Do you want to fly to Iceland for the low? Look no further than Wow Air. *record scratch* Or don't do that. Why? Because they abruptly ceased all operations. Flights cancelled, passengers stranded, and all future flights suspended.
The lossmaking Icelandic carrier has suffered from falling tourist visits to Iceland, as well as the rise in oil prices and more of its rivals offering direct, low-cost long-haul flights. Wow, which marketed itself as a service allowing passengers to break up transatlantic flights with a stopover in Iceland, said alongside releasing its interim results in September that fuel prices had "put pressure" on its financial outlook (Financial Times).
And you best believe their social media is feeling the heat of all the cancelled flights and suspended operations, that in itself will be a whole other storm to deal with aside from jobs, investors, etc. Thoughts and prayers for sure. Is this the last we'll see of Wow Air? I hope not, was really looking forward to a cheap flight to see Iceland and all of its beauty.
Hey Google, How Do You Pay Fines?
Google is in some hot water. European regulators fined Google €1.49 billion (or $1.7 billion) on Wednesday for abusing its dominance in the online advertising business by imposing restrictive and anticompetitive contracts on its European customers (Gizmodo). Oh and not to mention….Last year, the EU competition enforcer imposed a record 4.34 billion euro fine on Google for using its popular Android mobile operating system to block rivals. This followed a 2.42 billion euro fine in 2017 for hindering rivals of shopping comparison websites (Reuters).
I mean, *kanye shrug,* this is a drop of water in the ocean considering Google's parent company Alphabet had about $39 billion in revenue for Q4 2018. But it does make you wonder what Google is up to. The coined phrase "Google it," is all that comes to mind when something isn't known. Not many people I know go to Bing and search for things, or use their advertising platform. Google rankings for your site/products/advertising reach are so crucial to the success of your business. But in a world where corporations just get larger and larger, we need to have rivalries amongst businesses.
We need to talk about Halo Top's new commercials. With the tagline, "Ice cream for adults, because adults need a lot of ice cream," they go into the harsh reality of adulting nowadays. The solution to that dark reality, according to them, is eating Halo Top. The four topics of their new ads are love, swiping, mortgage, and work. They all start with a child or children eager to get ice cream, but denied, because like the tune at the end goes, it's ice cream for adults.
The love commercial features Nick Viall, who was a runner-up on The Bachelorette as well as being on The Bachelor. Ending up single after being on both of those, he doesn't have a lot of hope for love. The ice cream man mentions how love is an illusion and that everybody dies alone. Later, Nick comes up to the ice cream truck and says how love is worth it in the end, but then says that it really isn't.
The swiping commercial is a spin on dating apps like Tinder and Bumble. It shows a middle-aged man who isn't very photogenic endlessly swiping while sitting on a park bench. It shows how adults are lonelier than ever and live in a world full of swiping and not actual love.
The work commercial shows a child asking for ice cream while her mom is on the phone while trying to become a partner at her work. It pokes at the reality that most adults don't actually enjoy their jobs.
Finally, the mortgage commercial starts with a group of children running to the ice cream truck. It then shows a man in a robe who didn't make enough money to pay his mortgage. When asked what a mortgage was. He explains, "It's like waterboarding, but you do it to yourself," which is basically drowning yourself – in this case, in debt. The ice cream man ends the commercial by telling the children that every day we die a little more.
After this article and these reminders of all of the fun that is soon to come to me through adulting, I could go for some Halo Top now too.
Oh geez, now what…? Entrepreneurship doesn't seem to be that big of a thing amongst millennials, which I think has a lot to do with failure. A study of 2014 data by the U.S. Small Business Administration revealed that fewer than 4 percent of 30-year-olds are actively in entrepreneurship, compared with the 5.4 percent of Generation X-ers and 6.7 percent of baby boomers at the same age. Failure is a big deterrent of pursuing something, but there's a lot to be learned from failing. Which goes hand in hand with some tips to really spearhead your way into the entrepreneurial lifestyle.
Are you passionate about a creating a company or selling a product you think consumers might need? Do it. Some say, yeah go all in! If it's not reasonable for you, build an empire in your spare time after working your 9-5. If you really want it, achieve it..it'll be a grind and you'll be drained but in the end you can't say you didn't try. Don't do it for a quick buck, put something out you truly think people need and you can be happy about selling. Without consumers you're nothing, and you need to truly care about those using your products or services…this is VITAL. This is a tough one, but PATIENCE! It's going to take time to create your company, go through the legal process, brainstorm, retain customers, grow organically, and find new leads. Stay patient..you won't become a Fortune 500 Company overnight, always remember this given the instant gratification society we live in. So get after it, just like us here at Ciconte Consulting did.
Well this is going to be an interesting topic to briefly touch upon…and I'll only be getting into advertising aspects of cannabis since this can easily trigger audiences. Is their a double standard for cannabis advertising? Yes there is. What the heck? How many cannabis ads have you seen on your tv, Facebook, or Google (two of the largest online ad platforms)? Zilch. Cannabis companies aren't allowed to advertise their products on such platforms. Acreage Holdings actually tried to advertise, during the Super Bowl, the benefits of medical marijuana that some patients experienced. CBS said, "Under our broadcast standards, we do not currently accept cannabis-related advertising." So nah fam. Cannabis is taboo and legalization of it has grown in recent years both on a medical and recreational level, but ads are forbidden on television and in traditional print…because they're inappropriate. All while commercials for beer, hard alcohol, prescription drugs, condoms, yada yada yada, are all appropriate. Our friends at Big Pharma kept spending big—and, in fact, went even bigger, dropping more than $3.73 billion on national TV commercials last year, according to data from real-time TV ad tracker iSpot.tv (Fierce Pharma). Makes you think. This post was strictly munchies for thought. Do you think we'll see cannabis advertising deemed acceptable as it becomes legalized in more states?
Was the original post just in poor taste? Or is backlash like this to blame on an overly politically-correct culture we're living in. Being a business owner is like walking on eggshells, be careful as to what you post on social media and stay away from controversial topics, because that can be like opening Pandora's box. Ciconte Consulting is here to assist you with your social media strategy, just contact us!
In Hulu's recently launched marketing campaign, we can definitely confirm that "Hulu has live sports." Here's their ad spots Damian Lillard and Joel Embiid. I did in fact know that Hulu has live sports along with their live tv options (starting at $39.99/mo). But if you didn't know, and assuming you know of Dame (Portland Trailblazers) or Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers), then you realize that Hulu got two of the biggest names in the NBA to advertise their live sports platform. The "Hulu Sellouts" campaign will include four national TV spots that will run through June, featuring athletes from varying professional sports. An ad to be released in the coming weeks will feature All-Star Game team captain Giannis Antetokounmpo – Adweek.
I'm a fan of this campaign, it's funny and very informative of what they have to offer, albeit live tv in addition to their already known streaming options. I'll plug Hulu Live TV, although I just have it for streaming (with Spotify bundled), I'm more of a Sling TV; a Slinger as they call it. Check it out..there's plenty of other options than going the traditional, expensive cable route and you can cancel anytime, no bogus contracts.
Update 2/11/19 8:10pm CST – Apex Legends has surpassed 25 million players within its first week of launch.
Apex Legends, what the? It's the newest free-to-play battle royale game, following in the footsteps of Fortnite, set in the Titanfall universe (Developed by Respawn Entertainment – Published by EA Games: Xbox One, PS4, and PC). Check out a trailer of some gameplay to get familiar with Apex Legends. That battle Royale genre is so hot right now. Some crazy numbers to put into perspective as to how hot it is, Apex Legends, went from rumored to leaked to released in the span of just a few days. After that, it went from somewhat buzzy to worldwide phenomenon in 72 hours, which is as long as it took to amass 10 million players and 1 million concurrents (Forbes).
With this smashing success out of the gate, how are they planning to make money with their free-to-play game? MICROTRANSACTIONS, WOOT! E.x. Apex Coins (AC) are Apex Legends' real-money microtransaction currency. You can get 1,000 AC for $9.99, with bonus AC coming along with higher-priced bundles like 2,150 for $19.99 or 4,350 for $39.99. Also, selling Founder's Packs for $29.99 which has a bunch of exclusive items. And the inevitable season passes (battle pass, speculated at $15-$25) which will get you gear, items, maps, etc. So monetization is well in motion for Apex Legends.
My thoughts: I've played this game and it's FUN (with a squad of 3 that is, possibly adding singles/duos mode in an update, got to stay relevant nowadays). Randoms = no fun, for me at least. But there's so many aspects of this game they got right, and being it just came out not everything is perfect, some bugs here and there, but well done Respawn Entertainment. I may or may not put money into it, but the marketing is off the walls with all the well known streamers playing this on Twitch. Give it a download, have a good time with your squad, and try taking the elusive 1st place (I'm still trying for 1st ).