On a recent scouring of the web for marketing news, I stumbled across this fabulous story about copywriter Alex Brownstein. Fed up of not being able to get in front of some of New York’s finest Creative Directors, he devised a PPC strategy to get himself noticed by the likes of Scott Virtrone and Ian Reichenthal… by playing on that egotistical moment when these guys would Google themselves!

Marketers have for a long time now realised that by focusing on long-tail keywords that have less competition, not only will you pay less per click, but you will also have a higher conversion rate. In fact this conversion rate can be as high as 200% when compared to short-tail, or generic, keywords.

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The phrase ‘time flies’ is testament to my experience at Red C. It’s been six months since I left and I still miss the place!

Before embarking on my annual festival trip to Glastonbury in the summer of 2008, I was elated to find out I had secured the Junior Account Executive placement. However, panic soon struck! As a student with no relevant, practical business experience I was naturally overwhelmed and nervous as to how I could make a positive contribution to Red C. Those insecurities soon disappeared when I realised I was surrounded by people (both in the account and creative departments) who were willing to help, advise and guide me if need be.

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Usually a weekend in London with the girls is messy, full of mojitos, dancing and cupcakes! However, last month we decided that we needed to immerse ourselves in a bit of culture and headed off to the Digital Decode exhibition at the V&A (after the mojitos and cupcakes). A brilliant afternoon and well worth a visit. The exhibition showcases the latest digital design sensations – everything from digitally growing plants to mechanical eyes that mirror your gaze. The exhibition was split into three: Code, Network and Interactivity.

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Old stylie vinyl records

As a child of the 80s, I’m old enough to remember when buying music meant a trip to the local record shop, browsing through vinyl collections and being mesmerised by the cover art. If you were lucky enough, your chosen album would come with ‘extras’ such as snap shot photography taken during a live concert, maybe a small bio of the band members and more often than not, the lyrics to all your favourite songs.

As we approached the digital age, records became CDs, which to me, never had the same impact. Sure there was the additional CD booklet, but they lacked the tactility of records, and the brilliant photography lost some of it’s shine squashed into the smaller not-quite-square format. CDs will inevitably be replaced by downloads, if they haven’t already, (I don’t really know anybody who buys CDs any more), but what about all the cool ‘extras’ we’ve come to expect?

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An Amber Alert in action

At the end of October 2008 I found myself with quite a few hours to spare as I waited in Chicago’s O’Hare Airport for a connecting flight. Having never been to Chicago, I hopped on a train that was heading for the city. On the journey I stared out the window and among the many sites I saw was a billboard displaying what is known as an AMBER Alert™.

The AMBER Alert Program is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies, broadcasters, transportation agencies, and the wireless industry, to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. The goal of an AMBER Alert™ is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and the safe recovery of a child.

This creative use of a billboard got me thinking about how the Billboard medium is evolving, and how with the help of technology, the Billboard is becoming an effective Direct Response channel. Here are a few examples of how technology is breathing new life into the Billboard:

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Podcasting, like most of the Web 2.0 technologies, is a young medium, strictly 21^st Century. The first Podcasts, or audioblogs, as they were first known, emerged between 2001 and 2003. It was the development of the RSS feed, allowing podcast listeners to ‘subscribe’ to shows and have new episodes automatically downloaded to their iPod or MP3 player overnight, that really caught the public imagination. In particular, the pioneering efforts of former MTV host Adam Curry, who was producing shows from mid-2004, helped to encourage the explosion of podcasts over the next two years.

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