Marketing Safari

Sexism in advertising

2012-02-10T02:24:24+00:00

Point made...

How do you get likes on your Facebook page?

2011-10-20T12:57:06+00:00

"How do I get likes on my Facebook page?" is a question I get a lot. Like if Facebook was a target group. It's not. It's a medium. It's a platform. It's a tool to reach your target group but not a target group in it self.

That means it depends on your target group how you get likes on Facebook. The methods to do it can vary greatly, based on your target group. So just like you try to realize what your target group is interested in before your engage in other marketing activity, you need to do exactly the same for Facebook. Try to realize what pictures your target group likes to see, what topics they like to discuss, what videos they like to watch, what info they like to share. That is what you need to know before you start engaging Facebook. So find something your target group will love to share on Facebook.

It's not about how many likes you get. It's all about who likes you.

Hjörtur

ps. speaking of which, would you like to like my Facebook page?

Bullying memes - Maybe you're more of a bully than you realize

2011-09-26T09:39:09+00:00

Last Friday night an 11 year old boy hung himself after being bullied for a long time. Tonight BULLYING IS FOR LOSERS is trending world wide on twitter following this tweet:

As tragic as this event is, it is even more tragic how common they are. Everyday tens of teens commit suicide because of bullying. We all remember school, some of us were bullied. Some of us were the bullies. This has ruined so many peoples lives. It is easy for all to support actions against bullying in school, since it doesn't demand any change in behaviour from ourselves! But actions are needed in more places than just in school or just among kids.

ARE YOU A BULLY?

We might actually have participated in bullying more often then we realize. Internet memes are often at the cost of someone. Looking like a joke about someone we've got no clue who is, or someone we know who is, though we don't know him or her personally, like celebrities. People seem to think that just because they don't know someone in person it is alright to make fun of them, insult them, humiliate them and actually bully them online. But you know what, just because we don't know someone doesn't mean they don't have feelings. Or that they don't have Google. You'd be surprised how many celebrities actually google themselves. And actually do take it personally when their personality is being trashed. It is hard not to.

We can take Britney Spears as an example. Or Monika Lewinsky. Or million others.

So let's all show each other respect, also online, and also people we don't know in person.

Peace!

Hjörtur

The 2083 manifesto: Is the media completing the Utøya killer's mission?

2011-07-24T14:08:27+00:00

I want to start by expressing my condolenses to those who lost a friend or a loved one in Oslo or Utøya, and to the whole Norwegian nation.

An hour before the killing started ABB (the gunman) sent out a 1500 page manifesto on the internet. Some media outlets have been linking to the document or offering it for download. I have very mixed feelings about that.

On the one hand, we want to stand and fight for the freedom of speech. Like Norway's PM Jens Stoltenberg said: "We will retaliate with more democracy, transparency & openness" Considering that, we absolutely should publish the manifesto, encourage the discussion and dialogue. But should we really?

If we look at the content of the manifesto we see that it is full of hate. It's a manuscript for terrorism. It is designed to be a guide for other extremists on how to blow up nuclear power plants, how to kill women in the field, how to run a single man sleeper cell, descriptions of how he trained and brain washed him self. He says he went to Liberia in 2002 and told his friend that he was finding ways to smuggle blood diamonds, to cover his real intentions. Which were what? Training himself to become comfortable with killing people? At one place he says: "You must therefore embrace and familiarise yourself with the concept of killing women, even very attractive women."

Though all normal people see this as plain madness, there are people out there who can take this as an inspiration. Just like his inspiration comes from the Unabombers manifesto which he actually copies word for word as part of his own.

In the manifesto he has a marketing plan which the media unfortunately is carrying out. He describes how to create images for the press that can be used after your "mission" is completed. On July 17th he created a Facebook page to profile himself, with images for the media to use, he created a twitter account with only one quote and he posted his propaganda videos on YouTube. And the media has been using these exact photos to portrait him in the news, showing him in the best possible light.

The gunman was wearing a bullet proof west and made no resistance to the arrest. That was part of his plan all along as he wanted to get caught so he could better get his message across: "Alternatively they will use censorship to silence the story to death as is the common weapon of choice in France. A countermeasure would be for the resistance fighter to actually survive the operation and attest to his political agenda. That his objective was in fact part of a larger, long term strategy to cause ideological damage to the EUSSR/USASSR multiculturalist regime as part of a 100 year plan to completely seize power through military means and replace the system." That is why many Norwegians are asking for a closed trial, so that he does not get the chance to use the trial as a tool to spread his ideology.

So what do you think? Should we stick to our princips with freedom of speech with out limitations? Or should we draw the line somewhere? What do you think? Publish or not?

Hjörtur
@hjortur

Twitter's Promoted Tweets - Is that the best they can come up with?

2011-06-24T06:41:37+00:00

Twitter has decided to start publishing promoted tweets in the timeline of it's users within the next 8 weeks, according to an article on Mashable.

I'm not against advertising and do realize that nothing is free. To be able to use twitter as a free service they need to get their money from somewhere else, primarely advertising. What I object to is the way they're going to do it, if this is correct.

According to the article twitter will place promoted tweets within our stream and not only that, they will make it stick so we will keep seeing it. Now let's compare that to two of the most successful online advertisers out their on the market, Google and Facebook.

Google has built their success on delivering exactly what people are after - without any advertising in it's content. They surely do have advertising on the search results, but they are do they side or in a frame at the top, not like the natural results. Same goes for Gmail. Surely Google could send us all promoted emails and make the stick so we would keep seeing them at the top of our inbox. But they don't. Why? It's SPAM! And part of the success of Gmail is keeping that spam away, something twitter has not been good enough at.

Facebook has two main options for marketers. One is buying ads on the side which actually does give some good results if you're targeted and the other one is creating a page where people can opt to see your message in their stream. They do however NOT offer the option of buying status updates in people streams that stick, because that would be considered SPAM!

I'm amazed that a brilliant company like twitter can't come up with a better plan then spamming their user base, their most valuable asset. I'm afraid their phenomenal success in raising funds from investors is now turning against them in the form of an unrealistic demand of return on investment. Guttering your goose will bring you limited amount of eggs.

What would be a better idea?

As a twitter addict, I want twitter to continue with the same good service, but I have zero tolerance for spamming, which I feel twitter is about to offer me with those promoted tweets. So what would be a better idea? How could twitter make money with out spamming the users?

Selling access to information such as trends, searches etc, which can be very valuable for market research?

Allowing ads on the site instead of promoted tweets?

Just continuing with promoted trends?

Selling gold accounts? (and what should that include then?)

I'd love to hear your what you feel about promoted tweets and your ideas about how twitter could earn some money.

Hjörtur

@hjortur on twitter

Destination Marketing: We Miss You!

2011-04-27T12:57:28+00:00

Jonkoping is a city in Southern Sweden with about 100.000 inhabitants - and growing. Helena Nordström from Destination Jönköping agreed to give us an insight into "We Miss You" - a campaign they have been running in the last months in Sweden to attract new talent to the city.

One of the campaign posters reading: Sofia Dahllöf - Your best friend Maria Lindén misses you <3

What is the aim of the campaign and the reason you started this?

The campaign is part of the project Welcome2work which was established in 2007 as a platform to attract talents to Jönköping. The project is runned by Destination Jönköping in cooperation with 40 employers in the region. The reason we started the campaign is that people are listening to their own network when it comes to different kinds of decisions, for example where to move. So we decided to ask the citizens of Jönköping who they are missing, who they want to Jönköping, for making it possible for us to then start to influence these people.

What is your target group and what channels are you focusing on to reach out to them?

The main target group is people between 28 and 38 years old, in big cities, searching for high-level jobs. After 38 the tendency to move is decreasing. In the first step the focus was to reach citizens of Jönköping. We reached them through billboards and web ads. The output of the first step was a couple of hundred addresses to people in our target group. The day before Christmas they received a gift from Jönköping with a letter from the one that want the them to move to Jönköping.

In April we started the next step of the campaign where we tell people that someone in Jönköping is missing them. In Gothenburg we have bought bill boards with greetings from Jönköping and from the person that are missing someone. In Stockholm you can hear personal greetings at Radio NRJ. In Malmö we focus on Facebook Ads. In addition to that we have several different Youtube videos where cititzens in Jönköping tell who they are missing and why. Only a week after the start of the campaign we could track a viral effect on the web, mainly on Facebook and Twitter.

You say that 40 companies are behind the initiative. What kind of companies are they?

The power of the project Welcome2work is that it consists of a wide range of employers who are an active part of our market activities. Since 2007 we have visited Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö several times with own events where we have invited people curious of a life in Jönköping. The employers are always attending the events to make it possible for our target group to talk directly to the specific employers they are interested in.

In August we are trying another kind of event. We are chartering an aero plane from Stockholm and are inviting young talents to a flight to Jönköping where they can experience the city, have a look at residential areas and meet employers.

The Visaknardig Campaign is helping us to make people curious about a life in Jönköping.

How has the reaction been? Are you seeing people viewing Jönköping in a different way, or maybe considering Jönköping as a realistic alternative as a place to live and work?

Yes, and we have a tight dialouge with the people considering Jönköping, helping them to find the right people to talk to when they are looking for a work, a house, kindergarten for the children and so on. We even offer a network called Newcomers Club with 8 meetups every year, making it easier to get to know people and to experience their new home town.

Most DMO's seem to focus primarely on tourists but you're also trying to get people to relocate to Jönköping. Do you think DMO's should have a broader focus in general? Why?

In Jönköping we have chosen to gather different kinds of attraction activities in the same organisation. In Destination Jönköping we are working to attract tourists, citizens and companies. We believe that this wide focus makes us a very powerful organisation with synergies between the different target groups. Jönköping is increasing and we are, in cooperation with several organisations, working hard to make sure Jönköping is an attractive choice in the future.

For information about Jönköping visit Destination Jönköping or follow Helena Nordström on Twitter.

Micro Copy Mayhem

2011-04-26T08:04:00+00:00

Why don't people sign up? Finish the form? Follow the instructions?

While copy writing is something most people realize the importance off, I don't think many people realize the importance of micro-copy. So what is micro-copy?

It's all those small words that explain to you what you are doing or what you should do next. Usually just a single word or a short phrase. There is a simple error of thought that most websites suffer from which I'm going to correct right here and right now:

Do not write the micro-copy from the viewpoint of the company, but the viewpoint of the reader!

This is crucial. It is not about what you want them to do, but why they would want to do it. The wrong wording here can actually be really damaging to your conversion. Let's look at an example. A friend of mine has a website for a computer game. To start playing the game people had to register. Nothing much, nothing complicated, just a name and an email address. The link people had to click on to start that process was called "Register".

Now, who would want to "register" on a website you don't know? You might want to "register" to get the right to vote, or with the IRS because the law says you must, but it is not something you're eager to do, because it sounds something serious.

So he changed the word from "Register" to "Play now". People still needed to provide a name and an email address and everything else was just like it had been before. The results of changing that one word were mind-blowing. Over 100% increase in conversion of visitors to players!

So how is your micro-copy? Do people need to "register" on your site or can they "play now"?

Hjörtur

ps. To learn more about microcopy, I recommend reading "The Construction of Instruction" by Relly Annett-Baker.

Innovation in Air Travel

2011-04-22T18:31:07+00:00

From the flying hotelicopter.

These months airlines seem to be mostly thinking about how they can cut down on service or add extra fees. The passangers on the other hand wouldn't mind seeing some improvements in service, instead of down cuts. At #TNI (Travelers Night In) on twitter last night, innovation in travel was the topic (you can read more about it on ZipSetGo.com). One of the questions was:

"State-of-the-art features you’d like on planes?"

And the answers rolled in, some being more "ambitious" than others:

@banffrocks: We should give airlines a clock that works.

@BridalTravelGuy: Sober pilots & air traffic controllers who are awake

@Mematw: a bigger toilet on long distance flights? Blankets big enough to make me warm. That's all, simple wish really

@LATravelWriter: A fitness center on long haul flights

@MonicaLWilliams: A pool, spa and a workout room.

@raghavmodi: A glass bottom and ceiling plane.

@trouthfultourist: Airlines seats made for human beings, not crash-test dummies, please.

@HikeBikeTravel: How about good coffee - lattes would be gr8 & something other than apple & orange juice.

@HotelPRGuy: iPad style inflight entertainment!

Considering the popularity of coffee shops, better coffee and more variety on board might be something people were even willing to pay more for. Same goes for the work out. Is there a possibility that passengers might do some work out on board? Or in the seat even? You really need to stretch on a long flight!

Regarding the iPad style inflight entertainment I know some airlines have simply started to rent out iPads with uploaded movies and others are looking into iPad like solutions. Those present day inflight entertainment systems can play movies - but shouldn't they be able to a lot more than just that?

I'm interested in hearing more ideas about how your flight experience could be improved by increased service, entertainment or facilities on board the planes.

Hjörtur

The Power of Good Copy Writing

2011-04-20T07:39:00+00:00

"A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip."
Caskie Stinnet

It's not necessarily what you're saying, but more the way you say it. This doesn't only apply to how you explain great philosophies or the truth of life. This goes for every single little word you put on your website or your marketing material. It all counts. The power of the word is rarely overestimated and good copy is the most important component of your website. Who wrote your copy? Does it make sense to the reader and encourage him in the direction you want it to?

Here is an excellent example of good copy from Purplefeather, a content agency in Glasgow:

Put your words in a context people can relate to and it will make all the difference.

Hjörtur

"Technology Can't Replace God" - But Social Media Can

2011-04-19T10:16:05+00:00

Pope Benedict addressed the crowd on Palm Sunday saying that man will pay the price for his pride if he believes technology can give him the powers of god. I think he is right that any man believing he is god is bound to have a high fall when reality kicks in.

However, with atheism on the rise the social constraints that the fear of the ever watching God has had on society and especially anti-social behaviour, social media can provide a splendid replacement. It's not in the way that social media can become something people worship as a divine force nor as a means to gain godly powers. Social media is the perfect replacement where the fear of God is lost, as the uncontrollable force that is always watching. What happens in Vegas is not just something you need to confront your god with when you go across, but something you need to confront your friends and family with as it is not only seen by god, but also by anyone with access to YouTube, FourSquare, Twitter, Facebook and Google. There's no postponing the consequences of that till the after life!

Hjörtur

Image by Reuters/Stefano Rellandini