Congratulations to Beau Hoium, the winner of our first photo contest! The Color and Light photo contest closed on October 31 — with so many amazing finalists, our jury of designers had a tough time choosing a winner. Ultimately, we went with Beau’s bridge because we loved how the image embodied color and light. Thanks to all who entered the photo contest and to those who voted and helped create such a cool group of finalists. Stay tuned for future contests!
From a business perspective, we invested in promotion and infrastructure. But, the contest gave us some cool ROI. From the start of the contest, the “likes” to our page — which is an interested audience — increased by 50 percent. When we promoted a post, the content on our page was seen by thousands of people, the highest number was nearly 14,000. And, for ordinary, unpaid posts, we found more people shared and hundreds of people came in contact with Professional Litho and its brand in an organic, word-of-mouth way. The contest generated some excitement with voting and the variety of creative and beautiful entries. So, this truly was a win-win opportunity for us and for our audience.
Our questions this week explored business and marketing via a knife-wielding robot, KitKat, an exploration of experience marketing, and Google Doodles. For more on this week’s questions and discussions read on:
Last weekend Google launched the latest Android update, named Kit Kat, which it co-branded with Hershey’s. Has your company co-branded?
The benefits of Hershey and Google’s co-brand — beyond the fun Android-inspired KitKat bars — of Google and Hershey’s are still to be seen. But, generally, co-branding leads to creativity and innovation in addition to cost savings and ability to share resources. So, the likelihood that this new relationship, although unexpected, will lead to some interesting new ideas and products.
Tuesday’s Google Doodle honored Raymond Loewy, the father of modern industrial design. Do you look for the history behind Google Doodles?
We love the Google Doodle and the interesting directions it leads us. Without this creative feature, we wouldn’t know that Raymond Loewy said this smart thing about design: “The main goal is not to complicate the already difficult life of the consumer.” And, we wouldn’t get to see how this smart, simple philosophy drove many of Loewy’s designs, which included store windows, fashion illustrations, appliances, brand logos, and packaging. His versatility and creativity in stretching his core design skills lead to a broad portfolio — the Sears Coldspot refrigerator, Exxon Mobil and Shell Oil. How cool to think of this when we see these things that remain part of every day life.
Is Experience Marketing a new concept or just a rehash of the classic try-it-before-you-buy-it strategy?
Many companies are taking the classic try-it-before-you buy it to a whole new level. For example, IKEA is furnishing hotels, car dealerships are loaning out their cars during repairs, and Charmin is making sure you know how good their product can be. The key is making sure the experiences are genuine, relevant, and meaningful. This isn’t a quick sample — this is a deeper, truer experience. When was the last time you found a new favorite product because you got a chance to spend some time using it without being encouraged to buy it.
Do we need to prepare for every contingency?
I think most businesses try to be as proactive as possible. But, when you are considering your tactics, it doesn’t hurt to consider what things might not fit and where an unusual course might serve your purposes. Imagine a world where there’s a benefit to having your grocery-store robot know know how to wield a knife … and how that fits into the bigger picture of creating smarter technology. Skynet is not self-aware just yet. But, this robot story won’t do anything to alleviate your robot phobia (if you have one).
An invitation: You can let us know your viewpoint — here, on Facebook, or on Twitter — Monday through Thursday, we pose questions ranging from lighter fare to industry-focused topics. Every Friday we look back at the week. If you are on Twitter, we are @ProLitho — please follow us, and join the discussion about this week’s #4Qs. We’d also love to have you check us out at Facebook and LinkedIn.