RepairPal    PlanetEye    VideoEgg    1800FREE411    Newsgator    Spock    Sharpcast    Retrevo    eSnips    Teleo    Xitel    Dragon

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Campaign
Tease Campaign Followed by a Viral Campaign; Traditional Media Pushing Controversial Buttons Around Privacy on the Web and the Importance of Vertical Search Beyond Google

We worked with Spock on a three-tier campaign that focused on vertical search, privacy and advertisers. By developing an integrated social media and viral communications program that educated the market about vertical search, we were able to kick start relationships with key industry influencers early on. Our strategy included advertisers who want to reach people in specific niche categories.

The campaign included an executive media push, positioning Spock executives as thought leaders on privacy and how it impacts business and society as a whole. We hit broadcast TV and business media on and offline.

Because Spock’s search engine focuses entirely on people, privacy and security alarm bells rang early on. Instead of playing to or avoiding media and consumer fear, we educated people how to start managing their online reputations. We successfully managed a controversial article with Time Magazine and negative online chatter over Internet safety, particularly as it pertained to children.

In addition to a strategy that focused on thought leadership and attracting potential advertisers, our goal was to get more users to the site. Prior to its initial launch, we did a teaser campaign and secured on-stage demos at high profile industry shows.

We created a program for vertical market industries around events and holidays such as politics, entertainment, sports and celebrities. Part of the strategy was not just to generate buzz about the site but solicit help from users to enhance content on the site and encourage others to participate. This included online games, widgets and contests to engage users and spiral user growth. PR Week wrote about the campaign.

Media Buzz is a Sample, not an Exhaustive List

[/column] [column width=”24%” padding=”0″] “Blodgett’s zest for Spock led her to go out on a limb for a product that was still a work in progress. They also engaged directly with people and taught us why it’s important to be out there, and to be honest, and communicative about what’s happening in the company.”
–Jay Bhatti, Co-Founder, Spock, now Intelius

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RepairPal    PlanetEye    VideoEgg    1800FREE411    Newsgator    Spock    Sharpcast    Retrevo    eSnips    Teleo    Xitel    Dragon

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Campaign
Massive Mainstream Media Exposure & Thought Leadership for CEO Nationwide; Combined with B2B Education to Potential Advertisers in Each Regional Market

Immediately Following Launch, User Base was at 10K – PR Push Led to More Than 5 Million Users within 6 Months

We launched Jingle Networks’ 1-800-FREE411 service, the first free national directory service, starting with a national education campaign that targeted both consumers and potential advertisers in each regional market.

Our strategy included a heavy focus on broadcast media – both TV and radio, as well as large online media outlets and blogs. Tyra Banks even mentioned the service on her show. We hit podcasts, vlogs, strategic newspapers, and advertising rags since it was as important to have consumers use the service as it was to get advertisers on board.

Working in conjunction with advertising partners to pitch local angles in regional markets, we nailed a feature in an Atlanta consumer magazine and network TV interviews with the CEO in markets such as Boston, Los Angeles, Providence, Dallas, New York, San Francisco and others. We generated a feature in Fast Company Magazine within a six month period following their launch as well as developed thought leadership for the CEO around strategically placed speaking panels.

The Result: more users, increased credibility, new partners and a brand that was becoming recognized around the country, an important qualifier for advertisers who want to spend their money strategically.

Media Buzz is a Sample, not an Exhaustive List

[/column] [column width=”24%” padding=”0″] “When we launched 1-800-FREE411, Blodgett and team obtained the best possible media coverage and buzz for us. We were featured simultaneously in WSJ, USA Today and the NY Times. No one does it better”
– Scott Kliger, former CEO and Co-Founder of Jingle Networks (800-FREE-411)

“Blodgett coupled a deep understanding of our product and audience with her powerful media network. The result was explosive consumer adoption. She’s ethical, smart, creative and tireless. They were a perfect match to meet our company’s objectives and take 800FREE411 to a mainstream market with great success.”
– Tom Latinovich, Co-Founder, Jingle Networks (800-FREE-411)

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Fans of Yossi are everywhere, the latest in LA at the 140 Character Conference, held in Hollywood’s Kodak Theater late last month.

I really like what this guy is doing. Enter Alek (@freakcast) and his ‘live show’ gig: Freakcast. He walks me through an online video experience of something he performs live – imagine the video slicing and dicing being done in real-time. He says, think “Quantum Montage.” I love LA for this: it thrives on creativity and diving in without fear. (Check out Freakcast on YouTube)

At the 140 Characters Conference last week in LA, a few of the Google Wave guys flew over from Sydney to participate on a panel, talk about the latest features and benefits of Google Wave and in general, spread the word among early adopters, movers and shakers in the world of Web 2.0. (developer Alex North joins us for part of the conversation). Video is in parts I and II.

Attorney Glenn Manishin (@glennm) tells amusing lawyer jokes at the 140 Characters Conference this past week in Los Angeles. Scroll down and hit play.

Glenn was on the panel that discussed public policy, legal issues within the context of social media and who owns what on the web.

Says Glenn, “if you ask a lawyer a question, they’ll say, it depends.” Well, in this space, it really does depend because there is no law about social media right now. There are doctrines of law that affect social media, you can be fired, not hired, but he asserts, that in many ways, “its still the wild wild west.”

Because the wild wild west is abbreviated to www….now what? What about linking? Caching? Twitter? Answers are evolving as we speak. Risks are high but if you don’t take the risks, you also don’t yield the rewards.

So, who owns the content on social media networks? Can employers prohibit employees from using social media?

Employers could learn a lot about their employees by not only allowing them to voice an opinion but engaging with them in the process. If you let employees use social media, you can monitor their voice and their behavior. Instruct them out to use it and give them concise guidelines but give up the control. In the long term, that control won’t work to serve corporations.

Larger corporations don’t just think about the legal risk but also the business risk. Brett Trout (@bretttrout) talked to us about intellectual property law. He says with a grin, “social media isn’t like baby bottles or the phone – it’s a tool you have to use. If your lawyer isn’t using social media, you need to get a new lawyer. You need a lawyer who understands what it is and its implications.”

As for endorsements and being up front about what you’re doing, we are given this analogy: sharks don’t know much about playing badminton but they do know how to hunt & kill.

On copyright and trademark issues, 90% of tweets are repetition of facts that are already public and out there.

Tweets live forever and anyone can see them. There’s a difference between that model and Facebook, a walled community, which means you decide who sees your content.

Normally the copyright rule is that if you use the entire article or quote, it’s not considered fair use. You can use a portion of something for commentary or parady. If you retweet, by definition, you’re basically repeating everything someone said.

By posting something on Twitter, you are not copying it, you’re reposting someone’s stuff and as Pete Cashmore once said about reposting stuff, it’s great to extend that reach of what you said. Hear hear. Distribution distribution distribution.

@glennm below tells us some amusing lawyer jokes on-site at the Kodak Theater last week.

At this month’s Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, client Answers.com’s Bob Rosenschein talks about the latest growth and why its such a popular answers destination site with KRON-TV’s Brian Shields.

At the 140 Character Conference last week in LA, I talked to Kodak’s Chief Blogger Jennifer Cisney. She talks to us about her role at Kodak.