Well I just got a new Macbook and boy is it awesome. Now I’m not the first person to think this, but having made the switch from PC to Mac (I’m no longer “a PC”…) all I can say is I now understand fully why people become fanatical about Apple.

What captured my attention was that the branding, the funky stuff you know and love from the ads, carries on even once you turn your macbook on for the first time. The Mac OS X introduction video – slick and welcoming makes the experience of turning on your new macbook fun and you can’t wait to see what happens next.

However this is where my gripe begins because what happens next is highly frustrating. Updates, updates, updates…

Quite simply, there is not much point in building a great brand through great advertising, creating a great first time experience but then rendering all that great brand work USELESS by forcing upon users a very “PC-esk” plethora of software and operating system updates. Over a gig of updates – just to make my macbook ‘secure and stable’? Who in Apple slacked off at the final hurdle? Why release something that clearly isn’t ready…

But of course this is not just something that is limited to Apple users, it affects every computer user. Windows, as you may have experienced, is just as bad. But it seems to be more and more common, as if software or hardware companies believe we have accepted that patches and updates are part and parcel of any new product.

Well I can’t say I feel that way. To me, nothing destroys brand cred more than making it plain to your customers that you rushed a product out the door without giving thorough testing first.

Is there anything we can do as consumers? Perhaps a collective push back to the decision makers at these organisations.

If we don’t tell them…they’ll never pick up on it themselves.

Shaken.

You’re in a job and just cruising. Your days blend into one another. Stimulating, invigorating events don’t happen enough. Getting shaken is a move or change in lifestyle or professional development. Shaking your life up is not natural, and doing it is often a little scary. Leave your job, or ask for a new role. Challenge your friendships – are they providing you with the stimulus you need to grow? Get out of town if you need to. Get a little scared.

Shaken – the catalyst for stirred.

Stirred.

Once the froth has settled, you’ll find the benefits of being shaken are bouts of sudden clarity around the direction you want to take your life. Being stirred to do something, make a change or start a new business is an exciting time and can be quite challenging. But if you get stirred, be prepared for a host of new experiences to occur as a result.

Drunk?

And the product of being shaken then stirred? Well you could say it’s being drunk – drunk off success.

The Martini theory is only in its early stages of development at the moment and it would be great to hear your thoughts or experiences, if you’ve gone through these phases before yourself.

I’m bored with how the only time I ever see you is when you’re out on the street asking me for money.

I’m bored with the doomsday talk.

I’m bored with constant appeals that shout the same message at me.

I’m not listening anymore; but I want to listen – just not to the same old noise. “support”, “donate”, “volunteer”, “desperate assistance”

I think there are two issues with the way not-for-profits and/or aid organisations are opperating these days.

1. They generally try to engage people at the problem through largely negative stories (but we’ve almost become numb to these through repetition)

2. They like the safety of traditional modes of communication – TV, magazines ads etc (but many people don’t read magazines or watch TV much so how can they see these?)

There is a new generation of highly socially aware individuals earning income and looking for a way to help these organisations. But they don’t want to help in the traditional way. It’s no longer sensible to ignore new ways of communicating to them. Online is the key. Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m seeing few examples of leadership from the not-for-profit community in engaging with online mediums.

Take for example the Red Cross. A quick search on Facebook shows a number of Groups for various international chapters – none of which have over 6,000 members.  The biggest group  is  “Invite a friend and I will give  $1 to American Red Cross” – a group created by an individual, Jeff Epp, which has 50,000 members.

Why doesn’t the Red Cross official groups have hundreds of thousands of members? Because they have yet to change the way they talk to people. Using Facebook and the like requires a new approach, one that is innovative, inclusive and challenging the norm.

There are a few making headway – check out the Field News section of  www.doctorswithoutborders.org for some good original video and podcast content. If you have anymore examples I’d love to hear them.

So internet TV has been around a while now in the form of things such as Apple TV and streaming video from broadcasters such as CNN (here in New Zealand we have it in the form of TVNZ ondemand). 

Though we have certainly not reached tipping point in terms of  popularity, I predict 2009 will be the year that internet TV will really start to become a viable option for many more households.

And it makes sense, especially when you compare the cost of using internet TV vs a satellite or cable subscription.

For example, in New Zealand we get our digital television through Sky TV and they pretty much have a monopoly in the market. I was thinking lately about how much real value I get for the $80 a month I pay for a subscription to Sky. The answer, bugger all. I watch maybe four channels out of the 40 or so available on a regular basis. I’m getting ripped off.

And this is where internet TV will change things because I no longer have to pay for what I don’t watch – I only pay for what I do watch -  and I watch it when I want to.

There’s also some exciting stuff coming around the corner in terms of aggregation of internet TV channels. I was listening to the Internet Marketing Weekly podcast recently and it mentioned a new business called Boxee. Boxee looks to be leading the way in terms of providing a programme that not only aggregates a number of online streaming TV channels, but also aggregates all the media on your computer including music and photos. AND it provides information on what your friends are viewing at the same time, allowing you to jump in and watch the shows their watching as well.

I think this is pretty exciting as it takes the ‘home media centre’ idea and connects it with the social networking space. Boxee is only in Alpha right now but if all goes well it could make a big splash in 09 in a similar way to that of Twitter in 2008.

Anyway, what I’m finding is that while the products are great, the way they are delivered to the world is lacking in sex appeal. In fact I think I’ve stumbled upon a little marketing gold mine…

Ok, so what I’m saying might sound a little obvious, but I think there’s a real need for good communications advice in the IT industry – especially to start-ups. It’s during the start-up phase that IT companies need to sell themselves the most. To potential investors and potential customers.

But so often the message communicated is focused towards an IT and tech audience. Now I don’t blame the business owners for this. When your engrossed in the day to day development of your business it’s easiest to stick with what you know. But in New Zealand especially, the tech audience is small and there isn’t a lot of money to be found. The key may just lie in making IT sexy -  changing the message appeal to a wider business audience.

This means not talking product in terms of what it does, how it works or who it’s for. In fact it shouldn’t even be about the product in the first instance.

It should be about a need. What need exists that this product is out to solve? Why should I care? What’s the so what that makes this product unique?

There are, of course, a few IT products that cannot, and do not need to be made sexy. But I challenge any tech/IT start-ups to think about how they communicate their business in a fresh light. It may be a case of getting a communications consultant in to give the business the “outside in” perspective required to create a message that appeals to those fat cat investors.

Read them, and you’ll probably find like I did, that they are rather common sense. And probably of more interest is the way the relate to the ethics of ‘real world’ marketing. In the real world:

• a company wouldn’t get away with pretending to be something they’re not
• a company wouldn’t get away (these days) with blatantly lying about their product or service
• an employee wouldn’t disclose confidential company information in an email to their friends

So why do companies and individuals think that the rules are different online? Although the internet may seem quite a inconspicuous place – the amount of tracking that now goes on means that it won’t be long before the truth comes out.

Companies should just stop trying to be ‘tricky’ about marketing online and just do as they usually do. People say the rules are different – I believe they are very much the same.

David Meerman Scott’s Social Media Guidelines:

1. Transparency
–Never pretend to be someone you are not

2. Privacy
–Unless given permission, don’t blog about something disclosed to you

3. Disclosure
–Disclose anything people might consider a conflict of interest

4. Truthfulness
–Don’t lie

5. Credit
–Give credit to bloggers (and other sources) whose material you have used in your blog

I don’t think I can disagree with that…

What was interesting was Adshel’s “six keys to maximising marketing success”, namely:

1. Become part of their ‘third place’

2. Acknowledge their understanding of media

3. Talk with them not at them

4. Be true to the brand

5. Communication is a two-way street

6. Help them navigate the sea of information

Very interesting. In my mind I think they have a few good points here about how I would like to be marketed to.

What do you think? Is connecting with Gen Y more difficult than just following these six key points?

Now, I’m proposing a new way of thinking of an apple a day. Food for thought? Absolutely.

Consider thinking of an apple as a nice, round, juicy piece of knowledge or an experience. Something that you can really sink your teeth into. Something that you didn’t know before, or something you did that really made you go - ”yum!”

Today my apple was found in a visit to Te Papa National Museum in the Blood, Earth, Fire exhibition. Here I watched a short film titled My Place.

“‘My Place’ introduces striking and beautiful places around the country where people will show you the place that is most important to them – their place!”

Doesn’t sound overly life changing, but in fact it really made me understand that passion exists in many forms and many pastimes. And for many people this passion is connected to the land. Luckily in New Zealand we have many naturally inspirational places (which probably makes finding apples quite easy). I left wondering where “my place” could be…

What tomorrow’s apple might be – I don’t know. But I’m keen to get out of the office and find one.

(Note: I recommend your apples are not work related experiences or knowledge. Let them be connected to your hobbies, interests or just daily life beyond work).

And because apples are best when fresh and crispy – make sure you pick them from different “branches” and in different “seasons” - that’s places, people or encounters.

Make sense?

With these apples you’ll get more than just clean teeth after eating (or is that an old wives’ tale too?)

Crunch.

Michael Albert “Sir Real Red Apple Man”, 1994

thanks robbweb2k for this image (oh and I guess Facebook)

I’d consider myself a pretty difficult person to engage with in terms of online ads. I’m not much for clicking through but lately I have been engaged, to some extent, by clicking on a thumbs rating for many of the ads on Facebook. 

As far as I’ve seen Facebook is the only website to have this feature. Why? Imagine how much more valuable online advertising would be if you could collect direct feedback from the people you are trying to reach at the very point they engage with your ad.

It’s only a matter of time, surely.

Other developers build to make a name for themselves

Which is the most inspiring?