Social media

A Question about Social Media…

Is social media marketing about giving a brand a voice and starting a conversation for the purposes of swindling people to buy a product? Or is it about creating a utility they can’t live without?


Nine Things Salespeople Won’t Tell You…

That idea will not work.
Your company isn’t suited to this.
We cannot help you.
We’re prepared to work - and charge - based on performance.
We have no idea what we’re doing.
This is going to be time consuming.
Don’t stop your traditional media spend.
The only products we understand are the ones we’re selling you.
That shirt you’re wearing doesn’t quite [...]


Please Fix the iPhone

When Vodacom introduced the iPhone to South Africa in September, I was one of the first to spurge R7k in the hopes of getting one of the most advanced cellphones on the market. Then, like many others, I realised that while I love my iPhone’s applications. sleek sex appeal and “oh so lick me” interface, [...]


Americans, Please Don’t Vote

This engaging PSA (public service announcement) as created to encourage the American youth to register to vote in the American election, currently underway. Brilliant!

Quite frankly, this is something that needs to be created for our own country.


Introducing DestinyConnect

You may have noticed that things are a little quiet on the blogging front, mostly because things at Cosmedia are heating up. We’re currently working on a number of corporate projects and I’d like to boast - if I may - about one project in particular.
Over the past few months I have been working hard with [...]


David Ogilvy & The Truth About Advertising

In a revolutionary video, the late “The Father of Advertising David Ogilvy calls for a shift in the role advertising plays; how direct response advertising is far more powerful than “general” advertising. His brilliance translates to how social media and online marketing - in fact, all communication activities - should be about bottom line results.


The South African Political Debate Alive Online Too

Thanks to social media and user generated media, individuals like you and I are drawing attention beyond the media to important political insight and opinion that could shape our tomorrows. In America alone, more than 60 million people rely on the Internet for political news and electoral debate. And if a look at Amatomu has [...]


Six Ways to Address the Gap Between Inspiration & Implementation in the Online Arena

Realities in the competitive landscape are forcing management to rethink how their companies are communicating with their customers, how their products and services can become utilities to customers’ lives, and ultimately how digital and online (including social media) strategies can become a key part of their companies’ experience.
Inspiration that addresses these realities comes in various [...]


Societal Change - Advertising Campaigns About Homophobia & Gay Issues

Advertising to the gay community is nothing new. MTV, General Motors, Nivea for Men, D&G, and Levi’s are amongst the many brands that have done so.  In fact, according to a report on mygayweb.com, 78% of gay online users prefer to buy from companies that target market to the GLBT (Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender) community (via). [...]


Advertising That Changes Society

There’s something about certain advertising and marketing campaigns that gets to the core of who I am - and I am sure you are - as a person. And as you probably picked up from my post yesterday about Blog Action Day, I’m one of those people that believes that a lot of good can come [...]


Blog Action Day - Let’s Change the Conversation

On 15 October 2008 it’s Blog Action Day, an annual nonprofit global event that aims to bring together the world’s social media community to post on the same day about an important issue for the sake of raising awareness and sparking a powerful global discussion. 
This year the issue of focus will be poverty.
Living in Africa, this is [...]


Social Networking is about Complimenting Not Replacing the Real World

One of the questions I often get asked when I meet a new client is “should we replace traditional media with online marketing or social media?” and more often than not my answer is no. Why? Because the role of marketing and communications is to strategically align our businesses with our consumer, brand supporter and stakeholders, and [...]


A Lesson on Blogs and Blogging

The thing about owning your own company - especially one that is focused on strategy and consulting - is that time is of the essence. If my lack of blogging has anything to say, my time has been spread thin of late, which from a business perspective is great.
However, truth be told, I’m having myself what [...]


Social Media usage now a Mainstream Activity

 
Marshall Kirkpatrick reports via Read Write Web that the fastest growing US companies are rapidly adopting Social Media.
A one year follow up on a study of social media adoption at 500 of the fastest growing companies in the US has found that familiarity with and use of blogs, podcasting, wikis, online video and social networking has skyrocketed [...]


Social Networking is a Global Phenomenon

May people think that social media is an international affair, predominantly the domain of the U.S. However, the reality is that social media is a global phenomenon occurring across all markets irrespective of wider economic, cultural or social development. And there’s proof.
According to ComScore, social networking sites grew only 9 percent from June 2007 in the [...]