By Alexandra Reid
Twitter recently rolled out a number of new updates that will make the social channel more user and business friendly.
Twitter’s web-based client is now more intuitive and informative for personal users and businesses, as its features have been streamlined into five simple categories: home, @connect, #discover, me and tweet. It has also (finally) rolled out brand pages, which will allow businesses to break out of the confined backgrounds and bios previously offered by Twitter and tailor pages to reflect their visual branding with more enhanced features.
Here is a quick summary of Twitter’s updates:
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This is the first article in a continuing monthly series that will chronicle the growth path of NanoScale Corporation, a growing nanotechnology company based in Manhattan, KS that is commercializing various advanced materials and compounds for improving indoor air quality, removing pollutants, and containing and neutralizing hazardous chemicals.
By Francis Moran and Leo Valiquette
When trying to sell a new and innovative product, and a premium one at that, into a somewhat conservative market, there is often no greater competition than the status quo.
The team at NanoScale Corporation knows this all too well. After years developing its intellectual property into a range of products for the defence, police and hazmat markets, NanoScale has focused its efforts around expanding in the civilian disaster restoration market. Here, restoration professionals work to repair, remediate and decontaminate commercial and residential properties damaged by fire, storms, water, sewer backups and mould. In North America alone, this market is worth hundreds of billions of dollars. It is a steady market sheltered from general economic volatility given that disasters and accidents happen all the time and the cost of restoration is typically covered by an insurer.
While NanoScale has made inroads into this market in recent years, it remains challenged to overcome the status quo and the reluctance of its potential customers to embrace new products and technologies quite unlike what they are accustomed to.
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Thank you for being with us for the 10th month of our blog. In case you missed them, here is a recap of our posts from November.
Moving forward with our two new series, Technology Marketing 101, and A Startup’s Story, we introduced a new startup, Teamly, and explored how it is managing to drive steady organic growth on a shoestring, and shared Screenreach’s recent adventures in radio and television.
Beyond our series, we offered best practices on how small business can work with government and universities to bring technology to market, explained what makes a good PR person and also what makes a great entrepreneur. We discussed the prior art wall and its impact on patent coverage, the importance of creating a well-researched, well-funded and coherent marketing strategy and sticking to it, as well as the benefits and determents of Google Plus brand pages. Of course, this list of posts merely scratches the surface of all that was covered over the course of the month. You’ll have to read them for yourselves by clicking the links below. And, as always, we welcome your feedback.
November 7: Breaching academia’s ivory towers by Jason Flick
November 10: Driving steady organic growth on a shoestring by Francis Moran & Leo Valiquette
November 14: What an IP coordinator should know: The prior art wall by David French
November 18: Making waves in radio and television by Francis Moran & Leo Valiquette
November 21: Taking the higher ground: from product to leadership positioning by Ronald Weissman
November 23: The layman’s guide for bringing technology to market by Francis Moran & Leo Valiquette
November 28: Beware the million-dollar cheque! by Peter Hanschke
And on a related note…
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As part of our ongoing series examining the ecosystem necessary to bring technology to market, David French, a senior Canadian patent attorney with 35 years of experience, now provides a further of his commentaries on the importance to a company of protecting its Intellectual Property.
By David French
In the previous postings in this series we have focused on issues relating to patents, and particularly on obtaining patents which are meaningful. Too often people say, “This is too complicated; make it simpler.” Accordingly, in this posting we will address our 10-point summary of important issues.
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This is the second article in a continuing monthly series chronicling the growth path of Genevolve Vision Diagnostics, a life sciences startup based in Albuquerque, NM that is commercializing cutting edge genetic research to develop new diagnostic tests and gene therapies for colour blindness.
By Francis Moran and Leo Valiquette
In July 2002, a FedEx Boeing 727 carrying cargo crashed on its approach for a night-time landing in Tallahassee, Fl. A U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigation identified the first officer’s colour vision deficiency as a factor in the crash and recommended that all existing colour vision testing protocols employed by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) be reviewed. Four years later, this case, and the issues which it raised about colour blindness testing in the commercial aviation industry, was the subject of a panel at an international workshop hosted by Saudi Arabian Airlines.
For Matt Lemelin, CEO of Genevolve Vision Diagnostics, stories such as this validate his company’s mandate, and commercial potential, to redefine how colour blindness is tested, diagnosed and treated. As Genevolve moves closer to its commercial launch, he is eagerly looking at specific industries such as aviation, where there is an opportunity for the company to establish new testing standards that are more fair and equitable. Genevolve’s ultimate goal is to create a global colour vision standard for all occupations.
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Klout should not be regarded as the standard for influence online
December 06, 2011 by Alexandra Reid
I have a hard time believing that Klout is and should be the standard for influence online […]
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I’m sick and tired of hearing that Canadians don’t take risks
December 05, 2011 by Francis Moran
More than two decades ago, I was working with a public relations agency in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that was helping a resource development company counter considerable opposition within fishing communities to its proposal to drill exploratory natural gas […]
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What’s new at Canadian universities may surprise you
December 02, 2011 by Sean P. Flanigan
There are many networking events and receptions this time of year and I love to take the opportunity to chat with entrepreneurs about their ventures and experts about trends in the markets. The question I hear the most is “What’s new?” […]
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Best of: Marketers shouldn’t use bad marketing to sell themselves
December 01, 2011 by Linda Moran
Every day for the past week or so I have been receiving emails – via the company’s general delivery box – promising me “Leads! Leads! Leads!” and that I will “get so many leads my sales will go up!” […]
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Why redefining PR is not unlike herding cats
November 30, 2011 by Linda Forrest
The PR industry has been aflutter with activity in response to the recent efforts of the Public Relations Society of America to crowd source a new definition for PR […]
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Beware the million-dollar cheque!
November 28, 2011 by Peter Hanschke
Startups begin with little to no money. Much of the early development of their product is funded by the owner, by his or her friends and maybe even by an angel. Every dollar is used wisely and focused at the topmost activity […]
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Return on investment served two ways
November 25, 2011 by Linda Forrest
I had a long and interesting chat with the publisher of a specialized trade publication this morning, the results of which turned my thoughts to the importance of getting a return on investment in PR. I mean this in two ways […]
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Cheerleaders don’t move the ball down the field
November 24, 2011 by Francis Moran
When the British Columbia Lions and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers meet in the 99th staging of the Grey Cup, Canada’s professional football championship, in Vancouver this Sunday, both teams will have squads of cheerleaders jumping and shouting from the […]
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By Alexandra Reid
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The Future of A&R – Walabe : [...] http://francis-moran.com/marketing-strategy/top-10-questions-every-strategic-communicator-should-ask... [...]
Traditional Marketing is Dead – Long Live Bikini Waxer Marketing | Scalexl : [...] pointed out by Alexandra Reid on the Francis Moran website content marketing is becoming more and more like journalism. So, it is not just about the content, [...]
It’s Summertime…and the Networking is Easy? | THE MERRAINE BRAIN : [...] In fact, summer is perhaps one of the times least used to network, yet at the same time has shown to be the most productive time to network. People tend to be in a brighter mood compared to during the gloomy winters-especially where I am from in England! Networking needs to be fun and not approached as another chore, like mowing the lawn. (http://francis-moran.com/marketing-strategy/social-media-strategy-why-meeting-in-the-real-world-matt...) [...]