Marketing Hipster

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my disagreement to Tim O’Reilly’s Blogger Code of Conduct. I have not changed my opinion on this at all, but over the last couple of weeks I have felt that creating a new code of conduct might be necessary. In some of the my most recent campaigns, I have been working with some outside marketing agencies and companies. I have been doing this either by request of my client or to fulfill a part of the campaign that my company does not do. I have been amazed and confused over the last several weeks at how some of these agencies operate their business.

I thought I would put together my own Agency Code of Conduct. So here it goes:

1. We live in a fast paced world where an hour could cost our clients a great deal of money. When you receive an email or call, responding the next day is unacceptable. All emails and calls should be returned within an hour of receiving them.

2. I am not sure if you noticed but the web is open 24/7. That means so are you. Nights/weekends, they do not matter. If something goes wrong you need to be available and be able to react no matter when or what time it is.

3. Here’s a shocker, the client is going to change their mind several times before and after a campaign launches. If you don’t like fast changes or pressure situations get a job at the DMV. In this world, you should be prepared for changes and understand that you probably will have very tight deadlines to get them done.

4. The client is NOT always right. It is absolutely acceptable and even expected for you to disagree with the client. You are the expert, they are not. If they had all the answers they would of never hired you in the first place. Get a backbone and let the client know your thoughts and opinions. If they decide not to follow them, document it so when it blows up in their face, you can say, “I told you so and it is YOUR fault.”

5. Be honest. Don’t promise something that you cannot deliver. It’s not all about closing the deal. You need to remember that you are putting your own name and reputation on the line. This industry is smaller than you think and I can guarantee you that it will come back to bite you in the behind down the road.

6. Control your emotions. No campaign is going to go perfectly. There is going to be bumps in the road, deal with them. When you lose your cool, you accomplish nothing other than putting other people on the defensive and they will be less willing to help you. In other words, suck it up!

7. Don’t even think about coping an attitude with me. You’re unhappy, call Jerry Lewis and maybe he will put together a telethon for you. Right now, we have issues that need to be resolved and your attitude does nothing to help that situation.

8. Don’t be afraid to fail. The only people who never fail are people who never try. To achieve greatness, you have to be willing to fail and fail big time.

What do you think? Let me know your thoughts and if there are other points that I should add to this list.

Technorati Tags: Blogger Code of Conduct, marketing agencies, Agency Code of Conduct

I don’t have too many TV shows that I watch religiously anymore, but one that I try to never miss is 60 Minutes. I find it to be an incredibly well done news show and week in and week out they offer stories that I find interesting and I am able to learn something. I love everything about the show until the last two minutes when they, for reasons beyond me, allow Andy Rooney to do his little commentary gig. I have been a watcher of 60 minutes for years and have always wondered why do they allow Rooney to do his tired and boring commentary week in and week out? What caused me to finally write something about this was the story that he did tonight.

Tonight he pulled out letters that were sent to him and he spent his lousy couple of minutes mocking the people who sent him these letters. Just to make sure we are clear and you happened to not of seen this, these letters were not bad letters, these letters were actually nice letters sent to Andy. For some reason Andy decided to degrade the people most important to him, 60 Minutes and CBS, THE DAMN AUDIENCE!

Even if his previous riveting episodes that included showing off how messy his desk was and what books he has in his office, did not prove that it is time to put this guy out to pasture, this show I think surely did. What he clearly showed tonight is that he does not give a damn about who is watching him and he believes no matter what he says, everyone will tune back in next week. I wonder, what would happen if everyone in America would change the channel when Andy’s segment was being introduced? Do you think that might be a cause of concern for the advertisers who are paying for that time slot? Do you think that might get CBS and 60 minutes attention?

Very simply put Andy, what do you offer each week with your little stories? I could care less about your desk, your books and probably next week, you will give us a tour of your sock drawer. You don’t get it do you? It is NOT about you anymore, it should of never been about you. It’s about us, your viewers, the people who watch you. Either begin realizing that or do us all a favor and get out.

Technorati Tags: 60 Minutes, Andy Rooney

Hey folks, let me start out again by apologizing for the lack of posts over the last week or two. As I stated earlier, I have been in the process of launching a couple of campaigns for my clients and just have not had the time or been too brain dead to write. Good news is both campaigns are off and running and I can guarantee you that you will start seeing daily posts again.

I read an article recently on PC World where they tested all the search engines and then gave their thoughts and feedback. The article is incredibly in-depth with a great deal of information. While I found this article interesting, I believe their research and results are flawed. Comparing search results from search engine to search engine is so Web 1.0. I think what the author and PC World failed to take into account is that what I might be looking for could be dramatically different than what somewhat else is looking for.

Let’s me give an example. If I do a search for something that is in the news, let’s say I search for “Bush NRA”. No matter what search engine I am on, the results will show me links to multiple articles all across the internet. What is important here is that based on who I am and my beliefs, I would choose certain places to read and certain places I would not want to read. Personally, there is no chance that I am going to read an article from Fox News. I know the kind of slant they put on all their news, so even though they might have an article that Google determines is the best result for my search, I would have no interest in reading it.

My point is that the days of comparing search results are over. What is coming and coming right now is the day of personalized results. Search engines learning based on my searching and what I click on, what are the most relevant results for ME! The best search engine is the one who offers each searcher the best results based on who they are and what they are interested in.

That is what I believe web 2.0 is all about. Each one of us in charge of what we see and read based on our individual and personalized interests. It is no longer about what Google deems to be the most relevant, it is what I and you deem to be most relevant.

Technorati Tags: search engines, Web 1.0, PC World, Fox News, Google, web 2.0

I just read a great article on Younggogetter.com called The Devil and Online Advertising.  It’s a very well written article on online advertising and the issues and challenges that come with it.  Definitely give it a read if you have any interest in online advertising.

I have gotten a number of emails from people asking me about how the presentation went that I did last week when I spoke at the Triangle’s American Marketers Association lunch. We had a great turnout, I think we had well over 100 people show up and I think at least from the feedback that I have received, all went well.

What I tried to convey in my presentation was two main points. First, that in today’s fractured media environment, it is no longer about products, services or even brands; it is about the people. The customers, the clients, the users, the people, we as marketers, are trying very hard to reach. But today it is not just about getting attention, it is about connecting users with a brand as well as connecting users to other users with similar interests.

My second point discussed the question about control and that again, we as marketers, have very little if any control compared to years past. This includes utilizing more traditional marketing techniques like TV, radio and print. As marketers, we not only need to accept this, but I believe we need to embrace it. The days of talking points and controlling the message is over. And the sooner we accept it, the sooner we can realize that this is not bad news, but on the contrary, this is incredibly exciting news with great possibilities if understood and done correctly.

If you are interested, I have included my presentation below for you to look over. As always, I welcome any and all thoughts.

Recently, I have been enjoying listening to a number of different podcasts. My favorite podcast without question is This American Life. If you have never listed to this on NPR, I absolutely recommend checking it out, their shows are so interesting, I just cannot get enough. I also have been enjoying video podcasts from the TED conference and Zefrank is very funny at times.

This weekend I was going through iTunes‘ directory of podcasts and saw The American Experience had a podcast, a great show on PBS. I subscribed and downloaded a number of episodes that looked interesting to me. On my way into work today, I turned one on and began to listen. After about 5 minutes, the damn thing just stopped. I thought maybe it did not download all the way or something when I realized that all of the ones I downloaded were 5 minutes in length.

They were previews… My question is WHY?!?!?! Why of why PBS did you do this? The episodes have already played, it’s not like I am getting an early listening to this? You’re fricken PBS, you don’t play commercials and even if you did, you could just add the commercials in the Podcast, I’ll wait. More importantly, when I went back into iTunes, I could not even buy them if I wanted to.. Boy, that is some great user experience you PBS’ers are putting on over there.

I then noticed a number of customer reviews and they all said the exact same thing I am saying. Why are these only 5 minutes out of an hour episode? Why don’t you bother telling people that they are previews before they download them?

When are TV, radio, newspaper, magazine and music executives going to get it. Technology has enabled and empowered people to do things on their own schedule and not yours! If there is a show that I want to watch, I will DVR it and watch it when I am damn well good and ready. If there is something I want to read in the New York Times, I will sign in and read it at 4 am, in bed, if I so choose.

So PBS, you think by giving me a 5 minute preview, I am going to do what? Buy the episode? HA! You heard me, I said HA! I could not buy them even if I wanted to, but what you have done is forced me to unsubscribe from your podcasts and remove any proof that you ever existed on my iPod. BE GONE! In other words, you are toast…

When are you guys going to wake up and realize the game has changed?

Technorati Tags: podcasts, This American Life, NPR, TED conference, Zefrank, iTunes, The American Experience, user experience

First off, I wanted to apologize for the lack of posts and comment responses last week. I have been under a deadline on a couple of campaigns launching this week and just have not had a lot of time or brainpower to write. I am hoping this week will be better.

Back to the news… Nike took out a full page ad in yesterday’s New York Times to thank Imus for his ignorance. Even though the ad did not say Imus by name, it’s point was quite obvious. A picture of the ad is here, but it is not very clear to read. The ad says,

Thank you, ignorance.
Thank you for starting the conversation.
Thank you for making an entire nation listen to the Rutgers team’s story. And for making us wonder what other great stories we’ve missed. Thank you for reminding us to think before we speak.
Thank you for showing us how strong and poised 18 and 20-year-old women can be.
Thank you for reminding us that another basketball tournament goes on in March.
Thank you for showing us that sport includes more than the time spent on the court.
Thank you for unintentionally moving women’s sport forward.
And thank you for making all of us realize that we still have a long way to go.
Next season starts 11.16.07.

According to AdAge, this week digital banners will begin running using this premise on Flip.com, Cosmogirl.com, Seventeen.com, ESPN.com, FoxSports.com and NikeWomen.com.

Nike is saying that they were “inspired” by the Rutgers women’s basketball team which is why they are doing this campaign. I think anyone in this business knows that the real reason they are doing this campaign is to piggyback this campaign on a still big news story and get a whole lot of free publicity. Good idea if it works, but my feeling is that most people are kind of tired of this whole Imus thing and would just like it to go away. I don’t know if you really want your brand associated with that.

What do you think?

Technorati Tags: Nike, New York Times, Imus, Rutgers

Ah wishes, I am a big fan of wishes. I wish all the time. I wish when I don’t even realize I am wishing. For example, yesterday I was driving and this old person who I think was actually dead, but just did not realize it yet, was driving in front of me. He was driving so slow, I think I could of gotten out of my car and walked by him on foot. As I am not a man who was given the gift of patience, I began to wish that I had some sort of laser or guided missle or maybe a grenade launcher that I could just press a button on my dash and BAM!!! No more old person in front of me. Ahhhh, if wishes could be true.

Anyway, this got me thinking of something that I have been noodling around with in my head for a while now and I thought who best to ask their thoughts and opinions on than the Hipster faithful.. So here is a challenge and question for you today and if you decide to accept this mission, I would appreciate your thoughts and feedback in the comments.

The Challenge:

Every blogger has a different reason why they blog. For some it is strictly a business for them. A place to hopefully supplement or become their income. For others, they enjoy the writing, the community and the feeling of being apart of something. Finally, I think others just enjoy being able to put their thoughts to paper as it were. While I think for many we share several of those traits, I think one thing that all of these types have in common is the desire to have their thoughts and opinions read and shared with others. If you are going to take the time needed to create a successful blog, you would like people to come and share that with you. Makes sense so far?

There are a great deal of opportunities to get your blog noticed. This could include social networks sites like a digg or reddit, to blogging communities like MyBlogLog and BlogCatalog then there is social bookmarking like del.icio.us and StumbleUpon. And let’s not forget the always great search engines and natural search results.

The Question(s):

With all these opportunities out there, what is presently missing? What would you change? What would your blogging community look like? If you wished to run MyBlogLog what would you want it to be? The sky is the limit folks, make a wish and let me know your thoughts.

The Prize:

Ooooh, there’s a prize? Yea why not, I just thought of it. The person who I feel has given the best ideas and made the best comments will have win the following:

For one solid week, the winner will receive top billing on Marketing Hipster. Right where the Bloggers Choice Awards icon is presently sitting, will be a short write up about your blog with a link to your blog. The winner will also be able to update that spot with news on a specific post the blogger wants to call attention to. That’s some good traffic being driven to your site!!

So get on your thinking caps and start thinking outside the box. Remember wishes have no boundaries.

I greatly appreciate your comments

Technorati Tags: wishes, blogger, community, digg, reddit, MyBlogLog, BlogCatalog, social bookmarking, del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Marketing Hipster

An absolutely amazing video by a soldier named Lizzie Palmer. She puts into perspective that no matter how you feel about George Bush and the war, you cannot forget about the honorable soldiers over there doing their jobs.  We must hold them in the absolute highest regards.

So this weekend I was reading a post that Matt Cutts posted to his blog discussing the validity or (the lack there of) for paid links, PayPerPost and review sites. Pretty much he called all of them spam and even suggested ways people could report these links as he was, “excited about trying some ideas here at Google to augment our existing algorithms”.

After I read that sentence I prepared for the blogosphere to EXPLODE! When anyone who is involved with SEO  hears Matt Cutts or Google use the word algorithm, you immediately move into a code red situation. People is SEO companies across the world start worrying, planning, posting on discussion boards, chat rooms and blogs. Guys are chain smoking and others have those full body signs on with them reading, “THE END IS NEAR!”.

Ok, that might be a wee bit of an exaggeration, but just by a little. So there is all kind of articles being written on this. So far my favorite is Andy Beard‘s where he calls out Matt Cutts and Google. That’s right folks, when Beard gets done with them, Matt Cutts and all of Google will be Andy’s bitches.

Technorati Tags: Matt Cutts, PayPerPost, Google, blogosphere, SEO, Andy Beard