This whole campaign is being run using social media using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo and their own site. Their Facebook group alone has got nearly 60,000 fans and not surprisingly. They are really engaging with their customers by offering weekly prizes and giving industry tips and advice. You can also watch the previous winners advert which I must say is really good!

I’m not talking about tacky corporate gifts like pens, key chains and coasters, they will always be used as bag fillers at exhibitions and desk decoration for employees. I’m talking about really personal Corporate Gifts that allow you to express your gratitude to a client. There are companies out there who will assemble bespoke hampers full of foods and wines that can really be appreciated.

Put yourself in your client’s shoes, would you prefer an e-card and a generic corporate gift or would you be pleasantly surprised that your supplier had remembered that you’re a red wine lover or a chocaholic? The answer is obvious I know which is why I don’t understand why more people don’t do it. If you don’t already do so, I would consider sending personal corporate gifts because they’ll sit in stark contrast to the masses of digital communications that are common place in the day and age.

The success of their social media strategy can be put down to the way they have engaged their fans and used their comments and suggestions to influence the club’s wider marketing strategy. Before www.mcfc.co.uk went live last summer the club used social media to find out what fans really wanted from a website and since the site went live they have devised new marketing campaigns based upon trending topics on Twitter.

In a reciprocal manner they also keep fans updated on their publicity stunts, such as the huge “Welcome to Manchester” poster which was placed on a prominent building in Manchester when Carlos Tevez joined from local rivals Manchester United. For a club which had struggled in recent years to sell out their new ground on match days I think they are definitely going about gaining support in an innovative and refreshing way.

In the same way as in the Apple advert, an anonymous pair of hands turn the pages of the publication and highlight certain areas using the same gestures that are used to demonstrate the touchscreen capabilities of their phone. The video is very clever and will definitely fuel the print vs digital debate which is currently raging.

Lucy Barrett writing for the guardian quite rightly asked if it matters that consumer feedback helped develop a product, don’t consumers expect this of huge companies like Microsoft and Apple anyway without having to be told about it? Surely it’s more important to find out how any changes can actually benefit you as a consumer.

In the current recession consumer trust in large corporations is at a low and these brands are quite rightly trying to win us round, but all they’re really succeeding in doing is making us indifferent to their campaigns. The best analogy for this is that of a couple that never fight or argue and ultimately don’t live happily ever after, because in a relationship one or both participants need to challenged. Consumers want food for thought not a slap on the back, so lay off the you-centric marketing!

This advertising push comes hot on the heels of YouTube announcing it’s deal with Channel 4 last month, which allowed them to include the 4oD content in their TV show offering. The majority of shows available are without advertising but are mainly used to promote flagship shows like X-Factor and Eastenders.

The founders are not entirely sure how they are going to make money out of the venture but as with the likes of Twitter and even Google, quite often the best ideas always find ways of becoming profitable once the product/service is right. The obvious revenue stream would be to charge shop owners to use the site but the founders are also considering an AdWords style model whereby contextual advertising would appear along with the search results. In a world where local shop owners are becoming few and far between, Milo.com could be their saviour!

This project would allow publishers to charge subscriptions to the online store and bundle several publications together. It will also open the door to developing different multimedia approaches to magazines and to provide multi-format versions for mobile phones and e-book readers. So it could be beneficial to both parties, with readers being more willing to pay for media rich, multi-format publications.

I received an e-shot from this campaign this week and was intrigued by Sky’s foray into this particular marketplace. Initially I was puzzled because of iTunes and the likes of Spotify having particularly strong offerings but then it dawned on me that Sky will actually be selling this as an add on to their broadband package and because of that they’re in a fairly unique position to capture a significant share of the market.