12 April 2008

Posted at 16:15h in academics, google, scholar, university, wikipedia by

This post is aimed at the world of academics and I am sure my views are shared by my fellow undergraduate students. For those of you unfamiliar with the Harvard Referencing System, the title refers to an intext reference. However you would never see a reference from Wikipedia because it is not an legitimately recognised source. This is of course ignoring the fact that Wikipedia now has over two million articles making it the largest ever encyclopedia. This is also forgetting that this is the most contributed to with over two hundred million edits, creating the most unbiased source of information on the Interweb. So why can't this be used as a credible source? To further establish their credibility, Wikipedia has recently implemented a mandatory referencing system, particularly on theory based articles. We've also seen Google launch Google Scholar allowing the search for academic based journals and articles. The way in which we seek information has changed. I am a University student who has never been into the library. So why isn't it possible to reference the biggest source of information on the Internet? Or a blog? Or a podcast? The Internet is no longer a source people can't trust. The academics of today are not living in today's world where the way in which we communicate has changed....

16 February 2008

Posted at 19:32h in chuck norris facts, google, herald sun by

I know I go on and on about Google but its simply because they have such a great product. And we all know marketing is more than just advertising and promotion. Here's an interesting feature I stumbled across in the Herald Sun. 1. Go to Google 2. Type "find chuck norris" 3. Click I'm Feeling Lucky 4. Enjoy what is one of the greatest Chuck Norris Facts ever. Having a sense of humour only further adds to an already remarkable product....

15 February 2008

Posted at 09:46h in google, million ball mission, rexona, ricky ponting by

So we're now a couple of weeks into Rexona's Million Ball Mission and I still don't like it. What a great idea to use Ricky Ponting, Australia Cricket Captain, to head up your campaign. Dispite his inabilty to act, its an ideal celebrity endorsement to bring in to really boost your campaign. This is all fine and well, the problem I have is with the balls. To receive your free ball you have to attend one of only a few events run in your State. And if you do attend, all you get is a ball? Even if I did make it out to one of these events for my freebie, I still wouldn't consider using a Rexona product. This one should never have left the ideas room. Also worth checking out the hopeless 'official' Rexona website. Surely in this day and age of new media every brand needs its own webpage, particularly a big one like this....

12 January 2008

Posted at 17:55h in bongo, deviantart, facebook, google, monash by

When we use the Interweb, we surf naked. Nothing is left unseen and we lose our privacy in its entirety. There is an SMS service in Australia called Bongo (199BONGO) which can answer any question or tell you about any person, so it claims. Bongo's website says to have a massive data base, and after doing a check on me, I was somewhat surprised with the responding SMS...

10 November 2007

Posted at 11:38h in desperate housewives, google, grey's anatomy, heroes, lost, scrubs, strike, the office, writers guild of america by

Surprisingly, the writers' strike in Hollywood has not made the media here in Australia. However its easy enough to follow over at United Hollywood, basically members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have currently stopped production of big shows such as The Office, Lost, >Desperate Housewives, Scrubs, Heroes and Grey's Anatomy.The easiest way to explain it is by watching this four minute piece of footage...

26 October 2007

Posted at 23:57h in apple, firefox, google, internet explorer, mozilla, operation by

Mozilla Firefox have released their latest marketing campaign; Operation: Firefox. The concept (like their strategy) is simple, develop a plan for where you would stick a giant one metre logo on display for the world. The top fifty plans are actually sent out the stickers and required to put them up as stated in their submission. In the end there will be fifty stickers on display somewhere around the world promoting Firefox, "infiltrating society one sticker at a time". For those of you, Firefox is a web browser that is quickly gaining popularity over Internet Explorer and other popular browsers. What I love about this concept is that it screams "Firefox" at me. The contest is creative, original and a little bit devious which are things I strongly associate with Mozilla. This should receive a fair bit of attention, not just from the stickers going up but from blogs like this one that I think will really carry it through. In fact, its the way in which this contest really plays to the brand loyalty of Firefox users, which I think people often overlook, that I love. When I say "brand loyalty" many people might think of big companies like Apple or Google, but Firefox users I believe are among the most passionate consumers of a brand. It is so strong, where as a Firefox user myself, I hate IE and I can't think of any other brand that has created such a negative relationship with its competitors. Every one I know who uses Firefox doesn't have a bad thing to say but what's more interesting is that they themselves promote it to their family and friends, acting as a credible opinion leader and testimonial to the brand. I know I have personally converted a few people. However the campaign falls down in a few areas. Firstly, the prizes which certainly could be made a little more attractive to potential entrants. Not overly important, but still I'd expect to see more from in a project that will hopefully be quite big. And secondly, the fact that you can only enter this if you're in countries with a Mozilla office, which is not my own and many others. The pros certainly outweigh the cons, but some things worth noticing. Another clever promotional strategy from the people over at Mozilla. Where would you stick your sticker? ...