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January 28, 2010

Day 28: Follow these seven PR and marketing mavens.

Throughout January, The Social Path is running daily tips on how to improve your social life — online, at least. Click here to learn more.

Considering the incredible diversity of people and professions involved in social media, it's shocking to me that so many folks turn to the same small set of social media luminaries.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a big fan of Chris Brogan, David Armano, Jeremiah Owyang and the rest of the top-tier thinkers in the social space. But I get just as much or more inspiration from my own subset of thought leaders, and I think you will too.

One warning: this is a marketing-oriented list because, well, that's what I do. But even if you just do social media for fun, you should still give these folks a read. No matter where the industry and technology shifts, I find that each of them keep me feeling excited about the opportunities.

(Want to follow them all on Twitter with one click? Here's an easy way to do it.)

• Leigh Householder, brand strategist and author of Advergirl.com. I can never say enough good things about Leigh, a longtime friend and confidant. Her perspectives on social media are meticulous enough for the executive set and clear enough for the rest of us. 

• Shannon Paul, community manager. If you could get a cup of coffee with any social media pro in the country, Shannon would definitely be a top pick. As insightful as she is approachable, Shannon always offers a candid take on the human side of technology.

• Brian Morrissey, Adweek digital editor. Brian brings a much-needed skepticism to social media. In a world where bloggers are the primary source of news on all things social, it's nice to have Brian to scrape away the bull and talk about what companies are really grappling with as they struggle to reach new audiences online.

• David Stutts, Luckie's director of brand planning. I'm not one to glorify coworkers willy-nilly, mostly because I work with a lot of incredible people and would have a hard time playing favorites. But I'm constantly learning about trends and emerging ideas from David, who posts his many findings on Twitter and Tumblr. If you're not already subscribing to his free e-mail newsletters, Trend Trackers and Generational News & Views, you really should. Just drop him an e-mail, and he'll start sending it to you each month.

• Gini Dietrich, CEO of Arment Dietrich. For an executive, much less a PR executive, Gini is always refreshingly honest on her blog, The Fight Against Destructive Spin. She offers a fantastic mix of practical tips and big-picture thinking. She's even re-imagining what her agency "does," and anyone is welcome to chime in on their transition from PR to social engagement.

• Alan Wolk, creative strategist. I've long been a fan of Alan's sharp and witty takes on the marketing industry, which he posts on his blog, The Toad Stool. What's nice is that Alan's never afraid to go against the grain and disagree with the big-time social media gurus. Some people do this just to inject themselves into a conversation, but Alan's restless insight comes from a more earnest and experienced place, making him always worth a read.

• Mack Collier, social media consultant. My biggest problem with Mack is that we agree way too much, on issues as small as Twitter semantics and as large as corporate marketing strategies. His zeal for transparency and customer-focused conversations have made him a hero to many of the unsleazy social media pros around the country. Be sure to check out his blogs, The Viral Garden and MackCollier.com.

It's always hard to create a list of smart folks like this, because I end up wanting to include dozens more. But if you follow this crowd, you're bound to find my other favorites soon enough.

Who are your personal, somewhat-under-the-radar thought leaders? I'd love to hear about them in the comments.

 

Posted by David Griner in 30 Day Makeover, Advice, Alan Wolk, Brian Morrissey, David Stutts, Gini Dietrich, Leigh Householder, Mack Collier, Shannon Paul | Permalink

Nice props from David Griner & the Social Path, who call me one of The Seven Mavens.

David Carr’s weekly media column this week looks at the current state of affairs with late night television. He argues that the present ratings drama surrounding “The Tonight Show” has nothing to do with Conan O’Brien or Jay Leno, but is instead a demonstration of the changing tide of consumer habits from television time slots to YouTube.

Paul Drinkwater/NBC Conan O’Brien on the “The Tonight Show.”

I have to be completely honest, I didn’t even know “The Tonight Show” went on the air at 11:35 pm until the drama surrounding the shows time change happened last week. Just like Mr. Carr and his daughter, I sit at home watching Web clips of the show on my computer — as I do with all my television programming.

Over the past week I’ve enjoyed watching the hosts snipe back and forth as my friends shared links to specific clips, passing along the daisy chain of comedy to others.

Mr. O’Brien argued last week, in a letter to NBC and his fans, that “Some people will make the argument that with DVRs and the Internet, a time slot doesn’t matter. But with the ‘Tonight Show,’ I believe nothing could matter more.”

I’m sure nothing could matter more on spreadsheets and in traditional advertising meetings. But with the 18- to 34-year old crowd, who have shown undaunted support for Mr. O’Brien, a time slot is as relevant as which brand of frying pan your favorite restaurants uses to cook your meal — maybe it makes a difference in the kitchen, but 99 percent of the patrons just want good food.

I don’t envy Mr. O’Brien’s position. He took the helm of a steadfast, solid brand in a time of tumultuous change. As newspaper editors and music producers have also learned, the old models don’t apply to the next audience.

Mr. O’Brien’s youthful supporters won’t crowd around the television at a specific time, instead they go to YouTube and Gawker to watch their late-night television, and share their own commentary around each clip.

So here’s my advice to Mr. O’Brien: After he leaves NBC and spends a few months healing his wounds and pulling the troops back together, he should come back and make the Internet his time slot. He doesn’t need to abandon television — there are still millions of viewers who sit around the living room and tune in at a specific time — but he could take the battle in the direction the audience is clearly migrating: online.

It would not be easy, there are more questions than answers — the cardinal query of how to finance a show like this comes to mind. Mr O’Brien and his writers and support staff are paid high salaries, and the expenses associated producing a high-quality show needed to attract celebrity guests quickly add up. But there are certainly advertisers that would jump at the chance to follow Mr. O’Brien’s show online and reach his target audience, as they have in the past with other big name celebrities like Seth McFarlane.

There would also be lots of opportunities to try new financing models and break some of the traditional rules of television, something Mr. O’Brien has always done well in the past.

It’s clear we are approaching a fork in the road and the road sign for the next generation clearly points to the Web. For Mr. O’Brien’s core audience, the time slot is being replaced by a URL.

Very funny chart, courtesy of Gizmodo.

Once upon a time, people mailed their holiday wishes to the North Pole and hoped for a reply on Christmas Day. Nowadays they are sending their wishes into cyberspace and are apt to get a reply in minutes.

America’s first Twitter Christmas got under way in earnest on Friday. Across the land, retailers and their customers used the social networking site to talk to one another about bargains, problems, purchases and shopping strategies.

After buying a new navigation system at 6 a.m. on the most frenzied shopping day of the year, Laura S. Kern of Los Angeles could not figure out why it was not giving her traffic updates. She sent a message to Best Buy’s Twitter account and within five minutes not one, but two Best Buy employees responded with fix-it advice.

In Bloomington, Minn., Mall of America used its Twitter page to tell consumers two of its parking areas were at capacity and that their best bet was to park near Ikea.

Twitter permits public communication via short, to-the-point messages. Many people use it to send mundane updates to their friends, but increasingly, the nation’s retailers see it as a business tool.

It gives customers a practical way to cajole a retailer, complain about something or ask questions.

A Twitter post can in theory be seen by millions, and thus packs more punch than an e-mail message or a phone call to a store. The big retailers are all scrambling this Christmas to come up with Twitter plans. They are designating tech-savvy employees to respond to the posts, sometimes by providing up-to-minute inventory information from a sales floor, for example, or by offering help with some balky gadget.

“It’s one of the greatest emerging communication channels out there,” said Greg Ahearn, senior vice president of marketing and e-commerce for Toys “R” Us. “This is a way people can stay connected with the brand in a way they’ve never been able to before.”

So far this shopping weekend, special deals have been posted on Twitter from stores as varied as Best Buy, J.C. Penney, Toys “R“ Us, Staples, Gap, Bloomingdale’s, and Barneys. (Links to the retailing Twitter accounts mentioned in this article can be found in the Web version of the story on NYTimes.com.)

For the uninitiated, Twitter.com is a Web site where each member has a password-protected page. It has a blank box for typing in a message of 140 characters or fewer, an act known as tweeting.

To see a retailer’s messages, Twitter users “follow” the retailer, which means that the chain’s posts show up on their Twitter home page when they log in. And the system allows users to send messages in the other direction, so that a retailer’s employees will see them.

“I think in this economy you need to leverage every asset that you have,” said James Fielding, president of Disney Stores Worldwide, who sends messages under the Twitter name, or handle, DisneyStorePrez.

On Friday morning, as consumers flooded Disney Stores around the country, Mr. Fielding messaged: “We have amazing ONE DAY ONLY deals previewing on our Facebook page — become a fan today and find out more!”

Retailers hope that if they send Twitter messages, consumers will come. About 47 percent of retailers said they would increase their use of social media this holiday season, according to a study by Shop.org, part of the National Retail Federation, an industry group. And more than half of retailers said they added or improved their Facebook and Twitter pages. There are advantages for consumers too, like discounts. For instance, those who decided to follow Gap Outlet received an offer for 15 percent off purchases of $75 or more.

As shoppers jammed the aisles on Friday at a Best Buy store in Arlington Heights, Ill., an employee, Jerry DeFrancisco, went up to a computer kiosk and used his Twitter account to tell customers about Best Buy’s home theater deals. Then he resumed his in-store duties, helping a customer decipher a sales circular.

A few months ago, Best Buy began piloting a Twelpforce — a Twitter-inspired play on “help force” — of some 2,500 employees that answer consumers’ questions in real time.

“It’s 24-hour access to our employees,” said Brad Smith, director of interactive marketing and emerging media for Best Buy. The Twelpforce had fielded about 25,000 questions even before gearing up for Thanksgiving weekend.

Ms. Kern in Los Angeles used the service on Friday. After she could not get her new navigation system to work, she tried Best Buy’s telephone support line, only to receive a warning that her wait would be an hour. So she posted on Twitter instead, and within minutes, Best Buy employees were sending her useful links and details about her gadget. “It’s amazing,” she said later in the day. (Her interaction with the employees ultimately helped her realize she would need to go back to the store for help.)

Many retailers will be posting to their Twitter pages throughout the weekend and the entire holiday season. Some chains have an official Twitter account. Others have many, like one for each store, or one for each employee who wants to post messages. There are Twitter pages for designers, like Nicole Miller and Diane von Furstenberg.

Retailers also use Facebook to interact with their customers. But Facebook, with its photo albums and various applications, does not have the same no-frills immediacy as Twitter — which is why Twitter is ideal for instantaneously announcing sales.

In addition to bargains, stores are also using Facebook and Twitter to promote contests and games that they hope will keep consumers engaged and coming back. Best Buy has an interactive Secret Santa application on its Facebook page. Gap is using Twitter to inform New York City residents and visitors where its “Gap Cheer” bus (filled with dancers and drummers) will be parked and giving away sweaters and jeans.

Of course, sometimes retailers simply use their Twitter posts to capture the spirit of the season. At 3:30 Thursday morning, an employee posted seven words on the Macy’s Twitter page, about a marching band that was practicing hours before the chain’s Thanksgiving day parade.

It said: “Is he really running with a tuba?”

Recommend Next Article in Technology (1 of 23) » A version of this article appeared in print on November 28, 2009, on page B1 of the New York edition.

Well-researched piece from the NY Times on how marketers and shoppers are using Twitter during the big holiday retail push.

Do you know these men?

 

I am a huge believer in Alan Wolk's theory of NASCAR blindness.  Both because I've seen it in practice, and I've recognized it in myself from time-to-time.  With that ...

I don't think it's going out on a limb to say that Dana White and Brian France could walk down Madison Avenue without causing much of a stir.  Which is too bad because one could easily argue that White and France - along with Vince McMahon - know the American consumer landscape better than anyone in the "industry."

If you don't know [it's OK, we don't judge here at Flagged For Follow Up] White is the President of UFC; France the CEO and Chairman of NASCAR.  If you don't know who McMahon is ... well I just can't imagine any marketer doesn't know the name.

By various accounts, collectively these men preside over empires that generate more than $2 Billion (with a B) in revenues per year.  We're talking live events, TV deals, licensing, pay-per-view and merchandise galore.  Sure, business has suffered a bit in the recession, along with just about everyone else. 

There are 290 million people who live somewhere between Los Angeles and New York City.  These guys have it dialed in when it comes to speaking to/entertaining/selling to this group.

So if we (by "we" I mean marketers in major cities) want to create "stuff" (campaigns, creative, trinkets, retail experiences ... whatever) that drive business results, we need to start thinking about what will appeal to 300,000 fans at Daytona, not the cast of Friends.  More like a rabid crowd at a UFC match, less like a star-studded crowd at a Lakers game.

There are a ton of smart, talented and grounded marketers in this country.  The smartest of them recognize a world west of the Hudson River.

 

 

Nice follow-up to NASCAR Blindness from Ian Sohn, focusing on UFC President Dana White and his 800K+ Twitter followers

By PETER WALLSTEN

Sarah Palin will launch her national book tour next week, one part of a carefully crafted strategy that has allowed the former vice-presidential candidate to leapfrog traditional media outlets and appeal directly to her dedicated and vocal fan base.

Palin in the Spotlight

The coming tour through small towns and midsize cities is designed mostly to maximize sales of "Going Rogue: An American Life," which will be formally released Nov. 17. But associates say it also serves as a reintroduction for Ms. Palin and a warm-up for what promises to be a starring role in next year's midterm elections and, if her supporters get their wish, the next presidential race.

Among the features of this new strategy: buying Internet advertising based on Google searches of her name, and using Facebook as a key means of communicating with voters. Her team also has considered filing libel suits against bloggers who spread rumors about her family.

Sarah Palin emerged from two months out of the public view with a September speech in Hong Kong. Above, Ms. Palin at the Hong Kong airport.

Within its 413 pages, "Going Rogue" seeks to blame aides to Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain for many of Ms. Palin's worst media moments in the 2008 presidential campaign, such as her interview with CBS's Katie Couric, according to a copy of the book purchased from a bookstore by The Wall Street Journal. Ms. Palin complained that the network "systematically sliced out material that would accurately convey my message." A CBS spokeswoman said the interview "speaks for itself."

Since then, her political tactics have been unorthodox. Her August Facebook entry warning that President Barack Obama's health bill would create a "death panel" inspired "tea party" activists to crash congressional town hall meetings and moved public opinion against the White House. Her surprise resignation from the Alaska governorship during the July 4th weekend helped her dominate the news and drove heavy traffic to the Web site for SarahPAC, her political-action committee.

From 'Going Rogue: An American Life'

• On being interviewed by CBS's Katie Couric: "I have had better interviews…I choked on a couple of responses, and in the harried pace of the campaign, I mistakenly let myself become annoyed and frustrated with many of her repetitive, biased questions."
• After Election Day: Ms. Palin assumed she would "go back to the job I loved. But what a difference ten weeks can make. Before my plane even touched down in Anchorage, shocking character assassinations of those I love had begun."
• On being told by McCain aides that she couldn't speak on Election Night: "This isn't the way it's supposed to end, I thought. I walked toward the stage with just Todd and some of the kids, with a rolled-up speech in my hands that I wasn't going to give."

"She resigned as governor, still has all this power...and her book before it's even published is a best seller," said John Coale, a Washington lawyer who helped Ms. Palin devise her early strategy. "Going Rogue" is published by HarperCollins, a unit of News Corp., which also owns The Wall Street Journal.

The official publicity for the book starts Monday with a conventional feel -- taped sit-downs with Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters.

On Wednesday, starting in Grand Rapids, Mich., Ms. Palin will ride a bus adorned with large images of her face and start connecting with supporters in the kinds of places she once described as "real America." The tour takes her to Noblesville, Ind., Roanoke, Va., Washington, Pa., military bases at Fort Bragg and Fort Hood, and the Villages, a GOP-friendly retirement community outside Orlando, Fla.

 

A number of Republican candidates for 2010 races are reaching out to Ms. Palin, hoping she can bring them political good fortune with an energized party base. Ms. Palin met for 30 minutes last week with Scott Walker, a Republican gubernatorial candidate in Wisconsin.

Mr. Walker said Ms. Palin offered no commitments, but made clear her intention to be present in next year's national campaign.

"What we said was she would bring a lot of excitement," Mr. Walker said, describing her ability to bring "a rally-like atmosphere for grassroots folks."

Discussion of Ms. Palin's Internet strategy among a core group of advisers began during the spring. One concern, said a consultant who was part of the talks, was her frequent appearance in unfavorable news articles and blog postings.

Ms. Palin was particularly angry at bloggers and the media, associates said, for speculation that her baby Trig was really the child of Bristol, her daughter.

At one point, according to people familiar with the discussions, Ms. Palin considered pursuing a libel suit against at least one blogger, the Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan. Ms. Palin decided against such a move because of the publicity it would bring.

Mr. Sullivan, in response, said asking "factually verifiable questions is obviously not libel."

A spokeswoman for Ms. Palin didn't respond to email requests seeking comment.

Ms. Palin's resignation as governor gave her freedom to try to reshape her image. Her announcement sparked the biggest surge in Palin interest since the election, according to Google Insights, a service that ranks the popularity of online search terms. People conducting Internet searches were directed through online advertising to the Web site of her political action committee, which collected email addresses and donations.

A page on Facebook, the social-networking Web site, became Ms. Palin's main sounding board. Nearly one million people have "friended" her. The page is accessible to people who aren't Facebook members.

"Whereas most people think the Internet is the place you lose control of your message, they have almost complete control of their message," said a consultant who has worked with her.

—Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg contributed to this article.

Write to Peter Wallsten at peter.wallsten@wsj.com

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A4

Whatever you think of her, it's a clever marketing strategy: using search ads and Facebook as the key elements of a campaign to reach her core target of passionate, non-mainstream fans.

Search ads let her target people looking for stories about her, many of whom are likely supporters, and communicating via Facebook means she's only talking to fans who are likely to give her strong support. She's completely bypassed the mainstream media, including Fox.

You may not like the message, but you have to give her props for her delivery methods, which are something that inanimate brands with passionate, non-mainstream fan bases could steal a page from.

A simple Facebook status update turned into much more for Rodney Bradford: an alibi after he was accused of a crime.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• 11:49 a.m. October 17, 19-year-old Rodney Bradford updates Facebook status
• A minute later, 12 miles away in Brooklyn, two men were mugged at gunpoint
• Bradford initially charged with robbery in the first degree and sent to Rikers Island
• Defense attorney realized he had an unbeatable alibiIi, with Facebook update

New York (CNN) -- For 19-year-old Rodney Bradford, a simple Facebook status update turned into much more: a rock-solid alibi after he was accused of a crime.

Confirmation of the time stamp on the update and the location from which it was entered showed he could not have been at the scene of a robbery in another part of New York City. After he had spent almost two weeks in jail, the case against him was dismissed.

The story began at 11:49 a.m. on Saturday, October 17, when Bradford was updating his Facebook status at his father's home in Harlem. A minute later, 12 miles away in Brooklyn, two men were mugged at gunpoint.

The next day, Bradford, who is facing a separate 2008 robbery indictment, found out police were looking for him in connection with the Brooklyn robbery.

Bradford turned himself in, confident he would be cleared. But after one of the victims picked him out of a lineup, he was charged with robbery in the first degree and sent to Rikers Island, home of the New York City jail.

It wasn't until Rodney Bradford Sr. discovered his son's Facebook update that the young man's defense attorney realized he had an unbeatable alibi.

"Throughout that week," said the attorney, Robert Reuland, "I worked with the district attorney's office and made them aware of who our alibis were, presented the Facebook evidence and generally tried to convince them that it would be wrong to proceed to an indictment in light of this evidence."

The district attorney subpoenaed Facebook for documentation that would prove Bradford had updated his account from his father's home in Harlem. It worked.

"It all corroborated our alibis," explained Reuland. "The Facebook thing was really the icing on the cake. I think, ultimately, it's what prompted the DA to dismiss."

The district attorney's office would not comment on the story because the case is sealed.

Facebook officials said they are "pleased" they were "able to serve as a constructive part of the judicial process."

The online social network is ready to join telephone records and video cameras as a means of establishing an alibi -- but the implications are both good and bad, says an intellectual property attorney versed in the medium.

"We're in a much more trackable world, and for better and for worse," said attorney Jonathan Handel. "The extent to which it means that the right people get prosecuted and the innocent get their cases dropped, that's all of the good."

But, he said, the issue of privacy is also at stake.

And he pointed out that it could be argued the Facebook update was a set-up.

"On the Internet, nobody really knows it's you," he said. "A kid could set up an alibi by setting up a Facebook update."

Reuland finds that unlikely.

"This is a 19-year-old kid. He's not a criminal genius setting up an elaborate alibi for himself," he said. "This is not the kind of thing someone would fake." And if someone were going to fake it, he said, "They'd do it in a lot clearer way" than the inside joke that Bradford posted: "On the phone with this fat chick... where my IHOP."

The message was met with some incomprehension by reporters first writing about the story, who didn't quite understand the reference to the International House of Pancakes.

Reuland explained it this way: The "fat chick" was a playful reference to Bradford's pregnant girlfriend who was irked that he, his father and his stepmother had gone to an IHOP without her the night before. The update teased that she wondered where her pancakes were.

"He was just kind of taunting her playfully about having been to IHOP," Reuland said. "I know it sounds not very nice but it's sort of a reference to her because she's pregnant. But they actually have a very good relationship. She's cute as a button."

Now that his innocence has been demonstrated, Bradford has hired civil attorney Herbert L. Schmell, who said they are "99.9 percent sure" that they will be filing a civil suit against the city.

"Based upon what I see, there was no probable cause to arrest him at the time," Schmell said. "And to put him in Rikers for 12 or 13 days. ... We're seeking money damages. He's shook up."

 

Sounds like this is ready-made for Law and Order: A New York man's Facebook update is proof he could not have been at the scene of the robbery he's accused of.

Wrigley Drops Tribal DDB, Digitas and Agency.com for Digital

Big Spaceship, Firstborn and EVB Will Compete for Future Projects

Posted by Kunur Patel on 11.10.09 @ 02:21 PM

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Wrigley is yanking digital agency-of-record duties from Tribal DDB, Digitas and Agency.com and shifting to a creative shootout strategy between a roster of agencies including independents Big Spaceship and Firstborn, and Omnicom majority owned EVB, according to executives familiar with the matter.

Yesterday, a memo went out to the confectioner's agency partners that Wrigley will not maintain digital agency-of-record distinctions in 2010 for the majority of its confections, gum and mints brands. Instead, the roster shops will present strategic recommendations across brands and participate in brand planning and execution for particular assignments as needed across websites, display advertising and mobile. The decision was made following a recent review of Wrigley's agency relationships, and the roster was compiled without a pitch.

"The multi-agency roster creates the best opportunity to drive innovation, value and breakthrough execution," said the Wrigley memo.

According to one person familiar with the matter, the digital agencies will work directly with Wrigley's individual brand teams on projects, rather than through its mainline Omnicom creative agencies, DDB and BBDO.

Big Spaceship; Firstborn; EVB; Omnicom siblings Tribal DDB, TBWA Worldwide and Agency.com; and Publicis Groupe's Digitas declined to comment.

The roster shops, especially Firstborn and Big Spaceship, have a heritage in digital production work and have often partnered with lead agencies to execute highly technical creative ideas. Recently, these small independent operations have been winning increasingly more direct-to-client work. Most recently, Firstborn won direct-to-client digital responsibilities for PepsiCo's Sobe.

Tribal DDB has done work for 5, Orbit, Altoids and Eclipse, and Agency.com has done work for Skittles. Digitas loses digital agency-of-record duties for Starburst and retains all digital media duties for Mars brands.

Contributing: Jeremy Mullman, Emily Bryson York

0 Comments

 

 

The first of what I suspect will be many shifts from the "1.0" web shops to the 2.0 ones.

Great quote in this article from Ed Cotton of Influx Marketing:

"Back in the Mad Men era they had the seat at the table when their ads could make or break a company, now it's all about product and service design, that's aligned to a big strategic idea. "

Hat tip to Tom Ajello for the find