Some very interesting views on 'positive and assertive management', AS
End of quote
It is from a sense of frustration. I don't have any particular preference to outcome. That's not the point of any of my posts, What I'm saying is that there is nothing that has taken place since this poll began, to suggest to me that there is any confidence in a shared lexicon and that it was something that was both foreseeable and avoidable.
I think to then follow up by giving the subsequent poll results too much weight, while not clearly demonstrating that we are operating from a shared understanding, is not necessarily useful. There is a level of dialogue that could have taken place reasonably quickly, particularly so, had we been presented with some additional, pre-prepared context that would I think have been helpful to the process..
I am absolutely open to being offered anything that will help me understand different viewpoints and underpin community adhesion........ I started from the following position:-
There is a definition (there are many similar variations and it is widely referenced), which has been described as an influential definition provided by Philip Kotler and his colleagues:-
“Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services to mass media such as newspapers, magazines, television or radio by an identified sponsor”. The thing about a logo, is that where as an element it is part of a brand, and where a brand is described as something that is intended in part to provoke the customer into associating values and considering ideas - then even without looking at associated synonyms such as promotions, publicity etc.. the presence of a recognisable logo on the sidebar, starts to look like advertising.
I think the above, may go to the gut feeling of lots of people.......... I reference later the 'experience of advertising' versus the intention.
An expression of the alternative viewpoint is found at UCLA bruintech where they outline their site policy, and we can see this issue focussed on more closely:-
In his book Marketing for Non-Profit Organizations, author and professor of international marketing Philip Kotler defines advertising as “Any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor.” In the context of Web sites, advertising can be recognized by the use of banner ads, corporate and product logos (depending on context), value statements (“leading supplier”, “best deal”, “no. 1,” etc.), links to commercial sites, and statements urging actions resulting in commercial transactions (“buy now,” “don’t miss this opportunity to order,” etc.).
[color="#0000FF"]The presence of a corporate or product logo on a University Web site, or the ability to conduct University business via electronic transactions external to the University, do not in themselves constitute advertising or commercial content. Corporate/donor acknowledgement is permissible within guidelines, provided it does not imply endorsement, support, or advancement of any product or service.[/color]
The .pdf can be found here:
Direct Link to small .PDFHow that differs for a profit making corporation, or for Wincustomize, I don't know how to speak to. UCLA bruintech is certainly clear that they feel able to include a commercial logo without it necessarily constituting an advertisement. How the link aspect of the 'button' works for Wincustomize, may need further discussion? . The point is, I don't think it's such a difficult proposition to have approached and sought to resolve - had sufficient value been attributed to the discussion..
Moving on to that issue of customer experience, one of the features of advertising, is that the customer experience may well differ from marketing perception, This was illustrated by another advertising industry giant and goes like this:-
The consumer perspective turns out to be very different. For example, a study by the Leo Burnett agency of 1000 consumers called at random and asked what they would call a wide variety of marketing communication forms discovered that consumers answered "advertising" to over 100 different forms of marketing communication.So once again, my feeling is that this wasn't sufficiently understood before presenting the poll, otherwise I would have expected more preparation may have been evident to offset being sidetracked..
If I can finish by saying that I obviously read Zoomba's posts and he came across as very committed to the site, to it's members and to the process of funding and development. I don't want there to be any doubt about my appreciation for his being willing to tackle the issue at all I'd like to see it come back, to see the advertising issue put to bed, to see a more confident approach to defining boundaries and re-assuring members about the visual impact, and finally see a more positive approach to the poll options.
I'd feel more honest about the result and any subsequent funding decisions.
Feedback is welcomed.
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