tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87588919014846692402024-03-04T23:53:48.173-05:00The Digestif by Wiseywiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.comBlogger438125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-54877466278803617762016-04-04T22:30:00.000-04:002016-04-04T22:30:25.955-04:00A return to posting! The Boring Oscars.Wow, who knew I'd lost so much touch with the blog it took me 2 weeks to work out how to login again!!!<br />
Since podcasts are finally finding their feet, I decided to dust off my key typing fingers with the travesty that is now the Oscars.....<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Summary:</span></strong> <em>The bottom line is, adding a live Twitter feed to a format that was created 90ish years ago, isn't going to save it. The same exact principles apply to the Olympics. Culture and society has changed as well as desirable media formats. It is questionable that people will appreciate an awards show rooted in politics, PR wars and an incredibly wealthy niche population so far removed from the rest of society.</em><br />
<br />
As a child, the Oscars were a wondrous event. Live, the
event was at about 1pm Sydney time, but broadcasters would wait to air the 3
hour extravaganza at prime time in the evening. My brother’s media blackout
initiative was enforced and worshipped. Winners were true surprises as much for
the actors and for ourselves.
<br />
<br />
Move forward 10-15 years later. Digital media rears its
head.
<br />
Media blackout not so difficult because the news cycle is
so fast that the who of winning is over within half an hour. Don’t look at
Facebook, Twitter or the internet for a few hours and your golden.<br />
<br />
I watched the event, a day later with not much effort on
the blackout. I fast forwarded most of it. It was genuinely boring. Ali G was
ok, but the rest was about a very small and wealthy number of people
congratulating each other for an art form. All the winners seem political and
devised via backroom channels. The whole thing started out with good intentions
88 years ago, but The Academy Awards has turned into something unsavoury.
<br />
<br />
The awards don’t match the time we’re in- think Arab
Springs, the toppling of conglomerates for bad business practices and Ariana
Grande being lampooned for licking doughnuts. <br />
We live in a heavily materialistic society, Hollywood’s A
players are the apex, yet most people are turning away from the
self-aggrandising nature of these award ceremonies and looking for initiatives
which are more meaningful.
<br />
<br />
It could also lend itself to the fact that movies are
just not an occasion like they once were. Downloading and watching a film at
home doesn’t give movies the same weight that they were once given.
<br />
<br />
As I pressed the fast forward button on my PVR remote for
the 8th award, I began to realise that these award ceremonies were
generated in a different, simpler era. Attempt to bring an event into a modern
era by Including tweets and hashtags is just not going to be.<br />The Olympics faces a similar problem, relying on a new
type of media to modernise won’t help what is intrinsically broken. It’s a reformatting
of the premise of these events to make them more inclusive and democratic, less
about the pomp and bluster, which is what will keep them relevant today.<br />
<br />
However, beyond that the lustre is gone. This year’s
outfits were underwhelming. It could be because of the boycott that not that
many people seemed to be there, but still that just seemed like a whinger upset
about a nomination he wasn’t good enough to getwiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-18027047047831401532012-03-06T22:17:00.006-05:002012-03-06T23:23:46.201-05:00Social media is not maturing, marketers are just getting lazy in their application of it.In the last few months we've seen a couple of high profile brands not learn from those before them and subject themselves to the social media pisstake. They make a statement about their brand and the community takes them down, peg by peg. It's a game, it's over pretty quick and people don't hold their breath for the next one but they engage when it does.<br /><br /><a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/qantas-in-new-social-media-fail-with-qantasluxury-hashtag-backlash-66093">Here's Qantas</a><br /><br /><a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/this-weekend-woolworths-cant-wait-to-give-everyone-an-opportunity-to-give-them-a-massive-kicking-74262">Here's Woollies</a><br /><br /><a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/complete-this-sentence-its-not-a-good-idea-to-invite-consumers-to-complete-a-sentence-because-77847">Here's Coles.</a><br /><br />And I don't think it's a case of marketers giving everyone else a go, nor is it the idea that the market has matured as <a href="http://www.ireckon.com/web-marketing/social/wooliesweekend-why-social-media-folk-are-failing-big-brands/">Matt Burgess from iReckon reckons</a>.<br />Social media hasn't matured. The idea that all businesses should be active in social media has, but the use of the channel is pretty two dimensional.<br /><br />We see the same types of activations within social media repeatedly- content posts for engagement, promotions/deals, gamification and maybe some infotainment. It's so repetitive and people know what to expect.<br /><br />The biggest flaw is the overarching idea that these brands should integrate themselves into people's spaces to get them to engage and talk about the brand with no reward at all. It's also why so many of the mistakes/pisstakes happen. Social media came about in the first place because of people's needs for transparency and these brands' content posts reinforce that need for transparency via the consumer backlash. The one good thing to come out of these pisstakes would be for brands to acknowledge their bad practices that consumers refer to and rectify them.<br /><br />It also tells me that most marketers are being lazy with the platforms. Especially since we're already seeing wear out with the engagement/deal model that so many companies are using on Facebook in particular. The approach brands are employing should be more about how they can create better experiences for their customers based on the business offering. That's less about how can brands engage with customers to get them to talk about the brand but more about how to use new media tools/platforms in a way that marries consumer engagement to solid business offering.<br /><br />Mature?! pffffft.<br /><br /><div align="center"><iframe src="http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F543737&show_artwork=true" frameborder="no" height="166" scrolling="no" width="100%"></iframe></div>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-11825184971880333722011-09-14T02:10:00.002-04:002011-09-15T20:03:14.978-04:00Creation of a celebrity Prime Minister in a 2.0 worldWe all know John Howard loves cricket, Paul Keating loves french antique clocks, and we all know KRudd loves to hobnob with celebrities to give himself increased self importance. But Julia, she just wants to be a brand. A brand of PM who is marketable and appealing to all walks of Australian life with her voice, image and message paired with every kind of interest group she can dabble in.<br /><br />The main theory behind social media strategy is fairly simple:- to tap into relevant interest groups it’s important to engage in the right passion points. For example, if a brand wants to get the mums, the brand picks a passion point that mums care about and then develops an engagement strategy around it. For example, Kleenex create <a href="http://www.kleenexmums.com.au/my-family/kids/toilet-training/poopoo-island/">PooPoo island</a> to help mums teach kids how to be toilet trained and Kleenex sells more toilet paper.<br /><br />To illustrate, these are the handful of associations and parlaying I have seen over the last year that are all aboard the express PooPoo train:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbVziNudibHHgIIvZ4ta4AIcZXazbNml0NhKtvcRHYB8qztLbXnFOH5OpITNeaLDCEw_guHzWi3cCeX6hQ51XI4Eh0NKRYps_lfkzHDK9m5ROum7IlIp2q2EhYWl57K6RRmZBLgFJqVQA/s1600/gillardmontage.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 252px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbVziNudibHHgIIvZ4ta4AIcZXazbNml0NhKtvcRHYB8qztLbXnFOH5OpITNeaLDCEw_guHzWi3cCeX6hQ51XI4Eh0NKRYps_lfkzHDK9m5ROum7IlIp2q2EhYWl57K6RRmZBLgFJqVQA/s400/gillardmontage.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652097973982154802" border="0" /></a><ul><li><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/tvinsider/index.php/theaustralian/comments/gillard_films_junior_masterchef">Junior Masterchef guest appearance:</a> Yet to air but the PR machine is set at full power. The show has a huge reach and will hit a large proportion of voters. My pick is we’ll see the Julia brand tick off the issue of <span style="font-style: italic;">“I don’t have any kids but still love ‘em”</span>.<br />Textbook ALP strategy.<br /><br /></li><li><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/pm-poses-for-glam-magazine-spread-20100728-10urp.html">Cover of Australian Women's Weekly</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">: </span> Michelle Obama and Jackie O take easily to Women’s leisure Magazines because they are the more traditional image of a woman, wife and mother. Michelle Obama does not make political decisions, she is a presence who uses her notoriety to draw attention to issues she feels are important to her country. Issues which don’t require a vote or bill to be passed for them to take effect, only the need for the individual to participate.<br />In contrast, Julia Gillard appearing in these magazines spreads herself too thin and removes focus on her policies. She tries to create an image of herself as the woman who cares about the home and family, making herself relatable to a similar kind of audience. However it’s fake for the time being, her time is spent being PM. It’s not the real Julia and she still reads as unrelatable.<br /><br /></li><li><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNKoPlHBj9Y">World cup bid</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">:</span> If John Howard were still PM, maybe he would have endorsed the World Cup Bid. Maybe. You know for sure he would have endorsed anything cricket related, but that would have been it. He has a huge passion for the sport and is honest about it. Here again it seems Julia is trying to appeal to another code’s demographic to be more relatable and respected amongst the audience.<br />With ever increasing audiences and interest points it seems Julia Gillard just wants to appear in front of another camera to get more Australian eyeballs to see her outside the backdrop of parliament.<br /><br /></li><li><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-08-02/ltor-prime-minister-julia-gillard-celebrates-with/928260">Western Bulldogs Supporter:</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span> This at least is a little bit authentic. The Bulldogs are her team, she wants to support them. Go Julia. There appears to be a time and place where politicians can participate in down time and subscribe to their passions and interests. It’s not about getting in front of the cameras, it’s about allowing that person to enjoy what is important to them. A stark contrast to Gillard’s additional forays.<br /><br /></li><li><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/julia-gillard-barack-obama-discuss-afghanistan-in-white-house-meeting/story-e6freuy9-1226017538060">Kicking the footy with President Obama</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">:</span> They’re both at fault here. An unnecessary photo op that leaves bad taste in mouth. It was purely designed as a stunt to get news coverage. You could even call this a viral. But like any viral, it made you mildly happy for half a second and at the next inhalation it’s forgotten.<br />Gillard’s team needs to realise that the strategy they have in place needs a solid story and flow to maintain momentum and build the cohesive image of a Politician, rather than some ‘happy go lucky’ type who knows how to have a good time with other politicians when they have down time.<br /><br /></li><li><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.blueseptember.org.au/blue_september_media-video.php?bT0xNDA=">Blue September</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">:</span> Gillard won’t paint her face blue, but she is certainly amongst it supporting awareness for cancer suffered by men.<br />I’m not sure why this organisation requires Julia Gillard to endorse it? She is a known Australian personality, but her reputation as a PM is sinking fast. The only connection is that Tim Mathieson endorses the cause and for valid reason. Here is an appropriate endorsement and one Gillard should take a lesson from.<br /><br /></li><li><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.foxsports.com.au/rugby/rugby-world-cup-2011/julia-gillard-asks-wallabies-to-win-rugby-world-cup-to-end-sledging-from-john-key/story-e6frf4zl-1226132627233">Gillard begs the Wallabies to do her proud</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">: </span>Another sport endorsement. Tapping into the Australian male audience across the country. Yes, Gillard can make a good joke about sledging and ammunition against her Kiwi counterpart, but because it isn’t isolated, and not part of her fabric as an individual, it again seems shameless, forced and unnecessary.<br /><br /></li><li><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-08-07/prime-minister-julia-gillard-plays-pool-at/911220">Playing Pool at a retirement village</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">:</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">What?! </span><br /><br /></li><li><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/stories/8259727/the-first-bloke">60 minutes appearance:</a> Tapping into the voyeuristic celebrity culture that we live in, Julia Gillard aims to become more accessible. 2.0 attributes includes the increased accessibility to brands, celebrities or spokespeople, so there is no wonder her team have suggested this.<br /><br />Tim Mathieson is presented as the homemaker and you’re meant to feel more connected to Julia because now you know who she is at home. But is there a reason to know who Julia really is? Not really. As a tax payer and with the ability to vote I’d rather see her act more like a politician in political channels. <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/dont-blame-sexism-for-the-pms-woes/story-e6frgd0x-1226136167186">Janet Albrechtsen of The Australia, articulates the appearance</a> much better than I can.<br /><br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/juliagillard">Twitter</a>, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliagillard/">Flickr</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/juliagillard">Facebook</a>, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/officiallaborspace">MySpace (?)</a> and the <a href="http://www.alp.org.au/julia-gillard/">ALP community site:</a> </span>These are the spaces for community interaction and the place to be a bit more relaxed with followers. It’s a great start and where we actually see some good happening regarding communicating to the people about what both Labor and Gillard are involved in. Whether it’s actually JG writing a post or the JGTeam you know it. Either her or her team appear accessible, but accessible politically.<br />However, the team is not responding or engaging at all on Facebook with the follower comments. Some issues have over 2,000 comments yet not one word from the JGTeam. Not even a simple acknowledgement. Every community manager knows that isn’t a good look for any community activity.<br /><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/juliagillard">@JuliaGillard</a> on Twitter has some leeway to talk about JG’s endorsements and sadly, this happens more often than actually talking to the people. Again a lack of priority in the strategy to really make JG the politician she needs to be. Twitter needs work.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/officiallaborspace">MySpace</a> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/juliagillard/">Flickr</a>? Both of these can get dumped. They waste resource and FB does it all.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.alp.org.au/julia-gillard/">ALP website</a> is both a shrine to Julia Gillard and incredibly confusing. They don’t call her the PM, they label her Julia Gillard. I say credit where credit is due. She has her name all her life, I don’t think she will be PM for too long! I’m not sure why there is a need to detract from her title.<br />On the confusing part, I don’t even know where to start and this post is too long already. One example is the page encouraging members to call talkback radio with a 2 step plan-<u><br />Step 1:</u> find a radio station, and<br /><u>Step 2:</u> Call the radio station.<br />Don’t believe me, see it <a href="http://www.alp.org.au/get-involved/call-talkback-radio/">here</a>. A “click to call” might help!<br /></li></ul><br />Yes, the real Julia likes her down time, likes to relax, take the piss like any other Aussie and is a real human being- all conventions and wisdoms of a web 2.0 world. We see brands taking on that human voice and interacting with the public as people because we know there is always a voice behind that brand. However, the key difference is that these brands’ marketing strategies are largely cohesive and represent a brand with a singular core message. They have well designed umbrella strategies, know their purpose in each and every channel and have taken wisdom from what's gone before them- knowing that they need to be authentic or consumers will turn their backs.<br /><br />Furthermore, brands don’t tend to sponsor several different sport codes and countless charities. They pick those causes that align strongly with their brand message and create committed partnerships in those relationships. Another reason why all the partnerships Gillard has on her books are rank with the bouquet of fake Julia. There is no long-term commitment or duality. Her finger is just in every pie.<br /><br />If I was in Julia Gillard’s PR machine, I’d strongly suggest a review. Look at where Gillard wants to be politically and focus on achieving those goals. If there is a group that wants to align with Ms Gillard, carefully consider each and every one and then align with what’s selected and stick with it. A one off photo op may just be a one off photo op, but Gillard’s priority should be being PM and not utilising these side issues to increase her reach across different demographics to gain attention. It's attention for the wrong reasons.<br /><br />…already, I’m starting to have more respect for her. Little fanfare and focus on what’s important.<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><object height="345" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iWOyfLBYtuU?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iWOyfLBYtuU?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="345" width="560"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">Please, let those dog days be over. At least they're both redheads.</span></span><br /></div>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-33375998442529473372011-06-27T01:53:00.022-04:002011-06-28T23:57:44.765-04:00The Top ten cliches in Social Media Presentations<span style="font-style: italic;">This post is dedicated to </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.adscam.typepad.com/">George Parker</a><span style="font-style: italic;">, because it's full of piss and vinegar, like him!</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">10. Any mentions of the long tail, differences between traditional and new media, one-to-one v one-to-many<br /></span>That Chris Anderson Long Tail article was written in 2004, 7 years ago!! And it came from something Clay Shirky wrote in 2003 (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_Tail">source</a>). If you haven't worked out by now how to apply coherent new media thinking to a business, talking about differences in traditional and new media, or dabbling in that idea that there are so many conversation exchanges going on, these topic points aren't going to help you get there any quicker!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><br />9. Earned v Paid v Owned media<br /></span>This is a valid statement, there are benefits to understanding how the different types of media get different rewards. I'm just getting tired of hearing it. Especially when it creates this idea that they live in isolation. Bottom line - you need to invest paid media to help you drive to the owned.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><br />8. Using that image of all the social media platforms.<br /></span>You know <a href="http://www.wpsmallbusiness.com/web-strategy/social-media/">the one</a> I'm talking about. Half of them have disappeared. Don't use it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD6T0uWQn9uwEZ-yOHGqDcJonzU_V629vtG1qdzxk4a6b5P21odozWQJnNZwbRvd_R4J2U3M3NaUPK0m7yZ2PzBnoS_clR7z2Yovy7YLVbbwvnxy1kFC3X-GPTYbHBE2EhkB2vcrGW1vM/s1600/socialmedia_wherearetheynow.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD6T0uWQn9uwEZ-yOHGqDcJonzU_V629vtG1qdzxk4a6b5P21odozWQJnNZwbRvd_R4J2U3M3NaUPK0m7yZ2PzBnoS_clR7z2Yovy7YLVbbwvnxy1kFC3X-GPTYbHBE2EhkB2vcrGW1vM/s320/socialmedia_wherearetheynow.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623044805517905602" border="0" /></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:78%;" ><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic;">I can't remember where I got this image from. If you know, let me know</span></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><br />7. Traditional media is losing the dominance it once had.<br /></span>No shit sherlock.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><br />6. Digital lives forever<br /></span>It might, but with more proliferation (see point 5) the increasing volume and Google ranking algorithms will make it hard to find these content items buried deep in the content abyss. The value from everlasting content is minimal, so don't hang your hat on it.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><br />5. What was then. What is now. The clutter, all that clutter.<br /></span>Yep, proliferation. Lots of it. Web 1.0 v web 2.0 (even I'm guilty of that chestnut). The increasing volumes of content- you know YouTube has doubled since last year? Flickr is 13 times bigger than the Library of Congress (<a href="http://www.slideshare.net/mzkagan/what-is-social-media-now-4747765">source</a>). <span style="font-weight: bold;">H.O.L.Y.C.R.A.P</span>. All this stat info doesn't help me make a strategy or sell my product.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">4. We no longer have control<br /></span>I actually heavily contest this. If you get into the new media space, you must be prepared and anticipate potential risk points. Be prepared with what could happen in a positive and even more so, a negative sense, and know how to turn it back into a positive. It's not about losing control, it's about opening conversation in a managed fashion which brings benefit to a brand.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">3. "Social media guru?! Don't call me that. I have no idea what I'm talking about"</span><br />Seriously?! Trying to sell yourself and you actually sell yourself short. New media isn't that new any more. You're either inexperienced, or you're covering your ass for an impending failure.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">2. If you talked to people the way advertising talked to people, they'd punch you in the face.</span><br />Thanks Hugh MacLeod and that vast <a href="http://www.gapingvoid.com/">gaping void</a>. If I see your <a href="http://www.gapingvoid.com/talkedjpeg002.jpg">little cartoon </a>one more time, the next time I see you, I might punch you in the face.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">1. If you build it they will come</span><br />When Web 2.0 reconnected with the Kevin Costner's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097351/">Field of Dreams</a> classic, cliche extroadinaire was born. With 62,700,000 results on Goolge for "<span style="font-style: italic;">if you build it they will come social media</span>" we have a clear winner for the worst, bucket worthy cliche in social media.<br />But, if you build it, they won't come. There's lots of hard work required to get people to know you exist amongst the clutter of content (see point 5).<br /><br /><br />Feel free to add your own to the list!<br /><br /><div align="center"><object height="349" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tG2dyaMOb_8?version=3&hl=en_GB"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tG2dyaMOb_8?version=3&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="349" width="560"></embed></object></div>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-22694795771204693402011-06-21T23:18:00.001-04:002011-06-21T23:18:35.499-04:00Is an influential blogger’s life finite? Does using bloggers as influencers have a use by date?Social media is in its prime. There’s even a well established formula for activation and it includes finding influential bloggers within the selected category or topic of interest and then engaging said blogger to pimp your wares.<br />It’s so formulated that whilst writing this post I heard the news that a <a href="http://adage.com/article/agency-news/mommy-bloggers-talent-agency-sway-group/228270/">talent agency has been set up for Mummy bloggers</a>. It’s great to have a filtering system but, and there are a few big buts:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">There are only so many influential bloggers that you can use. </span><br />Only a few rise to the top and only a few become like the “<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/">Arianna Huffington</a>” within their sphere of influence. If you’re outside the US, making sure your blogger hits your geographic target is another headache which limits the pool<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">That handful of bloggers is going to get stale.</span><br />Say there are 10 competitors in your category and there are only 6 blogs from which you can really choose to engage with- 6 that you really get a decent ROI from. Those 6 blogs are going to be tapped out for marketing endorsements pretty quick. And once you do one campaign what happens next? The idea of new media is to foster and grow relationships, but campaign based efforts don’t really cater to that. Plus, bloggers will continue to chase that dollar, they don’t care about establishing relationships with marketers over a long period of time, they want the cash that allows them to give up their day job.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">As certain blogs grow in popularity, will it allow for new competitor bloggers to enter that same space?</span><br />This is tricky, but I think only a few new entrants will gain a spot in the top rankings. First to market and Google rankings in the digital era are pretty tough to beat. Liken blogs to the magazine industry and it’s very hard to find holes that new magazines can fill. The trick here will be for blogs to continually innovate and find new ways of presenting what they have to say. This will be the only way for new entrants to take some of the shine away from the bigger, more established blogs.<br /><br /><br /><br />We’re facing an inherent problem and it’s going to get worse. We’re increasingly seeing consumers get bored of whatever it is that’s on offer in a new media sense. They just want to see the new thing and it has to be quick. Think about how quickly you get tired of <a href="http://failblog.org/">failblog</a> or <a href="http://damnyouautocorrect.com/">damnyouautocorrect</a>. Unless readers have an ongoing, invested relationships with their bloggers of interest, their revisits will eventually begin to wane.<br /><br /><br />So the question I ask is what happens next? Because I know I’m already sick of the whole blogger endorsement thing, various blogs only hold my interest for so long and we’re already seeing <a href="http://www.utalkmarketing.com/pages/Article.aspx?ArticleID=21341&Title=Facebook_numbers_in_decline_in_the_UK_and_US">Facebook numbers decreasing</a>, and they already came from a now defunct mySpace, which indicates jumping the shark is a given in new media.<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><object height="349" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wRcVQDELAd4?version=3&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wRcVQDELAd4?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="349" width="425"></embed></object></div>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-61105301046193677122011-03-16T01:29:00.002-04:002011-03-15T21:58:41.734-04:00How new media is changing celebrity: Comparing @CharlieSheen with @its_k_isabellas<a href="http://www.mediamonitors.com.au/insights/blogs/"><em>This post appears on my company's blog. </em></a><br /><br />The western world has a love affair with the notion of celebrity. A fabricated culture which skyrocketed when business realised they could make money off mostly beautiful people with fictional lives. The introduction of publications like <a href="http://www.people.com/people/">People Magazine</a>, shows like <a href="http://www.etonline.com/">Entertainment Tonight</a>, distributors such as <a href="http://www.tmz.com/">TMZ</a>, <a href="http://www.eonline.com/">entire channels</a> devoted to the topic, paparazzi madness and blogs like <a href="http://perezhilton.com/">Perez Hilton</a> have further cemented the hold that these overpaid beacons of society have on our world.<br /><br />The gossip industry used to be a tightly controlled machine. Celebrity news was presented to the public as a service and it was the only access point to their private lives– how they lived, what they did, what they thought about certain issues, what they’re next line of work entailed. All cleverly administered by their publicists and an entangled web of movie studios and segment producers. The inclusion of a more creative paparazzi, accompanied with the desire of a society to know more, expanded the industry causing the access points to celebrity to muddy.<br /><br />It all allowed us to see into a world that was a fantasy. Essentially a real world soap opera with dramas and exes being in the same room. Any issue of scandal became a topic of discussion that you could share with anyone. It’s gossip plain and simple, the more dramatic the better and who doesn’t love a good scandal?<br /><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;"></span></strong><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">Then new media changes the dynamic of a multibillion dollar industry </span></strong><br />Blogs, Twitter, YouTube and even Chatroulette (for a very brief period) have shifted the accessibility we have to celebrity. The untouchable celebrity has become someone you could talk to like a buddy- and they are your buddy when you know so many intimate details about their personal lives. And the most important part? The gossip industry no longer needs to be controlled and delivered to the public by the power players. Each individual now has the keys to administer their own news.<br /><br />The other side of the coin is the growth of reality TV and the seamless ability for anyone to become a celebrity, even rich and famous, if only for a minute. Numerous shows have manufactured instant celebrity – examples like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Shore_(TV_series)">Jersey Shore</a>, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_Housewives">Real Housewives</a> franchise and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_Top_Model">Next Top Model</a>. The most bizarre thing I notice from these shows is how the characters, yes characters, view themselves. They live the life of episodes and finales, where everyone knows your name and anything is accessible. Increasingly self centred as their star progresses, obsessed with their image and making sure they attend the next media party. It’s not real, it’s short-lived and this idea of instant celebrity is now desirable. The terrible effect of this is incidents like that of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloon_boy_hoax">Balloon Boy</a> which gives the media a bad name as much as the boy’s parents.<br /><br />Enter new media – the only way to stay up to date up to the minute, with either type of celebrity. Traditional media outlets can simply not keep up with the volume and content that the long tail can. Nor can they keep up with the speed of the new media cycle and the way society moves on to the next meme almost instantly. The broken barriers of entry also allow us a front seat ticket to unfolding dramas like that of <a href="http://www.twitter.com/charliesheen">Charlie Sheen</a> – a bonafide celebrity with direct access to his fans; and that of an Australian phenomena - <a href="http://www.twitter.com/its_k_isabellas">@its_k_isabellas</a> – a self made media star surrounding the <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23dickileaks">#dickileaks</a> incidents.<br /><br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">Traditional v New media, who pulls who? </span></strong><br />The differences between the examples of Charlie Sheen and its_k_isabellas is interesting, one at the top of the celebrity stratosphere and the other trying to carve a name for herself. However their common ability to take hold of social media, drive traditional outlets and use it to their advantage is astounding and a clear shift in what we once knew.<br /><br />Its_k_isabellas is a fascinating story about a girl attempting to generate scandal to create attention surrounding herself (<a href="http://thedigestif.blogspot.com/2010/12/rise-of-dickileaks-and-girl-wanting-to.html">previous post here</a>). She most definitely needed the traditional mainstream channels to give her a media profile thereby allowing her to quickly gather followers and buzz in the social channels. She took that initial push from mainstream media and ran with it. That push was almost like an instant trending topic- moving quickly by latching on to a combination of passion point (here sport) and scandal. The latest example of the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/teens-facebook-party-cancelled-as-175k-threaten-to-show-up-20110314-1btsl.html">viral Facebook Party</a> further illustrates the push that social media needs in order to break inner social circles and travel beyond. Essentially mainstream media gives the repetitive spread across varying groups, giving faster reach.<br /><br />Once the conversation surrounding the scandal shifted to social media, the girl’s participation within social media propelled the issue. The community’s quest for more information allowed her to be in the driver’s seat. She would be the one to release more photos, more content, more scandal. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s3151133.htm">Media Watch</a> commented on this recently noting that she became as much of a media player as the traditional outlets did. The first to break news and the driver of a story.<br /><br />In some ways, Charlie Sheen has taken a leaf out of its_k_isabella’s book. He is no longer at the mercy of the mainstream media channels. He doesn’t need them to spread his message. Over 2 million Twitter followers and fast approaching 3 at the time of publishing this post. His first forays into Twitter with the hashtags <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23winning">#winning</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23tigerblood">#tigerblood</a>, the <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/charliesheen/status/44865655987638272">sponsored intern ad</a> and <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/charliesheen">Sheen’s Korner</a> have all left us bamboozled, leaving the feeling that we’re witnessing a train wreck. His aim seems to be endorsements and he isn’t shy about it. He knows he is pulling an audience and bypassing the media is no problem, even though Sheen’s Korner is very raw and could definitely do with a bit of work. The clips are a bit painful in the same way as if you were watching your neighbour on YouTube doing some dumb home video, except this is Charlie Sheen doing a dumb home video.<br /><br />This kind of activity has a short lifespan- unscripted, loose and random ramblings. But there has been a positive shift as those with a sense of humour realise Sheen’s potential and perpetuate the wave. Stepping into the <a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/bfb12aea47/charlie-sheen-s-winning-recipes">Funny or Die</a> gag was genius, announcing a now sold out <a href="http://www.ticketmaster.com/artist/1568566">live tour</a> is interesting and inviting <a href="http://www.twitter.com/scottdools">Scott Dooley</a> into his home for an <a href="http://www.novafm.com.au/article_charlie-chooses-nova_107701">informal interview</a> was refreshing when compared to the previous hard ball <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5aSa4tmVNM">American interviews</a>. His latest content venture, <a href="http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/03/exclusive-video-charlie-sheens-comeback-stars-short-film-showing-his-trailer">Operation Greyhound</a>, is amusing and again shows the big guys what power Charlie Sheen has.<br /><br />It looks like Charlie Sheen is in control, always was and has an enraptured audience at his disposal. He is now driving the media on an ongoing basis and the traditional outlets will continue to be a step behind just like they were with its_k_isabellas. Charlie will have no problem playing in the new media space for a while, he’ll earn good money but I doubt it will ever be as big as what he earned from TV. That pulling power may draw him back to the studios but the damaged egos may prevent him re-entry. I think Charlie should continue to persevere in new media. He has already shifted to become more polished in the space and he can continue to push the envelope as he wants. It’s a new era of celebrity and with the right media mix you can be a permanent trending topic. God Speed Charlie Sheen, I wish you well.<br /><div align="center"><br /><object width="480" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/c1WomtTi0wY?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/c1WomtTi0wY?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="390"></embed></object></div>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-86269328532134244592011-03-06T20:34:00.000-05:002011-03-06T20:35:59.188-05:00Is blogging fading?<p class="MsoNormal">In a word, yes!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br />There was a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/technology/internet/21blog.html?_r=1&ref=technology">recent article on the New York Times</a> that blogging is ‘losing its allure’.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>And it makes a lot of sense.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br />There are a lot of blogs out there with a lot of useless content. There’s a lot of people out there who are time poor and don’t want to waste their time reading content which won’t help them. There’s people who want their friends to see it all in the one place, so they shift to contribute on the FB. In the end we’re still down to the question of how do you find the good posts and avoid the rubbish ones? In the current state of play, it’s become common and useful practice to use<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Twitter networks and their ability to filter to find the posts which help you rather than waste your time.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/business/06stream.html?_r=3&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha26">Why some Twitter posts catch on and some don’t</a>, another article in the New York times, suggests that the more often you see mentions of the same thing, the more likely it is set to become a trending topic. This is the same vein for good content bubbling up via Twitter or any platform. The more you see a mention of content, essentially a referral, the more likely you are to click. All those real Twitter people can’t be referring you if it isn’t any good!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br />But there are some out there who are a little bit deluded on the blog demise. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">Catharine P. Taylor defended blogs on <a href="http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=145558">MediaPost</a> in response to the New York Times article on blogs in decline. She makes points that people are continuing to contribute to blogs which is fantastic, but what about the other side, the readers? Seems a bit like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_a_tree_falls_in_a_forest">if a tree falls in the woods</a></i> to me! She does go on to elaborate that blogs like <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/">HuffPo</a>, <a href="http://www.shirky.com/">Clay Shirky</a>, <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/">Seth Godin</a> and <a href="http://www.dooce.com/">Dooce</a> are all going strong. But these blogs are no longer categorized as a few of the voices amongst the masses. They’ve lifted beyond typical opinion and are now within the category of mainstream media. No longer part of the long tail, no longer a blog, but comparable to other big content sites. To compare these blogs to the long tail is erroneous and misguided.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">We’re at a place where media and media consumption changes every day.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>There’s an adoption curve that goes with the embracing of those developments and then the process of <a href="http://blog.bumblebeelabs.com/social-software-sundays-2-the-evaporative-cooling-effect/">evaporative cooling</a> for the rejection process (if you haven’t read about the concept of evaporative cooling I strongly suggest that you do). Blogging is just one platform that is adapting to these changes and finding a new way to fit into the dynamic as new technologies like Twitter join the fold.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight:bold"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight:bold">Don’t think I haven’t written this without realizing the irony that it’s on a blog. I can sense that tree falling in the woods….</span></p><br /><br /><div align="Center"><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z734bz-0zsM?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z734bz-0zsM?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="390"></embed></object></div>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-67083599268536855402011-02-24T23:45:00.003-05:002011-02-24T23:52:48.013-05:00Research with no backbone really grinds my gears.<p>We’re living in some pretty exciting times these days. It’s incredibly exciting to be able to understand how to deal with the changes, looking at potential impacts and working out where companies can use these changes to their own and their customers’ advantage. There’s a running theme through most of the changes and developments – being open, sharing, being a useful tool. Technology has very much become about finding ways to create value for everyone.</p><p>However, in the positively charged times of change we live in we encounter two camps. Those who really are wise and insightful in assessing the changes in the multimedia landscape and then are those who prey on the meek and weak. The ones who don’t really know how to understand what’s upon us and lap up anything from anyone who seems confident enough.</p><p>The latest experience of the second kind comes in the form of some research from <a href="http://www.wongdoody.com/docs/mediaplacements/10WDL225_FB_Research_FPO.pdf" target="_blank">WongDoody</a> with the accompanying article from MediaPost:</p><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=145477&nid=124084" target="_blank"><em>Big Brands Not Making Most Of Facebook</em></a><em><br /><br />The vast majority of top brands are on Facebook -- but they aren't doing enough to engage consumers through the site, suggests a <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/New-Survey-Finds-Top-prnews-3041996811.html?x=0&.v=1" target="_blank">new study</a> by agency WongDoody. Of the top 100 brands as determined by <a href="http://www.interbrand.com/en/best-global-brands/best-global-brands-2008/best-global-brands-2010.aspx" target="_blank">Interbrand's Best Global Brands 2010</a> rankings, 84 have dedicated Facebook pages, with an average of 1.8 million fans.</em></p><p><br />My first question is Huh? So many brands have different requirements and objectives, what about understanding those first before you give these apparent hard rules on using FB and why just FB? And so what If you have 1.8 million fans. If you aren’t getting any sales in return it’s pretty much a waste of time!</p><p>Full of holes, misuse of analytical data and the potential to mislead the meek and weak. The top line glaring problems for me are:</p><p><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">Not all companies need Facebook<br /></span></strong>Different platforms have different attributes. Some work better for some kinds of categories and others not so much. Facebook isn’t and shouldn’t be the measuring stick. Companies should be assessing if they need to use social media, will they get ROI and where should they go to get that ROI.<br />Facebook may be great for companies with a high consumer focus but I’d strongly suggest against a parent company like GE going out guns blazing on Facebook in the hopes that everyone loves a parent company.<br />The bottom line here is Facebook does work when you’re a company with a strong consumer focus and you have the opportunity to utilize the leisure medium as it’s intended.<br /></p><p><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">You can be sporadic or absent on social media</span><br /></strong>Contrary to popular belief, brands don’t have to be social-media-active all the time.<br />Once I worked on a shampoo brand and no one in the outside world cares that much about shampoo. It washes their hair and that’s about it. For this company the recommendation was about matching their resource to the intended objectives. They entered into the space when they attracted the most engagement from their audience, subsequently building a strong and effective path to purchase. And you know what? It worked!<br />Most people don’t care about brands that much. They’re also busy. Be realistic about what your resources allow and what your audience can actually digest. Disclosure/communication and managing expectation is a wonderful thing. If you can only contribute content every so often let your potential audience know. It can’t hurt and they’ll know why you only post once a month.</p><p><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">Giving up control is really about managing risk</span><br /></strong>Companies have more control in social media than they think. The real issue is not letting a person say anything they want on a Facebook wall. It’s really about how a company reacts to commentary or what companies choose to initiate. This is often where companies fall down by deciding to open up a can of worms instead of realising that by ‘not sinking to the level’, they could have let those comments slip into social media oblivion.<br />Interacting on social media platforms with the larger community means companies should consider different reactionary scenarios and how to react if X, Y or Z happens. They should prepare guidelines on how to react for different types of comments. Often that involves being patient and waiting for the people to speak up. In the end, it’s just simple PR.<br /><br /><br />Look at that! No smoke, no mirrors and real information to help those that need it. There’s no need to put the pressure on and give companies the idea that if they don’t have a sizeable number of completely active Facebook fans they will drown. It just isn’t true.</p><br /><div align="center"><object width="480" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4bMM7tGV9MI?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4bMM7tGV9MI?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="390"></embed></object><br /><em><span style="color:#ff6600;">The lyrics of "I'm doing 100 on the highway, so if you do the speed limit get the fuck out of my way" really resonates here.</span></em></div>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-52581340344255155502010-12-23T09:30:00.006-05:002011-03-06T20:18:09.958-05:00The rise of #dickileaks and a girl wanting to be a star<p><a href="http://www.mediamonitors.com.au/insights/blogs/categories/blog-global-connections/the-rise-of-dickileaks-and-a-girl-wanting-to-be-a-star-">This post appears on my company's blog</a></p><p>The latest social media fiasco is more than just the exposure of AFL players.</p><p>Listening, reading and watching the actions of the girl in question, who appears to be <a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella">@its_k_isabella</a> (now <a href="http://www.twitter.com/its_k_isabellas">@its_k_isabellas</a>) on Twitter, is a lesson in how an attention seeking teenager aims to turn herself into a household name. As each hour passes, it feels more and more like a viral campaign, with a goal of making this girl rich on notoriety. </p><p>I don’t for one second think she planned a media strategy. Like any 17 year old teenager who uses social multimedia to interact with others, @its_k_isabella has simply used those tools that are at everyone’s disposal. However for her, the growth is exponential - as her need for attention grows so does her usage. </p><p>Her twitter account only started in March, there were allegations of falling pregnant to a Saints player in May (<a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teenager-claims-she-is-pregnant-after-sex-with-st-kilda-stars/story-e6frf9jf-1225871304162">here</a> and <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/riewoldt-bitterly-annoyed/story-fn6ck6f9-1225974494949">here</a>), she refers to her pregnancy on Twitter in August </p><p align="left"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"><i>Yay! I get to sit on a stool at work, because I'm pregnant.. haha, how cute!<br /></i><i><a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella/status/21873588965">1:06 PM Aug 23rd</a> via web</i></span></p><p><br />November rolls around and her Twitter account becomes incredibly more active. She issues a warning to the Saints Twitter account</p><p align="left"><i><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">@</span><a href="http://twitter.com/stkildafc"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">stkildafc</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> Get ready for damage control...... !!!!!!!!!!!!!<br /></span><a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella/status/4406483001286657"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Tue Nov 16 2010 16:32:42 (AUS Eastern Daylight Time)</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> via web </span><a href="http://twitter.com/stkildafc/status/4400077883838464"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">in reply to stkildafc</span></a></i></p><p>She mentions some photos </p><p align="left"><i><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Well well well... Lookie what we have here.. I'm seeing photos.. ?<br /></span><a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella/status/5574007080353792"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Fri Nov 19 2010 21:52:01 (AUS Eastern Daylight Time)</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> via </span><a href="http://mobile.twitter.com/"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Mobile Web</span></a></i></p><p>She gets a <a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella/status/6262994241585152">publicist</a>, at 17 she’s writing her <a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella/status/6263093608845312">autobiography</a>, she’s on the <a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella/status/6218022033301506">radio</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella/status/7271924539334656">TV</a>. By December she’s even tweeted her phone number.</p><p><br />It’s either a case of being completely irresponsible on social media, or someone wanting and desiring of attention and constant contact. From the need to create drama, the interaction with the media over Twitter and her attitude to the controversy, I would say the latter.</p><p><br />The publicity machine is in full swing in December. The last few days are off the charts having watched her twitter followers grow from 2000 on the morning of the 21<sup>st</sup> to 9,500 at the time of posting. She loves the attention and loves talking about it.</p><p align="left"><i><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Its_k_isabella: "twitter is experiencing technical difficulties. In our terms : you're getting too many feeds!" <lol.....></lol.....></span><a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella/status/17164374372257792"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">about 18 hours ago</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> via </span><a href="http://mobile.twitter.com/"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Mobile Web</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> </span></i></p><p>The fact that she is the controller of the photos and set to release them at timed intervals has those following the action waiting with bated breath. This is the key to her campaign, but without new photos, it’s short lived. </p><p>On December 21 there was an announcement by its_k_isabella that she would be releasing photos at 5pm. Come the deadline, there were no photos. Hundreds of people began tweeting to her wanting more pictures to ogle:</p><p align="left"><i><a href="http://twitter.com/MayainMelbourne"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">MayainMelbourne</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">: @its_k_isabella so where are the new images? Don’t worry about the police or repercussions… you are far too in now (deleted at the time of posting)</span></i></p><p align="left"><i><a href="http://twitter.com/diamondinvest"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Diamondinvest</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">: @</span><a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">its_k_isabella</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> put them up Don't worry about them Your strong<br /></span><a href="http://twitter.com/diamondinvest/status/17099264643563520"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">about 21 hours ago</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> via </span><a href="http://twitter.com/"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Twitter for iPhone</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> </span><a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella/status/17093169384529920"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">in reply to its_k_isabella</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> </span></i></p><p align="left"><i><a href="http://twitter.com/mattylp"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Mattylp</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">: @</span><a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">its_k_isabella</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> any new photos soon? Love your work ;)<br /></span><a href="http://twitter.com/mattylp/status/17099106128240640"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">about 21 hours ago</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> via web<br /></span></i></p><i></i><p>The drip feed of content is key and demonstrates her incessant need to be the central focus. Even if at the expense of her own credibility in the process.<br /></p><p>What she has been successful in creating is a rallying community around <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23dickileaks">#dickileaks.</a> Having fallen off the back of the <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23dickileaks#search?q=%23wikileaks">#wikileaks</a> scandal, with its own Australian connections, it is a perfect hashtag for the topic.</p><p>The scandal and the pictures themselves, have little interest to me. We’ve been seeing this type of sports mischief all year and there seems to be some other issue at play. However there are a few parts to this that intrigue me from a <strong>social media perspective</strong>.</p><p><strong>The first is the heritage of the great Australian pisstake</strong>. People want to be as funny as they can across Twitter. (<a href="http://thedigestif.blogspot.com/2010/08/entertainment-election.html">I wrote a post on this earlier in the year for #election2010</a>). Here, we haven’t been disappointed. A constant flow of tweets mentioning #dickileaks, #saints, Riewoldt or its_k_isabella is fast approaching a volume 25,000 within the last 60 hours. The other added bonus is people just wanting to have a laugh at some private pictures that should never have seen the light of day. The voyeuristic element comes into play. </p><p><strong>The second component is how she uses her Twitter account.</strong> Her account is structured like she’s already arrived. She only follows a handful of people, but has thousands of followers. The mark of celebrity. </p><p>She is also using the platform to create and establish relationships with celebrities and the media. She gloats about her appearances, requests interviews and interacts with celebs like they’re old friends. </p><p align="left"><i><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Its_k_isabella: @</span><a href="http://twitter.com/3AW693"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">3AW693</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> I'd Like to reply on what Ricky said, thanks.<br /></span><a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella/status/17108866953117696"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">about 17 hours ago</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> via </span><a href="http://mobile.twitter.com/"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Mobile Web</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> </span><a href="http://twitter.com/3AW693/status/17107326762745857"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">in reply to 3AW693</span></a></i></p><p align="left"><i><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Its_k_isabella: 29 Radio Interviews, 4 Video interviews. so tired! need something to keep me going, Considering uploading a photo now, rather than at 5pm?<br /></span><a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella/status/17060597505986560"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">about 20 hours ago</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> via </span><a href="http://mobile.twitter.com/"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Mobile Web</span></a></i></p><p align="left"><i><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Its_k_isabella: @</span><a href="http://twitter.com/pippy85"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">pippy85</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> Sorry!!! Was on the phone to abc!!<br /></span><a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella/status/16960333876830208"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Tue Dec 21 2010 07:57:13 (AUS Eastern Daylight Time)</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> via </span><a href="http://mobile.twitter.com/"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Mobile Web</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> </span><a href="http://twitter.com/pippy85/status/16959752844091392"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">in reply to pippy85</span></a></i></p><p align="left"><i><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">@</span><a href="http://twitter.com/RubyRose1"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">RubyRose1</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> Hahahah yeah! Long story! Care to call? :) x<br /></span><a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella/status/16792578494038016"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Mon Dec 20 2010 20:50:37 (AUS Eastern Daylight Time)</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> via </span><a href="http://mobile.twitter.com/"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Mobile Web</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> </span><a href="http://twitter.com/RubyRose1/status/16791315844956160"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">in reply to RubyRose1</span></a></i></p><p></p><p>It’s not the way we usually see things being done. There’s no protocol and the idea of traditional media liaison are out the window. Her no-holds-barred accessibility is worrisome. Not because those barriers into traditional media shouldn’t be broken. It’s because it’s scary to attempt to create fame at the expense of other people as well as yourself. There’s no thinking or concern. It just appears a frantic grab for fame, especially seeing that newspapers and TV are being so diligent in concealing her image and she is happy to do quite the opposite. The contrast between the two is extraordinary. Her self created spiral of destruction means she tweets at the drop of a hat, publishes video diaries and she answers questions on a <a href="http://www.formspring.me/ItsKimDuthie">forum</a> - on which every question is taken seriously.<br />In today’s world does being someone on the internet now mean you’re someone? Is it really that simple?</p><p><strong>The third is its_k_isabella’s desire to create a supportive community network. </strong>She wants people to use <a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23riewoldting">#riewoldting </a>as a hashtag to gain support. It didn’t seem to take off. There were about 70 tweets at the time of posting.</p><p align="left"><i><a href="http://twitter.com/Its_K_Isabella"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Its_K_Isabella</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> RT </span><a href="http://twitter.com/VinoGuySays"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">@VinoGuySays</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">: </span><a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">@its_k_isabella</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> Hi Kim, let's start the hashtag </span><a title="#riewoldting" href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23riewoldting"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">#riewoldting</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> so we can keep up with the tweets. Please RT.</span><a href="http://twitter.com/Its_K_Isabella/statuses/16812688604659712"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">1 day ago </span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">via </span><a href="http://itunes.apple.com/app/twitter/id333903271?mt=8"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Twitter for iPad</span></a></i></p><p>It appears that if you're a little bit naive, want to be famous and aren't, you support Kim. If you're more on the mature side of life (mentally), you can see the insanity in what's going on.</p><p>Yet as time passes and no more photos appear, the community realisation is setting in that there probably is nothing else, her star is quickly dwindling. Her video posted on the evening of December 21<sup>st</sup> has taken her rising star to a new dimension. </p><p align="left"><i><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Its_k_isabella: I just broadcasted live on Ustream! Missed my show? Check it out: </span><a href="http://ustre.am/:Mv3I" target="_blank"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">http://ustre.am/:Mv3I</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"><br />6:28 PM GMT+10:00</span><a href="http://twitter.com/its_k_isabella/status/17134350017495040"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">about 15 hours ago</span></a><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)"> via </span><a href="http://www.ustream.tv/"><span style="COLOR: rgb(255,102,0)">Ustream.TV</span></a></i></p><p><br />There is no doubt that you want to watch every second of her. Seeing where she can take this train wreck is newsworthy. It’s puzzling that her phone rings every second yet she doesn’t think to turn it off. One clear theme of the video is that she implores people to support her, but support her in what?</p><p>We are in the middle of a new media beast. A novice who thinks they can use these tools to create something out of nothing. A descendant of Lara Bingle, Paris and Perez Hilton. Does this mean we should come to expect more of these? Teenagers and fame hungry individuals who want to be players in the media space by tampering with the credibility of other more well known individuals?</p><p>New and social media isn’t to be underestimated. This girl has played with fire, and has been warned not to post more content by police with no real jurisdiction over the channel. Will this incident change the way we use social media, prompting us to use it with caution? Will laws change? </p><p>There have already been a few incidences this year of similar issues including Andrew Bolt’s accusation of identity theft over fake twitter accounts in his name (<a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/andrew-bolt-hits-back-at-twitter-impersonator/story-e6frfro0-1225900664384">see here</a>) and Julie Posetti defending Twitter defamation of the editor of the Australian (<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/right-or-wrong-it-was-not-defamation-posetti/story-e6frg6nf-1225968562560">here</a>).</p><p>Watch this space, because its_k_isabella may have just broken the camel’s back. I am slightly concerned that by next week we will all feel like we've been had. Something just doesn't feel right. But one thing I do know, she can be certain that if you get your own <a href="http://www.nma.tv/st-kilda-stars-exposed-schoolgirls-dickileaks/">Taiwanese animated news item</a>, you’ve definitely arrived.</p><br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EhYDUHHOx4M?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EhYDUHHOx4M?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="385" width="480"></embed></object></div><div align="center"><em>dedicated to Kim</em></div>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-3368063725153693502010-12-19T22:27:00.002-05:002010-12-19T22:43:24.272-05:00Understanding Influencers Pt II – Activating and Measuring<p><em>This is the second post of "Understanding Influencers". Read the previous post <a href="http://thedigestif.blogspot.com/2010/12/understanding-influencers.html">here</a>.<br />The original post appeared on my company's blog <a href="http://www.mediamonitors.com.au/insights/blogs/categories/blog-global-connections/understanding-influencers-pt-ii-activating-and-measuring">here</a>.</em></p><p>Hoopla in social media creates anxiety, pressure and lots of it.</p><p><br />The constant influx of social and new media conferences give me the impression that people are scrambling. They just want to gather as much knowledge about everything going on without taking a step back and assessing the lay of the land.</p><p><br />Think of it like this- when you go to the cinema and find out that all the tickets to the movie that you want to see are sold out, don’t panic. Instead of trying to scramble to think of one other movie you could see instead, just relax, keep your exorbitantly priced $18 worth of ticket in your wallet and come back when there are tickets to the movie you really wanted to see in the first place.</p><p><br />It’s the same in the new media space. Instead of scrambling to get a piece of the pie without really wanting to be involved, or thinking it through properly, relax. First think what’s right for your company, your audience and your voice. Then take action. Approach your influencers, understand their needs and how they match your clearly defined needs. Find a happy medium if necessary, but never jump in with your eyes closed.</p><p><br />Essentially that happy medium should be something where both parties get something out of the relationship including a mandatory of a return on investment for the company. That return doesn’t have to be financial. It can be number of interactions, positive feedback, or even just impressions. You need to know what your measure of success will be.</p><p><br />Which leads us to the measurement. Part and parcel of the activation. There are a lot of companies out there trying to find the ‘right way’ and just like everything else in social media, it’s different for everybody.</p><p><br />As we navigate through the space, I can share some tips that I’ve picked up:</p><ol><br /><li><strong>Relevancy<br /><br /></strong>Ensure you track and follow those mentions that are only relevant to you. Identify and create a list of the terms that apply to you, your brand and your message.<br /><br />My favourite line of this year for relevancy “Apple isn’t just a fruit. It’s a fruit, it’s a brand and it’s a celebrity’s baby”.<br /></li><br /><li><strong>Don’t be blinded by all mentions </strong><br /><br />Just like in the real world, when some people share something it just doesn’t have the weight that other people may bring to their comments. When establishing influencers and watching comments within the space, make sure you really qualify the chatter as well:<br /><br /><ul><br /> <li>Do the voices have an impact in your relevant market, no matter where they happen to be? </li><br /> <li>Are the listeners qualified? Is there a sizeable number who are actually real people?<br /> </li><br /> <li>Rate the comments on a scale of influence across the socialsphere.</li> </ul><br /></li><br /><li><strong>Benchmarking<br /><br /></strong>It’s very hard to benchmark in new media with previous comparable campaigns being few and far between. So use your competitors as a healthy benchmark. Measure them on the same scale that you measure your own brand on.<br /><ul><br /> <li>What are they doing? </li><br /> <li>How many people are mentioning them? </li><br /> <li>What’s their level of engagement and influence?</li> </ul><br /></li><br /><li><strong>Don’t’ let your measurement stay idle, use it to your advantage<br /><br /></strong>Use what you’re gathering, during your activation, to continually optimize and revise engagement. We don’t know how people will respond or what they will respond to. So run with the things that get positive response and make them bigger. Drop the ideas that don’t work. The beauty of social media is still the ability to change tack in a heartbeat. Use that to your advantage.</li></ol><p><br />This world isn’t set in stone. It’s constantly moving and changing. Go with the change, keep experimenting and work with what works best for you and your campaigns. Think intelligently about objectives, success metrics and measurement. Use the tools already at your disposal to help you learn more about what works best for you. </p><br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hT-HYLuZF6s?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hT-HYLuZF6s?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i>Oh Kid Cudi, you're great. Please help bring back summer</i></span></div></i></div>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-69963794652237485912010-12-12T23:42:00.003-05:002010-12-12T23:57:12.346-05:00Understanding Influencers<p>A month ago a <a target="_blank" href="http://vimeo.com/16430345">documentary</a> on influencers was released. It’s a great piece which begins to uncover the realities of this breed.</p><p style="text-align: center"><em>“INFLUENCERS is a short documentary that explores what it means to be an influencer and how trends and creativity become contagious today in music, fashion and entertainment. The film attempts to understand the essence of influence, what makes a person influential without taking a statistical or metric approach.”</em></p><br /><p style="text-align: center"><iframe height="225" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/16430345" frameborder="0" width="400"></iframe></p><br /><p style="text-align: center"><a target="_blank" href="http://vimeo.com/16430345">INFLUENCERS FULL VERSION</a> from <a target="_blank" href="http://vimeo.com/ricreative">R+I creative</a> on <a target="_blank" href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p><p>There is no denying that influencers is a new key buzz word that’s here to stay. It isn’t a fad, it’s one of the cemented foundations of the new communications paradigm as we know it. Influencers are the key to spreading news and ideas across their social networks of interest.</p><p>We probably first saw use of the idea in Malcolm Gladwell’s book- <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tipping_Point">The Tipping Point</a> – where he investigated the idea of Mavens, Salesmen and Connectors. They all did their job to spread different types of information and an influencer is a simplified idea of those concepts. They are a trusted individual and the go to person on a certain topic.</p><p><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">When we come to the world of media, marketing and PR who are the influencers?</span></span></b></span></span></span></p><p>Official media people, i.e. anyone with a press pass, is an influencer. They have a platform which supports them and allows them to have a voice. On the other side is the existing audience base whether in press, online or broadcast. No doubt there is influential power, but it’s much more one way and harder to establish 2 way communication. Censorship and control may have something do with that.</p><p><br />Bloggers, tweeps and social media addicts have to build their audiences and become recognized as influencers. Once they arrive they often have the potential to influence people with more authority than traditional influencers. The removed barriers of access allows them to be more honest, upfront and simply more accessible that those in a corporation/media provider cannot adhere to. They are therefore more trusted.</p><p><br />The added benefit of being completely open and (generally) uncensored means everyone in the network has a say. The influencer is driving the conversation, but any comment, positive or negative, has a place.<br /><br /></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" >Is there a difference in harnessing the influential power of either of these influencers?</span></span></b></span></span></p><p>There is, but it’s debatable. Once a social media influencer becomes as well known as any other media personality, do they not automatically become part of that celebrity bucket?<br /><br />My initial reaction is yes- but these types are few and far between. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.perezhilton.com/">Perez Hilton</a> and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.dooce.com/">Dooce</a> are one in a million. Any marketing approach here would be viewed as the classic celebrity endorsement.</p><p><br />The influencers we all need to be harnessing are those who have real connections with their respective communities. They participate and connect with as many of these people in their communities as they can. They are part of something as opposed to the sole driver. They may also connect with people in the real world, or the prospect of meeting is a possibility. It is a more real relationship and all levels of pretense are removed.</p><p><br />And the simple way to get involved in these circles, with these influencers, is find ways to give back. Find the leverage point where your company/brand can connect and allow advocacy to grow. Relinquish a bit of control and respect these influencers – giving them complete freedom creates more appreciation. Influencers will feel that they are respected as equals and trusted by a big corporate.</p><p><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">What Next?</span></span></b></span></p><p>The bottom line is that these relationships are constantly evolving and the influencer importance within a communications strategy is growing. We are understanding new components of the influencer dynamic every day. But by tapping these new voices you can generate positive returns for your business and that’s never a bad thing.</p><p><br /><i>This post also appeared on my comapny's <a href="http://www.mediamonitors.com.au/insights/blogs/categories/blog-global-connections/understanding-influencers">blog</a></i></p><br /><div align="center"><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4bMM7tGV9MI?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4bMM7tGV9MI?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></div>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-49152800512664266942010-12-12T23:38:00.005-05:002010-12-12T23:47:51.583-05:00The good and the bad of iStrategy2010, Sydney<p>A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend <a target="_blank" href="http://www.istrategy2010.com/">iStrategy2010</a> in Sydney.<br /><br />As someone who has attended a lot of conferences and been disappointed many a time with the one or two nuggets I leave with, this one was pretty good. There were some really inspirational speakers who brought some great insights and ideas to the table and then there were the speakers who rehash the same old chestnuts that we’ve all heard before.</p><p><br />So let’s break it down:</p><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The Good</span></span></span></b><p><strong>Haresh Khoobchandani<br />Chief Marketing Officer, Consumer and Online - Microsoft Asia Pacific</strong></p><p>Haresh was without doubt the best speaker at the conference. He spoke about Microsoft social media marketing operating on a dynamic basis and the notion that as technology gets easier and more sophisticated, things get harder for business.<br /><br />Key points:</p><ul> <li>Facebook is not a communications channel, it is a social service. Unable to acquire data becomes a huge chink in a social media strategy. </li><br /><li>Microsoft continually monitor their social media campaigns and re optimize tactics on the fly. </li><br /><li>Search is a form of engagement- a nice thought and a different way of understanding the channel. </li><br /><li>Microsoft heavily tracks competitors in the social space to benchmark their results. Year on year data is pretty much useless and comparison paints a much better picture.</li></ul><br /><p><strong>Mark Wynne<br />President South Asia Kimberly-Clark</strong></p><p>The Australian-New Zealand market is leading the way for Kimberley Clark. They’re changing from a ‘telling and selling’ marketing function to one which focuses on building relationships.</p><p>They’ve established communities around their 2 biggest brands- <a target="_blank" href="http://www.huggies.com.au/">Huggies</a> and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.kleenexmums.com.au/">Kleenex</a>. They understand that nappies, tissues and toilet paper aren’t passion points for people in social media but parenting is. And they actually attempt to migrate their community from the Huggies to the Kleenex community as babies grow into kids.</p><p>The only fault (and not even such a bad one) is the lack of connectivity to fathers- but then there are Dads in the community, they just aren’t as vocal as the mothers.<br /><br /></p><p><strong>Glenis Carroll<br />Group General Manager of Marketing Fairfax Digital</strong></p><br /><p>Glenis spoke in detail about email marketing and how important it is for most businesses. Numerous commentators continue to bring up the conversation that email is dead. It seems the only reason they do that is because they have nothing else to say and it stirs up a good debate - an easy way to create conversation.</p><p>The quote of the conference came out of this workshop- <em>if Facebook says email is dead, how come you need an email account to login?</em></p><p>Email is effective if used correctly:</p><ul><br /><li>Prior to sending an EDM, always ask how you are going to make a conversation valuable to a customer. Sending effective emails minimizes the chances of getting on Spam lists which is an increasing problem for companies which rely on heavy EDM sends. </li><br /><li>Benchmark open rates against your respective industry. </li><br /><li>Subscribers are a long term investment and not a short term opportunity- results won’t happen in one click. </li><br /><li>Clean your email databases every 90 days. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.forrester.com/">Forrester</a> reports that 27% of people change their email addresses every year (2009 statistic).</li></ul><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Other goodies</span></span></span></b><br /><p><strong>Nick Love<br />Managing Director, Australia & New Zealand at MySpace & IGN Entertainment</strong></p><p>Nick made me want to venture back into the land of mySpace. They’ve realized their shortcomings, reassessed and created a hub that keeps your blood pressure down</p><p><strong>Mark Jones<br />Digital Director, Fox Sports</strong></p><p>Mark’s honest and frank approach to social media is refreshing. They’re trying, trying to make Fox Sports useful and more accessible to their fanbase.</p><br /><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The Bad</span></span></span></b><p><strong>Panels</strong></p><p><strong></strong>Panels weren’t the greatest largely due to the fact that everyone was on the same side. Effective panels need to have polarizing sides full of drama, hyperbole and misused facts. That’s when people get fired up and more interested in the discussion.</p><p><br /><strong>A workshop on Mobile</strong></p><p>We’re at a stage of the e-Revolution where smart phones are becoming the norm. Yes it may have been the potential year of mobile in 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09 and 2010, but in 2011 every Dick and Harry has a mini computer in their pocket (according to Nielsen, Tom might not have one yet) and they are appreciating the useful functionality that comes with it.<br /><br />Missing this thought is the reason this workshop failed. Now that people and companies actually have a more solid understanding of this channel, how do we utilize it and shift marketing from pure message and play? How do you, as a brand, become a necessary functionality in someone’s mobile life?</p><p>And then from there, how can you further monetize and see returns?</p><p><br /><strong>Len Starnes - Head of Digital & Marketing & Sales General Medicine Bayer Schering Pharma<br />Phil Owens - Former Global Brand Head, Yaz Family Bayer Health Care</strong></p><p>This panel discussion was disappointing and could have been so much more effective.</p><p><br />I think the main issue here is that Pharma is trying to use social media in a B2C sense. The restrictions surrounding pharmaceutical marketing is just too much of a barrier that the Pharma marketing function should reassess their approach to social media and create strategies within a B2B framework.</p><p><br />Social media doesn’t actually employ only one B2C strategy and copying that for a B2B context just won’t work. There is no way to compare the tactics employed by the 2 streams. B2B doesn’t have the natural passion points like a clothing brand or electronic device. It’s a completely different headspace and to mimic it within B2B is an immediate fail.</p><p><br />The suggestion I have for Pharma is take the insights from your target and the things you know about social media and apply those to your B2B social marketing strategies. Remembering that social media doesn’t just mean digital. Social media is a complete evolution in how companies talk to their customers. Use those insights to reshape relationships with clients in ways that work for pharma.<br /><br /></p><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Key takeaways</span></span></span></b><p>The bad still weans some really good insight and understanding in the space. So not so bad after all.</p><p>I think the key to this being a good conference was the high level of understanding of social media and its impact on business. The other key factor was the way that case studies were more than just case studies. Strategy, methodologies and the derivation of idea processes enabled attendees to leave with new ways of tackling business issues, rather than just cool stories to tell.</p><p>If you missed this one, I strongly recommend going to the next iStrategy conference near your area. </p><p><i>This blog also appeared on my company's <a href="http://www.mediamonitors.com.au/insights/blogs/categories/blog-global-connections/the-good-and-the-bad-of-istrategy2010-sydney">blog</a></i></p><br /><div align="center"><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Jg5wkZ-dJXA?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Jg5wkZ-dJXA?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center"><i>Loving Kanye right now....</i></div>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-36806119261338739082010-09-27T02:14:00.005-04:002010-09-28T08:44:18.135-04:00A Blog a Day- misconceptions of the rise in bloggingFor a while I’ve noticed that my blogging enthusiasm has dropped off.<br />To be honest I’m not that fussed or concerned about it. I’ve felt for a while that blogs have multiple setbacks:<br /><ul><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Volume</span><br />With so many blogs out there in the world, the chance that someone will read yours is minimal<br /><br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lack of excitement</span><br />In the advertising/communications/new media world, the topics appear on a rotation. There is hardly anything new anymore and everyone appears to be hell bent on waiting for the next Facebook<br /><br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">The technology/time algorithm</span><br />As technology improves and increasingly resembles Back to the Future, people become exponentially time poor. I don’t know why and it doesn’t make any sense, but a blog that someone used to look at every week becomes a biannual viewing as their technology uptake increases.<br /><br /></li><li><span style="font-weight: bold;">Favourites quickly become boring</span><br />It’s happened to me a few times- the blogs that I love to visit become repetitive and uninteresting. It’s either due to the editor becoming lazy and not giving it the same enthusiasm they did when they first came up with the idea, or the subject matter just becomes boring for the reader</li></ul><br />Last week, another nail was added to the coffin. eMarketer sent me a report entitled <a href="http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007941">“The continued rise of blogging”</a>. The title already had me sniffing that something was up.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjw9r_fxwOOXGQ00sWXfY2G5qhEIefw4sHzimxSP0XfCIf_rGaTibXDcw3aoaeQTF9ru9c24qUmVAnep-MljKYJLgPd6JbqIHPQCCdoEMp6Kur_jEUhQlWodxnABCl9YTmJRVTYE3N4JE/s1600/blog_readers.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 245px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjw9r_fxwOOXGQ00sWXfY2G5qhEIefw4sHzimxSP0XfCIf_rGaTibXDcw3aoaeQTF9ru9c24qUmVAnep-MljKYJLgPd6JbqIHPQCCdoEMp6Kur_jEUhQlWodxnABCl9YTmJRVTYE3N4JE/s400/blog_readers.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521476467850993378" border="0" /></a><br />If you actually look at the numbers, yes more people are reading blogs at least monthly, but they aren’t reading more posts and more blogs. Only the volume of readers is increasing. Don’t overlook either that the increase is at a decreasing rate.<br /><br />The same goes for bloggers. Here the growth rate is smaller and excludes commitment level of said blogger. Chances are after post 5, they'll be struggling for more content.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">The only benefit to blogging: SEARCH. </span><br />You write about some topic, chances are someone will find it and see your opinion. Write about a topical issue, the chances are higher.<br /><br />But, it still wouldn’t surprise me if we start seeing a drop off of blog readers and writers once we hit the peak. Some blogs of course will rise to the top, but at that point they are considered more than just a blog, but a valid publication.<br /><br />Twitter probably also has something to do with the problem- you don't need to read 5 paragraphs to get what you want. Follow the right hashtag and get everything you need coming to you!wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-16395623258359516722010-08-02T22:46:00.002-04:002010-08-02T22:54:03.396-04:00The Entertainment Election<em>This was first posted on my <a href="http://www.mediamonitors.com.au/insights/blogs/categories/blog-global-connections/the-entertainment-election">company's blog</a>.</em><br /><br />In the opening line of Mark Kenny’s post “<a href="http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-election-about-nothing/" target="_blank">The election about nothing</a>“ on The Punch, he comments that Election 2010 has been dubbed the Seinfeld election and adds that at least Seinfeld was entertaining.<br /><br />Well with a wink and a smile Mr. Kenny, I beg to differ. The actual political game may be about nothing, but the goings on in the wider community have made participating in the election a leisure activity. The magic combinations of TV, Twitter and other useful platforms on the internet have created a community that doesn’t want to just observe what’s happening in the current political climate. They want to partake in the great Australian tradition of the pisstake.<br /><br />Picture my house on Monday night. I have <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/" target="_blank">QandA</a> on the TV with producer-selected <a href="http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23qanda" target="_blank">#qanda</a> tagged tweets flashing on screen, I have my Twitter on ready to observe the complete flow of #qanda tweets and I include Gchat into the mix to corroborate and share any good calls beyond my 140 character limit. It’s a media deluge combining the one-to-many with the one-to-one, and it’s a lot to keep up with.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/view/609067" target="_blank">Gruen Nation</a> and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/view/606493" target="_blank">Yes We Canberra</a> don't have tweets on screen, but they aren’t left out of this strategy either.<br /><br />As a viewer, the focus of the show is not that one can be swayed from one political view to another. It is merely the ability to find the best jokes regarding our politicians. And it’s all facilitated via Twitter. Some of the best ones to watch include <a href="http://twitter.com/fakefielding" target="_blank">@Fakefielding</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/FakePaulKeating" target="_blank">@FakePaulKeating</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/godwingrech" target="_blank">@GodwinGretch</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/the_chaser_" target="_blank">@the_Chaser</a>_, and the Chaser Boys, <a href="http://twitter.com/craigreucassel" target="_blank">@craigreucassel</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/andrewjhansen" target="_blank">@andrewjhansen</a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/ChasLicc" target="_blank">@Chaslicc</a>.<br /><br />It’s changing the way we watch live TV, it’s adding another dimension and it’s creating a community of connected Australians who just want to have a laugh.<br /><br />And we aren’t talking a couple of tweets, we’re talking at least 8,000 tweets on #qanda relating to Monday night’s show . Since July 19, day 2 of the campaign, we’ve logged 40,000 tweets mentioning <a href="http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23ausvotes" target="_blank">#ausvotes</a> (we’re testing some new tech at Media Monitors so I can’t share any more).Those numbers aren't anything to frown at.<br /><br />Twitter in this country is allowing for new ways to connect with people. I’ve made a handful of new online friends and it’s nothing to be scared about. It’s just another access point to get more funny stuff about the election. It’s created an election about something, something entertaining, something to talk about and share with your friends. Social currency has gone through the roof and everyone wants to be that person who gets their <a href="http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/Retweet.html" target="_blank">RT</a> shot into the limelight.<br /><br />This is a winning social media activation and a key insight into a proportion of the Australian population who want to connect around topics of interest. For the first time in my life I’m enjoying an election, not for the politics, but for the way people are connecting with each other. I only have 2 questions, will this excitement die post the election and will it impact other mainstream media events?<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7xzU9Qqdqww&hl=en_US&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7xzU9Qqdqww&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object></div>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-23211187854211884472010-04-15T19:19:00.003-04:002010-04-15T19:46:53.474-04:00Online Media Measurement Hysteria<a href="http://www.mediamonitors.com.au/insights/blogs/categories/measurement/online-media-measurement-hysteria"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">This is a post on the Media Monitors Blog.</span></span></a><br /><br />Social media has shaken our communications methodologies to the core.<br />Proliferation across all channels has created marketing hysteria and tracking complications.<br />No longer simple, no longer controlled. The mass of content out there is overwhelming.<br /><br />Online seems to be the current focus and the key to analyse the right content lies in the ability to filter the noise. But you know, any Jo Shmo can use <a href="http://www.searchtastic.com/">searchtastic</a> and activate <a href="http://www.google.com/alerts">Google Alerts</a> to catch any mention of any search string. I question:<br /><br /><ul><li>How does that really help you when you’re getting hundreds of content items a day?</li><li>How does that help you when the ability to filter out words with duplicate meanings is non-negotiable?</li><li>What about other media? Does it compare? Does it shift from one to the next? Where is the starting point? No one really lives in a digital vacuum.</li><li>And do you really need to react to every single mention that’s relevant to you? If someone with a nonexistent virtual social life makes a mention is it worthwhile to respond to? Usually the life of these comments lives and dies with the next topic stream, sometimes even an inhalation is enough. </li></ul><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);font-size:130%;" ><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">What am I getting at?</span></span><br />Yes, we can listen to any type of noise out there. For example, if I want I can indeed track all mentions of an Apple, whether it’s Steve Job’s baby, Gwyneth Paltrow’s or a piece of fruit. But if I want to track those important apple mentions relevant to me AND get the most traction with a sizable audience- i.e. I should definitely be aware of them so I can react accordingly- I want to know about them as soon as they happen. I don’t want to sift through hundreds of mentions of Apple Pie before I know that Apple, Gwyneth’s baby, is as cute as pie.<br /><br /><br />In actuality, looking at absolutely every single mention is not that important. That’s what interns are for. They can listen to the noise and the random mentions. They can deal with those small time issues. But the decision makers of an organisation need to be aware of the mentions which have legitimate audiences requiring PR expertise and a strategic response effort. This could be those blogs with the most readers or the news sites which are employing comments and interaction. Social media spread across consumer generated channels is just as important as the social media uptake on professional offerings.<br /><br /><br />As a strategist with a focus on new media, I have developed an outlook which incorporates a balanced approach to communications. I value that I can discern between the bogus and the bonza. I know that a lot of tools out there don’t actually offer me any value because:<br /><br /><ul><li>I can’t segment audience by region, and even if I can, it doesn’t appear to be legit. </li><li>I may be able to filter by the source region, but the internet is global and readers live far and wide. </li><li>I’m limited by more sources to predominantly ugc sites, but so many corporate sites now offer social media capability. Those conversations are just as important. </li><li>Online and print coverage varies. If you don’t believe me, look at this white paper entitled <a href="http://www.mediamonitors.com.au/insights/whitepapers">“Comparison of print and online content in Australia’s metropolitan media” </a></li></ul><br />We aren’t all digital, we aren’t all tech heavy and we all like to know what’s going on with the world without getting spammed. The problem is that 2-bit marketers often flash bells and whistles about great analytics, the volume of mentions and the strength of a search term. But, when you really think about it, the value of that volume is minimal. A search term can have double or even triple meanings and if measurement isn’t consistent across channels, it doesn’t mean much.<br /><br /><br />All this new media is still new. It’s no surprise. The good news is that we’re learning how to navigate it and digest it. But when we make leeway like this which helps to make our understanding of it more intelligent, it’s worth taking that kind of learning on board. Something I’m proud to say, is being done here. It is possible to filter the validated and legitimate mentions as well as analyse the overall impact. I am actually genuinely excited to know that this can be done. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a really great post and then learned it came from some guy living in a cave in Siberia with an audience of 3.<br /><br /><br />Being realistic about analytics, we can no longer look at diluted content streams in entirety and consider them valid . We need to be smart about how we approach our internet tracking.<br />There’s value in minimising our work load to have exactly what we need, when we need it.<br />There’s value is knowing what your local audiences are exposed to.<br />There’s value in the ability to identify duplicates with the originating source.<br />There’s value in integrating online reporting and analytics with broadcast and print.<br />And there’s value in the ability to validate legitimate sources.<br /><br />Simply put - content in context. The cherry on the cake. <br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/frw83nj31N4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/frw83nj31N4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></div><br /><div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><span style="font-style: italic;">See, there is a song called "F-ing Boyfriend" and it's great.<br />Dedicated to all the ladies out there with a similar issue.</span><br /></div>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-13517151605408435022010-03-17T02:02:00.004-04:002010-03-21T21:04:50.994-04:00AdTech Sydney: Hits and Misses<p>Latest findings from AdTech Sydney unveil some interesting perspectives on how to handle various components of social media.</p><p style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0);"><span style="font-size:130%;">Hit</span></p> <p><a href="http://www.adnews.com.au/adnews-news/zabel-media-mix-crucial-for-branded-content" target="_blank" _fcksavedurl="http://www.adnews.com.au/adnews-news/zabel-media-mix-crucial-for-branded-content "><em>Adnews:</em></a><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><em> Lion Nathan former national marketing director Margaret Zabel stresses media mix is crucial for branded content.<br />Lion Nathan's '6 Degrees of Separation' branded content for Tooheys Extra Dry would have been more effective with better media choices, its former national marketing director has admitted.<br /></em></span></p> <p><br />Here is an example where a brand has gone out guns blazing into the social media sphere and realized there are a gaggle of improvements that should be implemented when creating content. Lion Nathan should be applauded for these efforts and realizing the necessary changes they need to make to future content initiatives.</p> <p><br />The problem with content today is that there is a volume mismatch. Branded content disappears into the content vortex where the millions of content creators fight for eyeballs. The mismatch lies in the fact that branded content aims to be a short-tail initiative in a long tail world. This is why so many branded content pieces fail. Only a few can ever rise to the top in this fashion.</p> <p><br />This is where a more solid media mix comes into play. A brand needs to utlise its capacity to buy media time and invest its dollar into both environments to ensure traction with the right audience.</p> <p><br />The lift should be enough to rise above the pack and hit the eyeballs required.</p><p><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Miss</span></span><br /></p><p><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><em><a href="http://www.adnews.com.au/adnews-news/telstra-social-media-demands-commitment" target="_blank" _fcksavedurl="http://www.adnews.com.au/adnews-news/telstra-social-media-demands-commitment">Adnews: </a></em></span><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><em>Social media demands commitment<br />Marketers must avoid hype and commit to the long-term relationships they create in social media, according to a panel at Ad:tech. </em></span></p> <p><br />This excerpt outlines that any social media activity needs to go for the long haul. It’s an interesting perspective, and one that brands/agencies have been touting since the early days of social media. However as time has passed it has become apparent that:</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">People care about a brand only when it’s relevant for them.</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">People might not need to know about your brand on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.</p> <p style="margin-left: 40px;">People get bored.</p> <p><br />This is a clear case of not using metrics, data and the correct human insight to create a social media strategy which works for a brand in its category in it social media space. The intent to use social media for the long haul does not work for every product and is a statement that should be used with caution.<br /><br /></p> <p>For many products, their audiences have different social media soft spots. I’ve written a <a href="http://www.mediamonitors.com.au/insights/blogs/categories/measurement/questions-for-2010">previous post </a>which discusses this briefly. Brands need to create social media strategies which speak to their objectives. If one of those objectives is to effectively manage resource and an organization can’t support activity within a social media environment all day every day, then create a strategy that meets that requirement. And if a fan gets irritated that you aren’t available 24/7, make that fan the 24/7 representative! If they fan is that loyal they’ll love it.</p>You can also read this post on <a href="http://www.mediamonitors.com.au/insights/blogs">my company's blog</a><br /><br /><object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/77sjud0zLJY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/77sjud0zLJY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Love this clip of Greg Wilson. Imagine the world when mixing started, people learned their lessons. If only it was the same in social media</span></span>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-82088156373663641532009-12-06T19:01:00.004-05:002009-12-06T22:26:14.251-05:00Olympics Use 'Best' Social Media To Reach Younger Demos<div class="description"><a href="http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=118329">Mediapost</a>: In advance of the Vancouver Winter Games, Olympic organizers have launched a global social-media promotion looking to build interest among a younger set. In conjunction with YouTube, participants are encouraged to upload videos to the site showing themselves one-upping well-known Olympians. </div><br /><p><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">There is one ingredient missing, failing to read the Olympic Charter</span></strong><br />The Olympics is a great event. The ideas behind it, the bringing together of the best of the best and the patriotism it inspires, is a brilliant way of creating a global community. </p><p>However, over the last decade, the IOC has been left behind as technology and media solutions have advanced. I believe this is due to the belief of IOC officials that people believe in the Olympic movement as they do. That it is impossible that the Olympic movement can fail in bringing people together.<br /><br />The other component that has kept the Olympics in the dark ages is the stranglehold on the brand and the conviction that this branding cannot leave traditional media or be exposed outside of licensed arrangements. </p><p>Now, there has been a minute step forward. Creating <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsIgISuQviw">this social media campaign </a>was part of a resolution that <em><span style="color:#ff6600;">"the Olympic Movement should actively engage the next generation of Olympic fans through digital media"</span></em>, but one component seems to be missing, using the IOC charter to help shape and formulate social media strategies which meet an organisation's objectives. </p><br /><p>The charter basically states that the Olympic marketing programme has become the driving force behind the promotion, financial security and stability of the Olympic Movement. But creating a social media campaign just to target youth is a bit sightless. Youth aren’t the only people who use technology or the internet. What about everyone else? And what about creating marketing efforts which reach across the globe? There are global athletes, but where is the global media placement? This seems to be so US centric. </p><br /><p>As a fan of the Olympics, and yes, even a volunteer in 2000 (see pic below, put that in your pipe and smoke it), it has saddened me that the IOC has failed to create something more than just an event in a chosen city every 2nd and 4th year. They have failed to use the tools at hand to create something which brings people together from across the globe, WHILST generating returns to keep the movement going. Social media is not just a marketing campaign and for something like the Olympics, it needs to be utilised as a business solution. It is my belief that the Olympic movement possesses the assets to be the leader in global multimedia monetisation. It’s a complete mismatch against basic and now expected consumer need- i.e. viewers having the opportunity to access Olympic events when they want, how they want. </p><br /><p>Timo Lumme, Director of IOC Television and Marketing, you know what I'm talking about! We spoke briefly after the 'jing, but then you were always too too busy after that....Give me a call buddy. We’ll go skiing in St Moritz and talk it over. Bring Jacques Rogge while you're at it.</p><br /><p align="center"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5412289440315240834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 300px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1IfUi-9GRzGJL2zsAfdRNgtl6vPYvicmZMoAm7xJ-RwxzDRLux9r-rpcZqJv62JnPT6g2eASS3hxGZSlJl2ujf8yCdI0HJxTp5R4lDXWkao7AIZ3SmFZGgZncMNEVfuJ5O1UkLaDXfNI/s400/juan+me.jpg" border="0" /> <em><span style="color:#ff6600;">Juan and me. Talking Olympics and digital.<br /></span></em></p>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-69093487359387641262009-11-19T17:53:00.004-05:002009-11-20T00:36:52.194-05:00Redefining "Social Media"Our friend, Wikipedia, defines SM as:<br /><br /><div align="center"><em><span style="font-size:85%;color:#ff6600;">"Media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses Internet and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers."<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media">source</a></span></em></div><br />I don't think this is correct anymore. Social media may have started out as a voice of the people, but now that we've evolved and businesses are involved, it's become much more of an exchange- informational and media based. With the potential for so much growth, "social media" should ensure additional factors are incorporated.<br /><br />Social media is still about allowing users to have their own voice and allowing people to connect directly with an organisation. But what about the organisation in an ROI sense? Not enough activations in social media pool results together to give businesses solid data about their customers in the context of the business in question. In fact, I don't think enough organisations are thinking about social media outside of a marketing context.<br /><br />A lot of the tools that have been developed in social media allow businesses the resource to reshape and reformulate purchasing cycles to effectively minimise resource and maximise return. The data stream that can be gathered internally is incredibly valuable. A company has the potential to tailor products and services based on exactly what their customers are asking for. When companies go guns blazing on the YouTube, the Twitter and the Facebook, they lose the potential of taking a well thought out internal approach which can increase sales dramatically.<br /><br />This type of business change works very well for service based industries, where there is a large exchange of information required from both the individual and the business in terms of what the business offering is. It's a long term initation. For FMCG and the like, it's a lot closer to the existing models- short, sharp promotional activations.<br /><br />So, the sum of the parts of social media becomes:<br /><ol><li>Exchange of interaction/information between consumer and business through some form of a social media engine- here companies can understand what their consumers really want from them.</li><li>Companies analyse data to understand where their customers are headed and isolate areas of the business which can answer these needs</li><li>Businesses reshape offering and resell these back to those interested customers.</li></ol>The process becomes a universe where users actually attain what they're after in a timely fashion. On the flip side, a business makes sale. Everyone wins. How can you argue with that?<br /><br /><div align="center"><object width="560" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z5ecQMFGdzs&hl=en_GB&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z5ecQMFGdzs&hl=en_GB&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object></div>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-50908033107146977582009-11-15T20:35:00.002-05:002009-11-15T22:45:15.991-05:00Everybody, Get on! It's the social media ride!As I nibbled on petits fours and sipped afternoon cocktails in yesterday's summery sun, I had the lovely experience of discussing my favourite* social media conversation for the umpteenth time:<br /><br /><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ff6600;">Social Media Conversation numero 63:</span></strong><br /><strong><em>We're making Facebook groups for all of our sub brands. It's great! What do you think?</em></strong><br /><br />It is great that this company has decided to make a move into the new marketing opportunities that have become available. I'm happy that they're trying new directions. But when I began to probe and asked "Why are you going on the FB? Who are you trying to reach and what are you aiming to achieve?" - I was and am often faced with blank stares and silence. It quickly became obvious that the only objective was to put a tick next to "Set up Facebook page" on the to-do list!<br /><br />Who on earth is going to want to see the page besides staff? And that's often because they have to! If there is no incentive for any of loyalists, indifferents or even detractors to have a look- then forget it. Replicating information from a website is not creating a social media page.<br /><br />Prior to social media conversation numero 63, it often helps to ask:<br /><ul><li>Do we have reason to be on a social media site? Will it help grow our offering in the right way?</li><li>Do people care about us enough to want to engage with us in a social context? Can we create that context?</li><li>What will our objectives be? Sales, awareness, promotions, spread, customer service etc?</li><li>Do we want to engage with interested audience or motivate new user bases?</li><li>Do we have enough to push our page through to the long term? And is there a strategy to keep content fresh?</li></ul>If even a couple of these questions are answered, it's a good starting point. And at least if some of the initial strategies don't work, it's an easy enough fix to reoptimise and keep moving forward.<br /><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;">*The use of favourite here is to be taken lightly.</span></em><br /><em><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></em>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-40927890184020769632009-11-11T17:42:00.006-05:002009-11-12T23:25:57.063-05:00Mastercard Moments: A case of the short term feeding into the long termThe Mastercard Priceless idea is about special moments that have a simple hook. The hook is a common human truth, making the moment more accessible to everyone.<br /><br /><p>Moving from a campaign level, Mastercard have gone to the next stage and adapted their rewards program to be more functional for their user base. The rewards that they offer can become moments and priceless experiences. <a href="https://www.mastercardmoments.com.au/">Mastercard Moments</a> is a natural progression in both a business and marketing context.</p><p>Their adaptation of their rewards program is an aggregator of their offering inside a simple social media framework. When I say simple, I mean a user has access to only their profile (not the universe) and can access those offers that are right for them, setting the ones they like to a wishlist. The mechanic is that it seems to allow users to find and discover what rewards they're after and access it easily. Consequently allowing Mastercard to know what their customers want. It's a tool which seems to meet needs without wasting time.</p><p>It's a no brainer. Much smarter than using your audience to create your content - ie Mastercard could have asked users to submit their own Mastercard moments into a repository. But that begs to ask the questions-</p><ol><li>who cares about what Joe the Plumber has been up to?</li><li> Why is relevant for a user to filter through what becomes everyone else's irrelevant experiences?</li><li> What purpose does that serve to the Mastercard user?</li><li>What purpose does that serve to Mastercard?</li></ol><p>Here we get an ongoing adaptive process. Feed successful marketing campaigns into new long term business solutions and allow those business solutions to feed back into short term campaigns. Using the business solution as a guide. For example, Mastercard can see which offer motivates most users and work towards short term communications to maximise returns on that offer. Very Nice.</p><p><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403364123652296994" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 191px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDvU2xzpHA7qnwjf9774zbsiYzgDsPVGT0VNxFrTp1gHemW7GPBhNBcuRd44cWgvZ-hWKKzVLAOZaVwtx347ZNveZcKn5gPwSB_6VZJ1IXXQYxmf0o6erpLN7C00wfKZK_09YXOelUtd8/s400/figure8.jpg" border="0" /></p><p>And as long term solutions create a direct communications exchange with consumers, business find opportunities to give consumers what they want. One feeds the other and we end up with businesses maximising their returns. </p><p>...it's taking all my strength to hold off on a priceless gag....<br /></p>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-59987605811892237832009-10-08T08:05:00.004-04:002009-10-08T08:39:30.207-04:00We aren't in Kansas anymore Auntie EmThis, is the biggest storm in a teacup since they put visible hearing aids in John Howard's wax dummy at Madame Tussaud's.<br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z273QN3_Qwo&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Z273QN3_Qwo&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object></div><br /><br />Hey Hey it's Saturday's Red Faces is an Australian heritage. You could compare this to how racism in America used to be the right way to go. Taking the piss in the land of Oz just is.<br />Yanks don't get it, that's why <a href="http://www.adscam.typepad.com/">Georgie </a>would always tug my arm and tell me he was "taking the piss" whenever he told a joke, most often at my expense. Georgie is used to the Yank not understanding because they simply don't. Even when it slaps them in the face.<br /><br />This type of non-journalism makes me sad. This is in actual fact a witch hunt. No one thought there was anything wrong until that gimp made Daryl apologise. And then, the media took it and ran. With the apparent uproar in America, which basically means they had nothing else to write about, the local journos have resumed their America envy. Shame on you Australia for being UnAustralian. The worst insult around.<br /><br />There are also 3 facts that I would like to draw your attention to:<br /><ul><li>Those guys did this skit 20 years ago. No one had a problem then and racism in this country seemed to be largely unaffected from this tomfoolery. However, in the US, racism seems to have hit a new high. The events coined "Rodney King" and "beers in Obama's Rose Garden" come to mind.</li><li>Michael Jackson is white. His death does not change that.</li><li>And as one <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/funkydreddUK">FunkyDreddUK</a> said on YouTube:<br /><em><span style="color:#ff6600;">"I don't believe they intended to offend but in America this is higly sensitive because of the history of black Americans and how they were treated. However, Americans are quite happy to portray Arabs, Asians and pretty much everyone else in a negative and offensive manner on tv without much controversy..."</span></em></li></ul>So yeah Harry, where were you 20 years ago? Huh? Huh? Take your book burners, your fun killers and that weird drooped face you now have back to your jazz club and stay there. America's history is its own and Red Faces belongs on an entirely different spiritual level.wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-33546521766829597732009-10-07T04:14:00.003-04:002009-10-07T05:05:29.370-04:00For a touch of luxury where you need it most<div align="left">...and you'll never guess where- a lady's cha cha:<br /></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><br /></div><a href="http://www.ubykotex.com.au/platinum"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389770434202029426" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 245px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEityXihvrFL1nExKOflOd1eY-x27gm_ptXowSQKk7RLe05CK0ceSyEAMM6hAdtyvp1CgbNY1_Fr33R25dduHPdJXDcy4IwUbVGgQVdiq4IHRF-2xcnj5vCLP6CW9jH_V-SCBuJ8EXCqgw8/s400/kotexluxury.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://www.ubykotex.com.au/platinum"></a><br /><p align="center"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color:#ff6600;"><em>"The U by Kotex Platinum range of tampons and ultrathins brings you a touch of luxury where you need it most. The range is packaged in stylish cartons and includes unique product features to help you take the ultimate care down there."</em><br /></span></span></p><p>It's so nice that Kotex has considered the luxury option for when Flo comes to town. If feet can have Prada, should punani not have these same options?</p><p>As I passed the bus stop with this ad, I thought the same exact thing. I've really been pondering for a while now why there is no diversification and growth in the feminine hygeine market. Luxury and concern for vajayjay appears the optimum choice.</p><p>The tagline really takes it to the next level <em>"a touch of luxury where you need it most".</em> I'm not sure about that. Does hoo-hoo need this kind of attentiveness? Luxury seems to have always been something that's on display. Being able to show those premium wares goes with the territory. To make something which is hidden a luxury, seems odd. I'm sure the research was done and women wanted their fancy pads, but was it looked at in context? </p><p>...unless. Unless Kotex is talking about the packaging and this needs to go on display. But I dunno. It isn't a Platinum Amex, we're talking about periods and most women don't really want that information on parade.</p><p>There seems a disconnect. But feminine hygeine is a tough product. Kotex, I sincerely hope you do well. I don't know if you're thinking social media, but just take some lessons from Tampax's foray into <a href="http://thedigestif.blogspot.com/2008/08/its-finally-here-social-network.html">social networking</a> before you tamper with that angle.</p>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-55630488632857717982009-09-30T02:49:00.002-04:002009-09-30T03:18:43.129-04:002 obsessions that have me bamboozled<strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">1. Usage of the movie Downfall in the mocking of any advertising scenario</span></strong><br />Well, I think <a href="http://www.servantofchaos.com/">Mr <em>Servant of Chaos</em> Heaton</a> did it first with the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLZMy1rc7_4">Age of Conversation</a>. He got lots of backlash, really for no reason. He started a trend.<br />There was something recently with <a href="http://www.adgabber.com/video/adrants-upstaged-by-agencyspy">George Parker and Enfatico's actual downfall</a>. Good work<br />And then there is this lovely shot at iSnack2.0. Great writing, really solid.<br /><br /><div align="center"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/V7aM-VH9eS0&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/V7aM-VH9eS0&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>I am loving this Downfall obsession. It is making great appropriation of content and there are lots of others out there that aren't just marketing related.<br />As soon as a brand gets involved as the instigator, this whole phenomenon will be toast!<br /><br /><strong><span style="color:#ff6600;">2. The dancing Flashmob</span></strong><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><object height="385" width="425" data="http://play.dipdive.com/p/4545"><embed src="http://play.dipdive.com/p/4545" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="385"></embed></object></div><br />What is the deal with this?<br />Those <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o">prisoners in the Phillipines </a>doing it was cute and great. They have nothing better to do with their time, it just fits for them to become a dancing ensemble.<br />And <a href="http://improveverywhere.com/2005/10/19/zombie-dance/">Improv Everywhere </a>have been doing it for ages with free people. They are/were great.<br />Then there are lots of other dancemobs, everywhere. They aren't that good anymore, it's getting very "boy who cried wolf".<br />With this latest dance mob, I at first thought Oprah just wanted to get on the bandwagon, because she does that. In fact she loves doing that- taking things from people and making it her own. But only at the very very end did I notice it was for T-Mobile. They love this shizz. But is it really doing anything for their brand? They just tack their logo at the end of selected song. It's sucking. T-mobile- stop it. Please. For the love of god. Let the prisoners have their candy back.wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-45681350581748831452009-09-28T19:22:00.003-04:002009-09-28T20:04:21.182-04:00Unhappy little Vegemites vent their fury over iSnack 2.0<div class="description"><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/unhappy-little-vegemites-vent-their-fury-over-isnack-20-20090928-g997.html">Julian Lee, SMH</a> It must have seemed like a good idea at the time. But no sooner had Kraft trumpeted the name of its new Vegemite variant, iSnack 2.0, than it was met with almost universal condemnation by customers.</div><br /><p><b><span style="color:#ff6600;">i-GeValt iSnack2.0</span><br /></b>When I saw this campaign, I thought 2 things:</p><ol><li>I've seen this name that flavour thing before - <a href="http://www.smithsdousaflavour.com.au/">Smiths</a> is doing it with the chip flavour thing, and they copied that with <a href="http://www.seriouseats.com/2009/02/snapshots-from-the-uk-walkers-crazy-flavored-crisps-potato-chips.html">Walkers Chips</a>. <a href="http://www.library.wsc.nsw.gov.au/index.cfm?objectid=0944CF19-1708-51EB-A607CF0AE9961664">Winegecarribee library</a> even had their own renaming competition for their young adults section and they did it back in June to win an iPod. The list should go on, but 3 is enough, enough to make it <strong>unoriginal</strong>. (there's a crap load of others <a href="http://www.nickburcher.com/2009/04/user-generated-flavour-competitions.html">here</a>)</li><li>If I've seen this scenario before, it's been a case of <strong>that </strong>meeting room discussion:<br /><em><span style="color:#ff6600;">"We'll, this is working pretty good in the market right now, why don't we do it too. If all is going well for them, the laws should dictate that it goes well for us."</span></em><br /><strong>Wrong</strong> iSnack 2.0. The first law of new media is that if you copy something without appropriation or amendment it will be doomed to fail. Not only because it is a copy, but because you have put no thought in to how your brand should behave in conjunction with the particular activation.<br />The second law is that the consumer is 7 steps ahead of you. If you do something that the consumer is doing now, their ADHD won't handle a repeat.</li></ol><p>And it's great that Vegemite has shipped 3 million jars of the cheesey vegemite spread, and in the end this discussion will blow over by the end of the week. BUT, and the big but, is why do agencies take the lazy route and recommend things to their clients without thinking them through properly? Or, for that matter, attempt the new stuff? Australia is lucky enough to have a relaxed enough consumer community to really push the envelope and here you are trying the tried, true and boring! Step up to the plate, use your options and make happy little vegemites proud!</p><p>...and I'm taking a holiday from cliches. </p><br /><br /><div align="center"><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Zm9l9f7cNFk&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Zm9l9f7cNFk&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8758891901484669240.post-7446460340383613972009-09-21T00:19:00.002-04:002009-09-21T00:23:32.011-04:00Social media guns or bums?Apparently the rule is that If you are a social media “expert” you yourself need to be active and on top of every single social media offering.<br /><br />But really?<br /><br />But why?<br /><br />Of the top 3- blogging, tweeting and managing a Facebook profile with the prowess of a gossip magazine editor, there is not much time left in between.<br /><br />Not only do I not understand how the apparent social media gurus get any work done, I also see it as a massive problem in immersing oneself up their own asshole. Basically ye guru feels the need to create such presence, be such an opinion maker, creator of their own image that I feel they forget what really matters- an understanding of the real world!<br /><br />By being so focused on creating a presence within the social media community, the real world suffers. The real world, as in your audience, aren’t stuck up this internet hole. They don’t sit in front of their computer screens for hours on end, seeing which 3 people commented on their latest blog posts and if it was even coherent. The vast majority of them have real lives, and tend to live them, with balance.<br /><br />The thing that I think social media peeps forget, is they themselves live in a passion point. I’ve spoken about passion points before- these are the lynch pins which guide any execution in the new age. In the social media guru’s case, the passion point happens to be the fulcrum of the social media sphere. An unusual scenario, but the social media gun must recognise these subtle differences- how the real people absorb and use platforms to participate and interact around their own unique passion points. This allows a marketer to tailor and use platforms for their ultimate objective, creating new rules and rationales about these platforms.<br /><br />But the bums...the bums are so intent on watching the social media sphere like a hawk. They dive bomb on anything new and analyse it from every angle and that’s all they do. The problem is that they look at these activations in isolation and the weakness becomes the lack of perspective. The blinders are on and they miss all the things that real people see. It’s a problem and a shame.<br /><br />If you take anything from this, let it be a step back. The advent of new technologies has created a base for us to adapt and meld into the existing realms of human behaviour. There are no rules or guidelines, only learnings .Without this type of approach the onset of young, arrogant bums who fail to see these vital nuances, is inevitable.<br /><br /><div align ="center"><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hpkitLUbeEg&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hpkitLUbeEg&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></div>wiseyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02921973847946331320noreply@blogger.com2