15.6.09

TOP MARKETING BLOGS 2009


The Top 50 Top Australian Marketing Blogs 2009



01.

Bannerblog

Bannerblog.com.au

These guys are getting rather good at the blogging game. Retaining top-spot from the list B&T published in 2008 are Bannerblog creators Ashley Ringrose of Soap Creative and Ashadi Hopper of RMG Connect. Launched in 2005 to showcase online banner ads, it continues to go from strength to strength.





02.

Acidlabs.org

Acidlabs.org

Canberra-based Stephen Collins is the man behind this blog. His stated intention is "to help individuals, brands and organisations understand their clients, stakeholders and people by working with them on listening, engaging and being human."



03.

Servant of Chaos

Servantofchaos.com

With a background in marketing and publishing, Sydney-based Gavin Heaton slips back one spot from the 2008 list into third. Heaton says he's focused - among other things - on the scripting and crafting of brand stories. Well worth a look for content on branding, digital strategy and social media.



04.

Inspiration Room Daily

Theinspirationroom.com/daily

Part of The Inspiration Room - a site that "through the use of world-leading visual search technology offers members a unique platform to display, search and filter creative work" - the daily'blog is authored by the Gold Coast's Duncan Macleod.



05.

Mumbrella

Mumbrella.com.au

Founded at the turn of the year by former B&T editor Tim Burrowes, Mumbrella came out of the traps fast with a mix of news, opinion and diary sections. The site looks to have a met a pent-up demand for conversation around big topics for those in and around the social media community.



06.

Marketing Magazine

Marketingmag.com.au/blogs

Leaving its bigger rivals from the B2B publishing world in the dust is the blog from Marketing Magazine. The site has leapt a whopping 14 places since the last time B&T published it Top 50 Bloggers list back in October 2008, so hats off to these guys for making up so much ground.



07.

Laurel Papworth

Laurelpapworth.com

Slipping back from 4th spot in our 2008 list, Papworth is among the most active, prolific and outspoken bloggers in the Australian social media community. Her blog, which also made it in to AdAge's recent Power 150 list, is focused on "the business of being social".



08.

Young PR

Youngie.prblogs.org

With the stated intent of discussing issues affecting PR students and new practitioners to the industry, the blog is authored by the eponymous Paul Young. It slides back from the heady heights of third position versus our 2008 list.



09.

Adspace Pioneers

Adspace-pioneers.blogspot.com

Digital strategist at The Population, Julian Cole has been running this blog since his university days. Well written and very collaborative in tone, there's the odd bit of activist-type activity on here too. Earlier this year, Cole hijacked an online Samboy Crisps competition to raise funds for the bushfire appeal.



10.

London Calling

Andrewgrill.com/blog

A new entrant to the top-10, author Andrew Grill is focusing on mobile advertising here. With a mix of stories from overseas and his own views and theories on related events, Grill's blog could continue to go from strength to strength as marketers' attention increasingly turns to mobile.

11. Personalize Media

Personalizemedia.com

12. Get Shouty

Katiechatfield.wordpress.com

13. Brand DNA

Branddna.blogspot.com

14. The Marketer

Themarketer.typepad.com

15. Copywrite

Jonathancrossfield.com/blog

16.Online Marketing Banter

Onlinemarketingbanter.com

17. Amnesia Blog

Amnesiablog.wordpress.com

18. Mark Pollard

Markpollard.net

19. Better Communications Results

Leehopkins.net

20. Gourmet Ads

Gourmetads.com

21. Gold Coast Web Designers

Tailored.com.au

22. Angus Whines

Anguswhines.typepad.com

23. Pigs Don't Fly

Pigsdontfly.com

24. Three Billion

Threebillion.com

25. PR Disasters

Prdisasters.com

26. Creative Is Not A Department

Davidgillespie.wordpress.com

27. A Pespective

Jyesmith.com

28. Business of Marketing and Branding

Mokummarketing.com/blog

29. Marketing Easy

Marketingeasy.net

30. Zakazukhazoo

E-cbd.com/zakazukhazoo

31. Kate@Stickywood

Stickywood.blogspot.com

32. Corporate Engagement

Trevorcook.typepad.com/weblog

33. Shifted Pixels

Shiftedpixels.com.au/blog

34. Sticky Ads

Stickyads.com.au

35. Mark Neely's Blog

Infolution.com.au

36. Talking Digital

Talkingdigital.wordpress.com

37. Media Hunter

Mediahunter.typepad.com

38. Preneur Marketing

Preneurmarketing.com

39. WOM Marketing For Small Business

Wordofmouthmagic.com

40. The Digestif

Thedigestif.blogspot.com

41. PR Warrior

Prwarrior.typepad.com

42. The Flasher

Sydnaked.typepad.com

43. Who Is In Control Of Your Brand

From.simontsmall.com

44. Another Advertising Wanker

Anotheradvertisingwanker.blogspot.com

45. Dominique Hind Collective

Dominiquehind.wordpress.com

46. The Zeitgeists

Thezeitgeists.blogspot.com

47. Ecio Lab

Eicolab.com.au/blog

48. In My Atmosphere

Inmyatmosphere.blogspot.com

49. Frank Thoughts

Frankmedia.com.au/blog

50. Ryan's View

Hillandknowlton.com/blogs/ryanpeal



Methodology

The Population Top 50 Australian Marketing Blogs are scored out of 50 with scores out of 10 given in five categories. A subjective mark is given for how thought provoking the content is, how often the site is updated and how much insight the authors provides into the field of marketing.

Google Page Rank, Alexa Traffic Rank, and a list of the number of unique blogs that link into that website and the number of posts that have cited that website in a post are also calculated with a score given out of 10.

Top 164 Australian Marketing Pioneer Blogs

Top 164 Australian Marketing Pioneers BlogsPioneer RankingGoogle Page RankTech Authority ScoreTech Reactions 10Alexa Rating ScoreTotal
1Bannerblog8675935
3Acidlabs8676734
2Servant of Chaos9576734
4Inspiration Room Daily7575933
5mUmbrella9464932
6Marketing Magazine8554830
7Laurel Papworth8463829
8Young PR8544829
9Adspace-Pioneers8455628
10London Calling8544728
11Personalize Media8544728
12Amnesia Blog7454828
13Get Shouty8445627
14Brand DNA8545527
15The Marketer8454627
16Copywrite7453827
17Online Marketing Banter8443827
18Media Hunter8444727
19Better Communication Results7354726
20Three Billion8543525
21Gold Coast Web Designers6433824
22Angus Whines7444524
23Pigs Don’t Fly8443524
24PR Disasters7443523
25Creative Is Not A Department8443423
26A perspective8432623
27Gourmet Ads8403823
28Business of Marketing and Branding6444422
29Marketing Easy6442622
30Zakazukhazoo8421722
31Kate @ Stickywood8432522
32Mark Pollard8332622
33Zebra Bites8432522
34Sticky Ads7324622
35Corporate Engagement7423521
36Shifted Pixels8331621
37Mark Neely's Blog7422621
38Talking Digital8331621
39In My Atomosphere8433321
40Preneur Marketing7322620
41Word of Mouth Marketing for Small Business5334520
42The Digestif8422420
43PR Warrior8322520
44The Flasher8332420
45Who is in conrtol of your b****8331520
46Another Advertising Wanker8421520
47Dominique Hind Collective8321519
48Innovation Feeder6422519
49EcioLab7520519
50FRANKthoughts8321519
51Ryan's view6221819
52The Zeitgeists7331519
53Digital Buzz Blog7301819
54Taming the beast6423419
55Campaign Brief6400818
56Tim Longhurst7421418
57Tony from the Population8421318
58CIIMS8312418
59Publicity Queen8321418
60Consumer Psychologist8402418
61WayCoolJnr8401518
62B&T4501818
63Start Up Blog4332618
64Scott Drummond7331418
65Lexy Klain7421418
66Ineedhits6521418
67The oyster Project8321418
68Publicis Digital7311517
69Filter Media4422517
70Will Scully Power7310617
71Insight + Ideas8312317
72Business and the internet7410517
73Sitemost5301716
74Matt Jones Blog8121416
75Diffusion7411316
76How good you want to be7311416
77Beyond Digital Media7221416
78Free Beer5321516
79Ben Hamin8310416
80The White Agency ffffff6400616
81Re: Turn On8402317
81Fresh Chat6311415
82Uneven Distribution7121415
83online marketing sydney5400615
84doingwords.com7211415
85BMF Sticky6310515
86Slide Media7220415
87Send Up a larger room7201515
88OMG with Emily7310415
89I hate ads7301415
90Australian SEO blog4013614
91Peter Sheanan6301414
92Australian Small Business6301414
93The Wayfarer8201314
94Adnotes6401314
95Jax Interactive7301314
96Semfire Search Enging MarketingBlog5311414
97The Gloo4400614
98The Communications Room6310414
99Strike a Cord7300414
100Lets refresh7100614
101Marketing Results6400414
102SEO Company5500414
103Dan Pankraz Vs. Youth8200414
104Digital Oz8210314
105Digital Tip8010514
106The F Rant8400214
107Frontiering Talking8000513
108David Wesson Digital Entertainment8310113
109The Jason Recliner5411213
110Pixel Paddock7210313
111Mobilista5301413
112Stellar Blog8100413
113Idea Garden8000412
114Josh Anstey6300312
115Classy Marketing6310212
116Pity the Cool8300112
117Who put the devil in you?8300112
118Simon Reynolds7200312
119Arrow Internet SEO5300412
120Joely Righteous8000412
121Digital Marketing Lab7000512
122To the WordUp6000511
123Layman's Term6300211
124Chalkboard Websites6200311
125Simons Says7300111
126Gruen Transfer6200311
127Quintessentially Digital6200311
128Portz Interactive7200211
129Work.netx5200411
130Community Girl7000411
131Refined Geek6200311
132Wunderman Aus6200311
133Kevin C Ferry7200211
134Influencing the Influencers7000411
135Behind Digital PR7000411
136Feeding Kat8000311
137Hothouse4000610
138Marketing is a dirty word7210010
139Via Media - The Way7200110
140Know Your Tribe5000510
141The Lost Agency7000310
142Kruppy Rants7200110
143Down with 30kb7000310
144Digital Strategy - Clear Blue Day500049
145The Odd one out600039
146Tick Yes400059
147Reputational Democrarcy600039
148Frank, Hayley and the circus700029
149Winged Wicked Things700029
150Words, thoughts and other stuff700029
151Virtual Ryf520018
152Ponderings of The Orange Cow430018
153Love number 2600028
154Just Another PR700018
156Latin Ocean500027
157RMD's Marcom600017
158Roger Down Under500027
159Stop, Collaborate and Listen420017
160Geared for Profit400037
161Write across media600017
162Death by Digital600017
163Check Later400015
164The Social Pages400004

Coke-Cola Glaceau Vitaminwater ad campaign

Coke-Cola launches first national ad campaign for Glaceau Vitaminwater

Coke-Cola launches first national ad campaign for Glaceau Vitaminwater

The cheeky outdoor campaign will run at numerous locations including the largest digital screen in Europe at Liverpool Street Station and the largest backlight site in Europe at Clapham Junction. The campaign creative focuses on simple rainbows of colour and humorous copy lines that bring to life the brand personality.

Outdoor ads include the strap line's ‘more muscles than Brussels,' ‘drink at the first crack of yawn,' and ‘do every one under the sun.'

There will also be a digital outdoor push where technology will allow the brand to send targeted messages to individual consumers in locations in real time through Bluetooth. This will take place in 16 key stations across UK during the rush hour periods. Glaceau hopes to connect with around half a million people and believe that the activity will be the largest personalised outdoor digital advertising campaign to date.

Coca-Cola purchased the brand four years ago and launched it in the UK during May 2008.

1Litre Water

1 litre water company and their design team have invented the first bottle in the world to feature an integrated cup.
The clean, crisp taste coupled with the innovative and uber-chic design, make 1 litre™ a natural complement to finest restaurants, luxury hotels, resorts, spas, casinos, meeting rooms etc… around the globe.

Designe by 1Litre | Country: Canada

14.6.09

3M:::Post-it viral

For all those who've grappled with deadlines and felt besieged by Post-it notes, here's a beautiful testament to the experience. Created by Savannah College of Art and Design student Bang-yao Liu, the two-minute clip required three months of planning, four days of shooting and more than 6,000 Post-its. The behind-the-scenes video really makes you appreciate the enormity of this stop-motion project.

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This is the original article of how 3M Corporation attempted to generate buzz for its sticky notes product with a user-generated content promotion about creative ways to use Post-it Notes. Displays promoting the contest — prominently displayed in Staples, Office Max, Office Depot and other office supply stores across the country — featured a photo that might look familiar to people who spend time on Digg, YouTube and similar social sites.

Here’s how a $24.5 billion multinational corporation fubars an attempt to do a viral ad campaign by refusing to pay a small licensing fee to my friend, the amateur photographer who inspired it.

~ ~ ~ ~

Four years after the launch of the community site Digg, three years after media giant Yahoo acquired the photo-sharing site Flickr, and the same summer that YouTube reached one billion video views per day — it’s not unusual for corporations to try to reach consumers through social media channels. Savvy execs understand that social media success can equal advertising gold.

There are a couple of ways a corporate marketer can leverage social media’s power to take things viral. One of them is to find something that is already enjoying viral success and ride its coat tails. That’s apparently the route 3M wanted to take with its current promotion.

The perfect idea already existed for the 3M campaign, ready to be exploited: the Post-It Note Jaguar.

~ ~ ~ ~

In December 2006, a bunch of people at an Internet company went down to the parking garage and covered a coworker’s beloved Jaguar with tens of thousands of Post-It Notes. Scott, a photographer and Flickr enthusiast, posted the evidence of the prank in progress to his Flickr account intending to show it to the Jag’s owner.

Post-It Note Jaguar In Progress

View the entire Post-It Note Jaguar photo set on Flickr.

Next thing Scott knew, the Post-it Note Jaguar started to spread on the Internet. The photos took on a life of their own, generating tons of comments and faves from the Flickr community. The photos got reposted on blogs around the world (including the very popular blogs Neat-o-Rama and Boing Boing), hit the front page of Digg more than once, were circulated in millions of emails, were featured as a Yahoo pick of the day, and even appeared in a filmed segment on ABC News.

~ ~ ~ ~

More than a year passes before the maker of the Post-it Note thinks to capitalize on the viral success that was this Post-it inspired office prank. After all, large multinational corporations aren’t the most nimble players — they can’t just shoot from the hip; after all, they have to dot their i’s, cross their t’s, and generally make sure everything gets approved by lawyers and stuff, right? RIGHT?

So when in the Spring of 2008, the 3M Corporation finally contacts the photographer to ask about using the photos of the Post-it Note Jaguar photos in a marketing campaign, he’s pretty sure they’ve already thought this through. He asked a friend in the photo business what a typical licensing fee for a national marketing campaign would be, and quoted that amount to 3M.

Their response? They tell him they’d rather not pay when they can just recreate the photograph themselves.

Here’s what floors me: 3M doesn’t even try to maintain plausible deniability. The 3M representative who contacted Scott comes right out and says it would be cheaper to copy the photo than it would be to license the original photos.

postit-email-2

Scott responded to the email from the corporation’s eMarketing Supervisor and gave the company another chance to do things properly, by lowering the license fee he originally quoted (to a mere $2,000 for the entire campaign!). He was met with complete radio silence.

That was the last he heard of it until the Flickr pages and YouTube channel started getting a whole new spike in traffic, along with comments like “Hey man, I saw this photo at Staples. Congratulations!”

The point-of-sale displays prominently placed in office supply stores around the country would easily have run 6 figures in production costs alone. And if you know anything about in-store promotions, you know there are plenty more expenses associated just with getting the display space. In other words, this was a big budget production… the extra $1,000 to actual license the original photos would have been insignificant in the greater scheme of 3M’s budget for this project.

~ ~ ~ ~

Putting sticky notes all over a car, admittedly, isn’t a completely original idea, but 3M went to pains to make their photograph look very similar to the original Post-it Note Jaguar photo that garnered all the publicity. They could have done anything, but they did this:

It’s clear they set out to create a replicate of the Post-it Note Jag and they were counting on people “recognizing” the photos. Why else contact Scott about getting copyright permission in the first place? Even the work-in-progress photo montage 3M posted on YouTube looks eerily like Scott’s Flickr set.

Now, I’m not a copyright attorney, so I’d love for someone with an intellectual property law to chime in here, but just for kicks, let’s do my layman’s check for violations of fair use:

  1. The copied work is for commercial gain: Check
  2. The work copies substantially from the copyrighted one: Check
  3. The effect of the copied work undermines the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work: By definition

But let’s pretend the legality of this move wasn’t even a question for now, and focus on this: Social media marketing campaigns rely on the social media community to carry them. As a marketer, you have to respect the community and its members. Ripping off community members and then turning around and asking that same community to generate buzz for your campaign is just ballsy… or stupid.

The irony: The YouTube contest rules say “Remember, creativity and true brilliance will get you noticed.” I’m hoping that 3M’s “creativity” and true chutzpah get noticed as well.

The original Post-It Note Jaguar

~ ~ ~ ~

Lest anyone think I’m slamming all companies and corporate marketers for wanting to take advantage of social media, I’m not. I think there are plenty of creative ways to get your product’s name in front of social communities in ways that don’t disrespect the users.

For example: create an original marketing campaign around a concept specifically designed to be share-worthy. A recent example of this tactic is Extended Stay’sVery CleanVideo (Disclosure: New Media Strategies, my current employer, helped promote this campaign).

Of course, corporate attempts to become viral can ring hollow, so smart social media marketers know that it helps to let the fans come up with the idea as well as leaving it to them to drive the campaign’s popularity.

Therefore some companies ensure the campaign is going to reach a wide audience by latching on to something that’s already gone viral. There are legit ways to do that. In fact, that’s what Stride Gum didwith its sponsorship of the Dancing Guy (aka Matt Harding).


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