What’s really important?

• A multinational company or someone doing what they say they will?
• …when they say they will?
• A website that lists every book in the world or a website that works and gives you the information you need?
• A £2bn supermarket chain or someone on a checkout smiling at you?
• The world’s favourite airline or getting to your destination on time?
• A glitzy advertising campaign or someone that picks up the phone after one ring?

The changing face of marketing?

I’m constantly hearing from podcasts, blogs and the like about the changing face of advertising. The TV advert is dieing, iTunes killed the radio, it’s all about permission marketing. Whilst at a high level I can see these changes, the logic in them and how the world could go this way and this is all very well for the people who know about this and they will only accept ‘new age marketing.’

For most people though this isn’t the case. People still watch TV, they still see adverts and they still buy the products they see in the adverts. People still listen to the radio, maybe not as much but they still do. People still buy magazines, they still buy CDs and still buy books from the book shop.

Books like The Long Tail by Chris Anderson and Permission Marketing by Seth Godin talk about the changing face of marketing and consumer behaviour. I for one completely agree with them and am a big fan of their work but Rome wasn’t built in a day and people don’t change their behaviour over night.

It is very easy to get carried away believing that this is the way marketing should be and should be right now. The only problem is most consumers don’t know this and are happy with current advertising. At the end of the day most people are still the same and still have the same habits so traditional marketing lives on and I believe still will do for a long time. Yes, we will get closer and closer to permission marketing and the like but remember to live in the now but know about the future.

The power of a brand

Coca-Cola is the ‘best global brand’ according to Interbrand’s 2006 survery. It is valued at $67m.

How is a brand, in most cases an intangible asset, worth that much?

I read an interesting study recently which helps to answer that question:

Coke and Pepsi are great rivals. When people drink Coke and Pepsi blind i.e. they can’t see their labels, 51% preferred Pepsi whilst only 44% preferred Coke (5% had no preference). However when consumers can see the labels only 23% prefer Pepsi and 65% prefer Coke.

Looking at this from the view of shareholders, in 2004 Coke’s revenues were $22bn, whilst Pepsi’s were $29bn, however analysts and investors have more confidence in Coke valuing the company at $111bn compared to Pepsi’s $87bn.

This is all down to the brand, Coke doesn’t sell fizzy water, as their website states: Coke “exists to benefit and refresh everyone it touches.”

Peak Time Business Competition

I’ve recently been contacted by somebody from Peak Time about a business competition for student entrepreneurs. Details are below:

Peak Time is the biggest business student competition in the Eastern Europe and is focused on developing entrepreneurial skills, networking and idea exchange. Student teams compete in CESIM simulation (www.cesim.com) and solve real life business cases in finals. During this event students apply and test their academic and empirical knowledge in a competitive and realistic environment. The competition is organized for the 8th time – last year there have been applicants from such countries as Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Austria, USA, Denmark, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Slovakia and all the Baltic States countries. 1st place prize this year is 3000 EUR and deadline for the application this year is March 1st. For more details visit www.peaktime.org

Being naïve

Many people see naivety as a bad quality and can’t emphasis the advantages of experience. A lot of students are naïve to the world, most having no real world experience and with only education behind them. I was the same at university. I had grand ideas and thought I could raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for big business ideas. Nowadays though when I come up with these grand ideas they are more easily dismissed as experience has taught me it may not work.

Whilst this may stop me wasting my time, the fun, the experience, the amount I learnt from my earlier ideas is fantastic real world experience. Thinking you are invincible when you don’t know what is ahead is not necessarily a bad thing. Many people that have started and run big businesses said if they knew what they had to go through afterwards they wouldn’t have started!

Being naïve, believing that it will work and keeping this positive attitude when everything is going wrong though can keep you going. Not being moulded by the world and trying new things that a more experienced person may think won’t work can defiantly put you at an advantage.

Book Review - Why we want you to be rich

by Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki

When I first saw this book the authors got my attention. Donald Trump: billionaire, real estate guru and the head of the Apprentice; Robert Kiyosaki…author of the bestseller Rich Dad, Poor Dad and the rest of the Rich Dad books.

This book is a very interesting read, especially for young people today. Starting by putting fear into all of us by saying where the world could be heading both authors give their tips and strategies for how you can become rich. Simple but clever…the key themes are:

• Do you invest not to lose or do you invest to win?
• How do you invest to win? Do you give your money to a financial advisor or do you research for yourself?
• Why investing doesn’t have to be risky and how you can be in control.

There is a lot of common sense, but common sense that many people have never thought of before. Most people spend most of their life in a job making money. When it comes to spending this money, say buying a car people read around on the Internet, buy magazines, go for test drives and then make a decision. It’s similar with holidays…you do the research, book the best flights, buy the guide book and make a plan.

However when it comes to money…the tangible item people have at the end of the day from their job, most people give their money to someone else to invest, throw it in the stock market or put it in a savings account. By taking as much (and hopefully more) care over this as you do with the rest of your spending could set you on your path to richness….

The negatives in the book are there is to much self promotion which is a shame, but ignore this and it is well worth a read.

Books for 2007

Many people talk about doing an MBA in a year through reading books. Of course it is not a real MBA but books can give you a certain amount of knowledge and business acumen.

All lists are subjective and I’ve had a go at putting my own list together. I’ve narrowed it down to 15. Some of these have already been reviewed on the site, a lot will be reviewed this year on the site. See what you think, read what you can and good luck in your ‘mini Student Entrepreneur MBA’:

Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki

Who Moved My Cheese - Dr Spencer Johnson

Losing My Virginity - Richard Branson

Anyone Can Do It - Sahar & Bobby Hashemi

Natural Born Winners - Robin Sieger

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen Covey

The E-Myth Revisited - Michael E Gerber

48 Laws of Power - Robert Greene & Joost Elffers

How to Get Rich - Donald Trump

7 Secrets of Inspired Leaders - Phil Dourado & Phil Blackburn

What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business School - Mark H. McCormack

Purple Cow - Seth Godin

How to win friends and influence people - Dale Carnige

The Essential Business Guide

Why we want you to be rich - Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki

Happy New Year from Student Entrepreneur

Welcome back to Student Entrepreneur. I hope that you’ve all had a happy holiday season and are ready for a prosperous 2007 ahead.

Big things are in the pipeline for 2007. As well as the blog updates Student Entrepreneur is looking to expand into a number of different areas.

As always your feedback is always appreciated to info@StudentEntrepreneur.co.uk

Furthermore if you would like to play a part in Student Entrepreneur, however big or small, then please get in touch.

And again, happy new year.

Seasons Greetings from Student Entrepreneur

Thank you for your continued support throughout the year and best wishes for a happy and prosperous 2007.

Student Entrepreneur.

2007 Mantras

So another year is up and a new one is round the corner. It’s time now for the infamous New Years resolution: ‘I’m going to go on a diet this year’, ‘I’m going to save my money this year’, ‘I’m going to start my own business this year’ etc.

How about something different… a mantra. A mantra sums up your purpose, has emotion attached to it and you can say it over and over again and it will embed the message you are trying to portray.

As an example, if in 2007 you want to lose weight it could be ‘feel good about myself’, if it’s about saving money it could be ‘maximise income and minimise expenditure’.

Whatever you do next year you can ask: is this fulfilling my mantra? If your mantra is about feeling good about yourself and you have the choice as to whether to go to the gym or order a pizza and stay in, the mantra should drive your choice.

In business if your mantra is ‘£100,000 in sales’ then every decision you make should be a step towards fulfilling that goal. If it’s moving you closer then carry on, if it’s not moving you closer, or even taking you away, then stop doing it.

Guy Kawasaki argues that all companies should have mantras rather than the ‘consultant driven mission statements’ that most currently have. Disney is an example of a company with a mantra: ‘Make people happy’. Says it all really.

People don’t stick to New Year resolutions. Go to a gym in January and it will be full up. Go back in March and half the people won’t be there anymore. A mantra defines your passion and your purpose and can help you drive your decisions throughout the year.

So what’s your 2007 mantra?