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  The Samsung Jet phone looks awesome!

  Stii 11:28 am on June 19, 2009 | Comments: 5 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: gadget, mobile, mobileweb (6), samsung jet (2), socialmedia

  A while ago the Samsung Jet Adgator ad started appearing. I checked out the first ad which was a kind of count-down to a launch date. Yesterday I noticed that the artwork has changed and that it now reads “Un-Packed”.

  

  It looks like a seriously slick phone. It has all the right bells and whistles that one wants like social media integration (Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, etc…) and it has a cool looking web browser that is based on Webkit (same as Safari and Google Chrome). Add the fact that it is powered by a 800MHz processor, has a 5 Megapixel camera and have all the funky touch screen goodness of the other big players, you start to realise this could maybe be a pretty cool phone!

  The only thing that may put me off is that it is probably powered by Windows. Which means that it is going to be a bitch to develop apps for if you’re a Mac user :)

  I’d love to try it. Seriously, go check the movie and the site out and you would see what I mean. It is pretty slick!

  

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• 

  Jimmy's Sous - sauce with a loyal social media following

  Stii 1:56 pm on May 15, 2009 | Comments: 2 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: facebook (4), jimmy's sous, socialmedia

  Jimmy’s Sous is a delicious sauce. It has its own Facebook group and the followers are passionate! I just read the wall posts (mostly in Afrikaans) and thought I’d translate them to share the passion. It is so cool to watch a totally random product get so much Social Media exposure via their fans. The best advertising any product in the world could wish for!

  

  Right now at this time there are about 229 wall posts and 879 members. It even has it’s own social networking space for fans at ning.com (http://jimmys.ning.com)

  The wall posts are priceless. I cannot repeat them all, but from the first couple of pages, here are some classics:

  Steve Jobs founded the iPod when he messed Jimmy’s Sauce on his walkman.

  Experts predicted that future world wars will be the result of Jimmy’s Sauce shortage.

  One sauce to rule them all, one sauce to find them, one sauce to bring them all, and in the darkness braai them…

  When I was little I dropped and broke my dad’s bottle of Jimmy’s. He broke my arm and sold my bicycle.

  If you give a Daschund Jimmy’s Sauce it will become a Doberman

  If you add two spoons of Jimmy’s to any liquor it becomes Johnny Walker Blue Label

  Jimmy’s withdrew from the American market, therefore Wallstreet crashed and hence the reason for the USA recession.

  Jamie Oliver recently admitted on BBC that he puts Jimmy’s in all his dishes.

  The secret ingredients in Jimmy’s is Unicorn tears. That and Fanta Orange.

  Barack Obama isn’t really black. He baths in Jimmy’s every night. That is why he is awesome!

  Few people know this, but an Oscar is actually Jimmy’s in a fancy bottle.

  I’ve been using Jimmy’s instead of diesel in my truck for years. When I drive around it smells like “braaivleis” (BBQ)

  Joost cheated on Amor with a bottle of Jimmy’s… pig

  I can build anything with an A4 sheet of paper and a bit of Jimmy’s sauce.

  Jimmy’s is the semen of the gods.

  So it carries on and on… Here is the link to the Facebook group. Enjoy if you understand Afrikaans!
  
   
• 

  Pots calling kettles black

  Stii 2:56 pm on April 1, 2009 | Comments: 4 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: gsb, nomadicmarketing, rockstars, socialmedia, twitter (16)

  

  Twice I saw this yesterday. The first was by a Social Media “Rockstar” (really, this “Rockstar” meme makes me want to lick a red hot grill at a steakhouse) who was ranting about web celebrities who are clueless. Basically what he was referring to was popular people on Twitter who follows only a small group of people in their inner circle and has a huge following and how wrong and clueless it is to do that in his humble opinion:

  

  You might think that non-reciprocation makes you look like an “influential thought leader,” but to me it looks like:

  1. You’re kind of a noob. Your name might be “big,” but your social media interaction and filtering skills are small.
  2. You’re kind of a snob. You’re more concerned with appearing “popular” than listening and learning from people.

  I am referring to the “You’re kind of a noob” part.
  See?
  Pot calling kettle black?
  Ever heard of Twitter search to filter? If they use it, they sure as hell don’t have to follow everyone back. God knows how the hell you are going to follow what 11316 people are blabbering on Twitter. Listening? Really? How? Sit the entire bloody day and night in front of Twitter reading?
  Who is paying for that?
  Pot calling kettle black?

  The second time it happened was to myself at yesterday’s Nomadic Marketing session when I accused Dave, Chris and Kerry-Anne of being quiet and scarce. I was very quickly being told “Who are you calling black?!” :P Sorry chaps!
  
   
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  Lets define social media once more. Someone must buy it!

  Stii 10:20 am on February 24, 2009 | Comments: 15 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: blogs (2), bookmarks, communities, lifestreams, message boards, micro blogs, networks (2), podcasts, socialmedia, vlogs, web2.0, wikis

  It is all starting to look, feel, taste and sound very much like pie in the sky Web 2.0. It seems everyone has his own perception and opinion. Why, dear lord, why? Why, for the love of Jack Daniels, do people try and over complicate things?

  
  (Totally unrelated picture. Sure is cool, isn’t it?)

  What seem to happen is that someone defines social media. They try to be fairly specific and clear about it. Along comes the other experts and add some other bullshit to it to make it sound more impressive. Wash, rinse, repeat. Already I see there is quite a few definitions, all saying something similar but with a slightly different focus. It almost seems that if it cannot be sold, they change the definition until it is sold! Can you say WEB TWO POINT OH? C’mon, give me a HALLELUJAH! Here we go again. Silly of me to think we learned our lesson.

  Suddenly, social media is all about two way dialogues. About blogs, message boards, podcasts, micro blogs, lifestreams, bookmarks, networks, communities, wikis, and vlogs facilitating conversations. About “democratizing” content. It is the shift from a broadcast mechanism to a many-to-many model, rooted in a conversational format between authors and people. (Source: Web Pro News, Thanks Walter)

  Why not simply say: It is blogs, message boards, podcasts, micro blogs, lifestreams, bookmarks, networks, communities, wikis, and vlogs. Finish. Explained. Done and dusted. A definition every one understands. What is said above is the effects of social media, but it is NOT social media! Don’t you get it? It is two completely different things, really!
  
   
• 

  Don't talk back at me, I'll smack you!

  Stii 12:46 pm on February 16, 2009 | Comments: 2 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: coca cola, coke fest, social networking (6), socialmedia

  This is what I read between the lines when it comes to big brands. Like @fearsumm one day said: “I can read between the lines. Even if it is only one line, I can read between it”

  Last week, Coca-Cola had a hissy fit about Jason Bagley running an “official-looking” site (mycoke.co.za) without their involvement.

  

  So, who’s fault is THAT?! Why didn’t the Coca-Cola company facilitate such a site from the word go? Could it be that people DO NOT TRUST brands to allow them so-called freedom of speech? If you read this from their official statement:

  The Coca-Cola Company appreciates all comments and feedback received from fans of the MY COKE FEST events and encourages discussion and dialogue about these events in open forums. However, the Company cannot knowingly permit such discussions to take place in conjunction with the unauthorized use of its trade marks which could ultimately result in harm to its brands and image.

  Now don’t get me wrong, I do empathise with that. There are some seriously anal people (a.k.a. Trolls) out there in the world that will try and find things wrong with everything and anything just for the sake of being anal. The question then becomes when and where do opinions cross the line and become trollish flamebait? Who is to decide that?

  Personally, I think that we love our fans to be positively vocal about our brands, but hate it when there are negative comments. Should we not trust our fans to address the negative comments as well? It is virtually impossible to address each and every statement made about you. Coca-Cola would have to have a whole department for community interaction. They should rather just focus on their champions and get them to help respond to negative comments. Users would also be able to identify and deal with trolls much easier.

  Coca-Cola should learn how to effectively use an uncontrollable community to their advantage, rather than forcing them to close down. See, the math makes no sense whatsoever. It is a big enough issue for them to get their lawyers to shut mycoke.co.za down. Do they seriously think they made ANY friends or fans with this type of action? Erm, I wouldn’t think so. I’d love to see them (fans) vent their frustration elsewhere. It should make an interesting read!

  Big brands, specially here in South Africa, still acts a lot like an old school headmaster. You don’t talk back at him. You WILL get smacked if you do. You are, after all, a child who knows nothing. Who needs to grow up?
  
   
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  Donn Edwards and QVC came to an agreement

  Stii 11:25 am on January 15, 2009 | Comments: 7 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: bloggers (6), qvc (2), socialmedia

  Not a long time ago, QVC vs Donn Edwards were all the rage since they were suing Donn Edwards for loss of income due to some blog posts he wrote. This led to widespread outrage amongst fellow bloggers and a lot of them retaliated.

  It seems though that the issue was settled out of court. I received this Facebook message:

  I met with Ian Wilcox and John Meyer from QVC at the Midrand Protea Hotel. There were no lawyers and the meeting went extremely well. We all needed to come to an agreement that we could be happy with, and not leave feeling bitter. The agreement we drew up and signed (using a laptop and a portable printer) is the best we could manage, and I’m happy with it.

  I have removed the articles and references from my blog, and the court cases are being suspended for 5 years. Provided I don’t write derogatory things about QVC in that time, the cases will be allowed to lapse, and no harm is done.

  Bear in mind that my initial visit to QVC was 18 months ago, and much has changed during that time, including the way they do their marketing. Whether I agree with the way they do business or not is irrelevant: they changed in response to my complaints, and the complaints of others, and had I known that I would not have written further articles in August and September last year.

  I think the blogger community has done a great job in highlighting this issue, and I thank everyone who participated. We have all learnt a great deal. I request that the current facebook group be closed in order to help me keep to my side of the agreement. I realise I can’t insist on this, but the group was there to provide support, and it has done so in a wonderful and effective way.

  Thanks once again!

  Donn Edwards

  Good for you Donn. Good for QVC, I guess. Pity they didn’t do this from the word go then all the unpleasantness could have been avoided.
  
   
• 

  The big Social Media failure?

  Stii 3:24 pm on November 26, 2008 | Comments: 24 Permalink | Reply
  Tags: marketing (3), socialmedia

  Just read Mango-OMC’s press release called Social Media – the power and the pain. Now, I see Gerhard “Jail4Bail” Pieterse says he distances himself from it, although I think it might be out of loyalty rather than denial. I mean, how do you tell people that supported you so vocally that they FAIL? I can understand that, but lets consider the cold hard facts and figures. Traditional media (sadly, I might add) kicked online’s butt! As Jason stated:

  That’s a joke right? I actually can’t believe that only 0.32% of all the money raised came from online.

  Now, I know Catherine, so I don’t doubt for one second that the figures are accurate. I do think that maybe one could have looked at a different channel to obtain revenue apart from ONLY looking at an SMS strategy, but doubt that it would have made a huge difference. Look at blogger bake-off which only raised US$2899 thus far, although I think if everyone answered the call, which we tried, it might have been higher… Nevertheless, online is not a good option for fund raising by the looks of it.

  There might be a number of reasons for it and I wouldn’t like to even start speculating.

  I do think that it did not fail completely. It succeeded on a different level, adding a completely different kind of value. I think people should stop looking at Social Media as a silver bullet and they should sure as hell stop advocating that it is. On WebSuccessDiva’s blog (Social Media Marketing is not a One-Size-Fits-All Solution for Online Marketing) she says:

  Not all audiences are accessible through social media marketing channels.

  True words that! I personally think the expectations for Social Media and Jail4Bail was all crooked and wrong. I almost got a feeling that it was used as a race. “We, Social Media, are going to kick Traditional Media’s ASS!”. At least, that is how it came across most of the time.

  I stick to my guns. Yes, it works and works well if applied for the right reasons and with the correct goal in mind. It could work even better if that “I’m more hip than you and therefore more superior” attitude gets dropped and by embracing Traditional Media to compliment it. It should be a package deal (As noted by Nicole Capper, i think?). As long as Traditional Media people see Social Media as a threat or Social Media laughs at Traditional Media while chanting “Your medium is dying!”, we’re shooting ourselves and our clients in the foot. Ten fold over.

  See Social Media for what it is. A means of communicating and creating awareness. Not a means for fund raising. We experimented, failed and learned. Next time, we’ll do it better!