http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/ en Copyright 2008 Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:45:27 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss post from Seth Godin which postulates that the ratio of "message" to "noise" on the net is decreasing. Which on the face of it is absolutely correct. It is harder to get your message out to people now as the amount of competing messages increases exponentially... But that's always been a fact of life in marketing, with the advent of newsprint, then radio, then TV etc, so how can we get better reception?]]> http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/i_cant_hear_you.html http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/i_cant_hear_you.html audiences marketing messages Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:45:27 +0000 So another online music store has opened. So what? Well if the descriptions are true, then eMusic could be the start of true niche music marketing online... http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/new_player.html http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/new_player.html eMusic iTunes marketing music music downloading Mon, 28 Apr 2008 07:51:28 +0000 I've just heard that China now has over 221 million users online, slightly more than the USA, making China the largest single online market... http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/china_tops_the_internet_users.html http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/china_tops_the_internet_users.html Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:52:25 +0000 Just thought of this and not really sure whether anyone else has commented (apologies in advance if they have). The Mac Air ad shows the all new must have object of envy being unwrapped from an inter-office document envelope. Thats how thin it is! It then outlines all the modern non-wired, non-optically driven features it possesses. The problem for me is that in these email/facebook/twitter fueled communication networked days, who uses OR HAS EVEN SEEN an old distribution envelope like that in 5 years??? http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/mac_air.html http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/mac_air.html Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:37:06 +0000 A couple of weeks back, I came across the Google home page and it was reversed out - black where it should have been white. At first I thought that my MacBook display had given up the ghost, but luckily for my wallet it hadn't. It was Google's contribution to the lights off energy saving initiative... http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/lights_off.html http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/lights_off.html direct marketing direct marketing Google monitoring online marketing Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:21:27 +0000 After the Radiohead episode, it looks like more bands are looking for newer and more innovative ways of reaching their fans (and getting new ones of course) and persuading them to purchase their product. The latest idea seems to be a try before you buy version whereby fans can trial new music before buying. This hits two birds with one stone sometimes as with REM letting fans hear their new album via the iLike function on FaceBook recently. REM wanted fans to let them know whether their return to earlier influences was a good or a bad move, and also obviously gave them a huge PR opportunity... http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/try_before_you_buy.html http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/try_before_you_buy.html new channels social networking web 2.0 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:53:08 +0000 Phorm is a new service that will connect advertisers to their audiences by monitoring their browsing habits and then serving up ads that should reflect their interests or intentions. For example if you've visited a series of pages or sites looking at say BMW cars you'll be served up ads from BMW retailers. Simple right? What could be wrong with that? http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/have_you_got_phorm.html http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/have_you_got_phorm.html Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:02:55 +0000 ...after a short break...and it's good to be posting again. http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/were_back.html http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/were_back.html Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:47:03 +0000 To communicate...to sell online...to build awareness...to do some good even. It could be all of the above or something completely different. But here's the thing. If you don't know why you or your organization doesn't know why the website is there, then you need to rethink. Take it down and spend the money and time on something else... http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/why_have_a_website.html http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2008/04/why_have_a_website.html web 2.0 Tue, 15 Apr 2008 15:30:51 +0000 As my friend Martin says about marketing, it's all too easy to treat it as the superficial topping on a not very good dish... Its the same with New Marketing or Web 2.0. They'll always be pressure from senior management to put on the bells and whistles of social networking, mash-ups and so on, onto your corporate website. But if your website (and the customer service and experience wrap around activity) isn't right and does not reflect the web 2.0 "topping" it will still be the lipstick... http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2007/10/lipstick_on_a_gorilla.html http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2007/10/lipstick_on_a_gorilla.html web 2.0 Fri, 12 Oct 2007 08:08:43 +0000 Heard a story on the BBC this morning regarding a first time published author whose book "Olympic Mind Games" (print run approximately 300), is aimed at children. So far so what? But he's been contacted by the brand police at London 2012, who have told him that in order that his book is not mistaken for "an official" publication, he cannot use the word "olympic" in the title... http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2007/10/brand_grip_too_tight.html http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2007/10/brand_grip_too_tight.html Branding and Communciations Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:05:48 +0000 It was announced today that Facebook now accounts for 1% of ALL daily web traffic...Think about that for a minute. 41 million active users and growing...How many of your target audience are using this? How many of these do you reach? If you can't answer these questions now you need to think seriously about how you're going to utilise this new network immediately. http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2007/09/facebook_again.html http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2007/09/facebook_again.html social networking facebook social media social networks target audience Wed, 19 Sep 2007 17:14:36 +0000 post from Seth Godin (bottom of the post) pretty much confirms the line I was taking in Tuesdays post. Basically, theres no magic bullet for negative comments about your organisation or business. All you can do is be transparent, give a good service or deliver on the promises you make on your website or in the marketing materials you put out. I'd go a bit further and welcome the fact that people are commenting (even negatively), and take the opportunity to start to correct the image, right the perceived wrong or even just start a dialogue....]]> http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2007/09/what_i_just_said.html http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2007/09/what_i_just_said.html blogging as PR blogging dialogue networking opportunities PR Thu, 13 Sep 2007 17:10:42 +0000 Lately a lot of people have been asking about the potential downside of using blogs to market their institution or businesses. They are overwhelmingly alarmed about comments that may be derogatory or countering the marketing messages that they're putting on the website or blogs. What should they do? http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2007/09/comments_unlimited.html http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2007/09/comments_unlimited.html blogging as PR blogging debate interaction PR Tue, 11 Sep 2007 10:30:01 +0000 link. Hats off to Neil Boorman who has established himself as a brand (new eco-warrior/conscience of the middle classes etc?) whilst carrying out a performance art/reality TV friendly stunt for the last 11 months. Neil burnt all of his branded possessions and has made do with homemade toothpaste during this time...]]> http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2007/09/and_were_back.html http://www.mcewanhackett.com/blogs/2007/09/and_were_back.html social networking Tue, 04 Sep 2007 09:48:26 +0000