It seems to blog about marketing means you have to make some occasional prediction, usually about a future trend. I don’t have much to offer today but here is a small insight of mine.
will be replaced by 
while 
will be replaced by 
.
And we can only hope that the use of 
is made illegal.
Start back to back and on the count of three jump and turn around posing in one of three stances. The first is Bear with your hands above your head and fingers curled like claws. The second is Hunter with your hands in front like you’re holding a shotgun. The third is Ninja with your hands flat in front of you in a Karate like stance.
Bear eats Ninja. Ninja kills Hunter. Hunter shoots Bear.
Relation to marketing? I’m not too sure but it is fun. Oh wait, here it is in a commerical, a lucky save by FedEx…
Age calls it the worst ad ever. Personally, I find Cabury’s latest A Glass And A Half Full Production… interesting. Here it is in case you missed it…
Something that I find really impressive is the website. Not only does it have one of the best designs I’ve seen in a while, but Cadbury has been really impressive with their recognition of user generated content. Two things stand out; Firstly, the official website has links in the Studio section to some of the mash ups from the original. A risky move but an innovative one. Secondly, if you get into the Vault (password is “welcome” for the lazy among us) there are a number of extended clips from the ad. What do you do with these? You make mashups.
At first I thought this would be much harder to mashup than the original, I mean recording music over the top of Queen isn’t really that creative. But already I’ve found a great one and now I can’t wait to see what else is out there.
A brilliant example where the brand a recognising the work of its consumers.
I’m not sure if this concept exists outside Australian culture but it certainly plays on the strong sense of mateship, even for those you don’t know.
Now just imagine a brand could do something similar. Create an action, embed it into a culture and create a direct link to your brand that will last for years. The closest example I can think of is the “Oh What A Feeling” Toyota Jump.
It’s not quite the same thing but here’s something someone pointed out to me regarding the Virgin logo.
I am a big fan of PayPal simply because I do not own a credit card (I know all Marketers are evil!). PayPal now has over 150 million accounts world wide, so why don’t all online stores adopt this as an official payment method? I have seen a small movement toward PayPal here and there but many, mainly charities, are lagging behind.
Surely it can’t be too hard to set up. Had they done so, they would have raised at least a guaranteed $25 more.
One point in particular got me thinking was the talk about the breakdown of cultural and geographical borders and the increased ease of global communication. An excellent concept but what stood out to me was where this increasingly growing new media trend falls on its face. All I ever really read about is the benefits of digital marketing not problems and issues, like this one which appears quite important.
Whilst we breakdown these walls and the world becomes a smaller place aren’t we at the same time building these walls higher and excluding some from the conversation? Two obvious examples to me are the those with lower socioeconomic statuses and those living in rural areas.
According to the ABS only 64% of Australian households have access to the internet and of those only 68% have access to a broadband connection. So how does a new media marketer target a struggling single mother of three or a drought stricken rural farmer?