Monday, October 7, 2013

"Gold in them there Tweets", "When Brands Blunder" & "Small Biz Saturday"

“There’s gold in them there tweets,” “When brands blunder” and “Small Business Saturday” - three marketing stories that caught my eye over past few days:
1.    
A really exciting (if you are a marketer) or maybe scary (from a consumer’s perspective!) piece of research is going on in IBM’s Californian research centre. Karlin Lillington of the Irish Times informs us that researchers are mining millions of tweets, analysing the language used and comparing it to past data, a user’s profile and other stuff across social media!  All so that marketers can target their consumers more accurately – apparently the response to online campaigns is very low so high hopes are held for generating a better reaction. http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/technology/there-s-gold-in-them-there-tweets-1.1547606
2. 
   On the back of Tesco and Asda producing Hallowe’en costumes themed around mental health - ‘Mental Patient’ and ‘Physco Ward/Committed’ - Joe O’Shea wrote a very interesting piece in the Irish Independent about similar blunders made by other big brands including Paris Hilton producing ‘Sexy Bitch’ t-shirts for juniors, a ‘Sexy Anna Rexia’ skeleton costume on sale on a US website and Chanel designing dresses with text from the Koran emblazoned across the chest area. http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/when-brands-blunder-29630618.html
3.   
Love this idea – ‘Small Business Saturday’ – it started in the US and encourages everyone to do business with small, local, independent businesses in their own area.  The UK Independent tells us it began in the US in 2010 and President Obama and various celebrities have been sure to be seen to support it.   In the UK they are hosting it for the first time this year on Saturday 7th December.   Let’s hope it makes its way here! http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/sme/small-talk-chance-for-small-firms-to-win-support-on-a-special-saturday-8862885.html



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