There's Something Happening Here.

Today's highlights included chatting about semantic blogging arguments, discussing the lack of adventure within Brazilian marketing (and the impact of banning all urban spam in Sao Paolo) and meeting the author of the book I'm currently reading. Yes, Coffee Mornings definitely reach the parts twittering fails to and really hone one's antennae.

Thus it was that, while walking along Oxford Street afterwards, I noticed a succession of women seemingly asking other women for assistance. There was no uniformity of appearance, there were no clipboards, just a "tourist" hesitantly asking another woman if they could tell her "where was a good place nearby to buy......" - being of the wrong gender I never quite got to hear what the question was, but I did hear the follow up line that they'd been told that "such and such a place was good and have you heard of it."

Word of mouth marketing in action - predicated on illusion but looking very sleazy to anyone who got to see the whole picture. Fortunately, they can't control the conversation because passers-by also have mouths, a willingness to spread the real word and the ability to introduce the perpetrators of such tactics to another discredited entry in the marketing dictionary. Built-in obsolescence.


Bonus link: Mrs. Belmot brilliantly undermines faux connectivity and linkbaiting here - well that's my pretentious take on on it anyway!