E-consultancy - Weird Wild Web - Internet Marketing News and Blogs

Brand engagement with Wii

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:30:00 UT

It seems that every day we read about the declining effectiveness of advertising. How viewers skip through the adverts, can switch off to the marketing noise, no longer respond to our messages.

Brands are increasingly looking at more diverse ways to engage consumers in their products, and I believe there is currently no better opportunity than the Nintendo Wii.

If you were me would you make any money?

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 12:00:00 UT

I haven�t had a whole lot of time recently to play around in the MMO world but I follow the, err, 2.0 space pretty closely.

There were a couple things�that caught my eye this week�and are both somewhat troubling.

Innocent maybe, but highly effective

Tue, 6 Nov 2007 08:00:00 UT

After working on email marketing for many years, I have certainly seen many examples of the good, the bad and the ugly, with many unfortunately falling into the latter two.

However, one brand is leading the way with an email newsletter that has kept me hooked for nearly two years with fresh and engaging content.

Thoughts from our social media session

Mon, 5 Nov 2007 15:16:00 UT

So much was covered that it would take a week to explore all the issues raised, but I thought I'd just note some of the key thoughts from the event...

MySpace founder 'fibbed about age'

Tue, 30 Oct 2007 08:27:00 UT

Tom Anderson, the co-founder and public face of MySpace, has been rumbled for lying about his age in his profile � he�s apparently four years older than he claims.

But besides showing how far�he was prepared to go to appear in touch with�MySpace's yoof audience, and being pretty embarrassing, is this a big deal?

Australian government caught editing Wikipedia

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 11:03:00 UT

The Australian government has become the latest organisation to face embarrassment over editing of Wikipedia entries.

Thousands of changes by employees at the Defence Department and Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet have been discovered by tracking site WikiScanner,�including�some rather obscure�contributions. One simply stated: �Poo bum dicky wee wee�.

Rapper sues over internet ad

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 10:09:00 UT

Online ad firm Traffix is being sued by 50 Cent over a promotional game called Shoot the Rapper.

The musician, himself a shooting victim, alleges that the game illegally uses his image and encourages users to target him.

Whole Foods chief apologises over forum postings

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 08:49:00 UT

Whole Foods Market boss John Mackey has apologised for the renegade online PR campaign he conducted to boost his company�s image on financial messageboards.

In a statement, Mackey asked for shareholders� forgiveness over�his anonymous�postings, which were uncovered last week and are now being investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission:

Whole Foods boss rumbled for anonymous postings

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 12:22:00 UT

The boss of Whole Foods Market, the organic food retailer that launched a huge store in�London last month, has been caught using Yahoo!�s stock market forum to criticise a competitor, which he then proceeded to buy.

John Mackey, chief executive of Whole Foods, used the moniker 'Rahodeb' to make postings about rival Wild Oats over several years, according to a filing from the Federal Trade Commission.

Pot Noodle launches UGC ad campaign on YouTube

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 10:25:00 UT

Pot Noodle has launched a user-generated advertising campaign hosted on YouTube.

Owner Unilever has invited users to submit videos of themselves eating the snack in unusual places - for each video submitted, the company will send out 12 Pot Noodles.

IBM serves up Second Life Wimbledon

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 09:39:00 UT

Imagine a Wimbledon where rain never stops play. IBM has recreated the tennis event inside Second Life.

photo: Ian Hughes/Snapzilla

Txt msg T-shirt alerts marketers

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 10:00:00 UT

A new T-shirt innovation that spreads messages via mobile SMS is piquing the interest of many marketers.

Reactee is a T-shirt on which companies and organisations can print a message including a unique text code.

Altoids, Yahoo! go gay for virtual branding

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 12:00:00 UT

Altoids, the mint, is embarking on a Second Life branding campaign with a difference - it is sponsoring Gay Pride Month inside the virtual world.

Bruce Willis adopts Second Life for Die Hard promo

Mon, 4 Jun 2007 11:13:00 UT

Bruce Willis chatted with movie fans in Second Life to promote his upcoming Die Hard 4.0 release in a move that is being seen as good example of virtual world marketing.

capture: Dave Brown

Google points to VW.com over cloaking

Tue, 8 May 2007 09:11:00 UT

Volkswagen's US marketing web team has made changes to the way its pages are constructed following an intervention from Google.

VW.com had been featured by Google's Enterprise blog last week for making search front and centre of a new design.

'Parasite' invites advertisers to game Digg

Tue, 3 Apr 2007 10:07:00 UT

A new 'black market' service that allows advertisers to pay for influence on social networks has attracted criticism from the blogging community.

Subvert And Profit is quite upfront about its business model - advertisers pay $1 per vote on the Digg social news bookmarking site. Such activity can attract considerable attention for products and services.

Second Life safaris for UK marketers

Tue, 3 Apr 2007 10:02:00 UT

Advertising consultancy K-Zero is offering UK marketers a 'safari' through the virtual world of Second Life.

The agency is offering guided tours through the 3D environment for companies whose interests have been piqued by recent press coverage but who don't know where to begin in SL.

Sexy Amsterdam sells for $50k on eBay

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 09:22:00 UT

The virtual Amsterdam, that is. An adult entertainment company has just off-loaded a Second Life recreation of the Dutch city.

Complete with tram-lined waterways and public squares, the Amsterdam sim is actually a dedicated sex haven occupied by lady avatars of the night and stores selling sexual merchandise.

Sorrell settles 'mafia' blog libel case

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 09:22:00 UT

WPP boss Martin Sorrell has dropped a libel action against two employees he claimed had used an anonymous blog to slur his character, instead opting to settle for �120,000.

Marco Benatti and Marco Tinelli, heads of a WPP Italian subsidiary, were alleged to have likened Sorrell to a Godfather-type mafia boss and published "grossly offensive" images of the advertising chief and an ex-lover.

Thresher virus 2.0 unleashed

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 09:43:00 UT

Web marketing innovator Hugh MacLeod's latest voucher virus has again become contagious amongst British wine lovers.

Last December, a voucher giving 40% off all Thresher wines for 10 days appeared on the web, driving �15m sales for the off-licence after being reproduced by bloggers and website owners and passed around in emails 800,000 times.