Ford Motor company is using college students as Brand Ambassadors for the Ford Focus. While the presentation is quite bland, they demonstrate two features that their demographic would relate to – text messaging on the road and calling up music on their iPod.
The car actually uses a Microsoft application to sync with an MP3 player, and integrates with a cell phone so that the driver could have text messages read out, or displayed on the dash!
I received a link to this post about worst practices of a blog. Of the 41, these are what stood out for me.
There are plenty more, but I think many people don’t pay attention to staying on focus and adding variety. They sound like polar opposites, but aren’t. One is all about not trying to be all things to all people, while the other is all about depth.
Variety could include looking at a topic from several angles, and often putting one’s personal bias aside to explore other what-if scenarios, considering possibilities that you as a person or organization may not adopt but might have value.
As for the blog being too personal, this is a fine line. Of course one expects a blog to bring out the personality of the blogger, but writing sprinkled with far too many personal details is a turn off.
This week I met a good cross section of business people who were intrigued and excited about the potential of new media. At meetings like this I try to explain what this media and marketing shift is all about by referencing the usual suspects: RSS, blogs, wikis, Search engine optimization, online video and networking.
But rather than further segmenting them into sub categories (and confusing the heck out of people) I tell them to think of it as not just technology fixes to marketing opportunities, but a way of rethinking what our marketing goals are. Are we trying to amplify the message –as in the old tactics of expensive media buys — or are we trying to empathise with our customers better? Are we trying to stuff our brochures into their inboxes or are we trying to get them to find us on their terms, on their time?
I also tell them not to drink from the proverbial fire-hose, and take these techno solutions in small sips. The fire-hose is not what you want opened when you’re trying to achieve specific goals. There are just too many tools out there that may not even be relevant to your marketing objective.
My take is that, in our exuberance, we might be opening the new media pressure valve a bit too far, making marketing look too complex, to “wild west,” too faddish. Sometimes it’s OK to pinch the fire-hose. Work with what you have. Maybe what you have is a marketing team of two-and-a-half people, a lean budget, and a CEO who first needs you to serve it out in sippy-cup. The big thirst could be filled down the line.
There are several video plays trying to grab a piece of the YouTube market.
Two alternatives to think about when the geeky guy at your next meeting drones on and on about his YouTube strategy.
Kyte TV: It’s a place where you could go and create your own video channel, but the difference is you get to edit the video, add music tracks, effects, links etc. You could then grab the embed code and host it on your own site (and avoid being slotted in between some seriously embarrassing lip-syncers, or cat mutilations.) It’s still in beta, and is free!
VideoClix: A way to link elements in your video to specific landing pages. Let’s say your story has images of buildings, or objects that you like to link to other parts of your site. You create hot-spots in the video that can take the viewer deeper into the story, or off to an e-commerce site should you want to sell a subscription or merchandise. The site gives you detailed metrics so you know what the viewers clicked on, how much time spent on different parts of the story. The Lite edition is free, and the version for Educators is under $250.
Once again Southwest Airlines attempted to make someone change his T-shirt (or wear it inside out) because it was deemed offensive. Southwest Airlines makes man change T-shirt
CONSIDER THE SIMILAR INCIDENTS:
Southwest boots woman for T-shirt: October 2005
This was the “meet the fockers” slogan with Bush, Cheney and Rice.
Southwest fashion police set no-fly zone: Sep 2007
Just last month, the Hooters girl was asked to change her mini-skirt, or else.
On the Nuts About Southwest blog the post about that mini skirt flap got 235 comments. One commenter had this to say:
“Are your guys (no sic) in advertising there clueless? … If you really want to make a statement, create a dress code for the airline, publish it and then enforce it.”
About time, huh?
If you’d like to help craft that dress code, step this way.
For all PR folk in the valley, a meet-up event next Thursday.
The event is sponsored by PRNewswire.
FlexCar, the concept best described as a time-share for rental cars, has come to Arizona (it’s only available in 11 states) and has debuted at ASU.
I registered online and got a very neat 8.5″ X 4″ pack in the mail. It contains a handbook with pages that literally flex –OK, pop-up. There’s a lot to read in the handbook, but the pop-up nicely segments what could have otherwise been boring long-copy.
And then there’s the writing that echoes language of Mini Cooper‘s “Let’s Motor” campaign if you’re familiar with the work of its red hot agency, Crispin, Porter and Bogusky.
How it works: Once you register, you get a smart card in the mail. This is technically your door key to the car you reserve online. (The car keys are in the glove compartment.) It’s that easy! Since this is a fractional rental, you only pay for the hours you use the car –$8 an hour. It covers gas and insurance too.
What they don’t do enough is market their Frequent FlexCar option –basically you have the car for the whole month for $19.99 a month, plus $3 an hour from Monday through Friday. That’s just $25 a day if you take it for eight hours a day.
As a freelance writer I get pitched a lot. I don’t hit the delete
key unless it’s totally irrelevant. But I have to say there are several
people who do take the time to ask if whom they represent is relevant,
and they do their homework.
I had a pitch from a PR firm in the UK recently that really stood
out. He promised he wouldn’t flood my inbox, and offered an RSS feed as
an alternative –something I opted for.
On a macro scale, how do you get to know an organization, its
priorities, its strategic goals?
On Wednesday I was asked by a local firm
to speak to a group of incoming account managers about strategic
thinking and solutions selling. I used an example of how as
‘transparent’ as it may seem, a company’s web site is the last place
you’ll find that kind of useful information. A Google search would be a
hit or miss, unless you find a corporate blogger giving the inside
scoop. Nor would a site map reveal the inner working groups, the nodes
and the unofficial networks. Taking time to get to know this
“inner-net” means putting our digital smarts aside, and falling back on
our analog skills. I use the phrase “Think digital, act analog” (first
used by Guy Kawasaki, I believe) to illustrate the point.
A good article on this also appeared in Fortune magazine
last month (titled “The hidden workplace.”) “There’s the organization
chart,” it said. “And then there’s the way things really work.”
Bottom line: Take time to understand the analog networks. These power brokers, access points, nodes and human routers may not have a LinkedIn profile, but they sure make things happen!
What technology would PR companies, the police, and the paparazzi want to get their hands on?
It’s delivery that basically sends raw images from a video camera direct to the consumer. It is a service from ShootLive, news agency for the digital age based in Nottingham, UK. The ShootLive service was used in the coverage of David Beckham’s game in July.
Why does this change the game? Because of the need for speed. In journalism and in PR, or even in law enforcement, seconds make a difference. The scoop, the intervention of a criminal, the ability to relay instantaneous pictures of a tragedy such as an earthquake can impact lives.
Images from camera are streamed (as an XML feed) to a mobile phone in less than 60 seconds, the company says. What I like about all this is it doesn’t make the end-user jump through hoops to receive it. Images could arrive as a multi-media text alert.
What could this do for marketing? Apart from the obvious ones that ESPNs of this world will jump onto, and be able to monetize, marketers could get users to opt-in to premium content. Think: Olympics, stage acts such a Live Earth, and even regional ones. The McDonald’s and IBM’s could sponsor XML feeds . Down the line when the genie is out of the bottle, cell phone carriers will use the technology too. Already, AT&T has a similar service called VideoShare where subscribers could stream video with a camera phone to another phone –while talking! These are both low-end ($29.99 and $79.99) Samsung phones not some souped-up smart varieties.
Psst. Did you hear? Second Life is getting bad press. Ever since Businessweek magazine
did a cover story on SL last year, there has been nothing but good buzz
about the place. After all the IBM’s and Coca-Colas have all
established a presence there. But the question marks are beginning to
appear. (Note I didn’t say ‘cracks’).
WIRED is running a story (Lonely Planet: How Madison Avenue is wasting millions on a deserted Second Life“)
questioning MadAve’s rush to set up islands in a “metaverse,”
especially when it’s unmanned, feels lonely and way too cumbersome to
navigate.
Technology Review (subscription required) on the other hand has a very interesting analysis called Second earth –the possible mash-up between Google Earth and Second Life.
My take: It’s way too early to pass judgment on Second Life.
Critics are quick to use ROI thinking to evaluate the impact of a 3D
experience on business. For now the shine is off the rose. But we’ve
seen that happen before, haven’t we? Anyone remember Friendster?
Like it or not, the web will soon incorporate features of these 3D worlds. Trends such as geocoding, mobile
optimization, and our appetite for for on-demand information will create this world –with or without goofy avatars.
Hoipolloireport 