My Next Chapter

November 17, 2011 / posted in Miscellaneous / No Comments

Friday, Nov. 18 marks my last day of work at Microsoft’s Bing. Over the past 16 months, I’ve experienced highs and lows, and as always, I’ll miss the people more than anything else. I’m so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with so many bright, talented, and driven individuals, and although things weren’t always peachy, we did some kick ass work together, for which I’ll be eternally grateful.

Bing Marketing Team Photo – 2 Million FB Fans

 

The Bing social media team has accomplished some amazing feats over the past 16 months. Acquiring 1 million new Facebook fans and 100,000+ followers on Twitter is just the tip of the iceberg. The real gains can be seen with engagement numbers and reach, which I’m pleased to say continue to grow, and I look forward to seeing what great things come out of this team in the future. I know of a few things in the pipeline that are sure to make some waves.

Starting on Monday, Nov. 28, I’ll be joining Banyan Branch as Associate Creative Director, a role I’m chomping at the bit to begin. Honestly, it is a much-needed change of pace. I’ll continue to be focused on strategy, just with a much bigger emphasis on the creative process and brand strategy. I’ve always had a passion for branding/creative, and now, I’ll be able to use that passion on some major accounts, including Microsoft (a culture with which I’m now well-acquainted), Amazon, and Disney (just to name a few).

Until next time, cheers!

 

 

Tumblr Rocks!

June 23, 2011 / posted in Social Media, Website Design / No Comments

After nearly a long overdue trial. I finally started a Tumblr, and for once, I feel I’ve started a new personal channel “correctly,” if there is such a thing. So, remind me again why I bother with WordPress??

Follow my Tumblr, Have Beard, Will Tweet

 

 

Twitter Making Moves

June 2, 2011 / posted in Interactive Marketing, Social Media / No Comments

Recent rumors, announcements, and acquisitions have been rampant around Twitter lately. The recent announcement of Twitter’s estimated $40 million acquisition of Tweetdeck followed up months of speculation and rumors anticipating this move as Twitter reigns in 3rd party apps.

Just this week, Twitter announced plans to launch its own photo and video sharing service built on Photobucket technology. After leaving photo and video sharing services to the likes of Twitpic and yFrog for years, Twitter is finally moving to integrate photo/video sharing technology into its platform, a good move when you look at all the other moves Twitter is making to reign in 3rd party services.

The new Twitter search functionality is especially appealing, given my search affiliation. I love the integration of photos and video in search, but I wonder what affect it will have on traffic and usage of the actual Twitter.com platform. Having been a loyal Tweetdeck user for years, I am looking forward to seeing what improvements Twitter can make to the platform. I love new Twitter, but as a self-proclaimed “power user,” I need the ability to view multiple streams at once.

Now go tweet!

 

Wheat Thins Is Now Following Me On Twitter

April 15, 2011 / posted in Advertising, Social Media / No Comments

A few weeks ago, I ran across a TV ad I had seen before and wanted to post about, but I couldn’t seem to find it anywhere. That is no longer the case. Once I saw the ad again, I immediately searched YouTube for the video:

I really like the simplicity of this campaign, and the fact I’m a Twitter junkie doesn’t hurt. The thought of a big name brand driving around Seattle in a van plastered with “Follow @bradcbarker – He’s Awesome” gives me goosebumps. It is simple and makes the consumer feel valued. To my knowledge there haven’t been any previous campaigns leveraging a digital relationship (Twitter) and publicizing that relationship in a TV ad and out-of-home tactics.

 

 

“Make This Go Viral”

April 6, 2011 / posted in Advertising, Interactive Marketing / No Comments

Viral content happens. It is not created that way, even though the intention may be for that content to go viral. When I hear someone say, “make this go viral,” I might as well be listening to fingernails on a chalkboard.

Lately, I have been hearing far too many comments regarding the creation of viral content, whether it be a video or a marketing concept. The fact that I am even spelling out the world, “viral” here makes me a little ill. Add it the list of other over-used buzz words and loaded terms: community, engagement, crowdsourcing, UGC, etc.

An example of a wildly successful campaign: Wieden + Kennedy’s Old Spice initiative

Although I missed the Wieden + Kennedy panel at SXSW Interactive this year, I did receive a few great recaps of the panel, and one of the most important points made was that the Old Spice campaign was successful because it integrated digital and traditional elements together. In other words, it should not be noted as a just a social media marketing success or even a digital marketing success. The key here is that it blended together digital and traditional elements in a way that excited people.

Now, a word from Isaiah:

Twitter to Offer Facebook-like Brand Pages?

April 5, 2011 / posted in Interactive Marketing, Social Media / No Comments

According to a recent article on Mashable, Twitter might begin to offer companies the chance to create Facebook-like brand pages, on which brands could create a more useful space than simply a link-less profile page.

Twitter logo

Does Twitter even need to offer this capability? Isn’t the simplicity of Twitter one of it’s benefits?

I would say yes to both questions. Twitter, although growing exponentially, needs to create more ways to monetize their service. Although, I have seen great success with Twitter promoted accounts, the value of promoted tweets and promoted trends is still in question in my humble opinion. Even if the brand pages allow for working links and a more interactive experience with the page, I feel Twitter is moving in the right direction.

As for the simplicity of Twitter, I do believe there are ways to setup a more robust brand page without interfering with the functionality users are accustomed to on Twitter. Just as brands offer pages on Facebook, where users may or may not interact, Twitter has to opportunity to do the same.

As a digital marketer, this type of news is always exciting to me, but what do you think?

Tiger Blood? Doesn’t He Mean Twitter Blood?

March 10, 2011 / posted in Miscellaneous, Social Media / No Comments

As we all know, Charlie Sheen has dominated the headlines of late with his erratic behavior, his firing from Two and a Half Men, the removal of his children, and just plain bad boy behavior.

Charlie SheenWhat you might not know is that Charlie Sheen set the record for the quickest “tweep” to gain one million followers, surpassing the mark only twenty-five hours after launching his account. Considering that general awareness of Twitter hovers around the 92% mark, Sheen’s meteoric rise to Twitter fame is quite telling. No, it wasn’t Ashton Kutcher, Conan O’Brien, President Obama, nor Kim Kardashian who owns this record, but an older celebrity from a different generation.

Whether you love him or loathe him, this just goes to show how key trending content is to conquering Twitter.

 

Do You Really Have Klout?

February 8, 2011 / posted in Miscellaneous, Social Media / No Comments

I do, but please allow me to digress. You are probably wondering what in the world I’m talking about.

According to klout.com,

“The Klout score is the measurement of your overall online influence. The sorce ranges from 1 to 100 with higher scores representing a wider and stronger sphere of influence.

The Klout score is a factor of over 35 variables broken into three categories; true reach, amplification score and network score.

True reach is the size of your engaged audience and is based on the followers and friends who actively listen and react to your messages. Amplification score is the likelihood that your messages will generate actions (retweets, @messages, likes and comments) and is on a scale of 1 to 100. Netork score indicates how influential your engaged audience is, also on a scale of 1 to 100. The Klout score is highly correlated to clicks, comments and retweets.”

So, what is your score?

 

Weighing In On ‘Old Twitter’ vs. ‘New Twitter’

December 12, 2010 / posted in Miscellaneous / No Comments

Twitter, now with over 190 million registered users, recently updated their web interface. Since its inception, the micro-blogging service has been open to third party tools, such as Tweetdeck and Hootsuite, and the vast majority of users utilize these third party tools for tweeting.

The reasoning for changing their UI: to bring more traffic to twitter.com. By bringing more users to twitter.com, Twitter is exposing more users to their “promoted” content, including promoted accounts, promoted tweets and promoted trends. This content is currently being tested in some third party applications, but the majority of this content lives on twitter.com.

I recently worked on the refresh of the @bing Twitter skin, and you can see the transformation below.

New Twitter Design (@bing):

Bing's Updated Twitter background

 

 

 

 

Old Twitter Design (@bing):

Bing's Original Twitter Background

 

 

Turning the Page to Seattle

July 28, 2010 / posted in Seattle / 3 Comments

Well, today is my last day at AREA203 Marketing, and it is a little bittersweet. It has been a pleasure working with so many talented individuals, and I will miss my colleagues a great deal. With that said, I cannot begin to describe the energy that is building toward my new position as Social Media Channel Manager at Microsoft/Bing (on loan from Ally Marketing) in Seattle. When I was presented with this great opportunity, I knew I had discovered something special.

I have held a long fascination with the city of Seattle. I am sure a major part of that intrigue comes from my love of Seattle’s music scene in the late 80′s and early 90′s. It may be a bit cliché, but I can’t deny that influence. Bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Mudhoney had a major impact on me as I was coming of age musically and just learning to play guitar during those years. The so-called “Grunge” music scene was so rooted in Seattle’s culture, it is impossible to deny the impact (BTW, I hate to label music genres, but what else do you say?).

Which West Coast City Fits Me Best?

It has always been my intention to some day make a move to the West Coast, and the time is finally here! I have often wondered which city on the West Coast would be the best fit for me. After visiting L.A. a few years ago, I knew that it was not the place for me. No offense to L.A. or its residents. I had a good time there, but I never felt comfortable in my own skin. So, that left San Diego, Northern CA, Portland, and Seattle. Although, I believe I could live a happy life in any of those locations, I knew just from a few days in Seattle, that I had found my new home. At that point, it was just a matter of when.

My first trip to Seattle came just last June for SearchEngineLand’s SMX Advanced conference. After just two days, I knew I had found the place to lay my roots. Seattle fits me like a glove, and now I realize it is much more than just the music that has always attracted me to the city. I love the diversity and laid-back attitude of Seattle’s residents. I love great coffee, wine, and beer, not to mention fresh seafood.

Seattle Skyline

A Quick Turnaround

The last month has been a whirlwind of planning, packing, and high anxiety. I must give most of the credit to my lovely wife for the most of this work. I would never have been able to pull off all of this work without her. To Shannon: I thank you very much, and I hope you love Seattle as much as I do. I know you will. Your Pisces soul will love the abundance of water surrounding the city and all the things that make it special to me. I cannot wait to show you the city I fell in love with just over a month ago.

Cheers! Peace out Chattanooga. See you in Seattle.

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