Another unfocused ramble about some ideas I can’t shift from my head…
One of the things I have to think about is how people or organisations who either can’t blog or don’t want to blog can engage with the blogging world. Say, for example, your company just can’t do the human voice thing without sounding really fake but people are talking about what you do online. Or say you’re dyslexic or just not very good with words.
I can’t pin down where this came from - it might have been an aside at SXSW or it might just be really obvious and just bubbling to the surface of my brain - but it strikes me that while people need stuff to talk about they also need stuff to talk around.
Ah yes, that was it. Hugh MacLeod talking about working with Stormhoek Wine on the Self Replicating Awesomeness panel. Amongst many other things he got them to send bottles to bloggers who were having parties, not with the intention that they then blog about the wonderful wine - that would be naive - but that the wine becomes part of the experience. Or something.
Now this seems blindingly obvious to me and I’m sure there’s more to Hugh’s strategy there, but the notion of throwing things into spaces where social activity is interesting, especially when it’s done in a passive way. I’m not talking about advertising or anything that shouts in an aggressive, attention getting way. In fact I’m not really talking about marketing strategies at all. It’s more like putting a surprising “thing” in the way of people that makes them think about their environment in different ways. That could be a piece of public art, a new idea, some constraint on their usual patterns of behaviour, anything really.
I’m sure this has been thought about before. Something related to Alt Reality Games?
One to ponder more on. (And, again, feel free to use this a jumping off point for your own musings should you have the desire.)
Hmmm sending product to ‘places’ is marketing/advertising. Dress it up how you want, the bottom line is ‘get the message out’. Yes there are additional benefits, and the approach is crucial but it is, and will remain, marketing.
Putting a ’surprising thing’ in the way of people is different I’ll grant you but surely that’s more art and challenging people to think differently.
Which you could also do, subtly, as… marketing??
My muse is musing, I think I get what you mean but not sure if we are over-thinking something…
Seems to me people will talk about products and services wherever they hang out, online or off.
Where you want to raise your brand awareness determines where you creatively pitch your ‘object’.
If you want to raise awareness with bloggers then bloggers’ parties seem a safe bet.