My weekly update of what’s going on in new media marketing, pulled from social bookmarking site Creativing.com:
Scale: The Importance of Cafe-Shaped Experiences
A good excerpt from Chris Brogan’s new book “Trust Agents”. It speaks to how the scope of much product development and it’s related marketing is downsizing, or going niche. And with both products and marketing going less mass, it requires a more personal touch. That effects profitability for sales and cost-effectiveness for marketing. The challenge of doing more for less is all-too-familiar in marketing circles today. This article is a bet that won’t be changing any time soon. It’s an interesting dilemma, because the big question many marketers have for social media is its scalability. Companies accustomed to running national mass media campaigns who then try social media as a more personal approach to marketing often report the lack of a blip on the radar screen of sales or traffic. Perhaps the mass media model will need to take further hits in acceptance or credibility for this trend to completely play out. Or, maybe social media will find new ways to scale the impact of more personal conversations. Whatever the case, a more personalized approach takes time and diligence. And companies accustomed to mass media who try to bring that mindset to social media are likely in for a difficult transition.
Apple – Movie Trailers – Art & Copy
I’ve seen this going around the web, and apparently it opens today in a few small markets. While Mad Men will broaden the appeal of this, it’s still likely to be a special interest movie. I’m curious how soon films like this will go straight to online viewing. If they could get 5% of the ad industry to see it for $2, I can’t imagine there aren’t profits to be had.
New Site for CMO’s
CMO.com. Curious what they paid for the URL. Launched by Omniture, they’re accepting content submissions, but seem to be mostly aggregating at the moment.
New Facebook Privacy Policies Will Have A Significant Impact On Platform Applications
I’ve been writing a lot on privacy issues lately, which is odd for a creative guy. But I’m confident these issues are going to have a strong bearing on creative capabilities, particularly in social media, over the next several years. Seriously, most people have no idea what information is out there on them, and how easily it can be dug up. Facebook seems to be taking the self-regulatory approach that the alcohol and tobacco industries have taken for years. But they have their challenges. Reading Facebook’s Privacy Settings section reads like the Ts and Cs of most websites. So I’m not expecting people to really take this over for themselves. Facebook in general isn’t known for it’s great user interface, so I’m curious how they’ll handle such a complex issue with a mass audience in time before this blows up.
Is ‘Friending’ in Your Future? Better Pay Your Taxes First
On the subject of Privacy, you may be surprised to know that the IRS is hanging out on social media sites, looking for confirmation or contradiction of your latest filing. Seems like small potatoes stuff, but tax revenues for the government are at devastatingly low numbers due to the economy. They’re looking behind the sofa cushions for loose change.
LAPD releases security cam vid of break-in at Lindsey Lohan’s house
Speaking of government agencies using social media, LAPD released this break-in video. On YouTube. While this makes sense, I think the big story is, the IRS and now LAPD are both using social media to improve their performance. Yet as recent surveys have shown, there are still CMOs of major corporations that aren’t convinced that social media has a role to play in their marketing efforts. Interesting.
New campaign for CWs “The Vampire Diaries”: Tying cause marketing with for-profit business objectives
Not every marketing story can have an ‘green’ or ‘socially conscious’ angle to it. But here’s a TV show tying into the Red Cross as a way to promote both. I like this as a way of bringing a heightened social awareness to the campaign, which feels compassionate and relevant in troubled times like this.
Justin (shitmydadsays) on Twitter
A pretty good story. A simple daily Tweet of what a 28 year old overhears from his 73 year old dad. And the growth has been remarkable. I first noted this last Tuesday, when ‘Justin’ had 53,000 followers. Earlier this morning, it was at 149,000. It’s now over 151k. Like Daily Candy, it’s simple in structure — just one posting a day. A good reminder that an impacting message doesn’t have to have large budgets or extensive production timelines. There was a rumor that this was tied to V Australia, which I’ve not been able to confirm. However, if this does turn out to be marketer-driven, I’ll be curious to see both a) Who it’s for, and b) How people will react.
Cheese and Burger Society
Fun site from the Wisconsin Cheese council. I’m always up for a new burger or sandwich recipe. I do think there’s a lot more they could have done in the way of social interactions around this site, though. But good content all the same.
Photoshop Artworks
Striking photoshopping applied to portrait photography.