As each natural disaster happens in the world I watch with interest the ever increasing role that digital and mobile technologies play in driving disaster relief efforts.

Take the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti on 12 January. The response for aid was astounding and more rapid than other recent natural disasters.

Social networking certainly played a key role with Facebook, Twitter and YouTube all involved. A survey conducted by Facebook and The Nielsen Company in the week following the earthquake revealed 39% of Facebook users in the US, UK and Australia had already donated money or goods to the relief efforts (24% from Australia).

In addition, 21% of Facebook users who had not yet given to the cause planned to do so. Meaning an incredible 60% of Facebook users in the US, UK and Australia had donated or planned to donate money or goods, which clearly shows the growing importance and effectiveness of Facebook as a marketing tool and its power to activate people.

According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy in the days immediately following the Haiti earthquake more than $150 million in relief had been contributed. This is said to be five times the amount donated in the days immediately following the 2004 Asian tsunamis and more than the $108 million received in the first four days after Hurricane Katrina.

Another significant issue in this latest relief effort is that the relatively new method of text message donations really took off. The Red Cross campaign was promoted on Twitter and Facebook. On the Thursday (48 hours after the earthquake) text message donations hit $3 million and by Friday morning this figure had more than doubled to $8 million, with Red Cross among the 10 most popular topics on Twitter. To put this in context, in all of 2009, the Red Cross received $4 million in mobile text donations.

And even more interestingly, the Big Four mobile operators in the States (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile) reportedly not only waived fees on text message donations, but they advanced the transfer of verified donations (rather than just passing along the funds once the monthly bill was paid).

Is this a significant business opportunity for telecom companies that could lead to a big shift in financial services? Futurist and Chairman of the trends forecasting company Global Change Ltd, Dr Patrick Dixon, certainly thinks so:

What do you think?

Tracy Straughan is an Account Director at BCM Brisbane

I can hear the conversations now:

“We can use puppies. Everyone loves puppies…”

“Nope, too difficult. Never work with children or animals.”

“Well, what about using that guy from the ShamWow ad. He can sell anything!”

“Hmmm… that guy is expensive.”

“I’ve got it! Flash mobs! The kids love them. They’ve the flavour of the month! It’s cheap. It’s easy. It will be a viral masterstroke!”

“You’ve got a point, let’s do it.”

Unfortunately for Dr.Pepper and Microsoft it did go viral. It went viral as people laughed at the executions and the brands behind them. It was forced, cheesy and a little bit like a spoilt child crying out for attention.

However, if you want to see some great flash mobs I suggest T-Mobile and ImprovEverwhere’s channels, the Sound of Music mob or Oprah’s ‘I Gotta Feeling’ crowd.

What makes these so good? Surprise, spontaneity, participation and some genuine joy. That doesn’t seem so much to ask does it?

Nathan Bush is an Interactive Strategist at BCM

Twhat up tweeps? Are you sick of those hipster twicksters making up their own twords whenever they reference anything to do with Twitter?

Twexting. Tweeting up. Tweethearts. Twoublemakers. Twublicity… the “tw” craze took the online jargon world by storm in 2009 and like a rollicking mexican wave rolling around the Gabba cricket ground at a 20-20, we’d like to play our part in pushing the misuse of language along in 2010.

So in the spirit of making up new words, attention-seeking behaviour and experimentation… we bring you our new ‘Twebsite‘.

With the upcoming launch of the shiny new BCM website just around the corner, we’ve created an interim Twitter-based website to give users a sneak preview of the new site’s design and content.

Created partly as a demonstration of how social media platforms can seamlessly link together, and partly because we like playing buzzword bingo, our new Twebsite has certainly thrown the tongue-in-cheek cat amongst the industry pigeons.

Some of our favourite comments so far include…

From here on out, anyone who creates a word with the prefix “tw-” in the hopes of being seen as cutting edge gets a courtesy dose of herpes. – likeomg

Every time I hear ‘Twebsite’ I throw up a little in my mouth. I hope to one day throw up in the mouth of whoever at BCM came up with it. – Warlach

There is a new word out there “twebsite” – a website that uses multiple Twitter pages to form a website – Mikjryan

You’re right: twetarded! RT@the_enthusiast: Oh man, I just lost my temper on Mumbrella. Some companies are twucked. – dalecampisi

RT @mumbrella: Agency claims 1st ‘Twebsite’ “harvest the functionality of social media platforms” #wordsdouchebagssay – acatinatree

Word of the day : Twebsite….not a bad idea for a placeholder website. – siddarthdas

I don’t understand agencies that have social media gimmicks on their website – what do they think this is supposed to demonstrate? Are these the same agencies agencies that had podcasts 5 years ago? Or geocities sites 10 years ago? Or hypercolour promo t’s 20 years ago? – Larry

To all of you, thanks for caring and taking the time out of your busy lives to comment. We hope you don’t take it too seriously.

And despite the expected brouhaha over the name, we’re really pleased with how it has turned out as a short-term placeholder. The Twebsite will remain live until our brand spankin’ new agency site launches in a few week’s time.

Now off to pick up our hypercolour promo t-shirts from the printers… and apologies in advance to our copywriters for my crimes against the written word.

Scott Esdaile is BCM’s Social Media Manager

Unless you haven’t seen a news site, checked your Facebook or been cornered by the resident IT geek, you would have heard about Apple’s new iPad which was launched today. In essence, it is an enlarged iPod touch with full book reading, Kindle killing features. And I admit, I am a little excited.

But the excitement didn’t start today. The internet has been buzzing with rumours of an Apple ‘tablet’ device for years. Apple enthusiasts have created hundreds of unofficial mockups and predictions which address features, design, functionality and even what Steve Jobs will wear when unveiling. The Apple community created a huge amount of noise in anticipation for today.

But with all this noise comes expectation. And for many, they were let down. From Twitter:

“Quite disappointed with the iPad. (AT&T = terrible, no multitasking, not widescreen, no flash plug-in, no camera, no GPS, can’t write on it)” AlexWorkman

“Not sure whether to be excited/disappointed about ipad at the moment…expected a bit more from Apple” VilleLee

“Very disappointed by Apple’s iPad. So locked down, so proprietary, so limited. We wanted a Mac tablet, we got a giant iPhone.” suprememoocow

“a bit disappointed in apple for the ipad..not as ground-breaking as i hoped…its decent..but nothing i would go out of my way to buy…” smisa

So far, there are 177,000 Google results for iPad and variations of “disappoint”. Just like the spawn of Andre Agassi and Stefi Graf, the iPad was always going to struggle to live up to the expectations that had been set for it.

But here’s the funny part: Apple did not create or fuel this expectation in any way. The production of all Apple products is top secret. Apple never confirmed they were working on a tablet device let alone hinted at the features it may have. In fact, Apple don’t even have a blog, Facebook or Twitter site. They embrace closed communication.

Yet because Apple have such a huge fan base, there was no prompting required. The community set the expectation level for Apple. It is up to Apple to rise to this level. Regardless of whether it sells one or one million, the next couple of months will be full of conversations about whether it hit this mark or not. And so far, it’s not looking good.

What do you think? Could Apple have levelled the expectations of the community by engaging them prior to launch? Or is this irrelevant? Does the existence of such an anticipating, involved community mean that it doesn’t matter what is said, the fans will buy the product anyway?

Nathan Bush is an Interactive Strategist at BCM

New Year’s Resolutions 2010

1. Improve fitness. I should be Trevor Hendy by now as it has been #1 for the last 10 years.
2. Save, plan and commit to one overseas holiday this year. NZ does not count.
3. Finally watch The Terminator, Indiana Jones and Star Wars. Am I the only male in the world who hasn’t seen these?
4. Spend more time BEING rather than posting, tweeting, rating and poking.

Isn’t it frightening? We’ve created a monster which we are now trying to control. After going on Christmas holidays and having as little online interaction as possible, it has been really hard to get back into. And I’m not alone. I have spoken to a number of people coming back to the real world who have vowed to spend less time living their lives online and living their lives… well, normally.

It really hit home when I read this from a friend:

“I’ve literally been on a two week digital detox while enjoying the festive season in true Australian style at the beach. Its been relaxing to say the least, and the break from the usual digital demands (email, twitter, blog, facebook et al) has been a well-timed requirement to allow my brain to de-frag and detox from the information influx I usually face on a day-to-day basis.”

Just like global warming, skinny jeans and Warwick Capper, we have brought this pain upon ourselves. What started as fun, harmless and social has turned into obsession, clutter and inefficiency.

So, instead of sharing everything I do this year, I’m going to spend more time doing.

I’m not going to check my email midway through a movie. I won’t tweet the score when I’m at the football. I’m not going review a restaurant on Foursquare before I finish the meal. I won’t post my concert photos to Facebook when I’m still in the crowd. I won’t write blog posts when I could be doing work… oh, bugger.

Nathan Bush is an Interactive Strategist at BCM

Google is a company that has a mission to make the world’s information as universally accessible as possible. And, in their Code of Conduct they state their philosphy is “Don’t be evil.” Both of these seem at odds with how the company operates in China.

In 2006 Google entered the world’s fast-growing internet market by agreeing to censor its search services in China. Everything from sites like Facebook, Twitter and a blog with photos of puppies called Cute Overload as well as key words like ‘human  rights’ and ‘Tiananmen Square’ are all fair game to be blocked (see this wonderful infographic of some of the words and URLs that China has on their restricted access list).

But after some highly sophisticated and targeted attacks originating from China that involved trying to breach the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists, Google is about to enter a self-imposed China exile.

Google’s chief legal officer, David Drummond, wrote in a post on the company blog.

We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.

Seems like a big decision considering China’s number of internet users is now 384 million. But with only around 25-30% of the search market, Google has never had the same success in China that it has had in Australia, the US or other countries. Local search services like Baidu, and Sina.com provide a product more attuned to local consumers’ needs and the Chinese population being very nationalistic were always somewhat wary of the American search giant.

While Google’s position is certainly commendable from an advocacy of open information and human rights perspective, it is a little late for Google to grow a conscience now by taking a moral position four years too late. Obviously they are concerned about attacks against their users, technology infrastructure and intellectual property but I see this as mostly a business decision by Google to exit a costly restricted market.

I recently discussed the Google/China stand off during my segment with Kelly-Higgins Devine on ABC 612 Brisbane.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Have a listen by clicking the play button above and tell me if you think Google has made the right decision and if you think it was made on moral or business grounds.

Anthony Dever is an Interactive Strategist at BCM

Q. Can we talk a little first about your cell phone.
A. It’s broken.

Q. Do you blame your cell phone for your recent troubles?
A. What do you think? I send a simple SMS to (name deleted for privacy reasons), the wife reads it and I get smashed in the mouth with a 2 iron. Or it might have been a putter.

Q. Do you feel violated?
A. Well I wasn’t feeling anything for a while. But then about 60 million copies of a tricked up photo of me with my face all bashed up and a golf ball sticking out of my ear went viral. I mean epic viral.

Q. Do you have any advice for others out there wanting to keep a dozen or so mistresses?
A. Yes. Don’t have a cell phone and especially watch out for the ones with a GPS that tells people where you are. Don’t have a car with a GPS that records where you have been. Don’t have a MySpace page with anything on it. Don’t have a Twitter page and certainly don’t tweet. Don’t go to London, they have a CCTV camera for every 14 people. Careful what you search for on Google, they keep all your searches on file. Don’t choose mistresses with gmail accounts, gmail bots scan all email content and file it. Avoid tracking apps like Foursquare. Don’t buy your mistresses gifts online, e-commerce sites have long memories. Stay away from people with cameras/phones or you’ll soon hit the web in all sorts of compromising positions. If possible choose mistresses who have never been porn stars or nude models.

Q. Any advice on clothing?
A. Yes, get a range of ski masks in different colours and seasonal weights.

Q. Anything else?
A. Is this off the record? It won’t appear on some blog will it?

Q. Of course not.

Bill Bristow is a Partner at BCM

2009 was a tough year on the career front for many Australians. Redundancies were widespread as companies endeavoured to cope with an uncertain economic climate.
 
The employer marketing and recruitment advertising sectors were highly sensitive to the economic slowdown, with reduced marketing budgets calling for smarter thinking, greater ROI and diversification across the board. The job market had taken a big hit, shifting the dynamic for HR professionals who had previously been dealing with skills shortages and a candidate short market. Inevitably, print media suffered a free-fall in advertising revenue.

From our own agency experiences with employer marketing, the job market appeared to be in recovery late last year – hopefully a barometer of an improving economy – even prompting expert comments of forthcoming skills shortages in some sectors. The credible medium of print, still preferable for sourcing the elusive ‘passive’ candidates, should continue to perform when targeting the baby boomer and senior executive markets but for the rest, the migration to online looks set to continue.

Companies and recruiters alike are continuing to use popular job boards such as SEEK, CareerOne and MyCareer to advertise vacancies, as well as many other niche and industry specific boards.

Mirroring a shift in B2B and B2C communications, we are also seeing social media assist recruiters in candidate vetting and appraisal (so watch those privacy settings on Facebook!). Equally, job seekers are using networks such as LinkedIn – where it really is in their interests to publish (rather than hide) as much relevant information as possible – all to improve employment prospects.

A recent innovation, Brazen Careerist, allows the modern professional to not only showcase their CV but also share ideas and engage with peers in their field, giving them control in a social network that they are happy to share information with.

Another interesting site is KODA, the imaginatively titled “opportunity community”, where employers can take a closer look at young professionals with talents beyond posting a CV in Word format.

This brings me to the latest example: Hire me, HeadBlade (which unsurprisingly led to the sequel, HeadBlade Hired Me!).

This recent success story in how to score your dream job in the new economy is further proof that people can create their own cut-through in competitive fields if they treat job seeking like an industry project or campaign. The bottom line: identify what it is you want to do and where you belong, and go the extra mile.

With innovation and increased usage of social media channels by job seekers, so too increases the need for businesses (as employers) to understand and be actively using these channels to their benefit to source the best available candidates. As the economy improves and, if as predicted, skills shortages make their presence felt, so the spotlight will turn back on employers as they strive to position themselves ahead of the competition. We might then see increased traffic to employer review sites such as JobVent, Glassdoor.com or Vault – and a return to larger budget employer marketing websites and campaign microsites as employers work harder to attract the right candidates.

As every employer would be aware, their human capital is the most important asset they have.

Steve Jennings is an Account Manager at BCM Brisbane

If you are a regular Facebook user you may be wondering what is going on with all your gal friends.

Status updates stating a particular colour are currently the rage but if you are part of that 50% of the population that have the Y chromosome, you are probably clueless as to what is going on.

Here is what it’s all about….

We’re not really sure where it started. One theory is that it’s very clever marketing from one of the hundreds of Breast Cancer organisations across the globe (really??).

The fact is that this game of Chinese Whispers has massive potential for commercial use.

The precedent has been set with Twitterer Kim Kardashian being reportedly paid $10,000 US to Tweet brands to her 2.8 million followers.

Could this be the way to embrace Facebook as a channel and spread brand loyalty?

What do you think?

Sarah Ferguson is an Account Director at BCM Brisbane

There is no question that tapping into the power of communities has great potential for marketers. There have never been more opportunities to speak with those who share common interests, tastes, afflictions, friends, occupations, faiths, aspirations, hobbies, attitudes or any other element that might unite them – including brand preference. Collectively they have the ability to influence those around them as their opinion is generally respected by those in their ‘community’.

More often than not these days the communities being targeted are virtual. They might exist as a database, perhaps they’ve opted in to hear more about their topic of interest. Maybe they’re simply friends of friends. Quite often we learn more and more about them over time but in many cases it’s only rarely that we interact with them face to face.

Recently we attended a campaign launch hosted by our friends from Origin. The coal seam gas campaign is intended for the communities of south west Queensland, especially those areas where Origin’s operations are most active such as Miles, Chinchilla and Roma. The campaign materials feature real people who volunteered their time to appear. Local farmers are shown along with the Origin liaison officers they work with as well as an assortment of regular townspeople who are supportive of the benefits Origin’s activities bring to their community.

These people formed the invitee list for the launch. Around 130 real people gathered at a venue in Miles to view the commercials and enjoy the status that comes with being seen as the stars of the show on the big screen. The Origin folks did a great job of rightly making them feel special and galvanizing them as a supportive community.

It was really interesting to see this community come together from all walks of life. From mechanics to motel operators, graziers to junior football mums. Once the commercials started playing real emotions were on show from this community. As people saw images of their family on screen many clapped and cheered. Some even cried with delight. It was an eye opener to see how they responded and interacted with each other given many of them were strangers at the start of the evening.

We can’t always be as fortunate as we were at the launch to actually see and hear the people in the communities we look to develop and nurture as marketers. But it’s truly worth remembering that each community comprises real people with real emotions. I realise this might sound incredibly obvious but every name on the database is someone who is immensely proud of their loved ones. Whether the campaign is considered to be socially based or not.

The strong ties of family might just be an ingredient worth considering more often when we look to connect with communities, no matter what form they take.

Alan Kewley is an Account Director at BCM Brisbane