tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480Mon, 12 Dec 2011 05:19:54 +0000In cyberspace everyone can hear you screamhttp://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)Blogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-8241659967126940494Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:46:00 +00002011-12-09T16:50:42.668-08:00Complaining about Facebook is a popular pastime for many of us these days. In fact I could probably count on one hand the number of people I know who don’t have an opinion on what Facebook has done with this, that or the other.This column however, is not about Facebook. It’s about something that Facebook has facilitated. Actually maybe we should make that pioneered. Frictionless sharing.It’s a http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2011/12/frictionless-sharing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-1360642250014763541Wed, 02 Nov 2011 11:02:00 +00002011-11-02T04:08:01.387-07:00Having built something of a presence for myself on social media, I have no shortage of like-minded people around the world sending links to interesting ideas and articles.In fact this has been where much of the content for this column has come from over the years.Recently I got sent a link to a blog post that really got me thinking. It was titled; Can the next Instagram or Angry Birds be born http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2011/11/innovation-and-angry-birds.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-5631753925000345516Tue, 04 Oct 2011 23:00:00 +00002011-10-04T16:10:07.197-07:00In its infancy this column brought the chatter and commentary of the advertising blogosphere into a monthly periodical read by a group of people who had better things to do than read ad blogs.At the end of most of my columns I’ve shared links to the websites and blogs where the conversations I had written about were taking place.Over the journey there have been many emails and blog comments from http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2011/10/be-nice-people.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-8740526216508780816Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:50:00 +00002011-09-13T17:54:59.037-07:00In the morning, while I’m having a shower and shave, I get a little bit of me time that I’m rarely able to get anywhere else.And during that time I listen to sports radio.My wife can’t stand it. Too much talking, blokey humour, and way too much football. Especially for first thing in the morning!This 15 to 20 minute oasis of me time however has been interrupted of late by tobacco industry http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2011/09/power-of-brand.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-4784531594855232678Mon, 01 Aug 2011 10:54:00 +00002011-08-01T03:59:48.683-07:00A few months ago a very good friend of mine sent me a link to a British newspaper review of a compilation album of early seventies music recorded in the southern states of the USA.Now whilst I’m a child of the seventies, and love much of the music from that period, so called southern rock has never been of interest to me. Way too many beards and confederate flags.However the friend who sent me http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2011/08/recommendation-engine.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-8351185013547241261Sun, 10 Jul 2011 23:47:00 +00002011-07-10T16:58:01.310-07:00The other day I was on the train on my way to the office. It was peak hour, and I ended up having to stand up most of the way. Sitting in front of me for a large part of the journey was a smartly dressed woman with an iPad. Nothing out of the ordinary about that these days, but I couldn’t help sneaking a peak at what she was doing on her iPad.Watching a movie? No.Catching up on the latest news? http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2011/07/addicted-to-digital.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-6019603031828085281Sun, 19 Jun 2011 08:28:00 +00002011-06-19T01:31:39.448-07:00On average 294 billion emails are sent every day. Not every week, every day. That is, I’m sure you’d agree, one hell of a lot of emails.When I came across this statistic last week, it had me wondering how many emails would be sent of people had to pay for the privilege.You see, like many digital offerings impacting on the offline world, email is and always has been free.Unlike stamps, envelopes http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2011/06/mail-moments.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-3408682045577806293Thu, 26 May 2011 09:56:00 +00002011-05-26T03:01:33.439-07:00I read two outstanding think pieces about the advertising business last month. As is so often the case, both of them were on blogs, not in the trade press.And both of them were written by planners; Amelia Torode, who is based in the UK, and Bud Cadell, who is based in the USA.That, however, is where the similarity ends.Torode’s piece, which generated plenty of blog comments and discussion, was http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2011/05/things-seen-differently.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-3345734514628736128Sat, 16 Apr 2011 06:31:00 +00002011-04-15T23:34:51.159-07:00Over the last few months there has been much written about the future of advertising, especially in the blogosphere. The catalyst for all this chatter and discussion was an article published towards the end of last year by Fast Company magazine.Given the amount of change wrought upon the advertising industry since the internet became something we take for granted, I’m surprised people can still http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2011/04/beyond-advertising.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-1163249264988143342Sun, 13 Mar 2011 22:32:00 +00002011-03-13T15:41:42.862-07:00As we start to tick off the months of 2011, I’d like to call for a moratorium on the term digital agency. More specifically, the often bandied around term “pure play” digital agency.Surely, in an age where even television is broadcast digitally, the idea of digital as an area of speciality is rapidly becoming redundant?Many of the campaigns I have worked on recently, none of which I would http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2011/03/march-11-digital.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-2311411462191107993Tue, 08 Feb 2011 12:06:00 +00002011-02-08T04:11:30.819-08:00I’ve been wanting to write something about the iPad for some time now, but figured I’d wait until the dust settled on its much hyped launch before doing so.There’s been plenty of blog coverage on Apple’s tablet device, both good and bad, but I won’t bore you with the obvious.Anyway, last weekend my wife and I were enjoying a sunny Sunday afternoon in South Melbourne. It was her turn to choose thehttp://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2011/02/jan-11-books-browsing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-5097099525198087280Sun, 28 Nov 2010 06:28:00 +00002010-11-27T22:31:25.515-08:00Over the last few years what started as a whisper has gradually turned into a social media enhanced roar – the advertising agency is a dinosaur and it’s on its last legs!I do believe I may even have said it myself once or twice. But is it really the case?Many of the ad agency doubters are people who are not from what have come to be called “traditional” agencies. And the fact that they bandy http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2010/11/nov-10-dinosaurs-roar.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-3802976539809416976Sat, 30 Oct 2010 23:25:00 +00002010-10-30T16:32:24.677-07:00Not long after the dust had settled on yet another year of over-hyped self-congratulatory advertising industry back patting at Cannes, a much more interesting awards related story began doing the rounds of the blogosphere. Esteemed US adman Alex Bogusky wrote a post on his blog petitioning for a new type of award, to be given to companies who manage to do something good without having to resort http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2010/10/october-10-no-advertising.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-2114667051087891873Sat, 11 Sep 2010 06:35:00 +00002010-09-10T23:39:00.125-07:00A couple of weeks ago I got an email advising me to update my status on the Do Not Call register. Like most Australians, I hate it when telemarketers ring me. Especially when it sounds like they are ringing from another country!So as you can imagine, I did not hesitate in clicking on the link in the email and updating my status. Which should ensure that my wife and I get to make dinner in peace http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2010/09/august-10-private-stuff.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-2660163494815673553Sun, 15 Aug 2010 01:27:00 +00002010-08-14T18:30:50.543-07:00Seems like hardly a day goes by in 21st century adland where someone or other doesn’t proclaim the imminent demise of something or other.I’m probably as guilty of this as the next person, but I currently have an overwhelming urge to stand up and shout, time out people!Never before have so many people been so dogmatic. Self anointed social media gurus proclaim the death of television. Digital http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2010/08/july-10-time-out.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-3948257398466764640Sun, 11 Jul 2010 00:56:00 +00002010-07-10T18:00:40.171-07:00I can’t remember how many cars my parents owned during the course of my childhood, but I have vivid memories of two of them; an orange VW Beetle and a white Mini.It isn’t that the cars themselves were particularly noteworthy, although the colour of the Beetle was definitely not what you’d consider subtle, it was the attention that my father lavished on them.Actually maybe attention isn’t the http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2010/07/june-10-tinkering.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-498858076475224857Sun, 20 Jun 2010 02:16:00 +00002010-06-19T19:21:19.221-07:00Many years ago, brands spoke to us via advertising and generally we believed what they had to say. And why wouldn’t we, when they spoke to us via the omnipresent box that sat in the corner of every lounge room.We swallowed hook line and sinker the promise of fun in the sun from Coke, the virtues of hard work and mateship celebrated by Victoria Bitter and the international jet-setting lifestyle ofhttp://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2010/06/may-10-engaging-consumers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-4854287419187580830Sat, 08 May 2010 23:44:00 +00002010-05-08T16:50:20.294-07:00When I first started my BrandDNA blog I was an avid reader of advertising and marketing blogs. Over time I built a repertoire of blogs that I visited on a daily basis. If a particular blog had not published new content on the day I visited, I made sure I went back for another look later in the day. I did this because blogs were a constant source of news, information and opinion on the industry inhttp://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2010/05/april-10-changing-habits.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-6989548983337335750Wed, 07 Apr 2010 00:52:00 +00002010-05-11T02:36:12.444-07:00Many of my clients didn’t understand what a blog was when I set up BrandDNA about four years ago. In fact many of them thought I’d created some kind of online diary.Of course this was what most people thought a blog was when the concept of a weblog, to give it its full name, was first launched.In 2010 however, blogs are commonplace. I doubt anyone would not know what a blog is. In fact the only http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2010/04/march-10-things-change.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-1860506381101111287Sun, 28 Feb 2010 11:52:00 +00002010-02-28T03:56:53.610-08:00When I was living in the UK a few years back, MTV regularly broadcast shows where the audience was encouraged to interact, and seemingly participate, with a show by sending text messages.During the course of the programme, the text messages ran across the bottom of the screen. Much like the news feed used by CNN and other news channels these days.More recently I’ve noticed this type of viewer http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2010/02/feb-10-interactive-tv.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-8571058622177999532Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:36:00 +00002010-02-07T00:44:44.565-08:00When I began writing this column over two years ago, there was very little if any coverage of blogs in the advertising or marketing press. Whether it’s the growth in importance of social media, the explosion of interest in Facebook or the latest celebrity to hop onto the Twitter bandwagon, I learnt about it all by reading blogs.Which is one of the reasons why I pitched the idea of an agency blog http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2010/02/jan-10-it-aint-easy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-4523189964936928318Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:03:00 +00002009-12-06T17:07:17.081-08:00About eighteen months ago I wrote a column about young people using blogging and other forms of social media to break into advertising and marketing. This piece came about as a result of a couple of emails I had exchanged with Julian Cole.At the time, I described Julian as an aspiring marketer and Monash Uni student. He now works at an agency in Sydney, still finds time to write a popular blog http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2009/12/nov-09-stans-rant.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-7563772458394414825Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:27:00 +00002009-11-03T15:30:41.903-08:00Seems like only yesterday I was queuing up bleary eyed at six in the morning, out the front of my local Optus store, to get my hands on one of the very first iPhones. I wrote about my experiences with the phone for this column about a year or so ago. Thinking back, my excitement for the device was almost childlike in its exuberance.So how do I feel about it now?To be brutally frank – I couldn’t http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2009/11/oct-09-mobile-gets-moving.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-7791768576330476987Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:35:00 +00002009-10-03T17:42:37.832-07:00The legendary Bill Bernbach once said that word of mouth was the best form of advertising you could get. And he said it long before the internet was invented.Bernbach’s comment remains as valid today as it was all those years ago. The main difference being that we very rarely hear the term word of mouth anymore. It’s all about ‘conversation’ these days.Nobody knows this better than I do. Hardly ahttp://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2009/10/sept-09-lets-talk.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7441560465665912480.post-3254404280376841634Sun, 02 Aug 2009 01:44:00 +00002009-08-01T18:59:01.363-07:00When Kevin Roberts coined the term Lovemarks a couple of years ago, I believed he’d stumbled onto something interesting. I still do. I just don’t think the idea can apply to each and every brand in the world.Spend time in the company of so called social media experts however, and they’ll tell you that all brands need to have a close relationship with consumers in order to survive.I’m just not http://aroundtheblogosphere.blogspot.com/2009/08/relationships-not-for-everyone.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Stan Lee)3