Nourhan N. Beyrouti

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Beyrouti 5:35 am on September 24, 2013 | 0 | # |
Tags: apple, Branding, creative, geek, geekery, ipad, iphone, mobile operators, speck, speckproducts, stc, tech, telecom

How being a tech geek makes you a better brand custodian.

Im my years of Creative Branding, Mobile Media & Communications. Ive learned that being a tech geek has helped a lot. Especially in the tech industry.

Mobile operators in the Middle East have great people, but some have no geeky side to them. I’ve met a few and especially senior ones, you can say they are good at theoretical marketing but are not marketing power houses. As displayed in my picture, I believe no one at STC from the CEO down to the tea boy would ever know that the image on the main page is taken from a product called Speck and that the super imposed image they used was not rightfully used or authorized neither by Speck or Apple ( in this case as the Speck Case is for the iPad 2 – PixelSkin HD )

Because I am creative branding professional, a marketing communications nut bag and tech geek to the bone. I immediately saw it, picked it up and just had to communicate about it. This is not the first time I come across this, once upon a time a multi-national award winning American advertising agency tried to pitch to me a Google I/O campaign that was for Google Maps in Europe. During the presentation as they finished, I said ” this is wonderful work ” in a very excited tone. They agency guys were all going to wet themselves with joy. Then I said the statement of doom ” Did the campaign do well for Google? ” turned my iPad and started to flick the various images i found on Google Search. I didn’t get a response from the agency as each one scrambled to a phone a started calling in a frantic manner. Not their fault, they are just account managers, very spineless and no tech creativity.

Here is what I saved the company, a disaster from bloggers who will eventually pick up the copycat campaign, our reputation will go down the drain also the product credibility will be forever shattered. People like me are perceived as the “A holes” excuse my language. However being that has made me better at what I do and more creative than the monkeys with no competency.

In all cases, this is still the problem with corporate culture, HR who have no clue who and how to hire, and management who can’t take being shown how incompetent they are. I would rather look like an idiot, than be fired and look ruined.

Good Luck STC, you need creative branding people who are tech geeks.
Beyrouti 7:11 pm on August 18, 2013 | 0 | # |
Tags: angel investor, innovation, venture capital

The Gatekeepers & How Companies Are Keeping Away From Innovation.

With all the social media breaking walls of society and getting people more connected. I have noticed that individuals and companies have been more and more locked away in a social media prison cell. Community managers and individuals handling incoming communication or connection requests are now in the category of the gatekeepers who keep away people rather than listen to them.

This growing phenomenon is from a personal experience, when trying to get heard by companies or individuals that I have information for. You might not know me, but that does not mean i don’t have something you want to hear. The problem lies with the people who are tasked to handle these incoming responses, they personally and psychologically think that they know what is best for the company or the individual I am trying to reach. I work in communications, specifically in branding. I believe when a person is solely coming to you for something, that means they truly believe in your brand whether it is a personal brand or a corporate brand. When I got shut out from all the people and companies I tried to reach, I honestly believed these people have a mission to keep the company away from good ideas.

People are people, and not everyone in the world is privileged with being a high ranking executive or a billion dollar bank account, most of the people want a humble life with a morning to wake up to and a thing they do everyday that they love. I am sure that these gatekeepers don’t know that it is a proven fact that; Humans when ignored, gives the same traumatic effect like a physical injury. Ignoring a mention on twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn causes that trauma. The most is when you don’t get a response by an email or a lucrative mechanical response from someone in the company who has nothing to do with the companies future growth. Do companies know how many people they injure daily and how many causalities there are out there, trying to reach out to them? Companies today are embarking into social media, thinking this is a new Marketing tool that helps bring the customer closer and level up loyalty to the brand. What companies failed to understand to this day is that social media is exactly what it means ” Social ” and that’s based on socio-emotional elements to it. Social media has given an embodiment to your brand, given it physical ear and eye to hear and see what people are saying and showing. Mechanical responses and robotics do not make your life easier when you decided on becoming a part of this worldwide phenomenon.

Let’s take for example my case, I have three darn good idea for three companies very famous to the world. I just want them to give me a chance to hear me out for exactly 10min. Can you imagine, I’m not asking for the stars, just ten minutes of an open ear. I know big shot CEO’s I’ve reported to them for the past decade of my professional life, they can spare 10min to hear one person a day to get the creative juices flowing in the company, especially when traditional ways of doing things are dying out in a matter of minutes with new technology and innovation. I don’t know how to make all the financial forecasts and business plans for these technocratic people, all I’m asking for is to hear me out and you work out the numbers to make it happen, because I’m no expert CEO who’s done it before.You might say Mark Zuckerberg made Facebook from his dorm room or Steve & Woz made Apple in a garage, yes that’s true. However if you fast forward in time and think of it in another perspective, this is what could have happened to them.

If Mark was an economics student, at Harvard. Living his daily life as a normal college student and one day he got a revelation about Facebook. I mean the whole nine yards. He doesn’t know how to code, algorithm, make a site or fund his site. What would he do? He’d be in the same situation I am in, no one is willing to hear him, gatekeepers will shut him out and his great idea of Facebook would just be locked up in his head. What if Mark went to Hi5 and said I can turn you around and make you a multi billion dollar company, listen to this ” We rebrand Hi5 into Facebook ” and it would do exactly this …, Hi5 now would have been the Facebook we know today, Mark would have gained the same fame he has now and the owners of Hi5 or MySapce would be richer and grander.

In my case I am no developer, I can design the hell out of an App but can’y launch it with all its servers and capabilities, all I need is a VC or the three companies I’m targeting to give me those 10mins, I’ve got the visuals, I’ve got the design, I’ve got the whole works. I don’t have the ears to hear me out. Mind you, the three ideas only work for these three companies I cannot mention.

If someone out there knows any VC, Angel or Direct contact with big companies who could get to the companies I am targeting let me know, we can sign an NDA and join forces and get make this dream come true, it’s actually the three companies dream come true as they are publicly looking for the answer to their problem, and I’ve found the solution.

contact me on http://www.beyrouti.me
Beyrouti 6:02 am on August 12, 2013 | 0 | # |
Tags: iDoorcam, iphone

iDoorcam

I’m all for new technology, and I am always the first in line to get my hands on tech that’s cool and makes life “i” compatible. However my eye on detail because of my work in branding, geekiness, and absolute love for Apple perfection has made me catch things.

The iDoorcam is a marvelous piece of technology, and on the cool level its absolutely cool. However I picked up a little tech flaw and I could be wrong just to be clear.

While watching the promotional video of the iDoorcam I noticed an inaccurate angle or view of the camera. Where the iDoorcam is placed the person has to be directly facing the camera to be seen. If the person is standing normally on the door you’ll get a view of their stomach and shoulder perhaps.

Knowing small cams, the wide angle would not give you a clear image of the person on the door. At least not how its placed in the video. So the iDoorcam promotional video is a clear misrepresentation technicality of the device. iDoorcam’s marketing people should clearly indicate what the camera’s view angles are and where it should be optimally placed.

On another note, yes the iDoorcam is internationally compatible, however unlike the US, doorbells in most of the world are connection kill switches with no power at the connection. So the ideal way to illustrate the connection requirements is to indicate that the door switch should have a power connectivity if 110/220 v AC outlet in order to provide continuous power. On that note, not all countries have 24 hour electricity, does the iDoorcam function as a conventional doorbell if there is no power? That truly gives it an edge internationally.

On an over all scale from 1 to 10 I give the iDoorcam a 8 on tech and coolness. It’s a must have device for the new home combined with an electronic lock like August, Kevo or Lockitron. These technologies will surely make the first step to your iHome.
Beyrouti 7:59 pm on August 5, 2013 | 0 | # |
Tags: fail nokia

I will not write a full article about how this ad is completely stupid and the Marketing people at Nokia just wasted a lot of money.

All I have to say is , before you mock, know how to talk.

Nokia is pronounced ( No Key Ya ) and not ( Knock ya )

Nokia primarily failed to impress , by merely not even knowing how to pronounce their own company name to the world.

Before you mock know how to talk
Beyrouti 4:38 pm on May 14, 2013 | 0 | # |
Tags: epic fail, fail, failure, fake, marketing, samsung, stupid

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WARI_7c-Ofc?wmode=transparent&autohide=1&egm=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0&w=500&h=375%5D
Samesung’s Marketing Stupidity At It Again …

I guess my previous article didn’t really reach Samsung and some dumb marketing team in the US think this is ” Great Marketing “.

First of all the grads? who are you talking to. Are you mocking the actual buyers of the phone your trying to advertise to? Are you that dumb at Samesung? Grads have no money or income or purchasing power!

Those executives with extremely high purchasing power and market strength are being mocked and made into dummies. What’s wrong with you, these are the same executives who have power to introduce the Samesung imitation to enterprise, those are the top purchasing influencers who buy devices for the family and business. That intelligent executive believes in technology, and most of all you people at Samesung you made him Smell Ribs off the phone. Thus making him disbelieve that the phone is incapable of doing what the Advertiser ” The Grad ” says it does. So its a fake.

Your Samesung is not smarter than other smartphones, it is just and imitation of what really is a smartphone. Probably an internal corporate culture of wishful thinking. Who wants to share photos by tapping phones?, are you implying that the phone is an anti-social device and the person who was in the photo would not like to be associated in the party by taking the picture from from the phone. Rather than posting it on Facebook and tagging the person. Waving your hand over the phone to answer it, wow!! that is a killer option NOT. I understand why Samesung have made this option for the customer, the phone is so crappy to even touch we’ve made it possible to use it without even touching it. Now my biggest wonder is the device streaming to the TV, Excuse me for saying this … LOOOOOOL, Freaking LOOOOOOL. Excuse me, AirPlay hello … just one more on your imitation list Samesung.

Last I would like to conclude that mocking your most powerful customer is not going to get you anywhere and Apple will always be light years ahead in the innovation trail. Samesung devices where in the stone age until Apple enlightened you to the perspective of innovation. But the philosophy at Samesung is ” Don’t Innovate, imitate “

Oh by the way why have you stopped using the Term ” Samsung Galaxy S4” and replaced it with “GS4” hahahahaha, my god that is the stupidest thing i have ever heard in my life.

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
Beyrouti 2:14 pm on May 7, 2013 | 0 | # |
Tags: bayt, gulftalent, human resources, linkedin, online, recruitment, social

There is a fundamental flaw in online recruitment done by Employers and Online Recruitment companies, also the way to avoid it. Lets list the flaws first:

1 – Companies who have invested in their own online recruitment system should NOT use or post on online platforms like LinkedIn, Bayt or GulfTalent.

Reason: First of all when a candidate is searching for a vacancy and finds one, they do not want to fill a thousand profiles before they get to your listing. HR has essentially forgot the user experience of employment brand. Just like social media, companies can handle thousands of applicants via their own platform. If the employer believes that the Online recruitment companies is an advertising space, I believe they have got it all wrong. It’s way faster and cheaper to advertise a job via normal online channels and not threw the online recruitment agencies. Personally I believe when an HR department does so, they are intentionally wasting money and peoples time.

Here is what kind of user experiences when you do the shotgun online recruitment. First they log into let’s say Bayt.com, they have a full profile and the candidate views a posting by you. They click apply, then it takes them to a page saying ” apply via employers wed site “, click. The user goes to the employer site, has to register, fill out the same profile that they have online all over again. After that is done the candidate applies to the vacancy. The question arrises, why did I have to go to Bayt to fill out an application and register again on the employer’s site? The experience is shot dead and the candidate already has lost the belief that Bayt or the employer will ever see the applicant’s resume.

2- Third party recruiters are just killing your brands! wake the hell up!! Traditional recruitment companies are just using your online platform to suck up your data pile and use it for their own “big data” pile. Weren’t you ” Online recruitment ” companies suppose to put the traditional recruitment agencies out of business? Why on earth are you actually giving them more business? Why would I want to apply via an Online recruitment platform, for my CV to go to a traditional recruitment company, and then if that old fashioned recruitment company decides if i’m good enough they will “think” of sending it to the employer. This is what is actually making ever single online recruitment company in the region a fail.

3- Employers, please please please and i’m going to say this very openly. Have the balls to post the name of your company. When an online or traditional recruitment company posts a vacancy and says ” Confidential ” that is actually point blank stupid. Are you ashamed of hiring? Is your company name so invaluable? Isn’t posting your company name part of your brand strength and attracting the right candidates. HR departments have to wake up to the fact that a vacancy is like a product or service the actual company sells. If the HR thought of the vacancy as a product and are looking for the right customer, all HR’s problems would be solved. From talent search to recruiting and employee engagement. I strongly believe HR is a core part of marketing and the two departments should work hand in hand to further expand the companies out reach. Your staff are your brand ambassadors, clients, , family, customers and first line soldiers in defense against the competition.

4 – Companies should avoid the recruitment confusion and make the recruitment process as easy as their products service or industry they want to portray. No company in todays age wants to be known as not innovative and simply old fashioned.

Remedy: First of all I would like to start with the online recruitment companies like Bayt, LinkedIn and GulfTalent. As a brand you should essentially not allow employers to redirect your subscriber base to their platforms. First its a bad user experience, second it shows that the online platform is useless, and they should go straight to the employer sites. Third never let traditional recruitment companies post on your site, also why should I use online if the traditional are taking my details, when I see a traditional recruiter name I immediately go to their site and apply again on their site or better call them.

Employers & HR departments. Honestly listen up. Drop your in house online system and use an external popular platform, Bayt & LinkedIn are outstanding platforms that can be utilized in so many ways. Bayt offers a wide range of services for recruitment. On your careers page you can simply put, ” We use Bayt ! ” click on our company page view and apply directly through Bayt.com directly to us. WOW imagine that, a potential candidate says, holy moly these guys are the coolest! they can see their application status, promote their application and also get real time feedback.

I know there is a lot of change here, and that online platforms are actually benefitting in cash from the fragmentation of their platforms, however there is essentially one thing they have to know. Someone some where will actually read this and say ” hey lets make a real online recruitment site ” get the employers to engage and essentially monitor what is being posted on our site. Every online platform should be an eco-system and companies join into this eco-system which is monitored and managed. Leaving no room for flaws like third part recruiters and employer redirections.
Beyrouti 6:43 am on May 2, 2013 | 0 | # |

My Birthday Is dedicated to my idol.

For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. – Steve Jobs
Beyrouti 11:30 am on April 27, 2013 | 0 | # |

The Digital Cloud Braid

In my years of being a tech Geek, i’ve applied technology to my life daily. With the emergence of cloud computing, personalization and reliability is key. Now not to forget about security and down times. Cloud storage and computing is essential.

I have come up with a system at home that I believe will be the future default of every Geek and possibly everyone’s standard set up. I called it the Digital Cloud Braid or just ( Braid ). Needless to say this setup I distinctively say its not a hybrid as it is more of a braided merge of the same tech, yet with a marriage of two hardware & connectivity applications.

Let’s get into it now. I have setup a personal cloud via an off the shelf live storage device and also merged in it my online cloud ( Dropbox & Google Drive ) needless to say of course I have iCloud which is not married into this setup for security reasons as I have kept my iDevices securely running in iCloud.

The personal cloud and public cloud braided into one applied system running from my MacMini server has given me peace of mind on where my information is stored and full control of its connectivity and hardware. Today you don’t actually know where you drop your files on the cloud as they could be anywhere distributed across the globe. We all know drives can be hacked and even files can be extracted even if the drive is formatted. However knowing your drive is at home or the office gives you that sense of peace.

Cloud Braiding will be the future standard setup in the very near future as all these devices are now available, however the consumer market is still not aware of its ease of availability. Now here is what you need to make a standard Cloud Braid, depending on your budget you can go as big and fast as you want.

1. Minimal of 5Mpbs Connectivity to the internet via an Ethernet or WiFi Connection. A fiber or ADSL line is recommended for uninterrupted connection to the internet.

2. A Cloud Based router, DLink offers the best cloud routers in the market, with easy set-up and access via your iPhone & iPad with a free App on the Apple App Store.
– The Cloud Router lets you manage your devices remotely and also enables you to see what devices are connected to your router and using the internet or LAN.

3. A Personal Cloud storage device, I suggest DLink or WD Live. DLink Cloud Routers also offer a USB port to connect an external HDD if you do not wish to have a personal cloud device. I recommend a Cloud storage device as it is independent from the router and offers an extra firewall for security. Also Cloud storage devices connect only via Ethernet for superb speed and security with firmware protection incase the drive was stolen.

4. Mostly all Cloud storage devices have Dropbox, Google Drive and other public cloud integration. So install the public drives to your Personal cloud. All this can be simply done by just enabling the service and inserting your username and password and the personal cloud service does the rest. Whats amazing you can do this all on your iPad or iPhone too.

After all this is done your ready to go and your Cloud Braided system of personal and public cloud is fullyl integrated into one place.

How this helps you in the future. For me all my Data on my MacBook pro Retina is placed on the Braid, my 500GB flash drive can only store so much and being a photo junky all the pics I take are stored on my iPhoto App, however placed on the Braid. So when i sync my Photos they sync on my iPhoto root file on the Braid. My work also however when i need to send something I place it on my Dropbox and send a public link for a limited time. But when the information is too sensitive i create a public link to my Braid and control who when and for how long the file can be accessed.

The future of data is personal seamless controllability and not accessibility like the services available today from the online cloud based services. Except iCloud which is under the unique ecosystem of Apple and control is a key element you can enjoy via iCloud.

Picture courtesy of: http://fineartamerica.com/featured/1-random-braid-5-dan-gries.html

Hardware: visit Dlink and WD
Beyrouti 6:47 am on April 22, 2013 | 0 | # |

The iCosystem:

Today the world runs on things we didn’t anticipate a decade ago. The introduction of the iPhone, social networks to location based check-ins and status feeds keeping us up to the second. Now I say up to the second, because saying up to date is now old fashioned, actually Stone Age. We want information real time and in seconds, with new network technologies and devices that give us outstanding speeds like LTE and beyond.

How does a brand jump in this Eco-system? As you may know a brand is not a logo, but a brand is an all encompassing belief. One strain of this belief will cut away in the brand appeal and make it less and less believable. I’ll give you an example, Imagine yourself in the beginning of the millennium, you’re a top bank and you’re welcoming the world of digital with a fresh website to the digital immigrants or people who knew the world before the Internet. A few years pass by and the world changes again, those digital immigrants settle in and naturalize and become accustomed to the digital world. Their demands change and their brand belief changes, a bank without on-line banking is an old fashioned bank and the brand belief lessens. The world changes again as the world welcomes the first generation of digital natives; young individuals who don’t know the world before the Internet.

The mobile device today is a companion and inseparable entity in our daily lives. The mobile phone is no longer a device to send and receive calls. It is your life line to the world, the digital world that keeps your entire world in your pocket but most of the time your hands. Three years ago I did a technology work shop and introduced the concept of generation “T”. The last era saw the formulation and growth of Generation X, these are the baby boomers of World War II and then their children brought in Generation Y, the rebel generation that we all admire. However Generation T or the “thumb” generation has grown hundreds of thousands of times faster than any generation in recorded history. I labeled it as the thumb generation or generation T.

Generation T is the only generation that has taken previous generations X&Y put them on a time-machine and transferred them into the future. Now what do brands have to do here? What do brand agencies have to do here? The framework has fundamentally changed and there is a culture embedded in today’s mind set. Today we live in a world wide global culture of “is there an app for that?”

Application development for a brand is not about the core functionality of the company’s operation. Meaning what the app does isn’t what reflects the brand. However what the app feels and looks like is the essential part of the brand promise. UI ( user interface ) and UX ( user experience ) is what makes today’s world of Generation T appeal to the brand. An example, brash brands has taken branding to the next level, this fine art of logo design, brand identity and architecture is like no other. However when the Dubai Mall the world most talks about mall in the world has the most destructive App in the market made the Dubai Mall’s brand appeal less then average. The belief that Dubai mall is sophisticated and up to second has been all thrown down the drain. People today believe in surprise, they don’t know what they want until you show it to them. The Dubai Mall app must be designed to give at same Wow experience they give in their facility.

Here is an example of how the app should work :

The App should be designed with the fundamental elements of fluidity they designed the mall itself and basic concepts from their parking lots too. It must be re-designed to feel like a mall, from when you enter the mall and leave it, and when you enter the app and leave it.

The App should project the same experience of the mall, your walking and shopping. You can do that in the App at a much better rate and have the same mall experience from the comfort of your thumbs.

Location based wifi or navigation tagging. Inside the mall, being inside the mall would help you pin point your location, know where to go and plan your shopping trip within the App. This would create an experience never seen in the world. I always get this, ” where to now” imagine you plan your Dubai Mall experience a day before, plan out your routes and shops you want to visit and have it take you to the place you wanna go.

App should generate revenue, companies today are not really looking into how to make the app make money to sustain itself. Imagine this, you take a fee from shops inside the mall to advertise in the app, which would take them to the shop, present a special coupon placed in their Apple ” Passbook”. Apps are media spaces to promote daily, and hourly specials. Engage the Mall visitor,( ” beep beep” seems your close to Mango, get there in the next ten minutes and receive a 25% discount, if you get there on time) activate timer? The timer ticks you get there in time, press check-in and the geo-location accurately ensures your in Mango. Boom! your 25% discount is in your pocket.

Points and loyalty? Let me give you a sniff of what you can do with brand integrate technology. The Nike fuel band today is a device that every person is adopting, Nike has whole heartedly released its API for the device and developers now can make Apps that can talk to the device. Now imagine, the Dubai Mall app is synced to your Nike Fuel band. Briefly, I would say ” hey, since your at Dubai Mall make your Nike points count, score 2000 points in the mall sync them on our Dubai Mall app and get your free healthy lunch at Subway. Subway pays for the integration, visitor is engaged and created an affiliation with the mall, the Dubai Mall is a personified brand that actually talks to the visitor. Overall it makes my mall day worth while. Needless to say Apple just acquired an indoor GPS company called WifiSalm, this should be a big eye opener to big retail facilities like Dubai Mall and others.

I am not talking in the year 2050 we can do this today! We need companies to believe, brands are just more that what a brochure or identity can do, Branding agencies should make brands of the future. Let’s change everything…again and again
Beyrouti 12:58 pm on April 8, 2013 | 0 | # |