Both classes of Creative marketing are really busy at the moment.
KM08 is making a marketing campaign for Tourism in Skåne under the watchful eye of their tutor Hans-Erik Duck in the course Lateral marketing. The class has been divided in to groups of four & five and they have their presentation at Thursday. It is the end of 7 weeks of hard work, long nights and careful studies of the market. From week 1-20 next year all the students are having internships and after that all that remains is the examination work that concludes the whole education.
KM09 is in the final weeks of the course commercial operation with Staffan Olofsson. Ten weeks has nearly past and I think they are all happy to start the next one! It is a very demanding course and some of them has been forced to confront their biggest fear; math! They have a presentation and one test to go next week. Next course is new media & technology with Anders Printz.
The format for Creative Marketing is focus on the business world. So far the students have been able to listen to Bodil Jönsson, Torbjörn Jörgensen and Stina Tjebbes. One class has visited TBWA in Copenhagen and listened to Paul Clements. Ivana Hrdlickova, information and communication manager at IKEA Försäljnings AB and Lars Carlson, senior advisor at Inter IKEA Systems have been giving lecturers. On their way in are Tina Kaikkonen, office manager at The Astonishing Tribe, Yacir Persson-Chelbat from the multicultural association, Sandra Nilsson, project assistant action marketing at Skånemejerier, Henrik Jansson, copy at Glenn and Patricio Silva, consulting director Interactive communication at Navigator ends this years guest lectures.
I was actually dreading writing the headline to this blog post. Social media. It is everywhere. A lot of buzz. Do this, don’t do that. Be there. Constant update mode all the time! Social media analyst, social media strategist, social media business analyst….the list goes on and on but what do they really do? What does the title mean? What is social media?
Facebook, twitter and youtube are the most common social medias out there. On a personal level you create your own profile and create constant updates on what you are doing, what you are thinking and feeling. Celebrities and international companies do the same. More and more people with thousands of followers on twitter keep on showing up with links to their websites more or less confusing and most of them have some sort of social media in their title. Good or bad, social media is here to stay, I believe.
I have seen people tweet about how many comments they have received on facebook and my 16 year old son’s words keep ringing in my ears; facebook is for old people. He doesn’t like it; he doesn’t understand the need to constant update a profile on what one is doing. Twitter makes him yawn and he is baffled with all the nonsense people are writing. What I do think is very important is that we are experiencing a back lash of the social part on some level or another – anti social or social on demand which is the new thing I believe! The median age at facebook has gone from 26 years to 33 in just a year and the trend is very clear. The parents have found their way in to facebook and their kids are leaving!
What is very interesting is what will the next big thing be? If kids are leaving facebook, where are they? If the age group that my son belongs to is so anti constant online update mode, what do they like? What do they prefer? I love facebook, I have my own twitter profile and youtube channel and of course I am one these old people. I follow with great interest people, companies and leaders. For me is a great source of inspiration and new thoughts. I get to stay in touch on a daily basis with my sister and her family in Australia and my brother in New Zealand. I love it and I am 39 and that is old.
Students of Creative Marketing have 2 periods of internship during their education; one of 8 weeks and one of 20 weeks. Internship gives the students added value to an education, a possibility to walk besides someone else, to practice what they have learned and a chance to go their own way. Priceless!
KM08 have week 1-20 next year and are right now in the middle of seeking, searching and finding out. They are all over the world; they are all over the spectra of marketing & advertising. Most of them are already members of Linkedin, they are attending BNI breakfast and lunch meetings and networking big time! The dream companies are many and divers, what about Unicef, L´Oreal, Elle, The Astonishing Tribe, Hilanders, Navigator, McCann, TBWA and Sony Ericsson and many more! Some of them have a great interest of producing media; others are looking forward to be working with PR & event and ALL of them have a desire to learn, grow and work very hard!
So where are they in the process of education? What can they actually do? Wrong question! What do they want to do? They have been taking the courses law & ethics, sales & crm processes so far, they have two more courses to go this fall; lateral marketing and new media & techniques. They are already on twitter, facebook is a second world to them and their blogs are updated regularly. Social media is something they already live by.
All students in class KM08 have also been involved in AcadeMedia Masters inspirationsdag, sales and marketing. The event itself is taking place Thursday the 15th of October and we are working very hard in order to make this a very happy and inspirering event for all of us! Stefan Einhorn, Johan Fallby & Thomas Bergmark are talking.
Yes, what are they? Ok, according to what you ask perhaps? Life, love, finance and business? Well are there any actual difference? And why are they important? Well, success is something we all want but how do we get it? How do we become it? What are the key factors?
Here is my analysis of the CSFs;
• Personality
This is your best asset! Who are you? What are you? When it comes down to it, you don’t really change your personality that much so if you are perceived as a problem person from the start you won’t stand a chance! No matter what, you are the only one that can change you. How well you work with others is most important!
• Attitude & gratitude
This is key to success what ever you do in life! Your attitude determines most times the outcome! If you want to have different kind of result, try to change your attitude! To have an attitude of gratitude will take you far & further.
• Failure & mistakes
This is what we call experience! It is not that we make them, we all do, it is how we handle them when they arrive. When things don’t go our way, how do we handle it? Just because something doesn’t work doesn’t mean it is bad, wrong or a failure. It is simply life telling you to walk another way.
• Strategy
As there is a huge difference between dreams, visions and goals, the key factor is strategy! This is what separates them from each other. This is the HOW. How am I going to fulfill my dreams, visions and goals in life? Do you have a plan? A strategy? Do you think you can get one? DO IT!
For me personally, networking is a huge part of me due to my social personality but also my love for volunteer work as I am a board member in two soccer clubs. Where would I be without all my mistakes? My failures? Great co workers and managers that have given me feedback and constructive criticism during my professional life? Fantastic friends and family members that with their support keep me grounded? It is a never ending progress and development for me personally and I am most grateful to all of them!
So the next time someone gives you feedback & constructive criticism, thank them! It doesnt have to be true, it doesnt have to be right! If nothing else, they have given you a chance to reflect over yourself and your assignment! And by doing so you are one step closer to your dream, vision and goal and that is priceless!
The 15th of October I am organising a day of inspiration on behalf of AcadeMedia Masters. The Swedish theme is jaget, laget & organisationand it translates I, the team and organization.
The background is simple and clear; inspiration! When I first started the job as the education manager at AcadeMedia Masters I very soon discovered the need for inspiration. This is what I need to do with my students and in order to do that I myself need inspiration. What inspirers me and is it possible it can inspire others?
I started with asking myself who and what inspirers me? Who makes me want to learn more and if so how can they inspire more people? I am very fortunate to have been able to work with people with versatile knowledge and background and therefore great bank of resources to pick from. I wanted a red thread through out the day and foremost a day to remember, to inspire to new thoughts and actions.
I have read his books many times; I have seen him on TV shows discussing moral & ethics. His books; Konsten att vara snäll and Medmänniskor gave me many chances to reflect. Stefan is an author, medical doctor and head of the ethics board at Karolinska Institutet. Stefans lecture is all about me, focusing on how I can change and how other people’s stories can make you think. Here is the I or jaget!
Here is a sample of one of Stefan’s lectures from TEDxStockholm the 6th of June of this year;
Through my volunteer work within Högaborgs Bollklubb & HFA I came in contact with Johan. He is in charge of motivation the Swedish national soccer teams from the age of 15 in Svensk Fotboll. Besides being a motivator to so many he is also a sport psychologist and a social scientist. Here is the team or laget!
Here is Johan Fallby interview from a soccer game earlier this summer;
While I was working at Inter IKEA Systems Media I was the responsible coordinator for an event with the theme sustainability. Listening to him and learning more about what sustainability really is made me want to learn more. Thomas is Sustainability manager of IKEA and his department is in charge of amongst many things the codes of conducts and the decision to donate 422 million Swedish crowns earlier this year. Here is the organization!
So, if you look at the people who is giving lectures, what does this have to do with Creative Marketing? Well, we all need inspiration in order to proceed in life. Whether it is on a personal level, team level or organization level! We are all connected and integrated. If this is so, how about doing it together? This day is for you and me, for us!
The event will be held in Swedish at Nöjesteatern in Malmö and we are all looking forward to a day full of new ideas, new thoughts and new solutions! Lets create new brain patterns!
Yesterday I had the pleasure to visit TBWA together with Anders Printz and class KM08. Anders has worked at TBWA some years back so for him it was a long time and no see visit, for the rest of us it was a great adventure!
Class KM08 at TBWA
TBWA is one of the worlds leading agencies with popular brands like Apple, Adidas and Playstation 3.
Paul Clements, Creative director welcomed us and gave us the tour of the place and an almost 2 hour lecture of clients, commercials, ways of working and brand value communication. Paul is a brilliant speaker and he spoke with such a passion for his job that we all felt he had just started when it was all over.
Paul Clements, Creative director at TBWA
Things that made a great impression on me;
Don’t be loud – be clear!
Made me think about parenting. Screaming doesn’t help at all, doesn’t matter if you are right. The customer of today is bombarded with thousands of commercials every day and in order to shine through you have to be clear.
Do your research
Know your stuff. Easy and uncomplicated. No shortcuts.
Be humble.
I asked Paul for advice on behalf of the students regarding how to contact agencies for internship and his answer was humbleness! Be humble, express what you want to do and be specific about what you bring to the table!
One of TBWAs latest work;
During his presentation I thought of things I have to change, things I want to do and foremost things that will be done, differently! True inspiration! Curious at TBWA? Check out their blog at; http://blog.tbwa-denmark.com/
Here is a film made by Anders Printz after our visit!
Thanks Paul and most welcome to Malmö, AcadeMedia Masters and Creative Marketing! Anytime!
KM09 have just completed the two week course in creative thinking with a 5 minute presentation of them selves. During this course they have had lectures in personal marketing, social media & networking, mental training and presentation techniques with Anders Printz, Pia Jansäter and I.
As they are all new to AcadeMedia Masters, the program Creative marketing and to each other some of them are also new to personal marketing and branding. What vibes do I send out? What kind of message do people receive and foremost how do I want people to perceive me and how can I use it to my advantage? If you brake down marketing it is message – signals – vibes. The same factor plays a major part whether it is on a company level or a personal level. Sender and receiver!
I felt overwhelmed going home on Friday! Not only how they presented them selves but most of all impressed with the interesting stories, backgrounds and experiences that is in class of Creative Marketing 09! The youngest is 19 and the oldest is 49. The dynamics in this group is outstanding! They have so much to teach each other and so much to learn from each other! And so have I and I really look forward to be their education manager.
Remember, space is not the final frontier – your mind is! Free your mind!
Class KM08 is at the moment taking the course law and ethics. The tutor is Magnus Friberg from Setterwalls, one of Sweden’s leading law firms and has offices in Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö.
To be creative when it comes to marketing is what this education program is all about but not knowing the law or even worse ignoring the marketing law is huge misconduct and therefore this course is so important today! Not only that mistakes can cost ones client millions there is also a very important ethical directive to consider, especially when you take it even further and include sustainability and corporate social responsibility. A company’s brand is created by many layers and should be taken very seriously, especially when it comes to the company’s marketing.
The net has no laws, well that is not really true! A lot of grey areas I agree but lately I have discovered that some people loose it when it comes to the online world. Suddenly people claims freedom of speech more than they are willing to take full responsibility for their actions. What about ethics? What about all these anonymous comments on blogs and so on? Where is the ethics?
So many fantastic people before us fought for the right of freedom of speech, people even died for the right. I am confident that this was NOT for the right to say bad and horrible things online but that everyone has the same human right and therefore should be considered equal.
Tomorrow I am proud to welcome back class of 08. They have spent the 8 weeks before summer break doing internship all over Sweden and now less than 1 year remains. This fall they will read law & ethics, international marketing, sales and CRM system, lateral marketing and finally PR and new media. After Christmas & New Years they will spend 20 weeks at LIA, another word for intern ship and then only the examination project remains. What a year! Some great challenges are ahead.
Creative Marketing 09 is starting tomorrow. I guess there are 34 students out there that are nervous, excited and foremost ready to start! What will their future bring them? For me as the education manager I am really excited to meet them, find out what kind of expectations they have and get to know them all.
Students, education and learning. This is what AcadeMedia Masters is all about! Besides the topics of Creative Marketing itself I have a goal of my own; to broaden the students horizon & their perspective the very best I can and I am honored to be able to follow them, even if it is just for a short while….
Welcome students of Creative Marketing, let the journey begin!
I only have one rule when it comes to social media & personal networking; I only write positive and uplifting things. I never write anything bad or negative as I strongly believe that what I send out is also what I receive. What do I want for me? Easy! And if I want these things for me how about give them to others? Pay it forward.
So, lately as I am on a vacation and have all the time in the world to read which is my favourite thing to do, I have come across some amazing people and stories. YouTube is another thing that I love! A fantastic tool for everyone to get a message out; the single mum of three who is battling overweight, the teenager who is trying to buff up and entrepreneurs just trying to sell their products.
The first video is one of my favourites! It made me smile all day! Joy & happiness!
The second video made me cry, not of sadness. It gave me inspiration and made me reflect on my own life!
The third one made me want to learn more! TED is one of my main sources for inspiration and new thinking and this lecture of the brain is very interesting.
Wherever you are, online or in real life, the principle is the same. To all the participants in these videos, thanks for making me smile, reflect and feeling inspirered! Thanks for sharing!
