Capital C

Flaccid Brands: The Coolidge effect

The Coolidge effect is a biological phenomenon whereby males display a greater libido and rate of sexual performance given the introduction of new sexually receptive females. So although the male will not be physically able to re-mate with the current female, ‘things’ will start to happen if another lass saunters in.

I wonder if this relates to our experiences with brands. We are unable to respond to copycat products, clichéd slogans, flaccid campaigns…There’s just no go.

We now need a very different kind of brand novelty, one that engages us deeply by making us central actors in the brand story . Faris over at TIGS has a great riff on what he calls 'pseudo-modern communication', whereby the individual's actions are made  "the necessary condition of the cultural product."

Conceptual involvement is the new black.

- Hiten

Corrine named 'Woman of the Week'!

Corrine Sandler, President of Fresh Intelligence, was named 'Woman of the Week' at Women's Post magazine.

Partnering with Fresh Intelligence has allowed Cap C to move to a 'collect and collaborate' model.  By tapping into their tech expertise and real-time research savvy, we're able to arrive at just-out-the-oven insights. Mmmm

Full interview & photos here. Kudos Corrine!

Digital Digs- 05.11.09

05.11.09\\\\Capital C’s Digital Digs – A digest of what’s new and emerging in marketing, technology and strategy.

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Anthropology: The Art of Building a Successful Social Site
This is the story of Stack Overflow <http://stackoverflow.com/> , a free question and answer site built by developers for developers that has fostered a strong and committed online community in under one year. How? Easy, according to founder Joel Spolsky <http://www.joelonsoftware.com/> ; all it takes is an understanding of anthropology and a lot of determination.

Successful and Social <http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/anthropology_the_art_of_building_a_successful_soci.php>

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When Newspaper Archives Meet Twitter
NPRBackstory doesn’t do much. It’s just another little Twitter tool that makes sure you see what stories are being searched for heavily online. Pretty much, NPRBackstory makes sure you don’t miss anything big. Ever. Getting all those tweets could get annoying. But never missing a story could be pretty beneficial.

Looking Back <http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2009/05/04/when-newspaper-archives-meet-twitter/>

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Putting a Price on Social Connections
Researchers at IBM and MIT have found that certain e-mail connections and patterns at work correlate with higher revenue production.

Your Followers are Worth… <http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2009/tc2009047_031301.htm>

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When to Avoid Social Media
With all the social media hype, marketers should be aware that just jumping on the ultimate shiny new object of marketing isn’t necessarily the best move. If you don’t have the following pre-requisites, don’t go into social media.

Going Anti-Social <http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090406/FREE/304069979/1109/FREE#seenit>

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Twitter Coordinated Riots in Moldova
Moldova’s president accused Romania of involvement in a huge anti-communist protest, much of it coordinated on Facebook and Twitter, which saw government buildings ransacked and police arrest scores of demonstrators. Remember next time you tweet the contents of your lunchbox to mates – someone somewhere in the world is using Twitter to stage a coup.

Twitter Politics <http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/85513>

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Virtual Learning Gets Second Wind from Second Life
A handful of agencies are turning to virtual worlds to create programs that bring together the best aspects of Internet-based training and the traditional classroom. Making learning, well, easy.

Learning 2.0 <http://fcw.com/articles/2009/05/04/feature-virtual-learning.aspx>

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Digital Digs- 05.19.09

How the Next Internet Revolution Will Save Your Favourite TV Shows, Newspapers and Magazines
Television’s in denial. The only thing that has kept audiences glued to the screen is the fact that most people don’t know which wire to plug into the back of the TV to get internet on their screens. But all that’s about to change as more people are buying new, Internet ready televisions. Because of this, there’s a real danger that audiences will drift, advertisers will follow and traditional TV will crumble and decay. Saving the Dinosaurs
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How to Use the Predictive Value of Buzz
Online buzz (or lack of it) can predict future sales and help you change your marketing before it’s too late, according to a blog post called “People are Talking” (linked to in this article). What All the Buzz is About
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Kindle Publishing Now Open To All Blogs
Earlier this week, Kindle made it possible for anyone to have their blogs available via Kindle Publishing for Blogs Beta. Now, the everyday blogger can put their thoughts out there for the masses to digest. And while Kindle is still in it’s infancy popularity wise, studies show that one day we likely will all own one (or something like it). Which means that any little blog could be the next big thing. More importantly (as if you thought we were maxed out) access to information will increase tenfold as well. Here We Grow
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Student Hoaxes World’s Media on Wikipedia
When Dublin university student Shane Fitzgerald posted a poetic but phony quote on Wikipedia, he said he was testing how our globalized, increasingly Internet-dependent media was upholding accuracy and accountability in an age of instant news. His report card: Wikipedia passed. Journalism flunked. Check Your Sources
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Is Your Organization An Umbrella or Mixing Bowl?
Organizations are facing some interesting new challenges when it comes to how they operate at a cultural level and how this manifests outside the walls of the entity. David Armano looks at two simple ways of thinking about this. Simple Thoughts that Work
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I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man
Can Ford ever let their social media evangelist, Scott Monty go? Of the top 100 brands on Twitter, Ford is the only one that connects to an individual. What will happen if he decides to pack up and cut his ties with Ford? Can anybody do what he does now that he’s done it so well and has become so ironically connected to the brand he calls home? David Gillespie lends his insight. Who’s Doing Well? The Company or the Employee?

Digital Digs- 06.19.09

Capital C’s Digital Digs – A digest of what's new and emerging in marketing, technology and strategy.

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How to Go Viral
Bill Wasik is an Internet instigator best known as the creator of flash mobs. His life mission has been to test the boundaries of our ever-expanding viral culture and his credits include starting a fake version of the New York Times for conservatives to running a site focused exclusively on negative attacks against political candidates. In the process, he's analyzed how and why some stories became cultural phenomena and others languish in the nursing home of online oblivion.
 
Viralocity <http://www.salon.com/books/int/2009/06/10/viral_culture/print.html>

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Eleven Faces of Twitter
Former Capital C employee, Jordan Julien, posts an interesting deck describing 11 different ways people are currently using twitter, including the poser, the conversationalist, the narcissist and, the expert.
 
Tweeps <http://www.slideshare.net/thejordanrules/faces-of-twitter>

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Sorry, There's No Way to Save the TV Business
The traditional TV industry -- cable companies, networks and broadcasters -- is where the newspaper industry was about five years ago: in denial.
 
The Sad Fate of TV <http://adage.com/mediaworks/article?article_id=137304>

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Social Media Strategies Give Hope to Ad Agencies
Whether a brand tweets on Twitter or maintains a fan page on Facebook, social media is a less expensive and appealingly interactive alternative for companies looking to build brands compared with traditional media like television or print.
 
Never Fear, Social Media is Here <http://boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2009/06/15/story3.html?b=1245038400%5E1844040>

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Guy #3
Social Media is a hard game to play. A lot of times you can sit there in a tiny group, telling your story to a couple enthusiasts who love what you’re doing but don’t have the reach to get it off the ground. It’s guy number 3 who turns your small group of enthusiasts into an army of brand loyalists. You need guy number 3. He’s your savior; the one you’ll remember when your campaign hits the top. Want to see a hilarious visual that proves this point and makes sense of it at the same time? Of course you do.
 
Guy Number 3 and Go <http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/06/guy-3.html>
 <http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/06/guy-3.html>  
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10 Ways Journalism Schools Are Teaching Social Media
That doesn’t mean having a class on Facebook or Twitter which many college students already know inside and out, but instead means that professors are delving into how these tools can be applied to enrich the craft of reporting and producing the news and ultimately telling the story in the best possible way.

<http://mashable.com/2009/06/19/teaching-social-media/> Communication Evolution <http://mashable.com/2009/06/19/teaching-social-media/>

 
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We want your feedback. Send links, criticism & love to:
digital.digs@capitalc.ca