Podcasts about positivus

Igaunijā šodien apstiprina jauno valdību. Rallijs un „Positivus” pulcē daudz tūristu, tikmēr viesmīlības nozare nav optimistiska par tūristu skaita pieaugumu šogad. Uz robežas ar Baltkrieviju atkal palielinājies migrantu pieplūdums. Rīgā atklāta ēka, kurā varēs izmitināt līdz 125 Ukrainas bēgļus.

Pārsteigumkalns pie Ērgļiem savulaik bija kalnu slēpotāju iecienīta vieta, bet nu jau septīto gadu tas savu pilnbriedu piedzīvo vasaras vidū, kad te uz visnotaļ pārsteidzošu kultūras programmu pulcējas festivāla „Optižūns” mākslinieki un skatītāji. „Optižūns” ir jaunās scenogrāfes Mariannas Lapiņas un viņas domubiedru radīta pasaule, kurā gaidīti visi, kas vēlas radoši eksperimentēt, meklēt domubiedrus un jaunus ceļus mākslā. Sižeta ievadā skan fragments no 2022.gada „Optižūna” notikuma, ko autori ar veselīgu ironiju dēvēja par „mega giga rokoperu” ar nosaukumu “Mīts par Māri Ansīti” – radošā komanda tai esot iedvesmojusies no metāloperas „Kurbads. Ķēves dēls”. Vietnē „Youtube” noskatāms viss vairāk nekā 40 minūšu uzvedums: kalna galā spēlē grupa „Jānis”, piekalnītē sasēduši skatītāji, bet dziedātāji un dejotāji veikli izspēlē drāmu uz slēpošanas kalna stāvās nogāzes. „Pirmoreiz mēs notikām 2018.gadā, un pirmos divus gadus tā bija, kā es to saucu, laba dārza ballīte. Bet pēc tam tas uzņēma apgriezienus. Ideja radās, kad mana ģimene un māmiņa iegādājās šo Pārsteigumkalna teritoriju. Tur ir 26 hektāri ar kalniem, purviem, takām, ozoliem… Mēs stāvējām lapenē ar skatu uz Jumurdu, kur kādreiz bija bijusi slēpošanas trase, un nolēmām, ka vajag organizēt festivālu! Šis festivāls arī dzima aiz tā, ka bija vajadzība dažādu nozaru māksliniekiem satikties.” Tā par festivāla pirmsākumiem stāsta Marianna Lapiņa. Viņa ir scenogrāfe un Latvijas teātra mākslinieku kolektīva "Grāfienes" dalībniece, un mākslinieki ir arī viņas ģimene. Tāpēc par Pārsteigumkalna nodošanu mākslai jautājumu neesot bijis. Pats nosaukums „Optižūns” esot Mariannas bērnības izgudrojums, ar vecākiem apmeklējot tolaik jauno festivālu „Positivus”. Festivāls „Optižūns” Ērgļu Pārsteigumkalnā šogad notiks 13.jūlijā – sāksies dienas vidū un turpināsies līdz pat rītausmai. Bet augustā tur trīs nedēļas būs pieejama vides mākslas objektu taka "Takužūns".

As an introduction, could you broadly tell us about your path to marketing and brand management?My path to marketing began in school, because that's the moment when you realize you're good at a lot of things, but you don't know which path to take. You realize that marketing is just a small chunk of something. You have languages, finances, geography, understanding of people. It began during school with the “not knowing” of where to go next. This state of not knowing led me to studying finances, which is quite an interesting direction. I got my Bachelor's degree at “BA School of Business and Finance”. Then the path led me to agencies. I started as a project manager. Initially it was an event agency, I organized various events for clients, had various experiences with marketing and sponsorships. From project managing I advanced to project directing. I was entrusted with managing an agency within the McCann Group. I managed the whole agency. It was an event, experience marketing agency. Shortly before the crisis I was approached by Tele2. I was quite excited at that moment, since I've found telecommunications to be really interesting. Innovations and technologies have always been close to my heart. I was one of those people who used an illegally unlocked iPhone, when they still weren't available in Latvia. I've always enjoyed trying new technologies. At Tele2, my path began as a value-added services manager. I was the head of sponsorship department who's responsible for all brands, business, Zelta Zivtiņa, Tele2, everything that's incoming, our sponsorship strategy, how we show up on television, Zelta Talanti, ZZ Čempionāts, event as a whole, sponsorship of Positivus, it was all my responsibility. If we look at brands of drinks sponsoring events, they could easily sell their drinks at these events and earn back their money. My job was to create content, which was quite challenging back when all our phones still had buttons. To create content which you then try to sell, like incoming call melodies or pictures, was challenging at the beginning. I grew out of this position quite organically. The market changed, there was a crisis, and sponsorships took a downward turn globally. When that happened, I took on other experience marketing activities not related to sponsorships, for example, opening of new Tele2 stores. Back then Tele2 was going through a global relaunch, therefore it had to be relaunched in Latvia as well. I had the joy and honour to be a part of the team implementing this and to work with global agencies, and experience the whole brand creation stage from the very beginning. Then I had an offer to take over the brand of Zelta Zivtiņa. At first it meant campaigns, we still worked with the concept of doing youth and friendship type of ads. Then the telecommunication market changed, the essence of the product changed. Until then services were based on minutes, but then everything went limitless. I had to launch a new Zelta Zivtiņa, but it wasn't just the visual identity. It was a commercial launch, which included a complete change of the product portfolio, from incoming call bonuses and tariffs based on minutes to fixed price and limitless use. I had the joy to create the first limitless tariff plan in the prepayment market, which was a first in Europe. Back then no prepayment plan offered limitless calls, and that was an interesting turn of events. Due to that, we realized we had to change the story, the creative concept, brand's idea, brand's narrative and brand's visual identity, and that was a significant process, since you're aware you're working with a brand that has the biggest client base in Latvia. It was very challenging. I vividly remember sitting in the call centre and calling people who were still using ancient, unfavourable tariffs and offering a new one, because it was essential to hear out the client in order to create something better. Time went on, the Tele2 period was quite long, about 10 years. Then I had an offer to join a start-up called Sonarworks. I joined them in two thousand and…, It's about five years ago. At Sonarworks, I'm responsible for the whole product and company brand family, for Sound ID and Sound ID Reference. These last two are the fruits of our latest relaunch.So you switched from a large, international company, which has a huge audience in Latvia, to a start-up that has a very niche audience?Yes, but it's about scope. I basically worked with the largest client base in Latvia, but I switched to a company that has an ambition to take over the whole world. It means there's a completely different story. I left a company that's very much guided by marketing and sales, but I joined a product-guided company. That's completely different story and something new and challenging for me. To be a part of the product creation process. Product marketing has quite the significance, which I previously wasn't that much involved with. It was all about the brand, the brand being beloved, having a client base. You offer them the best, you talk about tariffs, sales campaigns. Here it's the opposite. You talk through a different prism. That's what attracted me the most. Secondly, you have the opportunity to create something and do something meaningful, and make the name of Latvia be heard abroad, and be present when someone else is trying to achieve that, while providing support with your knowledge, experience both in an agency and on the client's side.What are the most significant changes you've experienced during these five years at Sonarworks, which is a niche company that works with sound engineers worldwide? It's a niche, but you're reaching it globally from here, in Riga. What are the things you do here, that you wouldn't be doing in a large, global company?Targeting is very important for us. When you're entering a global market, it's essential to know who you're approaching, what you want to achieve and what is your audience. Your strategy can't be to aim a cannon at sparrows. It doesn't work. Firstly, you don't have the money for it, you can't afford it. You pay a lot of attention to how you spend your money; you plan very carefully. If you do spend money on something, you want to show the best possible quality for it. When it comes to a large company, you can create a video, polish it to perfection, you have time to prepare for it. In our case, we create a launch video in two weeks. We just don't have the option to polish a packshot for six months. The whole cycle is different. The essence of a start-up is that if you're releasing something that's finished, then it's too late. You're better of releasing it gradually. You release a minimum viable product (MVP) version, and you test it, you improve something, you see whether the message does its job. You release two landing pages and see which one has a better traffic. It's about so many experiments, using growth hacking methods. You grow though many small details, since you don't know what works. At the same time, you have a huge ambition, and your goal is set quite high, so that you don't lose out on some opportunities along the way in case your goal was smaller. Your goal is as high as possible, so that you attempt everything at your power to achieve it. Those are the biggest differences. Also having a quick response. Another significant difference in a start-up that involves a heavy, difficult technology, like audio industry, which doesn't have the most comprehensive terminology, technology, white papers, basically it involves a lot of heavy information. The process and on-boarding itself is very hard. I still remember myself as I joined this team. You're excited, you want to do something, but you don't fully understand the product. It takes a while until you comprehend it yourself, since you as a brand marketing expert have to know what you're selling, you have to feel confident about it. I still visit our product developers at R&D and don't understand half of what they're saying. Our company is constantly in a phase where we research new concepts, new data. During this process, we patent them, since when they've ben researched and they make sense, they can be launched and evolved further. That makes any on-boarding extremely hard. The fact that we keep a lot of things in-house and we can't outsource them also makes a difference.For you as a marketing and branding person, how important is it to be on top of the whole product, so that you're able to tell about it to others?Extremely. When I first joined the team, it was very important to me. We have a great on-boarding procedure for new people joining the team. We try out the product ourselves, we have a studio demo. We have two business lines. One for creators of music – musicians, studio engineers, recording studio staff. Real creators of music and sound, because it's not only music, it's also movie soundtracks, games which have a huge audience and where sound is extremely important. The second part is the listeners. So we have these two blocks. When I joined, the company was already steadily recognized in the professional industry among creators of music, and we attempted to provide this same technology, which is an application that removes sound colouring from speakers and headphones. This technology removes such colouring as bass or other colouring arising from the specific room. It removes it and adapts it to the so called studio reference. And we then deliver this clean sound. Let's say an engineer working in Los Angeles wants to hand over his work to the second engineer working in New York, but the room, equipment, headphones and speakers over there are completely different, yet he can be sure the sound will the same, without any colouring created by the room or different headphones. We know that different devices create different sound. If use Beats headphones, they will have bass. It won't be a clean sound. When we realized that we have a unique technology, we decided that we can deliver this clean studio sound to the listener as well. We did it very successfully; people liked this idea and this product. Upon providing this consumer product to more and more people, we gained an important insight, namely, that every person has their own taste. There is no single approach to sound that's liked by everybody. Maybe I do like the bass, or my hearing is slightly impaired on the right side. There are these personal factors. The device you're using, the sound transmission, what streaming platform you're using, since they tend to compress their files and they're not always with high definition. It's your device, your hearing, your preferences. It's a multi-level optimization of sound, which actually is quite complex.  That's why the initial on-boarding is so important, so you understand it all. You have to hear and experience this product, in order to believe it. It's hard to explain. Oh, you have an hour? Let me tell you about our three-level sound optimization. If you only have five minutes, then have a listen of this. That's the difference. Back when I started working, there was this cool stage, when had these demos, we were invited to the studio to listen to the clean sound, and that really showed what the software is capable of, how it can fix the hardware, which isn't particularly flexible and easy to fix. When you have a listen and experience it, that's when you believe it.What is it like to sell to the world this clean sound? As you said, it's hard to explain and must be actually heard first. But you have to communicate it to the whole world from Riga. And you have to sell the clarity itself, instead of some effect.The studio people already know this, they know their graphs, they know how these curves work. What happens in studio? A song is recorded, these “golden ears” as they are called in the industry polish the song. The next step before they deliver it to any labels or Spotify is to listen to this sound on various devices, for example, Apple EarPods, Beats headphones, the most basic radio. You can't affect the middle stage, at least it wasn't possible until now. And our technology assists in this stage. If I as a listener pick up some headphones, I have no idea what their curve is and what they sound like. I know that our technology will, first, equalize the sound to the studio level and remove the manufacturer's colouring as we call it, and then apply my preference, the exact number of bass that I like, adjust the sound to my hearing according to the test done within few minutes, since I might hear better with the left ear and have trouble hearing high frequencies with my right ear. It will take the clear base, and add the unique personalization on top.You as a brand person have to know all the technical aspects to such extent that you're able to tell about them to someone else. You just can't do without it. While working with designers there as this feedback, where you felt confident in the design side of things and could provide valuable feedback in the process of working with designers. And you have to be on top of your direct task, which is branding and marketing, you have to have a good knowledge of the technical side and the terminology used by designers. We can draw parallels with what you said about being interested in and being good at several things at the same time.And not being able to choose.And this is the position, where you can draw from all of these areas. When I talked with colleagues, they said good things about the way you communicated within the design process. That you're knowledgeable in the specifics of design and are able to provide valuable feedback, without stepping on the designer's toes. What are the communication principles that you've learned during all these years working with the creatives that allows designers to feel good about this collaboration?As a brand manager, you've already been given free rein. For example, if you're creating a new brand identity, your task is to create something conceptual, a frame that still allows others to express their creativity. You can't define absolutely everything. If you define every single detail, you'll end up with a brand book on 400 slides. It's been done before, but I prefer providing a clear, high-quality toolbox that one can work with and then just trust the person. You have to give a clear briefing, it's very important. Over the years you learn to define your specific wants, your mood board and the direction. What helps me in the process is providing a debrief in the initial stage and a starting direction, namely, being present at the very beginning with the aim to talk things through, and the just letting the creative process take place without interfering, to just trust. I'm not a designer and I can't provide assistance. There's a point when you have to allow the designer to do his job. What you can do on your side is research, providing information about the audience, global trends and the product, provide a toolbox and give them free rein.You mentioned the term “brief”. Could you name some basic principles of a good brief? What should a good brief look like in order for it to work efficiently?I've created various briefs, starting from a one-pager to a 400-slide presentation with plenty of visual samples. I prefer briefs with a lot of aids, that's my practice. I give an assignment, provide background, tell about our biggest challenges within the specific assignment. There's always a timeline. Then there's an additional block of aids. I always have an urge to link something that's already done, like a brand strategy deck. Provide things that help the creative process to reach a deeper level of things. Provide it as additional information in the end instead of putting it into the brief. Then there's a debrief session, where we establish in few sentences whether we have understood each other. The next step is the direction and first concepts. It depends on the project. Whether it's a rebranding project, or material for a specific campaign, maybe it's packaging or a project of other sorts. It differs. It could also be a video. I enjoy the so-called checking-in. We make calls, we check whether we're on the same page and move forward, invest more time. I don't expect that the agency will come up with everything at once. As I said, the product is quite complex, it's also not a product that everyone needs. It's a “nice to have” product. You have to create the need yourself. It's not easy, therefore I try to help as much as I can, but I also know when to step back. There have been times when I've said “make my logo bigger”, but I try not to be like that.How do you see the tasks of a company's brand manager? What are your responsibilities? Where are you aiming to take the brand in the long-term? Of course, you manage all kinds of day-to-day activities, but if you look a few years in in the future, what are you trying to achieve as a brand manager? Brand is a tool that supports the product. At the moment, one thing that's very important for me and the brand is to maintain simplicity in everything we do, since our product is so heavy on technology. The creator's side, the terminology and the white papers I mentioned, it involves heavy technological information. Even the product itself is heavy. Even the technology for listeners involves a three-level sound optimization. In essence it's a smart equalizer. Audio lovers used to turn the knobs, but now you can do it with an app. You have an AB test, which helps you find your sound preference. Then you enter a silent room and test your hearing. My goal is to make it as simple as “click, click, boom”. Let's take that same studio engineer, he has to measure the room he's working in, so that he can calibrate his speakers. We're thinking that the measurements should be taken in the process, while you're just starting to use the software. It's important to show the measuring process as very simple. In the sense that you have a technologically heavy product, but you communicate it as something intuitive and easy, as something simple, even though it's really, really hard work. We have created 3D elements, you even helped us with that. We have created video instructions, showing everything step by step. Then we test it out in a group, get the first feedback. It's quite an iterative process. You just make corrections again and again. On the brand's side, I want everything to be clean and simple, even the app's interface. If there's a text, maybe we can do without it. We try to show some parts of the on-boarding and explain in the beginning what this app is about. We're aware that a lot of people skit that part, but we try to keep it short and sweet, so you have some understanding once you go through it. It's like training in a way. How simply can you describe everything on the website? You could publish the whole white paper on there, but is that necessary? It's not easy to just pull out the essence of it all. Simplicity is the most challenging part in this position. If we talk about long-term ambitions, as cheese as it might sound, it would be Apple and Macintosh products, because they are so complex, yet the user interface's design is so simple. So that's something to aim for.How do you find the balance between daily tasks, like social networks and newsletters, and the long-term goals of the brand, when you're responsible for both of these things? Do you have any annual goals or sprints?We use the OKR planning method, so we have quarterly plans, and then, based on these plans, we plan our tactical action. Based on the Agile principle, we have two-week sprints. You divide your quarterly goal accordingly in your Jira board and complete the tasks. At the end of every two-week period, we have a team retrospective, where we each share or progress. Then together we make a plan for the next sprint. During these Monday planning sessions, we get a global idea about what priorities should we focus on. Once you're in the market with your technology and you depend on your partner, it also brings a lot of uncertainties in regards to launches and other projects. Something gets delayed, something gets moved. We have weekly and bi-weekly team cross-alignments and planning sessions, where we figure out whether something is still urgent. Whether we launch this partnership announcement this time or we postpone it again, because there's a delay. There's a product, you make a new release. The new release has a bug in one of the operating systems, so you have to fix it again. Something gets pushed forward. You can't make a solid five-year plan and go for it. That's why we divide it by year and quarter. You have the option to adjust something within the quarterly period and then the two-week period. We look back at the sprint, plan the next one. When the quarter ends, we look back at the quarter. We check whether the next quarter's plans still align with the previous one. Then there's the year, the end of the year. Of course, there is a bigger five-year goal that we would like to achieve, but we still stick with these stages.What I find cool about SoundID is that you're a local company from Riga, but you work with sound engineers all over the world. How do you catch up with the global rhythm? How do you sense what your audience is feeling, thinking and doing right now all over the world, while you're here?We do a lot of monitoring of what is happening out there, the current trends. We also have a considerable client base that provides us with feedback.Does that mean questionnaires, newsletters?A bit of everything. We also have a review site. Consumer product mostly gets reviewed in the App Store or Google Play, but the pro product gets feedback on a special site where all reviews are gathered. You're able to respond quickly, if you see several people troubleshooting something. People post a lot on social media. We have a support centre in our website, where you can submit a ticket with your problem, which then gets solved. In that sense you can hear all these things. Our clients write us, they share information. We have a nice partnership with several influencers.Influencer marketing is still effective?It is. In our industry, word of mouth and PR is quite effective. These are things we can do. We can't afford to do a brand awareness campaign in America. That's extremely expensive. And do we even need that? In the professional world it's a very niche audience which you can find elsewhere, but we're not yet ready for the consumer audience. Our brand will flourish only once we have partners. We can't do it alone, because we require integrations in the partner's products. It can mean various verticals like headphone manufacturers, telephone ecosystems, cars or speakers. We can achieve that only once we're joined by Netflix, Apple TV or Bose headphone manufacturer or Apple, because we can't manage that alone. We're having negotiations, and I can't name any names to make this conversation more impressive, but I can say that we've been heard and the information known to us really warms our heart. We're happy the process is moving forward. And the process is long. Often enough, if you want to integrate your technology in a car, it can sometimes take even five years. From the moment you begin negotiations until the end of the production process. It involves numerous chains of logistics, like the chipset manufacturer, other parts. Consequently, it turns into a really, really long process. With an app, you can reach somebody quickly, but in this case, you need a partner.How can you make yourself be heard by the top brands you mentioned? You have to write to them, make them hear you and respond to you, then integrate your product.What are they all interested in? They're interested in data. We're a data and research company according to our DNA. We have a large amount of data, we've done extensive research. I'm talking about personalization. We've done about 3 million AB tests. On Google Play, we have more than half a million app downloads. During all this period, we've measured about 67 thousand speaker sets in studios. These are just some examples I'm mentioning. We've also tested 5000 different headphones. These numbers are large. First of all, we see that we can offer them data. Secondly, we have a push and pull marketing strategy as we call it. The idea is to build a relationship and learn from the end listeners, so you can provide this information to your business-to-business partner. What are they interested in? Whether someone even needs it. We build a relationship with the end listener, so we can show our partner that the listener wants the product and considers it to be something good. As I mentioned before, this isn't a must-have product. You have to create the interest, make it necessary. The client wants it to be “click, click, boom”. He won't buy our product in its current set-up, won't even use it for free, because the path to get there is too long. We have now polished the android app, which now allows you to hear a playback. To have a full experience that allows you to use your iPhone with any kind of headphones is not doable unless there is a small button on the Spotify or Apple TV interface. It's like a cat and mouse game. You have to interact with the end audience, you need app downloads. You have to learn to communicate, because does anybody understand what you're saying, when you call it a “personalized sound”? Or do you call it “improving your sound”? Maybe “your perfect sound”? We're learning about the messaging. We're learning how to improve the user experience in the app, because it itself will be integrated. That's what we do as our homework. At the same time, we're gathering an extensive amount of data and information about what people like or don't like, what are the most popular preferences. What curves are popular, maybe smiley faces. We have that information and that's what we can offer to them, because they need data and we have that. You're able to approach them in that sense. You juggle with several things. You create directly targeted campaigns for one person on LinkedIn, however LinkedIn doesn't yet allow targeting one person, but you can target location. If you know where the headquarters of a specific company are located, you buy that one column. We've come up with all sorts of ideas. The idea is to implement a very specific targeting. When we go to expositions, we can't afford to just set up a stand. If there's a month left before the exposition and you haven't booked ten important conversations, you just don't go and don't waste your time. You prepare for something else. It involves a lot of micro-managing. Sometimes it feels like you're make these class A visuals so that, when you do get that big partner, you're already for it. There's a pile of copy versions you can use, there are visual examples. It's something new even for them. It's a new segment for the music audio industry. Until now, one block was for sound enhancement companies that just improve the sound. There was no algorithm or level optimization, just some companies saying they have the best sound. Personalized sound is a completely new concept. We're attempting to create a revolution in the industry. When we started the rebranding process, we realized that this is the moment when various popular additional services are appearing on the market, like BankID, Apply Pay, Smart-ID. We realized that we too can offer something like that, but in the way of sound, regardless of where you're going and what you're listening to.Let's image you had to join a start-up or a brand at an earlier stage, where you had even more limited resources, time and budget. Internet allows you to reach any person all over the world, and there are various channels of communication, like TikTok, Instagram, your website etc. How to not get lost in all that? Where would you begin, how much and how often? What is the most efficient way to approach your audience at the beginning of the road?You have to understand what exactly is your audience? It's very important and something a lot of people forget. They don't know who their client is and what is this need of theirs that they're trying to resolve. There's always a need that gets resolved with a product. In the beginning, you basically just fumble about. I can share what I've been told about the early stages of Sonarworks. Back when Sonarworks didn't even have a product, the cofounders figured out that they should mostly focus on their English-speaking audience, since you don't have the money to simultaneously communicate with Asia and other places, where you have to consider other languages and cultural peculiarities, and you have to communicate obvious things in a completely different manner than you're used to. Instead, you focus on the narrowest client base. In their case, they went where the client is at. It's obvious that the epicentre of music recording industry is Los Angeles. It's not Riga, unfortunately. Even in the scale of Europe. They started looking for contacts and travelled around. You have to test out the concept and the technology to see if somebody even needs it, if it works. They went to the USA with a primitive demo set-up. Through Facebook friends they found their first leads from the music industry who listened to them. They talked among them, mentioned some other engineer they knew, who also should listen to it. From one apartment to a garage to a studio. In the beginning, you just listen to what your client has to say and what he actually needs, what's their struggle. You get the proof of concept that, yes, it indeed is a problem, instead of just imagining that it is a problem, when no one out there actually needs your product and it solves nothing. Many suffer a disappointment, because they didn't do their first homework. This could be the take-away from that.Let's talk a bit about rebranding. You have had various experiences with rebranding. What's the decisive moment when a company should consider rebranding, fine-tuning or upgrading? When you know you should make some changes and improvements, what questions should you ask yourself to understand what you actually need?Rebranding usually is the answer when you hit a dead end. You realize that this no longer works. Or the media world switches from television to digital environment. Those are the moments when you realize that your current identity has become outdated and that you have to change something. Or you might have a completely new product for a new audience, therefore you require a new, fresh face. The reasons vary. You just get the process going. In none of these stages have I expected that an agency would serve everything on a platter and ready to go. You're basically looking for a partner who will be by your side during this. You can't do it alone. Whether it's a corporation or a sales-oriented company or a product-driven company, it's a collaboration. It's not like you can write a brief, drop it off and forget about it. It involves very intense work. When we were going through the relaunch of Zelta Zivtiņa and I was responsible for everything from A to Z, I realized that the year was ex  tremely intense. You monitor the data, you see some readings going down. Why are they going down? You look for the problem and do a deep analysis. It's not about creative pictures and choosing what looks the prettiest and trendiest. It involves plenty of analytics and data. It's about strategy of whether to take the other path or no. It means an in-depth study of your competitors and territories. Discovering which areas are already taken. Checking whether an opportunity also represents a need. It's quite a long process. If talk about the launch of SoundID, the initial insight for why we even did that, when we had the True-Fi product for our listeners. Why should we create SoundID? We realized that the studio sound we offer to engineers and then also to listeners represents a miniscule niche part of the audience, since this sound is popular among geeky audiophiles, but not all of them. Part of them still want that “click, click, boom” feeling without the need to adjust their equalizer. We realized that, if we want to go global and set a new standard among the audience, we have to go further. We have to approach the listener of music, and that market is huge. And it goes past the listeners, there's also the gaming world, movies. The market is really huge. The first insight from our data was that one sound does not fit all. Then we realized that everyone has their own taste, everyone has both different devices and hearing ability. We possess a technology that's able to align all that. We checked out what's going on in the market. We saw that specific components are already taken. Some start-ups are already working on hearing correction. There are companies in the market working on sound enhancement. Then we realized that we don't actually fit in any of these categories, we're a completely new category. We combine sound levels, creating a unique sound profile. The industry is aiming to provide more effortless services to people. There also are these ecosystems of several devices that you like. You shouldn't have to make adjustments every time you get home, get in the car or put on your headphones. You should be able to do one test that establishes your personal sound, your curve, which then follows you everywhere. At that moment we realized that, if we want to reach this audience, which is a wide range of music listeners, we can't just show them curves. Who's able to read curves? That won't do. We knew we had to think outside the box a bit. We then sat down with the agency after doing our own homework. We had data and evidence from several studies, indicating that people do make different choices. We approached the research part really carefully, we studied the competitors, the market. We realized that we want to deliver this complex concept of three-level sound optimization, but do it lightly. A two-minute A/B test, which then gives you your profile. We decided to not show any curves, but to focus on personalization. During this process we came up with a unique pattern, which is unique to everybody. There are no two identical profiles. They are unique, based on the information that your profile provides about you, based on your hearing ability, your personal preferences and your device.What you are telling me is very interesting from the technical viewpoint, but why was it important at that moment to change and improve the brand's visual language?The most important aspect in that whole stage was that you realize you want to reach vast masses of people, but you can't do it alone. You will most likely have to team up with class A companies. That's when you realize that your current identity won't be able to follow that. We had to realize that we most likely could become “Powered by” or “SoundID technology”. We primarily decided that we won't apply white label strategy, because we want to take the most challenging route, which was one taken by Dolby, Intel and Gore-Tex, namely, technologies that don't live by themselves, but are integrated in another body like a computer or a Columbia jacket. You've chosen the strategy of ingredient marketing or ingredient product. You're incorporated as a technology, but, as I mentioned, it's really hard, because you have to juggle with both sides. You have to be recognizable in the consumer audience and also have to get some partners. We realized that the brand has to be universally scalable. Even when it comes to such detail as an icon, it has to be able to take up a 16-pixel spot in the corner of the desktop. It has to be simple, also descriptive, meaning, it describes what it is. You could've used “clang” or “squash”, just a symbol of sound. It also integrates beautifully with partners. The hardest part, when creating a brand, was to simultaneously consider how you will look like in an Android phone or on a poster, when an A-list celebrity's newest album is launched. How will you look next to something else? We're not in a place where we could launch a worldwide brand recognition campaign. If we do get there, it will hopefully be as the sound under some popular streaming service just like Dolby managed to do that. Meaning, sound provided by SoundID. If we're allowed and given the chance to create a SoundID poster, then it would say below that it's only available for Netflix clients. You realize you have to take two routes. We do a lot of the respective tasks and learn, and go to the partners with our homework already done. We play with visuals, so we're also able to show it to them. This is a completely new technology for them too, so it's important to demonstrate how to show it, how to talk about it, how to visualize it. Our goal was to create a brand that's not too aggressive on its own, like red and whatnot. To enable it to cohabitate with other brands worldwide. One task was the name, the second was the visual look. While doing our homework, we took Spotify's latest advert and inserted our logo to see how they look together. Or we wrote a press release that we in collaboration with Adele and Apple TV are releasing an album, by providing music that the artist has always wished you could hear, using your own preferences. You play around with visuals and possible names, since the product naming architecture is quite complex. You have to complete many small tasks. During the process, we went through several various versions. We had quite the exercise for about half a year before we came up with our final version.It's important to note, that rebranding isn't just about creating a pretty presentation or to change the logo on your homepage. The most important part is the implementation.For those who will attempt to take over the market of China and the USA, even such nuance as the name pays a big role. I still remember how hard it was. Not to mention domains and such. For example, if you want to provide your technology to some big Chinese company or device manufacturer, they focus a lot on the fact whether you have a trademark symbol. You have to register the brand and the symbol. We had created a wonderful logo, we all loved it and wanted to move forward with it. There are various tools that help you check whether the logo is not already in use in the territories you wish to enter. That symbol was used by some medicine in China. It was identical. It was a sharp S symbol, created from geometrical shapes. You know you'll never get a trademark over there because it's a “copy+paste” of something already available in their market. That really prolonged the process. One thing is to think of something, but then you realize it doesn't work in the specific market. From our partners in China, we know how important it is for them to have the “TM” next to a logo. For us it's not so popular, but in their market having a trademark is the way to go. It's all serious. That road wasn't easy. At that moment you realize you've already gotten attached to that logo, it's dear to your heart, you've visualized various versions, but that you have no choice but to look for something new. And you start everything from ground up. Today everyone wants their logo to be iconic, for it to be noticeable and memorable. Once you set the limit of 16 pixels, you know you don't have that many choices. Your options to create something unique that will be scalable to such small size are limited. It was extremely challenging. One might think, oh, it's just a name and a logo. In reality, we had an Excel file with 400 potential names. You like one name, but you can't get the domain, and then there's a problem with the logo. There are no experts in Latvia who could help you. My colleague helped with the legal part, by calling a Swiss company that helped verify whether this can actually be checked. The road of creating a global consumer product is not that easy. There are patents, technologies, trademark, you go by the book.There's also the creative aspect.Of course, there's the creative part too. We don't want Anttila catalogue type of models, we have people with personalities. We don't have the money to do fancy photo sessions, but then you look at stock photos and get the stock feeling, which you don't want either. I think we've done well visually with the given toolbox. It warms my heart to see it blossoming. And I call the visual creators about how excited I am about the photoshoot they did, and you can see that they like the way we work with them. From time to time in the design process you get the urge to push for something more stylish, but then again you have to maintain the boundary of what you have created. You have to give it the chance to live through its cycle, instead of trying to change it in the process and improvise from scratch. I'm a bit like a brand guardian. When you've lived through the creation of the brand and an agency or a freelancer, you're working with suggests changing something, you realize that, no, the basis is already there. You have many options, where to improvise. You've been given a sandbox, you can do whatever you want, but many do want to step out of the given boundaries.Maintain consistency really is a big task. You mentioned the brand identity toolbox that you receive once the rebranding is complete, and then you implement it in your daily life. What should a good brand identity toolbox contain that would allow it to be implemented successfully?There are the basic elements. Your logo or icon, basic things like colours, typography, logo, icon. I always look for the fifth element as I call it. Something that makes you unique. In our case it's the pattern, which communicates the curve in a different manner and provides character. But you have to respect the boundary. We created a pattern that everyone really liked, but then we started communicating it and things started to drift. The pattern, this unique element was being overused. It showed up on forms, on Excel sheets or next to every picture. That's when you realize it's too much. If it's the fifth element to your brand, it's face, then you should only use it for things it was designed for. If it's designed to represent sound personalization, then you should use it only when discussing it. The visual complements the copy and the other way around. If it gets worn out, it will start to feel as a wallpaper, a decoration. It's important to not overwork the identity.That's a very good point. To not overwork the identity.I'm very pleased that we've been noticed in the industry, our visual identity has been noticed. We've heard good words about our packaging, website and visual identity not only from representatives of the industry, but also from media, writing a release about our product and devoting a whole paragraph to our top-notch visual identity. That really warms my heart.It's a sound-driven, technical product, but the visual part is also significant.Of course, just like everywhere else.Great. Thank you.

Ja pavasaris mūzikas nozarē strādājošajiem bijis drūms, tad jaunie publisko pasākumu norises noteikumi uz vasaru liek raudzīties krietni cerīgāk, LTV raidījumā “Kultūrdeva” vienisprātis bija klasiskās mūzikas festivāla “Rīga Jūrmala” izpilddirektore Zane Čulkstēna un mūzikas un mākslas festivāla “Positivus” rīkotājs Ģirts Majors, kurš gan uzsvēra, ka tāda mēroga festivāls kā "Positivus" ar "vislielāko ticamības pakāpi" šogad notikt nevarēs.

#5BREINUMI pievēršas karjeras un dzīves ceļa izvēlei IEPAZĪSTIES: #5breinumi viesis – profesionāls dīdžejs, kas ir uzstājies Latvijas un Baltijas valstu populārākajos festivālos kā “Summer Sound”, “Positivus”, “Granatos”, ir grupas Latgalīšu Reps pamatsastāvā un, kā pasniedzējs strādā Rīgas DJ skolā – tas ir Funky DJ Elegant jeb īstajā vārdā Ņiķita Turubanovs! Raidījumā ar Funky DJ Elegant runāsim par viņa DJ karjeras sākumu, kā šī aizraušanās kļuva par profesiju, kas ir šīs profesijas neredzamā “aisberga” puse un kā DJ profesija ir mainījusies pēdejā gada laikā. Par to un vēl vairāk ar viesi sarunāsies raidījuma vadītāji – Jānis Pampe un Baiba Baltace—Saukāne. *** Rubrikā “#5BREINUMI vacoj atbiļdis” Rudīte Gaidule uzrunās esošos studentus, kas dalīsies savā pieredzes stāstā par to, kā tika izvēlēta studiju programma un  kas to ietekmēja, kā arī to, vai ir bijušas pārdomas studiju laikā par izvēles pareizību.  *** Rubrikā “Kai tys struodoj” Līna Lontone paturpinās pagājušās nedēļas rubrikas tēmu par karjeras testu un izaicinās #5breinumi veidotājus dalīties savos pieredzes stāstos par bērnības sapņu profesijām un to, kā paiet viņu profesionālā ikdiena šodien: vai ir apmierināti ar savas karjeras izvēli, cik liela loma ir darbam radio un kas ir viņu pamatprofesija. *** Rubrikā “Kas te nūteik” Samanta Kristiāna Augusota dalīsies informācijā par “Ezerzeme -2021” individuālajiem orientēšanās treniņiem: kas tas ir, kad notiks un kādai ir jābūt sagatavotībai, uz šiem un citiem jautājumiem Samantai palīdzēs rast atbildes orientēšanās treniņa galvenā tiesnes Olga Pavārniece.  Brīnāmies kopā 2.0 versijā!

#5BREINUMI pievēršas karjeras un dzīves ceļa izvēlei IEPAZĪSTIES: #5breinumi viesis – profesionāls dīdžejs, kas ir uzstājies Latvijas un Baltijas valstu populārākajos festivālos kā “Summer Sound”, “Positivus”, “Granatos”, ir grupas Latgalīšu Reps pamatsastāvā un, kā pasniedzējs strādā Rīgas DJ skolā – tas ir Funky DJ Elegant jeb īstajā vārdā Ņiķita Turubanovs! Raidījumā ar Funky DJ Elegant runāsim par viņa DJ karjeras sākumu, kā šī aizraušanās kļuva par profesiju, kas ir šīs profesijas neredzamā “aisberga” puse un kā DJ profesija ir mainījusies pēdejā gada laikā. Par to un vēl vairāk ar viesi sarunāsies raidījuma vadītāji – Jānis Pampe un Baiba Baltace—Saukāne. *** Rubrikā “#5BREINUMI vacoj atbiļdis” Rudīte Gaidule uzrunās esošos studentus, kas dalīsies savā pieredzes stāstā par to, kā tika izvēlēta studiju programma un  kas to ietekmēja, kā arī to, vai ir bijušas pārdomas studiju laikā par izvēles pareizību.  *** Rubrikā “Kai tys struodoj” Līna Lontone paturpinās pagājušās nedēļas rubrikas tēmu par karjeras testu un izaicinās #5breinumi veidotājus dalīties savos pieredzes stāstos par bērnības sapņu profesijām un to, kā paiet viņu profesionālā ikdiena šodien: vai ir apmierināti ar savas karjeras izvēli, cik liela loma ir darbam radio un kas ir viņu pamatprofesija. *** Rubrikā “Kas te nūteik” Samanta Kristiāna Augusota dalīsies informācijā par “Ezerzeme -2021” individuālajiem orientēšanās treniņiem: kas tas ir, kad notiks un kādai ir jābūt sagatavotībai, uz šiem un citiem jautājumiem Samantai palīdzēs rast atbildes orientēšanās treniņa galvenā tiesnes Olga Pavārniece.  Brīnāmies kopā 2.0 versijā!

Pieminam Lī Konicu, runājam par britu drošības ierobežojumiem, rakstām ik otrdienas rīta dzejas, Inese uzzinājusi, kā jālec dīzelim, pļāpājam par "Netflix" populārāko šovu Latvijā "Too Hot To Handle", "Gaisā vai aizā" norit zaķu cīņas un "Positivus" ir pārcelts uz 2021. gadu!

Pieminam Lī Konicu, runājam par britu drošības ierobežojumiem, rakstām ik otrdienas rīta dzejas, Inese uzzinājusi, kā jālec dīzelim, pļāpājam par "Netflix" populārāko šovu Latvijā "Too Hot To Handle", "Gaisā vai aizā" norit zaķu cīņas un "Positivus" ir pārcelts uz 2021. gadu!

“CECC, Spots and Rock & Roll”, el programa de lo más nuevo en publicidad, creatividad, innovación, tecnología, medios, comunicación y sobre todo Rock & Roll.

Kad 25 gadu vecumā Ieva kļuva par kādas reklāmas aģentūras vadītāju, viņas pirmais un galvenais uzdevums bija atlaist cilvēkus. Tālāk viss šīs sievietes karjerā notiek kā pa diedziņu. Šoreiz tavām ausīm piedāvājam sarunu ar bijušo Positivus direktori un tagad Hanzas perona vadītāju Ievu Irbinu.    Ļoti patika podkāsts? Pastāsti par to saviem draugiem un kļūsti par patronu! Piesakies jaunumiem, seko mums Facebook:  spied like un šēro; apskati jauno Supersieviešu lapu.  Klausies mūs Patreon, iTunes, PodBean, Spotify,  YouTube un Delfi.  Mēs atbalstām centru MARTA un aicinām to darīt arī Tevi. Izmantotā mūzika: A. A. Aalto, Corps Of DiscoveryChad Crouch, Wilsons SnipeDoctor Turtle, You Um I'll AhKomiku, Disco CatRoccoW, MusicisexpressionofartthroughthemediumofsoundRoccoW, Nontinde Vendor Theme17, Action Fight Foto: Marta Herca  

Kinorežisore Dzintra Geka ar radošo komandu sagādājusi svētkus visiem, kuri 18. novembrī dosies uz kinoteātri "Splendid Palace" – tur būs skatāma viņas unikālās dokumentālās filmas "Katra diena simtgadē. Gadalaiki" pirmizrāde. Īstenībā var runāt par veselām četrām filmām. "2018. gadā katru dienu filmējām kādā Latvijas vietā, mājā, pilīs un būdiņās – kā es reiz teicu, arī lielos notikumus, mums bija vairāk nekā 400 stundu ilga materiāla, jo dažas dienas arī filmējām ar divām kamerām," stāsta Geka. "Un tad es sapratu, ka sākotnējā iecere, ka tas viss jāieliek vienā filmā, kas būtu 91 minūti gara un kurā katrai dienai būtu veltītas 15 sekundes, būtu liela vieglprātība un izšķērdība... Tā nu bija iznācis, ka filmējam arī četrus pianistus, kas spēlē Pētera Vaska klavieru ciklu "Četri gadalaiki", un likumsakarīgi nolēmu veidot četras filmas, kas ir četri gadalaiki, kas skatāmas arī pilnīgi atsevišķi." Režisore uzsver – īpaši interesanti tās būtu skatīties atbilstošā laikā: ""Ziemu" vajadzētu skatīties janvārī vai februārī, kad spēj tā pilnīgi ar to identificēties, kas arī viens no filmas galvenajiem uzdevumiem – ka katrs mēs sajūtamies kā filmas daļa. Ka ziemā tie esam mēs, kas tur uz kalna slēpo, un es esmu tas cilvēks, kas skatās, kā Daugavā 19. janvārī peldas pareizticīgie – jo es arī gribētu tā peldēt. Bet tad, kad nāk jau uz pavasara pusi, ir marts, precīzāk, 25. marts, kad ir deportāciju diena... Tas viss ir ļoti interesanti. Tā ka filmas skatāmas arī atsevišķi.” Taču 18. novembrī būs četri seansi. Sākot no pulksten 12.00: vispirms būs skatāma "Ziema", tad pulksten 14:00 - "Pavasaris", pulksten 16:00 - "Vasara", bet pulksten 18:00 – "Rudens". "Un pēc tam sarunas pie vīna glāzes – tikšanās ar filmas varoņiem, kas būs atnākuši uz kinoteātri. Jo katrā no seansiem ir apmēram no 80 līdz 100 cilvēku uzaicināti, kas filmā piedalījās vai kurus mēs varējām atpazīt, jo filmā dalībnieku ir simtiem un simtiem... Neteiktu, ka tūkstošiem - kā "Positivus" vai Dziesmu svētkos. Bet mēs katrs esam viens no viņiem," uzsver režisore. Vairāk šeit...

Cita Shēma pilnā sastāvā apspriež kopīgās iezīmes Ryanair un Positivus mošpitam. Runājam par lidmašīnām, lidostām un aviācijas detaļām. Vēl nedaudz pareģojumi par Rīgas Dinamo. 

Sarunu, mūzikas, mākslas, senioru, jauniešu, ģimeņu un kā tik festivāli šogad jau ir notikuši un cik vēl notiks tajā nelielajā laika sprīdī, ko varam saukt par vasaru. Ir festivāli, kas domāti nelielam apmeklētāju pulciņam, un ir festivāli, kas pulcē vairākus desmitus tūkstošus skatītāju. Par dažādu festivālu norisi un ko derētu zināt, ja ir nolemts doties uz kādu no Latvijas festivāliem, raidījumā Kā labāk dzīvot stāsta “Positivus” festivāla organizētājs Ģirts Majors, brīvdabas garšu, papīra un sarunu festivāls "Pārceltuve" organizētājs Ēriks Dreibants, ģimeņu festivāls "Šļakatās" direktores pienākumu izpildītāja Kristīne Vaivode un festivālu apmeklētāja viedokļu līdere Emīlija Sama. Socializēšanās ir galvenais atslēgas vārds festivāliem, tā ir plašāka emociju gamma, tā noteikti nav tikai mūzika, pārliecināts Ģirts Majors, kura rīkotais festivāls “Positivus” notiks jau šīs nedēļas nogalē, 26. un 27.jūlijā. Ēriks Dreibants atklāj, ka viņa organizētais festivāls ir radies pakāpeniski un sarunām draugu lokā. Satiekas līdzīgi domājošie. Reize vasarā, kad var aprunāties par kulināriju, ap kulināriju. Tā kā festivāls notiek augustā uzsvars, uzsvars ir uz dabas veltēm tajā laikā. Tāpat svarīga ir norises vieta – festivāls “Pārceltuve” notiek Līgatnē un tā organizētāji aicina doties festivālu un arī izstaigāt visas takas Līgatnē. Festivāls “Pārceltuve” ciemos gaidīs 10.augustā. Kristīne Vaivode bilst, ka jaunais festivāls Šļakatās” aicina atvienoties telefoniem planšetēm, iziet ārā, paskatīties, kas ir apkārt. Tā rīkotāji ar festivālu grib bērnus un vecākus aicināt kopā iziet ārā. Viņa arī sola, ka šis nebūs viena gada festivāls, bet tālāk pilnveidosies, lai aizrautu cilvēkus. Festivāls norisināsies 10. un 11.augustā Līvānu novada Rožupes pagastā Emīlija Sama atzīst, ka jauniešiem festivāls ir liela socializēšanās iespēja, satiec visus, ir viena liela ballīte. Ne jau tikai koncerti, jaunieši riņķo pa festivāla teritoriju, ir dažādas lietas, ko apmeklēt, piemēram, “Positivus”, satiek bijušos klasesbiedrus, kursabiedrus, draugus, radus. Satikšanās. Jauniešiem mūzika ir viena no svarīgākajām lietām festivālā, bet svarīga ir arī sasniedzamība, lai varētu nokļūt, bet jaunieši, ja vēlas nokļūt festivālā, to sasniegs stopojot, braucot ar riteņiem, ejot kājām. Tomēr svarīgi ir pārliecināties rīkotājiem, ka daudzi cilvēki varēs nokļūt līdz notikuma vietai. “Mūsdienās jaunieši ir tik radikāli, ka nav lielu lietu, kas apstādinātu no festivāla,” vērtē Emīlija Sama. Praktiskais jautājums - kas paliek aiz festivālu apmeklētājiem vietā, kur notika pasākums “Sakopt aiz sevis jau ir kults,” uzskata Emīlija, vismaz analizējot savu un savu draugu rīcību. Vienmēr pie telts ir maiss atkritumiem festivālā. Majors norāda, ka noteikti pēc tam ir jāsakopj teritorija rīkotājiem un atkritumus arī šķiro, bet atkritumu ir daudz mazāk nekā pēc līdzvērtīgiem notikumiem Eiropā, kur apmeklētāji pat atstāj telti. Dreibants stāsta, ka ir piekodināts, ka visiem tirgotājiem aiz sevis jāsakopj, apmeklētājiem galvenais, lai būtu pietiekami daudz atkritumu urnu, kur tos izmest. Bet festivāla “Pārceltuve” apmeklētājiem jau ir kļuvis par normu atkritumus nemest vienkārši zemē. Tāpat daudzi visi ņem līdz, piemēram, savu glāzi. Festivālā pat domā par ēdieniem, kur nevajag pat papīra traukus, lai būtu pēc iespējas mazāk atkritumu. Tas ir arī finansiāli izdevīgi. Diemžēl festivāla rīkotāji atsaka brīvprātīgajiem, jo šī joma nav sakārtota Latvijā, lai arī jaunieši labprāt iesaistītos un vecāki būtu gandarīti, ka viņu pusaudži kaut ko darītu arī bez samaksas. Emīlija Sama stāsta, ka agrāk brīvprātīgā darbs, piemēram, “Positivus” bija iespējā arī iekļūt festivālā par velti. Šobrīd tas vairs nav iespējams.  

Andrejs Siliņš, Jānis Celmiņš, Arkādijs Birjuks un Rūdolfs Kugrēns par kultūras un sporta notikumiem pārbagāto nedēļas nogali - Prāta Vētra, Positivus un Laimas Vaikules Randevū, Mairis Briedis cīnās pret franču maisu, Samoilovs un Šmēdiņš Eiropā atkal otrie, U20 basketbolisti tiek uz A divīziju, Ventspils aizdomīgā spēle Albānijā, Futbola federācijas jaunā vilku identitāte un - ko Toronto ieguva no Kavai Lenarda maiņas darījuma?

DiaCast 12 – Como Ter Pensamentos Positivos Saiba como ser membro do Grupo Dia da Mudança, clicando aqui. Link => https://www.diegomangabeira.com.br/diadamudanca/ Roteiro – Introdução – Origem da palavra positivo: latim POSITIVUS, “definido por consenso”, vem de POSITUS, particípio passado de PONERE, “colocar, botar” – Nossa mente é condicionada pelo o que vivemos – Entendimento de negativo, não e outros aspectos tóxicos não afetam a vida, mas a intensidade sim – Dica – Conclusão Transcrição de Texto Automaticamente Gerada do Podcast* Bom dia, bem vindo ao Leia mais→ The post DiaCast 12 – Como Ter Pensamentos Positivos appeared first on Diego Mangabeira | Mangabeira Academy | Academia da Alquimia da Mente.