Friday, 4 March 2011

The Social Network II

"I was only saying the same things as my friends who work here, I just hit enter and went for lunch. I deleted it straight away, but my boss didn't see that as proper apology". 

It's only a matter of time before Anderson Cooper announces the sad but true 'sign of the times' faux pas....A sorry tale of the poor Gen Z multitasking intern who inadvertently announced on Linked In (while also auto posting on their blog, and twitter feed) their hatred of their employer, boss and leadership  using sms profanity of the most vulgarity ......
No, not a deleted  Facebook movie scene, but an observation of Linked In.  A once simple, uncluttered and intuitive professional networking platform that is transforming into a business social network.  Now filled with a landscape full of dashboards, ads, and tabs, and peppered with likes, comments, pictures (of babies ..perhaps) and youtube videos. 

Is the brand manoeuvring its way into future convergence with the hyper-stimulated, hyper-sticky, informational super-channel-esque - Facebook behemoth ? Fiction ?  Melodrama ?....Partial truth ?  Irrelevant !  As user numbers continue to increase and embrace the new experience, the business led by Jeff Weiner is an indellible disruptive force heading for an IPO. 

As I write this post, ad agency planners the world over are scheming to uncover killer insights,  brand managers vy to launch their first hybrid campaign, and media mavens are seeding content amongst the most coveted 'sociopro' influencers......

I used to love Linked In as I knew exactly why I was there, what I was going to do and how long I was going to spend there.  Yet the online version look and feel changes, added features, and constant refreshes echo the rhythm of Facebook, and I sense its now too late for them to dial back. My only solace is the Iphone version -  (the  app development team are genius architects for mobile).

Failure to understand their brand equity and user base may lead to the creation of a 'Bring back old Linked In' group.  Start to worry if a cut the rope 'corporate ladder edition' replaces the 'People you may know' section......

PS, while the opening quotation is currently fictitious, I sadly predict to see it reported true pretty soon.

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Sunday, 6 February 2011

Fan us

After 3 months of pondering I decided to post this picture because I still can't fathom why someone would fan a mall ..... Thoughts?

Stopping Power is all you need

A good claim has to stop you and address a purchase barrier or at least make you feel enough to provoke a response.  I found this claim from Bodum to be disturbing, irritating, yet delightfully disruptive to my perception of how I feel about my choice to use the Nespresso brand. 



I'm sure it adds cost so I would love to know if Jimmy John's measure the effectiveness or impact of this simple, playful, genius placement......After all a sandwich, is just a sandwich... right ?


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Thursday, 30 December 2010

#YearInReview - Brand Curious: most read posts of 2010

 In case you missed some of them,  here are your favourite posts this year:
  1. a review of the must have social media marketing book Wikipedia + Mentor + Superpower = #micromktg
  2. My unshakable relationship with a coffee brand Loyalty beyond reason = Nespresso
  3. Product innovation of the year candidate ?? Free #Summermash IPhone Bumper
  4. The catwalk comes to the nappy (diaper) category the war of nappies
  5. A simple and effective brand refresh  How to refresh brand equity without alienating your audience
  6. Comeback brand of the year  How #oldspice rescued 30' ads
  7. The best Christmas ad bar none this year Hyundai vs #Pamplamoose = outlandish soundclash
  8. A must read marketing rant The trouble with swatting flies
  9. Delightful US (football) world cup coverage ESPN world cup so far so good
  10. Hmmm.... already out of date Twitter tips ! Twitter 101 smart twips and top links


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Thursday, 2 December 2010

Xmas 2010 Ad of the year: Hyundai vs #Pamplamoose = outlandish soundclash

Love it. Quite possibly the most emotive, engaging and irreverant TVC's of the year.... Great work by the brand, the band and of course the agency and production company Innocean Worldwide Americas and Lemonade Media.

Enjoy all 3 of them. 









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