Damien Basile» attempts

June 18th, 2009

Bing me. Google it. How Microsoft is more relevant than Google

On June 8th 2009 Microsoft took an unprecedented move in advertising their new search engine Bing. They subsidized all commercials on Hulu for a limited time period. In exchange for that they produced something akin to a telethon meets an infomercial- the Bing-a-thon. The Bing-a-thon is something that has never been done before online.

Microsoft is getting it right with the marketing of Bing. They understand that search should be easy. They understand that in order to learn about something it should be fun. People don’t want to be lectured. We want to be entertained. Disguise learning in entertainment and you have just created an educated consumer. Here’s what some of you took away from the Hulu Microsoft Bing-a-thon:

Some of you were:

Compelled

destroytoday The Bing a-thon is like a gruesome car accident. I keep wanting to look away, but can’t seem to close the window: http://bit.ly/zHpPT

RobLaughton is bing-a-thon really made by the one of the most powerful company in the world? It’s sooooo bad, yet strangely compelling……

latitude46 Bing-a-thon is simply terrible, but I just can’t look away. God help us all.

JaysonElliot Watching the live “bing-a-thon” on Hulu right now. I can’t tell if they’re attempting irony or not. It’s all too self-referential.

Informed

mariogvasquez watched the bing-a-thon on hulu.com. Sudeikis is funny Olivia was hot. Fred Wilard was awkward. Did learn some cool stuff about bing.com

aznsclboi Bing-a-thon over… I’m not sure I’m smarter for watching this… but eh, at least I know how to Bing now.

Repelled

johnyjuice OMG….wth #bing-a-thon that is time spent I WILL NEVER get back! Thank you #Google for not EVER doing that!

jbruin @AlexBurdz I’m really hoping that MS spent most of that 80/100 mil on ads cause bing-a-thon was an epic disaster

Interested

arturot the Bing-a-thon is awesome, haha so cheesy but actually very fun. I hope they make the entire event available later on.

bajanx What an idea by Microsoft having a Bing a Thon on such a recognized website like HULU. How much will this help popularize “THE BING”?

{The interesting thing to note here is that Microsoft made it easy to share the telecast in Facebook and Twitter AND the message that was shared was updated according to what was happening on the Bing-a-thon. Notice the same bit.ly link.}

Promoters

Radums I just made some dude eat like 40 cupcakes. Go to hulu and check out the Bing-a-thon. http://bit.ly/avTj0

yotobari288 I just finished watching the Bing-a-thon with Olivia Munn, Jason Sudeikis, and Fred Willard. It’s running again on hulu http://bit.ly/avTj0

lakkineni Olivia Munn is live on hulu’s Bing-a-thon right now. Come watch it. You’re welcome. http://bit.ly/avTj0

{Of note here is that some found such value in the automated shared message that they reshared it. Some (myself) changed the message & left the automated link only to have others share that message as well.}

Sharers

SanjayJain369 RT @astanton: Fred Willard from Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman is on hulu’s Bing-a-thon right now. Come watch. http://bit.ly/avTj0

katriord RT @db It may not be ‘cool’ to like Microsoft but they get relevant marketing = Live Bing-a-thon http://bit.ly/avTj0

My conclusion? Microsoft made the right decision to market Bing the way they did. People were clearly informed. These are the people that are likely to use Bing over and over again. The people who were compelled (as well as the promoters/sharers) are likely to tell their friends of the funny cool thing they saw and interacted with. Bing has a funny name. It can make you think of Friends’ Chandler Bing or evoke a sound. The bottom line is this: Microsoft wanted to educate its consumers and brand Bing’s personality at the same time. Mission completed.

Only time will tell if people adopt Bing as their default search engine. Right now people have turned the proper noun ‘Google’ into a verb by saying ‘google it’. I can definitely see people adopting Bing in the verb sense. They may say ‘bing it’ if someone wants to know specific information about something or ‘bing’ as a verb may just eclipse ‘google’. Google may provide tons of search results but that’s also its downfall. Microsoft may not say Google in their ad but they might as well, as I’m sure many of you have felt the same frustration:

Microsoft’s differentiator? Their tagline: “It’s not just a search engine. It’s the first ever decision engine, from Microsoft.”

While Google is focusing on Wave, Microsoft is taking this chance to make search more relevant. Yes, many of us are excited for real-time email etc etc BUT frankly I’m more excited with relevant search. The internet has become our default for information. I’m hard-pressed to find anyone who actually uses encyclopedias and dictionaries in dead-tree format. I already have Twitter for real-time info as well as instant messages. E-mail and document editing are fast enough for me now.

Make your customer’s life easier in a timely and relevant way and you’ve won their hearts. I’m sure Google has something up their sleeve for semantic web but until that day you can just Bing me.

For branding and social media insights check out my Posterous.

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Tags: attempts, automation, Bing, brand, branding, car accident, commercials, consumer, consumers, cool stuff, differential, disaster, disguise, email, event, excitement, Facebook, friends, frustration, fun people, god, Google, heart, hearts, Hulu, infomercial, interaction, interactions, irony, life, limited, limited time, marketing, Microsoft, noun, personalities, personality, powerful company, promotions, referential, relevance, tagline, technology, telethon, time period, twitter, unprecedented move, update, Value, video, wilard
Posted in branding, business, featured, technology | No Comments »

Comments (0)

June 10th, 2009

Is PR a dirty word?

Recently during NY Internet Week I had the pleasure of having dinner with Brian Solis [@briansolis] (among others) where Nicole Jordan [@nicolejordan] joined us. Nicole began speaking about how she has resorted to calling what she does as ‘integrated communications’. Brian proceeded to say that that’s just another way of saying ‘public relations’. He should know more than anyone else as he wrote ‘Putting The Public Back In Public Relations.’ The question that came out of our conversation is this: Is it time to stop calling it PR and call it anything else?

Public relations, integrated communications, holistic branding- they all speak about conveying your core values in a message for others. When you ask most people what they think of the word PR many will tell you ‘spin’ or press release. As a communications professional you will need to use spin in crisis situations but not all the time. And yes, you will need to send out press releases but these two tactics do not make a public relations professional.

“There is no doubt in my mind that eventually all PR agencies and consultants will follow suit and transform from publicity firms into New Media communications and marketing organizations rich with in house or contracted content producers, digital sociologists, research librarians, community managers, digital architects, connectors, and industry experts/strategists.” ~Brian Solis. It may not be long until all PR professionals are new media agents just as he predicts.

Social media has changed the discipline of communications forever. Instead of corporations talking at you, they’re now attempting to talk with you. Social media is now used professionally by many different corporations successfully- Dell, Whole Foods, Ford, Pepsi, among others. Some have had social media backlash against them (Motrin) while others use social media as a shiny new toy (Skittles). In order for social media tactics to ring true you must weave them in at the base level to reflect your core values.

This is how social media has returned public relations to its roots.

The stigma of the word ‘PR’ may be so great that we may need to stop focusing on what we are called and focus on what we do. What do we stand for? How is that being reflected in what we do? What can we offer others? This is the key.

Gone are the days where you can use a channel of communications to say ‘look at me’. If you can’t use those same channels to say ‘look, it’s me, i’m here for you’ then you’re toast. People get right away when someone isn’t being genuine. We have too much stimulus and not enough time in today’s world. For you to stand out from the crowd you must be true to what you stand for and only want to help those who align with you.

It doesn’t matter what you call it- PR, public relations, integrated communications, holistic branding. What matters is that you make sure your client’s communications are synced across every single platform (design, branding, marketing, advertising, social media, etc).

The hucksters and the spin-doctors have ruined the good name of PR by taking the focus off of the public and putting it on themselves. It’s not about me me me or you you you. It’s about us us us.

Doing business at all costs is no longer viable. Doing business at the best costs is the new modus operandi. Regardless of what you call the discipline the ones who will get ahead will be those who can align their values with their customers. And that’s the truth.

For branding and social media insights check out my Posterous.

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Tags: attempts, benefit, brand, branding, business, communicating, communication, communications, community managers, consumers, content producers, conversation, conversations, core values, crisis situations, design, designers, doubt in my mind, Facebook, follower, industry experts, integrated communications, integrity, interaction, interactions, internet week, marketing, media, motrin, networking, new media communications, nicole jordan, organization, pepsi, platforms, pr agencies, pr professionals, productivity, reflection, research librarians, skittles, social, social media, sociologists, solis, strategists, technology, twitter, Value, whole foods, words
Posted in branding, business, featured, social media | No Comments »

Comments (0)

April 23rd, 2009

Look What They’ve Done To My Brand, Mama

There’s a scene in The Wizard of Oz I can’t get out of my head. The flying monkeys have attacked; the Scarecrow has been torn apart. What’s left of the Scarecrow laments: “First they took my legs off and they threw them over there! Then they took my chest out and they threw it over there!”And the Tin Woodsman looks down and replies: “Well, that’s you all over!”

I’ve got to think that’s what it feels like to be a brand these days. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: attempts, audience, blog, brand, brand values, branding, business, business standpoint, communicating, communication, communications, creativity, design, designers, differential, discussion, feelings, flying monkeys, guideline documents, heart, humor, interaction, interactions, legs, logical conclusions, marketing, media, poetry, present, productivity, reply, scarecrow, social, thinking about things, thoughtfulness, tin woodsman, Value, visuals, weirdness, white space, wizard of oz, words, zappos
Posted in branding, technology | 2 Comments »

Comments (2)

April 21st, 2009

How Your Brand Colors Affect Your Customer’s View of Your Business

The colors you associate with your brand are extremely important.

Even if someone isn’t aware of who you are or what you do, your brand’s essence is conveyed right away by what your colors tell them. Many different feelings are associated with individual colors. Picking the wrong color could turn a customer away before they have the chance to become one. Read the rest of this entry »

For branding and social media insights check out my Posterous.

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Tags: attempts, best friend, brand, branding, business, businessman, clue, colors, communicating, communication, communications, consensus, conveyance, design, designers, desire, doing business, emotional color, emotional effect, feelings, friends, generalities, gould, headway, lists, Lost, marketing, Peers, science, strategy, tagline, usability, Value, verbal message, visual representation, visuals, words
Posted in branding, featured | 5 Comments »

Comments (5)

Bing me. Google it. How Microsoft is more relevant than Google

Compelled

Informed

Repelled

Interested

Promoters

Sharers

How Your Brand Colors Affect Your Customer’s View of Your Business

What:

Who:

Archive List