Alex Nascimento, Explains BATNA & WATNA Negotiation Tactics

Don't Stain Your Brand with Greenwash

As I see brands claiming to have won the “Green” award, I would like to share with you a few principles to keep in mind in order to protect your brand from taking home the “Greenwashing” trophy.

• Proof = Truth – All claims should have scientific proof.
• Don’t Hide and Emphasize – Don’t try to hide some facts and emphasize other information. Your audience will notice and the truth behind your message will come to light. Tell the whole story!

• If you are not different, it doesn’t make a difference – If you are claiming something every other company is doing you are not special.
• The Label Matter – Get a neutral and respectable third party organization to endorse your claim/stamp/label.
• Educate your Audience – If you use a term, i.e. Fair Trade, provide a definition on your label for that or any other term and or claim.

As this blog post is dedicated to my UCLA Green Marketing Strategy students, I would like to share and informative video I found on YouTube made by grenkblog.com. Please watch the video and let me know how you would avoid the “Greenwash” trophy.

World Cup Marketing War

In a world where a sense of national pride is suppressed by globalization, the World Cup is the last frontier for a fair global battlefield! After watching every game, including the disappointing Brazil vs. Holland match, I have decided to express my digital point of view about the most simultaneously shared human experience on the planet, the South African World Cup 2010.

Estimates are that 700 Million people watched the final match between “La Furia Roja” and the not so “Clockwork Orange.” Such a massive viewing might explain why we now see national heros and football (soccer) personalities making silly fashion statements – i.e., Maradona’s 2 Hublot watches and players like Davi Villa with more hair gel than Vanila Ice - all in search of mass audience popularity and following.

Speaking of the search for popularity, two power-house brands faced off in a head to head battle, on Facebook, for the “World Followers Cup.” Adidas, the main event sponsor since 1970, set a campaign focused on fan-based match predictions, while Nike created a 10 min advertising viral video showcasing elite international players. 

After the whistle was blown in Johannesburg, the Facebook scoreboard showed Adidas 1,349,560 fans vs. Nike 1,340,220 fans. 

In the battle for fans, Adidas created so much buzz around the official ball, the Jabulani, made by Adidas, that nobody stopped to note that the only players complaining were the Nike sponsored athletes.

So in a billion dollar industry, how could a brand win at the World Cup? According to the social network numbers, Adidas not only picked the winning team, but also the ball and took the entire event.

With that in mind, should we bet your hard-earned money on the teams sponsored by the brand that spends the largest amount of money? I hope that, for the sake of Brazilians, Nike decides to spend all its American dollars in 2014…

PS: Despite the billions of dollars spent on the World Cup Marketing War, in my opinion the video below was the best example of the World Cup spirit. Enjoy!

Berry Vs. Apple

I finally managed to write another blog entry!

Recently, I moved from a Crackberry (a really addictive device) to an Iphone 3GS. Now I am back to a Blackberry Storm 2, a hybrid of a berry and an apple. After reading countless blogs and watching mind numbing Youtube videos comparing the different phones, I decided to contribute with my own perspective as a social network marketer.

As I run several social media marketing programs in my daily routine, I was looking for a phone that would let me Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Youtube simultaneously and on-the-go! I found that for web browsing, there is nothing better than the Iphone. The Iphone’s multi-touch capabilities including “pinch-&-zoom” anything from a webpage to a photo makes a huge difference. Now if your drug of choice is a crackberry, you can enhance your browsing experience by downloading the Opera Mini 5 (beta) mobile browser at www.opera.com.

However, there is more to Social Networking on-the-go than web browsing, there is E-MAILING! Considering that you can store literally thousands of emails on the Blackberry as opposed to only 200 on the Iphone, if you need to find that 2 month old email from your CEO- the RIM technology will save your job.

As for screen definition, the Iphone beats any Blackberry. As for a camera picture quality, the flash feature of the blackberry allows you to take pictures at night and post them to you FB, Flicker, MySpace and alikes.

Given that APPS for all the major social networking sites are available on both platforms, like for like, I prefer my crackberry. Just personal/e-mailing preference! Let me know what you prefer?

PS- If you have the time check out the comparing videos bellow.

Red Bull's Bull Market

I have to admit that I am a little biased in favor of the twin fighting bulls. Nevertheless, Red Bull is an impressive brand that deserves to be followed by all "wanna-be" marketing gurus.

In 2008, Red Bull GmbH earned more than US$4.6 billion worldwide, experiencing 7.9% growth and eating, or shall I say drinking, 40.8% of the US energy drink market.

With its US$900 million worldwide marketing budget, Red Bull continues to push its core brand identity by sponsoring outdoor, extreme, adventure and motor sports. But the fighting bulls never rest and are now expanding not only into the mainstream NFL, NBA, MLS and NASCAR leagues, but also into new beverage categories such as colas and energy shots.

On the web, Red Bull has never been so popular. Its Facebook page has 1,122,830 fans and features several extreme sport videos, all in line with the brands image and identity. Check this one...

In comparison, Monster Energy drink, which is the runner up in the US market, has a 276,526 Facebook fan base and a page that needs improvement. Rockstar, the bronze medalist, has a comparatively slim 33,185 fan base.

So, should we include social network fan base in Wall Street's next company valuation manual? Should we ask Facebook and Myspace where to invest our next paycheck? One thing is for sure; if you plan to build an 360 degree online presence for your brand ...benchmark RED BULL!