Harmonic Aftershock

The Power of a Single Tweet

While David Letterman continues to poke fun at Twitter, the micro-blogging platform continues to show its potential as it turns 4 years old today.

Example 1: Justin Bieber’s Death Rumor
Justin Bieber was able to squash snowballing rumors of his death with one prompt, open, and honest Tweet.

Example 2: Conan O’Brien’s Sold Out tour
In a matter of hours, Conan’s US comedy tour was sold out and all it took was a single tweet. No other media or advertising was used.

 
Of course, in both examples, these celebrities each have massive amounts of followers but their direct (and human) connection with their evangelists amplify word-of-mouth, big time. And so should the same be with big brands who invest the time to use social media to foster and build relationships.

Word-of-Mouth (WOM) isn’t anything even remotely new. The web simply has given WOM a platform to help spread content quickly via social media. So happy birthday Twitter. Thanks for continuing to affect how we communicate, interact, connect, and get news & information.

What’s your core social voice?

Partnering with my colleague Steve Bagdasarian, we took a stab at categorizing how brands engage on Twitter. The model uses two axes to form four quadrants:

Axes

• X-Axis (Content): The degree content is customized/produced specific for Twitter
• Y-Axis (Conversation): The level of 2-way interaction with followers

While, arguably, many of the brands we plotted might also fit into other quadrants, we looked first at how the brand has defined their channel. For example, the American Red Cross’ social engagement is primarily around disaster preparedness updates but that’s not to say that the company doesn’t also engage with its followers.

Some brands have set up separate channels for different “social voices” as is the case for Jet Blue. The company’s primary Twitter channel is focused on customer service but they also set up @JetBlueCheeps channel to broadcast limited time airfare deals.

[In the end, is any one quadrant better than the other?]

It all depends on your company’s business goals. Some may criticize that using Twitter simply to broadcast goes against the “social” purity of social media. But if you look at @DellOutlet and its 1.5 million followers and the fact that the channel generates sales for the company, how can this be a bad Twitter strategy? Especially since Twitter’s partnerships with Bing, Google, and (most recently) Yahoo gets Twitter content into the hands of the “non-tweople.”

This post was cross-posted on Hill Holliday's blog.

Leadership & Strategy Require Sound Navigation Skills

I am amidst a course in coastal navigation and was struck by 2 statements in the text book’s opening chapter – not in how it relates to sailing, but instead how it relates to business and the world I'm in.

 [Navigation is built around two simple questions: “Where am I now” and “How do I safely get from here to where I want to go?”]

It has been noted that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg thinks in terms of decades, not years. Having an vision is key and, more importantly, being able adjust how you get there based on uncontrollable factors (i.e. currents and wind) is the only way you’ll reach your destination. 

It’s not enough to simply layout the possibilities but to further make the call on where you’re going and plan out the roadmap for getting there.

[Inexperienced skippers tend to spend too much time at the navigation station and too little out in the cockpit where the real sailing is going on and where dangers can be seen rather than theorized.]

Liz Strauss once described the difference between skills vs. experience as, “The time invested in having faced a whole lot of decisions.” There is simply no better way of learning than by doing. And while data, insights, and theory are paramount in the business world, they must be paired with actual experiences and lessons learned in both failing and delivering results.

The one piece of advice that I won’t ever forget from a former manager is that in order to provide real value, “You must work the clay.”

Please Rob Me: Location-Based Services Paranoia

Last June, I posted about a story on CNET covering a guy from Arizona who claimed his house was robbed because he Tweeted that he was on vacation.

You’ve probably, by now, heard about pleaserobme.com which has caught the attention of mainstream news. This sensationalized coverage has given location-based services including Foursquare a bad rap to the general public. And while I mentioned in last summer’s post the need for common sense when sharing information online, it’s important that we also keep a few things in mind:

On Foursquare:
Within Foursquare, only your friends can see your location-based check-ins and the service advises that you accept friend requests from only those that you know. You can, however, opt to broadcast your check-ins onto your Facebook and Twitter feeds (which pleaserobme.com is aggregating) but it is purely a user's choice to do so. 
[And broadcasting that you’ve checked into a location on Twitter doesn’t mean that there’s no one home]

On Home Burglaries:
The Washington Post depicted the anatomy of a burglary. And one important stat mentions that most burglaries occur between 10am and 3pm – the time that the majority of us are at work.

[Robbers don’t need Twitter to know that most people are at work during the day.]

On Location-Based Services:
As the paranoid-infused discussion cycle of pleaserobme.com simmers, let’s re-affirm the benefits of location-based services, which will continue to affect and shape how we interact, communicate, and get access to information.

Fragmenting Marketing? Digital vs. Social Media Agencies

Last November I wrote a post in response to a debate that’s been happening about “traditional” agencies and “digital” agencies in terms of what kind of an agency is best positioned to be a lead agency. In it, I questioned if we were on the verge of further marketing fragmentation with the onset of specialized social media marketing agencies.

Triggered by a recent Ad Week article that featured the acquisition of Joseph Jaffe’s CRAYON by Austin-based Powered with the goal to become the “lead social media agency” for clients, Mitch Joel (of Montreal’s Twist Image) debated Joseph Jaffe on his Six Pixels of Separation of Podcast.

SPOS_187_-_Social_Media_Agency_Jaffe

Boiled down:

• Joseph Jaffe’s stance: Social is its own category like digital became its own category.
• Mitch Joel’s stance: All media is social media…Agencies must evolve to where customers are engaging – there isn’t a need for another vertical agency.

It’s a debate worth listening to as both Joseph and Mitch bring up compelling points. And my perspective remains as I originally posted: The one thing that is certain, is that advances in technology will continue to change how people consume and interact with media (and brands). So whether or not a given and specific agency has the capabilities to deliver an effective marketing strategy (given the ever-changing landscape) is what’s up for debate -- there will always be "new media."

And if you’re craving more about the future of agencies and live in the Boston area, be sure to check out the MITX/Forrester roundtable on Thursday, February 25th.

#brandbowl 2010: Is Pepsi the real winner?

Mullen and Radian6’s Brand Bowl was almost as interesting as last night’s actual Super Bowl. For anyone who’s interested in real-time conversation monitoring (or as Mitch Joel often says, “Permission-Based Stalking”) the experience was extremely well done.

Pepsi chose not to advertise last night and while Mullen declared Doritos the winner of #brandbowl 2010, was it really Pepsi after all? Check out my post on Hill Holliday’s blog.

The Value of a Fan

The big question amongst many-a-bean counter is “What is the value of a Facebook fan or Twitter Follower?” And while it’s difficult to quantify, it hasn’t stopped companies and brands from using paid media to try and acquire them. 

This is just one of two places I stopped in on my way home from the office making the appeal for both Facebook fans and Twitter followers:

Now if only the folks behind Boston's Copley Place Mall marketing used Pongr to automatically make me a fan when I took this picture ;-)

Social media doesn’t stand alone: And “Hot Tub Time Machine” proves it.

Christina Warren did a great job on Mashable breaking down the marketing strategy of the motion picture: “Hot Tub Time Machine” which releases in March. More and more, movie studios are recognizing the power that word of mouth (via social media channels) has on ticket sales and the folks at MGM are off to a powerful start in energizing movie fans.

While this campaign’s social media components are well thought out (and you can read all about them on Mashable), the brilliance behind MGM’s marketing strategy is, once again, integrating media across channels.

A couple of times I’ve heard individuals say that “social media should stand on its own” (meaning sans paid media) – I don’t, personally, subscribe to this philosophy. While I do believe that online communities should experience elements of “self fueling”, many noted marketing campaigns that were deemed “social media” had heavy mass/paid media behind them (i.e. Vitamin Water).

And for the Hot Tub Time Machine “social media campaign” (as Mashable refers to it), the (paid) integration with Thursday’s season finale of the Jersey Shore is what gave the campaign its kick-start. Both the thematic tie-in with the show and audience synergies made this media buy brilliant as the TV spot’s voiceover epitomizes, “You’ve watched them in their hot tub all season long. Now get into ours.”

And it should be no surprise, by now, the effect this had on searches (below) for “Hot Tub Time Machine” and mentions within the social Web (above) as a result of the Jersey Shore TV spot.

Searches on "Hot Tub Time Machine" soared the night of the Jersey Shore season finale. (Source: Google Insights for Search).

There will come a time when we stop using the label “social media campaigns” or “digital campaigns” and simply use “marketing campaigns.” Media is much more powerful when it is strategically used is concert with one another. Social media doesn’t stand alone.

“Anyone Know?” Lots of people ask on Twitter.

Type in “Anyone Know” in Twitter Search and you’ll see a constant feed of questions from the Twittersphere ranging in everything from Season 2 of Fringe and screen printing supplies to Chili recipes and Dog Friendly Hotels.

This just goes to show the growing number of hand raisers on Twitter looking for information. For businesses, these are potentially untapped sales and marketing opportunities. And for entrepreneurs, I’m sure there’s a way to curate this content and match with answers. Perhaps the hashtag #anyoneknow could sweep the nation. -- "Anyone Know" of someone who wants to work with me on this? :-)

 Here are some of the more random/disturbing "Anyone Know" Tweets (paraphrased):

• Anyone know how to get blood out of clothes?
• Anyone know any dragons?
• Anyone know of a good shooting game?
• Anyone know how to knit two socks?
• Anyone know where to find a Captain Kirk Poster?

And in the short time it took me to write this, over 264 more people asked “Anyone Know”?

The Potential Power of Foursquare.

It’s as if Yelp, Twitter, and Facebook “got together” and somehow had a baby – and they named it Foursquare. In our ever increasing hyper sharing of status updates society, Foursquare has been said by some to be the breakout hit of 2010.

The premise is simple (and, admittedly, a bit addicting): As you’re out and about, go to Foursquare on pretty much any mobile device to “check-in” as you arrive at your destination. Once checked-in, you can find out things like:

1. Who else is currently checked-in
2. Tips about the spot from others who have been there
3. How many total check-ins (and hence popularity)

The more you check-in the more you’re rewarded with social currency in the form of various badges -- and you can share your “virtual acquisitions” automatically on Twitter and Facebook.

And, of course, each location has a Mayor – the person who has checked-in to a given location the most.

[So why all of the hype?]

In addition to the obvious social implications, there are powerful opportunities for brands – some of which, like Pepsi, have already taken advantage of the service for sponsorship.

Image Source: DPstyles Flickr Photostream

There are increasing numbers of local businesses who offer specials and discounts to Foursquare users understanding that each time a person checks-in, it’s free promotion for their establishment.

And last November, BART (The Bay Area Rapid Transit) partnered with Foursquare with a special BART-themed badge and contest.

It’s been under a year since the service was announced (at 2009’s SXSW) and it seems as though user-behavior and technology are primed, ripe and aligned going into 2010 for location-based services like Foursquare to scale for mass usage like we’ve already seen from Twitter and Facebook.

And now is a good time for brands to take advantage of some early “test and learn” opportunities with the service to establish a foothold within an almost certain-to-grow user base.