If you are a company trying to compete today you are online. Period. That probably means that you have also heard gobs and gobs of information about social media and online conversations. You may have also heard about the need to be conscious of your own level of importance within the lives of consumers (i.e. no one wants to be friends with your mouthwash). However, if you are like me and have a simple brain, you hear phrases such as “your brand needs to participate in the ongoing online conversation,” and think to yourself “sounds like a nifty thing to say, but what does that mean?” Well, I always find I learn best from examples and I think I have a found a great one. EA has filmed a posted a response to a user video that was on YouTube. Lets take a look:
Original User Video:
EA Response:
Here are a couple points that I take away from this response:
EA didn’t try to create their own social network or video-sharing site, they found an existing community, developed an understanding of the social conventions that were already there and worked within them.
As with any great participant in a conversation, EA listened. Levinator25 posted a “glitch” in the game, and rather than get defensive EA posted a funny video that took its tonal cues from the original.
EA added to the conversation. If EA hadn’t been able to come up with something as funny as this retort I believe they would have just skipped the idea altogether. No one needs EA’s voice here, but if it is interesting then it will be welcomed.
If you are a large company, be a large company. The average YouTube poster can’t film a video with the real Tiger Woods, but EA can.
Oh Boy Obama is a site that crowd sources political campaign ideas. The thinking goes that this will quickly separate the wheat from the chaff and all the good ideas will bubble up to the surface. Since anyone can participate there will likely be a bunch of ideas. As a great professor, Mark Fenske, once told me quantity will breed quality. Thanks to that I have no doubt that there will be good ideas on the site. What I am skeptical of is whether the good ideas will be the ones that rise to the top? In all likelihood it will be the popular ideas, not necessarily the good ones that come up. This technique works well if you are selling a product since a popular product idea would likely translate to sales. However, I haven’t seen companies crowd sourcing advertising strategies. Just because a strategic idea is popular doesn’t mean it will be effective at accomplishing its goals. On the other hand, if Obama had wanted to crowd source his selection for, VP that would have been a better option that would have likely netted a greater amount of followers…Hillary anyone???
Some of the best artists and designers are great cooks. There is something to cooking that is not only inherently inventive, but also exemplifies the very nature of unselfish giving from the heart. What you could eat yourself, you choose to give to another as the most meaningful sustenance for survival.
John Maeda
I would include planners and all creatives in this assesment as well.
Ingredients from my awesome blueberry crumble cookies
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been writing for the alldaybuffet blog. You can read the latest post about whether or not donation is the optimal form of philanthropy here. This ties in well with another project we have been working on called the Greater Good Guild (G3). G3 will work social entreprenuers and brands dedicated to doing good, to foster ideas and ensure they are maximizing their social potential through establishing sustainable models with a positive impact.
In today’s world of unrestricted access, everything is a form of communication. In the past no one had ever heard of Procter & Gamble. Now it is not uncommon to find a consumer that knows which brands Procter & Gamble owns and that Jim Stengel is the CMO overseeing them. Need proof of this unrestricted access? Just look at anyoneofthemany “internal” memos that have found their way outside the corporate walls and in front of consumers.
The operational behaviors of your company, now more than ever, tell a compelling story about your business and it’s personality (it’s not what you say it’s what you do). I would say these actions carry a stronger message because they feel like decisions you are making when no one is watching. In many cases they might be. There may not have been an ulterior motive to taking these actions other than managing operations and internal brand building. However, given the public’s unrestricted access remarkable actions, both good and bad, will eventually enter the collective public conscious. The following are a few examples I have spotted over the past couple weeks.
In a mundane territory like call centers, Headline Design along with Virgin Media have found a way to perk things up a bit. I would like to see the results in a year or two, but I suspect that employee satisfaction and retention will likely be up in a field that has historically low levels on both metrics. In addition the redesign should contribute to attracting the employee profile they are looking for, allowing Virgin to better deliver on the type of service they would like to provide. Plus, car park dating sounds like such a happy little idea and says a lot about Virgin since they are willing to put this much effort into their call centers.
After an intense training program, indoctrinating new employees into the job and company culture Zappos offers them $1000 to quit on the spot. I have had jobs in the past that I mainly enjoyed, but had I been offered a grand to quit, you wouldn’t have even heard a response other than the door closing behind me. If you want a strong internal culture and a group of extremely dedicated employees this is the way to go. In addition to those company benefits, this move also says something to me as a consumer. I have never ordered from Zappos before, but after reading this I am 100% confident that it would be a smooth process and any problems I might have would be handled quickly and efficiently. Nice one!
In an attempt to shame employees to fill out their timesheets on time, Avenue A/Razorfish displays photos of employees who haven’t completed theirs in the lobby. Whoa. I don’t exactly see this making people want to jump up and run to work for the interactive agency. Before we toss this idea aside though, what does it tell customers…aka clients? In an industry that has had a shaky past with billing and accountability it must give a warm fuzzy feeling to know that the agency is on top of it. If it turns off potential employees it may not be a long-term strategy, but it could be effective short-term allaying client fears.
If you are a regular reader of this blog, and really who isn’t, then you know that I have a crush on mixtapes. Especially real mixtapes, but online ones as well:
So, when Russell Davies offered to combine the two on April 20, 2008, I jumped at the opportunity. (SIDE NOTE: If you don’t read Russell’s blog, start. Not everyone will get this, but I have said on many occasions if account planners had trading cards I would trade my Jon Steel rookie for a Russell Davies). I believe there is something inherently interesting in hand made objects and the thought of turning the internet experience into something real was exciting. Plus, the discovery associated with having someone else’s mixtape loaded new music on the B-side made the offer unable to resist (thanks Sean Salmon).
Now, 2 months later, the package has arrived. In response to a previous post I wrote about fetishizing products, I have decided to do an “unboxing” post similar to the ones some people post about new Apple products. It only makes sense, this is every bit as cool and interestingly packaged.
FRONT (Royal mail, not to often do I get that)
BACK (Addresses have been removed to protect the innocent)
INSIDE
CONTENTS
SONG LIST (Written by the man himself…or maybe Arthur given the legibility)
In the past, you could reach nearly 90% of all American households with a TV by placing an ad simultaneously on the three major networks. This placed great power and control in the hands of advertisers, who were able to unilaterally blast their message to the public. TV viewers were forced to sit through that interruption of their programming with little recourse (I mean could you imagine having to get up to change the channel?). In the fragmented media landscape we exist in today we know this is impossible. The power has shifted from advertisers to the viewers, but the forced interruption technique still remains today.
For example, this banner advertisement that extends when you roll over it with your mouse.
Before rollover:
After rollover:
I won’t go into what I think of the concept of the show, that is a post for another time and another place. What bothered me about this ad, is every time I moved my mouse anywhere near it it grew and covered the article I was trying to read. Each time I would have to click to close the article, and each time I would move my mouse away it would expand again. Also, every time it popped out, not only did it cover the text of the article I was on the site for, but it played a video complete with sound distracting me from what I was there for. This is just beyond rude and annoying.
I wasn’t interested in what the ad had to say to begin with, but through the impolite practices of overly sensitive rollover triggers and automatically playing video I just became agitated. Even if I were the target, which I am pretty sure I am not, I would have avoided the ad simply because of its intrusiveness.
People read what interests them, sometimes its an ad.
Howard Gossage
Howard Gossage said this about print advertising, but it holds true in all forms of communication. Here is a banner ad that understands consumers will seek out advertising if they choose to do so:
Before rollover:
After rollover:
Again, I won’t go into the shows or their concepts, although these shows are obviously far superior and the ad even looks a lot better than the previous example. The banner ad was much more polite in the implementation of rollover technology and rich media experiences. For example, you have to not only roll over the banner, but also linger for 3 seconds in order for the ad to expand, thus preventing any accidental activation. Even after the ad expands, the videos did not play automatically instead the banner offered them and other content for you to chose to interact with, or not. This comes from the understanding that the viewer is in control and allows them to consume the content they so choose, graciously offering the media for your perusal without trying to shove it down your throat. Granted, I may be closer to the target for these two shows, but I sincerely appreciate the context in which the information is presented.
Jeff Squires at PSFK points out the new brand extension initiatives from Bravo’s top rated show Top Chef. Here are the three initiatives:
Tour – Basically a truck will stop in 20 cities around the nation giving demonstrations, selling Top Chef gear and will feature appearances from contestants on the show. Sounds a little like the American Idol Tour with food (probably because Top Chef is just American Idol … with food). I am all for it, giving fans a physical experience to connect to, pretty cool.
Cruise – A luxury cruise set to take sail May 2009. Wha?!?! Am I missing something? How does this fit in with the brand or the show? Again this will provide a real world experience, but I think the commitment necessary stretches too far past just showing up an hour or two at a tour stop.
Cooking Classes – Top Chef branded cooking classes at the Culinary Institute of America. Oh no. The CIA is an institute in culinary education, and while Top Chef may be hot right now it is just that, hot for the moment. I can see the thinking, popularity of CSI and similar shows led to a big up-tick in applicants for forensic science, but I didn’t see co-branded classes showing up at University of Mississippi, University of Central Florida, or Loyola University (some of the top schools for forensic science). Every time two brands come together there is a positive association for one and a negative association for the other. I have to think the Culinary Institute is the one taking the hit here.
I am all for creating brand experiences and cooking is certainly ripe for that. I just believe there could be more relevant example to coincide with the Top Chef brand.
This is a quick update to a couple previousposts on the Internet becoming a platform. Along with the introduction of the 3G iPhone, Apple also announced a new service, MobileME, at the WWDC. Through me.com (wonder how much that cost?) subscribers will have access to enterprise level PUSH calendar, PUSH email and PUSH contacts along with photo sharing and file storage. Beyond just simple storage online Apple has used AJAX to create online applications. To show this trend will continue here is a quote from the MobileMe website:
Access and manage your email, contacts, calendar, photos and files at me.com. All with amazing applications that are so feature-rich and easy to use, you may end up preferring them to your regular desktop applications.
Adobe
In addition to Photoshop Express, Adobe also recently launched an online version of Acrobat.
