WITH LOVE FROM AUS

Tourism Australia has come up with a charming and beautiful film that shows the various aspects of Australia - its architecture, its wild life and so much more.

This new ad, made by M&C Saatchi wants to tell the world that Australia will be waiting with open arms, ready to welcome visitors as soon as normalcy returns. 

Enjoy the wonderfully well shot film and put Australia in your travel plans of the future!

WORLD MANUFACTURING OUTPUT

There is a lot of talk around how the world will change, economies would behave differently and how manufacturing output would shift across nations due to various political and economic reasons. 

Now what will happen in the coming months/years is difficult to predict, but what we can surely see is how the world's manufacturing output set-up is today. 

1. 52% of the world's output is concentrated in Asia, coming from 8 countries led by #China at 4t (28% of the world total) followed by #Japan at 1t (7% of the world total).

2. Although, North America accounts for only 18% of the world's output, #USA occupies 16.65% of the world total, coming second after China. 

3. Europe accounts for 22% with #Germany being equal to the next three nations in terms of output.

4. #India occupies the sixth rank and if it wants to grow into a super power, it will have to continue increasing its share further.

FIRST VIDEO CALL

It was just 10 years back when Steve Jobs was on stage and he announced to the world about the possibility of doing a video call on an iphone 4 through FaceTime. 

He then went and demonstrated it by doing a live call. 

Today, 10 years later, a video call just seems like a part of our normal lives and we take it for granted. It has just been here for a decade. That is the power and speed of technology. 

A decade down the line, we might reflect on something else that would become a part of our normal lives. But for now, enjoy this video from the archives that will show you how the vision of a man brought revolution in the lives of all.

Video Credit: CNET

USE IT - STOP THE SPREAD

This is an advertisement created by Zuck & Berg, Armenia for World Health Organization asking people to stop the spread of the virus. 

How? 

Use your brains - Do not panic and do not fall for rumours, fake news or misinformation.

Use soap - Wash your hands frequently.

Such a powerful visual! Well thought through and quite creative. 

THE TRUST EQUATION

Have you ever heard about the #trust equation? The Trust Equation was first introduced in 2000 by David Maister in his book, 'The Trusted Advisor'.

I came across it quite recently and was intrigued by the factors at play in this equation:
Credibility, Reliability, Intimacy and Self-Orientation. 

The more I understood it, the more it became clearer to me that this is an equation that can be used in so many situations:

1. Companies managing a crisis. 

2. Countries tackling a pandemic. 

3. Leaders leading a change management process. 

4. Individuals working on their personal relationships. 

5. Customer service dealing with disgruntled customers.

I am sure there are many other situations where the trust equation can help us move forward in the right way. 

For me, there is one factor missing in this equation and I would add that too. That factor is EMPATHY. I strongly believe that empathy is an important element in building trust. 

I wanted to share this with all of you as well, in case you have not seen or heard about the Trust Equation before.

ZOOM ART GALLERY

Zoom has launched a new art gallery of Zoom backgrounds to add some fun to the meetings, but more importantly , to support artists during this pandemic.

The background art, designed by different artists can be downloaded from a site called Meeting Masterpieces, where people can donate either to the artist or to a charity of their choice.

The project has been launched by New York based consultancy co:collective. The site features work from a diverse array of talented artists. Each background is either a pre-existing piece from the artist or a new custom creation.

Artists can either direct payments straight to their personal accounts, or they can recommend a suggested charity donation.

 

This is a wonderful example of communities coming together to help each other, to uplift each other.

Book Review: Shoe Dog

Just finished reading Shoe Dog, a memoir of Phil Knight, the man behind Nike. It's quite a fascinating read, and Phil has opened his heart and his life to the readers and shared in complete honesty all his mistakes, his fears, his vulnerabilities. This makes you be a part of Phil’s journey rather than reading from a distance about an accomplished person. 

Some interesting facts that you will read in this book are: 

• Phil Knight’s travel to Japan as well as his climb to Mount Fuji.
• How Phil had a shoe selling business for many years before the #Nike brand came into existence. 
• How the name Nike got formed and who was the person behind this name. 
• How the Nike Swoosh logo got made and why Phil decided to go forward with it, despite not liking it much. 
• The way Nike worked on #innovation and how it overtook Adidas and Puma who were giants when Nike was starting out. 
• Phil’s personal life, how he met his wife, his relationship with his parents and his own love for sports. I must say that the last 40 pages of the book are just brilliant and come as the perfect icing on the cake.

CHECK LIST

If are a marketer or an agency that works on a brand and wondering what kind of #marketing you should be doing at this time, then the answer is simple.

You need to be considerate, compassionate and humane.

Put out your brand message, if and only if it helps the receiver in this difficult time, and if you are unsure then this check list from #Ogilvy should help you.

HISTORY OF PANDEMICS

'The world is a global village' - this quote hasn't had a far more significant impact than now, in this uncertain time when an event that started in one part of the world has raised its tentacles and reached all the other parts of the world as well.

In the last 100 years, the outbreak of #Coronavirus is the eighth time that the WHO has declared a pandemic.

However, if you look back into history over the centuries, as the human species has evolved and developed, pandemics have always been around - some big, some small.

Here are two infographics that will take you through the history of pandemics and the death toll of each one of them.

As is evident, with more and more advancement in medical science, we have been able to control these pandemics in a better way.

However, the first step always is

#Intent and #Action. That is what makes the difference.

We can overcome this one too if our intent is right and our actions then back that intent.

You and I have to work on it together. It is no more about them, it is about us!

LEGO + SUPER MARIO = DOUBLE EXCITEMENT!

The sole objective of a teaser video is to get people excited about the final product. This new video from two iconic companies - the LEGO Group and Nintendo does exactly that.

Yesterday, the two companies announced their partnership in launching a new product - Lego Super Mario that will be hitting the stores later this year.

As per their press release, 'Neither a video game nor a traditional LEGO brick-based set, LEGO® Super Mario™ is a new product line that features an interactive LEGO Mario figure who collects coins in real-life game levels created with LEGO bricks. The new line will let kids experience the playful world of Super Mario like never before.'

However, I feel that this new launch will also get all those adults excited who spent hours in their childhood, either being Super Mario and rescuing the princess or using Lego to give wings to their imagination.

I must say that those sound effects brought back so many memories and a gush of nostalgia! Looking forward to what this partnership entails.

SAMSUNG MICROCODES

In the current world of noise and clutter, it's always a challenge for #brands to get the attention of their target audience.

Every marketer keeps thinking of new ways of reaching their consumer through their advertising and #communication. Now what if you start incentivising people to watch your ads across the different platforms? That is exactly the idea behind #Samsung Microcodes.

This is an initiative in Australia where, Samsung Australia has hidden codes in their ads around the country to celebrate the launch of the Galaxy S20. These codes are extremely tiny and could be hidden in their TV ads, posters, online ads, mobile ads or any other #advertisement that they roll out. The first one to find a winning code gets a free Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G!

Such a creative way to engage people, get them to pay attention to every ad on every platform and also build excitement for the new launch!

HAVE A BREAK, HAVE A KITKAT YOGHURT SAKE!

#Japan is known for introducing exotic flavours of KitKat every year and a lot of those flavours may not even be accepted beyond the island, but these innovations drive the brand in Japan in a big way.

Their recent launch is KitKat Yoghurt Sake, which is an extension to the Sake KitKat that was launched in 2016. This new variant is in collaboration with former Japanese soccer star and now accomplished sake connoisseur Hidetoshi Nakata, who is bringing this special sake combination - rice wine made with super rich Jersey yoghurt into the chocolate world.

As a #chocolate lover and a KitKat fan, you may or may not be comfortable with the idea of seeing #KitKat in such a unique flavour, however the Japanese consumer will be paying a premium price for these chocolates coming in an eye-catching sky-blue packaging.

If you are a tourist traveling to Japan anytime soon, these alcoholic Kitkats might be something you want to add to your souvenir list.

If you want to know how KitKat become such a big craze in Japan, then this NY Times article would be the perfect place to start. Be prepared to be surprised and shocked.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/24/magazine/candy-kit-kat-japan.html

TOAST IT THE WAY YOU LIKE IT!

Although bread is eaten universally, not everyone likes to have their bread toasted at the same level. Some like it lightly toasted while others like it to be dark.

However, most toasters only have two settings - burnt and not burnt. You can do your own trial and error to get the perfect toast but it is never consistent.

The R180 toaster from Revolution in USA doesn’t have that problem. They turned an insight into an opportunity and it lets you toast your toast exactly how you want it.

To let people know about this toaster, they launched a print ad where they showed all the possible shades of toast that you can achieve and they smartly used a colour swatch card to drive the point by converting it into a toast swatch card.

Innovation in product, creativity in communication - a perfect combination.