Archives for October 2011

October 31, 2011 By Brandsplat Leave a Comment

Parting Shots: How to Give Each Blog a Memorable Ending

“Oh, Auntie Em! There’s no place like home.” – Dorothy Gale, The Wizard of Oz

“After all, tomorrow is another day!” – Scarlett O’Hara, Gone with the Wind

“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”- Rick Blaine, Casablanca

The preceding three quotes from classic films have been burned into our collective memories — passed on and misquoted and rehashed a million times over. Sure, they are unforgettable lines from incredible movies, but they’re also the final words viewers hear as the films come to a close. Memorable last lines or closing thoughts are equally important when blogging for business. Blog readers want their time to be well spent, want reasons to return and want to love what they just read. A good closing sentence can achieve that. Even though our blog might not achieve quotable status, here are three great ideas for memorable parting shots for your blogs.

Leave ’em wondering: In the amazing final scene of Lost in Translation, Bill Murray famously whispers something in Scarlett Johansson’s ear. What he whispers, we as viewers are left to our own imagination to create. Yet this ambiguity is oddly satisfying. Maybe it’s because every so often we don’t want to know everything or have it all tied up in a bow. In blogs, just ending on a thought is okay. Sure, your closing words should make sense and shouldn’t be abrupt, but they also don’t have to be obvious or phony. Steffan Postaer, author of the Gods of Advertising blog, does a nice job of writing ambiguous yet satisfying blog closings.

Leave ’em laughing: When Jack Lemmon reveals his true gender to his lovesick millionaire boyfriend, played by Joe E. Brown, in the final frame of Some Like it Hot, Brown replies, “Nobody’s perfect.” This sentiment is surely true… but the line itself is absolutely perfect. People leave with a smile on their face. Blogs can do the same thing. If you have funny one-liner or snappy joke that ties into your post, save it for the end. Carrie Fisher writes some darn hilarious endings on her blog that might inspire you, too.

Leave ’em with questions: 2010’s Black Swan had one of those head scratching endings that left viewers with all kinds of questions and undoubtedly sparked millions of post-movie conversations. Again, your blog can do the same thing. Blogs, unlike motion pictures, are delightfully interactive. So don’t be afraid to engage your readers.

And so I’m turning it over to you guys: What makes a truly memorable blog? Do you actually remember the last words of a blog? And since we’re talking films, what film ending still has you talking? Sound off below!

October 28, 2011 By Brandsplat Leave a Comment

Five Things You Might Have Missed: Halloween Spooktacular!

Hey there, guys and ghouls! Like any good trick-or-treater, we’ve weeded out the bad stuff and left you with the tasty mix of social media, online marketing and branding news we like to call 5 Things You Might Have Missed!

1.) Maybe Mom Was Right: We were all warned about taking candy from strangers and TakeThisLollipop.com proves that our parents were on to something. The site, which offers a virtual blue sucker with a razor blade inside to illustrate its point, shows where your information goes when you Like something on Facebook. Complete with a creepy video, this campaign affirms that true horror is sometimes only a click away.

2.) Bring Your iPhone to the Campfire: Here’s a cool iPhone app perfect for the holiday — True Ghost Stories from Around the World. The app lets users access hundreds of thousands of global ghost stories. With new terrifying tales added daily, the app is a storytelling device that’s both global and social.

3.) I Knew Kit Kats Were Good For Me: Call it the candy battle royale or just another blog that weight-obsessed Americans can email to one another, but HealthCastle.com scored a bona fide Internet forward fest with an article that compared the health benefits of some of Halloween’s most popular treats. The list is filled with “no duh” information (like how bad Skittles are for you) but it makes our list for igniting a blogosphere conversation about candy proving that a good old product comparison can still scare up tons of readers.

4.) Zombies, Like People From New Jersey, Love AXE: Here’s another viral campaign from AXE that proves when it comes to frightfully funny online videos, the bro body spray is the one to beat. Hopping on the zombie train right before it peaks, AXE parodies classic horror while dotting it with its signature sexiness and humor.

5.) Costume Fails Continue to Amuse: In what’s become a blogging tradition, we’ve seen more of the country’s most outlandish, most unintentionally wrong and flat-out horrible Halloween costumes populating blogs this year… and we have to say, we still love it!

October 27, 2011 By Brandsplat Leave a Comment

The Worth of Words

Ask any writer what they should get paid for blog creation vs. what they actually get paid and we’re positive they spout off two very different numbers. But how much are blogs really worth to your business? And what kind of price tag should actually be put on blog writing and blog marketing?

These questions swirled around our brains as we heard the news on Friday of how a boycott by two writers unions had finally come to an end. The National Writers Union and The Newspaper Guild launched the protest in question against the Huffington Post some seven months ago. Both unions were ticked off at HuffPo’s use of unpaid bloggers. One of the most profitable and most-read blogs on the planet has drawn criticism for years for using bloggers to expand their brand but not paying them.

In a statement regarding the end of the boycott, Mario Ruiz of the Huffington Post said the company’s “blogger guidelines remain the same. We pledged to work with the Guild to continue to spotlight and protect the work of journalists. Our goals are the same: to support the necessary work of professional reporters.”

Ruiz noted that the company plans on using unpaid citizen journalists during the 2012 election as it “complements the necessary work of paid reporters — it’s not meant to replace it.”

There is no doubt that Huffington Post could and should pay all contributors to its site, but we don’t see it happening any time soon. It’s a shame, too. Why a blog that makes millions in advertising can’t pay every writer who contributes is beyond us. But the boycott’s limp ending contains some valuable lessons for content creators of all sizes. Words, articles and blogs that expand our brand’s message and speak directly to our customers and readers do, in fact, have value. These things are worth paying for, especially when they are effective.

So tell us what you think, readers: Is the HuffPo in the right or in the wrong in this situation? And can we truly put a price tag on content? Educate us in the comments section below!

October 26, 2011 By Dawn Walnoha Leave a Comment

Coupon Craziness Continues

Consider this, cereal lovers: You can thank the maker of your beloved Honeycombs or Fruity Pebbles for those annoying Groupon emails that seem to endlessly show up in your inbox. C.W. Post of the breakfast empire is widely credited for innovating coupon use in 1909 when the company offered 1-cent coupons in conjunction with the launch of Grape Nuts. Some 102 years later, coupons have become a vital part of businesses’ online marketing plans — and with the recent big-dollar backing of CouponCabin, our discount delirium has only just begun.

CouponCabin made headlines last week for raking in a massive $54 million in first-round funding, according to Inc.com. The upstart hopes to bring in even more investor dollars by offering a twist on the coupon game. The goal of the company is simple: to offer legitimate deals that don’t expire — and, if users happen to attempt to redeem a bunk deal, CouponCabin will give them a $25 gift card to stores like Target or Best Buy. CouponCabin deals are also different from other deal sites in the way that they mainly target online shoppers. Major brands are already represented on CouponCabin by offering one-of-a-kind deals. Yet like Groupon, users can find offers from local businesses, too. The site is easy to use and is sure to endure itself to deal-crazy divas.

Whether it’s CouponCabin, Living Social or Groupon, the sites are each tapping into our collective need to get a deal. Marketers are now challenged to find the right deal website for their clients in hopes of bringing in more customers. In 1930, Post and his contemporaries experienced another coupon boom. The country was recovering from the depression and businesses were trying to bounce back. Brands did all sorts of things to get people to shop again. Hmm… Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

October 25, 2011 By Brandsplat Leave a Comment

Does This Search Engine Make Me Look Fat? Inside Google’s Upcoming Makeover

Google is the touchstone when it comes to brand engagement, online brand management and general world domination. The search engine mega-brand is often looked to by professors, sociologists and advertisers for clues as to what will happen next in world of online marketing and business. Yet for all of Google’s assets, beauty has never been one of them. Lady Google is useful — even beloved — but she isn’t cute. So when recently-anointed CEO Larry Page announced last week that the brand was going to get an image makeover, we wanted more details immediately.

Here’s what we learned: According to Silicon Valley’s top rag for tech dish, MercuryNews.com, the universal redesign will be the first in the company’s 13-year history. The sparse, organized look of Google+, which launched in June, will set the tone for how the rest of the facelift will go down. The same uncluttered look is slowly being integrated into Google products like Documents, Gmail, Calendar and Search.

“Our ultimate ambition is to transform the overall Google experience, making it beautifully simple, almost automagical, as we understand what you want and can deliver it instantly,” Page told Wall Street analysts in a pow wow last week. Clearly, Google is responding to consumers who are becoming more and more obsessed with sharp design.

Whenever a brand changes its “look,” there is always room for concern. Last month’s Facebook makeover and last year’s Gap logo disaster have shown us that when you change things up on consumers, they don’t always love it. But it’s high time for Google to mix it up and get a sleeker image. Readers, what do you think? Is now the hour for Google to go under the knife, or do think the company shouldn’t fix what isn’t broken? Tell us more in the comments section!

October 24, 2011 By Brandsplat Leave a Comment

Mobile and Social Media: The Super Couple We Can’t Get Enough Of

Attention Batman and Robin, RPattz and KStew, Chocolate and Peanut Butter, Brad and Angie: Eat your hearts out. No other dynamic duo continues to captivate and explode in popularity like social media and mobile phones. Social media marketing experts have long known the power of the combination of sites like Facebook and Twitter with smartphones. And now new numbers courtesy of comScore suggest that our love for this terrific twosome is only going to grow deeper.

According to this new study, the number of mobile users over the age of 13 who accessed a social networking or blog using their mobile phone has increased by a whopping 37 percent since last year. But the real eye-opener in these findings is that 50 percent of these users say they use social media on their phones on a daily basis. Not surprisingly, it’s Facebook that most mobile users check in with the most. Facebook has a mobile audience of 60 million a month, with no signs of slowing down. Twitter, with 13.4 million monthly mobile visitors, is also no slouch when it comes to social media and mobile.

The study found that the majority of the folks who order from the social media/mobile combo menu are readers. Roughly 58 million users go to Facebook and Twitter to read what their friends are up to and to check out newsfeeds, while 50 million produce new content (like status updates) on their phones. The study also finds 38 million mobile users are using their phones to read messages, use coupons and enter contests from their favorite brands. All of these numbers are good news for marketers and digital engagement specialists. Stats like these re-enforce our belief that if our brand’s messages are on social media, then they’re also in consumers’ pockets and on their smartphones.

October 24, 2011 By Dawn Walnoha Leave a Comment

Mobile and Social Media: The Super Couple We Can’t Get Enough Of

October 21, 2011 By Brandsplat Leave a Comment

Five Things You Might Have Missed!

You’re good. You notice connections between advertising trends most people gloss right over, and you never miss a chance to tweet your way to greatness. But you have to sleep, so it’s within the realm of possibility that you’ve missed a thing or two. Not to worry! We’ve got your six. Once again, here’s five things from the worlds of social media marketing, online branding and advertising that you will want to add to your huge stockpile of knowledge.

1.) The Power of Thank You: Here’s our list-topper of the week, written by Michael Alter over at Inc.com. Alter regularly contributes to the Managing People blog on the site, and this week’s is one worthy of mass forwarding. In it, he discusses how gratitude for star employees is as important as gaining new clients and how a thoughtful, personal “thank you” creates a lasting lift that garners a greater level of loyalty.

2.) Under Her Branding Umbrella: Rihanna is big stuff on social media, and a new app has sent the pop star over the top. UNLOCKED is a smartphone app which allows fans of singer to unlock details of her upcoming album Talk That Talk. It’s been a clear hit: She’s gained another million followers on Twitter since the app was released.

3.) Endgadget Scoops Up Ice Cream Sandwich: Another tech blog went from “who?” to genuine newsmaker this week when Endgadget broke the news of Android 4.0’s new operating system (dubbed Ice Cream Sandwich). This is truly list worthy if only for beating the big guys and for continuing to legitimize blogs as news sources.

4.) She’s Baaaack: Remember that scary yet hilarious ad last Halloween for Snickers which featured an odd-looking lady who wasn’t a lady at all? Well, the gal with the kids under her dress is back and all over Facebook. It’s a fantastic ad and we’re happy to see her again, even if she does still creep us out.

5.) Want Worthy is List Worthy: And finally, we’ve been talking about wish-list social media sites for a while and Want Worthy could be the one to beat them all. The site, which was recently touted by PC Magazine as one to watch, helps fashionistas save the clothes they love from any site and share them with other members. Clients are already wondering how they can join in on wish list sites like Want Worth, and you should be, too.

Archives for October 2011

Parting Shots: How to Give Each Blog a Memorable Ending

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The Worth of Words

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Coupon Craziness Continues

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Does This Search Engine Make Me Look Fat? Inside Google’s Upcoming Makeover

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