Nae Bother’s top Facebook posts for 2011

With 2012 nearly upon us, we thought we should spend some time reviewing the past year, as everyone else seems to be at it! And what better way to do this than to look back over our very own Nae Bother Facebook posts - what a year it's been! We’ve tried to cover an eclectic mix of topics loosely in the field of marketing and often with a Scottish twist and hopefully some humour.

After considerable debate amongst the team at Nae Bother Towers, we've come up with our favourite posts for the year, one for every month. We’re sad that there was no room for the Naked Cowboy and the Roomba but we did manage to squeeze in the wonderful and talented Danny MacAskill and the new Tintin trailer.

Anyway, we'd better let you go and look out your party poppers and dust off the fancy dress costumes ready for your new year parties.

All our very best wishes for 2012.

January

Great video from PUMA featuring US golf rookie Rickie Fowler on motocross bike - thanks to Ben at PUMA for bringing it to our attention. Wonder what the greenkeepers had to say about it:http://bit.ly/fbZrqV

February

We absolutely love this app from Museum of London - it's a brilliant idea that's really caught the public's imagination: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSfATEZiUYo&feature=player_embedded

March

At Nae Bother we have many friends in Japan - we are thinking of you in these difficult times. The amazing spirit of the Japanese people will prevail: http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/world-news/how-japan-lives-with-the-constant-threat-of-disaster-1.1090121

April

When it comes to marketing eggs, some customers are more price sensitive than others - Happy Easter! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awx9c0qbt48

May

Everyone's favourite Belgian reporter, Tintin, is finally getting his Hollywood makeover. Releasing teaser on YouTube, months in advance, is now an integral part of marketing a film:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3Xwta_XIJo&feature=player_embedded

June

Anyone for tennis? A welcome return to Sony's balls idea - San Fran has been swapped for SW19:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znreR0ShdGc

July

Today marks a year until the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games. To whet your appetite, here's a clip from an excellent BBC comedy mockumentary about the team organising the London Olympics, Twenty Twelve. It's probably not far from the truth... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2y8yVs38IU&feature=relmfu

August

Danny MacAskill's latest film shot in an industrial landscape - any trainspotters out there?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShbC5yVqOdI&feature=player_embedded#at=26

September

Top marks to this Scottish teenager who made a wee video using Lego for the Rugby World Cup: http://news.stv.tv/scotland/north/267806-scottish-students-lego-rugby-animation-receives-international-recognition/

October

The voice recognition software, Siri, on Apple's new iPhone 4S doesn't seem to like the Scottish accent. Check oot the videos in this article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2053684/Scottish-iPhone-users-lost-translation--Siri-understand-accent.html?ITO=1490

November

In the UK, we have a strange way of communicating, especially in business. To help you to read between the lines, take a look at this:

December

We love this ad from 1981 - did Santa bring you some Denim aftershave or a Polaroid camera that Xmas? http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZDiCaw8CMeU&gl=GB

How to tarnish a brand

It’s incredible how some large, well-known companies are tarnishing their brands by forgetting about the importance of brand touch points (or points of customer interaction) to save money. This was evident from a recent experience with BA at Edinburgh Airport. As a cost saving exercise, BA is employing an agent to look after its ground handling and interests at the airport. The check-in procedure was fine but the customer experience at departure wasn’t what you’d normally associate with a legacy carrier such as BA.

One of the reasons for choosing BA, as opposed to a budget airline such as Ryan Air, is that you don’t want to experience the ‘Ryan Air stampede’ when it comes to boarding the aircraft. Unfortunately, the agent’s employees did not adhere to the normal BA procedure of boarding the aircraft in an orderly manner; in fact, it was a scrum! Travelling with a 13 month old child, we were expecting an announcement to allow the elderly or people travelling with small children to board first; furthermore, one would expect the staff to board the aircraft by row and seat number to avoid crowding at the gate. Anyway, none of this was forthcoming and BA’s representatives made the abrupt announcement: ‘flight ready to board now!’

By using non-BA staff, who are clearly not trained to the same standard as you’d expect, the company has tarnished its brand at a very important point of interaction. By charging a premium compared to budget carriers, expectations are high at all points of interaction with the airline. This move by BA to save money has jeopardised its brand promise to customers. Ironically, BA’s new CEO Keith Williams sent a letter in January to the airline’s staff, telling them they were at the heart of the BA brand. Will we fly with BA again? We’ll certainly think twice about it.

Social networking at the Hong Kong Sevens

Over my 17 years’ association with the HK Sevens, the serious business of networking has changed beyond belief, as connections can now be made (and lost) digitally. Although on the surface it might not appear so, perhaps I am one of the few people in the infamous South Stand actually thinking about social networking in the party central zone of the stadium.

How are social networks being used by fans and by brands in 2011? Thanks to by far the most popular social network at the Sevens, Facebook, fans are busy trying to hook up with friends, find tickets, share photos with people at home, make new friends and new connections. Through the indispensable smartphone, you can update your friends on how the party is going in real time.

Mark Zuckerberg the founder of Facebook apparently likes to party; however, it's very unlikely that he's 'networking' in the South Stand, even if the Geek look is on trend this year for fancy dress. TIME's 2010 person of the year's influence is alive and well though, as the energy of the South Stand reverberates across the globe digitally via people's Facebook posts and news feeds.

Twitter is the other essential SMN tool for spreading the South Stand love virally. With only 140 characters to play with and using the hashtags #southstand, #HK7s or #HongKong7s, you can update the world on how you're getting on, with the occasional photo or TwitPic.

Last year I missed the Sevens due to the birth of my daughter. Although I watched the rugby action on Sky Sports in the UK, following and engaging with the tweets and Facebook posts from the South Stand was the closest way of experiencing that unique atmosphere and sense of fun without actually being there.

There's also LinkedIn and one would think that would be the SMN of choice in the corporate boxes where the more responsible networkers tend to hang out; however, it’s very likely that a high proportion of the South Stand are 'professionals', and we're not just talking about professional party animals.

Additionally, brands are using SMNs to try to engage with consumers, win new customers, create new fans, create brand loyalty, make a sponsorship programme go that bit further. Are brands missing a trick by not engaging more with the South Stand? Brands have started to realise the power of SMNs at events – at the Glastonbury Festival last year, UK mobile operator Orange set a world record for the most tagged photo. In the spirit of one-upmanship, I could imagine the South Stand wanting to beat that record! Out of the sponsors of this year’s Sevens, Cathay Pacific seems to have got the hang of things with a great video on YouTube and the world record for the largest rugby ball.

Essentially, it’s all about targeting and knowing your market e.g. in order to target the Scots digitally in the South Stand, Apple would have to introduce an Och Aye Phone, and My Space would have to re-branded as Ma Space; furthermore, YouTube wouldn't be the social media network of choice for the Scots, as 'tube' means idiot in Scotland.

Yes, SMNs can be dangerous if you're in the South Stand all weekend and should probably come with a career health warning, especially if you are a professional out of your suit wearing a mankini. According to a recent study by MyWebCareer, an online service that helps professionals manage their Internet presence, 23 percent of LinkedIn contacts are also Facebook friends. Wouldn’t post that photo of you in the South Stand on your LinkedIn profile? Nae bother!