Not so long ago we helped Melbourne’s GPO to start a dialogue with it’s fans. We developed an annual online strategy including an editorial site, profiles on social networks and a community manager. This Sunday three of Melbourne’s most prominent fashion bloggers went on an intimate shopping spree with three loyal fans at the GPO with us throwing in a $500 voucher for each. You can read more and look at the photos here. Thanks for everyone involved in this campaign: Tracey, Sarah, Leanne, Ben, fashion hayley, Lady Melbourne and Nuffnang. In the photo: Nadia and Alicia from Sea of Ghosts.

As part of FRANkVizeum’s social strategy for Melbourne’s GPO we’ve just launched our second promotion with the help of our friends from nuffnang and off course GPO’s lovely community manager Sarah Willcocks. As part of the spring racing carnival, Melbourne’s GPO is giving away 3×2 hour personal styling sessions with three of Melbourne’s top fashion bloggers: Fashion Hayley, Lady Melbourne and Sea of Ghosts. The lucky winners will also get their professional shots taken at the GPO and $500 towards their spring racing apparel. For more info visit Melbournesgpo.com, twitter and facebook. Good Luck!

After an elaborate digital strategy process (aka Immersion) we’re very proud to launch Melbourne’s GPO new website.How did we start? The brief was to create GPO’s online experience. Here’s what we did:

1. Created an annual digital strategy which includes SEM, SEO and most importantly the community element that works alongside our media plan, creative, events and PR.
2. Found and employed the right person to manage the community of Melbourne’s GPO lovers and retailers (Welcome Sarah Willcocks -  Hi Sarah!)
3. Developed the new website with a strong focus on fashion editorial followed by an annual content plan featuring articles, photos, videos, competitions, events and more. Check out our first competition for your chance to win VIP tickets to GPO’s exclusive ‘Fashion at Altitude’ evening parade as part of Melbourne Spring Fashion Week on Wed 2nd Sept-  here.
4. Started a youtube, facebook, twitter and flickr profiles with measurement and management in place. (We didn’t jump at the tools. These were picked from the research and support our goals)
5. Understand that this is only the beginning, not the end product.

I’d like to thank all the people who worked on the project so far and to our clients ISPT and Tracey Winn.

Thanks to Tracey from Melbourne’s GPO, we had the pleasure of watching this cool video for Perth’s shopping centre, Forrest chase. I’m sure you’ll agree the concept is beautiful and people seem to really connect with it. It’s an engaging “purple cow“, something you’ll take out your digital camera for. It’s something to tell your friends and blog about. Here’s the free media this little video achieved: (Currently Forrest chase don’t have it on their site)

From news.com.au (and Tamir from Digital Seed) comes this local story: “A TWO-line Twitter post pushed my mortgage application from the Commonwealth Bank’s “to do” list to an urgent priority. The post said simply: “CBA f#$&ked up our loan approval so we’re still waiting to exchange contracts”. One hour and 17 minutes after it went live I was contacted by someone offering help to solve my problem. That person was the head of Commonwealth Bank’s customer service team. He told me the message made him “feel like crap” and the bank was only just beginning to understand how crucial social media sites were in maintaining the corporate giant’s image. By 3pm the next day, my loan was formally approved.

Here’s what a twitter search for “commonwealth bank” brings back:

Not bad ha? As twitter becomes more like a word of mouth search engine it’s crucial for any brand to have their ear out there and listen. It’s even better if you have someone that can react quickly and fix things up in real time, out in the open. How much is this kind of positive publicity worth? and how much it’s going to set a brand back for not getting it right? Yes, there is fear from washing the dirty laundry in front of everyone but in making it public you can also demonstrate how clean your brand can be.