Video Marketing: A New 1 to 1 Model

February 28th, 2012 • Uncategorized

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dydei-tK5mE

Timbooktwo has created a socially responsible company based around a new model for online video marketing. They’ve decided for every video they make for  a tourism company, they will make one for a charity of that company’s choice. The tourism company will only have to pay for the price of one video but Timbooktwo will put in their own effort and time to create a second video which will encourage charitable donations.

This is an example of another Belgian company who is trying to give back to their customer and make a difference in the world!

I think online video marketing is a cheap effective way to promote businesses and charities. It gives them an opportunity to go viral if they are successful, and help spread the word. What do you think of this E-marketing strategy?

E-Marketing Humans

February 27th, 2012 • 7 comments Uncategorized

We all use social media everyday but what are the effects of these mediums on ourselves? We are marketing ourselves online. We make ourselves readily available through: Facebook, Twitter, Eharmony, Google+, Plenty of Fish, Myspace, Nexopia…..the list goes on.

Dr.Larry Rosen at California State University noted that 48% of people post on Facebook as soon as they wake up. It seems our society is getting more and more narcissistic with a need for fame as people expose their daily lives all over the internet. People are advertising themselves and seeing if people will receive them.

However, the most interesting thing discovered from his study was the creation of “virtual empathy”. This “virtual empathy” is similar to the Random Acts of Kindness marketing strategy that I posted on previously. People perceive empathy as anything that is in-person activity showing relatedness. Rosen found that the virtual empathy received online was a positive influence that helped distressed teens.

I don’t know how valid these findings are though. I mean, wouldn’t someone who received more “virtual empathy” from more friends have a higher self-worth caused by Facebook compared to someone who received no “virtual empathy”. Not to mention, Facebook and numerous other social networking sites are set up so that people feel like they are being compared. Is that really healthy?

Social networking sites provide a means for self advertising. By “buying in” to social media you are accepting the societal norm that everybody must have a profile page to showcase who they are. I read an article a couple months ago about how narcissism is directly linked to personal social media use. For example, the more self photos that someone has, they more likely they are to be narcissistic. They do this so you will perceive them as more attractive and more likely to be friends with or to have as a partner.

I’m beginning to wonder how much people derive their impression of a new person from using social media. If someone were to add me on Facebook, they might make judgements about my “brand” through our mutual friends. Are these friends likeable? Are they people you would judge to be part of your inner circle of friends or someone who you could let in or are they people you would never associate yourself with but have them on Facebook to appease them? Next, they might look through your profile photos. Oh, she has a photo partying at that crazy music festival…out of question. Or, wow he’s in THAT fraternity, I never knew.

The big question is, are we going to have to learn how to modify our “own brand” from a young age or are we going to have to realize that brands are only perceptions which aren’t the truth. I could use E-marketing to sway your opinion of myself through using this blog. I could use E-marketing to make sure I have the right Facebook photos and right Facebook posts. Are we moving to a new generation where half our life is lived online?

Random Acts of Kindness

February 26th, 2012 • Uncategorized

So, I often peruse Trendwatching.com to see what’s the latest thing. I came across Random Acts of Kindness and found it interesting.

The three driving trends toward this Random Acts of Kindness movement are:

1. Human Touch: Making brands seem more human-like. Brands even have their own Facebook pages which function virtually the same as our own personal Facebook pages.

1. Putting it Out there: Everyone wants to be public. They want to be on your newsfeed which is no different from your local celebrity tabloid. People list their whereabouts, their thoughts, their moods, what they’re doing at the moment, and anything they can think of.

1. Passing it On: We share to connect with others. The internet allows for easy instantaneous sharing which can go viral.

Examples that I found online were:

Biotherm’s response to a tired tweet.

Proctor and Gamble owned deodorant, Secret, actually brought products from the United States to Italy through one of their agency executives personal trips just to send them to a customer in Spain who had wrote on their Facebook wall about not being able to get the product in Spain.

An interesting campaign called the “Share Good Campaign” launched by Emergen-C so that people can tag their friends who may be having a tiring day so they can receive a free sample of Emergen-C.

So, what do you think? Is it too intrusive? Does it make the brand seem more real? From a cost-benefit analysis, is the retention and acquisition of new customers worth the time and effort they are putting into this?

We’ll Give you Free Internet?

February 24th, 2012 • Uncategorized

I came across this and found it quite ingenious…if it works.

In Belgium, a mobile operator called Mobile Vikings released Viking Spots, which would allow for customers to receive free internet service assuming they took part in the offers from local businesses. What a great way to promote local businesses!

On Mobile Vikings blog, they state, “Everybody has the right for drinking water, energy and education. Similarly, we believe that everyone should have free access to information and digital services. Mobile Vikings wants to be a movement that accelerates this process. We think that VikingSpots can help to achieve this.”

The way it works is, users interact with the allocated spots to receive “Viking Points” which can be exchanged for mobile service; as well, they receive free mobile internet service. The project is currently in the Beta Phase.

My only question is, would there be enough Viking Spots to warrant this new technology and would this free internet cut out as you left the area where you utilized the app? Would it be worth the hassle of going through numerous advertisements and offers as you hit different Viking Spots or would you only have to deal with one offer and you would have internet for a certain amount of time? Finally, would it work in Vancouver since we have an influx of a million coffee shops which already provide free internet. I know that Rogers had a deal that allowed free  phone calling, assuming you found a free internet spot in Vancouver…which is not that difficult with a Starbucks on every block.