Customer service has now irrevocably changed from call centres to apps. More and more people demand instant information rather than a distant security obsessed call centres who probably can’t help you anyway!

Instant customer feedback, transactional changes, information on the go is the new customer service that people expect. Unfortunately this is not available from a call centre. Only an app can give you this.

In a recent survey by Nuance Communications for example more half of Australians (2^nd highest penetration of smartphones in the world behind Singapore) preferred to access customer service information through an app rather than a call centre.

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Mobile and music are great brand partners. Everyone can listen to music on their smartphone and music brands have more access and more options available to communicate to people who are listening to them.

Every major band has an app and there are apps for all music publications from The Rolling Stone to NME. The ability to engage on a continuing basis is there through various interactive devices from push messaging to location based exclusive promotions.

Music brands though are merely scratching the surface  of what they could do on mobile.

Two examples of two mobile brands that have tried to realise this potential are Indosat in Indonesia and Huawei in Australia.

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Twitter looks to be expanding into Australia, as it begins meetings with key bloggers, celebrities, and high profile sports men and women in Sydney and Melbourne. Some news sources believe that the office in Australia could be opened in time for Christmas next year.

This meetings will be held by Mike Brown, who is head of international development for Twitter, and will also feature Omid Ashtari, the head of Twitter’s sports and entertainment team and Jenna Mannos, from the same team, via video link.

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Despite the overarching reach of Facebook and Twitter, people are flocking more and more to niche services. Research by Experian shows that Between July 2011 and July 2012 use of both Instagram and Pinterest shot up worldwide, as well as other more specific social services.

In Australia, for instance, Instragram use rose a massive 362%, and a staggering 17, 319% in North America. Here in the UK the rise was over 2000%. Figures were similar for Pinterest, which saw a 798% usage spike in Australia, and 2373% in Hong Kong, and 1489% in the UK. Read More »

Listen closely and you will hear the ghosts of Australia’s marketing sector speaking. Actually, you don’t have to listen that hard.

They’re all over the place and they’re droning on rather loudly. They just don’t know they’re dead yet. Sadly, neither do the businesses that listen to them and buy their services.

They are the old guard of the marketing sector; those advertising and PR executives who have emerged from their creative and journalistic antecedents and who believe truly in the adage, “there’s no such thing as bad advertising”. Read More »

UPDATE – Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority has said it has no plans to change the way it views user generated comments on social networks following the decision by the Advertising Standards Bureau in Australia (see comment below).

TUESDAY - A very significant ruling has been made by Australia’s advertising watchdog that effectively says that Facebook is an advertising medium and that as a consequence brands must vet the comments and posts of users appearing on their pages.

Brands that have previously had a light touch to vetting user comments could not be forced to be far more vigilante and ensure that sexist, racist or factually inaccurate posts are not made.

It could also prove to be a costly ruling for Australian brands using social media who might now have to closely monitor all user generated content. Read More »

Aussies not on social media.....

Aussies really do prefer social email to sex and are completely addicted to it – social media that is not sex……according to a new survey. The survey revealed that some Australians will stop whatever it is they are doing – even sex – to respond to a Facebook update or a tweet. That’s very sad.

Tick Yes, the social media specialist behind the survey and conducted by Nine Rewards also found that 80% of Aussies do not use social media to connect with brands despite all the marketing money thrown at it. 80% do not connect with your brand on social media. Think about that before you spend the next million on facebook as Pepsi found to their cost

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Ben Grubb: tech journalist arrested and released

An Australian technology journalist was arrested by the Queensland police yesterday and had is iPad seized after writing a report on a presentation given by someone else at a conference looking at security.

Ben Grubb, deputy technology editor at the Sydney Morning Herald, has since been released although it seems that, at the time of writing, the police still have his iPad.

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Ouch. Just as Aussie underwear brand Davenport was launching its new TV ad campaign starring, ahem, vocal gold medal winning swimmer, Stephanie Rice, she lets loose at the gay community with an update on Twitter: “Suck on that faggots” as she celebrated Australia’s win over South Africa in the weekend rugby. Nice. Read More »