Monday, January 05, 2009

Music 2.0: a web native Music Industry, by Gerd Leonhard

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Sunday, January 04, 2009

Cycles of Music

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Unforgettable Kisses

How does a brand celebrate a centennial?

Bring out the music and the memories, I say. We supply the music. You fill in the memories.

That’s what we hope to achieve with the release of UNFORGETTABLE KISSES, a CD compilation of songs that contain the word KISS in their titles, produced for Hershey’s Philippines in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Hershey’s Kisses. The CD has ten tracks: nine re-arranged versions of pop hits from the 50’s to the 90’s, remade by some of the country’s better-known bands; and a song specially written for the anniversary.

The songs are amazing! Just check out the line-up:

  1. It’s In Her Kiss (popularized by The Hollies, then by Cher and Vonda Sheppard) - by Itchyworms
  2. Blue Kiss (popularized by Jane Weidlin, formerly of The Go-Go’s) - by Imago
  3. Sealed With A Kiss (popularized by Chad and Jeremy) - by Silent Sanctuary
  4. This Kiss (popularized by Faith Hill) - by Color It Red
  5. Kiss Me (popularized by Sixpence None The Richer) - by Toasted
  6. Kiss On My List (popularized by Hall and Oates) - by Mcoy Fundales
  7. Kissing A Fool (popularized by George Michael, then by Michael Buble) - by True Faith
  8. Till I Kissed Ya (popularized by The Everly Brothers) - by Chillitees
  9. Don’t Talk, Just Kiss (popularized by Right Said Fred) - by Sitti
  10. 100 Kisses (The 100th Anniversary Song) - by Margarita

Listen to snippets of the songs at http://www.kisses100.com.ph. And smile.

The memory rush is about to start!

Happy Anniversary, Hershey’s Kisses!

Unforgettable Kisses CD Cover

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Shift Happens - from SlideShare

I just came across SlideShare, an amazing recommendation - again from Guy Kawasaki. For those of us who love presentation-speak, this is a site to learn from . I strongly suggest you visit it - www.slideshare.net. (A word of waning though: it could be a humbling experience!). This particular presentation was judged The Best at a recent contest. Among the judges was Guy himself.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

The Mass Rail Transit as Marketing Ecosystem

Perhaps there is not better example of what potentially can be a marketing ecosystem unto itself than the local mass rail transit system.

Let's go back to our perhaps overly simplistic characterization of a marketing ecosystem: where buyers and sellers meet, interact and transact.

The mass rail transit system is one such place.

Take for instance our own MRT here in Metro Manila.

We've got a 13-stop system that snakes through 16.9 kilometers of the metropolis' main artery feeding consumers to at least 5 major malls connected to 4 of its stations (not even counting those that are a short walk away).

The system hosts 400,000 rider-consumers each day, with each one staying there for some 20 minutes, including time spent going up to the platforms, lining up for tickets, waiting for the train, riding it, and getting down the exit station.

What can you do with 20 minutes of someone's life? Can you introduce a product? Invite a rider-consumer to try it? Close a sale? Given the proper access and the right tools, you certainly can.

Taking this perspective, the Metro Manila MRT can be viewed as a veritable marketing ecosystem, a living context where a marketer and his 400,000 rider-consumers can meet, interact and transact.

I recently signed a consultancy with the MRT's exclusive marketing arm, Trackworks, precisely because its ownership subscribes to the very same perspective.

After all, in this age of Cluttered Media, how many media vehicles (ooops, no pun intended!) can actually carve out 20 precious minutes in the lives of 400,000 consumers?

So, this is where we start our journey. This blog is about the concept of a marketing ecosystem, and how marketers should seriously consider these as legitimate media and sales options. Read on to find out whether our Big Idea will be validated, or will go up in smoke.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

The Marketing Ecosystem

We've heard it all before. We are an overly-communicated society. There is so much communication clutter. We are seeing the death of advertising as we know it.

Because of the above, concepts such as out-of-home media, intercept marketing, personal media networks have gained favor among marketers.

I was struck though when a few years back I spotted an article on the online community of fans of the Grateful Dead. (Sorry, I don't have the link to that right now.) The piece sang the praises of a community of like-minded individuals as a marketing dream.

Fast forward to 2006, and my resume now contains stints as broadcaster, advertising suit, PR practitioner, radio and TV producer, recruitment guy, media salesman and payment solutions strategist.

From this mixed bag of experiences, came the question: wouldn't it be great if you could bring together buyers and sellers in one place, and get them to meet, interact and transact?

And my new fascination with Marketing Ecosystems was born. The idea, I'm sure, is not original. Heck, marketplaces have been in existence for thousands of years.

But given the complexities of commerce in a technology-driven world, the need to look at fostering Marketing Ecosystems seems timely. Using the debater's argument, employing the concept is Practicable, Necessary and Beneficial. At least for the Philippines and for Filipinos, I see some applications. Now, whether that's just a third-world aberration, I have yet to find out.

This blog will take you through my own journey, as we try to experiment with the concept in three marketing ecosystems that are within our influence: the mass rail transit system here in Metro Manila, our Internet radio station and our video portal.