I’m doing a guest spot on the Quiet News Day podcasts called Gamechanger (you can listen to it to find out why) but in helpful spirit, here’s a little bit more info about what I talk about – Sidewiki’s and Whisky Picnic.

Sidewiki

It’s quite literally a bolt-on to the side of your main browser window where people can leave comments about your site, the people on your site or the information on your site. It only works in IE and FireFox but it’s worth knowing about for two reasons:

1) People could be going onto your site and saying all sorts of things about you – and you don’t even know it

2) If you were into anti-social media practices you could go onto other sites and leave quite disparaging comments

I’m not sure how much of a gamechanger it is in the long term, but it seems to be attracting quite a buzz in the early adopter market. And just this morning I received an email from Hanson Search which stated:

Managing corporate reputation has always been an integral part of the marcomms brief. But now, thanks to Google’s latest app, SideWiki, achieving that brief just got a whole lot harder.

SideWiki enables members of the public to post comments – good or bad – directly next to a brand’s website, once they’ve downloaded the new Google toolbar. The comments are only visible to fellow SideWiki users.

The technology is causing particular concern to comms professionals in the healthcare and Pharma sector due to the strict regulations limiting how much a company is allowed to interact with the public.

On the upside, we believe that SideWiki et al will provide a major boost to the comms job market, with more and more companies hiring staff to maintain their e-reputation.

The launch comes hot on the heels of the just-published 2009 Cone Consumer New Media Study which shows that more than six out of ten US-based internet users believe that they can directly affect business decisions by voicing opinion via new media channels.

Of those polled, about one in four had contributed their view on an issue or contacted a company directrly, while 74% expect companies to join discussions about their CSR strategies on new media channels.

The survey also showed that 23% or customers had switched or boycotted brands based on negative information learned online.

If you’re looking for SideWiki here’s the most direct link.

Whisky Picnic

Whisky Picnic was an event put together by a few whisky lovers in Edinburgh and the premise was simple: come along, bring a bottle of whisky, we’ll make a blend out of what everyone brings – oh and while you are here (between 8pm and 4am) there’s also a bunch of free whisky cocktails to enjoy.

The rules were simple and fun: wear tweed, have a moustache and have fun.

Now, it was a great night out, pulling in around 350 people and various cocktail mixologists even gave their time for free to be at it. What made it unique from a marketing point of view was that there was very little in terms of huge online buzz, certain people heard about it on various blogs, teaser emails were sent out (with the location only being announced two days before the event) once a week and when you got to the event, there was absolutely zero branding from the eight whisky companies involved.

The only time branding was on display was a bunch of logos at the end of the emails sent out (all four of them) and free whisky miniatures given out in a goody bag at the end of the night. That was it.

Now most companies would never accept that. They would want to be all over the event – before, during and after – and be insistent on huge media coverage. Not in this case – and it’s paid off in a number of ways:

• All everyone remembers is having a great night. No long speaches or pushy marketing talk
• People enjoyed the cocktails on the night, getting the chance to try whisky in new ways, opening up new possibilities for people tasting it (and the more they taste it, the more they have to buy it)
• Giving the miniatures away builds brand loyalty in the longer term, reminding people who was behind the event (and people can also spread the miniatures about, increasing awareness of brands and event)
• People now look at the brands involved and go ‘oh yeah, they were involved with…’ which may not make them run out and buy a bottle, but if a company is constantly being remembered as ‘the brand who did this’ and ‘the brand who did that’ in a positive way, when it comes to buying a bottle of whisky – and if they aren’t whisky snobs – then there’s a very good chance they’ll go for one of the brands from the night.

But in traditional marketing plans, the above would be a nightmare – product giveaway (lots of) and no overt sponsorship details and no traditional press coverage (and even limited online exposure) – but it works perfectly in a 2.0 world. And it’s not about the giveaway, that certainly helps, but that alone wasn’t what made the event such a success. It was the fact that the companies just let the right people get on with organising and running it.