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Transforming Pixels to Gold

Spending too much time looking at screens, a good digital strategy could be about getting everyone some fresh air. And there's some truth in that - because there's nothing appealing about the decomposition process that begins with long hours glued to a chair orchestrating some devious marketing plan to deceive a potential tribe of money throwing masses?

stsooys tbh cya wknd wb??

David Wall - Wednesday, November 11, 2009

I like Bourdieu. First he's got a very French sounding name that gives him instant philosophy street cred (first name is also Pierre) but that's not a good reason to like someone. A better reason is that he's said long ago that the purpose of a lot of what we do or say is to distinguish ourselves from others. We develop strange languages to isolate ourselves from other groups, while hardening the glue within our own group. We create 'secret' codes as a way to know if we're 'in' or 'out'. 

True, he talked about the privileged class trying to keep out the plebs who just don't get things like "high" art  (why wouldn't they get that when you put a urinal in a gallery, it becomes art?) but why not apply this to other tribes like kid's SMS language - what does "stsooys tbh cya wknd wb" mean and if you don't know you were probably born before Netscape was the choice browser.

So people are always going to create new spaces and new languages to distinguish themselves from everybody else and before this space reaches critical mass there's a bunch there already figuring out clever ways to get in and sell a lot of something. This is like adding more oil to the water and bound to disperse the congenial gathering fast - look at what happened to MySpace: more people on it, more marketing budget spent on it = less 'cool' / less the choice online communication platform. 

Now look at the business hype about using Twitter, is that good for Google Wave?

>Should we think less about the technology and more about why we are using it?

www.pixelalchemy.com.au holistic online marketing

Twitter spammed full of marketing messages?

David Wall - Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Some interesting reactions to the Toyota Yaris agency showdown. Toyota hosts an agency battle for social media triumph on a budget of 15K each... 15K is lunch money for them, but the trophy awarded to the hippest, most social media-savy agency (judged by Toyota's marketing team) is priceless and is sure to be a fine statement in the "pool room".

Here's the info: http://mumbrella.com.au/the-yaris-social-media-chase-one-green-bean-and-the-population-take-early-lead-with-hothouse-catching-fast-saatchi-saatchi-in-neutral-iris-non-starter-11262#comment-20508

Social media commentator Laurel Papworth, hits backs with a clever YouTube video:

Think the video hits the nail on the head!

What happens when a interruption style marketing over-saturates places people go to escape it? People move elsewhere…

When Twitter gets spammed full of marketing messages, we’ll all start to ignore it…

Although I’m kicking myself that I didn’t get a lift from Wolfy (read Mumbrella post) when the train broke down in North Sydney last week – instead walked the Harbour Bridge in sweltering heat!

All the while though, Toyota Yaris which is not yet released is gaining more and more attention, aided too greatly by Laurel's video and posts. So, is negative attention in the social media space really negative? In other words, will you buy Cheeseybite (formerly known as iSnack2.0)? Don't think I would.

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Who'd have thought - we're selling to human beings, not robots?

David Wall - Tuesday, November 10, 2009
VW's "Fun Theory" campaign is a good example of clever viral marketing but I don't want to talk about that. You've probably seen and heard this blurb. I think it's worth mentioning the idea behind the claim and what that says about the way people interact with brands.

Firstly, if you haven't seen it yet - check it out:

The implication is that if we lined up 2 equally good products or services the majority would choose one over the other based on fun. Does that mean all products / services need to be fun? 

No, but it's worth looking at the process, the means of getting there (how we learn about the company, when doing the purchasing etc.). The traditional idea preaches the value of "getting in, taking what you need - then getting out" or the quickest, most simplest way for consumers works the best - no holds barred. We're all time starved the argument goes etc.

In reality, we're time starved - yes, but we're also starved of authenticity, we're starved of communication that connects with us on a human level - the sort of communication that says: "hey, you're not just another entry we want to add to our CRM you're someone that appreciates things outside the same old experiences we're used to - here's something fun, something interesting or inspiring - and here it is not because we want to make an extra buck out of it, but we just like it, its fun for us - might be for you too..."

Who'd have thought - we're selling to human beings, not robots?

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