Old School Viral Marketing

Just received an email with this text:

"Hope you enjoy your lunch on Applebee's!

My name is Bill Palmer, founder of Applebee's. In an attempt to get our
name out to more people in the rural communities where we are not
currently located, we are offering a! $50 gift certificate to anyone who
forwards this email to 9 of their friends. Just send this email to them
and you will receive an email back with a confirmation number to claim
your gift certi ficate."

I don't think I've seen one of those forward conditional emails since college. Does anyone have an idea if it is even technologically feasible for a company/organisation to know if the email has been sent?

Blogging 101: Don't bad mouth your employer on Facebook

"When he grew older and the Linc opened, Leone crossed his fingers and filled out an application. The Eagles hired him almost immediately. He was ecstatic. Leone called his friends and family and gushed about going to work for the team he's always loved. He couldn't have been happier if he'd been named the Eagles' starting quarterback.

Like a lot of Philadelphians, Leone was upset when Dawkins became a Bronco. So he did what a 32-year-old does these days: He vented on Facebook. "Dan is [expletive] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver. . .Dam Eagles R Retarted!!"

Last week, the Eagles fired Leone."

For the full story, go here: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/20090309_Gonzo___Cold_Eagles_sure_are_thin-skinned.html

'World's first online bum' - Internet marketing campaign

"...thanks to an Internet marketing campaign and unlikely allies, Edwards has become the human face of homelessness to thousands of online viewers drawn to his Web site by its deliberately controversial name — Pimp This Bum.

If the site had been called "Help the Homeless," many Web surfers might just have clicked on past, says Sean."

Website here: www.pimpthisbum.com

Article here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29570021/?GT1=43001

young, wired brains

Interesting article following on Blake's point that the brains of 12/13 year old don't work the same due to the environment in which the brain matures. Something for all you young parents to think about when your 7 year old asks for their first mobile phone, which will also have internet, GPS, and 3-D games - but not email since that is so 1999...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1153583/Social-websites-harm-childrens-brains-Chilling-warning-parents-neuroscientist.html

Facebook learns it lesson?

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.996d5cb1e73d96f0dfd0871ab8daba1f.391&show_article=1

As facebook increases its reach and gets ready for Facebook Connect, the founder/CEO has reached out to the community to assure them that its far reaching power is standard and "Folks should just calm down."

Kindle 2 is here! well - it's in America...

In case anyone missed the press conference yesterday, the Kindle 2 has finally been unveiled and will be ready for order in 2 weeks.

It looks like it's still only available in the U.S., but hopefully Amazon will understand that people also like reading on this side of the pond and introduce it for sale in Europe soon.

Here are the improvements made:

• Thinner: 0.36 inches thick, 25% thinner than an iPhone
• Quicker: Turns pages 20% faster
• Longer lasting: 25% increase in battery life
• Better display: 16 shades of gray (was 4)
• Bigger memory: Stores up to 1,500 books
• Bigger vocabulary: Built-in 250,000 dictionary
• Better navigation: With a 5-way joystick
• More vocal: Able to read text aloud in a semi-robotic voice
• Less accident prone: The page-turn buttons are smaller and harder to hit by mistake
• More wired: New Whispersync technology

Full article on announcement can be found here: http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/02/09/amazon-unveils-the-new-kindle/

The Amazon.com homepage has a letter from Jeff Bezos to customers, which is a good demonstration of a multi-billion dollar company trying to make the customer feel part of a tight-knit community. http://www.amazon.com/

Compare the Meerkat

I would expect something like this more from a FMCG company than one with an actual online revenue model, but at least they're giving it a good shot. If not for this class I don't think I would be sending it to any of my friends as it's not somewhere I could spend a lot of time.

http://www.comparethemeerkat.com/home.html

On the other hand, this link is very forwardable and also shows the importance of the "misspelled search words" on google - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=cT18LZItBLA