September 14, 2005

copenhagen geek dinner

Henriette is organising a geek dinner in Copenhagen on 28th of October. You can sign up here.

[RANDOM UPDATE:] Another Stormhoek Freebie Review, from Merialc:

The idea behind the blogging wine promotion is, in all simplicity, that of advertising. They send me a bottle of free stuff: if I like it, I can go buy more. If I mention it, other people might try it. It’s probably very easy to say that I’m being sucked into a big marketing scam, but what’s wrong with reviewing things I like? I do it all the time with books and films.
[Other Stormhoek Reviews can be read via the wiki etc.]

[BONUS LINK:] "Russian Marketing Blog."

Posted by hugh macleod at September 14, 2005 3:05 PM | TrackBack
Comments

Responding to the quote from Merialc: not a marketing scam, but a PLAN. It is absolutely, transparently, explicitly their hope that you like it, buy more, and mention it. We think "scam" instead of "plan" because we're used to marketing lying to us to get us to buy crap. But there's no lie in the simple message (to paraphrase Hugh) "This is a bottle of Stormhoek. Please fucking tell people if you like it."

After we've heard independent voices speaking honestly about products for long enough, after we realize that (in Kathy Sierra's words) We Are All Marketers, after it sinks in that the market has become more democratic -- then following the advertiser's suggestion that we spread the word about a good product will seem less like falling for a scam and more like some consumerist version of doing our civic duty.

Or so it seems to me. Sorry to respond to a single sentence with a rant.

Posted by: Shane at September 15, 2005 2:03 AM

As I never tire of saying: There's nothing inherently wrong with advertising. There's nothing wrong with trying to sell stuff.

I am watching Hugh's experiment(s) with interest.

Posted by: Andreas at September 15, 2005 4:50 PM

Thanks very much for a well written article. I have been looking out for wine information and you ahve been og great help, buddy! Keep up the good work

Posted by: Amber at September 17, 2005 8:50 AM