03 July 2009

So this John Hartigan bloke, News Ltd CEO, had this to say in regards to the future of journalism…
“Then there are the bloggers. In return for their free content, we pretty much get what we’ve paid for – something of such limited intellectual value as to be barely discernible from massive ignorance.”
In his speech he then proceeded to point out sites like Crikey and Mumbrella as leeching off journalism in Australia.

You take out these two points and his speech might have had some decent ideas behind it. You’ll notice he didn’t mention anything about The Punch which, funnily enough, is owned by big bad News Ltd. He also failed to mention that a significant amount of their contributors are also bloggers.

This is the dinosaur you’ve selected to keep newspapers and journalism alive in Australia? Good luck with that.

Also, as I write for The Punch I’d just like to say the people running the site do a smashing job, and thankfully do not take the piss out of us bloggers.

Posted by Zac Martin

02 July 2009

This week, is Man Week. And I’ve been tagged by Gavin Heaton to write about it. However, like Stan Lee, I tend not to write about much personal stuff here unless I can tie it into marketing or blogging.

Which is convenient, because my post is about this blog.

I’m still a teenager. And as my amazingly dirty attempt at a beard would suggest I’m not even sure if I can use the word “man”. In fact on some levels I’m fairly immature and don’t even act my age at the most inappropriate of times. But the biggest change in my personally, as far as I can tell, is I’m no longer as quiet as I once was.

My childhood was normal. I don’t have an amazing story to tell. My parents separated before I could say the word marriage but I can’t complain about how I was raised. I was labelled a geek at school who sat at the top of every class academic wise, but not harshly done and it was even something I called myself. While the rest of the kids were busy talking in class, I was busy working.

And I think that made me quiet. I’d still talk and socialise of course, but no one would ever mistake me for “the loud one” in the class room.

But around Year 10, I decided to start being louder. Not neccessarily talking more, just putting myself out there, taking opportunities that came up and generally expressing myself when I wanted to.

I’m not sure why, but I do remember it being a conscious decision.

And it was fun.

And it taught me my opinions and thoughts are valid.

And to not work too hard.

I think over the past five years it’s continued to build, especially when I look at how much I’ve changed since, even still if you compared to my first week at Uni to now.

And one of the ways I’ve been able to do this, is with a blog.

I’ve always said starting this blog was one of the best things I ever did, and not just career wise. This is one of those “not just career wise” things.

It’s given me a platform to express myself and express my passion.

It’s let me be as loud as I want.

It’s gotten me thinking, writing and doing something I love.

And it’s been an important aspect in shaping me into the man I am today.

Posted by Zac Martin

29 June 2009

Here is a disappointing page. It’s the top sponsored channels on YouTube sorted by the most amount of subscribers of all time in Australia.

These brands must be paying for this privilege. I’ve been told they do receive banner ads as part of that package, but that’s about it. They’re pretty much normal accounts, ones that you or I could register.

But of all the brands who are sinking money into these channels, the most popular channel has just 1,300 subscribers. And it’s the Government.

I find it beyond disappointing that’s the best we can do, particularly with the budgets they would have been allocated. Where’s the ROI on that? Maybe they’d have been better off with a normal, free account.

Posted by Zac Martin

23 June 2009

Sorry to beat a dead horse here guys, but let’s have a quick chat about posting anonymously.

I honestly don’t mind if you do it. I’d prefer if you attached a link to somewhere I could contact you, and if not then even just a name, but I understand some of you just want to post anonymously for the sake of it. I’m sure you’ve realised by now I actually relish abusive comments. And that’s okay, if posting anonymously let’s lets you say something you wouldn’t normally say otherwise then go nuts.

But please, don’t give me personal branding advice if you’re going to do it anonymously. That is where I draw the line.

Posted by Zac Martin

21 June 2009

Joseph Jaffe just wrote a post saying every time your brand is mentioned on a blog you need to respond. But he’s wrong. And I reckon Adam Ferrier might even be onto something when he said brands should just leave consumers alone.

Just because someone mentions your brand name, it doesn’t mean you have to go in and “engage”. Just because someone says something about jeans on Twitter, it doesn’t mean you have to follow them if you’re Levi. And just because someone mentions something remotely related to your product, it doesn’t mean you have to comment on my blog.

This is called spam. And if you do it on this blog I have no problem tearing you to shreds.

I’m all for monitoring the social media environment. But when it comes to responding, don’t do it all the time. Only do it when you can provide value. If it’s relevant, and you can answer a question, point someone in the right direction or even give them something free or discounted, then you may respond.

And if you want to see somebody doing social media response well, the Body Shop is a good place to start. Joseph and Adam, I give you both permission to respond if you please.

Posted by Zac Martin

19 June 2009

A few weeks ago Mumbrella launched their first sister site, Thumbrella. And in what can only be described as extreme procrastination during an exam period, I give you their next launch…

What started as an innocent conversation between myself and Kate Kendall about possible brand extensions, it saw me get home and created this. It quickly turned into a little experiment (and time killer) where I sneakily seeded it on a few blogs under the name of Fake Tim Burrowes. The goal was to determine how long it would take to surface, how much buzz I could create and how long until it appeared on Mumbrella.

Just hours after seeding, a comment appeared on Twitter from one blogger. At this stage just two of the dozen blogs it was seeded on had said something outside of their blog with a couple of others responding with comments. Less than 24 hours after the first seed, Tim posted about it.

It was merely intended as some fun. I don’t think it was deceptive or non transparent. Now I must go study (rote learn) for my exam in two hours.

Posted by Zac Martin

17 June 2009

The editorial team here at Pigs Don’t Fly have been having some serious discussions of late. So serious in fact, one member stated they “could no longer work in such an environment” and as such resigned from the writing team. Another is currently sitting in an emergency ward after one conversation turned physical.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this blog lately, especially regarding the topic of content, being a joker, sensationalism and starting fires. So I’m sorry peeps if I’ve been blogging about blogging on this blog a lot lately, but unfortunately there’s still a few posts left to write.

I haven’t written about my blogging hero in a while, Seth Godin. But in one of his latest posts he suggests doing what you want and what you’re passionate about, even if it’s at the cost of your audience. I love this concept of “Who?”, not “How many?”. With that said, I realise some of this controversy does brings in big numbers, but I also realise I’m losing some in the process.

So based on that, let’s get something clear; this is my blog. Therefore it goes by my rules. If I want to rant, write a disgustingly rude letter to your brand, be an asshole to you or drop the f bomb; I can. This is my wonderland to express my opinion, and if you don’t like it then too bad. This is the internet, I’m sure there’s something out there for you to read. Although I must admit I do secretly love when people abusively comment at me. A post on this topic coming soon.

Sometimes I honestly don’t want to add value to a conversation. Why can’t I just write something for the sake of it? I think I’ve slowly realised that as I get more passionate about my writing, one of the things I want readers of this blog to get out of it is entertainment. Yes, I would love to be pumping out thought provoking content all the time, but I can’t consistently do that. I want my readers to love reading this blog and sometimes that means having fun with what I write and how I write it.

Don’t get me wrong, which I know most of you will. I still want credibility and I still want to start conversations and participate in them. But I think sometimes people need to realise there’s entertainment behind this content as well which isn’t always conversation starting, but fire starting.

Posted by Zac Martin

14 June 2009

Perhaps one of my favourite campaigns so far this year is Tooheys Extra Dry’s Six Beers of Separation. You couldn’t really call it a social media campaign, but they did the standard, “Let’s put it up on YouTube and MySpace”.

I really really dug this campaign. I almost applied to myself because I thought it was such a great idea, however what really surprised me was the quality of the execution. There’s almost a few hours of content up online, and I loved every second of it.

But the problem is, with the exception of the trailer, the most viewed video on the YouTube channel has just over 1,000 views. It’s not much, and I’m sure the client will not be happy with this result. I’m almost annoyed that such quality content hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves, even with all the print and outdoor ads I’ve seen around Melbourne.

Luckily, this once off broadcast will also be playing on pay television in Australia, which will hopefully satisfy the marketers are Tooheys. But is this is just another example of how social media is unable to stand on its feet by itself? I’d suggest that at least at the moment, social media needs to be integrated with the rest of your strategy if you want traditional type results.

Posted by Zac Martin

12 June 2009

For those of you who have been following this blog for a couple of months or longer would know I’m a Joker who likes starting fires.

Which is the approach I took in a recent posting in an open letter to the editor of B&T Magazine. Many of your criticised said approach and I think the comments that resulted are probably more interesting than the post itself.

But let’s take a look at the outcome…

+ The post received 33 comments, the most I’ve ever received.
+ My blog received the most hits it’s ever had in one day yesterday.
+ My RSS Feed hit an all time high.
+ And perhaps most importantly, B&T made a change with more changes to come.

This is a good outcome, no? Would it have been the same had I’d taken a less controversial approach? Maybe. Maybe not.

I bag the shit out of traditional media all the time. But sometimes the results are amazing. So even if you bag the shit out of the approach I took the other day, stop and think about the outcome, which I believe speaks for itself.

Posted by Zac Martin

10 June 2009

I recently hit double digits for the number of times I’ve donated blood. And I’m only 19. I am very passionate about blood donating. In fact, I probably hate you a little bit if you don’t donate regularly.

That’s why I’m pimping out World Blood Donor Day and this campaign by Naked Comms…

 

 

Full disclosure says I’ve just finished up an Internship there but that’s not why I’m promoting this campaign. What I found interesting was how the video was submitted under the username, sammygee33.

For me, it raised the question of who should be submitting content on YouTube? Should it be under the brand’s name? The agency’s name? Or perhaps a third party?

Or does it all depend on what will get the most views? If the brand doesn’t have an existing channel, for example in this case, is it worth developing a username for World Blood Donor Day? What implications does this have long term?

This is more so one of those posts that just raises heaps of questions that I’d like you to answer. Let’s see if we can start a conversation without me being a controversial little shit.

Posted by Zac Martin