Category Archives: Innovation

5 Goals of a SXSW Newbie

4th March 2011

In one week from today, I’ll be heading west to Austin for the first time, for my first experience of SXSW. Thanks to a few veterans around the office here at Engauge I’ve been briefed on the do’s and don’ts, told the go-to spots, and registered for far too many after hours get-togethers.

In addition to their tips, I’ve put together a few of my goals for the week:

1. Be outgoing. I don’t have a problem in the slightest chatting with people I know well. Throw me in a room of strangers and I’m back in kindergarten again. I’m determined to fight this next week.

2. Keep business cards to myself. This might sound crazy, but with so many digital alternatives, the paper cards can stay in Atlanta. A few of my favorites, Contxts and Hashable.

3. Pack light. It’s no secret Texas is hot and humid in the Spring. This means Chacos, dresses and tanks. Considering I despise winter, this shouldn’t be too hard to do.

4. Blog daily. This will be tough, but I’m being sent to Austin to learn and share the knowledge, I’m making this daily homework for myself.

5. Plan accordingly. Or maybe lack there of, but with the help of a few tools, I’ll be hoping to keep my schedule locked in one place. A few of the tools I’m looking forward to checking out: Beluga, Sched.org, sitby.us and Planely.

So the countdown is underway. Let’s just go ahead and rename this grown up version of  spring break. Have a tip or suggestion for a SXSW newbie? Share in the comments.

DIG: This Podcast: Wildfire Marketing and Interactive Promotions

24th February 2011

Running a promotion within social can get complicated fast. From guidelines between networks to development and budget, the requirements alone can be daunting.

Last week, Stacy Cohen and I were give the opportunity to chat on the DIG: This Podcast with Wildfire’s Senior Vice President Derek Draper and Southeastern Senior Account Executive Christien Louviere.

Wildfire is a marketing and interactive promotion platform which allows brands to quickly  build & launch social media marketing campaigns within minutes. Campaign formats include quizzes, contests, coupons, virtual gifts and more.

As one of the first preferred developers of Facebook, Wildfire’s unique relationships with social media platforms allow for deep integration and successful campaigns from the moment they launch.

Listen in over on the DIG: This Podcast page as we learn more about the platform, its capabilities and where the team is heading in the future.

Making Digital Physical

18th February 2011

Here in DIG, we talk often about how to connect your digital marketing plan to more traditional outlets. Although a campaign that attracts millions of Facebook or Twitter impressions is excellent, what good is it if it has no implications for consumers to react in their physical worlds as well as virtual?

It’s what Jeff Hilimire likes to refer to as digital-physical-digital.

Start a conversation online, have a consumer react in the physical world and return to digital to spread the word. A long standing yearly campaign that launched this month, seeks to do just this.

If you’re not familiar with the Diet Coke Heart Truth campaign, it kicks off each February promoting heart health and awareness of heart disease in women. In case you didn’t know, heart disease is the number one killer of women.

This year, Diet Coke has elected to do quite a few pretty cool things with the campaign by creating a virtual capture the flag game across multiple activations:

Capture flags online: See a flag on a Coca-Cola site, click it and a donation of $0.10 is made.

Capture real flags: See a flag in an actual location, check in on Facebook places and another donation of $0.10 is made.

Plant flags online: Share a flag on Facebook or add one to your personal blog or website. Upping up the ante, a donation of $0.50 is made.

Plant real flags: Print out a flag template create your own actual flag. Create a location using Facebook places using the words “Heart Truth” in your location title. Going further, a donation of $1.00 is made.

So what are you waiting for? Get out and get playing. Oh, and learn more here.