YOU CAN BRAG TO THE REST OF THE WORLD ABOUT THE UN-GODLY SKI CONDITIONS
Whistler-Powder skiing
This is what happens when you mix:
Record breaking snowfalls during opening week in a world class ski resort
Headcam footage with youtube
22,429 facebook fans
Powder hungry skiers worldwide craving their first turns very early in the season
YOU CAN BRAG TO THE REST OF THE WORLD ABOUT THE UN-GODLY SKI CONDITIONS
YOU CAN BRAG TO THE REST OF THE WORLD ABOUT THE UN-GODLY SKI CONDITIONS
Event Marketing-Infopresse Conference
Here is a video of the conference I gave on September 23rd on the impact of social media on event marketing. (##FRENCH ONLY##)
The full presentation deck is here but the fine folks at Infopresse caught filmed the full 45 minutes. Enjoy!
The full presentation deck is here but the fine folks at Infopresse caught filmed the full 45 minutes. Enjoy!
Radu Zmeureanu - Les médias sociaux pour faire vivre votre événement from Infopresse on Vimeo.
WHAT IS WEB STRATEGY?
WEB STRATEGY:
IS NOT ADVERTISING.
IS NOT TECHNOLOGY.
IS AN ONGOING PROCESS.
IS ABOUT NUMBERS.
IS ABOUT BRANDING.
IS NOT RESERVED TO STRATEGISTS.
IS ABOUT LOOKING AT WHAT IS ALREADY HAPPENING, BUT NOT BEING PARALYZED BY IT.
IS MUCH EASIER IF YOU ARE CREATIVE.
IS TOO IMPORTANT TO BE ONLY ONE THING.
IS ABOUT OBJECTIVES AND CLARITY.
IS ADMITTING YOU HAVE NO IDEA SOMETIMES.
IS NOT TACTICS, BUT THE RELEVANCE OF THESE AND THE EFFICIENCY BY WHICH THEY ACCOMPLISH THEIR GOALS.
IS NOT AN ACRONYM.
IS NOT MEDIA-BUYING.
WILL QUESTION THE RELEVANCE OF YOUR BUSINESS STRUCTURE.
IS A DEATH SENTENCE TO MANY BUSINESSES.
IS COMMON SENSE.
DOESNT COST A LOT.
IS NOT SOCIAL MEDIA, SEARCH, NEWSLETTERS OR WEBSITES.
IS ABOUT CREATING, PLANNING AND EXECUTING.
IS TYING LOOSE ENDS AND CUTTING STUPIDITY.
IS BEING COHERENT AND HUMBLE.
IS STILL ABOUT NUMBERS BECAUSE SOMETIMES IT COSTS A LITTLE MONEY.
IS ABOUT LOOKING AT THE MANY, AND CRYSTALIZING THE SINGLE IDEA.
IS ABOUT TAKING SYMPTOMS APART AND UNDERSTANDING THEIR PROCESS.
IS TAKING A STAND AND ASSUMING THE RISKS.
REQUIRES DECISION-MAKING AND ACTIONS.
Quick post about PRINT
Apparently it's about to die anytime soon now...
Despite the apparent #FAIL of it's advertising model, print is doing fine.
Why? Well these examples all happened in the last 2 hours.
My 2 year old still insists that we read him his story books 20 times a day. Despite having Youtube, VOD, DVD and TV available. Of all digital natives and theories about media consumption, he should be all jazzed up on the kindle, the zune (pffff) and fitted with a jet pack by now.
I'm psyched to find the latest ski magazine in the mail and actually read every page and every ad.
I'm also just as psyched to find a magazine type brochure the next day from Nordica in the mail, and despite the obvious penchant for lifestyle and product showcase, I still love it!
It's 21:50 and the only good thing in the 500 channels on TV is Voir, a TV cultural show based on the free weekly paper in Montréal. Talk about cross media ey?
I'm in the midst of moving and I just through out close to 200 data and music CDs. bah, I can always find it later or get a copy from a friend. Books on the other hand, I just finished packing 8 boxes.
Ok these examples might be circumstancial at best. But come on. Print is still around for a while. Give the doomsday scenarios a rest.
Despite the apparent #FAIL of it's advertising model, print is doing fine.
Why? Well these examples all happened in the last 2 hours.
Ok these examples might be circumstancial at best. But come on. Print is still around for a while. Give the doomsday scenarios a rest.
TOP 10 THINGS YOU ALREADY KNOW ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA
1-SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT MEDIA. SO STOP TREATING IT AS A MEDIUM YOU CAN BUY, AS A CHANNEL, OR A SILVER BULLET IN YOUR MARKETING PLAN. IT IS NOT A MIRACLE CURE.
2-ALL MEDIA IS SOCIAL. DUH! DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE, THE INTERNET HAS BEEN SOCIAL FOREVER.
3-IT'S ALL ABOUT THE CONTENT DUMMY! MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO SAY BEFORE GETTING IT OUT THERE. IT'S NOT ADVERTISING COPY.
4-DO IT YOURSELF. DON’T TRUST “SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERTS” TO CRAFT YOUR MESSAGE AND BRING IT OUT THERE. IF YOU WANT TO BE CREDIBLE (AND TRUST ME YOU WANT THAT) DO IT YOURSELF.
5-IT’S NOT EASY. IT TAKES TIME, IT TAKES PLANNING, AND IT TAKES HONESTY.
6-IT’S NOT A MEDIA BUY, SO DON’T EXPECT IT TO BE PART OF A CAMPAIGN. IN FACT ITS NOT EVEN PART OF MARKETING. ITS PART OF YOUR PRODUCT, TREAT IS AS SUCH.
7-NO ONE WILL GIVE YOU “EVIDENCE” THAT IT WILL WORK FOR YOU. THE NUMBERS AND SUCCESS STORIES EXIST BUT THEY MAY NOT APPLY FOR YOU. YOU HAVE TO PUT IN A LOT OF WORK AND THINKING INTO THIS.
8-EXECUTION IS EVERYTHING. THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY CAN BECOME A NIGHTMARE IF EXECUTED POORLY. MAKE SURE DOCUMENTATION, PROCESSES AND METHODOLOGY IS PARAMOUNT TO EVERYONE INVOLVED.
9-SOCIAL MEDIA IS NEITHER.
10-DON’T FOCUS ON THE VENUE, FOCUS ON THE VALUE. FACEBOOK OR TWITTER WILL NOT MAKE YOUR BRAND BETTER. FOCUS ON WHAT WILL.
2-ALL MEDIA IS SOCIAL. DUH! DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE, THE INTERNET HAS BEEN SOCIAL FOREVER.
3-IT'S ALL ABOUT THE CONTENT DUMMY! MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO SAY BEFORE GETTING IT OUT THERE. IT'S NOT ADVERTISING COPY.
4-DO IT YOURSELF. DON’T TRUST “SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERTS” TO CRAFT YOUR MESSAGE AND BRING IT OUT THERE. IF YOU WANT TO BE CREDIBLE (AND TRUST ME YOU WANT THAT) DO IT YOURSELF.
5-IT’S NOT EASY. IT TAKES TIME, IT TAKES PLANNING, AND IT TAKES HONESTY.
6-IT’S NOT A MEDIA BUY, SO DON’T EXPECT IT TO BE PART OF A CAMPAIGN. IN FACT ITS NOT EVEN PART OF MARKETING. ITS PART OF YOUR PRODUCT, TREAT IS AS SUCH.
7-NO ONE WILL GIVE YOU “EVIDENCE” THAT IT WILL WORK FOR YOU. THE NUMBERS AND SUCCESS STORIES EXIST BUT THEY MAY NOT APPLY FOR YOU. YOU HAVE TO PUT IN A LOT OF WORK AND THINKING INTO THIS.
8-EXECUTION IS EVERYTHING. THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY CAN BECOME A NIGHTMARE IF EXECUTED POORLY. MAKE SURE DOCUMENTATION, PROCESSES AND METHODOLOGY IS PARAMOUNT TO EVERYONE INVOLVED.
9-SOCIAL MEDIA IS NEITHER.
10-DON’T FOCUS ON THE VENUE, FOCUS ON THE VALUE. FACEBOOK OR TWITTER WILL NOT MAKE YOUR BRAND BETTER. FOCUS ON WHAT WILL.
Infopresse conference: event marketing
Here are the backup slides for a conference I gave last week for the Infopresse event marketing conference. I had a lot of fun being part of that day and giving this talk. It's not everyday that i step out of our web world to meet event marketers but wow, this was definitly an eye opener.
Props to twitter.com/IssamHeddad and twitter.com/SabrinaCote for awesome work.
Props to twitter.com/IssamHeddad and twitter.com/SabrinaCote for awesome work.
L'empreinte interactive d'un événement
View more documents from Revolver 3.
Who's your daddy?
Who's in control? Who's in control of your brand and your marketing? Who's your daddy?
Who's your daddy?
View more presentations from raduzmeureanu.
Dear Director of Marketing
This letter serves to indicate that you are being dismissed immediately. While you have offered many years of loyal services and proved at many occasions your valor and hard-working ethic, it has recently become clear that you just don’t get what I’m saying.
You have been mandated to attend to my needs and make sure the organization communicates my values and emotions. Yet it has become clear to me and the rest of the organization that you un-lawfully hijacked your role into a travesty of control. I believe I should be heard and understood. You believe I should never address the people except with costly advertising campaigns and press releases. I believe I am flexible and changing in my views. You believe in norms and linger endlessly on what font people should use when talking about me. You believe I am an ingredient in an advertising plan. Yet I am the only reason the entire organization exists. These irreconcilable differences put each of us at opposite ends of the world as I understand it. Products you chose to design and manufacture and sell are mere extensions of the experience I provide. While you focused on the millions of dollars in advertising you wasted trying to break into every conversation, TV show, email, web page and outdoor banner, you failed to create meaningful lasting relationships. I am feeling now more alone and disconnected than ever before. If your insist that job was spending money and accounting for how many people you interrupted, you did a splendid job. Your schmoozing with agency account managers and awards proves nothing to me. You ignore my needs to connect and live. You ignore my role and rather focused on the sizzle, not the steak. Charts and studies and focus groups might back up you on some claims but we both know you’re a fraud. I am hereby relieving you of your duties and wishing you well in your future endeavors. Hoping this will allow you some time off to think of what you have done to me.
Sincerely yours,
YOUR BRAND
You have been mandated to attend to my needs and make sure the organization communicates my values and emotions. Yet it has become clear to me and the rest of the organization that you un-lawfully hijacked your role into a travesty of control. I believe I should be heard and understood. You believe I should never address the people except with costly advertising campaigns and press releases. I believe I am flexible and changing in my views. You believe in norms and linger endlessly on what font people should use when talking about me. You believe I am an ingredient in an advertising plan. Yet I am the only reason the entire organization exists. These irreconcilable differences put each of us at opposite ends of the world as I understand it. Products you chose to design and manufacture and sell are mere extensions of the experience I provide. While you focused on the millions of dollars in advertising you wasted trying to break into every conversation, TV show, email, web page and outdoor banner, you failed to create meaningful lasting relationships. I am feeling now more alone and disconnected than ever before. If your insist that job was spending money and accounting for how many people you interrupted, you did a splendid job. Your schmoozing with agency account managers and awards proves nothing to me. You ignore my needs to connect and live. You ignore my role and rather focused on the sizzle, not the steak. Charts and studies and focus groups might back up you on some claims but we both know you’re a fraud. I am hereby relieving you of your duties and wishing you well in your future endeavors. Hoping this will allow you some time off to think of what you have done to me.
Sincerely yours,
YOUR BRAND
Online marketing strategy
Online marketing strategy IS NOT:
repeating statistics from research and pointing a finger in the general market direction.
providing 50-page benchmark studies made up from screenshots.
bringing an outside consultant that is as detached from the operations as from the business rules and output of the company.
an online media plan with a next-steps keynote slide covered in buzzwords.
a recipe.
made up of disposable stunts hoping to become the next big viral.
Online marketing strategy IS
extending every aspect of the brand and company online and being accountable for it.
listening and trusting all team members, especially operations and creative.
seeing an opportunity in the market and intuition telling you to go for it.
cohesive with the entire business strategy
getting creative and taking risks.
unique for every campaign, brand and product.
as much a product strategy as a marketing strategy.
Online marketing strategy IS
Le Massif video banner- Météomedia
Pretty cool video banner for Le Massif ski resort today on Météomedia.com
Great creative execution. I like the dreamy look of the ski vid and the sequences, but I'm not too sure about the media strategy. The season is winding down, people are back into spring and summer mode, and the resort is closing tomorrow for the season. If at least the landing page was targeted for next year season's passes, maybe, but this is a doh! as far as I can tell. Maybe some remnant impressions from the 2008-2009 campaign left over, but IMHO, a "thanks for a great season, see you next year" promo would have been much better. But it's ok, I still love that mountain and the amazing rides I had there.
Great creative execution. I like the dreamy look of the ski vid and the sequences, but I'm not too sure about the media strategy. The season is winding down, people are back into spring and summer mode, and the resort is closing tomorrow for the season. If at least the landing page was targeted for next year season's passes, maybe, but this is a doh! as far as I can tell. Maybe some remnant impressions from the 2008-2009 campaign left over, but IMHO, a "thanks for a great season, see you next year" promo would have been much better. But it's ok, I still love that mountain and the amazing rides I had there.
This is not a blog post
This is not a blog post about the new media revolution
About how the web changes everything for everyone
About how agencies might or might not be relevant anymore.
It's definitely not a blog post about web 2.0
About traditional media versus digital media
I'm not going to write a blog post about blogging, Twitter or Facebook
Or about the future of online advertising
And the future of the newspaper industry or traditional media.
I will definitely not take a stance on who Google might be buying this week.
This is not a blog post on how to land a job in social media
Or how building online communities is changing the world
And this blog post will not reveal the magic recipe on how to score the next big viral video.
I am not writing a blog post on how such and such online metric doesn't match another
And how such and such method might or might not be accurate enough.
This IS a blog post that assumes you've already read all the MANY other posts that DO talk about it. Endlessly.
This IS a blog post that will try to focus on 1 thing only.
This blog post will ask you 1 question and hopefully you have an answer:
WHAT ARE YOU DOING RIGHT NOW TO MAKE HUMANS AND BRANDS HAPPIER ?
About how the web changes everything for everyone
About how agencies might or might not be relevant anymore.
It's definitely not a blog post about web 2.0
About traditional media versus digital media
I'm not going to write a blog post about blogging, Twitter or Facebook
Or about the future of online advertising
And the future of the newspaper industry or traditional media.
I will definitely not take a stance on who Google might be buying this week.
This is not a blog post on how to land a job in social media
Or how building online communities is changing the world
And this blog post will not reveal the magic recipe on how to score the next big viral video.
I am not writing a blog post on how such and such online metric doesn't match another
And how such and such method might or might not be accurate enough.
This IS a blog post that assumes you've already read all the MANY other posts that DO talk about it. Endlessly.
This IS a blog post that will try to focus on 1 thing only.
This blog post will ask you 1 question and hopefully you have an answer:
WHAT ARE YOU DOING RIGHT NOW TO MAKE HUMANS AND BRANDS HAPPIER ?
Monsters vs Aliens on Cinoche.com
Here's a little something I found yesterday on the Quebec based movie listings site Cinoche.com
Cool homepage wallpaper integration with rich media for Monster vs Aliens. It reminded me a lot of the Ipod Games ad on MTV. Yes it's about time the homepage navigation became fair game for advertising. Indeed it's not the 1st time a publisher gathers the guts to do this. This is not a standard IAB cookie cutter BB or LB format. And that's probably why it works at getting noticed. More importantly, I'm happy to see it's not necessary to be a huge portal or ad network to pull this execution off so well. It's simple, not intrusive(IMHO) and fun. Well done Cinoche!
10 things a brand MUST ask itself in the morning
feel free to contribute more....
Let them eat < social media> cake
« Let them eat cake! »
This famous quote was claimed to have been uttered by the infamous Queen Marie-Antoinette during one of the famines that occurred in 1789 France. Upon being alerted that her people were suffering due to widespread bread shortages, she is said to have replied, "Then let them eat cake."
I keep thinking of Marie Antoinette when I I hear social media gurus hitting the same nail over and over on the power of the social web. Arent you on the bandwaggon yet ? You need a website ? Eat some social media cake. You need an advertising campaign? Wait a second, have some social media cookies. Sales are down ? How about some nice warm social media muffins. None of these are going to get you full, and they will probably give you scurvy if you rely only on them for your nutrition, but hey…they sure taste good! Hmmmm cake !
Social media alone is bad. Really really really bad. Who cares if your company is on twitter or answering to some blog war between elitist bloggers. Make sure you cover some basics 1st. Apparently 47% of marketers don’t even use analytics. Are you?
How much do you really know about your users ?
Can they find you well from search engines ?
Is your website helping users in ways that are meaningful for them ?
What can you offer to users online that will bring them back and create value ?
How much of what you’re spending is actually working ?
Do people care about flashy gizmos online when they’re looking for information or connecting with friends ?
Asking simple questions and getting simple answers to make better business decisions is the cornerstone of good nutrition, euhh, I mean online strategy.
Sure you can eat cake all day long and make thousands of friends on Facebook, get poked and grow your followers list on Twitter. Just make sure you’re doing that on a full stomach of good site design practices, coherent brand experience and relevant functionalities that make peoples lives better.
Marie Antoinette’s famous line landed her a gig with a guillotine quickly after. Be careful out there!
This famous quote was claimed to have been uttered by the infamous Queen Marie-Antoinette during one of the famines that occurred in 1789 France. Upon being alerted that her people were suffering due to widespread bread shortages, she is said to have replied, "Then let them eat cake."
I keep thinking of Marie Antoinette when I I hear social media gurus hitting the same nail over and over on the power of the social web. Arent you on the bandwaggon yet ? You need a website ? Eat some social media cake. You need an advertising campaign? Wait a second, have some social media cookies. Sales are down ? How about some nice warm social media muffins. None of these are going to get you full, and they will probably give you scurvy if you rely only on them for your nutrition, but hey…they sure taste good! Hmmmm cake !
Social media alone is bad. Really really really bad. Who cares if your company is on twitter or answering to some blog war between elitist bloggers. Make sure you cover some basics 1st. Apparently 47% of marketers don’t even use analytics. Are you?
Asking simple questions and getting simple answers to make better business decisions is the cornerstone of good nutrition, euhh, I mean online strategy.
Sure you can eat cake all day long and make thousands of friends on Facebook, get poked and grow your followers list on Twitter. Just make sure you’re doing that on a full stomach of good site design practices, coherent brand experience and relevant functionalities that make peoples lives better.
Marie Antoinette’s famous line landed her a gig with a guillotine quickly after. Be careful out there!
Twitter and US online adults
11% of online adults use Twitter or update their status online.
Twitter users are mobile, less tethered by technology.
New study from Pew Internet available here
This does not include adults who read and update their status on facebook, so we can only assume that the percentage of adults is much higher as Twitter has a smaller reach that FB.
http://steverubel.typepad.com/files/pip-twitter-memo-final.pdf
UPDATE: Qbert72 pointed out a grey area in the polling methodology.
It reads as follows: "Use Twitter or another service to share updates about yourself or to see updates about others".
While this does not explicitly lead Facebook users to answer yes, it prevents the data to reflect Twitter-only users versus users who have have updated their status in another social network platform.
As Qbert72 was lightning quick to point out, the 1st footnote makes light of the definition of said-Twitter:
"This definition can also potentially include use of status messages or mood and location messages on a social network site. All references to “Twitter user” in this report refer to those who say they update their status on social networks or elsewhere online."
Clearly the grey area was probably flagged at Pew and the footnote was inserted, *sigh*, thus making the 11% metric a little more ambiguous. However, looking at status updates/tweets on a platform neutral stance, and setting aside "generalized media Twitter hard-on" conspiracy theories, the adoption rate for ambiant awareness intensive tools is tremendous.
On a footnote of my own, I will re-state that if a follow up study should be issued and the methodology clearly asked if participants used Facebook to update their online status (versus Twitter) the percentage would still be higher than 11%.
Twitter users are mobile, less tethered by technology.
New study from Pew Internet available here
This does not include adults who read and update their status on facebook, so we can only assume that the percentage of adults is much higher as Twitter has a smaller reach that FB.
http://steverubel.typepad.com/files/pip-twitter-memo-final.pdf
UPDATE: Qbert72 pointed out a grey area in the polling methodology.
It reads as follows: "Use Twitter or another service to share updates about yourself or to see updates about others".
While this does not explicitly lead Facebook users to answer yes, it prevents the data to reflect Twitter-only users versus users who have have updated their status in another social network platform.
As Qbert72 was lightning quick to point out, the 1st footnote makes light of the definition of said-Twitter:
"This definition can also potentially include use of status messages or mood and location messages on a social network site. All references to “Twitter user” in this report refer to those who say they update their status on social networks or elsewhere online."
Clearly the grey area was probably flagged at Pew and the footnote was inserted, *sigh*, thus making the 11% metric a little more ambiguous. However, looking at status updates/tweets on a platform neutral stance, and setting aside "generalized media Twitter hard-on" conspiracy theories, the adoption rate for ambiant awareness intensive tools is tremendous.
On a footnote of my own, I will re-state that if a follow up study should be issued and the methodology clearly asked if participants used Facebook to update their online status (versus Twitter) the percentage would still be higher than 11%.
Talk to Frank: anti-cocaine awareness campaign
Probably one of the funniest viral videos I've seen in a while. Obviously not as graphic or in your face as Montana Meth, this campaign takes the humour approach to cocaine use. Cool video paired up with a video intensive website. A must see.
From Culture Buzz
!UPDATE!
Just got an email from Jess at Rubber Republic giving me a heads up on the new FRANK campaign ahead of its TV launch this week.
Thanks for the heads up and good job on keeping tabs on the blog noise on your campaign!
After being sent to clubbing influencers, the campaign launched a prevention website that provides information about the dangers and risks of cocaine use: Talk To FRANK. The website takes us to the darker side of cocaine with our guide Pablo, a dog cocaine mule that has been sliced open by drug traffickers. As you can see, the website doesn’t dance around the issue, but shocks its young target, who are used to realistic and difficult images. The website provides information, advice, telephone numbers, and an instant messaging service. There is also a YouTube channel that collects all the campaign videos.
From Culture Buzz
!UPDATE!
Just got an email from Jess at Rubber Republic giving me a heads up on the new FRANK campaign ahead of its TV launch this week.
As well as illustrating the range of effects cannabis can bring to those who take it, it also highlights the fact that cannabis was reclassified to a Class B drug last month, which many young people may not be aware of.
Thanks for the heads up and good job on keeping tabs on the blog noise on your campaign!
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