Marta Kagan, managing director of the full service marketing agency ‘Espresso’ has published a very useful checklist which is an invaluable reference when planning any social media activity.

View the list

McDonalds are increasing their corporate social responsibility initiatives with the second phase of their ‘energy from waste’ programme. Chip packets, burger wrappers and other greasy waste will be diverted away from the landfill sites and converted into energy, starting with a selection of 25 London restaurants. The long term mission is to send no waste to landfill sites, which is an admiral concept.

The programme is being run in partnership with Veolia Environmental Services, who are ‘waste-to-energy’ specialists. According to McDonalds, the initiative will prevent 2,500 tonnes of rubbish being dumped in landfill sites each year (about 1,000 tonnes per restaurant), which will instead provide the fuel for electricity which will be fed into the national grip. According to the Carbon Trust, the London environmental efforts of McDonalds has already yielded a reduction in carbon emissions of 48%.

A good discussion on the role of practical marketing planning in smaller businesses. How much does this article ring true in your business?

http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/smallbiz-marketing/shout-out-your-message-20091016-h0uv.html

Japan’s Akishima Laboratories have come up with a method of branding the most abundant substance on our planet – water.  The device, named AMOEBA (Advanced Multiple Organized Experimental Basin) was originally created to test the design of ship hulls until a student discovered that symbols and letters could be formed. Could this be the next step in ambient media…?

Paying bloggers to promote your product without disclosing your relationship is now officially dodgy, and isn’t the most sensible method of advertising. But it rarely backfires in such a monumental way as it did for this bingo website.

Read, enjoy, thank you lucky stars it didn’t happen to you:

http://betedejour.blogspot.com/2009/10/bingo-lets-play.html

More at http://xkcd.com/

Just two of the posts from www.ihatebillboards.com

America’s Federal Trade Comission has released new guidelines concerning the use of testimonials and endorcements in advertising and social media. This marks an important turning point in the way paid bloggers can operate in the US, which will almost certainly filter to the rest of the world in due course.

…bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service

Read the full press release here:

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

‘The Denver Egotist’ have published an article ranting about bad headline writing, here’s number two:

http://thedenveregotist.com/editorial/4646/the-rant-the-top-10-cruddiest-headlines-that-prove-youre-a-no-talent-hack

2 : Size matters.
This has gone beyond a bad headline. To call it a cliché would be an insult to bad clichés. It’s now so overused and trite that even the sight of it on a concept makes me feel physically sick. “Ah yes, but I have a fantastic new way to use it” you’re saying. No, you don’t. Not even Nike or Apple could make this work. If this ever makes it onto your pad, consider a new career. If it gets printed, consider yourself lucky that there’s someone even dumber than you are out there – the idiot client who bought it.