Five Questions and One Link with Unpakt
This installment of Five Questions and One Link requires full disclosure: Undercurrent worked with Unpakt to help conceptualize the product and place the key creative and technical partners. But regardless of our personal connection, Unpakt is the disruptive kind a startup we always admire. With the goal of bringing transparency, simplicity and accurate pricing to the arduous process of moving, the service lets users search, compare and book movers online. Daniel Cooke, General Manager of Unpakt, took on this batch of questions.
1) In 140 characters or less, what problem is your company solving?
Finding a great mover and getting pricing is a time-consuming, difficult process. Unpakt is a digital service that makes it fast and easy.
Where Digital Strategy “Planning” and “Practice” Overlap
—Having a plan is just the start
Digital initiatives can easily rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in hard costs, claiming months of research, planning, and effort. Smart organizations understand the importance of articulating a waterproof foundational strategy for any such venture, backed by a rationale that is anchored in some higher grand business strategy. Yet any actual strategic thinking that gets done in the context of these investments is generally constricted to the planning stage, leaving a significant chunk of the process – the implementation phase – untouched. However, strategy shouldn’t end when the planning docs are signed and delivered; it should be deeply embedded in technical implementation and tactical execution. Read more
Every Brand Needs A Gym
—Three minutes of hits then laps 'round the bags
Entering a boxing match seems like a ridiculous proposition considering the glaring risks it poses to your health. So, why are so many fighters convinced that it is a good decision? Read more
Marketing Is Dead. Long Live The Market!
—Markets: more kittens than marketing (Shahram Sharif)
The promise of the internet was to bring brands closer to their customers, deepening relationships and allowing both to understand each other better through dialogue. The first markets, Doc Searls and David Weinberger remind us in the book The Cluetrain Manifesto, were places where “supply met demand with a firm handshake.” Producer and consumer relationships blossomed through regular interaction, mutual understanding and trust.
The internet is the networked market of the digital age, yet few brands truly succeed in building customer relationships there, principally because many see the internet as an opportunity to market at their customers, rather than as a market place where they can get to know them better. There are three key areas brands should pay attention to in developing this firm handshake online. Read more