Randy Lewis of the Los Angeles Times has described David Bowie as “an alien in pop music. As a constantly innovating figure, he managed to keep fans and critics in a frenzy about his next work for decades. Cloudworkz is looking to emulate his essence in the Digital Marketing sector, by being a disruptive and ever improving platform that changes the way people approach their businesses online.
Like Mr Bowie, our has a meteoric rise of longevity in its sights and we’d like to share 10 reasons why we are his Digital Marketing doppelgänger.
1) We shun the norm in favor of a new and futuristic way of conducting our business.
David was constantly looking for that edge and reinvention to keep his sound contemporary, that’s plainly evident from his body of work and the shift in emphasis of genre between each individual album. His records are not plainly a record, they are a story with unique and diverse characters that he embodies from the beginning of the concept to the day he stops performing the material on stage.
Cloudworkz is harnessing this unique obsession with innovation by not only changing the way that people handle their digital marketing needs, but by fusing this sector with an e-commerce concept. We’re looking to provide the best, most convenient and most cost effective way to cover your requirements and we will continue to innovate in order to make that happen.
2) We rely not only on our own knowledge, but we build and grow with the people we work with.
Part of David’s genius was not always solely his own making. He often collaborated with other mammoth names in the industry
to create very special pieces of work that blended his own unique ideas with those of another innovator. In fact, some of the public’s best known Bowie tracks were collaborations or duets, ‘Under Pressure’ with Queen and ‘Let’s Dance’ with NileRodgers and Stevie Ray Vaughan for instance. He also created notable pieces with Lou Reed, John Lennon, Cher, Luther Vandross, Lenny Kravitz and the Pet Shop Boys.
Cloudworkz wants to achieve the similar feat of producing industry leader work, but with YOU as our collaborator. We’ll get to know your business inside out and use it’s strengths to improve your digital presence online, making you more visible, generating you more sales and giving you more time to do the things that you love. Like listening to a Bowie record for example!
3) We work hard, but we take time to do what we love
David was arguably one of the most hard working musicians of all-time. The sheer amount of workload to produce his concepts was inconceivable. He was involved, not only musically, but in the design of his entire set, costumes, music videos, truly making him a self-made showman. He embodied the mantra that “you get out what you put in” and his success is testament to that. While exhibiting this unbelievable drive and passion for his work, he still found time to be one of the world’s most famous socialites, attending any and all parties for the industry’s special people.
The Cloudworkz concept embodies the way David went about his work. Our entire business model and the change we want our clients to make is to let us do the heavy lifting for you and to take on the complication of maintaining your online presence, so you can do more things that you love. Ensuring you are as competitive as possible in your marketing, without you needing to lift a finger.
4) A genuine love and care for humanity
Not many people in the industry can boast such an extensive record of charitable and foundation work as David Bowie. He was involved in Live Aid in 1985 with Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, as well as donating or conducting work for HIV treatment research, child poverty causes and humanitarian donations for developing nations. He also campaigned for more diversity of artists on radio and TV, actively criticizing the lack of airtime for black and minority or ethnic musicians and artists.
We love David’s commitment to giving back and his love of cultural diversity. Our team at Cloudworkz is a worldwide family. We have employees and collaborators in different countries across several continents, all striving to produce exemplary work for your business. We recognize the lack of knowledge and budget that many small businesses have to commit to digital marketing, that is why we have launched our free business tool kit, a fantastic group of products to put you on the road to digital success.
5) We’ve been in this game for a long, long time
David Bowie spent 56 years recording, touring and performing for the whole world. From performing with the Konrads at the age of 15, to his final album Blackstar in 2016, he consistently stayed in the hearts and minds of the world throughout his career, while also upholding the exceptionally high standards that we have come to associate with one of the world’s seminal performers.
Cloudworkz’s dedicated team of professionals have a wealth of experience spanning as far as digital marketing exists and while we don’t quite have David’s impressive 56 years under our belt, it is certainly our intention to reach and better that milestone, while always delivering results for that clients that go above and beyond expectations.
6) Our work is our obsession
As previously mentioned, David has an incredible work ethic when it comes to music and art. But would that have been possible if he didn’t love his craft so much? It takes a special kind of obsession to be able to commit so much of your life to an industry and David had this in abundance. His attention to detail and catalog of 25 studio albums is proof that he was totally consumed by his efforts, without it ever feeling like a chore.
We share David’s luck in choice of career. At Cloudworkz, digital marketing is our obsession and we’re passionate about helping and bettering our clients businesses. Our team of experts have spent their adult lives training and studying every aspect of the industry and we’re ready to pass on the benefits of that to our clients. We love what we do and we’re excited to show you!
7) We want to inspire others
Not only was David an artist and musician that defined decades of the world’s most exciting songs, he also inspired a generation of other seminal artists. Bands such as the Sex Pistols, the Smiths, Joy Division, the Cure, Pulp, Placebo, the Pixies and solo pop superstar Lady Gaga all cite the pop legend as a huge influence on their sound. Not only did David create some of the world’s most important and defining music, he also defined the next generation of artists, indirectly changing the course of music in the process.
Our approach to digital marketing is to rip up the script and create a completely new climate in which all businesses have access to the tools they need to be successful. In the past, only the tech savvy or those willing to pay astronomical agency fees could benefit from all that our services have to offer. We’re here to put the working person and the sole trader on the map in their area and to inspire them to build their business to levels they never knew were possible.
Coke or Pepsi? It’s a question that has divided opinions since the early 1900’s, and one that you probably have your own answer to. While our individual allegiances are based more on taste than the arguably questionable marketing decisions both companies have made over the years, there is no denying that we will have also been unknowingly influenced by a battle that’s been waged on our screens and in our media for decades.
The Coke brand first appeared in the public eye in the late 1800’s in Georgia, USA. The original recipe contained small amounts of cocaine – a drug that was widely used as a “cure all” in the 1800’s – and was secured by a pharmacist in Atlanta who went on to form the Coca-Cola Company. Five years later, after seeing the success of the Coca-Cola Company, another pharmacist based in North Carolina formulated his own recipe, first called “Brad’s Drink” before being rebranded to Pepsi Cola in the late 1890’s. Cocaine was removed from the Coca-Cola recipe in 1929.
By the 1930’s, Coke was already a household name across the US and Europe. By utilising popular imagery in it’s advertising campaigns – such as the Santa Claus adverts we still see today – Coke was able to firmly place itself within the mainstream consciousness whereas Pepsi were left floundering due to company restructuring and financial difficulties.
It wasn’t until the 1960’s however, that the Cola Wars really began. With both companies wishing to dominate the market, they turned to extreme measures in order to outdo one another. Pepsi launched a (genius) marketing campaign which involved a blind taste test of both sodas – the public unanimously agreed that Pepsi was their favourite based on taste alone, which caused panic amongst the ranks at Coca-Cola Company. In response, Coke decided to come out with a new recipe which they called “New Coke” – groundbreaking, right? Surprisingly – or unsurprisingly, depending on which way you look at it – take up for the new recipe was not high. The taste was meant to be similar to Pepsi, sweeter and more syrupy, in keeping with the results of the taste test, but the public were outraged.
Coca-Cola eventually brought back the original recipe under the name “Coca-Cola Classic”, and while the New Coke campaign didn’t have the results they had originally intended, the debacle ended up being financially lucrative for them with Coca-Cola Classic flying off the shelves.
New Coke was eventually discontinued and, despite the results of Pepsi’s marketing campaign, consumers were still buying Coke in higher volumes, preferring to stick with the household favourite.
So how did Coke secure the top spot as the world’s favourite cola drink?
Coke first utilised the power of product placement in the 1940’s, with products featured in the iconic holiday classic ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. By the 1960’s, the brand’s products were appearing in so many movies they had to open an LA office in which they could monitor how the brand was being represented. Perhaps one of the most famous instances of product placement was in E.T. which was the highest grossing film of all time (at the time). Utilising product placement in this way ensured that the brand stayed relevant and was at the forefront of popular culture.
Pepsi also had their fair share of product placement in mainstream movies, with a particularly lucrative feature in the first two Back to the Future movies, but this was largely overshadowed by Coke’s continuing success.
In the 1980’s both Pepsi and Coke began using celebrity endorsements within their adverts – and this is where things begin to go a little wrong for Pepsi. While Coke utilised these endorsements to push their tried and tested messaging, Pepsi were hit with a string of unfortunate incidents which tarnished their reputation in the public eye.
In 1980, while filming an advert for a celebrity endorsement with Michael Jackson, there was an accident on set involving pyrotechnics that left Michael suffering with severe burns. He later became addicted to painkillers as a result of this accident. A few years later, Pepsi filmed an ad featuring David Bowie and Tina Turner. Shortly after the ad airing, Bowie was accused of sexual assault. In 1989, Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer’ featured heavily in a Pepsi ad campaign, leading to numerous complaints about it’s anti-Catholic messaging. More recently in 2002, Pepsi pulled an advert featuring rapper ‘Ludacris’ among claims that he was immoral. They replaced him with The Osbournes, which further angered the public in a move that was lauded ‘racially insensitive’. As a result, Pepsi made an annual contribution of $1 million for three years to the Ludacris Foundation.
The unfortunate media scandals didn’t stop with celebrity endorsements however. In 1993, consumers began finding syringes inside cans of Pepsi across America. The scandal quickly made national headlines, and while the fault was traced to a woman working at a Pepsi factory in Colorado, the damage was done and consumer confidence plummeted.
By 1996, the Cola Wars were officially declared over. The Coca-Cola Company had officially taken both the number one and number two spots with Coke and Diet Coke, while Pepsi held at number three. Despite Pepsi’s acquisitions of other companies putting their share price above that of Coca-Cola Company’s, based on cola sales alone Coke came out on top.
So what can this teach us about a successful ads strategy?
If you’re looking to create a blunder-free advertising campaign but you’re not sure where to start, look no further than Cloudworkz! Our team of advertising specialists can devise and implement a stellar advertising strategy which will put you in front of your ideal audience. For more information, take a look at our website or contact us: www.cloudworkz.com
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