Poets and Plumbers

Drayton Bird Direct Marketing Masterclass i København

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 09:21:03 -0000

Mød direct marketing legenden Drayton Bird i København

Den 15 maj kan du møde Drayton Bird – forfatter til Commonsense Direct & Digital Marketing og legendarisk direct marketing guru.

Se hvad du kan lære ved at deltage og tilmeld dig her

AdWords dilettanter konverterer dårligt: marketing penge spildt

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:49:40 -0000

Annoncering ved brug af Google Adwords er en flerstrenget process, hvis du vil have effekt og value for money. Det har mange danske virksomheder ikke forstået. Værst er at reklamebureauer, der bruger Adwords, ikke ser ud til at være egnede til at rådgive kunder.

Artiklen her viser gode og dårlige eksempler på konvertering og nævner konkret indsatsen fra en række danske reklame-bureuaer.

Se hvad dette handler om og hvem der er nævnt

Google Plus ændrer spillereglerne for online search markant

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:47:46 -0000

Google Plus (Google+) er ikke længere bare endnu et social network. Google har i de seneste uger implementeret en række ændringer, der medfører at alle virksomheder er bandsat nødt til at forholde sig til Google’s social networking platform.

Snart vil Poets & Plumbers invitere til seminar, hvor du kan høre mere om hvad Google Plus kan betyde for din virksomhed.

Indtil da så læs artiklen på Markedu’s blog her

4 redskaber der hjælper dig i dit kommunikationsarbejde

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:43:12 -0000

Kender du de rigtige redskaber, der kan gøre dit arbejde nemmere, sjovere og mere effektivt?

Hos Markedu fandt vi denne artikle, der giver dig indblik i 4 redskaber, der kan gøre arbejdet med marketing og kommunikation lidt nemmere.

Se og prøv de 4 redskaber helt gratis via Markedu’s blog her

Nye ejere af Poets & Plumbers A/S kalder til samling

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:47:29 -0000

Markedu overtager sammen med Markedu’s stifter Michael Leander 90% af aktierne i Poets & Plumbers A/S.

Markedu vil via Poets & Plumbers introducere nye trænings, kursus og netværksaktiviteter i Danmark. Du kan læse pressemeddelsen nedenfor. Mere information følger snarest

Du kan læse mere om Markedu her

PRESSSEMEDDELELSE ANGÅENDE POETS & PLUMBERS A/S

Nye kræfter bag Poets and Plumbers kalder til samling

Efter ét års søgen har ejerne af Poets and Plumbers A/S nu fundet nye kræfter, der vil videreføre konceptet i en forbedret udgave. Medstiftere Jonathan Winch og Eye for Image har nu solgt 90% af aktierne i Poets and Plumbers A/S.

Poets and Plumbers A/S blev stiftet i 2008 med det formål at formidle inspiration og viden til salgs- og marketing folk. Efter en succesrig lancering og opbyggelsen af et stærkt brand, forhindrede uenighed mellem ejere og ledelse selskabets fremdrift. Ejerne Jonathan Winch og Eye for Image valgte at sætte aktiviteten på stand-by med henblik på at finde ny ejer og ledelse med evne til at videreudvikle konceptet og skabe en bæredygtig forretning.

Nye ejere bringer inspiration fra udlandet De nye majoritetsejere hedder Markedu og har danskeren Michael Leander som direktør. Markedu har siden 2009 trænet mere end 10.000 salgs- og marketing folk. Hver måned deltager folk fra mere end 50 lande i et Markedu arrangement. Selskabet har således en betydelig international erfaring og trækker inspiration fra aktiviteter i mange lande i Europe, Mellemøsten og Asien.

Jonathan Winch udtaler; ”der har været flere aktører, der har budt på Poets and Plumbers, men vi har lagt vægt på at finde en partner, der kan bringe væsentlig erfaring og nytænkning med ind i Poets and Plumbers. Og det kan Michael Leander og Markedu. Med de nye tiltag, der lanceres i 2012 er jeg sikker på at Poets and Plumbers igen vil fortjene en væsentlig position i Danmark.

Michael Leander siger; Poets and Plumbers ideen er rigtig god. Nu fokuserer vi på at få etableret en række tiltag, der kan føre værdi til salgs- og marketing folk i Danmark. Disse tiltag bliver skabt på grundlag af vores erfaring fra andre lande og med udgangspunkt i den viden vi har erhvervet om ønsker og præferencer fra danskere, der arbejder med salg og markedsføring i det daglige.

Relancerings event med fokus på 8 Big Trends Poets and Plumbers relanceres ved et arrangement i Københavnsområdet, der finder sted den 9 marts 2012. På arrangementet kan deltagere høre om 8 Big Trends i markedsføring og salg. Arrangementet er et såkaldt by invitation only arrangement, men interesserede kan henvende sig til mln@markedu.com for mere information.

Kontakt Vil du vide mere eller har du en idé til samarbejde, så kontakt Michael Leander på mln@markedu.com eller 27 28 29 53

A Tribute To The Father Of Internet

Mon, 30 May 2011 12:00:56 -0000

By Alina Ovanesso

It’s common to honour outstanding people with distinguished titles, particularly after their death, and the person this article is dedicated to is no exception. Paul Baran, a ‘father of the Internet’ and ‘Internet and packet switching pioneer’, passed away 28 March 2011, leaving behind his remarkable inventions, the fruits of which we all currently enjoy. But who was he and what is the impact of his work in the eyes of the world?

Paul Baran was born in Grodno, Poland (now Belarus), one of three kids in his Jewish family. Paul was only two years old when his family moved to the US, less than ten years before the Nazi invasion of Poland. Where his family might have endured deportation to a concentration camp, instead Baran’s father opened a grocery store in Philidelphia, and Baran grew up as perhaps any typical American. As a boy, Paul helped the family business by delivering groceries in his little red wagon. But at the same time, Baran was not content to be a grocer. He was steadily developing an interest in electronics, and eventually went on to Drexel University to study electrical engineering. After graduating, Baran joined Eckert-Mauchly Computer Company and worked on UNIVAC models, the first commercial computers in the US. After obtaining his Masters in Engineering, Paul began working for RAND Corporation.

There are now a number of important networking inventions attributed to Baran, e.g. packet voice technology, the discrete, multitone modem technology used in DSL modems and in the first public wireless mesh networking system, Ricochet. In addition to his innovation in networking products, he is also credited with inventing the metal detector used in airports. However, his most famous invention is considered to be the concept of message block switching, which he developed for the US Air Force during his research at RAND in the early 1960s.

But how did we benefit from this? Packet switching is used in the Internet and local area networks as well as newer mobile phone technologies. It optimizes the use of channel capacity in computer networks, minimizing the time it takes for data to pass across the network as well as increasing the robustness of communication. In layman’s terms, every click to send our emails results in a whole process whereby data gets broken up into small pieces, travels various routes, overcomes possible transmission errors, recovers and at the point of delivery successfully reassembles. It’s an amazing process, and yet we connect without questioning a thing! In fact, few of us may know that the entire network paradigm was designed to withstand a nuclear attack during the Cold War. The military innovation of packet switching has since made its way into our everyday lives, hugely impacting the essence of communication. We can’t imagine a world without it…. and yet, who do we owe it to?

Leadership 2.0

Mon, 30 May 2011 11:41:25 -0000

By Sarah Goodall

Sarah Goodall explores leadership of tomorrow and how to encourage dialogue in the corporate environment. As the regional head of Social Media SAP (EMEA), she is a leading authority on using Social Media in the corporate world.

How should I communicate with my team? Many leaders face this dilemma, even more so when the team are scattered across different countries. Managing a virtual organisation ensuring that remote employees feel motivated, engaged and part of a wider purpose, has to be one of the most challenging tasks of a modern leader.

It’s fair to say that many organisations have worked hard to make sure employees have an opportunity to voice their views whether through employee surveys, newsletters or town hall meetings. So how do you get the personal touch of a one-to-one meeting together with efficiency of an All Hands conference call? How do you crowdsource the best ideas from all of your employees?

Introducing Leadership 2.0: Where bright ideas start with open communications. One of the cornerstones of an internal social media strategy is blogging. Blogs are a fantastic platform to invite feedback from communities and engage them in dialogue – including internal audiences. Blogs enable leaders to add a personal touch to their leadership style talking about experiences they’ve had, customers they’ve met or challenges they’re working on. A tool like this can help cross the divide within a virtual environment and allow leaders to connect, on a personal level, to their internal stakeholders even if they don’t see them very often.

However, social tools such as blogs will bring transparency across the ranks. This kind of uncontrolled visibility can make many leaders anxious. Even though all of the discussions are internal to the organisation, comments and conversations that typically happen around the coffee machine will be out in the open for all to see. Leaders need to be prepared for that. Many will find this kind of culture shift challenging.

So if you’re considering a leadership blog, here are some Tribal Tips: Use Blogs As Part Of Your Communication Strategy: Blogs should augment your communication approach and not replace it. Continue to use face-to-face, coaching and engagement with employees. Make It Personal: Write about a customer you recently met, a meeting you attended or an issue that you’ve recently worked through. Make it real and relevant to your team. Write It Yourself: One of the biggest mistakes a leader can make is to use a ghost writer. Your employees know you and they will work out if you have written it yourself or if someone else has written it for you. This kind of mistake can cost you your credibility. Encourage Feedback: Finish each blog post with a question and encourage employees to engage with you. Acknowledge Comments: Take the time to acknowledge comments. Ignoring them is a bit like not returning a phone call when an employee has bothered to leave you a message. You may not like all the comments you read, but you must make sure you acknowledge them – let them know you’re listening. Keep It Frequent: Make sure you blog regularly. You don’t have to write a novel each time you post, nor do you have to write every day. Just don’t launch your great new blog to employees, write one post and then forget all about it. It sends the wrong message to your employees. If you can’t commit to a blog, don’t start it. Have Some Fun: Try a video blog post or add photos. It all adds to your ‘personality’ and keeps it real for your employees.

Visit Sarah’s blog: www.tribalimpact.com Follow her on Twitter: @tribalimpact

Marketing in China: What do you need to know?

Mon, 30 May 2011 11:34:34 -0000

By Jonathan Winch

With over twenty years as an independent marketing consultant to many household-name companies, Jonathan Winch is a highly experienced marketing strategist. He is the co-founder of Poets and Plumbers, as well as the international communications agency Eye for Image in Copenhagen.

As cultural gaps go, the one between the East and West is pretty significant, demanding different approaches to business, communication and motivation for Chinese audiences. For the moment, Denmark’s marketers and corporate communication departments are mostly trying to ignore these cultural differences, preferring to simply translate messages and materials into Mandarin Chinese – and hoping that shiny happy images of Caucasian models appeal to Chinese tastes. But this attitude is, of course, a poor compromise. And things are going to have to change, particularly as China’s own brands start to compete against the imported variety. But what do Danish communication professionals need to know in order to hit the target with greater accuracy? What cultural differences are there and what are their implications? How is marketing/communication typically done in China? And how should foreign brands use their essential differences to compete in the long run against less expensive, yet increasingly high-quality local offerings?

In a bid to answer questions like these, and to provide guidance for Danish companies, I recently travelled to Shanghai. The trip’s objective was to gather information and impressions of the Chinese media landscape – at least, as it appears in one of China’s megacities. Studying TV commercials, picking up magazines and brochures, snapping photos of billboards, people and point-of-sale elements, I spent four days trying to figure out what’s hot and not in a market that may one day drive Western trends.

Visiting China’s largest food ingredients conference while in Shanghai gave me a chance to compare the efforts of three of Denmark’s competing producers – Chr. Hansen, Novozymes and Danisco – to adapt to the local market. As you might expect, the stands were staffed primarily by dark-suited Chinese representatives, indistinguishable from those of other stands where it appeared mandatory to have between five and eight of these suits present, all comfortably seated. All three companies had translated their standard marketing materials into Mandarin Chinese. Only Novozymes had used Chinese models in the large images adorning the company’s stand.

Was this enough? In what is quite a technical B2B market, it’s hard to say. But the Chinese companies present placed greater emphasis on a number of message types that were not as obvious in the communications of the three Danish competitors. For example, much effort went into describing the history and established position (along with official certifications) of the Chinese manufacturers. Food for thought, perhaps?

Loaded down with these observations, materials and more, I returned to Copenhagen to begin a lengthy project with Eye for Image’s two Chinese associates, Tony Liu and Yongyi Jin. Together we will search for new insights and endeavor to map out guidelines for Danish companies trying to compete in China.

Over the next year, our Chinese team will be creating and publishing information to help Danish companies understand and navigate this market. Already we’ve gathered many surprising and useful insights and we look forward to sharing them soon.

Great brands becoming great publishers

Mon, 30 May 2011 11:24:29 -0000

By Jomar Reyes

When I peek into the future of marketing, I can’t help but see that great marketing will rely on great publishing. What have publishers traditionally done? They’ve engaged audiences with their stories through books, newspapers, magazines and more. Now, with new media in the mix, there are even more ways to tell a story, and publishing is a powerful vehicle to draw an audience to your brand. This means delivering not simply advertising content. Now it is a publication – with fresh, relevant industry and even community driven content – that becomes a compelling marketing vehicle itself.

So if we take that concept as gospel, the next question is what does a brand or product need to tell a great story? Let’s look at it from the beginning…

What is content? In this context, content is information created by a person or organisation that is distributed to a wider public audience. More than ever, content is a powerful marketing and communications tool, as the Internet is the new broadcast platform available to virtually everyone. Great content tells a great story, and whether you’re selling tennis shoes, machine parts or accounting services, every brand has a story.

Content-based marketing and how we all consume our media has changed. There are fundamental changes to not only how audiences consume content, but in how we connect with each other and share information. Mobile devices and social networks make our conversations online, instantaneous and public. For brand marketers, this is a new age where the game has changed, and content has a more powerful reign as king.

Because of this unprecedented interconnectivity and access, brands are finding new ways to communicate and influence their target market. Brands are becoming the publishers of content, telling stories to engage new audiences while enabling customers to tell stories of their own. But how does this create better customers?

Engage an audience not just customers Customers are the consumers of a brand’s products and services, so they are already active users. But your audience goes beyond just the customer; it is the seeding ground for tomorrow’s customer. While traditional mainstream advertising still has massive reach, the engagement is shallow. The audience will switch off from the message as quickly as they switched on. Brand publications have the ability to reach and attract that broader group beyond the customer base – to truly find an audience.

Keeping them engaged with your content keeps them exposed to your promotions and advertising. Keeping your advertisement in context is the key delivering your brand message or call to action.

However, it’s important to remember that today’s audience is more sophisticated and better informed than yesterday’s audience. Today’s audience hates being ‘sold to’ or hearing a pitch – in other words, being ‘told’ to buy. Whether print or digital, publications are designed to attract an audience with strong content, and brands should keep that content free of advertising and promotional messages. This doesn’t mean that a publication can’t discuss products of services, but advertising and advertorials should always be clearly marked.

Social Media: Your customers have an audience We are all so plugged in to the Internet that it is just like water from the tap. It continues to morph as it reaches our smart phones, tablets (iPad and the plethora of similar devices hitting the market) and into the depths of our social lives. Because of this, your audience also has an audience. Word of mouth now literally travels at the speed of light, carrying millions of voices along with it. But what’s the message? What is the story these customers are retelling?

Incorporating these communities into a strong brand publication validates not only their experience, but guides the message being told and re-told. Even in print publications, it’s important to remember that you are engaging an audience, and that audience has a voice.

Become the publisher As the brand becomes the publisher it also becomes it’s own news service, delivering not come-ons, but insights, articles and commentary on the market and industry it serves. It becomes not just a supplier, but a recognised authority and a platform to engage audiences and customers.

The methods of reaching an audience, informing and inspiring them through content are myriad. The Internet is extremely efficient in publishing and distributing articles, blogs, video and podcasts, but classic mediums should not be forgotten. These include things like print (magazines, newsletters and whitepapers) and events (seminars, conferences and workshops) where published material is also relevant.

Remember that even in this digitally-driven world, ‘traditional’ is not necessarily a bad word.

Communicating value and experience, not just features and price Many department stores now have their own magazine. Often they no longer produce a catalog or brochure – those details are easily accessed on their websites – but they create a publication that has the look and feel of a magazine you would purchase off a news stand. The department store is going beyond standard print-based marketing, producing magazines that tell us stories about lifestyle. Marketing the ‘experience of new products’, not their features and pricing, is a powerful way to engage customers, and it is the kind of storytelling in which publications excel.

The right ingredients Telling your brand’s story is like developing and refining a recipe. Getting the right mix of ingredients can be trial and error, especially if you are creating your own recipe. We have all these new mediums – the Internet and increasingly ubiquitous devices from which to access it – but also the time-tested formats with which to experiment. The department store is an example of how a traditional business can now use traditional media (magazines) in a way that was previously not relevant. Their recipe for great storytelling has changed, but they are still using the ingredients – print publications and online media – to their full advantage.

Taking the next step

Traditional advertising agencies are great at developing strategic campaigns that have a beginning and an end. A publishing strategy has a beginning with plans for a long, ongoing life. It’s not an ad campaign; it requires thinking and content production outside of the agency box.

For a brand to become a publisher it’s imperative that they find a marketing team with publishing experience, who can think like publishers, and can see the power of this long-term branding concept. The relationship that consumers have with a brand – and your publication will be synonymous with your brand – can be incredibly powerful. But it’s got to be best of breed to truly succeed.

Seth Godin’s digital publishing venture breaks new ground

Mon, 30 May 2011 11:19:43 -0000

By Chris L. Ramsden

For most of us, 29 March 2011 was just another day. But for anyone in publishing, 29 March was the day the world changed. For good.

So what happened? And why should you care?

The Domino Project, a new publishing venture steered by marketer, blogger and best-selling author Seth Godin, announced the release of their second book. The publication, which is really more of a manifesto than a book, looks set to make its mark, as you’d expect from author Steven Pressfield, whose last book, The War of Art, reached a huge audience. But it’s not the book that’s causing a stir; it’s the way it’s being released and distributed. For a limited time only, Do the Work will be free. Do the math

The author and his new publishers aren’t giving Do the Work away without expecting any returns. Far from it. US utility giant, General Electric, is sponsoring the launch of the Kindle edition. “Most of the costs of an ebook are fixed,” explains Seth Godin. “So there’s a great opportunity for a sponsor to subsidize the distribution – readers get the ebook for free, the sponsor benefits by being connected with a great work and perhaps some gratitude from the reader for bringing them an idea that might bring positive change.”

In effect, GE are covering all the initial production and distribution costs, just as if they were publishing a company brochure. And the Domino Project is passing this saving directly on to the reader. But why not just launch the book at its RRP and enjoy the extra margin on each sale? In a struggling market, that’s every publisher’s dream, right?

Not any more. Seth Godin and his team are operating from the premise that traditional publishing is about to draw it’s final breath. The industry’s support structure of high street outlets, newspaper best-seller lists and the printing press is crumbling. With the world online, traditional bookstores can no longer compete with the likes of Amazon for fast, low-cost and convenient distribution. And now, a new breed of publishers are beginning to find new channels for the distribution of content. “We are reinventing what it means to be a publisher,” writes Seth Godin in the Domino Project’s manifesto . “And along the way, we’re spreading ideas that we’re proud to spread.” Publishing and branding

What makes Do the Work a ground-breaking release, however, is GE’s sponsorship. General Electric revamped their brand image in the mid-noughties, adopting the strap line “Imagination at work” to reposition the company as a champion of ideas, innovation and know-how. So it comes as no surprise that they are keen to associate themselves with a brand new manifesto that calls for an innovative approach to production. Neither is it surprising that they want to be the first company to sponsor a Domino Project publication.

The Domino Project is hoping that this will be the first of many sponsorship deals that they can make with companies that understand the value of being associated with new ideas. And, with the support of well-established blogs and Amazon’s own community, every publication stands a chance of going viral – and becoming a best-seller. Listamania

However, best-seller lists are yet another traditional publishing promotional tool dropped by the Domino Project. The reasoning goes something like this: smart readers realize lists such as the New York Times Best-sellers are gamed by publishers. Today, if you want to know what’s popular, there are plenty of other lists out there – Amazon has its own listamania, for example, and it’s driven by a huge community of readers, not publishers. When it comes to influencing our consumer choices, it would seem newspapers have all but lost their leverage. Fueled by thousands of conversations and likes on Facebook, word of mouth has a much higher circulation, and carries much more credibility, than published lists.

“The same thing happened to the Billboard charts once Top 40 radio faded in importance,” says Seth. “New ways of selling books (ebooks, multipacks, etc.) are more important than a label from a newspaper that knows it is publishing a list that isn’t accurate. So we’re ignoring the Times with our books. Not worth the journey.”

The Kindle edition (Amazon’s proprietary ebook distribution system – or ebookstore, if you prefer) of the book is due for release on 20 April. And, at least to begin with, it’s free. Look for our review of the Domino Project’s first book, Poke the Box coming soon.