With the surge in user-generated content on the internet, it is oftentimes difficult to decipher if what you are reading online is, in fact, accurate. Personally, if I am on a site where other visitors to the site are able to add content simply if they have internet connection, I am typically very reluctant to deem what I am reading as factual and would certainly check other sources to verify what I was reading is correct information.

Read the rest of this entry »

We are all becoming more and more aware every day of how social media, viral marketing and user generated media/content are revolutionizing the advertising world. Unfortunately for some brands like United Airlines and Pizza Hut, they are finding out the hard way. The Dave Carroll/Taylor guitar fiasco has spread like wildfire, thanks to the opportunity given to anyone anywhere to share their voice. This incident should teach brands a valuable lesson with regard to how they handle customer service inquiries. Brands need to be very attentive and sensitive to the fact that everyone is now considered a “marketer,” given this newfound freedom to communicate their experiences and opinions, whether it be good or bad.

According to Ad Week, over three million people in one week viewed the video that Dave Carroll uploaded to YouTube regarding the mishandling of his Taylor guitar. For United Airlines, this translates into a dreadful number of people worldwide that now identify United Airlines as the airline that doesn’t care about the management or handling of your luggage. Considering the latest attitude toward airline companies and the new and increased baggage fees, this is a serious hit to United’s reputation and will demand serious recovery efforts. Terribly news for the airline that the video is now the third search result for the query “United Airlines” on Google.

United has already made a genuine attempt to reconcile with Carroll, and announced via Twitter that they had made a $3,000 donation to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz. Good start, but this will need to be followed by further earnest efforts to mend this damaging reputation they’ve acquired.

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/strategy/e3icf26a0dad6f1001638196a9b842c61d2?pn=1

Can you believe this? Facebook has geared up to prepare for larger numbers with the Michael Jackson memorial ceremony than what was experienced during the inauguration of the 1st African American President of the United States. End point in case.

The amount of media attention that Jackson’s tragic death has raised all over the world is absolutely unbelievable to me and the fact that Facebook is expecting his memorial to exceed (numbers-wise) such an extraordinary event in U.S. history is even more mind-boggling. There is no offense to the late King of Pop, his music has definitely played a large role in my life and I love it unconditionally. I just cannot believe how much the media is focused on covering tabloid-esk stories, which in turn creates an atmosphere all over the world that overshadows the importance of electing our first African American President.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hKBQFV_aA2CAPfaZ6wpPx9llRwpA

We are all very well aware that the online space would not be moving at the pace it is today without this remarkable tool called tracking. Tracking and accountability in the realm of online advertising is arguably the leading concept that has moved many advertisers (and traditional ad agency’s for that matter) into the space.

Accountability by one definition, is defined as “A is accountable to B when A is obliged to inform B about A’s (past or future) actions and decisions, to justify them, and to suffer punishment in the case of eventual misconduct.” This form of accountability has been taken to the next level at EDU Interactive.

Our proprietary “Lead to Acquisition” report tracks the amount of time it takes individual leads to progress through the multiple milestones that make up a schools unique enrollment process. By weighting and averaging this time variable for each lead/milestone combination, a complex algorithm is used to calculate an overall quality score. This quality score is then used to instantly and accurately measure the lead quality for every vendor/school combination.

From a media planning and buying perspective, this report has proven to not only allow us to create the most effective and efficient online lead generation campaigns, but has also increased enrollments and return-on-investment at each of the institutions we partner with. Just imagine, at a glance, we can understand the effectiveness of our campaigns by school, vendor, placement and/or date range for each of the particular milestones; thus producing results for our Clients promptly and punctually — just in time for classes to commence.