I should preface this by saying I've never been an outstanding university student. My results usually range from average to okay, occasionally I'll manage a decent mark if it's something I'm interested in (here's hoping for an HD in Electronic Marketing!). Anywho, I got my results for this semester. Failed a law subject. I think most other students would be a little concerned about this. It's a permanent black mark on my Academic Transcript. Yet I am not nearly as worried as I suppose I should be. When I threw out my resume, I threw out my Academic Transcript too. Anyone who asks to see it I think is asking the wrong questions. And even then, I think I'm better off focusing on other non curricular activities like this blog. But it doesn't really matter what I think. Potential employers could be reading this blog, so why not tell me, have I hurt my employability? Have I made it even worse by admitting in this public space?...

Before I get into it, should probably talk quickly about the Digital Marketing & Media Summit. It was okay.Julian Cole was kind enough to hook me up with a free ticket, and I certainly would have been annoyed had I paid $990. Even then I only hung around for half a day, the student in me decided to wait until after lunch before leaving.The best thing I got from the day was a couple of ideas for blog posts.For the audience there, they may have found some sessions useful but honestly most presentations were fairly dry. The exception of course was Julian's (it's possible that was only the case because I helped him out on stage).A question asked to Julian was what were some examples of social media marketing being done well in Australia. He talked about Bigpond on Twitter, which is a great case study, but even then they started out as a disaster.Clearly Australia is lagging. But before I get too pessimistic, I wouldn't mind building a list of Australian examples and case studies. So throwing it out to you guys, what Australian brands have used social media well?...

"Social media is more than just advertising", said Julian Cole at the Digital Marketing & Media Summit on Friday. So quotable that I wrote it down to blog about. I realised that without even intending to, I accidentally drew the line as to what is and isn't advertising when it comes to social media marketing, based on my two social media strategies. The first is Broadcast, which is in a sense advertising and marketing focused. The second, Response, however is simply customer service. Not everyone needs to market and advertise their product. But everyone should be engaging in and developing good customer service....

I guess this post is somewhat of a disclaimer.The way I write, I think many readers often assume one of both of the following points. Firstly, that I believe everyone should have a blog and secondly, that social media marketing is the answer to everything. This is not the case.I believe the potential a blogger has is incredible, but it would not be appropriate for every single person to write one. Just like some brands would have no benefit in writing one either.And social media marketing isn't the answer to everything. I hate traditional and interruption media and in five years your average marketing mix will have their roles very much minimised. But I'm the first to admit there are some amazing television spots, print ads and radio commercials out there and hey, once a year, I get a spam email that is actually useful. Traditional media can only get away with interrupting me if it's remarkable, and very rarely is this the case.So dearest readers, these two points are the grain of salt that my blog should be taken with....

Last week, Love Digital interviewed Seth Godin. This week they interviewed me. Cue the greatest anti climax of all time.The interview was a follow up on a previous post about marketing education.I've decided part of my degree should teach people how to handle interviews without sounding like too much of a knob....

As a current student I think I can provide an interesting perspective on the marketing industry, at least from the view of how it's being taught to soon to be graduates.Check out this article by Alana Taylor and pretty much replace the word "journalism" with "marketing". That's how I feel. Even as a student of one of, if not, the best marketing degrees in Victoria (modest, I know) the course is lacking. I can't help but feel that a student who graduates in two years (like myself) is going to be so far behind the industry it's not funny. Unless of course they're researching this stuff independently or learning and blogging about it on the side.I know as a blogger I'm far too bias towards the idea of blogging. But all evidence, according to my own personal experience, tells me that being active in this area is better than nothing. I imagine when I graduate I'll be fine, but what about everyone else?...

If you're trying to market a product to me, particularly through social media, try becoming my mate. A good start is to buy me a beer. Give me something of value for free, otherwise I can find another friend who will. But don't keep buying me beers all night, because after a while I'll start to think you have other motives. Eventually I'll get the next round to make it worth your while. Now you've got my thirst quenched (and yours), the next step is to earn the friendship. Hang around for a few hours and have a chat. Tell a story or two. If you're more of the quiet type, just sit back and enjoy the conversation. No yelling though. And you're not allowed to get us kicked out either. Though you can be inappropriate because that's what my mates do. But if you're out with my Mum then you should act like a gentleman. When I'm out drinking, I'm not looking to buy what ever it is you're selling me. But when I wake up tomorrow with a hang over I'll remember who you are. If you've been out with me and my friends on a few different nights, I'll know where to find you when I need to. Beer...