Bringing attention to ocean pollution, Surfrider Foundation teamed up with Satchi & Satchi LA to create “Catch of the Day.” Simply and brilliantly, they collected actual rubbish from beaches around the U.S., packaged it like food, and left it on display at farmer’s markets. It’s site-specific, appropriate, impacting, meaningful, shocking, and an actual consumer insight into the very act they’re in the middle of. Someone about to buy fish from the same ocean as the trash in their hands can’t help but be at least a little more enlightened as to how pollution isn’t someone else’s problem.
I was looking through Yvan Rodic's personal blog of Facehunter fame when I came across these examples of street art which are really cool. Artistic street art of this kind adds a positive culture to cities and if compnies were given the opportunity to advertise their products and services in this creative manner, it would more then likely lead to increased sales and brand equity.
The Yellow Pages recently implemented a guerilla marketing campaign to promote the new Yellow Pages down under. A 'free pizza' was offered to anyone who could find a hidden restaurant within a certain time period. A "Hidden Pizza Restaurant" website was sent to all the cool people of Melbourne and the only information it gave people was in the find us section which stated "Finding the restaurant is easy, just look it up the way you would any other business from April 12- April 25 and the pizzas are free". The restaurant listing could then only be found by looking up the Yellow Pages directory or the Yellow Pages online. The purpose of this campaign was to reintroduce youngsters to the effectiveness of using the Yellow Pages and the campaign had much success because of the word of mouth buzz which was created. What an amazing idea!
Recently the news broke that Facebook was planning to change the language around Fan Pages from “Become a Fan” to “Like.”, which has now happened. On April 19 the first group of language changes were released. So what does this mean to you? To start with its important to know that the change is purely in wording, and won’t affect the functionality of your Facebook Fan Pages.
Facebook already uses the term “Like” for users who are indicating their interest in their friends’ posts, feeds, pictures, and updates so it is not a foreign term to Facebook users.. In fact, Facebook has done research analysing use of the “Like” function, and shown that users click the term nearly twice as often as they click to “Become a Fan” of any page.
Similar to how Facebook users can declare that they “Like” Facebook news feeds, statuses, photos, and similar items, soon they will be able to state that they “Like” your Facebook Fan Page, instead of choosing to “Become a Fan.”
This could be great news for your Facebook Fan Page, making it easier to build your fan base, if the Facebook users are more comfortable committing to the “Like” button on your company profile over the previous “Become a Fan” button. Additionally, in newsfeed form, we will begin to see statements like “John Smith likes Tusk,” instead of “John Smith became a Fan of Tusk.” So theres no need to panic it looks to simply be a language change and we should not see any effects for your pages.
It's taken quite some time for the trend of green offices, hotels and buildings to take off but this ideology is fast gaining momentum. Some ideas which are becoming popular include (1) buildings with plenty of internal staircases like the new Macquarie Investment Bank in Sydney which reduces the amount of electricity usage regarding elevators, (2) the planter wall separators found in Sydney's Fujitsu headquarters and in the Six Senses Spa in Paris significantly improve the air quality inside buildings, and (3) the famous Fukuoka International Hall in Japan is a perfect example of a rooftop garden which among many positives, includes: improving air quality, delays storm water run off, insulates buildings, increases the habitat for birds and creates a social space for employees. Thinking in this green manner should be compulsory to ensure that companies are displaying Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) whilst at the same time creating an innovative and creative structure for workers and the community.
I recently came across this Melbourne Abode on the Solid Frog design blog. I love this house as it mixes contemporary design elements, clean lines, stand out furniture and art, with ample glass allowing light in from multiple angles.
Search engine optimisation is a very complex subject and entails many types of activities to deliver a successful project. In a competitive and sometimes misunderstood market it is often hard to distinguish a well qualified partner rather than a backyard consultant claiming they know SEO.
As search engine algorithms are constantly evolving, it is important to maintain an ongoing SEO strategy and be aware of the elements that should be part of a typical SEO project.
I have listed below some factors to help you better evaluate your current SEO vendor and make you aware of the requirements to ensure a successful SEO program:
1. ‘Rank #1 on Google’
No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google and any person that claims they can guarantee #1 rankings is something to be wary of. Be skeptical of unsolicited emails stating they can get your website top rankings. These are often spam emails, similar to ‘electronic funds transfers’ or ‘online pharmacy / fat burning pills’ emails.
Been found on Google is important but the real focus should be increased website visitors and visitor conversions / sales.
2. ‘Professional Link Building Service’
Avoid any form of paid linking building services as this can get your website banned and affects your long term rankings on the search engines. This is risky business and may violate Google’s Webmaster guidelines. The key is to distribute your content to a range of quality blogs, forums and industry sites.
3. Successful keyword research
To rank well for a single phrase keyword can be tricky and may not deliver the same quality of traffic and conversions than optimising for 2-3 word key phrases or groups of niche keywords. You may want to focus on one to two keywords but ultimately target that keyword as a 2-3 word phrase (long tailed keyword).
4. Top Rankings after one month
Any consultant that guarantees results after one month is kidding themselves and misleading you. SEO is a slow and steady process that requires long term tactics. A holistic approach to optimising your website by distributing quality content and maintaining relevant and useful information will lead to smaller but more consistent and on going increases.
5. Be educated
It is important to do your research on SEO and be reasonably educated on the basics of how search engines work and the type of activities that are carried out. This basic understanding will help you better evaluate your current search marketing campaign and will give you insight for what to expect from your SEO partner.
I hope the above information helps you identify some of the warning signs and issues that are affecting this sector of the online marketing industry. Fortunately, extensive information is readily available to help you identify those who actually intend on improving your website performance or if they are out to mislead you by performing illicit practices.
Recently I attended an event with Gold Coast Media & Corporate Club where Tom Dery, the Worldwide Chairman for M&C Saatchi, spoke on Tourism Marketing and Destination Branding. Although it was a little focused around a showcase of what Saatchi has done rather than real insight I found it interesting. One point made was that everyone has an opinion on how best to sell Australia and in particular the Australian people.....when selling Australia, its not to the Australians but to an international market. Therefore understanding what the target audience (overseas market) respond to is whats most important. I completely understood this point as even on small branding projects...everyone has an opinion from the receptionist, to the sales manager, to the managing directors kids...and listening to all these opinions can be detrimental to a successful outcome for the client.
In light of this, recently Tourism Australia revealed that the world will be told “There’s Nothing Like Australia”, a long awaited replacement for the widely criticised Where the Bloody Hell are you campaign.
This new line... “There’s Nothing Like Australia” will be used around the world for the next decade and Tourism Australia are calling on Australians to help fill out the campaign with their own experiences and photos!
Relying heavily on the public to help promote Australia through social networking sites, the campaign will kick off on April 15th with a competition calling Australians to upload photos to a new website and complete the line: “There’s nothing like…”
From the Tourism Australia website....
Following last week's announcement of Tourism Australia's new campaign There's nothing like Australia there have been over 15,000 unique visits to the competition site www.nothinglikeaustralia.com. To date there have been more than 275 news articles on the new campaign including broadcast, print and online media. This includes coverage in the major cities as well as regional centres including major tourism regions.
Next week kicks off our advertising promotion of the competition with teaser advertisements starting from 12 April on Channel 9. Activity includes television commercials with Channel 9 celebrities telling their own 'there's nothing like...' stories, and weather sponsorships across Nine's capital city and regional affiliate stations. Promotions with News Limited online and print will start on 18 April, backed up by ninemsn and radio promotions across the Macquarie Network's 62 stations around the country.
Interesting concept and I will be watching this campaign role out with enthusiasm.So do the Australian public know whats best to sell Australia..lets wait and see!
