A small credit union in provincial Canada has embraced social media with stunning results by relating
directly to a desired market in an open and friendly manner.

Common Wealth Credit Union in Alberta launched the Young and Free Alberta initiative 12 months ago, searching for a spokesperson for their Under 25’s fee free chequing account. The winning candidate was the bright and bubbly Larissa Walkiw who then proceeded the immerse herself, and the Young and Free campaign, in social media.

The execution has been sensational and the response very impressive. In an industry that desperately seeks to attract customers at a young age (remember the piggy banks and school accounts in Australia anyone?) so they can try and keep them for life, the Young and Free Alberta initiative has been remarkable.

For me some of the key observations are that the company has someone totally dedicated to being the voice and face of the campaign. Its not just a token online effort, Larissa is also actively attending events and communicating the Young and Free message at numerous venues and forums.

I recently interviewed Larissa as part of the Social Media Success Stories series. You can also read interviews with Tim Jackson from Masi Cycles and Bryan Inch from RaboPlus.

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A selection of current articles that should be of interest to traditional, digital and social media marketers in Australia:

Newspapers’ battle for survival. Are metro broadsheet papers around the world under threat as broadband continues to deliver information faster with reduced delivery costs?

The Beijing Olympic Games a big boost for Seven’s profit.

FAIRFAX Media will outsource much of its editorial production function for its flagship Sydney and Melbourne newspapers to an offshoot of news agency Australian Associated Press, as part of a radical new experiment in Australian journalism.

Facebook proposes engagement ads as part of its next attempt to monetize the social media giant.

Finally at Adweek in the USA, Allan Wolk delivers an excellent essay on The Real Digital Revolution that should have agencies and marketers everywhere seriously considering their future strategies.

Happy reading.

Source: Rachel Browne, Sydney Morning Herald

THE traditional 30-second television advertisement is under threat as viewers use new technology to skip ads and companies increasingly turn to product placement to spruik their brands.

Australia is the world’s third-largest paid product-placement market after the US and Brazil and advertisers are expected to spend almost $280 million on product placement in Australian television programming this year, custom media research firm PQ Media says.

The trend for product placement on TV shows is partly due to the introduction of personal video recorders such as TiVo and Foxtel iQ, which make it easier for viewers to avoid commercial breaks.

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The Beijing Olympics produced the expected ratings win for Prime, but the second week wasn’t nearly as convincing as the first for the Olympic broadcaster.

NBN finished the week with 5 of the Top 10 programs in Newcastle, including the top 4, Prime only had 4 despite the Olympics, while SC TEN had 1.

Overall Prime won the week and the fortnight but NBN minimised the damage. Today television viewing returns to normal programming and Prime will be looking for a post-Olympics kick with a spate of new programs launching.

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Source: David Dale, Sun Herald blogs

Of course Channel Seven won gold for attracting the biggest numbers last week — an average of 1.9 million viewers in the mainland capitals every night and 43 per cent of the prime time audience — but who won the silver and bronze? Nine got six programs into the Seven-dominated top 30 for the week, with its Sunday news and 60 Minutes pulling 1.4 million, and A Current Affair 1.1 million (not much less than its average in non-Olympic times). So that’s a silver for Nine.

And the bronze must go to the ABC, which managed three top 30 performers — its weeknight news with 1.1 million and Doctor Who and Spicks and Specks, both with 1 million. The Doctor scored strongly again last night, with his most interesting episode so far this season. Stay out of the shadows.

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Source: Reuters and smh.com.au

After years of false starts aimed at bringing the web to TV sets, Yahoo said it is working with Intel to create web computer channels that run alongside TV shows.

The web company and world’s largest chipmaker are working on what they call the "Widget Channel", which will enable TV viewers to interact with and watch a dynamic set of TV widgets - small web-based applications that complement TV shows.

Widgets will appear in the corner of a TV screen and work something like a picture-in-picture window of advanced TV sets.

These small windows let viewers chat with or e-mail friends, watch videos, track stocks or sports teams or keep up with news headlines or weather by using a TV remote control.

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Some of the best and brightest social media marketers and commentators gathered in Sydney last night for an informal drinks and dinner including an appearance from US marketer Joseph Jaffe.

Originally intended to be a Jaffe meet-up while he is in Australia, local bloggers and marketers took it as an opportunity to put a face to the name of many of the online identities involved in the Aussie social media conversation.

Amongst those present were: Julian Cole, Gordon Whitehead, Gavin Heaton, Jenni Beattie, Scott Drummond from Marketing Magazine, Joeseph Jaffe, Katie Chatfield, Zoe Scaman, Ian Lyons and more. (Sorry if I left anyone out).                                                                     

The enthusiasm, ideas and war stories were infectious and it seems there are some exciting initiatives on the way with many of the participants, including new client campaigns and new business developments.

Best of all it was just nice to put the social into social media.

Picture- Joseph Jaffe and Julian Cole. Katie Chatfield in background.

One of the great things about checking traffic to your site is finding new links that have directed people to you and then exploring those sites. This week my online meanderings have unearthed a few sites I either hadn’t been aware of or hadn’t visited yet.

Laurel Papworth is a Top 100 Australian blogger, who is regularly interviewed about social networks in international press and on Australian TV shows and Radio National, Vogue Australia, The Australian and the Fin Review, SMH, Telegraph, and various magazines. Her Social Networks blog provides excellent insight into social media, participatory journalism and user-generated content.

Laurel recently posted about Australia’s most influential bloggers and was kind enough to mention Media Hunter. The post touches on some of the media and marketing lists such as AdAges Power 150 and AdSpace Pioneers. Overall its a good introduction to some of the best marketing content online.

Naked Bear Media is a new blog on the block by digital marketer Sean Smith. I have only just come across this one but I like what is see so far. Sean doesn’t seem afraid to make some bold statements and ask good questions. In just a few posts he has lined up Twitter, the iPhone and NineMSN. Good stuff.

Newcastle TV ratings week 33, 2008

Prime has enjoyed a massive Olympics ratings boost for the first week of their Beijing coverage winning their first Newcastle TV ratings in 4 years.

The first week of competition saw prime gain a commanding 11 point lead over NBN, while Southern Cross TEN was another 11 points further back.

NBN’s news proved to be too irresistible, however, for local viewers who switched over each night in large numbers. This would be a concern to Prime who would be hoping the Olympic coverage introduces more viewers to their news and upcoming programs. If they won’t even stay around for the news during the Olympics, how will they stay when its all over?

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Source: David Dale, Sun Herald blogs

Did Australians watch anything other than the Olympics last week? Answer: yes, and the ABC reaped the benefits of offering an alternative to nationalism. Its most popular shows barely suffered a dent in audience — ABC Sunday news and Spicks and Specks drew 1.1 million, Dr Who drew 1 million and a repeat of Agatha Christie’s Poirot drew 994,000 on Friday before the great writer herself met Dr Who himself on Sunday night.

Channel Nine’s entries in the top 30 for the week were 60 Minutes , the Sunday news, and the weekday news (for the full chart, go here). Ten’s best affort was a repeat of NCIS. Picking up Seven’s leftovers, SBS scored with the women’s cycling road race (725,000) and Men’s Archery (399,000). And it was business as usual for Pay TV, with 224,000 for NRL Titans v Knights (Fox Sports 2), 208,000 for NRL Wariors v. Sharks (Fox Sports 2), 191,000 for Project Runway Australia (Arena) and 165,000 for American Dad! (Fox 8).

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