Most Horrific Marketing Stories Of 2019

Beyond Social Media Show, Episode 286

Co-hosts BL Ochman and David Erickson discuss and rate six of the most horrific marketing stories of 2019 (so far); Mitt Romney’s Pierre Delecto secret Twitter account; a silicone skin interface that feels like the real thing; AI that can identify smells; Amazon Arc; Amazon’s News App; a smart revenue stream for the Washington Post; plus apps and stats …and much, much more.

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Audio version of Episode 286 of the Beyond Social Media Show

Best Digital Cases

Pierre Delecto

Slate reporter Ashley Feinberg used great detective technique to discover Mitt Romney’s secret Twitter account – named Pierre Delecto. He said “C’est moi.”

Silicone Skin

Skin-On is a creepy yet innovative project at designing a computing interface based on how the human skin works.

AI Learns to Smell

The Google Brain Team has an algorithm that teaches AI to recognize smells

Google Brain Team

Washington Post Licenses Publishing Infrastructure

Washington Post engineers have developed a product called Arc, which helps companies publish online.

Amazon Launches News Aggregation App

Once the outlets have been chosen, users can access it by asking Alexa to “play the news.” Alexa-enabled Fire tablets will be getting the app at some point in the near future.

Alexa can play the news

Google Lead Gen Forms

Google Ads is testing a new way for businesses to capture customer information with lead form extensions.

Six Most Horrific Marketing Stories Of 2019

6. Nike’s Shoe Blows Out On Zion Williamson

Nike became the focus of one of the biggest US college basketball games of the season this week, but not for a reason it would like.

5. Jimmy Iced Coffee Sex Ad

Jimmy iced Coffee co-founder Jim Cregan posed in his underwear in an ad entitled Pure Sex. It did not turn people on. Or make them want to buy the coffee.

4. Samsung Folds

Samsung’s nearly $2,000 Galaxy Fold could still be one of the most creative devices to come to market in recent years. Right now, though, it looks like the phone flapped its folding wings too close to the sun.

3. Instagram Influencers Newsjack California Wildfire

Instagram Influencers hijacked hashtags related to the California wildfires to promote nudes, clothing brands, sales, and themselves.

2. The North Deface

The North Face concocted a “search engine optimization” effort that ran afowl of both Wikipedia’s terms of service and SEO best practices and earned a massive backlash in the process.

1. Chase Bank Poor Shaming

A little joke about budgeting became a very big deal for Chase bank. 

Shiny New Stuff

Over

This app for iOS and Android lets you add text and graphics to photos and videos and it’s free.

Google Location Changer

Use this tool to examine search results in a specific locale.

ICONOSQUARE

Mobile tool for managing multiple accounts on Instagram. You can do content planning and scheduling whether you’re uploading original content or reposting another user.

ICONOSQUARE Screen shots

The Daily Numbers

Chart: Smart Speaker Skill Discovery

Beyond Social Media Hosts

Beyond Social Media Show

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