The Fizz Cleanses Sin City

Davey sent this picture from outside OrangeSoda’s Las Vegas office just south of the strip:

Even in the City of Sin, the fizz continues to grow. Keep ‘em coming!

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The Goblins of Goblin Canyon Get a Sip of the Sweet Stuff

Devin Baldwin recently made a visit to the canyons of Southern Utah and returned with the following photos to add to the OrangeSoda Around the World Contest.

I know what you’re thinking. “Southern Utah?!”

To that I say, “What’re you whining about? Devin didn’t even leave the state, but he’s still kicking your butt in the contest!” Yeah, there’s a throw down for ya!

Check out the OrangeSoda Tee in Goblin Valley:

Here’s Devin in Crooked Tree National Park (better known as Crack Canyon in the San Rafael Swell):

And no Southern Utah trip is complete without a visit to the Helper Bar:

Thanks to Devin for spreading the word of OrangeSoda’s awesome Internet Marketing savvy to the uninitiated in Southern Utah. Keep ‘em coming!

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Mahi-Mahi Drinks Some OrangeSoda

The OrangeSoda Around the World contest is now in full swing with our VP of Sales and Service, Jed Smith, hitting Costa Rica and giving the local Mahi-mahi population a taste of the OrangeSoda.

Let’s keep spreading the fizz to all corners of the world!

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Fake Word of Mouth, Real Bad

In case you haven’t heard, in the UK it will soon be illegal to talk about your own product or service under the guise of somebody else. The new UK law, which goes into effect May 26, requires companies that use fake word-of-mouth advertising to clearly identify who they are. The law even extends to bloggers who are paid to write reviews.

Because word-of-mouth advertising is so effective — consumers tend to trust other consumers the most — many advertisers have latched on to the idea of faking word-of-mouth advertising (known as “astroturfing” in the US) by pretending to be a consumer and giving themselves good reviews or dissing the competition.

At the most basic level, companies will use an alias to give themselves positive reviews on discussion boards, forums, and ratings sites such as ResellerRatings.com, PriceGrabber.com, and others. Many larger companies have started to get pretty elaborate though, as shown by Sony’s All I Want for Xmas is a PSP viral effort in 2006.

Wal-Mart also started a flog (fake blog) called Walmarting Across America, supposedly maintained by a couple of Wal-Mart junkies as they visited various stores across the nation. Turns out that the supposed Wal-Mart enthusiasts were actually getting paid by the retail giant.

Although Sony and Wal-Mart both got busted by the public, companies continue pushing the ethics boundaries. Because it’s so effective (and the new law difficult to enforce), you can expect to continue seeing fake postings from fake people on fake fansites. But you probably won’t even know that all the astroturfing and flogging is going on as advertisers get better at covering their tracks.

While the say-or-do-anything-to-make-the-sale attitude has long been the standard in marketing, it has caused considerable damage. Today’s consumers are more weary of company claims than ever before, choosing instead to place more trust in complete strangers they meet on the Internet.

With astroturfing, flogging, and other similar questionable tactics growing in use, even consumer-to-consumer trust is dying.

Get In On Astroturfing While You Can?

So the question arises, should you get into astroturfing while there is still something to be had from it? Personally, I say no. If you want to gain the trust of consumers, then be as transparent in your marketing as you possibly can. Being that it is in such short supply these days, consumers appreciate honesty in a company.

Both Sony and Wal-Mart’s flogs could still have been just as popular and effective had both companies simply told people up front that they were faking it.

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OrangeSoda Around the World

With several laptops here at OrangeSoda being wrapped in some great fizz, the OrangeSoda Around the World contest has now begun!

OrangeSoda employees are encouraged to show their pride in making the business world a better place by showing off their OrangeSoda-skinned laptops and notebooks in various places around the world.

For those who don’t have a laptop, any piece of OrangeSoda-ness will suffice. Future posts will offer pictures of OrangeSoda around the world. With any luck, we’ll get to see various OrangeSoda chotchkes in the hands of famous persons or in famous places.

Already our illustrious CIO, Chris Finken, has brought the following images of his laptop in Taiwan:

OrangeSoda employees are expected to show their pride as they travel around the world. And if you’re an OrangeSoda client or partner, we’d love to see you with your OrangeSoda goodies wherever you go! Talk to your account manager to send in pictures.

Chris has got things off to a pretty hefty start. Let’s show him he’s not the only one with OrangeSoda pride!

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Laptops…With Fizz!

The OrangeSoda family is a close-knit group of Online Marketing fanatics that exude pride and sincere joy in our accomplishments together as a company and we are always very proud to exhibit our company pride at any given opportunity.

A few weeks ago, many members of the OrangeSoda team placed our orders for OrangeSoda laptop skins from SkinIt.com. Not surprisingly, many people put in their orders for the laptop skins to add color and character to their laptops. Chris, one of our founders, created several designs for us to choose from that allowed us to pick a skin for our laptops based on our personal preferences and tastes.

The skins are functional as well as decorative, as they provide a protective membrane of sorts that will help protect our laptops from minor bumps and bruises that can be incurred during everyday use. They are made from photo quality paper with residue-free adhesive so they won’t leave us with a sticky laptop if we ever need to remove or reapply them.

They were very easy to apply as well and none of us had any trouble with air bubbles or wrinkles during the application process. Additionally, between us, we probably had 10-20 different laptop brands and models and SkinIt was able to accommodate each of us with customized skins to meet our needs.

We are all excited to show our true colors — the OrangeSoda colors — and we’re happy to parlay that excitement and pride into our work by bringing quality Online Marketing services to thousands of clients with experience and enthusiasm.

So, maybe one day you’ll be in an airport terminal, a library, or an internet café and you’ll look up to see someone typing away on a laptop skinned with the OrangeSoda logo, and you’ll know that that person is an Online Marketing expert, and someone who is proud to be a part of something special here at OrangeSoda.

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Making Your Website Web 2.0 Compliant

In my previous post, I talked about the difference between my vision of what the Web should be and the vision of those who came up with Web 2.0. Today, I’m going to talk about how one actually goes about making their website Web 2.0 compliant.

Now, there is one big part of Web 2.0’s vision that matches mine, and that is communication. Although we are doing better, we still have a long ways to go.

I used to send email updates to all my friends and family whenever I learned about some new computer-related technology. Then I realized I was using the Internet incorrectly for something like that. Thus I started my first blog back in 1999. I had no idea what a blog was, and I’d never heard the term before or even seen a real blog before. But realizing that there was a better way to communicate with like-minded individuals, creating a website where everybody could see my latest computer-related postings and contribute their own thoughts on the matter just seemed like the logical thing to do.

Well, better communication and interactivity is a major point of Web 2.0. Set up a blog and you’ve taken a big step toward Web 2.0 compliance. Blogs are a technology that allows you to more easily communicate with others. Discussion boards are another that have been around a long time, but were never really properly used by businesses en masse.

Want to know what your customers are saying about you? Want to know what they wish you would do differently? Provide them with a place to talk about it anonymously and easily. Your customers are far more likely to have a conversation with other consumers online about their frustrations or praise rather than send you a letter in the mail or give you a phone call. Consumers trust each other, and will open up to each other. Opening up to a corporate entity, not so much.

Other ways Web 2.0 compliance can be achieved is with the use of wikis, Ajax, RSS feeds, and so forth. Other technologies that are considered Web 2.0 applications include Flash, any open source software, content management systems (CMS), and similar technologies. Remember, interactivity with the Web community is the key.

But now we get to the real question: how will Web 2.0 help you make more money? Well, this is where the excitement of Web 2.0 wears off. While a lot of Web 2.0 can be useful and helpful to users who visit your site, the real question you should be asking is, “Will it help me make the sale?”

The rules of business haven’t changed because some people got together and wrote up some rules on how they thought the Internet could be made better. Don’t install a wiki just because you have a burning desire to go Web 2.0. If it makes no sense to have a wiki, then don’t implement one. But if having a wiki helps you make the sale, then by all means install one!

For example, if you have a members-only site for hard-core campers, then a members-accessible camping wiki could help you retain members. If you own a pizza parlor, then using Flash technology to create an interactive pizza menu that allows users to click and drag ingredients onto a virtual pizza would probably create some buzz and improve business. If you create new content on a daily basis, then having a blog, CMS, and RSS feeds all make sense. Curious to know what features your customers want on the next version of your widget? Implement a discussion board.

The point here is that you shouldn’t go full-bore Web 2.0 just because it seems to be the “in” thing. Do it because it will help your business, and don’t abandon anything “Web 1.0″ if it’s still working for you.

In the end, there is no hard definition for what, exactly, Web 2.0 even means. As an entrepreneur, you need to be aware of what technologies are available to you, but just forget whether something is Web 2.0 or not and simply focus on those things that you know will have a positive impact for your business.

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Is Your Business Web 2.0 Ready?

There has been a lot of talk over the last few years about Web 2.0, the supposed next revolution in the World Wide Web. For some webmasters, this has led to a scrambling to update their sites to make them Web 2.0 ready.

But just what is Web 2.0? How do you make your website compliant? Do you really even need to be concerned about it?

Despite the perception its terminology creates, Web 2.0 is not the next generation of Internet hardware and technologies. The truth is that most of the technology that makes up the definition of Web 2.0 is old. Simply put, Web 2.0 is just a more interactive Web, designed to facilitate sharing and interaction between users.

“Gee, that’s great Stuart. So how do I make my website Web 2.0 compliant?”

Okay, so you don’t care that Web 2.0 is simply an overly ballyhooed term that doesn’t really mean anything, or at least that’s my personal opinion of it. For me the Web is still a giant, underappreciated and vastly underused commerce and communications platform. While Web 2.0 has done a lot to change that, we still have a long ways to go.

I built my first website in 1998 for a retail computer business I cofounded. I still remember clearly having a discussion with my business partner about whether or not we should spend the money to build a website. Back in those days, having a website was quite a bit more expensive than it is today, and the number of people that actually had Internet access was a small minority.

I told my partner, “The World Wide Web is the future! In 10 years, EVERYTHING will be done on the Web. We’ll be buying groceries, cars, clothes, and even ordering pizza online. Telephones will be obsolete because we’ll be communicating over the World Wide Web with video. We’ll be taking orders and handling tech support over the Web. Customers will be able to view our inventory in real time. Our cell phones will be connected and be able to transfer data between each other. Even our cars will be connected! We’ll be able to dispatch a technician, whether he’s at home or driving around town, directly to a customer’s home – all over the Web.”

Well, the 10 year mark is approaching. Have we reached MY vision of the Web? Well…

I walked into a national tire store chain a few days ago. When I saw that each store’s inventory databases aren’t connected to the corporate website, I realized that we still have a long way to go. Imagine the day when you can browse the corporate website and view real-time inventories for all 1,200 stores in the chain and get prices on every brand and every size of tire, then being able to order and pay for the tires, schedule an appointment to have them mounted and balanced, doing all of this online, and simply dropping your car off at the store… all without ever talking to a single salesperson.

As a business owner, I believe that this is how you should be thinking regarding the future of your business on the Web. Despite my tire store experience, there is plenty of good news as well. I haven’t ordered a pizza over the phone in years!

Okay, but seriously now… The reality of Web 2.0 is that it is simply the vision of a few people for how the World Wide Web should be. The difference between their vision and mine is that they got the airtime and publicity.

In my next post, I’ll talk about how to actually make your website Web 2.0 compliant.

Posted in Web 2.0, Web Building Tips | 1 Comment »

Are You Missing Out on the Net’s Largest Market?

Just last year, a change occurred to the demographics of the World Wide Web. For the most part, it occurred with little fanfare. Dedicated Internet marketers, however, definitely noticed.

So what is this grand event? Queue drum roll…

In short, female Web users now outnumber male users. Okay, I know. You’re thinking, “Wow, that’s it? Pretty anti-climactic if you ask me!”

And you’re right. It is downright anti-climactic if your target market is cats, dogs, or fish. For the rest of us that are going after humans, this is a big deal! For years it had always been assumed that the number of men surfing the Web would be greater than the number of women doing the same. Well, that assumption started out in peril, and now it is dead.

If your target market isn’t exclusively male, and yet you’ve failed to put enough resources into attracting the female consumer, then the time for ignoring the fairer sex is over. It’s time to figure out what women want and start giving it to them.

So What DO Women Want?

Want to sell something to people? Find out where people are and what their interests are. Here are a few stats regarding the human race’s better half for you to mull over:

• 47% of female Web users (versus 53% of men) visit video sites (such as YouTube) versus 27% a year ago. They are also visiting more often, more than twice as often as men.
• Burst Media reports that 54% of women shopped online during the first half of 2007, buying mostly clothing, financial products, and groceries. Wealthier women shop online more (68% of those with household incomes that break six figures versus 49% of those with incomes lower than $35,000). GSI Commerce reports that women are also more likely than men to take advantage of limited-time offers or free gifts that are included with purchase.
• Female casual gamers match men in numbers, but women are more likely to pay to support their casual gaming habit (versus “enthusiastic” gamers who play more violent games like first-person shooters). Women made up 75% of casual game purchases.
• According to Jupiter Research, among young women (aged 25 to 34) nearly half have a college degree and are the most likely group, among women, to watch full-length TV shows and video clips online. This group is also more likely to search for local restaurants and entertainment, visit social networking sites, read blogs, and download music.
• 84% of women turn to the web for medical information versus 72% of men. In the young women age group (25-34), over 90% use the web for medical information versus 75% for women age 65 and over while overall 50% say they turn to the ‘net more than they turn to their doctor.
• The University of Manitoba found that while many women say they found online dating meaningful, many also said it was for losers. Good luck figuring that one out!
• 43 million moms go online daily and spend an average of 85 minutes per day there. Moms also visit blogs more often with 15% reading blogs daily versus 8% for all women, while 7% of moms blog daily versus 3% for women overall.

So there you have it. Who says that women are difficult to understand?

Posted in Industry Fizz, Online Marketing | 1 Comment »

Viral Ads: Effective or Just a Waste of Time and Money?

At my previous job, I spent a few years working for a company’s in-house marketing department. I still have a strong interest in marketing, so I tend to try and keep my finger on the pulse of the marketing world. Uh… that and I also work for an online marketing company.

I watch the marketing world closely enough that I actually know some of the various big ad agencies and who they do commercials for. For example, how many people know that it was Crispin, Porter & Bogusky that brought back the Burger King, or that TBWA is the one that makes those whacky Skittles commercials? Well, I do.

Recently Advertising Age, one of the many marketing publications I subscribe to, asked the following in a recent survey:

Do you think viewers remember which brands are advertised in which Super Bowl spots?

I was only allowed to answer yes or no to the question, even though I feel that there are more factors determining whether a commercial is remembered or not than if it airs during the Super Bowl.

Nonetheless, I answered “yes” because I think that if a commercial is done right, even the wackiest Super Bowl ad will strengthen a company’s brand and consumers will remember who the ad is for. My thinking seems to have been in the majority, but only barely. Survey respondents were split nearly straight down the middle.

Although I answered “yes” to this poll, I’ll be among the first to point out that Super Bowl commercials are more likely to have the advertiser forgotten than “regular” commercials. Why?

Well, the Super Bowl has long been celebrated as the most watched event in America, and therefore commands the most expensive airtime for advertisers. As such, advertisers go all out to ensure that their ad stands out from the rest. This has more and more meant creating the craziest, wackiest, most eccentrically zany commercial in an effort to cement a message within the brains of those who view it.

Marketers thus become so involved in creating what they think will be a memorable ad, or trying to create buzz, they forget that the purpose of an ad is to increase sales or strengthen one’s brand. Thus the most memorable part of the ad should be the brand.

Now, if you have a very strong brand you can usually get away with paying less attention to it. Strong brands are already cemented in our minds. That’s why we don’t go to the video rental store, we go to Blockbuster. In the South, people ask for a Coke instead of a soda. We Xerox documents instead of making photocopies. When we bleed we don’t go looking for a bandage, we break out a Band Aid. We blow our noses into a Kleenex, not tissue paper.

Nike can show their swoosh, Intel can play their jingle, Wiley Publishing can flash the black and yellow cover of one of their For Dummies books and consumers will know instantly who the advertiser is.

So what are the rest of us to do if we don’t have that kind of strong brand recognition? When it comes to viral marketing, whether you’re making a game (Burger King’s Sneak King), a video (the Diet Coke and Mentos Experiment), or interactive program (Office Max’s dancing elves), the key is to make sure that you make whatever it is you’re selling the star.

To read a quick case study of Office Max’s viral Christmas elves and to get a few tips for your own viral marketing, read Advertising Age’s They’re the Little Elves That Could.

And don’t forget: one of the best ways to make something viral is to make it fun and zany, but the purpose to viral marketing is to make sales or strengthen your brand.

Agree with me? Disagree? Let your voice be heard.

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