30 December 2009

I shop at Woolworths. And I will always shop at Woolworths. It’s not that I have a logical reason to although I’d guess it’s because my Dad did his weekly shop at Woolworths while I was growing up.

And I never plan to step foot into a Coles store, not even for specials. Assuming I always live in an area where there’s a Woolworths close by, I’m a life long customer of the Fresh Food People.

So Coles, I’m giving you the heads up right now that any marketing dollars you spend on me over the next 50 years are wasted. But with your junk mail drops and interruptive traditional media spend, you continue flush money down the drain. Shame.

Posted by Zac Martin

27 December 2009

I’m sure you’re all familiar with the story of the guy who tried to pay his phone bill with a picture of a spider. It quickly went viral and if you suss out the rest of David Thorne’s page, you’ll find much more hilarious content. He was also the same guy behind this McDonald’s hoax letter.

Personally I find his work pretty damn hilarious. The emails back and forth are no more harmful than the prank calls we hear every day on radio, although I’m not sure where the line is when it comes to pretending to be a brand. I’m certain the Brand Manager had a blast the day that letter went viral.

I bring this up because of David’s latest email exchange; hilarity ensues. The interesting thing about this however, is that Simon’s Twitter account was quickly discovered. Needless to say, Simon received a fair amount of abuse, most of which was anonymous. Simon then took it upon himself to respond to blog posts, comments and even write a post of his own. And while it probably wasn’t David’s intention to have Simon’s personal account identified, suddenly this “harmless” prank became somewhat more serious. Simon’s online persona and his offline world very quickly collided, and much more became at stake.

I think we’re going to see this happen more often, definitely something to be cautious about.

Also, how good is the title of this post?

Posted by Zac Martin

20 December 2009

Question; do you favourite tweets?

If so, why? Personally I tend to favourite a tweet that I want to save for later use. It might have a link or something of interest that I don’t have time to look at, or it’s on my iPhone and want to check it out when I get home.

I don’t believe it is used as a recognition tool or similar to the way you mike ‘Like’ someone’s status on Facebook, but rather a book marking tool. I’m told there are websites where you check out who has favourited which of your tweets, but being unofficial I can’t really see that being its purpose.

What do you favourite and why do you do it?

Posted by Zac Martin

16 December 2009

I’ve always found it interesting the degree to which marketing bloggers and people on Twitter promote the campaigns they’re working on.

I guess I’ve kind of come to expect it simply given the industry they work in. And I’m certain this is not a new concept, only replacing a group email to family and friends to give a campaign a bit of a kick start.

But it does raise some questions about honesty and transparency. Especially when it goes beyond blogs and Twitter and into much more personal networks like Facebook. As a marketer or an advertiser, should I be pumping my work through something like a status update, even more so when it doesn’t look like “work”?

I’ve been thinking about it because over the next few months I’ll be using a lot of my social networks to get people to Vote for Zac and Cookies ‘n’ Cream as the next SupaShake flavour. As you can see I’ve put a banner to your right and I’ll be promoting it quite heavily through Twitter and Facebook until February.

I think it’s a bit different because this is somewhat of a competition not just a campaign I’m running, but still raises some questions. One of them may be, how many of you will get tired of me talking about it over the next few months?

Posted by Zac Martin

14 December 2009

When you’re sitting behind a computer screen, you can be anyone you want; yourself, a character, an unintentional character or no one. It’s why there’s so many problems with the Anonymous. I tend to find the person behind a blog just as interesting at times as the content. That’s why when it comes to writing this blog I try to ensure the online me is as close as possible to the offline me.

I was speaking to a friend recently who said she had finally gotten around to meeting a blogger she been reading for a long time. Unfortunately, the person she met was not the person she’d come to know online over the past few years. The personalities were very different.

I’d like to think I’m fairly true to myself here, although I don’t think I’m as arrogant in real life. I’m much more “average” when I’m kicking it offline.

But it’s an interesting area. Does it matter that the person behind a blog, Twitter account or even a YouTube channel is hiding behind a character? Or is it preferable that they be who they want? Or is acting as someone else not an issue at all?

I think it will increasingly raise issues as more and more of the online world converges with the offline at events and social outings like New Media Beers (Friday 29th Jan, 7.00pm, The Cabinet, 11 Rainbow Alley #NMBMelb).

Posted by Zac Martin

10 December 2009

I can’t believe I’m going to do this but I’d like to give out some advice; just ask.

If you want something or need something, I’ve come to realise there’s no harm in just asking occasionally. I’ve blogged about how I use Twitter for that exact reason and it even worked for my internship (more deets on this soon).

Next year I’ll be stepping in as President of the La Trobe University Hockey Club. Part of our long term strategy is to build new grounds on the Bundoora campus. A sub committee has spent 18 months putting together a business case and is now looking to make it happen.

To get support from local members of parliament, we just asked.

To get media coverage from local newsapaper editors, we just asked.

And to fund the $3.7 million, we’ll just be asking.

I think you’ll be surprised at how often people are willing to help. And if there’s anything I can do for you, just ask.

Posted by Zac Martin

08 December 2009

Two questions for you…

In a time where iPhones and Blackberries run amok, do phone numbers in commercials like 1800 INTERNET or 13 PIZZA become irrelevant?

And on a completely different topic, if I can write a blog post in 140 characters or less, such as the one above, should I just post it on Twitter instead?

Posted by Zac Martin

05 December 2009

I find it incredibly hard to get the tone of what I’m writing right.

And it became even harder the other day when someone told me they weren’t a fan of the font this blog was written in. I think they compared it to writing a love letter in crayon. The content might be there, but it loses its power because of the font it’s written in.

I suppose it makes sense, everything on this blog from the layout, my picture, the header and even to the font its written in all adds to its personality. But does it change the way you read it?

Have you considered what font you write in, and perhaps less importantly, should I change mine?

Posted by Zac Martin

28 November 2009

In August this year I stumbled upon a contest called Bob’s Got No Idea. The brand behind the campaign was yet to be revealed and entrants were asked to submit an essay or video demonstrating some sort of creativity about advertising.

I initially dismissed it but at the last minute (reflecting back, somewhat gladly) decided to enter with this submission…

 

 

This put me through to the next round where a group session would take place in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. The morning consisted of some creative activities with a panel interview that afternoon. Here it was revealed to us that the brand was SupaShake, a milk drink you shake to make thicker. Three people were to be selected from around the country to become Flavour Crusaders, who would each be assigned a new flavour. Each Crusader would have to develop the strategy, creative and execution for a campaign to drive consumers to a website to vote on their favourite flavour and their favourite Crusader.

The flavour with the most votes would be put into production and the Crusader with the most votes would receive an additional $10,000 worth of prizes.

A few weeks later I got the call. I was one of three Flavour Crusaders selected. I pocketed $6,300 prize money, a new video camera and an amazing opportunity to head up a campaign for SupaShake.

Over the midsemester break I was put up in a hotel in Melbourne for what at that stage I only knew was a workshop. Tegan from Queensland and Andrew from Western Australia were also flown down where we were introduced to the Morph Marketing crew, the guys that would be helping us along the way.

The weeks consisted of an introduction to the industry, meeting some peeps from Clemenger BBDO and OMD, the development of a strategy, creativity and execution. On the Friday morning, we pitched to the client and the other heads at Fonterra.

Since then, I’ve been working with the client’s feedback, changing the campaign around, developing new ideas and finally, as of only a few weeks ago, settled on a campaign. The launch of the campaign is today. And the campaign is…

Zac won’t stop until Cookies ‘n’ Cream is on top.

As for what I’ve got planned, well I’m sure I’ll keep you updated over the next few months. Luckily for me, the launch is in Surfer’s Paradise on the Gold Coast for schoolies, so I’m heading up there for a week to kick things off.

And it goes without saying, I’d love for you to vote for me.

Posted by Zac Martin

23 November 2009

Welcome to the 2009 Australian Marketing Trade Press Awards.

As you’ve no doubt noticed, with the new year approaching trade press publications go crazy with their annual awards. Which isn’t surprising really given this is an industry that places such importance on self recognition. Is it just me or does the whole concept of nominating yourself for an award seem odd? Or more so that you have to pay for it? But before I turn this into a rant about weirdly shaped trophies and unnecessary flight carbon emissions, I ask you; who will award the awarders? Said publications will recognise the best in the industry throughout 2009 in a multitude of categories, but none of which are Best in Trade Press.

So with the little credibility I have, let the awards begin…

 

In third place, we have AdNews. A close call between Campaign Brief, which honestly I only read for the anonymous comments, and B&T, who I’m still not sure why exactly I read. I think it might be Inga Van Kyck’s half page ramblings in each edition but unfortunately it’s not enough to overcome the few issues I have with their magazine. Which of course leaves AdNews, who provide the serious news I probably won’t have to worry about for a few years, but still find interesting… sometimes. Although they’re the only magazine I haven’t seen my name in yet, for 2009 they take out third. Congratulations AdNews!

In second place, we have Marketing Magazine. The growth of its thriving online community provides some unique content, even if sometimes some articles sound a lot like a media releases. For some reason I was invited to write for them this year, which of course wins them some non objective votes. Plus the magazine’s not bad either and for 2009 they take out second. Congratulations Marketing Magazine!

In first place, we have Mumbrella. Headed up by a man who lives in tees he buys off the internet, Mumbrella had a big first year. With its news, opinions, video content, job board, podcast and a host with a funny accent; you can’t really go wrong. Mumbles has been more than kind to me this year, although did confuse me as someone who lived in Sydney, almost losing him this award. A top read that covers just about everything, including some witty comments from time to time and for 2009 they take out first. Congratulations Mumbrella!

You will all receive your invoices in the mail before Friday.

Posted by Zac Martin