24 May 2008

Posted at 00:06h in education, monash, school, university by

I recently contacted one of my University's newspapers to see if they would be interested in running a story on the increase and potential of student blogging. They basically turned me down stating that the views of our blogs did not necessarily reflect those of Monash University. And it's probably posts like this one they don't appreciate. What is the fundamental purpose of University? I mean if you ignore the partying and drinking its core role is to educate, right? Well not really. You attend to be graded and ranked. Much like the rest of the flawed education system, it is based on providing the highest achievers with the best results and differentiating these students from everyone else. Likewise on the opposite where the lowest achieves recieve the poorest grades. Sounds fair enough doesn't it? Hmm. Many of my lecturers will not put up lecture slides on the Interweb. Some refuse to record these lecture with audio or video for later access. Why? Because they want people to attend lectures. And the point of that? To differentiate those who receive HD's, D's, C's, P's and of course F's. In one case a lecturer refused to answer a question of mine because it would give me an advantage over others. As she said this I asked myself, what purpose does that serve? You are hindering my education not encouraging it like you should. It's not her fault that she is forced to make the students compete but the system's. I'm not saying I have any solutions and I'm not saying the current system doesn't work. But it is flawed and just imagine how effective it could be if it's sole purpose was to educate....

21 May 2008

Posted at 19:47h in julian cole, marketing today, peter wagstaff, ricke clarke, simon oboler by

I have taken the next step in establishing my personal brand and appeared on my first podcast. I encourage you all to check out Peter Wagstaff's Marketing Today, Episode #61. Peter Wagstaff, Julian Cole, Simon Oboler, Rick Clarke and myself discuss the potential of student blogging. I guess, much like blogging, your podcasting ability gets better with practice....

19 May 2008

Posted at 20:35h in andrew ranger, connex, facebook, government by

I don't know who Andrew Ranger is but any brand looking to launch themselves on social media could learn a lot from him. He is the person behind Formal Protest Fair Evasion Day (1,394 Members) and I Will Party On Parliament House Steps In Protest Against The 2am Curfew (9,090 Members), two of the biggest buzz generators on Facebook of late. Once again social media proves just how powerful an individual can be and how their influence can significantly impact a brand....

19 May 2008

Posted at 18:51h in andy lee, hamish blake, smith's by

I love Hamish and Andy. And so do many others according to their ratings and podcast ranking. In fact I can't remember them falling outside the Top 3 Most Downloaded over the past year. Over the last two weeks they've been in search of The People's Chip. It started as a simple phone topic about Light 'n' Tangy Chips (Which came first: The flavour or the name?) and one caller said she used to work as a chip flavour scientist. This raised the question, could Hamish and Andy develop their own flavoured chip? Smith's jumped right on board. And for two weeks they've had a solid endorsement from a reliable and popular source. Even better, the idea originated from the consumer and even the selected flavour was the idea of a consumer. And so we have the invention of the Gravy Chip. An excellent move by Smith's with a campaign that wouldn't have appeared in their marketing strategy a month ago....

16 May 2008

Posted at 21:26h in analytics, google, julian cole, simon oboler by

Whilst Julian Cole, Simon Oboler and myself sat around discussing the recent increase in student bloggers, the conversation moved to website statistics. We jumped on each others Google Analytics and discovered something interesting. Jules' most popular post is Great Insight and Hot Women: JB's Underwear Girls. My top four most popular posts...

14 May 2008

Posted at 18:18h in apple, barack obama, dell, eddie murphy, iphone, ipod, jaffe juice, joseph jaffe, notebook by

Dear Joseph Jaffe, If you can challenge Barack Obama to reply to a blog post of yours I don't think its unreasonable for me to do the same thing to you. On recent podcasts, you've been asking what have we, the listeners, have done for you lately. You asked us to recommend your podcast to friends, family and co workers assuming we had done nothing for you already. Well the fact is we don't owe you anything. Just like a consumer owes nothing to a brand. Even if you provide a weekly podcast for free, you can't expect your customers to do anything for you. In fact, shouldn't you be greatful you have our loyalty? This is not to say I haven't done anything for you. You appear on my blogroll, I've linked to you before and even recommended your podcast and blog to others. If you were to ignore that, aren't I at least partly responsible for both your Apple iPhone and Dell Notebook which you received through sponsorship? So Joseph, I challenge you to reply to this blog post and tell me why I owe you anything. In a time where consumers have never been so powerful, we could go one step further and ask, in the words of Eddie Murphy; What have you done for me lately? Kind regards, Zac Martin...

12 May 2008

Posted at 20:27h in logies, tv week, youtube by

Last post on the Logies, promise. It's not often that Youtube lets me down. But this time, I can't find a single example of what I want to talk about so I'll have to describe it the best I can. Basically, when an award is announced the winner arrives on stage and makes a quick thank you speech. During this, they often hold their trophy and move their arm up and down, almost raising their prize above their head. This year, I noticed the TV Week logo cleverly placed on the bottom of each trophy whereas previously I cannot remember seeing it there. This sneaky addition placed their logo on screen at least ten times more that night. A clever way to integrate your brand and get some screen time. Too bad the logo is such an eye sore. ...

08 May 2008

Posted at 18:35h in cba, commonwealth by

I've been having some issues with my bank lately. Which Bank? The one that's Determined To Be Different; The Commonwealth Bank of Australia. I discovered yesterday I've been charged fees for the last six months that I should be exempt from. I've been into my local bank numerous times, and while I've since rectified the problem so I don't receive future fees, each time I've been told I cannot be refunded. Today I called Commonwealth and spoke to a lovely man named Rod. Rod cared. We spoke for about twenty minutes and Rod told me he would happily refund the money. He also helped me change accounts and gave me some really useful advice. Rod then gave me his direct number and asked me to call him in a week to close my current account, transfer my debit card details and make sure it all goes smoothly. I will be giving him a call and after that conversation I'm going to ask him about the investment options they offer. If only all Customer Service Officers could be more like Rod....