Gino Cosme

A Question about Social Media…

Gino Cosme — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 11:31:02 +0000

Is social media marketing about giving a brand a voice and starting a conversation for the purposes of swindling people to buy a product? Or is it about creating a utility they can’t live without?

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Nandos & Evita Bezuidenhout Take On The ANC

Gino Cosme — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 07:20:42 +0000

Hilarious!

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Nine Things Salespeople Won’t Tell You…

Gino Cosme — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:14:12 +0000

That idea will not work.
Your company isn’t suited to this.
We cannot help you.
We’re prepared to work - and charge - based on performance.
We have no idea what we’re doing.
This is going to be time consuming.
Don’t stop your traditional media spend.
The only products we understand are the ones we’re selling you.
That shirt you’re wearing doesn’t quite suit you (hey, we all need to look good).

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Please Fix the iPhone

Gino Cosme — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:24:23 +0000

When Vodacom introduced the iPhone to South Africa in September, I was one of the first to spurge R7k in the hopes of getting one of the most advanced cellphones on the market. Then, like many others, I realised that while I love my iPhone’s applications. sleek sex appeal and “oh so lick me” interface, it’s quite an archaic device; bad battery life, bulky size, no MMS or forward SMS functionality, no 3G sharing with a computer, no wireless synching capability, to name just some. In fact, it is like having a vibrating, sexy loaf of bread in your pocket.

I’m not too bothered about the price of the phone - it is an Apple after all - but I do think the iPhone user community should be somewhat disgruntled about the phone’s missing (basic) functionality. And that’s why I applaud the guys behind pleasefixtheiphone.com, a website where iPhone users can vote for the things they want Apple to fix on their mobile devices. There’s also an iPhone version of the site so that we can add to the wish list as we come across bugs.

The website has received to date an incredible 1,843 wishes and 376,607 votes! Here’s hoping Steve and his Apple geek force are listening!

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Americans, Please Don’t Vote

Gino Cosme — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 14:56:06 +0000

This engaging PSA (public service announcement) as created to encourage the American youth to register to vote in the American election, currently underway. Brilliant!

Quite frankly, this is something that needs to be created for our own country.

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A Lesson on Word of Mouth (Viral) Marketing

Gino Cosme — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:15:37 +0000

Sometimes when you want to come up with the next best online campaign, you need to study those websites that get the fine balance between knowing your target market (customer) and building a successful brand.

Here’s some to get you started.

Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food
Barack Obama’s website
MySpace layouts website Whateverlife.com
Puma’s Mongolian Shoe BBQ
Philips Bodygroom’s series of websites
Coca Cola Zero’s microsite

Who else would you add to this list?

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Introducing DestinyConnect

Gino Cosme — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:08:16 +0000

You may have noticed that things are a little quiet on the blogging front, mostly because things at Cosmedia are heating up. We’re currently working on a number of corporate projects and I’d like to boast - if I may - about one project in particular.

Over the past few months I have been working hard with DESTINY Magazine, South Africa’s first high-end women’s magazine combining business content with fashion, beauty and lifestyle, on the strategy for an exciting new website called DestinyConnect, “a social networking site for entrepreneurs, professionals and business-minded women, to connect, support and empower themselves and each other.”

The website went live on 27 October to coincide with DESTINY magazine’s birthday issue hitting the shelves, and has started to receive attention from readers and the press alike, enjoying a significant amount of traffic and interaction. On-site, users can create a personal and/or business profile free of charge, engage with each other and a panel of experts via blogs and forums, read magazine-related content updated weekly, and watch business and lifestyle videos on DESTINY TV.

The launch of the website sees the start of some exciting competitions too. First off, users who register and create a profile, either personal or business, could receive a Montblanc watch worth R36 000! There’s also a viral competition where users stand a chance to win one of six Sony Ericsson T303 phones from Virgin Mobile over a period of six weeks.

As I blog this I’m already hard at work on the next phase of this project, which has one goal in mind: to grow into South Africa’s leading online destination for female entrepreneurs, professionals, businesswomen and women interested in business. If this is you, be sure to register online.

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David Ogilvy & The Truth About Advertising

Gino Cosme — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 11:42:41 +0000

In a revolutionary video, the late “The Father of Advertising David Ogilvy calls for a shift in the role advertising plays; how direct response advertising is far more powerful than “general” advertising. His brilliance translates to how social media and online marketing - in fact, all communication activities - should be about bottom line results.

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Surviving Johannesburg, South Africa

ginocosme — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:36:31 +0000

Four years ago I moved from Cape Town to Johannesburg to claim my part of this vibrant, energetic, chaotic and dynamic city. Many called me mad. How could I give up waking up to the sea, the mountain and laid back lifestyle?

During my many travels each year, both business and personal, I’ve come across many cities that I could easily call my home. Munich, Lisbon and Bangkok are just three examples. It’s the nomad in me I guess. Yet nothing quite equals Johannesburg. It’s a mad place for lack of a better expression. Where wealth, luxury and success meet poverty, crime and pain. It’s a place that defines the word survival!

A friend shared a promo (shown below) with me for an upcoming documentary called Surviving Joburg. It does a great job of explaining what Johannesburg is really like and I can’t wait to watch the full tell-it-like-it-is movie.

Unhinged: Surviving Joburg - Promo from Loveland Plant Hire on Vimeo.

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Breaking The Silence On Poverty

ginocosme — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:09:46 +0000

According to UNICEF, 26,500-30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world.” In 2006, about 9.7 million children died before they reached five years of age. 923 Million people across the world are hungry resulting in one in three people dying prematurely or having disabilities.

This is the reality. All over the world there are people - mainly children - who don’t have enough to eat. They go to bed hungry and wake up the next morning with no food or water. They live in this cycle every day until eventually they lose their battle. It’s a sad reality that we must be aware of and willing to support!

Through simple acts of kindness we can make a huge difference to the lives of countless men, women, and children who live in the poorest parts of the world. These people live with hope that tomorrow will be a better day. It can be if we all help!

There are countless ways to help (please comment below with other suggestions). Donate food, clothing, funds and time to local charities. Support projects such as Street Smart, Care, Joinred and One. Sponsor a child. Visit the Hunger Site daily! Use Ripple. And break the silence by talking to others about poverty and its affects.

It’s as simple as this: if you care enough, you can save a life and change the world.

Today is this year’s Blog Action Day, an annual nonprofit global event that aims to bring together the world’s social media community to post on the same day about an important issue for the sake of raising awareness and sparking a powerful global discussion. This year the issue of focus will be poverty.

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