My new favorite thing is looking for memes online. They are funny and usually are pretty current with things that are trending in our culture. Webster's Dictionary defines meme as:

an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture

Events in the last few weeks have produced good material for memes that comment on how some of us react to things that are happening in our culture. Whitney Houston's untimely death, although tragic, really didn't affect me, yet for whatever reason I felt like commenting about it on Facebook. I was never a fan, although I did like one of her songs which I don't even know the name of. Unsurprisingly, everyone was talking about it on social networking sites. Most recently, on March 5th 2012, a documentary about Joseph Kony by Invisible Children went uber viral. Although it is a legitimate atrocity, I'm a bit skeptical about Invisible Children's motives. These two stories alone have provided lots of good material for memes. We also saw some memes surface from the Occupy Movement making fun of the 'Pepper Spray Cop'. It called attention on the poor training and the use of excessive force by police officers at the UC Davis campus. Memes serve a cultural function in the form that it depicts an idea or trend in such a way that, by simply seeing an image or a few words, the viewer 'gets it'. That's if the viewer is tuned in to the culture around him/her. Most Americans have seen Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (with Gene Wilder) and because of this the memes created with Willy's image are easily understood by most people. Here are some of my favorites: Whitney Houston

Kony 2012

You made a Willy Wonka Meme???

Kony we goin' find you!

John Pike AKA Pepper Spray Cop

KONY 2012

In case you didn't tune in and dropped out, the biggest news last week was a video documentary by Invisible Children that went uber viral on March 5, 2012.  It tells the story of Joseph Kony, the Ugandan Liberation Rebel Army leader, and his victimization of children.  I went on Facebook on the morning of March 5th and saw that a couple of my friends posted the same video.  I dind't pay much attention to it.  By the next day, everyone their mommas were posting the same video and were talking about an 'action kit'.  So I knew this was definately a new trend in viral videos.  I haven't seen the whole thing (it's 30 minutes long) but I've gathered the main points from friends and talking heads on the telly.  Viral genius? Yes! Effective marketing?  Debatable.  The video has garnished 71.5 million views in ONLY 7 DAYS!  It has definately made Kony's name recognizable.  There are those who argue that the video may have fallen short since it targets teens and young adults and these groups generally don't have the political clout or are in a position to make policy decisions.  I guess we'll have to wait and see if this actually leads to something or if it will be so last week.

Customer Relationship Management is a must for any retailer or service provider that can afford it, it's not cheap since it requires storing massive data. Storing the data isn't the big issue, but rather organizing and analyzing the data in such a way that is useful for your company. They most definately have a system that analyzes my behaviour and tries to figure out why am I on their site. How can they use my bahaviour patterns and make me purchase more? Amazon does a good job at implemeting a CRM system. I usually go on their site to either buy business or history books. I'm constantly getting e-mails from Amazon either recommending other books or asking me if I want to sell those that I've purchased. Whichever it is, they keep me engaged.

For whatever reason they always recommend more history books than business when in reality I've bought more of the latter. I guess in that sense Amazon doesn't get me 100%. They give users the option to 'like' different items in order for them to get a better idea what one looks for. Another company that does this pretty well is Netflix. Everytime I watch a movie I rate it because they obviously compile this information and can make better suggestions for me. So far I've rated 561 movies through them and that doesn't include all the ones I see in theaters before Netflix gets them. I'm really happy with Netflix's CRM system because their suggestions are usually pretty accurate. There has been a few flukes but generally they are pretty good at it.

I've lived in 'El Ey' my whole life and when I became 'of drinking age' I discovered a whole new side of Downtown L.A. The cocktail bars. The fine dinning. The interesting characters that hang out at these places. When I need a killer whiskey drink I go to The 7 Grand. Its above Mas Malo on 7th in DTLA and it has this old hunting lodge feel to it. There's Deer heads hanging from the walls, dark wood paneling, and a very beautiful art deco-ish ceiling. They are a part of this group called 213 Nightlife that owns several of DTLA's hotspots. They have a FB page but unfortunately it encompasses all of their bars and not each one individually. In our e-Marketing class we cam across some interesting statistics in regards to social media. One of the slides that really stuck with me was one that showed the correlation between the amount of posts and ROI and it immediately made sense to me. 7 Grand does not have its own page, it falls under the 213 Nightlife umbrella. I go there maybe once a month when I need my whiskey fix. The thing is that maybe, just maybe, if they had a 7 Grand page, they'd see me there oh I don't know, once a week.

So I just started using Pinterest and let me tell you, it's addictive!!! I got an invite from a friend on Facebook and at first I disregarded it as if it were a Farmville request of some sort. It wasn't until I saw other friends on Facebook linking their 'pins' that I got curious. So I registered for an account and at first I really wasn't sure how it worked. I began clicking around and realized it was a social bookmarking site that connected you with other people with similar interests, hence the name 'Pinterest'. Most of my friends that are on it are female with the exception of only a few of my 'more' dapper male friends. So far I've only worked on three of my bords; Motorcycles, Women I Love, and Men With Style. It seems that any free time I have I find myself looking for things I like. Pinterest want you to be able to share your finds with friends so they allow you to link your pins to your Facebook profile. I guess that's how they got me to actually act on that invite. I can't wait to finish this post so I can get back to Pinterest. See ya!

Monty Python - Merchant Banker Sketch

Monthy Python's Flying circus is one of my all time favorite shows. Sure it was aired before I was born but was I was introduced to it by a friend I was hooked! One of my Favorite skits is The Merchant Banker with John Clesse. A few months ago I was searching for this video but didn't know the title of the sketch. All I rememebred was that there were pantomime horses in it and they were asked to fight to death. I did everal search queries on You Tube but that included words such as 'pantomime, horses, fight, John Clesse' etc. but it didn't get the results I wanted. After several search queries, I finally found the video and then realized why it was that I had a bit of dificulty finding the clip I wanted. The tags used for this clip are very few and it doesn't have a very long description. This affects the video's SERPs as well as VSEO. It is an old video posted back in 2008 and yet it has only 13,891 views. In my opinion this is a very good skit and its quite relevant with the sentiment currently felt for Bankers in the U.S. It really should see a spike in views but it hasn't because it is not optimized for searchability.

LA Opera Accessible to Everyone???

I remember it like yesterday... my very first visit to the LA Opera. It was middle school, so I must have been 14 yrs. old or so at the time. It was a class field trip organized by my English teacher, Ms. Bolibaugh (yes, I know, it sounds French. She was.) I had always been open to classical music and I've always had thespian inclinations, but for me to request to be taken to the Opera... Never! I was a cool kid and that couldn't possibly be good for my image. Anyway I had no choice, either I missed school that day (not an option. My parents wouldn't let me) or I got on that school bus and faced my fate. It was La Boheme. As I sat and watched what was unfolding in front of me I felt something change inside of me. First of all, for the record, I was touched by Mimi's tragic end and Rodolfo's desperation to save her. Secondly, The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and everyone in it just seemed so beautiful and elegant. I've been fortunate enough to revisit The LA Opera. I usually see 1-2 productions a season and if I'm feeling particularly wealthy I may do a 3rd (Disclaimer: I'm able to do this because my parents pay my rent. Were it not for that fact, I wouldn't be able to afford it). I'm part of their mailing list and like any smart business, they make use of their ability to reach me via e-mail, and unfortunately via cell phone during their yearly subscription drive (pesky bastards!). A few months ago I got a particularly interesting e-mail. They were reaching out to people that had visited The LA Opera recently and were asking them to take part in a marketing research survey. This was right up my alley and immediately volunteered, plus I was entered in raffle for a chance to meet Placido Domingo (Didn't win). The survey was around my prior visits and how could they improve my experience. Apparently I wasn't the only one that asked them to lower ticket prices because according to the e-mail pictured above they've listened and have an initiative to make it more affordable for Angelenos to go to the opera. The e-mail emphasizes The Domingo Family Program because, like the tobacco companies, they want to hook your children while they're young (not exactly comparing apples to apples but you get my drift). Oh, and the use of the word Domingo is no mistake... The LA Opera has another initiative to attract more Hispanic patrons (full disclosure: I'm a member of Hispanics for LA Opera). It's a clever play on words since Domingo means Sunday in Spanish but it can also refer to the almighty and Spanish tenor Placido Domingo. The LA Opera is really leveraging him to attract this market segment. As for the new logo (please look at the e-mail's letter head), I haven't exactly warmed up to it yet but I do see the purpose of the added yellow sunburst. It does make me think of the pavilion's interior. I'm more fond of the simple logo used in the 2010/2011 season. In my opinion The LA Opera has a strong and effective online presence. They are consistent with their marketing material (direct mail and online) and keep those in their mailing list up to date with what's happening. Oh! And by the way.... La Boheme holds a special place in my heart and I WILL be seeing this year's production.

Silicon Valley v. Hollywood (SOPA)

In case you were living under a rock last week, crowd sourced sites such as Wikipedia and search engine giant Google vocalized their opposition to the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act better know by its acronym SOPA. It is a bill currently being considered by our elected officials that would target sites that traffic intellectual property and knock off goods. Critics say that the language in the bill is too vague and can sweep up unsuspecting internet sites and users. It requires that search engines stop linking to sites that are in violation of copyright laws and imposes fines and/or jail time for streaming copyrighted content. As an advertiser, if you are associated with such a site, you too can be dragged into a law suit. While getting appropriate compensation for producing work is a fair thing to ask, imposing rules such as the ones SOPA describes can be counter productive in the sharing of ideas and free speech on the internet. My fear is that SOPA can ultimately be misconstrued and be used a s a tool for censorship. There is also another interesting aspect of all this. Hollywood has been lobbying law makers to pass SOPA while Silicon Valley has taken to the masses to oppose it. It is interesting to see how all this is going to play out since both factions are strong financial supporters of the democratic party. Make no mistake my friends, it is no coincidence that this bill surfaced in an election year. Keep your eyes and ears open.