Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
What Does It All Mean?
How can blogging and podcasting be used by Vancity?
RSS
An RSS feed from Vancity is just a text list of story headlines, product news, rate information, new branch opening hours, community news and anything else we think members will find interesting formatted in a way that RSS readers understand.
This simple technology enables us to push content to members who opt in via a blog, podcast or both and tailor it by segment - youth, Asian and G & L for example or general corporate news and information. We can place Vancity at the heart of members and prospects online experience and present ourselves in a useful and dynamic way. Rather than relying on customers to visit vancity.com and search for information we can provide it on demand via RSS.
Blogs
A corporate blog is potentially the heartbeat of the organization and demonstrates willingness to engage and interact with members and the general public. Blogs provide the opportunity to present corporate goals, products and services and community activity and interact one on one with members and the general public. Blogging should be an interactive two way process thereby empowering staff, members and prospects alike to post comments and provide feedback.
Podcasts
A simple and relatively inexpensive way to deliver audio and video content to individuals who opt in to receive information from us. At a basic level this can be audio only - spoken word descriptions and guides to products & services, community activities etc.
Some keys to success
Particpation - from all parts of the organization making the blog(s) dynamic and organic
Content - is king and will make or break these channels, although it is cheap to produce it shouldn't be a cheap user experience. It is better to produce quality content on a monthly or bi-monthly basis than rush to produce lots of inferior sounding content.
Frequency - how often we update should be driven by the type of information we are pushing and the quality of the execution. However rate changes and new product news for example should be updated regularly.
Value - how does the information add value to our members lives?
Relevance - at its most basic level is the content interesting and useful, if not, why are we sending it?
Overall content is what we are distributing and that's what will drive user engagement. The good news is that Vancity has lots of content for example -
Regular musings from a high profile and widely respected CEO
Rate changes
Community Involvement
Million Dollar Award
Other awards and grants
New branches
Product news
Environmental policies
Guides to Mortgages, RRSP's, Savings, RESP's, Loans, Building credit
Etc Etc
RSS
An RSS feed from Vancity is just a text list of story headlines, product news, rate information, new branch opening hours, community news and anything else we think members will find interesting formatted in a way that RSS readers understand.
This simple technology enables us to push content to members who opt in via a blog, podcast or both and tailor it by segment - youth, Asian and G & L for example or general corporate news and information. We can place Vancity at the heart of members and prospects online experience and present ourselves in a useful and dynamic way. Rather than relying on customers to visit vancity.com and search for information we can provide it on demand via RSS.
Blogs
A corporate blog is potentially the heartbeat of the organization and demonstrates willingness to engage and interact with members and the general public. Blogs provide the opportunity to present corporate goals, products and services and community activity and interact one on one with members and the general public. Blogging should be an interactive two way process thereby empowering staff, members and prospects alike to post comments and provide feedback.
Podcasts
A simple and relatively inexpensive way to deliver audio and video content to individuals who opt in to receive information from us. At a basic level this can be audio only - spoken word descriptions and guides to products & services, community activities etc.
Some keys to success
Particpation - from all parts of the organization making the blog(s) dynamic and organic
Content - is king and will make or break these channels, although it is cheap to produce it shouldn't be a cheap user experience. It is better to produce quality content on a monthly or bi-monthly basis than rush to produce lots of inferior sounding content.
Frequency - how often we update should be driven by the type of information we are pushing and the quality of the execution. However rate changes and new product news for example should be updated regularly.
Value - how does the information add value to our members lives?
Relevance - at its most basic level is the content interesting and useful, if not, why are we sending it?
Overall content is what we are distributing and that's what will drive user engagement. The good news is that Vancity has lots of content for example -
Regular musings from a high profile and widely respected CEO
Rate changes
Community Involvement
Million Dollar Award
Other awards and grants
New branches
Product news
Environmental policies
Guides to Mortgages, RRSP's, Savings, RESP's, Loans, Building credit
Etc Etc
Notable Marketers Using Podcasts & Blogs
Remember Podcasts can be audio only or video!
MTV full video podcast experience
McDonald's focus on their CSR strategy
General Motors warts and all from the world's largest car maker
Nike shows the way offering Podcasts that can be downloaded to a variety of devices including Sony PSP
Downloadable books written by well known authors featuring a different BMW
Wired magazine provides a slightly more tech view
IBM talks about the future of things
City National Bank in the US is an interesting example of a US FI using RSS and podcasts to good effect. See here for examples of RSS feeds and here for their podcasts.
Greenpeace make use of RSS and podcasts to get their message across
MTV full video podcast experience
McDonald's focus on their CSR strategy
General Motors warts and all from the world's largest car maker
Nike shows the way offering Podcasts that can be downloaded to a variety of devices including Sony PSP
Downloadable books written by well known authors featuring a different BMW
Wired magazine provides a slightly more tech view
IBM talks about the future of things
City National Bank in the US is an interesting example of a US FI using RSS and podcasts to good effect. See here for examples of RSS feeds and here for their podcasts.
Greenpeace make use of RSS and podcasts to get their message across
Podcasting Believe the Hype - It's Getting Bigger
Podcasting refers to the technology used to pull digital audio files from Web sites down to computers and devices such as MP3 players. "Podcast" is derived from the name of the iPod MP3 player from Apple, although you don't need an iPod to partake in podcasts.
Here is a useful overview of the history of podcasting from Wikipedia.
Believe the Hype--It's Getting Bigger!
I sent out a mass email to over 30 friends and colleagues before our initial session with the Vancity Marcomms team asking them a simple question, "What's your favourite Podcast?" I got 11 responses and 6 of them said they listen to podcasts though a couple said 'What's a podcast?"
So I agree that whilst it seems that most of the mainstream aren't spending their time looking for podcasts a growing number of people are.The number of podcasts is growing rapidly, FeedBurner says that it has seen the growth of podcast feeds triple in the past six months. The number of podcast listeners is growing, too. Bridge Ratings, which does radio-audience market research in the US, reports that 5 million radio listeners downloaded at least one podcast in 2005. It expects that figure to nearly double in 2006. Another survey conducted by Taylor Nelson Sofres says that 78 percent of those who have ever listened to a podcast are male. (C'mon, ladies.)
An increasing number of mainstream advertisers are using Podcasts and Blogs to support their overall marketing activities. Projections vary on how many people listen to Podcasts but from humble beginnings less than two years ago downloads are now being measured in the millions worldwide.
For us marketers the challenge is to understand how to harness these new channels and make them work effectively. Blogging and podcasting provide the opportunity to engage members and customers on a regular basis and the good news is that it's cheap.
Podcasting can be video or audio only therefore we can use existing creative or adapt new creative specifically for Podcasts and blogs - how about letting members who subscribe get a sneak peek of our new TV ad, radio spot or new branch design? Through a combination of syndication and simple sign up we can push appropriate and relevant content to our members that helps keep us front of mind compared with our competitors.
Apple iTunes is one of the most popular libraries of Podcast content and it is an essential resource containing a substantial amount of free podcasts that you can subscribe to. It also provides an interesting insight into the type of brands who recognize the opportunity that podcasts offers marketers.
Apple makes it easy to subscribe to Podcasts via iTunes
Go on give it a try its full of great audio and video podcasts and if you get stuck post a message on the blog and we'll give you some help.
Here is a useful overview of the history of podcasting from Wikipedia.
Believe the Hype--It's Getting Bigger!
I sent out a mass email to over 30 friends and colleagues before our initial session with the Vancity Marcomms team asking them a simple question, "What's your favourite Podcast?" I got 11 responses and 6 of them said they listen to podcasts though a couple said 'What's a podcast?"
So I agree that whilst it seems that most of the mainstream aren't spending their time looking for podcasts a growing number of people are.The number of podcasts is growing rapidly, FeedBurner says that it has seen the growth of podcast feeds triple in the past six months. The number of podcast listeners is growing, too. Bridge Ratings, which does radio-audience market research in the US, reports that 5 million radio listeners downloaded at least one podcast in 2005. It expects that figure to nearly double in 2006. Another survey conducted by Taylor Nelson Sofres says that 78 percent of those who have ever listened to a podcast are male. (C'mon, ladies.)
An increasing number of mainstream advertisers are using Podcasts and Blogs to support their overall marketing activities. Projections vary on how many people listen to Podcasts but from humble beginnings less than two years ago downloads are now being measured in the millions worldwide.
For us marketers the challenge is to understand how to harness these new channels and make them work effectively. Blogging and podcasting provide the opportunity to engage members and customers on a regular basis and the good news is that it's cheap.
Podcasting can be video or audio only therefore we can use existing creative or adapt new creative specifically for Podcasts and blogs - how about letting members who subscribe get a sneak peek of our new TV ad, radio spot or new branch design? Through a combination of syndication and simple sign up we can push appropriate and relevant content to our members that helps keep us front of mind compared with our competitors.
Apple iTunes is one of the most popular libraries of Podcast content and it is an essential resource containing a substantial amount of free podcasts that you can subscribe to. It also provides an interesting insight into the type of brands who recognize the opportunity that podcasts offers marketers.
Apple makes it easy to subscribe to Podcasts via iTunes
Go on give it a try its full of great audio and video podcasts and if you get stuck post a message on the blog and we'll give you some help.
The World's Most Popular Podcast...so far!
If you are a fan of The Office and its co-creators Rick Gervais and Stephen Merchant you will be interested to hear that they have just been added to the Guinness Book of World Records for producing the most popular Podcast in the world.
For the last couple of months they have been distributing a series of Podcasts via the Guardian newspaper (which incidentally is credited with creating the term Podcast) in the UK providing listeners with their unique (and uniquely British it has to be said!) take on the world with fellow Podcaster Karl. Over the last 3 months since the series started each new Podcast has been downloaded on average over 250,000 times therefore making it officially the number 1 Podcast in the world.
The initial series of 12 has just finished but if you would like to download some of the recent Podcasts you can download them here.
(Please note that some adult discretion is required)
For the last couple of months they have been distributing a series of Podcasts via the Guardian newspaper (which incidentally is credited with creating the term Podcast) in the UK providing listeners with their unique (and uniquely British it has to be said!) take on the world with fellow Podcaster Karl. Over the last 3 months since the series started each new Podcast has been downloaded on average over 250,000 times therefore making it officially the number 1 Podcast in the world.
The initial series of 12 has just finished but if you would like to download some of the recent Podcasts you can download them here.
(Please note that some adult discretion is required)
What is Podcasting?
Try this useful overview from internationally recognized digital media experts O'Reilly Digital Media. This guide will give you a basic overview of Podcasting and if you feel adventurous tell you what basic equipment you need to get started.
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2005/07/20/WhatIsPodcasting.html
http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2005/07/20/WhatIsPodcasting.html
Welcome to the Vancity Marketing intro blog.
Here's where you can find some initial links to other blogs and start subscribing to RSS feeds.
Here are some handy places to get you started...
Marketing blogs:
adverblog
AdRants
Brand Autopsy
Seth Godin's Blog
Church of the Customer
Twist Agency
Credit Unions using RSS:
North Shore Credit Union
First Technology Credit Union
Interesting corporate blogs:
Vespa
GM PR
GM
McDonald's
RSS feed readers and information:
My Yahoo!: powerful web-based RSS reader
Bloglines: free web-based RSS reader
reader.google.com: free web-based RSS reader (requires a Google account)
Lektora: powerful RSS reader featuring offline reading
Here are some handy places to get you started...
Marketing blogs:
adverblog
AdRants
Brand Autopsy
Seth Godin's Blog
Church of the Customer
Twist Agency
Credit Unions using RSS:
North Shore Credit Union
First Technology Credit Union
Interesting corporate blogs:
Vespa
GM PR
GM
McDonald's
RSS feed readers and information:
My Yahoo!: powerful web-based RSS reader
Bloglines: free web-based RSS reader
reader.google.com: free web-based RSS reader (requires a Google account)
Lektora: powerful RSS reader featuring offline reading
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