＜!nsight＞

When hard-selling becomes smoother....

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:09:00 +0800

Despite that the traditional hard-selling is still focusing in forcing-messages-into-your-brain technique, it does evolve:

So, an adorable lady from FF13 wearing commercial goods in reality…. and of course, such tactics does bridge the online and offline world, and definitely, it worth lots of money.

While game designers were struggling for the suitable clothing to dress up their characters, they now have a better solution… ;)

Good or bad? As long as the dressing complete the characters & story settings, it’s fine with me; as long as I still play a game as a game, instead of a 24-hours-long interactive commercial ad..

To an extreme, any game can be financial supported solely using such tactics, selling ad. throughout the game cleverly without ruining the game itself, and hopefully, this will lead to free excellent games, like FF series, as they no longer rely on sales anymore.

Are you a gamer-lover? Do you favor or dislike such hard-selling technique in video games?

Dickson

Let them know you're always listening, and responsive

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:51:00 +0800

Have just received a lovely email from mystarbucksidea.com.

“Speaking” is one of the two directions, and “Listening” is the opposite one; what connects them into a “Story” is called “Conversation”. I believe.

Whether you’re a marketer who love such engaging strategy, or just a coffee-addict who can’t live without it (like me), i do quite sure you’ll enjoy these new 50 ideas from Starbucks, don’t you? =)

Dickson W.

"…if your CEO was a kid, you wouldn’t worry about failing, care that you didn’t have the right PhD,..."

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:11:06 +0800

“…if your CEO was a kid, you wouldn’t worry about failing, care that you didn’t have the right PhD, or fret over having not read the recent manifesto from the latest up and coming marketing intellectual. If your CEO was a kid, you wouldn’t focus on obstacles like budget constraints, resource issues, or legal concerns. You wouldn’t give up on your mission because someone else already did something similar, or because no one had ever done anything like it before. With typical kid-powered genius, you’d just plow ahead, ignoring the long list of things people said couldn’t be done. You’d just try stuff until something worked…”

- What if your CEO was a kid? (via brittanybelt)

IKEA x Facebook photo-tagging = a Lovely Campaign

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:27:00 +0800

Despite “Photo Tagging” is a very powerful connective tool for marketing via facebook, for most of the time, it’s simply annoying that you’ve found yourself being tagged solely for “broadcasting”, like the highjacked-netbot doing DoS Attack…. Hm… Anyway, ya, it WAS annoying, until IKEA finds its true loveliness….

Here’s what IKEA has done: create a Manager account, uploading photos, and the first people who tags himself / herself onto the item win it. It’s lovely, isn’t it? =)

While all people are so eager to try on the social media, please always bare in mind that whether you’re really leveraging the platform; or, you’re just using your old-school technique and hoping to get some so-called impressive result from it.

Please, old-schooled marketers, from now on, treat the social media as PEOPLE, not CHANNEL.

Dickson W.

trendd: (via soupsoup) My fever on Snoopy has driven me a bit...

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:10:07 +0800

trendd:

(via soupsoup)

My fever on Snoopy has driven me a bit more toward Google…… >~<

Dickson W.

creativeinspiration: fuckyeahads: Life-sized stickers of...

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:15:03 +0800

creativeinspiration:

fuckyeahads:

Life-sized stickers of people on sliding doors. Rexona ad.

When the boundaries of Technology and Ad. in reality collide, hence the interactive and innovative result. =)

Dickson

Big Brands should go BIG. (on Social Media)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:42:00 +0800

After Microsoft has found their Window 7 Promoters and Standard Chartered Bank has got their Social Media Whizkid, Coca-Cola has also found their Ambassadors via their Expedition 206 campaign.

(Team of winners: MIX, Tony, Kelly and Antonio. Src. from Mashable)

Voted by the worldwide people, the winners just need to visit 206 markets, of Coca-cola, and use whatever social media they can think of, use, or leverage, via blogs, videos, even facebook or twitter news feed, and to tell the world about their 1-year-long trip.

It’s always a good sign to see how large company testing the temperature of the “large lake of social media”, and it’s even an excitement to see big brand finally “dive into it” - simply to explore the boundary of social media, fearlessly.

Any Big Brands should flag a “GO” for this kind of “BIG”, at least at this moment of social media, i believe.

Yeah, but why?

We’ve yet-to-know where the regional boundary is

Remember “the Best Job in the World”? Without the limitation on whom can apply, the campaign has ran successfully with billions of media buzz generated, worldwide. It’s true the the internet has the capacity for the entire world, yet you may not know where does your so-called “target audience” exist. Even more importantly, in social media is NOT just about “targets”, but also the influencer and the influencers’ network - Yes, we’re talking about the degree of reachness. While localized news may worth for close-relationships, worldwide campaign is what a Big Brand needs as it already has the entire world as a “local area”.

We’ve yet-to-know when it tips

Jason, a well-known man who sells his chest… hm, “seek for daily t-shirt sponsorship” is another good example. At the very beginning, his iwearyourshirt campaign can hardly provide him the money for the living (one buck a day, even it climbs up another one buck daily), yet with his perseverance, his hard-work on blogging and videoing turns him into one of the hottest topics in the social media community. Not only he engages, but he also engages continuously with passion and effort. While his campaign is still on-going, he has already gained the frame that necessary for his 2010 70% filled (279 out of 365 days as for this entry). So, my dearest reader, please bare in mind, consistent engagement DOES worth for your investment.

We’ve yet-to-know what is the social media A-list

PR.s or marketers have lists of A-lists of channels or influencers for them to do the buzzing, yet due to tradition (maybe, i’m not marketer anyway), for most of them, their A-lists are simply focusing how many impression their channel can generate (and in fact, some PR/marketers like Brian Solis does have a more inspiring point-of-view for their A-lists in this new century). However, quantity (that’s the impressions) doesn’t necessarily imply the quality of it. Even more, there exists no absolute answer to which channel is the best one for buzzing for your business, unless, you’ve tried on it. Hence try Big, and find out your A-list as soon as you can.

A So-called Conclusion

Question: So, what do we have to do if we are the Big Brand?

Answer: Hire a small team of energetic young adult from worldwide, ask them to blog and video casually for your brand on whatever social media channels, which even you’ve just heard the name, for hundreds of days - And yes, simply speaking, be a copycat to Coca-Cola campaign. ;)

You’re already Big, and you do also have the resource to go Big, so why don’t you have the guts for this tiny little step? =)

Dickson W.

Marketing Job Interview

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:38:00 +0800

src: xkcd

So you now know what to do in your coming interview, right? =)

Dickson W.

(via papertissue) That’s why there exists two groups in...

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:30:38 +0800

(via papertissue)

That’s why there exists two groups in the world: employees & employers. =)

Dickson

[Reblog] The Golden Triangle

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:00:00 +0800

[Reblog] The Golden Triangle:

Src: PR 2.0 by Brian Solis

When you’re the centre of the triangle…….

Get prepare for the new opportunities. =)

Dickson

[Video] Social Media ROI: Socialnomics

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:18:00 +0800

Business people simply love numbers, but they just can’t understand that those traditional ROI analysis may not apply to our new century just by plug-and-play style.

Try thinking out-of-the-box, let’s think of the cost for doing nothing.

To engage or not to engage, that is the question. =)

Dickson W.

A Proposal, on the top of tumblr. dashboard.

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:44:05 +0800

So Sweet. =)

Key values that Big Brands should hold before joining the party.

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:11:00 +0800

Key values that Big Brands should hold before joining the party. [for Standard Chartered Whizkid Challenge 3]

View more presentations from skelneko.

My very first presentation on Social Media, for Standard Chartered Bank. =)

Enjoy.

Dickson W.

"Social media is like teen sex. Everybody wants to do it. Nobody knows how. When it’s..."

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:33:00 +0800

“

Social media is like teen sex.

Everybody wants to do it. Nobody knows how.

When it’s finally done there is surprise it’s not better.

”

- Avinash Kaushik, Analytics Evangelist, Google

"To participate, to listen or to engage? You choose your way to join the party. =)"

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:40:29 +0800

“To participate, to listen or to engage? You choose your way to join the party. =)”

- Dickson W.

Just can't resist to post this lovely photography =)

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:11:00 +0800

Please let me know if you own the credits. Thanks. =)

Dickson W.

EA Acquires Facebook Game Maker Playfish For Up to $400 Million

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:55:00 +0800

EA Acquires Facebook Game Maker Playfish For Up to $400 Million:

The way how a large org. catches up with the trend……

mktg4nerds: tommaso: loichay: Social Media Tip : Tools...

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:05:30 +0800

mktg4nerds:

tommaso:

loichay: Social Media Tip : Tools vs. Strategy by Mark Smiciklas via

Now be back to the Stat. - Asia Youth 2009

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:23:00 +0800

As Standard Chartered Bank $150 note campaign 2nd ends, i shall now bring my little blog on the track.

Here’s a lovely presentation by Ian Stewart for Asia Youth 2009.

(View more documents from IAN STEWART.)

Actually, I connect real-life (or offline as it’s named, whatever) via facebook only with no online friend at all… or maybe a friend can co-exist in these two domain at the same time? (Mr. Whoever is both my online & offline friend ;) ) Despite of no concrete definition, this little graph should definitely provide some insights for you. (well, or do you see opportunities? =P)

By the way, i do really love how Ian map the “Rooms” between different “Age Group”.

Brilliant. =)

Hope that you can dig out some nuggets in this presentation. =)

Dickson W.

"Take a guess: How long will it take for #HKSC150note to reach UK? =P"

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:25:47 +0800

“Take a guess: How long will it take for #HKSC150note to reach UK? =P”

- Dickson W.