So the dreaded deadlines are over, the exam is complete, and I’m feeling strangely free (and no I’m not thinking about my rather enormous dissertation to be done – minor detail at this point).

It’s nice to have some free time on my hands, and some lounging around at home time, it has also been different to spend some time on my computer which doesn’t involve frantic checking of word counts every 2 minutes or commiserating on facebook with classmates about work!

So, I thought this week I would peruse the magnificent web for some undiscovered fun, but I found it strangely boring! Being on my computer just seems to give me sore shoulders (and ‘mouse-arm’) these days! And sad to say my internet routine remains fairly predictable, my homepage is BBC news so I run through the headlines there, then I head over to facebook (of course), then I check my email, and Spotify will be already up and running by this time.

I suppose I’m one of those hard to reach audiences, I really don’t seek out new stuff online, I’d rather wait for someone to send me a link or suggest something to me, I’m what ‘word of mouth’ was invented for! But I’m not the only one out there, so savvy PR practitioners and marketers have to come up with some pretty interesting and attention grabbing stunts to create some buzz. I and my other lazy web users won’t come looking for you; you have to come to us.

I’m sure we’ve all seen Blendtec’s ‘will it blend’, which is ridiculous yet vaguely compelling; it’s proved a pretty successful marketing campaign despite its silliness. Some organisations do these kinds of PR stunts really well; I found one that really tickled me. Science and technology website Scenta had commuters in uproar over a new Cloning Scenta which was really just an advertisement for the website but had some gullible people thinking that a human cloning centre was due to open.

These are the new rules of engagement for PROs and marketers, it’s their job to make apathetic people like me sit up and take notice of their organisation in a cluttered business and consumer environment.

Well after criticising Google a few weeks ago for thier Streetview tool…I’ve got to hand it to them. This week they’ve launched a couple of great new features. The Similar Images tool is a new way of searching for pictures, using images rather than words, and it works pretty well. There is also GoogleLabs, which offers users the chance to look at the thousands of new innovations the Google team are working on, and a chance to meet the developers.

GoogleTrends is also an entertaining way to spend a few minutes. You can look at what the top searches are in a number of different companies, by region and city and read news stories about each trend. There are also graphs showing the changing popularity of different trends and searches. GoogleTrends is genuinely useful for marketers and public relations practitioners looking for the next big thing.

But my favourite has to be GoogleTimeline. It chronologically orders and presents news already available in Google in a simple to use and appealing format. You can also select what type of news stories and features you want to search for. I think this is a genuinely useful tool, especially if you are researching something in particular. For example, search the timeline for the Iraq War and you get all the key dates and events laid out for you to examine. The timeline goes back to the 1400s, and even if you just want to look up things that happened on the day you were born, its great fun.

So after suffering a bit of a backlash over Streetview, Google have not been resting on their laurels and have come up with a couple of great new tools. Google’s mission statement is “…to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”, and I think they have really delivered on this time. After doing some research for a recent university project into organisational identity, image and reputation, I found too many companies who did not live their values or embody their mission. Google’s commitment to their mission statement is the reason why they are the most popular search engine in the world. It’s a lesson for practitioners and marketers, that delivering on your promises to your stakeholders should be a primary concern.

So Spotify thought the adverts (sorry, commercial messages) would annoy us so much we would all cave in and pay £9.99 a month to rid ourselves of them. Turns out they were wrong and we will subject ourselves to a bit of marketing for free music.

As a result, Spotify, the free music streaming service, are launching a paid download branch with 7digital, taking users out of the application if they want to purchase tracks. Spotify are also working on a function which will allow users to stay in Spotify while purchasing. The same sorts of deals have been struck with other streaming services such as lastfm and Imeem.

But who is going to be paying for the music? I won’t be. It’s free! I already have the music I want on my iPod, if I really really want to buy something I’ll probably just get it off the user friendly  iTunes, or super cheap from HMV. That’s the way it is for music now.

The people behind Spotify thought that listeners would be more willing to put their hands in their pockets. According to a BBC interview with analyst Mark Mulligan, “It [Spotify] went into this thinking it was going to be a premium subscription business,” he said. “The problem is what’s proven to be the successful part is the free bit.” The best things in life really are free. Why would we pay when an advert every 20 minutes is all you have to cope with? (That’s what the mute button is for right?)

Mulligan makes the point that Spotify are “…going through the process of relearning its business.” I think this quote is especially pertinent because it can be applied to so many organisations and businesses in this Web 2.0 age. We are all becoming familiar with the idea that consumers are becoming powerful citizens, and can demand the highest standards of service. We can also demand how those services operate, how they engage with us, and we can question and probe their methods and intentions.  

It is businesses and organisations who don’t communicate or engage with their stakeholders, or respond to their behaviours and demands who will suffer. At least Spotify are trying to do something about it.