Tag Archives: Canada

digital media

The Canadian Queen of Apps Answers 5 Questions

Melody Adhami (@MelodyAdhami on Twitter) 
is 
the 
co‐founder
 and 
COO 
of
 Plastic 
Mobile, an 
award‐winning 
mobile
 marketing
 agency.
  Melody co‐founded
 Plastic
 Mobile 
in 
2007 and
 only 
three 
short 
years 
later 
was 
featured 
in 
a 
national
 newspaper,
 The 
Globe
 and 
Mail, 
and 
named the
 Queen 
of 
Apps 
in 
a 
series 
about
Wired
 Women.  Today she has reached the pinnacle of her career by being featured in 5 Questions! 😉  

What motivates you to do what you do on a daily basis?

Innovation is one of the biggest motivating factors for me.  To know that every day I go to work and do things that are at the cutting edge of technology makes every day more exciting than the day before.  I love the fact that what I do surprises and amazes so many people.  Making an impact also motivates me to continue to do what I do. When I know that our initiatives change the way people conduct business or the way consumers conduct their daily lives, any amount of hard work seems entirely worth it.

If you had 30 seconds to impart your wisdom on a classroom of soon-to-be graduates, what would you say?

Do what you love because then it doesn’t feel like work.  If you find yourself in a job you hate, re-evaluate and make a change.  Work hard and play harder.

In your opinion, what has been one of the most important technological developments over the past 12 months?

Tablet technology and their proliferation/mainstream adoption. The tablets are changing the way consumers are digesting content both in the types of content and the location in which they consume.  So what I mean is that people don’t have to be limited to watch YouTube clips or reach the news at their desktops.  They can do it virtually anywhere.

If you had a crystal ball, what would you say will be the most important technological development over the next 12 months?

NFC technology and the effects that can be anticipated in the next 12-24 years.  Ultimately, all payment transactions can take place in one single mobile device.  Your phone will not only be your email client, your internet, but also your wallet.

Who is one of Canada’s tech stars and why?

My personal favourite tech star is Amber Mac. I had the opportunity to meet with her a few months ago and I love her energy, enthusiasm and overall tech knowledge.  She is definitely a great Canadian tech star. 

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digital media, social media

5 questions with Aidan Nulman

Aidan Nulman loves the internet. After being denied a marriage license twice, he’s been starting web companies left, right, and centre: Busy Bee (with three amazing partners), Cronyizm, and YouPhonics.

Hopefully, you’ll hear of one of them someday when you’re not reading his bio.

What motivates you to do what you do on a daily basis?

People. A lot of folks like to think about who they’re impacting, how they’re making a difference, whose lives they’re improving… I like to think about who I’m making smile.

If you had 30 seconds to impart your wisdom on a classroom of soon-to-be graduates, what would you say?

If they have their skin in the game, you need to agree. If they don’t, be ready to say yes, but confident to say no.

In your opinion, what has been one of the most important technological developments over the past 12 months?

You probably get this a lot, but location. Since the late ’90s, I’ve considered Google as a perennial cheat sheet. With mobile browsing, that became even more truthful – I didn’t need to be at a computer to access it anymore. And now we’re only just cracking the surface on location; when our apps know where we are, they’ll be able to filter the wheat from the chaff based on the most powerful contextual indicator: our location.

If you had a crystal ball, what would you say will be the most important technological development over the next 12 months?

Karim Kanji. I’m expecting Skynet to finally incorporate, and figure out how to scale your awesomeness so everyone can experience it. Then maybe a few K-1000s will go sour and try to Kariminate the human population. Which is why I’m glad Arnold had to leave office: he’s the only one who can save us. (KK – I swear Aidan wrote this.)

Who is one of Canada’s tech stars and why?

I’m working alongside 39 of them this summer: Krista Caldwell, Mindy Lau, Yilun Zhang (my partners at Busy Bee), and all of the others in The Next 36. I’m inspired and pushed by them every day. And I’m certain that, come August, each and every one will impress the crap out of you.

blog, digital media, social media, twitter

creating community: part 2

Money Mart
Image by Thomas Hawk via Flickr

Just over a month ago I blogged about creating community: part 1.  The beginning of this story was a refresher on my experience with GREENtuity and my first lessons in creating communities online.

The next step of my journey brings us to a company I used to work for called RealCash.

RealCash was a finance company in the residential real estate space.  They factored a portion of an agent’s earned commissions.  In short, RealCash was the Money Mart equivalent for real estate agents.

My role with the company was in marketing.  I put together email campaigns, trade show strategies and even set-up strategic partnerships with major real estate companies across Canada.  After a while, due to market conditions, I was forced to slash our budget and look for creative ways to market for free.

Enter social media.  Here are some lessons I learned:

Blogging:

Almost everyday I blogged.  And the results were phenomenal!  Searching for “commission advance in Canada” on Google resulted in RealCash moving from the 5th page to the 1st page.  Not bad I’d say.  Remember, we had a zero budget for marketing at this stage.

Active Rain:

Active Rain is the social network for professionals involved in the real estate space in North America.  After leaving RealCash more than six months ago I STILL receive calls from people finding the RealCash profile online through searching online.

Facebook:

Would you ever tell your professional friends, family and close friends that you use “Money Mart”?  Neither would I.   Facebook didn’t result in any community traction at all.

Twitter:

A great tool that RealCash used to promote itself as a thought leader in the real estate social space.

Overall, RealCash had success at creating an online community online.  So much so that potential clients called alot.  How much?  Too much. RealCash advanced more financial resources than they had access to.  Now they’re out of business.  Yikes!

What’s the overall lesson:  Don’t make promises (on social media or otherwise) that the company’s bank account can’t cash.

To be continued…

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digital media, social media

President and CEO of L’Oreal Canada provides some ‘Food For Thought’

Yesterday I had the good fortune of being invited by Aditya Shah of Loose Button to their Food For Thought series at the La Maquette Italian restaurant in downtown Toronto.

This particular series featured guests from companies such as Syncapse, AshCity, TIFF, LinkedIn Canada, Guardly, Rogers, and Environics.  Representing thirdocean and XConnect at this luncheon with these other companies was exciting and humbling to say the least.

This month’s featured speaker was Javier San Juan, President and CEO of L’Oreal Canada.  To give you an idea of how large L’Oreal Canada is, they have sales of over $1 billion in Canada with a market share of over 30% which leads the entire beauty market in Canada.

The talk of the afternoon, however, was not on the state of the beauty and cosmetics industry in Canada.  The discussion was on the reason L’Oreal has pursued a digital and social strategy.

Javier discussed 5 points on L’Oreal and social media:

  1. Internal Culture and Communications.  Previously, communications was a top-down activity.  With the integration of internal social tools, however, employees are now obligated to voice their views.  Said Javier, “We listen to our customers and our employees.”
  2. Brand Ownership. “We don’t own our brands anymore.  But we can shape the discussion and conversation that is taking place about our brands.”
  3. Relevancy.  Unlike traditional push-marketing social media marketing is more about discussion.  As a result, messaging has become more relevant and more about conversations.
  4. Content Revolution.  Today when you watch or listen to a commercial, or drive by a billboard there is almost zero chance of that content spreading.  The very definition of social media includes the ability to share and discuss this content with friends, family and acquaintances.
  5. Connect.  L’Oreal decided to become involved in social media not because it was sexy but because it allowed L’Oreal to connect, communicate and share with their employees and consumers.
Why does your company use social media and how does it approach a social strategy?