Ages ago an article in Marmalade magazine (RIP) really struck a chord with me - it predicted that people would get sick of nice brands like Innocent and start wanting to be treated a bit rougher. The ‘nasty brand’ would begin to emerge, one that gave it back once in a while, took the piss out of its customers a bit, engaged in a bit of friendly banter and wasn’t quite so nice etc.
Well Faceparty today took that to the extreme and told its users that it’s ’shut the whole site down and fucked off to the zoo” because of their recent behaviour. In could of course be a big stunt to reinforce its anti-corporation stance whilst generating lots of online buzz at the same time . . .
Listen this is our HOBBY, not our business. there was a time when you understood that - back when the net was run buy [sic] the people like us, and not by massive corporations - just because MySpace and Facebook sold out to the corporate world, doesn’t mean we did - we said no. Stop expecting “customer service” from us, cos WE DON’T HAVE CUSTOMERS - IT’S A FREE FUCKING SITE - too many of you treat us like we owe you something. And quit the “you need us attitude” cos we really fucking don’t. We don’t make money from you - it’s free. The things you pay for only cover the costs for the things you use.
On a serious note too - it does make you think about the variety of FREE internet things you use everyday and what you expect from them. Um, Twitter!!!?
Up watching Current (193 on Sky) - the best channel to watch whilst on the web I reckon. There’s a pod about the Techtonik phenomenon on and can’t decide if it’s silly or very cool. Thoughts?
Marmite has just launched a Facebook group. Now it’s (nearly) always good to see brands getting stuck into things like Facebook and it’s even better to see it done really well - but today I was left a little bit disappointed.
You see, surely a better thing to have done would have been to have created two groups “We love Marmite’ and “We hate Marmite’? That way the two groups - each fuelled by the passion of the people in them - could have battled it out. As it stands (link to group here, actually it’s a Page but there we go) the love or hate aspect of the call to action gets a bit lost in the action. The official Page for Marmite could have been created for ‘true’ fans and used to fuel and update the battle for love or hate across both groups.
Also - I went to the main Marmite site today and there was no mention of the Facebook group anywhere (obvious) to be seen. Again - little bit sad to see that given the fact that they would have known the online coverage would be appearing.
Anyway, I actually love Marmite and am no hater, I just felt compelled to write this as I assumed that the second I read the headline, that’s what they would have done. Wonder why they didn’t or if anyone else has any other ideas? Or maybe I need to worry about something else.
Oh, disclosure - Facebook is a Bite client but then I think I’ve mentioned that a few times so you probably knew that.
So, this was just posted on Viralmonitor by FH Digital - Today marks the start of National ID Fraud Prevention Week. To support the campaign FH Digital has created a spoof 1940s infomercial to drive home the importance of the issue and the need to take better care over your personal identity. We hope you enjoy it!
Sorry guys (I hate being horrible) but this is a load of utter shite. I reckon it breaks all the golden rules of viral video - the main one being it’s dull and over two and a half minutes long! The only way it could be a success is it’s so bad other people like me feel the need to rant about it and tell other people about it. So it could be a reverse hit. Maybe.
I’m all for the message behind it but I find it really painful that stuff like this is still a) getting presented and b) getting signed off.
PS I Googled FH Digital and the most likely result came back as this which links to a video on a site with no other links or choice of navigation (which is really rather annoying).
UPDATE - on reading this live, I feel the need to point out that FH Digital is a digital wing of a PR agency and that I am a digital consultant at Bite, also a PR agency. Just in case.
Are a bit crap really aren’t they? Just heard (how I seem to be “watching” TV these days) the Curry’s advert and the tagline is “with you in mind”. And they haven’t even done any SEO/PPC on it. Other taglines over the last few months seem to be getting worse. Or is it because I’m getting more cynical?
Want to make sure your tagline hasn’t been used before? Check here. Or go here to check out some of the best (and worst) of all time.
If there was one thing that might have benefitted from a bit of collaboration/UGC it was the design process for the London 2012 logo. What if they’d stuck out an open brief, allowed agencies and individuals to enter and got the nation to vote for their favourite? It looks much better animated but as a static thing, not so sure. It reminds me of those stickers you got free in cereals in the early 90s . . .
Ask is getting lot of stick for this. If we all joined the “revolution” then wouldn’t all online information just go through another company?
Also - think some of the copy is very dodgy on the site itself (smells a bit of “tracked changes”) and annoyed me that when I remembered the URL having seen a poster, I Googled it and the paid-for result looked like it was pointing to ask.com and not the site I was looking for. I actually gave up and waited untill I saw the poster again . . . when I realised it was .org. Then it was just a bit of a let down.
PS - Sorry for being rubbish on the blog after a flying start. You can blame DIY and a lot of work for that one.
