There’s a ton of posting going on around the need to monitor the blogosphere to track conversations about your company and brand. Conceptually the idea’s been talked about for some time. In practice it now appears to be finding critical mass. A couple must-reads include Andy Beal’s beginners’ guide to tracking online reputations. It’s an impressive deep dive into the depth and frequency required to be truly tuned in through monitoring efforts. Another is from Tom Foremski on the mania of finding influential voices through a silver bullet tool or site. I wholeheartedly agree with his take that the best way to figure out who important bloggers are (as well as how to best engage) is to go into the communities as a participant versus spectator.

Technorati Tags: Blogs, Buzz, PR 2.0, reputation management

That’s the bottom line from this Age Age piece (registration required) on BzzAgent’s new game plan. It’s surprising more people haven’t weighed in on this development. In what could be a big-time advance for the word-of-mouth movement, the company is shifting its model to become a media company versus a conversational marketing firm. According to Ad Age:

Turning WOM into a medium — as opposed to just a marketing discipline or tactic — could do wonders for its stature, allowing agencies to buy buzz alongside traditional media buys. There’s even a rate card forthcoming this week. BzzAgent will look to join up as many as six additional agencies as partners this year.

A semantic change can make all the difference in the world, especially when dealing with new concepts that challenge convention. This represents such a shift and could have major ripple effects on the marketing movement in progress. Why?

1. By making personal networks synonymous with media networks (at least from a investment perspective), it further legitimizes the word-of-mouth as an established medium.

2. It changes the word-of-mouth business model to focus more on the development of personal networks at the expense of creative programming (which remains an agency domain). Look for others to quickly follow suit in developing similar broad-based as well as niche networks.

3. Putting the creative power within agencies that embrace conversational marketing could result in really interesting offers to consumers to pimp products. It will be interesting to see how creative word-of-mouth can get and how ethical standards will evolve with more $$ behind these programs.

4. The conversational marketing movement seems to be tracking towards a secure place, at least in the near term, within media and ad agencies versus PR firms. Ironic, considering PR has always riled on people-to-people communication to get the job done.

If you want to hear more about their plans you can go right to the source. BzzAgent’s brought on a full time blogger to document the inner workings of the company for 90 days.

Technorati Tags: Buzz, word-of-mouth, BzzAgent, Marketing, PR2.0

Don’t think technology is radically altering the marketing landscape? The NY Times reports today on Disney’s ambition to replace McDonald’s Happy Meals with portable media players that hold Disney movies, music, games and/or photos.

Technorati Tags: Buzz, Disney

Cyber Monday a myth? Random Culture and Fast Company’s blog comment on the myth and marketing of Cyber Monday, a creation of Shop.org to create some excitement beyond Black Friday.

Flash mobs makes a comeback on Black Friday. PFSK links to the blog documenting the “freaks” who turned Wal-Mart, and later Target, into a dance hall.

Million Dollar home page becoming just that. The creator, Alex Tew, sells advertising by the pixel. He divides a computer display screen in 10,000 squares selling advertising by the pixel at $1 per pixel (100 pixel minimum). Brand Autopsy highlights current results – $ $712,000+ in advertising and 600,000 to 700,000 hits per month.

Colleges promoting anti-social behavior. Dan Pink writes about a NY Times piece on the emergence, and significance, of video game majors at Carnegie Mellon and Georgia Tech.

Banned X-Box Ad Making the Rounds. Screenhead links to a recent Xbox 360 Ad, called entitled Stand Off, now circulating online.

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Technorati Tags: Blogs, Social Media, Public Relations, Contagious Media, Video Games, Flash Mobs, Marketing

Corey Stringer writes in today’s Detroit Free Press about the auto industry’s use of contagious media tactics. As with other sectors auto companies are dedicating more marketing dollars to appeal to consumers via the Internet with nontraditional and often controversial clips.  Stringer labels these as viral ads, which would leave you to believe that ad agencies are taking the lead role is establishing this media format (enter Crispin Porter).  But BK ’s antics could also be viewed as online media stunts that drive press coverage and buzz through the web. If you look at it from that perspective shouldn’t PR people have a greater focus on this game?

Technorati Tags: PR, Social Marketing, Buzz, Contagious Media, Viral Marketing

Jaffe posted yesterday on the BK Crying Game film. According to Ad Age, this has been one of the most viral clips ever shown on Heavy.com, with over 4.1 million downloads since November 1st. Beyond talking about the role BK and CPB may have played in its creation, he makes a great point about “the 99.9% of us that don’t understand or get it,” that related to content spread on the web. What we do know, as Carls Jr. and more recently Napster show, sex is still the #1 sell.

Technorati Tags: PR, Social Marketing, Buzz, Contagious Media

In advance of a new store opening outside of Boston , The Patriot Ledger acknowledges the savvy PR and buzz building prowess of Ikea. Countering more accessible and open conventions, IKEA’s cachet is built on perceived exclusivity of the products, we well as style for the price. The exclusivity factor is not an unplanned event as The Ledger points out. The company capitalizes on the demand built up among those who have no local store to visit. The madness has led to mob mentality. At London opening last month, five shoppers were hospitalized and scores were hurt when 7,000 shoppers surged inside.

Here in the Detroit area Ikea’s stoked up media coverage for a store opening literally years down the road. For the time being we’ll have road trip to Chicago (which a lot of people do) or wait patiently for the opportunity to camp out days in advance for a home town score. Link from Influx.

Actually it doesn’t matter. Jones Soda , the company that generated much buzz with its turkey -and-gravy-flavored soda, is at it again with a orange-hued fish-flavored drink. The launch of the smelly soda made the front page of CNN.com this morning and is firing up the conversation online. Today’s coverage follows on the heels of a great write-up in the current Business Week that celebrates the irreverence and social marketing prowess behind the brand. Founder Peter Vpon Stolk says he literally gave brand away to young consumers who have serious say in both product development and marketing of the beverage. Younger consumers cynical of traditional advertising gather at the company’s website to chat, blog and download stuff as part of the Jones community. Jones adds that the company is the first “audience participation” player in the beverage space. The payoff beyond the buzz – 30% annual growth in a flat market, great distribution through partners like Starbucks and Target, and $30 million in revenues (not to mention favored status on eBay where Turkey-flavored sodas fetch over $60 a pop).

The MIT Brand Cultures blog comments on The Bubble Project – a war on street ads that will undoubtedly get noticed. The idea is to stick as many as 15,000 bubbles on ads, movie posters, music promos, etc., found in and around NYC. People are encouraged to write in bubble quotes, most likely with off color stuff like this. Beyond defacing ads, the idea’s originator, Ji Lee, intends to make a buck. His plan is to re-canvass the city, photograph the best bubbles and produce a book with these images early next year.