#biggest media buying agencies

[poojalate]

Measuring PPC Campaign Success: Key Metrics to Track

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a powerful tool to drive traffic, generate leads, and boost sales. However, to maximize your investment, it's crucial to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns. By tracking key metrics, you can optimize your strategies and achieve better results.

Key Metrics to Track

Click-Through Rate (CTR):

Definition: The percentage of people who click on your ad after seeing it.

Why It Matters: A high CTR indicates that your ad is relevant and engaging.

Conversion Rate:

Definition: The percentage of people who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form.

Why It Matters: A high conversion rate shows that your ads are driving valuable actions.

Cost Per Click (CPC):

Definition: The average amount you pay for each click on your ad.

Why It Matters: Monitor your CPC to ensure you're not overspending.

Cost Per Acquisition (CPA):

Definition: The cost of acquiring a customer or lead through your PPC campaign.

Why It Matters: Track your CPA to determine the effectiveness of your campaign in generating revenue.

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS):

Definition: The revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising.

Why It Matters: A high ROAS indicates a profitable campaign.

Quality Score:

Definition: A measure of the quality and relevance of your ads and landing pages.

Why It Matters: A high Quality Score can lead to lower costs and better ad positions.

Impression Share:

Definition: The percentage of impressions your ads received compared to the total number of impressions they could have received.

Why It Matters: A low impression share may indicate that your bids are too low or your ad relevance is insufficient.

Tools to Track PPC Performance

Google Ads: Provides detailed insights into campaign performance, including clicks, impressions, conversions, and more.

Google Analytics: Tracks website traffic, user behavior, and conversion events.

Third-Party Analytics Tools: Tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Adobe Analytics offer advanced analytics features.

Best Practices for Measuring PPC Success

Set Clear Goals: Define specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals for your campaigns.

Regularly Monitor Performance: Track key metrics and analyze performance data on a regular basis.

A/B Test: Experiment with different ad variations to identify the most effective strategies.

Optimize Landing Pages: Ensure your landing pages are relevant, user-friendly, and optimized for conversions.

Utilize Negative Keywords: Exclude irrelevant search terms to improve the quality of your traffic.

Leverage Ad Extensions: Use ad extensions to provide additional information and improve click-through rates.

The Role of a Media Buying Agency

A media buying agency can help you optimize your PPC campaigns and achieve your marketing goals. They can:

Conduct In-Depth Analysis: Analyze your business objectives and target audience.

Develop Effective PPC Strategies: Create tailored PPC campaigns to reach your target audience.

Manage Your Ad Budget: Allocate your budget efficiently to maximize ROI.

Monitor and Optimize Campaigns: Continuously monitor and optimize your campaigns for better performance.

Provide Expert Insights: Leverage industry expertise to stay ahead of the curve.

Final Thoughts

By effectively measuring and analyzing your PPC campaigns, you can gain valuable insights into your marketing efforts. By tracking key metrics and implementing data-driven optimization strategies, you can improve your campaign performance and achieve your business objectives.

[darkmaga-returns]

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, legacy news networks were already sliding toward 2016 levels of melting down about the increasingly definite prospect of a presidential victory by Donald J. Trump. For them, Harris’ stinging defeat is personal — because it’s just as much a defeat for them as it is for her.

The corporate media industrial complex has spent Donald Trump’s entire political career trying to destroy him. Hand-in-hand with triple-letter government agencies and Democrats, they ran a hoax painting Trump as a Russian stooge based on ridiculous rumors commissioned by his opponent’s campaign in 2016. They continued to spread the lie for the duration of his presidency, awarding each other Pulitzers for it. And they’ve only ramped up their efforts since then.

The problem they’re reckoning with tonight is this: those efforts didn’t work. They’re no longer able to control Americans by controlling their information intake, because their credibility is farther deep-sixed than the Clinton family’s enemies list.

A TV executive anonymously fretted last week that “If half the country has decided that Trump is qualified to be president, that means they’re not reading any of this media, and we’ve lost this audience completely. A Trump victory means mainstream media is dead in its current form.”

Even before the election results were in, that was true of the corporate press. Jeff Bezos knew it when he reportedly ordered The Washington Post to withhold an endorsement of Harris. But now, they can’t avoid it.

Since the last presidential election, the media have screeched incessantly about Trump “inciting an insurrection” at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. They made documentaries comparing Trump to the Ku Klux Klan. They portrayed Trump as the ringleader of a terrorist attack and not as a president who gave a speech and urged his supporters to protest peacefully.

Tuesday night’s results are a resounding indication that Americans didn’t buy it.

[houseofbrat]

Have it on good authority that Angelina was known as crazy at the UN by many of the staff members, and the actual reason she left is because she demanded to be made a Diplomat instead of Goodwill Ambassador and gave them an ultimatum, make me a Diplomat or I will leave. They said no, and she left.

Angelina has such a long history of using her children in the press I can't believe more people aren't critical of this.

Not taking away from what a nightmare Brad is, obviously he sucks.

Thank you for bringing this up. I have heard similar things from friends working in international aid organizations often contracted to work with the UN. Also, remember all of the press and accolades she received due to her association with William Hague and how they created an Initiative for violence against women in conflict zones? It was basically abandoned shortly after its creation. Granted Hague retired so she shouldn’t shoulder the entire blame, but considering Angelina continues to receive special treatment as an actress who isn’t like the rest of Hollywood — sHe AcTuAlLy CaReS — I find it astounding that this has had no impact on her. If she needed to take a step back due to family or health issues, that’s okay! It doesn’t take a lot to do a handoff to other (more qualified and capable!) individuals and cut a check and continue to support with fundraising. But to have an independent governmental body say that you’re “letting down survivors” due to your inaction or lack of interest is absolutely something that deserves attention.

Here’s a Guardian article which gives a great summary: https://amp.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jan/09/letting-survivors-down-criticism-for-william-hague-angelina-jolie-sexual-violence-in-war-zones-scheme

And here’s the report: https://icai.independent.gov.uk/psvi/

Also have it on good will that when she visited the Houses of Parliament she was a diva nightmare from hell, so there’s that too

Her move to the UN was motivated by public relations. She contacted them and pitched that she be a representative for Unicef, the UN agency that provide humanitarian aid children. The UN said no. Her image at that point wasn't what the UN wanted associated with children. So she ended up working for refugees.

Not surprised by this at all. I knew a few people who did international aid work in various places and Jolie was well known as a opportunistic fake who came, took pictures, and then returned to her 5 star hotel.

I know someone who knew Brad and AJ in similar circles and his biggest takeaway is how very “not bright” they both are.

I’ve posted about this before and most people don’t believe me but that’s ok .. Brad wanted the kids to be disciplined, in school, not be spoiled - and Angelina wanted to be their bestie, buying whatever they wanted and letting them do whatever they wanted. Now she just talks shit about him, brainwashing them into to believing he’s the devil. He’s not perfect by any stretch, but from what I know, she’s way worse than what is presented in the media. Very manipulative, calculating and nasty. Source: I’m an almost 60 year old woman who used to work in the entertainment industry and still have many friends in their circle.

Everything you say! I have two solid sources who are a-list and one of them works with her, the other share a team member. Shes a menace. Im team no one but their kids but truly she is dangerously manipulative. Perfect example she paid someone to build her fashion line, promised them co-creator credit and when it was time for it to be debuted in Vogue, called the editor and specifically said don’t name the main designer. The main designer found it and when confronted Angelina continuously denied and eventually pretended it didn’t even happen. Shes not all there. Source: been in industry for two decades and around these two quite a bit

This is essentially what I had heard as well. He had a more traditional approach to parenting, like set bedtimes, cooked family meals together, time-outs when the kids acted up, asking them to do their share of chores, etc. and she just didn’t believe in any of it. It was a constant source of friction. He was supposedly really unhappy that the kids ate a lot of junk and fast food as their meals. And yes, when things tanked between them, she worked on them to alienate them from him.

I used to work in the executive offices at Warner Bros in the late 00’s and this absolutely tracks with everything I heard about them from the other assistants and receptionists.

That seems like her PR spin though. I’ve heard (from reliable sources) that her refusal to set any kind of boundaries or discipline of any kind with the children was the main issue between them and ultimately was the match in the powder keg of the ugly airplane incident. Her older kids especially have no respect for authority. He wanted more structure and discipline. Now they are *gasp “troubled.” Who could have foreseen it? He “lunged at” the oldest kid (who is also “troubled” now) and Angelina jumped on his back. Not his best moment for sure but he doesn’t have a history of violence. Since then he’s been sober for eight years.

[inamagicalhallucination]

i had the best bsd famous no powers au headcanons because i got the mental image of dazai saying he “hates” chuuya and none of his friends should listen to him because chuuya sucks and atsushi sadly putting the chuuya poster he wanted to buy back

and also “wait so dazai can sleep with chuuya but i cant listen to his music??? wtf ???”

most of them would be in the entertainment btw but a few exceptions here and there

okay first of all a lot of the ways every one met every one would be different for the sake of like creative liberty sfakdj like dazai and atsushi would have met earlier ; i would probably not put akutagawa in the music industry so his relationship with dazai would be different - but i havent actually worked any of that out yet so ignore this

anyway

first of all - a key plot point would be that chuuya and dazai had a falling out - and i mean an actual falling out like they cant stand anyone bringing the other up

which really sucks for the ada becuz like chuuya’s music >>>>>>>>>>>

anyway here are what i think some of the characters would be like

chuuya: 

- he rose to fame as a teenager - he’s wildly known for his good music and his smexy face 

- a good portion of younger artists like his music and look up to him

- he likes writing his own music but sometimes feels conscious about more dark/personal songs

- had a falling out with dazai at some point becuz of this he does not like ppl listening to the music that comes from dazai’s friends but he does secretly like a lot of their songs

- has secret social media accounts to stalk dazai

- has cried becuz he convinced himself at some point about dazai ‘being with’ almost everyone at the agency (at different time periods) and was not right even once

- every single one of his friends knows that half of his music is obviously about dazai but no one knows how to bring it up

- every one’s favorite thirst trap

- you know how a product will appear for a .000000000000000001 sec w/ a bts member and immediately get sold out ?? yeah thats how it is for him

- he’s very strict about crediting ppl - like someone will say like two words to him that’ll inspire him and he’ll credit them as co-writer

//

dazai:

- im not sure if i want him to be a singer or not but he’s definitely involved in other aspects such as writing producing etc

- HATES chuuya 

- so much that he’s constantly thinking about him like the pathetic wet cat that he is

- he has forbidden everyone in the agency from listening to chuuya’s music

- there may or may not be a secret underground community within the ada that listens to chuuya’s music and fangirls over him and it may or may not include everyone but dazai

- when someones mad at dazai they blast chuuya’s music

- *listening to chuuya’s music, secretly* wait is this fucking song about me ? ... nah

- atsushi once wrote a song about dazai and how glad that he was that he had a brother figure like dazai and dazai cried for 24 hours straight 

- atsushi is no longer allowed to casually write about him 

- he acts really playful and aloof but he streams all of his friends music religiously and is secretly their biggest fan

- has tried to convince everyone he knows that sings to sing his suicide song - no one has agreed yet

- he has trouble finding inspiration but when he does he latches on - sometimes he’ll disappear for days and then come back with the most perfect songs 

- really only openly nice and supportive to atsushi tbh 

//

atsushi

- i want him to be with dazai earlier becuz i think it would let their dynamic really settle and atsushi trauma-response personality won’t be as prominent if that makes sense

- atsushi’s favorite musician is everyone :D no im kidding thats what he says but its actually chuuya 

- yeah he’s the younger brother of dazai (not sure if their kinda like brothers or just adopted brothers or what yet) and he’s in love with chuuya it runs in the family

- he’s in a band

- it’s called snow beneath the moonlight - it’s him, naomi, and junichiro

- maybe they’ll add lucy and/or kyouka but idk

- atsushi’s the main singer - juni’s on drums - naomi’s on guitar - but they switch around for the funsies

- im gonna create a separate section for them actually and keep the focus on atsushi for now

- atsushi’s solo music is....

- the first album he released came after weeks and weeks of people spotting him going to the studio in bright fun clothes - and he posted a lot of fun things

- so everyone thought it’d be a fun, motivational bop album

- it was so fucking sad like holy shit what the fuck atsushi go to fucking therapy

- really good tho :>

- like if you could u would inject his voice into ur veins 

- ya know lyn lapid’s song detached 

- yeah

- if atsushi sang that itd be about akutagawa btw im not saying anything but i am

- a lot of his clothes are styled by rashomon - a fashion brand owned by the akutagawa siblings - half because of however celeb - brand partnerships work - half because he somehow became ryuu’s muse 

- i want him to live with dazai - which is one of the reasons why they need to meet earlier because i had the mental image of atsushi talking about moving out and “yeah so i moved out of my brother’s place and ya know it’s strange. good at times but strange. Like i can do so many things i was never allowed to - like i can get wasted, try acid, invite someone for the night, buy chuuya nakahara posters, put up my chuuya nakahara posters, listen to chuuya nakahara’s music, own chuuya nakahara’s albums”

- since i think dazai would probably let atsushi drink as long as he’s not insane about it , throw kunikida in there too

- has a lot of songs about ryuu but he’ll never tell him

- ryuu listening to any love song by atsushi “wait is this fucking song about me??? ...nah”

- he may or may not be fucking ryuunosuke akutagawa i cannot deny or confirm anything

//

akutagawa:

- he owns a fashion brand with his sister solely becuz i showed him to my friend a few months ago and i said “sorry he dresses like a sad vampire victorian orphan thing” and she said “that is the sexiest man i have ever seen” or something like that its been a hot second

- may or may not be in love with atsushi you cant prove it - well okay sure he has collection after collection inspired by atsushi but-

- okay so maybe he listens to atsushi’s music when he’s coming up with designs but-

- okay so maybe he has all of atsushi’s albums hidden where atsushi cant find them but-

- okay so maybe atsushi’s been at his place enough for akutagawa to think ‘oh no what if he finds all the albums’ but-

- anyway

- he had a lot of goth, punk, etc, vibes and stuck to a dark, muted color range

- and then one day dropped a gold-violet colored bright not-at-all-like-his-previous-stuff collection and pretended it was normal

//

snow beneath the moonlight - band

members: atsushi, junichiro, naomi

- it was started in highschool by juni going to atsushi and being like ‘wanna start a band’ and atsushi, who was sleeping a little cardboard box in the spot where the sun was, was like “hmmm? um sure zzzzzzzzz” if that makes sense 

- naomi found out about it and joined before atsushi and juni could ask her

- so typically it’s atsushi on vocals, naomi on guitar, juni on drums, but they can be pretty versatile like atsushi’s usually got a guitar on him sorry i cant think of the words rn and juni can play the piano and naomi can do all of that

- naomi and juni sing too if they want - theyre not strict about roles 

- they wrote their music together in highschool 

- they still do - but now when their stuck they dont cry they ask others for help :)

- very sweet and fun vibes

- they literally just do whatever they want - if there is a style or genre they want to try they probably will

- naomi has to do a lot of the talking becuz juni gets uncomfy and atsushi’s attention span causes him to leave ppl mid conversations becuz he saw a cool leaf

okay

//

quick notes:

- not sure if oda and his orphans will be alive but itd be weird to kill them off in this au for me but idk

- oda’s a writer

- poe is also a writer 

- idk where to stick ranpo in becuz it hard for me to imagine him being anything but the world’s best detective

- i kind of want yosano to be in the industry but i also want her to be a doctor

- the ada is just fukuzawa’s adopted children that do whatever they want career wise becuz of him - nepotism babies btu theyre all orphans 

- kyouka’s a singer and so is kenji

- katai’s a producer

- kunikida’s someones manager but who knows whose he only ever babysits dazai and the rest of hte agency

- so as you can see im still working out the kinks of this au

- if you have suggestions or comments lemme know

- this would be equal parts skk and sskk and whatever the fuck everyone else’s got going on

- kouyou would also be a singer - im thinking classical

- q is that child artist that you love but cant help but wonder fi theyre being exploited

- lucy is trained in america and started off there but has recently moved to japan idk how thatll work for her

- sigma is a big atsushi fan btw

- the ada is so chaotic and disorganized and half the ppl there arent even in the industry but it’s just a cover for fukuzawa’s children so it still works

anyway i might continue this and update as i go

feel free to ask more about this au or give ideas or whatever <33

[moonbyulsstuff]

hi, I am a little bit confused if your requests are open, but could you please write headcanons with Seong Taehoon x fem reader where the reader is a guitarist from a rock band(at the time when Taehoon met Hobin) and her band is popular like Tokio Hotel, they suddenly and quickly became popular and they were also very young when they became popular. reader the band goes on tours all over the world and they have a lot of fans

Rockstar Baby.

Female Reader.

Requested.

Request Rules.

Masterlist.

You two dated before you and your friends formed a group.

Taehun was surprised to learn that you actually played the guitar.

And was instantly mesmerized by the you played the guitar.

The way you look so concentrated while playing and the way your hands plucked the string.

It always caught his attention and draw him to it.

Whenever he was angry or moody, he would ask, well more like demanded, for you to play the guitar for him.

It always soothed him whenever he hears you play the guitar.

It calmed him down better than letting his feelings out during his training in Taekwondo.

So when you and your friends formed a band and started to take gigs, Taehun would always be there.

But Taehun would always deny it whenever you ask him. But he truly goes to show his support for you.

And when your band got scouted by an agency, Taehun was the first in line to buy your band album.

And of course like always, he would always deny it whenever you asked him.

But he always listen to those albums whenever you are too busy with the band.

Knowing you are the one behind those guitar melody, it ease his heart.

But the only thing Taehun hated was the fact you got more popular and that means, a lot of guys were even more interested in you.

And he hated it so much.

Just seeing those fans basically proclaiming their love for you.

It irritated him so much, it makes him want to fight every guy that is basically proclaiming their love for you.

He was the only one that could do so.

Taehun was your boyfriend after all.

Though he would deny it whenever you see him getting jealous.

Your band grew popular enough for you to go on a tour.

And of course, you brought Taehun with you.

But it was mostly him, begging demanding you to take him in case someone tries to flirt with you.

He would be in the crowd, front row watching as the crowd goes crazy for your bands performance.

Seeing you go crazy and basically put on a performance for the crowd.

It made Taehun blush but also irritated when he remembered there was a bunch of people witnessing the moment.

If he could kill, he'll gladly do so.

Taehun was your number 1 biggest supporter.

He would buy every merch and album your group has.

And always made sure to buy the merch that has your face.

And when it was revealed by Hobin who found out during his live which was witnessed by thousands of people.

That you and Taehun were basically dating.

The internet went wild.

The famous beloved guitarist of R/B and the infamous Taekwondo player were dating?!

It brought much attention to the band.

And of course, Taehun confirmed it by himself.

He didn't care if the your agency basically told you to deny and say it was a misunderstanding.

He wanted the whole world to know you were his and no man could take you from him.

But since it brought the band so much free media attention and basically giving the band even more popularity.

The agency basically sucked it up.

And Taehun wasn't listening to them and it's not like you were going to deny it either.

You were gonna fully embraced that you were dating Taehun Seong.

And he loved it.

Being labelled as your boyfriend, it brought him so much satisfactory.

Knowing those pesky fans don't have a chance with you.

[itsvivace]

Cateye ( Korean : 케이트아이 ) is a sub-unit of the fictional girl group VIVACE under I-Teen Media. The unit consists of four members : SOOMIN, MEI MEI, KYURI, & XINYI who debuted on December 11, 2019, two month after VIVACE’s debut, with the mini album CATEYE.

Popular for their experimental music and darker concepts, Cateye took the industry by storm with their creative concepts and interesting music. The last sub-unit of VIVACE to debut, Cateye is formed with the youngest members of the group and their goal is to bring youth and freshness into VIVACE and show fans concepts that they don’t see commonly from the group. Their debut song, ‘No.’, quickly gained them popularity and overtime their concepts have given them a huge international fanbase. Cateye is is the second biggest sub-unit of VIVACE and has built a cult following.

౨ৎ BASICS

NAME : Cateye ( 케이트아이 )

LABEL : I-Teen Media

DEBUT DATE : December 11, 2019

DEBUT SONG : No.

MEMBERS : SOOMIN, MEI MEI, KYURI, XINYI

FANDOM : MAOMI

౨ৎ MEMBER PROFILES

ᡣ𐭩 Seo Soomin was born in Seoul, South Korea on May 11, 1999. She was born into the Seo-Park Family, a famous Korean family full of models, actors, and fashion icons. Soomin was born as the youngest of three snobby older siblings: her two older sisters, Soojin & Minju, and her older brother, Soobin. Due to growing up with a family with horrible personalities and insane amounts of wealth, Soomin turned out to be very spoiled and rude.

Her family’s fame opened the door for Soomin to get a bunch of opportunities she didn’t earn. When she was sixteen, her parents paid for her to her music career as a soloist despite having no prior experience in performing. Although she didn’t earn her career fairly, her visuals and surprisingly good vocals attracted South Korea, and her debut song debuted in the top 10 on the global charts. When Soomin turned nineteen, she announced her hiatus as a soloist because she would be joining a survival show the following year to debut in a group.

Soomin participated in I-Doll in 2019 and ended up ranking #10. Despite her being a nepo baby, most people hated how obnoxious her family was, and she even had a lot of backlash for being on the show in the first place and making it into the debut lineup. Soomin debuted in VIVACE on September 17, 2019, as a Vocalist, Rapper, & Dancer, and in their third sub-unit, Cateye, on December 11, 2019, as the Leader, Main Rapper, & Lead Vocalist. Soomin has claimed she isn’t like her family anymore, but a lot of people don’t buy it and have said she’s very passive-aggressive and rude behind closed doors.

౨ৎ BASICS

BIRTH NAME : Seo Soo-Min ( 서수민 )

STAGE NAME : Soomin ( 수민 )

BIRTHDATE : May 11, 1999

BIRTHPLACE : Seoul, South Korea

ETHNICITY : Korean

SEXUALITY : Lesbian & Asexual

౨ৎ CAREER

PROFESSION : Idol

LABEL : I-Teen Media ( 2019 - Present )

TRAINING PERIOD : 1 year ( 2018 - 2019 )

GROUP : VIVACE

SUB-UNITS : Cateye

CATEYE POSITIONS : Leader, Main Rapper, & Lead Vocalist

VIVACE POSITIONS : Vocalist, Rapper, & Dancer

FANDOM NAME : SEOBYEONG

౨ৎ PHYSICAL

FACE CLAIM : Choi Yena

HEIGHT : 162 cm ( 5’3)

tw : injuries, chronic pain

ᡣ𐭩 Cai Yumei was born on June 13, 1999 in Nanjing, Jiangsu, China to former professional dancers. Yumei’s parents taught her how to dance from a very young age, and she participated in many dance shows and competitions. By the age of thirteen, she was named one of the most talented dancers in the country, but later that year, during practice, she fell and had to be rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately, her doctor informed her that she had fractured her knee and would have a high chance of never dancing again.

Yumei was devastated by her injury and had to stop dancing to focus on school and starting physical therapy. Her love of dance never vanished; she could even begin to slightly dance at eighteen after years of recovery and physical therapy. To her surprise, a talent agency located in South Korea reached out to give her a contract as a dancer, and she immediately accepted. Yumei moved to Korea and trained her dancing more as a trainee under the company and was amazingly regaining functions in her injured leg.

In 2019, Yumei’s company sent her to audition for the idol survival show I-Doll, where she ranked last place at #13, just barely making it into the debut lineup. Yumei debuted in VIVACE on September 17, 2019, as a Dancer & Vocalist and in its third sub-unit, Cateye, on December 11, 2019, as the Main Dancer & Sub Vocalist. To this day, Yumei’s injury still isn’t fully healed, and she experiences a lot of pain if she dances too much, but her story has inspired a lot of people to chase their dreams despite the difficulties.

౨ৎ BASICS

BIRTH NAME : Cai Yu Mei ( 菜玉梅 )

STAGE NAME : MEI MEI ( 메이 메이 )

KOREAN NAME : Choi Yu-mi ( 최유미 )

BIRTHDATE : June 13, 1999

BIRTHPLACE : Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

ETHNICITY : Chinese

SEXUALITY : Straight

౨ৎ CAREER

PROFESSION : Dancer, Idol

LABEL : I-Teen Media ( 2019 - Present )

TRAINING PERIOD : 2 years ( 2017 - 2019 )

GROUP : VIVACE

SUB-UNITS : Cateye

CATEYE POSITIONS : Main Dancer & Sub Vocalist

VIVACE POSITIONS : Dancer & Vocalist

FANDOM NAME : CAIYU

౨ৎ PHYSICAL

FACE CLAIM : Shen Xiaoting

HEIGHT : 168 cm ( 5’6 )

tw : abusive father, alcoholism, domestic violence

ᡣ𐭩 Katherine Kim was born in New York City, New York, USA on October 12, 2001 to a newlywed Korean couple. She grew up close to her mother due to her father's growing alcohol addiction, and her mom gave her the nickname Kitty, which stuck through her childhood. They even ended up making it her legal name on her tenth birthday. Around the age of twelve, Kitty accidentally found out about the long-time abuse her mother had been facing at the hands of her father after walking in on him hitting her mom after an argument.

Kitty’s mom told them not to worry about their father, to keep quiet around him, and to focus on her education. So with that, she lived four more years having to deal with her father’s abuse towards her mother until the night before her fourteenth birthday when they and their dad got into a horrible argument about Kitty wanting to pursue a music career instead of going into business like he was. Kitty’s mother walked in the middle of her husband, hitting Kitty, and then immediately grabbed Kitty and ran.

Her mother filed for divorce and took Kitty to move with her back to South Korea. Being away from their father was the most free Kitty had ever felt in her life, and they could start doing the things they liked, including singing and dancing. At sixteen, she got into a talent agency to pursue a singing career and auditioned the following year on the survival show I-Doll. Despite having no prior fame before the show, Kitty quickly became a fan-favorite contestant and finished the show ranking #9. She debuted as a Rapper, Vocalist, & Dancer of VIVACE on September 17, 2019, and the Lead Rapper & Lead Dancer of their third sub-unit, Cateye, on December 11, 2019. Kitty is known by fans as the OT13 Fairy because, despite the members disliking each other, they always finds a way to get them together for photos/hangouts and seems to be the glue holding them together.

౨ৎ BASICS

BIRTH NAME : Katherine (Kitty) Kim

STAGE NAME : KYURI ( 큐리 )

KOREAN NAME : Kim Kyu-Ri ( 김큐리 )

BIRTHDATE : October 12, 2001

BIRTHPLACE : New York City, New York, USA

ETHNICITY : Korean

SEXUALITY : Bisexual & Nonbinary (She/They)

౨ৎ CAREER

PROFESSION : Idol

LABEL : I-Teen Media ( 2019 - Present )

TRAINING PERIOD : 10 months ( 2018 - 2019 )

GROUP : VIVACE

SUB-UNITS : Cateye

CATEYE POSITIONS : Lead Rapper & Lead Vocalist

VIVACE POSITIONS : Rapper, Vocalist, & Dancer

FANDOM NAME : KITTY KAT

౨ৎ PHYSICAL

FACE CLAIM : Huh Yunjin

HEIGHT : 174 cm ( 5’8 )

tw : death of a family member, mentions of drug dealing

ᡣ𐭩 Zhao Xinyi was born on January 4, 2002 in Shanghai, China to a low-income family with her mother, father, and older brother, Xuejian. Her family struggled a lot with money issues, and her parents took up multiple jobs to support them. Xinyi had always felt like she deserved better than what she had with her surprisingly strong singing abilities and natural beauty. Even from a young age, she knew she would be a star. When she was only eight years old, her mother and father ended up passing away in a freak accident, and Xinyi was sent away to live at an orphanage with her then sixteen year old brother.

Only a year after living at the orphanage, Xuejian ended up falling into a life of drugs and started selling them to make money. One night, he ran away from the orphanage without even telling Xinyi, and due to her getting adopted a few weeks later, they lost contact with each other and haven’t spoken since. Xinyi’s new family was everything she had ever wanted. Rich, famous, superstars, everything she had looked up to as a child, and anyone could see she was letting it get to her head, gaining a massive ego. Her parents commonly moved to different places worldwide for work, including France, Greece, and Canada, but they decided to stay in Seoul, South Korea, for a while to settle down.

To no one’s surprise, Xinyi was scouted by a bunch of major companies over the years, but declined a lot of them because they didn’t fit her standard of perfection. At fifteen, she was scouted by a super famous company that even offered to pay her family to get her to join. She joined the company and was known as the Ice Princess trainee for her cold personality, and some trainees were even scared of her. In 2019, she auditioned on I-Doll and ranked #7 and debuted as a Vocalist & the Maknae of VIVACE on September 17, 2019, and in Cateye on December 11, 2019, as the Main Vocalist & Maknae. Xinyi is regarded by the members as possibly the meanest member in the group and doesn’t even try to hide her dislike for the other members, even going as far as publicly slandering them multiple times. Although she has a huge ego, she knows her talent and visuals make up for it, so she doesn’t really care about repercussions.

౨ৎ BASICS

BIRTH NAME : Zhao Xin Yi ( 赵欣怡 )

STAGE NAME : Xinyi ( 신이 )

KOREAN NAME : Jang Si-Eun ( 장시은 )

BIRTHDATE : January 4, 2002

BIRTHPLACE : Shanghai, China

ETHNICITY : Chinese

SEXUALITY : Unlabeled

౨ৎ CAREER

PROFESSION : Idol

LABEL : I-Teen Media ( 2019 - Present )

TRAINING PERIOD : 2 years ( 2017 - 2019 )

GROUP : VIVACE

SUB-UNITS : Cateye

CATEYE POSITIONS : Main Vocalist & Maknae

VIVACE POSITIONS : Vocalist & Maknae

FANDOM NAME : ROSIE

౨ৎ PHYSICAL

FACE CLAIM : Ningning

HEIGHT : 161 cm ( 5’3 )

౨ৎ DISCOGRAPHY

CATEYE : debut mini album ( 2019 )

I GOT A BOY : mini album ( 2020 )

DUSK : single album ( 2020 )

COVEN : mini album ( 2021 )

KISSY : digital single ( 2021 )

BLACK DRESS : single album ( 2022 )

BLACK CAT : full album ( 2022 )

ROCK UR BODY! : digital single ( 2022 )

RLLY BAD BOY.. : mini album ( 2023 )

SPACE PRINCESS : full album ( 2023 )

CATGIRLZ : mini album ( 2024 )

[the-valiant-valkyrie]

i think one of the biggest threats between people pairing solaris and the fabricator has to be the way that they conduct themselves- as far as we're aware from an external perspective. canonically, though the two of them work together frequently- resulting in horrifically lethal machines- they're about as different as they can be.

if you ask me, though, i don't think it's an issue at all. if anything, i think someone like solaris is exactly what the fabricator needs.

for never really getting a moment to herself in the spotlight, we know a surprising amount about the fabricator, and we can safely infer a whole lot more.

from the power that zor lends to her, she seems to be a very critical component of zoraxis. it's a sentiment the agency also parrots, regarding her as zor's runner up in regards to her own lethality. it does, however, come at the consequence of losing the majority of her free time. she's a diligent engineer to a fault, to the point where she'll sacrifice her own time and sleep in order to complete projects she's been assigned to. as highly as she regards herself, she puts zor before her- which, considering her conduct, seems to be quite a big deal for someone like herself.

and even beyond her work with zoraxis, we have to consider what she does with the rest of her 'spare time'. she's the head of a front facing fashion business that seems publicly unaffiliated with the megacorp, meaning even post 3, she still has just as much work on her hands as she did before zoraxis' exposure. people are still buying her products, and she's still rolling out new ones. as a renowned designer- someone who assuredly has the majority of her free time eaten up by the formalities and outings mandatory of socialites.

you can make a pretty solid argument that- as self important as she appears on the surface- she is running herself into the ground for everyone other than herself. her needs canonically come after zor's, and considering what little time she must have to spare after working on their projects, it seems her needs come after her clients' as well.

and then there's solaris. relatively new to zoraxis, so it seems, and without the same dedication to the company that her coworkers seem to share. she's dedicated to her work first, herself seemingly second, and the company third. it's the perfect blend of being a diligent worker and a horribly insubordinate employee.

do i think fabby would hate her conduct at first? oh, absolutely. being forced to work alongside someone who couldn't care less about the boss she so diligently devotes herself to? someone so unlike herself? so blunt and unrefined?

… i do think, though, after long enough, solaris is the perfect individual to turn into an unwitting lifeline.

solaris is the fabricator's only window into a world beyond the little pen she's caged herself in. a world where zor's every wish isn't her command. a world where her every decision and action isn't scrutinized- by her boss, by her clients, by the media, by whoever else she dares to keep close to her. a world where she doesn't need to perform for those around her to tolerate her.

solaris is far from polite society. and yes, that means she's inelegant and hard to parse. but that also means she doesn't bother to judge the fabricator on any of the standards she's been forcing herself to uphold.

solaris is a blank slate. a brief respite. an intellectual equal who doesn't layer expectations on her already broken back.

i do think it's something fabby wouldn't know to truly appreciate until she leaves zoraxis. until she realizes how suffocating life is when she's back to performing for everyone she knows. when she doesn't have anyone to affirm the invisible thought that zor's working her too hard… you don't notice what you have until its gone. john's gay ass isn't the only one masking is all i'm saying

[mariacallous]

In 2019, other than the government of Vladimir Putin, Warren Buffett was the biggest funder of Sputnik News, the Russian disinformation website controlled by the Kremlin. It wasn’t that the legendary champion of American capitalism had an alter ego who woke up every morning wondering how he could help finance Vladimir Putin’s global propaganda network. It was because Geico, the giant American insurance company and subsidiary of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, was the leading advertiser on the American version of Sputnik News’ global website network.

Nor was it because a marketing executive at Geico had decided that advertising on the Russian disinformation outlet was a good idea. That would have been especially unlikely, not only because of the Buffett connection, but also because Geico stands for Government Employees Insurance Company and has its roots dating to the 1930s, providing insurance to civilians and members of the military who worked for the American government, not its Russian adversary.

In fact, no one at Geico or its advertising agency had any idea its ads would appear on Sputnik, let alone what anti-American content would be displayed alongside the ads. How could they? Which person or army of people at Geico or its agency could have read 44,000 websites?

Geico’s ads had been placed through a programmatic advertising system that was invented in the late 1990s as the internet developed. It exploded beginning in the mid 2000s and is now the overwhelmingly dominant advertising medium. Programmatic algorithms, not people, decide where to place most of the ads we now see on websites, social media platforms, mobile devices, streaming television, and increasingly hear on podcasts. The numbers involved are mind-boggling. If Geico’s advertising campaign were typical of programmatic campaigns for broad-based consumer products and services, each of its ads would have been placed on an average of 44,000 websites, according to a study done for the leading trade association of big-brand advertisers.

Geico is hardly the only rock-solid American brand to be funding the Russians. During the same period that the insurance company’s ads appeared on Sputnik News, 196 other programmatic advertisers bought ads on the website, including Best Buy, E-Trade, and Progressive insurance. Sputnik News’ sister propaganda outlet, RT.com (it was once called Russia Today until someone in Moscow decided to camouflage its parentage), raked in ad revenue from Walmart, Amazon, PayPal, and Kroger, among others.

Every workday, approximately 2,500 people sit at desktops or laptops using these programmatic advertising algorithms to spend tens of millions of dollars an hour. They work at advertising agencies scattered around the world, or, in the case of some major companies, at their in-house advertising shops. Their titles might be “programmatic specialist,” “programmatic associate,” or “campaign manager.” What they have in common is that they are usually in their first jobs out of college. Although many work from home post-Covid, if they are in the office, they sit at carrels in large open spaces that resemble the trading floor of a stock brokerage.

[nightpool]

> "A highly anticipated decision by the US Securities and Exchange Commission on whether to approve a spot-Bitcoin exchange-traded fund quickly morphed into a major cybersecurity incident on Tuesday.

> "The SEC’s X account was compromised and a fake post claiming that the agency had green lit plans for the products fueled a brief surge in the price of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency. It also has sparked an investigation by US authorities into how a social media account at Wall Street’s main regulator was compromised. …"

Look, I have no inside information, but most of the reporting I have read about spot Bitcoin ETFs has said that 1. the SEC is going to approve them, 2. by the end of today, and 3. this is public knowledge that everyone believes.

So you would think it would be pretty priced in? It just does not seem to me like there would be a ton of alpha in (1) constantly refreshing the SEC’s Twitter account, (2) looking for a tweet saying “okay spot Bitcoin ETFs are cool now,” and (3) buying Bitcoin on the news. Which implies there would not be a ton of alpha in (1) buying a bunch of Bitcoin, (2) hacking the SEC’s Twitter account, (3) tweeting “okay spot Bitcoin ETFs are cool now” and (4) selling your Bitcoin into the resulting enthusiasm.

[...]

Doesn’t it seem at least possible that this hack was just trolling? It didn’t move Bitcoin prices that much, and it shouldn’t have: The fake announcement was something that everyone expects to actually be true today. But it is very funny? The key element of online trolling is irony, and there is plenty of irony here. Like:

1. The crypto community and the SEC do not particularly like each other: Gensler’s SEC has launched a broad and aggressive crackdown on crypto, and it is only going to (probably!) approve spot Bitcoin ETFs today because a court forced it to. If you’re a Bitcoin enthusiast with the skills to hack the SEC’s Twitter, you might want to manipulate the price of Bitcoin, but you might also just want to make the SEC look bad.

2. Having the SEC (1) announce that Bitcoin ETFS are approved, (2) walk back that announcement, and then (3) announce it again, for real this time, the next day, really is quite embarrassing. Like if the hacker made the SEC say something outlandish and false, that would be a little funny. But making the SEC say something true a day early is extremely funny.

3. In addition to cracking down on crypto, one of the SEC’s big regulatory priorities under Gensler has been punishing companies for cybersecurity incidents.[2] The SEC once sued a company for using weak passwords, and its enforcement director said that the case “underscores our message to issuers: implement strong controls calibrated to your risk environments.” But apparently the SEC’s Twitter was compromised because it didn’t turn on two-factor authentication. Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!

[...]

Anyway, the great counter-troll here would be for the SEC to announce today “you know what, all the Bitcoin ETF applications are rejected, we’ll see you in court again. We were going to approve them, but it turns out that the Bitcoin market is still too vulnerable to manipulation, as you can tell by the fact that someone hacked our Twitter to manipulate Bitcoin.”

[beautifulpersonpeach]

This is an opinion piece. Many will not agree with me, so I have laid out some facts. Scooter’s wife divorces him and his biggest clients leave him by the end of 2022. As if the pandemic wasn’t hard enough, hey Scooter? Karma?

2017

-On May 21, 2017, BTS won the Billboard award for Top Social Artist, beating out Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, and Shawn Mendes. Beiber and Grande at that time were both signed to Scooter Braun’s agency. Everyone took notice.

Except Justin that is, lol.

2018

-Here he is in August 26, 2018 answering fans questions about Jungkook and BTS. He had listened to one song - FIRE.

https://youtu.be/aDHRFWrM08g?si=_0ql84of_Z6R1lVw

2020

-Jan 14, 2020 Justin announces he has been diagnosed with Lyme Disease

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/justin-bieber-lyme-disease

-July 23, 2020 Justin announces tour dates - previously delayed because of Covid pandemic

https://www.cp24.com/entertainment-news/justin-bieber-announces-2021-dates-for-rescheduled-tour-1.5036378b

2021

-April 13, 2021 The Redemption of Justin Bieber. Justin has struggled. With addiction, depression, anxiety and the law. He has been isolated from his peers and elevated to celebrity superstar status before reaching adulthood. In the western world that’s a recipe for disaster. Whether you like his music or not, there’s no denying Justin Bieber has talent. The numbers speak for themselves.

https://www.gq.com/story/justin-bieber-cover-profile-may-2021

-May 6, 2021 covid pandemic causes Justin to cancel tours until 2022

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/05/06/justin-bieber-postpones-canadian-summer-tour-dates-until-2022/

-April 2, 2021 Scooter sells Ithaca Holdings to Hybe.

https://www.reuters.com/article/hybe-ma-ithaca-idUSL4N2LV13C

(Interesting that 11 days later that month the redemption of Justin Bieber article in GQ is published)

-And a month later, June 25, 2021, Scooter flies to South Korea to meet his new company, the vast potential of new, polite, trainees, various established groups under the Hybe umbrella and world superstars, the BTS members. I have to sigh here, the author of this article can’t even be bothered to include each member’s name. Just a general Scooter says “they’re great”. Because he couldn’t care less? He had his wonder boy Justin, and potentially a whole new generation of talented people to work with should the need arise in the future. I believe the members of BTS individually or as a group weren’t his priority at the time. I remember that period when fans were asking if a collaboration with Justin Bieber would be possible in the future. BTS handled these questions very delicately.

https://www.koreaboo.com/news/scooter-braun-experience-meeting-bts/

And during the epidemic, all is quiet except for the BTS members who work continuously through this period, appearing virtually on several shows aimed at the western audience.

2022

-March 13, 2022 Hybe’s gross profit from of PTD concert one night show in theaters is a Blockbuster Hit! $32.6 million in revenue earned from 3711 cinemas.

https://variety.com/2022/film/news/bts-permission-to-dance-on-stage-seoul-llive-viewing-gross-1235203444/

-June 8, 2022 Justin postpones North American tour dates (Look at the scheduled list of dates)

https://www.sportskeeda.com/pop-culture/why-justin-bieber-postponing-north-american-tour-dates-singer-says-sickness-getting-worse

-September 4, 2022 BTS’s PTD tour reportedly earns $ 230.7 million in concert revenue

-September 15, 2022 Scooter to pay $20 million in divorce settlement but gets to keep private jet

https://people.com/music/scooter-braun-ordered-pay-ex-wife-20-million-divorce-settlement-keeps-private-jet/

2023

-January 24, 2023 Justin sells his music catelog

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/24/media/justin-bieber-music-catalog-sale/index.html

-January 25, 2023 Scooter becomes sole CEO of Hybe America

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/scooter-braun-hybe-ceo-bts-1235500913/

- February 9, 2023 Scooter buys Quality control music

https://www.thefader.com/2023/02/09/scooter-braun-quality-control-music-hybe-deal

-February 10, 2023 Hybe buys 14.8% stock in SM entertainment

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/09/media/south-korea-hybe-sm-entertainment-deal-intl-hnk/index.html

-Feb 23, 2023 Justin cancels remaining tour dates

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/02/28/justin-bieber-cancels-justice-world-tour/11368719002/

-March 5, 2023 Hybe to raise up to $769 million to purchase shares in SM Entertainment

https://www.kedglobal.com/mergers-acquisitions/newsView/ked202303050002

-March 24, 2023 Hybe sells shares in SM Entertainment

https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/hybe-sm-entertainment-k-pop-1235563480/

-March 26, 2023 Records are broken worldwide with Jimin’s album release FACE on March 24, 2023

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbenjamin/2023/03/26/bts-jimin-sells-over-1-million-copies-of-face-solo-album-worldwide-for-record-breaking-24-hours-in-korea/

-August 23, 2023 ABANDON SHIP!! Is everyone leaving Scooter?

https://www.koco.com/article/scooter-brauns-artist-roster-what-we-know/44894780

Everything I have ever read about Scooter, I don’t respect him enough to write his proper name, is that he puts himself first. Previous clients do not speak highly of his management. Taylor Swift for example.

Interesting fact, Taylor Swift, Halsey (Boy with Luv collaboration with BTS) and Camilla Cabello (Shawn Mendes is her ex) gave a great performance of “Shake it off” at the American Music Awards in Nov 2019.

Perhaps when Justin’s health issues became too grave to hide from the public or Justin himself refused to be held to his contract, (and perhaps Justin sold his catalog to cover his costs/penalties of canceling his tour) Scooter had an empty sandbox with no one to play with.

And, having lost his main source of income and having a keen head for business, (vulture capitalist) he had already set his sights on a new revenue stream. Of the seven BTS members, one in particular had released songs by Justin Bieber, proving he had what it took to be successful in the western market.

Jungkook has been a Bieber fan since he debuted with BTS. He ticks all the boxes needed for the western market, doesn’t he? Masculine build, tattoos, piercings, outstanding vocal ability and dance skills/technique and is a member of the greatest musical group in history?

No wonder Scooter went to the White House with BTS. Had to be sure to be there at the Grammys too. Front and center as though he was responsible for their success.

https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/hybe-is-raising-380m-to-fund-more-music-acquisitions-in-the-us-report/

Confusing isn’t it?

1) Hybe buys Ithaca holdings April 2021

-$ 1 billion + reportedly

2) Justin Bieber Tour is canceled several times, and he pulls out of remaining tour dates February 2023

- $ unknown

3) Scooter buys Quality Control music one month after being named CEO of Hybe America February 2023

-$ 300 million

4) Hybe buys 14.8 % stock in SM entertainment February 2023

-$ 334.5 million

5) Hybe sells stock in SM entertainment for

+ $ 191.8 million March 2023

Well thank goodness for BTS. In 2022, their PTD tour earned:

+ $ 230.7 million concert revenue for PTD Tour

+ $ 32.6 million from PTD theater showing, limited engagement, in 3711 cinemas

Someone had to keep the lights on in that new building and families of the employees fed.

Which brings us back to Jeon Jungkook, Bieber admirer, a man who most definitely fits the “western audience appeal”, possessing talent beyond what we in the west have seen in many years.

And then there’s his equally talented, gifted dancer “Bro” Jimin who broke all the records right before him but does not bow down to those who whisper behind his back, lol.

And by coincidence, their music videos, promotional materials for their solo albums and many of their conversations seem to hinting at something 😉

Oh Scooter, it isn’t fun when someone beats you at your own game, is it?

When in doubt as to what is going on in an organization, follow the $$$.

I firmly believe the budget allowed for BTS’s chapter 2 “solo period” was capped due HYBE’s financial acquisitions at the same time.

In my opinion.

***

Now, @westcoastgal1,

I commend the effort you've put into this ask and I can tell you're trying to build a case for your theory(-ies), but I'm not sure what exactly that theory is.

Is it that "I firmly believe the budget allowed for BTS’s chapter 2 “solo period” was capped due HYBE’s financial acquisitions at the same time." ?

Is it that Scooter is broke and HYBE shifted financial resources from BTS to support him and their SM acquisition? Didn't HYBE tap capital markets precisely to raise proceeds for that purpose though? Or is it that Scooter is looking for a windfall in BTS now that his old roster of artists have abandoned ship?

But then, what is the implication here?

"And then there’s his equally talented, gifted dancer “Bro” Jimin who broke all the records right before him but does not bow down to those who whisper behind his back, lol.

And by coincidence, their music videos, promotional materials for their solo albums and many of their conversations seem to hinting at something 😉"

Is it that Jimin wasn't willing to play Scooter's balls like JK did apparently? But he had no issues accepting the Fast & Furious gig? And if so, what's the takeaway here? How does this tie in to the similarities in their concept pics styling, etc, so far?

You've already put quite some effort into building out this timeline so I hate to ask you to do more work, but I'm afraid the dots aren't quite connecting for me just yet. If you'd like to send me a follow up ask succinctly explaining what you mean, I'd appreciate it. Otherwise, all I can say is this looks like a variation of the same fan theories I've seen people come up with to explain Jimin's solo rollout relative to Jungkook's. The fact there's so much discourse around it indicates something else to me, but I'll let the dead horse be.

[allaboutmarketing4you]

How great leaders inspire action

Simon Sinek | TEDxPuget Sound

Simon Sinek explores how leaders can inspire cooperation, trust and change. He's the author of the classic "Start With Why."

He has a simple but powerful model for inspiring leadership all starting with a golden circle and the question “Why?” His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers -- and by contrast TiVo, which (until a recent court victory tripled its stock price) seemed to be making a big effort to stay afloat.

Video Transcription. It is worth watching and listening to the video, as well as reading the transcript, for future memory:

"How do you explain when things don't go as we assume? Or better, how do you explain when others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all of the assumptions? For example: Why is Apple so innovative? Year after year, after year, they're more innovative than all their competition. And yet, they're just a computer company. They're just like everyone else. They have the same access to the same talent, the same agencies, the same consultants, the same media. Then why is it that they seem to have something different? Why is it that Martin Luther King led the Civil Rights Movement? He wasn't the only man who suffered in pre-civil rights America, and he certainly wasn't the only great orator of the day. Why him? And why is it that the Wright brothers were able to figure out controlled, powered man flight when there were certainly other teams who were better qualified, better funded -- and they didn't achieve powered man flight, and the Wright brothers beat them to it. There's something else at play here.

About three and a half years ago, I made a discovery. And this discovery profoundly changed my view on how I thought the world worked, and it even profoundly changed the way in which I operate in it. As it turns out, there's a pattern. As it turns out, all the great inspiring leaders and organizations in the world, whether it's Apple or Martin Luther King or the Wright brothers, they all think, act and communicate the exact same way. And it's the complete opposite to everyone else. All I did was codify it, and it's probably the world's simplest idea. I call it the golden circle.

Why? How? What? This little idea explains why some organizations and some leaders are able to inspire where others aren't. Let me define the terms really quickly. Every single person, every single organization on the planet knows what they do, 100 percent. Some know how they do it, whether you call it your differentiated value proposition or your proprietary process or your USP. But very, very few people or organizations know why they do what they do. And by "why" I don't mean "to make a profit." That's a result. It's always a result. By "why," I mean: What's your purpose? What's your cause? What's your belief? Why does your organization exist? Why do you get out of bed in the morning? And why should anyone care? As a result, the way we think, we act, the way we communicate is from the outside in, it's obvious. We go from the clearest thing to the fuzziest thing. But the inspired leaders and the inspired organizations -- regardless of their size, regardless of their industry -- all think, act and communicate from the inside out.

Let me give you an example. I use Apple because they're easy to understand and everybody gets it. If Apple were like everyone else, a marketing message from them might sound like this: "We make great computers. They're beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. Want to buy one?" "Meh." That's how most of us communicate. That's how most marketing and sales are done, that's how we communicate interpersonally. We say what we do, we say how we're different or better and we expect some sort of a behavior, a purchase, a vote, something like that. Here's our new law firm: We have the best lawyers with the biggest clients, we always perform for our clients. Here's our new car: It gets great gas mileage, it has leather seats. Buy our car. But it's uninspiring.

Here's how Apple actually communicates. "Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?" Totally different, right? You're ready to buy a computer from me. I just reversed the order of the information. What it proves to us is that people don't buy what you do; people buy why you do it.

This explains why every single person in this room is perfectly comfortable buying a computer from Apple. But we're also perfectly comfortable buying an MP3 player from Apple, or a phone from Apple, or a DVR from Apple. As I said before, Apple's just a computer company. Nothing distinguishes them structurally from any of their competitors. Their competitors are equally qualified to make all of these products. In fact, they tried. A few years ago, Gateway came out with flat-screen TVs. They're eminently qualified to make flat-screen TVs. They've been making flat-screen monitors for years. Nobody bought one. Dell came out with MP3 players and PDAs, and they make great quality products, and they can make perfectly well-designed products -- and nobody bought one. In fact, talking about it now, we can't even imagine buying an MP3 player from Dell. Why would you buy one from a computer company? But we do it every day. People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.

Here's the best part: None of what I'm telling you is my opinion. It's all grounded in the tenets of biology. Not psychology, biology. If you look at a cross-section of the human brain, from the top down, the human brain is actually broken into three major components that correlate perfectly with the golden circle. Our newest brain, our Homo sapien brain, our neocortex, corresponds with the "what" level. The neocortex is responsible for all of our rational and analytical thought and language. The middle two sections make up our limbic brains, and our limbic brains are responsible for all of our feelings, like trust and loyalty. It's also responsible for all human behavior, all decision-making, and it has no capacity for language.

In other words, when we communicate from the outside in, yes, people can understand vast amounts of complicated information like features and benefits and facts and figures. It just doesn't drive behavior. When we can communicate from the inside out, we're talking directly to the part of the brain that controls behavior, and then we allow people to rationalize it with the tangible things we say and do. This is where gut decisions come from. Sometimes you can give somebody all the facts and figures, and they say, "I know what all the facts and details say, but it just doesn't feel right." Why would we use that verb, it doesn't "feel" right? Because the part of the brain that controls decision-making doesn't control language. The best we can muster up is, "I don't know. It just doesn't feel right." Or sometimes you say you're leading with your heart or soul. I hate to break it to you, those aren't other body parts controlling your behavior. It's all happening here in your limbic brain, the part of the brain that controls decision-making and not language.

But if you don't know why you do what you do, and people respond to why you do what you do, then how will you ever get people to vote for you, or buy something from you, or, more importantly, be loyal and want to be a part of what it is that you do. The goal is not just to sell to people who need what you have; the goal is to sell to people who believe what you believe. The goal is not just to hire people who need a job; it's to hire people who believe what you believe. I always say that, you know, if you hire people just because they can do a job, they'll work for your money, but if they believe what you believe, they'll work for you with blood and sweat and tears. Nowhere else is there a better example than with the Wright brothers.

Most people don't know about Samuel Pierpont Langley. And back in the early 20th century, the pursuit of powered man flight was like the dot com of the day. Everybody was trying it. And Samuel Pierpont Langley had, what we assume, to be the recipe for success. Even now, you ask people, "Why did your product or why did your company fail?" and people always give you the same permutation of the same three things: under-capitalized, the wrong people, bad market conditions. It's always the same three things, so let's explore that. Samuel Pierpont Langley was given 50,000 dollars by the War Department to figure out this flying machine. Money was no problem. He held a seat at Harvard and worked at the Smithsonian and was extremely well-connected; he knew all the big minds of the day. He hired the best minds money could find and the market conditions were fantastic. The New York Times followed him around everywhere, and everyone was rooting for Langley. Then how come we've never heard of Samuel Pierpont Langley?

A few hundred miles away in Dayton, Ohio, Orville and Wilbur Wright, they had none of what we consider to be the recipe for success. They had no money; they paid for their dream with the proceeds from their bicycle shop. Not a single person on the Wright brothers' team had a college education, not even Orville or Wilbur. And The New York Times followed them around nowhere.

The difference was, Orville and Wilbur were driven by a cause, by a purpose, by a belief. They believed that if they could figure out this flying machine, it'll change the course of the world. Samuel Pierpont Langley was different. He wanted to be rich, and he wanted to be famous. He was in pursuit of the result. He was in pursuit of the riches. And lo and behold, look what happened. The people who believed in the Wright brothers' dream worked with them with blood and sweat and tears. The others just worked for the paycheck. They tell stories of how every time the Wright brothers went out, they would have to take five sets of parts, because that's how many times they would crash before supper.

And, eventually, on December 17th, 1903, the Wright brothers took flight, and no one was there to even experience it. We found out about it a few days later. And further proof that Langley was motivated by the wrong thing: the day the Wright brothers took flight, he quit. He could have said, "That's an amazing discovery, guys, and I will improve upon your technology," but he didn't. He wasn't first, he didn't get rich, he didn't get famous, so he quit.

People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it. If you talk about what you believe, you will attract those who believe what you believe.

But why is it important to attract those who believe what you believe? Something called the law of diffusion of innovation, if you don't know the law, you know the terminology. The first 2.5% of our population are our innovators. The next 13.5% of our population are our early adopters. The next 34% are your early majority, your late majority and your laggards. The only reason these people buy touch-tone phones is because you can't buy rotary phones anymore.

We all sit at various places at various times on this scale, but what the law of diffusion of innovation tells us is that if you want mass-market success or mass-market acceptance of an idea, you cannot have it until you achieve this tipping point between 15 and 18 percent market penetration, and then the system tips. I love asking businesses, "What's your conversion on new business?" They love to tell you, "It's about 10 percent," proudly. Well, you can trip over 10% of the customers. We all have about 10% who just "get it." That's how we describe them, right? That's like that gut feeling, "Oh, they just get it."

The problem is: How do you find the ones that get it before doing business versus the ones who don't get it? So it's this here, this little gap that you have to close, as Jeffrey Moore calls it, "Crossing the Chasm" -- because, you see, the early majority will not try something until someone else has tried it first. And these guys, the innovators and the early adopters, they're comfortable making those gut decisions. They're more comfortable making those intuitive decisions that are driven by what they believe about the world and not just what product is available. These are the people who stood in line for six hours to buy an iPhone when they first came out, when you could have bought one off the shelf the next week. These are the people who spent 40,000 dollars on flat-screen TVs when they first came out, even though the technology was substandard. And, by the way, they didn't do it because the technology was so great; they did it for themselves. It's because they wanted to be first. People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it and what you do simply proves what you believe. In fact, people will do the things that prove what they believe. The reason that person bought the iPhone in the first six hours, stood in line for six hours, was because of what they believed about the world, and how they wanted everybody to see them: they were first. People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it.

So let me give you a famous example, a famous failure and a famous success of the law of diffusion of innovation. First, the famous failure. It's a commercial example. As we said before, the recipe for success is money and the right people and the right market conditions. You should have success then. Look at TiVo. From the time TiVo came out about eight or nine years ago to this current day, they are the single highest-quality product on the market, hands down, there is no dispute. They were extremely well-funded. Market conditions were fantastic. I mean, we use TiVo as verb. I TiVo stuff on my piece-of-junk Time Warner DVR all the time.

But TiVo's a commercial failure. They've never made money. And when they went IPO, their stock was at about 30 or 40 dollars and then plummeted, and it's never traded above 10. In fact, I don't think it's even traded above six, except for a couple of little spikes.

Because you see, when TiVo launched their product, they told us all what they had. They said, "We have a product that pauses live TV, skips commercials, rewinds live TV and memorizes your viewing habits without you even asking." And the cynical majority said, "We don't believe you. We don't need it. We don't like it. You're scaring us."

What if they had said, "If you're the kind of person who likes to have total control over every aspect of your life, boy, do we have a product for you. It pauses live TV, skips commercials, memorizes your viewing habits, etc., etc." People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it, and what you do simply serves as the proof of what you believe.

Now let me give you a successful example of the law of diffusion of innovation. In the summer of 1963, 250,000 people showed up on the mall in Washington to hear Dr. King speak. They sent out no invitations, and there was no website to check the date. How do you do that? Well, Dr. King wasn't the only man in America who was a great orator. He wasn't the only man in America who suffered in a pre-civil rights America. In fact, some of his ideas were bad. But he had a gift. He didn't go around telling people what needed to change in America. He went around and told people what he believed. "I believe, I believe, I believe," he told people. And people who believed what he believed took his cause, and they made it their own, and they told people. And some of those people created structures to get the word out to even more people. And lo and behold, 250,000 people showed up on the right day at the right time to hear him speak.

How many of them showed up for him? Zero. They showed up for themselves. It's what they believed about America that got them to travel in a bus for eight hours to stand in the sun in Washington in the middle of August. It's what they believed, and it wasn't about black versus white: 25% of the audience was white.

Dr. King believed that there are two types of laws in this world: those that are made by a higher authority and those that are made by men. And not until all the laws that are made by men are consistent with the laws made by the higher authority will we live in a just world. It just so happened that the Civil Rights Movement was the perfect thing to help him bring his cause to life. We followed, not for him, but for ourselves. By the way, he gave the "I have a dream" speech, not the "I have a plan" speech.

Listen to politicians now, with their comprehensive 12-point plans. They're not inspiring anybody. Because there are leaders and there are those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or authority, but those who lead inspire us. Whether they're individuals or organizations, we follow those who lead, not because we have to, but because we want to. We follow those who lead, not for them, but for ourselves. And it's those who start with "why" that have the ability to inspire those around them or find others who inspire them.

Thank you very much."

Source: TED

#mktmarketing4you #corporatestrategy #marketing #M4Y #lovemarketing #IPAM #ipammarketingschool #ContingencyPlanning #virtual #volunteering #project #Management #Economy #ConsumptionBehavior #BrandManagement #ProductManagement #Logistics #Lifecycle #Brand #Neuromarketing #McKinseyMatrix #Viralmarketing #Facebook #Marketingmetrics #icebergmodel #EdgarScheinsCultureModel #GuerrillaMarketing #STARMethod #7SFramework #gapanalysis #AIDAModel #SixLeadershipStyles #MintoPyramidPrinciple #StrategyDiamond #InternalRateofReturn #irr #BrandManagement #dripmodel #HoshinPlanning #XMatrix #backtobasics #BalancedScorecard #Product #ProductManagement #Logistics #Branding #freemium #businessmodel #business #4P #3C #BCG #SWOT #TOWS #EisenhowerMatrix #Study #marketingresearch #marketer #marketing manager #Painpoints #Pestel #ValueChain # VRIO #marketingmix #tedtalk #simonsinek

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[monkeywiki]

Youre getting a little close to saying Jews control the media with all their money

you're getting a little too close aggravating me also i have critical thinking skills so no thanks i'm alright without you deciding what my words mean for me. i think you can support religious freedom without supporting genocidal regimes in the name of claiming space.

anyway the us and uk fund white supremacy in israel and it is in the interest of white supremacists to commit genocide on minorities. the united states is israel's financial lifeline today and biggest source of international political support.

the us has given 3-4 billion usd in military aid to israel every year for the past decade.

in the 1930s, the quest to form Israel was well under the foot of the british, and then later united states-- until it had the military power to stand on 'it's own', a feat still impossible without the support of it's authoritative allies. it then declared independence and immediately went to war with Palestine's people attempting to take their land back from british/us backed militant settlers.

the british eventually "lightened" it's control to watch the force of creating israel from the sidelines, but not initially.

"The British 1939 White paper stipulated that Jewish immigration to Palestine was to be limited to 15,000 a year for the first five years, and would subsequently be contingent on Arab consent. Restrictions were also placed on the rights of Jews to buy land from Arabs. After this Ben-Gurion changed his policy towards the British, stating: "Peace in Palestine is not the best situation for thwarting the policy of the White Paper".[80] Ben-Gurion believed a peaceful solution with the Arabs had no chance and soon began preparing the Yishuv for war." his success in this endeavor later brought victory to Zionism

it's almost as if overwhelming someone's home land and trying to buy their houses off them doesn't typically go that well for anyone. and it was the british that ALLOWED them to go there.

because the british weren't letting more than 15,000 (still, a LOT of people) a year escape to palestine, this guy ben-gurion eventually formed an army to rebel against the british and sneak people past the border anyway, defying the order, although later encouraged jewish people to support the british army and volunteer in more military efforts.

but the speed at which people began occupying the land-- trying to buy land from people who didn't want to sell their land-- palestine began to deny consent. [arguably questionable if there ever was real consent to begin with] this led to it being taken by force.

Israel could not exist without the british military's interests in white supremecy. here's an image from 1936. even if they dissented due to the rate they wanted to enter palestine vs the rate they were allowed by the british, the british were enabling this to begin with.

"world war 1 left palestine, especially the countryside, deeply impoverished.[31] The Ottoman and then the Mandate authorities levied high taxes on farming and agricultural produce and during the 1920s and 1930s this together with a fall in prices, cheap imports, natural disasters and paltry harvests all contributed to the increasing indebtedness of the fellahin.[32] The rents paid by tenant fellah [palestine's farmers] increased sharply, owing to increased population density [of settlers], and growing [nonconsentual] transfer of land from Arabs to the Jewish settlement agencies, such as the Jewish National Fund, increased the number of fellahin evicted while also removing the land as a future source of livelihood.[3] "

"The Shaw Commission in 1930 had identified the existence of a class of 'embittered landless people' as a contributory factor to the preceding 1929 disturbances,[35]" palestine's people grew incredibly disenfranchised and unhoused at an alarming rate after 1931, "causing High Commissioner Wauchope to warn that this 'social peril ... would serve as a focus of discontent and might even result in serious disorders.'[35] David Ben-Gurion told mourners at a funeral held on 20 April 1936 for nine victims of rioting in Jaffa the previous day that Jews would only be safe "in communities which are 100% Jewish and built on Jewish land."[36][37]"

while affirming that, while they're occupying this land, while palestine's people are already being forced out of their homes and retaliating against occupational settlers, because they didn't want to sell their homes, that the """only way""" the settlers could live at peace is by committing ethnic cleansing of the land. it is layers upon layers of white supremacist colonialist ideals becoming propaganda fodder to rally civilians against fellow human beings in the fight over this earth. using the mourning and loss of life to entice violence and anger into action for corrupt causes.

"Economic factors played a major role in the outbreak of the Arab revolt.[14] Palestine's fellahin, the country's peasant farmers, made up over two-thirds of the indigenous Arab population and from the 1920s onwards they were pushed off the land in increasingly large numbers into urban environments where they often encountered only poverty and social marginalisation.[14] Many were crowded into shanty towns in Jaffa and Haifa where some found succour and encouragement in the teachings of the charismatic preacher Izz ad-Din al-Qassam who worked among the poor in Haifa.[14] The revolt was thus a popular uprising that produced its own leaders and developed into a national revolt.[14]"

[f0point5]

This makes wayyyy more sense than Jos sleeping with the assistant // that rumour was made up last year by the verstappen hate page that was up for ages before it was taken down.

Some people believe Kelly had her hands involved with that page, because it happened the last time a hate page for at the time one member of the verstappen family was made. That account was run by Kelly’s biggest fan page at the time. And she exposed the DMs with Kelly where Kelly is basically denying everything but the admin is super confused because Kelly “pushed” her minor fan base to do something against jos publicly as he doesn’t like her. And because it took ages to get the hate page last year down and Kelly fans just a matter of hours/days to get big accounts down, they believe Kelly was in some way involved again.

Not saying it is true but Kelly and maxs family do not get along since last year in st Barths when Kelly and/or her agency called the paps multiple times.

I’m not a Jos hater but I could well believe has slept with people in the paddock lol. I could even believe he slept with the assistant. Do I think that’s the reason for all this? Absolutely not.

As for the Instagram drama…meh. Sorry to say I really don’t believe these people spend as much time on social media as people think they do. People saying the wags spend their lives reading and messaging gossip accounts and conspiring to base their actions off that stuff seems…a bit delulu. None of these women’s livelihoods are based on what a couple of pick me bitches on Instagram think. I know Kelly is a divisive person and I really cannot be bothered to get the crazies back in the inbox bitching (I will delete all these messages this time I really am too tired), so I will just say this: Max Verstappen, her boyfriend of four years whom she shares a home with, makes (at a conservative estimate) about €12m per MONTH. She is not, short of a brain haemorrhage, manufacturing gossip about the closest person in the world to him over Instagram. Be fucking for real.

I don’t doubt that Max’s family is not super fond of her for whatever reason, but I’m not sure I buy into that being the reason. But I don’t know and i think as long as they are able to remain civil that’s all you need from in-laws.

[codendesignau]

How Social Commerce is Transforming Online Shopping Experiences in 2024

In 2024, the way we shop online is evolving, and social commerce is leading this transformation. Social media platforms have become a go-to destination for connecting with friends and discovering and buying products. This trend is creating challenges for businesses and opportunities to connect with their audiences in new ways.

One major challenge for customers is the overwhelming number of products and ads they encounter. Scrolling through countless options can feel daunting, and many shoppers need help finding what they need quickly. This is where social commerce steps in. By integrating shopping directly into platforms like Instagram and Facebook, businesses can provide a seamless experience. For instance, shoppers can view a product, read reviews, and make a purchase without leaving the app.

Businesses need strategic support to navigate this growing trend. Partnering with a social media advertising agency in Melbourne can help brands design campaigns that resonate with their audience and drive results.

The Role of Personalisation in Social Commerce

One of social commerce's biggest advantages is its ability to personalise the shopping experience. Algorithms analyse user behaviour to suggest products that align with their interests. For customers, this makes shopping quicker and more enjoyable. However, for businesses, staying visible among competitors requires expertise in tailoring campaigns effectively.

Companies offering social media marketing company Melbourne services understand how to use these algorithms to your advantage. They help create engaging content that boosts visibility and fosters customer trust.

Building Trust Through Social Commerce

Trust remains a crucial factor in online shopping. Many shoppers would prefer to buy from businesses they are unfamiliar with. Social commerce bridges this gap by allowing customers to interact with brands directly, read reviews, and see products in action through videos.

Businesses should focus on authentic storytelling and engaging content to build trust. A social media services Melbourne provider can assist in crafting these narratives to enhance customer confidence and drive sales.

Why Your Brand Needs Social Commerce Strategies

Social commerce is not just a passing trend. It's shaping the future of e-commerce. Businesses that adapt to this shift are more likely to thrive in today's competitive market. If you need help determining where to begin, consider collaborating with experts specialising in this space.

At Code n Design, we provide tailored solutions to help brands succeed in social commerce. To learn more, contact us at 0449 860 881 or email info@codendesign.com.au.

[mariacallous]

A recent report from the British House of Lords laments that the European Union has chosen “stability over democratic values” in the Western Balkans and expresses “serious concern that gains made towards good governance and the rule of law are in danger of being lost as countries in the region turn to authoritarian leadership.” As ironic as it may be for an unelected institution like the House of Lords to fret over democratic values, the authors of the report have a point: most post-Yugoslav governments have become “stabilitocracies” rather than democracies — and nowhere is this dynamic more evident than in Serbia.

Since returning to government in 2012 following a 12-year spell in opposition, Aleksandar Vucic has methodically climbed Serbia’s political ladder, rising from defense minister to prime minister before finally ascending to the presidency last spring. President Vucic is a reformed ultranationalist who served as Slobodan Milosevic’s minister of information in the final days of the Yugoslav wars, a role that involved fining journalists who criticized the regime and banning unfriendly TV networks. In recent years, he has presided over a period of alarming democratic backsliding. His ruling center-right Serbian Progressive Party enjoys a complete stranglehold on Serbia’s government, judiciary, and security services, and he has neutered the local media to such an extent that only a handful of outlets have dared to publicize the substantial allegations of corruption, cronyism, and voter intimidation that have plagued his time in office.

Over the last six years, Vucic has established what could best be described as a soft autocracy: On the surface, Serbia is still a democratic society with nominally free elections and a political opposition, where dissenting voices are able to criticize the ruling party without fear of mysteriously disappearing in the night. But Vucic’s control over Serbia’s centers of power is so complete and the democratic process is so skewed in his favor that dissent poses no threat to his rule.

His political opponents are free to run against him, but they have few means to make their voices heard. The country’s institutions are so totally controlled by Vucic’s allies that there is nothing to stop him from subverting democratic norms.

This is most evident in the media. Vucic has managed to strangle the press by taking control of its main income stream: advertising. Most of the country’s advertising agencies are owned by a handful of media tycoons loyal to Vucic, who, rather than basing publicity budgets on market factors, buy advertising space from TV stations and newspapers that give the president favorable coverage and withhold funds from those that criticize him. Media outlets have another incentive to toe a pro-government line: RTV Pink, the country’s biggest private broadcaster, received at least 7 million euros in government loans between 2014 and 2016. According to Dubravka Valic Nedeljković, a professor of media studies at the University of Novi Sad, when Vucic ran for president in 2017, Pink returned the favor by devoting 267 times more coverage to his campaign than to all of his opponents combined. Although few newspapers or TV stations function as outright government mouthpieces, most avoid asking any difficult questions.

Those who try to hold leaders accountable often find their bank accounts blocked by the tax authorities while they’re placed under investigation for alleged financial irregularities. Danas, a prominent independent newspaper, has lost so many advertisers that its daily edition now fits on 24 pages instead of the usual 32, despite offering the cheapest advertising space on the market. Individual journalists who have been too stinging in their criticisms of the president have been taken in for questioning by the BIA, Serbia’s national intelligence agency, on charges as outlandish as blackmail and sex trafficking.

In an interview with Radio Free Europe in October 2017, the president of the European Federation of Journalists, Mogens Blicher Bjerregard, singled out Serbia as the nation with the worst violations of media freedom in the Balkans. Yet EU officials such as Johannes Hahn, the European commissioner for European neighborhood policy and enlargement, have been more than happy to look the other way as Vucic tramples on the “European values” that they purportedly hold so dear. Austria’s new chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, once gushingly described him as “an anchor of stability,” while German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently told Vucic that “we are impressed by how successful Serbia is on its way to reform.” Their silence regarding his antidemocratic behavior is deafening.

As long as Serbia remains outside the European Union, Brussels is able to dissociate itself from Vucic’s antics. Unlike Viktor Orban’s illiberal democracy in Hungary, Serbia’s soft autocracy isn’t a stain on the European brand.

Vucic may be a poor representative for the European project, but he is a reliable enabler who allows Brussels to move closer to its geostrategic goals in the Balkans.

Indeed, Vucic offers stability in a volatile region and has successfully overseen a series of International Monetary Fund austerity measures to reduce Serbia’s debt and budget deficit by cutting public sector wages and pensions, which are part of a much wider restructuring of the Serbian economy aimed at meeting EU enlargement criteria. For all his democratic failings, Vucic is a relative moderate by Serbian political standards, and his domination of national politics ensures that unrepentant ethnic chauvinists like Vojislav Seselj, Milosevic’s former deputy prime minister who spent 11 years on trial at The Hague fighting charges of crimes against humanity, remain marginalized. He’s been hitting all the right notes on Kosovo and recently declared that “we must live and work together successfully.” Normalizing relations between Serbia and Kosovo, which would set the ground for an eventual recognition of its independence, is arguably the EU’s top priority in the Balkans.

EU officials are also wary of exerting too much pressure on Vucic lest he look east instead. The Serbian president maintains close ties to the Kremlin, and some of his local critics have accused him of leveraging that relationship against Brussels. Vucic is adamant that, unlike neighboring Montenegro, Serbia will never join NATO, and he refused to follow the lead of Western powers in imposing sanctions on Russia. This is because pro-Russian sentiment runs high in Serbia: The two countries are connected by their shared Orthodox Christian faith and Slavic heritage. “Serbia won’t be changing its policy … and will not impose sanctions on Russia,” Vucic said after a recent meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. In June 2017, just a day after Montenegro’s accession to NATO, Serbian troops took part in a joint military exercise with Russia and Belarus near the Polish border, and the Serbian military later that year received a donation of six fighter jets from Moscow, which also promised 30 tanks and 30 armored vehicles.

Serbia’s efforts to play both sides haven’t gone down well in Washington. Texas Democratic Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson wrote a letter to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence urging him not to meet with Vucic when he visited the United States in mid-2017, and Hoyt Brian Yee, who recently resigned as U.S. deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, told Serbian officials late last year that a country “cannot sit on two chairs at the same time, especially if they are that far apart.” Yee also expressed fears that a Russian-run humanitarian center near the southern Serbian city of Nis might double as an espionage base, a charge that the Russians have dismissed as absurd.

Vucic’s overtures toward Moscow are mostly rhetorical — designed to throw a bit of a red meat to the Russophiles in his party and the broader electorate. For all of his grandstanding, Serbia’s army still took part in 13 drills with NATO or its member states in 2017, seven of which were with the United States, and some experts argue that the country is a NATO member in all but name. Ties with NATO is a subject that the Serbian government is desperate to avoid: Resentment toward the military alliance is still widespread in Serbia, which was subjected to a three-month-long bombing campaign by NATO forces in 1999.

When Putin pressed Vucic to grant diplomatic status to Russian staff at the aforementioned humanitarian center, he responded with calculated aloofness, dragging his feet and ignoring the more ardent pro-Kremlin voices in his Cabinet until the matter faded. The EU buys nearly 10 times as many Serbian exports as Russia does, and Dimitar Bechev, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, tells Foreign Policy that “for all the noise about links with Moscow, Serbia’s economy and, to some degree, society is deeply integrated into the EU’s.” Vucic is well aware, Bechev argues, that “billions of EU funds benefit member states and feed clientelistic politics. He wants that, too, even if he is no exemplary democrat buying into EU values.”

Even if Serbia’s president clearly knows which side his bread is buttered on, the country still remains heavily dependent on Russia for oil and gas. The Russian energy giant Gazprom owns a majority stake in Serbia’s national oil company, and Serbia might be included in the TurkStream natural gas pipeline.

The fact that Serbia stands resolutely on the European path isn’t necessarily a problem for Moscow, though: Vucic’s pro-Russian sentiments are genuine, and having more sympathetic voices join with Orban and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras inside the EU will likely work in the Kremlin’s favor.

“Serbia in the EU is a gain for Russia; they don’t expect more,” Bechev tells FP. “The status quo — political links plus some economic cooperation — suits Moscow.”

The EU’s tolerance of Vucic may be politically pragmatic and an easy way of maintaining stability in the Balkans, but it’s also deeply cynical. Indeed, the EU is undermining its own moral authority. All across the continent, people are losing faith in the European project, and this dissatisfaction doesn’t only come from the populist right: British left-wingers promote the merits of a progressive Brexit, and the union’s cruel treatment of Greece during the eurozone crisis gave ammunition to its critics and tested the faith of Pan-European idealists. In Italy’s recent parliamentary election, two Euroskeptic parties, the Five Star Movement and the League, together won around 48 percent of the vote. Sluggish growth makes the bloc difficult to defend on economic grounds and, by backing corrupt authoritarians like Vucic, Brussels adds weight to the accusations that the EU and its centrist defenders no longer truly stand for anything.

After all, Europe has little right to lecture the Putins, Orbans, Erdogans, and Kaczynskis of the world on their democratic failings if it’s prepared to embrace the likes of Vucic. The growing gulf between the EU’s words and deeds can then be easily weaponized by its populist detractors who, if nothing else, at least practice what they preach.

[digitalvuilive]

Akash Manchanda’s Take on Using Instagram and YouTube for Sales

Social commerce is changing the face of how brands engage with customers and drive sales rapidly. As social media sites such as Instagram and YouTube become popular, brands are allowed to make shopping experiences more interactive. Using social media for direct sales has completely changed the shopping journey in this modern world.  

This blog will explain how Instagram and YouTube are turning into the most powerful tools for social commerce and the importance of digital marketing in this revolution. 

What is Social Commerce? 

It is the integration of electronic commerce into social media platforms. Unlike traditional online shopping that redirects customers to a website to shop, social commerce allows users to shop right in an app. Akash Manchanda VUI Live work to tailor marketing plans that will make brands highly visible on Instagram and YouTube. 

This is being adopted because of its very seamless experience. The clients can find new products. They can get full details about the product, and eventually, they can order that product without ever having to leave the application. 

Social media platforms, such as Instagram and YouTube, have adjusted to this trend by coming up with features that enable businesses to sell their products right on the application. 

Why Instagram and YouTube? 

Of course, Instagram and YouTube are among the top leading social commerce sites. Now, let's take a closer look at why these two platforms are very effective for sales.  

Instagram: The Visual Shopping Experience 

Instagram is one of the biggest shopping destinations today, where lifestyle content and e-commerce come together. Features like Instagram Shop let businesses create a virtual shopfront. 

Product tags allow brands to display products within posts and stories, so users can tap and purchase without having to leave the app. 

The checkout feature of Instagram helps simplify the process of purchase. This feature allows users to add items to the cart and finalise the transaction in the application itself, thereby helping businesses convert interest into sales. 

YouTube: The long video platform with shoppable features 

YouTube has for so long been a home of entertainment and education, but lately, it's becoming more of a home to social commerce. 

Through the feature of YouTube Shopping, a business can sell its products directly in videos and even streams. Creators link to their video products where audiences will easily buy an item if they are caught eyeing it. 

Live streaming on YouTube has also emerged as an effective way to boost sales. Brands can promote their products, answer questions, and interact with their target market in real-time while conducting live streams. It's a feeling of exclusivity and makes the viewers more likely to buy the products being sold. 

Brands can use YouTube influencers to sell their products. They may create tutorials, reviews, or product demo videos, which directly link to the product pages, hence fusing content with commerce seamlessly. 

Role of Digital Marketing in Social Commerce 

Akash Manchanda is a co-founder of VUI Live and has been identified as an authority in online digital marketing, transforming many businesses into taking full advantage of social media to gain sales. Akash Manchanda marketing provides insights to brands on how to maximise their potential through targeted strategies in digital marketing. 

VUI Live enables businesses to build interesting live events that drive sales in real time through live digital marketing agency services. Live events, whether product launches or behind-the-scenes looks, create excitement and urgency. 

How Live Digital Marketing Drives Sales 

Live digital marketing is possibly one of the most powerful instruments in social commerce. Its platforms, such as Instagram and YouTube, allow its businesses to interact with followers in real time, foster engagement, and drive live sales. 

The Power of Influencers in Social Commerce 

The driving force behind social commerce is the influencer. Connecting with an audience and establishing trust have made them the best partners for brands to sell more on social media. 

Product tags in posts by Instagram Influencers connect followers directly to the products that the influencer is promoting. It's easy for followers to purchase items that they see and admire in the influencer's content. 

On YouTube, influencers will be creating product reviews, unboxing videos, and tutorials. That way, brands are reaching more customers and increasing the credibility that the brands need. 

The association between an influencer and his audience helps to have a relationship with an authentic and trusting nature, which makes an individual buy through the influence of the said influencer. 

Akash Manchanda's Influence on Social Commerce 

Akash Manchanda online marketing is the co-founder of VUI Live, a social commerce player. He has expertise in online digital marketing and live digital marketing that has helped many brands tap into the power of Instagram and YouTube for increased sales. 

Akash Manchanda and his team at VUI Live specialise in live digital marketing strategies that help brands develop impactful live-streaming events, influencer collaborations, and high-conversion social media campaigns. By combining live events with targeted content and personalised marketing strategies, Akash and VUI Live help brands engage their audience effectively, and interest turns into sales. 

VUI Live helps businesses in the creation of seamless and interactive shopping experiences through Instagram and YouTube. These strategies ensure that businesses continue to stay ahead in an ever-evolving world of social commerce. 

The Future of Social Commerce: What's Next? 

The future of social commerce looks bright, with continued innovation on platforms like Instagram and YouTube. Here's what to expect shortly: 

Augmented Reality (AR): Instagram and YouTube are likely to introduce more AR features, allowing users to virtually try on products or see how items will look in their environment. 

Advanced AI: Artificial intelligence is going to continue to play a greater role in personalising product recommendations so businesses can get the right products to the right customers. 

More Live Shopping: Live shopping will increase, and brands will do more live events, sales, and product demos to reach customers in real-time. 

Wrapping Up! 

Social commerce is changing how we shop and how sales are driven forward by platforms such as Instagram and YouTube. By using live digital marketing with influencer partnerships and interactive features, brands continue to create engaging and smooth shopping experiences. With expertise from Akash Manchanda digital marketing, businesses can stay well ahead of the curve and will know that they are working at their best to squeeze all the sales and attention possible from these platforms. These changes will continue to unfold for the future of social commerce, and businesses embracing this trend will be better set up to succeed in a changing e-commerce environment.