care or not to care
• two cents: I say quality, you say price
• two cents: green marketing in developing countries

The Internet Map according to Wikipedia

Since the burst of the dot-com bubble in 2001, most companies have been offering free information, free downloads, free samples, free memberships, free webinars [online seminars, just in case you were living in a hole with no internet connection for the past decade], free products, free services and almost anything you can think of has been offered to increase website traffic numbers – and hopefully sales. There was a clear sense of desperation that has been labeled with many different titles. Some have called it ‘A new era of marketing’; others are now calling ‘social marketing’. The good news is that not all companies are showing their cold sweat. Yet, the strange part is that it seems we haven’t learned much from history.

In the 1950s the business world was living in a Sales Orientation stage. This is where the focus was on sales and promotions of existing products. This constant pressure and price war, although was welcomed by consumers at the beginning for all obvious reasons, it caused a numbing sensation to the market after awhile. No more brand X is better than brand Y because both brands are on full cycle of promos. The consumer took a step back and started to think, “Alright, both brands are offering freebies, but which one do I like more or connect with more?” That kind of thinking directed consumers towards brand loyalty and focus on differentiation instead of the circus on the surface.

Today, we’re facing the same issue all over again. Somewhere in the online world, many brands are desperately fighting for visitors and decided to throw everything away in the process. Consumers were impressed and fascinated, but they’re immune again. So, what’s next? Brands will learn the hard way about the cost of what they’re doing and its effect on the bottom line. If one argues, “A webinar doesn’t cost much,” my answer is yes, it does. It costs you time, which has compound value of input vs. return and of what else you could’ve done and the possible return from it. That’s in addition to any monetary cost, of course, required for conducting these webinars or any other add-on you want your brand to offer.

Am I anti social marketing or other techniques the Internet made possible? Not at all. As long as whatever the brand offers is suitable to its audience and to the shareholders. You can’t do one without the other. However, doing something because other brands are doing it and consumers are liking it is not good enough of a reason. Do what suites you and grow your own brand authentically.read what others have read

• two cents: promos in tough times
• two cents: I saw ‘Food, Inc.’ now what?
• two cents: green marketing in developing countries

We want to create a sound for our brand like Microsoft when you open the computer or like Zain and McDonalds at the end of their commercials. We gave this job to our advertising agency and we sat with studios and musicians. Nothing worked. Who can do this?

You went to the butcher and asked him to sell you a wedding dress. The butcher didn’t want to let you down so he cleaned his white apron, added a couple of sleeves from his own white shirt and gave it to you after spraying some of his wife’s perfume on it. That’s what happened. And that’s why you couldn’t get what you’re looking for. Specialization exists in the world for a reason. Advertising agencies should handle only advertising. PR agencies should do only PR. Branding agencies should do only branding. Sounds logical and common sense, yet not many agencies apply it.

Most agencies look at the local market as too small to be specialized and that’s why many of them prefer to be full service agencies. Unfortunately, many full service agencies outsource the jobs quite often not to the right provider. What you’re looking for is agencies that are specialized in soundscape, a sound designed to introduce, enhance or remind the audience of the brand experience; known also as sound logos, soundmarks, and more. While Sound Agencies are a few around the world and their work can be quite costly, if you’re managing a large-scale brand, you might want to consider investing in a sense that only a few brands play on…and that’s just my two cents.read what others have read

• we behave online today like the 1950s
• two cents: two brothers, a location &
  a restaurant
• two cents: the small planner