List of Posts

Archive for June, 2009

Best job in the world - an analysis Sunday, June 28th, 2009

Earlier this year I wrote about Queensland Tourism’s “Best Job in the World” social media campaign, where applications were sought for a six-month gig as ‘caretaker’ on Hamilton Island. The reponse was phenomenal, with more than 35,000 video applications and 8 million hits on the website - all in all, $150 million worth of exposure on a spend of $1.2 million. Nice job if you can get it!

A case study put together on the campaign, which won a record three Grand Prix awards at the recent Cannes Lions, has been posted on YouTube. The winner, a carrot-topped Pom, starts his job on Wednesday.


What’s that smell? It might be your campaign Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Chris Abrahams, a US & European-based social media and conversation marketing expert who I interviewed earlier this year for a HotHouse podcast, has written a cleverly-titled article in Ad Age this week: “Global Web Means Your ‘Fart Jokes’ Can Be Heard Out of Context“. (I know my wife won’t believe me, but honestly, I am not writing about this just because it allows me to use the word ‘fart’ in a blog post!)

Anyway, Chris cites the example of Grey Advertising Germany’s recent campaign for the Doc Morris pharmacy chain, which advertised condoms by implying that if Hitler, Bin Laden and Mao’s parents had used Doc Morris condoms, the world would be a better place today. (View the ads here). Even though the ads aren’t online ads per se, reaction to them as insensitive, racist, etc. etc. has spread quickly via social media.

Chris points out that “That’s the way it is with humor - sometimes you nail it, sometimes you bomb. Humor is powerful in both directions. A simple allegory for old-media folks who still don’t get it: Standing up and telling a fart joke while drinking with friends in your rec room = low risk. Standing up and telling a fart joke while drinking with friends at someone’s wedding party = high risk.

“With internet advertising and PR, you are always at someone’s wedding party; you are never safely behind closed doors.”

He advises advertisers, marketers and PR flacks to remember “On the internet, you are always talking to the whole world, whether you intend to or not; be cognizant of who your message will offend and decide deliberately if you are willing to offend them; and if you must offend, have your mea culpa machine ready to go before you pull the trigger.”


How people respond to your content online Thursday, June 11th, 2009

A great piece has been posted on the Lateral Action blog about the ways that people respond to your content online.

Rajesh Setty writes, “Use your creativity to generate content that will inspire and transform the lives of the audience in a positive way. Remember that it costs time (and indirectly – money) for your audience to read what you write. And, they expect a good return for that investment.

You will know whether you are succeeding in influencing your audience in a positive way because the audience will tell you. No, maybe not directly but by the way they respond to your content.”

Worth a read.