Blog

We have put together a little Christmas Message for you. Click play below to hear it.

Seth Goldin, puts in a strong argument that brands need to rethink their strategy for new mediums of communication. He points out that Facebook, Twitter and the Telephone all have a similar quality and that is that it is a 'connecting medium'. In the same way people hate to be interrupted by a unsolicited phone call, they also don't want a brand's history and prestige forced down their necks.

That's not to say you can't be clever about the way that you get your brand in front of people, but you do need to do with a personality that will engage and be interesting. People have millions friends to choose from if you want to be one of them make sure you are engaging.

Net Communities (established 1999) is looking for a seasoned Python / Django developer to join our team in Farringdon, London.

The ideal candidate will have good problem solving skills and will be comfortable working in both the back-end and the front-end (CSS and Javascript in addition to Django templates).

We occasionally use Wordpress and other web technologies, so familiarity with PHP is a bonus

Responsibilities include maintaining and developing several Django sites, advising on technical matters and leading remote developers. You will have the opportunity to work on high-traffic sites and build some cool Web 2.0 features.

While the credit crunch continues to kick in, advertisers are reassessing where their budgets should be allocated in 2009. eMarketer.com are predicting a US growth of 8.9% in Online spend, which surely will be reflected in the UK. eMarketer.com also rightly points out that "Yet it will still be a robust increase compared with nearly all other media."

Net Communities have this week started rolling out the UK targeted part of a new and exciting Conversation Marketing campaign for Asus / Intel collaboration - WePC.com.

The two tech giants aim to deliver what could be the world's first community-designed PCs by soliciting ideas on the WePC site, with the tag-line: You dream it. Asus builds it. Intel inside it.

Tech enthusiasts, ranging from PC gamers to on-the-move business types, are invited to the micro site to design their ideal PC. While some ideas are a little 'out there' to say the least (see ldizon86's Love n Peace PC), most focus on the tech nitty gritty (see techkhamsterand parasite's entries).

Net Communities driving traffic towards the site and driving buzz through ads + author/audience integration across a series of Net Communities network properties including ITProPortal.com & ElectricPig.co.uk as well as others in the Net Communities network.

@ Net Communities We love WePC.com - a campaign which brilliantly demonstrates the possibilities of conversational marketing, the concept of engaging in a conversation with your target market online.

If you want to find out more about this campaign, or conversational marketing as a whole get in touch - we love talking about it! :)

For more coverage on the campaign (which has been gaining some major traction globally), either google the term 'wepc' or check out some of the links below:

BBC.

In the wake of the tragic events in Mumbai, it looks like twitter has become an important way of getting information out quickly.

The Guardian newspaper reported today that "In many cases, Twitter updated developments faster than many TV networks or newspaper websites. The site's contributors also questioned the veracity of some news reports, pointing out contradictions and errors. When Indian reporters announced that the siege at the Taj hotel was over, for example, Twitter contended that gunfights were continuing. "Locals say gunfire still happening at TAJ," said one feed, hours after fighting was said to have finished. "Twitter comes of age - Mumbai coverage way ahead of traditional media," added another contributor."

LiveGuy is in London tomorrow….

http://liveguy.vodafone.co.uk/blog

http://twitter.com/vodafoneliveguy

Over the past couple of weeks we've been helping Vodafone and their advertising agency OMD promote 'Live Guy' through our network of digital lifestyle / tech enthusiast sites. You may have seen Vodafone Live Guy ads on various NC websites - digg.com, itproportal.com, electricpig.co.uk, arstechnica.com

If you don’t already know what’s going on here the aim of the game is that you need to track Live Guy down using cryptic clues or photos that he posts his twitter pages / blog / facebook. If you track him down, you win a laptop, simple as that. He’s been touring various UK cities for the past 2 weeks and he finally makes it to London tomorrow.

“Blogs can have more impact on purchase decisions than social networks, a new study finds. Blogs create a conversation and trusted resource that influences purchase decision.”

“Advertisements on blogs are an opportunity for marketers to reach consumers. The findings said 40 percent of people reading blogs have taken action as a result of viewing an ad on a blog; and 50 percent of frequent blog readers say they have taken action. Of those actions: 17 percent have read product reviews online; 16 percent have sought out more information on a product or service; and 16 percent have visited a manufacturer or retailer Web site.”

Future of Web Apps Expo
October 8-10, 2008
ExCel, London
http://london2008.futureofwebapps.com/

Join us in London and learn from the industry's leading and most inspirational experts and entrepreneurs!

FOWA Expo brings you a full two days of sessions on the most successful web technologies and business trends of the future along with a chance to be up close and personal with industry pioneers at the workshops, and not forgetting the FOWA parties!

Get 10% discount off a conference pass by booking using promo code: F0WA-10!

Our prestigious speaker list includes

- Kevin Rose (Digg)

After years of exponential growth, blogs are catching up with newspapers in popularity and are even surpassing them in some cases.

According to Google Trend, which tracks the frequency of searches on terms, blogs have now surpassed mainstream media such as newspapers and magazines in popularity.

While the results for blog as a trend show a little slow down compared to previous years, it is nonetheless on the rise when compared to newspaper.

The gap between blog and newspaper is even bigger in regions such as India and California and looks set to widen.