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.

What do you think of Treemagotchi?
	Cool, I'm signing up right now!
	Alright, but not for me
	Dull, it won't have any impact anyway
	I don't care about the environment
pollcode.com free polls

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.

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!

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!