Are you one of the Dutchies that have 3.3 profiles on social media on average, or more? Are you constantly logging into Hyves, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. and reading your e-mail every time you have a free minute? Chances are you suffer from infobesity: an insatiable hunger for information and fear to miss out.
While this syndrome has nothing to do with being overweight, it can cause both mental and psysical complaints: overtiredness, lack of sleep and concentration problems. Smartphones that facilitate being online anytime and anywhere you want, are not helping either. What's this new phenomenon all about and what can we do to prevent it? Television show Netwerk broadcasted an item about infobesity and its symptoms.
Newspaper Trouw also published an article about infobesity and suggested the following precautions, specifically aimed at high school students, which can be found on their website. What are you doing to get an information break every once in a while?
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Go shopping, cast your vote
The Dutch elections are only two weeks away and not only the political parties are demanding our attention. Many other institutions benefit from the confusion among citizens: what to choose on June 9th?
Brand research company Brand Asset Evaluator developed the BrandVoting website. Based on your preferences as a consumer, the website gives you advice on which party you should vote.
Brand research company Brand Asset Evaluator developed the BrandVoting website. Based on your preferences as a consumer, the website gives you advice on which party you should vote.
Categories include brand preference in cars, beer, charity organisations, cheese (!), ice cream, jeans... Although every brand has a certain set of brand values which may be represented by a polical party, it all looks pretty silly. Brand Asset Evaluator is not clear about the realization of the BrandVoting monitor. I reckon it's combining its data of consumer preference and political preference of their panel members, and thus teams up brands with political parties. However, I think no-one should decide on who to give their precious vote based on their shampoo prefererence. Nothing wrong with fun and games, but use your brain!
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
Spotify: never stop the music
After many months of anticipating by countless Dutch music freaks (including myself), the day has finally come: Spotify is here! The Swedish music streaming service is available in The Netherlands as of today. Yours truly has been enthousiastic ever since I visited my friend in London who was using it while I was there: it's free, you can find almost any artist you're looking for and you stream the songs online, so no more excessive data storage! Although I was sceptical at first (sometimes it looks like cool concepts like these never seem to reach our small country), I've tried it today and I must say: the rumours are true! Spotify is great! So what's the business model? Here's a commercial that explains Spotify how works and positions it as the next step in the evolution of music:
Spotify is a programme anyone can download for free and install on their computer. With a personal login code, you can access your profile with your stored playlists and favourite tracks from any computer (if the software is installed, of course). There are three kinds of subscription possibilities: Free, Unlimited and Premium. Users can get access to Spotify for free, but then they'll hear advertisements between the songs. With an invitation for a free account you have unlimited access, without one you'll only get 20 hours per month. Unlimited users pay € 4,99 and get no adverts, and Premium members get several extras for € 9,99 per month: enhanced mp3 quality, access to Spotify on your mobile and exclusive content.
Once you've chosen your kind of deal, you can start listening to the 8 million tracks that are currently availble. Spotify also has many plug-ins to connect your listening behaviour to social networks, such as Last.fm or Facebook. Happy listening!
Spotify is a programme anyone can download for free and install on their computer. With a personal login code, you can access your profile with your stored playlists and favourite tracks from any computer (if the software is installed, of course). There are three kinds of subscription possibilities: Free, Unlimited and Premium. Users can get access to Spotify for free, but then they'll hear advertisements between the songs. With an invitation for a free account you have unlimited access, without one you'll only get 20 hours per month. Unlimited users pay € 4,99 and get no adverts, and Premium members get several extras for € 9,99 per month: enhanced mp3 quality, access to Spotify on your mobile and exclusive content.
Once you've chosen your kind of deal, you can start listening to the 8 million tracks that are currently availble. Spotify also has many plug-ins to connect your listening behaviour to social networks, such as Last.fm or Facebook. Happy listening!
Monday, 19 April 2010
Saving the world was never this much fun
Treemagotchi is an online initiative that helps saving the world bit by bit. After a successful start last year, the trees are up for another season in the 2.0 edition. Users plant a virtual tree, which is guarded by a gnome, and by conducting simple and environmental-friendly actions they receive credits. With these credits, they can decorate their tree and 'buy' things for their gnome.
This is my tree! I planted it last week and after a few days, the first actions were available. On the basic level, users can earn 'beukennootjes' (credits) by cancelling the telephone book. This is basically a no-brainer, why would you need 500 pages of non-info on your doorstep every year when you can look up everything you need online? On the second, more hardcore, level one can receive more credits by downloading a special ecofont. This font looks just like a regular font, except it has lots of tiny holes inside the letters. Because of these holes, the font requires a lot less ink while printing. A perfect example of saving the environment and saving money at the same time.
Overall I think Treemagotchi is a fun, playful way of making normal people like you and I aware of the little things we can do to help the environment.
This is my tree! I planted it last week and after a few days, the first actions were available. On the basic level, users can earn 'beukennootjes' (credits) by cancelling the telephone book. This is basically a no-brainer, why would you need 500 pages of non-info on your doorstep every year when you can look up everything you need online? On the second, more hardcore, level one can receive more credits by downloading a special ecofont. This font looks just like a regular font, except it has lots of tiny holes inside the letters. Because of these holes, the font requires a lot less ink while printing. A perfect example of saving the environment and saving money at the same time.
Overall I think Treemagotchi is a fun, playful way of making normal people like you and I aware of the little things we can do to help the environment.
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Giveaway buzzing with social media
Within the last 5 minutes, I was alerted for two give-away promotions on Twitter and Facebook. Coincidence?
Number 1: Febo, the famous wall of snacks, is giving away free French fries tomorrow between 14:00 and 16:00. This reached me through a RT (retweet) on Twitter. Since April 8, Febo is using 100% bintje potatoes for their 'traditional' fries and they want everyone to know (and taste!) that.
Number 2: Starbucks serves free coffee on Thursday for anyone who brings their own mug, to create awareness for the garbage issue. Quite an extraordinary deal for a company that is known for its disposable (!) cups. I found out about this through this advert on Facebook:
My prediction is that these promotions will be highly successful, although they take minimal marketing costs and effort. Giving away free stuff will probably always be a winning formula (because: hey, we're Dutch, right?) but using the power of social media to create a buzz around it is incredibly smart. As soon as people find out, they are likely to use their networks to tell their friends, they will tell their friends and soon a buzz is born. I just feel sorry for all those poor employees who have to serve the hordes of people.
Number 1: Febo, the famous wall of snacks, is giving away free French fries tomorrow between 14:00 and 16:00. This reached me through a RT (retweet) on Twitter. Since April 8, Febo is using 100% bintje potatoes for their 'traditional' fries and they want everyone to know (and taste!) that.
Number 2: Starbucks serves free coffee on Thursday for anyone who brings their own mug, to create awareness for the garbage issue. Quite an extraordinary deal for a company that is known for its disposable (!) cups. I found out about this through this advert on Facebook:
My prediction is that these promotions will be highly successful, although they take minimal marketing costs and effort. Giving away free stuff will probably always be a winning formula (because: hey, we're Dutch, right?) but using the power of social media to create a buzz around it is incredibly smart. As soon as people find out, they are likely to use their networks to tell their friends, they will tell their friends and soon a buzz is born. I just feel sorry for all those poor employees who have to serve the hordes of people.
Monday, 12 April 2010
New meets old: bol.com is selling vinyl
Next Saturday, April 17, Record Store Day takes place in The Netherlands. The first edition was held in the US in 2008, but since last year independent Dutch record stores also celebrate their existence with this special day. With in-store performances, signing sessions, workshops by musicians, exclusive releases and many other activities, Record Store Day should draw the attention of a large audience.
The last few years have not been easy for independent record stores. Due to the growing influence of the internet, (il)legal downloading and the large chain stores, sales numbers decreased and many small store owners had no choice but to quit.
However, one of their main competitors, media-giant bol.com recently launched another trick on their sleeve: they started selling vinyl records. With this expansion of their assortment, bol.com is now reaching out to the traditional clientele of the independent record store: specialist music lovers that enjoy browsing through the records for hours. Although vinyl may come off as sinister hobby for dinosaurs, this is certainly not the case. CD-sales may be going downhill rapidly, the sales of vinyl records increased from 1.9 million units in 2008 to nearly 2.8 million units in 2009 in the United States.
Marketing director Michel Schaeffer of bol.com sees the offering of vinyl records as a step forward in the direction of becoming "the perfect record store" (source: 3VOOR12). And since bol.com is also a supplier of electronics, those who aren't yet in the possession of a traditional record player are served as well.
As a music lover and a supporter of independent record stores, I say: let's hope this will not do too much damage for the retaillists. But as a student in business communication and digital media I say: smart move, bol.com!
The last few years have not been easy for independent record stores. Due to the growing influence of the internet, (il)legal downloading and the large chain stores, sales numbers decreased and many small store owners had no choice but to quit.
However, one of their main competitors, media-giant bol.com recently launched another trick on their sleeve: they started selling vinyl records. With this expansion of their assortment, bol.com is now reaching out to the traditional clientele of the independent record store: specialist music lovers that enjoy browsing through the records for hours. Although vinyl may come off as sinister hobby for dinosaurs, this is certainly not the case. CD-sales may be going downhill rapidly, the sales of vinyl records increased from 1.9 million units in 2008 to nearly 2.8 million units in 2009 in the United States.
Marketing director Michel Schaeffer of bol.com sees the offering of vinyl records as a step forward in the direction of becoming "the perfect record store" (source: 3VOOR12). And since bol.com is also a supplier of electronics, those who aren't yet in the possession of a traditional record player are served as well.
As a music lover and a supporter of independent record stores, I say: let's hope this will not do too much damage for the retaillists. But as a student in business communication and digital media I say: smart move, bol.com!
Thursday, 1 April 2010
How Zeeman became a cult brand
For years, many self-respecting adolescents wouldn't even want to be found dead in a Zeeman store. I admit I walked away quickly and hid my yellow plastic bag after I bought a skirt there for carnival a few months ago. However, the textiles discounter managed to turn around their reputation and uses the recession to re-position the brand.
Since November, Zeeman has been giving away free boxershorts, which are available on their website. Customers only have to pay the shipping costs. Quickly, the hype was picked up by a large audience and the boxershorts, that came with a tag that said 'Wear it with pride!', were out of stock for months. At the Überstoere zeemanboxers group on social network Hyves, members have uploaded pictures of theirselves wearing the boxershorts, with pride indeed.
Jacques van der Bom, marketing and communication manager at Zeeman, explained that the campaign was an ironic hint at the trend of youngsters clearly showing off their underwear (such as the popular Björn Borg boxers) but that it is also an expression of their new brand identity. (source: marketingtribune)
With this campaign, Zeeman won the Positive Young Media Award 2010 this week. This is a prize for creative initiatives that set new, positive rolemodels for young people. According to the jury, Zeeman offers the youth a worthy alternative for the expensive branded boxershorts.
Now, Zeeman is also aiming at the female recessionista's while advertising during Project Catwalk on rtlgemist.nl. It appears that the company successfully made use of the current economic situation and used it for their benefit. Do you think Zeeman will be able to maintain the success once the recession (and the boxershorts buzz) is over? Let me know!
Since November, Zeeman has been giving away free boxershorts, which are available on their website. Customers only have to pay the shipping costs. Quickly, the hype was picked up by a large audience and the boxershorts, that came with a tag that said 'Wear it with pride!', were out of stock for months. At the Überstoere zeemanboxers group on social network Hyves, members have uploaded pictures of theirselves wearing the boxershorts, with pride indeed.
Jacques van der Bom, marketing and communication manager at Zeeman, explained that the campaign was an ironic hint at the trend of youngsters clearly showing off their underwear (such as the popular Björn Borg boxers) but that it is also an expression of their new brand identity. (source: marketingtribune)
With this campaign, Zeeman won the Positive Young Media Award 2010 this week. This is a prize for creative initiatives that set new, positive rolemodels for young people. According to the jury, Zeeman offers the youth a worthy alternative for the expensive branded boxershorts.
Now, Zeeman is also aiming at the female recessionista's while advertising during Project Catwalk on rtlgemist.nl. It appears that the company successfully made use of the current economic situation and used it for their benefit. Do you think Zeeman will be able to maintain the success once the recession (and the boxershorts buzz) is over? Let me know!
Thursday, 25 February 2010
Coup de couture: bloggers vs. traditional media in fashion
Bloggers are taking over the front row at Fashion Week in London, The Times wrote on Tuesday. This phenomenon has been rising over the past few years, and is recently getting a lot of attention. Leading character in this discussion is Tavi Gevinson, a 13 (!) year old blogger who, using a simple Blogspot account just like most students in our course, made her way front row and towards fame, writing about fashion and the role it plays in her life. She and collegue Bryanboy, whom Marc Jacobs named a bag after back in 2008, have even been added to the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America). One might wonder whether they even have time to go to school anymore.
Left: Teenage blogger extraordinaire Tavi
Right: Marc Jacobs' Bryanboy bag (photo By George Chinsee)
Right: Marc Jacobs' Bryanboy bag (photo By George Chinsee)
Meanwhile, online shopping website Racked National playfully took up the buzz and sent a five-year old girl to the New York Fashion Week to report about it. While this stunt received many indignant comments, Racked-editor Danica Lo explained it as "a tongue-in-chic (forgive the bad pun!) answer to the child-blogging-gone-wild movement happening in fashion right now", and made sure the child did not get her own seat, but sat on her lap instead.
Cécile Narinx, editor-in-chief of the Dutch fashion magazine ELLE, discussed this issue last month in De Wereld Draait Door. [in Dutch, 8:30]
Monday, 8 February 2010
To be or not to be... social?
Although social media are the talk of the town in business communication, only one out of five companies world wide has a formal policy concerning them. This is what I read today in an article on managersonline.nl. The data were the outcome of an international study conducted by Manpower.
Negative aspects of social media mentioned in the article included a loss of productivity by employees who use social media for personal purposes and potential information leakage. However, they do also have benefits: building up relationships with customers, cooperation between different division and possibilities for innovation, to mention a few. Research conducted by Weber Shandwick showed that 73% of the companies which are listed in the Fortune 100 had a Twitter account, but that only a quarter of them tweets regularly. The original source, express.be explains that 52% of them barely show any activity, according to their numbers of links, references and reactions. Half of the companies involved have less than 500 followers.
Policy or no policy, I think social media should not be ignored. Of course, it can be a deliberate choice not to use Twitter et al, but in my opinion every modern company should at least take the power of social media into consideration. And it's better to be prepared than to be taken by storm. In the case of the article, I think it is clear that the benefits definitely outweigh the downsides, especially when a good policy is drawn up and lived up to by employees. This also includes the regularity of updating and monitoring, because a neglected profile is probably even worse than not having one at all. Social media offer companies such a large number of strategic possibilities (which I will write about on this blog), it would be a shame to let that go to waste.
Negative aspects of social media mentioned in the article included a loss of productivity by employees who use social media for personal purposes and potential information leakage. However, they do also have benefits: building up relationships with customers, cooperation between different division and possibilities for innovation, to mention a few. Research conducted by Weber Shandwick showed that 73% of the companies which are listed in the Fortune 100 had a Twitter account, but that only a quarter of them tweets regularly. The original source, express.be explains that 52% of them barely show any activity, according to their numbers of links, references and reactions. Half of the companies involved have less than 500 followers.
Policy or no policy, I think social media should not be ignored. Of course, it can be a deliberate choice not to use Twitter et al, but in my opinion every modern company should at least take the power of social media into consideration. And it's better to be prepared than to be taken by storm. In the case of the article, I think it is clear that the benefits definitely outweigh the downsides, especially when a good policy is drawn up and lived up to by employees. This also includes the regularity of updating and monitoring, because a neglected profile is probably even worse than not having one at all. Social media offer companies such a large number of strategic possibilities (which I will write about on this blog), it would be a shame to let that go to waste.
Friday, 29 January 2010
New Beginnings
So, here it is: my blog for the course 'Media Use in Organizations'. I guess it needs a little tweaking, but I decided to focus on the content first (while killing time waiting for my train). I also have a personal blog, which can be found here. For that blog I mostly write about things that interest me such as music and movies.
Today's lecture dealt with Google Analytics. I have been using this application for a while, to track the traffic to my personal blog and I must say: it takes a little time to find out where you can find relevant information (although I am probably only using 10% of its potential). My favourite part, however, is the map overlay of the visitor's countries. Isn't it wonderful that people from Bulgaria and Spain managed to find their way to my personal ramblings?
Today's lecture dealt with Google Analytics. I have been using this application for a while, to track the traffic to my personal blog and I must say: it takes a little time to find out where you can find relevant information (although I am probably only using 10% of its potential). My favourite part, however, is the map overlay of the visitor's countries. Isn't it wonderful that people from Bulgaria and Spain managed to find their way to my personal ramblings?
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