Instagram Hangs Itself

Instagram's fame as THE
photo-sharing app is in jeopardy.

Instagram released its new terms of service overnight, and the backlash has been swift and sharp.  No one knows yet how this will play out, but many Instagram users are threatening to leave the service.

So what happened?  Their updated terms of service state that "you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you."  Ouch!

If the debate gets any hotter, there could be government intervention or a law suit, which would hurt the company even more that user abandonment!

Instagram's response, so far, has been to say that this was a move taken to better integrate with its parent company, Facebook, which already does this a little.  I've seen ads that list profile photos and names of my friends as "Likers" of other pages that I should also, apparently, like.

The Marketing Take-away
This is a two-edged sword for marketers, because we LOVE to use customer data for our own purposes, and photos are part of that.  But with the severe infringement on people's personal information and images could cause consumers to lose confidence in companies that use this type of information to sell products or services.

My advice to marketers and companies?  Wait it out and see what happens before making the move to use people's Instagram photos and metadata to marketing anything?

Now tell me: what do YOU think about Instagram's new terms of service?

-MJP

Man of Steel hits 10 MILLION VIEWS!!!

When I was a kid, I absolutely LOVE getting to the theater early enough to catch all the previews!  Now, I just watch them all on YouTube.  The most recent one was the second trailer for Man of Steel, the Chris-Nolan-produced Superman reboot.

Nolan-branded entertainment is popular right now, thanks to his recently-completed Batman trilogy.  This latest Superman movie trailer got to 10 MILLION views in just three days, which points to an excellent opening next June.  I know I'll be going; will you?

Click "Read More" to view the trailer and continue reading!

Pilgrimage - A Novel of the Sovereign Era

I don't often do this, but I feel like I owe it to Matthew Wayne Selznick to try and help support his Kickstarter campaign; his novel, Pilgrimage - A Novel of the Sovereign Era, is a sequel to Brave Men Run, one of the first podcast novels EVER!  I read the first one and have been a fan ever since!

Click below to watch the video trailer for the book and to read more about Kickstarter and crowdfunding.

Is the Twitter logo change a good thing?

The answer, quite frankly, is NO!  Yes, they may be wanting to convey upward movement, and psychologically, that's probably a good move; the old bird seemed to be flying horizontally.  The problem is that the new bird looks like a clip art graphic, which, for a major Internet brand, is probably a step in the wrong direction.  The old logo, with its little tuft of hair, was more personal.  Click below to see the picture!

Who wants some Ronald tonight?

GEICO is famous for its funny ads, many of which have very little to do with insurance.  This one is my new favorite, and I was super-excited to find this uncut version of it!  After you watch the uncut version, check out the second video. It's the actual ad that appeared on TV, and I enjoyed seeing how they added text and re-cut it to act as a GEICO commercial.

Please leave a comment letting me know about YOUR favorite GEICO commercial!

Playing with your phone on YouTube

This is a pretty funny song, but the message is clear for marketers: mobile marketing has MASSIVE potential!

Brand Symbols, Part 1

The almighty NES controller!

When they originally released the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in the United States, it was a smash hit, including my home.  Due to parental controls - in those days, that actually meant "parents" - I could only play it for 30 minutes every weekday.  Weekends were different, of course, and Saturdays were when the controllers got the most sticky from sweat and food residue.

A successful viral video

I haven't listened to the radio in a long time; mostly, I've just been listening to books non-stop.  Also, I'm not extremely active on Twitter, so I totally missed out on this gem of a music video.  It's unique, the song's catchy...and the marketing implications of this video are amazing!  Read my full post to view the video, too!

MORE cheap ways to help your "personal brand"

In my original post, "Cheap ways to help your 'personal brand'...," I mentioned two specific methods: improving your LinkedIn profile and setting up a professional blog.  I still recommend these two methods to everyone.  However, looking back, there was WAY more I could have said!

To keep with the theme from the first, however, I'll mention only two others:

The best of James Bond, in ONE novel!

From an article in The Guardian:


In a shocking turn for the debut novel by Q.R. Markham, Assassin of Secrets, the US publisher is recalling all copies and offering refunds to those who have already purchased the book.  The UK publisher is taking back all copies of the book before it is released there this week.  Why are they doing it?

The answer is simple: plagiarism.

Making money through "charitable contributions"

Seth Harwood's Latest
Print Release

Check out this link: http://kck.st/piYHWd.  It'll take you to a page where one of my favorite authors, Seth Harwood, is raising money to help fund an independent book release.  While it might not be ideal for all situations, it seems to be a viable new way to get some initial funding through, what is essentially, charitable giving.  It's actually a genius idea to offer people the chance to be listed as a contributor IN THE BOOK if you send some cash his way.

Minor Leauge Player Falls into Marketing Gold!

Recently, a minor league outfielder facilitated a triple play with his head. His quick reaction and cool execution, despite what must have been a decent headache, could be used to promote the team and help his career. The key will be to market the incident properly.

Google+ Gets Verified!

The Internet is a crazy place, and there are all types of even CRAZIER people using it! Verification on Google+ and other social networks for celebrities and other public figures ensures that when I try to follow my favorite movie star, I can. There's nothing worse than following someone, then finding out that it's actually a 17-year-old kid in Korea.

Sorry about the J.K. Rowling video!

I'm sorry to everyone for the J.K. Rowling video post that seems to be covering up the widgets to the right of the video. I can't seen to get it any smaller!

-MJP

The Color of Money

No, I'm not talking about the movie with Tom Cruise and Paul Newman; I'm talking about something green - hence, the "color of money" reference - but also tasty.  It's a client I'm working for right now: Kicking Lizard.

A Helpful Reminder

I like email lists, sometimes, and have been known to sign up for A LOT of them.  Most get forwarded directly into folders so that they don't clutter my inbox, but there are a few that stay in front of my eyes.  One of my favorites is the BrandAid from Killian Branding, a marketing firm in Chicago.

Logos through the Ages, Part 3

"Fall into the Gap!"

That's the most recent Gap slogan I can remember, and I think that was a WHILE ago.  To the right was their new logo for a week back in October.  It's not a bad logo, but it's SO different than the look of their older logo.

For Social Media Jugglers...

Click on the title to be re-directed to one company's take on juggling social media. The most relevant point for me was the suggestion to simplify. Yes, I can try to be on as many as possible, but when the possibilities are at the expense of quality, I should stop. When I have to decide between commenting on a friend's blog post or signing up on Digg, I should forget the latter.

Post a comment about your challenges juggling social media. I'd love to hear what you think!

- MJP

Wasting time like a pro!

I just read an article on SocialMediaToday.com called, "6 Ways to Waste Your Time on Social Media." Click the title of this post to go directly to the post. It did a great job of pointing out some fairly common ways that a lot of people, including myself, waste time in the social sphere.

Nudge, Nudge

Thank you to all the people who've been reading this blog. I really appreciate it, and in an effort to shamelessly self-promote the brand, I would ask everyone who reads to scroll down on the left-hand side bar to the blog's Facebook Fan Box. Click on the button, "Become a Fan."

My goal is to have everyone that reads this blog to go and become a fan. For now, the only thing you can expect is a big, fat "thank you" from yours truly. However, in the future, there could be prizes involved for Facebook fans of the blog. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.