Here’s some of our favorite picks from Hulu for your long Thanksgiving weekend…
Lemonade Stand, the old Apple II game that taught us all how to run a business is out for iPhone/iPod Touch. We won’t presume to tell you that running a business is as simple Lemonade Stand, but it reminded us of something relevant. Yes, we know that economy is shaky, and some even say it’s really bad. It’s amazing that so many businesses can forget those lessons we learned from Lemonade Stand so many years ago…
What to do when things are normal When the weather is normal, you need to advertise. When things are stable there is no risk. You plow ahead advertising as much as you can afford, and tweaking your pricing, and inventory.
What to do in a heat wave When a heat wave hits in Lemonade Stand you know that your customers are anxiously seeking your product. You will sell product whether you advertise or not, – but if you continue advertising, you can sell even more lemonade. Why would you settle for moderate sales, when you can have increased sales?
What to do when it rains When it rains it’s more important than ever to advertise. Your demand is obviously going to decrease, -but why not prevent the decrease as much as possible? People are still buying things, but they’re being more finicky about what they purchase. They need even more persuasion than normal to make specific purchases. The counterintuitive part of a rainy day is that you’re better off charging more, advertising more, and controlling inventory than any other strategy. If you stop advertising, and lower prices, you might survive, but you will not thrive… So, maybe it’s a rainy day, or maybe it isn’t. Maybe Lemonade Stand doesn’t equal an instant MBA, – but one thing is for sure. If your business is in a downturn, or you’re selling less product, don’t stop advertising! Advertise more!
A few things that popped up today were too good not to comment on:
Motrin Moms
Motrin ran a commercial about how those fancy mom/baby slings can hurt your back (thus you should use Motrin.) They weren’t quite aware of the storm they were about to stir up. Many mom groups are outright mad about the ad, and it’s implications. We’re not a big fan of focus groups, – but maybe a bit more exploration would have been a good thing in this case. Motrin has pulled the ad, and temporarily their website, until they can clear up the PR mess. Check the Motrin ad out here.
Spam, and Lipstick
As often happens in times of economic downturn, and tension. Small luxury items, and cheap commodity items tend to get a nice boost. Lipstick has become a famous post-indicator of the economy… Can you break off a chunk of your product or service and sell it at a lower price to capitalize on this trend? Will Starbucks stock finally stop taking a beating?
More here
Be Careful With Photoshop
Karolina Kurkova, a Victoria’s Secret model had some bikini shot published recently. There was only one problem, -her belly button was photoshopped into a weird mushy dent. It’s amazing the kind of stuff that slips through the filters of magazines and agencies. Here’s a whole website full of other Photoshop slip-ups”
Which is more important to you: the adulation of your clients, – or the customers of your clients? It’s very important for studios and agencies to keep their clients happy. Short term it may seem like the most important thing. In the long term however, the thing that will really keep clients happy is more sales. It’s your client’s customer who is always right…