As some people are incapable of putting their phones down and not checking it every minute, this invention takes the decision out of their hands.   I’m one of those people that think smartphones are killing the art of conversation, so I really love this idea. But isn’t it telling that something like this is needed in the first place!

Click here to find out more…

Karen Neary
General Manager

I was thinking about the use of the phone in my house when the last phone bill came – upon looking at the call patterns over the last two months, I noticed that the use of the landline in my house was only being used by my kids to phone a friend, parent or grandparent. On deciding if we needed to have a phone in the house, I asked a few friends to see if they felt the same. Questions were asked – what if you didn’t have one – how could your grandparent phone you? Or a relation living somewhere in Australia wanted to call you – how would they contact you? What if you wanted to check an address in the telephone book? Not one person, when they thought of their mobile as a means of contacting people, could come up with a reason to keep a landline.

While not being old enough to ever receive a telegram, one grew up with movies using them as a way to spread news from locations throughout the world to far flung locations. News of national and international importance were relayed to far flung towns and villages throughout the world. In 1836, Samuel Morse developed the first method of sending telegrams that was to become part and parcel of communications. For decades and centuries, it was the only way of communicating. Now on the 14th July of this year, the last telegram will be sent in India by a company called Bharat Sanchar Nigam. It has become commercially unviable to send them with the general public now using SMS, email, social media networks and smartphones to relay instant news around the world.

As the pace of technology develops, with new forms of communicating at levels of speed never witnessed before, what other devices and services that we have grown up with will cease or become naturally extinct in the next 20 years? Will TV’s as we know them be replaced with multiple viewers in our sitting room with all members of the family sitting down plugged into their own personal devices either watching brand new content or on Skype to a friend living half way around the world? Will desktops cease to be built or will tablets with ever-increasing power be our mobile workplace? Will our car or means of transport allow us to be completely in contact with the world without ever coming to the office?

Think back to a scene in an old Western – when the telegram operator would hear a message come down the line bringing news of national importance and how the locals would hear of this news, how the news would spread so fast that by the time people on the outreach of the town would hear, the news would have been tweaked and distorted to have a different meaning or was embellished to tell a way better story. Think how people would look up to the operator as somewhat of a god – keeping them in touch with the world outside of their own town. One thing for certain, people waited for the news and this played a central role on the conversations of the day.

How will our communication methods still hold that key aspect – NEWS – and the effect on their lives? Will we keep the key aspect of what inventions like the Morse Code brought us – communicating directly with each other in a conversation sharing our views. One thing for sure, the pace of development will be a multiple of what it was over 170 years ago.

Watch this space! Or should we say – watch and listen?

Peter Mahon
Client Service Director

You care about lead generation, acquisition and retention of customers and we care about bringing you the best ways to go about doing that. Content Marketing helps you build an audience to build your business. As you know that’s what we are about here at the growth factory, sales over night, brand over time. With that in mind we have put together this short introductory presentation: “Content Marketing, tell me more” – please feel free to share this with your own contacts and networks.

Conor Byrne
Head of Digital

All brands have logos. Many brands change there logos. Some tweek, some overhaul, but some one some where makes the decision to change what they have relied upon for years. But do these people ever ask their clients if they want a change? No doubt that if some logos were tweeked, many of their clients wouldn’t notice the difference. Not the case of the new Everton FC crest. The powers that be, decided that a new look was needed, but they hadn’t asked their core client base; the fans!

In my humble opinion, the designers have done a decent job, but the changes haven’t gone down too well in the blue half of Mersyside. More than 20,000 fans signed a petition to protest about the changes to the Everton badge. Their main gripe is the dropping of the club’s Latin motto, ‘Nil Satis, Nisi Optimum’, which means ‘Nothing but the best is good enough’. Now I might be wrong here, but I’m not sure how many schools in Liverpool teach Latin these days, but I kind of get where the Evertonians are coming from. No one asked them. The powers that be, made this decision without any feedback from the people who put the money on the club’s table. Everton FC have since released a statement suggesting that any further changes to the clubs badge will be discussed with the fans. I look forward to the next motto to read ‘Dey Do Da Do Dont Dey Do’!

Paul Gibson
Art Director

The revelations about how much data technology firms were and are sharing with the NSA seem to just keep coming. The technology firms in question (Apple, Microsoft, Facebook) have, while denying the NSA had carte blanche access, nonetheless admitted that they have responded to the thousands of requests for data from the US government. Facebook admitted to receiving 10,000 requests for user data in the second half of 2012 alone.

But what has this to do with marketing, Ireland and Data Privacy?

Well, for the past while, the EU has been winding its way down the bumpy road towards updating data protection legislation from 1995. With the NSA scandal, it seems like events have overtaken it somewhat. Indeed, some of the lobbying to weaken this legislation has come from the US Government itself who seems to feel like data protection is a nuisance that would get in the way of their ability to spy on EU citizens.

So it would seem like the new legislation, whilst rightly requiring more accountability from firms handling personal data, will actually do little to stop governments from prying. This, unfortunately for marketers, could mean less trust from customers. And while most people would admit it would be almost impossible to wean ourselves from the digital teat offered by technology firms, they can still chose not to engage with marketing campaigns.

With this little freedom left to them, what way will customers jump?

Paul Rooney
Web Developer

Not another drug scandal this time, this was a great guerilla marketing stunt by a young Corkman who has only recently set up his own food company “The Rocket Man”. The initiative shows the possibilities of what can be done with no budget, but a cool idea, loads of initiative, and a friend who’s great with a camera.

Last weekend I was delighted to be involved in #mountainproject where the highest mountain in Ireland, Carrauntoohill was taken on by 50 “sherpa volunteers” (recruited on facebook!) and led by ‘The Rocket Man’ to carry up his healthy salads and set up the highest street food market ever in Ireland. The event strategically coincided with the June bank holiday, one of the most popular weekends to climb the mountain, and the second race of the Irish Mountain Running Championships, seeing over a hundred people on the peak at some points! For the more amateur climbers among the group though, this was no mean feat, scaling the ‘Devils Ladder’ up into the clouds. The climbing and comradery was unbeatable however and the reward at the top; even better. While some set up the stand at the top, a yoga teacher led a class for everyone to stretch out and relax. Finally, the salads were set to go, with fresh bread and hummus along with the iconic ‘Rocket Fuel’ ginger and blueberry cordial.

Not only the sherpas were fed, but the unsuspecting climbers who were greeted by this display. For any walkers reading this, you’ll understand how fresh food at the top of a climb, through the clouds, would more likely be a mirage than a reality!

The video was shot and compiled by Dog Day Media, the same people who produced the Ballymaloe Space Project and is spreading across facebook and twitter, even using Vine to show some 6 second clips of the laughs had. This Rocket Man Food is such a feel-good model; great food with a real quirky style and hopefully more stunts to come will help spread the hype.

Jane Butler
Intern

Facebook announced on Wednesday that it was going to introduce clickable hashtags for users. You will often see hashtags in peoples posts on Facebook, where they are posting the same thing to Facebook and Twitter, outside of that its become part of the vernacular, yes people actually use the word “hashtag” in their speech!

So Facebook are doing what Facebook do well and looking at what their users are doing and rolling out a feature, with users being able to click on the hashtagged words from the search bar and view a feed on that topic. Users will also be able to click on hashtags that originate on other services, such as Instagram and compose posts directly from the hashtag feed and search results.

Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst with eMarketer, told Mashable that “This is a layer on top of what Facebook is already offering. If marketers are already using hashtags as part of their marketing on other sites, they will be able to use those same hashtags within Facebook and drive engagement within the Facebook environment.”

It seems that Facebook is trying to steal back some of the second screen action that has been pretty much twitter territory. In a post on their Blog Greg Lindley, Facebook product manager said “. “During primetime television alone, there are between 88 and 100 million Americans engaged on Facebook — roughly a Super Bowl-sized audience every single night,”

The company said that hashtags were the first of several new features that will be introduced to highlight discussions about events on Facebook.

The company is rolling out hashtags to roughly 20 per cent of its users, with a full global launch expected in the coming weeks.

What does it all mean for you?

Well, the introduction of the hashtag on Facebook will change how people use the platform and engage with each other, content and to a degree, brands.

Brand Mentions – it seems likely that brand mentions will be easier to monitor now, similar to Twitter. Which means you will have more access to data about your brand which adds another layer of metrics and numbers to gauge success. You will also be able to engage in real time conversations, so think about needing to be even more always on.

Brand Pages – it seems unlikely that Facebook’s move to introduce #’s will threaten brand pages (where brands have spent lots of money) and it seems more likely that it will enhance brand pages. This is a wait and see one I think.

User Generated content – If someone posts a picture of themselves wearing/using a new product and uses the brand hashtag, depending on your legal guidelines, that could be a photo your page could use. Facebook and users love images so this will be a way to help generate more image content for brands.

Privacy – Facebook will maintain their privacy settings regarding hashtags, and won’t allow users to show up in click-throughs of the hashtag if their settings are set to be shared only with friends

Not for mobile – sadly, mobile will be a hashtag free zone as the app doesn’t support the phrase. Hashtags can be used, but there will be no click through to the hashtag feed.

Facebook hashtag ads – Facebook say they aren’t offering this yet, but they will.

Don’t Hashtag vomit – when brands were getting used to Facebook I coined the phrase “Facebook Vomit” to describe how they just spewed on their walls. We have to hope brands don’t start hashtag vomiting now, so if you are a brand owner reading this – please don’t!

Conor Byrne
Head of Digital

Sources:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/jun/13/facebook-to-introduce-clickable-hashtags

http://mashable.com/2013/06/12/facebook-hashtags-ads/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/10117483/Facebook-hashtags-introduced.html

http://socialmediatoday.com/ryannorthover/1314666/facebook-hashtags-brands-and-users

http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/facebook-marketing/facebook-hashtags-for-brands/

This article, written by Dialogue’s Conor Byrne, is featured in this month’s edition of IMJ – the topic was the future of social media…

Who Cares

What’s the future of Social Media? Really who cares? Our heads will just spin if we keep worrying about the future of social media – because when we ask that question we are really asking – what’s the next Facebook or Twitter? Who Cares!

Do you really think people sit at home, on the bus, or the train, in work or watching TV – wherever – and worry about the future of social media – about the next big thing. No they don’t. They don’t care.

We live in our marketing bubble – we are hyper conscious of channels – we are hyper digitally aware – we get so bogged down in it all that we forget what it’s all about. It’s about people, it’s about experiences, it’s about making lives a little more interesting.

Stop thinking about the future of social media and start to think about how and what people are consuming, what they are interested in and how you can enhance that. If you get that right, then you can tweak it for the right social channel.

In his book, Contagious, Jonah Berger says that “Contagious products and ideas are like forest fires. They can’t happen without hundreds, if not thousands, of regular Joes and Janes passing the product or message along. So why did thousands of people transmit these products and ideas?”

So the future (really the now) of social is about shareabiltiy and sharing. It’s about great content, it’s visual, it’s not perfect, it’s relevant, it’s local, it’s mobile, it’s quality but doesn’t have to be perfect (allow it be gritty).

And as Jonah Berger suggests, it’s not just online, we need to think how we can get offline consumers talking and sharing, because there are just as many, if not more offline conversations.

Social media will continue to be relevant, increasingly so. However it needs to be part of the broader picture and not singled out. Regardless of where it is headed we need to continue the quest for seamless creative experiences that live beyond analog and beyond digital and do things that excite people so they are willing to share them .

Conor Byrne
Head of Digital