Harmonic Aftershock

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.

More Domino’s: The Power of Paid + Social Media

Yesterday morning, I posted about Domino’s Pizza Turnaround campaign and just did an updated post on Hill Holliday’s blog.

One of the things that I subtly pointed out on the update was the jump in close to 100,000 views of the brand’s Pizza Turnaround YouTube video as a result of the campaign’s paid media kicking in.

Above are some stats from YouTube that clearly show the harmony that takes place when social media is coupled with paid/mass media and underscores the benefit of cross-channel, integrated media design.  It puts a smile on my face going into the new year and new decade ;-) Great job to Domino's and their Agency(s). Happy 2010 everyone!

Hat Tip to @scheuguy for sending out a link to the Domino's video on Monday.

The death of TV is greatly exaggerated.

Being a heavy user of “newer” forms of media and obsessed with web/TV convergence, it’s easy to get caught up in consumption statistics that are consistently in the double digits. Take the fact that in comparison to last year:

• Online video consumption is up 34%
• DVR usage us up 21%

But in addition to the numbers above, the latest Nielsen 3 Screen Report shows that:

[99% of video consumption in the U.S. is done via traditional TV]

 By traditional TV, that means not DVR and not online video.  So just because I may be using my DVR to fast-forward commercials, most “video” viewers, at the moment, are not -- That’s significant.

Do a Google Real Time search for commercial and see that people, indeed, still see (and comment) on them in while they watch which also demonstrates Nielsen’s other stat that 57% of TV viewers simultaneously use the web.

I’m far from advocating that marketing remain status quo but I do strongly believe that it’s not an “either/or” decision.

[We cannot discount the power that mass media still has.]

Brands must design its media in such a way so that channels work harmonically together – making them greater than the sum of their parts. That’s when big things happen and people take notice.

Who’s fit to lead? The answer is a Marketing Agency.

Can someone let me know when (and by whom) it was decided to rip marketing into “traditional” and “digital”?

There’s an interesting debate happening about what kind of an agency is more capable as a client’s “lead”.  Ana Andjelic says “digital agencies” are not capable. Jacques-Herve Roubert asserts that “traditional agencies” aren’t adapting. And Mitch Joel says a client needs both.

My perspective?

[We’re having the wrong debate.]

Brands do not have traditional business objectives and digital business objectives – they simply have business objectives which require a cross-channel marketing strategy -- not a traditional marketing strategy and then a digital marketing strategy.

What is traditional vs. digital marketing these days, anyway?

• More and more I can interact with my TV
• Billboards/out-of-home ads are going binary big time
• I can listen to the radio on my iPod and online radio is on the rise
• And I can watch video in magazines and interact with them via my webcam

These mediums have always been labled "traditional" yet they've naturally evolved/are evolving because of "digital" technology.

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." 

I once worked for an agency specifically focused on “Social Media Marketing” and whose leaders strongly believed that “traditional” AND “digital” agencies would never “get it”. So does this mean we should fragment and silo marketing even more with a 3rd kind of lead/specialized agency?

No. At its most basic level, an agency is simply a collection of people—each with a set of talents, skills, experiences, and knowledge. 

[It’s not agencies who “don’t get it”, it’s people who don’t.]

Shame on any agency leaders who hold on to a snapshot of what marketing was or think that “new media” is the only answer. The fittest agencies are the ones that inherently cultivate a mix of insanely capable people with strong leaders who foster a “with it” culture, period.  As individuals within this industry, we must  be nothing short of passionate life-long students who continue to evolve and shape the places at which we work.

I’m not suggesting that there isn’t a role for specialty or boutique agencies.  But I strongly challenge the notion that agencies should be bucketed as “traditional” media, “digital” media, and “social” media. We are doing a disservice to our clients if we do not approach media as a holistic consumer experience.

Let’s consider the fact that:

1. Not only is TV viewership at an all-time high, but most people are online while watching it.
2. Initiating a search is the most common response to an offline ad.
3. Mass media events dramatically affect online media consumption.

The lines of media channels have officially blurred and are converging rapidly. Marketing strategy must be tackled with people who hyper-collaborate across media channels every day. To do that, we need to stop fragmenting marketing by channels (each with their own agency) and lead our clients with a capable integrated marketing agency.

Project Natal: One step closer to Star Trek’s “holodeck”

It doesn’t feel all that long ago when I was playing Frogger (on a cassette tape) on my Commodore 64,Ms. Pac-Man at Louisa’s’ Pizza, or Pitfall on Atari at my best friend Sunny’s house.

Gaming has certainly come a long way over the last 20 years and I had the pleasure last week of meeting with folks from Microsoft about what’s to come with Xbox Live in 2010 -- Enter Project Natal:

My colleague Jamie Scheu previously blogged about the integration that Xbox Live enables by converging TV, Movies, Social Media, Gaming, and Radio.  Project Natal will literally converge aspects of your real life with an augmented virtual reality – the communication, interaction, and marketing implications of this are insanely inspiring. And we don’t even have to wait until the 24th century. Not convinced? Meet Milo.

Online Video: It’s about the content

With YouTube now getting “well over 1 billion views per day”, there’s no question that online video has become a de facto part of our overall media consumption – and all signs indicate that it’ll only continue to increase and with it, the attempts of marketers to create videos that sweep the nation.

Those that know me also know that I cannot stand the term “viral video” especially when used to describe an online video concept before it’s even been produced.

 [Our goal as marketers should always be to create content that resonates with our audience and inspires pass-along.]

And, while I believe whole heartedly in the research that shows how using paid media to both kickstart and sustain a video campaign can substantially increase views, it HAS to start first with truly stand out content.

So what’s the kind of content that’s prone to spreading? Visible Measures does a terrific job with their leaderboards of online video campaigns.  Between this, YouTube stats, and being on the recipient end of a number of shared videos, I’ve taken a somewhat subjective stab at categorizing into four core groups:

Category 1: Unplanned/unexpected yet captured remarkable behavior

Other Examples:

• Sneezing Panda
• Battle at Kruger
• Miss Teen South Carolina

Category 2: Planned but surprising or inspiring acts

Other Examples:

• Susan Boyle
• T-Mobile Dance
• Danny MacAskill

Category 3: Extraordinary stunts, hoaxes, or pranks

Other Examples:

• Cell phone popcorn
• OfficeMax Pennies
• Kobe Bryant car jump
• Tiger Woods water walk

Category 4: So ridiculous you can’t help but watch/share

Other Examples:

• Evian Baby
• Etrade Baby
• Numa Numa

In the end, is there a formula that works? It’s tough to say but with 20 hours of video being uploaded to YouTube every minute, those videos that do, indeed, get lots of attention and, dare I say, “go viral” are far and few in between. Marketers need to color outside of the lines if they’re to break through the video clutter.

2010: The Year of the eReader.

The written word seems poised to rapidly take on a new form and trees could never be happier. Forrester Research just increased its eReader holiday sales outlook by 50% and expects that in 2010 that number to be doubled.

At the moment we have the newly (and cheaper) priced Amazon Kindle which is now available outside the U.S.  But, if rumors are true, it’s looking like 2010 will wow us with a splash of disruptive options.

1. Plastic Logic which I blogged about last February leverages E Ink technology and is aimed at the business user (newspapers, periodicals, magazines, etc.) as an alternative to printing business documents while you’re on-the-go. It was recently announced that Barnes and Noble will power the device’s eBookstore. Plastic Logic’s eReader is set to go to market in “early 2010”. 
   
   
   Photo Credit: HK Gadget Man
   
   
2. Apple's rumored tablet device might launch in Q1, 2010 and if it does, the speculation that Foxconn Electronics (manufacturer of the iPhone) is behind it coupled with the patent Apple recently filed, could make this devices a category killer. (Apple’s marketing budgets certainly don’t hurt its chances, either).
   
   
   Photo Credit: Gizmodo
   
   
3. Microsoft’s not-that-secret anymore Courier project aims to launch in “mid-2010” and takes a bit of a different approach with its dual folding screen design. There was a supposed leaked video of the Courier’s user interface that admittedly made my jaw drop but it has since been removed from the web.
   
   Photo Credit: Gizmodo

And of course there are others in the works including a Barnes & Noble branded color eReader set to launch in a month and U.K.-based Interead is leveraging QVC to debut its Cool-er device in the U.S. just in time for the holidays.

As a result of rapid advances in eReader technology, the real question is what effect with this have on what we’ve traditionally called the “print industry”? A few humble thoughts:

• Print is simply a medium to deliver content. This is a great opportunity for publishers to aggressively redefine how they’re delivering their content as technology continues to advance how we consume media.
  
  
• The potential differences in capabilities between the Kindle and rumored Apple tablet are astounding and begin to open possibilities for how publishers and advertisers produce content from flat magazines and newspapers to portable rich interactive experiences.
  
  
• As the world continues to become more “green conscious”, eReader adoption may speed up while reaching eco-friendly consumers looking to reduce paper-waste.

In the end, I think we’ll see a whole lot more trees as our reliance on paper for publishing will start to taper as eReaders help give new life and definition to publishing industry. 

The case to tag every TV spot with a URL

The next time you’re watching live TV, pay attention to the ending of commercials. What you’ll find are an increasing number of them tagged with a URL, or even better, a URL with voice-over to go online.

There’s a reason for this as smart marketers understand the natural human behavior to go online for more info in response to an offline ad. They also embrace the fact that many people are sitting on their couches watching TV with their laptops in front of them.

One of the most common reasons I’ve heard that brands do not include URLs on their TV spots is:

["We want to drive people in-store. We don’t want to confuse the message by driving them to the web." ]

But how will making it easy for someone with piqued interest to learn more about and engage with your message/brand confuse them? I don’t know of many people upon seeing a TV ad who’ll stop what they’re doing , get right up from their couch, and head into a store/restaurant/business to make a purchase on the spot.

[Instead, why not harness the momentum of their interest, reinforce and build upon your message online to help tip their consideration to act/purchase?]

If that’s not enough, then consider the fact that:

• You can only do so much within the constraints of a 30-second TV spot
• Neilsen recently reported that 28% of the time people are online at home they’re watching TV
• According to Forrester, initiating an online search is the most common response to an offline ad
• 64% of the 2008 Super Bowl spots had a URL; in 2009, 95% had some kind of online component
• There are hundreds of thousands of TV commercials on YouTube that are watched and shared

Driving to the web from TV can only help to reinforce your message and, if done well, marry TV and web in a way that’s greater than the sum of their individual parts. It’s the 1+1=3 effect in action. This is only the beginning as TV and web continue to converge. Just ask TiVo, Verizon Fios, IBM, and Cablevision.

As for the future? If the Vitamin Water TV spot featuring Kobe Bryant vs. Lebron James is any indication, brands will start to favor directing TV viewers to their social media properties over their corporate websites.

Cyberstalking made easy: Datecheck by Intelius

Several years ago, I became quite familiar with Intelius after taking matters into my own hands upon having my debit card stolen and used. I was floored at how much information I could get through this aggregation service of billions of public records by just entering a phone number or name.

What I love about Intelius' Datecheck which was just launced at DEMOfall 09 is that the iPhone app simply packages the data Intelius already aggregates into a very “consumer friendly” brand and user experience – and one that clearly targets women. 

Key features include:

• Sleaze Dectector: Searches criminal records (DUI, theft, drug possession, etc.)
• Networth: Reviews asset information (property ownership, sq footage, and assessed value)
• Living situation: Assesses who and in what capacity you live with
• Interests: Pulls in public profile information from social network sites
• Compatibility: Uses date-of-birth to serve up astrological records (horoscopes)

While still a bit freaky (and somewhat shallow), this is phenomenally smart marketing as I suspect it was based on consumer insights as to how people have been using the Intelius service for years – let’s face it, we’ve all been known to look people up - Intelius attracts over 1 million visotors per day. And by leveraging the iPhone app craze, the company has managed to make themselves “portable”.

So when you’re out tonight and think you’ve met that special someone, you now have on-the-spot guidance in determining your next move.

Six Pixels of Separation: Mitch Joel’s book…finally

It was October 27th 2007 when I became a Mitch Joel fan after hearing him speak at PodCamp Boston 2. I remember writing the guy’s name down on my event program so that I could appropriately “permission-based stalk” him to learn more about this particular digital marketing thought leader who really struck a chord with me. In addition to subscribing to his blog, I downloaded as many back episodes as I could of his podcast through iTunes – And for a couple of months, Mitch and Six Pixels of Separation were a daily part of my life during gym workouts and office/client commutes until I finally caught up to his weekly production schedule.

I relate to Mitch not only for the fact that he’s a fellow Canuck but because of his passion for digital marketing, contagious work ethic, entrepreneurial mind, and that he’s a constant student of leadership. It’s been a joy over the past two years following and being inspired by Mitch’s career growth as he expanded his business to Toronto, secured a column in the Montreal Gazette, and now (finally) released his first book, appropriately named after his blog and podcast: “Six Pixels of Separation”.

I anxiously picked up my copy last week at Boston’s Barnes & Nobel in the Pru and it was the last one on the shelf (see photo above). And I can understand why as the book is filled with rich (and timely) case studies and is positioned as the “prequel” to Mitch’s blog. The book is ripe for those who are just getting started understanding how social media has fundamentally impacted business, marketing, and personal branding as well as those of us within the industry that are always looking for more fodder for our clients and projects.

A few select sound bites from Six Pixels of Separation that jumped out at me – the book is filled with many more great one-liners as well as contextual and thought provoking anecdotes:

• Embrace your community as the new currency.
• Trust is earned by an overall great experience with a foundation of authenticity.
• Digital marketing is not a one night stand…tangible results take time.
• Instead of asking “what” [the channels/tactics], please ask “Why” [the strategy].
• Ripples grow wider and bigger until they become waves. Waves never stop.
• The new business game is not about control. It’s about the volume of voices.
• Google is like an elephant: it never forgets.
• Branding is not the logo… Branding is the heart and soul of a business.
• You can’t fake passion.
• Great content = great word of mouth.
• Transparency is easy. Credibility is hard…credibility is everything.
• We’re seeing a new era in which everyone has become a citizen journalist.
• Take time to develop your own niche. Be the Cirque du Soleil of your industry.
• Remember, I’m Googling you just like you’re Googling me.
• Your business life just became a high-speed game of virtual paintball.
• Content is media…all content will become more and more portable.
• Mobile goes where other media cannot.
• Think in terms of tribes, not mass.
• A new business model does not have to be complex.

I had recommended Six Pixels of Separation to clients when it was on pre-order and will continue to help evangelize Mitch Joel’s debut into book publishing – I not only believe in him and his credibility but have personally benefitted by Mitch openly sharing his experiences and thought leadership over the years. I already can’t wait for his next book.