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	<title>BrainStorm</title>
	<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog</link>
	<description>Social Media Savvy</description>
	<pubDate>Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:08:22 +0000</pubDate>
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	<language>en</language>
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		<title>Social Media and Higher Education - Part 1: Admissions</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/social-media-and-higher-education-part-1-admissions/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/social-media-and-higher-education-part-1-admissions/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:34:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ecedo</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Youth Marketing</category>
	<category>Talent Attraction</category>
	<category>Social Media</category>
	<category>blogs</category>
	<category>Social Media PR</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/social-media-and-higher-education-part-1-admissions/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ At BrainGain we like to think we are bringing social media to the masses. We&#8217;re not trying to preach to the choir but instead we constantly look for new opportunities to educate and equip organizations on how to use social media effectively. Higher education is one area that we see huge opportunities for effective [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img width="127" height="121" align="left" title="social media and higher education admissions" alt="social media and higher education admissions" src="http://www.berry.edu/alumni/AdmissionsAd.jpg" /> At BrainGain we like to think we are bringing social media to the masses. We&#8217;re not trying to preach to the choir but instead we constantly look for new opportunities to educate and equip organizations on how to use social media effectively. Higher education is one area that we see huge opportunities for effective communications and marketing through social media. Here&#8217;s just one of many reasons why:</p>
<p><strong><br />
Higher education admissions (for the most part) is about attracting and enrolling talented individuals who often are still in high school.<br />
</strong><br />
This younger demographic (currently the Millennials) has adopted social media at an amazing rate. For the most part it&#8217;s a social requirement to have a Myspace and/or Facebook profile. Many of these students list their hobbies, interests, sports and extra-curricular activities and some even post their college choice wish list on their profiles. Savvy admissions recruiters should be &#8220;friending&#8221; talented individuals in the beginning of the admissions process or at least using social networking sites to find top flight recruits.</p>
<p>Admission blogs are becoming much more prevalent at higher eds. Schools like <a href="http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/">UVA</a> and <a href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/blogs.shtml">MIT</a> are using blogs to tell their story to potential recruits. This tool humanizes a very scary process for both students and their parents. MIT&#8217;s admissions blog actually has posts from their alumni, faculty, current students and the director of admissions. My only recommendation would to get a parent&#8217;s perspective as well since a large portion of the admissions decision-making and research is done by mom and dad.</p>
<p>Blogger relations would also benefit college admissions recruiting. As I searched for college admissions blogs the majority of results are from individual bloggers acting as recruiting consultants and appear to be college neutral. Many parents and students seek the advice of non-biased third party sources to help make their school choice decision. Keeping these recruiting bloggers up to date and well informed about the achievements of your college or university is not only acceptable but welcomed.</p>
<p>Finally, as a former VP of Marketing at a Web Development company that did a number of website redesigns for Higher Eds I got a first hand view at how challenging the process of getting together all the various departmental, faculty, and staff silos can be. However, the college website is still by far the most important marketing tool for recruiting (well, maybe besides your athletics program). Having a professional SEO (Search Engine Optimization) professional come in and evaluate your current website and content strategy would be highly recommended. Search engines continue to provide free marketing to higher eds and the rest of us and in most cases search engine referrals outrank direct referrals. So having a SEO strategy can significantly increase the likelihood that people will find you in context to their recruitment search. Social media relations and marketing has a role in SEO. While I don&#8217;t have time to go into all the details (in this post) I&#8217;ll just say that the more blogs and websites link to your content the better chance you have in raising your placement around important keywords.</p>
<p>So in conclusion in a tough economy people tend to gravitate to getting MORE educated and college recruiting and admissions becomes a very competitive landscape. Using social media could be a differentiator in getting noticed and landing that top recruit.
</p>
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		<title>Social Media 101 - CommonCraft video says it all</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/social-media-101-common-craft-video-says-it-all/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/social-media-101-common-craft-video-says-it-all/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:30:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ecedo</dc:creator>
		
	<category>All About Us</category>
	<category>Social Media</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/social-media-101-common-craft-video-says-it-all/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[At BrainGain Marketing we&#8217;ve been working with a number of clients to basically explain social media and train them how to join the conversation. I love the CommonCraft videos on social media. They pretty much sum it all up in 5 minute segments. Here&#8217;s their latest work - &#8220;Social Media in Plain English&#8221; - Enjoy!




Share [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>At BrainGain Marketing we&#8217;ve been working with a number of clients to basically explain social media and train them how to join the conversation. I love the <a href="http://commoncraft.com/show">CommonCraft</a> videos on social media. They pretty much sum it all up in 5 minute segments. Here&#8217;s their latest work - &#8220;Social Media in Plain English&#8221; - Enjoy!<br />
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		<title>5 Rules for Gaining Tweet Cred</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/5-rules-for-gaining-tweet-cred/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/5-rules-for-gaining-tweet-cred/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:16:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ecedo</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Web 2.0</category>
	<category>Peer-to-peer</category>
	<category>Social Media</category>
	<category>Twitter</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/5-rules-for-gaining-tweet-cred/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As mentioned in my last post &#8220;10 Reasons I Love Twitter&#8221; I am somewhat of a Twitter evangelist. I rarely go a day or two without telling someone new about the virtues of the 140 character driven little engine that could. So naturally people are curious about the service and often run right to their [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img align="left" style="width: 162px; height: 117px" src="http://gotcred.com/images/Got%20Cred.JPG" />As mentioned in my last post &#8220;<a title="10 Reasons I Love Twitter" href="http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/10-reasons-i-love-twitter/">10 Reasons I Love Twitter</a>&#8221; I am somewhat of a Twitter evangelist. I rarely go a day or two without telling someone new about the virtues of the 140 character driven little engine that could. So naturally people are curious about the service and often run right to their laptop to sign up. Then the guilt of preaching to people about getting on Twitter without helping them gain an audience begins to set in.  So I go out of my way to &#8220;introduce&#8221; my new converts to my tweeps. I&#8217;ve coin this activity of getting friends into a private party as lending Tweet Cred.</p>
<p>Street cred - as defined by <a title="Urban Dictionary - Street Cred" href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=street+cred">Urban Dictionary</a> - is:</p>
<blockquote><p>Commanding a level of respect in an urban environment due to experience in or knowledge of issues affecting those environments.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Obviously, one can&#8217;t open up a Twitter account start posting tweets and expect Tweet Cred so I&#8217;ve posted a few rules on how to gain the respect of your Twitter Peeps (tweeps).</p>
<p><strong>Rule #1 - Post at least once a day (but not once an hour)</strong></p>
<p>Unless you&#8217;re an A-list Twitterati there&#8217;s no need to post every waking moment of your day. And I often wonder why the A-listers feel the need to give us a recap of every minute detail of their lives. For the rest of us it&#8217;s good to check in at least once per day. When searching for new folks to follow in my hometown (Detroit, the D, the 313, the Motor City, Motown, Hockeytown, the Murder Capital&#8230;whatever, take your pick) the first thing I look for is when was the last time they&#8217;ve posted. If someone hasn&#8217;t posted in a while - let&#8217;s say longer than a week ago - I&#8217;m not buying. Of course as you find relevant and useful information throughout the day it&#8217;s great to pass that along to the twitterverse so we can all enjoy your brilliant find or thoughts or random rants as the case may be.</p>
<p>I also recommend occasionally posting from where you are. I use <a title="brightkite.com" href="http://brightkite.com/people/ecedo">brighkite.com</a> to &#8220;check in&#8221; so people know where I&#8217;m tweeting from. It&#8217;s also a great way to find new places or see who frequents your favorite spots.</p>
<p><strong>Rule #2 - Don&#8217;t just status - Post with a purpose</strong></p>
<p>Okay, so I know rule #1 is post (at least) once per day but that doesn&#8217;t mean you need to just post anything. If I&#8217;m going to check in I typically add context to the post. For instance, as opposed to posting I&#8217;m &#8220;at the office&#8221; I like to say things like &#8220;working on my next post - 5 Rules for Gaining Tweet Cred - from my office in Troy&#8221;. My favorite posts from friends are &#8220;I&#8217;m reading _____&#8221; with a url so I can check it out, or a quick comment about a new website or cool company someone just stumbled upon. In order to keep the followers coming and retain your audience its important to join in the conversation by adding value, not just adding volume.</p>
<p><strong>Rule #3 - Comment on other people&#8217;s posts</strong></p>
<p>Twitter is the quintessential  social media tool. It&#8217;s two-way, conversational, real-time, social web 2.0 at its finest. The rules of social media apply double-y for Twitter. Tweet cred comes by joining the conversation. Giving as well as taking - commenting as well as posting. If you lurk you lose. If you auto-follow just to take in the conversation without giving back you lose your tweet cred. I&#8217;ve been fortunate enough to meet some great folks and very influential bloggers just through replying to a tweet. I can&#8217;t tell you how excited I get when other people reply back to something I post. The tool is useless unless it&#8217;s a two-way street (notice I resisted the urge to say stweet&#8230;oops I guess I just did it).</p>
<p style="font-weight: bold">Rule #4 Pick at least two but no more than three &#8220;circles&#8221; to follow</p>
<p>I have 3 circles - in order of importance to me:</p>
<p>1. Detroit tweeps</p>
<p>2. Social Media circle</p>
<p>3. Greater Michigan twitter users</p>
<p>Really 1 and 2 are primary - 3 is a distant third but something of a job requirement for me. I find that the more circles you try to fit into the harder it is to be useful to any one or two groups. If you try to engage in too many groups twitter may become unusable. It kinda reminds me of being a part of too many social networks/niche social networks. The more ning groups I join the less effective my involvement in all the groups becomes.</p>
<p>Choosing your circles can be a personal decision, professional decision or in most cases both. One drawback of twitter in its current state is that when you post it goes to all your circles. It would be nice (and I&#8217;m sure there is either a client or one in the works that will do this) that will allow you to post tweets to only a circle of twitter users. Until that day and tool comes, your tweet about 1-75 and 696 being a cluster-you-know-what right now doesn&#8217;t exactly bring value to your global quilting twitter circle. So choose your circles with care and don&#8217;t over extend yourself (if of course you want to gain tweet cred that is)</p>
<p style="font-weight: bold">#5 - Start a tweetup</p>
<p>So you think you&#8217;ve got the goods to be respected amongst your peers (feel free to &#8220;tw&#8221; that word&#8230;I&#8217;m not gonna touch it). A sure fire way to see if you can hang in the twood is to start a tweetup. Locally we&#8217;ve (@ccarmichael and I) begun the &#8220;<a title="Detroit Tweetup Network" href="http://dtweetups.ning.com/">Detroit Tweetup Network</a>&#8221; to get on-line folks to meet up off-line. We&#8217;ve had some great times over coffee, drinks, dinner, whatever talking social media, Detroit politics, some weird biker places in Ontario, Canada - I digress - but the best part is we&#8217;ve actually started a community. I don&#8217;t claim in any way shape or form to be the local Twitter guru or the center of the Detroit Twitterverse, but hopefully by trying to connect the people together great friendships, business ideas and new thinking will emerge to help Detroit pull out of the current economic and overall slump it finds itself in.</p>
<p>So there you have it. Tweet Cred - getting the tweeps to like you and respect you - has some rules attached. Don&#8217;t let me find out you&#8217;ve been breaking them or I may have to come and take your tweet cred card from you.
</p>
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		<title>10 Reasons I Love Twitter</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/10-reasons-i-love-twitter/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/10-reasons-i-love-twitter/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jun 2008 05:00:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ecedo</dc:creator>
		
	<category>All About Us</category>
	<category>Social Media</category>
	<category>Twitter</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/10-reasons-i-love-twitter/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Anytime I mention the word Twitter in a conversation I get one of two responses. The first response is &#8220;Huh???&#8221;. The second response is &#8220;I signed up for Twitter, like, a year ago and I didn&#8217;t really &#8216;get it&#8217; so I quit using it.&#8221;
When given the first response I become the Twitter evangelist that I [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img align="left" src="http://assets1.twitter.com/images/twitter.png?1213327761" />Anytime I mention the word Twitter in a conversation I get one of two responses. The first response is &#8220;Huh???&#8221;. The second response is &#8220;I signed up for Twitter, like, a year ago and I didn&#8217;t really &#8216;get it&#8217; so I quit using it.&#8221;</p>
<p>When given the first response I become the Twitter evangelist that I have become, preaching the virtues of this fantastic tool (without mentioning the constant technical issues the Twitterati face on a daily basis). When I get the second response I typically give the &#8220;I know how you feel&#8230;I felt the same way when I first started using Twitter.&#8221;</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve run across many posts about the benefits - or the lack thereof - of using Twitter. I even ran across a pretty funny video called &#8220;<a title="Funny video about people using Twitter" href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=ALbH63Ali9U">Twitter Whore</a>&#8221; on YouTube today mocking the Twitterati. I thought I would give my reasons for being such a huge Twitter fan.</p>
<p><strong>1.) Connect-ability</strong></p>
<p>I&#8217;m a pretty social guy. If most people that know me were forced into describing me in one word, I&#8217;m pretty sure it would be &#8220;connector&#8221;. I love to connect with people and help others make connections. I&#8217;m a firm believer you should, as <a title="Keith Ferrazzi - Never Eat Alone" href="http://www.keithferrazzi.com/">Keith Ferrazzi</a> puts it &#8220;Never Eat Alone&#8221;. With Twitter I&#8217;m able to keep a constant eye open for people in my area (Detroit) using the tool and then I typically will &#8220;follow&#8221; them to stay in touch with other social media junkies in the area. Since using Twitter I&#8217;ve received several resumes from potential new hires, received some solid business plans for start-up ideas, met potential new customers but most importantly connected with some great new friends.</p>
<p>Not only was I able to connect with people online but we&#8217;ve taken the party offline through the <a title="Detroit Tweetup Network" href="http://dtweetups.ning.com/">Detroit Tweetup Network</a> - a monthly(ish) meetup of Detroit Twitter users. Social Media Guru Chris Brogan - @chrisbrogan - was a guest at a recent Detroit Tweetup, using the tool to connect with fellow Twitter users while visiting our fair city. No question, Twitter is an amazing way to find new ideas, new hires, new business, and most important new friends.</p>
<p><strong>2.) Twitter as a CRM Tool </strong></p>
<p>When meeting a potential new customer and sharing tools like Twitter with those that don&#8217;t have a clue what I&#8217;m talking about, I often take them to Summize.com to show the Twitter posts about their brand, industry or even themselves. At lunch today I looked up the term &#8220;tea&#8221; to a online tea distributor. The query returned thousands of &#8220;tweets&#8221; with the word &#8220;tea&#8221;. I began to reiterate how amazing it is to find tea enthusiasts (the vast majority of tweets went something like &#8220;just woke up and having my first cup of tea&#8221; or &#8220;I love tea&#8221; or &#8220;If I don&#8217;t drink my tea soon I&#8217;m going to explode&#8221;) in such a targeted form. People are basically identifying themselves as tea fans.</p>
<p>I&#8217;ve done similar experiments with a top marketing official with the State of Michigan&#8217;s Travel Bureau - Travel Michigan. I posted the question to my network &#8220;does anyone have a question to ask Travel Michigan rep&#8221; and within a minute I had several responses. &#8220;Where&#8217;s the best place in Michigan to find wine or visit wineries?&#8221; &#8220;Where do you recommend young professionals visit in Michigan?&#8221; &#8220;How does the construction surrounding the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit impact visitors to Port Huron&#8217;s Bluewater Bridge?&#8221; Needless to say the fellow I was with was stunned at the speed of the responses and happily answered all of their questions. How many ways can you think of to directly identify likely or like-minded consumers who want to engage in a two-way conversation about your brand?</p>
<p><strong>3.) Twitter as a Knowledge Base</strong></p>
<p>Another group I follow on Twitter is the global Social Media elite. Following the likes of <a title="Chris Brogan on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/chrisbrogan">Chris Brogan</a>, <a title="Robert Scoble on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/scobleizer/">Robert Scoble</a>, <a title="Jason Calacanis on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/jasoncalacanis">Jason Calacanis</a>, and <a title="Jaffe Juice on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/jaffejuice">Joseph Jaffe</a> is like getting the &#8220;Social Media Journal&#8221; delivered to my front door. The wealth of information of cool new sites, cool new gadgets, new techniques and theories on using social media, etc. is phenomenal. And unlike receiving their RSS feeds in an aggregator I can reply back to have an immediate dialog  about their tweet.</p>
<p><strong>4.)  Twitter as my new E-mail System (well, not really, but kinda)</strong><br />
I love to DM (Direct Message). Why hassle with e-mail when I can direct message people I need to contact. For private messages DM is great. For the &#8220;I want to say something to you but I don&#8217;t really care if the world knows it&#8221; replies work as well. The obviously great thing about Twitter as a messaging system is that it is 100% opt-in. No DM&#8217;s from pill manufacturers or princes from Zimbabwe wanting to leave me a million dollars if I would only send them an e-mail back. For groups or virtual companies (like mine) Twitter is a great way to keep people in the loop either publicly or privately. Twitter will never replace my e-mail account but it does serve the direct messaging niche well.</p>
<p><strong>5.) Public Relations through Twitter</strong></p>
<p>Twitter can be a great way to communicate out your press release, your most recent blog post or if you are a publisher, your latest news, events, etc. Again, the people following you are doing so because (ideally) you have something of value to them. The opt-in nature of the medium means it&#8217;s not only acceptable to pass along information, it&#8217;s expected. Obviously abuses may and do occur, but as far as push mediums go, Twitter is probably the most news friendly audience you&#8217;ll find anywhere.</p>
<p><strong>6.) It&#8217;s Free</strong></p>
<p>Not alot to say here except&#8230;well&#8230;it&#8217;s free. You can&#8217;t beat that. And as for now it&#8217;s ad free as well. Uninterrupted opt-in two-way conversations brought to you commercial free. Sounds like the future of media to me!</p>
<p><strong>7.) The Open API</strong></p>
<p>Twitter not only has an open API but the creators go out of their way to encourage <a href="http://twitter.pbwiki.com/Apps">apps</a>, new websites capitalizing on the tool, <a href="http://twitter.pbwiki.com/RelativeTimeScripts">hacks</a> and <a href="http://twitter.pbwiki.com/Mashups">mashups</a>. I don&#8217;t even use the Twitter website to keep tabs on my &#8220;tweeps&#8221;. I use a third-party client called <a title="Twitterfox Add-on" href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5081">Twitterfox</a> (a Firefox add-on) to manage my twitterverse. This openness has ushered in a whole new world of cool sites and applications using Twitter as the web 2.0 &#8220;telegraph system&#8221; as quoted by Nicholas Carr, Author and Technologist.</p>
<p><strong>8.) The Vernacular</strong></p>
<p>I love saying things like Tweets and Tweetups and Twitterati especially in a room full of Twitter newbies. Some of my favorite Twitter jargon from the <a title="twitter glossary" href="http://twitter.pbwiki.com/Twitter+Glossary">glossary</a>:</p>
<ul>
<li>Dweet - a drunk tweet</li>
<li>Tweeps - my Twitter homies</li>
<li>Twittastic - something fabulous</li>
<li>Twittard - a Twitter retard</li>
<li>Twitterrhea - the act of sending too many tweets</li>
<li>Twype - to type a tweet</li>
<li>Twoogle - Twitter as the human Google</li>
<li>Twouche - someone acting like a big fat jerk via twitter</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>9.) Simplicity</strong></p>
<p>While other microblogging sites are emerging with new capabilities, pretty graphics and timelines and the ability to add emoticons (read <a title="Plurk" href="http://www.plurk.com">Plurk.com</a>) Twitter works because it&#8217;s just so darn plain. Yes, you can customize your profile background but that&#8217;s about as custom as it gets. With the open API Twitter has kept their tool pretty bare bones leaving the creativity and ingenuity to the developer network. Twitter makes it so simple to post and receive updates via SMS and IM, as well as place your personal timeline on your blog or website. The ease of use and the power of the tool makes Twitter one of the most exciting web 2.0 tools available.</p>
<p><strong>10.) 140 Character Limit</strong></p>
<p>A friend of mine once said &#8220;Sorry for the long letter&#8230;I didn&#8217;t have time to write a short one&#8221;. The art of getting straight to the point has been lost on the ubiquity of bandwidth and webspace. Even this blog post you&#8217;re reading should have been cut off about 5 paragraphs ago. Twitter encourages users to get right to the point. It even allows you to enter urls and with the right tools will shorten the link for you so you can get it in under the 140 character limit. Hopefully, being forced to capture your thoughts in 140 characters or less will trickle over to e-mail, phone conversations and lectures from your significant other (accept for my tweetheart, of course).</p>
<p>So there you have it. The 10 reasons I Love Twitter. If you are a marketing or PR professional and you would like to learn more about how you can use Twitter or have questions about other social media strategies, techniques or terminology, we&#8217;re here to help. Please send inquiries to ecedo @ braingainmarketing (dot) com.
</p>
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		<title>Corporate Blogging Takes Off</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/corporate-blogging-takes-off/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/corporate-blogging-takes-off/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 May 2008 03:09:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ecedo</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Social Media</category>
	<category>blogs</category>
	<category>Social Media PR</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/corporate-blogging-takes-off/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[From Workforce Magazine Online - Today, just more than 11 percent of Fortune 500 companies have corporate blogs. While not exactly mainstream kind of numbers the number of corporate blogs continues to rise. And companies such as Coca-Cola, Marriott and Kodak have created the position of Chief Blogger.
When we first meet with prospects the initial [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>From <a title="Corporate blogging taking off" href="http://www.workforce.com/section/00/article/25/50/77.html">Workforce Magazine Online</a> - Today, just more than 11 percent of Fortune 500 companies have corporate blogs. While not exactly mainstream kind of numbers the number of corporate blogs continues to rise. And companies such as Coca-Cola, Marriott and Kodak have created the position of Chief Blogger.</p>
<p>When we first meet with prospects the initial conversation usually begins with &#8220;we want to blog&#8221; but upon probing most don&#8217;t have a clue why they should. Corporate blogging, while often misused, can be quite useful especially when done properly.</p>
<p>If you are considering creating a corporate blog check out this list of the <a title="Six tips for corporate bloggers" href="http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_18/b3931007_mz001.htm">Six Tips for Corporate Bloggers</a> from Business Week Online.</p>
<p>To me the most important aspect of a corporate blog is the authenticity of the content. Corporate blogs MUST be written and maintained by an internal communications professional or at the very least someone within the organization that can give straight answers about the inner workings of the company. Often clients ask if we can maintain their blogs. We politely refuse. As a social media agency we can assist in the development of a blog, the tracking of online conversations, the development of an editorial calendar, even help in writing content for websites, publications or other communications collateral. We can&#8217;t and won&#8217;t take on the roll of &#8220;blogger&#8221; for a client.</p>
<p>Why? Consumers want to hear directly from a brand. We want a direct conversation with someone that can speak intelligently about the company, products or services we value. That&#8217;s why it is our hope that the role of chief blogger continues to catch on. For good examples of corporate bloggers check out <a title="kodak chief blogger Jenny Cisney" href="http://jennycisney.1000words.kodak.com/">Jenny Cisney Chief Blogger for Kodak</a> and  <a title="Direct2Dell chief blogger Lionel Menchaca" href="http://direct2dell.com/one2one/default.aspx">Lionel Menchaca, Chief Blogger for Direct2Dell.</a>
</p>
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		<title>Social Media by the Numbers - Stats on Social Media Marketing Budgets</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/social-media-by-the-numbers-stats-on-social-media-marketing-budgets/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/social-media-by-the-numbers-stats-on-social-media-marketing-budgets/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 May 2008 14:34:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ecedo</dc:creator>
		
	<category>All About Us</category>
	<category>Buzz Marketing</category>
	<category>Social Media</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/social-media-by-the-numbers-stats-on-social-media-marketing-budgets/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Curious about the impact Social Media is having on marketing decision makers?
Here are some numbers from Coremetrics Second Annual Survey on &#8220;The Face of the New Marketer&#8220;.
Their findings:
A clear disconnect between the desirability of social marketing and the budget allocated to it:


78% of respondents see social media marketing as a way to gain competitive edge, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img width="143" height="130" align="left" src="http://www.optimizeandprophesize.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/05/30/social_circle.jpg" />Curious about the impact Social Media is having on marketing decision makers?</p>
<p>Here are some numbers from <a title="Social Media Marketing Figures and Facts on Marketing Budgets" href="http://www.coremetrics.com/company/2007/pr07_10_30_socialmedia.php">Coremetrics Second Annual Survey on &#8220;The Face of the New Marketer</a>&#8220;.</p>
<p>Their findings:</p>
<p align="left" class="ulHeading">A clear disconnect between the desirability of social marketing and the budget allocated to it:</p>
<div align="left">
<ul>
<li>78% of respondents see social media marketing as a way to gain competitive edge, but only 7.75% of total online marketing spend is devoted to it</li>
<li>This compares with an average of 33% of spend going to online advertising and 28% to online promotion design and implementation</li>
</ul>
<p align="left" class="ulHeading">However, progress is being made in the field:</p>
<div align="left">
<ul>
<li>58% of respondents have implemented user-generated content or reviews in the past year</li>
<li>31% of respondents have implemented a blog in the past year</li>
<li>25% of respondents have implemented an RSS feed in the past year</li>
</ul>
<p align="left" class="ulHeading">The findings showed that most marketers have concrete plans to implement a social media marketing program at some point, even if not within the next twelve months. Of those marketers, the majority recognize the need to implement or improve their social marketing programs, but cite a lack of tools and expertise as their biggest challenges.</p>
<ul>
<li>50% of respondents plan to implement user-generated content or reviews</li>
<li>22% of respondents plan to implement a blog</li>
<li>20% intend to implement social networks, and another 20% plan to implement an RSS feed</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p>Obviously the importance of Social Media is not being lost on marketing decision-makers. However, the long standing relationships and commitments to traditional advertising is a tough hurdle to overcome. Another huge factor is a lack of information and insight into how to leverage social media to further brand recognition and drive measurable traffic or increase &#8220;buzz&#8221;.This is a big reason for BrainGain&#8217;s existence&#8230;to take the guess work out of using social media for marketing and communications purposes. If you&#8217;re interested in learning more about how you can leverage social media to increase interest in your brand, product or service contact us at nboivin@braingainmarketing.com.</div>
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		<title>Demystifying Social Media and Web 2.0</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/demystifying-social-media-and-web-20/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/demystifying-social-media-and-web-20/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 May 2008 17:02:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>nboivin</dc:creator>
		
	<category>All About Us</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/demystifying-social-media-and-web-20/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It&#8217;s been just over a year since I joined BrainGain and began my journey and discovery into the power of social media and Web 2.0. I&#8217;ve spent nearly 10 years in agency life leading traditional PR and media relations campaigns for museums and cultural institutions, nonprofits and special events. The rise of social media and the new possibilities in [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p id="ulmd1">It&#8217;s been just over a year since I joined BrainGain and began my journey and discovery into the power of social media and Web 2.0. I&#8217;ve spent nearly 10 years in agency life leading traditional PR and media relations campaigns for museums and cultural institutions, nonprofits and special events. The rise of social media and the new possibilities in connecting with niche communities has renewed my love and interest in the field of PR. We&#8217;re getting back to the soul of what public relations was always meant to be.</p>
<p id="dvtu1">I had the pleasure of being one of three presenters on the topic of &#8220;Cultivating a Creative Culture Through Social Media&#8221; at the outstanding <a id="uisy" title="Cranbrook Art Museum" href="http://www.cranbrookart.edu/museum/"><font color="#551a8b">Cranbrook Art Museum</font></a> in Bloomfield Hills on Tuesday.  Hosted by <a id="ii_t" title="BrainGain" href="http://www.braingainmarketing.com/"><font color="#551a8b">BrainGain</font></a> and <a id="j3o_" title="Issue Media Group" href="http://www.issuemediagroup.com/"><font color="#551a8b">Issue Media Group</font></a>, we invited cultural institutions and nonprofits from SE Michigan to learn how new media and social networking provide inexpensive ways to build relationships with potential members, visitors and supporters. </p>
<p id="sk9g0">A few highlights worth repeating:</p>
<p>On Nonprofits &#038; Social Media (Especially in arts/culture)</p>
<ul id="ddbc0">
<li id="ddbc1">You have almost endless new opportunities to connect with niche communities and special interest groups through social media and social networking sites</li>
<li id="nkgu2">
<div id="clxd0">You no longer have to depend on a handful of print, TV and radio outlets to be the only medium to share your unique stories</div>
</li>
<li id="aagh0">
<div id="aagh1">You have to be willing to transition from a guarded/veiled way of doing business (you know, the joyful and timely process of approving all messages and releases before going public) to a more open and conversational mentality.  This must happen organizational-wide, not just adopted by the PR/Marketing department.</div>
</li>
</ul>
<p id="aagh2">On Adopting Social Media into Your Life/Marketing Mix</p>
<ul id="gd_k0">
<li id="gd_k1">Content is King.  You have to have a compelling and relevant story or POV to share.  Many become enraptured with new technology and mediums.  But success in gaining traction and spreading the word will always depend on whether the story is interesting enough.</li>
<li id="eup-0">You must participate.  This is not a passive thing.  It can sometimes even feel a little high maintenance.  But isn&#8217;t that what it really takes to build good relationships in the real world?</li>
</ul>
<p id="gd_k2">On Blogs</p>
<ul id="xm603">
<li id="xm604">Many are catching on to social media but don&#8217;t know where to begin.  (An upcoming post will offer some entry points.) We&#8217;ve heard in so many meetings with new clients, &#8220;We want to start a blog&#8221; but they have no ideas on what exactly or who will write it.  Free tip: Don&#8217;t start a blog unless you 1) decided on one topic that you can offer a unique POV and be a kind of &#8221;expert&#8221; on; 2) will be the writer (don&#8217;t count on an agency to do this for you.  Authenticity is key); and 3) have time to post 1-3 times a week and respond to comments within 24 hours. </li>
</ul>
<p id="gd_k4"> Several requests have come in for copies of the presentations.  Ask and you shall receive!</p>
<p id="m:se1"><a id="uo2u" title="On New Media" href="http://www.pdfmenot.com/view/http://braingainmarketing.com/media/cranbrook/img.pdf"><font color="#551a8b">On New Media</font></a> by Brian Boyle, Publisher of <a id="s0sx" title="Issue Media Group" href="http://www.issuemediagroup.com/"><font color="#551a8b">Issue Media Group</font></a></p>
<p id="m:se2"><a id="hpne" title="On an Intro to PR 2.0" href="http://www.pdfmenot.com/view/http://braingainmarketing.com/media/cranbrook/braingain.pdf"><font color="#551a8b">On an Intro to PR 2.0</font></a> by Nettie Boivin, Media Mix Director, <a id="j.tj" title="BrainGain" href="http://www.braingainmarketing.com/"><font color="#551a8b">BrainGain</font></a></p>
<p><a id="buwe" title="On Using Widgets and Digital Marketing" href="http://www.pdfmenot.com/view/http://braingainmarketing.com/media/cranbrook/organic.pdf"><font color="#551a8b">On Using Widgets and Digital Marketing</font></a> by Lori Laurent Smith, Group Director, Global New Business, <a id="ln_y" title="Organic Inc." href="http://www.organic.com/"><font color="#551a8b">Organic Inc.</font></a> <em id="didb1">(Please be patient, they take a minute to load)</em></p>
<p id="qcei1">Thanks again to our hosts at Cranbrook and to all who stopped by and offered up some great questions!</p>
<p class="akst_link"><a href="http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/?p=64&amp;akst_action=share-this"  title="E-mail this, post to del.icio.us, etc." id="akst_link_64" class="akst_share_link" rel="nofollow">Share This</a>
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		<title>Starbucks Wants Your Ideas - Engaging Customers in an Open Dialogue</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/starbucks-wants-your-ideas-engaging-customers-in-an-open-dialogue/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/starbucks-wants-your-ideas-engaging-customers-in-an-open-dialogue/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Apr 2008 01:49:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ecedo</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Trends</category>
	<category>Web 2.0</category>
	<category>Social Media</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/starbucks-wants-your-ideas-engaging-customers-in-an-open-dialogue/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Starbucks is the latest major brand to engage their consumers in an online conversation. Earlier this month the Cafe behemoth launched &#8220;My Starbucks Idea&#8221; a website that according to the site will &#8220;Help shape the future of Starbucks&#8230;with Your ideas&#8221;. On the site you can share your ideas, vote on other&#8217;s ideas, discuss the ideas [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img align="left" title="My Starbucks Idea Logo" alt="My Starbucks Idea Logo" src="http://www.starbucks.com/blogs/images/logo.gif" />Starbucks is the latest major brand to engage their consumers in an online conversation. Earlier this month the Cafe behemoth launched &#8220;<a title="www.mystarbucksidea.com" href="http://www.mystarbucksidea.co">My Starbucks Idea</a>&#8221; a website that according to the site will &#8220;Help shape the future of Starbucks&#8230;with Your ideas&#8221;. On the site you can share your ideas, vote on other&#8217;s ideas, discuss the ideas with people from the online community and see which ideas are taking root and being carried into action.</p>
<p>On the surface this appears to be a good concept. But as <a href="http://brandautopsy.typepad.com/brandautopsy/2008/03/my-starbucks-id.html">John Moore of BrandAutopsy writes</a> this could backfire because Starbucks has decided to jump full stream into social media before getting their feet wet. I was actually rather surprised when I visited the Starbucks website only to find there was no company blog at all! Is it true that Starbucks has not participated in an online conversation until now?</p>
<p>Better late than never.</p>
<p>Gathering consumer input through the use of a social media site like mystarbucksidea.com is nothing new and I assume some great insights will be brought forth. The thing that impressed me most from this site is that the &#8220;Idea Team&#8221; from Starbucks frequently interject into the conversation with comments about how they are putting these ideas into action. One post is from the user interface designer giving his inspiration for the design of the website. Great job humanizing Starbucks corp with the actual team involved in running the idea site on a day to day basis.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m a firm believer that brands can and should become more transparent by involving the people behind the scenes designing the products, marketing the services, hiring the talent in sharing the insights and methodologies used in the process. We&#8217;ll keep an eye out for this site to see if this is a nice marketing stunt or if Starbucks truly is committed to learning from the ideas of their customers.
</p>
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		<title>Episode #1 - BrainGain Report</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/episode-1-braingain-report/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/episode-1-braingain-report/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Feb 2008 03:12:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ecedo</dc:creator>
		
	<category>All About Us</category>
	<category>Detroit</category>
	<category>Social Media</category>
	<category>blogs</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/episode-1-braingain-report/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Download and listen to our first podcast - The BrainGain Report Episode #1
BrainGain Report 

Share This
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Download and listen to our first podcast - The BrainGain Report Episode #1</p>
<p><a title="BrainGain Report" href="http://braingainmarketing.com/media/braingain_report_music.mp3">BrainGain Report </a>
</p>
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<enclosure url='http://braingainmarketing.com/media/braingain_report_music.mp3' length='26457076' type='audio/mpeg'/>
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		<title>Citizen journalists first to the scene again - Best Buy and Heath Ledger</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/citizen-journalists-first-to-the-scene-again-best-buy-and-heath-ledger/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/citizen-journalists-first-to-the-scene-again-best-buy-and-heath-ledger/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:11:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ecedo</dc:creator>
		
	<category>New Media</category>
	<category>Social Media</category>
	<category>blogs</category>
	<category>Social Media PR</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/citizen-journalists-first-to-the-scene-again-best-buy-and-heath-ledger/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It only took one day. 
Heath Ledger&#8217;s tragic passing on January 22nd was accompanied by a San Diego Best Buy store clerk bumble (Best Buy Cashes In on Heath Ledgers&#8217; Death) within hours of his passing. Well that only took about 4 hours&#8230;what took one day was for the news to become the hottest topic [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It only took one day. <img title="best buy cashes in on heath ledger's death" style="width: 187px; height: 230px" alt="best buy cashes in on heath ledger's death" src="http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/3412/heathledgememorialdw5.jpg" align="right" /></p>
<p>Heath Ledger&#8217;s tragic passing on January 22nd was accompanied by a San Diego Best Buy store clerk bumble (<a href="http://www.digg.com/business_finance/Best_Buy_Cashes_in_on_Heath_Ledger_s_Death">Best Buy Cashes In on Heath Ledgers&#8217; Death</a>) within hours of his passing. Well that only took about 4 hours&#8230;what took one day was for the news to become the hottest topic on the blogoshpere with a picture of the makeshift display being sent to bestweekever.com and the corresponding digg post to reach upcoming in about 2 hours. At the time of this posting the story has 3744 diggs.</p>
<p>What also took a day was Best Buy&#8217;s reponse to this controversy. By 2pm on the Best Buy website newsroom an apology was issued. Here&#8217;s the problem. The press release is on a website news room tool that you can&#8217;t rss, copy a url or even comment on. The apology was not front and center any where on the Best Buy main site or even on the entry page to the news site.</p>
<p>What&#8217;s worse is that Best Buy did nothing to respond to the negative posts and comments circulating across social media sites worldwide. Check out some of the comments from the digg post (these are the first 5 responses to the post in order)</p>
<blockquote><p>Once again best buy is at the cutting edge of moral bankruptcy. Kudos guys, kudos.</p>
<p>Look at the bright side, if you go to Hell you know there will be a Best Buy there along with a Blockbuster.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s Best Buy&#8230;. what did you expect????</p>
<p>It&#8217;s Best Buy&#8230;.. what did you expect? Moral decency? Who needs that when you can sell products&#8230;&#8230;.</p>
<p>It really is sad. I&#8217;m sure that some of the higher-ups behind The Dark Knight are also quietly grinning because of his death due to the increase in viewers they&#8217;ll get. Disgusting.</p></blockquote>
<p>I actually called Best Buy&#8217;s media relations department in Minnesota to offer to help with social media relations&#8230;to take the press release and &#8220;comment&#8221; on the negative posts with Best Buy&#8217;s response. I got a voicemail and no returned call.</p>
<p>FYI&#8230;I checked Best Buy&#8217;s stock and it dropped $2 the day after the news broke. And of course traditional media was no where to be found on this one.</p>
<p>Lesson learned.  Someone somewhere with a camera phone is watching your every move. Do stupd stuff and you will be found out. And when you are found out you better have a strategy to use this kind of negative buzz to have a conversation with your consumers. Make your high-priced low performing PR firm get off their retainer and address the negative dialogue.</p>
<p>Of course you could do like Target and <a title="Target ignores social media" href="http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/how-not-to-make-friends-in-new-media/">pretend as if social media doesn&#8217;t exist</a>.
</p>
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		<title>How not to make friends in new media</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/how-not-to-make-friends-in-new-media/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/how-not-to-make-friends-in-new-media/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:51:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>jcook</dc:creator>
		
	<category>New Media</category>
	<category>Web 2.0</category>
	<category>Social Media</category>
	<category>blogs</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/how-not-to-make-friends-in-new-media/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Gawker Media is one of the many sites we monitor for news and trends (did you catch Tom Cruise&#8217;s recent rant about Scientology?&#8230;that&#8217;s a PR lesson of its own.) He&#8217;s bringing crazy back for real.
Anyway, I came across this gem of &#8220;how not to handle PR&#8221; from Target.
Gawker reports, &#8220;It seems some bloggers are a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://gawker.com">Gawker Media</a> is one of the many sites we monitor for news and trends (did you catch Tom Cruise&#8217;s recent rant about Scientology?&#8230;that&#8217;s a PR lesson of its own.) He&#8217;s bringing crazy back for real.</p>
<p>Anyway, I came across this gem of &#8220;how not to handle PR&#8221; from <a href="http://www.target.com/">Target</a>.</p>
<p>Gawker reports, &#8220;It seems some bloggers are a tad vexed over the department store giant&#8217;s new advertisement (also giant, and in Times Square) featuring a young woman in a spread-eagled position over the company&#8217;s logo. One of them <a href="http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/?p=969">sent a letter to Target</a> complaining about what she sees as the predominant depiction of women in marketing campaigns arranged in, well, vag-evoking poses.&#8221;Here is Target&#8217;s brilliant response:</p>
<blockquote><p>Good Morning Amy,</p>
<p style="text-indent: 20pt">Thank you for contacting Target; unfortunately we are unable to respond to your inquiry because Target does not participate with non-traditional media outlets. This practice is in place to allow us to focus on publications that reach our core guest.</p>
<p style="text-indent: 20pt">Once again thank you for your interest, and have a nice day.</p>
<p style="text-indent: 20pt">
</blockquote>
<p style="text-indent: 20pt">I shouldn&#8217;t be surprise because we hang our hat on the ability to educate corporate clients on the unreal benefits of embracing social media and how when used effectively it can build real, impenetrable, and long-lasting relationships with consumers, media and influencers.</p>
<p style="text-indent: 20pt">Call us Target, we&#8217;ll be waiting.</p>
<blockquote>
<p style="text-indent: 20pt">
</blockquote>
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		<title>The Viral Marketing Police - Don&#8217;t Preach from your Marketing Pulpit</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/social-media-the-viral-marketing-police/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/social-media-the-viral-marketing-police/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Nov 2007 17:19:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ecedo</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Youth Marketing</category>
	<category>Video</category>
	<category>Buzz Marketing</category>
	<category>Social Media</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/social-media-the-viral-marketing-police/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In a transparent world of checks and balances (read: be authentic or someone, somewhere on the blog-o-sphere will catch you in the act) it is fascinating to me how corporate marketing efforts can backfire. The most recent stink involves Dove&#8217;s so called viral video &#8220;Onslaught&#8221; campaign. (As a side note - I don&#8217;t think a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img align="left" alt="Dove self esteem fund" title="Dove self esteem fund" src="http://www.dove.ca/images/logo_doveselfesteemfund.gif" />In a transparent world of checks and balances (read: be authentic or someone, somewhere on the blog-o-sphere will catch you in the act) it is fascinating to me how corporate marketing efforts can backfire. The most recent stink involves Dove&#8217;s so called viral video <a target="_blank" title="Dove's Onslaught Campaign Video goes sour" href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=JaH4y6ZjSfE&#038;feature=related">&#8220;Onslaught&#8221; campaign</a>. (As a side note - I don&#8217;t think a professionally produced, PR pushed, heavily marketed video by an ad agency should ever be called &#8220;Viral&#8221;). The campaign itself is admirable in the sense that it encourages young women to not be influenced by the unrealistic and often degrading depictions of women in most beauty advertising. This is part of the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.dove.ca/doveselfesteemfund/">Dove Self-Esteem Fund campaign</a>.</p>
<p>However admirable this effort is, it didn&#8217;t take too long for the citizen journalists to point out that Dove&#8217;s parent company, Unilever, is one of the worst offenders through its blatant sex-driven AXE bodyspray campaigns. (<a target="_blank" title="Unilever's Dove Onslaught exposed" href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=3u6Qh099AK0&#038;feature=related">See the video response here</a>).</p>
<p>The lesson for us marketers and social media PR professionals is to either do your homework to make sure you don&#8217;t come off as hypocritical or don&#8217;t use social media to get your &#8220;political&#8221; message out. In almost every case - corporations&#8217; attempts at trying to preach to their audience is laughable at best and completely disingenuous at worst. My thoughts - sell Dove on its merits as a skin cleanser - its a great product&#8230;keep it at that. And the AXE ads obviously work on young men - pretty much every guy I know uses AXE or has used it before. If you are considering going &#8220;viral&#8221; with your message you may want to avoid politically charged and self-righteous campaigns. They just may come back to bite you in the ad.
</p>
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		<title>Facebook worth $10bn!?!?</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/facebook-worth-10bn/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/facebook-worth-10bn/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:57:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>_nev</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Articles</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/facebook-worth-10bn/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
According to the article,..
the Financial Times suggests that Microsoft may take a stake in the social network Facebook. The possible $500m investment for 5% of the business would mean that Facebook would be worth $10bn.
$10 Billion!?!? When Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace for a reported $580million earlier this year,.. it was a pretty big deal and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img height="59" id="image56" alt="Facebook.gif" src="http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/Facebook.gif" /></p>
<p>According to the article,..</p>
<blockquote><p>the Financial Times suggests that Microsoft may take a stake in the social network Facebook. The possible $500m investment for 5% of the business would mean that Facebook would be worth $10bn.</p></blockquote>
<p>$10 Billion!?!? When Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace for a reported <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4695495.stm">$580million</a> earlier this year,.. it was a pretty big deal and had a lot of people questioning if (MySpace) was really worth? Will we be asking the same thing a year from now about Facebook? Is it overpriced?,.. Does it really have that much potential?</p>
<p>I started off with a MySpace page a year ago,.. and enjoyed it. Now I&#8217;m <em>currently</em> hooked on Facebook. In a year from now I might not enjoy Facebook anymore?&#8230;. What will replace it? How much will it be worth?.. These are interesting times.</p>
<p>Via> <a href="http://www.psfk.com/2007/09/microsoft-may-buy-5-of-facebook-for-500m.html">PSFK</a>
</p>
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		<title>&#8220;Buzz for Braun&#8221; Destined for Sting?</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/buzz-for-braun-destined-for-sting/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/buzz-for-braun-destined-for-sting/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:14:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>bgula</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Buzz Marketing</category>
	<category>Advertising</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/buzz-for-braun-destined-for-sting/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Nowadays everyone is looking to create a buzz. But how easy is replicating the success of Burger King&#8217;s Subservient Chicken or Chris &#8220;Leave Britney Alone&#8221; Crocker? Proctor &#038; Gamble will likely find out in a new campaign to &#8220;Create a Buzz for Braun.&#8221;

In an attempt to drive awareness of its electric shavers, P&#038;G is recruiting [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img align="left" style="padding: 0pt 6px 0pt 2px" src="http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/braun_buzz.thumbnail.png" />Nowadays everyone is looking to create a buzz. But how easy is replicating the success of Burger King&#8217;s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subservient_Chicken">Subservient Chicken</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Crocker_%28Internet_celebrity%29">Chris &#8220;Leave Britney Alone&#8221; Crocker</a>? Proctor &#038; Gamble will likely find out in a new campaign to <a href="http://www.buzzforbraun.com/">&#8220;Create a Buzz for Braun.&#8221;<br />
</a><br />
In an attempt to drive awareness of its electric shavers, <a href="http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/NYM10910092007-1.htm">P&#038;G is recruiting students</a> from the country&#8217;s elite business schools. Contestants will <a href="http://www.buzzforbraun.com/Rules.aspx">submit a detailed marketing plan</a> including strategy, tactics and evaluation. The top entries will be presented before company brass to determine a winner.</p>
<p>The prize? $40,000 for first place, $5,000 for second and third.</p>
<p>Certainly no paltry sum, but a small price to pay for the mass brainpower of the nation&#8217;s top MBAs. Still, the question remains, can you really <em>create</em> a buzz?</p>
<p>We&#8217;ll be following the contest and will post results as they&#8217;re available.
</p>
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		<title>Michigan Talent Attraction - Kick the Autos Out?</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/michigan-talent-attraction-kick-the-autos-out/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/michigan-talent-attraction-kick-the-autos-out/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Sep 2007 15:29:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ecedo</dc:creator>
		
	<category>All About Us</category>
	<category>Detroit</category>
	<category>Talent Attraction</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/michigan-talent-attraction-kick-the-autos-out/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[OK&#8230;it&#8217;s been a while since I&#8217;ve posted anything here. You can tell the difference between lean times (lots of free time = lots of posts) vs. prosperous times (oh, I forgot we even have a blog). I&#8217;m very thankful that our clients are keeping us very busy. But as the President of BrainGain - a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img align="left" style="padding: 0pt 6px 0pt 2px" src="http://images.publicradio.org/content/2007/09/24/20070924_uaw_strikers_18.jpg" />OK&#8230;it&#8217;s been a while since I&#8217;ve posted anything here. You can tell the difference between lean times (lots of free time = lots of posts) vs. prosperous times (oh, I forgot we even have a blog). I&#8217;m very thankful that our clients are keeping us very busy. But as the President of BrainGain - a marketing, PR, web 2.0 mashup - I figured I should be eating my own dog food and joining in the global &#8220;conversation&#8221;.</p>
<p>So I&#8217;ve been thinking a lot about talent attraction, the main reason why I started BrainGain nearly 1 year ago. Everyone is trying to figure out how to stop the &#8220;brain drain&#8221; from cities, states, businesses, industries. For me it&#8217;s quite personal when people blame young talent&#8230;or the lack thereof for companies - especially autos - for leaving Michigan.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s been nearly two weeks since <a href="http://www.hometownlife.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070920/OPINION01/709200781/1201/NEWS13">VW announced they were leaving Michigan because they wanted to attract more young talent</a>. I for one find this to be complete crap. Growing up in Michigan and having a father that worked 30 years for Generous Motors - as he referred to GM - the last thing I wanted to do was work for an Auto&#8230;any Auto. I feel as many young people leave Michigan because of a lack of creative industries&#8230;not the typical reasons many have used as a scapegoat for our main industry&#8230;Crime, Lack of Public Transit, Weather, No &#8220;Cool Cities&#8221;. So here&#8217;s my first big audacious statement:</p>
<p><strong>Maybe we should send the Autos out of the State if we want talent to stay! </strong></p>
<p>Sounds crazy, I know. But what was once a cutting edge, creative, and innovative industry has become a talent repellent.  For instance, who wouldn&#8217;t want to work for VW, either here or Virginia or New York City, when the new CEO Stefan Jacoby says about his need to attract talent:</p>
<blockquote><p><span class="bodytext">&#8220;by reducing this organization by 30 percent, you need even more talents, more creative people, more motivated people.&#8221;</span></p></blockquote>
<p><span class="bodytext">So cut staff by 30% and hire more creative people - that will have to work 30% harder and longer.</span></p>
<p>The reason Jacoby was hired was due to the resignation last November of then CEO <font class="body">Pischetsrieder which <a href="http://www.adweek.com/aw/national/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003379430">Adweek reported</a>:</font></p>
<blockquote><p><font class="body">The decision comes amid layoffs of up to 20,000 workers, along with extended work hours at VW&#8217;s German plants and other cost-cutting measures, in an effort to compete with Asian automakers and to boost U.S. market share.<br clear="none" /> <br clear="none" />The resignation of Pischetsrieder and his replacement by Winterkorn is &#8220;a shock wave that will take awhile to travel through the industry,&#8221; said Todd Turner, principal analyst at Car Concepts in Thousand Oaks, Calif.<br clear="none" /> <br clear="none" /><strong>&#8220;It goes to show how shortsighted VW planning has become,&#8221; Turner said. &#8220;If you are projecting that kind of unhappiness with the management, why extend his contract?&#8221;</strong></font></p></blockquote>
<p>Yet young professional Detroiters like me are to blame. Maybe the reality is that Young Professionals in Virginia are stupid enough to work for a loser like VW. But growing up in Detroit, <a href="http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&#038;refer=home&#038;sid=ab9U67cQvQBk">seeing the ignorance of past decisions at the Big 3</a>, we&#8217;re not fooled. So to VW&#8230;good luck in DC&#8230;I will at least hand this much to you&#8230;you did pick one place that people are full of crap and other people are dumb enough to believe them.<br />
<span class="bodytext" />
</p>
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		<title>BrainGain Party!</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/braingain-party/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/braingain-party/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:18:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>_nev</dc:creator>
		
	<category>All About Us</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/braingain-party/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Yeah that&#8217;s right,.. it&#8217;s going down tomorrow @ the Buzz Bar. Bring all your friends and meet some new ones too. See ya there!

Share This
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a class="imagelink" title="BG Launch.jpg" href="http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/BG%20Launch.jpg"><img height="96" id="image51" alt="BG Launch.jpg" src="http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/BG%20Launch.jpg" /></a></p>
<p>Yeah that&#8217;s right,.. it&#8217;s going down tomorrow @ the Buzz Bar. Bring all your friends and meet some new ones too. See ya there!
</p>
<p class="akst_link"><a href="http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/?p=52&amp;akst_action=share-this"  title="E-mail this, post to del.icio.us, etc." id="akst_link_52" class="akst_share_link" rel="nofollow">Share This</a>
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		<title>Blogging for Michigan</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/blogging-for-michigan/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/blogging-for-michigan/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Jun 2007 11:13:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ecedo</dc:creator>
		
	<category>All About Us</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/blogging-for-michigan/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Check out my &#8220;guest blogger&#8221; appearance on Metromode Media. I will be blogging about &#8220;The Dip&#8221; by Seth Godin and how Southeast Michigan can learn a few lessons from this marketing guru. Feel free to come back to this site after reading the blog and post your comments.
Enjoy!

Share This
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://metromodemedia.com/images/Blogs/ericsedo-240.jpg" /></p>
<p>Check out my &#8220;guest blogger&#8221; appearance on <a href="http://metromodemedia.com/features/EricCedo0024.aspx">Metromode Media</a>. I will be blogging about &#8220;The Dip&#8221; by <a href="http://sethgodin.typepad.com/">Seth Godin</a> and how Southeast Michigan can learn a few lessons from this marketing guru. Feel free to come back to this site after reading the blog and post your comments.</p>
<p>Enjoy!
</p>
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		<title>MILIFE MITIMES Launched!</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/milife-mitimes-launched/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/milife-mitimes-launched/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 May 2007 14:52:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ecedo</dc:creator>
		
	<category>All About Us</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/milife-mitimes-launched/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
BrainGain Marketing is proud to announce the launch of our first site promoting the State of Michigan to Gen Y. The site milifemitimes.com is a Web 2.0 news site, offering users the ability to comment, post stories and other content, and connect with each other. The story areas we cover are travel, culture and arts, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a title="milifemitimes.com" href="http://www.milifemitimes.com"><img id="image48" alt="logo.jpg" src="http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/logo.jpg" /></a></p>
<p>BrainGain Marketing is proud to announce the launch of our first site promoting the State of Michigan to Gen Y. The site <a href="http://www.milifemitimes.com">milifemitimes.com</a> is a Web 2.0 news site, offering users the ability to comment, post stories and other content, and connect with each other. The story areas we cover are travel, culture and arts, events, environment, and jobs/hot companies.</p>
<p>We encourage anyone to visit the site, sign-up, and start sharing great stories about Michigan. If you have any questions, visit the &#8220;contact us&#8221; page and submit your inquiries.
</p>
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		<title>BrainGain Featured on MetroMode</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/braingain-featured-on-metromode/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/braingain-featured-on-metromode/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 16 May 2007 14:52:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ecedo</dc:creator>
		
	<category>All About Us</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/braingain-featured-on-metromode/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
A pleasant surprise came in my inbox today when I saw BrainGain featured on MetroMode Media&#8217;s weekly emag. As noted in the article BrainGain is all about marketing places and spaces to young professionals using marketing 2.0 strategies. It&#8217;s nice to get noticed for doing good and doing well.

Share This
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img align="top" src="http://www.metromodemedia.com/images/logo.gif" /></p>
<p>A pleasant surprise came in my inbox today when I saw BrainGain featured on <a href="http://www.metromodemedia.com">MetroMode</a> Media&#8217;s weekly emag. As noted in the article BrainGain is all about marketing places and spaces to young professionals using marketing 2.0 strategies. It&#8217;s nice to get noticed for doing good and doing well.
</p>
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		<title>Video download spending to surge</title>
		<link>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/video-download-spending-to-surge/</link>
		<comments>http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/video-download-spending-to-surge/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 21 Feb 2007 20:07:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>ecedo</dc:creator>
		
	<category>Trends</category>
	<category>New Media</category>
	<category>Video</category>
	<category>Advertising</category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://braingainmarketing.com/blog/video-download-spending-to-surge/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
According to Adams Media Research sales of internet downloads of movies and TV shows will top $4 billion by 2011 up from $111 million last year. This trend obviously will continue to impact advertising models as less broadcast media will be consumed in coming years. This article on CNN.com states:
&#8230;that advertiser spending on Internet video [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/TECH/internet/02/21/internet.video.reut/vert.apple.tv.jpg" /><br />
According to Adams Media Research sales of internet downloads of movies and TV shows will top $4 billion by 2011 up from $111 million last year. This trend obviously will continue to impact advertising models as less broadcast media will be consumed in coming years. This <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/internet/02/21/internet.video.reut/index.html">article on CNN.com</a> states:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8230;that advertiser spending on Internet video streams to PCs and TVs will approach $1.7 billion by 2011</p></blockquote>
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