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BikerFox: You are Hot

April 29, 2006

A co-worker sent me to this site with this subject line. BikerFox: You are Hot. Don't you agree? Please visit http://www.bikerfox.com/foxphotos2/. According to his site, he was People Magazine's Sexiest Man of the Year. I think he redefines sexy.

Comments (0) | Posted by ryan at 4:05 PM | Permalink

Travel Oregon Newsletter Boosts Tourism

April 24, 2006

iMedia Connection wrote a great article highlighting one of our clients, Travel Oregon, and the success they had with a newsletter campaign that focused on relevancy and timeliness to their different targeted audiences. I show pictures of all 3 authors (not just my bald noggin, as Dylan and Jason did most of the work on this one):

eROI created a newsletter for Oregon's tourism industry that used consumer feedback to ensure its success.

The Travel Oregon consumer marketing group's objective for 2006 is to continue keeping an Oregon vacation top-of-mind with potential visitors across the country and worldwide, thus increasing tourism throughout Oregon. Travel Oregon had never done direct consumer outreach and wanted to establish a way to communicate with consumers, but not burden them with information that they would find of no value.

The consumer marketing department, working with e-marketing expert, eROI, decided that the best form of outreach was to publish a monthly electronic newsletter-- but not just any eNewsletter. They created one that provided subscribers engaging features and editorials of unique Oregon experiences, all wrapped in an evocative creative design. The newsletter is essentially a vertical extension of the Travel Oregon brand, bridging the gap between the inspiration provided by Travel Oregon Magazine and the trip planning assistance provided by TravelOregon.com.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON IMEDIA CONNECTION

Comments (0) | Posted by ryan at 3:33 PM | Permalink

Send A High Five: What Happens When you try your own Viral Campaign

April 20, 2006

We at eROI are a little off-kilter. We dare to do some pretty stupid things and succeed at doing that regularly. Today (4.20.06), we collectively came up with the idea to launch a site called SendaHighFive.com on National High Five Day. You may ask, “What’s the point?” And I’ll answer, “I’m not really sure.” As an idealist, I’d say that it’s a site about peace, unity, creativity, and human connection. As a realist, I might admit that it’s a bit of an experiment to see if a few folks get the creative urge to send me a high five.

You may think it's stupid, maybe random, or some have said it's brilliant (my 4-year old daughter counts, right?) So, don’t overanalyze it and just try it out. Go to www.sendahighfive.com, click "Get Started" and upload a photo, add some flare or bling and send it to ryan@eroi.com. Thanks holmies.

Comments (0) | Posted by ryan at 3:46 PM | Permalink

Space Ads for $100

April 14, 2006

Oh, how I love intriguing SPAM. Crappy SPAM that accounts for 99.99% of the spam I get is no fun, but there is nothing better than intriguing SPAM.

Here's how the email goes:
$100 Space Ad

Marketing is about to be taken to new heights…all the way to the edge of space.

Actually, it’s a research mission carrying student experiments. However, ads make it all possible.

“If it’s good enough for sports teams, it’s good enough for science teams,” proclaims John Powell, President of JP Aerospace.

These “ads at the edge of the world” are on a platform carried aloft by high altitude weather balloons. During the flight on board, cameras take pictures of the ads with the blackness of space and the curvature of the Earth in the background. In the past, weather balloons have conjured up images of UFOs; now, images of commerce are being created. After the balloons reach 100,000 feet, they are released, and the platform descends to Earth by parachute. The mission, called Away 27, is the eighty-seventh for JP Aerospace. JP Aerospace is an independent space program staffed by volunteers dedicated to bringing space travel to everyone.

More information and pictures available at www.jpaerospace.com.

On board will be over 1,000 individual student experiments. These student science projects are called PongSats®, for “ping pong ball satellite.” A PongSat is an experiment that fits inside of a ping pong ball. Students as young as six are running their own space programs. Experiments range from plant seeds to computers with sophisticated sensors. For several months, students from all over the country have been mailing their PongSats to JP Aerospace for this mission. Even the youngest of students can be space scientists, flying real missions to a place where few “real” scientists get to go. JP Aerospace has flown over 1800 PongSats involving thousands of students.

After landing, the PongSats are returned to the students. The students then inspect their experiments and study the results. PongSat is a completely free program for schools and individuals.

Marketing in space has been done, but it can cost millions of dollars and take years to accomplish. Now, for $100, even the local coffee shop can get dramatic marketing images.

“The images are more stunning than the Taco Bell® dog and a lot cheaper too,” says Powell.

Customers can use the images in their advertisements, corporate reports and web sites. Or for individuals, birthday greetings from the edge of space!

More information and pictures available at www.jpaerospace.com.

Comments (0) | Posted by ryan at 10:58 AM | Permalink

Dixie or Yankee

April 12, 2006

Alright, so I'm originally from the East Coast where Yankee / Dixie conversation seems as fresh today as 140 years ago (maybe not quite that fresh, but you get my point). Even though I've lived in Portland, Oregon for the past 10 years, I'm originally from Maryland, one of 3 neutral states in the country during Civil War times. I got an email from a co-worker with the Yankee / Dixie quiz and to my surprise, I found I was slightly more Dixie. I've been a called a Yankee my whole adult life and now I find out I'm a Yankee. My indentity is so confused. See which side of the fence you fall:

http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/yankeetest.html

Comments (0) | Posted by ryan at 10:49 AM | Permalink

eROI Creative Review of Staples "Easy" Online Viral Marketing Campaign

April 10, 2006

The microsite for Staples’ “The Wall” campaign is truly impressive. For starters, the commercial transported me back in time to the place in which an ancient Chinese emperor and his small band of men take on a massive army of barbarians. The music, visuals, and effects were so "on brand" that I felt compelled to pour a cup of steaming hot Jasmine blossom green tea to complete the transformation to ancient Chinese times. More importantly, the message of the “Easy button” resonates with me. In short, I’m sold on Staples’ differentiating factor-- they make things easy. The mechanics of the “Launch the emperor over the wall” advergame are very fluid and straightforward. You can simply point and click instead of having to remember a half dozen command keys as with other advergames.

The Fortune-Cookie page adds the much-needed humor element to an otherwise stoic site. My favorite fortune in this interface was, “He who climbs corporate ladder should not wear kilt.” Viral Send to a Friend pages are embedded into each piece of the microsite. Brilliant.

To read the full iMedia Connection "Creative Review", click here >>

I need to beat a dead horse on the search engine optimization front. I understand the need for Flash: it’s a beautiful, interactive site. However, Flash could be incorporated into an HTML site so that it is optimized with at least a text navigation footer and site map. Staples does do a good job with its Sponsored search listings which softens the blow to the lack of search engine optimization in the microsite.

The architecture and layout of the microsite is spot on. I’m drawn to the commercial first, then advergame, fortune-cookie telling, “behind the scenes,” and finally the downloadable desktop application for Staples. This campaign is well put together and incorporates a beautiful balance of viral components throughout the site. With that, I shall sign off and drink my ancient herbal tea.

Comments (0) | Posted by ryan at 10:44 AM | Permalink

What would you do if you saw another kid in trouble?

April 8, 2006

If you have young kids, this video will be frightening. What is it about the human psyche that most of us don't step up to help a distressing situation in a public area. In this case, it's a stranger forcibly kidnapping a 7 year old girl. In suburban New York, this male adult TV actor and girl actress went through dozens of "kidnapping" scenarios and no one helped until finally a couple young men came to her rescue. Hopefully, we can learn to be a little bit more aware and willing to step up to come to someone else's aid. It's easy to say, but what would you do? Honestly.

Watch the video: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/default.cdnx/id/11925653/displaymode/1157

Comments (0) | Posted by ryan at 10:27 AM | Permalink

Disturbingly Funny Ice Skating "Plushenko" Video

April 4, 2006

I got this email from a co-worker: "hmm....wishful thinking? watch out Chippendales! 2nd half is way better than the first half. http://www.mojoflix.com/Video/Evgeni-Plushenko-Sex-Bomb.html"

Plushenko flexes his muscle on the ice to the throwback tunes of "Sex Bomb." What's he going to do in his next performance? Take a walk down the cat-walk?

Comments (0) | Posted by ryan at 9:52 PM | Permalink

Amazon.com Screws Up on Dynamic Email Campaign

April 2, 2006

The grandaddy of all database marketers, Amazon.com sent out an email to a good portion of its database with the exact email below, exposing the whole dynamic placeholder verbiage and leaving email recipients utterly confused...

From: Amazon.com [mailto:promo-core@amazon.com]
Sent: Monday, April 03, 2006 10:30 AM
Subject: [placeholder for winning team] Wins the NCAA Tournament!

Congratulations, [placeholder for winning team]! As someone who has purchased sports-related products, we thought you should be the first to see our selection of NCAA championship products.

NCAA Championship Cap

Check out our championship hats, tees, and hooded sweatshirts in our NCAA Fan Shop.

Comments (0) | Posted by ryan at 11:03 AM | Permalink