Just in case you’re not getting enough Swine Flu news through traditional media, Jon Swaine and Chris Irvine chime in on Swine Flu news spreading, well, kind of viral-like, through everybody’s marketing tool of the month, Twitter.
Archive for April, 2009
Can’t Get Enough Swine Flu?
Thursday, April 30th, 2009Canadian Marketing Association Conference
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009I’m in Toronto at the Canadian Marketing Association National Conference. It’s actually been a muted event, seems like a lot of marketers in the GTA are rattled by the recession - or maybe it’s the swine flu. Or maybe Upper Canadians just aren’t that much fun.
Anyway, the conference was dominated by social media, of course, as a lot of old school marketers (client and agency sides) are wondering how to do it, how to measure it and how to make the lawyers stop freaking out.
There have been a number of good sessions but I was impressed by one from Clay Shirky, a professor at NYU and a guy who has spent a lot of time thinking and writing about what social media means to society (and to marketers). His central thesis is that “group action just got easier.” Today people can talk directly to each other without the help or permission of any other institution. The middlemen of information are gone - this blog has the same potential reach as the New York Times (oh, some day, yes some day…if only for Dan Culberson’s rapier wit).
Another point that I liked was the idea that in this universe, everyone is in the marketing department. Every interaction they have online (blogs, Twitter, Facebook etc.) is an opportunity to convey a message - of course that message can be positive or negative. So there’s the rub - it’s still about the message and it’s still about “word of mouth”. But today that word of mouth can be amplified globally in almost no time.
But don’t panic. Companies just need to be smarter. A misstep will cost you. Ask the folks at Amazon about how one wrong policy decision can spiral out of control - or just search #amazonfail on Twitter and see the raw response for yourself.
Frozen in Time
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009Incredible advertisement for Phillips ultra widescreen. Directed by Adam Berg.
The Sort of Ad You Probably Won’t See on Your Local Canadian Channel Anytime Soon
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009Peeing business men? Blood squirting a perfect arc from a forehead? Mountain fire? It must be an ad for bottled tea.
I love it. It’s memorable, it gets the point across, and there is a direct tie in to a product value that sets this bottled tea apart from competitors.
The Branding of Nations
Monday, April 27th, 2009
An interesting post from Daily Heller on the branding of nations. The Daily Heller feels the resulting logo work is pretty cheesy, and I do have to wonder why so many go for that sort-of-hand-colored kindergarten-friendly look.
The Simplest Blogging Tool Yet
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009I write bearing news of Posterous, probably the simplest blogging tool ever created. How simple? Just send an email to post@posterous.com and it does everything else. It resizes your photos, posts your video, creates slideshows, inserts an mp3 player… and provides a return email with the link where your post can be seen.
If you want a bit more control, you can have a profile and a custom subdomain configured in less than 5 minutes.
Pretty nifty way to get a quick blog up and running.
Susan Boyle
Friday, April 17th, 2009
By now, surely you’ve heard of this woman. Her video on youtube has only been posted for about six days and already it has over 20 million views. Her story has made its way onto national broadcasts and I believe Oprah is even interested in having her on her show. It really is a pretty cool story. Just go to youtube and search for Susan Boyle and you’ll see what I mean. Definitely a must see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY
Kay’s Music Korner
Friday, April 17th, 2009I love music. I listen to it all day. I search out new music in my spare time. Perhaps I was a musician in another life. Regardless, I thought that I would use this blog as a way to review and share new music that I’ve found - hence the snappy title ‘Kay’s Music Korner’. My first song ‘o the day will be “Funny the Way It Is” by the Dave Matthews Band.
This is the first single off their soon to be released album ‘Big Whiskey & the Groogrux King’. I have loved the DMB for many years - but I will admit to not always ‘loving’ their singles. However this song, this song I love! The boys have returned to their roots, echoing their sound from Before These Crowded Streets. The sound is still fresh and new, but it’s as though they’ve regained their passion for creating music. Not that it wasn’t always there, but sometimes bands can get a bit bogged down from constant touring, recording or the need to create something new. With this song, I’ve dusted off my Birks and have practiced my ‘hippy shuffel’ dance moves. I’m loving this song for summer and I hope you do too.
Grammar 101 - aka “How I fell in love with grammar and punctuation”
Thursday, April 16th, 2009Ahh, childhood memories. Playing with water guns. Going to the park. Watching Sesame Street and learning about grammar through “Conjunction Junction”.
Here’s a little flashback to one of my favorite clips from childhood for those of you who may have missed it (or who have fond memories).
