According to Ad Age, Word-of-mouth marketing in the U.K. will face radical restrictions starting May 26, when it will become a criminal offense for brands to seed positive messages online without making the origin of the message clear. The rules make it an offense to blog, use brand ambassadors or seed viral ads while "falsely representing oneself as a consumer." They also apply to bloggers who fail to disclose they …
Brands Need To Think Before They Tweet
John Dodds speaking about Twitter Spam, alternatively known as Twam or Spitter, says companies need to be receptive to direct messaging on Twitter, but not use the service to blast their pitches shotgun style. When we market our company's products/services, we have to remember that part of the job is to to be the individual's advocate. It's all too easy to serve the company's needs and forget about the …
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It’s A Good Time To Be In Stories
Steve Rubel says what some have been saying for awhile now--there's a growing need for storytellers. He actually says, "digital storytellers," but I don't see the need to make that distinction. The story will be told digitally. We know that. Harvard Business Review last month noted that most executives cannot articulate the objective, scope, and advantage of their business in a simple statement. "If they can’t, …
Agency Heads Learn To Shape Shift
Eric Karjaluoto of Ideas on Ideas interviewed Kevin "Lovemarks" Roberts, a.k.a. Saatchi Kevin, Worldwide CEO of Saatchi. I like his answer to the following question, even though I don't believe Roberts is a soothsayer. Eric: With the rapid changes occurring in today’s media space, do you believe there will be room for traditional agencies in ten years time? Kevin: No. “Traditional” anything will be under threat. …
Agencies In Strange Places: 14th In A Series
Ad Age looks into the glaring Fort Lauderdale sun and sees Zimmerman Advertising, a bright spot in South Florida's agency lineup. Zimmerman Advertising launched in 1984 in a 400-square-foot space in a strip mall with used office furniture. Its expertise was pretty much limited to car-dealer ads. Mr. Zimmerman slowly grew his business, taking on bigger clients and acquiring area firms. Two decades later, Zimmerman is …
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Craft Site Uses Rhythm Method
We get press releases everyday telling me about people I don't know moving into jobs you could care less about. Such is the nature of running a site like this. Here's a decided twist on things from Etsy: [via Scott Goodson] …
Leo Burnett Is Buttoning Up
The Widgetification of MyFaceSpace
According to ReadWriteWeb, MySpace officially opened its Application Gallery to all users this morning after launching it in public beta last March. Since March, over 1,000 applications have been approved and added to the gallery and there have been over 2.1 million application installs across the site. …