AIMS Canada

Job Postings: Multiple

Summaries of new job postings for this week are below. Full postings can be found on our website.

Web Solutions Project Manager/Coordinator (Richmond Hill)

9th sphere, an award-winning website solutions company, is looking for someone to join a team of professionals as a Project Coordinator. This individual will proactively manage client projects by acting as a liaison between the client and the 9th sphere team of specialists.  For more information visit http://www.9thsphere.com. Email your resume to hr@9thsphere.com

Web Content Co-ordinator E-business, Petro-Canada (12-month Contract )

•    Assist Editor-in-Chief with updates, proofreading editing, auditing and testing of websites.
•    Co-ordinate, research write and maintain Web content that supports company initiatives (e.g., campaigns, promotions, customer service activities). Includes creating and maintaining “invisible content” such as meta data.
•    Participate in E-business group’s website strategy and planning as required.
Deadline: April 19, 2007. Send resume and 2-3 examples of work to: Viktoria Krzeminski, vkrzemin@petro-canada.ca

Marketing Associate

Simon & Schuster Canada, located in Markham ON, is seeking a full-time Marketing Associate for online initiatives, partnerships and promotions.

RESPONSIBILITIES/REQUIREMENTS:

• Assist with development and management of online promotions/campaigns and marketing communication strategies
• Coordination and execution of all in-store promotions and materials
• Coordination of trade shows

Please send resumes to human.resources@simonandschuster.ca by April 6th. No phone calls please.

eMarketing Manager

Reporting to the Director of Creative Communications, the eMarketing Manager is responsible for traffic and online revenue generation for one of Canada’s busiest charity websites.

Responsibilities:

•    Creating and executing display and search advertising campaigns
•    Using viral and content promotions to generate traffic
•    Assessing the usability of transaction and gift catalogue pages
•    Creating wireframes and specifying enhancements for the development team
•    Reviewing and assessing transactions and visitor analytics and results

Interested applicants are asked to complete an application via World Vision Canada’s website: www.worldvision.ca/careers. Application deadline is Wednesday, April 7, 2007.

Various Roles - MGT

Work with the country’s top brands in fashion retailing, design, television, health and financial services. We deliver clear, effective marketing experiences through integrated campaigns that aggressively leverage online channels. We are accepting applications for the following roles:

• Technical Lead (mysql, php, database focus)
• Flash Master (stunning animation, actionscript and video work with Flash)
• Intermediate Web Designer
• Intermediate Web Developer (PHP, XHTML, XML, JavaScript, CSS)

Please visit www.mgt.ca/jobs for more information.

AIMS member looking to stay up-to-speed on all things internet marketing

AIMS member Nora Gubins sends in the following...

I've been a traditional marketer, working for professional services firms (that definitely are NOT early adopters!). I joined AIMS to network and ask a lot of questions. Most get answered but I still have a bunch. I'm  wondering if you know a savvy member who would be available to show me a few things / answer a few questions over a nice cup of tea.

I don't want to take up a consultants time if I don't have a specific project in mind, yet more and more I find that I don't have the full knowledge as to when to bring them in.....I want to know about things like creating portals, being an "aggregator", cultivating community, selling of internet ads, how the auditing works re a click through. I find that the sessions are interesting and I often want to go but my travel schedule often precludes me. I learn by listening and asking, so I've had my fill of reading off the computer and am wondering if you know if there is someone willing to spend say 90 minutes with me.

Anyone interested in getting together with Nora? Or have any other tips for how she can keep up-to-date.

Brand Community, Communities, and Social Network Analysis

Posted by John Schneider...

Considering that the next Aims meeting is going to be on Communities. I thought that this information from Gerry Mcgovern might be of interest to many.

His company developed a ten stage process for developing and building a brand community. Here are the ten steps:
1. Content Building
2. Informing
3. Interaction
4. Profiling and traffic analysis
5. Generating advertising
6. Centralization and loacalization
7. Transactions ( non secure payment)
8. Ecommerce and fulfillment
9. Online dynamic trafficking and customization
10 Online brand community

I am not in total agreement with this ten stage process but it is good starting point for discussion. Part of the Informing stage should be to do a good job at Brand seeding. More about Brand seeding here.

FOR those of you interested in exploring the concept of Brand community there is a good Wiki on this topic as well.

Mind you if you want to learn more about Brand community it might help as well to read Don Tapscotts new book Wikinomics.

I read the book and was quite impressed. I was a little disappointed that he didn'€™t discuss more about Network Theory.

Then there is Social network analysis which views social relationships in terms of nodes and ties. Nodes are the individual actors within the networks, and ties are the relationships between the actors. This definition from Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_network

So if you are going to learn about communities then you should learn about complex networks and Social network analysis in your attempt to unearth the nature of the community or network that you are dealing with. Hope this helps those of you who are new to the topic of Communities and  Brand Communities.

Should Corporations Respond to Blog Posts?

Posted by Helen M. Overland, Search Engine Marketing Specialist, non~linear creations...

A few months ago, I recommended to a client that they create a blog. It was appropriate for their audience, suitable for their subject matter, and would help them move towards their goals. The idea was, if not to actually create a blog, at least to participate in the discussions already occurring.

"We don't want to do that", they protested, "someone might say something bad about us".

I often wonder about this response... and the meaning behind it. After all, the inverse is also true - someone could say something good about you.

But when you think about it, this sentiment sums up why organizations have been hesitant to join the online conversation. There are two opposing fears at work here... fear that responding might draw attention to criticism, and fear of being passed by in the never ending noise of the Web.

As recently as 2003, there were only 100,000 blogs total online. As of October 2006, there were over 57 million blogs, and every day 100,000 new ones were created. The growth has been phenomenal.

And many of these blogs are busy conversations... the topics sometimes diverse; the response and argument sometimes emotional and fast-paced.

In all of this roar of human conversation, opinions are being expressed, recommendations are being made, and companies are being assessed, commented on, and sometimes dissected.

All of this happens with or without each company's input. If an organization is criticized, and no-one at the company responds, no-one hears anything but the criticism.

Sometimes organization say, "we don't want to respond to criticism, because that just means more people will read it". Yes, that can be true... but doesn't the final judgment really depend on how the company responds?

Consider the response Google recently made to a blogger who complained that the many changes to the AdWords system were giving him a headache. Did Google ignore the complaint? Respond angrily that they were only improving the program? Whine that the complaint wasn't fair? Refer them to a manual or customer service? No. Google did none of these things.

Instead, they sent the blogger some Asprin and a handwritten letter wishing him well. And the positive response and goodwill that this small act generated was huge.

Did this really cost Google anything? No, not really. This was "taking the high road", while responding to the issue in a friendly and open way.

If a company wants to have a voice, a chance to respond, a way to show the market that it cares, then it has to join in. The public assessment of your brand is going to take place whether or not you participate. Only by joining in can you really have a voice.

After all, someone who was upset before, might just say something nice about you.

RBC’s Next Great Innovator Challenge – lessons from their online program to connect with the banking customer of the future

AIMS blog correspondent Brian Moran recently sat down with Steve Mast, Vice President and Managing Director of Delvinia Interactive, a strategic digital agency that focuses on humanizing the digital customer experience for its clients.

RBC asked Delvinia to create and implement the online strategy for the RBC’s Next Great Innovator Challenge. The aim of the challenge was to gain client insights from university and college students by inviting them to share their views on how today’s teens will influence the financial services industry of tomorrow.

"The RBC Next Great Innovator Challenge was a way of gaining deeper insight into our younger clients.  In order to encourage participation and maintain a connection with this group, we employed some new and innovative tools.  The blog in particular, was very effective at keeping participants informed and engaged throughout the competition."
                        -- Nelson Torrao,  Program Manager, Applied Innovation, RBC Royal Bank

BM: Tell us about the Next Great Innovator Challenge.

SM: In addition to the client insight, RBC wanted to learn more about how to develop new products and services for youth and the best ways to connect with this audience. They brought us the Innovator Challenge concept and we developed the online strategy and components to implement the program.
Those components included:
·       Website and digital video
·       Blog (the very first blog from a Canadian financial institution)
·       Virtual agent to guide people through the website
·       Innovator quiz
·       Links to external resources
Participants were invited to form teams and submit unique and innovative ideas by January 26, 2007. The top five teams will present their idea to the judging panel. The top team will win $20,000, second place will take home $10,000, third place will receive $5,000, fourth place will receive $3,000 and fifth place will receive $1,500 during an awards ceremony held in Toronto at the end of March.
Most importantly, the top teams have the opportunity to share their ideas and meet top business leaders. For students who are about to enter the workforce, this exposure and networking opportunity could prove invaluable.

BM: How did the Innovator Challenge start?

SM: RBC understands that companies must be innovative and think ahead to be successful. They wanted to do something out of the ordinary to learn about the best ways to connect with youth.

The purpose of the program was to listen to youth, find new ways to connect with youth and gain insight with this group by asking for their ideas.

Tell me about some of the strategies for the program.

We had three main strategies for the campaign.

1. We wanted to generate pre-campaign buzz. RBC spoke to the universities and told them about the challenge. They embraced the challenge and encouraged their students to participate.

2. We wanted people to register for the program.  Registration began September 18, 2006 and closed October 31. That only gave us about six weeks for teams to register. RBC created pre-registration excitement so we could maximize the number of people registered within the six- week period.

3. We wanted to keep participants engaged. We accomplished this by developing a blog and encouraging readers and participants to post their comments. We also set-up email support for people involved in the challenge.

BM: Why did you use an online initiative for this campaign?

SM: Most university and college students live and communicate online.  RBC wanted to reach them where they live so, we decided to use a website, a blog and social marketing tools to reach the audience, create dialogue and keep them engaged.

BM: So how did it turn out?

SM: We expected about 50 teams to enter the challenge. By the time registration had closed, 269 teams had signed up for the challenge. Here are our final numbers:
·       Registered teams: 269
·       Registered students: 927
·       Participating schools: 45

BM: What are some of the challenges you faced during the campaign?

SM: The technology used to power the blog and the postings had to tie into RBC’s technology platforms. It had to undergo extensive testing to ensure that it didn’t jeopardize the security of RBC’s existing systems. This required a large amount of time and resources that we did not anticipate. 

BM: Any lessons you’d like to share with AIMs readers?

SM: 1. Build your social marketing tactics into your strategy.

When deploying any new marketing tactics get all stakeholders – from legal counsel to policy makers to the information technology department – involved early. Tell them what you’re planning to do, seek their input and get buy-in right from the get-go. That way, when you face challenges, you’ll have the resources available to deal with those challenges. 

2. Try to anticipate some of the challenges you’ll encounter and deal with those challenges proactively.

For example, if your site includes a blog, make sure you have a clear policy on what –
and what not – can appear in the postings. That way, you’ll be better able to deal with issues as they arise.

3. Build extra time into your plan because implementation will take longer than expected.

When you’re breaking new ground and implementing new disruptive technologies you’ll face issues that you don’t anticipate. Issues will take longer than expected to resolve. You won’t be able to move as fast as you’d like. The best way to deal with these unexpected challenges is to add extra time into your timelines.   

4. Get an internal champion.

You’ll face many roadblocks. An internal champion will pave the way and help you connect with people such as policy makers and legal that can move things forward. When you’re breaking new ground, you’ll need all the help you can get!   

BM: Any other insights you’d like to share?

SM: Using the technology behind social marketing such as blogging tools is relatively easy. However, it’s not about using the latest technology for its own sake. It’s about using that technology in a humanizing way to create connections – it’s about using technology with a purpose.
I think we sometimes get caught up in the excitement of the technology – how easy it is to use, what it can do for us and how good it looks. We need to:
·        Not lose sight of the purpose of the technology 
·        Always go back to the business problem and objective
·        And above all, keep focused on the customer
In the end, I think we accomplished what we set out to do which was to bring the real world and the practical world together through networking, collaboration and innovation. 

Canadian Websites Receive a GST Break

Earlier this year, Jonathan Spencer from Thorsteinssons LLP sent in a post about a GST issue for Canadian websites. The issue is mostly resolved, Jonathan sends in the following update...

The federal budget released on March 19, 2007 contains important GST relief for Canadian-based websites. However, some questions remain around Internet access.

Canadian websites faced significant uncertainty because of a court decision which required websites to collect GST on charges to non-residents to access content. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) had also taken the view that the rule designed to remove GST from intellectual property provided to non-residents should be read narrowly. Many websites have not collected GST on sales or charges to non-residents leaving them exposed to assessment for GST plus significant penalties and interest for the past four years.

In response to concerns raised by the industry, last night’s budget includes a proposal which removes GST from a broader class of intellectual property. The rule is retroactive to the beginning of GST which means that Canadian websites which have not collected GST to date can breathe easier.

However, there are some important restrictions. Canadian websites must be able to ensure that, where access rights are purchased by a non-resident individual, that individual is outside Canada at the time. This means that websites must be able to track the location of the individual user when they buy access, and must retain those records for four years in the event of audit. GST will also apply if the rights relate to property in Canada, or to a service which itself is subject to GST.

It is not entirely clear whether providing non-residents with access to the Internet is taxable. The CRA regards Internet access as a “telecommunication facility”. The budget proposals do not apply to certain “telecommunications facilities” but it is likely that the intent is to apply tax to certain mobile telephone services. The uncertainty needs to be clarified.

© Jonathan Spencer, Thorsteinssons LLP, Toronto

Job Postings: Multiple

Summaries of new job postings for this week are below. Full postings can be found on our website.

Interactive Strategists - Toronto & Calgary

As an Interactive Strategist you will provide strategic and tactical direction to our clients. This will encompass comprehensive online programs such as research, web development, traffic driving strategies, our extranet product, web optimization and tracking, and other more customized solutions. You will work with Interactive Producers and Account Directors to coordinate and perform needs analysis and create a foundation for the provision of customized solutions and ongoing consultation.

Please send your resume to: wayne (dot) burns (at) tmp (dot) com

Web Producer
Your primary responsibility will be to work closely with the Manager Web Retail, and the rest of the Electronic Commerce team to set a vision and plan for content strategy that supports business goals.  You will play a key role in merchandising and developing the content for the site.  Your goal will be to maximize sales and profits through the effective management of the day to day production of the Web site. For more information on this exciting position, please visit www.rogers.com

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, Digital Business Development
RESPONSIBILITIES:
•    Sales for digital and mobile accounts.
•    Create, develop and execute mobile and digital revenue generating strategies.
•    Sales program and campaign development execution for each digital and mobile product and service line.
•    Manage account based incentive programs for both mobile and digital product categories.
•    Present in conjunction with digital marketing account based concepts and proposals.
•    Develop and maintain good relationships with new clients, existing customers and on-going digital and mobile accounts.
•    Manage account based P&L’s, analytical management, liaise with finance; basic understanding of royalties, licensing, legal contracts etc.
•    Oversee repertoire and customer catalogue selections to support unique programs for digital and mobile content in conjunction with digital operations team.

To apply, please forward resume stating salary expectations to: resume.ca@umusic.com

Bilingual Marketing Intern for Yahoo! Search Marketing Canada
The Bilingual Marketing intern for Yahoo! Search Marketing Canada is responsible for leading the company's efforts in Quebec focusing on acquiring and developing advertisers for the Quebec market while targeting the small business and search engine marketing segments. This is a significant opportunity to drive multiple projects from start to completion as well as play a key role in Yahoo’s expansion in Quebec and Canada. Location: Toronto, Canada

Those interested can contact: Maor Daniel National Marketing Manager mdaniel@yahoo-inc.com

Bum Rush the Charts - The 'crowd' is taking on the music industry

Interesting initiative happening today at the intersection of social media and music. From the Bum Rush the Charts blog...

"On March 22nd, we are going to take an indie podsafe music artist to number one on the iTunes singles charts as a demonstration of our reach to Main Street and our purchasing power to Wall Street. The track we've chosen is "Mine Again" by the band Black Lab.

If you believe in the power of new media, on March 22nd, 2007, take 99 cents and 2 minutes of your time to join the revolution and make iTunes "Mine Again".

Nice social aspect - every commission made on the sale of 'Mine Again" at itunes will be donated to college scholarships and Black Lab is donating 50% of their earnings to the fund as well.

More info at http://bumrushthecharts.blogspot.com

Volunteer Profile: Meet Eden Spodek

This post marks the start of a new feature on the AIMS blog - A Monthly Volunteer Profile. Once a month we'll do a short post and feature one of our volunteers. The questions won't be long, the idea is to provide a quick snapshot of information and put some faces and names to the 50+ volunteers we have helping out at AIMS.

Eden Spodek has been sending in regular profiles of AIMS members for a few months now. Since Eden is an active volunteer on our blog correspondent team and had the idea to start this new feature I thought it was only fitting that she be the first of our volunteers profiled...

Name: Eden Spodek
AIMS member since: January 2000
Volunteer role: blog correspondent
Current job: corporate web producer, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
Oldest bookmark: Canada411
Favourite website: my blog - Bargainista :)
I don't know how we did without: computers, the Internet, e-mail, RSS, iPods, Google
I wish we could do without: spam filters

What is the biggest challenge you see facing internet marketers today?
Cutting through the clutter - it's a challenge for communicators and marketers alike.

Would you like to get involved as an AIMS volunteer? Email me at klagden@aimscanada.com

Are you a volunteer who would like to be profiled? Email Eden at espodek@gmail.com

Read all about… Second Life

In advance of the AIMS Second Life event on Wednesday, we thought we’d share what members are reading, sharing and learning about virtual worlds from the AIMS del.icio.us Resource Library!

Read all about…

Marketing:
Media Planning tips from iMedia Connection
Branding in Second Life
Marketing realities in virtual worlds
Second Life statistics

Finance & Business:
Taxation and Uncle Sam
The first virtual world millionaire?
Second Life Lessons from Business Week
Holding a class in a virtual world

Culture:
iVillage Fashion Show
New features in Second Life
Frustrations using Second Life