Posts tagged advertising
Companies exposing Canadians’ personal information face no penalty
Dec 9th
By Brian Jackson
As social networking becomes more popular and online advertisers seek more effective ways to target their messages, our society is trying to cope with how to protect our privacy while sharing more details about ourselves than ever before via the Web.
If you doubt that the collection of personal details online is the top privacy concern, just look to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s work over the last several years. It has been preoccupied with Facebook, protecting children’s’ online privacy, fighting spam, and Google Streetview, just to name a few. Now we hear that commissioner Jennifer Stoddart will be turning a watchful eye towards companies engaging in online behavioural advertising.
Brian Jackson, Associate Editor, ITBusiness.ca
Appearing at a conference hosted by the Association of Canadian Advertisers, Stoddart said advertisers can’t use tracking technology that users are unaware of or unable to decline. If they do, they could face disciplinary measures such as an audit by the office, or being taken to Federal Court and publicly shamed. But we’ve heard this watchdog bark before, and rarely have we seen it bite.
Marketing lessons from my shoes
Sep 27th
By Andrew Berthoff
I recently purchased new shoes online. I like to support local companies, and I always look for things distinct, so I returned to shop at John Fluevog. I don’t often buy shoes, but always enjoy checking out the unique styles – flamboyant or relatively conservative – that this Canadian shoemaker offers.
Shopping online is generally an anonymous experience – call it soulless (as my late fatherused to say, “No pun intended”? Why not?!). With most online shopping sites, the transaction comprises a pre-formatted e-mail confirmation of the purchase and, then, maybe a week later, the arrival of the goods in a plain box with no personalization, no comment, and no thanks for your business.
Andrew Berthoff
Not so with the Fluevians. Even online, they understand that their customer service needs to fit with the style and spirit of the brand – personalized, appreciative and just a shade irreverent. After choosing and purchasing my shoes, I received an e-mail confirmation:
Thank you for placing your web order with John Fluevog Shoes!
We will contact you again within 5 business days to confirm which of our fine locations will be fulfilling your order, and then again when it is shipped. Read the rest of this entry »
Blurring the line between editorial and advertising
Jun 10th
By Nestor E. Arellano
Nestor Arellano
Over the years the line between advertising and editorial content has become murkier and murkier. The continuing exodus of print titles to the Web and mobile realm and the increasing urgency of cultivating a social media presence are not helping to make the line any clearer.
There are thousands of Canadian magazines, mostly published by businesses with less than 100 employees, that are struggling to understand and employ tools such as mobile applications to reach out to tablet and smartphone toteing readers or figuring out how to crack the SEO riddle of Google’s search engine. Read the rest of this entry »
Lessons learned from Kenneth Cole’s tacky tweets
Feb 8th
For all those who needed an illustration of how a business shouldn’t use Twitter, Kenneth Cole kindly provided it this week by using the current unrest in Egypt as a promotional tool.
“Millions are in uproar in #Cairo,” read the original tweet from Thursday morning. “Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at http://bit.ly/KCairo.”
Widespread uproar was the result, all right, but not as a result of any spring collection. Such was the magnitude of the outcry at Cole’s insensitivity, in fact, that the company hastily removed the tweet that same day and issued two retractions instead.
“Re Egypt tweet: we weren’t intending to make light of a serious situation,” read the first. “We understand the sensitivity of this historic moment -KC”
A second, posted on Facebook soon afterward, read as follows:
“I apologize to everyone who was offended by my insensitive tweet about the situation in Egypt. I’ve dedicated my life to raising awareness about serious social issues, and in hindsight my attempt at humor regarding a nation liberating themselves against oppression was poorly timed and absolutely inappropriate.”
Related stories
How not to waste time on Twitter
Tweet nothings won’t get you hard somethings, Google expert warns marketers
5 insider tips to tame the Twitter beast
Cole’s apology didn’t prevent the creation of a satirical Twitter account inspired by the gaffe, however, and it’s now filled with mock tweets such as, “South Africans won’t be able to tear APARTheid my new knits — they’re just that strong!”
‘It Goes in the Trash’
Sensitivity, of course, is a key requirement of any business trying to use Twitter as a promotional tool, and Cole’s original tweet failed miserably on that front. Cole, however, is by no means alone. We couldn’t resist putting together a small roundup of other notable gaffes from other businesses and public-facing officials.
- Back in 2007, Steve Rubel, a senior vice president at publicity agency Edelman, used Twitter to post a negative comment about PC Magazine. “PC Mag is another. I have a free sub[scription] but it goes in the trash,” he tweeted, prompting the magazine’s editor-in-chief to publicly suggest a media boycott. Rubel later apologized.
- In 2009, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban criticized referees via Twitter during a game. He was fined $25,000.
- An employee of Vodafone UK used an unattended keyboard to send a homophobic tweet from the company’s @VodafoneUK account, which then had more than 8,500 followers. In response, the company had to issue multiple apologies.
‘Pls Refudiate’
- Late last year, a profane tweet was made on Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D-Conn.) Twitter account. “”U love torturing me w this s—,” the tweet read, causing Dodd’s office to have to scramble with an explanation and an apology.
- Speaking of unfortunate word choices, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin used a nonexistent word in a tweet last year and then excused it by likening herself to Shakespeare. The word in question was refudiate: “Ground Zero Mosque supporters: doesn’t it stab you in the heart, as it does ours throughout the heartland? Peaceful Muslims, pls refudiate” Later, she sent a tweet of justification: “Shakespeare liked to coin new words, too. Got to celebrate it!”
- Another bizarre turn of phrase was tweeted last year by the U.S. embassy in Beijing, which in a Twitter pollution report referred to Beijing’s air as “crazy bad.” Of course, at least it used real words…
- Earlier this year a U.K. councillor admitted on Twitter that her party had not effectively tackled inequality, despite the party’s proclamations to the contrary. “Inequalities deepened despite our 13 years in power,” wrote Isobel Bowler.
6 Twitter Rules of Thumb
What can businesses learn from these well-publicized missteps? There are plenty guides out there for using Twitter effectively. Based on the above examples, however, I’d hasten to add the following rules of thumb.
1. Be Sensitive. Never, ever use a political, environmental or civic crisis to promote your company or your products. It reeks of opportunism.
2. Be Positive. As a business entity, you should never post negative comments about others on Twitter. You’re the only one that will end up looking bad.
3. Be Clear. Make sure you have a policy regarding who in your company may post using the company’s official Twitter account, and make sure you offer them training on what is and isn’t appropriate. Make clear the ramifications for misuse.
4. Be Clean. Never use profanities or other vulgar terms in a tweet. Once again, it will only make you look bad, and you’ll likely offend customers, too.
5. Be Literate. Don’t follow in the footsteps of Sarah Palin or George W. Bush: Make sure it’s a word before you make it public.
6. Be Careful. Last but definitely not least, remember that using social media is a little bit like driving. Don’t do it while intoxicated, and always think twice before you tweet.
By Katherine Noyes -PC World (US)
Follow Katherine Noyes on Twitter: @Noyesk.
Canada’s Atwood ahead of Lady Gaga, will.i.am in bringing sexy back to tech?
Jan 26th
It’s no longer just a matter of Avril Lavign vamping for Canon versus Ashton Kutcher’s antics for Nikon.
Tech companies seem bent on recruiting celebrities not just to pose for their products but actually “star” as designers of their gadgets.
Nestor Arellano
The latest recruit in this recent trend in Black Eyed Peas front man will.iam who was named Director if Creative Innovation for Intel. Will.i.am’s appointment came at the heels of Polaroid’s announcement at the CES 2011 that Lady Gaga was the new creative director for the company.
The practice of hiring celebrities to front for tech products is nothing new. But as far as marketing celebs as product designers, Canadian literary icon Margaret Atwood probably had the jump on Will and Lady Gaga in helping tech get its sexy back. Read the rest of this entry »
Astral exhibits community service possibilities for digital signage
Jan 8th
Commercial billboards, whether of the traditional or current digital variety, have long had a polarizing effect the eyeballs that view them.
To many, these brash and dazzling spectacles of conspicuous consumption are an urban blight. To others they are visual entertainment or even pieces of art.
Nestor Arellano
Astral Out-of-Home, one Canada’s leading advertising companies, believes that apart from advertising digital signage can also dabble in community support.
Working in partnership with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Astral plans to deliver AMBER Alert or child abduction emergency bulletins in all of the company’s 32 digital sign networks in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. Read the rest of this entry »
Make your social media campaign soar with Dragonfly Marketing
Jan 4th
How does one navigate the contemporary marketing scene of ubiquitous internet, email, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and online blogs?
Authors Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith show how to harness the power of social media in their book The Dragonfly Effect.
Jennifer is a social psychologist and professor of marketing at Stanford Business School; Andy, her husband, is a marketing consultant.
The couple’s research led to developing a model of how to “Focus + GET” success. Read the rest of this entry »
How professional service firms can become more valuable
Sep 7th
What is your firm’s value proposition? To effectively answer this question, begin by identifying where your firm falls on your industry’s value chain. To understand the changing dynamics of the value chain concept, observe what’s happened to the music business.
Tim Williams
Consumers are still spending roughly the same amount of money on music, but the money isn’t going to the record companies and music stores; it’s going to iTunes. The money in the music business value chain is still there—it just moved.
The same is happening in other rapidly evolving industries. Companies are spending, but they’re spending in new and different areas of the value chain.
POS, supply chain systems top Canadian retailers’ IT purchase choices for 2010
Jul 20th
Majority of Canadian retailers prefer sticking to the tried and true when it comes to software purchases, according to a recent survey of the industry.
In a poll of 34-mid-to-large sized retailers, the Retail Council of Canada (RCA) also found that these businesses may be embracing social media technologies but are still wary of cloud computing.
Nestor Arellano
Here’s some data collected by the RCA which might be helpful to tech vendors and service providers who have set their sights on Canadian stores.
Unforgivable: Ignorance and apathy about user privacy can no longer be tolerated
May 21st
The Wall Street Journal’s discovery about the shady privacy practices of some of the world’s largest social networks came as a surprise and probably won’t help any of the big names they mentioned. In what the WSJ unfortunately characterized as a ‘privacy loophole’ exploited by such organizations as Facebook, MySpace, Hi5 and Digg, the social networks were found to send personally identifiable data about site users directly to advertisers.
Claudiu Popa
While apathy about their own privacy policies and their own users’ protection caused this gross mishandling of information, the recipients of that information, an august bunch including Google, Yahoo and DoubleClick, simply said they didn’t know the data was included or that they didn’t want it in the first place. But no one actually bothered to insist that it not be sent in the first place so that liability could be avoided in case of a breach (or the current outrage at the clear exploitation of user information). Yahoo actually went so far as to say they “prohibit the sending of personally identifiable information”, yet there it is.
