June 2009 Archives

Found this thanks to @markpollard tweet.

Should be interesting and definitely something the brand teams around Lynx and Rexona (hope you’re reading) should tune in to. Forum should also be a interesting.

More info here

triple j + Reach Out present Man Week: Are you man enough? (To talk about how you feel.) Next week!

Make sure you tune into triple j and jump on to our blog and forum to continue the conversation next week!

Listen to Hack - explore Man Week issues then join the discussion on our forum

Each night from 5.30 - 6.00pm triple j’s Hack program will be exploring a Man-related issue - anything from the alpha male profile and sexuality to ‘bromance’ and girls’ gossip. There’s something for everyone.

Following the show each night from 6 - 7pm AEST, special guests from Hack will jump onto the Reach Out forum, aka the ROtreat forums, and discuss the Man issues raised in the show that night. This is your opportunity to ask the questions and explore the issues you’re interested in - don’t miss out.

Troubled times ahead for Tom!

This made me think. IF it continues to decline at such a steady pace it will ironically go full circle and end up back as a social network used by a few. Possibly an opportunity to change perception from being mainstream back to being alternative. Its a big call.

Interesting to see how the community will change and shape its future (IF funding ensures its live and accessible after the ad $ run across town to facebook).

MySpace Layoffs Coming To Countries Where It Is Getting Trounced By Facebook

Razorfish seminar from Cannes around the future of TV.

“You have to pay ppl $175 a day not to watch TV”

Watch video

Guessing I’m not alone in counting down the hours to the release of Bruno.

@brunomovie

Shame the marketing team behind the launch has sold twitter short and treating as a PR channel.

From what I’ve read Sacha Baron Cohen is extremely marketing savy and surprised they missed such a golden opportunity.

Would have loved to have seen the hype and build up to the movie’s release through tweets from the man himself. With such huge following (post Borat) the demand for anything Bruno is massive and twitter could have been a very cost effective and versitile channel for the marketing team to leverage. You wouldn’t even need anything like the commitment of say Lance Armstrong in order for it to be worth while following.

http://www.thebrunomovie.com

More Clay Shirky gold!

Over the last few weeks we’ve had several clients raise similar concerns around how to still steer the conversations once an idea is loose and part-owned and developed by the community.

At the same time Burger King appears to have taken the unofficial title of social media master! Or maybe all the recent articles and posts around its content and community strategy are just a coincidence. Regardless, numerous brand managers want to know what’s the winning Burger King formula?? To which we rely there is no Burger King blueprint, but definte lessons that can be learned and applied to other brands. This is social media so no fixed in stone playbook I’m afraid.

This Mashable post touches upon both points:

http://mashable.com/2009/06/18/social-media-generosity

For those not aware of Deborah you can find out more here. I came across her through her work at P&G and in the context of the work we do with Unilever in Aus.

Great deck as it addresses what we can easily forget, that its all about being social rather than focussing on the tools, sites that enable connectivity.

UPDATE: IF YOU VISIT SLIDESHARE YOU CAN VIEW THE ACCOMPANY NOTES/SCRIPT TO THE ABOVE DECK, WELL WORTHWHILE. http://www.slideshare.net/debs/its-the-people-stupid-1431852?type=presentation

If you only have two minutes (I recommend you come back next time you have a coffee and 5 mins) otherwise these were the points that stood out to me…

‘Enter’ is a handshake.

Seems like a perfect match, tea packets and augmented reality!

I was so ready to flame this and start a rant along the lines of ‘not another f-ing useless AR example) when I realized they’re actually using the pack rather than pdf via website.

You make the call if this still falls into the ‘man, I’m over AR, next please’.

http://www.yorkshiretea.co.uk/#/johnscuppa/johnonyourbox

One of the most impressively simple yet succinct decks on understanding social media just got updated. Well worth checking it out.

Consumers will be given the chance to control and change the advertising display on digital LCD screens via their iPhones.

Read more…

Always get very excited about outdoor that leverages mobile to include the passerby. In fact I think I’m an outdoor creative stuck in a digital body. Love this stuff!

Another gem from Kiwi neighbors:

http://whenwillthefruitburst.co.nz/default.aspx

YouTube added the “wonder wheel” visualization tool for exploring related searches interactively.

Kind of agree, not entirely sure of its worth.

http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2009/06/youtube-adds-wonder-wheel.html

When Facebook re-launched its fan pages earlier this year, companies were thrilled. At last, there was a solid way to have a presence on Facebook, and users were actually responding positively. Within a couple of weeks it seemed as though every major brand had put up a page. However, very few are using them well…

http://mashable.com/2009/06/16/killer-facebook-fan-pages/?dsq=11027677#comment-11027677

Haha couldn’t resist Commenting in how well our Bushells facebook play was going. Sure fan numbers aren’t in the millions however the engagement and contribution figures are impressive.

What would you do if you received a FedEx package with a bag of chocolate covered grasshoppers and a link to a video. Most likely, you’d think why the heck did I just get chocolate covered grasshoppers in the mail? and likely visit the video link or try to search online to find more about the company behind the gimmick.

http://mashable.com/2009/06/15/grasshopper-campaign/

Interesting reading from Techcrunch.

A year ago we modeled out the true value of various social networks based on the idea that users in high-value online advertising markets like Japan, the UK and the U.S. were worth more (financially speaking) than those in lower value online advertising markets. Facebook had recently become the largest worldwide social network in terms of users, but based on our model MySpace was still by far the most valuable social network.

BooneOakley.com have taken a unique approach to their agency site and housed everything in Youtube using annotations to stitch the videos together.

Loved it for a good 10 mins but then found the process irritating. I’d imagine this is a temporary PR play demonstrating their ‘innovativeness’ before moving to a more long term solution.

Nice idea well executed.

(Samsung used annotations in a fun way mid last year…)

Like the simplicity of the new JetStar Photo Competition. Simplicity as in the call to action and relevance to the target market and brand.

The execution/strategy does have some holes.

Shame they didn’t link the upload/submission process into social sites such as facebook or flickr, as you’d imagine peoples pics would already be online. This type of integration would have increased reach (mentions on Walls, News Feeds etc…) and possibly given JetStar a reason to beef up its presence in facebook.

Likewise I want a url for my submission after its been accepted, how else can I tell my friends?

Appreciate that moderation is important to this type of UGC promotion however hate to see this solution…

Shame these points weren’t considered as I love the idea and relevance to both brand and consumer.

UPDATE: I’ve received an email informing me that my picture has been accepted. A direct link was included in this email. I guess with this type of moderation model this is the earliest I could have received such a link. I’d still rather explore a different moderation model, possibly closer to standard, ‘flag if inappropriate’ however appreciate that the client would need some convincing to loosen the moderation leash!