Free Beer: Marketing, Blogs, Virtual Worlds, Second Life Consulting

Any product, however ridiculous, can look good when used by Asian Models In Evening wear.

Via Textually and DVICE.

Crikey and others have written about the lack of direction at Coles.

Here are some suggestions, without the benefit of any market research information.

1. Use social software and market research to solicit the best ideas from the shop floor. Coles employees skew young and are comfortable with this technology already but they are not engaged with the challenge. Every store has people with good ideas who (I suspect) have never been asked their opinion. Let staff rate each others’ ideas and reward the best ones. You have the biggest workforce in Australia. If they want you to succeed, you will.

2. My hunch is that Coles should be re-positioned as LOCAL, generating pride at store level as to their separate identity; re-stating COLES as COLES ARMADALE, COLES MOSMAN PARK etc. Stores would source and promote locally grown produce and provide opportunities for in-store community advocacy. There will be substantial goodwill in ‘giving Coles back to the community’. It’s more about the people than shiny new stores and stock levels.

3. Coles Fruit & Veg should lead a deep restructuring of the farming industry; explaining food quality and wastage issues to consumers. Conspicuous, closer links with farmers.

4. Run a high-profile campaign in the short term called ‘Turning Coles Around’ in which you promote your desire for public feedback. Suggestion boxes on every checkout. Create www.turningcolesaround.com.au, publishing staff and customer suggestions. Making Coles an underdog is a strategy that will work very well in Australian culture.

My preferred café is closed over the holiday season so I’ve been visiting the slightly less fashionable one down the street. It’s run by a Turkish lady and her business partner. They’ve bought this place at considerable financial risk. Business is less than hoped for, in spite of the fact that she cooks very well and they make good coffee. The place is an old house; large. Ugly. No other word for it.

Today, after asking some questions about her clientele, I gave her some unsolicited marketing advice on how to improve business.

1. Remove ugly signage

2. Work your strengths

The strongest area is the side path along the left hand side of the building; dappled light, intimate but barely noticeable from the street. There are about 8 tables for two behind the two front ones.

I suggested she needs to draw attention to this area by creating a bamboo wall (say) from the front of the house to the street, so that the path is the same width all the way. Re-orient the tables and chairs so they face the same way as the ones down the back; that will exaggerate the visual connection.

3. Garden full of furniture; house full of plants

We should visually join the inside of the premises (which are quite friendly) to the outdoor area. Because of the tinted window it’s not clear that there is seating in there. So remove the tinting.

4. Atmosphere is not necessarily expensive

The predominant view walking past the premises is this white wall. Note ugly pipes:

But look closer; there are colourful flowers on the ground:

These need to be put on blocks so that they are eye level or at least cover the pipes. This and an understated wall feature higher up will do the trick. The owner likes gardening. I told her to go crazy. Tiny vase on each table. Visible flowers in that front area will add massive appeal at practically no cost.

I’ll update via the comments if she implements and advise of the results.

Starting with a cricket theme, we are giving viewers the chance to evict television personalities, programs and executives.

As the graph says, SMS your victim’s number or enter it on the web at m.smspoll.net

Cruel. But fair.

One vote only! By the way, SMS votes are at your normal SMS rates, not at premium rates. This is how we roll.

Google’s changes to their Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) let you change the order of your search results. I’m so excited I could breathe. How often do you re-do a search? Those searches would be a very small fraction of my total searches so why would I invest the time removing rogue sites and re-ordering the results?

Unless Google plans to take into account my re-ordering, frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn. Perhaps Google hopes that by aggregating the re-ordering they can assemble more useful SERPS but I doubt even that would work. The people with the vested interest in shifting results are black hat SEO operators, ie the baddies, so I doubt Google will pay any attention to the re-ordering.

They are allowing you to view what other people say about sites and their re-ordering of them and that is a step towards what I’ve described as a next generation search engine. But it’s a very small step. Would be nice to see third party comments on a site if people bother to annotate. But what’s in it for them?

Listening to Bruce Clay and Matt Cutts discussing the future of Google, the key trends are increased personalisation and localisation of search results.

In other words, Google will know where you are, so it will automatically give you the local laundromats if you type in ‘laundromat’. And it will profile your searches (and perhaps your gmail) to help deliver results that match your own particular twisted personality. Bruce’s claim that ‘ranking is dead’ is just headline-seeking. There will still be benefits in localising your pages and optimising them for your target market, it’s just that it will be a bit harder to prove to a client that you’ve done the job right, because there won’t be a single overall search result page. But as Cutts points out, this is already the case. Australian sites produce Australian pages and so on.

The move towards intent-based search and local search are logical extensions for Google. The only people entitled to panic are the companies trying to flog local search directories. That would include Yellow Pages.

The interesting thing for me in Clay’s talk was the notion of Google interrogating audio/video files and weighting search results towards sites providing video content, what he calls ‘engagement objects’. I suspect that process is fraught with technical difficulties but it makes a lot of sense for Google to go down that path. If you’re not currently doing video on your site, go buy a green screen.

I do agree with Clay and Cutts that people offering SEO services will need to broaden their service offering; the future is not just about ranking, it’s about (1) an effective reach and (2) an effective web presence when they find you. I’m quite happy about that trend, it’s what I already do for clients.

From the Department of I Told You So, Google’s Lively has got the boot and Second Life continues to lose corporate traction. Reuters and Avastar have abandoned the platform. Quarter three in Second Life saw negative growth.

Business was interested in Second Life because it was a new interface and it was growing quickly. There will be interest again when there is a jump in the user experience or user numbers. Platform stability would also be a bonus. User numbers will grow only when there is a less demanding interface. Any bonehead can use Facebook.

Second Life’s legacy is significant; the compelling experience of virtual sex, the astonishing creativity of user-generated content in architecture and fashion, the rapid bonding powers of anonymous friendship…

It will continue to be interesting for at least two reasons; the education sector’s on-going search for a more engaging remote education experience and the governance issues surrounding virtual world environments as open as this. The most recent uproar in Second Life was over the pricing of certain types of islands, OpenSpace Sims but it is part of a long history of governance failures.

Linden Lab, who run Second Life, have complete authority but the passion of users who invest time in personal creativity and run virtual businesses makes law-making a very tough management task. I’ll never forget my first interaction with a Second Life entrepreneur; FURIOUS that someone had accidentally built over a virtual boundary, costing him (I calculated) around 20 cents an hour in revenue for a small number of hours. He was ready to rip someone’s head off.

The ego and significance that accrues in the virtual environment makes this a fascinating sandbox for modelling real-world decision-making. If LL work out how to make popular decisions in this environment, they will have learned something very valuable.

Photo by Miabella Foxley.

You’ve described Radio National as the jewel in the crown of the ABC. I don’t understand why you would allow the removal of some of the most distinctive gems.

The ABC Media Release describes the shelving of eight programs. The justification given is the need for more digital broadcasting resources following the success of RN podcasting. 1.7 million downloads a month, 50% of all the ABC’s downloads and 125% higher than the previous year.

*Scratches head*

Why has podcasting been so successful for RN? Do you think it might have something to do with the PROGRAMMING? It is of course good practice to review programming but what confuses me is the removal of highly distinctive shows. For example:

There is no other program in the electronic media that addresses sport the way that The Sports Factor does. It deals with the culture of sport; from a spectator’s, administrator’s, coach’s and player’s viewpoint. It is moving and insightful. Are they words you associate with any other sports show? A great loss to the media. Its replacement is the show that reviews movies. Actually, movie review shows work better when you can SEE a snippet of the movie being reviewed and what do you know? There are ALREADY two TV shows on the public broadcasting network dealing with this!

Radio Eye is challenging, sometimes hypnotic radio. Meandering, poetic documentaries using powerful sound landscapes. Non-linear documentaries. A style of radio not heard elsewhere and not possible on screen media.

The Media Report: analysing the media during a time of critical change in a way that commercial broadcasting has not been able or willing to do. If anything, a program limited by its half hour format, needing longer to properly deal with complex social and political issues.

And the Religion Report. Mark, as you know, I’ve been a liberal atheist all my adult life. So when I listen to someone like Robert Silico, a right wing, conservative thinker, and he argues a case for Christianity as the foundation of liberal values (and he argues the case well) I am learning something. I am being challenged. That sort of radio flicks my switches.

Again, there is no program in Australia that covers this territory; the contest for influence within each religion, discussion of the role of religion, explanations of religious viewpoints… In the broadest possible sense it is a call for religious tolerance.

The Media Release also says that podcasts are attracting a younger listenership. So what? Radio National’s market segment is not an age bracket; it is people who like intelligent discussion. You already have a youth network. The reason for the lower average age of a podcasting listener is simply that they are more comfortable with the technology. The success of podcasting is not a reason to alter your programming mix; it is a result of your programming mix.

These decisions are difficult, but you need to preserve the programs that cover important themes and the programs that are distinctive. The Media Report and the Religion Report fit both categories. Radio Eye and The Sports Factor are distinctive. Please reconsider the decision.

Footnote: Stephen Crittenden, presenter of the Religion Report, was critical on air of the ‘decommissioning’ and has been stood aside pending an inquiry. Management don’t like staff questioning their decisions but because of the importance of these programs in the public eye, you should cut a little slack. The debate as to what is aired should be public. I can even imagine it becoming a Radio National show. Call it ‘The Media Report’.

FREE. More than any other word, this word gives marketing a bad name. The most recent example to cross my virtual desk was a ‘Sponsor Update’ from WebProNews, a source of huge volumes of Search Engine Optimisation information; small portions of it useful. A ‘free’ offer for Brad Callen’s book, SEO Mindset: The Real Secrets To Getting #1 Google Rankings For Whatever Keywords You Want, Whenever You Want. Also cures cancer.

If you have to pay postage and handling, it’s not free Brad. If the book is free for those who pick it up in Podunk, Idaho, great. Say that it is a FREE PICK-UP in Podunk. If it’s free with an Amway Toilet Bowl Cleaner it’s a FREE WITH offer.

By the way, you say that the book has a value of $97. Have you sold it to people you don’t know for $97? Because otherwise you are scamming me. You say you are offering almost $470 worth of other products also ‘totally free’. They may be fantastic value but they are not ‘totally free’.

The marketing profession (American Marketing Association, Australian Marketing Institute - I’d link to them but their website doesn’t work) should delineate FREE, FREE PICK UP and FREE WITH. They should set parameters for establishing the value of a product that is not retailed. The practice of calling things free when they’re not and the practice of inventing ridiculously high values for your products should be the subject of industry attention and scorn.

You make us all look bad, Brad. Check your mindset.

The City of Perth is contributing $200,000 to the Christmas Pageant. But they want their pound of flesh. Naming rights. Trouble is, there are already two other sponsors. No problem, we’ll just call it “The RAC Channel 7 Christmas Pageant with the City of Perth”. I’m not making it up. That’s what they say the event will be known as.

Now, you know, and I know, the public is not going to call it that. It has been “The Christmas Pageant” since Jesus was a boy. Well, the 1970’s anyway.

It’s a great example of the quid pro quo mentality of modern sponsorship. Sure we’ll kick in some money; WHAT DO WE GET IN RETURN? Very Christmas-spirited of them.

In this case though, by insisting on a naming rights appendix, they just make their event look ridiculous.

Perhaps they should drop the words ‘Christmas Pageant’ altogether and just list the sponsors?

I haven’t had one since I was ten: Barry Cable. When that guy unleashed a drop kick it was like fucking ballet. Not sure if girls have this to the same extent but heroes are a great reassurance to boys; there is something comforting in the notion that somewhere, a man has perfected the drop kick.

This post is homage to a guy I regard as the English speaking world’s most insightful commentator. Gary Trudeau writes Doonesbury, syndicated around the world and the only strip published daily in The Australian. A discerning choice; I think he’ll be looked back on as a Shakespeare or a Dickens.

Knowing the characters now, I can pick it up and read it one-off, but regular reading is most rewarding. It’s on-line here and you can subscribe to get access to the entire archive. There are, of course, many compilation books, including my favourite, ‘But The Pension Fund Was Just Sitting There!’

Sometimes a dozen words is all he needs to lay bare the ironies of human behaviour. And he’s funny. Rick has just been retrenched after a long career as an investigative reporter for the Washington Post:

That’s typical; something you read in a few seconds and in that time Trudeau has addressed middle aged men’s struggle to connect, their awkwardness and their capacity to accept what is and get on with things. So much said through what is unspoken.

A week ago, he told the story of Rick’s retrenchment conversation with his editor:

A great Radio New Zealand interview explains Trudeau’s connection with veterans of the Iraqi war. Those who’ve read Doonesbury know how powerfully he has covered the politics and the human issues. Whilst being funny.

Trudeau’s contribution has been properly acknowledged; he is the only cartoonist to win the Pulitzer Prize. 38 years of daily commentary. Damn that guy can drop kick.

Apologies for the flagrant abuse of copyright.