The Day the Internet Went Dark

Posted on January 18, 2012 by Mitch Devine| 9 Comments
This is your Google search on SOPA-PIPA.

This is your Wikipedia on SOPA-PIPA.

This is your social stock market on SOPA-PIPA.

This is your Tumblr on SOPA-PIPA.

Dude, where’s my blog?

Some of the world’s biggest blogs and websites are going dark today to protest two bills before the U.S. Congress: SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (the Protect-IP Act).

The intention of the bills is to stop the piracy of copyrighted material, (e.g. movies, music, photography), mostly by companies based in foreign countries. Sounds good, right?

The problem with these well-intention bills is that enforcement goes too far, veering into censorship. The Orange County Register editorial sums up the problem with the way SOPA goes about stopping piracy:

Unfortunately, it does so by giving the government, and even private companies, vast new authority to shut down websites considered objectionable — without a court hearing or trial. According to Wikipedia, SOPA “would authorize the U.S. Department of Justice to seek court orders against websites outside U.S. jurisdiction accused of infringing on copyrights, or of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement.” The U.S. attorney general then could ban search engines, such as Google, from displaying links to the sites; and “could require U.S.-directed Internet service providers, ad networks and payment processors to suspend doing business” with the targeted websites.

The House has already stopped its consideration of SOPA. However, the Senate will vote on cloture for PIPA January 24 .

Learn more here: EFF, CDT, Future of Music Coalition, Heritage Foundation, Stop American Censorship, ReadWriteWeb

Take action here: SOPA Strike | Take Action

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Posted in Blog, political, technology

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Occupy This Amazingly Ginormous Post

Posted on January 4, 2012 by Mitch Devine| 22 Comments

Don't say it. Don't even go there.

Time to ring in the new and kick out the old, tired and trite words and phrases that have worn out their welcome over the past year.

In an effort to help cleanse our collective vocabulary palate, the Lake Superior State University compiles an annual list of words it deems worthy of banishment from popular usage.

The List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness “has been going strong since New Year’s Day 1976 and shows no signs of stopping,” according to the LSSU List History page.

Conceived during a New Year’s Eve party by Lake Superior State University Public Relations Director W.T. (Bill) Rabe, the the Banishment List is released each year on New Year’s Day, since the holiday is traditionally a slow news day. Nominations are accepted throughout the year.

In case you missed it, here are a few highlights from this year’s banished list, along with a choice quote from someone who submitted it.

AMAZING  (Received the most nominations)

“Anderson Cooper used it three times recently in the opening 45 seconds of his program. My teeth grate, my hackles rise and even my dog is getting annoyed at this senseless overuse. I don’t even like ‘Amazing Grace’ anymore.” — Sarah Howley, Kalamazoo, Michigan

[I have to admit, our church has a lot of songs with the word “amazing” in the title!]

BABY BUMP

“This is a phrase we need to finally give birth to, then send on its way.” — Mary Sturgeon, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 

SHARED SACRIFICE

“Usually used by a politician who wants other people to share in the sacrifice so he/she doesn’t have to.” — Scott Urbanowski, Kentwood, Michigan

OCCUPY

“‘Occupy Wall Street’ grew to become Occupy ‘insert name of your city here’ all over the country. It should be banished because of the media overuse and now people use it all the time, i.e. ‘I guess we will occupy your office and have the meeting there.’ ‘We are headed to Grandma’s house – Occupy Thanksgiving is under way.” — Bill Drewes, Rochester Hills, Michigan

MAN CAVE

“Overused by television home design and home buying shows, has trickled down to sitcoms, commercials, and now has to be endured during interactions with real estate people, neighbors and co-workers.” — Jim, Flagstaff, Arizona 

WIN THE FUTURE

“On its very face, it’s an empty, meaningless phrase. It basically says that anyone who opposes anything meant to ‘win the future’ must want to ‘lose the future,’ which is highly unlikely. But, hey, you may already be a winner.” — Jim Eisenmann, Madison, Wisconsin 

GINORMOUS

“This combination of gigantic and enormous makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck every time I hear it. Each utterance reminds me of the high school drop-out that first used this offensive word in my presence.” — Gina Bua, Vancouver, Washington

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE

“Usually followed by ‘for your cooperation,’ this is a condescending and challenging way to say, ‘Since I already thanked you, you have to do this.’” — Mike Cloran, Cincinnati, Ohio

I was pleased to see that many of my personal pet peeves were already banned from usage [e.g. "Teachable Moment" - 2010; "Green" - 2009; "Game changer" - 2009; "Wordsmith/wordsmithing" – 2008; "LOL" - 2004].

Feel free to peruse the LSSU complete list to see whether you’re still using any bannished words. Amazingly (oops), some of these shopworn social media/marketing contenders have not yet made the list: “Guru,” “ROI” and “Noms.”

Did any of your favorite words to hate get left out? What words are you sick of that didn’t make the list?

Thank you in advance for commenting!

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Posted in Blog, creativity, grammar, social media, writing

Kohl’s Ad Inflicts Black’s “Friday” Earworm on Shoppers

Posted on November 23, 2011 by Mitch Devine| 8 Comments

Kohl's brings Rebecca Black's "Friday" back for "Black Friday". Now say that five times fast.

It had to happen. But I can’t decide if the new Kohl’s commercial is brilliant or insane. The only thing I’m sure of is that it’s insanely catchy.

Kohl’s is promoting their post-Thanksgiving “Black Friday” holiday sale with a jingle set to the maddeningly ubiquitous viral hit “Friday” by Rebecca Black.

“Black Friday, Black Friday, gotta go to Kohl’s on Black Friday…”

SEO coup for Kohl’s?

Questions of musical taste and compassion for radio listeners aside, this jingle could be a coup for Kohls when it comes to search engine results. As Time points out: “Naturally, the term ‘Rebecca Black Friday’ is an undeniably potent combo.”

Hey, who’s that shopping at Kohl’s in the commercial? It looks like a cameo appearance by the real 14-year-old Rebecca Black (in a red coat)—or at least a dead ringer—at about :15 into the spot.

That darn song

At least Kohl’s humorously admits the earworm nature of the song with the last line. Time writes, “In perhaps the ultimate moment of humility and self-reflection, the Wisconsin-based department store acknowledges how annoying the song is: ‘Can’t get this darn song out of my head.’”

Self-reflection? Maybe. Just not much in the way of self-restraint.

Attraction or repellent

Will Rebecca Black’s “Friday” pull in customers, or repel them? Shop and see. Let me know if this commercial makes you want to brave a Kohl’s on Black Friday.

Kohl’s YouTube channel promises: “You’ll be singing this song every day until Black Friday. Guaranteed.” And that could be the problem. (I’m already sick of it on the radio.) As one popular YouTube commenter said, “well i know were [sic] NOT to go this black friday.”

If the song gets stuck in your head, here’s one sure way to get it out: start singing “It’s a Small World.”

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Posted in Marketing, music, television, video, viral

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You Have 9 Seconds To Fascinate A Client – Spend 1 Hour With Sally Hogshead First

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Mitch Devine| 10 Comments

Sally Hogshead had to unlearn how to be boring.

Thanks to web browsing, the average attention span is now approximately nine seconds, according to a BBC report. That happens to be the same attention span as a goldfish.

Why is this important for marketers and advertisers? It means you’d better make a good first impression, and fast.

Look: a squirrel!

Still with me?

Whether you’re a brand, or a bachelor trying to find your soul mate on Match.com, you have only nine seconds to make an introduction, to make a connection. If you fail, you may never get another chance.

So how do you make the most of micro-attention spans? Sally Hogshead has the answer: Fascinate.

As the author of “Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation,” Sally has to be at her most fascinating every time she speaks. And she certainly didn’t disappoint during her keynote presentation at a recent Linked Orange County gathering.

Your best is not enough

It doesn’t matter how great your product is if nobody sees it. Sally emphasizes, “being the best is not enough. It’s only enough if people know about it. Quality is not enough if you fail to fascinate.”

Sally is a marketing pro who views her craft as a form of “artificial fascination.” The longtime copywriter/creative director maintains that we don’t really need to use artificial means to fascinate and captivate.

One of Sally’s key findings is that fascination comes naturally—our brains are hardwired to fascinate and be fascinating. “You’re born with everything you need. You just need to identify it and express it,” she says.

“We don’t have to learn how to be fascinating. We have to unlearn how to be boring.”

The former "Miss Personality" hasn't lost it.

Persuasion through fascination

Fascination is the most powerful way to influence decision-making. Sally explains, “If people are distracted, you don’t have the ability to change their behavior. If you want to persuade them, you must first understand how to fascinate them.”

During the course of writing her book, she studied neurology, history, psychology, and biological anthropology. Not to mention online dating: “the epicenter of the Fascination Battle Royale.”

If you want to create more moments of being fascinating to other people, learn the “Seven Triggers” and how to recognize them in yourself and others.

The 7 triggers of Fascination

  • Power – You take command
  • Passion – You attract emotion
  • Mystique – You arouse curiosity
  • Prestige – You increase respect
  • Alarm – You create urgency
  • Rebellion – You change the game
  • Trust – You build loyalty

Whether you realize it or not, you already use the seven triggers. The aim of Sally’s book is to show whether you’re using the right triggers in the right way, to get the results you want. The seven steps can be applied to any type of communication challenge.

Fascinate was originally written for brands and messages. But Sally found that human beings are more fascinating than brands. (Plus, she was looking for better ways to get her kids to eat their vegetables.) So her newest research applies more to individuals.

During her Linked OC appearance, Sally “beta-tested” a brand-spanking new “personality branding” exercise on her audience. Since I wouldn’t want to spoil the experiment—or the storybook ending of her presentation—just pick up a copy of Fascinate for yourself or look for the updated edition of her book to be published in 2012.

The Catalyst meets The Intrigue: Sally Hogshead and Mitch Devine at Linked OC. Photo by PixelThatPhotos.com

In the meantime, sign up at HowToFascinate.com to receive updates and take the free F-Score Personality Brand test to discover your own natural strengths of persuasion.

By the way, I happen to be a combination of Passion and Mystique (aka “The Intrigue”).

How about you? What’s your personality brand? Take the test and share your results in the comments. (Unless you’d rather not because your primary trigger is Mystique, in which case I’ll understand.)

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Posted in Branding, Marketing

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There’s a Mobile App for Almost Everything, Even High School

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Mitch Devine| 5 Comments

You know mobile is mainstream when your kid's high school has its own mobile app.

Fortune 500 marketers aren’t the only ones taking advantage of mobile apps these days. Smart phone technology is making new inroads into places like coffee houses, barbers and even high schools.

How mainstream is mobile? The number of people owning a smart phone rose 10 percent in three months over the summer, to 82.2 million according to comScore Inc. Out of 234 million people using mobile devices in the U.S., 35.1 percent have a “smart phone.”

What makes a phone smart is that it can run “apps” (short for “applications,” but you probably knew that).

Are you smarter than an 11th grader?

When I was in high school, there were no cell phones. As a junior I wrote for the school newspaper, and it was a big deal just to put out a paper once a month.

Now a 16-year-old junior named Zachary Christopoulos has created an app for his high school. (Boy, do I feel like an underachiever.)

The first mobile app for a high school

Tesoro High School in South Orange County (where my daughter attends) is the first high school to have its own mobile app available for download on the iTunes App Store. The app is free for both iPhone and Android smart phones.

The Tesoro HS App collects school news from multiple sources to make it more easily accessible. Like Steve Jobs and other inventors, Christopoulos created his app because “It was something I wanted personally,” as he explained to the Orange County Register.

Computer science class

Christopoulos studied computer science at Tesoro during his sophomore year. Las summer he attended a week-long course on mobile app development at the University of California Irvine.

Launched in August, Christopoulos’ app provides mobile updates on school events, and integrates information from the school website, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter accounts. There are currently about 1,200 users.

Putting the app to the test

The new tech tool was put to the test early on. During a major power blackout that occurred near the beginning of this year’s school term, the Tesoro HS App sent out a push notification informing users that school would be closed as a result of the outage.

Mobile push notifications are welcome when the news is about school being closed for the day.

Programmer for hire

As you might guess, Christopoulos is aiming for a career in computer programming. Version 2.0 of the Tesoro HS App is already in the works. According to The Register, Christopoulos encourages other schools and businesses to contact him at info@zChristopoulos.com.

Now I just need a bumpersticker that says, “My kid’s high school has its own mobile app.”

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Posted in Marketing, mobile apps, social media, technology

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33 Chilean Miners, 1 Year and Freshly Pressed

Posted on October 13, 2011 by Mitch Devine| 3 Comments

My Freshly Pressed experience came from a post about the Chilean miners, who were rescued October 13, 2010.

It was one year ago that 33 trapped Chilean miners were freed from their underground captivity while 1 billion people around the world watched live.

I watched “Los 33,” too. Then I wrote a post shortly afterwards: Oakley and the Chilean Miners—Publicity Goldmine. It was about the rescue from the perspective of how Orange County-based Oakley benefitted from the “product placement” of having the miners emerge wearing their sunglasses.

Was the publicity avalanche opportunistic or inadvertent? Did it matter? Why were some people so upset if Oakley happened to benefit by helping? I hit “publish” late that night, then went to bed without giving it much more thought.

Then next morning I checked my email to find a surprising number of blog comments. It turns out my post got picked up by Freshly Pressed, the daily review of a dozen notable WordPress blogs. My humble little article got placed right smack dab in the center of them all. I was swamped with traffic and comments for the rest of the weekend.

The responses kept getting better. The reporter who had first approached Oakley to ask them about donating sunglasses to the miners also found my post. He weighed in with a comment regarding his experience to set the record straight. Feel free to scroll through the comments and read them for yourself, it’s a fascinating conversation.

You never know where blogging might take you. Just hold on and enjoy the ride.

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Posted in Advertising - General, Blog, fashion, Marketing, Public Relations, writing

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Where Where You When Steve Jobs Died?

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Mitch Devine| 8 Comments

How did you find out about Steve Jobs death?

Years from now, will you remember? I think I will, which is why it’s worth at least a blog post.

I first heard about Steve Jobs passing via Twitter. On my MacBook Pro. The poetry of the “coincidence” didn’t escape me. As Matthias Worch put it, “That’s not a bad way to go.”

iHeaven. A poetic tribute.

We have the technology, so let’s put it to use in remembering one of the pioneers who made it all possible. Steve Jobs not only helped create a new industry with the Macintosh personal computer, but also revolutionized software, music distribution, digital moviemaking, smart phones and tablet computing. And along the way, Apple also put out some pretty mean advertising, usually in collaboration with agency TBWA Chiat/Day.

Here’s the TV commercial that launched the Apple Macintosh computer. It’s widely regarded as one of the best, most effective adverts ever made. Directed by Ridley Scott, the spot aired only once in January 1984, but it turned the Superbowl into the advertising showcase it’s become today.


RIP Steve, and thanks for showing us how to Think Different. “Because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

 

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Posted in Advertising - General, Blog, Career, creativity, Marketing, technology, television

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12 Simple Yet Powerful Relationship Marketing Tips from Mari Smith

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Mitch Devine| 16 Comments

 

Mari Smith at Linked Orange County with her new BFF Mitch Devine.

Mari Smith sure has a lot of friends. Just check out her 50,288 Facebook fan-friends or 119,468 Twitter followers. But she’s really not looking for more BFFs. Her goal is quality, not quantity.

Mari wants to have more meaningful relationships.

Mari (as in “Ferrari”) is in business to be of service and build relationships. Why are relationships so important? “The longer relationships are sustained, the more profitable your company,” she explains.

The topic of Mari’s recent presentation at Linked Orange County, “The New Relationship Marketing,” also happens to be the title of her new book.

Mari has called herself a “relationship marketing specialist” for 10 years, long before social media became a buzzword. Known as the “Pied Piper of Facebook,” she’s the co-author of “Facebook Marketing: One-Hour a Day”.

To dispel the notion that her subject was limited to social media, she addressed her audience saying “There is no amount of sophisticated technology that will ever, ever, ever take the place of this: in-person, face-to-face.”

Relationships Transcend Social Media

According to Mari, “Relationship marketing encompasses not only social media, but also email marketing, direct mail, some television and magzine ads—basically anything in which you make the person you’re connecting with feel they’re important to you.”

Starbucks was cited as one of the best examples of companies that listen well and connect with customers. The coffeehouse chain consistently ranks at the top for customer engagement. Based on the results of its own survey, Starbucks acted in response to customers’ feedback on how they could improve. The number-one suggestion? Free wi-fi.

Tactical Marketing Tips

Mari’s goal with her presentation, besides talking about her new book, was to deliver tactical tips to her audience. I’ve compiled some of my personal favorites that apply to business in general as well as social media marketing. I’ve listed a dozen below, plus a few extra nuggets as well. Continue reading →

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Posted in Branding, Marketing, social media

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Advertising Tributes to 9-11

Posted on September 11, 2011 by Mitch Devine| 11 Comments

American Airlines ran this ad following the attacks of September 11, 2001.

In the wake of September 11, 2001, advertisers struggled to find the right tone in their communications. It didn’t seem appropriate to try to be funny following the devastating terrorist attacks that took nearly 3,000 lives. But it was also difficult to appear serious and sincere while promoting a commercial venture.

Sympathy Ads

The vast majority of print advertising that ran in the immediate aftermath offered sympathy and condolences. Businesses that had been located in the World Trade Center expressed remorse over the loss of their employees and vowed to continue.

I was amazed to see the variety of condolence ads that came from countries all over the world, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where the majority of hijackers were originally from. For a while I saved a file with many of these ads, but it got to be overwhelming. I now wish I had some of them to post a few images for you.

Life—and even advertising—had to go on. Continue reading →

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Posted in Advertising - General, Blog, Branding, Marketing, print, television

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What Do You Do When the Power Goes Out?

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Mitch Devine| Leave a comment

The famous Victrola brand, made by the Victor Talking Machine Co. of Camden, NJ.

Boy, we sure do depend on electricity! So, what do you do when there isn’t any?

Besides remembering where the candles are, I had to explain to my kids which of the house phones would work in the event our power went out. Of course, the laptop and phone batteries will only last so long. But without a phone, computer, video game or TV, what would they do for entertainment? Somehow I can’t picture them reading by candle light.

Even before the San Diego power failure, I was thinking about how fun it could be to use my recently restored Victrola phongraph in the event of an outage for some old-school musical entertainment. (Better than trying to act out a home-style version of “Glee,” right?)  Continue reading →

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Posted in Blog, entertainment, Marketing, music, print, technology, vintage

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