A new way of printing: 3D printing
It sounds weird, but something magical that can create objects out of thin air, is reality. I am speaking of the 3D printing, a special device that can print in plastic, metal, nylon, and many other materials. In addition, it can be used for manufacturing prototypes; user products and aircraft engine parts too.
Should be this technology fantastic?
The answer is yes since we are living in the era of the “Third Industrial Revolution”, in particular a period where technologies and innovations are crucial for improvements, both in societies and in businesses.
How does it work?
3D printers use a variety of different types of manufacturing technologies, but they have one thing in common: they create a three dimensional object by building it layer by successive layer until the object is finished. It is similar to the two dimensions printing, but with a difference: the third dimension, the so-called “Z-axis”.
There are different types of 3D printing for different purposes. The best known are commercial 3D printers, where manufacturers used this tool to design processes for traditional manufacturing. Now technologies are improving faster and so a lot of companies can save money and time, because these machines are less expensive and more efficient.
One example is Nike that uses 3D printers to create multi-colored prototypes of shoes in order to have more availability of tailored and customized products.
Another type is the personal 3D printers, where “normal” people can print some things such as jewellery, dishwasher, some create sort of arts and some make toys for children.
In conclusion, since you can use many types of metal, plastic and other materials like silver and gold you can almost print whatever you want.
And in the future?
This technology is disruptive and so its impact has enormous proportions worldwide avoiding waste and affecting energy use, customization, product availability, medicine, the sciences and the course of manufacturing.
This tool will completely change the course of action of the entire world!!!
Sources:
http://www.javelin-tech.com/blog/category/3d-printing/
http://www.3dprinter.net/reference/what-is-3d-printing
Absolute Vodka: from the first campaign in the Media World to User Generated Content
Part of Absolute Vodka’s marketing strategy highlights the unique bottle design to differentiate itself from other brands. In the past the brand used a wide range of different print media, including billboards, newspapers, magazines and even postcards to promote its bottle campaign “Absolut …”, which was released for 25 years from 1979 – 2006. In 2006, the brand started to extend their advertising strategy to other platforms and activities such as TV, movie and music production.
One step toward a multichannel marketing communication was the introduction of a comedy series on the official website that promoted the spirit, starring Zach Galifianakis, Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim Moreover, Absolut Vodka decided to invest in a music single, which enabled them to develop a new and innovative marketing platform. For this purpose, the company commissioned Lenny Kravitz to produce an “Absolut-Track”. The song “Breathe” was then remixed in ten different versions by artists from all over the world including Wisin & Yandel, Nikko Patrelakis, Jazzanova, Ashley Beedle and Little Louie Vega. Each track has its own video and is available as a free download. At the same time, the company also created a YouTube channel where it is possible to view the different advertisements and the videos of the artists that collaborated with the brand. These strategic decisions illustrate how Absolut Vodka tries to reach its customers on very diverse ways. Thanks to the serial and entertaining character of these productions, an enduring relationship with the content is supported which leads to the development of an engagement to the brand.
The brand also decided to enter the TV series industry, in order to develop a product positioning strategy for their campaign. The labelling of the bottle “Absolut Krusty” appeared for instance in three different episodes of the Simpsons series. This displays the use of product placement that Absolut has done in order to engage audiences that watch TV series. Absolut Vodka also arranged a cooperation with HBO, whereupon the spirit was featured in the series “Sex and the City” making the brand and the slogan “Absolut Hunk” famous. These two examples show that through the use of a media platform such as television, Absolut has engaged the audience through product placement ranging from cartoons to soap series.
In 2007, Absolut introduced its “In an Absolut World” campaign, in which the company posted various, often fanciful scenarios of what the target audience might think would constitute a perfect, or “Absolut”, reality.
The aim of the campaign was to ask the consumers to share their vision of an ideal and more creative world with their peers. In the initial phase of the campaign, the brand’s website and other online locations (e.g. banners) displayed “vision of the world” by well-known creative individuals, such as Kanye West. The second phase opened the floor to the creative vision of the consumers by encouraging the public to visit the site and upload their own vision of what they thought an Absolut world should look like. This method is an ideal example of how a brand invites its customers to be part of campaign, which leads to a very high engagement among the two.
Engaging online communities can be incredibly powerful and cost-effective, and at the same time generates a considerable amount of unique and attractive brand-related content. This kind of campaign is a good example of crowdsourcing creative content by using free available social channels and web technologies to achieve create result with low budget. The campaign thus demonstrates yet again that the marketing department of the Absolut Company is aware of the importance of relationship marketing and of the use of different channels. In this case the website itself and the user-generated content served as a platform which underlines the variety of utilized platforms in the marketing portfolio of Absolut Vodka. Moreover, it can be assumed that the campaign also fulfils the four steps of a successful promotion as stated in the AIDA model. The participation of celebrities as Kanye West arouses the attention and interest of many potential customers. The participatory element of the campaign supports the arousal of a desire for the product since the user is highly involved in the ‘world of Absolut Vodka.
Sources:
Joseph Sebastian, Absolut to take ‘interactive’ approach to global marketing, Marketing Week (Online Edition). 9/9/2013, p1-1.
Karlene Lukovitz, Absolut Launches Global ‘Transform Today’ Campaign, Marketing Daily, 07/2013
The ITO Revolution
IT outsourcing (ITO) is defined as the practice of seeking resources outside of an organizational structure for all or part of and IT function.
An increasing number of multinational companies are outsourcing their IT-related activities. These companies take advantage of ITO for functions ranging from infrastructure to software development, maintenance and support. Moreover, technologies such as Business Intelligence (BI), Development Operations (DevOps) and Near Field Communication (NFC) have a strong impact the business success of companies. As a result, the development and the implementation of these technologies are being progressively outsourced due to challenging go-to-market strategies and growing time constraints. Hence, it can be stated without any doubt that the IT industry is quickly moving away from traditional outsourcing into a more strategic partnership with vendors, giving birth to a real ITO Revolution.
These trends force IT solutions providers to adopt new technologies, to change their standard methodologies as well as to review their business models to retain their existing clients and to remain competitive. Rapid development, prompt implementation and smooth transition are key criteria companies follow when selecting their new IT supplier. Simultaneously, however, high standards of quality must be met. It is for these reasons that most companies tend to select IT service providers with mature implementation models and with proven experience within their industry.
ITO programs are leading large corporations to make wide use of the experience and the insights of consulting companies for their decision-making process and for IT roadmap creation. By outsourcing the implementation and the transition phases of the outsourcing program itself they allow their internal staff to focus on their current operations and responsibilities.
As Bluewolf (a consulting company) mentioned: “IT outsourcing is evolving into a strategic tool that reflects today’s rapidly changing business and technology landscape. Once a tourniquet to cut costs, it has matured and become a business imperative”.
source:
http://money.howstuffworks.com/outsourcing1.htm
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