Usually when I don’t like something I try to give constructive feedback. But in this case there’s just to much of a history involved. About 9 years ago I tried to pitch ideas on Saab. Partly because I really wanted to work with a car brand and partly because they were Swedes. Already back then were the account managed by Lowe Brindfors. I thought Lowe did a shitty job then and obviously they do a shitty job now. Will they never learn? (That goes for both SAAB and Lowe)
Today, as was writing a blog post about integrated communication (soon to be published) I decided to do a quick video analysis of the current SAAB presence online. And let me tell you…it sucks big time. Sorry for the shitty English. But it serves the purpose.
I don’t get it. Aren’t car brands supposed to senior managers employeed that knows their shit? These guys sell products that costs a fortune and they can’t even product a simple site that will convert people into buyers. It scares me.
The first thought that comes to mind is that the marketing department don’t know what they’re doing to the brand, and that’s of course true, but then I think about it a little bit more. This is not a marketing department problem. This is a management problem.
Jan Åke Jonsson and the rest of you ‘silverbacks’ way up in the hierarchy! SAAB is not an industrial company – it’s a B2C product oriented and brand driven car company backed by great technology but emotions and brand comes first. And Jan, don’t come telling me this is a thing for the marketing department. Branding and marketing should be your, the management group and the board of directors first priority. It’s what your future is all about!
So. Jan Åke and the rest of you managers at SAAB.
You’ve sold SAAB to another company outside Sweden, but the a large majority of the cars are still being built in Sweden and lots of peoples incomes rely on you and your management team taking the right decisions. In the long run even I will be affected if you close down. And trust me, if you don’t stop acting like fools when it comes to branding issues (cause personally I think there are more problems than the site) you’ll close down anytime soon. It’s time to stop loving your history and focus on the future!
psst. You haven't missed the new app for kids aged 1-9 years old? It's created by my other company JAJDO. Check it out in the App store
About two years ago I frantically started writing on this blog post. Then the sheer length of it got the best of me and since then it’s been stuck in my unpublished library. Now I thought it’s time to give birth to this baby even though most of it was written about two years ago, before Facebook got big, the iPad and more.
When you read it – remember I pushed publish to share the love, not the excellent writing.
This post covers how you start and run a company practically for free.
The post will guide you all the way from day one until you’re up and running and need to consider things like sales, advertising, process support, crm, intranets, extranets etc etc.
Think social media and conversational marketing might be the next train to heaven for your brand but don’t know where to board? Well, here’s three social media marketing models that will make sure you’ll find your station.
If you wanna get moving into the social country of love where conversation rules you’ve gotta get one thing straight. Valuable content is king. Buying a loudspeaker and start tweeting wont get you anywhere. Swedish brands like Comhem and Boxer have effectively proven that just twittering the 140 sign language doesn’t earn you any followers. Every social network will provide you with it’s own possibilities and traps. A well executed strategy is a must or you’ll end up in a minefield.
Here are 3 models by Johan Ronnestam that will guide your brand towards a successful social media strategy.
3 Models That Will Guide You Into The Social Media Landscape
The Social Staircase
The Social Staircase is a model that focus on the overall process. It’s the stuff that pays for your ticket to love.
The Social Tool Matrix
Now you know what kind of presence your business needs. Now it’s time to map the tools to make sure you know what to keep your mouth shut, when to speak and when to listen.
The Social Viral Spiral
This is about speed. Spread that love I’m talking about below. But make sure you do it with finesse and timing. Create a couple of Social Viral Spirals and you’re ready to make out!
A couple of hours ago the New York Times launched an update of the skimmer interface I wrote about earlier this year. It’s an alternative way to browser their online magazine. They call it The Times Skimmer. The new interface let’s you navigate between different sections of their paper by only using the arrows on your keyboard. The GUI also lets you switch fast between articles and once you’re done reading one you can easily move on to the next.
Times Skimmer features the following seven display options:
Stories displayed in a grid
Content displayed based on editorial ranked feeds
Headlines displayed in a list
Content presented in the classic typeface Helvetica
Content displayed against a black background
Headlines and brief summaries displayed in a wrap-around format
Headlines, bylines and brief summaries displayed in a design similar to word magnets for refrigerators
After I’ve been spending a couple of minutes with this updated interface I’m struck by what now seems obvious. Isn’t this interface perfectly adapted to be read of a 16:9 touch screen. Of course it resizes as you scale your browser, but that only means it will support a rotation.
Is The New York Times preparing for an Apple Tablet or maybe a reading device of their own?
Every time Apple has launched a new gadget they’ve made sure they gained some support by a selection of leading brands already tuned into their new shit. Well, in that case – could the Skimmer interface from The Times be exactly such a partner. If so…will we finally see an Apple Tablet in the near future?
Well. I’m sure about one thing. I’ll get my hands on one asap!
Update!
It seems more mags than The Times are preparing. I spotted this one this morning yesterday on YouTube. It’s Sports Illustrated’s version of a tablet prepared digital mag.
United States Postal Service has launched this augmented reality application that allows their customers to find out if a certain shipment fits the box and thereby also finding out what it actually costs.
Yesterday ReadWriteWeb reported on a new article skimmer interface over at New York Times. It’s a stunning new way to let you quick read the headlines of all the latest news from the Sunday Times. The simplicity of this thing is striking yet genius.
And as often before it turns out that content, usability and simplicity beats smart, strange and unique solutions online. Just have a look at Craiglists, the mother of simplicity.
Navigating on a website is merely a road to our goal ›› the content. By creating an interface that consist of a number of boxes that contain a small image, headline and an intro text, this new prototype makes it very easy for me to come back and browse the latest news in all categories. It doesn’t take me more than a couple of minutes until I’ve browsed the first page and another 16 sections.
The navigational experience is very close to my personal favorite RSS tool Netvibes. I bring all the feeds I want to read into my Netvibes account and then it doesn’t take me long to browse through the latest news online.
One of Johan Ronnestams Netvibes tabs.
The great benefits with these kind of solution is the way everything is equally weighed in terms of size, colors and content. The eye races over the screen and we’re not far from the offline morning paper behavior when we skimmer the newspaper before actually reading it. This was of course something that the Times wanted to replicate. Once they launch this simple interface as an iPhone widget then I’ll be the first to start using it. Until then I’ll continue to read my favorite Times sections through Netvibes, basically the same except for that Netvibes is actually better since you can read the entire article without leaving the interface.
One of the worlds most awarded websites has been redesigned. And the way Absolut.com is heading doesn’t come as a surprise. The new site has been give an slick, well designed user and SEO friendly interface. Many parts of the site has been moved from a flash based interface to a classical CSS based interface. Everything is done with the touch of Absolut.
This is definitely a first switch from Flash based sites of many to come. I’ve personally been part of building lots of flash sites through the years. But the possibilities to create rich user and SEO friendly interfaces with CSS gives us no reason anymore to use Flash for entire sites.
Also the fact that marketing departments around the world have undoubtedly noticed that their visitors leave after seeing that first loader will lead to change.
All in all I like the new Absolut.com better than the old. But there’s a few things I would have done differently: [click to continue…]
In order words. You sure as hell wanna make sure that brand of yours is found among the top searches on Google. SEO is more important than ever. Building websites that get listed and linked up is key.
So, if you wanna get our management team on board, do the following 3 steps:
As I’m sitting listening to people on stage talking about viral communication a great post flips by in my RSS reader. The post talks about 18 rules that the best web developers follow. The list is a great compilation of what’s important. Still I’d like to ad two rules. Hey, before you read – feel [...]
Microsoft Research is obviosly a pretty cool playground. At first glance you might think this is another video of Microsoft Surface, but it’s not. This new 3D monitor/touch screen is called Second Light and it at least makes my brain go wild. Imagine what you could do with this thing if you had one to [...]
Aha. So you’re still at home crying about that car you drove of the bridge while texting ‘Look, I can drive without holding the steering wheel’. Well, not to worry. Vlingo has got just the thing for you. These guys have launched an application that allows mobile phone users to speak and look-up information such [...]
If you got an iPhone. If you every now and then visit Ronnestam.com. Then you’re in for a new experience optimized for your phone. Thanks to the excellent plugin WPTouch I’ve made sure the site loads faster, is easier to use and renders better on iPhone. Now you know.
This blog is written by Johan Ronnestam. He's widely regarded as one of Sweden’s leading speakers and authorities in the field of modern creative and conceptual thinking and skill of innovating brands and their communication. In 2010 the readers of Microsoft Indikat named Johan Swedens most influential authority within digital communication
