Wedding Video Helping Chris Brown Repair His Tattered Reputation
If you’ve not seen this awesome video, take the time now. I’ll meet you on the other side and explain why I’m embedding it on Marketing Pilgrim.
OK, so why is this relevant? Well, apparently, Chris Brown–the guy singing the song Forever–is seeing a major reputation boost from the success of this viral hit. Despite the song being over a year old, it’s jumped into the iTunes Top 10 and is helping the singer re-build a reputation that was marred by his assault on then girlfriend Rihanna.
In fact, as Techdirt points out, the video is more popular than the official apology video Brown posted to YouTube!
It goes to show that when you face a reputation crisis, two things can happen:
- Your biggest fans can bring an authentic voice to your defense–there’s power in the perception of being accepted again by others.
- When someone with a good reputation fails us, we are willing to give them a second chance.
Of course, it also helps that we all love a good wedding! 
Will the Wall Street Journal Take a Real Shot at Social Media?
As I like to do when a post involves some ‘creative thinking’ I am warning you on this one. TechCrunch is ‘reporting’ the Wall Street Journal’s possible attempt at creating a social community (WSJ Connnect) that could compete with the LinkedIn set. I realize that outside of the Microsoft-Yahoo nuptials there has been little to discuss in the online marketing space as of late. With that in mind, since the TechCrunch piece includes the following it seems that it has to be taken with a grain of salt.
WSJ Connect is still in the planning/conceptual stages, says one source, but there is “strong interest” to move the project forward. Importantly, it would leverage the WSJ brand but would be a separate property and unencumbered by the need for a paid subscription to the newspaper.
In the planning stages with a strong interest could be applied to the idea of just about anything in any company. That being said, the supposed “LinkedIn Killer” would be a replacement for the WSJ Community which is part of the current WSJ site. I am a fairly regular reader of the Wall Street Journal and I am a site subscriber. Those two pieces of data make the fact that I didn’t even know that the current WSJ Community even existed pretty poignant. Now that I have gone to the site to look for it specifically, I see the link but I must have developed “community blindness” or something like it.
News Corp., as a whole, is not known for their ability to capitalize on the social media space. They own MySpace and we all know how that has flourished under its guidance. They do own a company called Slingshot Labs which will be tasked with building this WSJ Connect product if it indeed does see the light of day so they will not develop this in house as they did with the WSJ Community effort.
So rather than wonder what might happen based on ex-MySpace employees seeking some mention on TechCrunch, let’s ask a few questions of you, the MP reader. Would there be any interest in this type of community for you personally? If this idea actually came to fruition and was launched, who would you see as the demographic? What can a social networking community do to set it itself apart and possibly lure away some of the 15 million visitors that LinkedIn gets monthly? Is there room for more “straight business” social communities?
These are the kinds of questions that News Corp. and the WSJ need to ask themselves before they fully commit. It will be somewhat interesting to see if there is truly an attempt made to get this type of offering off the ground. I have been told that regardless how crowded a market or an industry is there is always room for one more GOOD player. What it truly takes to be good in the social media space, however, may be a barrier to entry that few can overcome at this point in time.
French Mapping Company Can’t Compete With Google, So Sues Instead
What if you had a pretty good thing going with your company? You had good market share, had decent revenues, and your software company was living high on the hog?
Then, then, Google has the audacity to enter the market and offer a completely free alternative. What would you do? You’d find a way to compete head-to-head and… sue Google, right?
That’s exactly the scenario playing out in France right now, according to TechSpot.
Citing unfair competition, Bottin Cartographies is demanding roughly $700,000 dollars in compensation. The heart of the matter is their web mapping services, which are made freely available to businesses around the world. While Google’s aim is to generate revenue through advertising, as it has always been, Bottin sees it as an attempt to stifle and swallow the market by undercutting any competitors.
Oh, my poor deluded, anti-American, French cousins. What in the world are you thinking? Do you know how many businesses have had to face the prospect of Google entering their market with a free offering? Just because you can’t figure out how to compete with Google, that doesn’t mean you can simply sue them. [Unless of course, that kind of thing is OK in France]
This case goes to court October 16. My advice to Bottin Cartographies is to man-up and grow a pair! 
Google’s “Show More Results” Link Goes Contextual
It seems like Google has changed the way they handle the “show more results from” feature, by removing the simple HTML link to a site command feature and by dynamically opening up several more results, within the same search results page. They are using an AJAX (JavaScript) driven plus sign box that adds an [...]
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SMN Webcast August 4: Andrew Goodman On PPC Campaign Automation
Next Tuesday, August 4 at 1 PM EDT, Search Marketing Now presents a webcast with Andrew Goodman on “PPC Campaign Automation: Bid Management, Alerts…the Works!” Not only will attendees benefit from Andrew’s PPC expertise—but three lucky attendees will win an Acquisio tee-shirt at the end of the webcast (and yes, you have to be [...]
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Want Solid SEM Benchmarks? This Report Has Them By The Boatload
Each year, Marketing Sherpa compiles an exhaustive look at the state of search marketing. Each year, these reports grow more comprehensive, reflecting the continuous change and evolution of our industry as it grows up. This year’s report is no exception.
The Marketing Sherpa 2009-10 Search Marketing Benchmark Report is 213 pages, and is divided into five [...]
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What Micro-Hoo Might Mean For Local Search
As the dust begins to settle on the Microsoft-Yahoo search deal, we’re finding that this week’s announcement raised as many questions as it answered. The companies told Danny and Greg that the agreement covers “web, image, and video search.” But what about the many search verticals that Yahoo and Microsoft are involved in? These are [...]
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Dear Senator (and Texas Gubernatorial Candidate) Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Here’s A Free Crash Course On SEO
standybykay.com, the “Kay Bailey Hutchinson for Governor Official Website” put up by “Texans for Kay Bailey Hutchison, Allan Shivers, Jr., Treasurer” over the weekend in support of Kay Bailey Hutchinson for Texas governer was briefly in Google, but now appears to be completely missing. Huh.
Odd since Bing seems to have indexed it just fine, although [...]
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Bing + Yahoo: What Does It Mean For Users?
The deal is done. Microsoft has swallowed Yahoo search whole and we can all be put out of our long, lingering misery. Yahoo has given up on search and thrown in the towel. But, outside this industry and our incestuous little gossip circle, what does it really mean for average folks? Does it make a [...]
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Search In Pictures: Yahoo Sneakers, Google Affiliate Network Party & BingHoo Deal Signed
In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.
Seeing Through Google’s Eyes:
Yahoo Sneakers:
Google Affiliate Network Summit Party:
Google Neon Desk Sign:
Ballmer & Bartz Sign Deal:
Google Rocket [...]
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