all about qtags

Direct Line for Communication

I wrote the other day about how the band Harvey Danger opened up a direct line of communication to their audience.  They did it by distributing a new album via free download from their web-site.

There are lots of ways to open up direct lines of communication, we just need to see the opportunities. Google opened the door to a lot of this 'direct line' opportunity.

• Google search makes it easy for regular people to find things, without relying on 'industry sources' that require subscription fees or retainers.  (remember those hardback industry reference guides that were so expensive and had outdated info by the time they landed in your office?). 
• Google search also makes it easy for regular people & companies to be found.  That is great if you are a small-medium business, or offer a specialty, and it just doesn't make sense to do all that expensive trade journal advertising (that we had to do in the past).
• Google AdWords makes it easy for small-medium businesses to advertise on the internet; it's not fancy, but it works and you can control your spend. 
• Google AdSense allows small-med businesses to put advertising on their sites, without employing a media agency.

The best part about all of the above is that it was empowering.  Regular people at regular companies could do it, and control it and adminster it.  That allowed regular people & companies to open up a line of communication that previously was not there.

It seems like whenever there is a situation of closed information, someone will figure out how to open it up.  That is what Google did.

There are other equally important examples of opening communication.  Blogs are one of the most powerful. 

Through blogs, regular people at regular companies can communicate information real-time and can control how they do it and how they publicize it.  That contrasts sharply with the very recent situation in which we were reliant on webmasters to manage our sites.  I'm sure I am not the only one who felt the frustration of having information to update and not getting it up there in a timely fashion, or even at all. 

Another great thing about blogs is that they are not just empowering for regular people and regular companies - but they are also empowering for BIG companies and important people with lots of sophisticated advertising and PR knowledge.  Blogs can be scaled up and down, and integrated with corporate web-sites and include forums and customer communities and are a very viable tool for the big guys. 

At the recent WOMMA conference, a big guy, Taylor Made Adidas presented about how they use a company blog and participate in forums to better connect with their audience.  They take this direct communication very seriously.  (info on portfolio shown)

I have mentioned a few times that I am working with an organization called Communities in Schools.  My goal is to help them open up a direct communication to their audience.  Their situation is like many of ours.

• they have many audiences; donors, board members, volunteers, consituents (those served), schools systems (adminstrators and teachers)
• they have limited funds and people (who doesn't?  I mean beside google and Microsoft..)
• they have a website that is hosted and controlled by an outside source; they cannot afford an inhouse webmaster
• they have lots to say and lots of advocates; but have difficulty reaching them

One of the main projects we are working on is to create a CIS Houston blog that is integrated into the brochure site such that the real-time information like news releases and success stories and events is updated and easy to access. 

I saw a discussion on just this objective in Soflow today - here are some excerpts. 

From Craig Peters -

Does anyone have good examples of URLs where a company has thrown out the notion of doing a traditional brochureware website and embraced the blog format as a platform for not just blog-style commentary of that industry, but also the conventional "corporate information | jobs | about us | etc." information?

From Adriana Cronin-Lukas -

The best example I can think of is The Adam Smith Institute - http://www.adamsmith.org/

EVerything you see (not just the blog) is powered by a blog software and every area of the site's content can be updated by a non-techie as easily as a blog. It took a few months to implement but it was worth it.

The ASI had a blog and a separate site for a while and they discovered that it's the blog that is the sould of their online presence. So they decided to use blogging platform for every aspect of their content.

From David Polinchock -

About a year ago, Tom Peters (In Search of Excellence, etc.) changed over his web site to an all blog format. You can check it out at http://www.tompeters.com/

From Harish Keshwani -

I have created a website for a client ( www.marysladekinsurance.com ) with a business blog seamlessly embeded within the site. I have used Wordpress and PHP to achieve this. I add content in the blog and then activate a link on the main page to point to the blog entry as I go. For example, to explain "life insurance", I create a blog entry and then add a link on home page for Life Insurance.

Get the Juice!

qtag:  jaffe  |  text to 78247

qtags is excited to announce that we are running an awareness campaign on Joseph Jaffe's blog.  We met Joseph (of Life After the 30 Sec Spot) at qtags' first public appearance, back in April 05 at a NYC Digital show.  He's an inspiration for marketers and advertisers, and we're thrilled to be working with him. 

Due to weather conditions (rita) that are a bit dodgy right at the moment, it might be a while before we can post the release in the qtags Newsroom - so here it is below. 

qtags Becomes Advertiser on Marketing Guru Website and Blog, Jaffe Juice

Houston (September 22, 2005) – qtags, a service that lets people save advertising messages, without being added to mailing or spam lists, today announced that it has launched an awareness campaign on the Jaffe Juice blog, www.jaffejuice.com.

The wildly popular Jaffe Juice marketing-focused blog is created by Joseph Jaffe, the renowned author of "Life After the 30-Second Spot: Energize Your Brand with a Bold Mix of Alternatives to Traditional Advertising."   

“Today’s advertisers need to seek alternative ways to reach, connect and “effect” with their target audiences,” said Joseph Jaffe.  “qtags offers marketers a new way to differentiate themselves while standing out from traditional clutter through empowering consumers to seek out more information that is relevant to them. qtags is the Google of mobile marketing”

One of the most sought-after consultants and speakers on new marketing trends, Joseph Jaffe is president and founder of the marketing consulting practice jaffe, L.L.C., which offers strategic and creative services, agency relations, consulting and training and custom publishing and speaking opportunities. His clients include big name media players like MSN, AOL, News Corp., Google, Reuters, Advertising.com.

“There is unprecedented choice, complexity and commensurate challenges in today’s media landscape. Marketers must address these complex changes with innovate solutions that empower, involve and demonstrate,” added Jaffe.  “They must expand beyond what is taught in school and in most agencies.  qtags is a great tool that meets these needs head on.”

How the qtags service works

qtags (short for quick-tags) are 9 character alpha/numeric ‘words’ which are assigned a reply and web-link. Advertisers display qtags on any existing print, online, or broadcast campaign. The ad’s viewers or listeners use a mobile phone to text the qtag to 78247, a short-code that works with all major U.S. and Canada carriers. The texter immediately receives the qtags’ specified reply and web-link, but does not receive any further communication from the advertiser and does not end up on advertisers’ or third party mailing lists.  Advertisers can update the web-link and reply text anytime, real-time, and have access to reporting showing volumes of texts, click-throughs and links forwarded to friends.

About qtags

qtags are currently being used by some of the world’s most well-known brands to offer consumers a unique way to control advertising and to gain more information on the companies and advertisements that interest them.  The company offers the qtags service to non-profit organizations at no cost.  For more information on how this innovative marketing concept works, visit the company blog at www.allaboutqtags.typepad.com or the company site at www.qtags.com or www.jaffejuice.com

qtag id 'sonyc'

Shig Odani's talks about qtags in this blog posting.  He's a consultant and blogs about online marketing opportunities in Shig Odani and Relationship Marketer.  Thanks for talking about us.  Hey, would you like a qtag id?  You've got one - next time you need to get someone to remember you, tell them your qtag id is 'sonyc'.

qtag: sonyc | txt to 78247

Blogging for Fun and Profit

The Fall 2005 Business Week Small Business Cover Story is Web Smart, how savvy entrepreneurs are using technology to increase sales.

One of the example stories discusses the opportunities and pitfalls for businesses using blogs.  qtags is featured in the discussion.

Thanks to Stephen Baker of BW for listening to me talk about how our company got involved in blogging.  We continue to find that blogging opens doors and creates connections and opportunities.  Thanks to John Wagner for getting us started.

The Future of Advertising is Here

Shannon Otermat of Wagner Communications emailed me The Future of Advertising is Here (Inc Magazine, Aug 05).  The article discusses how advertisers are moving from random distribution to 'smart' messaging and how behaviors and purchasing/browsing profiles are being incorporated into various technologies off and online.  It's a great article, read the whole thing when you get a moment.

Here is what struck me -

• On average, in US we are hit by 3,000 ad messages a day.  Two-thirds of people surveyed in a Yankelovich Partners study said they feel "constantly bombarded" by ads, and 59% said the ads they see have little or no relevance to them.

• In a study, website visitors were, on average, 14 times more likely to click on an ad when it matched their profiles, but currently, for example, at least 950 out of every 1,000 Internet automobile ads still land in front of people who aren't in the market for a car. (Scott Eagle, chief marketing officer of Claria)

The opportunity for advertisers is to publish to the right viewer at the right time.  Technology is helping advertiser's leverage that opportunity, and soon all of our environments will be filled with flat screen display units that we can interact with (through remote controls or phones), and that understand who we are and what we are interested in seeing. (some neat technology for digital signage billboards from Smart Sign Media that displays ads based on what is playing on your car's radio).

Mobile phones are another display screen to be leveraged. "Mobile-phone marketing today is where Internet advertising was in 1996 -- it's about to take off," says Michael Baker, president of Boston-based mobile-marketing firm Enpocket. "There are already more mobile phones in use worldwide than televisions and computers put together."

Cutting edge display devices, and 'smart' targeting notwithstanding, advertiser's continue to raise the creativity bar to capture attention.  Interactivity seems to be the key at the moment, with 3D holographic projection, touch-screen digital displays and animated characters spread virally through emails all taking hold and showing strong results. 

The choices are amazing.   

Banners & More

Over the past few days I've been working on developing ad banners for the qtags service.  You may have seen us already pop-up on various blogs, as we've been running banners through blogads for a couple of weeks.  We are also running on Pondering Primate.   I'm very excited because in a couple of weeks we'll also be running on Jaffe Juice -- the blog for author of Life After the 30 sec Spot. 

If you see us, drop me a line.  And if you have feedback or comments on the banners - please let me know.  Already I've heard from lots of folks with great insights (and constructive criticism).  Keep it coming - it'll help us better meet the needs of folks who want to 'remember'. 

Real-Time Info

4Info Mobile Search found my posting about them almost immediately.  And I'm just a new blogger.  Real-time information is here.  Must have it, and must provide it.  If you aren't - then you need to figure out how to.  There are lots of ways.  If you want ideas - email me.

Today is Tomorrow

As a new brand assistant in the early 90's I remember conversations about 'the net' and should we really devote resources to building a "web-site"...and maybe it would be a good job for that brand manager we can never seem to promote to Director...  I had a conversation today with a media agency that made me think those same conversations in are happening in some agencies over the mobile-world.  I was surprised to learn that it was not clear to everyone that the mobile will be the third screen, as predicted, and suppliers from hardware to content are proliferating and providing amazing options for advertisers and consumers.

Although I think of my company's product as more of a consumer post-it benefit than a mobile-marketing program, I keep up with the hows and whys and whats of the mobile world because that is how we deliver our benefit.

If you are reading this blog, you probably already know this, but just in case, if you are looking for good resources to keep up with the mobile world - visit these, and then look at their blog rolls for more:  MobHappy and Pondering Primate and Mobile Weblog.

Using Mobile Marketing Smartly

I enjoyed Mob Happy's article Taking Things a Step Further which discusses how Jamie Oliver is using SMS to publish recipes. (One reason I enjoyed it is that I've always been a Jamie Oliver fan, although possessing a string of his cookbooks hasn't seemed to improve my culinary skills).

The article challenges advertisers to incorporate mobile marketing smartly...that challenge of course echoing those laid down in the past re: email, telemarketing, direct mail and so on.

When I first starting talking to advertisers about qtags (about 8 months ago), I usually had to open my presentation with a primer on how to send a text message.  And now every newsletter I get is announcing a new text-based interactive, shortcode program.  It's an amazing change.  The opportunity though, as Mob Happy points out, is to use the technology as a means to an end, instead of as the content itself. 

Most of us have our mobiles with us 24/7, so they can be pretty powerful as a communication device, on all sorts of levels.  We use them to reach out to each other, and more and more we can use them to reach out to advertising.                                                                                    

Electronic Post-It Notes

If you are interested in learning about mobile phones and all of the marketing, software, hardware and system developments surrounding them, a great place to visit is www.theponderingprimate.blogspot.com

There is a posting about qtags on July 15th, and I really like the description of it as an electronic post-it note.