A few weeks ago I blogged about the iSpyLevis campaign currently running on Twitter. I just wanted to update my opinions on this campaign.
It is brilliant.
The comms team are capitalizing on the fact that their follower base has multiplied by 400% in a matter of weeks and that people are going to great lengths to interract with the brand.
Their latest Tweet: iSpyLevis: PEOPLE! We've got 501 followers. Follower number 568 will get a pair of 568® SKINNYS IN RESIN SEALED. Tell your friends! Demonstrates how they are taking this campaign even further. I guarntee that they are hitting all client objectives.
I am still trying my hardest to get a pair (after securing a pair for my friend last week). The 'game' is completely addictive. I can only hope that I can produce a piece of similar brilliance for one of my clients!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Yes he can
President Obama is rewriting the rules for marketing. The brand that he has built himself is solid, approachable and desireable.
Yes, he is lucky to be so attractive. Yes, he has his communication skills down pat and Yes, he has an army of staff behind him to help him reach great heights. The truly admirable thing that he does however, is reach out to people and make it easy for them to join a conversation with him.
Let's be clear, it is unlikely that Barrack is the one responding to tweets, facebook messages, myspace posts or emails but, the image he porjects is one of accessibility. He makes people feel like he is within their reach and that he will act upon their suggestions. He listens to what people want to hear and then tells them what they want to hear.
So with all of this in mind, it is unsurprising that the speech he will deliver on bridging the gap between the U.S. and the Muslim world in Cairo will be accesible via all of his previous touchpoints but also via SMS.
What this means is that he has even further broken down the barriers between himself and the wider world. He is making himself available to not only American voters but global citizens who may or may not be living in nations with restrictions on the information they can access.
President Obama should be applauded for his brand building efforts and his consistency. If other brands operated in a similar fashion to him - remained on-strategy and single minded about their image - I would argue that they could feel more confident about entering a conversation with consumers and as such would have greater success in winning over consumers and building brand loyalty.
Yes, he is lucky to be so attractive. Yes, he has his communication skills down pat and Yes, he has an army of staff behind him to help him reach great heights. The truly admirable thing that he does however, is reach out to people and make it easy for them to join a conversation with him.
Let's be clear, it is unlikely that Barrack is the one responding to tweets, facebook messages, myspace posts or emails but, the image he porjects is one of accessibility. He makes people feel like he is within their reach and that he will act upon their suggestions. He listens to what people want to hear and then tells them what they want to hear.
So with all of this in mind, it is unsurprising that the speech he will deliver on bridging the gap between the U.S. and the Muslim world in Cairo will be accesible via all of his previous touchpoints but also via SMS.
What this means is that he has even further broken down the barriers between himself and the wider world. He is making himself available to not only American voters but global citizens who may or may not be living in nations with restrictions on the information they can access.
President Obama should be applauded for his brand building efforts and his consistency. If other brands operated in a similar fashion to him - remained on-strategy and single minded about their image - I would argue that they could feel more confident about entering a conversation with consumers and as such would have greater success in winning over consumers and building brand loyalty.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Sex still sells
Sometimes it feels like the world is moving really quickly.
In the media-sphere it is difficult to keep up with the latest advancements and to think of ways they will fit into your client's marketing plans, particualrly when many clients are still addicted to TV and think that tweet is a sound that birds make.
One trend that I have noticed lately though, is that no matter what the medium, sex still sells.
Check out this Tweet from earlier today:
In the media-sphere it is difficult to keep up with the latest advancements and to think of ways they will fit into your client's marketing plans, particualrly when many clients are still addicted to TV and think that tweet is a sound that birds make.
One trend that I have noticed lately though, is that no matter what the medium, sex still sells.
Check out this Tweet from earlier today:
The goodsex hashtag is currently trending #1.
I find this really interesting because just last week, hashtag 3words (aftre sex) was incredibly popular.
If i were in the business of selling sex, safe sex or sex-related products (ie condoms, lubricant.. let your imagination run wild) I would be harnessing the information coming from these tags.
Given the popularity of these two organic tags, as a sex brand, why wouldn't you initiate a new trending topic equally as topical but backed by your brand? It would generate a significant amount of online chatter and also serve as a rich source of information for NPD.
So perhaps this can work for other brands too or even just as a source of ideas for us to take to clients. By tracking trends on social networks that are related to our brands we can beat the client to the next idea and even start to predict the outcomes of qual research.
Now the next challenge, who do we conivince others to believe in the power of this?
I find this really interesting because just last week, hashtag 3words (aftre sex) was incredibly popular.
If i were in the business of selling sex, safe sex or sex-related products (ie condoms, lubricant.. let your imagination run wild) I would be harnessing the information coming from these tags.
Given the popularity of these two organic tags, as a sex brand, why wouldn't you initiate a new trending topic equally as topical but backed by your brand? It would generate a significant amount of online chatter and also serve as a rich source of information for NPD.
So perhaps this can work for other brands too or even just as a source of ideas for us to take to clients. By tracking trends on social networks that are related to our brands we can beat the client to the next idea and even start to predict the outcomes of qual research.
Now the next challenge, who do we conivince others to believe in the power of this?
Monday, June 1, 2009
And because of that came my steepest learning curve since the age of 0-3....
Upon joining bellamyhayden I had no idea how much I was about to learn. I was surrounded by brilliant people, in a hardworking office and seemed to learn by osmosis.
It confirmed to me that it actually didn't matter where I worked because it was the calibre of people that I surrounded myself with that would impact the qaulity of my output.
During my time at bellamyhayden I made lifelong friends, won my first media award and was inspired to never do less than my best.
It was at this point in my life that UM approached me with an interesting job offer.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
And becasue of that... iSpyLevis being VERY smart
So a group of us at bh have just had the BEST brand experience thanks to Levis.
The brand has "released hundreds of pairs of Levis on the streets of key cities across Australia & New Zealand. If you think you see someone wearing a pair ask them "Are they Levis?". If you get it right, they'll drop their pants & give them to you on the spot."
This is such a smart strategy. It taps into our voeuyeristic nature and harnesses the power of follow on twitter (literally) in a fun and rewarding way.
I have been following @iSpyLevis for the last few days and have become totally addicted. When their profile started to show some life after lunch today I was determined to find the jeans on the street.
I tweeted with the guy and an hour later he was posting pics of his location right outside our office! Chris ran downstairs to meet him and 5 minutes later is the proud owner of a pair of GUYS 568® SKINNYS IN RESIN SEALED.
This concept would work well for many products and is allowing Levis to have very rich consumer interaction as well as promote their style range.
Here's to me finding the female over the next few days!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Is discrimination relative?
We've just had a debate here at work that has really angered me.
It started because somebody sent an email around the agency asking about our opinions on the 'Chk chk boom' news report.
For the record, my opinion is as follows;
There are some commonalities in all media stories that get traction with young girls as the face of the story – the girls are all hot.
Other examples in history -
1995 when Anna Wood died of taking ecstasy
2006 LonleyGirl15 work for the New York Times
2009 Heidi and The Man in the Jacket
The only reason this has taken off is that Claire is good looking. Sure she’s made some semi-racist comments, exposed the real exploits of young girls to worried parents across the nation and epitomized the ‘bogan’ but who has she really offended? AND, I also think that in general fat/skinny wogs have probably made enough cat-calls at her (ala “hey baby wanna root”) to justify her colloquial description of them.
I would argue that the people who are kicking up a stink - the middle-upper class white people - have taken offence to the ‘fat wog/skinny wog’ statements because they don’t want the world’s impression of Australia to be Claire.
Moral of the story is we have a winning formula – innocence + pretty girl = immediate publicity.
There was a bit of backlash to my opinion from an English guy. He insinuated that all Australian's are racist and that it is the fault of our media.
So this got me thinking - are Australian's racist or is it simply a question of relativity?
I, being half Maltese, have been called a wog many a time and take no offense to it. In fact, I am quite proud of my heritage. Even public opinion says that wog is not always a racist term. On top of this when you look at some of our pop-culture - Fat Pizza, Wog Boy - you realize that even the 'wogs' themselves embrace this stereotype.
So here I am left feeling insulted that this English guy has called Australian's discriminatory and I think, "We don't have a naked girl on page 3 of our national tabloid...." and if we did, there would be uproar. But in the UK, there is no hesitation to sell The Sun (with naked page 3 girl) to dirty men, kids or women who may all be subjected to an overt act of discrimination.
So my conclusion - discrimination is relative and if you can't adapt or take on the nuances of the place in which you are living then choose somewhere else where you can.
It started because somebody sent an email around the agency asking about our opinions on the 'Chk chk boom' news report.
For the record, my opinion is as follows;
There are some commonalities in all media stories that get traction with young girls as the face of the story – the girls are all hot.
Other examples in history -
1995 when Anna Wood died of taking ecstasy
2006 LonleyGirl15 work for the New York Times
2009 Heidi and The Man in the Jacket
The only reason this has taken off is that Claire is good looking. Sure she’s made some semi-racist comments, exposed the real exploits of young girls to worried parents across the nation and epitomized the ‘bogan’ but who has she really offended? AND, I also think that in general fat/skinny wogs have probably made enough cat-calls at her (ala “hey baby wanna root”) to justify her colloquial description of them.
I would argue that the people who are kicking up a stink - the middle-upper class white people - have taken offence to the ‘fat wog/skinny wog’ statements because they don’t want the world’s impression of Australia to be Claire.
Moral of the story is we have a winning formula – innocence + pretty girl = immediate publicity.
There was a bit of backlash to my opinion from an English guy. He insinuated that all Australian's are racist and that it is the fault of our media.
So this got me thinking - are Australian's racist or is it simply a question of relativity?
I, being half Maltese, have been called a wog many a time and take no offense to it. In fact, I am quite proud of my heritage. Even public opinion says that wog is not always a racist term. On top of this when you look at some of our pop-culture - Fat Pizza, Wog Boy - you realize that even the 'wogs' themselves embrace this stereotype.
So here I am left feeling insulted that this English guy has called Australian's discriminatory and I think, "We don't have a naked girl on page 3 of our national tabloid...." and if we did, there would be uproar. But in the UK, there is no hesitation to sell The Sun (with naked page 3 girl) to dirty men, kids or women who may all be subjected to an overt act of discrimination.
So my conclusion - discrimination is relative and if you can't adapt or take on the nuances of the place in which you are living then choose somewhere else where you can.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Primped on target
I love this concept from PRIMPED.
The smart girls over at 'the go-to in how-to in beauty' website are turning the tried & tested 'gift with purchase' subscription driver into a very useful tool to;
1. Drive quality user-generated-content
2. Recruit new employees
3. Refresh their site with relevant opinions & perspectives without actually having to pay people to do it
Overall, they are empowering their most engaged users to contribute to their site over & above regular commentary. It is an appealing promotion for their current users but also a great opportunity for brands to road-test their products and get rich consumer feedback.
This concept has been in place for a long time, driven by agencies such as The Soup and T-Garage's Vibe Village. The difference here is that audience are already engaged, they're well defined and they are motivated to share their opinions because they know they'll be heard (as the site is a source of beauty information not just an aggregator of opinions from panel based triallists).
If I represented a beauty client, I'd be on the phone to Ms Foster to strike a deal before my competitor beat me to it.
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