Modern Marketing - Blog by Collaborate PR & Marketing

Bubble 2.0 Survival Guide

My old colleague Alex Barnett ponders about Bubble 2.0 as mega deals return to the webosphere.  He also offers a top ten survival list for this time around...

Apple Forced To Listen

The BBC reports how Apple has been pushed into admitting there's a problem with its iPod Nano after a website was set up by an unhappy customer, Matthew Peterson.  Peterson's site rapidly started to attract attention from people who had also found that the screens on their wafer-thin MP3 players were fragile and breaking and were sending him pictures of their faulty products.  So pictures like those on the left started to appear creating a 'gap' when compared to the official campaign shots on the right.  Then Big Media joined in.  Reading between the lines, the unhappy customers got a pretty poor reception from Apple at first so they turned to the web.  A familar scenario to readers of this site but at least the company responded quickly.

BT Opens Up (Finally)

The UK's lag behind the US when it comes to all things digital is at least partly down to BT holding on to its monopolistic control of local phone lines.  But a combination of Ben 'Broadband' Verwaayen being made boss of the company and Ofcom's threats to break up the business seems to have - finally - changed the company's outlook.  The result is Open Reach, a new company that will allow BT's competitors to access its lines and exchanges.  It's a big shake-up that will make mega-fast, cheap broadband the norm and create massive opportunity for the modern marketeer.

Jarvis Speaks

Jeff Jarvis writes in today's Guardian.  With typical insight he compares the economics of blog-based media like Rocketboom with Mainstream Media such as CNN's Crossfire Show.  Includes this great quote:

"There is the real revolution in media: The one-way pipe that was broadcasting is giving way to an open pool that everyone owns, where anyone can play. The end of the network era isn't just about losing audience or revenue or profits. It's really about losing control."

Guardian Letter

A letter I wrote in response to an article in last week's Media Guardian, appears in today's paper...

"Naresh Ramchandani writes that PVRs may be a problem in 2010 (Only true greatness can save us from death by PVR, September 19) but that a combination of branded content and product placement will be enough to keep ad execs in gainful employment. The ad industry should recognise that hugely influential trends are taking place, such as massive consumer collaboration, vast digital networks and open-source inspired creativity. Murdoch has seen this. He isn't just tinkering with News Corporation, he is trying to turn it from a content engine into an enormous public forum. Guys, the world has moved on."

(They edited it - the slightly cheekier original is below...)

Land Rover Listens

The Land Rover Discovery saga has reached an interesting conclusion.  Adrian Melrose, the blogger who logged his disatisfaction with the vehicle he bought and then found himself contacted by people with similar problems has finally been heard by Land Rover.  In fact he had a long conversation with a LR executive who agreed that, "Land Rover UK needs an efficient platform to listen and care for their customers."  Ironically, Adrian has offered his blog to the company to get them started!  (Via the Marketing Blog).

Wal-Mart Goes Outside-In

Wal-Mart has created a team to listen and act specifically at a local level, reports Business Week.  Intriguingly, the 'Action Alley' plan has been come about because of multiple micro issues building up and gnawing away at the share value.

"For several years, Scott (Wal-Mart's CEO) shrugged off relentless criticism, but he now admits the broadsides on everything from labor practices to suburban sprawl were starting to inflict real damage."

Listening at a grassroots level...

BMW Podcast

BMW are podcasting from the massive Frankfurt Motor Show.  I found it on a Google ad that appeared on this blog.  It's a bit corporate but very professional and I should imagine quite interesting for 4 wheel petrol-heads (which I am not).  I am more interested in two wheels.  Once again BMW shows it takes modern marketing seriously.

Weinberger Explains Tags

I heard David Weinberger talk at Reboot last year and found him really inspiring.  He's way ahead on the blogopshere, is a Harvard PHD in philosophy, wrote jokes for Woody Allen, co-authored the Cluetrain and seemed like a nice guy!  His blog is always worth a read and here he is talking about tags and their influence.  Tagging is just as big as blogging and podcasts, but a little more difficult to appreciate.  Weinberger uses Flickr, Delicious and Google to explain...

Guardian's Open Door

The launch of the new Guardian is covered here in a blog written by the editorial team.  It gives a real sense of what the project was like to work on and is a good example of a modern marketing company opening up.  It seems that the paper's new set-up goes beyond a fresh font.  Writing this week Ian Mayes, an industry ombudsmen, writes...