The Dark Knight RisesPosted by Chad on May 23rd, 2011

I consider myself to be a pretty smart guy. I’m no Bruce Wayne. You’d have to have his brains to crack the code that reveals the picture of the new villain, Bane, in the upcoming film, The Dark Knight Rises.

If you visit the official page, www.thedarkknightrises.com you’ll hear chanting that really doesn’t make sense.

However, some friendly nerd realized, like most Batman story lines, there is some meaning to this madness. The chanting apparently reveals a code for a twitter #hashtag that, when tweeted, reveals an image of the newest villain on the official site.

Amazing thought was put in to this. I can imagine the movie producers sitting around thinking “how can we make this fun for the Batman fanatics as well as mainstream movie-goers?” Lets reveal this character, who is equal parts mad man and super genius, in a way that only a genius can understand, make it social, make it sharable, and make it valuable, but don’t tell anyone. Eventually someone will figure it out. Then they will tell everyone about the amazing thing they just discovered.

I’ve been listening to the chanting now for an hour and I can’t make sense of it. So for you lazy ones out there. Search #thefirerises on twitter and you should find the image with no problem. Enjoy.

…

And if you are just plain lazy…

Here you go:

Hiding the Pill: ZombiesPosted by Chad on May 19th, 2011

Are you ready for a Zombie invasion?  The CDC is.  Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse is an article posted on CDC.gov to offer advice about emergency preparedness about possible zombie attacks (The page has been down all morning due to traffic).  Do they actually think that a Zombie attack could happen? No.  It’s essentially a viral marketing campaign to fill you in on emergency preparedness for other actual disasters.  The article talks about how to be prepared for any disaster.  “So what do you need to do before zombies…or hurricanes or pandemics for example, actually happen? First of all, you should have an emergency kit in your house.”

It’s essentially what every parent does to get their child to take medication.  You hide a pill in some candy.  Put something they need (but don’t want) into something they love.  It’s what viral marketing is about. This is genius. The CDC wants you to be prepared for disasters. You won’t go to hear about building your own hurricane/tornado/flood disaster kit. You will go to hear about a zombie disaster kit. It helps that the world is fascinated by zombies.  Seriously though, most zombie commercials go viral right?

What are some other examples of creative pill hiding? Leave a comment.

Weekly Stir: 5/18/11Posted by Chad on May 18th, 2011

It’s the end of the world as we know it, do you feel fine?

No, I don’t believe the end of the world is coming this Saturday. But what if it does? Not going to lie, my biggest concern is if my two dogs will be okay (seriously though, if Jesus comes and goes and you’re still here, will you go check on them for me?).

Today, I want to ask you about mistakes. We often say “It’s not the end of the world” when talking of things that go wrong. But what if you do something so wrong that it just might be the end of the world, or at least the end of your world as you knew it. You’ve ruined your reputation in the community. How do you react? How do you recover? How do you rebuild?

Arnold just screwed up his life. Kenneth Cole and Gilbert Godfried ruined their careers. Countless underpaid social media marketers have screwed their brand’s image. What’s better here: apologies, cover-ups, saving face, pointing fingers?

Don’t be shy, leave a comment.

Weekly Stir: 5/13/2011Posted by Chad on May 13th, 2011

Today, because it’s Friday the 13th, I’m starting a new weekly segment. I’m calling it the Weekly Stir. It’s basically a thought for the week, or a question to stir up conversation. Here goes:

It’s Friday the 13th, a day shrouded in superstition. Let’s talk about luck. How often would you say luck is involved in the success of marketing/community building campaigns? It’s important to test and retest, but how often is it okay to fly be the seat of your pants? Or is it okay at all?

Please comment!