August 2008 Archives
So it turns out that AMC was not behind the MadMen Twitters - or at least in any kind of approved methodology. They've sent Twitter a DMCA complaint about the accounts, and several are already pulled: @don_draper & @peggyolson.
I think that this is an epic FAIL on the part of AMC...the presence of the characters had created an interaction with a selection of fans on Twitter, and more importantly had lead to nothing but positive buzz. Said buzz has likely already impacted search and other marketing mediums outside of twitter. Once again a company seems to have made the knee jerk legal team reaction when they could have brought the fan efforts into the fold. That is assuming that it is a fan effort and not from a member of the content team that failed to inform legal or marketing.
Heads up came from venture beat: http://url.ie/n5w
I think that this is an epic FAIL on the part of AMC...the presence of the characters had created an interaction with a selection of fans on Twitter, and more importantly had lead to nothing but positive buzz. Said buzz has likely already impacted search and other marketing mediums outside of twitter. Once again a company seems to have made the knee jerk legal team reaction when they could have brought the fan efforts into the fold. That is assuming that it is a fan effort and not from a member of the content team that failed to inform legal or marketing.
Heads up came from venture beat: http://url.ie/n5w
The team from MadMen is bringing some of the characters to life on Twitter... @don_draper, @joan_holloway, @peggyolson, @pete_campbell & @bertram_cooper have all joined over the last few days...
The interesting thing is not just that the twitters are very well done and in character, but that the order in which characters have joined, and the way they tweet is very much in line with the way that Twitter seems to grow through groups and organizations. Having been the first one at my last agency on Twitter, and then having followed the ebb and flow of usage throughout the organization over time, the SterlingCooper twitter adoption rate seems spot on.
To me, this is a perfect example of how to bring the art of storytelling to life in interactive space. Study the medium you are going to work in, and use it the way that real people use it. You wouldn't shoot footage of someone doing something completely unreal in a TV or Movie Drama, don't force your characters to behave in an unreal way on Twitter or any other social media platform.
And just like in any form of entertainment -- the more attention you pay to the little details, the more real it will become to your audience, and them more engaged they will become. The medium changes what those details should be, but not the fact that there should be details, and that they need to be right.
The interesting thing is not just that the twitters are very well done and in character, but that the order in which characters have joined, and the way they tweet is very much in line with the way that Twitter seems to grow through groups and organizations. Having been the first one at my last agency on Twitter, and then having followed the ebb and flow of usage throughout the organization over time, the SterlingCooper twitter adoption rate seems spot on.
To me, this is a perfect example of how to bring the art of storytelling to life in interactive space. Study the medium you are going to work in, and use it the way that real people use it. You wouldn't shoot footage of someone doing something completely unreal in a TV or Movie Drama, don't force your characters to behave in an unreal way on Twitter or any other social media platform.
And just like in any form of entertainment -- the more attention you pay to the little details, the more real it will become to your audience, and them more engaged they will become. The medium changes what those details should be, but not the fact that there should be details, and that they need to be right.
Anyvite - a replacement for evite without all the crap...and with rsvp from email, im notifications and all sorts of other goodies. To make things more interesting, anyvite seems to pull profile info of unknown users from the web (via google?) filling out your invite with details on attendees as you build it. Hopefully it will start gaining some critical mass and supplanting some of the evite mess.
http://anyvite.com/
outside.in - local news, conversations and happenings. Hmm - will this incorporate enough of a mix of consumer reported items with mainstream news feeds to make it different and valuable? It has serious potential.
http://outside.in
the oddball of the week:
MyBlackBook - ever wanted to analyze your sex life or lack thereof? never been keen on the fact that your little black book could fall into someone's hands? now you can do it online in a secure environment... but if you do, you probably qualify as overly obsessive in more ways than one and should perhaps pursue a career with Vivid or the like in the talent management office.
https://secure.myblackbook.org/
http://anyvite.com/
outside.in - local news, conversations and happenings. Hmm - will this incorporate enough of a mix of consumer reported items with mainstream news feeds to make it different and valuable? It has serious potential.
http://outside.in
the oddball of the week:
MyBlackBook - ever wanted to analyze your sex life or lack thereof? never been keen on the fact that your little black book could fall into someone's hands? now you can do it online in a secure environment... but if you do, you probably qualify as overly obsessive in more ways than one and should perhaps pursue a career with Vivid or the like in the talent management office.
https://secure.myblackbook.org/
A neat new service out there, moFuse makes a mobile version of a blog complete with QR code... Not that anyone is necessarily going to want to read my blog on their mobile, but there are plenty of other folks blogs that I already read on my iPhone and that I may switch to reading in MoFuse format.
What's really neat about this is that tools and services like this are exploding, based upon the similar explosion of consumer generated content and the consumption thereof. I'm sure MoFuse will have plenty of competition shortly and also am wondering what their business model will be. But for now, I'm impressed.
