Strategic Public Relations

Strategic Public Relations' Book Giveaway

UPDATE: BOOM! All books are gone. 

UPDATE: With just one book left in the stack, this has been a lot of fun. I assumed readers claiming the books would be scattered geographically. But it's been even more global than I anticipated.

Yes, I will be covering postage to Sweden, Turkey, Italy, the UK, Austrailia, Canada, Iowa, Georgia, Ohio (5), Washington, DC (2) and New York (2).

UPDATE: Only seven books are left. I'll be emailing the other books' new owners shortly. I've highlighted the last seven in yellow and struckthrough the others that are no longer available. Thanks.

After spending Labor Day Weekend purging, I have some books to give away. Some are older than others. But, as you'll see in the list above, they cover social media, public relations, branding, marketing and business topics. All of them are still relevant to one degree or another. If I did a blog post/book report, the list has a link to it. 

In the past, I've passed books along to others. And I've had books sent my way as well. So I felt it best to offer them up to readers instead of recycling or trying to get a few pennies back for them via Half Priced Books. 

Free Books? I'm in. What's Next?
If you want a book, just walk through the form below.

Infographic: At 5, the #Hashtag is One Versatile Character

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. 

Progressive Insurance PR Crisis & Twitter

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.

 

 

 

Marketing Paradox: Going Against The Norm

"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.

Listen to the Brave Ad World Podcast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taylor Wiegert's Brave Ad World blog and podcast are great sources to add to your list of go to content.

Awhile back, he invited me to join the Brave Ad World podcast, during which we discuss the latest industry news, and our point of view on what's happening in the social media marketing industry. It's been an honor to participate on his show. And I can tell you that whether or not our schedules align, the podcast's content is always solid. And at usually about 30 minutes or so, it's focused on substance.

In this week's episode, we discuss everything from YouTube's Potential as a News Resource, LinkedIn's Engagement Updates, the Satisfied Google+ User Base, Foursquare's New Local Updates and Highlight's First Major Update Since Launch.

It's available on iTunes as well as your preferred mode of download.  If you have feedback for us, just drop an email to  braveadworld [at] gmail [dot] com.

Context + Relevance = An Important Equation

Aside from a low-grade entertainment value, animated gifs seem bent on little more than triggering seizures and furthering memes. One of the only times I've used them in a post was about a month ago. The motion can distract from the point you're trying to make.

When I saw an animated gif on Instagram, I wanted to post it because it was a good use of the usually abused technology. But the factoids in it focus on Facebook's purchase of Instagram. The topic's been covered and I didn't have anything to add to the discussion.

End Factoid Abuse
Regardless of the content, without context and relevance, my post would have been dancing baloney . The following video is a fun examination of how these factoid storms, without context or direct relevance, just leaves you all wet. It's a factoid mockumentary. It's...it's...well, just watch it.

Rolling Thunder 2.0
Back when 2.0 was dot com, startups were trying to flip their company instead of build it. Startups would issue a steady flow of news releases -- whether or not they had news. We called this rolling thunder. Today we all love a diet of eMarketer factoids, made even tastier with Twitter's 140-character menu, infographic eye candy and a culture where sharing content is more popular than creating it.

"Mr. Dugan, your glass house is ready..."
I'm as guilty of this habit as anyone else. Stats comparing  AOL, Facebook and Draw Something's path to reach 1 million users are not only impressive, they have parallel structure! But they're out of context and don't take into account that Draw Something and Facebook benefitted from the path AOL initially carved out for them, not to mention years of technological evolution.

When we look at any research, our first question should always be: sample? From there, anytime we're trying to make a point or we're putting together anything from a tweet to a powerpoint deck, let's take a deep breath and also ask: context?

Local, Social & Mobile Trends from Mary Meeker

When I saw Mary Meeker present at Conversational Marketing Summit, it was a race between my hands and my keyboard as to which one would fail first. The keyboard won as she moved through her Internet trends presentation with the substance of an academic and the speed of an auctioneer.

Meeker's All Things D presentation maintained her "legendary" style. But it's less style and more substance with her presentations.



Early Results on Local, Social, Mobile
The above interview summarizes Meeker's slides wherein she notes the industry is "still figuring out local and social, but we'll get there." Monetizing mobile content remains challenging, in part as mobile adoption is still in early stages, but adoption rates are increasing rapidly.

Business Model Innovation
Meeker also looks at several business models being re-imagined and re-invented thanks to mobile and social. And while "there’s a lot to excited about in technology, there are things to be worried about regarding America’s financial situation."

Whether you try to navigate the slides or watch the video, it's time well spent.

Cross-Posted to my Work Blog 

Will Facebook Unveil a Mobile Device?

 
Based on Facebook's recent app store news and a string of mobile acquisitions, I'm wondering when it will launch its own device?

It's something I predicted yesterday during the weekly BraveAdWorld podcast. My colleague Taylor Wiegert and I discuss it during the weekly news items. It's probably my first prediction. That may tell you how strongly I feel about it. But it's not like I'm going out on a limb.

The prediction is based on my last post with CNET's overview of the need for digital ecosystems for certain brands to succeed in the future.

A digital ecosystem includes the device, a service, apps, as well as an operating system. Google has one. Apple has one. Verizon and Samsung have them. Amazon and Nokia do too.

All of these companies can provide its consumer with media that is in sync no matter where they use it, when they use it or even which device they use to access it. A digital ecosystem can make or break a gadget's success in the future.

The NYTimes is also trying to determine what these acquisitions might signal for the nearly-public company. Would you buy a Facephone? Whatever they call it, I will also predict it won't be Phonebook. 

The Power of Unassuming Brands (a lesson from Signal P&G)

The Signal P&G event brought together brands we see in the news almost daily -- from Twitter and Facebook to Coca-Cola and more. But the brands on Procter & Gamble's dais getting less media attention, or perhaps less positive media attention, were more interesting that day. Presentations from Amazon, AOL and Nokia taught me to reconsider the power of unassuming brands.

These companies are not startups or unknowns. But news coverage can suggest that new brands may "kill" more established brands. Stories with only one clear winner, atop a pile of competitors, make for shareable content. It's Mashable pr0n -- a syndrome of oversimplification I've ranted about before. But as these stories distract our attention, several unassuming brands have quietly become pervasive and have a much bigger story to tell. 

The Mighty Amazon
After Amazon launched in 1995, a then client suggested the site was a ponzi scheme. Not only was he wrong, he was one of the first of many Amazon naysayers. But for most of us, we've come to know Amazon as one of the only Internet mall concepts from the dot com era that came to fruition. Signal P&G reminded of some interesting Amazon facts and I've since seen more in the news.

• 80% better Amazon app store monetization for developers compared to iOS (TechCrunch)
• 54% of tablets run Amazon's version of Android to Google's 46% (All Things D)
• 10% of Amazon’s 2011 sales were Kindle readers, Kindle books; Kindle book sales outnumber hardback book sales (All Things D/NYTimes)
• 1% of ALL Internet traffic taps into Amazon’s Cloud (WIRED)

With more than 170 million active customers, keep in mind that's users actually spending money, Amzaon has the scale and ability to personalize the shopping experience. The end result gets users to spend and brands to advertise. Amazon taps into more than its fair share of the daily deals phenomenon that's estimated to generate $7 million every day. In addition to AmazonLocal, it owns LivingSocial. Amazon also leverages its personalization technology to create MyHabit.com. This “private sale” site and mobile app offers brand-specific promotions – tailored to each user.

Amazon Drives Offline Sales for Crest
It's not surprising P&G has experienced great success selling its consumer packaged goods (CPG) through Amazon. CPG is Amazon's fastest growing category -- making up four percent of Amazon’s 2011 sales. A Crest White Strips campaign gave the brand a 26 percent lift in its Amazon sales and even had an impact on offline sales. P&G's Amazon-based campaign increased offline sales an additional eight percent, or $1 million according to Lisa Utzschneider, Amazon's Global VP of Ad Sales .

And if the above all seem like random facts, consider this quote from Forrester Research's Sucharita Mulpuru "Amazon is beating Walmart in price." That six-word metric is reason enough why this brand should not be underestimated.

UPDATE: The New York Times has an article since this was published about how Amazon's moving into Fashion as well. And I forgot that Amazon also owns Zappos. Wow.

AOL’s Content Marketing Play
As the internet expands, consumers are actually using fewer brands, according to AOL CEO Tim Armstrong. This gives brands a new significance as AOL builds out what it feels will be the premier information brand.

"It’s unlikely a consumer will make a purchase decision, large or small, that is not influenced somehow by content," said Armstrong. "Consider the impact of always-on, mobile sites like Yelp. AOL’s ability to be a constant like Yelp gives it significant influence in helping consumers and brands through content."

Several of its recent aquisitions have made for dramatic news  between Huffington Post, Techcrunch and Endgadget alone. But these acquisitions are helping them build out their offering and fuels their mission to help more brands publish.

AOL gets local and personal
Successful or not, Patch and About.me are two other AOL projects that may be more telling of its future. Patch has been lambasted by old and new media. But Armstrong notes it is established in more than 850 towns nationwide. And each location costs about $150,ooo to run annually -- a cost unheard of for traditional news outlets. This local play could prove successful in the long term.

About.Me is elegant in its simplicity. This free splash page serves up your most relevant content, with free analytics. It's become a big people-watching site. And its new mobile app will allow you to be notified when your About.me friends are nearby offline. This might sound like stalking. But the bigger point to be made is AOL's wading into geo-location.

Armstrong is oft-mentioned in the media for all of the above AOL business moves. He is very focused, noting that AOL is focused on building things that help people live better lives. He warns others of the danger behind simply chasing the shiny new. "Cool is a disease. Utility is the antidote."

This focus is one reason I think AOL's story has yet to be written. As it completes its transition from access to content, there are a lot of interesting opportunities across paid, owned and earned media.

Nokia Life & Emerging Markets
While some are noting that "mobile is the most pervasive technology ever invented," there are 3.2 billion people on Earth without a mobile phone. Nokia's senior vp of mobile services, Dieter May, discussed how the brand is connecting and engaging "the next billion."

You'd never confuse Nokia for TOMS Shoes, but as Nokia enters emerging markets in China, India and Indonesia, it's partnering with Unicef to extend access to healthcare and other basic life needs through its $20-$100 handsets. Through Nokia Life the brand is bringing these customers a platform to address the gaps in critical, hyperlocal information.

Think Ecosystem
CNET's Brian Cooley kicked the day off discussing "the next big thing." When looking at various gadgets out there, CNET is always asked to predict the next big thing, but also who will win the race for gadget supremacy. CNET looks first for a product's digital ecosystem to determine how successful it might be in the future.

A digital ecosystem includes the device, a service, apps, as well as an operating system. Google has one. Apple has one. Verizon and Samsung have them. Amazon and Nokia do too.

All of these companies can provide its consumer with media that is in sync no matter where they use it, when they use it or even which device they use to access it. A digital ecosystem can make or break a gadget's success in the future. All that said, Cooley notes that even in a post-pc era, the PC will not go away. It simply won't be the center of attention. Cooley points to the connected car as the next frontier for the next big thing as we look to our cars' digital technology to communiicate, navigate, inform and entertain. 

"That's no moon."
Star Wars indirectly provides two examples of how we can make assumptions and by revisting these assumptions we can learn much more. When Yoda was first introduced, no one thought he could possibly be a Jedi warrior. As the story progresses, Yoda makes it clear that size doesn't matter. Even earlier in the saga, what was first assumed to be a small moon was actually the Death Star.

Sci-Fi aside, we should always remember t0 "shake the disease" and look for the bigger story.

 

 

TidyCat's Social Media Team Stops a Stink Over Its #lifestinks Campaign

TidyCats latest ad campaign spans online and offline to get consumers sharing about what stinks in their lives. But one of their ads created its own stink. To the brands' credit, they were listening and responded in less than 24 hours to stop a possible catfight with consumers.

Billboards localize the campaign by referencing what stinks in each market. I'm imagining traffic in Los Angeles, rain in Seattle and there are plenty of opportunities for the NYC subway. These examples are all harmless, even humorous, locally relevant and make TidyCats' point that #lifestinks.

Don't Trash the the Nati
If you were cooking up the ads for each market, would you make a joke about a city's neighborhood? In this case, a Cincinnati neighborhood that Wikipedia will tell you:

• has a rich history
• serious art community
• the most Italianate architecture in the United States
• and has been compared to Greenwich Village, NYC; Savannah, Georgia; Charlseton, South Carolina and New Orleans French Quarter?

As a proud resident of Cincinnati, I'm one of more than a few locals that aren't happy about the billboard. Tony Blankemeyer tipped me off to this bad ad on Friday night. And while the ad clearly sucks, I'm pleased to note TidyCats is taking steps to rectify the situation. After more than a few comments across Facebook, Twitter and the TidyCats campaign site, the brand replied less than 19 hours after I first saw the billboard.

"We appreciate your comments, Kevin. Our billboard mentioning OTR was meant to be humorous. We understand that to many of you, it wasn't. We will be taking fast action to correct our error. Please accept our apologies. - TidyCats Team "

Listen, Learn and Build Loyal Fans
This is a reminder of the importance of social listening and having a response plan in place to engage with consumers and address any unforseen concerns. It doesn't matter if social media is part of a brand campaign. In this case, it was an offline billboard that drew well-deserved ire. Social media is simply where the complaints took place.

TidyCats showed they were listening and taking action against a campaign that was raising a serious stink with Cincinnatians. And in in doing so, they stand to create more friends than foes. Full Disclosure: I'm a dog person. But I'm a fan of TidyCats now based on how this misstep was handled -- and over a holiday weekend no less.

Consumers will still vent their frustrations. But by acting quickly, TidyCats avoided consumers getting organized and the resulting brand pile on that can take place. It makes it much tougher for a brand to change the tone of the conversation.