Social Media Marketing Continues!

So I have decided to dive into a few new social media sites to try their worth and I must say I am impressed with what I see. I am going to list a few of the newer services I have been trying out and mentioning what I see as the marketing opportunity for the service.

First let's go with Google Wave. This new service is invite only (for those that may want to try I have a few invites.. let me know). This service has great potential... for the business end of the spectrum. I see this service as a supplement to an instant messenger/email service with a little bit of the conferencing built in. I can see Google is trying to take over the internet and doing a really good job of it. This is a great cooperative site that may not be for consumers but by using Google Groups with this could really do a lot. Sadly this needs a little something extra  to really be pick up on by the consumer masses.. still a great product.

Next is Loopt. Loopt is a great little service to get to know your surroundings. Hungry, find some good food close by. Need to find your friends? Well as long as everyone has a GPS-enabled phone your can find them if they are close. Need to find something to do? Find events nearby. It is a great service to fill up your weekend. Enable it to connect with your other Facebook and Twitter to let your newer social media challenged friends know what you are doing. Great little service to figure out what is going on.

Finally I am now trying out Foursquare. This app seems to be a great idea for local businesses. One can check in at different place (much like Loopt) but the kicker is you can set up your own list of your Top 12 places and your Top 12 "To Dos" for the new people coming in. What is great is you can become a "Mayor" of certain places by checking in so many times. Really like your local bar? Check in and become Mayor. Then you can let everyone know. While this service is still pretty new, Mashable's founder has spoken very highly of it, including the fact that it could very well be the next Twitter. Check out this article detailing the possibilities behind the service.

Check out the new social media platforms and vote for your favorite by using it. I am really leaning towards Foursquare myself and if you need a friend... on these services, comment and let me know!

Chew-a-licious Advertising

So as I was looking over some of the news articles on my phone this morning I came across one from Mashable that I really enjoyed. This article shows a great deal of "social sensitivity" from Trident Gum. Honestly a great piece.

So what I find great about this print ad is the fact that Trident took the time to find out what people were saying about their new gum. They way they did it was even better. I am so happy to actually find a company truly using Twitter in an advertising sense (yes best buy has done this to an extent with the @twelpforce but has not used unsolicited testimonials). This is what social media was made for. This is a great way for a company to find out what people are saying about the products and services and best of all.... it is FREE!!!! Previously one had to send out surveys or create a focus group to really find out what consumers were thinking but with Facebook and Twitter, Marketers are able to figure things out quickly and efficiently.

I really hope more small businesses and large ones get used to social media marketing. It is a great tool and not hard to learn. I look forward to more great ads like this one. Great job Trident Layers!

I wanna be like Mike.

So as you may have heard by now, Michael Jordan (the ungrateful basketball star of yesteryear) did not show up for a half-time show for an NBA development league game in Orem, Utah for a charity shoot-out that he never even agreed to. The nerve of some people. Ok maybe you have not heard of this latest marketing blunder made by the owner of the Utah Flash... and you have probably never even heard of the Flash.... or for that matter the NBA development league but I will will allow you to mosey on over to KSL.com's news report on the incident and then come on back to hear my take on the whole ordeal. Go on.... I will wait.


Welcome back. So as you now know Brandt Andersen, the owner of the Utah Flash, decided it would be a good idea to try and get Mr. Basketball, Michael Jordan, to come to his game to bring in a crowd. The only problem.... MJ did not agree to anything while Mr Andersen slyly promoted the event as a possibility. That is kind of the gist of the article. Brandt did try to apologize via his blog but that did not go over too well.  At least he tried.


Ok here goes the "real" meat of the blog. Was this a good idea for Brandt and the Flash? In theory yes. Was it carried out well.... obviously no. Brandt did try to cover himself with his statement, "Michael Jordan will be here, and if he's not, we promise to make it entertaining." Now if it would have been left at that the whole situation would have been avoided.... for the most part. The problem comes with the organizations desire (read Brandt's desire) to experiment with Social Media Marketing. In the right hands Social Media Marketing can lead to great growth and loyalty among your customers and potential customers. In the wrong hands it can cut you in two. Whoever said bad press is good press lied. Would you like to go to an event that continually lied about what was going on or a restaurant that continually received poor health code ratings? No. Hence no press can be better press then bad press. You want people to come back and purchase again, right? 


So to go back. This "experiment" as he put it entailed taping the MJ look-a-like in various spots around the city. That would have been great if there was a possibility of His Airness actually showing up but by creating the "viral" wave, as he put it, and not having a disclaimer, Brandt stepped over the ethical line. Was it technically illegal? Probably not. Was it a good idea? Far from it. Now the Flash will have to overcome the bad PR blitz that has already come their way. Can they recover? Yes. Will it be easy? Of course not, nor should it be! Social media is not the only answer but it is a great option. Maybe he should still try to donate the $100,000 to a very deserving charity to help make up for the lost goodwill. 


Brandt, reach out to your community. They are the only ones you can rely on... they just need to know they can rely on you. Show them that you care beyond the refunds and free tickets. Run social media contests on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Loopt. You need them more then they need you. Good luck and you can overcome this. Just try harder.