Google and Arcade Fire have teamed up to show off how cool programming language HTML5 can be. Using the Arcade Fire song “We Used To Wait,” this experiment asks you to input your childhood street address and inserts your old neighborhood into the experience via Google Earth image captures. Multiple windows open and close throughout the experience, making it like no other video you’ve seen on the internet. Near the end of the song, you’re asked to write a postcard to your childhood self. When the song ends, you’re given the ability to publish your postcard to the community, and it also may be used in the background visuals at an Arcade Fire show. Very cool. Check out The Google Chrome Arcade Fire Experiment here.

Without pointing fingers, I would point out the existence of sales organizations disguising themselves as SEO companies. They hire sales people, teach them Intro to SEO Basics and send them into the field to sign small businesses into binding contracts. Usually these companies are familiar. They have expansive call sheets (you would too if you used to print phone books). But the fact that consumers are turning away from phone books and toward the internet, doesn’t mean companies who sold yellow pages ads know how to manipulate Google’s algorithms.

A strong SEO campaign requires customization. Every business has unique needs, goals and paths to success. Customization requires knowledge, the ability to understand the complete ecosystem around a business and people who can make sound, independent decisions rooted in experience. Are you interviewing an SEO provider who embodies these attributes, or a sales company faking their way through a shift in core competency?

Don’t let anyone take advantage of your lack of knowledge. Look for the following 5 red flags when interviewing SEO companies:

1) They want a binding contract: SEO is a results based endeavor, if you are unhappy, you should never continue to pay because of a contract. A company looking to lock you in does not have your best interest in mind. They simply want to turn you into an annuity.

2) No mention of On-Site activities: Sometimes, companies will tell you they offer SEO, when really they apply your budget to PPC campaigns. You see traffic from the clicks, but once the money is gone, the clicks evaporate. Long-term SEO strategy requires constant on-site optimization. If they never ask for your FTP login, they are not providing SEO.

3) They present a sales worksheet with check boxes designed to eliminate your concerns: Evidence of best practices in aggressive salesmanship, not proof of powerful SEO strategies. Where else will you find sales worksheets? Used car dealerships.

4) The sales person remains vague: They are trained to get you to commit, but can’t quite answer your technical questions. They bank on your ignorance and hope your frustration will lead you to acquiesce and sign the dotted line. If a rep can’t thoroughly explain the service he or she is selling, how will your needs and goals be communicated to the “team” they promise to assign to your project?

5) They want to assign you several tracking phone numbers: This way they can count the phone calls they bring you. However, flooding the market with a host of different phone numbers may not be ideal. Bear in mind those dial-ins all go away when you you discontinue service (once your contract finally expires). Anyone can setup phone numbers for you, but online marketing is uber trackable to begin with – and your call volume most likely speaks for itself. You’re either doing more business, or you’re not. Typically, one phone number is enough. Multiple call record rigamorole should be reserved for large volume call centers. There is not much need for it in a small business.

A good SEO provider can help your business flourish and provide to be a lasting and powerful business relationship. Avoid false starts and poorly invested marketing dollars by choosing your SEO partner wisely. These 5 steps are a place to start. The place to finish, is here.

OK Go is back with another viral video hit for the song “This Too Shall Pass.” Check it out here*. It’s a fantastic display of creativity and perfect fodder for a viral hit. The song is infectiously vanilla, the theatrics are worthy of multiple views, it’s opinion agnostic (thus comfortable to share) and is a lot of fun.



OK Go made a huge splash in 2006 with their treadmill video for “Here It Goes Again” are back with another unstoppable viral hit. Are these guys masters of Band Marketing, or what?

Last week I posted an entry about Google Social Search entitled Google and Twitter. Today, the functionality launches. PC World gives nice walk through on how to activate it via Google Labs.

Here, Matt Cutts explains how Social Search works:

It will be interesting to see how the social circle effect works in Google as the functionality goes live today.

Google just announced they have reached an agreement with Twitter to include tweets in search results. The news comes immediately on the heels of Bing announcing the same Twitter integration.

Wow! This is big.

Twitter has been a phenomenon, but many business owners are unsure how it can add real value. As Tweets soon become visible on major search engines, Twitter jumps the adoption chasm. Essentially, this means that anyone, not just Twitter users, will be involved in the conversation – it’s not just for tech enthusiasts and visionaries anymore.

For example, when I Google “Mammoth Mountain,” in addition to my existing search resutls, I’ll also see a feed of the most recent Tweets that include those words. I no longer have to be a Twitter-er to have real time access to what people are saying there. So theoretically, as people on the mountain Tweet from the chairlift (may sound crazy, but it happens – a lot), Google will deliver real time tweets that can tell me about micro level snow conditions around the mountain. For example, @thefreshbasil: lift 22 fresh pow and no line!

You can imagine how fun this will be for things like snow reports. But how frightening it must be for large companies who know how powerful negative comments can be on social networks… and how pervasive. For example, if I’m shopping for television service providers. I Google “Comcast” and find a Twitter feed full of dissatisfied customers. How does that affect my decision making in contrast to the great reviews about 1080p picture from DirecTV? This conversation, previously confined to the Twitter population, is now shared with the masses. It’s incredible to think of how important it will become for all companies to manage the social media conversation to prevent such negativity in those crucial “shopping around” moments.

At Web 2.0, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said, “[Twitter] has changed the culture of our company.” He went on to describe the 11 employees dedicated to responding to Tweets from disgruntled Comcast customers. With this breaking news in mind, how many more jobs will be created at Comcast to manage the social media conversation? And at other such corporations around the country?

Further, is allowing corporate access to this conversation part of Twitter’s monetization strategy? How would they go about policing that gate – distinguishing between individuals and corporations?

This presentation, given by Morgan Stanley analyst Mary Meeker at Web 2.0, provides an insightful look at our domestic economic conditions and how the current climate is expected to produce innovation and growth in mobile internet usage and capabilities.

There is an incredible amount of information here. If you’re interested, click here to see it on Mashable.

As a follow up to last week’s post about Social Currency, I wanted to brieflly mention another use of social currency that was featured today in Mashable! Milliondollardrew.com is a website for Drew Olanoff who started a fundraising campaign for LIVESTRONG after he was diagnosed with cancer this year. He is auctioning off the Twitter username @drew to the highest bidder. Drew Carey bid $25,000 and then upped the ante by saying he would add $1 for every follower he gets to his Twitter account @drewfromtv.

This is a great example of social currency and you can see it in action here. Note, in this example the user is able to modify the tweet (url is still automatically added), a feature I quite like.

Social Media Marketing is done by consumers, not businesses. To some, this statement may cut to the core of how social media is different from traditional marketing. Further, it may act as a platform from which the imagination can leap to discover new ways to harness the power of viral campaigning.

Even Exchange
One of the new, exciting social media marketing strategies delivers content in exchange for social currency. Social currency describes the value of an individual consumers word or endorsement. For example, by posting a tweet or Facebook update that promotes and links to your web page, the consumer spends social currency on your brand. In exchange, you deliver access to content or information of value. It’s an even exchange of currency – a barter in the new economics of content.

Recently, Brushfire Records ran a social currency campaign promoting Jack Johnson’s new live album/ DVD. Visitors were provided a download of a live performance of “Flake” in exchange for a tweet/ status update. Here’s how it worked: Upon clicking the download button, the user was redirected to a Twitter or Facebook interface requesting their login information. After logging in, a pre-designed message automatically populated on the user’s profile. Immediately following a successful post, the download begins automatically on the users computer. The user cannot alter the content of the tweet, which includes a promotional message and a link to the site.

Brushfire Records has since moved the campaign away from social media and now requires newsletter subscriptions instead – a more traditional approach.

Another example of a social currency campaign involves the LeBron James film, “More Than A Game.” Interscope records, promoting the soundtrack featuring Mary J. Blige, created a splash page to deliver a music video trailer in exchange for a Facebook or Twitter post promoting it. Now, with the trailer available through several other outlets, Interscope has created a contest and avatar download to use in its place. To see a social currency campaign in action, visit the Interscope’s site.

As in these leading edge examples, your next social media campaign will be performed by the consumer. How will you facilitate? The Fresh Basil can help you design a social currency campaign of your own today. Contact us to learn more.

Often times photography, graphic design and web design are the first place managers look to reduce costs, especially in a weak economy. I’ve never understood this strategy. Most likely because I’ve never seen evidence that poor economic conditions change the brain’s information processing methods. Nor does it change the goal of marketing: to achieve an emotional kinship to your brand. The consumer craves that connection, and powerful creative is the most efficient way to achieve it.

To illustrate the point, I’ve posted the outro cinematic from the highly anticipated Beatles version of Rock Band (which just hit stores yesterday). I share this not only because I’m a music lover, but also to illustrate the immense power of great creative. In this example, you are treated to the aural pleasure of the most influential band in history and a buffet of visual attractions. Please enjoy and read on:

My first reaction after watching this was, “I want that game.” Not because I’m particularly into gaming (although I loved Guitar Hero when it came out), and not because I feel I would get hours of enjoyment from it. Simply, it was the pleasure of experience in watching this clip that stirred a visceral response. I just wanted it, for no rational reason. This is the power of great creative.

A much smaller scale example of this can be found in a website we recently built for luxury fashion brand C.Z. Falconer. The site uses, in essence, a simple architecture. A 6-option menu leads you to pages of content that fit inside a small white box on a black background. This was the concept we designed, to meet the minimalist style choice of the client. We were able to achieve an attractive experience with the help of great creative. What makes this website so appealing is the fantastic imagery captured by photographer Jordan Duvall. She was able to capture the vivacious, beautiful, luxurious. elegant and fun lifestyle the C.Z. Falconer brand represents, while simultaneously showcasing the product effectively. Even more amazing, she was able to do so in a studio with a white background.

She's Got a Ticket to Ride

This instance is a very simple and digestible look at how powerful great creative can be for your brand. The first thing a consumer digests is the visual associated with your product marketing. Before they have a chance to take an actionable step towards becoming a customer – whether by reading your copy, trying one on, comparing technical specifications, or comparing prices – they see your creative.

Sure, not all companies can afford The Beatles music catalogue and accompanying digital effects extravaganza used in the Rock Band example, and most companies don’t need to – see C.Z. Falconer. Regardless of scale, an effective marketing campaign is built on a combination of well-performed activities: data collection, analysis, strategy, creative development and execution. Among those activities, I struggle to identify one that carries greater importance than another.

Please, keep the creative cool and challenge your imagination to cut budgets in other areas such as overhead, poorly performing partnerships and operational inefficiencies.

In the marketing world, fascinating new ways to touch consumers continue to sprout up at every turn. Facebook paved a social media highway through the mainstream, and now Twitter has accelerated traffic to Autobahn speeds. Amongst even the most staunch, old school executives, the power of social media is no longer disputed. The conversation has shifted to learning to unlock its power. To do so our current economy, and amidst the constant buzzing of social media, it’s no longer effective to simply show up. You must arrive with impact.

In traditional media, the general principle is to beat your brand into the minds and hearts of consumers via repetition. In the world of social media, the onus is on the brands to find ways to not only engage the audience, but also inspire them to share the message with their network. This is viral marketing. In experimenting with this art, some brands have cracked the code. Below are two examples.

The Best Job In The World
One great example of viral marketing is the Queensland, Australia Board of Tourism Best Job in the World campaign, which generated almost 50 million page views in just 56 days. Through a group of strategically placed advertisements, a website full of brilliant imagery and well-produced video shorts, the agency behind the campaign, CumminsNitro, drove mainstream press coverage and social media sharing that drew in 37,000 applications from over 200 countries. Estimates suggest the media coverage alone was worth over $100M.

Why it worked:

•    It’s All In The Spin: The Queensland Board of Tourism was lucky. Their product – the tropical islands of the Great Barrier Reef – is a dream vacation destination that appeals to almost everyone. However, had they given away a 6-month holiday, they may not have made such a splash. By packaging the prize as a job, they were able to capture the imaginations of both consumers and the media. A vacation is something people are desensitized to, but a “Dream Job” is something that captures our imaginations. To win would be to realize our wildest dreams. This simple spin sparked this promotion to catch fire across the globe. From there, strong development and execution sealed the deal.

10 Laptops In 10 Days
If you’ve been on Twitter lately, you’ve seen #moonfruit at the top of the Trending Topics section. Moonfruit is a do-it-yourself, online web development tool currently celebrating its 10th anniversary by offering 10 Macbook Pros over 10 days. To enter, consumers simply include the tag #moonfruit in their tweets and sign up to follow Moonfruit on Twitter to find out if you’ve won.

While the Queensland Board of Tourism had to offer a hefty prize to invoke users to create and submit a video, Moonfruit has found a far less time-consuming entry process. Additionally, they found a less expensive way to gain hoards of Twitter followers, exponentially increase awareness and generate healthy buzz. No doubt their website traffic has spike significantly since the start of the promotion and the constant top billing on Twitters Trending Topics section. In effect, Moonfruit created a 10 day Virtual Flash Mob via Twitter.

Why It Worked:

•    Novel Execution: Mac products continue to invoke passion on the part of consumers, so giving away MacBook Pros was a wise choice. That said, it takes more than a shiny prize to execute a successful promotion. In this case, Moonfruit invented a unique way of exploiting Twitter’s interface to create buzz. The novelty of the promotion platform made consumers feel like they were participating in something new and cool. They were proud to participate, as if they were “in on something.” Additionally, the strategy lent itself perfectly to viral spread. To enter was to advertise the contest. As the tag proliferated, curiosities were piqued and the viral effect took hold. To win was to connect to the brand. @moontweet now has over 43,000 followers.

What can your brand do to arrive with impact? First, you gotta get Fresh.