Digital Strategy | The Heavy Chef Project

Heavy Chef October (Johannesburg): Raising Capital for New Media Start-ups Posted in Digital Strategy, Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Fred Roed September 24, 2009

October 5th sees a repeat of an earlier Session held in Cape Town featuring Vinny Lingham, CEO and Founder of Yola.com. The Session will be held at Deloitte’s offices in Woodmead, and will be restricted to 50 people. The Session starts at 6 for 6:30pm and will end at 8:30pm.

As usual the drinks will be provided by Perdeberg, Corona and Carlsberg. We are expecting a full house (there are only a handful of spare seats since the invitation was sent out yesterday), so get in quick if you’re interested in attending. Click here to reserve your place.

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Thinking about Silver Surfers Online Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by LouisJvR September 11, 2009 1 comment

In a recent chat with a client of ours at World Wide Creative, we got into an interesting discussion around ’seniors’ (that is those people +-60 years and older) and their level of activity on the web and their value to marketers.

So, I did a bit of digging around and found some interesting learnings…. in fact over the last 3 years or so this market, dubbed the “Silver Surfers“*, has become quite a hot topic of discussion… Read Further
New website design for World Wide Creative Posted in Digital Strategy, Heavy Chef News, Website Design, Website Usability, Concocted by Fred Roed September 8, 2009

The Heavy Chef Project, as many of you know, is an initiative by our parent company, World Wide Creative. This forum is an extension of all the stuff we learn working with our clients in Europe and Africa on digital marketing campaigns. So, we’re pretty excited about our new presence that began with the redesign of the Heavy Chef site a few weeks ago, and now continued with the launch of a fresh new look for the WWC site.

There were three reasons for the design:

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How I use Twitter for business Posted in Digital Strategy, Social Media, Twitter, Concocted by Fred Roed September 7, 2009 2 comments

Since registering my Twitter account around a year ago (I’m a casually late adopter), I’ve watched the steep rise of this humble little social networking tool with interest. At first I did not know what all the fuss was about, but then I quickly realised Twitter actually held some importance other than tweeting about a colleague who left only two squares of toilet roll or whether I think Daniel Craig makes a crap Bond or not. So, for the sake of crystallising my thinking on the matter, here are some reasons why I’m a fan for business usage of Twitter:

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Spread The Word With Viral Marketing Posted in Branding Online, Digital Strategy, Online Advertising, Concocted by Yolandi Janse van Rensburg September 4, 2009 3 comments

Want to make use of viral marketing as an essential marketing strategy? Well, you can’t. You can create a message and hope it’s good enough to spread. Our CEO at World Wide Creative, Fred Roed wrote a post on how to make a viral video. His answer was simple – you don’t. Fred explains that “there’s no way you can make a viral video. You can only make a video. Your audience will make it viral.
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Corporates increase spending in Social Media Posted in Branding Online, Digital Strategy, Social Media, Concocted by Fred Roed September 3, 2009

US research company, McKinsey released a report today revealing the results of a survey on social media adoption for corporate marketing strategy. It’s well worth a read, with some healthy support coming out in company’s marketing strategies for Web 2.0. adoption in the corporate environment.

This is one that the strategists and account managers will enjoy, with multiple sound bites to use in their client presentations.

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Creating New Worlds: Comcast Town Posted in Digital Strategy, Social Media, Concocted by LouisJvR August 25, 2009

At one of our previous Heavy Chef events in Cape Town, Justin Gomes (FoxP2 Ad Agency) in his talk on “Creativity And Its Power To Transform Business”, told the story of George Lucas and Star Wars, and the importance of creating new worlds…

So, when I stumbled across Comcast Town, I was reminded of Justin’s words of wisdom.

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A thirst-quenching vitamin-rich success story: glaceau vitaminwater Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by Fred Roed August 21, 2009

Forgive us if this comes across as a little “advertisey”, but believe me this is a sincere story. Recently we’ve been sponsored by glacéau vitaminwater for the Heavy Chef Sessions we run each month. So, intrigued by this relatively new brand that’s now EVERYWHERE, I scratched below the surface for some tasty tidbits. A while back, Thurlow from thewinwingroup related to me the story of a guy called J. Darius Bikoff, who started a small bottled water company in 1996 after eating a vitamin C wafer on the way to a yoga class.

Amidst serious personal difficulties, Bikoff managed to get the company up and running, and within 5 years the company was the company’s drinks were sold in over 4,000 retail stores in the New York area.

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Twitter in South Africa: Investigating the Hype Posted in Branding Online, Digital Strategy, Social Media, Twitter, Concocted by LouisJvR August 19, 2009 3 comments
The hype is there, no doubt.

But I think it’s time to put a stake in the ground and do some research into Twitter’s pervasiveness in South Africa… this is what I could find:
1. According to research company, Sysomos, South African Twitter users make up 0.85% of total Twitter users (that is the 10th largest usership in the world!)
2. According to Nielsen Wire Twitter receives an estimate 55 million visits per month (7 mil unique visits)
Based on this, I can make an assumption that SA Twitter users generate 467,500 visits per month (59,500 unique visits).

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August 2009 Session: “Youth Marketing – Where Are We and What Has Worked Before” Posted in Digital Strategy, Heavy Chef News, Concocted by Fred Roed August 13, 2009

We’re particularly excited about this month’s Heavy Chef Session focusing on Youth Marketing.

The youth market has always been a tough nut to crack. Fickle. Trend conscious. Unpredictable. Notoriously outspoken. So, how can we reach ‘em?

We’ve asked some leaders in the field of Youth Marketing to come and share some insights with us.

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Schools Out! How to Brand Online Posted in Branding Online, Digital Strategy, Concocted by Yolandi Janse van Rensburg July 22, 2009

friends

So, it’s your first day at school. You don’t know anyone and nobody knows you. You need to build up your brand and hiding behind the teacher won’t help you. So, you go out to the playground and start chatting to the other kids. You might quickly find a group of friends that match your brand or it might take a bit of time. Don’t go sit in the corner and think nobody likes you. Go out there and make them notice you! Read Further
5 Gold Lions in Cannes Posted in Digital Strategy, Online Advertising, Concocted by Fred Roed July 20, 2009

This viral video is a nice take on the marketing industry’s preoccupation with awards. Created by European Digital Agency Boondoggle, it’s doing the rounds with a simple, yet cutting concept. Nice work. Read Further
Hit the Bull’s Eye with SEO! Posted in Digital Strategy, Search Engine Optimisation, Concocted by Yolandi Janse van Rensburg July 14, 2009

seo

Today, search engines work much like a phone book directory used to – just on a much larger scale. How your company’s site is found can be difficult with so many options available. To single out you company’s website from the mass of information on the web, it is vital to make use Search Engine Optimization (or SEO). Read Further
The Fabulous Great Amazing 2010 Soccer Hooligan Show Posted in Digital Strategy, Online Advertising, Concocted by Fred Roed July 7, 2009

…or something like that. I take licence with the name since these palookas have not come up with their own yet. Jason Bagley, founder of Bean Bag Media (and part consultant for World Wide Creative) and our very own MD Mike Perk, have collaborated for a weekly online soccer show. Read Further
Web? What? Where? How? Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by Yolandi Janse van Rensburg June 23, 2009

As the communications intern at World Wide Creative there is more than a lot I still need to learn about the web and online media. Even though I regard myself as someone who can use the web efficiently, I find it vital to know the platform I am working with – not just how to work it but what it is. I’ve heard of terms such as Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 but never understood what they were. Read Further
Business Plans – do they matter? Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by Fred Roed June 8, 2009

I wrote a post on our sister blog, Ideate, over lunch with a 7 point list to ‘create your perfect business plan‘.

This is particularly relevant, I think, to online start ups, since most are started without much fore-thought or planning. This can sometimes be an advantage, especially if you read Richard Branson, but in most cases, is not such a good idea. Read Further
Create Unusually Simple & Surprisingly Powerful Products Posted in Digital Strategy, Website Design, Concocted by LouisJvR June 4, 2009 4 comments

At World Wide Creative we promise 2 things when creating digital strategies for our clients – Profitability and Creativity.

I’m wondering if we should add ‘Elegance’ to that pledge?

Guy Kawasaki recently interviewed Matt May, author of In Pursuit of Elegance: Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing, about tips to pursue elegance. Read Further
Journalism Students Reluctant to Blog Posted in Branding Online, Digital Strategy, Online Advertising, Concocted by Yolandi Janse van Rensburg May 29, 2009 7 comments

blogging

As a blogger myself I know the importance of creating an online identity. I started snooping around to see what has been written on blogging and how much people really know about it. It is strange to me that people still define a blog as an online journal or diary, because this definition for me is a bit out dated. Read Further
The Future of the Social Web – Take it Seriously Posted in Digital Strategy, Social Media, Concocted by LouisJvR May 28, 2009

**Article republished from World Wide Creative’s Johannesburg Manager, Louis J v Rensburg’s Ka-Pow! blog.

soial web

Yesterday I wet your appetite with this excerpt from Forrester Research’s latest analyst report on The Future of the Social Web…

“…not just social networks, but every brand site will become social — whether you include these features, or visitors bring them along.” Read Further
Net Prophet 2009: All the Talks, Slides & Pretty Faces Posted in Digital Strategy, Videos, Concocted by LouisJvR May 26, 2009

Ok, so I heard that the Net Prophet 2009 conference at the beginning of this month rocked. Brilliant!

So, what about our not-so-lucky folk (like me) who weren’t able to attend? Read Further
Backing up your online life Posted in Digital Strategy, Social Media, Twitter, Concocted by Guest May 18, 2009 1 comment

You back up your email, pictures, music and even your cellphone SIM Card. Why should your online resources be any different? After all, you do invest loads of time into these sites.

Here are three ways to back up those important social media activities: Read Further
Don’t miss the point with technology Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by Fred Roed May 5, 2009

boywonder

I was sent an article by World Wide Creative’s Johannesburg Manager, Louis Janse van Rensburg, about Chris Hughes (Barack Obama’s online campaign manager and one of the original architects of Facebook), and it proved to be riveting reading. The article is from the Fast Company site and is entitled “How Chris Hughes Helped Launch Facebook and the Barack Obama Campaign”. Read Further
The future of print publications, could MINE Magazine hold the answer? Posted in Digital Strategy, Online Advertising, Concocted by Fred Roed April 30, 2009 1 comment

There has been much debate and conjecture over the future of the newspaper industry in the past few months. I’ve been privy to some heated discussions in the boardrooms of certain newsrooms, and, take it from me, there are some pretty scared people out there. Read Further
The Web: Visualized in Funky 3D Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by LouisJvR April 17, 2009

visual web

Need to visualize the world wide web? Read Further
Tip’d Gives Us Some Advice on Growing Your Community Posted in Digital Strategy, Concocted by LouisJvR April 9, 2009

A recommended read courtesy of RWW’s recent post on “Community Building 101 for the Bootstrapped Startup“.

RWW follows the stellar growth of Tip’d – a four month old financial news site – and what they’ve done to cultivate their web community. Read Further