A nifty infographic compiled with data from Econsultancy’s recent Social Media and Online PR Report:

Comments (0) | | Digg This | Save to Del.icio.us | Posted by: Jon

Tags: @ThinkTank_, Branding, Digital Marketing, Marketing, social media, ThinkTank, Twitter

Good design is good business. Yet it’s amazing how few good business people recognize and understand the commercial value of good design.

Think about how every day poorly designed products and services add complexity instead of simplicity to our lives. The tortuously convoluted language used by the financial services industry, the non-intuitive features on electronic gadgets that most of us will never fathom, big call centres that tell you what they can’t do instead of what they can, antiquated recruitment practices that tick boxes instead of identifying talent and newspaper layouts that are cluttered with ads all fighting for attention like kids on a sugar rush! The universe may contain intelligent design but many products and services certainly do not!

(more…)

Comments (0) | | Digg This | Save to Del.icio.us | Posted by: Jon

Tags: @ThinkTank_, Brand Architecture, Branding, Cork, Creativity, Design, design sustainability, Design Thinking, environmental design, Glucksman Gallery, Innovation, Ireland, Irish Design, Jonathan Amm, Marketing, ThinkTank, Twitter, www.think-tank.ie

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of 2010, understand profitability.  If I could offer you only one tip for the future profitability would be it”…..but more from Baz Luhrmann later…….

As a marketing lecturer, the second most common question I get asked (next to, “what is coming up on the exam”?) is “How am I ever going to get a job in marketing?”. Worse than this, in the students where the glass seems perpetually half empty, the statement “I am never going to get a job in marketing” reverberates every year as the academic term is coming to a close.  Now, what is interesting is that this sentiment appears to transcend gender, age and academic achievements, and was heard as loudly during the “Celtic Tiger” era as it is now in our economic recession.  Essentially, no marketing student seems to think they are going to get a job in marketing.  For a marketing lecturer who has spent years working with these students this is a disheartening sentiment to constantly hear, but more than that, it is a frustrating one.  Why is it that these bright, intelligent, articulate students, these Generation Y students who are constantly being told that they are the chosen ones, the future, the ones who are connected; why is it that these students think they won’t get a job in marketing?

(more…)

Comments (2) | | Digg This | Save to Del.icio.us | Posted by: Jon

Tags: @ThinkTank_, Career in Marketing, CIT, Cork, Cork Institute of Technology, Ireland, Irish Mad Men, Irish Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Graduates, Marketing Students, Rose Leahy, Strategic Marketing, ThinkTank, Twitter, www.think-tank.ie

Hello. My name is Anna and I am a Millennial. I am part of the largest generation yet to exist. We populate Facebook and YouTube. We are social and always connected. We are armed with laptops, iPods and smart phones. We are Generation Y, or indeed Generation Y Not.

The Millennials are the “wired” generation and we don’t know how to be any other way. We’re a new breed of consumers and unfortunately most businesses are not prepared for us.  Businesses need to get to know the Millennials if they want to be relevant and successful in the future. Our global annual spending power exceeds $250 billion and we also influence another $50 million in purchases. Our generation has bigger potential purchasing power than the Baby Boomers and is set to supplant them as the most powerful economic force on planet earth.

So let me introduce you to the Millennials..

(more…)

Comments (2) | | Digg This | Save to Del.icio.us | Posted by: Jon

Tags: @ThinkTank_, Advertising, Anna Sablovscaia, Baby Boomers, Brands, Cork, Generation X, Generation Y, Ireland, Market Segmentation, Marketing, Marketing to Gen-Y, Millennials, number of Irish Facebook users, Research, ThinkTank, trends, Twitter, www.think-tank.ie

??

FACT: One in five Irish Enterprises fail according to the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association. In many instances they fail due to a lack of understanding of their customers and market place.

Post-recession shoppers are a completely different breed when compared to what has gone before. They’ve been profoundly impacted by a feeling of deprivation the recession caused and the way in which they’ve coped with it. Now they are more demanding than ever and their expectations are increasingly high. We all know shoppers are fickle and the days of being completely loyal to one brand or company are gone. Shoppers have been conditioned to search out the best price and value during these recessionary times yet they can be swayed at the point of purchase to make very different decisions. Other factors like emotions also come into play, hence the contradiction in terms, when you hear that more than one in two customers claim to be cutting down on treats but sales of premium products such as ice cream and chocolates are on the rise. How can that be?

Business consultancy Deloitte released an interesting research report just this week in New York where they talked about a ‘paradigm shift’ in consumer purchasing habits in the US. It found that a whopping 84% of households were examining their spending in every category to try and save money while 79% believed they were ‘smarter’ shoppers than they were two years ago. But it also found that 75% believed that the financial crisis had caused them to realise ‘which brands I really care about and which ones are less important to me’ and that there were only two or three brands which they ‘could not live without’.

(more…)

Comments (0) | | Digg This | Save to Del.icio.us | Posted by:

Tags: @ThinkTank_, brand audit, Branding, Colette Quinn, Company Analysis, competitor analysis, consumer insights, consumer trends, Cork, differentiation, Enterprise Ireland, Ireland, Jonathan Amm, Lisa Murphy, Market Analysis, Marketing, Marketing Director, post recessionary customer, Real Insights, Research, social media, ThinkTank, Twitter, www.think-tank.ie

Soccer’s governing body FIFA recently saw red, but mostly orange – during the Holland Vs Denmark game at the Soccer World Cup in South Africa.

Thirty-six blondes, wearing orange mini skirts gate crashed the game at Soccer City in Johannesburg causing a major brouhaha. The offense wasn’t so much a fashion faux pas but a carefully orchestrated ambush marketing attack by Dutch brewer Bavaria, against its bigger rival Budweiser. The spectacle created a frenzy as photographs and video footage went viral as the story was picked up on social media networks and newspapers around the world.

The reaction of FIFA was swift and ruthless. The authorities immediately evicted the women from the stadium and two were arrested on charges of organising “unlawful commercial activities”. Under pressure from FIFA, South Africa passed laws in the run-up to the World Cup that made ambush marketing a criminal offence. The women face charges of contravening the Merchandise Marks Act (unauthorised use of trade mark at a protected event), and some sections of the Special Measures Regulations Act (entry into designated area while in possession of prohibited commercial object).

(more…)

Comments (0) | | Digg This | Save to Del.icio.us | Posted by: Jon

Tags: @ThinkTank_, Advertising, Ambush Marketing, Bavaria, Bavaria Girls, Branding, Budweiser, FIFA, Guerilla Marketing, Holland, Jonathan Amm, South Africa, ThinkTank, Twitter, World Cup Soccer, www.think-tank.ie

No committee, no budget and no rules; The grassroots movement that’s determined to transform the way people look at Cork city.

A new movement has begun to “transform” Cork city into a better place for its residents and visitors. It’s a movement without a leader. Already, two cafés, two marketing companies, publicans, journalists, start-up businesses and unemployed people have pledged their support. It’s called Transform Cork and it’s open to everyone keen to improve the city. There’s no committee, no budget and nothing but the power of the internet at its service. It’s using Twitter, Facebook, blogs and now the Cork News. It seems to have sprung out of nowhere, committed to changing Cork from the bottom-up – rather than the top-down.

(more…)

Comments (0) | | Digg This | Save to Del.icio.us | Posted by: Jon

Tags: #transformcork, @ThinkTank_, Branding, Cork, Innovation, Marketing, ThinkTank, Twitter, www.think-tank.ie

Let’s say you’re at a networking event and someone steps in the elevator with you, notices your nametag, and asks, “So what do you guys do?” Quick–what’s your answer? You’ve got just 30 seconds before the doors open so you’d better think fast.

In many ways an Elevator Pitch is shorthand for what your brand stands for. It’s your one-shot opportunity to be different and present yourself in a compelling and memorable way. For most business owners, getting to the crux of what you really do is the hardest, yet potentially most rewarding, one-minute conversation you could ever have.

So what is an Elevator Pitch?

(more…)

Comments (4) | | Digg This | Save to Del.icio.us | Posted by: Jon

Tags: @ThinkTank_, Advertising, Brand Positioning, Branding, Cork, differentiation, Elevator Pitch, Entrepreneurs, Ireland, Jonathan Amm, Marketing, Start-ups, Strategy, ThinkTank, Twitter, Value Proposition, www.think-tank.ie

“Out there in some garage is an entrepreneur who’s forging a bullet with your company’s name on it,” Gary Hamel, a leading business strategy writer and consultant, has written. “You’ve got one option now — to shoot first. You’ve got to out-innovate the innovators.”

Unfortunately most organizations have an in built defence mechanism against new ideas. People don’t like change so immediately find reasons why ideas should not be considered. The problem is that if you don’t start anticipating the future you could be run over by it.

Many SME’s would acknowledge that they need to become more innovative but just don’t know how to start or where to begin. ThinkTank sat down to map out 4 practical ways SME’s  can generate ideas, capture insights and successfully implement a game changing innovation strategy.

1. Make innovation a priority

(more…)

Comments (1) | | Digg This | Save to Del.icio.us | Posted by: Jon

Tags: @ThinkTank_, Business Consulting, Creativity, Design Thinking, Entrepreneurs, Innovation, Jonathan Amm, Marketing, Organizational Change, Start-ups, Strategy, ThinkTank

You don’t go on holiday without finding out about your destination.

You don’t accept a new job without checking the stability of the employer.

You don’t invest in a new car without checking it’s right for your needs.

You don’t develop your business without trying to discover your market size, value, potential and competitiveness… do you?

An essential element of any business strategy should be early stage secondary market research.

In order to analyse your market and make decisions on growing and developing your business, you must understand the business context you’re operating in:

• (more…)

Comments (0) | | Digg This | Save to Del.icio.us | Posted by: Lisa

Tags: Branding, Entrepreneurs, Marketing, Research, Roisin Markham, Start-ups, Strategy, ThinkTank, Twitter