Archive for the 'New Marketing' CategoryPage 2 of 9

“If Twitter Is Down, How Can We Twitter About it?” And 15 Other New Marketing Paradoxes

Published
by
Matt
on May 21, 2008
in New Marketing and Web 2.0
. Comments

If Twitter is down, then how can we Twitter about it?

Why do early adopters tell everyone they know about the next big thing, and then complain when everyone starts using it?

Is it still a wiki if only one person edits it?

If you accept a friend request from someone you hate, does that make you friends?

We want brands to join the conversation, but do we really want to talk to all of them?

If blogging gives everyone a voice, why is it still so hard to hear anyone?

If you’re in Second Life more than half the time, is it still second?

Why is the next big thing small now?

If knowledge is so valuable, why is everyone giving it away?

If you can’t find yourself in Google, do you really matter?

Why is it that when you’re completely busy, the first thing you do is tweet about how busy you are?

If people are so lazy, why isn’t RSS more popular?

Which came first? The troll or the message board?

When did something behaving like a virus become a good thing?

If the consumer finding out is inevitable, why do companies still try and trick us?

If a blog has more comments than posts, who’s blog is it?

What did I miss? Feel free to add your own.

Don’t Be A Fat Kid In Skinny Jeans

Published
by
Matt
on May 8, 2008
in New Marketing and Web 2.0
. Comments

Sometimes you really can’t follow the trends.

I’m not quite what you’d call a small person. And as such, this whole hipster/skinny jean trend is killing me. Think of an apple stuck on top of two toothpicks. Not a very exciting picture.

But the important thing is that I recognize this. You won’t see me trying to squeeze myself into any ultra-slim low rise Levi’s. And I don’t expect you to be forcing yourself into social media.

If it’s not right, it’s not right, I don’t care how trendy and “hip it is with the kids”.

If you run a concrete business, or a pizza pan company, then a Facebook ad might not be right for you. A blogger outreach project might not be smart if you’re the number one supplier of caulk in North America.

I still think that the future of marketing is connecting with people. But you have to pick your battles. Besides, “Caulk Talk” probably wouldn’t fly anyway…

I am a product of advertising

Published
by
Matt
on May 4, 2008
in Advertising and New Marketing
. Comments

And so are you. And pretty much everyone else you know.

And despite what some people (get a job, hippies!) might say, it’s not really a bad thing.

If not for the advertising, I wouldn’t have remembered what day Grand Theft Auto IV was coming out. I’m almost positive I would have never discovered The Ting Tings without the newest iPod commercial (see below). It’s this element that usually goes unnoticed, but it’s actually the most important part.

I know that the point of advertising is to sell, but I think we’ve come to a point where it needs to be more that that. It needs to be useful. We’re here because people don’t want to see/read/hear ads. Think I’m lying? Check out the numbers of DVR and satellite radio owners. Ask the average person how they feel. It sure ain’t pretty.

So where does that leave us?

Well, a very tricky place, it seems. How do we pitch our product and provide value at the same time? Perhaps a change of priorities is in order. What would be really interesting is if we focused first on providing value to people, and also manage to get our product/service/company into the picture.

But hey, if that doesn’t work, we could always bombard people with as many ads as humanly possible and try to keep shouting until they can’t possibly ignore us anymore. That’s gonna work too right?

A Simple Answer

Published
by
Matt
on Apr 21, 2008
in New Marketing and Web 2.0
. Comments

It’s very easy to blame something on the numbers. It’s also very easy to say something isn’t worth it, and to ask questions like -

How many of my customers really blog?

How many of them listen to podcasts?

How many are into Facebook?

How many of them are on Twitter?

But in the end it’s a pretty simple answer. Enough are.

Massive Conversationosity

Published
by
Matt
on Apr 2, 2008
in ANM and New Marketing
. Comments

Like a conversational freight train from hell, The Age of Conversation is back for the 2008 edition: Why Don’t People Get It? Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton are back running the show, so you know its going to be good. Here’s a list of the other 274 people that will be bringing the heat.

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

The Other 23

Published
by
Matt
on Mar 31, 2008
in New Marketing
. Comments

Short post today, just something to think about.

Everyone is healthy for the hour that they’re in the gym.

Everyone is eco-friendly for the hour that they’re driving their hybrid.

Everyone is open and forward-thinking for the hour that they’re blogging.

But the thing is, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing with that one hour.

What matters is what you do with the other 23.

Sweet Surprises on Amazon

Published
by
Matt
on Mar 20, 2008
in New Marketing and Web Sites
. Comments

Normally the front page of Amazon.com is filled with product recommendations, sales, and more recently a showcase for their e-book reader, the Kindle.
cake1_1.jpg
But today all the front page has is a note from the Founder/CEO Jeff Bezos explaining the high level of demand and how it’s causing Kindle shortages. Standard corporate line sort of stuff. We hope to get it back in stock, Order and ship same-day…you get the picture.

But then Bezos does something interesting and incredibly smart. He acknowledges the community by showcasing a big picture of a Kindle-shaped cake he found on the internet, saying “I found this delectable-looking Kindle cake on the web - it’s the ultimate geek compliment!”

With this simple picture and link he turns the standard CEO line into something fun and engaging. Clearly Bezos is paying attention to whats being said (and baked) about Amazon and it’s products.

Are You?

How To Not Get Hit In The Face

Published
by
Matt
on Feb 11, 2008
in Communication and New Marketing
. Comments

When I was in college, a friend and I were have a catch with a large orange (don’t ask) in our house. After a couple of rounds of back-and-forth, my friend got tired of throwing to just me. He yelled out a quick “hey, catch!” to a girl standing near by and then launched the orange in her direction.

She wasn’t paying attention.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen someone get hit in the face with a two-seam citrus fastball, but it’s not pretty. Needless to say, my friend was embarrassed, the girl was hurt, and I was pretty surprised at the whole thing.

Now take this story and swap out the orange for your marketing message.

You might be throwing you’re message out there pretty hard, so you can be sure it gets where you want, but people have to be ready for it. When I search for multivitamins I’m ready for ads for multivitamins. When I go to the movies, I’m ready for for previews of upcoming movies. Knowing what’s coming makes a big difference.

Matching the right product to the right audience is key, but you also have to consider how open they are to the message.

It’s worth the extra time it takes to make sure it’s right. A bad marketing message hurts a lot more than a speeding orange.