NZ Fashion Week has finished for another year. And, away from all the preening, strutting and Blue Steeling on the catwalk, a new Kiwi-conceived social media tool was making a name for itself behind the scenes, with the free iPhone photo app Snapr being employed to stream and geo-tag live photos from the runway straight to the NZFW website.
As someone who works on the strategic side of design, I’ve taken a keen interest in the rise of social media as a marketing tool. I’ve spent quite a bit of time reading up on other people’s experiences and on the various benefits they have had (or not). And for some, it would be useful to know when there will be regular conversations around a topic of interest to tune into. Just as with TV or radio, we should tune in at specific times when we know we will find relevant, interesting content.
With the Social Media Junction 2 conference line-up now confirmed for 16-17 November 2010 at SkyCity in Auckland, it’s timely to discuss one its key themes: content marketing strategies. And, more specifically, the difference between doing social media and doing it right, a topic conference keynote speaker Lee Odden will delve into.
What are Kiwis doing online? And, more importantly, how do they feel about it? 2010 has seen some fantastic research into both social media use and its relationship with business. Here’s some of the best.
After a hugely successful inaugural conference in May that attracted more than 200 Kiwi marketers, Social Media Junction is returning for its second edition with six international speakers on 16-17 November at SkyCity in Auckland. And the theme this time around is ‘Achieving ROI in your Social Media Marketing Strategy.’
BOHICA. Here’s your regular injection of marcomms miscellany, which includes quake-related media facts, tales of the hugely popular pop-up Wellington restaurant/experiential marketing ploy in Sydney, Auckland City Council’s new film initiatives, accolades for font gurus, new bubbles, silver foxes, over the shoulder boulder holders, bland pasta spokeswomen, signs and even databases.
With the launch of the #NewTwitter, it seems apt to speak about what the changes might mean for the social space in terms of PR.
Mike Walsh is what’s known as a ‘futurist’. Somewhat disappointingly, he doesn’t wear a silver boiler suit, he doesn’t employ the services of a rocket pack and he doesn’t know if the Mayans are right about the world ending in 2012. But, by focusing on nascent consumer trends in certain regions that have the potential to become mainstream everywhere else, he does know a thing or two about how the rise of the machines is completely changing the marketing game.
For its latest customer service trick, ASB has fully embraced social media, gone completely virtual and launched a real-time, secure, person-to-person banking application on Facebook, something it claims is a world-first.
Air New Zealand recently launched its new ‘Seats to Suit’ option for flights between New Zealand, Australia and the Pacific Islands, giving customers the opportunity to choose between four different ways of flying — Seat, Seat + Bag, The Works and Works Deluxe. And, in now fairly traditional Air New Zealand/.99 style, it’s created a quirky piece of promotional content to highlight the different options.
We’re big fans of heated debates here at StopPress and a heated debate kicked off yesterday after the Christchurch earthquake relief efforts of t-shirt company Mr Vintage were pegged by Ana Samways in her NZ Herald Sideswipe column as a cynical marketing ploy to try and make a quick buck from the disaster.
As I’m sure you’re all aware, this week is SMEG Awareness Week. Social media expert guru (SMEG) numbers have been increasing in New Zealand in the last 12 months due to a combination of the tidal impacts on the Orinoco river and the recession. So here’s a handy field guide to help you spot them.
In this collection of searing Michael Carney-created insights from Marketing Week: New Zealand media by the numbers Jericho crunches the email numbers and tells us when we should send them Too much discounting? Trade Me takes on Yellow (and Google) Social media and the jobseeker New revenue ideas for the small screen
Wise New Zealand marketing oracle Michael Carney peers into his crystal ball for this week’s installment of Marketing Week. Analogue TV is either dead or on death’s door overseas. How long has it got to live here? How to catch the elusive black swan. Are you overlooking the oldies? The paywall prognostications come thick and fast. So how is Rupert faring? What people really think of advertising? The social media horse is starting to bolt. And there’s still time for marketers to try and mount this difficult beast. Tips and tricks for post-recession category management.
Wonderful pearls of Wammo, Pound and Mash marcomms wisdom that have been carefully harvested from the oyster of ignorance especially for you.
Everyone loves the Old Spice guy. His musk is like the bottled essence of man. His rich, dulcet tones have made ladies all around the world instantly fall pregnant. And his ability to be on a horse is unparalleled. The first ad went crazy online and rightfully took the Film Grand Prix at Cannes recently, the second was a reasonable follow up and he’s also done plenty of others, including this moustache spot. But the agency responsible for creating the ‘man your man could smell like’ meme, Wieden + Kennedy, has taken ‘conversations with the brand’ up a big notch with its latest effort.
Air New Zealand already has plenty of customer loyalty, but plenty obviously isn’t enough, because the national carrier has come up with another way to inspire brand allegiance after it jumped on the location-based social media bandwagon and opened its Foursquare account.
Despite our apathetic streak (or, perhaps more accurately, a national belief that if you just keep moseying on things will probably come right eventually), new research has showed that New Zealand consumers are actually fighting back against poor customer experiences and voting with their feet when businesses don’t meet their expectations.
In this installment of Michael Carney’s Marketing Week: What’s the frequency, Kenneth? Big corporates to social media: ‘Hey, you can actually make us money’. So how can New Zealand businesses tap into it? Virtually possible: eWestfield on the cards. Rupert Murdoch begins his paid content experiment in earnest as the timesonline.co.uk closes its doors. Close enough is not good enough when it comes to advertising, as one Christchurch car yard recently found out. Google plans its next assault. This time, music.
In this installment of Michael Carney’s Marketing Week: Trade Me gets with the daily deals programme iAds steam ahead in the US The BBC begins what might be a new paradigm for paid content online Social media reaches the tipping point RIP, Independent What will this year’s most popular sales and lead generation strategies be? Get your names in the hat for the third Social Media Marketing eCourse. And there’s even a new option available for the ‘time-poor’.
There have been lots of conversations recently about privacy, specifically in social media. Mark Zuckerberg, founder and head-honcho at Facebook, got very sweaty when discussing the topic recently. So if Mark Zuckerberg, one of the pioneers of the share everything world we live in, is getting sweaty about ongoing privacy concerns, then perhaps we should all be worrying.
Steve Jobs introduces the Death Star. And more iPad tomfoolery, this time with our old friend velcro.
The second installment of the Olympus PEN series. 355 pictures were taken, printed in billboard size and shot again – and the video was produced with the Olympus PEN itself …
In this installment of Michael Carney’s Marketing Week: As TV watching habits change, audience measurement is changing with it. Is social buzz leading to more ka-ching? Nielsen says ‘meh, not really’. Online video is hot. And B2BTV hopes to tap into it for the New Zealand market. Can our internet infrastructure actually handle the iPad? Whitcoulls launches an e-reader. But, without cellular connectivity, will it be able to compete? Data-driven coupons show their worth. Survey your way to a fitter, healthier marketing you, and expand your mind by getting a spot in the third Social Media Marketing Course.
With all that earnest talk about engagement, authenticity and honesty, social media is certainly very fertile ground for parody and ridicule – and also for shysters, snake oil merchants and pettifoggers like Brian.
The mascots for the London Olympics have been revealed. And Wenlock and Mandeville look like the …
It’s news Stinky Jim, but maybe not quite as you know it.
Michael Carney is quite possibly the most productive man on the planet. And he’s generous, too: he’s giving away a few free copies of his new literary baby – an e-book called Adventures into the Unknown World of Social Media that deals with marketers’ fears about the space and details the ways to overcome them – to a few speedy downloaders.
Questions were asked and the answers were given by Julien Smith, the keynote speaker at the upcoming Social Media Junction and New York Times bestselling co-author of Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust, which was singled out by Amazon.com as one of the top 10 business and investing books of 2009.
Mashable recently published an article highlighting research done by a social media management firm called Virtue, which looked at the value of a Facebook fan. According to its research, a fan was worth US$3.60 per year. Bear with me as I get mathematical.
The use of social media as a business tool is becoming the norm rather than the exception. Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are just some of the websites used to promote businesses and products, as well as being excellent tools for interacting directly with customers and associates. But there can be risks associated with publishing too much information online, particularly in relation to your intellectual property. So what steps can you take to ensure that you are getting the best exposure possible without jeopardising it?
A senior, seasoned technology client quipped to me the other day that the growth of so called ‘social media experts’ reminded him of the rise and rise of the dotcom gurus who sprouted like mushrooms in the late nineties. But you know what? Not only does the prevalence of social media seem familiar, for someone like me (and those of my vintage), it’s actually reassuringly old fashioned.