Wishing You a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2015

Koons Designed the Cover of Grazer’s Book – Clever PR for All Involved

Jeff Koons designed the jacket for producer Brian Grazer’s upcoming book “A Curious Mind: The Secret to a Bigger Life.”

Superproducer Brian Grazer has written a book about…curiosity. Pegged as “non-fiction”, publisher Simon & Schuster signed six-figure deal to publish it. The book will examine how curiosity and the endless search for knowledge drive creativity.

Grazer knows a thing or two about creativity. He has for decades conducted weekly “curiosity conversations” with accomplished strangers. Those conversations inspired Grazer to produce movies and TV shows such as “Splash” and “Arrested Development”.

The book, co-written with business journalist Charles Fishman, will be launched on April 7, 2015. For the book cover, Grazer came up with a brilliant (PR) idea – enlisting the services of artist Jeff Koons for the design. A win-win situation – great PR for Grazer and Koons, as well as free pre-publishing hype which will boost (pre)sales.

Why did Grazer turn to Koons? “When we began discussing a design for the jacket of my book, Jeff Koons was the first person I thought of. His pieces have always spoken to me — they are suffused with positivity. My curiosity conversation with him was one of the earliest and most memorable I’ve had, and I remember being especially struck by how generous and genuinely interested he was, in everything. Curiosity is a very natural thing for him – it is the foundation of his work, and his energy as a human being.”

As for the book cover design itself, Grazer stated: “When you look at the simple sketch he came up with, it has so much life and personality, and there is a celebratory quality to it.”

Whether you like the design or not, you have to agree: it’s a great way to get free publicity.

The Secret Sauce for Working from Home Successfully

No matter if you are a freelancer or a remote worker - there are some steps you have to take to be productive!

1. Be Connected

You need a computer (desktop and/or laptop) with a fast Internet connection. You also need a smartphone to be able to receive and sent text messages and to get alerts. Make sure you have a professional background when you are skyping. (Hint: a bookcase is always appropriate)

2. Create a Pleasant Environment

Make sure you have a quiet and pleasant environment for working. The less distractions, the better you can focus on the job to be done. Sounds, smells and objects create the optimal atmosphere for you to be productive. If you are more productive without music, make sure you have peace and quiet. If you are a fan of feng sui, organize your workspace accordingly.

3. Stick To Your Schedule

Being boss of your own time also means that you have to set your own schedule and time manage yourself. Plan your day ahead, including your activities, deadlines and breaks. As a remote worker, you need to work as if you were in-house.

4. Your Home Office

Your home office is a place of work, so you need to stock it with office equipment (printer, copier) and office supplies (toners, cartridges, paper, pens, paperclips, notepads, envelopes, stamps, etc.). Don’t forget coffee and mineral water!

5. Dress for Success

Even when working from home, dress for success. You can dress casually, but make the effort that your outfit will not be embarrassing when a business acquaintance will visit you unannounced or your boss contacts you via Skype. It will make you feel more business-like and in control.

6. The Human Factor

It is important that freelancers and remote workers meet their clients and coworkers once in a while. Although a lot can be done remotely and in the cloud, there is still no alternative for making a personal (face-to-face) connection.

6. Be Your Own Manager/Boss

To be truly effective and successful, you need to be your own manger and boss yourself around. This might sound funny, but it’s the secret ingredient for success. If you are not tough with yourself, you will be distracted; only do fun stuff and basically waste time. Needless to say, you will pay for that down the road.

7. Keep in Shape
Being glued to your computer screen comes with a price. For many reasons, it’s important that you keep your health (and posture). Allocate time to do sports – walking the dog, working out in a fitness center, running or swimming…whatever fits your lifestyle! Remember: the Romans made a valid point with their “mens sana in corpore sano”!

Do you have more tips and tricks for freelancers and remote workers? Please share them!

New Dutch Brand 'Peut' Challenges the Iron Grip of the Ruling Oil Companies

Fed up with the iron grip that the multinational oil companies hold on local petrol stations, Dutch petrol station owners joined forces and established “The Free Pump” (de vrije pomp).

Peut is the brain child of The Free Pump, the Rotterdam-based cooperative that declared war on Shell, Esso en BP. Peut is an Dutch slang for petrol, so it’s a great brand name. The logo however resembles the Pinterest one with an additional petrol drop. That might get them into hot (legal) water!

The petrol station owners that joined Peut are quite verbal about why they made their move: “We are not into air miles, tiger jumps or whatever else. We as petrol station owners want to be entrepreneurs again and be able to be more economic", said Ewout Klok one of the independent petrol station owners.

Peut might come across as a free and independent rebel, but it is still connected to the big brands. The sad truth is that there are only a few companies in the world that trade in fossil fuels. Private label Peut is therefore supplied by multinationals such as Shell, Esso or (in this case) Argos.

"The multinationals produce so much that they have to trade excess supply in the free market. Independent petrol stations utilize that free market for buying fuel. The independent petrol stations therefore profit from this," explained Aad Correljé, energy specialist at the Clingendael Institute and the Delft University of Technology. "One could compare it with a major brand vs. private label."

The Independent Petrol Station Owners want to conquer the Netherlands. Under the Peut brand, they are planning to operate 300 pump stations nationwide within 5 years. The Peut crowd plans to jointly purchase fuel via the cooperative The Free Pump.

All in all, 100 entrepreneurs and 200 petrol stations are planning to join Peut as soon as their current contracts with the major oil companies expire. Not a bad start! Let’s see how it will pan out…

How Paper Magazine Used Kim Kardashian and Social Media To Promote Its Printed Issue

Paper Magazine used a clever strategy to promote its printed magazine - social media!

Founded and launched in 1984, Paper magazine is a New York City-based independent magazine focusing on fashion, pop-culture, nightlife, music, art and film. Its readership is around 155,000 with 70% of its readers located in New York and Los Angeles. The Paper Magazine’s website has around 500,000 unique visitors per month.

To attract more readers, it came up with a clever strategy – use archenemy the Internet to make a splash. The mag hired Jean-Paul Goude, the French photographer famous for his iconic shots of Grace Jones for a provocative photo shoot. It also enlisted the services of KKW for two reasons: (1) her online presence includes 25 million twitter followers and roughly the same number on Instagram, (2) she has no problem at all baring it all for the camera.

Goude shot Kardashian in several stages of undress – starting with her being fully-dressed in exactly the same pose as Grace Jones in her famous champagne glass photo, and ending with a full frontal nude pic.

Paper Magazine published the shots as part of its “Break the Internet” campaign, stating: "For our winter issue, we gave ourselves one assignment: Break The Internet. There is no other person that we can think of who is up to the task than one Kim Kardashian West. A pop culture fascination able to generate headlines just by leaving her house, Kim is what makes the web tick."

The strategy worked, resulting in hundreds of thousands of tweets, global online coverage, and discussed on various morning shows on TV.

Paper Magazine knows its stuff. In order not to oversell, the mag limits its racy version of the issue (including all KKW"s pics) to just 10,000 copies. Retailers and subscribers who want to get their hands on it, must purchase it online (oh, the irony) via the Paper Magazine website.

The magazine also announced that it will be producing more "event" covers, so stay tuned! Ironically enough, online exposure has done wonders for Paper Magazine.

As Drew Elliott stated: "We wanted to use this [cover] to help establish ourselves digitally. We never could have imagined that it would be this successful."

The main question remains – will Paper Magazine be able to create more provoking campaigns? Now that they have built a worldwide audience, the powers at Paper Magazine need to remain creative to maintain its loyal audience and customer base. If not, it will remain an amusing footnote in online marketing history.

(Image courtesy of Kelkulus)

About Fair Use of Text, Images and Photos for Websites and Blogs

As a web designer, blogger, content writer, journalist, teacher or comedian, you want to use stunning images, photos, quotes or statements that were created by others. When is it legal to use such content without asking permission or payment?

That is decided by “fair use”. In legal terms: “Fair use was created to allow use of copyright (sic) material for socially valuable purposes such as commentary, parody, news reporting, education and the like, without permission of the copyright holder.”

In plain English: “fair use” allows people or companies to use those materials (text, images, photos, etc.) without it being an infringement of copyright. In such cases, the owners of those copyrighted work must allow their work to be used by designers, bloggers, content writers, journalists, teachers, comedians, etc. without any legal or financial obligations. It must be noted that the burden of proof is the one using it; not the owner of the work. (In legalese: “affirmative defense”)

The reason for “fair use” is to allow reasonable and limited use of the copyrighted work. A journalist is allowed to quote from a newly published novel in the review it. A comedian can quote from copyrighted text, use a copyrighted picture or photo or directly quote a celebrity to make fun of them. Teachers and professors can use passages of copyrighted works to explain something to their students or to make a point.

As a rule of thumb, using text under “fair use” normally consists of using a small part of the copyrighted work and includes crediting the author (with a link to the source/author’s website). Fair use is for non–commercial purposes.

The criteria of what is “fair use” are defined in the opinion of the famous Joseph Story in Folsom v. Marsh, 9 F.Cas. 342 (1841). This so-called Four Factor test consist of:

1. the purpose and character of the use (non-commercial, educational, parody or non-profit)

2. the nature of the copyrighted work

3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used of the copyrighted work

4. the effect of the market use / market value of the copyrighted work

Facebook conducted a controversial study that manipulated users’ news feeds. Facebook did not only got negative reactions from its users, it also got on the wrong side of Cornell University.

Cornell University’s ethics board made clear that it did not pre-approve the study. Hence, Facebook should not have had “implied” user permission to conduct the study as researchers previously claimed.

To recap: researchers at Facebook tweaked what hundreds of thousands of users saw in their news feeds. They manipulated content to be more positive or negative than normal in an attempt to manipulate the users’ mood. The users’ status updates were analyzed to detect if the content affected what those users wrote on Facebook.

Not surprisingly, the researchers found that, Facebook users’ moods did indeed were affected by what they saw in their news feeds. Users who saw more negative posts would write more negative things on their own walls, and likewise for positive posts.

Enter Cornell. The University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) did approve the use of Facebook’s “pre-existing data set” for the experiment. The study was published in the June 17 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. So far, so good.

However, Cornell University issued a statement clarifying that the Facebook experiment was conducted before the IRB was consulted. Although one of Cornell professors (Jeffrey Hancock) as well as a doctoral student (Jamie Guillory) worked with Facebook on the study, Cornell went out of its way to distance itself from the research.

A classic case of cold feet? Or does Cornell fear to be associated with a behemoth like Facebook? Or is it a matter of defending the ivory tower that it academia?

Marketing Lessons from the Catholic Church

The Catholic Church knows how to recruit new “customers”. No surprise; they have been doing that for 2000 years!

What is their marketing secret?

1. Conveying the mission statement

The mission of the Catholic Church is to win and retain believers. To that end, “customers” must be convinced that the Catholic god exists.

Representatives of the Catholic Church use a cool sales trick to convince.

They argue: “True, you cannot see our god. So how do you know he exists? Well, you cannot see trust, but you trust your parents. You cannot see love, but you love your family.”

2. Why being Catholic is important

To win and retain customers, a business has to convince them of the added value of its offering. The Catholic Church explains that its main “product” was so important that his birth started the anno domini (AD) - Christian calender worldwide. This underpins what professor Robert Cialdini describes as the Principle of Authority.

3. Overcoming peer pressure

When the majority of the peers of a (potential) “customer” has a different set of norms and values and/or religion; it’s hard to champion the Catholic cause. But the Catholic Church uses in such cases an age-old and proven strategy – social evidence.

They point out that out of a current world population of 7 billion souls, 2 billion are Catholic. Quite an impressive market share!

4. Social engineering

One of the main “threats” that the Catholic Church faces, is an environment where the majority is not baptized let alone consists of practicing Catholics. The winning argument in such a case? During the time of JC, baptism was introduced for the first time. During the first day alone, 1,300 people were baptized, Quite an impressive conversion rate!

5. Retaining believers

One of the main challenges of the Catholic Church is to retain believers and handle crises (e.g., child abuse claims). The Pope as the CEO of the Catholic Church is facing the same challenges as many of his Fortune 500 counterparts: protecting and promoting the values of the enterprise and executing its mission while adapting to changing times and conducting crisis management to survive.

As the current CEO, Pope Francis is doing a good job. Let’s see how he steers his multinational during the coming decades…

The Marvelous Marketing of the Ice Bucket Challenge

Wherever you turn, it’s there - the ASL ice bucket challenge™. The concept is simple: someone dares you either to douse yourself with a bucket full of water and ice or send $100 to the ALS Association. You in turn dare others to the same challenge; they also have 24 hours to respond or make the donation.

In our social media age, the challenge spread like wildfire. People of all walks of life across continents joined in, including a flock of tech moguls, politicians, actors, musicians and other celebrities. Most of those both took the challenge and donated money.



The result up till now is spectacular – donations rose from $2.1m in 2013 to over $50m in 2014. However, critics have pointed out the number of ALS sufferers is only a fraction of people dying of heart disease (596,577 in 2011), cancer (576,691) or Alzheimer’s (84,974) annually. This means that charities such as the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society, and the Alzheimer’s Association are “losing out”.

For now, ASL is for now the charity du jour, not in the least due to savvy marketing and PR.

• The timing is perfect – August is always one of the slowest months for news
• Positive message – with daily coverage of human suffering in Iraq, Syria, Ukraine et al, people crave feel-good news
• Social media – posting videos, tweeting, pinning, liking, sharing, etc makes it a global phenomena taking place in near real-time
• Great personal PR – especially celebrities use the challenge for their own branding and promotion
• Reality TV aspect - looking at Oprah Winfrey screaming her head off or Benedict Cumberbatch being punked.

It’s a matter of time before this fad will be over. Participants are already daring people they want to get even with in the hope that those will make a fool of themselves on camera.
The challenge is also not without risks - four firefighters in Kentucky were seriously injured when it went wrong.

The main question remains: apart from balls, banquets, runs, walks, rides, auctions, and the current challenge- what new marketing gimmick will be next for non-profits to raise funds?

(Image courtesy of Among Tech)

Downton Abbey’s Perfect Handling of Its PR Blunder

Downton Abbey is far more than a stylish period drama – it’s also making heaps of money from a slew of merchandise. British retail chainMarks and Spencer sells a "Downton Abbey" beauty line which includes soaps, nail polish, lip gloss, lotions and scented candles. There are also Downton Abbey lines of jewelry, fashion, home decor and furniture.

To launch season 5 of Downton Abbey, a series of publicity photos was released in August 2014. Eagle-eyed fans spotted a plastic water bottle Lord Grantham and Lady Edith posing in full costume in front of a marble fireplace. The photo quickly spread like wildfire all over the internet.

How did Downton Abbey handle this PR blooper? With style!

The cast teamed up with the UK chapter of WaterAid, an international non-profit organization that tries to transform lives by improving access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation. They posed for a funny photo sporting the same kind of water bottle, showing that they care about drinking clean water instead of sipping cocktails.

An ITV spokesperson stated:
"After seeing the reaction the picture caused earlier this week, the cast and crew came up with the idea of turning some of this attention towards an issue around water that really matters. They hope that by posing for this picture they will be able to raise awareness and amplify the work of international charity - WaterAid."

This handling of the water bottle-gate is brilliant. It has all the elements of excellent crisis management:

• Respond quickly
• Do not make any (lame) excuses
• Come up with a way to turn it into an opportunity
• Link it to charity
• Use humor (if appropriate)

Chapeau!

Does Apple’s iPhone 6 Feature Wireless Charging?

Apple’s iPhone 6 will be coming to an Apple store close to you starting September 19. According to Forbes, the 4.7 inch screen iPhone 6 will retail at $199 and the 5.5 inch screen at $299.

Rumors are flying about its new features that will be shown at a media event on September 9.

TMZ claims to have obtained leaked pictures taken by an ex-employee at a Foxconn factory in China. Foxconn manufactures devices for Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Nintendo and BlackBerry.

Based on the leaked photos, it could be assumed that the port in the red circle could be for wireless charging. It is not as far-fetched as it sounds. One of the patents that Apple has filed in 2012 is for "Wireless Power Utilization in a Local Computing Environment". It describes a central hub that enables charging a device without wires.

If Apple is indeed launching a smartphone with wireless charging capabilities, that will be a major game changer. It will also be great marketing for the Cupertino-based company.

Airbnb's New Logo – An Epic Marketing Blunder

Airbnb just unveiled its new logo called “the Belo”. In the color Magenta, it strives to combine the concept of Yahoo’s distinctive purple and Nike’s famous Swoosh.

Airbnb enables users to list their homes on the web and rent them out to guests. The company wants to add more sharing products and services to its offerings, such as surfing lessons.

For its rebranding, Airbnb turned to DesignStudio, a young London-based global branding and design agency, that has as its mission statement: “By applying creative, critical thinking to these different channels, we change people’s perceptions and create the brands of the future.”

For a whole year, DesignStudio worked on the rebranding project. It conducted extensive user research and dispatched teams to more than a dozen countries to interview hosts and guests to find out what they like about Airbnb. DesignStudio also conducted detailed surveys of comparable brands such as IBM, Facebook and the Red Cross.

The result? Bélo (Belonging - Airbnb’s new logo that was launched with a lot of PR hype. The logo is in magenta, looks like the love child of a Google maps pin, a heart and a bent paper clip. It’s a matter of taste if you like it or not.

HomeSweetHome one. But it’s the uncanny resemblance with the Automation Anywhere logo that started a Twitter storm.

It's baffling that after such an extensive research and design phase, none of the creative geniuses at the agency used a simple online image search to check for similar logos to make sure that the proposed new one would be unique.

Airbnb made a gigantic marketing mistake by not running the new logo by their lawyers. The consequences for Airbnb?

However, the new logo is almost identical to several existing logos such as the

• Legal action. I am sure that Automation Anywhere will sue Airbnb very soon.
  
• Brand damage. The company is already the laughing stock in many online magazines and (of course) the social media.
  
• Using an agency that wasted so much of Airbnb’s budget to come up with a copycat logo.
  
• Investing more time and money to rebrand again with a new agency.
  
• Removing the Bélo from all existing collateral and merchandise.

(Image: New Airbnb logo on the left, existing Automation Anywhere logo on the right)

DKNY Ramadan Collection – A Stroke Of Marketing Genius?

DKNY, part of the LVMH Group, has just launched a new fashion line. The DKNY Ramadan Collection consists of halal couture. The stunning designs cover arms and legs and have modest necklines.

The collection (styled by two prominent Middle Eastern fashionistas Yalda Golsharifi, fashion editor of Styles Magazine, and Tamara Al Gabbani, a fashion designer in Dubai) fuses high fashion with conservative design. Both women are popular bloggers and also modeled the collection including for the #DKNYRamadan campaign.

The 12-piece collection includes summer favorites with a conservative yet modern slant such as long, flowing dresses and skirts, printed tops and floor-length skirts, classic black-and-white separates, jumpsuits and pants and long-sleeved and three-quarter-length jackets and shirts.

Each piece conveys the modesty many Middle Eastern women strive for without skimping on fashion. Pakistani writer Bina Shah lauded the collection in The Independent stating that the clothes “walk the fine line between cosmopolitan and conservative, luxurious and ostentatious. The fabrics drape around the body, encasing the curves that nature gave Middle Eastern women without making them obvious, or attempting to disguise them in bag-like abayas.” High praise indeed!

The timing is impeccable: Ramadan, the holy month of daylight fasting observed my Muslims around the world started on July 5 and will end on July 28.

It’s the first time that a New York-based brand launched a regionalized collection and campaign. The pieces are only available in stores in the Middle East, but you can check out the full 12-look collection at dkny.com/dknyramadan.

But the question remains: did DKNY make a smart marketing move?

Design Scandal Tarnishes a Swedish Prince’s Brand

Carl Philip is the son of the current king of Sweden.

He built his reputation as a designer with the launch of a fireguard in the shape of a castle.

He branded it as "designed by Prince Carl Philip 2010".

As it turns out, designer Eric Ericson is the creator of the fireguard. "It was I who designed the fireguard," Eric Ericson told the Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper.

"I didn't work with this for a very long time and the conditions changed as time passed. At first I thought I was just going to be his tutor but then it is became apparent that I was to do his stuff. In hindsight, it all really feels bloody wrong. It wasn't a serious collaboration but I don't want to blacken his name. He has only studied (design) for a short time. He can become a designer but it takes a lot of hard work and you must enter the profession to be successful. He might be world's nicest guy but he doesn't have to get up at five in the morning and slave to pay the rent.”

The product was marketed and sold by the Svensk Tenn interior design company that have since scrubbed Carl Philip's signature off the fireguard. It retails for 14,500 kronor ($2,200).

Ericson's remarks follow a damning editorial by Form Editor-in-Chief Bo Madestrand who slammed the prince for being a "fake".

The editorial pointed out that "Carl Philip is not guilty of plagiarism – because he hasn’t designed his own products. If Prince Carl Philip had better advisers – and worked a little harder – he might succeed better at his chosen profession. The question is, why does he continue? Who benefits from Carl Philip’s playing at being a designer, when, like his father, he’d really rather be tearing up the roads behind the wheel of a sports car?"

No matter what, the Prince's brand had suffered from devastating damage.

The Brilliant Way the CIA joined Twitter

US governmental agencies routinely secure social media account to prevent unauthorized users tweeting and

The CIA filed an impersonation complaint with Twitter against such a user, the Langley-based agency decided to open its own (and verified) account on Twitter and Facebook.

In an official statement the agency announced: "This week, the CIA moved deeper into the world of social media with the launch of official social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook."

The CIA describes itself as: “We are the Nation's first line of defense. We accomplish what others cannot accomplish and go where others cannot go”.

On the CIA website, CIA Director John O. Brennan posted on June 6, 2014:

“This week, the CIA expanded its social media presence with the launch of official social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook.

Follow us on Twitter @CIA and on Facebook for the latest CIA updates, #tbt (Throwback Thursday) photos, reflections on intelligence history, and fun facts from the CIA World Factbook. You’ll also receive updates on CIA career postings and get the latest glimpse into CIA’s Museum - the best museum most people never get to see. Our social media expansion will put CIA.gov content right at your fingertips.

The launch expands CIA’s online presence, which already includes the Agency’s public website, CIA.gov and CIA.gov mobile, and official Flickr and YouTube accounts.

In the coming weeks, look out for other CIA.gov enhancements, including live streaming capabilities via Ustream.”

The CIA also showed a wicked sense of humor with an epic first tweet:




Epic branding!

(Image:The CIA logo at the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Va. (Saul Loeb, AFP/Getty Images)

posting under their name.

How NOT To Promote Your Services

Recently, I got the following email:

“As a { }, are you interested in following SEO, SMO and website redesigning services at this time for your company by industry experts:

$500 SEO services includes: Keyword Research, Website Theme Review, Navigation Review, Images Review, Page Development Review, Website Content Review, Search Engine Tag Review, File Name Review, Finished Layout Review

$500 Social media optimization includes: Article Submission, Press Release Submission, Social Bookmarking, Video Submissions, PPT Submissions, RSS Feed Submissions, Social Network Marketing and Posting on Forums

$500 Website redesigning and maintenance includes: Competition updates their website regularly with latest updates, SEO friendly site, new technology contents, Memorable Logo, Simplistic Catchy Design, Who You Are and What You Do, Samples of Your Work, Link to Relevant Blogs, Additional Testimonials, Update Contact Information

Thanks and let me know.

Olivia Miller, Digital marketing consultant”

This email is an excellent example of how NOT to contact potential customers!

1) This person mined my email from LinkedIn. If you want to drum up business, use the “promotion” tab in various groups. Spamming people like me by mining our emails is counterproductive.

2) The first sentence asks me if I am "interested in following services for my company by experts". This sentence is poorly written.

3) Who are the "industry experts"? Why the overuse of capitals?

4) This person uses pricing to hook me. This is a common mistake. She should understand that potential customers want to see a portfolio and testimonials – price is just a secondary parameter.

5) The offered website redesigning and maintenance includes: "Competition updates their website regularly with latest updates". Does this mean that I would pay for the website updates of my competitors?

6) When I wanted to visit their website (www.mantizemarketing.com), I found out that (1) the website is a parked domain at GoDaddythat is (2) registered by a certain Subendu Ghosh located in Bangalore, India.

7) The only reference to Mantize Marketing that I could find was on the LinkedIn profile of Michael Smith who states that he worked 10 months for the company in 2009/2010 providing database marketing solutions. I could not find any "Olivia Miller" working for Mantize Marketing.

My advice to anyone else that got this email - mark it as spam.

How to Choose Your Chinese Company or Brand Name

Once you decide to enter the Chinese market as a western company or brand, you need to think of a Chinese name.

Localizing your company or brand name is complicated. You need a Chinese name as soon as you start selling on e-commerce sites and start using local social media. You also want to use WOM to promote your brand.

It involves in-depth knowledge of the local language and culture, sensitivity towards local customer attitudes and willingness to adapt the company/brand name. Gap and IBM decided to keep their short name, expecting Chinese consumers to learn them. This is not a clever way to build a brand in China.

How to choose a Chinese company/brand name:

1. Your Chinese name must tell your brand’s story.
2. Examples: BMW (bao ma) means “precious horse”; Subway sandwiches (sai bai wei) means “better than 100 tastes.”
3. The characters in the name must look good together.
4. The Chinese name must be legally available.
5. The name should work well in Mandarin, Cantonese and Shanghainese that are three dramatically different languages.
6. The name should only have positive connotations.
   LinkedIn‘s brand name in Chinese also sounds like the word for the ghost of a dead infant.
7. Make sure the name has meaning.
   McDonald’s (mai dang lao) kept its name although the Chinese characters represent wheat, should and labor.
8. Hire an expert with a solid track record to help you. 

Success!

Philips Delares War on Product Piracy

Philips wants to protect users against counterfeit lighting products. The company developed an easy way for users to check if a Xenon product is the real deal.

Each Philips Xenon package features an authenticity seal (Certificate of Authenticity or COA). It’s an effective way to protect the brand and customers against piracy.

Furthermore, each product package also features a QR Code. Once this code it scanned by a smartphone, it displays a security code which grants access to www.philips.com/original. The user can then access that code to find out the origin of that Xenon product.

This security feature was necessary since a growing number of counterfeit Xenon products flooded the market. This supply is triggered by numerous online and offline shops. These counterfeit products are inferior and pose a serious risk.

Please, avoid cheaper knock-offs and go for the real article! It’s not only the ethical thing to do – there's also the legal matter of liability and insurance.

Be smart, go for the real McCoy!

Microsoft Promises Dutch Government to Keep Their XP Computers Safe – Really?!

As we all know – from April 8, 2014 on Microsoft stopped supporting its Windows XP. In an unexpected move, Microsoft will go on maintaining and securing the Dutch Government’s computers running on Windows XP.

The Dutch government struck the deal with the software giant. Dutch Minister Mr. Stef Blok (Housing and Central Government) officially announced the agreement.

It is unclear how much the Dutch government has to fork out for this “privilege”. Mr. Blok stated that the amount is part of the contract negotiations and therefore confidential.

As announced, Microsoft will stop supporting it Windows XP from Tuesday 8th of April 2014 on. This means that that there will be no more technical support of Windows XP. There also will be no more security patches for the 12-year-old operating system (OS). Anyone using XP after April 8 could be faced with viruses or other data-stealing malware.

In the Netherlands, many governmental computers still run on XP. The Dutch National Cyber Security Center already advised way back in February to migrate as soon as possible from Windows XP to a new operating system (OS).

There are also an estimated 1 million private computers in the Netherlands running on Windows XP. The amount of business users is unknown.

According to research, two in five Dutch municipalities currently use Windows XP computers.

Dutch banks have recently warned their customers NOT to use Windows XP when making transactions. The banks also modified their terms & conditions to point out that customers will themselves be liable for any fraud resulting from online banking if they do not have an updated OS.

But curious minds want to know: how come that Microsoft can keep on supporting the XP computers of the Dutch government but not those of your average Joe?!

Anyway, if you are a small or medium-sized company (SME/SMB) or a private user with one or more computers running on XP – contact ScotPlanet NOW to quickly and safely move away from XP to a new OS. Let’s keep your computer(s) and data safe!

(Image courtesy of www.ncsc.nl)

ScotPlanet Launches Problem Solver to Help Individuals and Business Users to Migrate Their Computers Away From XP

ScotPlanet enables private and business computers and laptops running on XP to migrate to another OS in order to keep their systems, programs, applications and data secure

 

ScotPlanet, a provider of IT services, announced today the launch of its XP Problem Solver service. This service is aimed at small and medium-sized companies (SME/SMB) that have one or more computers running on Windows XP, one of Microsoft’s operating systems (OS).

Starting April 8, 2014 Microsoft® will stop supporting Windows XP. As a result, all desktops and laptops running on Windows XP will be vulnerable to cybercrime (data theft, Trojans, phishing, malware attacks, etc) since no more security patches for vulnerabilities will be issued. Microsoft® will also stop supporting Office® 2003, Outlook® 2003 and earlier versions of Internet Explorer (IE).

To help individuals and business to keep their computers and data safe, ScotPlanet has launched its XP Problem Solver service for migrating XP desktops and laptops to a new OS. The service consists of four comprehensive phases: analysis, planning, migration and follow up.

“Our XP Problem Solver provides individuals as well as businesses with an optimal way to quickly move away from Windows XP once Microsoft® stops its support”, said Michael Cina, owner of ScotPlanet.

“There are currently an estimated 500 million XP users around the world facing the risk of having vulnerable computers and unprotected data,” he continued. “Using security solutions such as Antivirus will not be enough to keep XP computers safe. The only option for those millions of users is opting for a service that will migrate their XP computers to a new OS”.

For more information or for a free consultation, please contact ScotPlanet at:

http://www.scotplanetxp.com/contact/

About ScotPlanet

ScotPlanet provides IT services to individual and business users. Services include IT management and maintenance, technical support, training and consultancy.

http://www.scotplanet.com

Company contact:                                                       Press contact:

ScotPlanet                                                                   Tip Top PR

Michael Cina                                                               Debra De-Jong                                   

Email: Info (at) scotplanet.com                                  Email: Debra (at) tiptoppr.com          

Tel: ++ 972-58-530 8167                                            Tel: ++972-77-915 0040

www.scotplanetxp.com                                              www.tiptoppr.com

www.scotplanet.com

Looking For a WhatsApp Alternative? Check Out These 5 Interesting Alternatives

WhatsApp has been under fire since it was purchased by Facebook. Want to change? Check out the following 5 alternatives for WhatsApp alternatives.

Telegram Messenger (free)

This Russian app is very similar to WhatsApp in appearance and use. According to the company, it is the most downloaded app in 11 countries.

Telegram focuses on privacy and has developed its own security protocol. Telegram offers a reward of 200,000 USD for anyone able to breach its system. Telegram is free of charge. It’s funded by Pavel Durov, who made his fortune with the sale of Vkontakte, the Russian Facebook.

Advantages: Messages can be erased automatically after a few minutes (similar to SnapChat). In contrast to WhatsApp, there is also a desktop version.

Disadvantages: Telegram was plagued with problems due to the many new users. Many messages were received after hours, even after one day.

Threema (one-time payment of Euro 1.79)

This Swiss app ranks number one among the paid apps. Users can send each other text messages, images and videos. It is available for iOS and Android. There are currently over 400,000 users worldwide.

The name Threema stands for End-to-End Encrypted Messaging Application. It means that Threema uses an encryption method that allows users to automatically encrypt their own messages. Even Threema itself cannot access the messages, not even when ordered to do so by the government.

Advantages: Messages not delivered to users are kept for up to 7 days on Threema’s servers. WhatsApp keeps them for 30 days. All Threema’s servers are located in Switzerland. The company therefore has to comply with the strict Swiss privacy and data protection laws. Servers are out of reach for agencies such as the NSA.

Disadvantages: Sending messages is slower than via Telegram Messenger, and similar to WhatsApp. Most users (80%) are located in the DACH countries.

Line (free)

This Japanese app is very popular in Asia with 360 million users worldwide. Line does not sell itself as a privacy-app, but promises never to sell personal information. Line also states that it sporadically collects demographic data. Line is free of charge. The company generates income from the sales of stickers and games.

Advantages: Line can also be used for high-quality phone calls. Contacts can be added based on their telephone numbers or usernames. Users can talk with strangers without having to share their telephone number. Users can also subscribe to messages of celebrities. Line has an extensive collection of images that users can send. There is also a desktop version of Line.

Disadvantages: Most users are located in Asia.

Hemlis (basic will be free)

This message app is developed by Peter Sunde, one of the founders of the download site The Pirate Bay. The app is free, but there there will be a charge for extras. Hemlis (which is Swedish for secret) keeps all sent messages on its own server until received by the recipient. The company refuses to say which encryption method it uses.

Advantages: The app is free of charge. Hemlis is crowdfunded. According to Hemlis, its privacy is better than that of WhatsApp. Hemlis does not allow advertising.

Disadvantages: It is not clear when the app will be launched. The company did not say how messages will be encrypted. As it looks now, sending text messages will be free and sending images will be charged.

Silent Circle (starting at 10 USD per month)

This US app is “spy free”. It’s the brainchild of Navy SEALs and Silicon Valley cryptography experts. Silent Circle charges 10 USD a month for the apps that encrypt the communication. Users are currently mainly in the US. The company is currently entering the European market. Communication is directly encrypted on the sender’s phone, and is decrypted on the recipient's phone. Between the two phones, the signal is gibberish - even for the provider. After communication is received, encryption is removed and cannot be recovered.

Advantages: Excellent security. The service was originally developed for diplomats, business executives, journalists, and army personnel working in countries with disreputable governments.

Disadvantages: Expensive.

Could YotaPhone, Russia’s First Smartphone, Become a Major Player?

The YotaPhone, developed by privately-owned Russian tech startup Yota Devices, is quite unique – it is a dual-screen device using an Android operating system.

It features a traditional LCD-color display on one side and an electronic-paper display similar to the Amazon Kindle on the other. Its 4.3-inch 1280 HD display is slightly larger than the iPhone 5 and smaller than the 5-inch Galaxy S4.

It will be sold for $675 in Europe and $600 in Russia, which is slightly cheaper than the Apple iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S4.

According to Vladislav Martynov, CEO of Yota Devices, the introduction of dual screens was “a revolution in telephone architecture”. He points out that before the YotaPhone, the back of smartphones had never been used before. YotaPhone’s electronic-ink display on the back displays information, including feeds from Facebook and Twitter, even when the phone is not used.

The first mock-up of the dual-screen phone was demonstrated in 2010 by Sergei Chemezov, the head of Rostekhnologii (currently Rostec, a government company that produces and exports high-tech equipment), to President Dmitri A. Medvedev, who is known to be a fan of Apple products.

Yota Devices wants to join search engine Yandex and antivirus company Kaspersky Lab as a global player. The company made a good start - the YotapPhone won a CNET Best of CES Award for “Hottest Mobile Device” at the CES in Las Vegas.

The latest version of the YotaPhone (the YotaPhone 2?) will be introduced on February 24, 2014 at the Mobile World Conference.

YotaPhone is currently being launched in Russia, Austria, France, Spain and Germany. More countries are expected to follow in 2014.

Google’s French Faux Pas

Google got on the wrong side of the French authorities. The Commissions Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés (CNIL) investigated Google’s privacy policy change from 2012. About two years ago, Google bundled all its services (Google+, Gmail, Blogger, YouTube etc.) into one. This also changed the privacy policies of the separate accounts that users managed separately.

The CNIL came to the conclusion that Google’s new privacy policy didn't give users enough control over their private information. Furthermore, the agency also found that Google did not explain properly what it would do with the user data.

The ruling of the CNIL is quite interesting. Google was forced to pay a fine of €150,000 which is peanuts for the multinational. That’s why the CNIL added some interesting conditions to its ruling.

Google was forced to post a notice about its misconduct on its homepage. Once accessing google.fr, the following message (translated into English, for the original text go to google.fr) features under the search field:

“Statement: The sanctions committee of the Commision Nationale de l’Informatique et des Libertés has ordered Google to pay a €150,000 fine for violations of the ‘Data-Processing and Freedoms’ law. Decision available at the following address: http:www.cnil.fr/linstitution/missions/sanctionner/Google/”.

Not underestimating the cleverness of Google, the CNIL also dictated the text of the notice. To avoid the age-old legal trick to use a small font and bury the text as much as possible in order to deter readers, the CNIL also dictated the size of the font and the colors to be used as well as the position of the notification on the Google.fr homepage.

Google was not happy to say the least. It promptly turned to a French court to petition suspension of the ruling. It argued that posting the CNIL’s notification would do "irreparable damage" to its reputation. The French court was not convinced and rejected the petition, ordering Google to comply with the order.

It’s not the first time Google ran into trouble in Europe; it recently came to an agreement with the European Commission to pay a $5 billion fine following a three-year-long antitrust investigation.

France is the first European country to order Google to post such a notice. It will be interesting to see if more European countries will follow suit.

Google Makes a Brave Statement with Its Olympic Doodle

As always, search engine Google commemorated the event with a doodle. It depicts the popular winter sports such as skiing, ice hockey, curling, bobsleigh, and ice skating and snowboarding.

Under the doodle, Google cited part of section 6 of the Olympic handbook:

"The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."

However, this time the doodle also made a political statement. The doodle incorporates the rainbow colors to promote the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT).

Google is making a brave statement – Russia is known for its anti-gay stance. In June 2013, Vladimir Putin passed a law stigmatizing gay people and banning "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations." It is part of Putin’s efforts to promote traditional Russian ideals and values. Russia believes that Western liberties will corrupt Russia’s youth.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned discrimination against homosexuals during a speech to the International Olympic Committee. He said that “many professional athletes, gay and straight, are speaking out against prejudice.”

Official sponsors such as Coca-Cola, Visa, Samsung, McDonald’s, Procter & Gamble, Omega, General Electric and Dow Chemical preferred to remain silent on the issue.

Paging Eustace Tilley

Did you ever wonder who the dandy on the cover of the New Yorker is? You know, that well-dressed gentleman looking at a butterfly through his monocle? His story is quite interesting!

For the first cover of the New Yorker, Rea Irvin drew the character. Over time, he even got his own name: Eustace Tilley.Corey Ford wrote a series of humorous articles for the New Yorker that spoofed corporate promotional writing. His stories were used to fill up empty pages that were not bought by advertisers to promote their products. Ford’s stories were illustrated with drawings that often featuring Eustace Tilley. In one such illustration, Tilley supervises the felling of “specially grown trees to make paper for The New Yorker.”

Irvin got inspiration for his Eustace Tilley magazine cover from an unlikely source: an 1834 drawing of Count Alfred Guillaume Gabriel D’Orsay. The drawing “man of Fashion in Early Victorian Period” was featured in the costume section of the Encyclopædia Britannica.

Count D’Orsay (1801-1852) was a famous dandy and wit, known for his stunning good looks. He was admired for his charming manner and brilliant wit. At 6ft, he towered over his fellow men and posed a striking figure. He created his own flamboyant style that was imitated everywhere. His admirers includedLord Byron, Benjamin Disraeli, William Thackeray, Charles Dickens and even Thomas Carlyle.

D’Orsay was known as a “butterfly dandy”, which explains why Rea Irvin drew him looking at the butterfly on the cover.

As for Eustace Tilley, the New Yorker tried to update his image over the years. At times, Tilley morphed into a female Tilley, an African-American Tilley, and a punk Tilley. No matter what they do to him, Tilley is here to stay. Not bad for an octogenarian dandy!

Horror Flick’s Brilliant Marketing Stunt – Prankvertisement At Its Best

“Devil’s Due” is low-budget horror movie. It tells the story of a couple on honeymoon that lose track of one night. Once home, they find out that the wife is pregnant. The husband records the earlier-than-planned pregnancy on camera. He notices that the mother-to-be is changing dramatically – and not for the better. Over the months, it becomes clear that dark forces are at work. (Yes, I know, it sounds a lot like Rosemary’s Baby”)

Promoting a low-budget movie such as this one is an uphill battle. Marketing a blockbuster is a lot easier - advertisements, movie trailers, and guest appearances of the actors in talk shows are just a few examples of the PR tools that movie studios use. So what can small or indie movie makers do? Harness the power of Internet!

The makers of the flick engaged the services of Thinkmodo, a NY-based viral video marketing agency. They came up with a great PR stunt. They built a stroller that could be controlled remotely and put a screaming robot infant inside. They steered the stroller through the streets of NY. Pedestrians heard a child crying from the seemingly unattended stroller and went to check. Once they approached, the robot demon child popped up and started screaming at them.

The video quickly went viral on Internet and national as well as international TV stations showed the clip.
Reviews of the movie (premiered on January 17, 2014) were lukewarm. Rotten Tomatoes rated it “Derivative and mostly uninspired”. The LA Times wrote: "Devil's Due' an inept take on Rosemary's Baby".

The horror movie may not be remebered as a film classic, but it did write marketing history!

Hi-Call – A Great Way to Make Phone Calls in Winter

When people want to indicate that you should call them, they put their thumb against their ear and “talk” to their pink. You immediately get the message - you have to phone them.

Based on this global body language, Italian company hi-Fun has developed a winter glove that does just that.

At first glance, its hi-Call glove looks like any ordinary winter glove you can buy. However, it's a Bluetooth talking glove with built-in microphone and speaker connected to your smartphone. It allows you to make calls without the need to take your phone out of your pocket or bag.

Although it did not take over the world by storm during this winter, it is in sync with the new trend of wearable technology such as Google Glass and Sony’s SmartWig. Who knows? It might just be the must-have accessory people are looking for during winter....

Is Bitcoin a Bad Penny?

Bitcoin is currently riding the popularity wave, with Overstock and Zynga accepting the virtual currency as legal payment and PayPal announcing that it believes in thecryptocurrency.

Bitcoin was first described by Satoshi Nakamoto in the 2008 white paper “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”. Nakamoto explained in the paper that the virtual currency functions without the rules and restrictions of central banks.

Anyone can mint Bitcoins providing they have an Internet connection. Once users have a certain amount of Bitcoins, they can use them to trade in real currency such as Euros or US dollars. A rising number of users is also buying items with Bitcoins in online shops – hence the interest of Overstock and PayPal in the currency.

Governments are not too happy with the new kid on the block. For one, it is unclear which laws apply. Another problem is to establish what Bitcoin exactly is, since they are created by computer algorithms and traded between online wallets using virtual keys. That would make Bitcoin a piece of software and not so much legal tender.

Banks are keeping an eye on their new competitor. Bank of America became the first major Wall Street bank to release research about Bitcoin stating that Bitcoin could become "a major player in both e-commerce and money transfer".

Chinese banks are forbidden to handle any Bitcoin transactions by the Chinese government. Other governments and central banks do not go that far (yet), but do issue warnings about the potential risks.

Opposition also came from an unexpected side – environmental activists. The mining of Bitcoins is seen as a “disaster” since the processing power of the computers needed to generate Bitcoins requires electricity. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gimein, the current daily power consumption necessary for creating Bitcoins could easily supply 31,000 US households with electricity.

Once Bitcoin becomes a mass currency, the impact on the environment would be comparable to that of mining silver and gold.

For now, Bitcoin still has a long way to go. The maximum amount of Bitcoins that can be created is 21 million. At this moment, half of that amount is in circulation.

Will Bitcoin make it? Time will tell.

Bitcoin is facing some issues. The mining of Bitcoins is being dominated by pools of people with dedicated hardware (chips). The digital currency is also facing fierce competition and was the victim of computer hacks.

(Image courtesy of www.wired.com)

Nissan’s Perfect Reaction to a Cheeky Advertisement for Selling an Old Nissan Maxima

Luke Aker wanted to sell his 1996 Nissan Maxima. The car was not only old, but also was quite battered. He put the cat on Graigslist which was not successful.

Being a filmmaker and owner of Ikonik Films, Aker came up with a great way to sell his car – making a cool ad!

His tongue-in-cheek advertisement is brilliant. It’s a witty parody of your average car commercial. The voiceover states that "It not only brings more admiring stares than any other car I have driven it also has seat belts! Amazing!" Furthermore, it’s pointed out that the car has amazing features such as "wheels" and "tires”.

The footage is gorgeous, lovingly showing the car's torn seats and weathered paint job.



Nissan became aware of the advertisement, the company reacted perfectly. Nissan USA tweeted:

”Hey @IkonikFilms: SOLD! Had us at "land-yacht" and this hilarious '96 Maxima ad: http://nssn.co/ut8g8m - We want to make you an offer. DM us!”

Luke Aker quickly responded. The following day, he sold his old Nissan Maxima to the automaker. Nissan went even further: it made a donation to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Needless to say, Aker was touched and tweeted:

“Just got off the phone. @NissanUSA Will be Purchasing the car AND Donating $1000.00 to Wounded Warrior #SoAmaze #wow “

What can we learn from this case?

1. Be creative in your marketing and sales
   (Aker was able to grab the attention of one of the world’s largest automakers with his sales ad!) 
2. Have a sense of humor
   (Creating spoofs or parodies is great for getting exposure in our social media age – especially if you can go viral via YouTube, Facebook, etc.) 
3. Leverage a PR opportunity when it comes your way
   (Nissan grabbed the opportunity for some amazing (and low-cost!) branding and PR) 
4. Use any PR or branding opportunity that comes your way to make a donation to a mainstream charity (The PR and branding you will get out of it will be priceless!)
5. Be gracious
   (Aker paid respect to Nissan for its classy reaction)