How to Get Popular Fast on Twitter

Very smartly crafted and well-planned, this Twitter strategy guarantees a great amount of followers instantly. Curious? Take a look:

Now, the first thing that came to my mind was 'what a great way to get followers'; but wait, why the hell would Selena Gomez do such a great favor for that account? ...and how can a brand get that kind of exposure? (*jealous* - as if I had a chance!)

I did the only logical thing to do. I visited the page of my new so called 'marketing prodigy' @funnyLaugh. What I found was even more interesting than the above mentioned tweet! He got endorsements from other popular celebrities too. Impressive? Not quite. 

Now, you really would have to be dumb to believe there was not some trick in all of that, right? Yet, the tweets were individual retweets from the celebrity accounts and not a self-written tweet by @FunnyLaugh. 

 It only made sense that the accounts were fake; and they indeed were. They didn't even claim to be the official twitter accounts of the said celebrities. They just needed to appear as though they were when they were retweeted, to reach more people faster and to gain the marketing prodigy his needed follower-base. 

Yet, since Twitter is such a fast-streaming network no one really bothered to authenticate the accounts. Even more intriguing is that those celebrities did not follow anyone at all! Thus, they did not keep their share of the tweeted deal.

In any case, this remains a very smart strategy; although not quite an ethical one. What do you think? Would you go that far to get a good amount of Twitter followers?

Stop LIRA & Incorporate Digital Marketing

While our neighbors have embraced the power of online marketing years ago, (Read about Israel's digital marketing efforts) what has Lebanon done? ...It presented a draft law to censor and "monitor" the voice of its own nation!

Wake up Lebanon! 

The Lebanese Internet Regulation Act is filled with loopholes and certainly does not provide much encouragement for Lebanese to speak up in this world. Far from it.

If you won't let your own people speak up, who will do the talking? 

Surely, the internet will not be silenced. 

The world will still look up the same words, the same questions, the same problems, they'll still wonder what Lebanon is, whether Lebanese were terrorists...

What if our Ministry of Information, concentrated its efforts on fixing the image of Lebanon through the internet instead? What if it would open a new section, an online shield of bloggers and social media activists?

Yes, I am a dreamer. 

...and now back to earth, fellow bloggers did a great job pointing out the threats lying ahead if the draft Lebanese Internet Regulation Act (LIRA) ever sees the light under its current form:

in Arabic:

trella.org/3519

layalk.net/2012/03/13/لا-لمشروع-تنظيم-الإعلام-الإلكتروني-stoplira/

in French:

http://www.lifewithsubtitles.com/2012/03/oui-je-madresse-vous.html

in English:

http://lebmambojumbo.blogspot.com/2012/03/lebanese-internet-regulation-act.html

http://blog.funkyozzi.com/2012/03/we-wont-stand-still-while-another.html?spref=tw

http://beirutspring.com/blog/2012/03/07/the-lebanese-government-still-wants-to-regulate-your-blog

http://josephchoufani.blogspot.com/2012/03/stop-daouka-lebanese-internet.html?spref=tw

They may try to lift our freedom of expression, but they can't cease and desist our rights to dream in a better Lebanon. 

At least, may the ministry grant us that people of adequate qualifications be put in charge of drafting such laws. 

#StopLIRA < Twitter hashtag to follow.

Don't Make It Perfect

The Lebanese government hasn't done anything wrong. 

Technically.

Do you remember the feeling you got, when in front of strangers, you were to speak up for the first time?

Fear. 

When you have said and done enough that a single more action wouldn't affect the sum of your image, then you'd be more at ease.

...But what if you barely ever speak up? 

Any single action will have a strong weight.

Think about it: the anti-rape laws, women's right to instill nationality to their children, the embassies' reciprocating behavior demands, maybe even civil marriage...

Your fear factor not only depends on your frequency to take action, but also on the time frame in which those actions are to occur.

The problem is not that our government is acting wrong. The problem is that our government is not acting at all. 

The simpler the execution process, the faster we are to see change. 

The faster we see change, the more frequent it would become. 

The more change we see, the less 'absolute' our laws seem. 

The less our government would fear to take action, the less it would seek 'absolute perfection' and the more we are to get close to attaining it. 

Fearlessly, yet, surely.

Yes, we are Lebanese, but no, we are not perfect. 

Perfection is in nobody's reach. We can only tend towards it and hope one day we would get close.

If a girl keeps thinking she will only marry the prince charming that comes on a white horse, she will never get married - he's mine ;) . If you are waiting for the perfect advertising idea to launch your brand, it might never come to be.

Looking for the perfect solution is like writing on a piece of paper's both sides, one word, and one word only: "turn". 

If you are launching the first advertising campaign for a brand, you will affect it majorly - and yes - you should be afraid.  

The more advertising campaigns you launch the lesser their impact on the overall consumer's image of the brand, given you keep in mind both the frequency and time range within which your campaigns are displayed. 

It surely will never be perfect, but it will never "be" at all, if you do not take the plunge and take action.

Casper's Loyalty Program

Casper & Gambini's had already launched their loyalty program quite a long time ago, but although I am a frequent client, I was never "invited" to join, and thus, never took the initiative, until now.

I thought I'd receive an SMS to pick my card, or maybe, utmost a phone call. I did not expect for someone to knock at the door and deliver the card. Neither did I expect such a beautiful presentation.

Casper's Loyalty card package - 3, since I got parents to fill in the form

Here's what was included: 
An exclusive 10% off from Eatalian
2 free cafe lattes - expiring end of month
Rules and regulations of the program
and of course the loyalty card (swipe card)

Loyalty Program's box content

As for the C&G loyalty benefits:
15$ off - every 300 points
10% off once you get upgraded to "Solid Silver"; i.e. have gathered 4,000 points

- the only thing they forgot was to mention how one gathers the points! Eventually, we figured out that every 1$ spent at C&G = 1point.