+ Washing In Green

Dean Street is not far from my place. Recently erected was this street sign.

Is this not the wankiest load of green washing you've ever seen?

+ Tell Me A Story

Via

+ Mumbrella Ella Ella

The only reason I haven't mentioned mUmbrella yet is because it seems obvious you should already be reading it. If this model can be successfully monetised, it will be the future of journalism.

Also Mumbles gave me some link love so I feel like I owe him. ;]

+ Size Doesn't Matter

Micro transactions. The new media business model that is going to save at least two industries and possibly cure cancer. Tying in nicely with the long tail, micro transactions work perfectly for a pirate ridden Gen Y and where traditional business models have failed.

Gen Y want everything free, but are happy to pay a small amount for instant gratification. If it's worth paying for, we'll pay for it.

Here are some examples...

+ iPhone Applications
While most applications for the iTouch and iPhone are free, some are priced incredibly cheap. Enigmo, a puzzle game priced at just $2.49, has made $1.8 million in sales.

+ iTunes Music
Apple's attempt to overcome piracy hasn't been 100% successful, but charging $0.99 for a song has certainly helped. Cutting out a number of middle men, both Apple and the artists have earned far more than through traditional sales of singles and albums. Television series and movies are slowly building momentum under the same model.

+ Second Life Avatars
While Second Life is now quieter than the audience of an Eddie Murphy movie, at its peak, 15 year old programmers were making enough to put themselves through college selling $0.40 avatars.

+ Ricky Gervais Audiobooks
Podcast turned Audiobook, for just $10 you can buy hours and hours of hilarious content that has made the Ricky Gervais trio millions.

+ Guitar Hero Downloads
Later versions of Guitar Hero allow you to jump online and download your favourite tracks to play against, in a somewhat similar fashion to the Apple Store. Aerosmith have more from Guitar Hero than from any of their album releases.

Micro transactions, with the ability to cut out any middleman, will be the way we produce, distribute and consume content in the very near future. What other examples are there?

+ I'm Not A Portrait

I've received a fair bit of criticism from these two recent posts...

+ I Am Gen Y: Consumption
+ I Am Gen Y: Communication

I attempted to explain my actions, but an insightful comment from Damian Damjanovski stated it nicely.

I am a caricature of Gen Y. I am not a accurate representation, and therefore not a portrait. Instead I emphasis and accentuate the most striking and interesting characteristics of this generation. So while there might not be many exactly like me, the majority are somewhat similar in at least one of their media consumption or communication habits.

As Craig Wilson said, "where there's smoke there's fire". Things are changing. What behavioural changes Gen Y doesn't exhibit, the next generation (whatever we're calling them) will be born inherent with them.

Perhaps I'd be a better portrait of the next generation...

As to how to overcome these changes and the problems they present for the media and marketing industry... stay tuned in the coming weeks.

+ Leave Seth Alone

Every six months or so somebody says something about Seth Godin's blog and the inability to comment. Laurel Papworth is the provoker this time with a very interesting post and an even more interesting discussion in the comments.

Hilarious video content with poor acting aside, Seth explains his reasoning...

"I think comments are terrific, and they are the key attraction for some blogs and some bloggers. Not for me, though. First, I feel compelled to clarify or to answer every objection or to point out every flaw in reasoning. Second, it takes way too much of my time to even think about them, never mind curate them. And finally, and most important for you, it permanently changes the way I write. Instead of writing for everyone, I find myself writing in anticipation of the commenters. I’m already itching to rewrite my traffic post below. So, given a choice between a blog with comments or no blog at all, I think I’d have to choose the latter."

I think that sounds reasonable. And, if you don't want to define his blog as a blog simply because it does not allow comments, then so be it. He's still writing the most interesting, thought provoking and remarkable content in the industry.

+ I Am Gen Y: Communication

I am your stereotypical Gen Y. Admittedly I'm probably a little more tech savvy and geekier than most but this is how I communicate.

I do not write letters.

This is a given. And certainly not something I need to blog about. Although an interesting side point says companies should just send my bills and statements electronically, please stop wasting paper.

I do not use a landline phone.

With a ridiculous capped plan on my mobile I have no need to use a house phone. It's a waste of money for me to pay any rental fees yet companies still insist I give them a mobile number and a home number when filling in forms. If you're a telemarketer and no ones using landlines in 20 years... good luck to you. And I use Skype for any long conversations.

I do not use email.

Okay, that's a lie. I use it and use it a fair bit. But my usage is slowly decreasing. With sms, instant messaging and Facebook chat/walls/notes, email is slowly becoming less important to me.

If you're using these channels to communicate to me, you could be in trouble in a couple of years. Much like in the way I consume media, if you're basing a business model off these platforms you need to rethink your approach.

+ Social Media Marketing Madness

This comic appears to be doing the rounds at the moment.

1 point for every person you recognise.

+ Consider The Pot Stirred

Okay okay, let's talk about yesterday's post.

To clarify;

+ I am not your stereotypical Gen Y.
+ Traditional media can still be effective for Gen Y.

If anything, I'm an innovator and an early adopter of technology. Most teenagers don't know what a blog is, let alone write one. Most of the popular haven't heard the term RSS.

And I certainly do not believe traditional media is dead to Gen Y. My point was more so about the business models, and how people keep trying to push them on a generation that won't accept them.

The post was deliberately provocative and certainly a conversation starter. Like every other self obsessed Gen Y, I do like to stir the pot every so often and earn me some attention.

If anything, I wanted people to take out of that post the fact that there are people like me, who do not consume traditional media at all. So if you're a marketer who wants to target me specifically, heritage media is a no go. The other point to take out is that in a generation or two's time, there's going to be a lot more people like me and the current business models are just not going to fly.

I don't know how to finish this post, so I'm going to throw it over to you guys. SMS 0400 949 184 either "A" or "B" to decide how I can best finish this post.

Option A
Most importantly, brands need to start getting it right today. You can't win a marathon if you're only just learning to crawl.

Option B
Most importantly, brands need to start getting it right today. You can't land on the Moon if you're only just inventing fire.

I Am Gen Y: Consumption

I am your stereotypical Gen Y. Admittedly I'm probably a little more tech savvy and geekier than most but this is how I consume my media.

I do not read the newspaper.

In fact I hardly even read newspaper websites. Instead I read blogs about topics I'm interested in. Some of it is news, but some is also entertainment, therefore removing my need for a newspaper at all. I use RSS to pull everything I want into one area. It doesn't waste my time with articles I don't read and most importantly it's free and for the most without interrupting ads.

I do not listen to the radio.

My iPhone has all my music on it. All of which I downloaded illegally and doesn't cost me a cent. It's as commercial free as Triple J, except all music I love. Through iTunes I download podcasts about news, marketing, comedy and my favourite, Hamish and Andy. Each day they are automatically downloaded and synced to my iPhone. My set up even allows me to listen to my iPhone through the car speakers.

I do not watch television.

What I don't watch on YouTube or what isn't a web series, I download. Again, illegally and again free. 2 minutes after a show has aired in the US it's sitting on my computer, ready to watch how I want and when I want. I sit my bed with my notebook or I watch on the train with my iPhone. I pause it when I want and most importantly, I watch without commercials.

If you're still using these channels to advertise to Gen Y, you're an idiot. And if you're producing media based on these business models, you're fucked.

Tag It

I don't publicly publish the tags or labels I use on each post. Probably because I'm never that consistent, plus I think it's a pretty useless tool. The search bar on the right brings up any mention in a post, so I can't really see their relevance.

But I went through my tag list and here are the most popular tags since I started blogging in September 2007.

+ Blogging (24)
+ Facebook (22)
+ Julian Cole (18)
+ Google (15)
+ Seth Godin (14)
+ Social Media (14)
+ YouTube (14)

What are your most popular tags?

What Lurks Beneath

Hey Michelle,

A little birdie tells me you have been known to read this blog from time to time. Why not drop a comment and say, "Hello"? ;]

And to the rest of my lurking audience (not that there's nothing wrong with lurking), it does help grow my ego when I get a comment from a new reader. So please, don't hesitate to comment if you have anything to say. Even if it's to disagree with me.

And certainly don't worry about looking like an idiot... I say something stupid on this blog every day!

Microsoftwear

Microsoft have launched a line of tees in order to make the brand appear trendier.

It's going to take a few years until they reach Apple's level. But I have to say I like a couple of designs and would happily purchase them.

Unfortunately you can't purchase any of the designs I'm interested in online. Idiots.

Poke That

I've never once poked someone on Facebook.

AdSensible Decision

I made a decision today. I will never have any AdSense running on this blog.

I am the angry mob who wants to burn all banner ads and interruptive media. The only way I'd be interested in monetising this blog is through sponsorship, even then it has to be relevant and beneficial to you guys.

I suppose that counts as a New Year's Resolution, yeah?

Timeless

"Our children now love luxuries. They have bad manners and contempt for authority. They show disrespect for elders and they love to chatter instead of exercise. Children are now tyrants not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up their food and tyrannise their teachers."

Socrates, 425BC

Thanks Jake.

Wiki This

I love Wikipedia.

Not only do I use it as a predominant tool for researching assignments (take that University lecturers) but I spend hours upon hours every week reading pages for my own amusement and education. In fact, it's not uncommon for me to have ten different Wikipedia pages open at once. This week alone I've read about a conspiracy theory, a science phenomenon, US Presidential impeachments, a box office flop and my favourite sitcom.

An incredible example demonstrating the power of community, collaboration, and connectivity. Today it is the eighth most popular website on the Internet.

Even more remarkably, Wikipedia has run for eight years with only 23 paid employees and is completely funded through donations.

Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder, has recently released an appeal for donations.

So. For every blog post from now until the end of January that mentions Wikipedia is in need of donations and links back to this post, I will donate $10. I know that's possibly some form of unethical link baiting, but I figure I will probably make a greater impact using your blog instead of mine.

It's not going to cure cancer, but I believe it is still a worthy cause.

Blogging About Blogging

And so we come to a new year. And with it, perhaps a new direction of my blog.

Perhaps you won't notice the change but I will. A slight diversion in what I limit myself to posting with perhaps a slight less focus on social media. While this will still remain dear to this blog and this blogger's heart, new media, Gen Y, technology, blogging and anything else that tickles my fancy will surely be covered.

Also different is a new design and a change in tone to perhaps some more fun and creative posts where I can. I've been inspired lately by the readings of many random non marketing blogs. That, along with the fact most people who know me would suggest I rarely take anything seriously, will together form perhaps a more casual approach to my blogging.

Should be a good year.