Merge

We've said for a while now that a website is just not enough anymore.  A static site with two year old content can be just as detrimental as not having a website.  Our clients take this to heart, and Find Great People is one who is truly getting all they can out of the web.  Here is a quick look at some of their b

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About five or six years ago, I rang the death knell on Rock n' Roll.  Anything on local radio was pretty much trash in my estimation, and finding anything new by any other means just wasn't easy enough to draw me away from my CD collection.  Things didn't change overnight, but it almost seems that way. 

A long, long time ago, say 1999, if you wanted new music, you went to the music store.  Either an Earshot or a big box, buy the CD, and pop it in your car on the way home.  You probably bought the CD because you heard the band on the radio at some point, or saw them on MTV, when they used to play videos.  Essentially you had two (three if you read Rolling Stone or Spin) channels from which to hear about new music.  Things are a little different today.

I love The Black Keys.  You know how I heard about them?  An EA Sports game via Playstation 2 about 4 years ago.  A little embarrassed to admit that, but glad I found them.  How 'bout a band you've probably never heard of, Dirty Sweet.  They are from San Diego and get zero radio play. I found them through the iTunes store looking for new Black Keys stuff and stumbled upon them through the "Listeners also bought..."  One of my favorite bands now.  What about a band I'd never heard of until literally 2 minutes ago, Railroad Earth.  They just popped onto my Pandora station.

The web is making it increasingly easier for bands to get their music to the masses. Long gone are the days of buying a $30 "import" to hear your favorite band live.  Pearl Jam released 72 live CD's about eight years ago after a tour,

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For our non-profit friends out there, here is a quick success story of a grassroots organization and their use of the web and social media to make a big splash from day one. 

Fall 2009 - The Red Shoe Society (RSS) Board is formed, comprised of eleven volunteers.  The goal from the outset is to be the sought after young professionals philanthropic organization in the Upstate while creating awareness and raising funds for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Carolinas.

November/December 2009 - Planning begins for the year, with the first introduction to the public to be held on February 10, 2010, the "Open Your Hearts for the Ronald McDonald House."

December 2009/January 2010 - The board secures Good Life Catering, the Next Innovation Center, Highland Brewing Company and West End Wine and Spirits to provide the space, food and drink for the event.  All of which donate in kind (a good portion of their costs, if not all their costs in most cases) for the event.  

January 2010 - The invitation process begins.  The goal is to get 150 people to the event, and be happy to get ten new paying members that night. 

• Invites are done via email and Facebook.  An event is created and then shared by the board members. 
• Based solely on Facebook friends of the board members, the Open Your Hearts event was seen by a minimum of 3,800 people.  This is assuming  it was only

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As we talked about on Tuesday, sometimes organizations make leaps in order to achieve transformational change.  Most times this happens without much fanfare.  It happens internally, and sometimes your clients or constituents don't really know about or understand the change.  Clearly, Domino's took a different approach, they are not only letting the world know, they are taking advantage of the web and letting the world respond.  Good idea or bad, only about two weeks or so in, they can already gauge their customers reaction.  And so can we. 

With almost 220,000 youtube views of the 4 minute documercial, they have probably accomplished goal number 1.  It will be interesting to see their first quarter returns to see if the plan has really worked, but until then, you'll have to judge the social media response.  The response has been interesting, especially when you compare it across different sites.  Facebook and Twitter seem mainly positive (and really comical at times), while folks posting on youtube are taking it as more of a marketing ploy.  If nothing else, it can be used as a good case study or measuring stick for what platforms to use for a campaign and what type of response you may get.   

Cynically we could say this was just a marketing ploy.  I would tell you that this probably has a lot to do with it.  I would also say who cares.

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I was walking downtown to a meeting, and passed the hot dog guy right outside the Greenville News.  He said hello to me as I was walking by.  I didn’t think much about it at the time, but realized later that every time I walk by him, he says hello and asks how I am doing.  I have never met him, don’t know his name, and truthfully have never bought anything from him.  While delicious, I just don’t eat many hot dogs.   But, if someone ever ask

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