FRANKthoughts

The latest 2007 survey report from the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) reports “Forty per cent of all European online shoppers have changed their mind about which brand to buy after researching choices on the web.”

Other data emerging from the report:

- Over half of online shoppers (59%) say websites of well known brands are an important source of information when researching or considering a product or service.
- Search engines are considered more useful (76%) than personal recommendations (72%).

- 61% find price comparison websites a useful source of information, while 57% look to customer website reviews to help them choose.

- European consumers are most likely to change their mind as a result of online research when it comes to buying electrical goods - 59% changed their minds on brand - while 43% changed their mind when it came to booking holidays and travel.

What is surprising is Search Engines are now considered more powerful that personal recommendations. Google more powerful than Word of Mouth? It really puts into perspective the importance of digital PR management of what people are saying about your brand. Through the transparencies and scale of the web, there are now 1000s of users reviewing and blogging about their experiences with your brand and products. How do clients manage this process? Experience design has and now even more important.

Last week, FRANk sent 160 pineapples to client, partners, and suppliers as a Welcome to 2008 gesture (blog post). On the pineapples, all we attached was a link to our newly designed blog that was also launched last Tuesday. So here are the results after 1 week:

Cost of 160 Pineapples = $720
Cost of Courier = $380
Cost of Printer = $170
Total Cost = $1270

Result = 289 Visits (202 Unique Visits)

Cost Per Visit = $ 4.39

Not bad for a Cost per Click/Visit return on investment. A creative way to generate a bit of buzz with our clients/partners and a direct response to visit our new blog. And, the engagement with the FRANk brand from clients = Priceless!!

Thanks to Dion and the crew at Lifelounge

After jumping on board the virtual world spaceship without any strategy, brands learned that the rules of engagement are different and after getting the initial PR many have jumped ship.

I’m thinking that Second Life will have a second chance for brands and this chance will be in the training/education. Think about it like this: if using a flight simulator is good enough for NASA why not use a simulator for customer service, driving schools or even medical students? after all, isn’t Second Life a life simulator?

Learning to sail in real life requires studying a rule book and pass an exam. Than you’ll have to pass a hands on course. In second life you can actually tie a rope, get a sale up and even take the boat for a night cruise to learn the signals. Imagine if your organisation can reduce training times by half and end up with better results?

Another point is the fun part of learning. When we were young, we had fun learning as most of it happened as we played. As we grow older it seems someone had taken the fun out of learning. Instead of playing and experiencing we now have to read books and memorise dates. Second life can bring the fun and game element back to learning so we can enjoy it more.

Let’s see how long it takes for the first brand to start training employees in virtual worlds.

(Just had a quick look and found out that Scoble was on the ball in 2006!)

It’s been over a year since Nintendo first launched its revolutionary new game console called Wii. I’m sure by now you’ve either experienced it for yourself or have heard of the unfortunate tales of injury and destruction that has come as a result of using it. If you haven’t, then I suggest you check out Wii Have a Problem, a blog dedicated to reporting wacky Wii-related stories.

I’m usually the late adopter of this sort of technology and the Wii was no exception.

The Australia Day weekend presented itself as my first opportunity to experience the world of Wii. It was in the late hours of a Sunday afternoon BBQ when a couple of the adults decided it was time to push the kids aside and take charge of the Wii. Bowling was the game of choice and I was keen to see what all the fuss was about. I was simply going to have one go and leave it at that.

Two strikes later and I was hooked.

Convinced I could out do the pint sized 10 year old who held the record for the day of 3 strikes in a row, I geared up for my attack. I swung my arm, bent my leg and lunged forward……I screamed in pain! No strike and a butt check that felt liked it had been ripped in half. Despite my pain, I continued on determined to win. Twenty Five minutes later I was defeated. I walked away in shame, for the first time in my 27 years I felt old.

The following morning was the last straw; I crawled out of bed in pain reminiscence of a scene after the first day of the snowboarding season. I was in agony from head to toe, with my shoulder taking most of the impact.

Who would have thought a video game could be the cause.

For those of you who have dared to try it and come out unscathed I salute you, for those yet to venture into the world of Wii heed my words……stretching your limbs prior to play is vital. I think from now on I’ll stick to Sing Star no matter how bad I sound!

So you’re in the company of your parents, in-laws, grandparents, friends & maybe even your boss… it’s supposed to be the most amazing day of your life… and you walk down the aisle COMPLETELY NUDE! It sounds like something you would only ever read about but I was in hysterics on the weekend when a friend announced she was one of three finalists in the Fox Fm Nude Wedding competition. For those that aren’t Fox listeners, basically they are in search of a couple who are willing to bare all and tie the knot in the complete raw! The couple voted by listeners will exchange vows (nude of course) at a wedding valued at over $40,000.

I can’t say any amount of bling would convince me to get my gear off however these guys are totally up for it.

Please check them out and vote for couple # 1 - Singrid & Brad!

Best of luck guys!

Word is that the writer’s strike is expected to be resolved within the next fortnight.

Regardless, I wouldn’t anticipate any drastic declines in TV viewing that would see the networks worried, particularly Channel Seven.

7’s top performing programs in 2007 were the likes of Dancing With the Stars, Border Security, Kath & Kim and City Homicide to name a few.  All Australian produced programs.  Seven is not in a position in 2008 where they are relying solely on US programming to generate ratings.

It’s difficult to imagine that if a handful of these programs were rescheduled for a few weeks that this would greatly impact the average Australians daily TV viewing of 3.23 hours.  TV Networks will often pull off series midway through the season to extend their life.  As irritating as this can be, it certainly hasn’t deterred viewers in the past.   And sponsors certainly don’t jump off these programs in outrage when this occurs.

If anything at all, Subscription TV may see some good numbers on that night (particularly from younger viewers who pull in the numbers for programs such as Greys).  But also likely, is that 7 will have plenty of programs on hand ready to run that will keep the majority of TV viewer’s content to stay in front of the box.

The Writers’ Guild of America downed pens/keyboards about 80 days ago.

In Australia the implications for the Seven Network are that hero shows, attracting the hero dollars, such as Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy and Lost only have 10, 11 and 8 episodes “in the can” respectively. Normally they would have twice this amount. Nine’s and Ten’s situations are slightly better because they have less reliance on US programmes (than Seven) but also the nature of their programming is that of self contained episodes such as the CSI and Law & Order franchises which can bear repeating unlike Seven’s serialised programming which just run into a wall of silence.

On the upside this situation is a bonus for local production companies and hopefully will give vent to upcoming Australian talent on both sides of the camera.

A great post from Get Shouty so whatta ya going to do? prompted me to consider what will Australians do with the approximate 1,200 million hours that we currently spend watching commercial TV each month (based on people aged 14+, source Morgan) and what opportunities and advice we might be imparting to our clients who are in some part “reliant” on 30 second solutions in high rating programmes.

If we can ‘reallocate’ 10% of this time, 120 million hours per month, what are the opportunities?

Well we could get people off their arses tackling obesity, creativity and mental health. We might imagine that cinema attendances and DVD rentals will increase, conversely we might see an increase in gambling and alcohol consumption. The web will undoubtably benefit as more people turn to it for entertainment and that surely is an opportunity as people switch tubes.

Ideas anyone? A resurgence of board games?

Thanks to Scott from Haul!

Thank you for coming here and welcome to 2008.

We hope you enjoy your juicy pineapple, a universal symbol of welcome for over 500 years.

To the people of the Caribbean, the pineapple symbolized hospitality, and the Spaniards soon learned they were welcome if a pineapple was placed at the entrance to a village. This symbolism spread to Europe, courtesy of Christopher Colombus in 1493 and then to Colonial North America, where it became the custom to carve the shape of a pineapple into the columns at the entrance of a plantation.

Seafaring captains used to impale fresh pineapples, souvenirs of their lengthy travels, to tropical ports atop the porch railings of their homes when they returned. It was a symbol that the man of the house was home and receiving visitors. Families would set a fresh pineapple in the centre of the table as a colourful centrepiece of a festive meal, especially when visitors joined them in celebration symbolizing the utmost in welcome and hospitality.

This communal symbol of friendship and hospitality also became a favourite motif of architects, artisans and craftsmen often announcing the hospitality of a mansion with carved wood or moulded mortar pineapples on its main gate posts. Today pineapples can be seen carved on bedposts, headboards, backs of chairs, front doors of homes, towns’ welcome signs, atop rooftops, weather vanes of important public buildings, sculpted into door lintels, stenciled on walls, carpets, china and in metalwork and needlework.

Please enjoy your pineapple.

Share it as a drink or cook with it, just enjoy.

Great piece of viral to promote a creative agency. Capitalising on the Corey hype, Vivo Group have timely released a site offering users to slap Corey.

www.slapcorey.com

I’m surprised on how quick they’ve developed this game and cleverly promoted on their agency website (thou that is under construction). Good thinking!