for and from the curious - web 2.0 and social media explored

More reasons for more social consciousness

December 29th, 2009

A study by Globescan and the University of Maryland, ordered by the BBC, revealed some interesting numbers. The study was conducted in 27 countries.

Only 11% of the surveyed are happy with Capitalism as is.
23% think that our free economy is prone with errors.
43% of people in France agreed with that statement.
The United States (25%) and Pakistan (21%) were the only countries where at least 1/5 of the population agreed with our economic system as is.
51% of the surveyed think that we need more market regulation.
23% think that we need a totally now economic system.

The study was done 20 years after the fall of the Berlin wall in the midst of a big economic crisis.

What does this mean for marketers?
Less pure capitalism means more solidarity. This should be reflected in a marketing campaign that hits the “zeitgeist”. Embedding social consciousness into marketing campaigns will provide goodwill towards a product or service. The purchase of a product or service should touch the consumer on an emotional level and create a feel good effect. In this case it will not be perceived as a product that is only making “them” rich. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Hot at the Bakery, Web Videos | 443No Comments »2009-12-29+20%3A34%3A46Klaus+Holzapfel

Meet conceptbakery at dmexco in Cologne

September 15th, 2009

dmexco – a digital marketing exposition & conference – is taking place in Cologne on September 23rd & 24th. It the first time the event is hosted in the city. Felix Holzapfel, Managing Partner of conceptbakery Germany will be participating in a panel talking about effective ways to advertise in the world of social media.

Since our office is just at the other side of the Rhine river other members of our team will also be present. Please let us know if you are attending the conference and would like to meet with us.

Posted in Digital Marketing, Hot at the Bakery | 438No Comments »Meet+conceptbakery+at+dmexco+in+Cologne2009-09-15+15%3A35%3A17Klaus+Holzapfel

What’s the virality of your marketing efforts? Passive viral marketing as the key to success?

August 10th, 2009

: Image by Jacob Bøtter via Flickr

Everyone tries to solve the riddle of successfully using viral marketing. That’s a no-brainer.

During client meetings we often begin by explaining the difference between active and passive virality.

Our clients are interested in their marketing messages “going viral”. The first element required for what we call “active viral marketing” is outstanding content or another trigger that gets the audience to spread the word within their network. Forwarding links to a YouTube video or a micro site are just two examples of potentially desired behaviors.

There is of course a rather big barrier in the way: You ask someone to take action and share link to a video or a micro site, or some other hook with someone else in their network. You also need to stand out from thousands of marketing messages each of us receives each day.

Considerable efforts and resources are often pumped into these viral marketing campaigns. But something can easily get overlooked here: Social media platforms offer a much more elegant way to reach a larger audience without asking anyone to put their reputation on the line. If your audience simply starts to interact with you, others will be able to see this. It is the nature of social media that you get to see what your friends are doing. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Digital Marketing, Guerilla Marketing | 4315 Comments »2009-08-10+14%3A20%3A27Klaus+Holzapfel

Does Social Media Marketing add to your bottom line?

July 31st, 2009

A new study has just been published by Wetpaint and Altimeter Group. It shows that companies that use social media are more successful than their competitors:

The ENGAGEMENTdb study (www.engagementdb.com) showed significant positive financial results for the companies who measured as having the greatest breadth and depth of social media engagement. These “Social Media Mavens” on average grew company revenues by 18 percent over the last 12 months, while the least engaged companies saw revenues sink 6 percent on average over the same time period. The ENGAGEMENTdb study reviewed more than 10 discrete social media channels, including blogs, Facebook, Twitter, wikis, and discussion forums for each of the 100 most valuable brands as identified by the 2008 BusinessWeek/Interbrand Best Global Brands ranking.

Here is a list of the top social media brands due to the report:

Starbucks
Dell
eBay
Google
Microsoft
Thomson Reuters
Nike
Amazon
SAP
Tie – Yahoo/Intel

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Digital Marketing | 424No Comments »2009-07-31+16%3A37%3A23Klaus+Holzapfel

GetSocialMediaNow.com – Bundle kits for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube & Co. allow for an easy way to join the web 2.0 conversation

July 24th, 2009

More and more people are spending more and more time on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social networks. More and more clients are asking us how they could get access to the social media universe.

Our solution: social media bundle kits
GetSocialMedia.com offers various social media bundle kits leading to a professional presence on major social networking platforms and the setup of self hosted Wordpress blog if applicable. Separate solutions are available for larger entitites and single individuals or smaller businesses.

Hassle free turnkey solutions
The process starts with an interview to understand each clients needs. Next is the creation of a social media story and design and the setup of a presence on leading social media networks. Also included are ongoing account management, creating word of mouth campaigns and workshops at client sites.

Must have: Facebook
Facebook Fan Pages are at the center of many of the solutions offered. Facebook is one the best platforms available for brands, services or products. The functionality and viral potential combined with the ability to connect Fan Pages with other platforms or websites is unmatched in the world of social media.

Standardization wherever possible to lower the cost
We were able to standardize many parts of the work flow within our social media projects and are passing on these benefits to our new clients via this service. But all kits also offer plenty of room for customization. Each project will be shaped to match the client’s profile with the special requirements of its target audience.

Training seminars are also available for everyone with a do-it-yourself attitude.

Getsocialmedianow.com includes various showcases, some social media basics and offers analogies like the house of social media and the party across the street to illustrate the importance and power of the largest conversation in the universe.

Bottom line
Get Social Media Now serves as a shortcut that saves time and helps clients to avoid the most common beginner mistakes.

conceptbakery doesn’t think of itself as a team of social media gurus but rather a competent service provider that gets a client to see results in a timely manner. Enjoy :-)

Posted in Digital Marketing, Hot at the Bakery | 4186 Comments »2009-07-24+22%3A37%3A10Klaus+Holzapfel

Marketing Love Story: Web 2.0 sellers and buyers versus men and women in the real world

July 14th, 2009

: Image via Wikipedia

Marketing Love Story: Sellers and buyers on the social web = men and women in the real world
We have been using an analogy in many client meetings in order to illustrate how “the conversation” has changed. Some of our clients are not too social media savvy (yet) but their faces show that they get our point.

The analogy: Men always want the same – sellers as well…
No matter if sellers vs. buyers or men vs. women: One often wants something very different at the beginning of a relationship than the other. That is a pity because many times both parties have the same long-term goals.

Even though it is a cliché’ it is widely accepted that men are very quick to think about sex (not us of course ;-). Women rather want to take their time to get to know a man better, have some fun (outside the bedroom) and take things a little slower. Some of us might have seen different ;-).

Sellers and buyers face a similar situation: Just replace sex with sales or consumption. Customers much rather would like to take their time, try things out, learn more and so on. Of course there are many exceptions from this rule. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Digital Marketing, This n That | 4124 Comments »2009-07-14+14%3A46%3A00Klaus+Holzapfel

Update website conceptbakery.com – Facebook, Blog and Twitter integration

July 12th, 2009

Facebook Fan Page Box
The Facebook Fan Box Widget was released just in time. So we added it to our homepage.

We are using the power of Fan Pages for our clients but I have to admit that we neglected our conceptbakery Facebook Page. Going forward we decided to put more emphasis on our Fan Page and use it as an information hub for marketing strategies, viral and social web trends and other news in our work areas.

The timing of the Facebook Fan Page widget was perfect for our update. It is a strong tool for anyone interested in a dual online presence. Our conceptbakery site focuses on our services – our Facebook Fan Page goes way beyond. Having a seamless integration of both platforms is definitely a big plus and we expect our approach to be adopted by many others in the near future.

I can promise that we will not use it as a loudspeaker to simply promote conceptbakery. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Hot at the Bakery, Worth checking out | 4065 Comments »2009-07-12+17%3A00%3A33Klaus+Holzapfel

Nokia N97 – killer launch for a killer product?

June 19th, 2009

I came across a pre launch party for the Nokia N97 in Cologne. It was one of only 4 locations in Germany where the device was being introduced. Since I am currently visiting our German office and was in town we decided to swing by.

We are heading toward the Nokia store and noticed a decent crowd outside. At least half of them were promoters wearing t-shirts and holding banners or signs. Most of them looked rather bored, sat on the sidewalk or smoked cigarettes. None of them approached me.

We were there at 5:30 PM and you could imagine that these guys were tired. But the event only started at 5PM. Hard to believe that 30 minutes could have been so exhausting. It also wasn’t just a bad moment or another mandatory break for them. We walked by the store again an hour later the chill out party was still going on.

Here or some images to further illustrate a little bit:

nokia_promotion3 Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Guerilla Marketing, Hot at the Bakery | 3887 Comments »2009-06-19+10%3A30%3A35Klaus+Holzapfel

Popgasm – Sunrise Avenue using web videos to support album launch

June 2nd, 2009

Shrinking marketing budgets in the record industry require creative solutions. Records label EMI took the step and asked moviebakery to produce some web videos to support the launch of “Popgasm” by the Finish pop band Sunrise Avenue.

The album name left a lot of room for creativity for our video producers. There was certainly no shortfall of great storylines.

Things did get a little challenging during the production process: One of our producers is located in Mexico City and shooting was supposed to happen in the midst of the swine flu outbreak. The city was in dead lock. On top of that a sequence with lead singer Samu Haber and guitarist Riku Rajamaa was shot in Cologne and had to be embedded into the video.

We took the unique step to have the same video produced twice since the situation in Mexico was very unstable.

Time to take a look at the videos – check out the comments and the ratings – apparently EMI and conceptbakery were not the only ones that are happy with the results:

This video is close to the Popgasm story line. You can see that the band is taking a very scientific approach.

We were long playing with ideas that involved an actual car wash. One of our star producers finally pulled it off.

Posted in Hot at the Bakery, Web Videos | 3771 Comment »2009-06-02+14%3A14%3A41Klaus+Holzapfel

What’s your marketing strategy right now?

March 11th, 2009

: Image via Wikipedia

Not a day passes by with more horrendous economic news. As a former financial expert I understand the long term implications of this meltdown to some extend.

Businesses shut down or get rid of parts of their operations – without any intensions of bringing them back.

Everyone seems to hedge their bets, tries to keep a low profile and somehow make it through the crisis.

I think it is about time to realize that this crisis will not end soon and we see an economic book looming on the horizon anytime soon.

Of course there are few of businesses that are benefitting from the economic collapse – mostly at the cost of others. Netflix is one of the few success stories that comes to mind.

Assuming that you are still in business, what should your marketing strategy be for the short and the medium term?

1. Cancel all big ad campaigns on major media channels
This sounds very drastic. But a TV ad or national print ad campaign requires significant resources that might better be placed otherwise. The accountability of these ad campaigns is still horrendous. You really don’t know what the $$$ you spent will do for you. Stop spending big marketing $$$ unless you know what you get out of it.

2. Does your product or service or business model still fit into the current environment?
It is time to take a VERY hard look at your products or services. Are they innovative? Are they affordable? Are they useful? Times have changed and so has the need for your product. Check your price points. Are your traditional distribution channels still the best way to go?

This is the time to question everything. One benefit of our crisis is that you can very easily justify drastic changes in your business model without facing too many hard questions from your business partners – simply because everyone else is doing the same thing.

This is something you can do yourself or with a little help from your friends. That is what social media is for. Do not hire a business consultant – rather give the money to the homeless.

3. Be creative
What a no brainer! Shouldn’t creativity be a given in marketing?

I am writing this, because you really need to step it up at least 2 notches in order to survive. Do you still work with a traditional (and expensive) marketing agency? Do you hire other outside contractors for services such as search engine optimization? Do you understand what every $$$ you spend on marketing is doing for you?

This is not the time to abandon marketing – unless you are in the process of closing shop. This is the time to be very sharp about every move you make. You can’t go back to your bank any longer and ask for a line of credit because you made some bad decisions that led to a drought in your cash flow.

Maybe it is time to hire an in house wiz-kid that will help you to restructure all your marketing efforts. Remember that I said this is the time to question everything?

You might also consider hiring an agency to develop concepts for you. But then do the actual work in-house instead of spending big $$$ on the hours the agency will bill you. I am simply talking about a creative powerhouse that can provide you with some unique marketing ideas tailored to your needs.

This is not the time to sit like a rabbit in front of a snake. The snake will eat you this time. Unless you have courage and the willingness to take chances and follow new paths your business might enter the graveyard. It is getting very packed right now. I would rather not see you there.

4. Finally: Some suggestions
So far I have told you a lot of things not to do. I’d encourage you to look at all the avenues you haven’t explored yet. Have you taken a look at all the ways social media networking could benefit your business?

Have you looked at cause marketing to gain an edge over your competitors? People are in need. This is great time to support others and be acknowledged for it. This can be done without you spending a ton of hard $$$.

Have you thought of producing some viral content?
The success of viral marketing efforts can’t be predicted. We tell al our clients that it is a crap shot. But it will only cost you a fraction of many traditional marketing efforts and could potentially have 100 times the impact. Therefore it is an option to consider – if you have some extra $$$ you can spend on it.

This is also the time to barter. Think of other businesses that could help you to promote your products and services. Do you have something to offer in return? It is time to contact them right now. Call or email the parties that come to your mind.

You do that and your chances of survival will somehow increase.