19 May 2008

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.

Posted by Zac Martin

19 May 2008

I love Hamish and Andy. And so do many others according to their ratings and podcast ranking. In fact I can’t remember them falling outside the Top 3 Most Downloaded over the past year.

Over the last two weeks they’ve been in search of The People’s Chip. It started as a simple phone topic about Light ‘n’ Tangy Chips (Which came first: The flavour or the name?) and one caller said she used to work as a chip flavour scientist. This raised the question, could Hamish and Andy develop their own flavoured chip?

Smith’s jumped right on board. And for two weeks they’ve had a solid endorsement from a reliable and popular source. Even better, the idea originated from the consumer and even the selected flavour was the idea of a consumer. And so we have the invention of the Gravy Chip.

An excellent move by Smith’s with a campaign that wouldn’t have appeared in their marketing strategy a month ago.

Posted by Zac Martin

16 May 2008

Whilst Julian Cole, Simon Oboler and myself sat around discussing the recent increase in student bloggers, the conversation moved to website statistics. We jumped on each others Google Analytics and discovered something interesting.

Jules’ most popular post is Great Insight and Hot Women: JB’s Underwear Girls.

My top four most popular posts…

+ Public Flashing
+ “She’s A Slut And She Knows It”
+ Surfing Naked
+ Sexy Subliminal Logos

See the running theme yet? It’s a little disheartening to think my most popular posts are only so because the title has a sexual connotation.

Maybe, with a title like this, this post will skyrocket with pageviews?

Posted by Zac Martin

14 May 2008

Dear Joseph Jaffe,

If you can challenge Barack Obama to reply to a blog post of yours I don’t think its unreasonable for me to do the same thing to you.

On recent podcasts, you’ve been asking what have we, the listeners, have done for you lately. You asked us to recommend your podcast to friends, family and co workers assuming we had done nothing for you already.

Well the fact is we don’t owe you anything. Just like a consumer owes nothing to a brand. Even if you provide a weekly podcast for free, you can’t expect your customers to do anything for you. In fact, shouldn’t you be greatful you have our loyalty?

This is not to say I haven’t done anything for you. You appear on my blogroll, I’ve linked to you before and even recommended your podcast and blog to others. If you were to ignore that, aren’t I at least partly responsible for both your Apple iPhone and Dell Notebook which you received through sponsorship?

So Joseph, I challenge you to reply to this blog post and tell me why I owe you anything. In a time where consumers have never been so powerful, we could go one step further and ask, in the words of Eddie Murphy; What have you done for me lately?

Kind regards,

Zac Martin

Posted by Zac Martin

12 May 2008

Last post on the Logies, promise.

It’s not often that Youtube lets me down. But this time, I can’t find a single example of what I want to talk about so I’ll have to describe it the best I can.

Basically, when an award is announced the winner arrives on stage and makes a quick thank you speech. During this, they often hold their trophy and move their arm up and down, almost raising their prize above their head. This year, I noticed the TV Week logo cleverly placed on the bottom of each trophy whereas previously I cannot remember seeing it there.

This sneaky addition placed their logo on screen at least ten times more that night. A clever way to integrate your brand and get some screen time.

Too bad the logo is such an eye sore.

Posted by Zac Martin

08 May 2008

I’ve been having some issues with my bank lately. Which Bank? The one that’s Determined To Be Different; The Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

I discovered yesterday I’ve been charged fees for the last six months that I should be exempt from. I’ve been into my local bank numerous times, and while I’ve since rectified the problem so I don’t receive future fees, each time I’ve been told I cannot be refunded.

Today I called Commonwealth and spoke to a lovely man named Rod. Rod cared. We spoke for about twenty minutes and Rod told me he would happily refund the money. He also helped me change accounts and gave me some really useful advice.

Rod then gave me his direct number and asked me to call him in a week to close my current account, transfer my debit card details and make sure it all goes smoothly.

I will be giving him a call and after that conversation I’m going to ask him about the investment options they offer.

If only all Customer Service Officers could be more like Rod.

Posted by Zac Martin

07 May 2008

Julian Cole told me about The Gruen Transfer, a series about advertising soon to appear on ABC.

Looks really interesting, particularly after they’ve released some “commercials” for fake products promoting the show like this one…

 

 

Particularly on a channel that does not run TVCs, they seem to have gained a few bit of attention. Even more interestingly, during the Logies every time Andrew Denton was shown he was holding a beer. Turns out he is the show’s producer and I managed to capture some shots from the event…
Is that… Gruen beer?

 

For a brand that rarely advertises, the ABC does a fucking good job of marketing.

Posted by Zac Martin

05 May 2008

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?

Posted by Zac Martin

05 May 2008

…Not Chris Lilley. Some actress picked it up instead.

In what was an incredibly long event, filled with shameless plugs by Nine Network, the biggest disappointment in Australian television history occurred when Chris Lilley was denied the Gold Logie for Summer Height’s High.

Even Hamish and Andy, comedic gold, seemed to swing and miss tonight. Perhaps they need to stick with their powerhouse radio show? The highlight was, lo and behold, Chris Lilley’s Mr G performance. At least they recognised him (and good quality television) by awarding him the Most Popular Actor and Most Outstanding Comedy.

Can’t wait to see what he does next.

Posted by Zac Martin