Attention Marketing Magazine readers

Hello and thanks for visiting. This is the former blog of David Meerman Scott’s Social Media Master Class. To view the new and improved blog, please go here. Thanks so much.

5 sleeps to go!! Before Freakin Early Bird expires.

Yep. 5 Sleeps. Count them. And then the Freakin Early Bird (FIB) offer expires. True. It’s hardwired into the system, cannot over-ride. 

$675 + GST for a full day masterclass with David Meerman Scott + interactive panel + copy of World Wide Rave + cocktail party + snuggie. Ok. That was too much.

At any rate, awesome value as it goes up to $745 + GST until July 31, $815 + GST for any tickets left in August.

Book Sydney here – Sep 2

Book Melbourne here – Sep 4

And big thanks to Trevor Young of PR Warrior  for his review of WWR…for more details have a look.

Rule 1 of the Rave: Nobody cares about your product.

 

In David’s  new book, World Wide Rave, he introduces a list of 6 Rules of the Rave. These Rules of the Rave are what David sees as predictors of success if you intend on having millions of people talking about your product/service or company. Over the next six weeks we will introduce each rule and provide some examples of how they apply to the Australian market.

Rule 1: Nobody cares about your product.

Ouch. That hurt didn’t it? When you follow this rule, you throw away all the advertising and marketing books on how to write great copy about your products (well, perhaps just shelve them?). All you have to do is simply make your product solve your customers’ problems. Great sales folk know  it’s more about benefits, and less about features. What will this product/service do for you and your problems / or needs?

Now to do this, you really need to understand your “buyer persona”. For those fans of  The New Rules of Marketing and PR, you will be familiar with the term. A buyer persona extends the traditional understanding of customer segmentation and buyer demographics. It’s about really understanding the mindset and the motivations.

 

In Australia, Queensland Tourism, and their advertising agency Cummins Nitro really nailed this rule when they introduced the “Best Job in the World” Campaign.  In understanding their buyer persona, they provided a solution to a common problem (my job is boring / I’m not paid enough). I mean seriously, who wouldn’t want 6 months at $150K as an island caretaker?? 

In so doing, they generated between $100 – $200 million worth of free publicity with the whole world talking about the promotion. Not a word about the product. Brilliant.

 [ 23/6 WHOAH! UPDATE - Cummins Nitro awarded not one but 2 Grand Prix awards at Cannes Lions for this campaign. Kudos!!! thanks Mumbrella.]

E-books work too!

When you understand your buyer persona, you understand the potential solutions to their problems. This is why the free e-book becomes a really important marketing tool, and potential for creating a world wide rave.  Still in the tourism sector, The Australian Tourism Data Warehouse (ATDW) published a free social media marketing e-kit which is a step-by-step guide  online marketing for tourism operators .  They’ve now achieved just over 70,000 downloads and gained international attention. Hat tip to the good folks at  www.untanglemyweb.com who were the primary online marketing consultants for the project.

So in thinking about Rule 1 of the Rave, what’s been your favourite example of an Australian company understanding the buyer persona and meeting their need?