MELBA, En hoe was jouw dag?

Sorry, Dutch again. Here’s the translation:

Coming home after a busy day and somebody asks you how your day has been, who wouldn’t want that?

Tell us about your day on:

Facebook.com/enhoewasjouwdag

I went to see how many people actually decided to go there. Currently 4550 likes and I can’t for the life of me imagine why.

OK, I can see the tenuous link between this brand for toasty nibbles and the Dutch custom of having a drink before dinner (“borrel”, it is good, you should try it) and swap stories about your day with friends or family. But that doesn’t mean that I want to spend the remainder of my day going to the brand’s Facebook destination simply to tell the world what I’ve been up to. Where’s the incentive?

If you want my attention (and my personal details!) you better bring something to the table in return! I cannot be the only one who is getting increasingly tired of brands asking me to share all sorts of stuff that frankly is none of their business. Networking is a reciprocal process, what you put in you take out, yin/yang and scratching of backs, that sort of stuff. A brand should really think about what it can do for me before it asks me to share anything with them. 

How was my day? None of your business!

Q.

Ghent University Vocabulary Test

Smart stuff! 

What do you do if you want to examine the level of vocabulary knowledge in the Netherlands? 

You could of course lock yourself away for some seriously stuffy research, completely viable option. However, you could also design and release a new online application (PC, iPad and Smartphone) that invites people to test their vocabulary themselves through a highly addictive game. And by offering them the chance to brag about the results (I know I did, 89%, ha, beat that!) you can even add virality.

Are we looking at the future of scientific research?

Try it here (Dutch only, sorry): http://woordentest.ugent.be/experiment

Q.

XS4ALL DVD Direct mail

A couple of days ago we received this DVD box proclaiming to be a popular Dutch movie. When we opened the box we found it empty, but for an XS4ALL flyer promoting their film on demand offering. We started thinking about the meeting where XS4ALL was talked into this promotional activity, a nervous account manager from the media agency stumbling through the slides, an over confident account director on hand to make sure the client would come on board:

Agency - “So we are going to post this hugely popular movie to everyone to draw attention to the XS4ALL movie offering”

XS4ALL – “Won’t that be a bit expensive?”

Agency – “That’s the smart bit…The DVD box will be empty!”

XS4ALL – “Empty? But, but…”

Agency – “See? Much cheaper!”

XS4ALL – “But don’t you think people might be a bit annoyed?”

Agency – “Annoyed? Why would they be?”

XS4ALL – “Well, if I like the movie I will feel cheated by an empty box, and if I don’t like the movie I will feel annoyed by the waste of plastic and even worse, the waste of my time.”

Agency – “Hahaha, no, it doesn’t work that way, don’t forget, we’re the experts!”

XS4ALL – “Uhm…OK…If you say so…”

And the worst thing is, XS4ALL is at heart an internet service provider! Why on earth would you push them towards old school DM when they need to be seen as a frontrunner in digital?

Q.