Archive for the ‘social media’ Category

Who owns social media? PR or Marketing?

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

There have been some good discussions on the Social Media Club Seattle LinkedIn Group recently.

My response to a “who owns social media” question was a bit longish and self-contained, so I thought I’d share it here:

Social Media should be treated as just another marketing channel. Each channel has it’s rules, it’s purpose, it’s strengths and weaknesses. Social Media is good at shaping opinion, so it seems like it should be part of PR.

But doing so is a mistake because it restricts messaging and it can lose its authenticitity. What about the voice of the other constituencies in the organization? What about promotions? PR can’t and shouldn’t try to manage the voice of every facet of an organization.

Should Marketing own it? Social Media channels are contact points that impact an organization’s (or individual’s) brand, after all. I say “no” for the same reasons. An organization isn’t simply made up of the peeps in Marketing and PR.

Social Media needs to owned, directed and managed by an integrated team of people that represent the organization as a whole. If you’d like to see an organization that “gets it,” take a look at the Verity Credit Union Blog, and check out the list of writers on the right.

Verity Credit Union Blog

Oh, they are pretty good at it — the Verity blog was the first credit union blog ever.

So, who do you think owns social media?

Subscribe to this feed.

Publishing is dead. Long live publishing.

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

Here’s a nifty little video regarding the state of the publishing industry. Hang tight—there’s a twist about half way through.


View on YouTube

I know. This execution has been done before, but it’s still pretty clever and the message is the right one.

There’s been plenty of talk about the eminent death of the publishing industry as we know it. This video addresses these preconceptions head-on, then flips ‘em on their ear.

This video was created by the UK brand of Dorling Kindersley for internal use. Its positive message and creative execution made it a big hit at DK and they decided it was worth sharing outside the organization.

Really, the power of this video lies in its ability to change perceptions, and in about two weeks it’s been viewed nearly 300,000 times.

So, where can you use creativity to change perceptions?

Subscribe to this feed.

On Facebook, racial profiling and the mob

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

If you’re on Facebook (and who isn’t) you’ve probably noticed the “Suggestions” section on the right side of your feed. Basically, the wizards behind the curtain have developed a way to recommend fan pages based on similar characteristics.

A few examples will make how it works pretty obvious:

Facebook suggestion: World Wildlife Fund - The Nature Conservancy

Facebook suggestions: TED - GOOD

Facebook suggestions: White House - Barack Obama

Looks pretty good, eh? Well, here’s a headscratcher:

Facebook suggestions: Chase Community Giving - Mafia Wars

Which dots are being connected to suggest someone that’s a fan of Chase Community Giving might possibly have an interest in Mafia Wars? Is JP Morgan Chase a backer of Zynga or just connected to the mob?

Seriously though, I’ve opted out of nearly every Mafia Wars ad and provided negative feedback to Facebook countless times. Now I’m getting this?

But this one’s even worse:

Facebook suggestions: Michael Jackson - Barack Obama

Okay, where’s the Michael Jackson / Barack Obama connection? The only obvious connection is the color of their skin—which sounds a bit like racial profiling to me. I mean, really, does Facebook recommend Elvis to George H.W. Bush fans because they’re white?

While Facebook’s suggestions function makes sense when it’s done right, done wrong it can be downright offensive.

That’s my take. What’s yours?

Subscribe to this feed.

Facebook’s ad feedback function fail

Monday, September 21st, 2009

You know the ads on the right hand column of your Facebook feeds page?

Here’s a view I’ve received a lot lately:

mafia wars ads

Yeah. I know. You’ve seen these ads enough already.

Not sure why I’d receive ‘em…I’m not a gamer and there’s nothing in my profile that would lead you to believe I’d be interested in this.  In fact, I really don’t like seeing a gun or a crime scene every time I log on to Facebook.

So I’ve nuked these ads whenever I’ve seen them, using Facebook’s advertising feedback feature:

facebook ad feedback

Now that’s what advertisers and users are looking for: Users can receive tailored ads, and advertisers can build a feedback loop for their creative.

Well, at least in concept.

You see, I decided to delete all the “Mafia Wars” ads that popped up, and they simply kept appearing—sometimes two to three of them at once. It didn’t seem to matter which reason I gave, they still littered my screen.

Look, I like a good mob movie as much as the next guy—but what if I really found these offensive? I’d be pissed.

This practice isn’t just anti-user, it’s anti-advertiser.

Somebody has said every way they can that they don’t want to see your ad—but Facebook is still serving them up?

Sure, the feedback widget says “Over time, this information helps us deliver more relevant ads to our users” but if you are given the option to remove an ad because it’s offensive, misleading or anything else on the list, shouldn’t your wishes be granted there and then? Are there any advertisers out there that really want to offend people over and over?

I started deleting the “Mafia Wars” ads weeks ago. And while they don’t pop up nearly as much, I’m still receiving them.

It’s nice Facebook is asking for feedback, especially since it appears they are using the information provided to improve the user experience…somewhat.

But they aren’t asking people to passively answer a poll regarding the color of their wallpaper. They are asking people if they find an ad offensive or misleading. If the user says “yes, this offends me,” the ad needs to disappear from their user experience—forever.

What do you think?

Subscribe to this feed.

Create a culture of appreciation with social media

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

I spoke at the Recognition Roundtable today here in Bellevue, a group of mostly HR people from major companies located here in the Pacific Northwest that are looking for ways to encourage and support recognition within their respective workplaces.

In the session, I shared—

  • Why this topic should matter to every marketer
  • What social media is
  • How social media can help build a culture of appreciation, with a few examples
  • How it helps improve employee responses to six of the 12 Questions from First, Break all the Rules
  • A few options for building social networks for the enterprise

Here’s my presentation:

And here are some related links I saved on Delicious.

We did a “bonus session” afterwards where we brainstormed ways social media can help deliver recognition, but that’s not included here.

So what do you think? Is the enterprise ready for social media?

Comment below to share.

Subscribe to this feed.

How Ford made me reconsider my auto buying habits

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

I’ve owned dozens of cars, and like a lot of people, most have been Japanese or German. So when I turned in my leased Honda and started the hunt for a new hybrid, I drove the Toyota Prius, Camry and Highlander Hybrids, the new Honda Insight and a Lexus RX 400h.

  • The Prius felt underpowered
  • The Camry was nice, but felt too much like the Accord I’d just turned in
  • The Insight was loud and somewhat disappointing
  • And the Highlander Hybrid was so close in price to the Lexus, I chose the latter of the two

But the events of the last week have me second-guessing myself, and I have Ford’s social media marketing team (and a great product) to blame for it.

Let me explain.

A few weeks ago, Ford contacted me “looking for fresh perspectives and feedback, something a little more engaging and authentic” from “non-traditional approach for bloggers and other content creators” and asked if I’d be interested in test driving the new Fusion Hybrid for a few days.

I agreed, and last Thursday, they delivered a shiny new one to my office, with the Michigan “Manufacturer” plate and all.

Here are few pictures I snapped with my iPhone:

I drove the car to work, to the beach, to Costco, to a Mariners game. Basically everywhere.

The fit and finish were good and the ride was really quiet. In fact, it put my both my high-energy kids to sleep on the ride back from their grandma’s house. Sounds like a cliche, but it’s true.

I got a lot of comments from neighbors “That’s really a nice car,” co-workers “I’d buy that” and was even given a special parking spot by a parking lot attendant after he said “Is that the new Fusion Hybrid—cool!”

What I liked most was the fact I nearly forgot it was a hybrid. The transfer from electric to gas is less obvious than it is with my Lexus, a fact that the press hasn’t missed, with USA Today calling it the best gas-electric hybrid yet.

Oh, and while I didn’t get the 81.5 miles per gallon achieved in a recent hypermiling stunt, I did get a respectable 39.5 MPG in a mid-size car.

All-in-all, an eye-opening experience.

Ford’s social media team is firing on all cylinders

You might have heard the buzz about the Fiesta Movement, Ford’s social campaign that put 100 “agents” (selected from over 4,000 applicants) behind the wheel of a 2011 Ford Fiesta for six months and how they’re sharing the results of their “missions” on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube.

Ford is winning on the social web due to the aggressive approach that Scott Monty and Ford’s social media team have been taking to engage customers and build authentic conversations around their products and brands.

A return to the past?

Their bet is that if people actually drive a Ford, they might buy one. In fact, Alan Mullaly, CEO of Ford, is interested in resurrecting “Have you driven a Ford lately?” campaign from the mid 1980’s.

Here’s an ad from that campaign that aired in 1984, the year I graduated from high school.

So, why didn’t I consider Ford?

Old attitudes and habits die hard.

Recent research from Nielsen puts Ford’s brand advocacy quotient below companies such as Kia, Pontiac and Chrysler.

While Ford’s branding and social media campaigns are good, I’ve become brand loyal to other manufacturers and it will take a lot to break that hold.

Ford’s dealers still publish absurdly noisy ads with prices the average buyer will seldom get (loyalty discounts, military discounts, first-time buyer discounts, etc)— and you’ll always have to haggle with the salesperson and expect them to bring in the manager when they can’t close the sale.

Still, that happens with most dealers and Ford’s product is good and worth a look.

People like me have been saying “Once American manufacturers catch up with Japanese and Germans, I’ll start buying American cars again.”

Well folks, has that time come? Ford’s product quality and the way they’re communicating with customers has me reconsidering their offerings.

Would you consider a Ford?

Comment below to weigh in.

Subscribe to this feed.

How I use social media

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

I was honored to be interviewed by Kenji Onozawa over at Seattle Social Media Profiles on  Wednesday, the results of which can be found in the above video, along with his Q & A in this article.

Kenji asked me a bit about social media, Responsible Marketing and one of my passions, using social media to create social good.

A few things covered in the article include:

  • Why I like social media
  • How I utilize it
  • The one thing that mainstream population should know about social media
  • My social media “wow” moment

Give it a gander, and if you live in the Pacific Northwest, make sure you visit Seattle Social Media Profiles regularly.

Subscribe to this feed.

Chocolate covered grasshoppers get people talking

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

Yesterday, I received a lumpy mailer from a company I’d never heard of. Normally I give unsolicited mail about the same amount of consideration you probably do—a few seconds.

But since it was, well, lumpy, and delivered via FedEx I opened it. Here’s what I found:

chocolate-covered-grasshoppers

On one side, it says “Yes, these are real grasshoppers. They’ve even been approved by the FDA of Thailand.”

On the other side:

You’re a risk-taker, a dream-realizer. What’s left to do that you haven’t already done? Eat a grasshopper. They’re farm raised, covered in chocolate and rich in protein. So, not only will you be breaking boundaries, but you’ll be eating healthy, too.

The attached tag included the call to action:

Entrepreneurs can change the world.
Join the movement now!
www.grasshopper.com/idea

I really didn’t have the time, but I couldn’t resist jumping on this to learn what it was all about. The URL takes you to a page with the following video:

As it turns out, Grasshopper offers a nicely-packaged virtual PBX service for businesses. It’s a direct competitor to Grand Central, a similar service recently purchased by Google that’s locked down while Google integrates it into their systems.

Five things I loved about this campaign

  1. The FedEx package made it feel urgent without using deceptive “Urgent – Open Immediately” language. This is message responsible.
  2. Lumpy mail gets opened.
  3. This is textbook example of how to do a word of mouth campaign. Chocolate covered grasshoppers? I had to share this with colleagues and with you.
  4. A little mystery goes a long way. There was no sales copy—just a creative idea and a URL to learn more. Irresistible.
  5. The landing page made it easy to share the video on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and and a host of other sites using an AddThis widget.

And the three things I didn’t love

  1. Each tag was numbered, X of 5,000, and I understand after doing some research for this post that Grasshopper sent these packages to the people they deemed the 5,000 most influential people in America. Very flattering. But at first I thought I might need this code when I logged onto the website. Not so. This is not a limited edition keepsake, it’s a marketing piece. And by letting me know there were so many produced, it made me feel less special—at least initially.
  2. The moving-text style video that was so fresh and interesting a year ago is beginning to get tired. I still like it, but it would seem every ‘movement’ has a video like this associated with it.
  3. Which brings me to the whole ‘movement’ thing. I like to be inspired as much as the next entrepreneur, but I’m approaching my ‘movement’ saturation point. How many movements can one person truly join?

Still, Grasshopper has succeeded where most fail. In one fell swoop, they got my attention, held it, and they got me talking. And though I don’t need their service, If I did, I’d consider them.

So, what do you think of Grasshopper’s campaign?

Would you eat a chocolate covered grasshopper? (I won’t)

But if you’d like to try one, contact me and we’ll make it happen. I’ll post a video of you eating one here and you’ll be famous.

El Pollo Loco adds heat to KFC challenge

Monday, May 11th, 2009

One way or the other, you probably heard about KFC last week.

If you didn’t see one of their ads for their new Kentucky Grilled Chicken (the largest ad blitz in KFC history) you probably heard about the Oprah catastrophy. KFC was caught off guard when a promotion for a free two-piece meal featuring its new grilled chicken created such an overwhelming response the company ran out of chicken and customers had to be turned away.

KFC wasn’t execution responsible, but most companies would love to be overwhelmed by new customers. Especially El Pollo Loco, the 418-unit Costa Mesa, California-based chain that challenged KFC to a taste test in late April.

The company wants to pit its citrus-marinated grilled chicken against the KFC offering and has taken specific aim at KFC’s cooking process. While El Pollo Loco grills its chicken over an open flame, KFC’s chicken is cooked on a griddle—a point that the smaller contender hasn’t missed:

In KFC’s defense, if El Pollo Loco wants a taste test, all they have to do is conduct one, and by definition, grilling doesn’t require an open flame.

Amid the Oprah firestorm, KFC issued rain checks for anyone that was turned away. The rain checks were good until May 19, 2009—excluding Mother’s Day, May 10, 2009.

El Pollo Loco’s response: Ask KFC what they have against mothers, and honor KFC’s coupons on Mother’s Day.

In this David v. Goliath story, Goliath has yet to throw a swing.

It’s familiar territory for KFC—the company has failed to effectively respond to PETA’s long-running Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign.

El Pollo Loco is receiving national attention playing chicken with KFC.

Do you love their tactics or hate them?

Should KFC accept El Pollo Loco’s challenge?

If not, how should they respond?

. . .

UPDATE: QSRWeb, an online publication covering quick-service restaurant ideas and trends, covered this topic in detail, interviewing me for the Responsible Marketing take in El Polo Loco winning this round of chicken war. Check it out.

Subscribe to this feed.

. . .

Thanks for Matthew Mason for the KFC tip.

Tweetup on Thursday, 3/19 at Jillian’s in Seattle

Friday, March 13th, 2009

Northwest Tweetup with Social Media Northwest

Time for another Tweetup for those of you interested in Social Media residing here in the Puget Sound region.

The Northwest Tweetup is shaping up nicely, with 30 confirmed guests and 35 maybes with six days to go.

If you’re a Twitter hold-out, check out Twitter me this: Is it time to tweet? as well as my list of Twitter links regarding how it’s used in business, twitter facts, twitter tools and more.

The particulars

Thursday, March 19, 2009
Noon to 2:00 p.m.

Jillian’s Billiards
731 Westlake Ave. North
Seattle, WA

RSVP:

Via Facebook or Via TwtVite

Registration is free. You pay for your own food and/or drinks.

Feel free to share this with anyone you know that might be interested.

I hope to see you Thursday.

Join Social Media Northwest

If you would like to learn more about Social Media or just want to network with other people interested in the topic, join Social Media Northwest on Facebook.

Subscribe to this feed.