This website or its third-party tools use cookies which are necessary to its functioning and required to improve your experience. By clicking the consent button, you agree to allow the site to use, collect and/or store cookies.
Please click the consent button to view this website.
I accept
Deny cookies Go Back

Thoranna.is

Marketing Consultation and Planning on the Digital Spectrum

  • Heim
  • Blogg
  • Ráðgjöf
  • Samstarf
  • Fyrirlestrar & fræðsla
  • Um
  • Samband
  • EN
You are here: Home / Archives for marketing strategy

Are We All Insane??? – Why Startups Need Tough Love and a Solid Foundation

Are We All Insane - Thoranna.is

Einstein is supposed to have said that doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity. Now, I’m assuming he meant that on an individual level.

What if a whole community keeps doing something again and again and again – something that doesn’t work – but still expects a different outcome? When multiple people in that community do the same thing, year after year – no one learning from the other and no one thinking “hmmmmm… maybe I should do things differently” – does that mean that the whole community is insane?

Now, I’m generalizing for dramatic effect, of course, and am happy to say that there are exceptions to this. Nonetheless, I can’t help asking myself this question each time I dip my toes into the startup scene.

Since 2009, I’ve intermittently dipped into the Icelandic startup scene. I’ve set up an incubator where I consulted with startups, mentored at a number of events such as Startup Weekend, Startup Reykjavik, Startup Energy, Startup Tourism, Unconference, worked closely with Innovation Center Iceland as well as having worked and consulted with a number of startups in various other settings.

Time and again I see entrepreneurs and founders completely in love with their product or service (and so they should be and need to be to a certain extent) and totally oblivious to the fact that nobody else in the universe feels the same about it as they do. And everybody who works with entrepreneurs is familiar with this. What seems to be lacking however is getting the entrepreneurs to understand this fatal fallacy. The sooner founders grasp the cold hard truth that nobody cares about their stuff, however many bells and whistles, the better.

Tough Love Needed

Anyone who has experience with startups and entrepreneurship for some time knows the danger of this love affair between the entrepreneur and his product or service. Yet, we don’t seem to be prepared to give the tough love needed for entrepreneurs to realise that this could be, and often is, their downfall.

Only yesterday a friend of mine, a well respected startup consultant, was telling me about a company starting the development of a new product before they had even begun to sell the first one, believing that their first one would simply sell itself because it was so awesome. Her advice to focus on getting the first product to market and generating revenue fell on deaf ears as the excitement of more creativity and development beckoned. Their blinding love of the product made them think that the whole world will automatically fall in love with it. Not. Gonna. Happen.

Another business I’ve been following does not in any way communicate [Read more…]

Written by Thoranna · Categorized: marketing strategy · Tagged: startups

The manifesto of a marketing nerd

I love …

  • Marketing – from my very first marketing class, I was hooked
  • Branding – because branding = marketing and only those that understand branding are capable of building truly amazing businesses
  • Communication – because life is all about connections – marketing too!
  • Creativity – because creativity means growth, fulfilment and joy – and fun
  • Fun – because life is better that way
  • Colors – because black and white just doesn’t cut it
  • Learning – because … hmmmm … seriously, if I need to explain that to you then you should not be reading this!
  • Finding creative solutions – because I can’t stand people that always just see the obstacles and only know how to say no
  • Challenges – because that’s how you grow, that’s how you learn, that’s where the fire burns
  • Organization, systems and processes – because when they are used right they help everything
  • Bravery – because that’s how you get more of whatever it is you want in life

I believe …

  • That you should have fun whenever you can – there are naturally things in life that aren’t fun, so whenever we can influence things, we should make them fun
  • Work should be fun whenever we can make it so – and that is more often than not
  • Life should be fun whenever we can make it so – and that is more often than not
  • If you stop learning, you die
  • If you stop wanting to be better, you die
  • In doing my best in everything I do
  • Done is better than perfect – good enough is really fff-ing good
  • That if you light one candle you can light them all – so don’t put out other people’s candle! Ever.
  • We should all be allowed to live up to our potential in life
  • That the strategies, tools and tactics of marketing should be used for good and not evil
  • In bravery
  • In being myself – because everyone else is taken (and, well, I’m pretty awesome, just like you!)

I am committed to…

  • Doing my best in everything I do
  • Having fun
  • Being creative
  • Keep learning until I’m 6 feet under
  • Seeking out and overcoming challenges – always!
  • Doing my best
  • Lighting other people’s candles
  • Living up to my potential
  • Using marketing for good
  • Being brave
  • Being myself
  • Updating and amending this manifesto as needed because just like life, it is work in progress. ;)

Written by Thoranna · Categorized: branding, marketing strategy, Uncategorized

9 Marketing Lessons Learned from the Iceland #Euro2016 Football Team

9 Marketing Lessons Learned from the Iceland Euro 2016 Football Team

(who incidentally beat England! ;) )

Not to repeat what has been written and said in media all over, Iceland’s win against England was huge. A true David kicked Goliath’s ass moment! But make no mistake, it was not down to luck. There are a number of factors that lead to Iceland’s win against the most expensive team in the tournament, a team with some of the highest profile and most expensive players in the world.

What I find interesting is how many of them directly relate to business, and marketing to be precise, and how we can learn from the Icelandic team’s achievement and apply as small or medium sized businesses or startups to kick the assess of the Goliaths of big business! Who’s with me? ;)

Thoranna Nice Iceland v England Euro 2016

Here are 9 things which you can learn from the Icelandic national football team and their results in the Euro 2016:

Organization and Planning

Read a few articles that cover the Icelandic team and you will come across the word “organised” a lot. The team keeps their 4-4-2 formation no matter what, which makes their defence stronger than the Tower of London. Having a game plan that everyone adheres to and trusts in is crucial, in football and in business. [Read more…]

Written by Thoranna · Categorized: branding, competition, marketing mix, marketing strategy, marketing system

Let me introduce you to one of my gurus…

let me introduce you to one of my gurus

In the wast space of the internet, there are endless amounts of websites, blogs, so-called gurus and know-it-alls – hey, you could say I am one of them! :D     There is information and content everywhere and it is easy to get overwhelmed and try to take it all in – which can only end in disaster.

Although my focus is on marketing strategy and branding, I want to have a very good idea of all aspects of marketing. This is no easy task. Throughout the years I have subscribed to hundreds of email lists, put hundreds if not thousands of blogs into my Feedly (or my Google Reader back in the day ;) ) and attended wayyyyyy to many webinars. Today, there are only a handful of people whose blogs and emails I read on a regular basis, and this guy is one of them.

Let me introduce you to Neil Patel of Quicksprout fame (well, also of Crazy Egg fame, Kissmetrics fame etc. etc.)

Neil is my go to guy when it comes to online marketing, in particular SEO and content marketing. I’m not going to go over his accomplishments here (check him out on Quicksprout.com/blog for all that) but I do want to point you to some brilliant resources that he has: [Read more…]

Written by Thoranna · Categorized: content marketing, marketing mix, marketing strategy, online marketing, social media

How to Get Noticed in the Holiday Marketing Noise!

Blog - holiday marketing noise

There is always noise in the marketplace, but probably never as much as late November and through December. For many business owners, the run up to the holidays is a stark wake up call, when you can feel your marketing messages drowning in a sea of advertising and craziness.

Here are 5 things to help you get noticed in the holiday marketing noise:

[Read more…]

Written by Thoranna · Categorized: branding, competition, marketing strategy, marketing system, target groups

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 8
  • Next Page »
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

© 2023 Thoranna.is · Rainmaker Platform