Journal

Listening To Vampire Lovers

: Image by bryancrump via Flickr

If you’ve got teenage kids, you’re probably aware of Twilight. Even if you don’t have teenagers, or aren’t even parents at all, it’s pretty hard to miss the pop culture phenomenon that is the Twilight saga.

Set over four books, it’s the tale of a love story between a teenage human girl and a teenage vampire boy. It’s not the greatest of stories and critics have complained about author Stephenie Meyer’s’ writing style, but none of that matters – the saga is a huge success.

The reason? It knew its audience – mainly teenage girls – and marketed to them accordingly.

The movie based on the first book was also a major success over the Christmas period, due in no small part to the incredibly good-looking and talented cast that brought the pages to life and the director that gelled it all together. While it swayed from the plot of the book in parts, fans were already looking forward to the next movie.

Then things started to go wrong.

The director of the first movie left, stating that the schedule of the next movie clashed with her timetable (although another view was that she clashed with some of the lead actors). A new director (Chris Weitz, who directed The Golden Compass based on another fantasy series) was brought in and this is where the fans are starting to show their disdain for the choice.

The supporting cast for the second movie includes actors that have appeared in High School Musical, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and The Suite Life with Zack and Cody. The feeling amongst the fans of the book series is that the director and producers of the next movie are going for “the Disney crowd” to try and expand the audience.

This is where they’re making their mistake, and it’s one that isn’t just restricted to movie studios.

Know Your Audience

It’s a given that you need to move on and explore new areas, or else you’ll be left standing while others around you are grazing from pastures new. But why do so many businesses seem intent on alienating their existing customer base while they look for new ones?

Your customers are the best PR, marketing, advertising and customer service employees your business will ever have. You don’t pay them to stay with you – they’re there because they want to be. You offer something they want, and you offer it in the way they want it as well. You really want to lose all this just to go for the in-fashion crowd of the moment?

Vampires Are Immortal – You Aren’t

Part of the attraction of the Twilight series is that it offers an idyllic view of what vampire life is like. The early pain of transformation gives way to the deliverance of extraordinary talents and strengths. Not to mention everlasting life and never growing old.

Businesses don’t have that luxury. While the company may initially be full of incredibly talented people across the board, temptations and dangers always hover in the background. Better paid jobs elsewhere for star employees and unwanted takeovers from larger competitors are just some of the possibilities.

So having a strong customer base is key to help you through these challenges. They’re the ones that will stay with you, the company, even if their favourite salesperson has left. They’re the ones that will buy your products, boost your profits that in turn will help you stave off competition and make you stronger.

Leaving them in the lurch for Johnny-come-lately will only serve to antagonize them and make them question your leadership. Once that happens, it’s game over. Sure, you can go after new blood – but that’s going to cost you and it’s also time-consuming. Do you have both in abundance?

There’s nothing wrong in looking to change your environment – stagnation is second only to ignorance when it comes to bad business practice. But change is only good when it involves everyone – remembering the people who put you in the position to consider change in the first place shouldn’t even be something you need to think twice about.

It’s not too much to ask – is it?

An Update on the 12for12k Challenge

Now that the 12for12k Challenge has officially launched, it?s beginning to catch the imagination of the media.

The challenge has already been featured in the Mississauga News in the Greater Toronto Area, and the press release is being picked up by various online media outlets.

On top of that, I will be interviewed on Toronto news station CityNews by CityNews reporter Kris Reyes. The interview will take place on the morning of Thursday 8th January, with probable airing time that same evening.

Today (Tuesday January 6) also sees me discuss 12for12k with Beth Harte at The Cause Is The Habit, an online discussion station, where people can learn more about the 12for12k Challenge and how to help the charities involved. You can take part in the discussion by joining in here from 7.00pm EST this evening and selecting the Causechat option from the navigation menu.

With the holiday season well and truly behind us, the big promotional push to raise awareness of the challenge begins in earnest. This is where you can help as well, by telling your friends, family and co-workers about it. If you need any promotional items or details how to donate, you?ll find all you need here.

Thanks for being with us so far – let?s push on and make the first charity WarChild a success.

Donate to WarChild

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment and subscribe to my RSS feed or via email to ensure you can enjoy the latest post(s).

Koodo Mobile – Does “So Bad It’s Good” Work?

Part of my background is in corporate telecoms, from my days working in the UK before I moved to Canada. Also, my wife works at the biggest business telecommunications solutions provider in Canada – so between us we know how cut-throat and competitive the telecoms industry is.

Koodo Mobile is a new company whose sole aim is to take on the established mobile providers in Canada – Bell, Telus, Rogers and others – and offer simpler, less constrictive options:

No excess fees
No system access fee
No activation fee

Such is Koodo’s approach to cutting the unwanted extras on mobile packages that they call it “fat-free mobility”. No hidden costs and plans and handsets that suit the most important people – you, the customer.

Which makes the adverts from Koodo so perplexing.

If I was someone looking to buy a mobile handset or take advantage of service plans that suit me, then there’s no doubt that Koodo’s approach would make the company very attractive to me.

That is, until I see their adverts.

Perhaps they’re going for the “so annoying it sticks” approach. If they are, then fair play to them, it worked. However, by also inferring that their phones are for idiots – “but you don’t have a degree in mathematics” – as well as using an annoying infomercial approach, they actually put me off them as a customer.

But maybe I’m wrong. After all, I’m talking with you about it now, so that means their advertising worked, right? Or does it? Can an advert still be classed a success if the talk is for the wrong reasons?

Here’s one of their videos. Would you buy one of their handsets or does the advert put you off? I’d love to know what you think.

Choosing Bus Stops

: Image by threecee via Flickr

Yesterday I mentioned that I see myself as a chartered bus driver, and this blog as the bus with you as the passengers. I wanted to let you know that without passengers, buses don’t really have a need for existence, so your travels with me are important.

I want to expand on that a little and look at you and the buses you drive, and how you can help your own passengers.

Everyone Is On a Journey.

Some will always be passengers, happy to be along for the ride and meeting new passengers along the way.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this, and the interaction you gain from fellow passengers makes the journey even more interesting. Yet for every passenger, there’s also a bus driver – so how can you make your bus the one people want to travel on?

Be a Sales Person.

It might seem that a bus driver only has the one job – getting you to your destination – but there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes. He (or she, although I’ll use “he” just for easier use, if that’s okay) has to be the public face of the company he works for. He has to offer a positive view of the company at all times, and ensure that passengers stay with his service and not try someone else.

Be the sales person for your company. It doesn’t matter what your role in the business is – CEO, director, customer service or mail-room guy, every single thing you do reflects on your employers. If you give off a positive vibe, that will come across to the people you deal with every day, either in public or cross-company.

Times are hard enough as it is, without businesses crumbling from within – help make it the place you’d buy from and the positive knock-on effects can be long-term.

Safety First.

A bus driver has to make sure his passengers arrive safely. While they are on his bus, their well-being is paramount. He may have had a crappy day so far, or he may be going through personal issues, but they have to take a back seat while his passengers are traveling with him.

If you’re a business owner, look after your employees. Not just their physical well-being (although this is important) but their mental well-being as well. Be the approachable boss that really cares about how his workers are feeling, and have an open-door policy at all times. If you’re too busy at a given time, make the time later to speak with someone – and stick to it.

Time you have plenty of – happy employees are harder to come by. Make yourself available and keep an eye in your mirror at all times.

Be a Mind Reader.

To ensure his passengers are safely delivered to their destination, a bus driver has to be aware of his surroundings, both inside the bus and on the roads it’s traveling on. Other vehicles pulling out suddenly; red lights being jumped; pedestrians stepping off the sidewalk; how his passengers are interacting with each other – a bus driver needs to be aware of all this and more as he goes about his job. Mind reading becomes second nature.

Learn to read minds as well. If you’re running a business, monitor the tactics of your competitors and learn to gauge what their next move will be. Converse with your customers to plan ahead for the next three months, six months, a year even – keep abreast of what they want to help you get to where you want to be.

If you’re an employee, learn how your company works and what makes your leaders tick. Be pro-active at making their job easier, which in turn makes your job easier, which in itself makes the company more attractive and encourages success. Even in your personal life, be aware of those around you and where they want to be – knowing that will let you help then get there sooner, and you with it.

There are many kinds of bus drivers, just as there are many kinds of passengers. Which one you want to be is up to you, and there truly is no right or wrong.The one thing that does connect everyone is the journey itself.

How will you travel this year?

New Year, New Look But Same Old Me

: Image by M.Omair ( A New Beginning ) via Flickr

Regular readers of this blog have probably noticed that it’s gone through a bit of a facelift. While the old theme I was using was perfectly fine aesthetically and functionally, I just felt that it was time for a fresh lick of paint to suit where I am in life at the minute.

The end of 2008 saw a lot of changes in my life, loss being just one of them (albeit a very large one). One of the things that loss does is make you take stock of everything around you, and one of the things I realized was that there was a lot of clutter in there that didn’t need to be.

So, time for a change in all areas of my life. De-cluttering and eliminating waste to focus more on who I want to be with and where I want to be.

Personally I’m making changes, and I know that professionally 2009 promises to be a year of interesting turns. So I guess it’s only natural this carries over to my blog.

Less clutter, more space and easier to get around (hopefully). It’s still going through very minor tweaks but it’s pretty much the end product – I hope you like it. One thing that will remain constant is me (and, again, hopefully that’s okay with you).

So, with a new look it’s probably an apt time to ask you what you want to see in 2009. What do you want me to talk about? What can I do to offer you any kind of information that you may not have had before? I don’t proclaim to know it all (far from it!) but what I can offer I’m more than happy to share.

After all, you make this blog what it is every time you visit and share your views with me. Consider me a chartered bus driver and you’re my passengers – how can I make your ride as enjoyable as possible?