…now every regular Joe to most celebrities regularly tweet their fans/followers.

In the past week we’ve seen even more proof that social marketing, when done correctly, is an extremely powerful tool to have in your arsenal. A Facebook group, which I’m proud to say I was part of, managed to alter the normal Christmas routine of the X-Factor winner becoming number 1 in the Christmas chart race. The classic rebel record ‘Killing in the name’ by the mighty ‘Rage Against the Machine’ was plastered all around Facebook and Twitter encouraging people to buy a copy in an attempt to stop the usual predictability of X-Factor being crowned number 1 for Christmas…we did it and it felt really good.

Now we have Pepsi scrapping its usual Super Bowl ad campaign for a $20 million Social Media campaign called ‘The Pepsi Refresh Project’ which is aimed to encourage users to submit ideas on how to ‘refresh’ their own communities and make them a better place for everyone to live. There will be a cut off date for idea submission, at which point a vote will be cast and the winning projects will get funded by Pepsi.

This is a significant change for a company the size of Pepsi who have become synonymous with the Super Bowl weekend and their extravagant celebrity endorsed advertisements. To make this huge leap into Social Marketing puts a lot of weight behind the power of such forms of marketing and promotion. It’s not like Pepsi are dipping their toe in the Social pond to see what happens, they are putting a stop to all Super Bowl advertisements and committing 100% to a Social Media influenced campaign…well done Pepsi, and good luck…

I think these two examples speak volumes on their own. I’m excited to think what 2010 will bring us both from design and technology on the internet through to the ever increasing power of Social Marketing. In closing I’d like to wish you all a great Christmas and a peaceful and productive New Year…

I took everything offline several months back to concentrate on other projects. A personal niggle of mine is websites, especially blogs that aren’t kept up to date. So as to not fall foul to my own pet peeve I decided to take my site offline. Since then I have been asked to undertake a couple of other projects which really needs this site to be up and live…so here we are.

Please bare with me whilst I get all the final tweaks complete…all going well everything should be full functional by January 2010. In the meantime I’d like to wish you and your family a happy Christmas, and here’s to peace in the New Year…

Leaders in their field, NetPlay TV bring the excitement of the TV game show, the bingo hall, the local bar, the music concert or the casino direct into peoples’ homes. This highly skilled team  bring a wealth of knowledge covering many media formats, the end result being truly unique interactive products that customers love to play.

As you can tell, I’m very excited to be working with NetPlay TV, unfortunately I’m sworn to secrecy at the minute as to the nature of the project and the work I’m undertaking for them, but when the time is right I will be given you all the full skinny…

Hairtrader on Twitter

As with most online business owners these days, its known the benefits of social marketing, but few have the knowledge or the time to implement or interact within the vast social spectrum that exist on the internet.

The first step was to ascertain exactly what was relevant for Hairtrader and how much time would be available to maintain the information made available through the desired social channels. It’s never a case of subscribing to any and all social outlets, rather finding what is relevant to the client and their business.

Social marketing is evolving at a rapid rate, giving online businesses a great avenue to interact and inform their clients and customers on a more personal level. It is not the required strategy for every online business, but needs planning and continual input for a return on any investment, whether it’s monetary or time spent.

With this in mind, we set the ball rolling with a blog and Twitter integration into the already well established Hairtrader website, giving Andy the opportunity to keep visitors to the Hairtrader website well informed and up to date of the latest news and product launches within this industry.

Hairtrader's YouTube Channel

Building on this foundation, the final step was to develop a community within Facebook through a business page. This again, gave Andy the ability to inform his customers of the latest news and products, whilst at the same time allowing them to interact on this platform with their own views and opinions.

Hairtrader on Facebook

Drummer and former colleague of mine, Ben Leach invited me over to meet the guys and set the ball rolling with a few personal shots of them in practice mode, ready to take it to the masses. A talented bunch of guys with a good attitude to the music, I’m excited to see how they progress in the months/years to come.

The initial shoot went well, I managed to come away with 300+ shots, really just getting to know guys and how the group dynamic is working. All going well I’m hoping to get them together for studio shoot very soon…

The new portal site features a great range of entertainment content; separated into sections including movies, music, games TV and sport.

Tapping into the every growing social network movement, Playboy UK has integrated their own social network within the new website. Here users can choose there own content and share with others on the main portal site and via social networks such as Facebook. As part of this brand evolution, the launch of the new Playboy UK website is to be followed by a new mobile website that will integrate many of these key features.

Richard Gale, director of marketing for Playboy UK, said, “Playboy UK is focused on advertising-funded lifestyle content that is developed from our editorial heritage and showcases our expertise on the aspirational ‘good life’,”

As with many brands that have had a significant position in the marketplace for many years and have become household names for one specific reason; Playboy UK, like Durex are repositioning themselves and placing more emphasis on the ‘Lifestyle’ branding.

For more information on Durex and how they are changing things around, take a look at my ‘Durex gets viral‘ blog.

Playboy UK: www.playboy.co.uk

Do you ever get that feeling in the pit of your stomach, yearning back to the gold old days?

Like the first time you saw Star Wars, or the fist time you kissed a girl…or when your parents let you use the Polaroid for the first time. You pointed, it clicked and then after some grunting and wining a picture pops out the bottom. You held tight, staring intently waiting for the magic to happen…

…well, now you can have the magic directly on you desktop with Poladroid.

Visit the website, download the app and away you go. Just drag your digital snaps to the desktop Polaroid camera and after a couple of seconds and some grunting and wining you’ll get your Polaroid conversion…along with figure prints, saturated and faded colors.

If you fancy a play visit the link above and download your own Poladroid software, give it a go for yourself. I warn you now its a bit addictive. I’ve had a little play myself, which are over on my Flickr page if you fancy a look.

Have fun…

Check out their new viral ad campaign below.
(WARNING: Contains Sexual References)

For more information go on over to the www.condomunity.com main website or check out their You Tube channel.

• “Vanity Fair” Portraits: A Century of Iconic Images
• The Half: Photographs of Actors Preparing for the Stage

Being a huge movie fan I think these will sit nicely on my book shelf . Some fantastic imagery from some of my favourite photographers…Cecil Beaton and the awesome Annie Leibovitz being just a couple.

On a slightly different note…

Around this time I picked up on a little photography related quote that was doing the rounds via Twitter. This was in reference to a New York post article “Behind Obama’s People”, highlighting the power of imagery and the whole portrait process with reference to the following…

In “Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography” Roland Barthes suggests that any time a subject steps in front of a camera to have his portrait taken, four people show up…

…Who that individual thinks he is, Who he wants others to think he is, Who the photographer thinks the subject is, Whom the photographer will try to make use of to bring about his art.

Being the armchair psychologist and a keen people snapper, I found this very relevant and quiet thought provoking. I’ve never sat down to consider these options when I’ve had a camera in my hand, its really been a case of the shot I want to achieve rather than the impression or ‘persona’ I want to create for the individual within the portrait.

A great thought process to think about when you next consider what you want to achieve from a portrait shot. It’s definitely something I will be making a concerted effort to consider the next time I’m pointing my camera at someone.

Take a click on the link above and have a read for yourself…