So I know it has been awhile since I have posted here on Contagious and I swear it’s not because I am slacking. It’s because I have been spending the majority of my time here and here recently.

This morning I was inspired to update this blog to talk about being a finger, not a nostril. There is a joke that I heard a long time ago that I always seem to whip out at parties during that time after you meet someone and you realize you have very little in common with that person but you need to say something. Here’s how it goes:

Why do gorillas have big nostrils? Because they have big fingers.

Funny right? Yeah, not one of those jokes where people leave the party commenting on how hilarious I am by any stretch. But this joke does bring up an interesting topic on how you do work, push the envelope, and blaze new trails. The joke insinuates that the gorilla’s nostrils got big because his fingers were so big and it stretched them out. It did not mean his fingers grew larger to accommodate the large nostrils. This is an interesting distinction.

Playing in an existing space, bouncing around on the inside and exploring is fine. You see people and companies do it all the time. But until people start “enlarging the nostrils” by pushing from the inside, nothing will ever grow, evolve, and advance.

We’ve had our fun in the social media/Web 2.0 space. We’ve gone to the parties, the Tweetups, and the conventions. We’ve tried “our best” to convince big companies and clients to have a social media presence only to fall short with a measley Facebook page that hasn’t been updated in 2 months. Now it’s time to enlarge the nostrils. Who’s ready to wield a bigger finger?

Gorilla image from Nailbender. Some rights reserved.

It’s really fun to think about your marketing plan on a global scale. It’s big time with a potential to reach billions of people. But like any great marketing plan, its quality, not quanitity to brings paying customers to your door.

I am very interested in the idea of hyper-local marketing that Michael Lefebvre, The Uncommon Agent is doing in Norfolk, MA. Mike is a real estate agent in metrowest Boston that has begun doing feature videos of local town businesses. Take this one for example of Joe’s Barber Shop.

This video is successful in many ways: you get to know a town business and some history of the town, you get to know Mike and his “giving back” to support local businesses, and you are entertained by the story. This is a perfect vehicle for someone like Mike who is in the business of making connections and convincing people about hisknowledge of the area.

But this could work for corporations as well. Imagine a company like Comcast (who tries to be involved in a local level) highlighting local businesses like this. It would do wonders for their brand.

What do you think about hyper-local marketing?

Props for your Peeps from Gregory Ng on Vimeo.

You are only as good as your network of friends so I wanted to start something new: give props to my friends who are doing some awesome stuff around the web. I hope that this inspires you to do the same. Here are my props:

Michael Schneider can be found at @schneidermike on Twitter, www.themichaelschneider.com, and www.noodad.com.
Mike Lefebvre can be found at @realtorlefebvre on Twitter, and www.theuncommonagent.com.
Paul Ocepek can be found at @paulocepek on Twitter, and www.Fishboy.com.
Hadley Stern can be found at @hadleystern on Twitter, and www.AppleMatters.com.

All I wanted to do was tell someone about an amazing burger I had. So I posted this video up on Seesmic singing the praises of the Southern Smokehouse Bacon Big Mouth Burger from Chili’s.

I felt pretty good telling other bacon lovers about this burger with the amazing thick-cut bacon. After all, anyone that knows me knows that bacon is a hobby of mine. And I only hope that means an endorsement from me about the quality of the bacon on this burger, might cause others to try this thing too.

But within 2 minutes of posting my video I received this reply. In short, “Bill” asked if I worked for Chili’s. At first I was shocked that he would consider my praise to be a thinly veiled paid endorsement by Chili’s. But after re-watching my post, I realized that I don’t blame him. Read more…

This week, Liberty Mutual was in the news regarding their deal with NBC and a 2-hour feature film called, Kings. This is a product of the Responsibility Project, an initiative that Liberty Mutual (in conjunction with Hill Holliday) developed as an outgrowth from Liberty Mutual’s Responsibility: What’s Your Policy? TV campaign.

The ResponsibilityProject.org website will feature a series of short films from some top name directors. This form of branded entertainment is a great way to extend the momentum of a television commercial campaign into different territory.

Here is one of the Liberty Mutual commercials that applies the “pay it forward” concept.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uDLhUGIVhk[/youtube]

P.S. Some of you know that I work at Hill Holliday. I did not work on this project but am thrilled to be part of a company that puts out this type of high-quality advertising.