http://www.nastaev.com Blog By Zalim Nastaev Tue, 26 Aug 2008 04:45:15 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en What may be best for you - sign a contract to get a superstar an official endorser of your brand, or count on the ordinary people to spread the good rumour around? The answer, as obvious as it may seem, is never so clear. With the recent Olympic hype, let me ... http://www.nastaev.com/2008/08/26/official-endorsers-casual-advocates/ What happens when you start marketing before you are ready? Do you know a great way to throw your marketing money away without any effort? I have changed an Internet provider recently at home. I am not loyal to anyone here, so I don't have a problem switching to the one ... http://www.nastaev.com/2008/05/19/if-you-are-not-ready-for-it/ I was writing not so long ago, about Jon Lunetta trying to approach the Russian mobile marketers here in Russia, and how slow (actually zero response) the latter were... This is the tendency with mobile marketing here in Russia: companies open for a certain client - be it a old ... http://www.nastaev.com/2008/04/28/mobile-marketing-waking-up-in-russia/ Valeria Maltoni, writes here in her posting about the talking that can fail or improve your customer service. She has 10 points, which I would summarise into the following: 1. Instead of your own talking - let your customers do it, and keep listening to the carefully. Which, in its turn, ... http://www.nastaev.com/2008/04/22/customer-service-as-valuable-asset/ Paul William's post at MarktetingProfs Daily Fix Blog has caught my attention. Dealing with branding in terms of reputation in the first place would sound pretty much like something obvious, but how often do you really take that step as the first step? A number of factors (call it filters) are ... http://www.nastaev.com/2008/04/20/brands-and-reputation/ Among other things, I have been busy last week completing the content-filling and adaptation / localization process for a website. This is an international company, they have sites for at least 10 countries already, and now they are opening in Russia, too. So, what is the main lesson one will learn ... http://www.nastaev.com/2008/04/14/when-are-you-ready-with-a-website/ One day or another you have to expect that you will have to increase prices for your product/service. The level will depend, of course, and here, in Russia, it is hardly acceptable. Government can't help it, their forecasts and plans for the forthcoming year are never true. So, what would ... http://www.nastaev.com/2008/04/07/increasing-prices-the-smarter-way/ That's a strange feeling - being neglected as a loyal customer... Think of it this way: who you could be loyal to in your life? Your parents, your kids and your spouse. Your friends and your very best partners. Think of being neglected by them. Exaggeration? Not really: I may be ... http://www.nastaev.com/2008/04/03/neglecting-your-customers/ This is a very interesting phenomenon: some brands that have a specific emotional background tend to age together with their consumers. Many examples would come from cosmetics brands: these very often target various ages with various products. Soon as the audience is firmly up on your product you have to ... http://www.nastaev.com/2008/04/02/when-brands-grow-old/ Here below is a very interesting idea how to ornate a public toilet in a mall. This was implemented in Portugal. Allegedly, this is for a more lusty experience in a lavatory. Could be just a joke for fun. But here is an idea for an advertiser: dress those ladies ... http://www.nastaev.com/2008/03/28/advertising-in-a-public-toilet/