The GottaQuirk eMarketing blog The GottaQuirk blog is a great resource for information about internet marketing. It’s an up-to-date resource on the happenings in the fast-moving eMarketing industry. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 2 4686

Articles from The GottaQuirk eMarketing blog

My experience at Quirk 2007-07-09 11:37:14 Max Fitchet, a grade 11 pupil at Wynberg Boys' High School recently spent two days at the QuirkStation on a Work Shadow program. When he asked me what he could do my answer was what it always is… “Why don’t you write a blog post?” So he did… “Both the days that I spent at Quirk eMarketing were an absolute learning experience. The working environment was something I was not expecting – everyone was so chilled and the suite and tie look definitely doesn’t apply. Even though everyone was so relaxed, there was still a lot work to be done and deadlines to be met, and I think this kind of environment enables more constructive work to be done. A totally new concept to me was MSN Messenger, not the program itself but more of how it is used. Nobody seemed to be talking much – until I realised that even if you sit right next to someone you chat on MSN rather than face to face. Everyone has everyone else's contacts there, so it saves a t ...

Embrace your ego 2007-07-07 04:03:38 Here's an interesting one – an ad campaign aimed at advertising creatives. The execs were invited to a competition where they were given one hour to come up with a campaign for a charity. The entire push of the “Embrace your ego” campaign seems to be playing at the narcissistic nature of the creatives. Most of these execs are worryingly likely to be more than willing to jump themselves at any given opportunity... Aside from the eye-candy I don't reckon that the video itself is all that great, however the whole “love your ego” concept behind the campaign is pretty cool. Take a look at some of the still images at Creative Sauce. Comment on "Embrace your ego" ...

Messages from heaven 2007-07-07 02:48:35 With the Live Earth concerts taking place across the globe today I thought this viral was fitting. There are quite a few of these Heavenly ads in the series, you can check them out here, here and here. You can also check out the MTV Switch site for more info. Live Earth: The concert for a climate in crisis is “taking place to highlight the threat of global warming and climate change on our planet, a problem that has been brewing for a long time, but only now are people really beginning to sit up and take notice”. Perhaps if we all take just a few moments every day to do some recycling, or turn off a couple of unnecessary lights we could help the world in our own small way. I’m gonna do it, how about you? Comment on "Messages from heaven" ...

PushPlay & BigPix paving the way for the small fry? 2007-07-05 09:09:57 After being around for about a year, PushPlay, the online DVD rental service, are finally starting to get some decent online coverage. Unfortunately for them, this also comes as a result of the noise that BigPix has been generating. I remember meeting one of the guys behind PushPlay at the beginning of the year. He's a cool guy, and very on the ball with online marketing. And, given any opportunity he would talk excitedly about the revolutionary nature of the service and would be quick to point out the overseas success of Netflix (on whom they are presumably basing their business model). Now this brings a couple of questions to mind. The first, being the most obvious, has already been asked: Why has PushPlay's online marketing not been more visible? Jonty, the guy I chatted to, was very keen on spreading the word of the service by handing out business cards and free trials. Surely the online scene would have provided an even better avenue for doing this... I can't vouch for the f ...

Dollars and Sense 2007-07-04 08:56:12 I think I only officially woke up when reading the Cape Times this morning. The front page had an article on some moron who payed $350 on eBay for an empty dog food can which had been lifted from Paris Hilton’s rubbish. I think it’s safe to say rubbish? I think it’s safe to say moron? I laughed. I cried. I wished I was still sleeping. The day only got better (or worse) when I came across this video from Fox Four News of an American woman getting outsmarted by AT&T after she thought she had it all figured out (once again eBay plays an important role) and tried to cash in on the new Apple iPhone (which was released last week). Oh my. I love it when bad ideas come to complete, hands-on-head fruition. I checked out the price for the iPhone, and it retails for around $450. I can just hear my old man saying, “A fool and his money are soon parted”. Comment on "Dollars and Sense" ...

Seedcamp 2007-07-04 03:00:00 It’s been a long time since I’ve pushed out a post, but Saul just sent me an email with another of his great ideas: Seedcamp. It seems to be an incubator of sorts for young European entrepreneurs. Check out this post on Saul’s blog and definitely give the presentation a watch if you’ve got a few minutes, I think it will stimulate a lot of minds. Comment on "Seedcamp" ...

Shock treatment 2007-07-03 09:38:48 I recently found this very interesting, banned, South African advert. It paints an awful story of South Africa’s future as a result of no education. After sharing it with the rest of the QuirkStars I was amazed at how diverse the responses were. The responses were naturally down one of two lines – “love it” or “hate it”. The love it camp looked at the role of education and how the examples given are realistic and that South Africa needs “a shock wake up”. The hate it camp on the other hand accepted that the results were realistic but questioned the manner in which it was portrayed - it was considered too scary and overly shocking. It was recommended that concepts of beauty and possibility were far more effective in achieving a general buy-in. This advert reminds me of a Seth Godin blog post from ages ago where he discussed marketing to the one, few, many and all. This article is directed, if unintentionally, at the “few&rd ...

Online Safety for Children: The line between caring and spying 2007-07-02 06:58:49 I recently stumbled across a website about keeping your child safe online. I clicked around and did some reading, jumped to a few related sites and soon started to realise that a lot of the sites run by “concerned parents” weren’t necessarily about child safety, but rather outright spying. The more I read, the angrier I got. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for raising well guided children, and keeping them protected from the big bad wolf, and what that wolf is pushing, but most sites had little information on sitting them down and providing your kids with the knowledge to be aware of the effects of their actions. However, it did have an extensive section on how to read your children’s emails, monitor chats and view their surfing history. In my opinion, it’s okay to look at your child’s MySpace or Facebook profile. They’ve published the content knowing that the world has access to the information, but I think advising parents to insta ... Children

Flying dog 2007-07-01 03:47:03 I've heard it said that Jack Russells are the most intelligent dogs in the world. However, I've always had something against the little runts. For whatever reason this particular breed of dog seems intent on snapping at my heels when I'm on my runs. I suppose that I should be grateful that I don't attract Rottweilers instead, but there's something incredibly annoying about being chased by some overgrown rat with a Napoleon complex. What's particularly annoying is that the thing doesn't realise its place in the natural pecking order. At any given time I could simply stop my run, turn around, and drop-kick the little bugger over the nearest wall (not that I ever would). That being said it's no wonder I take such satisfaction from the following clip. Now I can see Sarah's shocked face, so remember that while it may be funny … it’s not the done thing! Comment on "Flying dog" ...

Photos you'll only see once in a lifetime 2007-06-30 03:05:38 Wow. Three hot women minus their bikinis. One overawed and very nervous male. Probably too much for the poor fellow to handle. I doubt he'll get more than one shot off. Better make it count... Comment on "Photos you'll only see once in a lifetime" ...

Happy B'day J! 2007-06-30 02:55:01 Today is our COO, Janine Carpenter’s, birthday and I wanted to make a big deal of it as it’s a biggie – her 30th. I’ve worked with J9 for four years and have watched this dynamic woman grow from strength to strength and have seen her use her street smarts and great drive to achieve success. Janine, you rock as a boss and you’re one of our brightest Stars. At the QuirkStation we try and do something special for birthdays and one of the things we do is get each Star gets to say why they love/like the birthday person. Here are some things that were said about Janine: …I like you because you're the most approachable boss in the world. …Janine you rock because you have a kind heart and a great mind …I have a deep respect for you, mother to all, you are an awesome COO. …Because you always put our needs ahead of yours …For your unlimited love for animals - no matter how ugly they are! …Cos you have Pug. It takes a spe ...

Has a new industry been born? 2007-06-29 04:49:38 Marketing at the mo seems to be split into two camps - mass marketing of discount items or niche marketing in order to differentiate oneself from ‘everything out there'.     It would appear that niche marketing is the direction the Internet is taking. It has had a truly profound effect on industries one never thought could be customised, and is bringing them direct to your door if you are listening and looking. To illustrate this point I have discovered a truly revolutionary example (excuse the sarcasm) – the M&M. One can now customise ones packet of M&M’s - no I am not kidding – yes with your own name and address on it if you would like. (Please return to sender if found perhaps). I’d like to spare a moment of thought for the people who firstly want an M&M with their name on, and secondly for those who will pay, nearly 10 times the price to eat said M&M’s. Between Levi’s iPod jeans and Adidas shoes with mi ...

Social Networking - your words may haunt you 2007-06-28 04:53:38 Recently one of the topics that bloggers have been concentrating their efforts (and in some cases wasting their breath) on has been the issue of privacy and free speech on the Internet. These sometimes quite lively discussions have been centred around social media and networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. Over the last two years there have been a number of cases involving evidence that authorities gained by tracking and searching social networking sites. The most shocking story has to be one involving a student at Fisher College who was “expelled for comments he posted on the student networking website Facebook”. Check out the full story here. As it transpires the student, Cameron Walker, was expelled for his online critique of a campus security officer on Facebook. A spokesperson at Facebook says that this marked the first time a college has expelled a student because of remarks made on the site - this little incident happened all the way back in 2005. Since the ...

WebPR+: Podcast Update 2007-06-27 04:45:03 A few weeks ago episode 1 of the WebPR+ Conference was released. You can now listen to Sally’s entire first session on "New Media Habits and New Technology Affecting the Practice of PR". Listen to part 1 Listen to part 2 Listen to part 3 The first part of Rob’s session on “Online Reputation Management” has also been released; you can listen to it here. Comment on "WebPR+: Podcast Update" ...

Qubox 2007-06-26 08:23:21 A short time ago I caught wind of qubox, a search engine with a difference. It allows you to search for other users that think in the same way as you do. Upon registration you are asked to complete a series of “quboxes” which, according to the site, are based upon proven psychological techniques. Upon completing each of these puzzle cubes you are presented with a list of the people that best match you along with a rating of just how similarly to you they think. The quboxes currently span the following categories: Celebrities, Short Breaks, TV Shows, Changing Britain, Money Matters, Holidays and Love. Obviously a person's personality spans an almost infinite amount of categories, so this might provide a reason as to why qubox hasn't yet provided a best holistic match. Instead, best matches are only provided for each individual category. Thus it’s possible to search for someone who enjoys undertaking holidays or getting away from life in much the same fashion as you ...