Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Tell me, so I can tell the world

Today's pat on the back goes to Universal Studios. A representative from the studio was smart enough to contact Chris at Movie Marketing Madness, and give him all the information he needed on how Universal is marketing the upcoming release Miami Vice.

First of all, what impressed me the most is that Universal contacted Chris. Normally bloggers have to bend over backwards to even get companies to give them the CHANCE to contact THEM. Now because one rep at Universal took 30 minutes out of his day, a movie that Universal is banking on being a summer blockbuster, will get primo exposure on the internet's most influential movie marketing blog, and one of the Top 25 Marketing Blogs.

But as it always seems to be in the blogosphere, that's hardly the end of the story.

Now as I type this, Universal's move is being featured on one of the Top 10 Marketing blogs. Chris also writes for AdJab, and if he finds something from his interview with Universal that he can use there, Miami Vice will also get exposure on one of the Top 10 Advertising Blogs.

Many companies simply don't feel that it's worth their time, from a promotional standpoint at least, to talk to bloggers. I get that. This is a space that unless you are interacting within every day, you truly can't comprehend how easily thoughts and ideas spread. And again, based on the actions of certain bloggers complaining about how Dell listened to them, many companies want to understandably distance themselves from bloggers as much as possible.

Again, I get that.

That's why I think it's our responsibility to ourselves, and companies that are smart enough to embrace bloggers, to reward their efforts. I think we need to send a clear message to Universal that their 30 minutes spent talking to Chris was the best promotional move they will make this week. We all need to link to Universal Studios, and tell the story of how they were smart enough to embrace bloggers. A few sour bloggers last week made Dell's new blog the talk of the blogosphere by raking them over the coals for daring to listen to them. In the process they did considerable damage to the progress of getting companies to communicate with bloggers. We can undo much of that damage THIS week by making Universal's move to reach out to Chris and his readers at MMM the story of THIS week.

So that's my call to the Viral Community today. If you have a case of writer's block this week, and you need a post for your blog, just mention how Universal was smart enough to talk to bloggers. If all of the members of just the Viral Community posted about Universal's move to interact with Chris, the studio's actions could be literally brought to tens of thousands of people by day's end. The A-Listers had their fun and sent their message to companies last week, this week it's our turn to let companies know that bloggers DO want to talk to them, and that we WILL reward their efforts.

Here again are the links to Chris's post, to Universal, and to the website for Miami Vice. Use all of them early and often ;)




Pic via Flickr user Datamax

11 comments:

J.D. said...

I can't wait to read more about this. I really wish this was Paramount we were talking about, because I'd really like to stand behind Transformers, but hopefully Universal will set a good example!

Anonymous said...

Bloggers unite, right?

Should be interesting. Posted on my blog. Not because I have writer's block or anything, but...

Mack Collier said...

Clay I think it's bloggers unite to send the RIGHT message to companies. Attacking each and every company that reaches out to bloggers might get ME a spike in short-term traffic, but long-term, it hurts all of us. If companies are making marketing blunders when it comes to bloggers, we need to point that out. But it is as important, perhaps even moreso, to point when companies get it right.

Universal got it right. No it's not the sexy angle, and it might not make it to TechMeme, but if we all as a community go out of our way to support companies when they DO reach out to bloggers, we can make a difference.

Anonymous said...

I can't think of any way to disagree. Perfectly put.

Chris Thilk said...

See, this is why I passed the ball to Mack in my post. He (you) did it justice far better than I had the strength to at the time.

By the way, the "column" I refer to in my post is just my campaign review, not something for some other site.

Anonymous said...

Excellent post, Mack.

Once again...you're...da freakin' MAN!

Seriously -- Chris, you gotta be stoked. Good thing you were home, huh?

: )

Mack Collier said...

That's a great deal for Chris, but to be honest, movie studios should have Chris on speed-dial. He's always been more than fair with his coverage, and has even offered space on MMM for studios to hype their films.

Kudos to Universal for getting up to speed, and I've already seen this story linked on several other blogs, so the Viral Community is already working its magic ;)

Chris Thilk said...

I also think something important to remember here is Mack's idea of the "lifetime value of a blogger." This guy made himself available to me and you can bet that anytime I have a question about a Universal movie I'm going to ping him. Whether it's for more details on something or to clarify something I don't quite understand. That way Universal will get their information out correctly and I'll get my facts straight before hitting "Publish." It's a win-win.

Anonymous said...

Psst: Well said Mack, I've done my part, over in my corner, to "pass it on".

Positive news like this is so needed after the Dell debacle. Amazing what a little blogger RESPECT will get Universal, eh?

Tricia said...

That's absolutely amazing! Congrats Chris! I can't wait to read it. I'll definitely comment on this on my blog. I can't wait to see what further communication lies ahead for you and Universal...

Anonymous said...

"Bloggers are the new PR".
I'll post about it, too