The Friday Breakthrough: Chrome Says Kiss Your Harddrive Goodbye!

The Friday Breakthrough Ottawa's weekly roundup of some of the internet's best marketing and social media articles for a less-than-intense day at the office.

How do you reach tech-savvy young men? Get inside their Xbox video games. A national security element of the British government is planning to do just that placing ads inside games like "Assassin's Creed II" and also the Xbox Live interface. Government intelligence organization targets recruits with Xbox Live ads.

Where my tweeps at? As if some people don't catalogue their life thoroughly enough online, Twitter enthusiasts can now geo-tag their tweets so that their location will be listed along with their message. Now You Can Tell Twitter Where You Are.

Canadian Members of Parliament have discovered Twitter. The results have been mixed--including a recent controversy over some unflattering comments from one MP to another--but one in three MPs are now on the micro-blogging service. Canadian Press describes the outcomes so far.

Google Chrome--the new operating system from the search engine giant--wants you to take all your computing online. Much like its Documents app, most of Google's new OS takes place on their servers. Is it the future of computing? Only time will tell... Ditch Your Hard Drives, the Future Is the Web.

Do you think you'd willing to put all your computing content online? Let us know! Leave a comment or send us a message @marketingottawa.

Top 5 Things Online Businesses Can Learn from the Ottawa Apple Store

When the Rideau Centre Apple Store opened in Ottawa, it was a quiet revolution for Mac and iPod fans. Finally they would have a place to go and worship their favourite consumer electronics.

But more than a place for nerds to drool over glossy 27-inch screens and the latest multi-touch devices, Apple stores, especially the one in Ottawa, represent a larger strategy for a company that can often seem based in the distant lands of California and the Internet. And it’s a strategy many online-only companies can learn from.

1. Give your company a face. I don’t know a single Ottawa Apple store employee, but I know what one looks like: Smiling face, colourful T-shirt, and name-tag lanyard. Putting the faces of your employees on your website can reflect a positive image in consumers’ minds. (We do a pretty good job of that here at MB.)
2. Give your company a location. Even in today’s digital economy, where many businesses are internet-based, giving your company a physical location can increase consumer trust and loyalty. Unlike your website, they can depend on your store, warehouse, or home-office being there tomorrow. List address information, or, better yet, include a photo of where you work on your website.
3. Make it shiny. Even if your store is small, it’s got to be eye-catching (that goes for your website too). People wander into the Ottawa Apple store all day long because of its unique layout; bright, open design concept, and grand, all-glass storefront. Potential customers will spend more time on your website if it’s visually appealing.
4. Don’t be afraid to sell your own product. If it’s good enough for the Internet, it’s good enough for the streets of Ottawa. One of the reasons Apple opened its retail chain was because it felt other retail businesses were not doing a good enough job of highlighting its products. If you believe your product or service isn’t getting the recognition it deserves, stepping outside the confines of the Internet can increase your product visibility.
5. Educate everyone. Sometimes it seems like Ottawa Apple store employees are simply there to promote products they believe in—the sale comes later. This ‘soft sell’ can educate customers about your products or services and implant positive selling points in their minds that they will recall later.

This is, of course, a simplified version of just some of the techniques that Apple retail stores employ and no one seems to be doing it better. Incorporating all or just some of these tips into your online business can increase consumer trust and loyalty, and improve brand recognition.

The Friday Breakthrough: Olympic Advertising Ambush

The Friday Breakthrough is a weekly roundup of some of the internet's best marketing and social media articles for a less-than-intense day at the office.

Marketers are taking advantage of the Olympic buzz in Canada by creating sports-themed advertising at an unprecedented rate. The only problem is that very few of these Olympic hype artists are official Olympic sponsors. 'Ambush marketers' fuel Olympic ad concerns.

Like this story states, there are more than 100 million blogs on earth, and it's no stretch to say that most of them are poor. Wordpress co-founder Matt Mullenweg picks his 10 favourite blogs. He must have temporarily forgotten about his favourite Ottawa marketing blog... right? Ten blogs to make you think.

Inspired advertising and a solid public image has led to an influx of recruits for the Canadian Forces infantry regiments--so many that they can't accept everyone who applies. I would argue this phenomenon has more to do with the constant stream of press that the CF is receiving with the war in Afghanistan, but in any case, it's been a boon for Canada's military.

Coca-Cola is taking its advertising message to the streets, signing up buskers in the London Underground to sing its Christmas jingle during the Holidays. The buskers will perform in Coke-branded areas and receive incentives for singing Coke's tunes. I would love to see the buskers on the streets of Ottawa get a little more coin in their hats, even if it was in the form of a cheque from Coke.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by all the Olympic-themed advertising lately? Leave a comment or send us a tweet @marketingottawa.

Say Cheese, Ottawa! Social Media Hits the Capital!

Call me a geek, but it truly warms my heart to see people using social media in unique ways to generate mass awareness. It warms my heart even more to know its being embraced by our very own city hall!

The City of Ottawa is running their first major social media campaign/contest called: Picture it downtown. The concept intends to draw awareness for all eight of downtown Ottawa's beautiful communities (Bank Street, Byward Market, Chinatown, Downtown Rideau, Preston Street, Sparks Street, The Glebe, and Wellington West).

Go downtown. Snap a picture. Share it online. It's as simple as that!

The recent recession has resulted in the City of Ottawa looking for a way to keep the city's economy humming by keeping citizens interested in Ottawa's downtown's core. What better way to showcase all the great sights, sounds, and excitement of Ottawa than to create a contest that interacts with the people?

It's brilliant!

The contest runs from October 15, 2009 to November 19, 2009 and incorporates the use of some of the Internet's most popular social media tools.

You can see the contest's pictures on: Flicker
You can watch the contest's videos on: YouTube
You can join the conversation about Ottawa's downtown on: Twitter

What's great about the content being produced is it shows real people in Ottawa interacting in some of the city's most exciting venues. With an extensive list of contest sponsors providing some great daily prizes, there are plenty of chances to win. Including nine grand prizes consisting of gift certificates, or prize packages, with a minimum value of $500.

I'd like to think the City of Ottawa was somewhat inspired by our good friend Luigi during the successful Catch Luigi Contest this past summer. Either way, it's great to see people, businesses, and city hall recognizing the marketing power of social media.

Say Cheese, Ottawa! Get out there and snap some pics!

For more information, visit Picture It Downtown.

The Friday Breakthrough: Pizza Hut Keeps Its Customers 'Appy

The Friday Breakthrough is a weekly roundup of some of the internet's best marketing and social media articles for a less-than-intense day at the office.

Pizza Hut recently announced that more than $1-million in sales have been completed using its iPhone application. A lesson to all fast food chains out there: The easier food is to order, the more of it people will buy.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs was named Fortune magazine's CEO of the Decade. The article mentions his control-freak nature, commitment to excellent products (rather than profits), and marketplace foresight (see: iTunes), but fails to mention his long-standing commitment to nerdy black turtlenecks.

Should Canada be more aggressive in its H1N1 awareness campaign? Here in Ottawa,we see the plain and simple ads in newspapers and on TV, but in Britain, their ads really play into people's fears and paranoia.

Should Canada's H1N1 ads be more frightening? Let us know! Leave a comment or send us a tweet @marketingottawa.

Metallica + Ottawa = 19,100 Free Downloads!

They took Napster to court thinking they could somehow curb the tide of online music. But now heavy metal superstars Metallica are singing a whole different tune when it comes to their online strategy, and the results have benefited both the band and their fans.

After their November 3 concert in Ottawa at Scotiabank Place, fans who didn't rush to get to their cars after the show (I had to wait 30+ minutes to leave the parking lot) received a business card-sized hand-out with a code on it. The code will allow fans to download a free recording of that night's show in 3-4 days.

Most of the time, Metallica charges $9.95 for a MP3 copy of their show, but fans in Ottawa got the download for free since the show had to be rescheduled a few weeks after tickets went on sale. The measure couldn't have hurt the concert itself - the show was packed full of 19,100 metalheads, and is among Scotiabank Places's best-selling concerts ever.

Like many artists, Metallica realizes that they can't dictate the conversation, but they can shape it with a few savvy digital moves. A few weeks ago, the band partnered with iPhone app-makers extraordinaire Tapulous to create Tap Tap Revenge: Metallica. The band won't get rich off this $4.99 Guitar Hero-style mobile music game, but it's an indication that they're being more progressive with their online policy.



A couple years ago, Metallica put its whole catalogue on iTunes, another signal that they're beginning to understand the online music marketplace. Metallica had let go of the idea that they can single-handedly dictate where their music lands up.

Moves have been slow and deliberate. After a few years of bad PR and digital stagnation, it seems that this band is finally getting the idea behind digital music: give the people what they want, or they'll just get it somewhere else. And now without a record label lined up for their next record, they're considering an online release.

For both Metallica and their fans, it's all good news. Now to go get my free download...

It's a Thriller! MB Staff Gets in the Spooky Spirit!

The Marketing Breakthroughs staff would like to wish you all a safe and spooky Halloween!

Pictured above:
Steve Klein - Captain Canada
Sarah Rainville - Stinky Skunk
Caitlin Hines - Medusa
Melissa Ray - The March Hare
Casey O'Brien - Geisha 1
Tania Glithero - Geisha 2
Krystal Bevin - Unknown...something Australian we think
Ben Myers - Hawaiian Tourist
Dave Delage - The New Ottawa Senator Mascot (Sparta-gator)
Derek Smith - Luigi Preston
Elise Goodhoofd - Pregnant Krystal Bevin