Cosmedia by Gino Cosme eMarketing & new media commentary by Gino Cosme, a Web strategist and writer.

Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Visitors Out: Total Visitors Out: 0 0 2349 2349

Please subscribe to my new blog…
2008-05-06 17:16:43
Jimmy Dean once said “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” One of the ways in which I am adjusting my own sails is by changing the website that I blog on. So, with immediate effect I will continue blogging from www.ginocosme.com. Please [...] ...

Questions to ask before starting a Social Media Campaign
2008-04-24 19:33:23
As I leave for Thailand tomorrow for a combination of some TLC and creative thinking, I’d like to leave you with one section of my updated free social media primer, which has been downloading quite steadily since I announced it on Tuesday. If you haven’t done so yet, please download your free copy. It’s published [...] ...

The totally wrong way to comment on a blog
2008-04-23 23:13:37
“Hi! I totally agree with your post. Here is a link to a not-really-related post on my own site that I’m shamelessly trying to promote by posting this comment. In fact, the only purpose of this comment is to create a reason for me to link to my post. I don’t realize that I’m [...] ...

Social Media book for South African market
2008-04-23 21:52:46
As Eve and I finish off our first social media book for our UK publisher, we’re preparing ourselves for another ambitious project. The project includes publishing a blog-like book to help South African businesses, large and small, understand the social media landscape and use it to achieve business goals in an innovative and creative manner. Although [...] ...

A new look & new edition to my free social media ebook
2008-04-22 19:54:38
You may have noticed that this blog has changed its theme thanks to a pretty nifty free template and some design tweaking by a mate of mine. After what I believe was a teething process, my new blog is live. With this new look comes an update to my free social media ebook. Finally! How I [...] ...

Social media is not about the technology. It’s about people.
2008-04-17 17:28:27
If social media is a communication channel focused on people and aims to deliver success-based outcomes that result from meaningful participation, why then are some companies recruiting or delegating social media into their technical divisions? I have a suggestion that might bare the answer. During a period of what some would call “social media fatigue”, opportunists [...] ...

Does your company need a chief blogger?
2008-04-14 21:15:08
Ad Age has an interesting article on the value of a corporate blog. More specifically, the article examines whether there is any value in having a chief blogger. “Today, just more than 11% of Fortune 500 companies have corporate blogs…and only a handful have a designated chief blogger.” This is why companies such as Coca-Cola [...] ...

The corporate challenges of Web 2.0 and social media initiatives
2008-04-14 21:01:59
I’m a realist. I know from inside experience that no matter how great and exciting a new marketing and communications channel is, there will always be challenges that businesses will face when they consider using new thinking as part of their business strategies. For the sake of this blog post, I have identified three corporate [...] ...

Your reputation is your brand
2008-04-11 18:08:20
Here’s the truth. In one way or other we’re all creating and managing our own brands, either personal or business (generally both). Whether it be the way we present ourselves at meetings and on social media channels, the content we write on our blogs or for magazines, the names we create and market to identify [...] ...

I am back on Twitter so follow me
2008-04-10 19:35:09
While I like to experiment with numerous social media tools and channels, I don’t like to over-consume too many. So, when Twitter first started making headlines, I opened an account and ended up not doing much with it. So I closed it again. Today however I decided to give it another try. I want to [...] ...

Hospitals should connect patients
2008-04-10 19:15:58
While I lay in Sandton Medi-Clinic yesterday waiting to be rolled into theatre I couldn’t help but think of how hospitals are like hotels for the sick. We get a bed, a TV, a telephone, food, and if we’re lucky, a room with a view. The only difference really is that unlike lying in a [...] ...

An update on my upcoming book: Linked - How business can use the Internet to drive profits
2008-04-08 14:11:56
Since announcing last year that I will be writing my first book thanks to receiving a publishing contract with Chandos Publishers, I haven’t really spoken about it since. Towards the end of last year I had a draft manuscript in my hands but I realised that I needed to share this opportunity with someone who [...] ...

Why Nationwide Airlines should look towards social media
2008-04-03 22:52:05
Since the announcement of Nationwide Airlines being grounded in December last year, I haven’t really been a fan of the airline, preferring to fly with SAA, British Airway or Kulula when it comes to local travel (albeit that my return flight from Cape Town yesterday on Kulula was anything but pleasant). However, during the Nationwide [...] ...

Should we kill the phrase “Social Media”?
2008-04-01 21:15:53
Steve Rubel, who I’ve once interviewed on this blog and for whom I have a great deal of respect, writes about how social media should just be called “media”. Personally, I think that the use of the phrase “social media” has been worn out and hence tend to agree with Steve. It also segments the [...] ...

Let’s get personal for a change…
2008-04-01 19:29:12
I’m a straightforward guy, or at least I like to think that I am. And here’s the truth - I’m a shy kind of guy. Not the “I’m embarrassed to speak in front of people” kind of shyness - heck, it’s part of what I do for many of the clients I work with - [...] ...

Google goes black in Israel while South Africa not supporting Earth Hour
2008-03-28 08:54:51
Loren Baker reports that Google in Israel served a black screen with white letters yesterday in aid of Earth Hour, a global movement that started last year in Sydney aimed at raising awareness around energy conservation and climate change. This years movement, which kicked off in Tel Aviv yesterday, invites people across the world to turn [...] ...

Some words that describe social media best
2008-03-27 21:04:28
There are so many various explanations on what social media is. One way of trying to understand it is by reading my soon to be republished social media primer (way overdue). Another would be to do a search on Google. Or check out some of the many local and international blogs on the subject. However, I’m [...] ...

An Eco way to share this blog
2008-03-27 10:54:06
Chris Brogan and Fred Wilson pointed me to a nifty blog widget that addresses the environmental concern of paper wastage derived from printing website or blog content. The widget, shown below, offers website and blog users with alternative options to printing pages, such as saving a post to PDF or email a post to a [...] ...

Social media marketing needs a new name…
2008-03-26 14:55:03
Many people involved in the South African (and Global) social media industry will agree that if anything, these past few years have taught us a lot about Web-based content and copywriting, online communities and networks, and marketing and communications on the Internet. We have also seen how numerous companies, both locally and abroad, find value [...] ...

B2B online marketing projects done well
2008-03-20 10:18:35
It’s not often that you find a well-executed B2B online marketing project. Having worked for Siemens, I’ve been through the research and the competition, and more often than not it’s a matter of executing a digital strategy following in the creative footsteps of ones B2C counterparts yet remaining true to the very real business outcomes [...] ...

Embracing social media to promote employee engagement
2008-03-18 16:20:10
What is a company’s number 1 internal communication goal? According to Michael Rudnick of consultancy Watson Wyatt , who recently conducted research on social media usage within companies, engaging employees tops the list. Enter social media. “Instead of simply mass e-mailing information or posting to an intranet in hopes employees will see it, social media tools [...] ...

Marketing agencies don’t get social media
2008-03-11 09:15:09
A recent report by TNS Media Intelligence/Cymfony is quite worrying. The report polled over 60 marketers in North America, France and the U.K, including many blue chip companies, to measure what their agency’s social media capabilities were. The result? They just “don’t get it!” “I think traditional ad agencies have very little contribution to make,” Bryan [...] ...

Social network popularity across the globe
2008-03-10 14:11:01
French daily newspaper Le Monde published in January an interesting map (created by Datamonitor) that takes a look at the most popular social networks across the globe. As we can see, the most popular social networks in Africa and the Middle East are Facebook,Hi5, Netlog, Yonja and Skyblog. In Europe, Bebo, MySpace and Skyblog rule the [...] ...

Coke Zero Advergame
2008-03-07 15:52:31
I am a big fan of European online creative agencies. Not only because I have worked with a couple of the finest, but because the quality of the product and the passion for the industry is above-average. One of my favourite digital agencies (I have yet to work with them though) is North Kingdom. Their most [...] ...

Kentucky Fried Cruelty - spread the word!
2008-02-21 17:41:42
PETA in the States has launched an excellent, albeit disturbing awareness campaign that highlights how KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) continues to condone the horrific mistreatment of its chicken. The movies, which Fox banned from the Superbowl, are seeing the light of day thanks to the viral nature that happens when society and the Internet unite [...] ...

CNN fires blogger over his blog content
2008-02-13 14:21:48
Here we go again. Terry Heaton reports on the dismissal of Chez Pazienza, a producer at CNN of four years, over the content of his blog, Deus Ex Malcontent. While some of his content may offend some readers, what ever happened to being able to speak freely? Even if one is involved, in one [...] ...
Blog  Blogger  Cnn  Fires 

Paws for animal rights
2008-02-12 15:45:48
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in Western Australia has launched an integrated campaign inviting individuals and organisations to help raise funds for animals in need. Using a combination of print, online banners and video, all of which are brought together by a microsite, the “Paws for a Cause Day” [...] ...
Rights 

Adidas Celebrates Originality on YouTube & Facebook
2008-02-07 15:25:48
As part of a global brand message, “Celebrate Originality,” Adidas has launched a retail and digital focused campaign that is reported to be the biggest campaign the German sportswear manufacturer has embarked on. As part of the campaign, Adidas has debuted a social media strategy targeting YouTube and Facebook. The first of four YouTube videos [...] ...
Adidas  Facebook  Originality  Youtube 

How does social media relate to other online strategies?
2008-02-06 09:09:26
Online success depends on something very important - it requires a multi-tactic approach. I like to consider online strategies as a solution made up of three important Web marketing pillars that each work together to achieve strategic objectives, namely a corporate or brand website, ROI-driven Web marketing and influence-focused Social Media. Before I explain, let’s [...] ...
Media  Social  Social Media  Strategies 

Social media means business
2008-02-04 15:07:08
The way South African businesses use social media has to (and will) change. So much so that its impact on business will be the determining factor on whether social media really is a business tool or a “nice to have”. Here’s why. To this date, while we understand what social media is and how it can [...] ...
Business  Media  Social  Social Media