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Led by Intelliseek CMO Pete Blackshaw, the Chicago ad:tech panel, held Tuesday, called "What Blogs Are Teaching Us About The New Rules of Marketing," provided the audience with a broad over view of the issues companies need to consider when debating the launch of a corporate weblog or marketing-related weblog. The recurring theme throughout the session centered on the need to stay true to the brand and to live within the company guidelines both legal and otherwise.
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Back in May, we reported PR firm CooperKatz would be launching two customer-written weblogs designed to encourage Americans to take up scootering. Steve Rubel of CooperKatz tell us the first of the two blogs, Vespaway, has launched today and will be written by two Vespa customers, Jonathon Ogilvy (hmm...) and Neil Barton. The two will not be paid following the theory if someone really likes something, they're happy to tell others without compensation. Ogilvy explained the mentality to Business Week's Heather Green saying, "Why else would I do this without getting paid, if it weren't something I completely believe in? I think the world would be a better place if everyone rode a Vespa."
The next Vespa blog will feature two women, one who is a new customer and one who's used a Vespa for a long time.
An anonymous blogger has launched two Blogspot-hosted Blogger blogs. One steals Gawker's entire editorial content word for word. The other steals the Post's Page Six content. The only thing these two blogs leave behind are the ads. In an announcement email about the Page Six Blog, the emailer claiming to be "a v" wrote, "The idea of the NY POST becoming spam peddlers has forced us to create a blog to alleviate gossip hounds of any barriers to daily trash. We don't like registration gates and here is our method of bypassing them."
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Chas Edwards, former VP of sales and marketing for CNET Network's B2B sites will, on July 11, head over to John Batelle's new blog network, FM Publishing, to head sales. The network will launch with between 10 and 20 technology focused weblogs and branch out to, perhaps, culture-focused blogs.
The Race to the Tour Blog, sponsored by Subaru, is running The Race to The Tour Sweepstakes which offers a chance to win a cycling trip through France, plus blog live about the Tour de France. So all you blogger wannabes, here's your chance. Of course, it would be easier to just start a blog of your own.
Two winners of the contest will get week long, gratis trip to the Tour de France with Trek Tours. Once there, contest winners get a Nokia 6630 phone and a Nokia SU-8W Bluetooth keyboard to do mobile blogging from the Tour de France.
The promotion and blog were created by R/GA.
GoE is North Dakota's blend of ethanol blended fuel. Since ethanol is made from corn, a renewable resource, it's said to be more earth friendly and reduces dependence on foreign oil according to proponents. The high-end blend, called E85, is made from 85% ethanol and is believed to be more economical yet only some newer vehicles can use it.
To promote this the fuel, ad agency Sundog sent a group of guys on a roadtrip around the state to meet-and-greet the residents, educate people on the benefits of ethanol and offer to fill up the tanks of individuals who happen to pull up to GoE pump at the gas station. Their trip is chronicled in a blog and photogallery here.
Seth Godin's blog was named the "best individual blog on the general topic of marketing and advertising" by MarketingSherpa in its annual Ten Best Blogs survey. The survey examined 52 nominated blogs across ten categories. Last year, Adrants won but we're all about sharing fame so a hearty congratulations to Seth Godin and thanks to all who would even consider Adrants worthy of mention alongside the great and legendary Seth Godin. We're also pleased to report our friend, MarketingVOX, was named "best group weblog on the general topic of marketing and advertising. MarketingSherpa has published a complete summary of the survey and other category winners here.
The Pennsylvania Tourism Office is hoping the link-friendly nature of weblogs will help get the word out about the area's tourist attractions. The Office gathered together a group of people to take day trips in the area and then asked them to post their experiences to blogs hosted at VisitPA.com. The site, called Real People/Real Roadtrips gathers together various people from different walks of life including a "thrill seeking family," a history buff, two female "culture vultures," a biker, "Hipster Roadtrippers" and an outdoor adventurer. The blogs, which have already been written, will be promoted alongside a larger, traditional campaign consisting of print, regional cable and online. Aptly named Ripple Effects Interactive is behind the campaign.
Blogs aren't just for scaring politicians anymore. Several weblogs are becoming influential in music and entertainment. Savvy entertainment companies have taken advantage of music-focused blogs to promote their music, books and films as part of the ongoing conversation taking place in the "blogosphere."
To date, Eminem, Weezer, The Bravery, Touchstone Films, Random House Publishing, Sony Pictures, Lions' Gate Films and TBS have advertised on blogs to reach influential and networked audiences. Now, a group of leading music bloggers have formed the Music Blog Network to help entertainment marketers quickly target the blogs' influential music fans.
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Without any advertising, authors Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg have landed their book, Call To Action: Secret Formulas to Improve Online Results," on the bestseller lists of The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Amazon and saw sales of 17,000 copies within three weeks of the book's May 9 publish date.
To promote their book, the two brothers went the word of mouth route and sent review copies to weblog and newsletter publishers who gave positive reviews.
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