SocialBase Handbooks Offer Step by Step Advice For Brands

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Back in the day there was document management to take care of all your office productivity and organizational requirements. Then came Google Docs when it all moved online and now with the explosion of social media data brands have to monitor and collect there's SocialBase, a "collaborative social media productivity platform."

And if that weren't enough, now there's SocialBase Handbooks, a collection of step by step, Handbooks written by experts that map out effective social business programs. And they're backed into SocialBase ready for users to refer to when managing their own social media programs.

Handbook information comes from Janet Aronica of oneforty, Rachel Happe of The Community Roundtable, Becky McCray of SmallBizSurvival, Causemedia Group, TechStars and Flybridge Capital.

by Steve Hall    Jul-15-11    
Topic: Tools



Firefox Extension Blocks 'Bad' Brazilian Soccer Club YouTube Videos

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We all know people the world over go crazy for soccer. But what's a parent to do when their child begins to show appreciating for the "wrong" team? That's where BandSports comes in. Created by Ogily Brazil, BandSport is a Firefox extension parents can add to their browser and set to block the viewing any Brazilian soccer team a parent doesn't want their child to view. In other words, parents can brainwash their children into becoming fans of teams only their parents approve. Now that's just devious!

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by Steve Hall    May-11-11    
Topic: Tools



Dos Equis Challenges New Yorkers to Eat Strange Tacos

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- If you're into tongue, cricket and veal brain tacos, you need to hunt down the Dos Equis Feats of the Brave taco truck currently touring the streets of New York.

- A new trade association made up of media-auditing firms has formed to establish ethics and best practices for this niche of the advertising world.

- "Talk to the Bird" is a campaign for Gigaset, a German phone manufacturer, which shows the bird talking to callers from around the world. Why? We have no idea.

- DeVito/Verdi has created a caption contest for Duane Reade called New York's Least Pretentious Caption Contest. Each week New Yorkers will have the chance to enter and vote for their favorite captions. Then on June 1st, 2011, a final vote will determine the best caption among all finalists.

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by Steve Hall    May- 4-11    
Topic: Agencies, Cause, Celebrity, Commercials, Guerilla, Promotions, Social, Tools



Bo.Lt Makes it Easy for Brands to Spread Content

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If you're a brand that publishes content on the web and are looking for a way to increase the reach of that content without lifting a finger AND keep all the revenue opportunities (ie. ads on your site), then you should really check out Bo.lt launching in late April.

Bo.lt, which some might label blatant copyright infringement though it's not, allows anyone to easily create a copy of a web page, make changes to it and share it. Once shared, typical social media behavior sets in and the reach of that page is perpetuated.

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by Steve Hall    Apr-21-11    
Topic: Tools



Facebook Gets Social With Ad Agencies

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With the launch of community site Facebook Studio, Facebook looks to open dialog with marketers and their agencies about strategies and tactics which lead to better Facebook pages for brands.

Facebook Studio will include a Gallery of recent campaigns including those which were most liked, most shared and what page fans are saying. A Learning Lab will offer advertisers the tools they need to create campaigns on Facebook. A Spotlight section will allow for the searching of page work done by brands and agencies by region, category and other segmentations. An Agency Directory will allow for the rilling down through work by agency. And an Awards section will collect and award the best Facebook campaign/page work.

Will you Like Facebook Studio?

by Steve Hall    Apr-19-11    
Topic: Agencies, Social, Tools



Big Breasts Do Not Belong in Your Portfolio

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Writing on About.com, Paul Sugget has published an article entitled What to Avoid When Assembling a Portfolio. His primary piece of advice is to avoid going for the simple, the obvious, the easy. If you've ever done work for the likes of Nike, Viagra, Victoria's Secret, Red Bull or Wonderbra, leave that work out of your portfolio. Why? Because, in his opinion, it doesn't require much strategy or effort to come up with creative solutions for those categories.

He claims Wonderbra ads are a dime a dozen writing, "Big breasts, and the outcome of them, is a very simple idea to get behind, and it's easy to be visually funny and verbally concise." Instead, he argues, "do ads for bland products or services that have no easily-identifiable or unique traits."

He suggests an airlines, dish soap, a wireless carrier and we'd toss in anything from the business to business category.

Additionally, he urges creatives to avoid creative that looks expensive to produce as it could cause someone to think you can't work on a small budget. he says to make sue you don't stuff your portfolio exclusively with popular forms of media, make sure substantive ideas outweigh glossy polish, don't include anything your not 100 percent proud of and always finish strong.

by Steve Hall    Apr- 7-11    
Topic: Opinion, Tools



SocialFresh Launches Social Media Services Directory

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SocialFresh, an organization that hosts social media conferences and other events, has launched InvestInSocial, a directory of social media companies and resources. The genesis of the site was the proliferation of comments thanking SocialFresh Founder Jason Keath for mentioning companies in his blog posts.

The site, currently in public beta, will list agencies, vendors and consultants that offer various social media services. Currently, rankings are based upon the completeness of a company's profile.

During the private beta period which began three weeks ago, 72 companies have listed themselves including Edelman Digital, Porter Novelli, 360i, Cake, Klout, Dachis Group, C.C. Chapman and Convince & Convert.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 2-11    
Topic: Social, Tools



PSFK Launches Quora-Like Service for Marketers

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New York-based trend and research company PSFK has launched PurpleList, a Quora-like question and answer service for marketers staffed by 750 invited industry experts from around the world including Foursquare Founder Dennis Crowley, Engadget Founder Peter Rojas and Treehugger FOunder Graham Hill.

PSFK Founder Piers Fawkes tells us, "The site has been specifically designed to accomodate the rapid research needs of agencies. Strategists and planners will especially find it useful during new business pitches or when preparing an urgent creative brief."

Pricing for the service begins at $1 per question.

by Steve Hall    Jan- 3-11    
Topic: Tools



Maria Sharapova Tapped For Google Demo Slam

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Who wouldn't jump at the chance to hang with Maria Sharapova? Certainly not Jonny Watson and Dan Harrison from Dare who were offered 90 minutes of the Russian tennis babe's time to come up with a video to promote Google's Search by Voice technology. The resulting video became part of Google's Demo Slam which allows the public to vote for their favorite Google product demo.

Sharapova, being the famous beauty she is, and the pair's Whack A Guy With A Tennis Ball approach has garnered the video 156,000 views and the number four slot in the Demo Slam competition.

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by Steve Hall    Dec-23-10    
Topic: Celebrity, Tools, Video



About.com Founder Launches Evernote-Like Service for Ads

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People love to save stuff for later. For when they have a free moment to get to it. It's why Evernote is so popular. It's why we have Read It Later. Photocopiers. Folders. Clipping services. Basements. Garages. Atticks. You name it, everyone has a place where they keep stuff they think they will need later on.

But advertising? Would anyone ever bother to save an ad to refer to later? Scott Kurnit thinks so and he's launched an entire business around the assumption that if, given a mechanism, many people would love to save ads and refer to them later. Kurnit, founder of About.com, is CEO of AdKeeper, a service that allows advertisers to place a button in online advertising which, when clicked, will place the ad in a person's "Keeper" to be referred to at a later date.

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by Steve Hall    Dec-16-10    
Topic: Tools