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Building IKEA

Posted by: tim in reflectionconnected market space on

I spent the weekend helping my daughter move into her first apartment and get ready for this year at university.  We visited IKEA to furnish the place.  From the parking lot to the playground inside the store, the entire place was packed.

I’ve only been to IKEA a few times, but I’ve always been fascinated about the concept and how IKEA connects with their customers, anywhere in the world.  I was in the IKEA in Montreal this weekend; however, I’ve seen IKEA not only across Canada and the US, but in Europe as well.  Why do I see IKEA in all the places I seem to go?  Because you can’t help but see an IKEA - they are connected to the high traffic areas of their markets.  They are always ready  for customers (this weekend with back to school you could see students and boxes all around the student areas of Montreal), so it’s no wonder IKEA’s owners are some of the most wealthy in the world.

How does every IKEA work – and why is it such an “off-line” great example of The Connected Market Space?

First, each and every IKEA is connected by location.   Always off of a busy highway, you can’t help but see the place.  From Montreal to Malaysia, it’s always the same connection to traffic.  The volume of eyes from the highway racing by knows exactly what IKEA looks like and where they are located.

Inside, they're always bustling.  Directly in front of me were stairs up to the showroom.  We found the beds and bathrooms and all manners of home furnishings in between.  Cool, cheap, and organized so we could easily grab our slip and jot down what we needed.  The “shopping” experience was good (I’m not a shopper by nature) because IKEA tracked us right where we needed to go and we set about discovering whatever was on our minds, “bookmarking” it along the way (rack and bin number noted).

Down the stairs, into the back end warehouse – we became our own warehouse staff.    All IKEA warehouses are the same. Searching for the inventory I wanted was easy and IKEA had just saved a ton by having us act on our own to pick and pack products onto our cart.

Finally checkout: self serve tills lined the isle, but we weren’t on our own. For the few items that were too large, there was help to move those larger boxes after we had scanned and paid for the items.

How IKEA has connected with their market is by having the right prices, great looking stuff and a flow that allows their customers to self serve and save money.  IKEA is a perfect example of a connected market space.  It’s easy to see how IKEA connected their warehouse, with a brilliant visibility and showroom strategy, with the internal track of how customers flow through the store to find what they need.

It’s not so easy to do this on the internet though. Your warehouse is the back end data of your website, and your showroom is your web presence. The track your customers follow through involves virtual images and communications rather than a colourful line.

That said… what if you could build a presence on the web that allowed your market to connect?  Imagine that customers that pass by on a highway notice your presence, so they can stop by when they need what you have to offer.  They're served automatically – by just visiting your store.  They can do whatever they want to themselves and they can even check out on their own, or ask for help.   What if you gave your market exactly what they needed to find from your inventory in the back end: access to your data that represents your “warehouse floor”?

What the web is striving to be a connected market space.  All you have to do is look at IKEA.  If you can replicate that experience, your customers will be happily carting away your products or services – happily building them for exactly what they needed in their lives.

My daughter’s apartment is all set up, and I’ve said good bye.  I won’t see her for months.  I’ll miss her as she sits in her new kitchen on the new bar stools I put together.

Building IKEA.   Somehow it makes me still feel closer – feel connected.

Bike Ride Fever

Posted by: cmaeon in coolCMAEONchallengebike on

Bike Ride Fever
Our CEO Tim is getting some time off this week – the CMAEON staff have taken over!
ost people know about Ride Your Bike to Work week. Typically it falls in May, and it’s a great way to get some exercise and to commute to work without building up an unhealthy amount of road rage.  CMAEON has a lot of avid bike riders on staff, and we’re looking to commute.  Many people never make the switch from driving to riding, so we’d like to give you a little encouragement.
Here are 4 reasons we think you should try riding your bike to work:
Exercise – riding a bike isn’t strenuous, but it’s certainly better for you than driving. If you live 10 km away, you can probably ride to work in around 30 minutes, and when you add up your commute, that’s an extra hour a day of exercise. Your doctor would be thrilled.
Money – barring running out to buy a brand new commuter bike, you probably only need to have your own bicycle tuned up before hitting the road. The cost of a tune up and a flat tire repair kit are far less than gas and maintenance on a car.
The Environment – riding a bike is the most environmentally friendly way to commute – if you’re looking to reduce your footprint a bit, cutting out your 5 day a week commute would be a huge start.
Speed – as a bit of a test, the CMAEON tweeter drove to work one day, and rode her bike the next. By the time red lights, parking and general road delays were factored in; driving the 10km to work took exactly the same amount of time as riding it. The bonus was that riding a bike along a tree lined urban trail is a LOT more relaxing than getting stuck behind three red lights in a row.
Don’t believe it? British motoring show Top Gear did a challenge – what was the fastest way to get across the busiest parts of London – bike, public transit, car or boat (up the Thames)?  The Bike was fastest by a good margin over the boat (yes, the boat), with public transit third and car a distant fourth.
So, now that we’ve pitched the benefits, we’d like to offer you a challenge. Try biking to work for the next couple of days. See how you like it. Victoria is one of the nicest places in Canada to ride a bike –so take advantage of it. Let us know how your commute went in the comments.
Just before you start, remember to wear a helmet, take a water bottle, have your bike tuned up, plan your route and most importantly, enjoy the scenery.
bike rideOur CEO Tim is getting some time off this week – the CMAEON staff have taken over!

Most people know about Ride Your Bike to Work week. Typically it falls in May, and it’s a great way to get some exercise and to commute to work without building up an unhealthy amount of road rage.  CMAEON has a lot of avid bike riders on staff, and we’re looking to commute.  Many people never make the switch from driving to riding, so we’d like to give you a little encouragement.

Here are 4 reasons we think you should try riding your bike to work:

Exercise – riding a bike isn’t strenuous, but it’s certainly better for you than driving. If you live 10 km away, you can probably ride to work in around 30 minutes, and when you add up your commute, that’s an extra hour a day of exercise. Your doctor would be thrilled.

Money – barring running out to buy a brand new commuter bike, you probably only need to have your own bicycle tuned up before hitting the road. The cost of a tune up and a flat tire repair kit are far less than gas and maintenance on a car.

The Environment – riding a bike is the most environmentally friendly way to commute – if you’re looking to reduce your footprint a bit, cutting out your 5 day a week commute would be a huge start.

Speed – as a bit of a test, the CMAEON tweeter drove to work one day, and rode her bike the next. By the time red lights, parking and general road delays were factored in; driving the 10km to work took exactly the same amount of time as riding it. The bonus was that riding a bike along a tree lined urban trail is a LOT more relaxing than getting stuck behind three red lights in a row.

Don’t believe it? British motoring show Top Gear did a challenge – what was the fastest way to get across the busiest parts of London – bike, public transit, car or boat (up the Thames)?  The Bike was fastest by a good margin over the boat (yes, the boat), with public transit third and car a distant fourth.

So, now that we’ve pitched the benefits, we’d like to offer you a challenge. Try biking to work for the next couple of days. See how you like it. Victoria is one of the nicest places in Canada to ride a bike –so take advantage of it. Let us know how your commute went in the comments.

Just before you start, remember to wear a helmet, take a water bottle, have your bike tuned up, plan your route and most importantly, enjoy the scenery.

Photo: Amsterdamize, Flickr

farmers marketThis blog talks a lot about the Connected Market Space – a marketplace state we can get to when accurate and relevant information flows between all parties, enabling everyone to efficiently access to the information they want and need.  Today, we have created some of the capability to create the Connected Market Space with the way technology is evolving and how we use it.

However, we have also realized that not all markets or marketplace endeavors are so noble as to efficiently deliver accurate information to us.  Often, accurate information is the most difficult thing to acquire because there is too much information - mostly about things we don’t want or need to know to make our decisions.

That said, today, there are emerging filters for true voices and targeted, personalized information models emerging daily.  Things we can easily adopt and opt in and out of – these are the gateways to getting truly connected. Remember – you’re in the Connected Market Space if:

  • Everyone knows more about each other
  • Everyone trusts each other
  • Everyone can carry on a conversation
  • Everyone can complete a transaction safely
  • Everyone has accurate information


The first four points rest on the last one – you know more, you trust more, you talk more and you buy more if you have accurate information (not just marketing rhetoric or hype.)

So, when these five elements listed above all come into play, through an efficient process, that the result is a positive outcome and a Connected Market Space for everyone.  Of course, the more complicated the transaction, the bigger the decision and investment on both sides, the higher the stakes, the more important this process, this "Conversation Market" becomes as we become more connected.

Photo: Natalie Maynor, Flickr


It makes no sense, for any business, to invest in technology based on a comparison of features.  Today, the basic features of CRM are well-defined - any CRM will provide the basics of contact relationship management.

CRM has been around for more than a decade. It was originally designed as a tool to enable businesses to share information between sales and other various departments that dealt with customers. Those features are clear.

The next iterations of CRM were designed to better track, manage and empower the sales force - hence the brand of a CRM by that name. Again, no real "dream" here.


YES are nominated as finalist in the European Breakthrough Brand of the year award. The award will be given to the finalist with the most votes. If you're stoked out by the YES team, brand and most of all their snowboards them vote for YES on the www.boardsportsource.com website, you vote on the bottom right of the page. Thanks, for your help !

THE BREAKTHROUGH BRAND OF THE YEAR AWARD -- recognizes the efforts of an apparel, footwear, eyewear, wetsuit or accessories or equipment brand that has show an exceptional year in terms of growth, product development and/or popularity and image in Europe in the past year.


UVic 16th Annual CSS Business Banquet Nov. 26th

Posted by: 0 in Untagged  on

Just a reminder: Our CEO, Tim Vasko is the keynote speaker for UVic’s 16th Annual CSS Business Banquet tonight at 8:30 pm at Delta Ocean Pointe Resort.

The CSS Business Banquet is an opportunity for over 200 students, faculty and key members of the business community to meet and network.

I've seen it happen time and again.  Beautiful, well designed web pages, with flash and media, that cost the equivalent of a Ferrari are delivered, deployed, the companies and executives are excited.  It rolls out, like a brand new red Ferrari slowly backing out of the garage.  Then - nothing!  It sits there.

Where are all the visitors?  The neighbors come by and ohh and ahh.  The proud owners stand by the car, jump inside, show off the bells and whistles - this video does this, and look at our virtual tour.  Cool huh?  But, very soon, the customers leave, the neighbors (clients) are bored.  The proud owners don't really ever start the engine.  Then something gets them going about their regular day, and way of doing things.  They shut the car door and walk away - expecting it to drive itself.  There it sits.

The difficulty of marketing today, and using the web is that it is a business within a business - it requires expertise (a lot of expertise), discipline and an entirely new level of thinking.  Marketing has never been easy.  But with all of the Conversation Marketing [you can view my video here #2 in the series - for a more in-depth understanding of Conversation Marketing]- actively engaging your prospects and turning them into customers - keeping them as loyal clients, is more difficult than ever.  We deliver a ton of tools to clients.


We are thrilled to announce that Tim Vasko will be the keynote speaker for the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Business Banquet for students, faculty and the business community on November 26th, 2009.

His speech, “Let’s Face It: Tough Markets, Broken Models, You Can Make a Difference” will focus on how changes affect us and our perspectives and how it gives us the opportunity to reach for new horizons.

“Let’s face it - it is a fact of life that the world changes; business changes and the economy changes. But rarely do we see an impact on society like we’re experiencing today. Not in an entire generation has the world been so impacted. And it has never been due to such a ubiquitous, interconnected event as the recent financial meltdown.”


Welcome to the new CMAEON blog!

Posted by: tim in CMAEON on

Here we’ll update you on changes in the industry, and also on what we are up to in the office.

Blog posts will mostly be updated by Tim Vasko, CMAEON’s CEO, we will also be having guest bloggers contributing to the CMAEON blog, who are experts in a number of fields, including marketing, real estate and mortgage banking.

So keep checking back for new updates, and subscribe to our RSS feeds.


I promised to write in my Blog prior to the holiday with three thoughts - a promise I was never meant to keep.

My father and mother were visiting from California. They had just arrived at my home on December 19th. After only a few minutes, my Dad, a happy, health (as far as we knew) and positive soul had a massive stroke - he passed away on December 22nd.


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