May 4, 2007
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Ready to enjoy a day of talking to people about THEIR thoughts on work, good qualities, stuff they’d like to improve, and life in general.
May 3, 2007
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For some reason listening to The Shins is really good for focus. Doesn’t make any sense.
May 2, 2007
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Teaching my CMA Emarketing Course. Tonight – Blogs and Social Media. Woot!
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There is no Horizon. The horizon is an illusion. You can be in/at an illusion.
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Wednesday morning, brought to you by James Brown, the GFOS!
May 1, 2007
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Just realized I shutdown Twitterific days ago. The fact I didn’t miss it says something about Twitter and how tightly ingrained it is(n’t).
April 27, 2007
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Happy “Don’t Put Your Foot In Your Mouth” Day!
April 26, 2007
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Out of the frying pan…
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I will be prompt and attentive in all meetings today.
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“You don’t make friends with salad.”
April 25, 2007
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“Only a screen between me and the void”
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Typing, typing, typing.
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Wearing my Barcamp Toronto 2005 tee. Old school!
April 23, 2007
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Returning to the country.
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The mood today – Moody.
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Making a very long list.
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Talking to Adam – making another Twitter convert
April 22, 2007
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Bell Takes Bat and Runs Home — DigitalHome.ca says “Na-na-na-na-boo-boo”
Seems like there’s a battle royale brewing between Bell Canada and Digital Home Canada — one of (if not the) online resource for those interested in digital entertainment in Canada.
A few weeks ago Digital Home ran a post called New ExpressVu HD Receivers Expected By July that was a bit of a scoop for them. It included detailed information from internal Bell communications.
In a March bulletin, Bell informed its dealers that it would be introducing brand new ‘MPEG4’ receivers in July 2007. Dish Network currently has several HD receivers that can decode MPEG4 for sale in the U.S. including the VIP 211 and the VIP611. It is our belief the new ExpressVu receivers will be re-branded DISH VIP211 and VIP611 receivers. Digital Home will post further details and pricing information when ExpressVu formally announces the new receivers. In the interim here is a brief overview of the Echostar receivers.
Bell threatened to pull all advertising from the site if owner Hugh Thompson did not remove the article. Thompson refused saying it was accurate reportage and the next day Bell pulled their ads.
Yesterday, I was contacted by a press relations representative from Bell Canada and was informed that Bell Canada “might” pull its advertising from Digital Home Canada if the article was not removed from the Digital Home site. The PR representative explained the request came from Pat Button, the Vice President of Marketing at ExpressVu. The representative said Mr. Button had seen the article and demanded it be taken down from the site because it was having a negative impact on dealer sales. The representative also said that it was impossible for Bell to be releasing new HD receivers this year because a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the receivers had not even been issued by ExpressVu. These comments were in direct contrast with information that I had received from multiple ExpressVu dealers which I shared with Bell and asked them comment on.
What makes this more than another marketing exec getting his hair mussed up by a leaked announcement is the fact that the site in question is an online forum that is primarily driven by reader-generated content. Repeat after me folks — online communities are NOT a good bunch to pick a fight with.
Digital Home responded with Readers Lambaste Bell Over Decision To Pull Ads which pulls together some of the scathing comments readers have been submitting to the site. Things like:
“It is also a sad commentary on Bell management that they would so ‘attack’ what should be seen as a key demographic for them — the expert users, first adopters, and ‘informed’ customers that frequent forums like this…. Yet another case of a large corporation that can’t even get the basics of PR 101 right. And thanks Hugh for making a disciplined and informed stand.”
“Uhm, that reprint of the bulletin basically calls BEV’s bull about no new receivers and invalidates the reason for their ad pullout. They seriously need to stop lying to their customer base and stop treating people like they are. I can easily switch to local cable and their HD PVR offering. They are getting better and have been providing better support and channel options as of late and I am willing to sacrifice things in favour of a company that doesn’t treat me/us like ****”
“Whoever this Mr.Button is, he should be relieved of his duties at Bell. It only takes one ignoramus in a higher management position to bring down heavy unwanted bad PR for Bell Canada. This will spread like wildfire, and watch Bell taking a bigger hit due to their ignorant stance. Kudos to Digital Home — don’t get bullied.”
“I for one will be canceling my ExpressVu non-contract account, my home phone and business phone service if they do issue new receivers in 2007. I will sell my 9200 and my other receivers. I refuse to do business with BLATANT LIARS.”
Ouch. These “I’ll pull my ads if you don’t do what I say” things always seemed to show a lack of good sportsmanship to me but in this age of social media and user generated content it strikes me more like having a death wish. Can anyone get away with this in 2007? Besides, what would Frank And Gordon say?
Originally published at www.onedegree.ca on April 22, 2007.
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Help Me Make Marketing Matter For Little Guys
I got an Ask A Marketer request last week that really struck a chord with me. Rick Couture of Go-Mango Fitness sent in this question:
OK, I’m still fairly new to the world of online marketing, and I rely on the many wonderful marketing e-newsletters I get to help with my education. What I have not seen is info on how to get started with online advertising. I keep getting calls from my newspaper sales reps to try advertising on their websites. Problem is I have nothing to compare their rates to elsewhere online. Can you provide any resources to see CPM ad rates for banner ads? I can’t help but wonder if $30 per thousand for an “in story” ad that is only mildly targeted (Health section editorial, our business is fitness equipment) is asking too much. Has anyone done a real comparison of newspaper online ads vs other websites rates and effectiveness? Are there places I can compare prices for similar levels of targeting? Is that what DoubleClick does?
I see this kind of confusion and concern in small business owners ALL the time. They can find lots of pundits punditing (guilty) but where do they turn for the basics? How do they know they’re not being ripped off? How do they determine value? I’d love to see some feedback from you folks on what you tell small businesses and those new to the business in terms of this kind of stuff.
Originally published at www.onedegree.ca on April 22, 2007.
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Rediscovering “Shuffle Mode”
April 21, 2007
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My Brian Eno “Oblique Strategies” dashboard widget just told me “Go outside. Shut the door.” Good advice, think I’ll take it.
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Pineal gland overstimulated after 30 minutes sitting in the sun. Hello sun!
April 20, 2007
April 19, 2007
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Reading and Thinking.
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Speaking of nice weather – meet my new best friend on Twitter! http://twitter.com/weloveyou
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8
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Sun is shining. Weather is sweet now. Making you want to move, your dance feet. (I’m a rainbow too)
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The window is open and I just put on a Bob Marley box set.
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OK, maybe not THE most productive day of my life. But still.