Marketing makes the world go round.. tra la la la la!

I got the news yesterday.. [about time you think eh?] The University of Malta, in conjunction with the San Diego State University, is offering an MA in Integrated Marketing Communications. This full time course will be delivered over three semesters starting in September 2008. If you need any information just send an e-mail to info.imp@um.edu.mt :)

And now.. let's blab on something else.. but ever so closely related..

The Concept of Beauty!
No.. it doesn't necessarily mean.. aesthetics or having perfect bodies. Beauty means workability and simplicity at times, as Tom Peters wisely states. Why do we cling on to complicated, bureaucratic systems? Why is it that we think complicated stuff is pleasing and worthwhile.. when in fact we can make use of less crafty and fancy things which are nonetheless.. beautiful?

Case in point.. facebook. It's a cool social utility network programme.. of that we are sure.. well.. the majority of people seem to agree at least. It allows you to customise your personal profile with a variety of unheard of applications... [some of which are really lame.. but anyway..] and all sorts of bla bla bla. However, there is one thing which bothers me and the others quite a lot.. Why on Earth do we need to invite our friends to use the applications we so desperately want to apply? I mean.. can't our friends discover applications all on their own; by their lovely little [not so little, large.. you name it we have it] self? Adding insult to injury is the fact that some of these applications just don't work if invitations are not sent out... oh the grumbles and mutters! This nuisance has caused quite a 'stir' in the virtual facebook realm, i.e.: the creation of a group against the principle of inviting friends to use applications... Hope that makes enough noise..

What I want to say is that no matter how good your marketing strategy is.. if you don't have workable products/services to offer.. well.. that might cause some troubles. People are fed up of complicated things.. we live in a super fast world with super fast routines.. we don't have time to understand how things work.. we just want things to work.. and that's it, i.e.: if you're a customer. Customers.. let the others do the thinking for you! A product has to be excellent; it needs to work well.. and it's there that beauty lies..

Beauty has to generate Vision.. not Rants! We could accept Blabs! though :P

BLABradio?!

No we're not launching a new radio station using some free online software.

Today I got a surprising phone call from Rodney Vassallo at XFM, who was interested to know more about XFM’s top position in this blog’s interactive highlights of 2007. As you may know BLAB is compiled and read by a number of media and marketing enthusiast. At the end of 2007, we had looked back at the online ideas originating from local brands. In our (humble) opinion, XFM’s Virtual Rockstar topped the list due to it being a first and also generating extensive YouTube views. As said, BLABinteractive is run by enthusiasts and not experts, even though we do our share of research and looking around. You may not agree with our top list of highlights…and please feel free to differ (You may also comment about it if you wish)

Second issue of On Deck

Today with TheTimes of Malta our friends at BMA Ltd have successfully published the second issue of OnDeck, their new newspaper supplement supporting the B&W brand. Is it only my impression that the second issue has more pages?

Computer Arts gets new layout

I hope i am not the last one to know, but UK Magazine ComputerArts has been given a new look. Take a break from all the text and statistics you may see at the office, and view this preview: http://mos.futurenet.com/resources/computerarts/Computer_Arts.swf

If you already have the print issue you may opt to ignore this post forever...and pass it on to me!

Strange comments on this blog

Over the past week this blog has recieved a number of strange comments with links which usually do not work...or lead to a test page. Kindly ignore these comments. I will :)

New McCafe at MIA (Snapshots below)

Related post: click here

The people have (already) voted!

In the latest MediaWarehouse survey, 89.7 Bay was chosen by the respondents as 'the most listened to radio station'. The above advert (which also featured in the print media on sunday) says it all! In the meantime may I take this opportunity to also point out that SALT is band of the month on BAY.COM.MT

Agency Insider #1: BMA

In this first edition, agency insider Richard Muscat Azzopardi speaks to us about his experience in BMA ltd., a media venture he co-founded. Recently one of BMA's publication has joined TheTimes distribution network. Curious as we tend to be about media we emailed BMA to get to know why after 74 issues they decided to change the magazine's distribution.

How long have you been working on print products?
We, as BMA (and previously as MB Creations) (www.bma.com.mt) have been working on print design since 1999, but it was only in 2004 that we entered the hectic market of publications. A publication is the mother of all print jobs for many reasons, but in this case we were handling the publication from inception to print. This adds a completely new dimension to the job and involves much more than pretty lines on a page. From commissioning articles and writing them in house to chasing advertisers at all the different stages of the process to the complete design and export of the final product, no amount of experience in design can prepare you for the whirlwind that is a publication. We had no one in house who had ever published magazines, so we made loads of mistakes and paid for them, sometimes dearly. By one year later, though, we had arrived at a winning formula which gave us one of the best publications on the island.

Why Boats & Yachting (www.boatsandyachting.com)?
It all came about from a chance meeting between Matthew and Mario Psaila, the previous publisher, who had a dormant magazine. Half jokingly he offered it to us since it hadn't been published for over a year. Matthew took him up on the offer, and with Richard's boating background it seemed like a logical publication to start off with. In time we bought out the magazine and turned it into the successful venture you know today.

Why did the magazine move to The Times (distribution wise)?
With the previous format & distribution of B&Y we had 6,000 happy readers but we were finding that the scope for growth was quite limited. The magazine was always supported solely by advertising (our previous cover price of EUR 3.5 hardly covered the printing cost, let alone all the other expenses) so we thought we'd move to a medium which can attract a wider base of advertisers related to the boating and luxury industry. The change was much more radical than simply moving distribution to The Times as the change was a major conceptual upheaval. B&Y lost its news and brokerage (boats for sale to landlubbers) completely and was turned into a feature magazine, with longer articles which are not time sensitive in nature. This was backed with a change in frequency, which went down from bimonthly to quarterly. A new product was launched together with B&Y's first issue in The Times - On Deck. This is a newspaper supplement printed on thick white paper which will cover current boating news and brokerage more frequently and with very flexible advertising options.

Any plans for your agency and other work you do?
Our agency is currently growing and changing at the same time. We are focusing our sights on 2 main fields: publications and web media. In the field of publications we currently have 3 regular ones and are working on some others. The first two are Boats and Yachting and On Deck, which we've spoken about already, while the third is Nitro ( www.nitro.com.mt) - Malta's first free motorsport magazine. We've been publishing As for web media, we are specialising in rich media content - interactive games and software to enhance web advertising and the web presence of clients who want something more for their visitors.

What to expect from BMA in 2008?
A lot. We are currently working on two brand new publications - Nomads (A travel magazine) and InPulZ (a health and wellbeing magazine) to be published first in March and April respectively. These shall be distributed with The Times and will be similar to B&Y in production values and size. In addition to these magazines which have already been confirmed, we're closing in on deals to publish another couple of magazines, while we also aim to put Drive (our own new car magazine - there was a 16 page preview in Issue 76 of B&Y) into gear (excuse the pun) and publish it throughout the course of this year. That is not to mention expansion in the rich media design business thanks to some major international clients we are currently courting, a probable move to a larger office and further recruitment.

As posh as McCafe!

Over a year ago I happened to visit the brand new McCafé in Gozo which replaced the original McDonalds outlet at Arkadia. The McCafé concept in Gozo remained entrenched in my mind due to the fabulous Strawberry Frappé which is far from what you expect from a fast food outlet.

Today I decided to go to the new McCafé at MIA. Is this a fast food outlet or a posh café?! At McCafé customers don't make use of cheap disposable cups, people sit on comfy sofas and not on 'playmobil' like chairs and tables. The atmosphere emits relaxation and no one seems to be in a hurry, gobbling burgers, stuffing fries and leaving a mess behind. The highlight of the outlet though is a mini gym, promoting healthy living and fitness.

Is this the McDonalds brand I know?! I have posted some photos of other McCafé stores abroad. The MIA outlet has pretty much the same look and feel. Later on this week I will transfer some of the photos of the actual MIA outlet.

Btw...don’t think of getting a Big Mac at the new McCafé (even though the outlet also includes a refurbished McDonalds section and the McDonalds drive through)

Coming soon on BLAB

I will be soon posting an email interview with agency insider Richard Muscat Azzopardi about his media venture (BMA ltd.) and Boating & Yachting magazine which has just started being distributed with The Times. In the interview Richard speaks about his agency’s plans for 2008 and other important projects.

 

I will also try to cover some of the online activity related to Malta’s General Elections. I’ve heard that the PM has started blogging and that MaltaToday declared Catherine Gonzi to be the ‘First Lady of Blogging’.

 

Finally, I am conducting a list of blogs which may interest us media enthusiasts. Feel free to submit your own favourites.

The Light Shop (Malta) gets new site

You may have heard the ads on the radio...click here to visit the new lightshopmalta.com.

Two suggestions if I may:

(1) Include proper images and not simply an online version of an originally print catalogue.

(2)Each product or product category should allow users to refer the product to friends and family (tell a friend, recommend to a friend, etc.)

New campaign: Birdlife Malta

Birdlife Malta has just launched a new campaign which features local personalities pledging for a ban on illegal spring hunting. Campaign visuals "ask the leaders of the two major political parties to end the practice of spring hunting once and for all".

More about this here

Updates

BLABinteractive.com has been added to the list of links on AboutMalta.com. The least we can do is invite you to check out this directory.

We've also added the above banner. Members of BLABnet may advertise any initiative in this space. Simply send us the banner link and source and we'll do the rest.