The State of the Union Gets Social

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Social media that is.  Many of us who saw the State of the Union address last night probably did so by gathering around the television to see what our nation’s leader had to say.  That seems pretty normal.  But millions of Americans also gathered on social media sites to watch the event, offer up their opinions, or even take part in question and answer sessions.

On the C-Span Facebook page they offered a live video-feed of the address.  PBS also did the same thing though Ustream.  Watching online gave viewers the ability to comment and interact with each other based on what our President had to say.

The White House website even added some value to the State of the Union Address. Continue reading →

Twitter Video: A New TPS Record, and we’re not talking about TPS Reports.

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Twitter became a huge tool for businesses in 2010.  We saw many revelations and now the “New Twitter” makes things run smoother than ever.  Just as Twitter entered the 2010 with a bang it left with one as well.  As fireworks were lit off at 12:00am across all different time zones, twitter had a sort of fireworks show of their own.

Only four seconds into the new year of 2011 in Japan, tweeters had set a record for overall number of tweets per second.  6,939 tweets per second had more than doubled the previous record of 3,283 when Japan beat Denmark in the 2010 World Cup.  Those on the east coast in the US were also tweeting away as the ball dropped at a rate of 3,000 tweets per second.

It may seem surprising that Japan had that many more tweets per second than the US but there are some cultural factors to take in.  The Japanese New Year (Oshogatsu) Continue reading →

Quick Hits: Social Media Tips for 2011

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A few weeks back we put up a post with 5 Steps to Creating an Effective Social Media Campaign.  Outlined were five steps to get you on track to the promised land of social media.  But beware there is no fast track to this promised land.  Social media will take time and some elbow grease to get things rolling.  So don’t fret if it seems like you are treading water the first few months.  We will give you some tips to follow so we can help you Continue reading →

Must See – Funny Spoof on Death of Ad Agencies

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Thanks to FITC for this clever but eerily relevant sci-fi scenario of the death of the last ad agency on earth. The thing is – they pretty much hit the nail on the head. Many “creative firms” are scared to actually get creative any more. And that, my friends, may be the death of them.

Why? Because consumers’ media habits and access to that media are changing rapidly. We’re not the same captive audience that we used to be. If you’re familiar with the acronyms TiVo and DVR, or you’ve ever been exposed to a YouTube video, then my point has been made.

Effective marketing today has got to be about not doing the same old stuff. It’s got to be about STANDING OUT. We’ve been saying it for a long, long time. Still not convinced? Watch this video! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, it’ll become a part of you.

2010 Brands with the Loudest Buzz

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As the year is wrapping up in the next few weeks we are seeing lots of “Best of 2010” lists for various topics.  One list that caught our eye on Ad Age was all about brands and the online buzz they created in 2010.

Zeta Interactive, a marketing agency out of New York City, released the list after mining through over 200 million posts, blogs, message boards, video sites, and mentions on social media sites. Talk about a lot of mining.

Their rankings not only look into how often Continue reading →

Groupon: Google, you can’t have everything

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Groupon rejects Google takeoverSo the latest buzz is, of course, all about the two big G’s: Groupon vs. Google.

It’s a battle for the new business age. An interesting duel that has no doubt left Google with a bitter taste in its mouth after Groupon’s rumored rejection of the search monster’s $6 billion bid.

Take a second to think about what I just said – Just two years into existence, this rookie online local marketing phenom has built an empire that Google (which pretty much runs the world at this point) is willing to offer $6 billion to own. Which means that the nice people at Google probably think Groupon is worth even more than that – or at least to them it would be.

They may still publicly be going through negotiations, but we think the subtext sounds a lot more like this…

Groupon: Na na nana na! No deal!

Google: Well sh*t!!

Continue reading →

Nike’s Loyalty to Tiger Woods Pays Off

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Ad Age posted an article recently about Tiger Woods and his effect on Nike.  Everyone knows the story of his scandal, so no need to go into that, but they decided to take another approach.  Some of his top sponsorship deals for companies, Gatorade, AT&T, and Accenture felt his scandal would be disastrous for their image.  They decided to cut bait and drop Tiger from as a sponsor.  Others such as Nike, EA Sports, NetJets, and TLC Laser Eye Centers have decided to keep him on board but limiting his role for the time being.

Some questioned whether keeping him on board as a sponsor would hurt Continue reading →