If you work with brands that maintain digital properties, you have opportunities to recommend and integrate leading-edge technology into your digital programs. And with some luck, you’ll have successfully amplified that brand with the buzz generated, helped that brand gain market share and maybe even won an award or two! In this economic period of slashed budgets and diminished expectations, now is the time to really dig to uncover and leverage new, cost-effective ways to differentiate your brand while still positively and proactively engaging your customers.
One area where brands and their agencies are still focused (or need to be if they are late to the party!) is the social media space. And for good reason–social [...]

As part of my regular morning routine I was reading the latest Penny Arcade webcomic.
It was about Sony and the PSP, in general Sony is always good to take a potshot at. But today’s potshot was based upon lots of ammunition and comes with some weight from the FTC to boot.
The FTC has ruled that companies engaging in Word-of-Mouth marketing that compensates the word-of-mouth participants, that the participants must make the compensation known. This has typically been defined as “shilling”.
Tycho points out the important distinction between Viral Marketing and Guerrilla Marketing. The fact that an ad agency cannot create Viral Marketing is extremely important. Word-Of-Mouth, a form of Viral Marketing is supposed to be organic. [...]