The Convo Blog – Culture, Technology, Marketing

Upon signing onto Twitter today I noticed in the right hand side of the screen the Trending categories of the moment. Amongst them was a sponsored trend, Old Spice. Out of curiousity, I decided to click through to their page. What I found was pure marketing genious. I noticed every Old Spice tweet was @tweeting someone a short comment and a YouTube video. The video was a personal response to the lucky selected few who had @tweeted him. I have no clue how Old Spice did it, but it sure got people talking. I was curious to see how many people had mentioned Old Spice in their own tweets and the numbers were countless. I tried myself to catch the attention of the strapping Old Spice man, but had no success. Old Spice has really recreated their marketing campaign recently with new television commercials showcasing the Old Spice man on a white horse doing manly things to this one-of-a-kind Twitter campaign. Go sign onto Twitter and check out the page and let us know what you think!

With the initial shock of the oil spill in the Gulf Coast wearing off and not much being done to resolve the issue, people are becoming more creative in ways of spreading awareness.  A new application that allows you to create an oil spill on any website is the latest tool out on the market. The app – A Cleaner Future – was the doing of marketing company, Mark & Phil and postproduction house, Greener Media.  The aim of the app is to raise awareness about clean energy alternatives and getting people to spread the word. When visiting the site, www.instantoilspill.com, you will be able to create your very own oil spill on your website of choice and will be given an inspirational quote and have the choice to send it to your friends (which I suggest doing!). A Cleaner Future is also in the works of creating a documentary about the communities affected by the oil spill, according to Ad Age. Since many people aren’t directly affected by the spill, we tend to forget about it and move on with our daily lives. The reality is that there are real people who are dramatically affected by this and need help and support. This application is one of the many that are educating people that there are energy alternatives and tragedies like this can be avoided in the future. What do you think about this app? Is it effective?

This past Thursday was the last Thursday of the month…do you know what that means? It means that we hosted our “Last Thursday” party! We are throwing themed parties in our penthouse suite every last Thursday of the month through August. Since the Cannes Film Festival was not too long ago, we decided that that would be the perfect theme! We worked hard to transform our office into a French Riviera all from décor to tasty French treats. Once stepping out of the elevator, guests had to fill out a quick survey about their opinion on award shows. Choices ranged from “They’re awesome, I love seeing the best work” to “They’re lame, it’s become an inner circle pat on the back.” After successfully completing the quirky ballot, VIP passes were given out, granting access to the party. Upon entering the office you were immediately floored by the delicious smells of fresh crepes being made for our wonderful guests. My personal favorite was the “Times Square” which had warm caramel apples inside and garnished with powdered sugar. Yum! There was also ham and swiss cheese croissants available for the taking. Upstairs where the party was really hopping, deejaysoul was getting everyone’s feet moving with some great music. To keep with the theme, our drink of the evening was a Cote D’Azur martini. This blue concoction was quite delectable and was being served in abundance. The weather was perfect for our rooftop party and everyone seemed like they had a great time. Our friend, Kelly Samardak was nice enough to write about us on her Mediapost blog, “Just An Online Minute“. Go check out the article and pictures and see how much fun we had!

I will be on vacation with intermittent access to email and phone messages. The last vacation I took resulted in my son throwing my phone into the pool. He was only one at the time, so I’m sure it was an accident. He’s three now, and might be more purposeful in his efforts to keep me relaxed.

For the sake of my iPhone, please route your customer service issues to our new President Georg at [email withheld], and for technical questions, please contact our service desk at [number withheld] for any tech help you might need.

Today is Conversation’s “Last Thursday” shindig. We send out an email reminding our friends to come on up to the penthouse and get their party on. Above is an automated out of office message we received that we thought was quite funny. It just goes to show how the iPhone can really hinder a working man’s rest and relaxation on vacation. Let’s just hope his son doesn’t get a hold of his phone this time around!