We’ve Moved to www.Racetalkblog.com

 

By Kyle

Yes, the rumors are true.  We have closed on this site and are officially moving our digital digs to www.racetalkblog.com (check out the new design). The new site is also now accessible by clicking on the RaceTalk link in the upper right corner of the Racepoint Group Website. 

We got too big and popular and decided we needed our own domain.  Plus now we can actually take control of all the reigns and take the blog in the direction we want to go.  Expect more of the same including more exclusive RaceTalk Q&A’s.  We’re also looking forward to launching some new RaceTalk created video content that we hope to start populating the blog with in the upcoming months.  

So change your bookmarks to www.racetalkblog.com and we’ll see you there.

P.S.

Our new sister blog: World 2.0 Blog, is up and running at www.rpgworld2blog.com.  Check it out and bookmark it as well.  The World 2.0 Blog will pick up on some of the stories we’ve been covering on globalization, sustainability and corporate social responsibility by taking a deep-dive on those issues.

Free Furniture With A Red Sox Sweep

By Ben

Last year Jordan’s Furniture came up with a creative marketing campaign that offered customers who buy furniture between March 7 and April 16 their money back if the Red Sox won the World Series.

This year, Jordan’s is using the same marketing campaign for customers that buy furniture between March 25 and April 27– but this time the Red Sox have to SWEEP the World Series.

Facebook Inserting Itself into Middle East Conflict?

By Ben

Since the state of Israel was established in 1948, the country’s borders have been constantly changing with every war and peace agreement. The West Bank and Gaza strip have been particularly sensitive areas, with a lot of fighting and uncertainty.

However, in Facebook’s attempt to assign a network to the people living in the West Bank, it automatically assigned them to the Palestine network – a pretty bold move.

As one could imagine, pinpointing an entire region as Palestine did not sit very well. Every person in Israel defines themselves differently depending on their background, family, and religion. To label an entire region of people with such different backgrounds and identities seems to go way beyond Facebook’s goal of being a “social utility that connects you with the people around you.”

David Shamah, a reporter for the Jerusalem Post writes, “I think it’s very unfair of Facebook to take sides in an ongoing dispute by making official (the creation of a state called Palestine), something that the United Nations has not even decided on yet.”

After receiving a lot of complaints and being accused of having a political agenda, Facebook has now started to allow people living in these areas to chose whether they’re listed as being a resident of Israel or Palestine.

How Honest Is Too Honest? Facebook & YouTube In The News

By Ben

Almost a year ago, a new application called the ‘honesty box’ was developed for Facebook. This application allows users to post a question that people can answer anonymously – something that The New York Times says “has become another weapon in the cyberbully’s arsenal.

Some students Palo Alto High School in California have been using the honesty box for this exact purpose, and one student even received a message saying “You should kill yourself. No one likes you.”

Although one of the application’s creators, Dan Peguine, says he developed the honestly box because he was curious to see what people thought of him, it’s not shocking that the application has been abused. Still, Peguine says that the word used most in the honesty box is ‘love’.

In other news, the Chinese government blocked YouTube after protest videos about Tibet were posted on the site.

Disappointing Superbowl, Commercials

By Ben

In December I wrote that a 30 second commercial during the Superbowl was going for $2.7 million. If not for the unfortunate outcome of the game, I would have said the commercials were the least memorable part – and USA Today seems to agree.

According to the paper, celebrities showed up in 18 ads this year, but not one of the advertisements cracked the top five in USA Today’s ‘Ad Meter’, and exclusive real-time consumer rating of the ads.

For businesses, these kinds of results may be even more disappointing that the game itself.

Come back! The commercials are on!

By Ben

Let’s play a quick game of Jeopardy.

Answer: A Super Bowl Commercial.

Question: How can you spend $2.7 million in 30 seconds?

There are two more slots open for advertisers in the 2008 Super Bowl, and they are now going for almost $3 million a piece. When you think about it, Fox has to charge that much for each ad – it’s the only event on television where people still watch the commercials. Many people recorded shows like “The Office” and “CSI “(before the writer’s strike) and watched them while skipping the advertisements. During the football games on now, people use the commercials to run to the kitchen and grab a bag of chips. No one pays attention to them at all.

However, the Super Bowl is the one event where people actually watch the game for the commercials. More then 90 million people are expected to watch the game, but how many of them are really interested in the game. Sure, Patriots fans will be intently watching as the Pats go for 19-0, but there are millions and millions of people who are watching for the halftime show and the commercials, and are running to grab chips during the game. With this event (it’s really not just a game anymore) sure to draw viewers during the commercials, companies are using it as their yearly splurge. USA Today reported that Fox has lined up about 30 advertisers, including Kraft (for the first time in 10 years), Audi (for the first time in 20 years), and Anheuser-Busch, who purchased four minutes of ad time for $10.8 million.

Now we just have to make it through the Justin Timberlake halftime show…

Is It Time To Taste Your Mail?

By Ben

The newest marketing campaign in England may leave people with cleaner hair and with a taste of chocolate. Similar to the United Postal Service, the Royal Mail (a.k.a. British Postal Service) has taken a financial hit from email, but has come up with the newest marketing and money making campaign that’s sure to catch you attention – and senses. According to an article in the New York Times, the new campaign will allow companies to send mail with a sent, sound, or taste (I’m still not sure how taste is going to work, I hope this doesn’t include eating or licking the envelope) to potential customers. The program, developed by the Royal Mail and Brand Sense, is eying what marketers have done in magazines (including shampoo or perfume samples in advertisements), but has taken the campaign one step further, one that could bring about a new wave of junk mail.

Just imagine sorting through your mail at the end of the day, and having one of your letters smell like a new kind of shampoo, and the next ‘tasting’ like maple syrup. This is a whole new method to appeal to our senses. No longer will you just be forced to watch the McDonald’s commercials on TV, where they can make such an unhealthy double cheeseburger look so delicious (and plastic), but now you’re going to have to smell the same cheeseburger when you arrive home at the end of the day. Should be interesting.