How much are you worth?

My inbox received this message today...
An online freelance PR and marketing community it said - yes, nothing too new there - inviting employers to pay what they feel is a fair price for the freelance professionals they recruit - well!
Have they been watching 'The Restaurant' recently I asked myself, because the contestants had to offer their food for the customers to pay what they thought it was worth.
An interesting concept that is presumably catching on, which puts a new slant on things. Or does it? Haven't we been bartering on price since the year dot and as marketers concentrating on value added to get to a 'premium price'?
It puts customers firmly in the driving seat and will make sure that suppliers deliver on their promises. Will it improve the quality and service? In theory it should - and weed out those lesser contenders or are they rotten apples? Ooops, sorry we're back to 'The Restaurant' again!
If you want to try out this new freelance website then visit www.networkfreelance.co.uk
OTHER WEBSITES OFFERING DIRECTORIES OF MARKETING SERVICE PROVIDERS ARE AVAILABLE
If you want to check out the CIMs marketing directory (which has been recently revamped) visit http://www.cim.co.uk/msdirectory/default.aspx

Find out what you are missing!

This week Durham Tees Valley Branch held an event on Segmentation in the tourism sector, bringing what can sometimes be thought of as a dull side of marketing to life with a different spin on targetting customers. Also, this week Cheshire Group held an event at McCann Erickson titled 'Branding - what's it for?' The session, lead by Carol Smith and David Glone of McCann's, debated the Olympic logo and the broader meaning of what branding is all about.

If you didn't attend either of these then you have missed out, but you can download their slides at www.cimnorth.co.uk/handouts.php
If you don't intent to come to any events this season then you are a fool!
Especially as they are now FREE to members
visit www.cimnorth.co.uk/events.php

If the 'big bang' experiment doesn't get us...

...something else might. Apologies for the doom and gloom approach but it got me thinking that every day some of our members are struggling with problems that to them could feel like the end of the world - but at least we can help.
The Chartered Institute of Marketing Benevolent Fund has helped many of its members in times of difficulty, from financial support to signposting who they should speak to.
Unfortunately we don't always get to hear about eligible members - not least because we are a proud bunch - so we need eyes and ears amongst the membership to alert us to anyone who may be suffering.
It is completely confidential and you can find out more at http://www.cim.co.uk/AboutCim/Membership/CIMMembersBenevolentFund.aspx

Vive la machine!

The first I knew about la machine, that took over Liverpool last week, was a phone call from a supplier saying that he couldn't deliver on Thursday because the city was gridlocked.
A giant mechanical spider had taken up home in the city and spent 5 days pulling in crowds.
What a fantastic piece of marketing for The Capital of Culture and what a powerful tool word of mouth is - as all the media hype had passed me by!

Vive la machine, vive marketing, vive word of mouth.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/capital_of_culture/la_machine/