Greg Verdino

Pepsi gets a 2.0 makeover

You may have heard some buzz about Pepsi's recent influencer outreach program, promoting the brand's new look and packaging.  I was one of 25 bloggers who received a package of new cans and other goodies, along with a pointer to the Pepsi Cooler Friendfeed room where reps from the brand are hosting a discussion about the brand, its redesign and the outreach program. 

Although I'm taking the week off from 'serious' blogging, I figured I'd give you a peek at both the new design and the package I received as part of the outreach effort.

 

More of my pics on Flickr.

Free book Friday

Lately, I've been receiving more free marketing books than I have the time to read, especially from McGraw-Hill.  I figure some of them must be pretty good and I feel like I owe the publisher a bit of ink, but I just don't have the time to write proper reviews right now.  So taking a page out of Darryl Ohrt's book (um, pun intended) but taking it one step closer to outright lazy, I want to at least let you know that these books are available.

If marketing books are your thing, here are a few you might want to check out.

First up, we have The BrandPromise: How Costco, Ketel One, Make-A-Wish, Tourism Vancouver & Other Leading Brands Make and Keep the Promise That Guarantees SUCCESS! Don't let the long title scare you off.  Written by branding expert Duane E. Knapp explores the guiding principles that define 'genuine brands' -- those brands that optimize the emotional and functional benefits to consumers by delivering unique experiences, inspiring passion and providing customers with exceptional value.  It looks like a pretty dense tome crammed with practical, real world case studies. 

Next, there's Where's Your WOW? 16 Ways to Make Your Competitors Wish They Were You by Robyn Spizman and Rick Frishman.  Now, you probably already wish you were me, but if you're looking for a bunch of practical tips that can help you stand apart from the crowd then you may want to give this one a read.  Mostly focused on personal branding, it looks like at least some of the principles (and many of the examples) outlined in Where's Your WOW are equally applicable to whatever products and services you're hawking.  As you might have guessed from the title, the book imparts 16 principles including success coach standards like "envision your success," "find your edge - and sharpen it," "hire people smarter than you," and "put people first."

And finally, we have Richard Laermer's new book, 2011: Trendspotting for the Next Decade.  You might know Richard as the guy responsible for Trendspotting, Full Frontal PR, Punk Marketing and the Bad Pitch Blog.  Now he turns his attentions to the trends that will shape the business world over the next few years.  It looks like the book offers both a set of tactics any business person can use to understand trends and forecast their impact, and a boatload of Richard's own picks for the trends to watch.  Of the three, this is the book I'm most likely to read.  I've plowed through both Trendspotting and Punk Marketing -- Laermer's writing is funny, smart and accessible and see tends to take a no bullshit approach to his topics.  Lots and lots of really short chapters (on everything from business, media and marketing to entertainment and sex) also means you can bite-off bits of the book in between email refreshes, and that's a pretty good thing for those of us who don't have enough time left for reading business books.

I'm not Scott (blogger outreach gone bad)

"Dear Scott,

I noticed that you cover developments in online marketing and Web 2.0 in your blog.  Would your readers be interested in learning about my company, Veotag?"

So begins an email I recieved in the past week, just one in a growing batch of botched attempts at blogger outreach that have hit my mailbox over the past couple of months.  Each one seems to be worse than the last, but at least they usually get my name right.

There's a lesson in this.  If you're a company considering blogger outreach and think that a form email is all that you need -- or even worse, if you've hired so-called 'experts" and they've advised you to go this route -- stop now and reconsider.  You'll be wasting a whole lot of effort, quite possibly a fistful of money and, in the end, may do yourself more harm than good.  Most bloggers, especially those that see a fair number of pitches each week, can spot a form letter from miles away, even if you do get their names right in the salutation.  And those that don't react with chagrin are most likely to ignore you outright.

If you want to stand any chance of getting the right kind of attention from influential bloggers (and I'd barely count myself as influential), you'll need to work at it.  Get to know the bloggers you're targeting.  Spend some time, read their blogs, know their likes and dislikes, try to get inside their heads.  You'll find that some are open to outreach, some aren't, and each will be either more or less receptive depending on the approach you take.  A little bit of personal attention can go a long way.  As will a bit of care and attention to detail.

You mark my words, or my name isn't Scott. :-)

If you're a blogger, I'd love to hear your war stories -- or for that matter, I'd love to hear your tales of influencer outreach done right.

Blogger outreach round-up

I've been receiving quite a few pitches lately and, frankly, I haven't had the time to follow up on any of them.  So if for no other reason than clearing my in-box (and my conscience) I present to you the first "Blogger Outreach Round-Up."  Take a gander at four very different new media and marketing offerings, ranging from the bizarre to the commonsensical (you decide which are which.)  Maybe you'll see something you like.

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Gottabet.com, a new niche market social network organized around dares and challenges is looking to attract 1 million members through a promotion that promises to give users $1 for every new member they get to join, with a maximum $1 million payout for the entire promotion.  To participate in the Gottabet Million Dollar Challenge, members create a bet/challenge/dare on the site and then build a campaign around it that makes other people join Gottabet to participate in that bet.  Pretty simple idea -- members reap the rewards for evangelizing the property and at $1 for each new member acquired, this sounds more efficient than more traditional advertising programs.  Watch this video for more information about how it works [feed and email readers click through for the video.]

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ZSlide wote to let me know about Pictogame, an easy-to-use tool that lets web users turn any picture into a simple casual game widget and distribute it through blogs and social network profiles.   Here's just one example. (Note to Firefox users -- the game doesn't seem to embed properly in Firefox and I can't figure out why - so until I do, just click through to check out Pictogame's gallery.)

Put this game on your blog   Create your own   More games

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MonetizeMedia offers a turnkey platform that allows any publisher to create fully interactive, branded broadband TV channels, easily and seamlessly monetize media assets through downloads, subscriptions, advertising and syndication and appeal to advertisers with contextually relevant, rich media video ads designed to maximize ROI.  The broadband video landscape is already pretty cluttered -- but with all the attention being paid to contextual video advertising, if their solution is as drag-and-drop as they say it is, it could be an interesting one to watch.  They're offering free trials.

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And finally, we have Balihoo, an advertising search engine geared toward media planners and buyers who are looking for new media advertising opportiunities.   Users can search Balihoo using a variety of variables -- demographics, geography, behavioral, media or channel specific -- and the application returns advertising opportunities that meet their needs.  Balihoo doesn't get involved with the sale of inventory (so it's not an exchange or marketplace) -- they are simply focused on helping buyers find the right media opportunities and connect with qualified sellers.  Balihoo is in a private beta now, with an anticipated September-October public launch.