Silver Fox Digital Disrupt

(Almost) Everything You Need to Know About Co-Marketing How to create meaningful marketing partnerships What is Co-Marketing? Co-marketing is fresh. It’s effective. It’s when two or more related brands work together on a campaign or promotion to create awareness about a shared offer. This isn’t to be confused with co-branding, which means using different companies’ branding on one single product. Co-marketing can be anything from sponsored events, product placement, or a shared ad campaign. Why Co-Market? If you’re blanching at the thought of sharing your precious (and hard-earned) client base with another brand, don’t. Co-marketing is a highly-effective, tried-and-tested marketing technique that’s (probably) older than you are. 1. It’s Cost-Effective Depending on how you do it, you could either be reaching the same number of people for half the marketing budget, or you could double your reach without paying more. This is because you’re splitting your c

What Would A Four Day Work Week Look Like for Your Business? Welcome to the professional world where the average adult spends around 90 000 hours of their lifetime working. You wake up early. You sit in traffic. You spend 8 hours working. You sit in traffic. You get home where you have just enough time to yourself to eat, clean and sleep enough to repeat the process – every single day. Until you die. Amen. The strangest thing about this depressing cycle is that it can be changed! Sanna Marin, the 34-year-old Finnish prime minister and world’s second youngest serving state leader, has been making headlines long before she stepped into office. She’s done it again by envisioning a four-day work week for Finnish businesses – which, frankly, sounds awesome. Marin said “I think people deserve more time with their families, hobbies, life. This could be the next step for us in working life.” As incredible as it would be to be able to sleep in till noon on a Friday (or a Mon

Is Co-Working Right for Your Business? Freelancers and digital nomads seem to be living the absolute dream. They wake up when they want, set their own hours and get to work from the comfort of their own homes every single day. Complete isolation might seem like a dream to some, but to others it’s a complete nightmare. Some of us need to be around others to thrive and working in utter silence for 8 hours a day just doesn’t cut it. Other than giving freelancers and nomads a chance to speak to other people in person, co working spaces are becoming more and more popular for a variety of different reasons. Pros Cost effective You might not know that office space is unbelievably expensive. Keeping the lights on every day is one of the biggest expenses a business faces, and some owners are using co working spaces to combat this. Sharing an office with other companies/employees not only drastically lowers your rent, but you’ll also be able to access more resources (like a boa

The Importance of Brand Association When you hear that all too familiar ringtone, you already know it’s an iPhone without having to look. When you think of a refreshing, summer’s day drink, you’ll most probably imagine an ice-cold Coke. We make these associations without really giving it a second thought, but why? Why is it that some brands seem so timeless and powerful while others barely make an impact? While advertising plays an immense role in brand associations, it definitely isn’t the only game-changer. Brands become powerful because of several reasons. Product quality, customer service, and word of mouth are just some of the examples of how brands set themselves apart from their competition. Becoming the leading brand for a specific product shapes how new and up-and-coming brands will model and brand their own businesses. That’s why brand association is more than just asking for a Coke instead of a soda. It’s setting the trend for other brands to follo

Did you know that lesbians are  four times more likely  to own a Subaru than any other customer?    No, not because it’s big enough to fit the whole gang on the way to Pride or because it makes moving in together after the second date that much easier. People often joke about the  Lezbaru , but the stereotype is more than just that. Subaru has become one of the most well-known LGBT-cars in history for a very good reason. Their marketing team made the active, purposeful decision to target the LGBT community with progressive advertising campaigns way back in the 90’s. This Pride Month, we’d like to give you some history about the little all-wheeler that could and the dedicated team that turned it into the lesbian-mobile it still is today.    Quick History Let’s start by pointing out that people in the 90’s weren’t very accepting of the gay community. In SA, homosexuality was still a criminal act punishable by up to seven years in prison. In the US, the Clinton admini

We can all agree that planning in advance saves time, energy and money. This couldn’t be more true for your business. Strategic planning involves setting realistic expectations and goals for the future of your business. This not only gives your business clear direction, but it also ensures that you have tangible goals and ways to reach them in the near future. Strategic planning involves setting up a vision, a mission, and core values for your business.  Vision Your vision should be more than just the hope for eventual success in your industry. A company’s vision is a concrete idea of what your business hopes to achieve in terms of social impact, product/service quality, and industry changes. Take  Amazon’s  vision statement as a great example. “Our vision is to be earth’s most customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.” This statement is realistic, detailed, and clear. Mission

How to Market A Small Business You don’t need thousands of rands to market your small business, you just need patience, time and a little help from the web. Marketing your business doesn’t need to involve a cinematic masterpiece of an advertisement that runs in every household in the country – sometimes it’s as little as suggesting your service to a stranger who looks like they might benefit from it. Here are a few tips on how to efficiently market your business without spending a fortune. Know Your Target Market When you know who you’re aiming your marketing at, you can save yourself countless hours of time and effort. If you know your perfect audience, you can craft a marketing message that you know will resonate with them. From here, you can make sure that message gets to them in the fastest, easiest and most efficient way possible. This means that your message will be seen by the right people, in the right way and at the right time. Right? You can also use y

Why should you consider omnichannel marketing? How Do You Shop? Think about how you consider a new product or service. Maybe you saw an advertisement on social media and decided to check out the company’s page which took you to their official website. You browse, consider, compare and maybe you go as far as to check what people have been saying about the company before you make the decision to pay for their products and services. Would you have walked into a store with no previous knowledge and bought that same product on the spot? Your answer might be yes, but for countless individuals around the world, the answer is a hard no. That’s because modern customers tend to prefer having at least some measure of background knowledge and familiarity with a brand before committing to it, and that’s where omni-channel marketing comes into play. What is Omni-channel Marketing? Omni-channel marketing focuses on providing customers with an all-inclusive marketing experience. Thi

The idea of being connected has taken over the working world as we know it. In the endless race to stay relevant, people are even willing to list their personal and home numbers just to make sure that they won’t miss out on a chance to keep or gain a client. Many businesses have an account or profile on at least 4 different platforms (the most popular being Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn) to make sure that they’re always in the public eye. Companies like Coca-Cola have millions of followers across each of their profiles, why can’t you? There are a few different reasons. Firstly, these marketing giants have thousands of employees all across the world working to make sure they stay relevant. Each social media platform might even have its own qualified team that ensures engagement. Secondly, they have the money to afford no-holds-barred advertising campaigns and sponsored ads. Thirdly, if we stick to Coca-Cola as the example, this company has been an established br