16 July 2008

Posted at 00:50h in blogging, brands, murky coffee by

Small time blogger Jeff Simmermon posted about his experience at a coffee store.The passionate owner has very strict policy on the quality of his coffee and would note serve the customer an expresso on ice. Boing Boing and Metafilter picked up the story and the original post soon had over 200 comments. Shortly after, the owner of the coffee store replied. Note the use of "Fuck you, Jeff" and "If you ever show your face at my shop, I'll punch you in your dick." I don't think there are many brands that could get away with this kind of behaviour. I know my bank couldn't. Neither could my university. But personally, I feel this coffee shop does it and does it well. They may have lost Jeff but they just gained me. Contracting the size of your market doesn't seem logical. But when you focus entirely on loyal customers and brand evangelists, you can guarantee they will repeat purchase. More often than the guy who just stopped by for a coffee on ice anyway. Great use of a small business blog too....

11 July 2008

Posted at 18:57h in brand dna, marketing magazine, stan lee, stanley johnson by

Imagine my surprise when I'm lying in bed on a cold rainy night, flicking through July's edition of Marketing Magazine to see my name appear in print. Alongside social media extraordinaire and good friend Julian Cole, Stanley Johnson throws a casual mention my way in The Youth of Today: Digitally Lethargic?, part of his Around the Blogosphere column. It might not seem like much, especially to blog about, but as I read it, a light in my head clicked on and I realised this is the career and life I want. Interestingly, Stan later goes on to talk about a remarkable attempt by a graduate to get a job. I too am currently planning and implementing an idea that will get me a position at an advertising agency. I doubt it will spread like Sam's, but it will get me noticed. And within two months, I will be working at Leo Burnett Melbourne. So cheers Stan, I think I owe you a beer or twelve. ...

10 July 2008

Posted at 21:47h in google, ninemsn, search engine by

In an attempt to gain market share by Ninemsn over the almighty Google in the search engine market, the Secret Search campaign has been implemented. Every time you make a search you have a chance to win a prize. They range from juggling balls to cash to notebooks. It will work. Over the next three weeks I think they will see substantial increases in their section of the pie chart. But then the campaign will end and everyone one (myself included) will change their homepage back to Google....

02 July 2008

Posted at 15:39h in blogspot, communication, generation y, new media, rss, social media, trends, youtube by

I'm normally fairly good with people's birthday yet I missed a friend's yesterday. I only discovered it today when I opened my diary and realised the reason I forgot is because she doesn't have a Facebook account. I've come to rely on this tool but also many other aspects of social media. It hasn't just given me more channels to communicate but has now become a main source of information and entertainment. The way I contact people and stay in touch with them has changed with Facebook. The way I watch my favourite television shows has changed with YouTube, which has also opened up infinite hours of UGC. Similarly, the radio is streamed via podcasts. The daily read of a newspaper has changed with my RSS Subscriptions where I choose what I want to read. Interestingly, these changes are all free. No wonder Generation Y is so reliant on social media....

30 June 2008

Posted at 14:29h in apple, blogging, character blog, forgetting sarah marshall, steve jobs, the office by

Character blogs just don't work. At the start of the year a character blog was established to launch a movie. It was a great way to generate a little buzz, especially around the blogosphere. I'm sure they even picked up a few regular readers and maybe a couple of RSS subscriptions. But it hasn't been touched since April. Movie launches have a lifetime of only a couple of months but blogs carry a long tail. You can't launch a blog and build up an audience to abruptly stop. Blogging and short term strategy just don't go together. Sure they might put out another post when the DVD is released but their small (but passionate) community will be long dead by then. Fictional television characters might have it a little eaiser. Dwight Schrute from The Office has his own blog which is immensely popular. But take a look back a few months ago and you will see a massive gap during the Writers Guild of America Strike. You need to pay a writer to maintain a character blog which can't always be done. So when do they work? When done in parody and non commercially. The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs blog is a great example where Daniel Lyons maintained a successful blog for several years until he was revealed in August 2007. He still posts daily under the character and it is as successful as ever. Marketers shouldn't be using fake blogs for more reasons than just transparency issues. Unless anyone can prove me wrong with an example?...

17 June 2008

Posted at 19:40h in facebook, gen y marketing podcast, generation y, jaffe juice, mitch joel, podcast, six pixels of separation by

Many of the podcasts I listen to on a regular basis have Facebook groups. Ones that immediately come to mind are Six Pixels of Separation, Jaffe Juice and Gen Y Marketing Podcast. But what is the point? The groups all seem dead. Julian Cole says they can be used to promote podcast episodes but I can't help but feel members of this group would already be subscribed. Similarly, these podcasts usually start or end with the same spiel in each episode. As regular listeners, surely we already know where to find you, how to contact you and have checked out the blog? This valuable content time and energy is wasted on a few potential new listeners. It seems like an incredibly outdated approach and almost mass media like. Why waste time preaching to the choir?...