2008, boy I wished that happened

WOW, What a year! Bronze Moggie in the bag, congrats to Jonathan for taking out the big one.

Here is my list of stuff I wished had happened to me in 2008

Social Media Project I wished I got off the ground: Telstra Bigpond Twitter, these guys need some massive props, I think they were the first real big Australian players to do something awesome and meaningful in Social Media.

Blog I wished I wrote: Truly Heinous, I found this blog yesterday and it is my new favourite read. It is like Imnotantisocial and Aktifmag had a blog baby and created awesomeness.

Degree I wished I'd finished: That old Masters in Marketing at Monash will be still waiting for me in 2019. I have got 4 units left but am struggling to find the motivation to finish it.

Video I wished I created: Hmm, it is close between

Trent from Punchy


or

this remix of Kersal Massive


Animal I wished I had become: NARWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL I got a Narwal t-shirt in The Population Kris Kringle. To get you all excited for the t shirt, I will be wearing for Friday morning breakfasts here is some Narwal photos.
An early depiction of the first Narwal (hence the resemblance to its father the Unicorn)
More Polar Bears are killed by Narwals each year than Global Warming
They roll around in crews of 10 to 100, kind of like the G-Unit of the sea
Narwals are hunted for their horns (most hunters vechile of choice is Helicopter, used fot quick escape), these guys messed with the wrong Narwal, they ripped out his horn and then he went nuts and nearly ate the Helicopter

Moral of the story: Narwals Rock!

Andrew O'Keefe drunk footage No Big Deal!

Social Media helps to contextualise stories within society

Case in point is the recent footage of Andrew O’Keefe drunken night out in Melbourne.


Herald Sun ran it as a piece trying to disapprove of Andrew behaviour. It was only when the footage ended up on Youtube that the public was given a voice.



Instead of people disapproving Andrew’s behaviour they are actually more critical of the role of the Herald Sun and the filmers of this footage.

It kind of reminds me of the Kevin Rudd in the strip club fiasco, most analyst saw it as a blow to the Labour party. In my eyes it just showed that Rudd was human, when did going to a strip club become illegal?

An incredibly cynical take on 10 strategic blogging tactics used on you at this blog

Guest post from Mark Pollard (@markpollard, Flickr, Stealth Magazine):
strategy-maker, professional people-watcher and word-assembler.

Note: this post comes with a free copy - available for a limited time only - of the 10 Secret Moves from the Ultimate Blogger's Ultimate Blogging Playbook for Crazy Success.


This is the dirtiest post you will read for a long time.

It exposes the cunning strategies of mastermind social play-maker, Julian Cole. Yes, the blonde-quaffed man who 'innocently' blogs here every day. The thing is, after watching Mr Cole from afar, I quickly came to the belief that he had to be in possession of the Ultimate Blogging Strategy Playbook. The one the seniors kept hidden in American Pie, and passed on to younger generations when the time was right.

Only this playbook isn't about the sacred gyrations of the nether-regions and weird positions that would pull hamstrings the world over. No, the playbook in Cole's hands is about how to get you, his kind-hearted readers, to not just read his blog but to even respond to it ... and - even more sinister - subscribe to it, social-bookmark it.

He's just way too smooth. Every move is so deliberate, every shout-out so thought-through, every diagram so invitingly provocative. Once, I even saw him finish a conference PowerPoint presentation and straight-up tell people to visit his interwebsite! Unbelievable. Was this Chekov getting his bloggy groove on? Or, was it an accidental stealth maneouvre a la Adam Sandler in Water Boy?

I couldn't stand it any longer so I decided it was time to get naked. Well, to get Cole's strategy naked. Exposed. Hanging out in the breeze for all to see: freshly waxed and ready to play volleyball with some Brazilians on Bondi Beach before snacking on some late-night gelato at the Cooge Bay Hotel.

So, you want to know what he's up to? Well, here it is.


1. He is the Elmer Fudd of ego traps. Only better.
This is the oldest trick in the playbook. Name-drop, give props, source, celebrate, promote. Heaps. Let's face it, JC mentions you all the time. Yes, you, Clare Lancaster. You, Nick Crocker. Kate Richardson, you could not escape. Gavin Heaton, hurts so good, doesn't it? He even got Joseph Jaffe.

And, the young Scott Drummond, he got you really good as well. Not only did he mention you but he called you his 'hero' and posted a photo of the two of you locked in intellectual embrace. He even mentioned my digital love interest, Ian Lyons, and me but we outwitted him and zagged his zig by refusing to comment. Got him!


2. He doesn't answer his own questions. ????
As if he doesn't have all of the answers all of the time! He went to uni for ages. Cole knows only too well that leaving enough room in the mousetrap for the mouse is bound to get people to reply to his posts. I especially like his '????' tactic. Masterstroke. I also like the 'help me with my big conference idea'. Makes you want to write something, doesn't it?


3. He fakes you out with pretend absolutism. Bam, made you look!
He got Mr Truffle a good one with PR Agencies owning Social Media because Mr Truffle apparently only reads blog headlines. He nearly got me too but I read it... well, scanned it and then got distracted and forgot to post a quickfire retort. Another example of this tactic is, Why Twitter still loses, in which he even has a blog battle with Chris Brogan. Body slammin'!


4. He knows that diagrams make things true and make him look smarter
JC is a big fan of diagrams, especially his own. He even has multiple posts where he writes about little parts of his diagrams - individually. Now, that's dedication. But what I like most about his 4 Dimensions of Social Media Marketing diagram is that he combines actual absolutism (he's taking this one seriously, not running Play 3 - Pretend Absolutism here) with big words, numbers, shapes and a line. I mean, I look at it and think, "Wow, that's got to be 2 or 3 diagrams he's squeezed into one. Smart guy."

This play deserved a diagram of its own:




5. He is very sticky social glue. Tarzan Grip, not UHU.
I don't even know how many Beersphere franchises this guy is involved with. There's Sydney Beersphere, Melbourne Beersphere, International Beersphere, the Xmas Sydney Beersphere, the Beersphere without Beer Beersphere. How many of you has he introduced? And have you bought him a beer yet? How do we know he isn't working for the alcohol industry?


6. He tells you he'll mention you at conferences. And give you a ticket.
This tactic simply isn't used enough. Not sure what to talk about? Get other people to tell you and give them a ticket that somebody else gave you, and then pretend that you're doing Speaking 2.0 - open-source type stuff. He got Jenni Beattie with this one before the Marketing 2.0 Conference (BTW, Jenni, he got you with Play 1 - Ego Trap, shortly afterwards - the nerve!). He then even put the presentation from the conference on Slideshare to continue the sharing charade but you can tell what he's about because his name is above everyone else's. Smooth operator operating correctly.


7. He bitchslaps the establishment. Establishment won't fight back.
Now, I know whose playbook he got this one from but if I named them I'd be doing Play 7 on the anti-establishment establishment. This year, he's issued smackdowns on NAB, my ironically hip hop skater friend Ben Phillips, dumb 'Pimp My...' campaigns, the Brandshop + Clemenger + George Patts Y&R all in the one post, BMF and even Nandos.

However, his most surprising gasface was blown at his own parents, proud builders of the establishment. They were members of the advertising industry, an industry Cole shows utter contempt for: Sorry Mum and Dad, I wanted to follow in your footsteps but it just doesn't look like there will be that many opportunities in your industry : ( .


8. He has list superiority complex. 3 amazing lists by Julian Cole.
Ah, Lists, how he loves thee. Cole knows that lists make him sound informed (even if he is mentioning the only 12 Historical Social Media Marketing Moments he knew). They make him sound thorough. They make him sound above than the riff-raff. Lists are smart work and easy to do.


9. He makes us think he's one of us. Not like them.
Play 7 - Bitchslap the Establishment goes a long way to accomplishing this but his other ploy is talking enough 'adult' to get away with not dressing like one except when he talks about hip hop. FTW?


10. Own, claim... then share. The ultimate power move.
Let's face it, his Top 100 Australian Marketing Pioneer Blogs was not the move of some unintelligent douchebag. This sort of stuff is the ultimate link bait because it brings together:

• Play 1 - Ego Trap: all of you who are listed looked at it, linked to it, promoted the logo
• Play 3 - Pretend Absolutism: these lists are never perfect, all-inclusive, static... absolute
• Play 4 - Diagram Smarts remixed as a chart: looks rational, smart, believable
• Play 7 - Establishment Bitchslap: Take that, 'heritage media'! (not my phrase)
• Play 8 - List Glory: one.hundred.blogs...top.ones. Pow!
• Play 9 - One of us: he was too soft to put himself at the top

Play 10 is all about him being all about you. It mentions you. It gives you a structure to believe in and propagate because it may make you famous. It provokes you: "Why am I only ranked there? Who did the maths on this?" It looks official... and becomes official when you believe in it. It's a king list. But JC looks like he's promoting your cause... all at the same time. Blitzkrieg!


< /End >
Game over, Cole. You've been outed. Put your Coogee Bay Hotel gelato down and hand over that playbook before the volleyball-playing Brazilians yank it out of your Speedos.


Author's note
Why did I write this? Because I want to be in the audience when he speaks at TED. I always wanted to get the back of my head onto one of those videos. Oh, and Julian called me on it.

Safe and happy holidays, all!
@markpollard, Flickr

Act now! Get free blogging secrets! This post comes with a free copy of the 10 Secret Moves from the Ultimate Blogger's Ultimate Blogging Playbook for Crazy Success - available only while the internet and Flickr stay up. * We take no responsibility for the ridiculous success that the Ultimate Blogging Playbook secrets will give you. And please don't hurt yourself along the way.

Want to read more?
Try 7 things hip hop taught me about community

Humanising your website

I am currently doing online publicity for Dosh Wallet (the case study is on it’s way). Anyway I have been in contact with a number of top blogs in male culture fashion and design. One that caught my attention the other day was NotCot, I was presented with this screen after submitting an email.

winner.

Australian Marketing Bloggers, Raise your glasses to 2008

Australian Marketing Blogs just took a giant step forward with the recently departed Managing Editor of B&T Tim Burrowes starting the blog, Mumbrella. The site is in BETA and will launch in February, but it looks like it will be vying as a serious online industry news source up there with Campaign Brief and Marketing Mag, Adnews and B&T daily newsletters.

It has been a great year for Marketing Blogging, there have been a raft of new quality blogs, we have also had a lot of success with getting the Top 50 Marketing Pioneer Blogs published in traditional media, and seen an increase in the number of people at Friday Morning Social Media breakfast.

If you are not doing anything tonight you should come along and celebrate a great year at Sydney Christmas Beersphere.

7 things hip hop taught me about community

Guest Post from Mark Pollard (@markpollard): Currently, lead digital strategist at Leo Burnett. Moving in new year. Shhh. But more importantly CEO/Chief Editor/Administrator of Stealth Magazine


In the spirit of learning, the official soundtrack to this post


Over the past few years, when I've not been making strategy or changing nappies, chances are I've been doing something connected to hip hop. The good kind. Not the kind you made fun of when we were at school. The kind that makes you think, that challenges your perception of the world and makes you want to become more skillful.

Now, hip hop - as with most sub-cultures - comes with a lot of rules and hierarchy. It can be a difficult community to crack because it grew up being taken advantage of (by film-makers, photographers, record labels, media, advertisers). But the advent of the internet allowed newcomers to circumvent the system, to build new communities that weren't reliant on the rules of the hip hop establishment, and to find new audiences and distribution channels. My magazine, Stealth, was part of that changing guard.

I first published Stealth - the magazine and website - in 1999. Within a few years, the time required to publish an independent magazine (in its heyday it was 108 pages, full colour and came with a CD-Rom) led to the decision to simply turn the website into an online forum. This will change in the future now that print is becoming even more difficult to sustain.

The forum currently averages 20,000 visitors per month (with about 50% of traffic coming from search), hosts over 120,000 posts, and is read by people key to the scene, journalists, academics (one even wrote a paper on the dynamics on our message board - see footnote) and upcomers alike. Adsense covers hosting and I'd spend less than 1 hour per month on maintenance.

Here are a few things I've learnt from running the forum and creating a media vehicle that's purpose was about giving a voice to the under-represented and being an active part of a real-world community.


Work hard for credibility
This is a give and take kind of thing. Hard to earn, easy to lose. It takes time - you can't just launch something and expect people to take you seriously. You need to live and breathe it - not delegate it. You need to take a hit for the community, promote their cause - not just yours, work your arse off... then they'll respect you. Ammunition: knowledge, connections, ability and willingness to make things happen - for other people.


Help the influencers
Not ALL influencers are worth your time. Sometimes the people who seem the most influential are just the loudest and are the worst to deal with. I've often come across people I'd call King of the Kids - grown men who want the approval and following of teenagers (and hang out with them all the time because it makes them feel important). They look influential but don't always have people's best interests at heart, and will always complain. However, the influencers who are worth connecting with will help you help them help you once you've invested energy in them. Get to know them personally - and don't sell to them. They're too smart for that.


Anonymity sucks, authenticity's cool
Don't be an anonymous brand 'doing viral' (and don't 'do viral') and don't allow people to post or contribute to your websites anonymously. Our website has a low number of members (under 2000) compared to the number of visitors (over 120,000 uniques per year) so I temporarily experimented with anonymous posting. It led to really bad karma on the site with people putting each other down. Lord of the Flies stuff. Real relationships are built through authenticity - it's one reason I used to insist writers in Stealth be credited with their real names (unless they were known figures).


Drama wins every time
As with most blogs you read, the posts that get the most views have DRAMA. Any time there was a fight, any time there was sledging between different graffiti crews, these posts would get the most views. Quickly. When Triple J started to play Australian hip hop, I wrote that the hip hop they chose was gimmicky and slightly racist (long story), and within days we'd had thousands of views. This is the sort of stuff that gets emailed around, talked about face to face. If it isn't hurting someone, it's OK to let it happen. If you do it intentionally, all the time, people will bore quickly.


You need to let go
Yes, this point is in every "Thingamajig 2.0" presentation. What I found is that creating a 'leadership' vacuum (ie for the main people to not always be the ones who solve problems, post articles) leads to other people getting more involved, feeling ownership of the community. Over time, you get a feeling for the people who care most about your online community so I would invite them to become moderators and see how else I could work with them (employ them, ask them to write, etc). Letting go is not about being negligent. It's about not being anal and controlling.


People self-regulate
Following on from the previous point, letting go typically sees communities of people self-regulate - especially if a mutual set of values is understood and shared (something a brand can expedite). And if people aren't allowed to be anonymous. If debate is smart and of substance (and doesn't lead to physical threats), then let it happen - and don't feel you need to express a point of view or take sides.


Offline influences online
I'm finding this point true with my recent (and second) flirtation with Twitter. Much as offline brand activity can spike online activity (eg watching a TVC can lead directly to Google), much as meeting your Twitter friends face to face leads to more @ messages and other networking opportunities, if you run a community, get off the computer as much as possible to meet that community. It will make a lot of difference. It's why this post is on Julian's blog right now.


So, really, the main points here are about being 'real' - not hiding behind a corporate veil, and understanding that the online world (for brands as much as people) truly follows many of the same human and tribal truths we know intuitively. Oh, and there's nothing wrong with making mistakes - there's no drama in perfection.



Stealth stuff on the interwebs
Website
Twitter
Flickr
YouTube
MySpace
Facebook group
Wikipedia
Last.FM


Sub-note:
We've had a few occasions where the forum has attacked journalists and academics. One of the most interesting started after members of our message board had criticised Ian Maxwell's book, Phat Beats. He came across their criticisms and then wrote a paper ("When Worlds Collide: A Subculture Writes Back") about the online community hierarchy without consulting anyone - it was a bit mean. The paper was then found, posted and criticised until he eventually joined the forum and discussed his thoughts. DRAMA! Read the post here.



Next week: How Julian Cole games you: A cynical take on strategic blogging

School of Peter Wagstaff

I now am proudly sporting my Student of Peter Wagstaff badge. Without Peter, I would not have got to where I am today, therefore I see it as really important to show my support for a man who is raising the bar of higher level education in Australia.

A lot of the success stories of Monash Caulfield Marketing graduates in the Industry, will ultimately lead back to, Peter. He has an unwavering passion for Marketing that has been instilled into a number of students of his units.

When the current revenue model for Universities is actually not students but researching grants (that might help to explain a number of socially challenged lecturers at Universities). You have to take your hat off to Peter who has prioritsed teaching students over research (I would imagine he would be in the minority of academics at Universities).

Congratulations and thank you to Monash Marketing Department for giving us access to such a great teacher and mentor within your ranks.

Don’t just believe what I have to say about him hear the other students of Peter Wagstaff

Rick Clarke, Zac Martin, Simon Oboler, Josh Strawczynski

If you are not already subscribed to Peter Wagstaff's, Marketing Today Podcast do it! Also check out his blog Renewed on the changing role of new media.

Christmas Beersphere w/ Santa Gillespie

I am proposing a Chirstmas Beersphere for next Monday.

Lounge Cafe, 277 Goulburn Street, Surry Hills
6:30pm Monday 15th December

I think it is warranted as we will also have a special guest in David Gillespie who is leaving our sweet shores heading to Toronto. David will have presents for all, so come one, come all.

Mememolly leveraging audience equity!

image via memememolly
MemeMolly is a great example of a Vlogger/content producer who is commercializing her audience equity on Youtube. She is the 4th most subscribed Canadian on Youtube. Here are two examples of her commercial nouse.

She recorded this music video clip for artist Ali Slaight, she helped to bring 40,000 new listeners to her music.


On MemeMolly homepage she has also given up her prime video position to the MyDamnChannel, a commercial channel sponsored by Southern Comfort.


On a side note; this is a few of the better channels that I am subscribed to on Youtube (full listing here).

Entertainment
Frezned (AUS)
Community Channel (AUS)
Dominic Donovan
MemeMolly
Wallstrip

Music
Modular Records (AUS)
DJ Flagrant (AUS)
Bob Burnham

Advertising/Social Media
B&T Mag (AUS)
MarketingMag
Yerom
Social Media Blog
Ayeletknoff

Gruen Transfer blogger Michael Lanyon has just started playing around with animated blog posts which is something new. He has a great kick off post on Marketing downloadable content.

PR Agencies own Social Media Marketing

The best post I wrote this year is the Social Media Marketing Framework, it helped to get my job at The Population and is something that I keep referring too (if you are lazy check out the 5 min video).

After the Paul McIntrye article in the Sydney Morning Herald about Social Media and the focus of PR Agencies owning Social Media, I thought it would be good to look at the model and see who was best set up to help a company with this discipline.

As you can see it is a bit of everyone. Really at the end of the day, who gives a flying unicorn who is the right person to hand Social Media, lets just get some kick arse projects out there and let the agency thing sort itself out.

Mobile Marketing is not scary anymore!

The idea of Mobile Marketing always used to scare me because I didn’t understand it. Then my Population colleague Ben Cooper broke it down for me.

‘Mobile Marketing is just another name for the portable web.’

This is a really great 2min video on the evolution of the screen.

Fourth screen by Nokia.

Facebook Connect and what it means for Marketers

You have got to check out this presentation. Good use of 2 minutes!

What's The Social Graph Got To Do With It?

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: portability leonard-hansen)

Ross Raeburn just pointed me in the direction of this awesome slide presentation and post by Alison Leonard Hansen.

There are 4 things I like about her post;

1. This shows how this technology can be misused.

2. I am just a sucker for a good bit of response feedback. Check out the comments by David Deal, aka Razorfish

3. Alison's Tagline is spot on;

Musings from a social media "current iteration of the Web" junkie.

Social Media is just a current iteration of the web. David Gillespie talked about this recently.

4. There is a unicorn at the top of the page! TAKE THAT STAN LEE!

Five* new Australian Marketing Blogs that you probably have not read!

Last month, I showcased five blogs that started in the month of October, well I am back at it again with four new blogs that have just started in the month of November. So get your RSS readers ready and check out these great Australian Marketing reads.

Another Advertising Wanker
With a name like that, how could you not like this blog? He has had some cracking posts to start off with including his questioning of Commonwealth Bank over the recent fiasco and an interesting perspective on the alcohol advertising regulations.

Think Story Experience
'Matt Jones' reflections on the role of thinking, stories, and experiences in building brands and strengthening ideas.' He actually started blogging in September, except this month he has really stepped it up, writing a post every day and good quality posts as well.

Who put the devil in you?
Is written by Bones Lawley, I really like that name, he joins the raft of student bloggers who are blogging about Marketing. Some great posts on Movember and Doughnut King's strategy.

Stop, collaborate and listen
Written by Andy Mallinson the ex-MD of NetX Sydney, he started off by creating a list of the Social Media Monitoring tools in Australia, which is a handy little list. I look forward to reading more.

* It was originally Four blogs but Clare alerted me to her blog via Twitter, which is also a great read!

Clare Lancaster
Clare has also set up a blog ‘for enterprising women creating and working online’. It is great to see more women represented in the online marketing space. She is doing some great work covering off the basics and we can all learn a thing or two reading these posts.


Gavin called me the Pied Piper of New Marketing Blogs, when searching the interwebs for video on Pied Piper, I came across this old favourite of mine, DJ Pied Piper - Do you really like it?

Adidas House Parties - Transmedia Planning Heaven

Adidas have just launched their Advertising Campaign for 2009 'adidas Originals house party'. Everything about this campaign is beautiful. This is like a Transmedia Planning wet dream. There is already so many little pieces of currency in this video?

Do you see any celebrities that you know?
Do you know the music track?
Do you know who the graffiti artist was?

There is so many angles to tell this story from, they have started with such a rich base. It looks like they have started too.


And finally, to build the story around ‘the ultimate house party’. Who does not like house parties? They are always the most fun, right? And what a thought starter who would be at your ‘ultimate house party’!

Social Media Freestyle: Cole vs. Cole

Really interesting discussion around the Social Media Freestyle. I think we have a good number of question to now go and have a good session.

Ben Shepherd had a good point about the audience at Ad:Tech, I had always envisioned this to be for an audience of people that were in the advanced stream of Ad:Tech or people that knew about Social Media quite well. So maybe this would be better for another event.

A Christmas Beersphere/STUB/Social Media Freestyle where we all donate $10 to the WaterAid fund for a good night?

Cole vs. Cole


Also for those wondering about the Sydney Social Media Soup Kitchen, I am speaking to Wesley Mission at the moment about getting us to do some work. You would not believe how hard it is to find a Soup Kitchen in Sydney that needs volunteers!

Social Media Freestyle

I am really keen on getting this idea of the Social Media Freestyle together for Ad:Tech and pitching it to them.

I am just trying to think of some of the other topics that could be debated from two sides. Here is what I have come up with so far.

1. Every company needs a Social Media strategy
2. Full disclosure from a company or brand is not always necessary in social media.
3. Kevin Rudd should of remained a broadcast medium on Twitter.
4. Metaverses will stay niche and will not see the popularity of Social Media
5. Micro Blogging will be the death of Blogging
6. A Social Media presence online is best presented by just one person within an organisation
7. Blogging is not journalism
8. Agencies are not necessarily structured to implement Social Media (Dave)
9. All media communication has a Social Media element, whether intentional or not. (Ian)
10. Social Media will be the death of the 30 second spot (Zac)
11. Social Media Marketing and WOM is the same thing (Matt)
12. You can create a Social Media Campaign without a remarkable product (Matt)
13. Above the line Campaigns to not translate to 'viral' online campaigns (Adam)
14. Social Media is not just words but images (Graeme)
15. Social Media Marketing not remain a specialist area once those in communication roles get a grasp on it (Nathan)
16. Social Media Marketing Bloggers are scaring away potential clients (Kate)


I really want to get at least 10 debate questions. Please feel free to add.

Ad:Tech Social Media Freestyle, whose in?

So the presentation went really well. I thoroughly enjoyed performing it and Zac, Peter and Alex White (who filled in for David) were all really great and got into character as car loving bogans (mullets included).

One of the highlights from yesterday for me was Peter Williams and Robert Leech in the panel discussion having a verbal stoush over the future of free to air television.

This got me thinking ahead to Ad:Tech and I thought it would be great to have a live debating session. Something similar to the Hip Hop freestyle battles.

The premise would be that a topic would be chosen (e.g Paying Bloggers to write about a brands is unethical) you would then have two people from the industry arguing ‘for’ and ‘against’. They would each get 2 rounds of one minute to debate there point and for rebuttal. The result would then be chosen by 2 judges and the audience would also get a vote.

Would anyone else be interested in participating and helping pitch this idea to Ad:Tech?


The real 8 Mile story
106 & Park is a hip hop show in America, they had a segment called Freestyle Friday where the amateur rappers could get on stage and battle a champion. In 2001, they created a cult hero in Jin, an asian rapper who won seven nights in a row.

Melbourne Beersphere Friday Night

Melbourne Beersphere this Friday night after the Digital Marketing and Media Summit. We will have interstate guests, including Katie Chatfield Strategy Director at The White Agency and blogger behind Get Shouty.

Details
6:00PM, Friday 21st of November
Madame Brussels
Level 3 
59-63 Bourke Street 
Melbourne, VIC 3000 
Australia
Contact David Gillespie (0404 078 686) or myself if you get lost

Anyone and everyone is welcome, can everyone help spread the word as I have not had enough time to let everyone know personally.

Update on the presentation:
It is going really well, it now includes a V8Owners Chatroom being played out offline, flannels, Full disclosure, Holden Astra's, Angry Members.

I am still nervous about the new structure but I think that is a good thing it means I am challenging myself. I think Renee Creer said it best to me 'There’s a fine line between epic fail and pure genius…why not walk it.' : )

Online Copywriting is a woman’s job

I have just realised that my favourite unrelated online content is all written by females.

Twitter

_neek
I would put likeomg up there as well.

Blogs
Imnotantisocial – I am clearly not in target demo for this blog but really enjoy reading it?!?!??!

Tavi – She is 12 years old, WTF?

Why the hell is there not more female online copywriters?

If we do not do something about this, we will be left with shit like Hooking Up.

Really good ideas to a Social Media Startegist (Audience Equity from the top vloggers on Youtube, how could this not be a success?) but such a massive error on the copywriting.

An All Star Social Media cast presenting the Rules of Engagement

I am speaking at the Digital Marketing and Media Summit this week on the Rules of Engagment. I have decided to do away with the ‘lecture to powerpoint’ style and try something new. I am going to work through offline examples of the Rules of Engagement.

Instead of just me speaking about the subject, I have invited an all star social media crew (Zac Martin, Peter Wagstaff and David Gillespie) to help present and work through examples with me and provide valuable banter of the Rules.

These are some of the thoughts that I have had around the presentation so far;

Rule 1
'Social Media is about behaviour not the technology'
I will have a massive board that will have a computer on the front of it. I will suggest this is what most marketers think social media is about the technology! I will then move the board and there will be someone behind the board. I will then bring it back to the Buying Decision Process Model and show how technology is actually effecting these steps to purchase!


Rule 2
'Add value to the conversation'
I will have a offline chatroom (Peter, David and Zac sitting around, I will ask the crowd to choose a topic for the chatroom and a brand, I will show the wrong way and right way to approach people online). Highlighting (Relevance, Full Disclosure, Listen, Dont Shout and most importantly adding value to the conversation)

Rule 3
Negative feedback is gold
I want to have a real version of Dell Hell, show that when you answer negative publicity it is actually the best place to start with social media, it shows that you are human. I was thinking of having a Connex complaints box and then have someone actually come out of the box and respond?!?! * I need to work on this one!

Rule 4
Long term not campaigns
With 5 minutes to go, mid way through a sentence I will just walk out, I will then play a video telling people that most companies now look at social media and having a campaign in social media when you should really be thinking about a long term investment.


There will also be a Beersphere afterwards so if you know a good pub near the Hilton on the Park please let me know.

AdNews 40 Under Forty! Bloggers FTW!

I was just announced in the AdNews 40 Under Forty – ‘The rising stars in Australians Advertising, Media and Marketing.

This came as a complete surprise! I think it may have had something to do with my killer graphic design skills in my last post.

I think it was a fairly good result for bloggers, with Bannerblog’s Ash Ringrose aka ‘The hardest working man in the industry’ also copping a gurnsey!

Anyways, the criteria for the list was as follows.

-They must be in a position of leadership or on the rise within their organisation, or running their own show
-They must have the respect of their bosses, peers and competitors
-They should be rewriting marketing riles or interpreting them in a new way
-They must be in tune with community attitudes
-They have an opinion and aren’t scared to share it.

In no particular order here is the rest of the people on the list;

Sundeep Gohil (Planning Director, Partner at Droga5)
Darren Ryan (Assistant General manager Marketing, Canon)
Mark Holden (Managing Partner, PHD)
Amy Copely (Sales Director, News Magazines)
Michael Buckley (Media Director, Amnesia)
Dave Bowman (Creative Director, Saatchi & Saatchi)
Bob Mackintosh (Digital Creative Director, Host)
Chris Brown (Managing Director, DDB Sydney)
Dave Cain (Sponsorhip Manager, Virigin Mobile)
David Whittle (Managing Director, Mark)
Al Crawford (Planning Director, Clemenger)
Scott Nowell (Creative Director, Three Drunk Monkeys)
Justin Drape (Creative Director, Three Drunk Monkeys)
Darryn Wallace (Marketing Director beverages, Cadbury Schweppes)
Corrine Valleonga (Account Director, OMD)
Jeremy Nicholas (Startegic Planning Director, BMF)
Michael Johnstone (VP Advertising Sales, MTV)
Kirsty Shaw (General Manager, Stayz)
Rebekah Horne (Managing Director, Fox Interactive)
Neil Robinson (Group Sales Director, NewsNet)
Helen Farquhar (Marketing Director, McDonalds)
Paul Taylor (Partner, Day&Age)
Chris Brown (Marketing Manager, Mini)
Ben Couzens (Art Director, GP Y&R)
Jim Ingram (Copywriter, GP Y&R)
Kate Burleigh (National Marketing Manager, Intel)
Todd Sampson (CEO, Leo Burnett)
Tara Lordsmith (General Manager Retail Marketing, Simplot)
Anouk Darling (Manageing Director, Moon Group)
Damon Scarr (Sales Director, Yahoo7)
Bram Williams (Head of Startegy, Saatchi & Saatchi)
Kurt Burnette (Sales Director, Seven Network)
Kimberley Francis (Marketing Director, Microsoft)
Kate Martin (Communication Manager, Ikon Communications)
Scott Thompson (Corporate Advertising Manager, Toyota)
Lauren Fried (Founder, Pulse Marketing Group)
Dion Appel (CEO, Lifelounge)
Paul Meischke (Trading Director, Carat)
Asheley Ringrose (Director of Technology, SOAP)

I can create a Facebook Page, why would I need you?

Ben Cooper has come out with a pearler

"When Photoshop came out your cousin’s mate could create your brand identity for a slab of beer over the weekend. Have graphic designers gone out of business?"

I had a stab at The Population logo before we launched. If anyone is interested, I still do a bit of freelance work on the side.

Scott Drummond is pretty much my hero!

Sorry for the lateness of this post!

Case Study: How Scott Drummond created a Brand (MarketingMag) Community

In late August I was puling my hair out trying to find a great example of an Australian Community Manager, someone who had helped to create a community around a brand. Where had a brand come into an environment and been accepted by the community. It just so happens that the perfect case study of creating a Brand Community had been in contact with me and become one of my friends over the last four months. I speak of none other than Scott Drummond the person who created and put a face to the Marketing Magazine Brand.

Scott Drummond was amazing the way he reached out to the influential members online and got them to create engaging content that would drive traffic and conversation to the site. Additionally, He was on the frontline making sure that he was in the on Twitter, Plurk, other peoples Blogs and Youtube making sure that Marketing Magazine had a presence.

He has left a great community in the safe hands of Kate Kendall who has had a presence online through her blog The Zeitegist and will surely drive Marketing Magazine to the next level while other traditional channels struggle to acclimatise to the new media landscape.

International Beersphere and STUB combine for a killer night!

Faris Yakob is the genius behind International Beersphere. On November 13th people will be meeting in pubs in New York, Berlin, Toronto, Boston, Melbourne Sydney, Berlin, Bucharest, and Amsterdam to talk turkey about everything marketing, technology advertising and ninja related.

Like some awesome transformers I am joining the Sydney leg of the Beersphere with STUB that was planned for the same night.

The details are as such.

Date: Thursday 13 November
Time: 6:30pm
Venue: The Cricketers Arms, 106 Fitzroy St, Surry Hills (map)

If you are not in Sydney here are the details of the other Beerspheres. If your city is not on the list, get in touch with Faris and organise a venue!

The Date: Thursday November 13th 2008

[That's next Thursday]

The places - well....

New York [with me]: Obivia, 201 Lafayette Street from 6pm. [Happy hour runs until 8pm and there should be some free Ketel One splashing about too. Don't say I don't look after you.] MAP.

London [with Rachel and Co]: Will meet 6.30pm onwards at the Commercial Tavern,
142-144 Commercial Street, London E1 6NU. We've got the upstairs bar.
See you there! Details.

Toronto [with Jason and Dino]: 6:30pm The Bedford Academy, 36 Prince Arthur Avenue. [Featuring interpretive dance by Dino, and late evening partial nudity by Jason.]

Melbourne [with David]:Red Hummingbird, 246 Russell Street, just up from the corner of Lonsdale from 6:30pm. We’ll meet on the rooftop as I’m banking on the weather being lovely (currently predicted to be 29 degrees!), if you haven’t been there before you will see a red birdcageover the entrance. Map.

Berlin: [with David]: Berlin Beersphere is from 7pm at PonyBar (alte schönhauser strasse 44 10119 berlin-mitte). MAP.

Boston: [with Conner and Gareth]: Bukowski’s @ 50 Dalton St, Boston, Map.

Relevance is key to measuring influence: Dizzee Rascal!

When we look at influence, it is key to look into the relevance of the channel to the message.



Dizzy Rascal (channel) to Hip Hop (message) = High relevance

Dizzy Rascal to World Politics = Low relevance

Does anyone (this is a call out to the people I think may know the answer Peter, KD Paine, Scott and Jason)know any social media monitoring tool that measure relevance of the brand to the channel in their influence score?

All media is Social Media, The First Australians proves this!

The definition of Social Media in Wikipedia is wrong!

Definition: Social Media
Social media are primarily Internet-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings

Isn’t all media, social?

Definition: Social
Refers to an interaction between two organisms whether they are aware of it or not.


With media one person is producing and another person is consuming. There is an interaction taking place. The only difference with online is; to a third party we are aware of this happening because we can see it. The internet could also be argued to make interaction between humans easier, breaking down barriers.

HOWEVER Social Media is not primarily internet based tools, all media is social.

This point came to me while watching The First Australians (if you have not watched it, you should!) on Tuesday night. It was during the following excerpt about the newspaper John Patten set up.


The Abo Call helped to give the aboriginal people a voice for their plight to be heard, it also prompted to let people know that they were not alone. It helped to bring a community together.

Media brings people together to form communities. The more interactions the stronger the community.

Media is great in aiding the formation of communities.

Communities in my eyes are interacting organism sharing a social object (wikipedia suggests an environment).

My aim is to create interactions between organism (brand-consumers, consumer-consumer) who share a common social object. So am I really doing Social Media Marketing or am I performing something else?

For more infromation on the Marketing of the SBS brand or any of their shows, you should check out the blog 'The SBS Brand' written by Jacquie Riddell the Marketing Director of SBS.

ad:tech brain is alive!

ad:tech has launched the ad:tech brain, a site where they are going to co-create the speaker list for ad:tech 2009. Instead of consulting a small group of industry experts they have left it open to the industry to tell them what they would like to hear. Already you can weigh into the discussion on what topic areas you would like to hear at ad:tech. Or you can also join the discussion around my guest blog post on whether Australian bloggers are cannibalizing the role of Social Media Marketers? ;)

Along with Jenny Williams and Beth Etling; Tony and I (1/2 of The Population) have been helping out with the social media strategy for the project, so it is good to see it come to life.

And in some completely unrelated news, I just came past some footage of my childhood idol Peter

via I'm not anti-social, just short sighted.

Social Media Marketing for Short Film Makers

This week, I am a guest on the Film and Television Institute WA Forum for part of their series on ‘The Secrets of Short Film Marketing’. Graeme Watson asked me to help advise on how Short Film makers can use Social Media to market their films.

Laurel Papworth just wrote a cracking post on this, which has been a good start.

Tomorrow I will be starting a discussion on the social media environments that Australian Short Film Makers should be aware of.

Check it out and feel free to join the forum, if you don’t want to join but have some good resources or advice please share here.


Here is one of my favourite SMM for a film; the leaked crocodile attacking footage around the Australian film Black Water

Blogtober - 5 Aussie Marketing blogs that are oh so fresh and so clean

If you were going to set up a blog, I would suggest October. I celebrated my second birthday the other day, Zac celebrated his first and a number of new blogs have just started on the Australian Marketing scene.

I just thought I would give some props to a few exciting Australian Marketing Blogs that have started up in this great month.

1. Stellar Blog- I just found this blog the other day, and they started with a cracking post on 'How to get coverage in the Social Pages'. I am really excited when I see blogs like this start up because it really shows that blogging is no longer just about digital marketing but being a news source for other forms of marketing as well.

2. Nick Christie Crocker (Way Cool Jnr) – Nick is carving out a great niche of social media music marketing. He has got some great post up already about 10 things we can learn from Coldplay email marketing. I also stole the name Blogtober from him. ;)

3. Adam Ferrier (Consumer Psychologist)- Adam is the reason that I started at Naked, and racks up more column inches in trade magazine then any other Marketer, for good reason too he has a lot on his mind and a lot of value to give.

4. Kate Richardson (Stickywood)- Kate was one of the many smart brains behind Sprite Truth Hunters, she is creating a voice for Branded Entertainment in Australia and her agency Stickywood. She actually had her first post in September but who is counting!

5. Daniel Oyston (The Oyster Project) - Killed it with a great post on new diet fads in Japan effecting the banana economy. He joins Stephen Collins in bringing fresh thinking from our nations capital, Canberra.

Anyone else start a blog in October?

Motivations for commenting

90% of the people who comment on this blog have a blog.

Why is this so?

a) they understand the pain of posting
b) they understand the reciprocal relationship building nature of posting
c) ????

Josh Lyman consults Malcolm Turnbull on Internet Censorship/Twitter: Guest Post

The following is conversation that was captured between Malcolm Turnbull and The West Wing star Josh Astley

"Mr Turnbull I think we have gained some real traction with the Australian Online Community with our entry into Twitter, All the good work that was done by Kevin07 has seemed to be undone with our latest efforts.

Although our numbers (followers) may look like a small share of people, the peoplel we are talking with are highly influential, they publish alot of content online and reach a much larger audience.

In terms of our response to Conroy’s clean feed system, they are hungry for a response (shows Turnbull Summize stream, image below)… I think it would be in our best interest if we broke the story on Twitter. We need to reward this community with the scoop. Obama did this with VP announcemet, now lets drive the nail into the online Rudd coffin and show our commitment to this space.

What do you think sir? "

At the moment I am working my way through season 1-7 of The West Wing, if you have not watched it, do it. Any comments from CJ, Jed Bartlet, Sam Seborn, Toby, Leo or other members of the show will be permitted!

Leaked video on the Australian Internet Filter

Gavin Heaton has a way with words, so for the full story about the Australian Internet Filter fiasco read his post.

Sign the petition!

And remember don't let Australia get Rudd Roll'd

Melbourne Cup Beersphere and stuff

Melbourne Cup, it has been around for nearly as long as the Melbourne Beersphere okay maybe the Cup. Anyway it is time to catch up, spin a few yarns and put the social back in social media.

Location Lucky Coq 179 Chapel St, Windsor
Time 6:30PM Lets have $4 pizza and a few drinks
Date: Monday 3rd November
The following bloggers have been invited but anyone is welcome

Pigs Don’t Fly, I Hate Ads , Simon Says , The Gruen Transfer , ProBlogger, Brand DNA , The Wayfarer , PR Disasters , Pixel Paddock, In my atmosphere, Creative is not a department, The Zeitgeists, Current Issues in Marketing Strategy , FRANKthoughts, Wonderwebby , Marketing Today, Gen Y Marketing Podcast, Marketing Geek , Marketing Easy, Insight and Ideas, A blog about digital media, The Body Shop Activist


For all the Sydneynites, this Wednesday (29/10 at 6:30PM) night there is a Sydney catch up happening at the Beresford Pub, Surry Hills that I will be attending it even has some interstate guests in Ross Hill and Steve Hopkins (the brains behind World Vision Blog Action Day) coming to visit so should be a good one.

Also I am helping to organize the International Beersphere (Sydney Chapter) on November 13th it happening on the same night in NYC, London, Rio De, Bulgaria, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbounre and many more locations! I will keep you guys posted. David Gillespie will be organizing Melbourne Leg, Brisbane will be organized by Nick Christie Crocker and Digital Ninja Faris Yakob is the mastermind behind the event!