Twitter Music

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As you have probably heard, twitter has launched a new service, Twitter music with an iPhone app for U.S., Canada, Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Through the app, users can find tracks that are popular on Twitter, tracks from emerging artists and tracks that are popular with their friends. They can also check out the music of the artists they follow and the artists that those artists follow.

Twitter launched its music service without striking deals with music companies , they used existing deals the labels have in place with subscription music services, choosing to partner with Spotify and Rdio to allow users to listen to full-length tracks.

Some were left wondering what it was all about. But as Wired pointed out – its simple (and therefore a pretty genius move!)

But really, it’s simple: Twitter Music is all about getting you to spend more quality time with Twitter. It’s about everybody’s favorite buzzword: engagement.

(source: Wired)

Twitter are simply tapping into users behaviour and recognising that users follow musicians and talk and share music a lot on the service, so this is a smart play for them. It also continues to engage musicians and their labels who are likely to invest in advertising on the platform. All in all this is a really interesting move by Twitter and with BBC America partnering with Twitter (for their Doctor Who and Top Gear programmes) the future seems bright for the blue bird.

Conor Byrne
Head of Digital

Too Much, Too Old

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Belonging to a group is important. People of similar interests tend to stick together; whether it’s The Scouts or The Socialists. Me, I always had an attraction to Ska. I guess it was a natural development from my first love of Punk, but Ska came at just the right age for me. I was in awe of these people who milled around the city centre retaining their tough image, but somehow looking so cool and dapper at the same time.

So imagine my delight when in 2011 The Specials announced they were reforming, coming to Dublin and playing at the fantastic Olympia. This wasn’t any old half baked reunion tour (Atomic Kitten, Liberty X, B*Witched et. al – hang your heads in shame), this was a reunion of a movement, an era, a style, a way of life. There have been a few ‘blasts from the pasts’ gigs that I’ve been to that leave you thinking that I wish I hadn’t seen them in that ‘state’ (Stiff Little Fingers bloated lead singer Jake Burns for one), but this gig got me really pumped. This was a ‘must have’.

The night of the gig eventually came and a really strange feeling occurred to me. You know in ‘the films’ when a person experiences a ‘whoosh, whoosh, whooshing’ life flashing in front of their eyes moment, well that’s what happened when I entered the Foggy Dew for a few pre-gig pints. It was as if I had used a time machine and transported myself and the lads back to 1979. I was surrounded by me! The place was packed with the type of people I grew up with and I felt part of it. We all had our ‘uniform’ on (the obligatory Fred Perry classic cut polo shirt), but it was like being part of a huge family.This wasn’t just a gig (which goes without saying was fantastic), it was a movement. It was where I belonged.

So fast forward to Jan 2013, when another Specials gig was announced, same band, same venue, same lads. You would think that the same feelings would be awoken from deep within me? But no! Even The Lads showed no interest. What could cause such a change in tune? THE PRICE! The promoters had out priced and miss-calculated their audience. The first gig was sold out in days without much need to advertise, yet after four months of expensive radio, EDMs and press ads, this one hasn’t. You see, Specials fans are all of a certain age now with responsibilities, so €110 for two tickets (one for me, one for The Rude Girl), plus pints, plus baby sitter, left it out of our price range and I assume many others.

So, I’m sending a message out to you Rudy, stop your messing around and don’t get greedy. Price your product carefully. Look at who you’re selling to. Know the financial restraints of your target demographic and the perceived demand. With people’s pockets feeling the strain and ‘must haves’ now becoming ‘like to haves’, no amount of advertising and promotions could sell a product that the public don’t find good value. So Dublin wise up, or this place, is coming like a ghost town.

Paul ‘Rude Boy’ Gibson
Art Director


The Money Shot

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We had the pleasure of working with a legend and a real gent, Christy O’Connor Jnr, the golf pro, last week. He has such a positive outlook on life and is a true inspiration. With his endearing smileand light-hearted personality, it made the photoshoot fun despite the cold weather! Here are some pictures from the shoot. Look out for our work over the coming months.
Aoife McDonnell
Account Manager

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Almost brought a tear to my eye…..

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If you haven’t already seen the new Dove ad it’s a must see. This ad truly showed me how women view themselves. I know I’ve been guilty of this and a lot of my friends have been looking in the mirror and not liking what they see. I felt myself getting quite emotional when I saw the reactions of the women at the end of the ad. The campaign seemed to have a genuine positive impact on their body image.

Well done to Dove for a truly great ad that encourages women to see the beauty in themselves that others see.

Maybe next time I look in the mirror I may not see those usual flaws…and let’s hope this ad has a positive effect on women out there.

Claire Chatham
Receptionist

Manimal of the Year Unleashed

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Arriving in the UK 30 years ago by means of a cargo-crate mistake, Peperami quickly became a favourite meaty snack of the locals, and hasn’t looked back since. As a way to gain exposure in Ireland, Dialogue helped plan and launch the Peperami Manimal of the Year contest, specifically targeting college-aged men from schools across the country. The contest challenged students to film a 30-second video of themselves acting as manly as they could muster, upload the video onto the customised Facebook app and have their friends and classmates vote for them, rewarding the “Manimal” with the highest number of votes a cool €1000 prize.

Focusing on Facebook and Twitter, a social media strategy was developed using humorous photos, cheeky status updates and a healthy dose of competitive and often sarcastic, encouragement from the infamous ‘Animal’ character associated with the brand. Attempting to reach an even larger audience, we enlisted the help of iRadio and Spin Southwest to perform on-air promotions that featured radio hosts performing manly stunts decided by listeners and “beefed-up” versions of otherwise “wimpy” songs.

The result?

*A distinctive social media presence that continues to attract attention and spark a conversation with new fans throughout Ireland
*A reach that included over 375,000 people on Facebook, alone
*Liked and shared photos (like this one) that engaged over 10,000 users and had over 6,000 people talking about it
*Fun and engaging radio promos (like this one) that played throughout the duration of the contest, rewarding listeners the chance to win an iPad Mini
*Overall, raised product and brand awareness amongst college students in Ireland

Meg Goodrich
Digital Account Executive

Sage: our new radio ads

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For over a decade, Sage Software proudly supports more than 40,000 Irish companies with their business. Sage allows you to run your accounts, payroll and CRM more easily and efficiently, no matter what size your business is. The Dialogue Network have brought this to life with their new brand awareness radio campaign on air from April. Tactical radio campaigns will be rolled out in the Spring and Summer.

30 day trial
Business Success
Business Never Sleeps

Aoife McDonnell
Account Manager

Working with the Irish Hospice Foundation

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We are really lucky to be working with the Irish Hospice Foundation. The more we get to know them the more in awe we are of their work. Lots of people don’t know what it is that they do, so we wanted to share this piece from the Irish Examiner that explains one of their programmes really well. The article talks about the Hospice Friendly Hospice programme. It explains how

“….according to Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF) research, 43% of us die in acute hospital settings. Seven in 10 want to die at home but — for many of us — that wish is not fulfilled.

This prompted the IHF to develop the Hospice Friendly Hospitals (HFH) programme, to bring hospice principles into hospital practice. “The primary focus in acute hospitals is on treating and curing people, not on end-of-life care. We set up the HFH programme to ensure end-of-life care becomes central to the everyday business of hospitals,” says Jackie Crinion, HFH programme manager.”

The programme is really incredible and it gives everyone in hospitals the skills to extend the hospice philosophy into a non hospice setting:

“the HFH programme, which provides one-day training to hospital staff, from doctors to receptionists, porters to nurses. ‘Do you think I’m dying?’ a patient might ask the tea-lady or nurse. “Staff who’ve been through the programme say that prior to training they’d have avoided the question. Now, they stop what they’re doing and sit with the patient. The question is a cue that the patient wants to have the conversation, so the staff member allows the person say what’s on their mind. It’s about training people to have a conversation, rather than training to give the right answer.”

You can read the full article from the Irish Examiner here or find out more here.

Conor Byrne
Head of Digital

Source: Original article posted in the Irish Examiner on Wednesday, April 10, 2013, by Helen O’Callaghan

A story about a non-story, about a
non-story

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A newspaper story which could scarcely have less information has been an unlikely internet hit. Paolo Di Canio’s appointment at Sunderland, known as The Black Cats (BOOOOOOOOOO!), and subsequent focus on his Fascist (allegedly-ish) views have taken up plenty of column inches in the last week.

Some people have felt that many of those column inches were unnecessary, but few could compare to an article which appeared in the Irish Daily Star.

Trying to extract views on Di Canio, the paper tried to contact the former Sunderland (BOOOOOOOOO!) winger Andy Reid who left the club two years ago and is now back at Nottingham Forest.

“Irish star Andy Reid has no opinion on the Paolo Di Canio controversy.” read the ‘story’.

Phantom.fm morning DJ Joe Donnelly spotted this non-story and with a need to fill his twitter timeline tweeted

tweet

And guess what, it was re-tweeted over 200 times, which was in turn re-tweeted, and then re-re-tweeted, picked up by Paddy Power, The Daily Star (UK), Yahoo, and even @kildarejoe was trending in the UK! The story (or non-story) then hit a new level when Joe received a call from ‘Have I Got News For You’ asking Joe if it was OK if they used his non-story about a non-story on their topical satire TV show! All this from a non-story …and now I’m writing about it!!!!!!!!!

So kids, here’s a top tip. If you want your 15 minutes of fame, just SAY NOTHING!

Paul Gibson
Art Director

‘Google NOSE’ – smells dodge!

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Did you know that Google is now letting you type your favourite scent into its search engine, tap the “smell button” and inhale the relevant scent to your heart’s content. But it comes with a warning – not to sneeze on your monitor!

So, how many times were you April-fooled on Monday?

There’s lots more funny stuff where this came from.

Click here to see how other brands were fooling around this year.

Sinead Ni Ghaora, Account Director

Let’s Get Real

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I thought I was a dinosaur. But it seems buying a USB-enabled turntable – or in old money, a record player – a couple of years ago made me an ahead-of-the-curve hipster.

There’s an Oxfam charity shop around the corner from Dialogue that sells second-hand vinyl albums. Since their stock comes from the collections of the recently-departed, it’s a glimpse of the real ’60s and ’70s. The decades when Mantovani and James Last, not Jimi Hendrix or the Sex Pistols, shifted units by the billion.

Occasionally I’ll strike gold lurking behind some Andy Stewart atrocity. After handing over €2, I’ll race home to hear the warm ‘thunk’ of the needle connecting with the opening groove of classic vinyl.

But why bother? Can’t the same song be downloaded in milliseconds?

The thing is, it’s not the same. When you interact with music, you listen more. You hear more. You enjoy more.

I’m not the only one that thinks this. It seems that vinyl is selling more and more – and not just to the nostalgia brigade.

So what’s all this got to do with marketing?

It says that pixels aren’t everything. There’s still an appetite for real stuff. Things you can hold, open and interact with.

Don’t get me wrong. Digital has given us an incredible new toybox to play with. But when the world is overwhelmed by the ‘deluge of data’ (to use the phrase we coined for Amdocs) tangible, objects become exceptional. A physical communication – whether it’s delivered via mail, dragged across the sky behind a plane or stenciled onto a mucky wall using bleach – now stands out.

All this was sparked by a recent observation: when we passed a tangible object around the table at a pitch last week, the audience lit up. Their body language said ‘finally, something that’s not a powerpoint visual’.

Engaging the senses makes sense and it’s something that a lot of major brands have latched onto as this presentation shows.

So if your view of marketing possibilities has narrowed to what’s possible on a screen, maybe it’s time to also look up and get real.

Des Columb, Creative Director

PS: If you know your music, you might spot a couple of genuine classic covers lurking amongst the specimens above. Can you identify them?