The Heavy Chef Project » bite-size information about developing profitable web strategies
marketers
Too many marketers put the cart (new technology) before the horse (your message).
The consequent result is too familiar…
New online campaign is launched with much excitement, gains a little traction from referred users, word-of-mouth and the occasional die-hard web surfer, before quickly losing steam… Read Further
Despite the rain and a public holiday the follow day, the opportunity to hear Allan Kent (AtPlay) and Anton Crone (Saatchi & Saatchi) talk about Creativity in Communication, was too big a draw for last Tuesdays Heavy Chef session at 24.com. The call of free booze from our sponsors Perdeberg and Corona also helped:-)
Allan and Anton were new to the Heavy Chef format but enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and keenness of the audience to participate. Read Further
Louis spreading some pearls of wisdom regarding online marketing. Read Further
Wikipedia thinks ‘marketing’ means this:
Marketing is an ongoing process of planning and executing the marketing mix (Product, Price, Place, Promotion often referred to as the 4 Ps) for products, services or ideas to create exchange between individuals and organizations. Marketing tends to be seen as a creative industry, which includes advertising, distribution and selling. Read Further
heavy chef
I stumbled across this cartoon from Tom Fishburne – “Evolution of Marketing“:
avril
Read this article. It’s a fascinating insight into how Avril Lavigne’s ‘Girlfriend‘ became the number 1 most viewed video in history – beating ‘Evolution of Dance‘ with over 100m views. Read Further
If Seth Godin says we need to remember, REMEMBER… Read Further
…it should enhance it.
There’s been a lot said about ‘user centred design‘ in web marketing circles recently. We talk about things like ‘conversion strategy‘ and ‘navigation strategy‘, phrases which have now become big buzzwords in marketing meetings. There’s no denying that these things are really, really important, but what if they come at a price? What if the the function of a site replaces creativity – instead of laying a platform for it? Read Further
If you haven’t read it yet, click here now.
Andrew Smith and Shane ‘Napoleon Dynamite’ Dryden take on ‘Frank Snyman’, a would-be internet fraudster. You’ve got to love the video, especially when Frank starts getting hot under the collar and starts blurting incoherent nonsense at the end. Read Further
We’ve recently realised that there are enough topics under the theme ‘ingredients of creating profitable web strategies’ to fill a schedule for the next couple of years. We normally choose the ones that blow our hair back, but this being a social media initiative I suppose it’s obligatory that we ask ‘what would you like to see?’
Let us know, we’re keen to get some input here. Here are some of our ideas to get the ball rolling Read Further
With the eminent arrival of IE 8 and the coming of Google Chrome we’ve noticed a huge rise in conversations by web development companies, as to whether or not they should drop IE 6 as a compatible browser on new builds.
Lets face it, there isn’t a web developer out there who doesn’t swear and curse at Bill Gates and his Microsoft team at least during the browser testing phase of a new website build.
In-house we’ve been discussing the dilemma of “should we” or “shouldn’t we” continue to support site compatibility of IE6. Read Further
Lately, I’ve been spending a lot of my evenings cooking meat on the grid outside*. I think it’s a reaction to too many emails, far too many conversations and spending wayyy too much time online.
After reading Dave’s recent article and chatting to a couple of fellow world wired folk, I know that I’m not the only one. Heck, I’m writing this at 11pm. I reckon that we’re all starting to realise that, sometimes, it’s good to ‘unplug’. Read Further
twittering
Excellent work from the guys from Geek & Poke (Creative Commons Licence) Read Further
challenge
Think before you design.
One of the primary things the we at World Wide Creative concentrate on before embarking on the design and development of any website or online community, is to conduct a thorough study and analysis of our clients’ niche market. Read Further
Apologies to all those who emailed yesterday about the Heavy Chef Session for September. To our astonishment, it was fully booked within an hour of the invite going out.
As a result, we’re having to rethink our strategy for the Sessions in order to make it as accessible as possible in future. Read Further
When talking to clients about social media and online community building, one generally comes across 1 of 2 types of reactions:
“Social, smocial. It’s just another fad.” (conservatives) vs. “Social, Yeah baby! This is going to rock our world!” (liberals).
Thing is, both these reactions lead to a shotgun approach. An approach that is essentially underlined by a lack of strategy. Read Further
allan kent
Media today has become a cluttered and noisy place. Even ‘New Media’ – which until recently presented a pristine canvass – is now a tangled, convoluted mess.
Where does your brand position itself in all this?
Does it convey its message in a memorable, impactive way – or is it devoid of ideas; lost in a neat, usable, yet ultimately bland media presence…? Read Further
brand owned
I’d like to bring your attention to a not-so-unique, not-so-flashy, but well thought out online community. An online community that is championed by a specific brand and that I think has some very interesting lessons for all involved in this space… first, the background:
One of the largest cinema/entertainment companies in Canada, Cineplex, has recently launched its very own – and I quote: “online social networking movie and entertainment community” (jeez, that was a mouth full!) called mycineplex Read Further
bozo
Yep, “Bozo” is the troublemaker in online communities. The guy (or girl) that stirs things up. Craves for attention. Has little to no social skills. In short, a community manager/webmasters worst nightmare.
Online communities are essentially about social interaction. And, as in the offline-world, where there is social interaction unpredictability is a sure thing. Read Further
google chrome
Last week Chris Beech blogged about the Google iPhone. Now there is Google Chrome, the new open source browser from Google. I first heard about it on Twitter on Monday, and shortly after it hit the news, ‘Google Chrome’ became a bigger search term than ‘Hurricane Gustav’ – which, on Monday, was at its destructuve zenith. Read Further
Fred strutting his stuff on the Tele… Again! Read Further
ideate
…IF the authors posting on www.ideate.co.za (about Small Business in SA) DIDN’T participate in the conversations taking place on each of their posts…
Fortunately, the “mild-mannered alter-egos” behind Ideate, Fred (The Heaviest Chef of them all!!), Andrew and Shane, as well as some of their other guest contributors, ARE participating – and this, to me, is the primary reason behind Ideate’s success.
Don’t believe me? Case in point, I randomly went throught 10 posts and this was the level of participation from them… Read Further