Category / Interactive Marketing

by adam

The Brand Factor: Do Established Brands Have It Easier?

Do big, well-known brands have it easier or harder than start-ups trying to make an impact and leveraging social media?  Jeremiah Owyang, the well known social media analyst from Forrester Research, recently wrote a very thoughtful post on the current challenges in social media.  I also recently attended Social Media Camp Boston, which had a number […]

Social MediaDo big, well-known brands have it easier or harder than start-ups trying to make an impact and leveraging social media?  Jeremiah Owyang, the well known social media analyst from Forrester Research, recently wrote a very thoughtful post on the current challenges in social media.  I also recently attended Social Media Camp Boston, which had a number of enterpreneurs presenting on tactics they take to leverage social media platforms.  This got me thinking – what types of companies lend themselves to social media?  I see three major factors that can help to answer this question, among others:

1.  "Traditional" Marketing and PR
2.  Budget for Social Media Efforts
3.  Community Leverage

Traditional Marketing and PR

Many large companies and established brands have yet to embrace and understand some of the tenets of social media.  They are unwilling to relinquish control of the message.  They struggle with fears of engaging customers directly and giving them a voice – looking to avoid negative PR instead of embracing customers and engaging customers.  They term "audience" is still used prevalently because of the one-way communication mindset, where "community," "listening" and "conversation" are not words some of these companies would associate with marketing. 

In some ways, this parallels a presentation I attended at Forrester's Marketing Forum called "The Interactive Marketing Maturity Model."  Shar Van Boskirk did an excellent job capturing four levels of maturity in embracing interactive marketing, which I believe also applies to leveraging social media:

  • "Skeptics," characterized by little or no interactive experience and assessing if interactive has value for them
  • "Mavericks," organizations that have a few isolated team members that appreciate interactive and run stand-alone programs but lack support to improve current efforts
  • "Practitioners," companies who have several years of experience and are piloting emerging media, and
  • "Optimizers," who have company-wide support for interactive efforts and are working to optimize multi-channel (including offline) efforts.1

With very few "optimizers" out there in the big corporations, it can be difficult for those companies to bridge the gap and trully leverage social media.  They need to retain talent in the industry, like Ford's recent hire of Scott Monty and Nationwide's recent hiring of Shawn Morton.

On the flip side, smaller startup organizations can be more nimble and have few constraints around controlling the brand message.  A great example of this is Freshbooks, led by chief "magic maker" Saul Colt.  Their entire marketing approach is to build a community of passionate users and embrace their customers with open and earnestly helpful dialog.

Budget for Social Media Efforts

More traditional organizations will ask the ROI question.  As Jeremiah points out, it's difficult to measure ROI on "engagement" and no industry standard exists.  Larger established brands may be less willing to take risks – where startups practically need to take a risk to differentiate themselves.  An untapped, unproven landscape in social media is ripe for startups (even though they may be spending funding rather than profits).  Albert Maruggi of the Marketing Edge, thinks companies need to get past the ROI question, using magazines' spending $14 million to buy a baby picture of Brangelina's kids as an example.

I think it should be easier for larger companies to allocate budget (including resources) to focus on social media due to their scale and the relatively low barrier to entry of leveraging many of these tools.  Sometimes process and a lack of executive sponsorship get in the way.

Community Leverage

Another factor in determining whether big brands have it easier is whether they already have a community to tap into.  Nike's Jordan division is a well known and loved brand – leveraging social media platforms and tools should be easy since there are passionate fans out there who would willingly participate.  For crying out loud, people fight and even risk lives in getting a hold of the latest shoe design. 

Smaller startups need to build communities, one person at a time.  Melanie Notkin has done a terrific job at building a community over months leading up to the launch of SavvyAuntie.com, using her blog, Facebook, and Twitter.  It can be arguably harder to build a community than to engage one that exists, but I'd be interested to hear from folks who have more expertise on each before I decide on that one.

So which is it?

Do big brands have it easier or harder leveraging social media?  Are there other factors to consider?  Please take the poll and let me know what you think.

1 Source: The Interactive Marketing Maturity Model, Shar Van Boskirk, Forrester Research, April 9, 2008.
Photo credit: mrwilleeumm via Flickr

by adam

Nintendo: Simple = Good

This weekend while playing with my oldest son, we saw spotted a note online about connecting our Nintendo Wii with his Ninendo DS for a game he already has.  He’s really into Pokemon, so I figured I would try to learn about it and see if we could get the connection to work.  In less […]

Mattel Football This weekend while playing with my oldest son, we saw spotted a note online about connecting our Nintendo Wii with his Ninendo DS for a game he already has.  He’s really into Pokemon, so I figured I would try to learn about it and see if we could get the connection to work.  In less than 5 minutes and a few keystrokes, we had connected the DS, a small, handheld gaming system with Wifi capabilities, to the Wii, and “deposited” all of the creatures he had captured in the handheld game into a “Pokemon Ranch.”  At the ranch you can interact with the creatures, take pictures of them (even putting them on an SD card for saving/viewing/sharing later) and give them toys to play with.  Each day “Hayley,” the Ranch helper, gives you another creature to play with.  So what if the Wii game isn’t the most exciting in the world – to a seven year old budding Pokemon addict, it was heaven.


I was, quite frankly, blown away.  I grew up with (and still love) the Mattel Electronic Football II, with it’s red dashes, and here was my 7 year old son connecting his handheld wirelessly to a gaming console to enhance his gaming experience.  Nintendo kept the technology so simple a 2nd grader could figure it out and use it to feed his Pokemon obsession. 


Keeping it simple is an essential element for new technology to be successful.  I’m not surprised at the continual demand for the Wii and for the DS – and it may be a long time before either platform reaches an ‘end of life’ phase.  What are some other examples where technology made things simpler for you or your family?  Gaming is one thing, but what are some products or technology that have made things simple and improved your life?


Photo credit: dcjohn via flickr

by adam

1 + 1 = 3: Rosetta and Brulant

How do you build a top digital agency? In July Rosetta announced the acquisition of interactive agency Brulant, where I am a partner in the Consumer Product and Retail practice.  The first couple of days since the announcement have been some of the most fun in my career.  The two firms build a compelling value proposition when combined, […]

Rosetta Acquires Brulant How do you build a top digital agency?

In July Rosetta announced the acquisition of interactive agency Brulant, where I am a partner in the Consumer Product and Retail practice.  The first couple of days since the announcement have been some of the most fun in my career.  The two firms build a compelling value proposition when combined, and I’ve spent a better part of those two days calling clients and friends to talk about it.

Acquisitions and mergers have negative connotations to many folks.  They can mean personnel conflicts, culture clashes and diluting of the “juice” that makes either one of the parties successful – not to mention distractions to high performing project teams.  I have friends who have been through it in the digital industry (think large conglomerates eating up smaller independent agencies), and there are many horror stories.  In stark contrast, being a part of this merger is ripe with excitement and promise.  We remain independent, and the services each agency provides complement each other.

“We are creating one of the nation’s biggest interactive agencies which will allow us to grow current relationships and build new ones quite dramatically,” said Chris Kuenne, Rosetta’s founder, chairman and CEO. “The interactive marketing landscape is rapidly shifting from mass to personalized targeting and from fuzzy equity measures to precisely measured, managed and optimized customer relationship economics.”

There is a science behind the shift from traditional media to targeted, personalized marketing, and Rosetta has figured it out.  Look at their client list– these are advanced organizations where how they market is a key differentiator in their success.  Infuse that with the execution capabilities of the teams I’ve watched deliver at Brulant, and it’s a powerful combination.

“You put your chocolate in my peanut butter!”

Rosetta is technically acquiring Brulant, but in reality the firms complement each other.  The breadth of Brulant’s interactive services in customer experience, acquisition marketing and technology implementation are the “chocolate” to Rosetta’s marketing strategy and personalized targeting offerings “peanut butter.”   The value proposition of bringing those capabilities together, along with the ever growing significance of the online channel and its influence on other channels, is a compelling service offering that puts Rosetta in a unique place in the market.  (I’m actually writing that because I believe it; it wasn’t spoonfed by our marketing team, I promise.)

Hey, that sounds great, but we have a lot of work to do.  On the first day of the announcement being public, I had the privilege of sitting with one of our top clients and the CEOs of both Brulant and Rosetta.  It was very clear in the conversation that the value proposition can be applied right away, and I will be spending lots of time with the “legacy” Rosetta team to understand their offering more in the coming weeks.

New opportunities

For me personally, this provides an opportunity to work with talented people and expand my professional horizons up the value chain.  Being in Boston and working on several clients in the New York City area, I am thrilled to see the expansion in the Northeast. This is also the first time I have been through an acquisition and watched an integration team get up and running.  I look forward to participating in building the new organization.  Can’t wait to see it in action and share what I learn, and I look forward to working with the Rosetta team. 

Have you been through an acquisition?  What are some pitfalls you’ve seen?  How would you advise we keep the momentum going through this exciting time with all of the “buzz”?

Check out Rosetta.com for more information.

Rosetta

by adam

Widget Review: CokeTag Has Potential

Several weeks ago, Coca-Cola launched an application in Facebook which is a “personal, customizable widget for individuals, bands, bloggers, artists, and companies to share links to content they want to promote and drive traffic to anywhere on the Web.”  I spent some time playing around with the app (which is still in beta) after I […]

Adam's Coke Tag in FacebookSeveral weeks ago, Coca-Cola launched an application in Facebook which is a “personal, customizable widget for individuals, bands, bloggers, artists, and companies to share links to content they want to promote and drive traffic to anywhere on the Web.”  I spent some time playing around with the app (which is still in beta) after I was contacted by Advance Guard and the Coca Cola company asking for an honest review.  I had also spotted it on C.C. Chapman’s blog. 


There are two areas around this widget I am going to review – First, the application itself, and Second, the approach to distribute, launch and promote it.


Simple Application, But Will It Take Off?


The application right now is still in beta and only available on Facebook.  The application let’s you build a slick looking tag, change it’s skin (including a design that promotes Coke’s we8 program uniting Chinese design firms and progressive western artists) and customize links to share, and anyone who sees it on your profile will be able to click through links.I added the tag to my Facebook profile in under a minute – it was easy to set up, put in some things about me and be done.  Ease of use for a widget is important and Coke nails it for the casual, generic user.


There are two differentiators for CokeTags that may contribute to its success.  First is the slick interface.  For a novice techie, the Web 2.0-like view is fun and different.  I am not sure I would put it on my blog (when available) since a) the style options are not consistent with the look and feel of my page, and b) I’m not sure why I would want to endorse Coca-Cola.  But to a casual user, this might spice up a web page, blog or Facebook profile enough to be different.  Style Issues with CokeTag on My Facebook ProfileThe interface does promote Coke, but it’s emphasis is on sharing content unrelated to the beverage.  Chris Abraham was spot on when describing that the widget “isn’t nefarious.”  Still, they have some kinks to work out.  After repeated attempts to edit and republish links, the widget looked fine previewing in the application (above) but the style sheet on my profile page still looked funky. 



The second differentiator is the ability for the CokeTag creator to go to one place, maintain content/links, and push out to all the sites/profiles/pages that have the widget.  For a mini version of a web content management system, that is empowering to a user.  The app also provides a mini version of web analytics, showing which users in Facebook have expanded your CokeTag and which links have been clicked on.  That’s a good amount of functionality built in to a simple widget.


A Challenge: Engaging the User


The challenge I have to Coke is to make this widget more compelling to use.  There are tons of tools out there to share links and fill in information about oneself.  I already have the ability to put this same information in my Facebook profile, so to me the information the widget provides could be a bit redundant.  The categories of links are customizable, but simply sharing links that I put in doesn’t make it very “sticky” for me.  Bands or artists looking to disseminate information and links can do this easily directly in the content on their Fan Pages or Myspace pages, even though this tool provides a way to maintain/publish the links in one place. 


Christopher Penn suggested to blend this widget with Coke rewards points, which would be great.  While admittedly I may be asking for too much, my suggestion would be to add a level of interaction within the widget itself – perhaps personalized recommendations, suggestions of related content, or allowing people to comment on what’s in there like the comment system in FriendFeed.  For example, if I was a band and posted a link to “Concert Saturday Night” with a click through link, it would be great to allow users to comment right in the widget – “I’ll be there!” or “Is it standing room only?” or “Hey, when are you coming to my city?”  I realize Coke needed to start somewhere, and what they have is great for the basics.


One minor question for the Coke team – I am curious when the widget is release through OpenSocial and other platforms for blogs if the links are exposed for SEO purposes.  That would make it at least as beneficial for promotion as putting links directly in content on pages.


Using Social Media to Promote Social Media


Using a Social Media Release, Coke and Advance Guard do a great job of announcing the widget, sharing what it is about and seeking feedback from the community.  I know C.C. Chapman worked on the project and has direct access to the interactive team at Coca-Cola, but it is still great to see Mike Donnelly, Director for Coca-Cola’s Worldwide Interactive Marketing team, respond within minutes to the first comment on C.C.’s blog post about the project – especially starting his comment with “Yup, we are listening…”  Coke is clearly committed to starting something innovative and different and learning from the experience.  I’d be interested if they are banking on ROI from the widget or have executive buy-in that this is an experiment that requires some investment in dollars, time and faith.  The way the promotion is being handled gives them a terrific shot at making the widget a successful campaign.


Thanks to Advance Guard and Coca-Cola for inviting me to review.  Would you add it to your profile?  Have you tried out CokeTag? 

by adam

Indiana Jones and the Lost Marketing Plan

"How odd that it should end this way for us after so many stimulating encounters. I almost regret it. Where shall I find a new adversary so close to my own level?" – Belloq in Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Raiders is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time.  I've been less enamored with […]

Ij "How odd that it should end this way for us after so many stimulating encounters. I almost regret it. Where shall I find a new adversary so close to my own level?" – Belloq in Raiders of the Lost Ark. 

Raiders is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time.  I've been less enamored with the rest of the series so far and have not seen the new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull yet.  I won't dispute that Indiana Jones is a cultural icon.  Lately the promotion for the new film has been all over the place – from selling Indy's Fedora hat as a Facebook "gift" to Major League Baseball trying everything but on the field advertising to the NBA shameless opening segments during the playoffs.  Some of the placements are harmless.  Others are causing a stir – Not-The-Real-Ronald-McDonald is one of many folks blogging about the negative Burger King promotion for the film, targeting kids and fast food.   But what about the whole premise of targeting kids in general?

I have 3 boys (all under 8) and I can't wait to watch Raiders with them one day.  No way I would let them see the series now.  Yet the marketing team is promoting Burger King, a massive Lego genre (no way AFOLs would sustain the product alone), and a ton of other products.  "Indiana Jones Role Play Whip" for ages 6-10?  "Playskool Mr. Potato Head: Taters of the Lost Ark Idaho Jones Spud" for ages 2-7?  The spark for this post was seeing Indiana Jones Madlibs in an airport bookstore.  Even tongue in cheek these types of toys are a bit over the top targeting the wrong age group, for films that are based on the original R-rated film (all the others were PG or PG-13).

Let's review.  In the first film, in the opening scene, a former Indy assistant gets skewered in a jungle cave.  Aside from the obvious snakes scene, a German officer getting run over by a truck and the bald soldier getting chopped up by an airplane propeller, there's always the 2 Germans and 1 French archaeologist melting into a bloody pool at the end of the movie.   In the second flick, a shaman pulls a pumping heart out of a guy before dropping him in magma.  In the third, I think the worst is when a pile of guys' heads get chopped off as they neglect to heed "Only the penitent man shall pass."  

These are not scenes I want my boys re-enacting around the house, sorry.  (I can't wait to watch the movies with them one day though.)  There are so many other ways to market this film, I think the extra targeting of young kids just doesn't sit right.

Photo credit: Despotes via flickr, titled "For your toddler, a Jewish religious artifact and a killer ghost!" (note "Ages 3+" on the package). 

by adam

Forrester Marketing Forum: Tie Customer Engagement to Company Performance

EngagementWhen I was with one of the Big Four consulting firms (rhymes with Indenture – just kidding, I loved my time there), I spent a small amount of time on a task force focusing on making the firm a “Great Place to Work” in our market unit in North America.  This committee was filled with passionate people in the organization who understood clearly that people were our #1 asset.  The committee’s charter was to go beyond happy hours and newsletters to come up with game-changing initiatives to improve engagement.  In 2005 the group began to get a lot of attention from senior executives in the firm due to some studies tying employee engagement to outperforming stock prices.  The studies measure how individuals responded in surveys to the “Three Ss”: Say, Stay and Strive (developed by Hewitt Associates), measuring how effective an employee would talk about the firm, have a desire to stay with the firm for the next couple years, and optimally thrive in their careers while with the firm.  After an annual employee satisfaction survey was done, we received an “Engagement Index” score and were compared to 1500 other companies who had asked their employees the same questions.

The result: While one could debate the “chicken and the egg,” there was a direct correlation between the increase in employee engagement and the increase in stock price across 1500 companies surveyed.  High performing companies had high levels of employee engagement.  This was eye opening and got senior leadership to pay immediate attention and “get in the game” on programs that improved engagement.

After all the talk at Forrester’s Marketing Forum 2008 about customer engagement, I got to thinking.  There were great presentations from Forrester, retailers and software vendors about how we need to measure or quantify customer engagement.  High performing companies like Dell, Nike and FedEx presented on strategies that have helped them increase customer engagement.

What I’d like to see:  A study that ties a measurement of customer engagement to stock price over time.

Take some of the key brands represented.  Jordan Brands, part of Nike, Inc., has seemingly a brand that can do no wrong.  They are undertaking innovative ways to engage customers in the same ethos of Michael Jordan himself – launching a breakfast club to motivate young athletes and track or suggest training programs, launching an exclusive “Flight Club” with premium offers, etc.  What has happened to Nike’s stock price in the last few years, and what are analysts saying now, despite a weak economy looming?

 

Nike_4There are many factors around operating a company that impact the stock price, no doubt, and this is only one example pulled from a list of companies doing great things with customer engagement.  I know this can’t be the only factor, but I am still wondering if any similar correlation can be drawn. Every person must have a reliable source of information before starting to trade in stocks.

One of the breakout sessions I attended at the Forrester Marketing Forum was The Interactive Marketing Maturity Model presented by Shar VanBoskirk, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research.  In her presentation she explained how few companies have interactive marketing efforts that are optimized, and there is a disparity between the high level of belief in interactive marketing and a low level of actual investment or support to execute.  If this correlation plays out to support a positive association, I suspect it would lend credence to the army of interactive marketers who sense or are trying to prove value but have trouble convincing executives to invest in their campaigns.  I also suspect it would open corporate executives to new ways to engage the customer, making a better case for why interactive marketing, social media and engaging customers are imperatives and not optional.

Have you seen any research out there like this?  What do you think would help legitimize interactive marketing and social media campaigns that impact customer engagement?

by adam

Seth Godin on Curiosity

Todd Defren posted this video yesterday of Seth Godin talking about curiosity.  It’s an inspirational video which has some fundamental tenets on social media and the transition from the traditional media channels of old.  There’s something in there that made me feel inspired about continuing down this learning path I am going for interactive marketing in general.  The video resonated with me a lot and I wanted to capture here for posterity.  Thanks Todd.

What inspires you?