Carter’s posterous

There Is This Company

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Here's something I've been thinking about for some time now.

You see, there is this company.

It publishes over a hundred RSS feeds and several email newsletters, but not a single blog.

The only conversations this company entertains are the ones it starts itself or is subpoenaed into.

Conversations it doesn't like, it tries to silence.

It has sued some of its biggest fans.

It is not known for responding to online complaints about its products.

On MySpace, the profile that should have belonged to this company is occupied by a DJ.

On Flickr, it's someone from Japan.

Last month, it has opened several accounts on Twitter, which it uses to broadcast product news. Four of them follow exactly four other accounts; the fifth one follows twelve.

It has two Facebook pages and no applications.

It doesn't have a channel on YouTube to post viral videos.

Its website has a "Share" link. The link opens a pop-up window with two fields: your email address and the recipient's.

It runs an affiliate program.

Once, this company liked a student video so much it re-shot the video into an 30-second ad. A search for "crowdsourcing" among its press releases returns no matches.

You know that quip about how advertising is the tax you pay for being unremarkable?

This company spends nearly half a billion dollars on advertising every year. Much of this money is spent on 30-second spots, full page newspaper ads, huge billboards and station domination, online banners, and search ads.

This company thinks so different it must have fallen off a cluetrain.

People dress up as this company's ads for Halloween.

This company sits on the top of Fortune's list of most admired companies.

(update)

via AdLab

I once asked Jim Riswold about research. He’s my mentor and still scares the crap out of me, even though he’d like to think he doesn’t. He said here’s the greatest thing about research : “You don’t ask people what they want. Because if you asked a bunch of kids what they’d want in a cake, it’ll be 99% icing and 1% cake. And then they’d eat the cake, be sick and they’d blame us”. Which is what often happens in advertising.

Enjoyed this interview with Kash Sree. I'm not one to read every interview w/every ad genius but every now and then it can be inspiring. And I like  @pereiraodell's work. Interesting to hear him talk about his evolution as an ad guy. He's been at big shops and boutiques so a unique perspective. And love the Bruce Lee/marital arts analogies.

ihaveanidea.org has updated their site since my last visit (been awhile). They seem to do a nice job - some relevant and interesting nuggets in there. As opposed to the  run-of-the-mill how to get a job, death of the tv spot stuff on other sites.

Thanks to all those who serve on Veteran's Day.

Found on flickr.

Cool blog.

Liked this post mucho grande. Finding clients are more receptive to social media ideas but there's still seems to be a lack of understanding about how they really work, and a reluctance to learn more. People calling the shots aren't very active on social media and the result is watered-down, at best. Sort of a "we checked off the social media box" type of thinking but not paying attention to how each individual channels operate. And assuming people are out there waiting to post about their product. Why will they post? Because we told them to. "See? Third line of copy? Post on Facebook. Twitter. And Flickr. Our shit is going to blow up."

via @BBHLabs - Speaking of understanding social media, highly recommend them, a dynamic, intriguing and educational Twitter feed.

Got turned onto this post from @LenKendall via @BBHLabs. Interesting topic (and movie) questioning the amount we share online. It's a difficult question and Len brings up some good points. Does posting something online make us strive to improve it? I'd say yes to that but it also censors me. Quite a bit actually. I find myself questioning whether I should tweet or blog about things - will anyone find this interesting? Is it off topic? Do I even have a topic ? Should I post my own political rants? Will I turn readers off?

It's one of the reasons I don't Facebook as much anymore. It just got too personal. Missed my privacy. Try to keep Twitter a little more professional but l do stray at times. For me, Twitter and the blog are more about sharing cool stuff, rather than exposing my life.

I think.

But the line does begin to blur. I guess the point is I don't really know. I really started this blog to learn more about the Internet, social media and what not - it didn't have a content theme. My hope was one would eventually evolve, felt like it should, again the internal - must impress readers. But I think it's just going to continue as is - rambling and random. Or maybe I shouldn't have told you that?

The contiguous United States. Visualized by distance to the nearest McDonald's. I'm not loving it.

Created by Stephen Von Worley. Found on PSFK.com.

Konstantin was born in Sochi, Russia. He ran the largest fighting academy in Russia. Ultimately he became a threat to both the KGB and the Russian mob because he welded too much power with his web of students and teachers, all of whom could kill with their bare hands. After coming home too many times with a grenade in his hand, ready to pull the pin if the KGB was waiting for him, Konstantin snuck out of the country with $300 in his pocket.

Writer tries hand at ultimate fighting. Article worth it for this paragraph alone.