It’s no surprise that in this month’s edition of Fast Company (March 2010), Facebook was number one on the list of “The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies”. Facebook will continue to innovate at light speed and will continue to nab users from other social media networking sites based on their easy to use platform, navigation structure, its variety of applications, and popularity factor-everyone and just about every company, wants to be on Facebook now. Are you on Facebook…?
“350 million users is good, but it’s just a start. We’re in our sweet spot now” states Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder and CEO and former Harvard student. Facebook more than doubled its user base last year which is quite amazing. We believe it will continue to grow leaps and bounds in the coming months-we’re talking in the millions of users. We applaud Facebook’s ability to secure and maintain their competitive advantage in the social media space. They really know how to differentiate themselves and how to come up with fresh ideas for consumers, businesses, and organizations.
It appears that Facebook is positioned to maintain their momentum based on their growing executive team (and talent), engineers, and staff members. They are open to test new ideas, concepts, and applications which will do them well. Like Google, Intel, and Microsoft, Facebook has proven to be innovators even in the “Face” of this new economy.
We appreciate the fact that Facebook is not afraid to pull “all nighters” to write their code and applications due to time and competitive reasons. We enjoy the sound user experience and online networking potential that Facebook creates and we tip our hats to the folks at Facebook.
Traditional PR will never die. Or will it? Digital PR is creating local, regional, national and global awareness-digitally. That is, using all digital media to get the word out, to tell stories, promote product launches, brands, and events across all media outlets. Instead of sending the traditional press kits, making the traditional phone calls, and setting up press meetings, PR firms, including 5 Creative Group, use “the wires” to distribute press releases and can help speed-up the process of getting a message in the hands of journalists, publishers, radio personalities, News reporters, TV show hosts, major websites, etc. What’s more, all the social networking, blog sites, forum sites, and video broadcasting sites help gain digital awareness too. In our book, both traditional PR and digital PR are effective and in many cases necessary. Let’s get the story out and let’s get it out fast-about 25 minutes to be exact with the digital wires! For more information, visit www.5creativegroup.com.
Digital Media can mean a lot of things depending on who you talk to. Wikipedia, Google, Bing, dictionary.com-they’re all good sources. At 5 Creative Group, we use the phrase, Digital Media as keywords that summarize some of the key services that we do. This includes everything related to the Internet that can fast-forward and change business models, including corporate websites, digital catalog sites, social media sites, blog sites, video broadcasting sites, micro sites, and ecommerce. We also use it loosely to refer to everything digitally related for the other services that we offer-digital photography, video production, and digital PR. New media and the digital lifestyle is changing the way we do business. We have to stay on top of it all.
With innovative Internet based technology and software being developed on a daily basis, everything seems to get smarter, faster, and sleeker. Digital technology will continue to evolve and we want to be a part of this future and stay ahead of the curve. Of course, we strive to enable our clients to leverage digital media to grow their organizations and to grow them at light speed. For more information, visit www.5creativegroup.com
Let’s face it, Social Media, blogging and video broadcasting is now mainstream and for good reason. The Internet is extremely powerful and high technology is changing the way we operate and how we market our products and services. It’s also impacting our everyday culture. Technology, pop culture, and our teens, have influenced how we communicate. To some degree, it is the younger crowd and Gen Yer’s that have created the initial buzz, popularity, culture and utility of social media with MySpace. Then came Face Book, Twitter and LinkedIn and the list goes on and on.
Social media, blogging, and video broadcasting sites are popping up like wild fire. These are great digital communication tools that can increase name recognition for companies and individuals. We help businesses leverage and maintain these tools and add them to the mix. So, tweet, post, blog, broadcast, create communities, groups, and promote yourself and organization to the world. Now that is power! What could be next? Probably better tools, more functionality, more video, and of course more users. Visit www.5creativegroup.com for more information.
We were thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in the 9th Annual Hallway Golf Tournament and charity event, hosted by our client, Mitsubishi Digital Electronics. Our hats are off to the MDEA Marketing department for organizing such an amazing, creative and one-of-a-kind golf and film festival that brought the community, MDEA staff members, and vendors together under one roof.
The event consisted of a multi-departmental team effort who collectively designed a movie themed, indoor golf course that took place among all offices. The hallway golf and film festival included block buster movie themes such as, Pirates of the Caribbean, Shrek, Office Space and The Wizard of Oz.
All donations from this event went directly to local schools to help fund equipment and supplies for school aged children and their facilities. This event was supported by Mitsubishi vendors, HOPE, and Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation. 5 Creative Group looks forward to participating in the 10th Annual Tournament in 2010!
As a high school athlete, I’ll never forget the cheerleaders that used to cheer those famous words, “Go…Fight…Win!” Such words can also be helpful for business professionals looking to get ahead. As business owners, managers, and employees we need to be driven, positive and optimistic about our future, particularly in a fiercely competitive business world, not to mention a challenging economy. So, what does the famous cheer, “Go…Fight…Win” really mean?
“Go…”
“Go” means to get out there and do it! It requires us to do something, to take action, and to be fearless about it. Whether in business or competitive sports, we cannot afford to hesitate or to take a passive approach to anything and sometimes we just need to go for it. This may mean getting out in the field and knocking on doors (AKA: “Cold Calling” and it works!) even if you are the sales manager or the owner of a company. It may mean visiting that out of state customer, taking initiative on a special project or implementing that innovative marketing program to differentiate your company. It may mean embracing new technology like Blog or video broadcasting websites, implementing a new software to streamline your business or to pick up the phone to listen to a customer to solve a given problem. If we want to consistently be at the top of our game, we have to take this first step, we have to be willing to “Go!”
“Fight…”
“Fight” means to look your competition in the eye, to engage fully, to strive vigorously and to give an all out battle. It means to be tactical, to work smart and to utilize everything you have in order to win. In business, this may equate to strategically positioning a company in the marketplace, working extra hours and pursuing a task, project, or new customer without ever giving up. We have to be relentless. Sometimes, we have to pick ourselves up by our boot straps, roll up our sleeves and endure some measure of pain to achieve our goals and objectives. If you’re in the trenches then push, pull, and do what it takes to get your self out. Nothing can replace hard work. Execute your strategy and keep pushing it to win. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”, right? Keep going we’re going to make it- “Fight, Fight, Fight…”
“Win…”
“Win” means to succeed by striving, to overcome an adversary and to be victorious. In both sports and in business, we must be prepared in order to win. Many athletes have to train and practice the same techniques over and over again until they internalize their skills. In business, many times “winning” does not necessarily mean beating out our competition but it means maximizing our own opportunities.
We should prepare for our fiscal year, develop business plans, create marketing strategies and plan each day in order to reach successful outcomes. We need to make the customer 100% satisfied and exceed their expectations, always a big win. We need to complete our projects and tasks successfully and do them with a smile on our face. We should plan ahead, invest in technology, implement creativity and create a clear distinction between our company brand and the other brands. We need to work smart, maintain sound business ethics and have poise. We need to enjoy our work, have the passion to succeed and the heart to win! Does this all sound too demanding? It is. Yet, we all know where we can use some improvements and may have our own descriptions of what it means to win. Perhaps we all need to be reminded of these simple truths on a daily basis.
In summary, sometimes we need to be our own “cheerleaders.” Other times we need to be like the team captain and be able to “fire-up” and encourage our staff members so that we can all perform at the highest level and pull together as a team. As both athletes and business professionals, we need to possess the courage to “Go, Fight, and Win.”
It has been said before, “every second counts.” This is true in sporting events where a fraction of a second can mean the difference between a Gold and Silver metal or a win or loss; it’s true with reporters where they attempt to be the first one to break a news segment, and in our everyday life, every second counts as we live in a competitive world. In the past, journalists’ would report news by the hour, yet with the Internet, we now have access to all sorts of news by the second. Seconds matter with the Internet, TV, radio, print, and outdoor advertising mediums as well. These mediums create perception values and cause us to formulate opinions about a brand, product or organization within “a second.”
Clearly, the Internet has transformed the way that organizations advertise, promote their product and conduct business. It has altered the way that we spend our personal time and the way we communicate with one another. The Net has made an impact on our culture, worldwide. Through social media and video broadcasting websites and through email and texting, we can send a message and communicate with another person or organization by the second. Ok, so perhaps it takes a few seconds to click our mouse or to use our hand-held touch screen, mobile devices, but it does take a second to initiate or to transmit the message.
Through YouTube, Yahoo and Google, we can now broadcast videos across the globe and it can hit the internet within seconds which can serve as incredible advertising tools. Video is now mainstream media. For those of us that are sometimes too busy to catch the latest movie or concert, we can at least watch a trailer or see a video clip of our favorite concert on one of these high tech, yet easy to use broadcasting sites. We can post a message on Twitter and within seconds our business partners or friends can know the status of a project, our traveling schedules, etc. Or, we can Instant message them. We can send a message or invite someone from across the world to join our Facebook or LinkedIn page and get back in touch or network with them. The opportunities are endless and we need to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to innovative technology if we are to remain competitive. We need to always be thinking ahead of the game.
When it comes to advertising, whether it be through traditional methods or new media, it can take less than a second for an individual to see a brand name on a banner ad and to receive the targeted message. It takes a second to visit a new website homepage, to glance at an email marketing ad that was emailed to us, or to read a press release distributed by one of the wires. Speaking of “the wires” such as PR Newswire and PR Buisnesswire, we can disseminate a targeted press release to literally thousands of media outlets with a click of a button (seconds) which can then get “picked up” and reviewed by a major online or offline outlet and get published. Yes, the Internet has shifted the way we get the news out, the way we make purchases and do transactions and the way we advertise and brand a company.
Like banner ads that we see at the top of websites and blog sites, print ads can have the ability to engage someone’s interest within a split second. Our eyes, which are an extension of our brains, see the creative print advertisement, we connect the creative message with the brand name or logo mark on the page and perhaps take an action. The same goes with corporate brochures, package design, and signage-they can have an impact within a second.
In many ways, we do live in a fast paced society with an “I want it now” attitude and culture. So many times, we will tune in for a second, look, touch, listen (or smell) and take action. Just like sporting events, in advertising, every second does count in terms of captivating a target audience or segment group.
Let’s maximize every second of our lives and every second of our advertising opportunities to sustain long term relationships-business or personal, increase name recognition, and to get quantifiable advertising results. Let’s let every second count!
We are pleased to announce our new blog site on WordPress!
Yes, it has finally arrived…We have been so busy working on setting up blog sites and doing video broadcasting for our cherished customers (and all the heavy duty marketing, PR, branding, online advertising, etc.) and now we have finally seized the opportunity to create our own blog site on WordPress.
Stay tuned for new and exciting posts as we will begin our WordPress journey with you.
Thank you!
The 5 Creative Group Team
5creative
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