I really hope Kraft are going to make it up to this poor bloke. Can you imagine how bad he is feeling? Not a happy little Vegemite at all. Yet again, it’s all about having an exit strategy………..

Rose free cheeks

I actually cried I laughed so much

http://www.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/9oa7y/names_that_are_better_than_isnack_20/

Wow there has been a STORM of blogging over the new Vegemite, officially called iSnack 2.0. I have to say I am not really a fan. It is a little bit lame, like the old guys in marketing just discovered the internet or something. But wow aren’t people mean. I know I’ve been critical of campaigns in the past but really, can’t we try to play nice and have a reasoned argument? Anonymity is very freeing of course. You can be as nasty and as opinionated and as vitriolic as you like. But, honestly, does that really contribute to the quality of the debate overall?

We’ve been discussing it here at Red Ark and some suspicious souls (well John the Geek) are wondering if the name is a deliberate ploy to get attention under the no publicity is bad publicity banner. It will be interesting to see if it morphs into 3.0 down the track or someone just quietly turns it off.

In the meantime I’m looking forward to how they’ll make the new name scan.

Spot the Red Ark MD and win a prize!

It’s a fair while since I’ve left school. So when I was facebooked by a now double barrelled Belinda I was a bit taken aback. It’s bizarre because the intervening 10 years since our last school reunion has seen a genuine communication revolution. I’m just trying to think, did google even exist then? I know facebook didn’t. After the last reunion everyone pretty much disappeared back into their own lives. Now pics are being posted at shutterfly, a class of 1929 (just kidding) facebook page has been put up, people are frantically emailing. I tell you, there’s no escape these days from your past. So you better start getting to grips with photoshop pretty damn quick.

Where oh where did we the week go. Our small business forum is coming along. Just need John the Geek to finish off the tech stuff and away we go! Some of our strategic partners like Tim Tyler from Resonate will also be getting involved. In the meantime I’m starting to think about how we promote the site to small business apart from writing FREE MARKETING ADVICE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES over and over again……… enjoy your weekend.

This is what I’ll be doing this weekend…….. well the second part anyway

Play hospital food bingo today!

Hospital food bingo

from today’s Ad News e-news….. I can see my idea is timely!

SMEs avoid marketing plans

SYDNEY: The majority of small to medium enterprises fail to create marketing plans, according to a recent survey from News Community Media.

The survey found 58.9% of small business owners are not preparing an annual marketing plan or making any attempt to identify the cost or benefit of marketing spend.

Access Management Corporation conducted the News Community Media SME index survey from 16 June to 17 July 2009, with nearly 2000 respondents nationally.

Access Management Corporation managing director Steven Eager said many SME business owners do not understand what a marketing plan is or what value it can add.

“SME owners are reluctant to use an adviser or consultant because of the cost, or simply because it can be intimidating for them,” Eager said.

“Consequently, if SME owners do not understand the benefits of planning, do not feel comfortable approaching a consultant or do not understand how they can help deliver a better result, they are not going to spend the scarce cashflow they have,” he added.

The survey found SMEs were cautiously optimistic about the next 12 months, with 50% of SMEs expecting growth in revenue and 49% expecting an increase in profitability.

However, more than 60% rated revenue, profit and cash flow as being the major challenges faced by SMEs.