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October 30, 2006

Comedy Central Yanks Daily Show Clips

By Charlie Kondek

BoingBoing reports that Comedy Central has ordered clips of The Daily Show removed from YouTube for copyright violation. As we have said often in the past, online resources like YouTube extend the life of a brand, and Daily Show clips are among the most heavily viewed content on the site. Ordering these clips removed not only damages the show's brand but takes wind out of the sails of the grass-roots activity that have helped make this show such a phenomenon in the first place. One blog reader even explains why using YouTube is preferable to watching clips on Comedy Central's own site.

Posted by Alicia Dorset at 04:28 PM
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October 20, 2006

Friday night in Second Life

By Chris Clonen

It is Friday once again, and after a long day at the office, I shuffle down to the Blarney Stone and swig a few cocktails while chatting up the stunning ladies who dance the night away in a little known corner Ireland. After a handful of amusing tête-à-têtes and a game of darts, I stumble from my bar stool into the lamp-lit streets of Dublin, look up at the stars and fly away to a Duran Duran concert… cause I’m hungry like a wolf.

What? You say this is not how you spend your Friday evenings? Well then you have not been living the “second” life.

For those of you who do not like Duran Duran, or have never experienced such a wild and crazy night on the town as I have just described, Second Life is a virtual online game in which you, or better said, your avatar, travels around a computer generated universe attending concerts, shopping, lounging, partying, or just plain meeting one of the million-plus residences. Think of it as a gigantic chat room, but with a few more pieces of flare.

This new media frontier is getting a lot of press lately and is boldly going where every great idea has gone before — the pocketbooks of consumers. Sporting over one million residences and approaching US$500,000 spent daily, Second Life is becoming one of the most talked about phenomena in the blogosphere. The buzz has even made its way to Harvard University, where Paul Hemp, of the Harvard Business Review, stated:

Advertising has always targeted a powerful consumer alter ego: that hip, attractive, incredibly popular person just waiting to emerge (with the help of the advertised product) from an all-too-normal self… avatars offer a window into people's hidden preferences and a means for achieving sustained consumer engagement with a brand.

Marketing firms are taking these words seriously. Some of Second Life’s newest faces include Adidas, American Apparel, Toyota, W Hotels and Sony/BMG, who just held a Ben Folds concert on its “Media Island” (which was harder get into than a Detroit Tiger’s World Series game). Reuters has even set up shop, creating their own island and very own avatar reporter.

I stopped and asked myself, “Why are these top players getting in on the action?” The answer: They see an opportunity.

Second Life is on to something. Social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook have found success because people like meeting new people, especially when all inhibitions and anxieties are taken away though the power of the Internet. Second Life takes this one step further. They bring you social networking without even having to be yourself. You can be anyone you want, say anything you want, go anywhere you want. You can visit Dublin on a Friday or catch Duran Duran; meet avatars that have the some interests as you without having to worry about how your hair looks, if you are too fat or too skinny, or what color your skin is.

Some argue that communities like Second Life are making the world impersonal. I think it is making it more intimate. For the corporations, it is way in which they can become more intimate with their customers. They can find out if they have a creative imagination, if they are conventional, how they like to dress, what kind of music they like, what they drink, eat, what kind of cars they like to drive.

Second Life is a goldmine for marketing and for advertising as well. While hanging out at the Blarney Stone, I received a free t-shirt that I now proudly wear promoting one of the coolest places I found in the game. Everyone asks each other where they got their clothes, shoes and jewelry. Maybe next time they will say the name of the company you represent when asked about their new clothes, or maybe they will say that the best concerts are held at your client’s concert hall, or that your client’s new automobile is the coolest thing they have ever seen. And then they will go and tell all of their friends in Second Life…and best of all, they will tell all of their friends in “real” life. Which is why Second Life can bring you the best of both worlds.

So the next time you are pitching a client, let them know about Second Life and the possibilities this new media offers. Until then, I’ll catch you at the Blarney Stone.

Posted by Alicia Dorset at 05:15 PM
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October 18, 2006

Blogs keep baseball fans informed

It's an exciting time in Detroit right now as we wait for the World Series to begin this weekend, featuring our Tigers and yet-to-be-named challenger. It's been 22 years since the Tigers' trip to the 1984 World Series and victory, so fans are understandably eager.

...But with a few days to go before the series starts, what's the best way to keep up to date with the latest from the MLB? Fan blogs. Take a look at some of these devoted Detroit Tiger bloggers and see how they're keeping themselves busy, and keeping readers informed, as they wait for Game 1.

• The Detroit TIger Weblog: Combinging his love of the Tigers, baseball, and writing, Bill Ferris has been covering the Tigers for the past five years online. One of his most recent entries, Killing Time, sums up how many Tiger fans are feeling this week.
• Tiger Blog: Brian Borawski provides a good voice on this blog with enough facts, scores, and charts from around the leagues to keep any devoted Tiger content.
• Mack Avenue Tigers: I appreciated Kurt's recent thoughts on how a World Series appearance is so much more than just a baseball game for the city of Detroit.
• Bless You Boys: A Detroit Tigers Blog: If there was a more perfect name for a Tigers' fan blog, I can't think of it...

Looking at these dedicated Tiger bloggers reminds that there really is a blog out there for everyone.

If the blogs aren't enough to keep your World Series needs satisfied until Saturday, take a look at this clip from Game 4 of the American League series. With more than 15,000 views on YouTube, you can bet it's been keeping web-savvy Tigers fans happy, including yours truly.

Posted by Alicia Dorset at 01:32 PM
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October 17, 2006

Another strike for Wal-Mart media

Wal-Mart may have coined a new term for Web 2.0, according to Online Media Daily, thanks to their latest PR flop: “flog.”

Just last week, Wal-Marting Across America was pulled after being exposed as a fake blog, or flog. The site detailed the journey of Laura and Jim, two people interested in documenting how Wal-Mart really does help the communities its stores reside in, as well as the residents. In reality, the “journey” was really a PR tactic paid for entirely (food, gas, and even the RV the two traveled in) by Working Families for Wal-Mart, an organization created by the chain’s PR firm, Edelman.

Laura and Jim’s identities were revealed as well: Laura St. Claire is a freelance writer and Jim Thresher is a staff photographer for The Washington Post. The end of the travel blog hasn’t been the end of notoriety for the couple: blogs have been buzzing with a pro-Costco review St. Claire recently published, as well as the ethical debate brought up by Thresher working for another publication.

All that’s left of the blog now are two “goodbye” posts.

I think the biggest problem about this blog was the lack of transparency by the authors and the group backing it. From what I’ve seen, one of the quickest ways to open yourself up for attacks in the blogosphere is to lie about your purpose, and even bigger, lie about who you are. I’m not the only one who feels this way.

At first, many in the blogosphere are surprised at this “goof” by Edelman, especially Shel Holtz, who is even more surprised at the lack of a response from the company.

Those smart PR folks working for Edelman are among the members of the PR community who advocate participation in the conversation. Some of them have been brutal when, to their way of thinking, somebody else fails to understand what it means to be engage in the conversation. So where is Edelman in this particular conversation? Missing in action. As dismaying as this latest misstep is, it’s even more dismaying to see Edelman’s high-powered social media experts failing to walk the talk.

Richard Edelman himself finally responded to the issue on his 6 a.m. blog yesterday.

I want to acknowledge our error in failing to be transparent about the identity of the two bloggers from the outset. This is 100% our responsibility and our error; not the client's.

I’m glad to see Richard address the debate finally and note that his colleagues are working toward maintaining the ethics they helped create for not only WOMMA but their own practices, and to respond to the dozens of comments that have come in on his post.

Posted by Alicia Dorset at 04:33 PM
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October 10, 2006

YouTube, Google join forces

What would be the best way for YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen to announce their site had been purchased by Google for $1.65 billion? By posting a YouTube video response, of course.

Posted by Alicia Dorset at 04:31 PM
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October 03, 2006

Blogging to promote your site

Flickr, the online photo-sharing site, continues to grow in popularity, with more faithful members and photos being added by the minute. Flickr launched its blog back in December 2005, and has been using it to not only provide Flickr-related updates, but to showcase some of the site's cool tools and great photography.

Take a look at this post from Flickr guru Heather Champ. This post provides the right mix of information for the aspiring photographer and all-around cool things to look at for those new to Flickr. Champ links to various photo sets from members, searches for new pictures tagged with a specific phrase, and provides a link to a Newsweek article touting the latest Flickr tool, geo tagging.

Some of my favorite posts are the Flickr Samplrs, a collection of eye-catching photos from members. A feature like this helps showcase what makes the site unique and might even introduce someone to a new photographer to add as a contact. There's a lot to look at in Flickr, and this feature helps the site promote itself right there on the blog.

I started reading Flickr's blog not too long ago when I found out they posted about new tricks and tips with outside tools, such as fd's Flickr Toys. I found out about geo tagging right away and started applying the tags to my own photos.

Flickr's blog could have a very corporate tone to it: site updates, news from "officials" or just press mentions, but it doesn't. Instead, it has an extremely relaxed feel about it, just like Flickr itself.

Posted by Alicia Dorset at 04:15 PM
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