Samsung teamed up with Foursquare to create “Time Machine,” a co-branded microsite that turns a consumer’s Foursquare history into content. Users can watch their history unfold in real time, get recommendations on “the next big thing” to visit and share their history in infographic form.
While the approach is familiar, the campaign is new and different in at least three ways.
For the rest of this article, visit Media Is Power.
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Twitter’s new Lead Generation Cards are the latest example of convergence in the advertising industry as social media and search create more in-stream opportunities for brands to connect with consumers.
According to Mashable, the cards let users “easily and securely share their email address with a business without leaving Twitter or having to fill out a cumbersome form.” They’re part of Twitter’s larger strategy to bring richer content inside the Twitter experience and to give brands another reason to leverage its enhanced targeting capabilities.
Rich Media…for Search & Social
As Twitter, Google and Facebook all have in-stream options for brands, it’s as if rich media morphed and extended itself into search and social media.
For more on this topic, visit my full post on Media Is Power.
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LinkedIn's new Contacts app is designed to help users stay in touch with important business contacts and build contacts with others.
According to Mashable: "LinkedIn Contacts integrates into your email, mobile address book and calendar to create a one stop shop of sorts for all of your contacts that is accessible from the web and an app."
LinkedIn has rolled out a steady stream of design, social and content enhancements over the last six months as it aims to increase the engagement across its business platform. And this new app will certainly increase the odds that you'll be connected to your entire contact database on LinkedIn.
Community + Content x Contacts = Social CRM?
To its credit, LinkedIn has never been a walled garden; you can export your contact information. And with email plugins for Outlook and GMail as well as apps like Cardmunch, it's been simple to benefit from LinkedIn data across other platforms.
LinkedIn's recent focus on community, content and contacts shows it's trying to reverse the flow of data outside the site and give users more reasons to spend time on LinkedIn. And if you look at all of the LinkedIn enhancements in aggregate, it starts to look as if we're being given a mix of tools used for "extraction, transfer and loading" of data into a customer relationship marketing (CRM) platform.
Consider if LinkedIn continued enhancing the platform and, within the next 12 months, it started offering a basic and paid level of CRM functionality to its more than 200 million members.
1) User Base: It's user base would increase and it would encourage all users to invest more time in the platform.
2) Social Business: Whether or not you consider LinkedIn a niche platform due to its business focus, by expanding its focus on contacts into CRM it becomes THE business platform and much tougher to displace.
3) Monetization: In addition to the revenue from its paid CRM services, the advertising potential would be significant. Consider a utility like email - it's open all day. Turning LinkedIn into a CRM utility would increase user exposure to advertising.
Personal CRM
There's a distinct delta between a CRM platform and the functionality that LinkedIn currently provides. But it's not so significant that it prevents the social platform from becoming a CRM platform with more than 200 million potential users on its first day of launch.
LinkedIn CRM wouldn't seemingly be able to disrupt large companies' use of enterprise-wide CRM packages, but it could usher in the trend of personal CRM. Like any idea, it's fraught with potential and peril. But it's safe to say we've only just begun to see the impact of LinkedIn's steady stream of innovations, acquisitions and enhancements.
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Read enough industry opinion on content marketing, and you can start to determine
each author’s professional background. If their point of view is focused on:
Read Between the Lines
If I’d written this article just a few years ago, you could easily tell
my roots are in public relations. By their name alone, my two personal blogs would
confirm this assumption.
But over the last 10 years, my focus became more broadly focused in
marketing. And in the last five years, I’ve witnessed content morph into a clear
mix of editorial, design and development. My last four years at a media agency
have further evolved my point of view.
Marketing’s True North
This experience has taught me that the focus should always be on the
audience – regardless of your background. While this isn’t an epiphany or a deep
thought, it’s critical to remind ourselves of this timeless rule. It tends to
fade into the background when the marketing industry, inevitably, debates who
in an organization should own a new practice area.
Content marketing can’t live anywhere in the building, but it does take
a variety of stakeholders and skill sets to make it work. Regardless of where content
marketing lives in your building, make sure the team has the skill sets needed
for each phase of content marketing.
Story or Science?
Each member on a content marketing team, based on their background, will
focus on the left- or right-brain aspects of content marketing. That’s
understandable. The point is simply to make sure you’ve got the right mix of team
skills and that the focus is, first and foremost, on the audience.
And if anyone asks who should own content marketing? The answer is: the
audience.
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In a recent Google+ Hangout** Guy Kawasaki offered up some new perspectives on a number of topics. Here's a quick recap.
Disenchanted with Apple?
It's no surprise Apple was on Guy's list of brands living the principles of enchantment -- being likeable, trustworthy and with quality products. But he also noted Apple lived these principles "up until six weeks ago." Clearly Guy's one of a growing number of critics wondering if it's the beginning of the end for Apple.
Will History Repeat for Google+?
It was also no surprise to hear Guy go long on Google+, but it was very interesting to consider a comparison he made to another underdog platform.
"Google+ makes me better. And the response it's getting reminds me of when the first Mac computers came out. Compared to Microsoft's operating platform, the Mac was better. It was also used by fewer people. Window's operating platform had so much market share, and Mac's were so different, everyone said the products would fail. And while everyone compares its user base to Facebook, don't forget Google's true size. It's integrating Google+ with its other products. It's one of several reasons Google+ isn't going anywhere."
Can Facebook Edgerank & Opt-In Mix?
Guy's take on Edgerank does a great job of summing up an issue thought leaders like Chris Pirillo, and some brands, are having with Facebook's newsfeed algorithm.
"I have 276,000 people subscribing to my updates on Facebook. By subscribing, they've personally opted in to receive my information in their newsfeeds. Facebook is letting math decide which 15 percent of my subscribers receive my posts. The only obvious option Facebook gives me is to promote my posts. It doesn't make sense."
Edgerank has come under fire lately as an unfair approach to monetization -- despite research showing how many users see an average post. In my opinion, applying a broadcast strategy like opt-in to an engagement platform like Facebook is not always a direct correlation.
**HYPE's Bold Fusion 2012
The hangout focused onGuy's upcoming presentation at the upcoming Bold Fusion 2012 event. The hangout and the event are organized by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. I'm one of several bloggers getting free access to the event which will focus on how the art of enchantment can lead to big impact for attendees, their company and their community. Guy is presenting on his book Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds & Actions. I'm looking forward to attending #boldfusion.
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Living in a battleground
state, I've been subject to a long and noisy 2012 election season that
started in May. Attack ads saturating every media channel are seemingly in
concert with an incessant rhythm of autobot phone calls and other campaign
techniques. The din is bringing
people to tears. But only two different yard signs, for a single candidate, have stood out for me this election season.**
And it’s all due to the impact of font and color choice - and perhaps my
profession.
One Candidate, Two Signs
The only race discussed locally as frequently as the Presidential election is
the race for an Ohio U.S. Senate seat. The Republican candidate, while 35 years
old, looks very young. And
I initially assumed the red yard sign on the right was a shift in his campaign
strategy. It's actually from a special interest group and the white yard sign
on the left is from the campaign team. The white yard sign is consistent with
the candidate's overall branding and communication efforts.
Less Really is More
The sign on the right has tighter copy. As a result, it doesn't mention his
more youthful first name. Less copy also allows for a bigger font size, which
pops as white on a dark red background. The color choice is a reminder of the
candidate's party and even the font looks more credible. The white yard sign on
the left's italicized font has an almost Comic Sans look to it. It conveys
youth more than it conveys credibility.
It's in the Details
Can a single yard sign make or break a candidate's election campaign? At the
end of the day, getting elected requires the most votes. But the above example
would have definitely helped address a specific issue for this candidate. And it's a reminder of how the subtle details behind our content work together to achieve a larger goal.
**This is a post about how font and color choice can make a big impact on
communication devices. This is NOT a political post
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The Hashtag celebrated its fifth birthday yesterday.
We were inspired to create an infographic capturing how a single character could become "kind of a big deal."
Multiple Media Channels
The hashtag has done more than help Twitter with its paid media strategy. It has expanded past Twitter to integrate with other sites like Facebook. It has also impacted offline media channels, including TV and print as you see in the picture above.
It's a great reminder that simple can be very powerful.
The infographic reviews the hashtag's history, how it's being used across media channels and also includes tips for brands on how to use them more effectively.
Be sure to check it out.
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The image above makes me assume that, while Progressive Insurance may have a social media policy in place, it does not have a crisis plan. Or at least not a crisis plan that considers social media -- Twitter most obviously.
With nearly a dozen people designated as Progressive Insurance Twitter representatives, there is a single tweet to deal with a controversy first detailed in this post from comedian, Matt Fisher. A controversy that pulls up more than 5,000 hits on Google News as of this post's writing.
Twitter About Face
The image above reflects an updated account. A picture of Progessive's ad spokes-character, Flo, has been replaced by the anonymous logo. And 16 "robo-tweets" attempting to address the controversy have been removed.
The robo-tweets in question were a single tweet, posted repeatedly by the social media app Twitlonger. This repetition has come under scrutiny and it also has been deleted and replaced with a single, unemotional statement. All of these actions, along with 11 head shots of Progressive's Twitter Team members, simply reinforces the perception that Progressive Insurance does not really care about this issue or, as a result, it's policyholders.
Sharing's Exponentially Powerful Ability to Distribute a Message
By posting his story on Tumblr, it's already been reblogged on Tumblr more than 11,000 times since being posted on Monday...two days ago. But an article from Daily Dot speaks to even more distribution of this news via social sharing.
"And the flames jumped to the other social media platforms, too. Progressive’s Facebook page has been bombarded with links to the aforementioned Tumblr post. But perhaps the single biggest display of backlash has occurred on Twitter. Mr. Fisher’s story caught the attention of several users with a sizeable Twitter following."
A tweet from actor Wil Wheaton had the potential to reach many of his more than 2 million followers. But more telling is the fact that "Wheaton’s tweet was retweeted 2,624 times."
The Daily Dot also points to a tweet from comedian Patton Oswalt that has been retweeted 6,471 times." And he's all but dedicated his twitter stream to slamming Progressive. And "according to Topsy, a social media search engine, Progressive was mentioned 64,255 times" in the 24 hours preceding The Daily Dot's article.
Progressive's New Approach?
I'm not part of Progressive's PR team, legal team or a member of its Twitter Team. So there are a quadrillion facts I don't bring to the following ideas. And anyone else discussing this crisis should also acknowledge the same.
But with the aforementioned distance from the issue, I'd suggest Progressive spend some money around paid media across Twitter and Facebook to start telling their story. And that story had best be more than a statement from Progressive's legal-bot. It's one small point in a littany of things Progressive is probably immersed in as we speak. Or at least it should be.
As far as integrating social media into a crisis plan, any plan not acknowledging social media is arguably rendered ineffective. In fact, I've been wanting to address how social media impacts a crisis plan for some time now. To oversimplify my take on the matter, I'll simply say that crisis plans need to build structure wherein a defined approach is established that allows teams to quickly assess and react according to the unique circumstances a crisis will bring. It's not as simple as having a phone tree and dark site in place. OK, it never was that simple. More to come on this topic.
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"If you want something you've never had, then you've got to do something you've never done." -- Drina Reed
This quote is Pinterest porn but, in marketing, it can also be a bit of a paradox. When an industry succeeds moving in one direction, it can be hard to justify diverting from their path. Yet more than one CMO takes this quote to heart and unveils a plan that goes against the current.
Their goal may be to re-establish the brand or to reach aggressively beyond incremental results. And the trades use words like bold, visionary and innovative to describe these CMOs -- until some of their plans don't succeed.
The trades then suggest that, when an entire industry goes in one direction, wasn't it obvious to the brand it was wandering off the path?
Auto Insurance's Character Nation
Take the auto insurance category for example. The image above shows spokespeople from (top to bottom, left to right): Geico, Progressive, Farmer's Insurance, State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide and SafeAuto. To be fair, at least three of the above spokespeople have been retired.
From the old to the new, each spokesperson's narrative has been entertaining at one point or another, in aggregate like this it looks like a sea of sameness. In an industry where price can commoditize your product, it makes it even more critical to differentiate the brand through advertising.
So why are some of the brand's with the highest awareness in the category mirroring its competitors approach to advertising? We can assume it sells policies.
But Liberty Mutual has taken an altogether different direction, focusing on content marketing to broaden the conversation with its audience to create a more sustainable, long-term relationship.
The Responsibility Project
Liberty Mutual’s Responsibility Project doesn't follow a “character-focused” narrative — like the bulk of its competitors. These characters, and their back stories, can be entertaining, but it takes more than a brand’s latest ad campaign to create, and sustain, ongoing consumer engagement. No matter how popular the campaign, consumers will eventually lose interest.
Liberty Mutual’s content focuses on “what it means to do the right thing.” The site quickly notes the right thing isn’t always black and white. This statement helps humanize Liberty Mutual. It's a path beyond using a spokesperson to create the emotional connection — and it helps prompt a discussion.
It may take some time to weigh in on whether or not Liberty Mutual's efforts make a business impact. But I'll argue that when a brand swims against the current, it takes longer to make progress.
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Along with several other timely Father's Day stories, I've got something to say. But it's more of a question.
Why is the ad industry taking all of the heat for portraying dads in a bad light?
Don't get me wrong, I can't agree more with Adweek's "The Demise of the Doofus Dad in Ads." Ads have made Dad's out as incompetent. But the ads are getting better.
Thank You Mom, Here's to Dad!
This progress was made clear to me after wondering aloud why I kept seeing P&G's "Thank You Mom" campaign so close to Father's Day. This campaign is P&G's biggest ever and it will run across TV and Facebook, amongst other platforms, through the Olympic Games. And it's an awesome ad.
LOVE the P&G/Mom/Olympics commercial. But as it runs closer to Father's Day, I'm wondering...didn't Dad help them win those medals too?
— Kevin Dugan (@prblog) June 14, 2012
But it was quickly, and accurately, pointed out to me that there's a companion ad and perhaps my family and I were simply watching the wrong TV shows. So "Here's to Dad."
TV as a Whole Should Get "Credit"
As the ad industry makes progress, Dad comes off as an even bigger joke across a variety of TV shows. From popular comedies like Modern Family and long-running shows like Two & A Half Men to quickly cancelled shows and even Disney shows like Good Luck Charlie. This doesn't even consider animated shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy and American Dad.
My point is there are plenty of examples throughout mainstream media and popular culture that reinforce these stereotypes. Movements like the Dad 2.0 Summit have their work cut out for them as we see progress in just one facet of the doofus Dad syndrome.
Family Unit Morphing
Brands and TV should take the lead of other industries that are responding to a much broader issue. The definition of family has changed and it continues to change. As a result, consumer needs are also changing and our industry needs to change with it.
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