Goodbye my lover

Dear you,

I have moved to a new address and can no longer be found here.

I now live at www.katekendall.com. Come follow me.

From,

An unloved blog

Get a load of this...

As many of you may be aware, I started a new role today. Same company, different position. I will still be working across Marketingmag.com.au from a strategy perspective, but also on the other titles in our online portfolio as Niche's digital director. There's quite a bit of work to do, but for now, I thought I would share some of the sites. And, you know, if you want to pass on any feedback, please do – I'll do my very best to make 'change' (thanks Obama) happen!

• www.niche.com.au
• www.macworld.com.au
• www.marketingmag.com.au
• www.moneysaver.com.au
• www.desktopmag.com.au
• www.australiandesignreview.com
• www.fmmagazine.com.au
• www.helinews.com.au
• www.welcome-to.com

Presentation for OMD's Think Fresh Festival

Social Media: The Future is Now

View more presentations from Kate Kendall.

Last week I gave a presentation at OMD's Think Fresh Festival 2009 on social media with the designated theme of 'The Future is Now'. I find it always hard to pitch a social media talk at the right level due to the drastic variations in knowledge of marketers at the moment, so I hope I got close to catering to the majority of the audience. I would appreciate any comments any of you have on the slides – especially areas for improvement. I thought I would share them now, as like anything in this space, they will be out of date by next month. Oh, and to give you an idea of timing, the presentation's duration was around the 20-minute mark. Thanks. :-)

Branding – logo progression

I wanted to share the following images that I have in the 'Kate vaults'. Perhaps the idea is old, but it's good to curate a few in one place.

It's interesting to see the progression of the brands from a 'visual identity' perspective. I believe the strongest brands witness minimal change over time – timelessness is an important factor for logo design. Coca-Cola is a great example of this as it has hardly changed since inception. On the other hand, Pepsi's ongoing changes do carry the 'spirit' of an age but inconsistency is not a good thing when it comes to branding when you are looking for awareness and recall.

I'm now trying to think of my favourite brand's logo – what's yours? *Off to check out Interbrand's 2008 list*

Which LinkedIn 'collective' are you?

I love LinkedIn, as you may be aware, and am so fascinated by it that I am even thinking about starting a whole website for LinkedIn strategy, tips and tricks... well, perhaps after I get the new blog off the ground. Anyway, on your profile – in the bottom right-hand corner, you can see who else viewers of your profile viewed. I find this very interesting as after a while you begin to identify certain community pockets or collectives that are associated together. I've included mine below and it is certainly is a diverse bunch.


Just a little bit different from Barack Obama's one: ;-)

We aren't the ones selling hope – insecurity in marketing

The old notion is that we as marketers don't really market a product or service to consumers, but rather hope in what that object can do for them – for their lives and everyday existence. You see it in the beauty industry all the time with cellulite lotions and pore-minimising potions that are placebo-licking good.

The other night, I tweeted about how digital innovation in general could be haltered due to too much blinkered thought being focused on Twitter. The hype around Twitter – especially from businesses and marketers – has become almost... well... sad. Sad in the way that we are clinging to the notion that we can make a difference in our consumers' lives, sad in that we are desperate to have a one-on-one connection with them, sad in that we need to believe that our marketing efforts mean something... that they work... that they satisfy a need or want. Twitter provides gratification for this insecurity – when you strip everything back, there's a raw dialogue between provider and consumer, allowing direct feedback, therefore grading marketing efforts if you like.

I recently ran a poll on the site I edit, Marketingmag.com.au, about what is the biggest challenge that marketers face and over a third of responses were to do with measuring ROI. The AMI were actually onto something when they launched the Marketing Value metrics and measurement website last year. I say let's stop focusing on the lure of Twitter, and start focusing on incorporating Twitter elements into all mediums with solid research, measurement and confidence. Then hopefully some of this insecurity about justifying activities will dwindle.

Marketers need to stop pandering about trying to fulfill the wishes of everyone by listening to anyone, and collect the ammunition to make strong marketing decisions themselves.