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Another Adventure
By Michael Willrd
Publisher
I can hear some snickering. No one in his right mind would launch a niche-market magazine in the mist of a worldwide recession, and particularly not in Eastern Europe where the margin of error is measured in nano-seconds and millimeters.
But, this year Willard's battle cry has been and continues to be "charge while others are retreating." Thus far, I have been satisfied with the results. It has kept us very much in the game.
Two years ago we shuttered The Ukrainian Observer for very practical reasons. After seven years, it didn't make money; and, in fact, was costing us more and more each year. But, we loved the magazine, and held on to it beyond reason.
The business plan for Willard Marketing Monthly is totally different. For starters, virtually everything, from photography to stories to layout to writing will be done in-house by professionals or by local or international marketing experts we have prevailed upon to contribute.
Also, as you will see from this first issue, Willard Marketing Monthly incorporates a few of the quirky elements that made The Ukrainian Observer a popular success, including the generous use of illustrations, and some rather off-beat features on marketing, advertising, public relations and a variety of related business subjects.
Like the Observer, Willard Marketing Monthly has a statement of principles. We will not accept payment for stories appearing in our magazine, and we will not submit stories to subjects interviewed for prior approval. We will, however, review facts and quotes with interview subjects.
We want Willard Marketing Monthly to be a community magazine, a marketing forum. It will be a people magazine. Therefore we will seek the opinions of laymen and experts in the various disciplines covered.
We ask your help as we go forward. Offer your suggestions. Call me. Send me an email (coach@twg.com.ua).
We want our magazine to always be a work in progress, and we hope that each issue will build on the last one. Thank you for your support.
Michael Willard
Publisher
Tough Love with the Omniscient Pablo PistachioWe had a news conference the other day, and though my boss had something important to say, he didn't get quoted as much as the other company on the platform.
Another Adventure
In keeping with our positioning statement of Risk Takers. Rule Breakers. Opportunity Makers, Willard, the company, embarks on another adventure. It's called Willard Marketing Monthly.
This was not my first visit to Cannes, but each time something about the festival surprises me. This year, I felt a number of contradictions that contrasted with memories of earlier visits.
When signs appeared on the metro sternly advising that posting unofficial ads violates the criminal code, Bogdan demonstrated his contempt by pasting his little ads over the warning.Eyes on the Prize: AmCham, EBA focused on nation
The political infighting that has incapacitated Ukraine's government, precipitated shifts in the leadership of crucial ministries, and the wrangling over impending elections aren't making the work of the European Business Association and American Chamber of Commerce any easier.
What's more, television is dying. It is no longer the media platform of choice of the sophisticated marketer, and this has confused an entire tribe of East European creative directors. They grew up thinking that advertising was about making 30-second movies.
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