The Pomegranate Phone

The past week has seen a lot of the local Halifax social media community actively critiquing the Province of Nova Scotia’s latest ‘Come to Life’ effort – the Pomegranate Phone.

Much has already been written about the campaign and its potential failings - you can take a look here and here. Joel Kelly also chimed in with a very thoughtful post here. While I personally remain unconvinced of the strategy, I’m open to being proven wrong – and actually hope I am. 

In addition to the points made by others, this week’s activities surrounding the Pomegranate Phone are important for two reasons: 

1. The Pomegranate Phone campaign is, at the very least, an 'out-of-their-comfort-zone' effort by a government department / agency. It is great to see them recognizing the power of the web while endeavouring to creatively use it to get their message out. Did they do everything perfectly? Surely not… but key to understanding this space is participation in it. And they’re participating. They’ll get better. They’ll learn as they go – and we should be open to learning something along the way too. 

2. Stacey Jones-Oxner, who heads up the ‘Come to Life’ effort, has been exceptional this week. She’s commented on posts by local bloggers, she’s been open and transparent thus far regarding the campaign’s success to date, she’s offered to show site analytics to those who are interested, etc. Overall, when the local social media fishbowl was turning up their collective noses at the not-so-affectionately termed #pombomb campaign, Stacey entered the conversation with curiosity, interest, and a genuine desire to learn more about other perspectives on the campaign. This can only be helpful in the long run, and she should be commended. 

To be clear, I think it is more than fair for people to question any $300K investment by their government, be it in a marketing program or anything else.  That said, I think that we in the social media community here in Halifax have a unique opportunity to help move the yardsticks forward surrounding our local market's understanding of the space.

Comments

[Ben]

Major props to Stacey for stepping up to the plate and engaging in conversation despite a rather hostile environment.

[ron macinnis]

Hats off to our government for this bold experiment and to Stacy for seeing it all as a learning opportunity.
Yes, it cost over 300 grand, and that's a lot of mool, but being a free enterpriser who has worked closely with government for some time now, it is worth that many of my tax dollars to see someone in government climb out of the box.
Being a technofreak, and craving a coffee at the time of viewing, I, like many was seduced by the slickness and swallowed the whole thing in one gluttonous gulp.
But it took my techno savvy son to point out that many would just hit their back button and never get the point of the whole thing. Maybe someone will figure out a fix and blow everyone's virtual socks off.
Nothing ventured, nothing learned.
What's next?
Ron

[Issmat]

I agree with you fully, Carman. It's great to see them come out of the box. This has been a very expensive try out though. I guess they are very aware now that when a campaign is targeted for viral spread, they run the risk of generating the wrong spread.

I have been late in posting a review of this campaign, but it's up now. Please feel free to review and offer your comments at http://issmatblog.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/nova-scotia-pomegranate-phone-great-viral-but-is-it-effective/.

Traditional campaigns are somewhat more controllable because the client controls the purchased advertising medium (paper, radio, tv, etc.) and what is said in their spot. This is obviously not true with social media. Free spread comes with a price, and that price is to lay your brand/message/campaign on the table and have it ripped apart by critics and supporters alike. This is raw, unadulterated, straight feedback from the people who play the social media game on a daily basis. It's the best there is!

[Darrin Searancke]

After hearing Stacey Jones-Oxner speak at the W3 get together, my initial question was: With this large up-front investment, you would expect some continuation of this marketing initiative. Meaning "Come to Life" would be able to grow/develop this very creative campaign concept with a long-term development (and hopefully returns) rather than a one-shot investment which may or may not go 'viral'.