WhipperSnaPR

Pod Design and Legal Seafoods have fun with YouTube… check out the latest project:

Today, I noticed a myspace bulletin with a game! I’m probably a little behind on this, but I think this is a really great idea. So, I followed the link, played the game a few times and then did some digging to figure out how it all works. The game is from Rock You, a site that has free myspace layouts and lots of widgets. They also provide code to embed that game in your myspace profiles, blogs, etc. I think there’s lots of potential here. For now, enjoy the game!

Update: I’ve removed the game because a) it was too big for my blog template and b) the music was driving me crazy. Embedding the game works much better for myspace than it does for blogs, which I’m sure is where Rock You gets most of its traffic anyway. For now, you can play all of their games here.

Paparazzi 2:

You’re moving up the food chain! the lowly photographer has been promoted to paparazzi videographer. Shoot your way to the big bucks by capturing candid and embarrassing clips of celebrities at their worst like Lindsay Loclass partying hard or a very drunk Smell Glibson all while dodging obstacles like Miss North American, beer bottles and the Celebritology Aliens! Pass all rounds for a chance at the ultimate mission… a shot of Britney’s pet beaver

This morning, I was at a BIMA roundtable event spearheaded by Dave Balter, founder of BzzAgent. It was titled, “Bringing Word of Mouth into your Marketing Mix.” Most of the content of Dave’s presentation and the succeeding discussion was a nice review for me, but it also sparked a few thoughts that dug a little deeper.

Finding a balance between traditional marketing and the new forms of “grassroots” marketing can be difficult. But, before that can be accomplished, I think the industry must first find a balance between the many segments of this new avenue of communication.

(Maybe, even before that, we should decide on an umbrella name for grassroots, word of mouth, collaborative marketing, viral marketing, etc. I like customer,constituent or audience engagement)

Dave summed up his presentation into 5 key points of word of mouth marketing:

1. Don’t use entertainment as a substitute for the brand
2. Consumers will do what they want with your brand
3. Buzz does not always equal word of mouth
4. Don’t lie, cheat, steal or deceive
5. The only for successful word of mouth marketing is a great product

Dave caught my attention right off the bat. He began by explaining that viral and word of mouth are not the same. He explained that viral marketing substitutes the brand for entertainment and, therefore, breaks the number one rule of word of mouth marketing.

He used the Paris Hilton commercial for Carl’s Jr. as an example:

It was extremely viral and it is easy to see why. I counted 333,702 views on YouTube from the first search page alone. I’m sure the clip was viewed just as many times on any number of websites, communities and blogs. But, as Dave pointed out, there was a problem: during the time this ad aired, sales dropped 3%. Why? The Carl’s Jr. Brand was compromised. They focused all of their energy on creating a viral campaign rather than a word of mouth campaign.

I’m not going to dispute Dave’s claim here. In fact, I’ll support him. The commercial, although eye catching, does not include any call to action. If their goal was increased brand exposure, they got it; but, this ad may be giving the brand a new identity. If they were aiming to build a stronger brand or increase sales, they failed.I have to ask, though: can’t word of mouth and viral marketing function successfully together? In fact, if executed successfully, wouldn’t they compliment each other? Wouldn’t one serve as an accelerator for the other, and visa versa? Shouldn’t the two be symbiotic?

If you compromise your brand in order to create a viral conversation, then chances are you won’t reach any goals tied to that brand. And, to many companies, the brand is everything. But, not all viral campaigns have to substitute brand for entertainment. A great viral campaign would find a way to make the brand entertaining in a way that the audience will be laughing with you… not at you. Once you’ve found a way to creatively develop the right balance between brand and entertainment, you will need word of mouth conversations before your campaign will ever go viral.

I’m not quite sure how to conclude this drivel. It reality, I may never reach a conclusion. I have a feeling that by the time we as an industry find the right balance, the medium du jour will have morphed into something even more exciting, confusing and frustrating.

Finally! It launches! Check out Pod’s latest game, Adolfo vs Chicken!

I’ve been mulling over the topic of website traffic measurement in my head for the past month or so, brainstorming ideas on how to more formalize and standardize my “seeding” at work. Basically, I want to add quantifiable accountability  to what I do.  So, today, I came across some interesting articles/blogs on the subject and thought maybe it was a sight to put my own brainstorming on “paper”. I hope this will be the first of many posts, but for now…

I found this new list put together by Compete. It is a list of the top 200 sites ranked by the amount of time people spend on each.

I was also interested to read Seth Godin’s opinion on the list and I remembered an article I read a few weeks ago from the Center for Media Research about this report from Alterian, a marketing analytics company. The report focuses mainly on email direct marketing, but one statistic caught my eye: 70% of respondents said they apply basic or no analysis to any of their email campaigns. I can’t help but suspect that number transcends direct marketing and would reflect the bahavior of most marketers.

I think it is very interesting how some companies don’t even think to ask for metrics or statistics about their online presence and other’s can’t stop thinking about it. This is easier said than done, but, for me, measuring the success of each piece of online material is a very specialized endeavor. It cannot be boiled down into one statistic. As a proud graduate of Boston University’s College of Communication and a student of James McQuivey’s communication research class, I have a deep appreciation for reliable and useful numbers. Really, any marketing campaign should have a research and evaluation mechanism built in. Obviously, in the real world, this isn’t always easy to do.

And, even when it is integrated, you might not even be getting the right information. For example, does FedEx really care how long someone is on their sight? Sure, exposure to the brand is important, but this might also say something about the sites usability. And this would be especially important to note if, as Allurenet reports,  41% of consumers avoid shopping at a brick and mortar location if they’ve previously had a bad experience with the company online.

There has been some great debates surrounding online traffic measurement and I don’t think we’re anywhere near finding the best solution. Still, these are some creative, interesting and useful approaches. Not all of it pertains to what I’m exploring for Pod Design, but it is all worth keeping in mind.

Last Tuesday, my boss, Steve Curran, and I visited Professor Walter Carl’s word of mouth, buzz and viral marketing class at Northeastern University. You can read Walter’s run down of the day here.

First, I have to say the fact that Northeastern University even offers this class is very encouraging. I was always very discouraged at BU as they were not as open to studying new forms of communication. Not only am I really happy to see a well-respected academic community give deserved attention to this area of communication, but I was so happy to find that the students in the class took the subject very seriously. They were all engaged in the conversation and asked some well-thought, in-depth and critical questions. Both Steve and I were impressed with the quality of students in the class and would be happy to consider any of them for an internship position at Pod Design. (send me your resumes!)

I was equally impressed with Dr. Carl. I had been following his blogs for about 6 months, but had never had the honor of meeting him in person. We were able to grab lunch after class and discuss everything from research to metrics to business models. Very educational. I find that some days it is far too easy to slip into a mirrored box at work, hanging out with great academics always helps to keep perspective. They remind me to think outside of my current spot and start asking some critical questions.

Preparing for this visit was also very healthy for me from a work perspective; It forced me to boil down what I do into a quick, 10 minute, synopsis. I was able to outline my priorities, justify my work and develop insight in the areas that are very important to my work but can often feel tedious or dull from day-to-day. It was also a great reminder of why I was motivated to take this job in the first place.

So, thank you to Dr. Carl and his class for a great experience!

The latest teaser clip for WBCN’s new game featuring Adolfo - set to launch on Friday!

If any of you Bostonites listen to WBCN, you probably know who Adolfo is. If not, please let me introduce you:

Now, Adolfo is quite a funny guy. A real piece of work! He is a regular on the Toucher and Rich show and the star of a new game from Pod Design! I’m not ready to show the game just yet, but here’s a preview to whet your appetite:

This is the newest and biggest game from Beacon Street Girls! We launched Fashion Frenzy last week and I’ve just been having a blast sharing the link with everybody. Who doesn’t love a good dress up/fashion game?! And if you’re like me and have spent countless hours playing dress up games online, you know how much better this game is in comparison to any other game out there! Have fun, enjoy, and send me your cute creations! Of course, don’t forget to send it to a friend