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Massive Data Leak From WikiLeaks

by Amy on July 27th, 2010

The Internet: it’s old news, right? For many of us, this technology has been so integrated into our lives since it’s inception that we forget how new it really is, and everyday is allowing things that have never been possible. On Sunday WikiLeaks, a website that publishes information and comments on leaked documents relating to government and corporate misconduct, released over 90,000 secret US military reports concerning the war in Afghanistan. This is considered by many the most substantial intelligence leak about a war while it is still happening in American history.

The secret documents known as the Afghan War Diary provides dates, locations, and details about everything from missions to civilian casualty downplays and cover-ups. This information was provided to other news sources such as The New York Times and The Guardian several weeks before the release on WikiLeaks. Sources were removed from the documents before publication to protect their identity.

This is the first time in history that government information of this magnitude has been leaked on such a large scale. People around the world are able to read these documents, send links to their friends about it, and comment on it at the click of a mouse. WikiLeaks has even provided a Google Map that links documents to the corresponding locations.

Obviously, this information would never have been released so quickly, and on a global scale if it weren’t for the Internet. WikiLeaks operates in several nations, therefore avoiding censorship or jurisdiction from any one nation. I am undecided if this will have any significant impact on the current state of the Afghan War, but I do think it will affect decision-makers in the future. If persons are more likely to be held publicly accountable for their actions, I feel it will have a positive impact over time. Sites like WikiLeaks are redefining the way we receive the news. What do you think? Do you think this will have any significant impact on the Afghan War and future conflicts, or will this blow over in time?



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Sioux Falls’ Restaurants Embrace Foursquare

by John on July 21st, 2010

UPDATED: July 22, 2:25 pm

Foursquare promotions and giveaways have finally come to Sioux Falls. That silly little game that the small, yet active social media-ites of Sioux Falls have been playing since late last fall is now being embraced by local food joint, Sanaa’s Gourmet Restaurant.

Foursquare actually launched back in the spring of 2009 at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas. I was at that conference and thought this mobile game seemed pretty intriguing, but at the time foursquare could only be used in a handful of select cities around the country. When the application opened up to all locations this fall is started to catch on slowly, but surely here in South Dakota.

We’re excited today to announce that there is now even more incentive to play foursquare than just telling your friends where you’re at (as if that wasn’t enough), FREE STUFF! That’s right, 9 Clouds has teamed up with Sanaa’s Gourmet Restaurant to offer a sweet foursquare special. Every time you check-in at Sanaa’s you’ll receive a free cookie or pastry with the purchase of an entree. Pretty cool huh?

Eat your lunch, check in on foursquare, and get free dessert.

It’ll be exciting to watch as local businesses start to adopt foursquare as a unique way to market to their customers and to reach out with deals and promotions. 9 Clouds enjoyed utilizing foursquare at Sioux Falls JazzFest last weekend. Using foursquare was perfect for a large event and we’re able to see the data of who checked in at JazzFest, what time of day, gender breakdown, and more. This is incredibly useful from a marketing standpoint.

Jeff Meuzelaar checks in on foursquare at Sanaa's

9 Clouds is working with other restaurants/bars/venues across both Sioux Falls and Brookings to bring more specials to foursquare so stay tuned.

UPDATE: As of July 22, we’ve teamed up with Mama’s Ladas Enchiladas to offer another foursquare special here in Sioux Falls. Check out their great deal.

One thing to note, 9 Clouds attempted to create a special for our own office location and received the following response from foursquare:

While we’re working the kinks out of our system, we’re trying to limit foursquare specials to places where people meet, socialize and linger. Think: cafes, bars, restaurants, coffee shops, museums, theaters, etc. But stay tuned!  We’ll be expanding the system soon, and you’ll be one of the first to know when we’re ready for all types of business! :)

It appears to start foursquare is limiting special to more product-based and social locations. This makes sense initially, but look for foursquare to open up their specials to professional services like hair salons and chiropractors.

For more on foursquare for businesses check out fellow internet marketer, Paul Ten Haken’s story in the Argus Leader’s Business Journal.



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Old Spice is the New Viral

by Megan M. Nelson on July 20th, 2010

Does your man smell like an Old Spice Man? If not, I bet you want him to now after the recent viral campaign explosion! (If my husband didn’t already use Old Spice I may think about buying some…) I got my first glimpse of the new Old Spice man campaign last week while watching the Today Show and was instantly hooked – me, and about 19 million other viewers. Thanks to Mashable, I was able to see just how “hooked” we had all become.

Here are their numbers as of July 15th:

  • Number of videos made: 180+
  • Number of video views: 5.9 million
  • Number of comments: 22,500

That is some crazy viewership! Now, I tend to shy away from things that are trending because I like to “trend” my own pop culture but for whatever reason, I was ready to jump on this bandwagon and tell everyone about it. Maybe it was the fact that the spots themselves were wittily-written, or that I love anything slightly sarcastic or maybe it was just plain different. Consumers can be a fickle group and Old Spice definitely took a chance here. A chance that has paid off obviously.

I’m actually kicking myself for not discovering the YouTube response videos they created last week using the Twitter activity a bit sooner so I could have maybe been one of the chosen few to have a custom response. But even though I wasn’t in the mix, I found myself strangely addicted to watching a large amount of them on the Old Spice YouTube channel. In an online world where spam is the norm and everyone is looking for the next big thing, it’s so refreshing (ha! pun intended!) to see a brand actually listen, engage and respond to their audience. It seems, that when we feel taken care of and that someone is listening to as consumers, our loyalty and commitment will prove strong.

We can also be the best brand ambassadors out there, I obviously am not in the direct target market for this specific product (or am I, as I do buy it for the husband…so smart, Procter & Gamble!) but would not hesitate to pass the good word on. Is their product that much more superior to other mens bodywashes? Probably not, but when it comes down to it, soap is pretty much soap so you have to find a way to set yourself apart, engage your audience and get them to buy.

Or, if they don’t buy, they may create something to add to the viral explosion. Have you heard about the Old Spice Voicemail Generator? Google it, you won’t be disappointed. This wasn’t even created by Old Spice, some awesome tech guys thought it up and fueled the fire. Apparently, if you build it, they will come. We don’t wait for someone else to create it, we do it ourselves! And you’d better believe that if I didn’t use my phone for work purposes, I would totally have a new voicemail and be telling you all to call me so you can hear just how awesome it is.

Are Old Spice sales up? Time will tell. Will we want to see more advertising like this? Maybe for a bit, until we’ve moved on to something else. As Brenna Ehrlich said on Mashable: “Congrats, Old Spice. You’ve set the precedent. Now ready yourself for the deluge of less successful copycats.”



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