Freedia… some initial rules

Now, before I put up a post on something new I was kicking around; Freedia – essentially the potential for the right brand or company to ONLY use free-to-user communications tools, and ‘home-made’ content.  The original post is here.

Anyway, I was doodling on my pad the other day, and came up with some initial rules:

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So, a longer form explanation:

Firstly, by ‘play nice’ I  guess I mean any ‘freedia representatives’ (or ‘freedians’) a company employs to look after their freedia spaces are, well, the kind of folk you get every once in a blue moon talking to a call centre.  Helpful, polite, friendly, engaging.  You know the sort.

Secondly, ‘don’t buy space’.  Pretty self explanatory, but I think a necessary rule because as soon as you start buying space, you’re into a completely different cost dynamic; it’s no longer structured around the cost of the freedian to look after a customer, but back into traditional paid-for-media territory.

Thirdly, any materials you put up (video, graphics, written content, whatever) should be produced by the team putting it up there… the freedia world’s hard enough and too fast moving to have 3 agencies try and coordinate freedia 10 hours a day… that way paralysis of process lies, my friend…

And finally, of course, all these could be wrong, and any other rules you make up, you’ll have to change on a daily basis.

But that just sounds fun 🙂

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Freedia

Here’s something that’s occurred over the last couple of days: in a world of social networking sites & other sharing applications, and the acceptance of semi-amateur looking user generated content, is it possible to create an effective communications plan solely using free media (or ‘Freedia’) and home-made content (not just video, but artwork, copy and the like)?

No paid for space, no trips to Brazil to shoot an ad, just a bunch of story-tellers you employ to act on your behalf ‘at large’ in the world.  Looking after your social networking hubs, filming & editing your video blogs, encouraging users to contribute to the look, feel and tone of your brand…

Are there any Freedia Agencies out there?  Do good clients just do it themselves?  Is it just wrapped up in whatever your advertising / digital / media agency is doing for you?

I still need to give it some thought, but thought I’d post the beginnings of it…

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