How We Work : Blog

earth9 is going to have its very own podcast soon. We are probably going to start small, maybe a couple of minutes to just have a quickfire roundtable about the latest buzz in the online marketing sphere.  

I'm going to try to blog about all the nasty and interesting bits so that if you ever want to try doing your own corporate podcast, at least you will have my experience to have a look at.

I'm probably going to leave out the technical details on how to actually create a podcast, there are tons of resources out there already and focus on the marketing and tension that exists in such a new medium.

It seems that nowadays a lot of companies both large and small are keen to get on the buzzword bandwagon. Having a podcast or a vidcast on your corporate site is seen as being "cool" and in touch with today's consumers.

The problem is trying to create something interesting and useful for listeners while not giving your company PR department a heart attack. Invariably, most corporate podcasts turn out "safe" and boring and are no more than commercials using another medium.

Step #1
Getting management to agree that the customer is the top priority.

e9's podcast will focus on services, technologies and ideas that we feel will interest businesses thinking of exploring or improving on thier marketing mix. If we step on a few toes so be it. As long as our listeners find value in what we are saying, that's the only ROI we are gunning for right now.

I'll be updating this as we go along, so just check back every now and again.

dan

Technorati Tags:podcast, corporate blogging, vidcast, starting your own podcast, start podcasting, hurdles to corporate podcasting

Estée Lauder launched for the first time last week its first online ad campaign to Advanced Night Repair Concentrate, its newest antiaging treatment. The campaign features a web site where women can post their testimonials and advertisements on related beauty, lifestyle and health news sites / blogs. The brand is well known to favor traditional advertising so this online push is exciting in its recognition of the importance of online research and word-of-mouse.

What puzzled me was the campaign execution. The first thing I did on learning about the campaign was to google it. No results (paid or natural) within the top 2 pages took me to the site. To find the link, I went to the main web site - there was no sign of the campaign there either.

This is prevalent of many online campaigns. The web allows you to be more targeted  but also opens up other issues – there are multiple channels and processes you need to cover in order to ensure that not only can you reach the customer but the customer can reach you. Paid search buys, highlights on the main entry pages should be de-facto items on most campaign checklists. Other possible considerations include emails to existing house lists and tie-ups with online distributors (since they do deep search buys as well).

That being said, for big companies, the underlying web organization is often not optimized to support regional and global campaign execution, both in terms of infrastructure and human resources. That’s a whole other discussion - more on that later.

Joanne

Adidas recently launched a marketing campaign to bring fans closer to New Zealand’s popular All Blacks rugby team by sharing samples of the players’ blood. Showing how creativity can make most of a small marketing budget, minimal bloodshed and 95,000 hits later - no one's complaining this was an anaemic idea.

The moment the authorized reseller stores were open, I rushed down to get my grubby hands on one.

But would you believe it, one reseller in town didn’t have it and had no clue when it would reach Singapore, the other had a 2 week pre-order waiting list. In the end, I had to get my baby through the online store. They gave me an estimated 6 days waiting time before I could get it. Oh the suffering!!!!

But I digress. My bug bear here today is not how come I have to wait for my new toy when Steve Jobs specifically states that they are “in store right now” but how come every time Apple barks I jump, but when one of our very own local brand announces a new spanking portable video player, I don’t even lift and eyelid.

Claiming to have won a consumer’s choice award (I wonder who these supposed consumers are that always seem to think the products from this local brand, let’s call them brand C, are so great that no one seems to want to buy them), this new portable video player made its debut at the recently concluded Comex show.

I can’t for the life of me understand how understated Brand C’s launch of their new flagship product was. Feature wise, it’s got to be one of the leaders in its product category. It has got a big bright widescreen, great storage capacity and a reasonable price point, all the things that consumers have been clamoring for. Is it going to sell the millions needed to make it an entrenched incumbent, don’t hold your breath on this one folks.

Being a trailblazer in the portable video player market is not enough, where is the bloody marketing. Are people excited about Brand C’s new product? Outside of a few review sites who find it quite brilliant, there is just no consumer buzz about it. Apple announces a “show” press conference and the world waits with bated breath.

I know many companies that will pay through their noses to find out that secret. Come on folks, it’s not all that difficult. People love to be entertained, give them what they want. Create a spectacle, have a good front man and some nifty (it doesn’t even have to be revolutionary) products to show and, most importantly, start creating some grassroots buzz.

Its not who has the biggest, best, most feature filled time machine. No one gives a hoot if it does not give them the tingly feeling when they think about owning one. Time travel can be cool but who in the right mind wants to do it in a Volvo?