28 September 2008

Posted at 21:51h in facebook, google by

I love when brands show a fun side. Google does it a lot. Not only does it humanise them, but I think it shows the people who work for them are passionate. Here's one I recently discovered...

29 August 2008

Posted at 12:31h in banner ads, facebook, social media, social networks, spam, switched on media by

Using banner ads is not social media marketing. They are simply a traditional, interruption media attempting to use a old practise that doesn't work in this new space on the Interwebs. The only factor that makes them better than spam for enlarging my penis is how they can be somewhat targeted on social networking sites like Facebook. So when I state on my page I am a fan of Arrested Development, I receive ads selling Arrested Development tees. Unfortunately technology is not at a place to realise I would never wear an Arrested Development tee, even if I love the show. So when Switched on Media describes social media as using banner ads, I'm going to have to call them out. If you truly practised social media, then you'll respond to this post and we can work on your strategy, or at least redefine that page to not include the words "social media"....

09 August 2008

Posted at 14:16h in facebook, friends by

Further to my previous post on our reliance on social media, I conducted a small experiment of my own. Changing my birthday on Facebook to yesterday instead of September 9th, I was surprised at how many people gave me birthday wishes, on both Facebook and in person. Not only were these just my friends, but my Friends too. Of all my friends and Friends, only a few questioned the date. Would things have been different a few years ago?...

23 July 2008

Posted at 22:47h in dr horrible, facebook, itunes, joss whedon, sing-along blog, television by

If you haven't seen Dr Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, it's too late. And that's the reason you will buy it from iTunes or on DVD. During the Writer's Guild of America Strike, writer and director Joss Whedon developed this mini series. It was to be low budget and circumvent the issues of the strike but professionally done. Three weeks ago the first fifteen minutes were uploaded. A week later the next fifteen and last week the concluding fifteen were aired. It was free to view with no advertising or sponsorship on the website what so ever. On Sunday night it was taken down where it is now exclusively on iTunes (for a price) and soon to be on DVD. The buzz it generated was amazing. There are no statistics on the website hits, but the Facebook fan page has more than 43,000 fans. And in under a month, that is more than remarkable. I know I'll be buying it on DVD (apparently the Audio Commentary will be a musical in itself). You should too. Much like the music industry and soon to be the publishing industry, the middle man was cut out. And while they haven't made a cent yet, I expect the profits will be high. Is this the future of television?...

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?...

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....

05 May 2008

Posted at 21:13h in facebook, google, lexicon, trends by

I find tools like Google Trends and the recently launched Facebook Lexicon interesting. They're cool for a about twenty seconds while you run some quick searches but I have to wonder how useful they are? Sure, it tells you how much buzz is being generated around your keyword search but you can't tell if it's good or bad. There's no context what so ever around the results therefore making these tools rather useless. Unless someone can think of a practical application for them?...