digital media, social media

Maersk Line and Social Media

A few months ago I had the opportunity to chat with Jonathan Wichmann. Who is Jonathan? Among other things he used to be the head of social media for the world’s oldest and largest shipping company: Maersk Line.

maersk line social media
maersk line social media

What is a 100+ year old boring shipping company doing playing in the social space – a space many believe is reserved for sexy and young consumer brands? Well, I hope you take the time to listen to my conversation with Jonathan.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXAQAJGfavM&w=560&h=315]

Now, more than ever, it is important for companies of all sizes and types to understand the value of social media and content marketing. We are all playing in a crowded space. We are not just competing with other brands in our space. We are competing for the attention (heart and minds) with our friends, family, other companies and finally our competitors.

Creating content (social or otherwise) that our consumers and potential consumers want is paramount if we want to rise above the noise and capture the hearts and minds of people and businesses.

Uncategorized

Album Review: Reflektor – Arcade Fire

arcade fire reflektor
arcade fire reflektor

One of this year’s most anticipated albums was released a few weeks ago: Reflektor by Arcade Fire. I must admit that I am a recent convert to the Montreal band’s fusion of pop, rock and big, bold sounds.

I am also attracted to their amazing videos and how they use various media to showcase their musical art. When their interactive video for the title track to their latest album came out I wrote a piece on it here.

This latest double album release continues to showcase Arcade Fire as one of the world’s most original and genre bending bands of today.

Disc 1:

  • Reflektor – a perfect song to introduce their Haitian inspired sounds that reverberate throughout the album.
  • We Exist – an addictive song that is Arcade Fire’s only pop-sounding song on Reflektor.
  • Flashbuld Eyes – a fusion of dance and rock.
  • Here Comes The Night Time – one of my favourite songs. Put on your dancing shoes for this one. And while you’re at it, watch the “movie special” of the same name.
  • Normal Person – do you like rock and roll music?
  • You Already Know – yes, you do like rock and roll.
  • Joan Of Arc – Billboard magazine calls this the most U2 sounding song of Reflektor. Maybe.

Disc 2:

  • Here Comes The Night Time II – the second half begins…
  • Awful Sound (Oh Eurydice) – percussion instruments dominate this 6 minute tune
  • It’s Never Over (Hey Orpheus) – a beautiful symphony of rocking guitars and soulful silence.
  • Porno – a song that sounds like the the theme song for a space adventure.
  • Afterlife – another fun song to dance with and rock out to. And another fun video to watch.
  • Supersymmetry – a beautiful end to 2013’s Album Of The Year.
social media, twitter

Twitter and Starbucks team up for @TweetACoffee

As Twitter continues to prepare for their upcoming IPO we should expect announcements and program such as this one.

Starbucks has teamed up with Twitter for an initiative called @TweetACoffee. This program allows an individual to send a virtual Starbucks $5 eGift to anyone they want to. All the recipient has to do is print off the coupon or add the $5 to their Starbucks mobile card. Pretty simple and easy.

Tweet A Coffee
Tweet A Coffee

It will be interesting to watch how other retailers use Twitter to increase brand awareness, affinity and e-commerce sales.

As for Twitter, I’m sure more partnerships like this and even the earlier Comcast and NBCUniversal announcement will be forthcoming.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxPZj9x_Dsk&w=420&h=315]

social media

What we should learn from Buffer

This past weekend, Buffer suffered an unusual hacking incident that saw many people’s Facebook (and some Twitter) accounts post spam. You can read about the incident (and the updates including the solution) on the Buffer blog here.

There are many security and privacy lessons that can be learned from this incident.

However, the number 1 lesson that I hope every single brand that is active on social media gleans from this is:  Be open, honest and transparent. That’s exactly what Buffer did. And guess what? No one is shitting on them this morning.

buffer hack
buffer hack

The screenshot above shows the top results for a search on “buffer weekend hack”. Most focus on the tactical response from Buffer rather than any security issues.

Throughout the weekend, Buffer updated their social media accounts, blog and even sent out email updates. their goal was to let their community of users know what had happened, what they were doing to resolve the issue and what steps their users could take in the meantime.

buffer response
buffer response

One of the things they were also not afraid of doing was apologizing. They actually said sorry: Which is something everyone needs to do a little bit more of because none of us are perfect.