You are currently browsing the archives for March, 2009.
Masnick gets it all down to a simple, intriguing formula: CwF + RtB = Money.
Connect with fans (CwF) any and every way you can, then give them a reason to buy (RtB) something. Trent Reznor does this in the music business, but the formula will work just as well, I bet, across the entertainment and information (publishing) business.
Yesterday evening I blogged about P&G’s Digital Hack Night, an idea-sharing event that stole its format from reality TV: “A contest among groups of digital marketing experts, Apprentice-style, in an effort to tap social media tools to sell Tide t-shirts for charity.” Participants used their Twitter feeds, their Facebook networks, their own blogs and their friends’ blogs (friend-willing, that is) to raise money for Tide’s Loads of Hope disaster relief program.
Fellow participant Peter Kim summarizes the key business take-away best:
“At the end of the evening, P&G’s CMO Marc Pritchard remarked that in the future, all employees should get involved in activating connections similar to what had just been witnessed.
“The significance of that idea is staggeringly huge. This is a company with 138,000 employees starting to realize the value from having all of its constituents connected and activated. They’re also learning about new tools to change the process of engagement. Events like ‘Digital Night’ help recalibrate the company’s mindset.
“P&G is taking steps to make social business a reality.”
There’s also the non-business part: In 4 hours, P&G staffers and 40 of their pals raised $100,000 for charity. Yup, Tide benefited from tons of free publicity last night. Wouldn’t you love it if every brand with a marketing budget used its resources to funnel money to non-profit causes that need the cash? Go, Tide.
To clear up some confusion I’ve seen in posts, comments and Tweets, P&G didn’t pay me or (as far as I know) any of the other participants to attend the event. No free plane tickets or hotel suites, either. Everyone there does business on some level with P&G, and business partners visit one another to talk business and share ideas on a schedule that works for both parties. I’ve done sessions like this with dozens of clients and partners over the years. But this was the first time I’ve attended one that raised $100,000 for charity.
I’m at P&G’s Digital Hack Night, and the format is like a reality TV show: A contest among groups of digital marketing experts, Apprentice-style, in an effort to tap social media tools to sell Tide t-shirts for charity.
It’s amazing how competitive this group gets when you put them on teams!
Speaking of which, hook me up and help the cause. You can buy your t-shirt here. Sales through midnight eastern time will count.
My colleague Pete Spande will be leading the next class in the IAB Certificate in Interactive Advertising
program: Marketing with Social Media and Networks. From the course description:
“Social media and social networking applications are two of the fastest growing segments of the internet. This class will provide an overview of the major players in the space and successful strategies for leveraging these online communities for marketing purposes.”
If you want to kiss up to the professor in advance, start following his Twitter feed.The Lazarus Child on dvdSudden Death movie download
From The Economist:
“Robin Dunbar, an anthropologist who now works at Oxford University, concluded that the cognitive power of the brain limits the size of the social network that an individual of any given species can develop. Extrapolating from the brain sizes and social networks of apes, Dr Dunbar suggested that the size of the human brain allows stable networks of about 148. Rounded to 150, this has become famous as ‘the Dunbar number’.”
(Credit: Thinking Monkey. Facebook Graffiti Art by Evan Islam.)
While some humans — especially those crazy kids on Facebook! — can handle social circles that include as many as double that number, the core group with which any of us can actively socialize is much, much smaller.
“When it comes to two-way communication such as e-mails or chats, the average man interacts with only four people and the average woman with six. Among those Facebook users with 500 friends, these numbers are somewhat higher, but not hugely so. Men leave comments for 17 friends, women for 26. Men communicate with ten, women with 16.
“What mainly goes up, therefore, is not the core network but the number of casual contacts that people track more passively. This corroborates Dr Marsden’s ideas about core networks, since even those Facebook users with the most friends communicate only with a relatively small number of them. “
In its 2009 Digital Outlook Report
, Razorfish’s media team picked FM among its three Publishers of the Year. More at FM’s blog
.
Thanks, Razorfish!
Guy Kawasaki captures the key insights Sunshine Cleaning video
at American Express’s OPEN Forum blog.
Brothel ad The Crucible hd The Hottie and the Nottie movie full Sunshine Cleaning hd
from an Asia Minor city of the Roman Empire.
(Thanks, @andyyang.)Romeo Must Die the movie
To accompany the launch of a new suite of inkjet printers aimed at SMBs, HP launched a content site to help those business owners expand their firms through more efficient marketing efforts. The Small Business Marketing Guide
includes tips and other marketing-related editorial posts from the authors at TREND HUNTER
, Springwise, Life Clever The Sandlot movies Proof of Life dvd
and others from the FM family. Coverage at eWeek:
“HP also unveiled special offers and free resources for SMBs in an effort to aid growth and technology management, including rebate programs and expanding Web-based resources to include the Small Business Marketing Guide, an online community focused on small business marketing. “
To promote that Alexander McQueen’s clothes are now available at Target
, the retailer launched an easter-egg contest on NOTCOT.ORG The Company of Wolves hd
. In addition to ad units, like this custom belly-band across the footer of the site,
the “McQueeny Doll” — a Blythe doll dressed in mini McQueen outfits — is hidden behind featured photos throughout NOTCOT.
The McQueeny Doll also shows up in the lyrics of The Duke Spirit’s
new album, which is available at Target too.
(Disclosures: NOTCOT is part of the FM family, and FM put this program together with the help of Target and its ad agency. I have no idea who The Duke Spirit is.)
Kohler’s green design group blog, H2OVisions, went live today with freelance contributions from Core77, Inhabitat, NOTCOT, MoCo Loco and others. Coming soon, you’ll be able to draw your green design fantasies using Facebook’s Graffiti too.
(Credits: Jo Brown and James Grunewald at Kohler; Christyn Murdocco and Jamie Bass at Carat; and Paula Pentogenis and John Shankman at FM.)
(Disclosures: Federated Media helped bring the pieces together and publishes the H2OVisions site. Core77, NOTCOT, Inhabitat, MoCo Loco and Graffiti are FM partner sites.)
