I started writing that and then changed my mind a little.

Just a little.

Why is it that every time I want to buy music, it’s ONLY available in the US store???

I totally get why people download music illegally. You’re being all up on the moral high ground re: not being a criminal, and then shebam! You are told the only way to acquire the thing you want is by theft.

Plus, if I search for songs WITHIN itunes, it never find them, I have to do a Google search, then click through.

As a side note, I’m not sold on whether inputting your credit card details once and then purchasing willy nilly is a good or bad idea?

If I ever needed a reminder that I am not meant to go on holiday, it came in Queenstown. It seems like all the major disasters happen while I am away (generally in the area the disaster hits), I am starting to think the world is sending me a message that I should be chained to my desk!

I wont dwell on the earthquake(s) because I imagine in my absence the topic has been analysed to the minute detail, but we were thinking of all of you who were affected, and also the friends and family of everyone who was on that skydiving flight. What a tragedy.

One thing that did strike me though, is that businesses are getting much better at recognising that events like this are a great opportunity to generate some good PR while giving some pretty needed relief to people who could really use it.

Not only do I LOVE Air New Zealand’s quirky safety videos (hilarious and practical – these are the only safety briefings that seem to have all eyes glued to them), I love how they were quick to ensure the family of the Australian victim of the Skydiving crash knew they had free tickets to get here, and their son would be flown back to them for free too. Small comfort in a horrific time, but AirNZ deserve all the buzz they get from this act. That’s the kind of people we are in New Zealand, and since we largely own Air NZ, it’s great they reflect this with gusto.

Powershop quickly added a $19.95 Power and Love package to their site to help ease the financial burden to Christchurch residents and GrabOne started a $5 donation ‘deal’ which had already had about 6,200 donors (and probably a lot of buzz).

None of these guys give the impression of ‘cashing in’ on the disaster… a testament to their strong brands that make them already well known as the kind of companies that understand their customers and look after them. It’s hard to gauge how much impact social media and the like has on a company’s willingness to jump on board and help the relief effort, but it’s great to see genuine helpfulness generating great word of mouth without the need for spin doctors and PR reps.

The reason Im not a millionaire is because when people say things like ‘how about we make a website where people can upload and share video on the internet’, my first thought is ‘no one would possibly ever use that!’

It ruins YouTube for me. Every time I go there (or hear the word ‘Farmville’), I remember that I have no understanding of people and what’s important to them.

The internet moves so quickly, but we adapt quickly. You actually have to sit and focus on how life used to be a year/2 years/a decade ago to realise just how differently we behave and socialise and buy stuff now.

People are starting to ask me more and more about running social media campaigns. Everyone wants a Facebook Page but few people know how to avoid trying to stuff new media full of old marketing techniques and even IF they manage to get people ‘liking’ them, the impact of all that time and effort on their bottom line is minimal at best.

The good news is that IF you are likable, interesting and offer something of value, you can get a lot of eyes on your brand/product/service for small change, the bad news is there is a fine line between try hard and popular beyond your wildest dreams.

For those of us who find the whole thing fascinating, it’s really cool to watch marketers becoming more clever with how they use social media to attract customers, and watching customers using and enjoying the power they have gained to ensure companies are answerable to them.

Apparently I love writing about insurance, I definitely love insurance, and I love comparing insurance plans.

When my contents insurance came up for renewal recently and I looked at my State bill and thought “geez, even with all my no claims bonuses, loyal customer bonuses, multi policy benefits etc etc, it still looks like a tonne of money!”.

So the ring around started. I really only rang two other places (AMI and AA). What shocked me however, what that straight off the bat, for the SAME plan (or better), without a long history or any extra benefits, both places were significantly CHEAPER than State.

When I moved my car insurance across too, the savings ramped up even more – in the end I settled on AA and insuring everything PLUS adding an AA membership to the bill, it still came to less than my old plan.

And because I’m me, I rang State to give them a chance to beg me to stay with them and to offer me extra discounts to match these new players… and what did I get….?

“Nope, sorry, we’re just more expensive.”

Sort of funny, but a little bit sad, because I think State runs in the family, we’re big, enduring fans. I have only ever had good experiences with them, and I trust them… and now I’m no longer a customer.

Lets hope it doesn’t come back to bite me in the bum when I drop my iPhone in a toilet and AA wont cover it…

Does anyone else in technology notice that the LEAST educated people on the subject are the MOST likely to think they know everything?

Which is all fine and good. I don’t really mind explaining to someone that I don’t have their FTP details because we don’t host their website, or that the URL bar in their browser is different from their Yahoo search bar, and that is why their ‘website doesn’t work’. I don’t even mind calling Telecom on behalf of a client who is convinced our email accounts are down because they didn’t understand the different SMTP details they needed to switch between internet suppliers… or being termed the ‘IT people’ for ALL IT related matters (including email, Word issues, Outlook issues and any other generic PC and laptop issues people run into).

I actually don’t mind any of that. It reminds me that we are the technical elite and our audiences struggle with this stuff far more than we think.

But what I HATE is that a lot of people who ring us about stuff that is no relation to what we do and that I actually cannot help them on, get STROPPY.

We are very nice. We go out of our way to Google their particular ‘my computer isn’t working’, ‘my email is ‘stuck” etc issue and offer any support we can for free, on the basis that I get they don’t get the difference and a couple of minutes of our time can make someone elses day a million times easier.

So it REALLY ANNOYS me when there is an issue that is so entirely unrelated to us that my only answer can be ‘I’m really sorry, you will have to call you actual IT people/internet provider/website host’ to be met with…

Not a ‘thanks’,

Not even an ‘oh sorry!’

But a very suspicious and often angry reply.

I know what I don’t know. And when I don’t know it, I assume the fault is at my end and anyone who even attempts to help me is doing me a favour. I don’t understand why people think it’s ok to get angry with someone who has taken time out of their day out of the goodness of their hearts to HELP them.

GRRRR.

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Power Kiwi is hitting Facebook and we are so keen to make friends, we are willing to BUY your love.

So… Our first 200 ‘likes’ on Facebook go into the draw to get a $100 top up on their Powershop account.

So simple, and this is just the beginning! We have big plans to make small differences to your cost of living, so if $100 isn’t enough of a temptation to like me, I promise, there will be plentry more incentives coming your way via our Flower Power Facebook page in the near future.

If you still haven’t taken the leap away from your crusty old power company and joined all the cool kids at Powershop, now’s your chance!

We’ve made it even more tempting, by putting the first $50.00 in your account when you sign up through the Flower Power Daisy promo.

And to sweeten the deal even more, the Power Kiwi AGM yesterday resulted in some cool plans to reward our loyal customers… We’re intend on being everything your current power company is not.

And remember, signing up to Powershop will probably be the easiest thing you do this week. Just enter a few details from an old power statement in their online form, and they do the rest.

So go on! Join the revolution!

I had yet another frazzled conversation the other day with someone at their wits end with a bad supplier, they said they were tempted to just throw the suppliers name out for the sharks.

I have never tested my theory, but my belief is that naming and shaming the sort of idiots that let you down badly in the first place, leaves you open to a public mud slinging match and all the stigma that comes with it. Anyone unethical enough to let you down that badly in the first place surely can’t have any moral opposition to lying and cheating their way through a jury of the public…

As with any bad relationship, I tend far more towards backing off, keeping my dignity and assuming that one day karma will catch up with the offender.

But when you are owed money, or a completed project or follow through on a commitment and you have tried EVERYTHING. It is tempting to name and shame. Especially when others are loudly singing the praises of the offender, while you are suffering the effects of their actions (or non action).

…Then I thought about it again and wonder if maybe I need to staunch it up and my quietness is not so much due to conserving my dignity as because I’m a total scardey cat when it comes to fighting.

Hmm.

I was watching Breakfast yesterday morning and they had a segment on Tui taking on the Church over their ‘Yeah Right’ Billboard campaign.

The Tui ‘Yeah Right’ billboards have been around for Donkeys years, and often stir up controversy… Which fits right into the Tui Beer brand ‘personality’ of being plain spoken, slightly mischievous laddish types.

They’ve done a good job of pretending to be just ordinary blokes partaking in a bit of guerilla marketing, of being unafraid of breaking the rules and stirring up trouble. For example, a 2 minute google search turned up this one, which mocks a hugely controversial murder trial here, where the guy on trial claimed to be doing a paper round while his dad shot up the entire family:

They’ve done a brilliant job of making us believe we’re all a part of it and people now go out of their way to wear ‘yeah right’ tshirts and make their own banners and suggest official banners etc.

And a church somewhere in the country has been posting their own ‘yeah right’ banners outside their church for something like 8 years. I think the only change from Tui’s signs is that they’ve swapped their branding for the word ‘spirit’, and their blatant copying cannot be passed off as anything else.

Well, Tui discovered these billboards and came down like a tonne of bricks, and suddenly their happy-go-lucky image is thinly stretched over threats of legal action and demands to remove the signs for infringement of copyright.

I reckon that was an EXTREMELY bad call. I’m sure it will blow over and no one will notice, but the image of a couple of blokes sitting round a box of Tuis cracking jokes has very much been replaced with one of a bunch of corporate suits strategically planning a campaign and caring deeply about boring things like ‘bottom line’, ‘copy rights’ and all sorts of things that they outwardly MOCK on the billboards.

The guy from the church sort of figured this and despite being not-particularly well spoken, did seem to make the Tui guy squirm when he called them up on not having a sense of humor.

I wonder what they thought they’d gain over kicking up a fuss? Seems like they had a lot to lose.