Perspectives in Marketing & Comedy
Posted on 16. Oct, 2009 by Franz in Advertising, Web Marketing
I’m a huge fan of comedy shows. Some of my favourites include Russell Peters (top), HIMYM, Simpsons, Jeff Dunham, Chris Rock (when he was young), etc. Seriously, I can never get tired of them. Having a good laugh after a tough day at work or in life is like taking drugs – So addictive, yet it’s enjoyable and best of all, it helps with good health.
When Russell Peters said “Comedy is about the unexpected” he really meant it. And I’m behind him on that. The thing is, so does marketing – Whether you’re marketing a business/brand online, marketing your friend relationships, etc.
Know that I’ve spoken about this on another blog post, that all of us here are trying to grasp the ever-growing knowledgebase of things around us – To better understand our clients’ audience, to grow their business in a targeted manner while reducing costs, to reduce time taken to perform search optimization and so forth. Sometimes, it could be daunting if you don’t get results – But that’s part of the job.
Comedy is all about making the crowd go wild. If your crowd don’t enjoy your jokes, then the whole show is pretty fucked messed up. Same goes to marketing: If you can make your audience go rowdy and all crazy around you, it’s actually an achievement.
If Russell Peters do not have the advantage of talking about differences between races and cultures (then make fun of them), I probably wouldn’t watch it. Because his jokes are always catchy and makes me understand different cultures and activities through his words (most of the time stereotypes).
Your decisions come from your results
You can always think of your results from any of your marketing campaigns positively, or negatively. Let me give you an example:
Malaysia Advertising Statistics 2009 - Spending trends
Look at the chart – Trends of Advertising Spend in Malaysia for March, April, May and June 2009. Internet spending is 0.7% in March, got 0.6% for April, May and June 2009. What the hell is going on? Publications are reaping most of the market share when it comes to advertising online, so could this mean Elioe.com and many other web companies out there are screwed in loads of trouble?
We all know that ad-spends in Malaysia are commonly spent on:
- Display advertising (includes banners, pop-ups, screen-stickers, etc.) on Websites (creative spend not included, in accounting terms)
- Podcast advertising (includes flash movies for games, ad-videos and recordings) on Websites and/or portals.
- Text advertising – Not uncommon in Malaysia anymore: Many are found in community websites (includes forums, message boards, etc.)
And if you’re not a media house or a center for content, where do you stand? Do you ‘HELP’ companies make ‘ad-decisions’? Let’s count estimated ballpark figure for the market share:
If 0.7% is the market share for RM1.3 billion (in 2008), then you only have RM9.1 million.
We all know the 80/20 rule in business – 80% of the market share is taken by 20% of large corporates and 20% of the market share is shared by 80% of small companies.
That leaves us 20% of RM9.1million, which is RM1.82million. So what if we have 1,000 small companies in Malaysia trying to grab the same market share?
Then DIVIDE THAT SHIT by 12 months? What is there left for you?
So, if you’re in the shoes of an investor who wants to throw in some development money; say for Elioe.com, would you do it because of its lucrative venture (ignoring past 2 years from now, targeted to only Malaysia alone)?
I don’t see it that way
Of course I don’t. Let me tell you why:
- If the figure reported by comScore, SKMM and Nielsen is figuratively close (average of 0.7%/annum) I’ll see this as an OPPORTUNITY.
- Because of 0.7% is the figure, then I have 99.3% more to grab.
- Imagine if you tie up with small companies (with high volatility) to create a network – Then the quality market share increases without decreasing its monetary value (if you’re an experienced Economist, I expect you to understand this).
- If you don’t understand #3, then look at the best example ever – Google’s Business Models.
- We know that Publishing and TV media has been declining a lot in the US, and the wave is expected to hit Malaysia in approximately less than half a decade. That means, the Internet media would probably be booming instead of dropping together with Publishing.
- Outdoor activities/Internet media have higher rates of “Immediate Results” than publishing media. This decreases Time Spent vs. Sales Closure and best part is: Time cost is saved.
- Malaysia’s GDP depends a lot on exports: Because we’re blessed with loads of natural resources. Now that we’re moving into a media house for South East Asia (because our labor speaks good English and use more brains), there’s no wonder that in 5 years from now, foreign investors would be more interested to drop in.
- Thailand and Singapore has been practically more competitive in a lot of technological movements – Philippines and Vietnam coming up. But wait: Vietnam’s market less mature than Malaysia, Philippines have staff quality problem and Singapore is too expensive and domesticated. So what leaves? Malaysia & Jakarta (I don’t say Indonesia because other parts are not as great as Jakarta).
So, if you look at things in a different angle, there’s always a road to grow and advance.
