PepperDigital

Fresh Bread and No Parking Tickets. Thanks, Twitter.

By Carl Foster, PepperDigital

Toward the end of last year I heard a number of commentators suggest that Twitter was ‘sooo 2009’ and something of a fad that will fade away from public imagination, the same way Second Life did in 2008. Well, aside from facilitating freedom of speech in Iran and delivering numerous breaking news stories around the world, I have seen a couple of local examples that prove the Twitter doubters wrong.

First is a lovely story about the Albion, a small bakery in London. As any baker will tell you, the best time to break bread (or croissants, cookies and pastries) is when it is fresh out of the oven. The chaps at Poke, a digital agency in Shoreditch knew this also, and so developed BakerTweet, a piece of hardware for their local bakery. Now, all the flour and dough covered bakers have to do is select what is baking, and then when it is done, an automatic tweet from @albionsoven is sent out to the bakery’s 1,725 followers. This is the Twitter version of the Krispy Kreme sign that lights up when the doughnuts are fresh. The use of Twitter is perfect as Shoreditch is densely populated by digital and new media agencies – exactly the type of people who are on Twitter and need some calorific treats to jump start their next creative brainstorm.  

From the delights of fresh bread, to the menace of Britain’s most merciless law enforcement officials: traffic wardens. The second example is from Stonecot Hill, an area of south London, which either has a particular problem with traffic wardens, or a particularly organised and astute local community. Either way, the result is a @stonecotparking, a Twitter feed that alerts followers to the presence of a traffic warden. The theory is that you receive the tweet and rush back to your car if your ticket is almost up, or nudge it in so not one inch protrudes over the white line. Stonecot parking is effectively a neighbourhood watch system, but instead of watching for criminals they watch for traffic wardens. Currently it only has 31 followers, so I am not sure how effective it has been in saving people from parking tickets, but if nothing else, it is a reassuring example of community spirit in a supposedly unfriendly city.

Arthur Kade: Spreadable Media or Virus?

By: Sam Ford, PepperDigital

Of all the pop culture phenomena that have sprung up over the past year, none have astounded me quite as deeply as Arthur Kade. For those not familiar, Kade is a former financial adviser who left his career amidst the financial meltdown to pursue his quest to be an actor. In the process, Kade set out on what he has self-labeled "The Journey" and has used social media, most prominently his blog, to share every step along the way. According to Philadelphia Magazine, Kade's blog is "equal parts diary, public exhibition and, in the eyes of many, train wreck. It has made him a cult hero -- or, more accurately, villain -- not only here in Philadelphia, but, as ridiculous as it sounds, around the world."

Kade's extreme hubris about the quality of his acting and his career-to-be, the excessive hyperbole about his looks, and his continuously degrading sexual remarks about women have gained the attention of Web sites from Gawker to Jezebel. Most of all, people are left wondering whether Kade is chronicling his foray into acting or whether the blog itself is the work of art, an elaborate scripted reality show he has developed for himself, and is living.

I first learned of Kade's existence late last spring, having dinner with a friend in New Jersey. At the time, Kade's ridiculous chronicles of his "journey" were circulating throughout the blogosphere, and my friend had become quite addicted to following the unfolding narrative. Some might call Kade a "viral phenomenon" and his blog a piece of content that infected anyone and everyone who stumbled across it, who then had to share it with the world. However, while I'm sure many readers of Kade's blog would find quite a few connections between the character who is Arthur Kade and an entity that induces stomach retching, I don't believe there's anything magical in Kade's approach that brainwashed people into turning him into what Gawker calls an "F-List Celebrity."

As many of you know, I am working on a book project at the moment with Henry Jenkins and Joshua Green called "spreadable media," looking at how and why people spread content online. Kade's genius is in creating a character and putting out a steady stream of content that speaks to hot-button issues for people. By embodying the worst stereotypes of reality television personalities, he's become an online, "real-life," "real time" character that an audience can follow, curse, ridicule--and, in the process, turn into a star. Kade has been profiled by publications and Web sites not only across the U.S. but increasingly across the globe. Celebrity sites have discussed his ridiculous excesses. Entertainment fans have assessed his acting abilities. Women's groups have debated his many offenses.

And, he's been named in Urban Dictionary as...well..."Supreme Douche of the Universe" (and that's among the nicer descriptions). In other words, Kade's reputation has been built because a wide variety of online communities saw him as a character embodying issues they wanted to discuss (reality television/acting, female empowerment, Philadelphia culture, Internet celebrity, etc.). And Kade's success came from providing regular fodder for those people's conversations.

Pepsi Gambles Against Super Bowl TV Ads

By Mike Blankenship, PepperDigital

 For the first time in more than two decades, perennial Super Bowl advertiser Pepsi will not be advertising on TV’s biggest stage, declining to pay $2.8 million for a 30-second spot. Instead, Pepsi is spending $20 million on the Pepsi Refresh Project, a social media campaign aimed at making donations to people, businesses and non-profits dedicated to social good.

For an established brand such as Pepsi that is entrenched in our everyday lives, advertising during the SB is more for entertainment as opposed to marketing their product to consumers. The annually most-watched-telecast serves as a showcase for sometimes genius creative and sometimes simply leaves people scratching their heads as to why a company bothered to spend the money. For Pepsi, the allure of doing social good is obviously more important than entertaining the 250 million people (give or take a few) who will watch the game. 

Pepsi’s decision to balk at this year’s SB is a win-win for the company and is a testament to the power and influence of social media. The global brand gains valuable word-of-mouth advertising across all social media spheres as well as enhances its reputation as a corporate giver, and for about the same cost of producing and airing 4-5 commercials. Using social media to do social good should be applauded. Rather than line the pockets of CBS executives, Pepsi is endeavoring to support positive change in communities.

And, the lifespan of the post-SB buzz about the commercials is much shorter than what Pepsi will gain (and has already gained) as a result of the Refresh Project.  Alterian SM2, which tracks online buzz about SB advertisers, began tracking online mentions of potential SB advertisers in December, lists Pepsi as the most mentioned brand online. It is clearly apparent that the decision to forego the big game is already paying dividends for Pepsi.

The only drawback to Pepsi opting not to advertise during Super Bowl XLIV is that we won’t be entertained by classics such as this one featuring Cindy Crawford.