Gobble, gobble….tweet, tweet…Old Town Canoes & Kayaks!

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With the Thanksgiving holiday on the horizon and out of office replies coming in droves we decided to test the power of the social web with Old Town Canoes and Kayaks. And yes, before you ask – we do consider this work. Serious work…

Old Town, who launched its Facebook page this summer and its Twitter account last month, has been steadily building a presence on the social web and the time seemed right to test the level of consumer engagement. But how?

Here’s how it went down…simply enough…

Yesterday, Old Town held a one day promotion on Facebook and Twitter. The first person to walk (or run) into Johnson Outdoors retail stores in Racine, WI and Old Town, ME and say the word TURKEY would win an Old Town Vapor kayak of their choice.

End result, it took less than an hour for a winner in each location, Old Town got a feel for the pulse of their consumers and there are two very happy boat owners out there.

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Posted in: Social Media, Uncategorized \ Tagged: , ,

New Belgium Brewing Social Media Efforts

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New Belgium has been participating in social media via blogging, twitter, youtube and facebook and the engagement has been tremendous. It is clear the New Belgium community is passionate about the brand and the beer they produce. A recent facebook update garnered 74 responses within a couple of hours. Today they were featured in the Fort Collins Coloradoan and tonight will featured on News 4.

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“New Belgium — which has a four-person team working on the company’s Twitter page linked to its Web site — became aware of Twitter through the Carbondale-based Backbone Media, which helped guide them through the process of creating and implementing their own Twitter account.”

To read the full article – http://www.coloradoan.com

Posted in: Client News, Interesting Read \ Tagged: , , ,

Is the Media Really Dying?

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My Twitter feed is full of bad news from @themediaisdying, @mediabistro and @woodenhorsepub of publications that are laying of staff and completely shutting down. The latest title that got the axe: ForbesLife MountainTime, which employed a few of our media friends. But at the same time we’re seeing growth from small publishers: Height of Land Publications (Backcountry, Telemark Skier) just bought and is re-launching the Alpinist; and Summit Publishing just launched a Colorado edition as part of its regional tabloid family called Elevation Outdoors.  While I may mourn the loss of Domino, and JANE and Budget Living before it, there are new titles popping up, and hearty stand-bys that fill the space where the defunct left off. (ReadyMade, GOOD and Real Simple seem to have a permanent residence on my desk.)

This is not a new trend – every year hundreds of magazines start and hundreds close. In Feb of 2008, Jason Fell wrote on Foliomag.com that the “Print magazine should no longer be the heart and soul of a brand. Instead, publishers should think of their brand as an online media company with ancillary print and event products.”  Great to expand online presence, but I am a magazine lover – I love the pages, the pictures, and frankly, I get sick of staring a computer screen all day and don’t want to read my favorite rag on it. I have binders full of ripped out pages of recipes, home projects, gardening tips, fashion advice, travel ideas, really anything that sounds interesting.

So hold on you titles that might have a cranky publisher – expand your horizons and expand the brand, but please, don’t leave!

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