Andy Hadfield

Fleishman South Africa were kind enough to lend me a Nokia N97 for a couple of weeks. This phone was coming into focus for me as an upgrade competitor to the iPhone 3GS. Add to that, a fairly nifty digital marketing campaign and my interest was piqued.

Straight into it then...



The PRO's

* It's a valiant attempt to integrate a full QWERTY keyboard with a touch interface. The best of both worlds argument may not apply when you have devices like the iPhone - but I maintain, if you type a lot, the iPhone will take some getting used to.

* It comes bundled with a lot of software goodies. JoikuSpot, the regime of uber geeks until now comes bundled with the Nokia N97. It's a little app that turns your phone into the equivalent of a WiFi router (allowing you to connect with your laptop and other devices). That's a nifty tool.

* It has a built in iTrip. Or at least the Nokia equivalent - a piece of hardware that sends an FM signal out, allowing you to pick up music playing on you…

First off, let me say that I really don't like throwing stones. There's nothing worse than a Blogger bitching in a public forum - unless that bitching just might make a company examine their approach to this channel. Audi haven't listened to me, or even bothered to respond post my incredulous response to this experience. So let's see if they do anything now.

I was looking to outfit my beloved Audi with an iPod jack. So, being a digital native, I went where most would go. Their website. 1 x nice lead form later and I'd submitted my request to the Fourways dealership. One of the options on the lead form was quite nice... How Would You Like To Be Contacted? (I can't get to the phone much - perfect option).


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Audi then diligently tried to phone me three times. Sigh. That I could forgive. This, I couldn't...

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The brains trust in the customer service department sent me a SCANNED LETTER, saved to a PDF, inside a... wait…

Another little social experiment. Jot down every bottle of wine I taste with a short comment and rating. The theory is, search my Twitter archives by wine brand for a quick lookup history of what I like and don't like. Theoretically.

Enjoy!

My Wine Review List:

Raka Quinary 2005. Young, smooth-ish, unremarkable, quite drinkable. 6/10. #wine

Backsberg Sauvignon Blanc 2009. Fruity. Not bad. 5/10. #wine

Swartland Winery Sauvignon Blanc 2008. 6/10. Fruity but a little tart. #wine

IV Louisvale Pinotage 2001. 7/10. Very soft, very smoky, a little smooth. #wine (thanks @gavinmoffat )

Plaisir De Merle Cabernet Sauvignon 1995. 7/10. No distinctive taste but oh so smooth. #wine

Vergelegen 2006 Mill Race Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot. 8/10. Blackberries. Rhubarb. Driftwood. #wine

Meerlust Merlot 1998. 9/10. So woody, you wish you were the wood. #wine

Jacobsdal Pinotage 2004. Fine wine, could be fuller. 7/10. #wine

Porcupine Ridge Sauvignon Blanc 2009. Needs ice. Made better by outdoor environment and sun.…

Twitter is noisy, but it has its uses. I've found that a lot of interesting links, thoughts and observations I tend to post on Twitter these days, instead of sharing it in the longer format of the game. The other problem with Twitter, is that because of the volume, if you're not watching at the right time, you tend to miss some juicy stuff. In that vain... Only the juiciest from the @andyhadfield account!

In chronological order. August 2009.

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Cool site. Instant nature of what the net brings to brands. Now Network. #opadebate

The Great Schlep (the digital campaign that secured the Florida vote for Obama. Target Jewish Grannies!) http://bit.ly/3uKWj

Nokia E75. Hated it. My technophobe loved it. Review here and thoughts on the culmination of the WOMWorld campaign http://bit.ly/sz5a2

Aw crickey. I rank pg 2 for "african porn" & pg 3 for "south african porn" on Google. Charming. 1 sarcastic post & THIS. http://bit.ly/E6Xj6

Just phoned Telkom Online …

You know that post-series logo that comes up? It says Chuck Lorre Productions with a pile of text that you can't even hope to read in the 2 seconds you have? I've always wondered what it says. Now I don't have to wonder.


The #219 makes me think there are more...

UPDATE. There are. Hundreds.

For those that haven't been following the viral fun... Pigeon Race 2009 pits Winston the Magnificent against Telkom in a race to transfer 4 GB of data. The pigeon won. By a lot.


The Telkom media response to this has just been posted on MyBroadBand. I like it. How else could they have responded (and don't give me the tired old argument about giving us better service - of course - their everything sucks, but let's fight the little battle eh?)

It's rather amusing for a big, bloated government organisation. The last paragraph (in bold) in particular...

It must be noted that Telkom’s only involvement by way of service provisioning is the actual ADSL access lines. Contrary to speculation, the customer has an up-to 512kbps service at his Howick site from where the “race” commenced – and not Telkom’s up-to 4Mbps ADSL service.

Furthermore, it must be highlighted that Telkom is not the customer’s Internet Service Provider (ISP). Consequently, Telkom is unaware of what services, Serv…

What a cool experience. Spoke to Saul Kropman and Jared Cinman a month or two back about an idea they were trying to float. What if they did a live Digital Edge podcast recording "inside" a corporate. Involve the audience, make it a show. Kind of similar to a TWiT show at MacWorld really...


It just so happened that I was putting together an internal digital marketing conference for all the good people at FNB. Timing couldn't have been better.

So we did the show a week or two ago and it went really well. The combination of "live show" and audience interaction was engaging and exciting. Of course, not all the content makes it through to the final cut - but there are definitely two sides to the idea. Firstly, what the audience can take away from a 90 minute discussion with a bunch of industry experts. And secondly, the final, packaged product which is now out for the world to listen to.

A big thank you to Cambrient and co. for piloting with us.

Download the show here.

…

Ta da. Time for a change. Bit of upliftment. Mature the design up a tad. Tequila and tech gave me a headache.

A huge thank you to Wouter Schreuders for the design. Visit Wouter's portfolio here (it's good) or connect with him on Twitter here.

So, if you haven't heard. SABC properly messed up the broadcast of Survivor - getting vital elements of the show in the wrong order.


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Yes, Twitter is most likely pale, male, geeks. Yes, Twitter is small. But consider this...

* FaceBook has almost 2 million South Africans registered (that we know of). And they've got to that number in no time at all.

* The Internet just never forgets.

However small and insignificant Twitter may be - the flaming insults and damage done can NOT be good for any brand...