Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

We thought our interactive director, Rob Bean and our digital marketing director, Tracy Earles, were going to New York to help some clients plan their digital strategies for 2012.

Who knew they also had a penchant for political activism?

OK, it’s probably not a stretch to say that many of us are somewhat addicted to our phones. Yes, two-thirds of us sleep with them … allegedly in case we receive a middle-of-the-night emergency call, but also to play Angry Birds when insomnia strikes. Or catch up on celebrity trivia via the People magazine app (not that I know anyone who would waste time on such frivolity).

But just how addicted are we? A recent infographic shows that we love our phones enough to give up the following for a week to keep our dirty mitts on the device:
• 70 percent would give up alcohol
• 63 percent would say no to chocolate
• 55 percent would kick the caffeine habit
• 54 percent would skip exercise
• 22 percent would forgo brushing their choppers

And in case we’re in danger of feeling secure in our close relationships, 18 to 28 percent of us would trade our loved ones for a week with the phone (with iPhone users being the biggest traitors).

Looking for the silver lining in this cloud of cynicism? Well, at least you’ll have your phone handy when you want to end your relationship with that lethargic moss-toothed couch potato … via voicemail, text, email, Facebook, or Twitter.

So, are you an addict? What would you be willing to give up for your phone?

Submitted by Jessie Burnside, Copywriter, who would willingly relinquish her mobile device for a good cup of coffee.

Old Spice always smelled like an old creeper sitting three barstools away. But Isaiah Mustafa’s random sexuality made Old Spice the envy of all. In other words, hell yes I want my man to smell like Mustafa (or be Mustafa…)!

But Old Spice has now introduced Fabio as a replacement.

And we think we speak for all women under 75, or maybe just all women… seriously!?

Old Spice efforts have gone from sparking office giggle fests to making us ladies remember every creep who hit on us over the years.

But aside from personal preference of Mustafa over Fabio, Old Spice just seems to be missing the mark:

1. Fabio is nearly unintelligible. That may be part of the fun, but no one is laughing.
2. Isn’t Old Spice trying to be less of an old man’s product? Then why are they enlisting old men to woo the crowd?
3. Fabio has a cheesy reputation, and he’s not really a “man’s man” or a “woman’s man.”
4. Why are they risking a brand with a career (Fabio’s) that died long ago?

Fabio just doesn’t seem to be fit for the direction Old Spice took with Mustafa.

Do you think this is a major downgrade for Old Spice? Or is it a brilliant publicity stunt to gather attention?

Haven’t had the displeasure of seeing these yet? Check this out. And, stay tuned for a duel between the old and new personality tomorrow, July 26th at 9:00 a.m. EST.

After reading how Fairmont Raffles Hotels International tracks social media campaigns using Google Analytics, we realized we’re doing something similar when it comes to sharing our blog postings and then tracking the resulting traffic.

We devised an easy-to-use, browser-based, tool that allows us to generate a shortened, tagged URL for a posting that can then be shared via Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or in an email message.

When the link is clicked, Google Analytics uses the tags in the URL to help us:

• Segment the visit by the media outlet on which the the link was shared.
• Determine what post the link was referencing.
• Identify which team member shared the post.

This report generated by the data gives us an extremely clear picture of how our individual peers are interacting with our blog site, which in turn, provides us with valuable insight to help us steer our own social media campaigns.