19 July 2010

As I’ve said before, Facebook can continue to push users around with design changes and even privacy and get away with it. My opinion is that if you don’t like it, don’t use it. However they’re in one of those unique situations where they have such a critical mass and consumer investment that no one is going anywhere fast. This is why they’ll last far longer than MySpace.

However, the people you can’t push around are the advertisers, those that fund the social network.

Facebook recently decided to make some significant changes to official page structures, and were fortunately forced to revoke them immediately due to backlash. And at some point in the indeterminable future, they’re going to adjust the width of tabs. Nearly every brand will be caught out, and the agencies will be forced to fix them on their on dollar.

While Facebook is happy to deal with those willing to spend some solid dosh, everyone caught in between aren’t getting the love. And they may just think about asking their clients to invest elsewhere.

Posted by Zac Martin

09 July 2010

Regrettably, once again this blog turns into some kind of sharing of advice or knowledge that I’ve acquired recently from my life in the adland.

Chokito is a chocolate bar. Naturally I despise it because Cadbury Boost is a client of mine.

But if you were to jump into the DeLorean, travel back in time a week and look at their Facebook page, you would notice the name of the page was Chokito says No No No. However if you take a look now, it is simply Chokito.

This is interesting because changing the name of a page is not something Facebook do.

Unless of course, which is what I’m slowing learning, you’re spending money. By investing in a shit load of media on Facebook, you can get away with much more.

So use it to your advantage.

Posted by Zac Martin

26 June 2010

Here’s a slide from a marketing unit I took this semester. You’ll have to ignore the death by PowerPoint.

I’m sure you’ve seen similar statistics before. Generally taken from the Fortune 500 or similar, a survey that demonstrates how poorly senior management consider marketing. At least that’s how it’s explained in lectures.

But that’s not right. If these managers are running the most successful businesses in the world, why is there an assumption they’re wrong? One would think they’re doing a pretty damn good job as it is.

Maybe that’s exactly where marketing should be.

Posted by Zac Martin

18 June 2010

In my last post I blamed universities for creating bad clients. But maybe I could blame the industry.

When I started my undergraduate degree at the tender age of seventeen, I had no idea what marketing was. Neither did any of my mates. We were all under the impression that marketing was advertising, and I’m sure many would argue this perception often doesn’t change, even after you graduate.

Our dream of working on ads was soon crushed by crippling numbers and boring accounting lectures. But maybe the reason we have bad clients is not because of the way marketing is taught. Instead perhaps all marketers inherently want to be advertisers, a misconceived possibility pushed upon them before OWeek due to ignorance.

Is the marketing industry not marketing itself appropriately to high school students?

Posted by Zac Martin

10 June 2010

In at least two of my units throughout my marketing degree I’ve been asked to develop a marketing plan as a piece of major assessment. This degree, for the most part, and particularly these units, is designed to teach people how to be marketers. Or as I prefer to call them; clients.

But in both cases, the assessment involved putting together a campaign. Any assignment that said, “We’ll get our advertising agency to develop and build a creative strategy” would have failed, Instead, students were required to develop creative (as the client), and in most cases without any kind of strategy.

Coming from the arrogant advertising side, is this not giving students the wrong idea of how things work?

Do these students go on to become that client who gets way too involved with the creative? Or comes up with an idea early on and pushes it from the start? Or perhaps they’ll simply be unwilling to pay for strategy because they’ve never heard of it before?

Anyway, I think the way marketing is taught is the reason to blame for poor client behavior. Ironically, the poor campaign that results is usually blamed on the agency.

And on a side note, I wonder if media peeps have similar feelings.

Posted by Zac Martin

07 June 2010

Brands are quickly jumping on Facebook in massed. And most of them are putting a some money behind media and these pages to build strategy, content and a well managed community.

Sooner or later though, there’ll be too many brands on Facebook. There’s only so much room in one’s consideration set for brands they’ll follow on Facebook, before they say no more.

The quality of content, freebies that are given away and innovation will make a difference. So will the degree of how rad your brand is (banks and life insurance companies might struggle). Above all, I imagine given how lazy consumers tend to be, it will be survival of fastest. Those brands that get in early will probably succeed simply because people can’t be bothered deleting them.

Posted by Zac Martin

01 June 2010

YouTube recently turned five. This is their story…

Maybe it’s just the super geek inside me, but watching that video sends shivers down my back. It’s hard to explain, but I think it makes me kind of proud. Not just to watch it, but to know I’ve been a part it (albeit in a very small manner).

There’s a couple of great videos from ROFLCon 2010 that got me thinking about this. Specifically the quote, “We may be on the forefront of Internet culture becoming the most dominent culture in the world” by Ben Huh, founder of I Can Has Cheezburger?.

When I think about the language, the symbols and even the values I use every single day, Internet culture is perhaps the most prevalent in my life. On any other day, I might even go as far as to say it’s my religion.

Posted by Zac Martin

26 May 2010

Okay, the last of my #firstworldrants. For a while.

If someone writes a post about you or flames you in a comment, don’t reply. Don’t add fuel to the fire in an attempt to explain yourself or start an argument.

It’s like playing in a game of women’s hockey. You might win, but at the end of the day you’re not really a winner, are you?

It doesn’t look good.

If you can’t post your response in a witty comment that is no more than two sentences, don’t do it. Write a response on your own blog sure, but don’t be a woman who plays hockey for anything more than fun.

Posted by Zac Martin

24 May 2010

For fuck’s sake, stop commenting under a fake name.

I don’t mean here. You can be anonymous all you like here.

I mean on trade press websites. If you’re from the agency or the client the article is about, the general rule should be not to comment. And if you do, do it under your real name with a link back to your blog/twitter account/email address.

Even if for no other reason than the fact most of these blogs track IP addresses on comments. And you look like a jerk face when you get caught.

#firstworldrants

Posted by Zac Martin

21 May 2010

Unless you have a really fucking good idea, you’re a band or you’re targeting prepubescent emo tweens, do not set up a MySpace page.

It’s a waste of time and money, and it tells the consumer you have no idea what you’re doing.

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s worse than setting up a Facebook Page for the sake of it. Or a Twitter account because everyone else is.

#firstworldrants

Posted by Zac Martin