Yobi.tv :: Proof Positive That Online Viral Marketing Doesn’t Always Work

It especially won’t work if you have a bad product.

I can feel Jen O’Meara’s pain. We likely all can. She has a project she loves and it isn’t going anywhere. Frustration. We’ve all felt it, right?

David Meerman Scott shares A viral marketing story suitable for bedtime. It is a story of disappointment and sadness. But, at least the author, YOBI CIO Jen O’Meara, tries to tell it with a tongue-in-cheek spin.

Jen’s no dummy - you’d think. A Ph.D. under her belt, no less, she’s struggling to get her startup Yobi.tv site off the ground. Yobi.tv claims to be a “unique blend of social networking, reality show contests, and user-generated content (that) will revolutionize the world of online entertainment.” Well, it’s good to have a dream. Read more

Neville Hobson, For Immediate Release :: Video Interview from Edelman/PRWeek Academic Summit

Neville Hobson has been following our class digital/social media activities since, well - really the beginning. It was nice to see him again at the Edelman / PRWeek New Media Academic Summit in Chicago.

Neville recently wrote about his Summit experiences in What academics think about social media. Read more

Alexandra Wheeler, Starbucks :: Video Interview from Edelman/PRWeek Academic Summit

Alexandra Wheeler, Director of Digital at Starbucks, kindly agreed to an interview at the Edelman/PRWeek New Media Academic Summit in Chicago, a few weeks back.

Starbucks recently launched (March ‘08?) their site - my Starbucks Idea. This BusinessWeek article explains more.  Read more

Higher Ed Marcom Bloggers Called Out :: Be Power Bloggers

OK, this is going to be a rant, so stand back. I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Yep, I’m going to be snarky and sarcastic. Who knew?

For some time, a couple of years actually, I’ve given up on the whole “get on this list” and “seek out backlinks/inlinks” to grow the blog kind of mentality.

Late last night, Andrew Carreaga called me out with his post: Higher ed bloggers: show your power!. In his challenge, Andrew asks five higher ed marketing people to do the following:

1. Submit their blogs to the Power 150 rankings, and
2. Challenge five other higher ed bloggers to do the same.

I have a great deal of respect for Andrew. He is sincerely a great guy, terrific writer and serious practitioner of marketing communications. I realize his intentions are sincere and focused on getting more attention for higher ed marketing. So, the following is not aimed at Andrew.

Andrew has, however, called for a frontal charge on the AdAge Power 150 blogs list by those writing about higher education marketing and public relations. In a moment of weakness, Andrew included me in the list he initially charged with the task. So, here is my response.

Andrew, I truly believe your intent is sincere and genuine. I also fear you are howling at the wind. The deck is stacked, the metrics are flawed and the focus of those involved in the list is not even barely on education.

Bold claims above, I hear you say? Let’s look at the metrics for the Power 150 (see their About page), the link love home of circular back patting in Marcom blog world. Read more