Last week, the Twitterverse was abuzz after questions were raised about the legitimacy of follower numbers and whether the system was being gamed by some to increase the perception of influence. And we’ve heard from a couple of people since who want to alert brands to what they believe is a social media scam—and a completely over-hyped metric.
Over the weekend, we received a message from Facebook’s account manager Adnan Khan asking us to consider adopting Facebook’s Social Plugin commenting system on StopPress, as it would increase the authenticity of the conversations and reduce the number of “faceless trolls” and offensive comments (if you’re so inclined, you can comment on StopPress stories through Facebook, Twitter or Google by logging-in to Disqus). So we couldn’t help but revel in the irony when ComputerWorld published an article yesterday about the fact that, according to social media management tool Status People, 94 percent of Khan’s almost 30,000 Twitter followers were fake.
We were interested to read about Ian Smith’s apparently coincidental attack of the Pures during his commentary of the first All Blacks vs Ireland test, a three match series being sponsored by Steinlager, which is soon to launch its 2012 campaign featuring a new ambassador ($10 says it’s Ian Smith). Lion and Sky denied there was any attempt at nefarious aural product placement. But even if there was, it’s highly unlikely it would do anything: remember the old wives’ tale about subliminal messages being played in movie theatres that supposedly made people buy more Coke and popcorn?
In what’s being called a world first, Tequila\ is taking ANZ Bank’s fundraising campaign for the RSA into the realm of social media by allowing Kiwis to donate funds to the Poppy Day Appeal via SMS and rebadging their Twitter avatars with the familiar poppy icon in the corner.
New Zealand social media agency Catalyst90’s post-election Twitter analysis reveals that some MPs missed the boat by ignoring social media as a platform for strategic campaigning and positioning.
You may have seen the worm on telly last night, when up to 1600 people from all over New Zealand gave their second-by-second reactions to the Leaders’ Debate on TV3 with Roy Morgan’s Mobile Reactor, an app downloadable to smartphones. TV3 compared that worm with the one provided by their studio audience of 65 undecided voters. But can the technology assist in the advertising realm?
Almost 30 years after New Zealand’s infamous snap election, a Wellington based distiller is bringing old-fashioned fun and satire back to modern day politics. Ulf Fuehrer, maker of traditional German schnapps Zumwohl, says one of his greatest passions in life, aside from schnapps, is politics. Now he’s found a way to bring the two together.
We could tell you about the e-gremlins that meant Fairfax failed to deliver some of its papers yesterday, or the bombshell that Tourism New Zealand’s PR company in the US helped get John Key on the David Letterman show. But we decided this supposed world-first from Wellington digital agency Resn, which brought a whole new, ridiculous and very interactive meaning to the term Twitterfeed, was much more important.
YouTube and Ridley Scott captured the world in action to great effect recently with Life in a Day. And now Vodafone is taking a similar idea and localising it with Share Everything Day, which aims to find out what New Zealanders are sharing and how they’re using social media.
Over the past month we’ve rolled out our Colmar Brunton nzgirl Women’s Tracker presentation to agencies and clients and one of the key discussions from the preso has been around Twitter. While the most commonly bandied-around, unlikely-to-be-grounded-in-fact number of participators in New Zealand is around nice percent I suspect the reality is much smaller. And in an industry more likely to be exposed to new communication tools, I found only a very small number of people actively participating. In some agency meetings, often in a room of twenty media buyers, not one of them was tweeting.
We were thinking of what approach to take when looking at KFC and their Double Down. The ridiculously effective campaign that proved any PR is good PR managed to run some stores out of bacon (we are presuming it’s real bacon), some stores to have queues outside and some stores probably with broken toilets.
But after looking at the most popular trends on Twitter in New Zealand, aside from seeing #doubledown at number four, something that stood out was the number one trend which had a “promoted” badge next to it. That trend? #McDFrozen.
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.
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.
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.
Love it or loathe it, social media has become an extremely powerful communications force in recent times. And, according to Nielsen’s 2010 Social Media Report, its marketing star continues to rise in New Zealand as users start interacting more with brands online and rely on their social networks to guide purchasing decisions.
YouTube, Facebook and Twitter arguably rule in internet land. Not only have they resulted in the emergence of overnight celebrities, they have created a new clip culture and a whole new world for marketers to explore. In Fact, YouTube is the number two search engine in New Zealand. So if you’re brainy, you’ll know that utlising their marketing potential is well, the brainy thing to do.
There’s a lot of buzz around social media at present. And it’s a space that every company feels it should be in. But, first things first, what exactly is it?
Hey, look, it’s the newish incarnation of eBuzz from Marketing Week, and it’s a weekly melange of digital marketing news that will be of interest and relevance to Kiwis. Facebook, Twitter, TradeMe and the Anti-Spam Law: what’s the dilly? Social media: called to account Google gets buzzed Where do Kiwis shop online?
‘They’ say it’s never been done in New Zealand—a wedding planned entirely via social media. But Orewa bride-to-be Pauline Stockhausen has vowed to use only suppliers she has met through Twitter, Facebook and the like for her March nuptials, and Waiwera Thermal Resort has jumped on board, offering a reception venue and spa makeover in return for frequent mentions on her blog.
According to ASB’s Twitter account, good banking isn’t about ownership (or apostrophes). It’s about love and devotion.
But MP and Kiwibank stalwart Jim Anderton tends to disagree and certainly doesn’t think ASB should be allowed to pass itself off as a Kiwi bank.
ASB’s new …
We knew it was bound to happen, live tweets are now being seen on digital billboards. The first in NZ come from the Yellow Chocolate campaign. They feature the face and tweets of Josh Winger whose mission is to make a chocolate bar that tastes like the colour yellow, using …
Tune in to our tweets tonight at the advertising event of the year, the Effie Awards. StopPress correspondent David MacGregor will be tweeting live from Sky City Convention Centre – follow him @stoppressnz on the topic #effies.
The full list of winners will be posted after the ceremony.
On Wednesday New Zealand Red Cross launched an online cause at Givealittle.co.nz in response to the tsunami in Samoa and American Samoa. Within two minutes online donations started pouring in from around the world fuelled mainly by Twitter. More than $50,000 has been raised in three days …
Fresh biscuits from The Media Counsel: Is the TiVo and Telecom tango an exclusive dance? Can Twitter get into the black? Who is NZ’s Donald Trump? Aussies clamp down on greenwashing. Read the pdf MediaMonitor 21-September-0The hunt is on for NZ's Donald Trump for The Apprentice Kiwi-style …
Are you one of those sad sacks that has a Facebook profile but no friends to talk to? Now Aussie advertising and promotions company uSocial.net is selling friends for Facebook users.
Building a fan base has never been easier – you can buy packages of up to 5,000 or …
See ya Y&R, hello Sugar. BNZ has appointed Sugar as its new agency with their media partner SparkPHD.
Even though Y&R have been delivered some “great work” in the last four years, BNZ head of brand, Jo Kelly, says “we’re entering a new phase of our business …
Simon PoundHadleigh Averill
How is creative consultant agency The Pond gonna surf the social media wave? By launching a specialised social networking creative team for companies wishing to get profile in those hard-to-reach digital places.
Enter Simon Pound and Hadleigh Averill. Pound is a writer, director and self-confessed troublemaker …
Nobody believes business anymore. So who’s in control of your brand? It’s all of us. Here’s how the truth has been democratised, distributed and Google-optimised. It’s goodbye to the mass message and welcome to The Conversation.Nobody believes business anymore. So who’s in control of …
Our behaviour is about to be micro-measured. But just what tale will those numbers tell? Read more >>
Learning from the marketing methods that unlocked the White House. Read more >>