Simple Letter or prehistoric cave drawing?

So today I was given the task of helping spread a branded campaign by signing up for a number of social media, video sharing, and blogging websites... 68 to be exact, and in doing so I found one common annoyance --- the verification box. They exist on a ton of websites to make sure that you are in fact a person creating a profile and not a computer program or some alien from outerspace who, according to the people who make these little puzzles, would not be intelligent enough to get around them. These boxes, besides being utterly annoying, are rediculous because in about half of the instances I had to use them, I myself could not even read the letters they put in the box, and while I am not the smartest man on earth, I can most definately read a letter. I even came across a few of them that, in addition to writing the words in the box, had to compute a math problem and give them the correct answer before my account could be 'verified.' I suppose its not a bad thing that people using these sites should at least be able to do basic mathematics, but again, still annoying. And finally, how are these words chosen? Sometimes the words that are put together are just too funny to think they are randomly generated?

These little boxes, however annoying they are, do presents an interesting opportunity for advertisers. Maybe instead of random words, company's could pay to have their brand names inserted instead? Why not? Just another 'arbitrary' thought...

AIM away from IM ads

Today, social media and communication over the internet has become to prevalent that marketers are constantly looking for opportunities to throw their ads in the way of consumer traffic with the hopes they will be noticed... As an intern at a marketing firm, however, even I think its annoying when I sign onto AOL instant messenger, and half of the buddy list is made up of paid advertisements that simply make the program looked cluttered (not to mention slowing down the computer by using additional memory to run these ads.) In doing research, I was able to find directions on how to disable these advertisements through the AIM program itself. After giving it a try, I restarted AIM, and to my pleasant surprise, the clutter and 'noise' was all gone and just the program's standard buttons (and of course the buddy list) remained, a real treat if you ask me. I was able to see soo many friends at one glance with no scrolling; it honestly made my day. See the picture and/or follow the link to learn how to do this for yourself. Now, i'm a marketing major myself working for a reputable marketing agency in Boston, but sometimes the channels used to advertise are just too much to handle. Who would honestly think to look at an ad squished into an already small buddy list window that contains communication channels with people they know? These ads, at least in my opionin, are nothing more than an inconvenience and waste of space, and have no chance of competing against the screen names on my buddy list.

To remove Advertisements:

C:\Program Files\AIM6\services\imApp\veryour_version\content\uiPluginGadgets.box
Simply change the name of uiPluginGadgets.box; I changed it to uiPluginGadgets_.box

C:\Program Files\AIM6\services\imApp\veryour_version\content\bl\aolBuddyListAd.js
Open up this file in notepad, hit ctrl+f, and search for adcontainer. The first result is the one you want to change--change collapsed=false to collapsed=true.
Save and close the file.
To remove the plugin box at the bottom of your buddy list:
C:\Program Files\AIM6\services\imApp\veryour_version\content\bl\bl.js
Open up this file in notepad, hit ctrl+f, and search for ("adContainer").collapsed = false;. The first, and only, result is the one you want to change--change collapsed = false to collapsed = true.
Save and close the file. Fire up AIM to see if the ads are gone; if not, do the final step below.

Remove Plugin Box

Remove Ad Boxes

Gimme that Fillet-O-Fish

For those of you who have not been paying attention to commecrials over the last week or so, Boston Ad Agency Arnold has put out a McDonald's commercial advertising their special 'fillet-o-fish' in an abnoxiously viral ad. In the commercial, a fish mounted on the wall sings a catchy song that is infectious like the plague... give me that fillet-o-fish, gimme that fish... Definately one of the most annoying commecials i've seen in a while (up there with HeadOn) but over the last few days since seeing the commercial i'll admit that I cant stop singing the tune. At random times throughout the day I find myself singing it. So its easy to say, yes the ad does a great job in getting people to remember the product and spreading the word, but at the end of the day, does seeing a dead fish mounted on a wall singing a catchy tune really make you want to go out and buy a fast food fish sandwich from McDonald's??? I would argue no, and furthermore that the ad is really only good for comedic value. Either way... GIVE ME THAT FILLET-O-FISH! GIMME THAT FISH!

Mark by Ben

So the story goes... a man was laid off from his job of almost 10 years... so whats next? His 14-year old son took the situation into his own hands, creating first a youtube video, and then a website to help his dad find a new job (website has dad's resume attached.) As of now the youtube video alone has over 54,000 views, and the website im sure has just as many if not more... with new technology and the simplicity of social media tools in web 2.0, the limits are seriously endless --- Video resumes as they stand are awkward and a come off a little 'showy,' but I wonder if we'll start seeing trends of 'video-resume' style videos that are less formal, giving more depth and insight into people's real lives popping up on youtube???

Pharma 2.0 - combining pharmaceuticals with new age marketing

Anyone have any thoughts on Social Media marketing in Pharmaceuticals? In the research I've done i've found some pretty interesting things. With regard to websites like twitter, while they are very useful, I think there are a few things that are roadblocks for pharmaceutical companies --- 1. I’m not convinced that many people would really jump at the chance to follow a pharmaceutical company on twitter 2. while the 140 word limit makes it could prove to be difficult in posting tweets about pharmaceutical products, and 3. the conversations on twitter are much less likely to be found when people 'Google' the topics they are looking for (which is what people usually do.)

Instead i've found what a lot of companies are doing is creating their own Youtube pages (Johnson & Johnson) or supporting community based websites that support specific illnesses/medical topics (High blood pressure, high cholesterol (by Merck), Menopause (by Wyeth) etc.) What this is doing for companies is really just establishing a better face. The Pharmaceutical industry is one not highly trusted by consumers – with research saying around 50% of people doing online research for a medication will not go to the brand website because they believe the information is either biased or designed to just sell their medication. And while they are obviously trying to sell their product, the pharma industry is one that should be working to establish some kind of relationship with consumers, especially in these times when candid/un-censored conversations are happening EVERYWHERE online. One thing I found that is great is some companies are now creating communities within their branded websites, or sponsoring popular websites that everyone goes to (such as WebMD, RX list, or online communities) because they are open forums for both curious and educated consumers. In doing this they help to finance resources for consumers (doctors/pharmacists) and then get their product message delivered in a much softer, less abrasive manner. A high blood pressure medication for example might support ways to lower BP naturally though an online community/forum, and then say something along the lines of "if diet and exercise isn't enough "XYZ" is here to help you." --- making them sound much more consumer based and not sales based.

Ultimately I think that Social Media is a highly untapped marketing resource for pharmaceuticals and I’m very interested to see how it will be used in the near future.