As the world mourns the loss of Steve Jobs, Apple co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer, we are reflecting on the contributions Jobs has made to our industry and on a smaller scale, here at Pulse, through his constant thirst for innovation.

Pulse is an Apple-friendly office. With all our staff using iMac’s and an assortment of iPads, iPods, Macbook Airs, Apple Mini’s and iPhones to help us do our jobs on a daily basis, Apple has had a profound impact on the way Pulse operates.

Aside from the influence of Apple technology, Steve Jobs has also shaped the marketing industry significantly. Most notable (and controversial) was Apples decision not to support Adobe Flash on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. Jobs claimed that Flash drained the battery life of mobile devises, was not compatible with multi-touch operations and was generally unreliable. He also believed that web standards should be open, like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript (Flash is a proprietary system).  As a full-service agency, with digital capabilities, we have been responsive to these industry trends.

A true revolutionary, Steve Jobs will surely be missed. Modern-day business has produced outstanding entrepreneurs, unique innovators and marketing champions – Steve Jobs was one of few who ticked all three boxes.

Here at the Pulse offices, we are always looking for new sources of creative inspiration. Our artistic muse for the week is www.thecoolhunter.com.au. The site features everything trendy, beautiful and interesting including architecture, designs, gadgets, fashion, music and much more!

We particularly like the article titles ‘Why street art matters’. With Banksy paving the way, many street artists, illustrators and graphic designer are using their talents to turn bland public spaces, old buildings, bridges and car parks new again. With the added bonus of deterring delinquent 15-year olds from writing their names on anything and everything, we think street art can actually add value and character to properties.

Let us know what you think…

Facebook is set to launch new tools to help businesses measure their company Page success.

Facebook has become an integral tool for companies looking to market themselves. But until recently, they could only measure success by the number of ‘Likes’. Now Facebook will release a new set of tools to give companies and their marketing agencies greater insight into how their Pages are performing, making Facebook more useful to brands.

Among the tools is a new dashboard, called ‘Insights’ to measure the reach of individual Page posts. The ‘Insights’ tab will list “Total Likes” and the total number of people reached by those ‘Likes’, referred to as “Friends of Fans”. A counter will show increases and decreases in these categories in real time. Facebook will also launch a new metric called, “People Talking About This”, which will measure how many people are talking about the Page as well as considering other indications of user engagement with the brand – i.e. Liking the Page; posting to the Page’s Wall; liking, sharing, or commenting on a post; photo-tagging the Page; and checking in at the brand’s Place.

This update reflects the view that the amount people share on Facebook is a better indication of value than the number of users. And considering research suggests word-of-mouth conversations are the most influential for communicating a brand message, we are all for the updates here at Pulse!

The annual Navitas Staff Day was held on Wednesday 31^st August 2011 at the Maritime Museum. This was the second year in a row Pulse Marketing was given the task of planning an event bigger and better than the last. For all those involved it was the culmination of months of brainstorming, meetings and planning. The day was a great success, with guest speaker Jessica Watson one of the many highlights of the day. Peter Wells from the Sydney Weekender turned out to be a hit as MC, with his charm, charisma and knowledge of the company impressing more than just the ladies!

The day began with a talk from Executive General Manager of University Programs, John Wood, followed by a motivating speech by Jessica and presentation of the Navitas student survey results by Pulse Marketing’s own planner, Natalie Chapman. After lunch an exciting ‘Amazing Race’ activity reminded staff of the Navitas values and brought out some people’s competitive side. The afternoon involved staff working together to help develop the Navitas service charter, while also gave them the chance to ask management some tricky questions in the Q&A session. There could have been no better end to the day, with drinks on the boardwalk, watching the sunset over Darling Harbour.

Pulse Marketing’s integrated “Natural Gas. The Natural Choice.”campaign has recently taken home 2 awards from the Australian Marketing Institute Awards for Marketing Excellence 2011. The results of the campaign were exceptional leading to awards in Marketing Communications (Business To Business) – State Winner and Green Marketing – State Winner.

Pulse Marketing will now represent NSW in these 2 award categories for the National Gala Awards Presentation Dinner as part of the AMI’s Annual Conference at the Hilton Hotel, Sydney.

Pulse Marketing has also won 2 Summit Marketing Effectiveness Awards for 2011 in the categories of Consumer Products (Best of Category) and Consumer Services (Platinum Award).

Bring on 2012!

Pulse Marketing is getting into shape. Over the next six weeks, every Pulse staff member, and their trusty pedometer, will be recording the steps covered each day. There are four teams and they are each “quietly” competitive, with team names such as ‘The Johnny Walkers and “The Road Runners”. Most teams are taking the opportunity to walk wherever possible to clock up those steps.

This Pulse staff challenge nicknamed ‘Chariots of Pulse’, is one of the monthly staff team focus activities. It’s aimed to get everyone working together as a group with one common goal – to have fun and get fit!

At Pulse Marketing we like to stay positive. It is essential we deliver the best for our clients at all times. And to do so, we must maintain a healthy mind and body and be in fine form. Chariots of Pulse not only keeps the competition in perspective and encourages everybody to be that little bit fitter, it also brings out a sense of enthusiasm and camaraderie. Healthy competition is good in the workplace and will cause others to lift their game in order to achieve a goal they might not attain otherwise.

With four weeks to go until we find out which team will take out the prize, the competition is close and those Pulse pedometers are getting a work out!

Pulse Ideas School is underway! Every Thursday night, the Pulse team comes together to learn more about the ever-intriguing world of Creative. Led by Creative Director, Tim Arrowsmith, the 8 week course delves into what makes good advertising and how we can stay at the forefront of the ad industry. And as of September 8, Pulse Ideas School will open it’s doors to clients allowing them a sneak peek into the industry and to see what Pulse is doing to ensure that we offer our clients the very best Creative solutions.

Last week The Communications Council and AdNews announced the Top 20 ‘Women in Media’… and Lauren Brown, Managing Director/Founder, made the list! This massive acknowledgement from two of the leading industry voices was part of ‘The Gender Debate’. The female mentors list was released to remind the industry, and young women in particular, that it is not impossible for women to occupy senior roles. To view the full article, visit: http://demo.pulsemarketinggroup.com.au/pulsew/pdfs/the-gender-debate.pdf

This week we’re launching our new campaign for Natural Gas hot water. Included are press ads, TV Infotalk, in-centre panels, online ads and trade kits. The key message is there’s never been a better time to switch to Natural gas for all your hot water needs. The real incentive is a $300 Reward being offered when you switch. Lots of hard work and we’re sure it’s going to be successful.

At Pulse, we know the value of Planning. Of doing our homework and getting our ducks in a row before we shoot. But a recent initiative for our client, Natural Gas, needed us to think quickly and turn the near-impossible into a reality. The challenge arose when the massive poster site on the QVB building in Sydney’s CBD became available. The catch was could we get a poster created, approved, printed and up in 72 hours? You bet we could. The finished poster featured a tactical message warning Sydneysiders about the rising costs of electricity with the headline, ‘Don’t let rising power prices leave you cold.’ It was a great result for both the agency and our client and proved that there are times when thinking quickly and smartly can pay off big.