Virgil Griffith is my new hero, and should go down in history as one of the hero’s of Open Source right up there with Linus Torvalds (Linux) and Marc Andreessen (Netscape and the Mozilla codebase). In fact, if there isn’t an award for Open Source Hero’s- there is one now- and I’m bestowing it on Virgil.
Virgil devised the Wikipedia Scanner- a software program that can reveal who changes Wikipedia entries. Some of the first findings were that major corporations, as well as politicians are out there trying to smear their competition or cover up their flaws by changing and deleting info from Wikipedia for their own benefit. His software isn’t perfect, depending on IP addresses of editors being able to be linked back to the perpetrator, but, it’s a start.
Some of the marketing brand catches:
maltaStar.com
As soon as the software was launched on the internet, chaos erupted.
Among many revelations, Wikipedia Scanner reported that:
Microsoft tried to cover up the XBOX 360 failure rate
Apple edit Microsoft entries, adding more negative comments about its rival
Bill Gates revenge? Microsoft edits Apple entries, adding more negative comments about its rival
Exxon Mobil edits spillages and eco-system destruction from oil spillages article
Oil company ChevronTexaco removes informative biodiesel article and deletes a paragraph regarding fines against the company
Dell Computers deletes negative comments on customer services and removes a passage how the company outsources work to third world countries
EA Games deletes whole paragraphs of criticism about employment practices and business methods
Fox News removes all controversial topics against the network from the Fox News page
Nestle removes negative comments on its business practices from its page
DieBold, the company that controversially supplied computerised polling stations in the US elections, removes numerous paragraphs with negative comments
Walmart removes criticism of outsourcing work. The retailer also changes negative paragraphs of underpaid workforce
Sony removes harmful paragraphs against blu-ray systems
Coca Cola removes negative content about its effects
Boeing edits from “Boeing is a leading American aircraft and aerospace manufacturer” to “Boeing is the leading American aircraft and aerospace manufacturer”
MSN Search is “a major competitor to Google”. That’s what MSN added to their page
Griffith created the tool to “create minor public relations disasters for companies and organizations I dislike,” he said on his web site. He admitted that it’s impossible to be sure if the edits were made by someone working at one of the organizations, although the I.P. address reveals that they were made by someone with access to their network, he says.
Griffith came up with the idea when he “heard about Congressmen being caught for white-washing their Wikipedia pages,” he said.
“If the edit occurred during working hours, then we can reasonably assume that the person is either an agent of that company or a guest that was allowed access to their network,” he wrote.He said he believes that anonymous speech is important for open projects like Wikipedia. The online encyclopedia works fine today for “noncontroversial topics,” he said, but tools like Wikipedia Scanner can help make the site more reliable for controversial topics, he said.
While the idea of negativity about your brand may send some CEO’s into a toxic meltdown mode- the reality of the new paradigm is quite different that it was back in the stone age (before Search and the Cluetrain Manifesto)
In fact, Cluetrain Theses #12 comes to mind:
There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone.
Corporate brand managers are loathe to admit that the best they can do now is learn how to respond properly and with grace. Denial is no longer a PR strategy. Hoping customers won’t find out about product flaws, competitors advantages or pricing inequities is a thing of the past.
The key to good brand management in the world of Web 2.0 is the same as the motto for Google: Do no evil. The companies that realize the best marketing tool is delivering the best product, best service, best price in the humblest of ways. Anything else- and you’ll be hung out to dry.
Thank Open Source Hero #1 Virgil Griffith for insuring brands behave.
The line was too long for our rushed lunch in Chicago to eat at Roti. But the place was so cool, we decided to stop in and take a look after the rush was over.
Very cool- looked like it was worth the wait, nice design, fascinating menu (which I picked up to bring home to Dayton) and so I thought I’d snap a few pictures for my mental library of things I like-
that’s when the owner rushed up and told me “No pictures” and gave me the third degree on why I might want to take pictures. Well, I was going to say something wonderful about his place, but now, I’d rather just share this story on how to make a really crappy first impression.
Roti was founded as a collaboration between friends with a vision to bring Mediterranean food to the casual restaurant marketplace, with an emphasis and focus on healthy alternatives, freshness and superior quality.
Since I wasn’t allowed to take pictures- I’ll have to share the ones from their site. Readily available- to everyone.
In a networked world you are not in control- your customers are, and good or bad, they tell everyone.
I don’t have time to sit and watch Steve Jobs introduce the new iMac and iLife while tethered to my high speed connection- but, man, this would be great to watchon my iPhone on the plane to Chicago tomorrow, so I bop on over to Apple’s site and there it is:
Apple - QuickTime - Apple Special Event - August 2007
Watch Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveil the all-new, redesigned iMac and demo new features in iLife 08, iWork 08, and .Mac. See the video-on-demand event right here, exclusively in QuickTime and MPEG-4.Voiceover users click here to listen to keynote address.
The problem- even with Quicktime Pro, I can’t save it to my desktop because they have it as streaming media… oops. Went to the iTunes store- and it’s not there either.
Either you fully embrace the idea of video anywhere anytime or you don’t.
Lesson to marketers: make your video, commercial, training film, industrial video available to anyone, to watch anytime if you want to get maximum bang for your marketing dollar.
To all the über creatives out there about to launch your new “hot agency”- a few words of advice: launch a site before you send out your press release telling the world that you are open for business.
If I was a client, I’d assume that an agency is the first to realize that people can’t buy from you if they can’t find you, so, start off with your best foot forward.
Please note: this also means, don’t waste your money on a fancy Flash site- save that for when you are too big and don’t want business (unless you are really smart and know exactly how to make a Flash site that is both accessible for the blind- and search friendly- which few of you do). Google doesn’t like Flash much- and so all those people googling to find start-ups like Goodness Manufacturing, Toy, Barrie D’Rozario Murphy, and Brew Creative are ending up on some upstart agency site like this to find a link to your site.
There is also a bit more to it- web 2.0 and search require more than a brochure site- you have to continually add and update content to make your site relevant to search. If your agency doesn’t understand this, we’re happy to offer our consulting services to help you get the results you want.
My father was a copy editor for a major newspaper. Facts counted back then- apparently, that skill has been lost- when Ad Age continues to ad to the legend of Crispin Porter + Bogusky by saying an office that opened on Sept. 10, 2001, was “shuttered in the 1990’s.
Advertising Age - Five Crispin Refugees Set Up Shop in L.A.
There’s a new creative boutique gunning for Crispin Porter & Bogusky’s hotshop crown — and it’s staffed with five of the agency’s own.
Setting up shop in Venice, Calif., just blocks from an office Crispin opened (and later shuttered) in the 1990s, are a cadre of the agency’s former staffers — some of the minds behind a handful of the shop’s most high-profile and envied campaigns for Burger King, the “Truth” anti-smoking movement, Best Buy’s Geek Squad, Miller High Life and Ikea. Their fledgling agency will be called Goodness Mfg. and led by three former Crispin creative directors who resigned last week, along with two others who left previously.
The natural evolution of great creative shops should be the spawning of more creative shops. When I visited Portland Oregon about 10 years ago, it was clear that the caliber of the entire market was elevated by having Wieden + Kennedy in the ‘hood. It’s interesting to see that CP+B is spreading its seeds all over- with Alex Bogusky stating that Toy in NYC as a CP+B offspring- and now Goodness Mfg. in Venice.
Mr. Bogusky put the number of Crispin employees at 600, with 80 in the creative department. He also pointed out that this is not the first shop to break away from the agency — the first was Stick & Move, based in Philadelphia. Mr. Bogusky also considers Toy, under Ari Merkin, to be inspired by Crispin. “I think of myself as the father and Chuck [Porter] as the mother.”
However, for the kings of new media- it’s going to be hard for them to land new business- since they don’t seem to have a site up at either www.goodnessmfg.com (16 July 07 update- holding page is up) or goodnessmanufacturing.com and have cloaked their identities through the registrar. Another question arises in a google search where it seems that there is already a “Goodness manufacturing” out there- and it isn’t anything to do with advertising.
Considering that Crispin Porter + Bogusky is considered a leading new media agency, it’s odd that they, or their spinoffs don’t practice what they preach.
The payola scandals of the Fifties were a black-eye on commercial radio, where record labels would pay radio stations to play certain albums.
Now with corporate and satellite radio controlling the airwaves, and internet radio still in the nascent stages- the best way to get your songs played to mass audiences is to sell your song to a major advertising campaign. When Wieden + Kennedy bought the Beetles “Revolution” for Nike there was a major outcry of selling out. (Personally, this commercial still makes me love advertising- and what I do)
But, besides bringing new exposure to old hits- or even hits in the making- there is also an area of concern for artists- will they be seen as selling out? Some artists have sworn off commercialization of their art- Bob Dylan taking a hit for selling music through Starbucks for instance.
So, when Crispin Porter + Bogusky follows in the footsteps of Arnold by putting Wilco’s “Sky Blue Sky” into a campaign, Wilco fights back- and in the tradition of David Ogilvy who believed you should use the products you shill, admits to driving V-dubs.
Pitchfork: Wilco Explain Volkswagen Ads
After millions of infuriated Wilco fans around the globe set fire to their copies of Sky Blue Sky and drove their Jettas off cliffs yesterday, Wilco took it upon themselves to explain their recent involvement in a Volkswagen ad campaign.
“With the commercial radio airplay route getting more difficult for many bands,” wrote the Chicago sextet on its official website, “we see this as another way to get the music out there.”
They continued: “And we feel okay about VWs. Several of us even drive them.”
Securing rights to popular music isn’t always easy- we once traded building a website for Buckwheat Zydeco in exchange for using his music as the background for a local neighborhood non-profit marketing piece- which cost us a bunch- but gave the neighborhood new life. Besides the website- (which has been sadly and badly basterdized over the years) Buckwheat gained a whole new bevy of fans- who would not have been exposed to his great music any other way.
With viral videos like Jud Laipply’s “Evolution of Dance” using a bunch of copyrighted music- the question is- is it better marketing for the music than the old school pay-to-play? If I was the copyright holder, I’d be thrilled to have “tastes” of my music given that much exposure.
It’s a whole new world out there in marketing, what you learned in school doesn’t apply anymore. Sharing is the new currency and attention is the new jackpot.
