Highway 101

Archive for July, 2009|Monthly archive page

We’re in Madmen!

In Just for Fun on July 31, 2009 at 10:52 am

The latest series of Mad Men starts in the US in August – and the craze for fans at the moment is to ‘Mad Men’ yourself. We are all amazed at how accurate they are (especially our Creative Director, Ian.)

MadMen yourself by visiting http://www.amctv.com:80/originals/madmen/madmenyourself/

Here we are!

Ian Minter, Creative DirectorIan madmen_fullbody

 

Jacqui Bundy, Head of DesignJacqui madmen_fullbody

 

Dana Minter, Creative Strategymadmen_fullbody

 

Alex Bartzis, Business Development Alex madmen_fullbody

Economic Models explained with Cows – 2009 update

In Just for Fun on July 23, 2009 at 11:31 am

1934917078_359cfee43fI believe this is an oldie but I haven’t seen it before (it was emailed to me by a friend). Everyone in the office had tears running down our cheers from laughing at it. 

  • SOCIALISM – You have 2 cows. You give one to your neighbour.
  • COMMUNISM – You have 2 cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk.
  •  FASCISM – You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk.
  •  NAZISM – You have 2 cows. The State takes both and shoots you.
  •  TOTALITARIANISM – You have 2 cows. The State takes both, shoots them, then deny that they ever existed.
  •  ANARCHY – You have 2 cows. You either sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbours kill you.
  •  BUREAUCRATISM – You have 2 cows. The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away.
  • TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM – You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.
  •  NEW AGE - You have two cows. They get married and adopt a heifer.
  •  SURREALISM – You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.
  •  AN AMERICAN CORPORATION  - You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.
  •  ENRON VENTURE CAPITALISM - You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States, leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public then buys your bull.
  •  A FRENCH CORPORATION – You have two cows. You go on strike, organise a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.
  •  A JAPANESE CORPORATION – You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called ‘Cowkemon’ and market it worldwide.
  • A GERMAN CORPORATION – You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.
  •  AN ITALIAN CORPORATION – You have two cows, but you don’t know where they are. You decide to have lunch.
  •  A RUSSIAN CORPORATION – You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
  •  A SWISS CORPORATION - You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you. You charge the owners for storing them.
  •  A CHINESE CORPORATION -You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity. You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.
  •  AN INDIAN CORPORATION - You have two cows. You worship them.
  •  A BRITISH CORPORATION – You have two cows. Both are mad.
  •  AN IRAQI CORPORATION - Everyone thinks you have lots of cows. You tell them that you have none. No-one believes you, so they bomb the shit out of you and invade your country. You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of Democracy.
  •  AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION – You have two cows. Business seems pretty good. You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.
  • A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION – You have two cows. The one on the left looks very attractive.

Posted by Dana Minter

Image by kwerfeldein via flickr

 


Pester Power

In Uncategorized on July 10, 2009 at 10:40 am

2898020303_635ed6118dWhen I receive phonecalls from suppliers and potential suppliers, I often find myself bristling because they’re simply looking – pestering me – for work. I can’t wait to put the phone down, don’t remember their names, I rarely remember their services.

This got me thinking – how do you keep in touch with clients, contacts and potential clients without driving them mad? Where do you draw the line between ‘keeping your company top of mind’ and stepping over into smother mode?

This is something that I struggle with on a daily basis – “How can you communicate with clients without feeling like you’re a ‘pest’. In short, their conclusions were:

  • Be relevant
  • Be respectful
  • Be of some value

Everyone is hungry for information – you just need a tool to pass that information on in an entertaining and non-confrontational manner.

If your company doesn’t have a newsletter or eNewsletter, there’s never been a better time to start (just don’t make the newsletter all about you). Google Alerts can provide you with useful and up-to-date tidbits that you can pass on to clients and colleagues.

If you haven’t gotten your head around Twitter, now is the time to do so. It’s a goldmine of information that you can pass on (however, you need a STRATEGY to get it right.

Most of all, remember that there’s nothing wrong with a little self-promotion. If they don’t know about you, they can’t turn to you. Just don’t turn them off with too much information.

Posted by Dana Minter

Image by BarelyFitz via Flickr (pity Gwinnett County, Georgia doesn’t have a sign proofreader)

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