Posts Tagged ‘Social Media’
Social Media
Social giving
posted by McKenna @ December 23rd, 2008
This year, technology is making it easier than ever to donate to our favorite charities. For example, residents of Columbus, Ohio, don’t even have to drop a few coins in the red kettle – they can just text the word “kettle” to the Salvation Army, and the phone carrier adds $5 to the texter’s phone bill.
Wow.
The economy’s in a slump, jobs are on the line and charitable giving has taken a hit. But that doesn’t mean we have to strike charitable donations from our lists this year.
Here are three great ways to make a difference and donate wisely:
- Around this office, when a coworker needs help, we are often quick to ask how we can help – with food, money, even certificates for massages. I wish I had known about Lotsahelpinghands.com the last time we needed to set up a meal chain for a coworker in crisis. It would have made coordinating our efforts that much easier.
- Charity Navigator has a holiday gift guide that helps you choose the best charity for your buck. It also rates charities to let you know which ones are the most fiscally responsible.
- Charity Choice lets you give someone a gift card that allows them to choose which charity to donate the money to.
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Social Media
…the future of breaking news
posted by Jason Fleck @ December 22nd, 2008
This past weekend, word of a Denver plane crash was first reported through a tweet sent by a software engineer before he managed to escape the burning wreckage. The tweet read:
Holy ******* **** I wasbjust in a plane crash!
No seriously, this is a true story.
Mike Wilson, otherwise known as 2drinksbehind in the Twitterverse, updated his followers through his Twitter stream, keeping them up-to-date on how the situation unfolded.
So long, news agencies.
Social media is evolving in the best way possible — people giving information to other people. Raw and unfiltered. Would you want an account from a reporter standing next to the wreckage on what he or she thinks happened or a report straight from someone experiencing the situation first hand?
Yeah, I thought so.
Just another reason why I use Twitter and social media to get my news.
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Social Media
Microsoft is catching up with the future
posted by Jason Fleck @ December 3rd, 2008
The world is an ever changing, ever evolving place – even at Microsoft. Earlier today, Ina Fried, a writer for CNET, posted this article on how Microsoft is emerging into the social media market. In her article, Ina states:
Microsoft has started to roll out a series of changes, outlined in November, that give Windows Live a more social networking-like feel. Windows Live staples such as Spaces, Events, and the home page get a new look, while Microsoft is also putting special emphasis on group, profile, and photo pages.
These changes to Windows Live make it more manageable to grow a community around an already existing website and also allow its users to more easily make contacts and connect with others.
…and oh, did I mention you can also import your Facebook contacts?
Everyone recognizes that this is the future and Microsoft is taking its strides to change their design to mirror the “norm.” So what are you waiting for? Take heed and allow us to use our expertise to construct a community around your brand that will keep you at the forefront of this ever changing technology.
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AgencyThink • Social Media
Heed The MommyBloggers
posted by Greg Batiansila @ November 21st, 2008
CEO of Corporation X wants to get in on that…what do they call it?…that “Social Media.” Maybe he can get one of those “blogs.”What else can he do? What else should he do?
Here’s a thought: maybe he doesn’t need a blog. Maybe he just needs to read blogs.
Blogs are about voice. About opinion and dissent. Perhaps our CEO would find the general population is less interested in hearing his voice - and more interested that he hears theirs.
Emarketer.com has an interesting - and informative - article about “MommyBloggers” - women who write blogs. Over 3/4 of them review products on their blogs. Think our CEO needs to hear how his product or company is being reviewed? It’s free, unfettered research.
Social media may not always exist in this form. It may not always be called social media. But it’s efficacy and ability to make connections between CEOs and Mommies is another sign that it has a place in marketing in the days to come.
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Social Media
Olympic Blogs
posted by Greg Batiansila @ July 10th, 2008
A client approached us to do a website focused on their sponsorship of the Beijing Olympics. One of the ideas we pitched that was not approved was eventually thought of by someone else and is now being implemented by Lenovo. I love this idea. Our idea included video blog, maybe even daily, handwritten “to-do” lists from the athletes. I’m glad someone’s doing it. I’ve already bookmarked it.
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Trends
How’d They Do That? No, Wait - Why’d They Do That?
posted by Greg Batiansila @ July 10th, 2008
One thing that strikes me over and over as I listen to or watch ads is the question “How’d They Do That?” How did they pull it off? I know clients enough to know that clients tend to be play-it-safe professionals trying to ensure they’ll have a job tomorrow by carefully maintaining and dusting off their brand daily.
So…how did an agency get the permission to make a commercial for a product that revolves around a suicide attempt? A commercial with only two spoken words, and one is an expletive?
I could see how perhaps a marketing manager trying to establish themselves as a whiz kid could have greenlighted this, but I’m more intrigued on how corporate approved the tact.
Then again…maybe the above is best answered when the “Why?” is answered. The use of the expletive means it was never going to make broadcast television. The subject matter – suicide – is nowhere near “safe.”
The answer to “why?” is the old dictum that if no one’s talking about you, you don’t exist. And to get some talk, some buzz, you create an objectionable video with profanity and get people to comment on it. Sure, it will never be on NBC, but will it be shared or watched online out of pure curiosity? Will you watch it? More views, which make other people comment on it. I have never looked at a Heineken ad on YouTube. So if you accept the rules of the game – and many brand stewards will not – you can see how this is a successful campaign.
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Online Marketing • Social Media
Tweet Your Way to the Top
posted by Jon Tingley @ June 25th, 2008
You may have heard about a crazy new thing called Twitter lately. The truth is, it’s not that new, and it’s not that crazy. Twitter was launched almost two years ago in July and has since gained almost 2 million users worldwide. The number of Twitter users is constantly growing, as is the sites popularity; around 2 million tweets are sent each day.
What is Twitter? Well, as confusing as it sounds, the idea behind the service is very simple. The service is based on the question “What are you doing now?” and from that, you can communicate your own or your business’s status to the world. Twitter was created as a cross-platform tool to communicate your status to friends. All you have to do is create an account, find some people to follow, find some people to follow you, and start tweeting. The beauty of it all is that your followers can choose how they would like to receive your updates, either by text message, instant message, or on the web. You can also update your status from your mobile phone, instant messenger, on the website, or through the multitude of applications and plug-ins that have been created just to tweet. more »
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