newmediaMike

Mad Men on Twitter

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A week ago Thursday I discovered the multiple Emmy nominated show Mad Men. I commented on Twitter (which of course thanks to HelloTxt is also repeated on Facebook and on my blog) that I was totally into this show and loving every second of it.

Then something odd began to happen. I started to receive notices that I was being followed on Twitter by the characters from Mad Men. From who has been following me, it appears each character is on Twitter where they tweet updates on their activities, based on what their characters are doing on the show..

I can send the characters messages, and receive replies and messages, and there are little stories or characters touches that are being played out.

My first madMen follower was @BettyDraper (January Jones on the show). She’s the ex-model, now housewife of @DonDraper (Jon Hamm) the womanizing creative director of Madison Avenue ad agency Sterling-Cooper.

I was reading through @DonDraper’s tweets and I came across one post to @DonDraper asking how he was managing to tweet from 1961 (the year the show starts in during season one). He messaged back to note he was living in 1962!

There are now a lot of companies using Twitter to push out information to their employees (Dell for example), and I’m sure there are more TV shows either currently on Twitter or working to establish a presence. The Mad Men characters are an excellent example of how a TV series can use Twitter to connect their brand with their viewers and fans.

It’s definitely fun for current fans to communicate with their favourite characters. I’m not sure if it’s attracting any new viewers, but it definitely points out that AMC understands the impact of social media for reaching out and engaging with end users, who spend more time with their brand.

I know I definitely enjoy joining my favourite 60’s Madison Avenue gang for drinks, and reminiscing what life was like back in the early 60’s (I was 3 or 4 back then). The story lines take place at the start of the JFK “Camelot” years. Their world was on the brink of drastic change just like ours is. We all live in interesting times.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going to light up a Lucky Strike, pour myself a highball and check out what everyone’s favourite office manager @JoanHolloway is up to.

Tags: 60's, AMC, branding, fun, HelloTxt, Mad Men, Twitter

newmediaMike’s SEO Tip - Creating a Google Sitemap

The hardest part of building a website is not…

• The programming code
• Choosing the right keywords
• Or even deciding the content

Not even close. The hardest part of building a website is generating high quality niche traffic to your web pages. That’s exactly where creating a Google sitemap comes in handy.

But how do you build a Google sitemap?

First, access… ===> google.com/webmasters/tools/dashboard Enter your URL in the sites box and allow some time for Google to get you setup.

When you see the hyperlinked word “add” under the “sitemap” category select it.

Tell Google what type of sitemap you are looking for and complete their small form.

Download the CSV file so that you can upload it onto your site after you have entered in all the URL’s. You heard me right. You are going to enter in every single URL of your website. Not a big deal if your website only has 10 or so pages, but what if it’s like mine and has 100’s of pages or undergoes extensive growth? That’s quite a project, and that’s why I use the automated services offered from my ISP.

Once you’ve uploaded your site with all it’s URL’s in place you’re done creating your Google sitemaps. Now the rest is up to the Googlebot and it can take them sometime to stop by and pay you a visit, but when they do they will have clear instructions on exactly where every single page of your website is.

Tags: content, Google, google sitemap, SEO, sitemap

NHL shoots and scores with new online video offerings

Everyone knows Toronto is the center of the hockey universe, despite not having won Lord Stanley’s mug since 1967. I know that hockey is popular, but I didn’t know there are 53 million hockey fans in North America. According to reports from the National Hockey League, roughly 50 percent of those fans live outside the market in which their favourite team is based. (Like my friend Hal, a diehard Flames fan). In an effort to continue to win over this type of fan, the league launched GameCenter Live, the cornerstone of its newly redesigned NHL.com.

This service will stream more than 1,200 live games in the 2008-2009 season, with around 40 games being shown each week (games are also archived for on-demand watching). You can watch up to four games at once, or watch a single game with multiple camera angles. Another cool feature is you can choose between commentaries from TV or radio announcers.

There are of course, exceptions; not every game will be shown online. There are both geographic blackouts and blackouts if a game has an exclusive national TV contract. Oh and unfortunately this is not a free service. You will have to ante up some dough if you want to catch the action. It’ll cost the fan between $159 and $169 for a season pass.

Following the natural trend of online video sites, the site has been growing in popularity. At the start of the season last year, the site was getting about 7.5 million unique hits a month. Last April, when the Stanley Cup playoffs started and the NHL launched an online video portal that showcased more editorial video content like The Hockey Show, the site did 12.4 million hits, and in May it did 10 million. The highest-trafficked day in NHL.com history came the day after the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings in a triple overtime match, as fans flooded the site to watch video highlights.

I applaud the NHL for their efforts; they really understand that broadband delivery is a growth area. Now if only those pesky Leafs could win a Cup …..

Tags: content, Hockey, marketing, NHL, Toronto Maple Leafs, video

Another Video mashup - I kissed a dog

All summer the catchy tune and simple lyrics of Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl” blasted from my kid’s ipods and when we were camping, the car stereo. I have also come across some very cute YouTube mashups and parodies which use it — the latest example of which is oMovies.com’s collaboration with Michelle Glavan, which takes YouTube clips of people macking on their dogs and mashes them together for a video slightly less offensive to the religious right, but likely illegal in at least 48 states.

Tags: video, YouTube