Buzz at its finest...

Recently, new sites have been surfacing that are changing the way people interact and causing a large increase in social-networking. These sites are the next wave in the social-networking craze -- popularized by MySpace and Facebook. Among these increasingly popular sites is one called Digg.com. The site launched in late 2004 and now has about 900,000 registered users and 20 million visitors monthly, the site says. Digg's content leans heavily on technology and science, but to help broaden its appeal, the site recently added new sections for entertainment and podcasts. Other sites include Newsline.com,Reddit.com, and one I mentioned in a previous blog, Del.icio.us.

Most sites are based on a voting model. Members will look around the Web for interesting items, such as video clips, blog entries or news articles. Then they will write a catchy description and post it, along with a link to the material, in hopes that other members find it just as interesting. Items that receive enough votes rise in the rankings and appear on the front page, which can be seen by hundreds of thousands of people. When an item is submitted by a popular or influential member -- one whose postings are closely followed by fellow members -- it can have a much better shot at making the front page.

These sites include people like 18-year-old Smaran Dayal, a high-school student who submits some 40 stories a week on Digg and has become a go-to source there for news about Apple. It are these top influential people that are doing wonders for brand's/site's image and circulation, proving more successful than most traditional ad campaigns.

On Reddit, one of the most influential users is 12-year-old! He sits at his desktop computer in his parents' home in the quiet northern Toronto suburb of Thornhill and monitors more than 100 Web sites looking for news on criminal justice, software releases -- and the Toronto Maple Leafs, his favorite hockey team. When Microsoft launched its Vista operating system this year, he submitted stories that discussed its security flaws and price tag, which attracted approving votes from more than 500 users.

An interesting side of this craze are companies like User/Submitter.com. The site promises to pay users "easy money" for "digging," or voting on, links on Digg.com. Its offer is simple: Pay User/Submitter $1 for every "digg," or vote, you request and in turn it'll pay a user. Users can earn 50 cents for every three "diggs," and User/Submitter pockets the difference. At any given time, a top submission on Digg has anywhere from 800 to 3,000 votes, meaning a successful campaign could cost thousands of dollars. Though the representatives of User/Submitter.com declined to identify themselves but said the company has successfully placed items on Digg's home page on behalf of its clients.

Due to this, there is huge debate over whether or not this new filtering content will pose a challenge to traditional media. Of course, I feel it will take some time to really see the effects of this question; however, it is not unrealistic. Site's like these have been pulling users away from magazines and TVs for quite some time now. With the increasing interactivity among these sites, users are finding less of a need to resort to certain traditional media.

As for now, I think these sites are great! You can hook them up with an RSS feed through your account and track over a hundred sites a day, checking out the latest trends. If you haven't already started suffering, I suggest you do so now!

(To check out a more detailed article, go here Wizzards of Buzz)

Did you see that?

Companies are trying hard to break free from the clutter and create a commotion with their advertisements. Thanks to guerrilla tactics and surprising strategies, marketers today are finding some clever ideas for their campaigns. Below are some of the newest campaigns and advertisements from companies that are breaking through...


This Lego campaign is awesome!
Most building companies in Chile don`t work on weekends, so some people at IDB-FCB decided to scope out some of the best locations of cranes. Hanging the giant fictitious Lego from the crane made it easy to grab everyone's attention and create a surreal effect. This was a good tactic due to its timeliness; the strategy was shown a month before releasing a new Lego product line of construction sets.



Axe has always been known for their funny and clever commercials--whether it be in magazines or on the TV. Now, they have taken this concept a step further and merged their campaign ideas into a hilarious guerrilla-street advertisement. This guerrilla tactic was created under Creative Director Veronique Hermans, at the Lowe agency in Belgium. These signs are hung in busy areas where people are constantly walking by (subways, restrooms, bus terminals, etc). The idea here is to get people looking at what seems to be a familiar sign ("walk" or bathroom sign), and then shock them when they realize it is a clever cartoon-ad of Axe. To help with its success, the ad clearly displays what the other campaigns have been stating: If you wear Axe sprays, women will flock to you.



Of course, advertising is not always meant to sell a product. Sometimes it exists to relay a message and even support a cause. The same is true for guerrilla campaigns. The members of BUND put globe-balloons on exhaust-pipes of cars in Berlin. When people started their cars, the exhaust gas inflates the balloons and blows them up to reveal a message: "The world can't take anymore...". Just when the message comes visible to passing viewers, the balloon pops! Though it may be rather startling, it sure will get people to remember the message that was cleverly placed on peoples cars.


These are all just a few samples of what's going on in the guerrilla world today. Though they are clever, it's important to note that they do not cause major problems with the cities and areas in which they are placed. Keeping the campaigns safe and relevant to the product/company message is vital.

(for more exciting campaigns check out this Guerrilla Blog!)