You know that Hyundai i30 ad with the cop out of the first season Underbelly? He introduces us to the barista who drives a Hyundai because it suits her lifestyle? In the the 30 seconds it goes to air we’re introduced to her, learn a bit about her and meant to trust her.

“Ooh she looks friendly. I like friendly people. Oooh she’s a barista. I know lots of nice baristas. Ooooh she drives a Hyundai. I want to drive a Hyundai.”

Sadly, it doesn’t work like that. She’s an actress…

I went all out last week and made a prediction on the ‘next big thing’. No, it wasn’t Tony Abbott. I was talking about Foursquare. I won’t go into what Foursquare is here but Mark Pollard has a nice overview of the functionality and his experience with it here.

I just want to rattle off a few dot points on why I think Foursquare will change the marketing game for business. Here’s how…

Bloody hell it is hot. So hot that it means delicate skin people like me have to put sunscreen on before we open the bedroom window in the morning. Yet for our olive brothers it means tan time. And for every lobster nose this summer there will be a sun safety message.

Pretty full on. But do you accept the message or fight it?

Last week the Rudd Government upheld the law which states that Australian book stores can not import any book which has been published within Australia within 30 days of its international launch. This law is in place to protect Australian publishers. The challenge to the law came from Australian book retailers who claim that it keeps their prices inflated and does not allow them to compete with the online book industry.

But what does this protection mean for consumers? Are we getting ripped off if we go into a physical book shop? Do these restrictions combined with increased online competition mean physical book retailers no longer offer us value?

This story is courtesy of Katie Palmer from The Soup:
A man is speaking to a large conference. He takes the stage and says to the audience,
“Put your hand up if you have ever seen an ugly baby.”
Almost everyone in the audience raises their hand. He continues,
“Now, put your hand up if you have an ugly baby.”
No one in the audience raises their hand.
The moral? People are less likely to think negatively of something when they have been actively involved in its evolution.

I don’t know about you but I’ve been getting a little protective of my email lately. I’ve always been ruthless in removing junk which is filling up my inbox. However, my definition of ‘junk’ is changing. For me, junk has moved beyond unsolicitored mail and now includes duplicated or mass content.

Over the last couple of months, I’ve been on a white paper reading spree. I want to share with you five of my favourites.

Here’s an example of how powerful word of mouth is. I recently watched a documentary about Bernie Madoff, the convicted operator of the Ponzi scheme which fleeced almost $65 billion from investors pockets. The following is an excerpt which demonstrates the power of trust and recommendation.

If you look at Origin Energy’s homepage you would be pretty convinced they are doing their best to help the environment. Yet, if you ask Origin Energy to send your bills via email rather than post as I did, it is not possible. There is no paperless option. Surely this should have been a priority for a corporation focused on ’sustainability’?

After years of buying contact lenses through my regular optometrist, I started shopping around online for some better prices. It was an even money race, a gut decision.