Digital Marketing, Design and Development – Who Trumps Who?

The other day, someone in my network on Twitter tweeted a link to a very interesting article on Business Week titled The Value of Design to Startups. “Design and marketing are way more important than engineering for consumer Internet companies, argues angel investor Dave McClure”

I really enjoyed the article because since my career has shifted into the online marketing side of things from the user experience side I’ve realised that many people within the digital media industry consider online marketing the weaker element of the online product.

I can’t even count how many times I’ve been in a meeting where a web developer has lectured me on how it’s impossible for someone in marketing to understand the complexity of the software or platform. No matter how many times the idea has been presented to me that I’m thick because I can’t write code I’ve never backed down or felt my contribution was insignificant. I might not code, but I am capable of understanding limitations as well as ways to exploit existing digital technologies. The idea that online marketing isn’t really tech is repugnant and ignorant.

Truth be told, there are a lot of bad marketers out there- especially within online because it’s so new and typically marketers tend to have a very rigid approach. Many marketers look at a project with assumptions based on proven strategies –which would be fine, but most new projects are entirely unique and there is no history for the marketer to use as a control.

I’ve worked on projects where the online marketing team has been invited into planning meetings in order to brainstorm requirements, and the best thing they could come up with was space for banner ads. I would argue that anyone who can’t come up with interactive and engaging elements is not an online marketer- they are an offline marketer that wasn’t able to get what they would consider a “real” job.

Anyway, back to Dave’s article and the point of this post.

Last night I was listening to Robin Goldberg speak at the Hive about Blurb. The technology on Blurb is not unique. Not even close to original. But the marketing is exceptional and the strategy to bring people together based on a passion, cause, creative spark or self promotion is genius. Walmart provides the same types of tools and there are lots of other places online to create your own photo book.

What makes Blurb different is the marketing and the brand positioning. Blurb is about community and expands into new territories as the community expands. When enough Australian’s started using Blurb, Robin got on a plane to make contacts and build up the community. The community on Blurb is the key to its success- not the technology.


I’m not entirely sure why there is snobbery amongst the digital media community regarding marketing. I’ve seen plenty of jokes about the hyper promotion of marketing and how we’re all being accosted by spam and badly run promotions, but I could equally throw stones in the other direction. I am so over badly organised websites. My pet hate is sites that are all style and no substance. The worst is landing on a page and thinking “how the hell do I find what I’m looking for and why the f*ck is every component riddled with bugs?”

There is good and bad in either side of the spectrum, but I will argue that we are all marketers. We market ourselves. We market our professions. We market our brands. Without marketing there would be no online business, and I would even venture as far to say that the Internet would not be half as significant in our daily lives.

Girl Geek Dinners Melbourne

I'm a HUGE fan of Girl Geek Dinners- for those who haven't heard of the group before it started in London. The original founder of the London Girl Geek Dinners and Girl Geek Dinners concept was Sarah Blow and she ran the events in London up until August 2009 where she handed over the events to the team that run them today. The reason for the handover was due to the increasing demand for Girl Geek Dinners globally and this needed central co-ordination. Sarah, not being based in London decided it was about time to hand over the events to the Londoners!

Nearly every city around the globe has their own chapter and I'm really excited to be involved with the group here in Melbourne.

All our events are run as not for profit and any funds left over are ploughed back into the group to provide the website, labels etc and sponsorship covers the cost of food and drinks as well as the venue hire where applicable. We are always happy to hear from potential new sponsors and you can contact me
jessica.lowry@gmail.com

Transmedia Storytelling

Women Set The Bar in Web Ventures

Great whitepaper by Illuminate Ventures. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, the firm is targeting US-based high growth, capital efficient companies in selected sectors within the high-tech landscape.

High Performance Entrepreneurs: Women in High Tech – Summary

New research shows what many have long suspected: women entrepreneurs are poised to lead the next wave of growth in global technology ventures. The full report, prepared by Illuminate Ventures, documents the performance of women entrepreneurs in the past decade and the trends that are propelling them towards critical mass in the high-tech sector. Please register to receive the full 15-page paper.

• Efficiency, efficiency, efficiency: The high-tech companies women build are more capital-efficient than the norm. The average venture-backed company run by a woman had achieved comparable early-year revenues, using an average of one-third less committed capital.
• Big Progress in Recent Times: More women are serving as officers of venture-backed companies with successful exits. In 1988, only 4% of the 134 firms that went public in the U.S. had women in top management positions. Of 2009’s 19 high-tech IPOs, all but two had at least one woman officer.
• Fewer Failures: Despite often being capital-constrained, women-owned businesses are more likely to survive the transition from raw start-up to established company than the average.
• Expanded IP Contributions: From 1985 to 2005, the annual number of U.S. female-invented fractional software patents increased 45-fold – three times the average growth rate in that sector.
• Growing Influence in Tech: Women-owned or led firms are the fastest growing sector of new venture creation in the U.S., growing at five times the rate of all new firms between 1997 and 2006 – now representing nearly 50% of all privately held businesses.
• Venture-level Returns: In the past 10 years more than 125 companies with over 200 women co-founders or officers have achieved IPOs or >$50M M&A exits in the U.S. high-tech sector alone.
• Diversity Improves Performance: Organizations that are the most inclusive of women in top management achieve 35% higher ROE and 34% better total return to shareholders versus their peers – and research shows gender diversity to be particularly valuable where innovation is key.
• Financial Bottleneck: $1M+ woman led companies are twice as likely as those led by men to gain debt versus equity capital. In 2008 woman co-founded tech businesses gained less than 10% of venture investment in the high-tech sector while representing 30% of the workforce.
• Impact of Women Investors: Women now represent just over 15 percent of angel investors, but just 5%-7% of partner-level high-tech venture capital investors in the U.S. Firms with women investment partners are 70 percent more likely to lead an investment in a woman entrepreneur than those with only male partners.

The bottom line: More than ever before, women are influencing the face of business. They are on the cusp of becoming a leading entrepreneurial force in technology. As the global economy regenerates, new business models are needed to stimulate economic and job growth. Investors seeking to reinvigorate bottom-line performance and to favorably impact the entrepreneurial strength of our economy would be wise to support strategies that enable high-tech start-ups that are inclusive of women entrepreneurs.

Please Register Here to Receive The Complete Whitepaper

Here's another great read from my dear friend's at Mashable: Why Social Media Means Big Opportunities for Women

The 7th Future of Digital Advertising

I'm attending The 7th Future of Digital Advertising on Jan 28, are you? Please get in touch with me if you're in Sydney on January 28, and planning to attend. Also, I've created a quick follow list for the event- go here if you're on Twitter and would like to follow other participants, speakers and organizers.

Here are the det's:

AIMIA and IAB Australia invite you to kick off 2010 with a competitive insight into the future of digital advertising at our 7th Future of Digital Advertising Event.

As the recovery begins from the most challenging year our industry has faced since the dot-com bust in 2001, it is time to turn our attention to the future. This event will explore:

1. What will 2010 be the year of? Mobile, FMCG or Online Video?
2. Will paid content become a reality and how will that affect advertising and consumers?
3. Will the migration of hundreds of millions of advertising dollars from Tv and newsprint to online continue?
4. How much money will the online advertising industry be worth in 2010, and how much will search, display and classifieds grow?
5. How does Australia compare with the US, the UK and other EU economies?
6. What will be the focus of content producers? Agencies? Advertisers? Consumers?
7. These key issues and many more will be addressed by some of Australia’s leading digital media and marketing voices. Hear their opinions and thoughts in an engaging and entertaining seminar and then challenge their views in the Q&A session.

If you want to learn from industry and business leaders ideas, views and trends that could shape your own business direction, then this is an event you must attend.

Register now to ensure you don’t miss out!

Chairman:
- John Butterworth, CEO, AIMIA

Speakers:
- Paul Fisher, CEO, Interactive Advertising Bureau
- Pippa Leary, Managing Director - Media, Fairfax Digital
- Mark Shaw, General Manager, Media Smart, Sensis
- Mac Walker, Digital Director, Hyro
- Claudia Sagripanti, Director of Mobile Communications, GroupM
- Darwin Tomlinson, Creative Director, The White Agency

Event Details:
Date: Thursday, January 28, 2010
Venue: Powerhouse Museum
Address: 500 Harris St, Ultimo

Time:
08:00am Registration & networking
08:30am Forum begins - 4 presentations
10:00am Morning tea
10:30am 2 presentations
11:15am Q & A Panel discussion
12:00pm Forum ends

Price:
$99 AIMIA Members (exc. GST)
$149 Non Members (exc. GST)
Ticket price includes general entry into The Powerhouse Museum after the event.

Register Here

Brought to you by:
AIMIA and IAB Australia

Australian Games Industry Skills Project

The Games Industry Skills Project is to identify and evaluate skill sets and occupations required for employment in the Australia’s Digital Games Industry, both currently and in the future. The project is also measuring the extent, source and impact of skills deficiencies.

The project involves three key stages:

• Consolidating existing literature, studies, policies, programs, and statistical data that is relevant to Australia’s Digital Games Industry.
• Identifying current, emerging, and future skills deficiencies; development needs; and hiring requirements in the industry – which involves a national survey of employers, a national survey of workers, and consultations with key industry stakeholders.
• A scenario planning exercise to develop three scenarios of the state of the industry in 2015, and what these different scenarios mean for the skilling of workers.

The project is supported by Queensland University of Technology (Brisbane, Australia), the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation, and the Games Developers’ Association of Australia.

Learn more:http://gamesindustryskills.wordpress.com/about/

It looks like a great initiative, but I'm surprised they're not on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn....

in reference to: About « Working in Australia's Digital Games Industry (view on Google Sidewiki)