I’m not sure if this feature has been around for a while and I’ve only noticed it now but it seems that Google+ has enabled more social communication features similar to Facebook and Twitter. This has the potential effect of spiking the number of interactions within Google+ but also may lead to a flood of message spam which makes large networks on twitter/facebook hard to manage.
16 Jan
Amazon Homepage Redesign
It seems after a bit of testing back in September 2011, Amazon has finally started to roll out it’s refreshed interface started with Amazon Associates. You can see this new design if you are logged into your associates account but if you open a new chrome Incognito window you see the same old version.
I do really like the new look as it’s a welcome refresh and certainly seems to be designed to be used on touch screen devices and has been the first major change in a long term so should be welcomed by most of their users.
15 Jan
Google Synonyms
Google now shows at the bottom of the search result a message that these results include the word “store”. Show results that include only “shops”. It’s interesting that this same inclusion doesn’t happen if you search for “stores” or “store”, it only happens when you search for “shops”. This could be that Google is still struggling to link “Store” to the multiple Synonyms for “store” that could include: abundance, accumulation, backlog, cache, fount, fountain, fund, hoard, inventory, lode, lot, mine, nest egg, plenty, plethora, provision, quantity, reserve, reservoir, savings, spring, stock, stockpile, treasure, wares, wealth, well.
So Google is able to match a narrow synonym but not yet a broad synonym such as “store”.
12 Jan
Australia Day – Barbie Girl
Disclosure the following song is kinda annoying and stupid enough it could go viral with a bit more marketing and exposure….
The background on the song is that Barbie Girl is an interesting viral marketing campaign to promote the consumption of Lamb. The music clip has accepted the challenge of taking a really annoying song and make it even more annoying.
I must admit that the campaign does what it is created for…being terrible enough not to be taking seriously of offend consumers and bad enough that people are willing to share and discuss the video on social media. Sam Kekovich is focused on expanding his “Chop Culture” and the play on the Australian abbreviation for Barbarque “Barbie”…so throw another rack on the barbie…
9 Jan
Anti-Drugs Timeline
Today I discovered what I think has potentially have to be one of the most ingenious social media campaigns I’ve seen in a while, but what makes it more interesting is how topically it is to Facebook users who are just starting to get their heads around Facebook’s new Timeline. The campaign concept is fairly basic and revolves around a fictional character “Adam Barak” who shows you a snapshot of his life with and without drugs over a year and how his life could be different.
The campaign is produced by McCann Digital Israel and is simply a brilliant use of cutting edge social media features but also something that is simple enough anyone that sees the campaign can understand the concept. The background on the campaign seems to be that it was slightly re-worked to ensure that it was not overcomplicated but made simple enough that the idea works internationally. It also works because the message while fairly clear does not get in your way of following the idea, it only works because the campaign message is almost subliminal and it really works!
It’s really great to see some creative thinking of social issues and making them relevant to society by using social media and hopefully this campaign is expanded and potentially improved and copied around the world. The concept of showing how differently your life could be in parallel universe has been done fairly well but I want to see more on Adam than just 1 month, so hopefully the campaign is extended. You can check out Adam’s timeline here.
What does Adam’s timeline show?
- You can see how it can impact his choice in accommodation
- how he looks in the morning
- what he does on a night out in town
- how he enjoys going out
- how it impacts on his relationships
- what gets him through the work day
- how he socialises with friends on the court
Anti-drugs timeline
Good campaign concept for other issues
So the question is how can Facebook’s social reach via platforms such as timeline can be used to educate others about other social issues such as binge drinking, speeding and crime. There are plenty of other items that this campaign decided to drop such as checkins, video, friends updates and more there are plenty of options to emulate this campaign with slight changes to get your message across.
8 Jan
QuickSprout Retargeter is Creepy
Sorry Neil, I know it can work well but seriously this is kinda creepy I haven’t been to your site since 6th November 2011… isn’t this keeping the re-targeting cookie a bit long?
6 Jan
When cross promotion makes no sense
I understand the importance of growing your business and looking for alternative revenue streams but sometimes I just think business doesn’t plan these things out really well. I got a strange email newsletter today offering me my weekly shopping deals, but I did not recall signing up for such a service and couldn’t understand how it might have got my details. That was until I noticed the shopping service it was advertising was running from subdomain 1form.shopperdeals.com.au, I recognised 1Form as a digital rental tenancy form I had tried to use last year. I don’t recall selecting to allow 1Form to use my details for promotional purposes as I’m very careful to ensure I opt-out of those type of email newsletters.
Questions that concern me about 1Form
- My 1Form account has been shut down but 1Form kept my details for marketing purposes
- 1Form is using my details to cross promote services that don’t relate to my original engagement
Why this should concern you
- If you have ever used 1Form for rental tenancy applications they keep your details
- They are using rental tenants database for promoting their other businesses
- What else have they done with your personal details you entered on your application form
What is the relevance of Shopping to real estate?
You can see below 1Form is now starting to aggressively market their discount shopping portal via their main tenants portal. The placement and call to action look sloppy and unprofessional and seems more of a desperate grab at affiliate revenue rather than offering complementary services to Tenants and Property managers such as landlord insurance.
While I strongly understand how business is looking to keep their business profitable and continue to grow to keep their investors happy but there has to be some logical link when considering a business expansion and for real estate I’m thinking discounted online shopping is a stretch.
There is a number of ways that 1Form could have expanded their business by focusing on their current customer base and just slightly adapting their product offering to fit their customers growing rental needs. The could have involved real estate related products or services such as rental insurance, bond cleaning services, new broadband connections, mobile phone services and premium tenant applications for people with pets. All of these services and cross-promotions make sense and would generate a large amount of revenue for 1Form if they bothered to do it right.
It makes more sense to match the services to the same industry as it’s possible that support questions will arise and about their new discount shopping platform. The other issue is that the spammy process of email promotion is more likely to hard any positive word of mouth the services might have generated and makes me cautious to ever use their service ever again. The main reason that 1Form would have launched the discount shopping site is their huge email marketing database and the sheer volume of daily visitors they are currently failing to monetise.
It would make business sense for 1Form to expand their services into related industries that have traditionally painful form applications such as credit cards or insurance. Having a number of non-related businesses makes it harder for 1Form to focus their business direction but may also make it harder to split up it’s operations if they ever plan to exit or float the business.
Some things 1Form should consider include:
- Does 1From get economies of scale? What are the cost advantages in this expansion besides more resources needed?
- Does 1Form get a larger Customer base? Yes, it might expand the possible customer base but the branding of the shopping experience with 1Form will confuse customers. It’s not Apple or Amazon and even Google/Microsoft brand their side businesses differently.
- Will 1Form get distracted? It’s likely that internal resources could get distracted from the primary purpose of 1Form and drop the ball leaving it’s real estate partners in the lurch.
There is no relevance for 1From
Why not ask yourself what is the relevance to Real Estate applications platform offering it’s user a weekly shopping list for discounted goods they can buy online?
5 Jan
Google Schema Results for Hotels
In what is an interesting development it seems that Google is perfecting it’s automation of data into useful Schema results for Hotel and Travel related search query. The search results are showing for a query for “Port Macquarie Hotels” and the website is not using Schema meta tags it is being done automatically by Google.
4 Jan
SEOmoz URL issues?
This strange URL problem is occurring in Chrome and Firefox in Google.com and Google.com.au, the second and third URL is showing www.seomoz.orgww.seomoz.org/users/profile/82535
