Hit while the iron is hot

Covid19 has a tremendous negative impact on the economy so far. However, as all wise people would argue, every coin has two sides. For financial services corporations like Visa, Covid19 has been a main driving force for even wider adoption of card payments and more specifically contactless payments. It seems that contactless payments are indeed on a sharp rise worldwide, especially during the last months. What should financial services companies offering contactless payments do in such an occasion? Should they lay back and enjoy the favorable side effect of a pandemic or ride the wave and try to establish both contactless payments as well as themselves as leaders in this field.

Visa decided to do the latter, and hit while the iron is hot. I noticed the below table tent in a gelateria in the center of Athens. I particularly enjoyed the straightforward messaging (Visa contactless preferred) as it was the shortest message possible, with the brand mentioned first and the word “preferred” serving as a nudge rather than an obligation or an option. The artwork was uncluttered and the placement of the table tent on top of the ice-cream vitrine could not be better. I paid using my contactless Visa.

Well played Visa, well played.

Visa Point of Purchase advertising material

Hit while the iron is hot

Breaking the clutter – the two angel debate

Have you noticed to how many ads you are exposed everyday? From TV spots in lengthy commercial breaks, to skippable ads and pop up banners, advertisers go fiercely after our valuable attention. They aim for message reach, they want to maximize click through rates and conquer top of mind awareness for their brands. In this struggle, marketers set KPIs, follow metrics and peruse market research studies in an endless (and probably vain) race.

But wait a minute… Let me slightly rephrase the sentence above: “Advertisers go after our valuable attention, mainly while we are in front of a screen.” What happens when we are off-screen?

 – “You can’t measure that!” says the online communications angel sitting on the right shoulder.

– “It is when you are off-screen where amazing happens!” says the offline communications angel sitting on the left shoulder.

I guess professional photographer Joanna Skiftou, listened to the last angel and decided to snail mail me (yes you heard that right!) two printouts with a small sample of her portfolio to my office address. Since we haven’t physically met before, but we were only connected on LinkedIn, I quickly figured out that she preferred to quickly google search my office address and post me a small but distinctive sample of her work instead of sending me a digital message with her full online portfolio. She decided to proceed with a traditional mail so that the prospect pauses and considers her extraordinary sample of work. Why did I like it? Because the communication was super targeted (to a marketing professional, during working hours time slot) and because she used an alternative uncluttered channel. In this way, she achieved literally to come in touch with her work, breaking the overwhelming digital clutter.

Going offline when everyone else is online can work truly well.

What are you planning to do differently, in the environment we operate today?

Breaking the clutter – the two angel debate

About vending machines – the right merchandise in the right context

On one of the most trend setting islands in the world, as many would argue, I came across this one-of-a-kind vending machine…selling underwear. In adjacency to the Dsquared2 store in Mykonos this vending machine aims to fulfill the demand for instant gratification on an island that is always on.

Does this vending machine sell well?…I honestly don’t know. Sure thing is that a lot of people that passed by, took a photo of it before my eyes. What a great way to encourage user generated content and probably social media impressions!

Last year a bank’s ATM was positioned in the same place but where fashion is the social currency and the people are active 24/7 you never know when you’ll be in need of a stylish pair of underwear.

dsquared2

About vending machines – the right merchandise in the right context

Every street has a story – every wall has a tale

Lately there have been many discussions on graffiti, on who defines public space, on whether the people performing graffiti are artists or vandals.

I’m not the person to judge this, however I would like to share with you on this occasion a practice that Elais-Unilever has adopted on the empty walls of their own premises in Pireaus. The company had asked some years ago from an artist named Stelios Faitakis  to turn the blank walls outside their offices into an art statement.ElaisGraffiti

Now this is an excellent practice! Beside the stunning visual/artistic result which you don’t have to be an art expert to perceive its quality, I like it also for several other business reasons: Continue reading “Every street has a story – every wall has a tale”

Every street has a story – every wall has a tale