Social Media Works - There is Method to the madness!

Well I am simply amazed on how social media works in getting your voice heard! My last post about the mad methods of a radio station in choosing winners of a contest has seen a lot of activity.

Yesterday I got a call from a friend who works with the same radio station saying that my blog post had created a big uproar internally and it’s causing a lot of trouble to a lot of people.

So he asked me to remove the post in good faith! I told him that I would think about it and do what I feel is right! I was in all mood to republish the post as is! But then since he was nice enough to call me and request me, I thought I will remove the brand name and the concerned person’s name from the post and publish it anyways.

It was amazing on how a simple blog post created havoc in a Brand’s daily life! The post on my blog got published to my Facebook account and someone read it and sent to the producer of the show from the Radio Station that triggered this whole situation.

I am happy, someone out there cares. Unlike some other brands that I have been battling with (Read the story about Travelocity here). I have given feedback to the producer who has personally responded to my feedback. I know this could mean that my number and name could be blocked from further contests etc. but I really don’t care, as long as it does some good.

Objects of (my) desire! (Personal Media Player)

I have owned quite a few MP3/Media players in the past. Starting with the Cowon iaudio X5, it gave me all that i needed, a 20GB HDD, Colour screen capable of playing videos, FM Radio and Music. Then i got myself the Sony NW A1200 walkman, it was a basic MP3 player with 8GB memory and music & FM Radio capabilities only. Moved on to the Creative Zen. Pretty Happy with it, 4 GB memory, video payer, FM Radio, Voice Recorder and expandable SC card slot. But like all things that you get bored of, I too got bored of all these and got myself an iPod Touch 8GB simply because of the lack of options!

I wanted to the Microsoft Zune HD but the lack of it's availability or rather exclusive availability in USA and Canda didn't allow me to get it. 

But my top choice was the Archos 5

 

The high price and the limited availability was the reason of not getting it.

Why did I want to get it? Well the Specs speak for themselves

1. Display characteristics:High resolution screen, 800x480 pixels, 4.8'' TFT LCD, 16 million colors
2. User interface:Touch screen, ON/OFF, vol+ and vol- buttons, retractable virtual keyboard
3. Processor(s):Central Unit:Main processor: ARM CortexTM-A8, 32 bit, In-order, dual-issue, superscalar core @ 600 MHz | Additional processor: 32 bit DSP @ 430 MHz
4. RAM memory:128 MB* (Low-Power Double Data Rate SDRAM)
5. Mass storage memory: Hard drive, capacity according to the product version
6. Operating system: Linux
7. Connectivity: On board WiFi (802.11 b/g), USB 2.0 host with optional accessories
8. PC accessories: Possible attachment of numerous standard USB PC accessories (keyboard, mouse, memory key, memory cards reader, camera and other future computer accessories)
9. Video playback: MPEG-42 (ASP@L5 AVI, up to DVD resolution), WMV (MP@ML, up to DVD resolution) included WMV protected files,M-JPEG (in QVGA resolution)
10. With optional software plug-in:HD support: MPEG-4 (ASP 720p) & WMV HD (MP 720p) | MPEG-2 MP@ML up to 10 Mbps (up to DVD resolution) and AC3 stereo sound (5.1) | H.264 up to DVD resolution with AAC
11. Audio playback: Stereo MP3 decoding @ 30-320 Kbits/s CBR & VBR, WMA, Protected WMA, WMA pro 5.1, WAV (PCM/ADPCM). | AC3 stereo audio and 5.1 sound files (via SPDIF output of DVR Station) | Flac and OGG Vorbis audio files
12. With optional software plug-in: AAC3 and AAC+ stereo audio files
13. Photo viewer: JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF
14. PDF viewer: Reads PDF documents (may not implement all PDF features)
15. Video recording: Via the optional DVR Station or DVR Snap-on. Records NTSC/PAL/SECAM in MPEG-4 AVI format with stereo sound, VGA resolution (640 x 480) @ 30 or 25 f/s
16. Audio recording: Via the optional DVR Station or DVR Snap-on: Stereo line-in, WAV (IMA ADPCM or PCM) format
17. Email client: Compatible with Email accounts supporting POP3 and IMAP services Import/export of vCard contacts
18. Connections: WiFi (802.11 b/g) connection. Free Web Browser (Opera® Web browser with Adobe Flash® 9 video support) upon registration
19. Battery life: Music playback time: up to 22 hours | Video playback time: up to 7 hours

That's not all with a built-in speaker, ability to play games, and widgets it is a true competitor for the iPod touch!

Full Archos 5 review can be read here 

Social Media Marketing at its best

This is a great example of how brands use Social Media Marketing to get their brand the awareness it needs. In case of Ikea, they are known over the world. But was a fabulous concept.