brand Archives | Page 2 of 2 | waveSpawn Marketing

January 23, 2010

Buffalo shines on primetime

Buffalo Extreme Makeover Home Edition Buffalo will get the spotlight for 2 hours this Sunday night (January 24) on ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition. The renovations that were completed last fall on Buffalo’s West Side will be airing at 8:00pm EST. The Powell family is the home of a Jamaican immigrant who has done extensive work on the domicile over the past few years. Apparently the local Buffalo community generated the most volunteers and biggest turnout ever for the final reveal.

Shea’s Theater is hosting a free event tomorrow evening to broadcast the event on the big screen. It will be interesting to see if they can sellout the theater as the community rallies around the Powell family in support.

January 21, 2010

Conan – future Donkey Kong champion

As I watch the Late Show with Conan O’Brien (on his second to the last night as host), he continues to take advantage of every opportunity to make fun of NBC. Since he reached a separation agreement with NBC – he will no longer be employed or allowed to work for a competitor until September. He introduced himself as the “future Donkey Kong champion”.

“I’d like to apologize to our guests that were scheduled for next week: Barack Obama, the Pope, the Queen of England… and our good friend, Elvis Presley was stopping by.” He claimed he was ordered to immediately stop production of his NBC documentary “inside the cock”.

He added another brief (30 second) but expensive bit which consisted of the Kentucky Derby winner, Mind that Bird, wearing a mink snuggie and watching restricted NFL footage. He claimed the skit cost NBC $4.8 million – ouch! He is a natural comedian and making the most of his unpleasant situation.
.

January 21, 2010

Conan blows $1.5 million of NBC’s cash

Conan O’Brien, who recently walked away from NBC with a reported $45 million settlement after the late night fiasco with Jay Leno, decided that wasn’t enough. Since his show is running through the end of the week, he is on a mission to run up a tab for NBC by broadcasting songs and media bits which demand high royalty fees.

“We can do whatever they want, and they have to pay for it,” said O’Brien at the beginning of the sketch. And later, while describing the reason for playing the Stones’ “Satisfaction,” he said, “Is it crazy expensive to play on the air, not to mention the rights to re-air this clip on the internet? Hell yes!”

Perhaps the buzz will actually help NBC attract a spike in viewers over the next two nights. We’ll have to wait and see. Is he doing the right thing, give the way NBC treated him? Or is he entitled to express his resentment for getting bumped off of the air?

January 21, 2010

Social media creates a small business success story

I thought this was an interesting article detailing how a small bag manufacture in Seattle – Tom Bihn – was able to leverage social media outlets to connect with fans and customers.

Darcy Gray is a VP at Tom Bihn.

Gray manages the Tom Bihn Facebook fan page, forums, blogs, Flickr and Twitter. She said updating them is a lot of fun and works on them whenever she checks her iPhone… She said engaging directly with customers began with the TomBihn.com forums.

“In 2006, it occurred to us that our customers and potential customers could get significant value from talking with each other as opposed to just with us. They could share their experiences of their Tom Bihn bags, offer advice for selecting the right bag to new customers, and post reviews/pictures of their experiences with their bags,” she said.

She said the company’s success on social media starts with their bags and that social media tools have given them more powerful ways to connect.

“Anytime a company is given more ways to directly communicate with customers, it’s an opportunity for growth. Tom Bihn designs all of our bags himself. Interest in a particular type of bag might encourage him in a certain direction,” Gray said.

By using a combination of blogging and interaction with their communities on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr, Tom Bihn has been able to build a sustainable business.

January 17, 2010

Avatar – buzz marketing on steroids

I was recently asked by Tech Bucket Blog to write a review on Avatar. I thought I would repost it here – and add some brief marketing thoughts.

For starters, I have not been to the cinema in over three years. This is for two primary reasons – 1) I have a three year old child and 2) nothing has truly captured my attention enough to want to go.

Over the past few months, I have heard so much hype about Avatar that my curiosity got the best of me – and I’m honestly not a big sci-fi fanatic. I had the good fortune of seeing Avatar in the IMAX before too much information has been revealed. I had only heard that it cost over $300 million and was in 3D. While it’s not known exactly how much was spent marketing the film, I can only speculate that the revenue numbers would not be dramatically different if they had spent $0. With a movie of this size and magnitude, the power of buzz marketing is the best endorsement. Every media outlet and entertainment program has something to say. Friends, families, and colleagues are all posting personal opinions and recommendations on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other social media sites. The film is capturing major headlines around the world.

All I can say is WOW! What a phenomenal piece of film work. It was truly a riveting journey – it had a fascinating ability to make you feel like part of the action. James Cameron successfully created the illusion that you were on another planet – Pandora. The Navi (alien) characters were well developed and believable.

While the special effects were ridiculously brilliant and worthy of an Oscar (in that category), the story was heartfelt as well. The movie evoked a variety of emotions throughout the plot. There were clear ties to today’s current events – the most recognizable being our quest for more natural resources and our willingness to go to war to obtain them.

Since I don’t think this movie will have the same impact on a home TV (even on a 70” HDTV), this is a must-see on the big screen.

January 14, 2010

When is MLB going to rebrand itself?

Between Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and most recently Mark McGwire, when are the lies and cover-ups going to stop? I’m sick of hearing these guys cry on TV trying to show remorse for using steroids after blatantly lying about it. If you truly want to show remorse, forfeit all of the records you set. Reinstate Roger Maris as the homerun champ… and better yet, just stop whining about it. It’s done, some people are willing to forgive others are not.

The bigger issue continues to be – how will Major League Baseball rebound? How can they spin this disaster into something positive? Clearly they need a new image. Nobody likes a cheater in the game. For the amount of money these players are making, there should be a better screening policy in place. Enough already! MLB needs to filter out the cheaters – or they are doomed to fail. They need an extreme makeover – baseball edition, for starters. Send us all our digital dashboard. Consider the spaces provided and use your nickname and options as writers’ database. Insert necessary instructions and options as you can place an order. Send us all our tools and use system that will be able to see your order on . http://paperell.com/faq Writers will be able to see your order on our digital dashboard. Consider the spaces provided and options as you are ready with the registration process, you are ready with the registration process, you are ready with the registration process, you can place an order. .

January 13, 2010

Social Media Predictions for 2010

An interesting outlook for social media in 2010 from Scott Monty:

…it’s clear that people want to connect with others by location, as well as share experiences and seek recommendations by those who are well informed. And whether that means connecting in the communities in which they live or those to which they travel, people will begin to use more of these kinds of services. As an adjunct to location-based social networks, expect location-based search to blossom as well.

With that said, an increase in usage of sites like foursqure and tripit is anticipate.

many in the mainstream still don’t know what an RSS feed is or how to use an RSS reader (or that they simply don’t use one), it’s clear that email subscriptions still rule the roost. Not to mention that email is ubiquitous. It’s just generally accepted that everyone has an email address.

keep your eyes on the mobile space, on fuller integration of PR and marketing, and more focus on quality content in 2010. Overall, the space will begin to show some signs of maturation, and will begin a future trend of being integrated as a part of day-to-day business in many organizations.