Mitch Joel Brings Social Media to Shopping’s Center at the NRF Show

Last week I attended The National Retail Federation Show in New York City and, like most industries right now, the economic outlook is grim.

The Wall Street Journal’s Ann Zimmerman moderated a panel where economists are predicting that it will get worse before it gets better and a rebound won’t come until 2010.

Sh!t.

News of this magnitude can cast a pale on any event so I was pleased to attend one of the more inspirational and upbeat presentations during the show. Mitch Joel’s Six Pixels of Separation showed retailers how to take part in communities and conversations. In doing so he covered some important concepts that apply to anyone tapping into social media to create communities instead of customers.

Can Social Media Save Retail?
Social media is not a silver bullet. But Joel certainly gave retailers hope when he outlined the potential opportunity for them to compliment their other online and offline efforts with a real social media presence. He prescribed six steps to explore how social media might impact a retailer.

1) Think in terms of tribes | Instead of looking at customers in one bucket, consider their affinities. JCPenney could create a travel site for its customers, giving them a place to talk about shared interests. This would build on efforts like JCPenney’s Doghouse campaign where they relate with their customers. But JCPenney would facilitate conversations around this topic of interest.

2) Everything is with, not instead of | The old “integrated marketing” chestnut holds true. Social media is another channel and it must work with all of the other marketing efforts to make sense and to be successful.

3) Don’t be fleeting. Build, Share and Grow | This takes more than merely building a Facebook page and then ignoring it. To see results you must build relevance/content/space, let it be distributed by customers across the web and let it grow. Think in terms of a long-term commitment and not a campaign mentality.

4) Earn the right to get customers out of lurker mode | The key is to facilitate discussions about a brand and not necessarily try and start them. You want to be found on sites like Flickr and YouTube if customers look for you, but you need to “empower them to talk about your brand and not pander to them.” By focusing on offering great products and services customers will do this on their own. A “community can be earned, but not bought.” And if a retailer does not have a solid product or service it won’t work.

5) It’s attitudinal, not generational | This one is a common fallacy in my experience. Everyone assumes that kids under a certain age are soc med savants and people over a certain age are either confused or a complete luddite. This is far from the case.

6) Do something (now) | The relationship between technology, people socializing online and content creation becomes clear after uploading a video to YouTube or spending some time on Facebook or Twitter. Experimentation helps this, but the key is to “focus on the why before the what.” The strategic drivers of a project may dictate that social media is not the answer. Worrying about whether to create a LinkedIn or Facebook profile for a brand is a what/tactical question that is not important until answering the question “why social media.”

Now is the time to innovate
Now is the time to get involved in social media projects. Innovation occurs during recessions and there is a lot of room left for innovation by brands in the social media space. Better customer relationships are the end result which will impact sales. Both Hot Topic and Urban Outfitters have been doing better than most in sales. While this is for a host of reasons, it is also interesting to note the unique projects both brands have launched online, including Hot Topic’s Shockhound and Urban Outfitters’ culture, music and event blog that focuses on local content for Urban Outfitters’ key markets.

Free Hugs
To illustrate some of the concepts above, and end on a positive note, the crowd enjoyed Juan Mann’s “Free Hugs” video which is a great way to end a presentation.

It was great finally meeting Mitch after reading each other’s blogs for a few years now. But it was even better seeing the impact his presentation had on the audience.

Open Sundays uploaded by Thomas Hawk
tags | social media | advertising | marketing | consumer-generated media | brand | retail | NRF

Comments

[Mitch Joel - Twist Image]

Thanks for the very kind words and for summarizing my conclusions. I'm hopeful that retailers get more personal and start connecting more effectively with their customers. I guess time (and effort) will tell.

As an aside, it was also great to finally meet you in person. Let's make sure to stay connected!

[Daniel Durazo]

Great post, but I think you've missed the boat. I'm a big fan of social media, but I don't think it can save retail.

If anything saves retail, it will be MOBILE MARKETING.

Mobile marketing allows a shopper to send a keyword (such as PURSE) to a short code (such as 99999), to get more information on the purse they are considering as well perhaps a coupon or other incentive to make the purchase, all using their cell phone, all in real time.

The future of retail is in mobile marketing and retailers need to get on board now.

Best,

Daniel Durazo
http://danieldurazo.com

[Daniel Durazo]

Great post, but I think you've missed the boat. I'm a big fan of social media, but I don't think it can save retail.

If anything saves retail, it will be MOBILE MARKETING.

Mobile marketing allows a shopper to send a keyword (such as PURSE) to a short code (such as 99999), to get more information on the purse they are considering as well perhaps a coupon or other incentive to make the purchase, all using their cell phone, all in real time.

The future of retail is in mobile marketing and retailers need to get on board now.

Best,

Daniel Durazo
http://danieldurazo.com

[ilaçlama]

thanks..

[Derek Beere]

Great post. I don't think social media will save retail, entirely. I like to think of social media as another outlet for brands to interact with their key publics. I like it because it opens a dialog between a brand and its customers. When I think of it, one brand that is doing a great job at this is Starbucks. Check out their Twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/starbucks. They actually take the time to communicate with their customers and offer daily content communicating everything under the sun from new products and promotions to issues and causes. Pretty cool stuff.

I think the potential for retail to do some interesting things with various social media applications is there. Time will tell! :)

Derek
http://www.masononofrio.com/blog

[Abigail]

Blog assignment – A.K. – PRC 120 C1 – Marketing Public Relations
Very insightful post. I agree with a lot of what you wrote, especially about the importance of tending to online communities. Even something as simple as a Facebook group can be effective when it is combined with two-way conversation and an "ego trap" (making an offer simple, scarce, and/or personalized to better appeal to the audience. This post by Peter Kim explains what I mean in more depth: http://www.beingpeterkim.com/2008/08/how-to-set-an-e.html.)
Last month Lululemon sent out Facebook invitations for their warehouse sale, generating tons of buzz, traffic to the store and purchases. Facebook worked for them because it appeals to their target audience (women ages 18+ interested in yoga and fitness), and they were able to create a community in that channel based on those interests. They also positioned the sale as a once-a-year "event" and communicated it mainly on Facebook so that it seemed a little more rare and exclusive.

Lululemon also allowed guests of the warehouse event to post comments on the Facebook Wall and responded to some of these posts with further details about the sale. I think this is a great example of conversation marketing because the audience ended up inviting the marketers to give them more. The marketers were free to seed the conversation and interact with their audience.
Facebook campaigns usually aren't brought to their full potential, but some of these campaigns could be successful if they used two-way symmetrical communication.

[Lindsey]

Social media is definitely where many companies are turning to for help these days. I recently completed a class project in which each team of students worked with real clients to help them rebuild their brand identity. In every presentation, there was mention of the client using social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to help reach out to their audience. While these sites might not be able to save retail, they are definitely helpful in getting your word out to your loyal customers. These sites can also be more personal because there is two-way communication between the company and its customers. Plus, they are all free, so there is really nothing to lose.
Let's just hope retail doesn't go under!

[Sarah A]

Social media has become a key tool in the successful marketing and promotion of any corporation. It can excel an organization to a level that traditional media outlets never could. By simply creating a Facebook page and inviting people to join your group, you are bringing awareness to individuals you don't even know. Social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace are free to join but can provide a lucrative outcome for an organization that promotes itself correctly on these sites.

In terms of social media saving retail, I'm not sure it can do that completely on its own, but can serve as a good marketing tool to promote organizations and bring awareness to a large group of people in a small period of time and with little effort.

The six steps listed above serve as a great guideline to follow. To use social media to promote a company, you must monitor and engage your audience in order to ensure your targets are met. This will also allow you to be aware of the issues on consumers minds as well as allow you to respond to any questions they may have in a quick and efficient manner.

In addition to social networking sites, I feel sites such as youtube would also prove useful in marketing a company. Retailers could put together video's of sales they have had in the past or simply display new items in stock.

As long as social media is used correctly, it can be very beneficial to any organization.

- Sarah A, Humber College, public relations