"they don’t use social media in my industry"
I've heard that line countless times, as people read the hype, and don't realize how intertwined social media already is in our internet experience.
Think you work in a low tech industry that can't benefit? Like maybe fishing lures? Duct Tape Marketing has a great interview/case study for you. John Jantsch interviews Jason Brown, the founder of Brown Lures. Brown now has WAITING LISTS for his product.
Social media. Enjoyed everywhere, by everyone. Even fishermen dudes.
Labels: blogging, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:44 AM
2 comments
how bloggers vacation.
At Plaid, we love road tours. We're just a little bit partial to them.
So I think we've found some love for Patrick Curl and his wife, who plan on touring 50 states, in 50 days, and visiting a blogger in each state. Wow.
Labels: blogging, plaidsummertour
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:52 AM
0 comments
darryl: too sexy for online adage
AdAge readership is expected to soar this week, as they've printed a super sexy pic of me, in their article Separating Brilliance from Blabber. You'll need to buy the print copy to see my headshot - it was too damn sexy to include in the online version.
You can also get a good view of my left ear, in the group shot. Mmmm. Hot. Obviously, my quotes were even too brilliant for an article with 'brilliance' in the headline.
I will be appearing at Borders this Friday night, signing copies, and accepting gifts. Links to pics of less attractive bloggers can be found on ToddAnd's coverage of the piece.
Labels: adindustry, blogging, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:14 AM
3 comments
how competition fuels bloggers
Not all will admit it, but bloggers are pretty damn competitive. Publish a list, a chart, a link guide, and watch everyone scramble to get a better position. So how do you best channel that competitive spirit into a friendly, positive promotion?
Rohit Bhargava did exactly that, to promote his new book Personality Not Included. Rohit created a contest where participating bloggers interviewed Rohit via email, and the public could vote on their favorite interview. Genius. Multiple bloggers interview Rohit, talk about his book, and reach out to their networks to garner votes for their interview.
Linda Sherman (who placed second in the contest) writes a wonderful post about how the promotion fueled her competitive spirit.
Need bloggers to talk about you? How can you get them to rally together, while competing with each other?
Labels: blogging, publishing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:41 AM
4 comments
stop fixing your hair
Super vixen CK just nailed one of the best realizations about photographing life's wonderness.
At any event, there's always the "we need a photograph" moments, where everyone stands in a group, arms over shoulders, and does their best not to blink when the flash pops (I am not capable of this, and it's ruined my modeling career.) In the end, it's these photos that always suck.
The photos that make their way to the top, and into people's hearts are the shots that capture real human emotion. CK writes a beautiful post about the above photo of her meeting Arun for the first time.
If you're a photographer, you're probably saying "duh" right now - but for the rest of us: can we all just refuse those group shots from here on?
Labels: adindustry, blogging, creativeinspiration, photography
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:25 AM
3 comments
bloggers left their desktops
Bloggers from around the world left their desktop machines and traveled to NYC this weekend, just to socialize. No panel discussions, no exhibit hall - just a social. Organized by CK and Drew and their countless helpers, this was a memorable weekend for so many reasons:
+ Crayon, through their client ooVoo and the MyooVooDay promotion, donated $30,000 to the Frozen Pea fund. Bloggers making a difference.
+ Loads of bloggers met for the first time in person.
+ The sun came out on the east coast. Proof even mother nature loves bloggers.
+ Rumors had Joseph Jaffe getting a BloggerSocial'08 Tattoo on Saturday night.
+ I wore a tie for the first time in years - and it wasn't a funeral. (At least it was a skinny tie.) It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would.
You can see some of the pics on the Blogger Social Flickr group.
Lots of blog love for CK (as Lady Liberty, above), Drew, Lori Magno, and everyone who did anything to make this happen. What a wonderful weekend, sparkled with some of the coolest, smartest people I've ever had the honor of meeting. Thanks to all for making the trek to NYC!
Labels: adindustry, blogging
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:52 PM
1 comments
blogger social this weekend
This weekend, I'll be attending the Blogger Social event in NYC. It's a meat-space social event for some of the most interesting, popular and brilliant bloggers from across the globe. (Or anyone that agreed to participate. Like me.)
There's a really awesome set of profiles of the bloggers who will be in attendance that Steve Woodruff has put together.
The event isn't filled with panels - just social time. Old school, hang with people you have something in common with kind of social time. I'm looking forward to meeting some new friends, and learning a thing or two. I think it's another great example that the blogger community is indeed a community.
If there's anyone on the list that you'd like me to meet on your behalf, ask questions of, or push into the Hudson River, please let me know. Here to serve.
Labels: adindustry, blogging, newyork, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:51 AM
1 comments
smart people agree: brandflakes rocks!
The most important chart to ever be published in the history of the advertising industry, or in the history of charts, or in the history of anything, has just ranked BrandFlakes as one of the 25 most read advertising blogs in the world!
Check out Scamp for the most sweet chart of ad blogs. If you're not already reading other blogs on the list, don't worry. Just keep reading this one. There's really nothing else interesting out there. Stay focused. Ignore everything else. You are getting sleepy. You now believe that BrandFlakes is more popular than the Beatles. Sleepy. You will include BrandFlakes in your next PowerPoint presentation. Very sleepy. Send an email out to everyone in your address book, and suggest that they read BrandFlakes. You are completely relaxed.
When you click this link, you will awake and only remember your love for BrandFlakes.
(thanks Ryan Kuder for pointing this out!)
Labels: adindustry, blogging, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:29 AM
3 comments
brandflakes: recognized the world over as the best
Guy Kawasaki recently launched an aggregator of the top blogs, sites and content in a bunch of categories. It's called Alltop. The official BrandFlakes policy is that aggregators suck, unless they include us.
I'm happy to say that Alltop rocks. Here's another great starting point to build an RSS feed, if you haven't already done so. (And you can find a sweet link to BrandFlakes under the "social media" category.)
Labels: blogging, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 9:45 AM
0 comments
another cool list of blogs you need to read
Check out this new blog directory, Blogged.com. I was just introduced to the site after meeting some of their people at SXSW. More importantly, they've given BrandFlakes a ranking of 7.5, on a scale of 1 - 10. Apparently, that's a pretty strong rating. Either that, or they were just kissing my butt.
Anyway - the directory does indeed look to be a cool new resource to finding more blogs for you to read. Because you're already spending too much time working. When you really should be reading the internets.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:09 AM
0 comments
enough reading about social media to keep you from doing any work today
You can thank Chris Brogan, (via Twitter) for finding this sweet list of killer social media lists, posts, articles, guides and stuff. Tell your boss you're taking the day off to read and get skooled.
The shot of Kylie Minogue has absolutely nothing to do with this post, or social media. I'm just too lazy to find something more appropriate. But I'm sure that even Kylie is all hot over this list, and sitting down to read it, as we speak.
Labels: blogging, social media, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:22 AM
0 comments
talk to your favorite bloggers, live.
We're working on the most exciting project. And you can become a part of it. Crayon, one of the most talked about new media firms in the world, has just launched a really cool promotion for ooVoo, a new video chat tool.
Titled My ooVoo Day With, this event will allow you to try out the free ooVoo video chat tool, while chatting with some of the world's most famous bloggers.
ooVoo lets you video chat with up to six people at once. So crayon talked some pretty influential bloggers into trying it out, with YOU. At MyooVooDay.com, you can sign up and join a few other people in some very limited video chat sessions. Bloggers brought into your living room. Or your office. You decide.
Starting on February 10, you'll be able to ooVoo with luminaries like Chris Brogan, Steve Hall, Irina Slutsky, Susan Reynolds, Joseph Jaffe, and so many more.
Where does Plaid come in? Working with crayon, we built the registration engine and promotional site for the event.
Oh yeah - if that wasn't enough, ooVoo is thanking the host bloggers with a sponsorship of the Frozen Pea Fund, a fund established to support the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign, in honor of blogger, Twitterer and cancer patient Susan Reynolds.
So, what are you waiting for? Sign up now, while there are still slots open!
Labels: blogging, plaid, social media, video, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:52 AM
0 comments
the most important article ever in Inc Magazine
This month's Inc Magazine includes BrandFlakes!
They mistakenly put the most important paragraph near the back of the publication, and they featured some cute girl from the Ford Modeling Agency on the cover. Clearly, I could have been a model too, but chose an agency life instead. And for that, I'm apparently being punished, and not included on the cover.
In their article, Blogging: More than idle chatter, you'll learn how blogging may be good for your business. And you'll certainly be dazzled by every brilliant word in the fifth paragraph. I know I was.
Actually, the issue is chocked full of great digital advice for business. Check it out, and be sure to tell the Borders cashier that you're only buying this issue because of the 5th paragraph on page 89.
Labels: blogging, self promotion, strategy
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:11 AM
4 comments
publicity wit realizes my genius
PR blogger Laura Newman has posted a really awesome interview with me! I swear that I didn't even pay her anything for this.
I ramble on about branding, hiring an agency, and the social media bandwagon. Read it and worship my total genius. Memorize every word that I've said, because this will be important. Shepard Fairey is probably preparing my portrait as we speak.
Labels: blogging, plaid, self promotion, social media
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:48 AM
0 comments
breakfast with robert scoble, mark zuckerberg and the president of pakistan.
A bunch of very notable bloggers and internet geeks were on hand to cover the World Economic Forum in Switzerland this past week.
You can see some of the coverage (originally streamed live) via cell phone video, on Qik. Absolutely engaging to watch.
Anyway, among the kabillion and two interesting things that took place, Robert Scoble met Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. They went to breakfast with Pakistani President, Pervez Musharraf. (Can you imagine??) Scoble interviews Mark, and shares the details on his blog. At one point, they met up with Linden Labs/Second Life CEO Phillip Rosedale, too. Anyway, you'll love Zuckerberg even more, and be pretty stoked with his vision for Facebook.
Photo from Scoble's Flickr set, featuring Rosedale and Zuckerberg. (And how cool that Zuckerberg sports a hoody in a land of ties and suits?? Awesome.)
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:23 AM
0 comments
what if your photos could self destruct?
I'm constantly reminding my teenagers that the "internet is permanent." Anything you post today could be seen by a future girlfriend, boss or family member. What's acceptable (or in style) today may look ridiculous five years from now.
So, 37 Signals has a wonderful idea. Blog, video and photo posts that expire with time. Wouldn't that be awesome? Think of the embarrassing stuff you could be putting on line. You know, like dressing up as if you were a member of a boy band. Just an idea.
Labels: blogging, pop culture
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:35 AM
0 comments
how not to run a PR department
Believe what you want about the controversial Target ad featuring a girl on the Target logo, with her special place as the bull's eye.
Whether you like the concept or think it's sexist, this is NOT the way to handle it when things start to blow up.
When blogger Amy contacted them to see if they realized their ad might be controversial, they hit her back with this reply:
"Good Morning Amy,
Thank you for contacting Target; unfortunately we are unable to respond to your inquiry because Target does not participate with non-traditional media outlets. This practice is in place to allow us to focus on publications that reach our core guest.
Once again thank you for your interest, and have a nice day."
Yikes. Target??? Doesn't acknowledge non-traditional media outlets like blogs? There are sooo many ways this could have been handled. And this one's not even on the list.
Does your PR team understand social media? Would they know how to react? Better to ask yourself the question now, and be prepared. (Your agency is at the studio, putting a naked girl on a banana seat bike for your next campaign. Hurry.)
Labels: ads, blogging, branding, pr, retail
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:37 AM
1 comments
brandflakes: better than any other blog in the world
Simon Owens is on a quest for the truth. He has a theory that in order for the popular link blog BoingBoing to remain popular, it would have to consistently scoop its competitors by retrieving and posting links earlier than everyone else. So he conducted a little experiment to test the theory.
You can see the details of his theory and his findings here. But that's not what's important. What's important to note is that according to Simon, Brand Flakes for Breakfast was one of only 112 blogs that scooped BoingBoing. One of 112 blogs in the world. And, while Simon didn't indicate this, I'm pretty sure that the other 111 blogs were cheating.
Thanks Simon!
Labels: blogging, marketing, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:37 AM
0 comments
greg brady is blogging
Greg Brady has a blog. Just thought you should know.
From Steve Rubel, via Twitter.
Labels: blogging, pop culture
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:51 AM
0 comments
write this down. seesmic is gonna be huge.
I've been going on and on about how I really believe this is the year for video to make a difference in our internet lives.
We bought Flip Video cameras for our crew here (no tape, and quickly upload with a built-in usb) so that we can document things that happen on the fly around our office. Already, we've recorded some embarrassing moments. My intention is that we'll be more aggressive about sharing video clips on our agency blog, on a more regular basis.
And now, I recently started playing with Seesmic. This is going to be MASSIVE. I'd describe it as Twitter meets video. Which is funny, because almost everyone on Seesmic is also on Twitter.
Possibly the coolest thing of all is its ease of use. Rather than recording and uploading a video clip (although you can do that, if you wish), Seesmic integrates with the camera in your laptop or machine. So with the push of ONE button, you're recording. When done, push another button, and it's published. It's really that simple.
This facilitates some amazing group conversations. Because it's quick and easy to respond to people.
I've also noticed another important dynamic, after only a few days on Seesmic. You become comfortable with yourself on video quicker than you think. I recorded my first Seesmic post and re-recorded it about three times. I was concerned about the way my hair looked, the way I sounded, and the lighting. After about a day or two, you lose all care for these things. Which is awesome for communication.
I've participated in some cool conversations with people from all over the world. About mundane topics like dogs vs cats, and about the latest internet trends. I told a client yesterday that it feels like I've gone to a really awesome party, and just met some cool new friends.
One of the more entertaining Seesmic-citizens, Seth, described the environment (and social spaces like Twitter) as anarchy. In a good way. What's really cool is that everyone is immediately an equal. There are no "a-listers" like what exists in Twitter or the blogosphere. You're only as good as your last post. Traffic or friend counts really have no bearing.
I'll continue to explore and experiment, and report discoveries. But I'm convinced this will be one of the most talked about applications of 2008. And it's only January!! This is going to be a sweet year on the internet.
For now, you'll need an invite to join Seesmic. (And sadly, I don't have any.) My advice is to kiss up to your Twitter friends, and see who has one.
Labels: blogging, social media, technology, twitter, video, web2.0
posted by darryl ohrt @ 12:37 PM
1 comments
black star photography blog now better than ever
Black Star, the infamous photography agency, has launched a sweet new blog geared toward the photography community.
I wrote a guest post - which will undoubtedly drive massive traffic and response and ultimately make the Black Star Rising blog the most popular blog in the history of all blogs.
I'll be posting regularly there, until they wise up and kick me out. Tell your friends.
Labels: blogging, photography, plaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:53 AM
2 comments
everything about everything about inernet marketing
Here's a massive list of the best internet marketing blog posts. How to do almost anything on almost any social tool. Lots of great reading if you're stuck at the office this week while everyone else is on vacation. They'll come back fatter, and you'll be smarter. (Always better.)
The pic of David Hasselhoff might seem related, but this is a pic that I snapped right as he was jumping onto a social media bandwagon. So it's related, trust me.
Labels: blogging, facebook, google, hacks, self promotion, social media, twitter, web2.0, webdev, youtube
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:42 PM
0 comments
happy birthday blogging!
Blogging just turned ten years old this week! Way back in December of 1997 Jorn Barger of Robot Wisdom created the term "weblog." And by the looks of it, he immediately decided to never ever cut his hair again.
In news that's almost as momentous, we reached 3000 posts this week at BrandFlakes! That's a lot of posts. If you stretched them end to end, they'd probably reach to Venus. Or Uranus. ;)
You should start a pool in your office today to buy a massively huge blogging birthday cake in celebration of all of this blogging goodness.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:04 AM
0 comments
forbes announces their web celeb 25
Forbes just released top 25 web celebrities. BrandFlakes isn't on the list, so I guess the list is a total crock of crap. But if you're into lists, or want to double check your RSS reader, here's some other people you should be monitoring. (All less interesting than us, of course.)
Labels: blogging, pop culture, viral
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:17 AM
0 comments
blog nothing day
As internet workers, we put an extremely high value on internet content. For that reason, we're participating in Blog Nothing Day, tomorrow. No blogging, no Twitters, No Facebook. (I predict a major influx of national productivity.)
Introduced to us by blog friend Dino Demopoulos, Blog Nothing Day is a show of support for the writer's strike. We're showing our support for the writers on the line. (Except the ones that are marching side by side with Eva Longoria. Those bastards can show us some love.)
For some great perspective on the strike, check out this video clip, from one of the Cobert Report writers. Or this one, from a Daily Show writer.
Kinda ironic that a bunch of bloggers who write for fun are supporting other writers and their right to get paid, huh?
See you on Tuesday!
Labels: blogging
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:06 PM
2 comments
orange you glad you're blogging?
Now oranges are blogging. A fruity new campaign from Florida's Natural is promoting oranges with a nice blog, and handy videos. Juicy.
Labels: ads, blogging, yummyfood
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:03 AM
0 comments
flip cameras are hot
Great to see that Flip cameras are getting loads of buzz in the blogoverse. We recently bought them for the crew in our office, and record everything. Even produced a rough and ready 'beer with Plaid' vodcast.
If you haven't checked them out yet, Flip cameras are video cameras about the size of a large cell phone that record 640 x 480 video. WITHOUT TAPE. It's completely digital, and the cameras come with a built in usb port, so digitizing is a snap.
Our office halloween field trip was produced entirely on a Flip camera (above). We'll be recording and vloging and doing whatever with ours. You should too.
Labels: blogging, plaid, podcasting, video
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:44 AM
0 comments
bloglines launches top 1000 blogs
Bloglines has just launched their chart of the top 1000 Bloglines blogs. Clearly, it's broken - because we're not on it. That must be why it's still in beta - until they figure out the bugs that have kept us from showing up on the list.
Whether you're a bloglines user or not - this is a great resource to discover blogs that weren't already on your list. Still reading blogs without an RSS reader? (How 2005 of you) Here's a great time to start, and a great resource to start your feed.
Labels: blogging
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:33 AM
2 comments
college students blogging for spherion
Our client Spherion has created an interesting new blog, MyCampusChronicles. It's the voice of college students from across the U.S. Not marketers pretending to be college students, or writers interpreting college students - but actual students.
I like checking in on this, as a reality check to how college students really speak, and think. (Not that advertising copywriter versions of a college student aren't fun.) It's a nice peek at their lives and insights, and fresh perspective that feels so much more genuine than a marketing demographic study on students. In the process, they're also adding to the resumes of college bloggers - giving them worthwhile experience that they could bring to an employer. Nice job. (But then again, I guess I'm just kissing ass.)
Labels: blogging, branding, youthmarketing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:43 AM
0 comments
pay a mad blogger to diss your competition
As a virtual slap to the silly business of PayPerPost, our friend and co-hort Make the Logo Bigger Bill has launched a new project...Pay Per Diss. You pay him, and he says bad things about your competition. Like only a blogger can.
Hilarious. I think I'm going to see what it would cost to diss Bob's Furniture. Because their commercials annoy me.
Labels: adindustry, blogging, marketing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:07 AM
2 comments
everything is miscellaneous
Michael Wesch has a new short film, titled Information R/evolution. Wow. A wonderous summation of how we categorize, read, track and share information.
Labels: blogging, social media, technology, trends, youtube
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:48 AM
0 comments
this is how you launch a book
Joseph Jaffe's new book Join the Conversation just hit the stores, and he's managed an amazing feat. His book hit #2 on the business book charts (just under Alan Greenspan's book), and #26 on the overall Amazon charts yesterday. How did he do it? Bum rushing the charts.
By inviting all of his friends - his blog readers, his podcast subscribers, his Twitter followers, his Facebook friends and other social media friends....to join together on Sunday and purchase his book on Amazom.com.
And they did. And his book cruised up the charts. No doubt getting noticed by plenty of people who are not a part of his social network. Hooray for Joseph, and the success of his new book - and hooray for social media - in yet another great example of how small audiences networking together can create something huge. Congrats Joseph!
Labels: blogging, facebook, marketing, self promotion, social media, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:31 AM
0 comments
the big plaid video experiment
We just purchased the Plaid design and brand crew these really sweet video cameras. Flip video cameras that record 640 x 480 digital video (60 minutes of video, without tape!) with built-in usb plugs. They fit in your pocket. Basically, a video camera designed for the YouTube generation. AWESOME IDEA.
Anyway - we're embarking on an experiment of sorts. Everyone's now armed with these cameras. So we're going to try video blogging. Not the vidcast-shot-from-the-laptop that everyone else is doing - but sharing our experiences, as they happen. (You can't carry your laptop camera into the Bodega, can you?) Funny, stupid, creatively inspiring, or people falling asleep at their desks. Low production, no edits, no soundtracks, just video clips. Whatever happens when we're recording.
The experiment kicks off tomorrow morning, as a bunch of us leave for Mexico. Should make for some fun video. We're traveling tech-lite (only ONE laptop!!), so we won't be uploading every hour, but I promise some good regular video. If we like the results of the experiment, we'll get cameras for the extended Plaid team, across the country. This could really be a cool, creative group video blog. Or a complete waste of time.
So as not to bog down BrandFlakes, we won't post here - but instead on our 'behind the scenes' agency blog - http://blog.thinkplaid.com/. Stay tuned.
Labels: blogging, plaid, smallagency, video, workplace
posted by darryl ohrt @ 11:17 PM
3 comments
how firebrand lit a blog on fire
Today, I was treated like A-list media. Or at least the B-List. (Not bad for a C-list blogger.)
Here's the thing about B and C level blogs...we don't get media treats. I've spent some time in radio and the music business, and remember loads of fun, cool and eventful press conferences and events. (Like the time I pissed off Joe Jackson so much that he walked out of a press conference!)
But it's been a few years since those days, and I'm not treated to press events frequently anymore. Which is one reason that the FireBrand event caught my attention. They thought to invite bloggers like me to their press conference. By doing so, they made me feel like an important part of the conversation.
A convenient press conference, SUPER sweet promo goodies, and great background/publicity materials. Just an average day for mainstream media (or A-list bloggers), but something unique for the second tier.
There's a lesson here for other brands. Produce a nice old-school press event. And invite the blogosphere. Don't just send them emails. Think about what you might do to get the attention of The Today Show. Or FastCompany. Then, give 1/3 of that attention to 100 bloggers. In the end, you'll end up with a load of attention in the blogosphere, which will grow to the mainstream 'jaded' media anyway.
So, now I'm fired up about what they're doing. And I'll be blogging more detail about FireBrand shortly - but wanted to share a kudos to the brand for reaching out to bloggers in a first class way.
Labels: adindustry, blogging, tv, video
posted by darryl ohrt @ 10:15 PM
2 comments
cool new blog from media planning dorks
At our shop, since we don't do media buying, we always refer to that side of the biz as being for dorks. Cuz we're like that. We'd like to think we're the cool kids at the lunch table, even though in reality we're the lonely kids with problems.
Anyway, some
Labels: adindustry, blogging, marketing
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:39 AM
0 comments
how to compete with the iphone
Saw this on BoingBoing yesterday, and thought it was a smart strategy. Don't get me wrong - I still believe in the power and magic of the almighty iPhone - I just think that a lot of competitors lost their vision for marketing when the iPhone arrived. Rather than play on their own product/service strengths, they tried to attack with half-hearted truths.
HP is being smart, with their iPaq. They've realized that the iPhone (for now) doesn't record audio. (or video.) And they've sponsored an audio blog post on one of the most famous blogs in all of the land. That's an excellent way to demo your product's unique features, AND get a product endorsement. Nice marketing.
Labels: ads, blogging, iphone, marketing, mobile
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:04 AM
0 comments
ad age takes over top 150. brandflakes makes the list. world leaders to meet.
Completely forgot to mention that ToddAnd's list of the Top 150 ad blogs has been picked up by Advertising Age. We're on the list (in the 120's range), and totally stoked. We imagine that AdAge paid about 2 kabillion dollars for this intelligence and that Todd is sitting on a beach somewhere. But then again, this is AdAge - not Google. So in reality, Todd's probably taking a second job and wishing he sold to Google.
Anyway, now you can tell your friends that "I read one of Advertising Age's top 150 blogs" and be all smug. I'm going to wear a badge on my jacket. Or get a bumper sticker for my mom's car that reads "my son's blog is in Advertising Age's top 150."
Labels: adindustry, blogging, plaid
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:14 AM
0 comments
denver creates blog to be cool.
In order to promote creative growth in Denver, Denver created a blog. Denver created a really good one. A pop culture blog devoted to cool design things, cool finds and cool companies from...Denver. Things like the billboard above, for the Denver Water campaign. Go Denver.
posted by darryl ohrt @ 6:51 AM
0 comments
the future of blogs, micro demos and other heady things
Steve Rubel has some interesting perspective on what the attention crash, shiny object syndrome and technology trends mean to the future of blogging.
Real genius insight - and things are definitely evolving to new places. New tools. New devices. Social networking.
But at the same time, I meet people every day who still don't understand what a blog is. Or realize that they read one. As media users, we're becoming a more fragmented society. Early adopters are blogging less and using even newer tools. Others are just learning how to use RSS. Some still even use television as their primary media!
This is true in marketing demographics, too. What used to be described as "male, 25-34, 40K income, etc" can no longer be viewed as a single demographic. Because within any single demo, there are now many, many micro demos. And changing every day.
Geez. That's too much thinking. My head hurts. Time to watch Bobbing for glasses again.
Labels: blogging, facebook, marketing, rss, technology, trends, twitter
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:24 AM
0 comments
blog orgy of branding fun
Kevin Dugan tells us about a really cool new group blog. BrandingWire. A group of marketing and brand bloggers brought together virtually, to discuss topics on a monthly basis. Their first piece is a great experiment. They created a fictional case study about a local coffee house, and each of the branding experts chimed in on how they'd approach the business.
Each of the experts details their approach on their own blog, linked from the original post.
It's interesting perspective for anyone in our industry, great learning for marketers, and a fantastic self promotional tool for each of the bloggers. Awesome.
Labels: adindustry, blogging, copywriting, creativeinspiration, marketing, strategy
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:00 AM
0 comments
brand flakes makes first ever power 150 profile. world is changed forever.
SWEET!
Todd And's Power 150, world famous for the listing of top 150 marketing blogs, has kicked off a new feature. A power profile on the most spectacular Bloggers that ever lived. I made up that last part - but check out the awesome profile they did on ME! Thanks Todd!
And special love to Derek Dudek, the uber photographer, for making me not look like too much of a dumbass, in that photo.
Labels: blogging, branding, marketing, plaid, self promotion
posted by darryl ohrt @ 8:10 AM
3 comments
irina visits brickhouse
Yahoo has officially launched Brickhouse, their indie division tasked with creating cool stuff for the early adopters (how big companies do small.) This is the same group that's developed the tremendously successful Yahoo Pipes.
Irina Slutsky gets invited to the opening party, and reports from the Brickhouse about some of the new cool Yahoo tools. (Video link wasn't working this morning, so try later)
Labels: blogging, mobile, social media, technology
posted by darryl ohrt @ 7:14 AM
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how a national apparel chain keeps it local
This is a weekly simultaneous post featured on Brand Flakes for Breakfast AND the SmartBiz SmartBlog. The posts are geared toward small business.
Just stumbled across the Urban Outfitters blog, and received a pleasant surprise that many national or regional brands could take a lesson from.
There are a few things that make this blog unique. Its design is interesting, and appropriate for their brand. It also scrolls sideways - allegedly the first ever side scrolling blog. Both great, but that's not what grabbed my attention.
Urban Outfitters is a national chain of lifestyle and apparel stores. They appeal to hipsters, and as their name suggests, urbanites. Their blog has done a tremendous job of appealing to this nationwide audience, and providing value. All while making a very local connection.
At a quick skim, readers can identify posts related to the store nearest to their neighborhood. Readers can learn about store promotions and events, sure - but also cultural events that are happening in the marketplace. Using tags, a visitor can quickly sort through the posts and view only events, art, music, etc. Urban Outfitters have become local 'cool hunters' for each of the markets where their stores are located. They're providing actual value to potential clients, having nothing to do with the consumer products they sell.
I just discovered an awesome package design art show in New York, that wasn't previously on my radar. I learned