Vue Royale Blog Postings

6 tips on strategic storytelling

2010-08-10T13:12:23+00:00

In this episode Jay Conger, Professor of Leadership Studies, Claremont McKenna College is an expert on leadership and storytelling. In this short presentation he explains the 6 key factors that helps making a story endure.

Personally I can't think of a better example of a very captivating story than the United Airlines commercials of some years ago.

I selected 5 of them...

Want more?

Enchanting, don't you think?
Well, centainly does make me want to fly...

So storytelling proves to be one of the answers in this fragmented attention age.
But whatever story you might want to share, it all starts with a spark of energy. And that's not something you can plan strategically, as this last story tells us...

Facebook’s succes has many faces

2010-07-31T10:20:48+00:00

Yesterday Matt Rhodes (FreshNetworks London) appeared on BBC News giving his opinion on the key factors that made Facebook the succes it is today. Rhodes states that it's the photos product (allowing an easy way for people to share photos and associate people with the photos they are in)and the groups(an easy way to set up groups) product are the key factor to Facebook's succes.
I think he's right on the tools issue, but generally speaking I think any social network has proved timing, tools, UI and connectivity (i.e. embed, share and external use) are more crucial to growth than the basic products. These are inevitably important, but more a primary asset a network can't do without I think.

And apart from timing, don't forget 'place' as a main factor. There's is no better place to launch a social network for (in the early days) students than a campus. That's where it all started...

Below the BBC News piece where Rhodes explaines his views on Facebook's succes.

Storytelling: can Jochem de Bruyn survive social media?

2010-07-26T13:37:33+00:00

It did very well for Rabobank for a long time in the early stage of this century. It was undeniably true that this story had lifted Rabobank in that timeframe to a very enviable position in the Dutch financial market. And Jochem de Bruyn contributed hugely to that uplift.

The common and straightforward Dutch guy was recognized and trusted by the Dutch 'John Doe'. And his message was very actual indeed.
Storytelling did it's work and Rabobank was considered the most trustworthy bank in The Netherlands ever since. Ironically Jochem was kind of a visionary, because some years later the fictional bad guys of the international financial giants didn't turn out to be as fictional as we thought.
More power to Rabobank having the vision of being co-operative in the first place.

That was years ago however. Storytelling back then was often based on a large media budget and generally speaking 80% was tv directed.
But now, in 2010 communication has become much more organic and the rules of engagement have changed dramaticcaly. A scattered cloud of online and mobile media make it a lot harder to create stories and get them where you want to go.

So could Jochem de Bruyn to get people engaged with Rabobank in a connected world?
No. I don't think so.

In my opinion a good online corporate story requires 5 basic principles.
It has to be endurable, realistic, relevant, meaningful and has to resonate. Being resonant implies that there is a shared feeling of imporance at both brand and consumer. It's also this 5th factor that is most crucial in online communication, since news and importance change incredibly fast.
Any online story has to be very well timed and placed at already actively visited environments.

Moreover however, the theme issued in social media most be very edgy. And the online story most be very useful and pragmatic at the same time. How to do that? Not with Jochem in his current shape.

And that's reason one why Jochem de Bruyn wouldn't survive social media: he's not.

Somthing more about storytelling

An corporate story fulfills three functions:

- it positions the organisation towards other organisations;
- it helps employees to identify with the organisation;
- it support change processe.

A corporate story is based on three factors: it is a real story (narrative factor), it's easily to pass on(pass on factor) and it's anchored in the organisation (anchor factor). The anchor means that the organisation lives up to the principles that are told in the story.

Corporate stories need a hero and onstacles. They have to stories about real people. To get the story anchored in the organisation it is importante that the leader is truly committed and employees are involved with the fulfillment of the story.

But how do you ideally blend a corporate story and social media to create ambassadors?

1. Be actual

Make sure the story is about an issue that's on the brink of bursting but lacked a concept.

1. Monitor

Before spending a lot of time and money on that brilliant film do some try outs on niche channels.

2. Multiply

Since online media are fragmented that implies so are the audiences. Make sure you develop a set of categories to divert your strategy; create a variety of versions of that one idea.

3. Customize

Make sure your corporate campaign story is very actual. If not, discard the versions that ar not in touch with the current sentiments and design a story that does resonate in the actual timeframe.
Remember, internet is 100% 'zero tolerance' if it comes to commercial information.

4. Facilitize

Give your theme an environment where your own well designed Jochem can be changed. Give people not just your hunch about an issue, but let them play and give them te facilities to do so.
The most effective in viral communications sofar all had one thing in common: it was adjustable.

3D campaign BMW proves joy

2010-07-24T07:09:44+00:00

BMW stands for joy, it says. I believe BMW couldn't have thought of a more convincing and straightforward statement to counter the 'green development' without being a real bully and being true to itself. And just look at the projection and the way people are captured and the look on their faces. Exactely, pure joy...

The first thing that really stands out with this installation is that it’s set across two separate buildings and an intersection, probably the very first projection mapping installation to sync two projections together, and the effect is simply beautiful, innovative and hugely engaging from any angle.

What I really love is the animated sync between buildings to really accentuate the message and impact of the creative itself. This truly is joy. The 3D elements are strong when used, but sparingly placed throughout the experience.

Just not quite as amazing as the Samsung 3D Projection, however...

100 ideas for a linkbuilding strategy

2010-07-23T10:49:59+00:00

In that case you have to start some serious thinking on SEO and more particular linkbuilding.
I hand you 100 left field tips for effective linbuilding, some quite obvious, some not quite so obvious.

1. Join local chambers of commerce, they should link to you, and they are usually linked to by .gov sites and .edu sites. Write articles for the local chamber and they will link to you.

2. Rent a managed server and offer to host non profits for free or at a deep discount, and they will link to you, and they are usually linked to by .gov sites and .edu sites.

3. If your are a developer, offer your services for free or at a deep discount, to others, and they will link to you.

4. Provide a place for anyone to publish content for free or at a deep discount, and they will link to you.

5. Provide a quick reference to specific (niche) content sites, and they will link to you.

6. Publish your local sunrise, sunset times, daylight hours, and average temperatures etc, and they will link to you.

7. Create a flash of a street billboard as it changes over the year on a corner near you, and they will link to you.

8. Create a two page formatted page layout as a test, and explain the process of doing it, and they will link to you.

9. Be nice to people in forums, and they will link to you.

10. Join forums where there are profile pages, link back to yourself. If the profile doesn’t get indexed quickly enough, try linking to it yourself.

11. Be an active participant on forums and blogs that allow link-dropping in posts. Spamming will get you thrown out, but useful posts won’t.

12. Write in your own blogs. New blog post + blogroll = new link to sites in blogroll.

13. Write a blog post about something on one of your sites, and include the link naturally in the blog post. Works better if it’s not obvious that the blog and the site are both yours. And be nice, link to other sites as well, not just yours.

14. Social interaction of any type leads to links. Speak at a conference? Someone will likely blog about it.

15. Want to get thought leaders to promote your site? Create a community project or contest and ask them to participate.

16. Give out awards.

17. Lack the budget needed to go to conferences? Moderate forums, comment on related blogs.

18. Include a contriversial column in your website that enables you to write about spicy subjects.

19. Design Top 10 lists on any field related subject. Works only if done consistently and frequently.

20. Write about memorial moments in your life.

21. Create the one stunning video about a niche subject that resonates to your audience.

22. Interview stakeholders.

23. Subscribe to every possible sharing sytem available.

24. Update LinkedIn on a regular basis.

25. Search Google on related keywords and contact owners to exchange links.

26. Use Yahoo site explorer combined with Joost’s backlink tool, Link harvester or Linkdiagnosis.

27. Subscribe to Google Maps.

28. Create your own directory.

29, Create your own Wikipedia.

30. Ask customers for a review.

31. Ask dealers and providers to list you on their website or directory.

32. Being a creative: drop your creation on places where designers gather.

33. Sponsor an online or offline event and make sure you're listed on their ponsorpage.

34. Try to be a speaker on any field related event, seminar or workshop.

35. Donate to good causes.

36. Look for older related websites in your field an make an offer.

37. Find good content with high link popularity and ‘buy’ that pagee by having a textlink and pay for it.

38. Having a new service or product? Send some influencing bloggers or media a sample to write about it.

39. Organize an online game, the simpler the better.

40. Become listed or certified at sincere and trusted trade or consumer organisations.

41. Blog at other reknowened blogs.

42. Write a 'how to' guide.

43. Write a review yourself about a product or service you offer an inform the supplier.

44. Become an expert and influencers websites, university, newspaper etc, will link to your content.

45. Comment on blogs, but only if relevant and valuable. Even nofollow comments.

46. Apply RSS feeds to RSS directories.

47. Add articles to social media & news sites.

48. Use (intelligently) Squidoo, Google knol and the alikes.

49. Create some extra (basic) blogs through wordpress, blogger and other related places.

50. Join related forums and participate actively.

51. Use Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin for distribution.

52. Try Google News.

53. Use Google alerts to see where your articles end up and contact the webmasters.

54. Create pumper sites and publish unique content.

55. Create a useful tool, app, widget, Firefox extension, Wordpress plugin etc for your niche.

56. Make sure text navigation structures are properly designed, to enable searchbots.

57. Don't create to many layers in your website.

58. Apply dynamic linking and a good use of rel=”nofollow” if website is large enough.

59. Use full URL's at linking internally.

60. Make sure you are consistent in redirecting to pages.

61. Connect important and relevant pages.

62. Use Technorati or other social media monitor tools to see what's hot.

63. Be one of the first users of a given social network, and make sure to include your URL in either your username or your account profile.

64. Embed popular media with your brand in hilariously irresistible ways.

65. Every time you send out a new customer email, send a snippet of code they can paste into the 'partner' section of their website that will display your logo and a link back to your site (this works particularly well for B2B companies who like to show off their 'partnerships'.

66. Create a wallpaper and screensaver with your company's brand and submit it to all the free wallpaper/screensaver galleries.

67. Create a critics enquiry on a much discussed field related issue.

68. Design the ultimate list with biggest failures in your field.

69. Public library sites are a little known, but very powerful way to obtain high quality linkage.

70. Approach the librarian and demonstrate the unique and quality content which your site possesses.

71. Never refuse an interview for any reason. Make sure that they will have a short bio of you and that within that bio there is a link back to your site.

72. Seek out the awards-granting organizations in your particular field and make sure that they are aware of your efforts. Some of them will actually require you to apply for consideration for their next round of award selection. By all means do so. If you do win an award, then not only will that inspire confidence and trust in the visitors to your own site, but a link from a major award organization can be worth many times the value of any award in quality linkage.

73. Sponsor your local rugby club or bowling league raise your profile within the local community, but it will also gain you a treasured spot on the website of the particular community organization you're sponsoring. Some of these sites are tied into their national organization's websites and that can result in some very high value linkage. Charities are also known to prominently feature their benefactors, and you may find that a relatively small contribution can get you a very valuable link.

74. A no-brainer is to ensure that you have a link in the signature line of your own email. It's surprising how many people will spend many hours on conventional link building and then disregard this very critical factor.

75. In case you are operating a membership web site, consider pitching this to some of the top quality sites that you are targeting: they would receive a free membership in return for linkage.

76. Everyone has friends, well almost everyone. It's a good idea to email some of your friends with some news that is at least somewhat relevant to them and ask for them to comment on it.

77. Affiliate programs are very valuable additions to almost any website. Keep in mind that the amount of time and effort required to maintain a vibrant affiliate program can be overwhelming, so look carefully into the details of such an enterprise before you take the plunge into one.

78. Create extensive resource lists for a specific topic (see Mr Ploppy for inspiration).

79. Create a list of the top 10 myths for a specific category.

80. Create a list of gurus/experts. If you impress the people listed well enough, that works.

81. Make your content easy to understand so many people can understand and spread your message.

82. Put some effort in to minimize grammatical or spelling errors.

83. Have an easily accessible privacy policy and about section so your site seems more trustworthy.

84. Syndicate an article at EzineArticles, GoArticles, iSnare, etc. The great thing about good article sites is that their article pages actually rank highly and send highly qualified traffic.

85. Track who picks up your articles or press releases. Offer them exclusive news or content.

86. Trade articles with other webmasters.

87. Write about, and link to, companies with 'in the news' pages. They link back to stories and blog posts which cover their developments. This is obviously easiest if you have a news section or blog. Do a Google search for [your industry + 'in the news'].

88. Perform surveys and studies about relevant people.

89. Submit your site to DMOZ and other directories that allow free submissions.

90. Submit your site to paid directories. Another oldie. Just remember that quality matters.

91. Create your own topical directory about your field of interest. Obviously link to your own site, deeplinking to important content where possible. Of course, if you make it into a truly useful resource, it will attract links on its own.

92. Look at meme trackers to see what ideas are spreading. If you write about popular spreading ideas with plenty of original content (and link to some of the original resources), your site may get listed as a source on the meme tracker site.

93. Submit your link to relevant city and state governmental resources. (Easier in some countries than in others.)

94. Develop business relationships with non-competing businesses in the same field. Leverage these relationships online and off, by recommending each other via links and distributing each other's business cards.

95. Depending on your country, category and offer, you will find Craigslist to be a cheap or free classified service.

96. It is pretty easy to ask or answer questions on Yahoo! Answers and provide links to relevant resources.

97. It is pretty easy to ask or answer questions on Google Groups and provide links to relevant resources.

98. Review relevant books about your interest.

99. Join Meetup and gather with minlikes. It will create unique and relevant content to link to.

100. Hire a consultant.

Social Media Campaign: Old Spice

2010-07-15T12:05:27+00:00

Yesterday, however, the marketing campaign took a different turn and really got proper social media right savvy. It’s been updated and sees Isaiah Mustafa respond directly to YouTube comments, Tweets, Yahoo! Answers and blog posts about him in 117 publicly available, timely and personalised video messages.

To ensure maximum coverage Old Spice replied to some of the most popular personalities on Twitter, such as @Biz (Twitter co-founder), @ryanseacrest (TV personality), @kevinrose (Digg founder), @Alyssa_Milano (actor), and @guykawasaki (social media thought leader).
Blogger Perez Hilton’ s video response has already clocked up over 115k views. They’ve also hit up media outlets like GQ, Huffington Post, Gizmodo and The Ellen Show. Starbucks have even managed to get in on the action.

Is it that simple to use social media effectively?

To be honest, it's not. This campaign again proves the neccesity to get every aspect involved in launching a truly effective social media campaign, and foremost proves that social media are a second phase communication tool, and is many takes mistaken for an initial campaign strategy.

Edelman launches AR for Ben & Jerry’s

2010-07-08T23:20:18+00:00

The concept chosen is a game kind of way to explore the contents of a pint of ice cream.
The not surprising question of Brian Morrissey is:

'Can PR firms create too?'

My take is the woman is so incredibly annoying I wouldn't share her.

I truly admire Edelman, but if i had to answer Brian Morrissey's question I'd say:
Edelman, this is way below expectations and sure as hell not send- or shareworthy.

Will Facebook Credits be a hit?

2010-07-08T06:20:18+00:00

Rixty is a great service where you drop change in a something resembling an arcade cabinet, and the money goes towards virtual currency and virtual goods for online games.

Staying true to their commitment to simplifying the virtual currency process, they’ve announced that thousands of ‘CoinStar’ machines around the country will now accept spare change and convert it to Facebook Credits.

Rixty is an interesting monetization company hovering around the social gaming space these days. The idea would be that young people, especially those who don’t have credit cards, can drop their change in these compatible machines, of which there are 20,000 around the country.

But will Facebook Credits be succesfull?

The pro's

It’s hardly even out of R&D (still available only to beta partners) but companies like Rixty are building it into Coinstar machines for kids to gain virtual credit with real pocket money.

It does have the monopoly, you can’t compete with it – it’s an easy extension of Facebook’s 500 million user near monopoly of the social graph. No other payment platform could build that many users so quickly.

It's better. The smooth payment system (a few clicks) contrasts sharply with the 'leave the shop, pay at the bank, return to the shop' payment experience we’ve come to expect. Some early adopters like Crowdstar have seen an ARPU jump of 50% despite the 30% transaction fee Facebook charge.

The cons

It's thin. Facebook being a social platform will always have the complexity with commercial ventures. The 'from the people for the people' basis of social media implies that extending the necessary features to make virtual credit useful on a large scale might be very challenging.

To learn from Facebook credits download this white paper

Drama: best source for trusted brands

2010-06-29T14:57:44+00:00

It has all to do with drama. Lives that don't turn out as good as some of us wished and where people have their own basic concerns to worry about. We trust those people don't we?
Any ambitious brand marketeer should take life as seriously as that average man does.

The point is he doesn't.
And there aren't many creatives around either that do, most of them born with a golden spoon and inspired by lifting the average to a new level. But do people trust the ads they make?

Trust starta with a genuine effort, with true and convincing attention to the issue that is adressed.
And, even better, with a real contribution to that very same issue.

Here's an example of an ad from an area where drama is part of daily life.

I trust this insurer. What about you?

10 steps: start a social media strategy

2010-06-27T17:52:00+00:00

1. Analyze the core of your brand
2. Analyze your internal communication value
3. Analyze your audience
4. Set rules of engagement
5. Set your social graph
6. Divide pesonal vs. product
7. Learn tools
8. Design a hub
9. Set goals
10.Go offline

Social media and organic communication are beyond doubt increasingly important. But as the proliferation of social media platforms grow, participating can turn into little more than a giant time suck without some sort of structure behind it.
With that in mind, I have put together a 10 step plan for kickstarting your company’s social media participation.

Before you do anything else, examine the reasons why you want to publish a blog or take part in social media. What is the purpose for the blog? How does the blog’s purpose relate to your business purpose?
What type of program is this? Awareness, Sales, or Loyalty? Pick one.

Then, start with a profound approach taking the next steps:

1. Analyze the core of your brand: why is in the market and what are the essentials of the brand?

What’s your brand's core message? This relates to the topic of social media and the niche you are focused on. What do you want your audience to learn or experience? I recommend creating 'cornerstone content'. This is a series of posts that articulates the brand's core message and provides new readers with an introduction and overview of what they can expect to learn.

What’s the soul of your brand? And what can be derived from that in terme of needs, wishes and dreams? What’s the one thing that defines you and it’s not features and benefits. Volvo = Safety. Apple = Innovation. Disney = Magic. What’s on the other side of your sign?

2. Analyze your internal communication value. Are there enough resources to start creating content?

Social media platforms help facilitate conversations between individuals, not companies. Once you have a sense of what people are talking about, it’s time to identify the appropriate people inside your organization to participate.

People want to have conversations with company representatives who are experts in their area, who are passionate about their work and who are empowered to act on the feedback they receive from the community. If you want to focus on the marketing vertical, then look to your marketing team. The same is true if you want to participate in social media platforms devoted to product development, engineering or package design. Part of this process should be to provide the proper training for these employees on social media participation.

3. Analyze your audience. Where are they online? And who is your ideal reader?

Who is your ideal reader? The ideal often similar to the ideal client, but not necessarily so. It might also be a critic or a group of critics. It’s important to know your audience so you can meet their needs and address their concerns, challenges and what they’re looking for to improve their lives.

Identify existing communities. Where are discussions taking place now? For consumer products, they may take place on Amazon or Facebook, while business topics may originate on LinkedIn or internal forums. But it’s also likely that most discussions will span multiple social (and traditional) channels and involve both user-generated and enterprise content. Your social business strategy will need to address all of these!

Use the Forrester Social Technographics Ladder to understand how your target audience (as defined by gender, age, and geography) uses social media. If your audience skews older, you may not want to engage in a lot of 'make a video' contests, since that segment indexes low on the 'creator' scale.

The soft factor

How do you want your readers to feel when they read your blog? This may seem like a weird question, yet it will help you tap into the emotions of your audience. Do you want your reader to be inspired, motivated, and moved to action? Again, tapping into this will help you focus your content on serving your reader.

4. Set rules of engagement

Make sure your company has a social media policy in place that offers guidelines to your employees on the appropriate way to engage in online conversations. Microsoft’s Channel 9 Doctrine is a good place to start.

How much time do you have to devote to your social media strategy? This is getting to the heart of blogging. If you can’t commit to writing and creating a lot of valuable content, then you’re doing yourself and your readers a disservice. Be honest. The most effective and successful blogs are those with fresh, new content posted at least two to three times per week. Is that reasonable for you to manage? Will you have a team of bloggers? Remember, there are many, many ways to create content.

Outline employee policies. Do you have a corporate social media handbook, with policies, style guides and guidance for employees looking to participate (on behalf of the company) in public forums and social sites? And as you roll out new social business tools, beyond creating awareness how will you encourage new behaviors and even innovative uses for these social tools?

5. Set your social graph. This helps to flowchart web properties so I can see the big picture.

Create a social business dashboard. What metrics will you use to show the ROI for your programs? In the customer service arena, reduced costs from avoided calls or email and higher customer satisfaction are two proven measures to start with. For enterprise use of Web 2.0 in other areas, improved information sharing and lower communication costs are additional benefits that could be measured and tracked.

6. Devide personal vs. product. Make your decisions about what you want to share and what not to share.

A crucial divide. Basically this comes down to understanding the difference between PR and marketing.
Many marketeer go wrong at this point. The either imagine openness is a funadamental principle that works for both people and products or they (worse) imagine PR is a different ballgame than product marketing and shut up the voice of the company in critical times.
In all honesty; there is no golden rule. If there is one, it is to be very aware of the major differences that people and products have if it comes down to sharing.
be very selective in defining topicsm and don't overwhelm your audience with general information. Moreover, make sure every blogpostings that goes live contains news or entertainment.

7. Learn tools. Knowing each individual tool to work and when to use it is crucial.

This is the fun part! Start leaving comments on blogs, uploading images to Flickr, building a community on Twitter or FriendFeed or whatever else that strategy entails that helps further the discussion and illustrates your company’s commitment to developing these online relationships. It might also be useful for employees to create a social media editorial calendar so that it’s easier to structure time to participate. You never know what might happen, as this example from Blendtec illustrates.

8. Design a hub. It’s best to have one website to serve as the central place. All profiles syndicated.

When thinking of online media stop thinking 'websites'. We live in an era of a dynamic, semantic web. That implies all information is scattered and all crucial and valuable social content and feedback should me centered somewhere. That is called your hub. Your hub should be homebase of all your other social media efforts and should be easily monitored by one analysis account.
That is the only way to keep track properly of your learnings and function as a basis for all other online marketing afforts out there. The hub should be the heart of your social corporate identity.

9. Set a goal, choose your media, define team and select in- and internal partners.

What do you want your readers to do when they read your blog or content? This relates to the goals you set for your blog. If your blog is a lead generator, then you must have very clear steps for guiding your reader to subscribe to get blog updates and/or get your lead generating content.

Make sure you identify the right partners to achieve your goals, both internal and out there. Not every fan of internet knows his ways around and not every fan of a car brand knows why.
Define who will take the mission, build the team, and secure the budget, And make clear who will own each channel, like LinkedIn, Twitter, your blog, ..etc. as you scale up the program.

Before you begin, commit to worrying about social media tools last, not first. Why? Because tools will change. They always do. There was a time when Netscape seemed invincible. Yahoo, too. Myspace also. If you fall in love with tools, you’ll constantly be changing directions, with no real plan to guide your way.

10. Go offline. Go out looking and creating truly remarkable information, content and fun to share.

As stated in step one, social media is simply a group of tools that help facilitate conversations, but there’s really no replacement for face-to-face interaction. Use trade shows and other events as opportunities to build even stronger relationships with the members of your online community. This could be in the form of an exclusive session, an informal breakfast or even a group picture on the event floor.

Create an editorial calendar. It’s no secret that content rules on a blog, so it’s helpful to have a content plan going into the game. A key element of a good blog is having a list of 7-10 keyword-rich categories. Once you determine the categories (or subtopics) of your blog, you can plan your content calendar. If you plan on posting three times per week, then plot out post ideas for each of your categories. Make a list of 5 topics for each category. Then, fill in your calendar. Five topics times ten categories and you’ve got 50 blog posts in the pipeline.

Create a marketing plan. How will you promote and roll out your new (or existing) social capabilities? Will word-of-mouth marketing be sufficient? Also, a training plan, incentives and recognition programs for frequent posters to communities and moderators will be needed.

Evert Jan Koning

The remarkable 2010 World Cup ads

2010-06-12T12:20:49+00:00

VueRoyale has been collecting the most visible online video ads related to the World Cup 2010.
Some are quite well known, while others are fairly unknown.

8. Sony. Retirement Home (41.000 views)

Sony announced on 8 April that it is offering 25 World Cup games in 3D. In the UK people are asked to trade in their old TV sets in order to experience the World Cup in full force.

Agency HS&P and Live & Breathe made this ‘Retirement home’ commercial for Sony UK which sees former English football managers Terry Venables and Graham Taylor still enjoying the World Cup in their old age. Stereotypically, the nurses all look as good as model Kelly Brook. To give the patriotic hearts of the British people a punch, ex-Scotland player Kenny Dalglish comes into the scene chanting for the ‘USA’ at the end of the commercial.

7. Adidas. Production of World Cup match ball Jabulani (*501,829 views)

What I like about Adidas, is that they somehow always seem to understand that it's not necessary to stick to the cosmetic, show off way of advertising. Here, in a quite serious and thorough approach, Adidas explains the whole production process of the official 2010 FIFA World Cup match ball Jabulani.
You might wonder: 'who would wanna watch that?'. Well, more than 500.000 people including me.

6. Puma. Love is Football (*535.000 views)

Puma's Love Equals Football campaign is a celebration of the sport in Africa, set to the tune of Gnarl Barkley’s Going On. The most-viewed spot for the campaign cuts between scenes of kids playing street soccer and the joy and insanity leading up to the big event. Fans paint themselves in preparation of a game, a young man dribbles a ball through a crowded market, and children play in a makeshift field inside an abandoned pool. For fans of the games, standout moments include a young boy’s slack-jawed expression at an older player’s in-stride rainbow kick, as well as the reckless post-game celebration of dozens of fans inside, outside, and on top of a moving truck. Suffice to say, Love Equals Football is a feel-good campaign for the game of soccer. It has so far racked up over half a million views since its launch in March.

5. Coca-Cola, History of Celebration (570.000 views)

The only official World Cup sponsor on this list, Coca-Cola didn't technically launch its History of Celebration campaign in online video. The campaign, which traces the inception and history of World Cup goal celebrations, was uploaded by South African magazine Marketing Mix in early March. The spot features Cameroon soccer legend Roger Milla, one of the true stars of the 1990 World Cup, as much for his post-goal corner flag dances as his on-field performance. Somewhat surprisingly, the campaign only has a handful of assets, suggesting that it could grow significantly if Coca-Cola gets involved with online seeding and promotions.

4. Adidas, Impossible is Nothing (1 million views)

3. Carlsberg, Team Talk (1.2 million views)

Taking a very different approach is Carlsberg’s Team Talk. This spot drives home the incredible weight-of-expectations that each player on a major team faces when they play in the World Cup. For some teams, simply qualifying for the tournament is an accomplishment. For others, like England, anything short of outright victory may be deemed a national tragedy. So, should Britain's World Cup coach Fabio Capello ever need inspiration to fire up his players, Carlberg's Team Talk should be high on his cheat sheet. The campaign’s official and most-watched creative implores the British side: 'It’s time to prove how good you are. Make no mistake. It’s you. Eleven men. Eleven English men. Against the rest of the world. A world that can’t wait to dump you out and rub your noses in it...' Intense stuff, but authentic. Cleverly, the campaign also includes over 1,200 other clips of English fans giving the pep talk of their lives to their national team. The videos are integrated into game and locker room footage, so it looks as if the fan is England's manager at halftime. The winner of the best team talk will get to give it live to England's players and perhaps the chance to 'join the immortals'.

2. Pepsi: Oh Africa (11.8 million views)

Pepsi's Oh Africa campaign was the first online video mega hit for the 2010 World Cup. It was uploaded in early March with impressive weekly growth, but has since surged to more than one million views for two consecutive weeks. The most-watched spot of the campaign features international stars Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, Andrei Arshavin, Frank Lampard, and (the supremely unlucky) Didier Drogba playing African kids for a Pepsi Max on a living, breathing, and moving soccer field. This spot helps show how involved all of Africa will be in the hosting and celebrating this year’s World Cup.

1. Nike: Write the Future (22.8 million views)

Nike calls the three minute, elaborately produced Write the Future campaign 'among the best we've ever done'. And with 22.8 million views in just three weeks, online video audiences seem to agree. While Nike isn't a World Cup sponsor, the ad follows soccer stars like Italy's Cannevaro, England’s Wayne Rooney, Brazil's Ronaldinho, and Portugal's Ronaldo fighting it out on the field as alternate versions of their futures flash before their eyes with every brilliant move and misplaced kick. The ambitious spot spans continents, sports, and even cartoons, featuring cameos by Roger Federer, Kobe Bryant, and yes, Homer Simpson. While grand in scope, this spot shows just how influential a given player’s on-field World Cup performance can mean to the rest of his life: stellar play could mean celebrations with dancing girls, while poor choices with the ball might portend a barren existence in a trailer park. Perhaps a little overblown, but not by much. Nike included a brief reference to that odd phenomenon known as the viral video at around 1:57. [Warning: shameless self-promotion] If you watch closely, this bit helps illustrate the importance of our unique True Reach methodology!

Trust. Simon Sinek explains why

2010-06-11T10:33:45+00:00

A most see for any marketeer out there.

Social media in Spain: the numbers

2010-06-05T21:32:45+00:00

Not every slide is as compelling as the other one, but to my surprise Tuenti beats both Google, Facebook, and even Twitter by means of usage and traffic.

In the next week to come I'll do my first serious study on the Spanish online communication market.

Why Carla Bruni Sarkozy?

2010-05-28T10:40:01+00:00

Remember the awesome video of Bob Dylan where he uses the paper sheets to bring across his message? How many times is that legendary video concept copied...

A new charity campaign -Born HIV Free- chose to use the worn out but proven concept again. Sofar no problem. But what if Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is trying to get your attention?

Isn't it the performers backgound that gets the job done if it comes to campaigning?
John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Bono, Tracy Chapman and Eva Cassidy, all brilliant artists. They knew how to how to raise awareness around an issue. You know why?

Because nobody asks why they do it.

(Born HIV Free was started by Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and has mainstream support from Google, MSN, Orange and YouTube. One billion web impressions were donated to spread awareness to the cause and musicians such as U2's Bono and Amy Winehouse have lent their support.)

Daniel Goleman on being good

2010-05-12T11:42:07+00:00

Goleman's views on marketing may not be as clear as many of us should want. He does not refer to marketing in terms of economics, but in terms of sentiments and psychology.

Goleman’s latest book is Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything. The book argues that new information technologies will create “radical transparency,” allowing us to know the environmental, health, and social consequences of what we buy. As shoppers use point-of-purchase ecological comparisons to guide their purchases, market share will shift to support steady, incremental upgrades in how products are made – changing every thing for the better.

A very interesting read for anyone of us out there who believe our future is in consumption

Brands are equal to people

2010-05-12T08:46:32+00:00

Let's have a look at how people behave and why you trust them (or not)...

1. Being on time

Just like your friends, you hate it when they're late don't you? You feel disregarded and even disrespected. It's the same feeling you experience when you take the effort to approach a customer service, a human resources manager or a sales person. And if they don't respond to your enquiry or wish you feel neglected. What makes a proper response or delivery so important to us?
The answer is simple: it's not about losing time or not having the product on time. It's the undermining of your self estime.
People love to tell themselves that they are in control. And a brand that undermines that is not trusted.

2. Keep your promise

Somehow, when I reflect on my friends, the first thing that comes to mind is: has he or she ever let me down? Why is that so important to us? Well, letting you down implies there has been a fundamental trusted relation before. There has been loyalty, respect and faith for some serious time.
If your brand let's a customer down by cheating, lying or a sudden underperformance customers will transform directly into enemies looking for some instant compensation for their hurt.
They will use social media to point out how terrible and horrific you actually are.
Just like the unfaithful husband, wife or friend.

3. Be nice

Being overly friendly all the time gets on the nerves. But being nice most of the time is important.
Being nice as a brand means exactly the same as in daily life; show you interest on a frequent basis, listen and whilst paying attention, smile and give something to show you're grateful now and again. In the current marketing mechnism there's really no excuse for not knowing who your most loyal or important customers are.
The most powerful way to reward a loyal customer is not a discount, but to completely surprise them.
A gift or generous compiment by surprise once in a while is more powerful than anything (and cheaper than advertising).

4. Be smart

Being smart sounds pretty obvious. But bare in mind that the number of managers that put their smartest employer in the backseat are countless. They might even consider keeping the smart people away from media or management because they assume it is safer; they figure they can't ruin the carefully built brand.
Do you remember the moment that you forgot to ask that smart but slightly annoying guy to advise you on the issue you know you personally don't seem to master?
Well, problably you have some smart guys with brilliant ideas sitting in the back of your company right now. Make sure you develop a program to get them involved, and be grateful for their critisism!

5. Be yourself

Be all you can be! But don't forget where you come from.
Obviously becoming a trusted brand is something of immeasurable value. But keep being connected with the real and genuine roots of your company, or the known consensus amongst your clients and customers. Be vulnerable to a certain extend, and show your will to learn rather than overestimate your product or service. Don't you just love your best friend for always being honest to you?

6. Don't be prejudiced

Don't you just hate it when people judge you without having paid any serious attention?
The same goes for brands.
There is no bigger mistake for any social marketeer than to be full of itself and to clearly not show any respect for it competitors. So don't disqualify your competitor without doing a thorough check on it merits and value, and if you plan to do so, make sure you underpin your statement with modesty and -above all- undisputable facts.

7. Be a sport

Why are the Olympics a much stronger brand than the World Cup? In fact, the World Cup isn't a brand at all. There's is virtually no car brand that wants to hand out cars to every single football player that takes part in the World Cup. There is however Volkswagen in The Netherlands to sponsor every olympic sportsman with a free Polo. And nut just whilst the games are on. The belief is that the Olympics represent an everlasting way to keep communicating, even during wars.
Being a sport is more significant than just by sponsoring an event. It means showing respect for the weaker and being altruistic in times of complaints. Be generous!

8. Dress to the occasion

Forget about the anti advertising lobby! Design and looks are just as important as it is in daily, personal life. Thinking advertsing and push communication is outdated is silly; everyone loves to see someone look nice, intriguing, exciting, stylish or just sweet.
The only thing that has changed is the number and shape of the occasions, and the risk to over or underdress. So make sure you have a very diverse marketing and communications department, or hire the most flexible online communication expert available.

9. Be brave!

How often do you hear yourself saying: 'what a coward, hiding behind a press officer!' (Or hiding behind 'company policy'). How many times have you been dissapointed by a manager who was trying to obstruct a necessary change by looking for shelter?
If you know you can make a difference and help your brand to be more loved by taking some risk, then do so! Your employees will love you for your courage, and your brand will benefit from it.
The new generation customers lacks the experience of true political leaders and is very keen on brave and authentic brands. It's their world, isn't it?
And more important; they have a network to share!

Complete list of Google Analytics tools

2010-04-28T08:47:27+00:00

Google Analytics is a powerful tool to measure the behaviour of your websites visitors. Not everybody is aware however that there is a huge amount of add-ons, plugins and other tools that combine Google Analytics data with email or search data. In this chart a list with more than 40 add ons to empower your use of Google Analytics.

Some are specially directed to social media optimation.

* Benchmark
* Campaign
* Content Management Systeem
* Dashboard
* Email
* Excel
* Functionality
* Implementation
* Mobile
* Notice
* Social Media
* Survey
* Toolbar
* Weblog
* Webshop
* Search Engine Optimation

Benchmark

See the Stats

See the Stats is a benchmark tool that allows site owners that apply to have insights in Google Analytics data of other people that register. See the stats slso offers a widget with website visitor data to put on your website. Can be useful to service advertisers.

Campaign

Google Analytics campaign builder with short URL and Twitter posting
An extended version of Google Analytics’ own URL Maker. Offers an easier and more time saving solution to create Google Analytics Campaign URLs. The Google Analytics campaign URL’s are to export directly to Excel, and thers is an instant short URL button for the use with Twitter.

CMS

GX Webmanager Google Analytics Integration

GX Content Management System offers a connection to Google Analytics which offers the display of visitors behaviour from within the GX Content Management System.

Dashboard

Youcalc On Demand Analytics

Youcalc offers a realtime insight via a connection with Google Analytics to develop Apps for the use of mobiel devices, iGoogle, blogs etc. A very handy tools for making customised dashboards or to create integration with other data sources. Moreover it shows Google Analytics stats without having to log in to your webaccount.

Trakkboard

Trakkboard is a useful tool that enables you to develop personal, customised Google Analytics KPI dashboards. It offers a solution to combine different Google Analytics accounts and view webstatistics from your desktop.

Embedded Analytics

Embedded Analytics gives you integrated Analytics reports in your website. You can even define the metrics yourself and design it the way you want for presentation.

AnalyticsView

AnalyticsView is a also useful tool for personalization of customised reports based on your own Google Analytics data. The reports can be shared.

Klipfolio

Klipfolio is another dashboard tool to convert Google Analytics data inton a well ordered design.

Visual Basic Macros

Visual Basic Macros gives the opportunity to export GA data to MS Office and to implement the output in Microsoft Powerpoint.

Google Analytics Visualizer

Google Analytics Visualizer is a tool based on Visual Basic Macros. Good use for personal visualisation!

Polaris Desktop Widget

Another desktop Widget to combine and convert any Google Analytics data to your desketop.

Google Analytics Reporting Suite (Adobe)

Same concept, now from Adobe.

Fire Analytics

Fire Analytics is a Firefox extension that integrates Google Analytics reports in the Firefox browser.

Trendly

Trendly is a dashboarding tool that displays the increase of decline of your Google Analytics metrics. They call it: Google Analytics keeps track of your website. We keep track of your Google Analytics.

E-mail

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is a email tracking solution containing full integration with Google Analytics. This way Google Analytics data can be combined with the data from you email suite and shows you how email subscribers behave in your website. It also shows you where the new subscribers come from. This is all integrated in an amazing email solution from Mailchimp.

Excel

Google Analytics Data Fetch

Easy solution to transfer Google Analytics data to Excel without having to install any plugins. Can be tweaked to personal desire and for sharing with others.

Excellent Analytics

Excellent Analytics is a comprehensive Excel plugin for importing Google Analytics data into Excel. Enables you to buid queries with all reports available in Google Analytics.

Tatvic Google Analytics Excel Plugin

The Tatvic GA Excel plugin is a data import tool for Google Analytics. For use of Google Analytics reports in Excel.

Shufflepoint

Shufflepoint integrates Excel with Google Analytics by using the web query tool of MS Excel. Instant viewing of preferred display.

Export to Google Docs from Google Anlaytics

Userscripts is all about exporting data from Google Analytics to Google Docs. It only works if the same account is used for both Analytics as Docs wordt and has a limitation of 10000 rows of data.

Functionality

Better Google Analytics

Better Google Analytics is a Firefox extension. It enables you to implement various Greasemonkey userscripts in Google Analytics. For instance; Auto acces Google Analytics account, Add search to GA keywords report, GA full screen reports, Advanced data selection, Quick content search and much more.

Google Analytics Profile Switching

A useful Greasemonkey script for Firefox to easily swap between different profiles.

Goal copy

GoalCopy is another Firefox extension to easily copy goals to another profile.

Google Analytics Bookmarks

Google Analytics Bookmarks is a real timesaver. Scripts for use of copying goals, profiles and filters.

Implementation

SiteScan

Is the Google Analytics Javascript on each page of your website? EpikOne's SiteScan does the check. By using a text and common search query SiteScan scans youe website for the Google Analytics tracking script.

WASP (Web Analytics Solution Profiler)

WASP is a Firefox plugin that checks if Google Analytics is on all your pages and has been implemented correctly.

Statistics Detector

De Statistics Detector is a Greasemonkey script for Firefox. It performs both text and regular expression search quieries in the code of your website and searches for the Google Analytics tracking code.

ObservePoint

ObservePoint is again a tool that tracks your website looking for Google Analytics code. It puts out a clear insight in pages of your website that might not have been properly implemented with GA code. But, in this case it also measures the loading time of the page, and more specific the tracking code.

Mobile

Analytics App for iPhone

Analytics App is an app for your iPhone or iPod Touch. It contains more than 55 Google Analytics raeports.

Google Analytics for Android

A Google Analytics application for the use of an Android mobile, like Nokia.

Google Analytics App for Windows Mobile

Same concept for voor Windows cellphones. Pretty basic really.

Notice

FutureNow OnTarget

OnTarget is a tool that based on Google Analytics converts data to intelligent suggestions for the improvement of your SEO. This tool creates a temporary to-do list with ‘high-impact changes’ based on learnings that the tool collects in your Google Analytics.

Social Media

PostRankAnalytics (Social Engagement)

The PostRank Analytics measures what's happening outside your website on Twitter, Facebook etc.
It also gives you an insight of the reach of your content and reports about the engagement of visitors. PostRankAnalytics offers integration with Google Analytics whilst showing a complete picture of everything happening on and off your website.

Social Media Metrics Greasemonkey Plugin For Google Analytics

SMMG is a Greasemonkey script for Firefox users to easily import information from Google Analytics from Digg, Del.icio.us, Yahoo inLinks, StumbleUpon and many other social media.

Survey

Kampyle Voice of Customer

Kampyle is a feedback tool to enable site visitors to comment (and critise!) on your website. Based on Google Analytics integration it shows you what visitors of all pages think of it and what is the derived location where they came from.

Toolbar

Easynet Analytics Toolbar

With Easynet Analytics Toolbar you can get to your Analytics reports directly from a toolbar on top of your browser. It does show the most important metrics aswell.

Weblog

Yoast Google Analytics Plugin for WordPress

This is a Google Analytics Plugin for WordPress. After installation every page will automatically contain a Google Analytics tag. It also measures all outgoing links and downloads. Adsense clicks are reported too.

Webshop

Fooman Magento Google Analytics Plugin

Magento is an open source ecommerce platform that enables you to build basic webshops. By using the Google Analytics Plugin you automatically provide every page with a Google Analytics tag.

SEO, Search Engine Optimisation

SEO Rank Monitor

SEO Rank Monitor connects SEO rankings (natural search) to Google Analytics. It shows not only the ranking on certain keywords, but also how many visitors this keyword gained.

Concentrate Long Tail Search Analytics

Concentrate is a search analytics tool for SEO and SEA analysis. By integating Google Analytics it displays all relevant information about keywords, position, visitors and conversion.

Wordstream

Wordstream is a tool for search analytics and in combination with Google Analytics this tool offers loads of interesting information about keywords, position, visitors, conversion and revenue.

Internet is not communicating

2010-04-14T18:18:53+00:00

The last advertising agency on earth

2010-04-05T20:43:16+00:00

It's clearly not cool to approve of 30 second commercials, but it's not the 30 seconds that's the problem. In fact, my belief is that there's is a bright future for communication and creativity. Over three years ago I did just the same: I bashed the advertising industry and culture, which caused quite a stir. Not much later I accepted an offer to work as a strategist at one of the largest an most awarded advertising agencies in The Netherlands.

I now know it's the unaltered structure and position of the creative direction within the agency that is the problem.

How to develop a search strategy

2010-04-04T21:23:49+00:00

It's good to know and understand the full bias of search strategy. And who's better to explain than Google itself. Takes you a small hour but trust me; it's worth your time.