Modern Marketing - Blog by Collaborate PR & Marketing

Modern Marketing in The Observer

I have written an article for today's Observer newspaper, the Sunday sister of The Guardian.  It's about the growth of citizen's media and you can read it here.  Or below...

Saville Row's Blogger

A couple of weeks ago, Johnnie Moore and I had a snapcast chat with Thomas Mahon of English Cut about how blogging has changed his business.  You can hear it here.  By using the web to cut through the pomposity of Saville Row and show the craft behind the product, Mahon describes how he has, "opened up a whole new market".  Modern tailor Jonathan Quearney also joined us at the Dickensian Blacks club in Soho.

Free Wine

I have just received a bottle of Stormhoek wine - all part of Gapingvoid's wine blogging campaign.  It's real modern marketing - albeit at a micro-level.  Will it increase sales ?  Who knows.  Will they learn a lot about their market ?  Definitely.

L'Oreal Blog To Learn

The importance of listening in the blogopshere is well documented but increasingly I am thinking we should be talking about learning.  The difference is that learning implies changing behaviour while listening doesn't.  This interview with L'Oreal's international brand manager for the Vichy brand makes the point well...

Unilever's Butter Opera

The New York Times reports on Unilever's launch of a webisode series to promote its $250m brand I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.  The 4-part series is a soap opera spoof called 'The Sprays of Her Life'...

Back To Simplicity

I am back from two weeks of sun, sand and super-duper French grub.  Highlights were long bikes around the beautiful lanes of Ile de Re and reclaiming my ability to read (rather than scan) books.  Catching up with the blogosphere is an interesting experience after a fortnight of web detox...

On Holidays

I am off to the beautiful Ile De Re on the West coast of France for a couple of weeks where I am looking forward to coffee, croissants, long walks, oysters and wine.  Back to Modern Marketing on the 25th July.   À bientôt.

Vespa Blogs On

Vespa (a company for which I have a particular affinity) has started a blog as part of its US marketing effort.  It features a couple of keen Vespa riders both of whom have been interviewed in Business Week.  It was set up by the US PR dudes at Micropersuasion.  Now that really does pass the Scoble test.

Manifesto Feedback

The manifesto I wrote - What is Open Source Marketing? - continues to draw in all types of reaction.  Actoblog is keen to 'Let Go', Market Velocity came to similar conclusions a while ago, Kathy Sierra wonders how passion fits into Open Source Marketing, Raj says it has rung bells at Wharton's University's...

Live 8 Tag

Tags are one of the more subtle - albeit massively disruptive - elements of Internet 2.0 or social software (I prefer User-Friendly Web).  However, I suspect Technorati's Live 8 tag page will be a very good demonstration...