May 12, 2008
In prep for writing my Age of Conversation book II page, I reached out to
Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, for his insights about social media. Not only does Tony blog but he actively tweets (on Twitter the 140 character micro blogging platform).
In fact, that's where I "met" Tony. I sent him a Twitter DM (direct message). With Tony following 4658 people I 
wondered if he would respond. He did indeed .. within minutes (!) providing me with his off Twitter email so we could continue the conversation without the 140 character limitation.
Sidebar: Not to digress but .. where else .. how else could a little ol' diva in Atlanta connect with the CEO of billion dollar corporation based in Las Vegas? I tell you girl friend, that alone boggles the mind. One more testimony to how social media and in this case, Twitter, can open the doors and windows a little wider to develop relationships.
Toby/Diva Marketing: What influence has social media had on how you conduct business? Does Zappos have a system or process in place to respond to the concerns/complements from consumer generated mentions about the company? And to respond back to the blogger, tweeter, etc?
Tony Hsieh: We haven't really changed any of our internal processes yet. Right now the stuff I am doing on Twitter is just me... if someone Twitters me then I personally respond.
We now have close to 300 employees on Twitter, but
our main motivation for getting our employees to join Twitter was to help improve our company culture.
Company culture is our #1 priority. We believe that if we get the company culture right, most of the other stuff (including great customer service) will happen on its own.
Toby/Diva Marketing: What advice would you give to a CEO on how to incorporate social media and the feedback from social media into an organization?
Tony Hsieh:
I think if the CEO starts using Twitter on his/her own and is actually passionate about it, then that passion will eventually rub off on the rest of the organization.
You can't fake or mandate passion, you actually have to be passionate. On Twitter, people can tell whether you are actually passionate about connecting with other Twitterers, whether they are your customers or employees.
About Zappos - Founded in 1999, Zappos is an online commerce
company that got its start selling shoes. Since then their product line
has morphed to include: handbags, clothing, electronics and more.
According to Marketing Sherpa, Zappos anticipates to top $1 Billion in sales in 2008. With a focus on superior customer service Zappos is game to try innovative strategies that bring them closer to their customers. Zappos Blogs Zappo Tweets. Sounds like a match made in Social Media Heaven!
Apr 22, 2008
Earth Day was once a quaint little holiday. Almost four decades later April 22nd has become a day that combines education with celebration. From the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' week long Party for the Planet, complete with marketing sponsorship opportunities to a benefit Shred-a-Thon for the Farmington River Watershed Association in Connecticut to hundreds of events in almost every city, town and school Earth Day sometimes has the feel of a Hallmark Holiday. From a marketer's view point that type of exposure certainly creates grass root awareness. Earth Day 2008 Event Calendar
As my friend Mary Clare Hunt preaches it will be Wall Street, not government, that will turn the tides when it comes to impacting "eco friendly" behavior. Business, including venture capital firms, are beginning to put a lot of green lettuce, and we're not talking salad stuff, in support of environmental initiatives. WSJ reports that VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, is devoting about one-third of its $700 million investment portfolio to green technology e.g., alternative fuels, fuel-efficient devices.
Mike Italiano, MTS CEO, in a detailed post on MTS' Smart Solutions For Sustainable Business blog, tells us that Green
Building Investment Underwriting Standards are expected to add an
estimated $1 trillion/year to the global economy after five years.
Mike's post includes a comprehensive list of companies that are involved in the Capital Markets Partnership program. Major cities such as Chicago, New York and Dallas are working along side of high profiled financial institutions JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase CitiGroup Smith Barney. Bloggy disclaimer: I've worked with MTS on the blog.
In the direct to consumer side, grocery stores like Publix and Whole Foods Market are getting into the act with extensive green initiatives. Dell's regeneration goes a step further and incorporates social media involving customers by giving them a platform to express their vision and ideas of how to "clean it up." These type of programs can't help but influence purchase behavior.
Social media is making an impact too. According to research from Nielsen Online protecting the environment has become increasingly important to consumers, with online buzz around sustainability growing 50 percent in 2007. "...consumers are becoming increasingly vocal online about the issue of sustainability... Blogger attention to... issues like pollution, toxins and sustainable agriculture reveal an important intersection between personal health and environmental wellness." Jessica Hogue, research director, Nielsen Online.
As we're seeing "Green" has morphed into a cool marketing strategy. However, Nielsen's research cautions businesses to be careful how products/ are positioned and promoted. 
"Consumers expect consistency in action and authentic and transparent messaging."
That's not to say that if your organization is doing good why not let your customers know and reap a few atta girl sales. It's not easy being clean .. opps .. green. Thank you to the companies that are working to keep our earth green and our skies blue.
Read More
WSJ Special Report - Environmental Capital
Earthday.gov
Smart Solutions For Sustainable Business
Big Green Purse
Diva Marketing Talks About Green Marketing With Mary Clare Hunt and Ginny Dyson
WE Earth Day Issue - Congrats! to Mary Clare Hunt for being the lead story and the Diva cover girl! Toss of a pink boa .. or should it be green .. to publisher Heidi Richards WE.
Mar 17, 2008
When was the last time you hung out with your customers or clients? I'm not talking about the last time you watched behind the two way mirror: 8 to 10 women, 18-34 years of age, who lived in a metro area and skate boarded to work wearing their Jimmie Choos. Nor am I talking about reading the customer sat report that your research department sent over .. which by the way you really should take out of your "To Read" pile and read.
It's not comfortable to be a brand manager sitting behind the two-way mirror munching on M&Ms and suddenly hear customers bash your latest brain child. It's devastating to read a research report that coldly informs you that 91.27% of your customers believe your service stinks. Don't you sometimes wish that you could drop the formal research strategy and meet Becky or Brian or Betty or Brandon at your neighborhood Starbucks and just dish? (Note: I am not saying disregard traditional marketing research.)
When was the last time you talked, listened, laughed and learned with .. not From .. but With your customers or clients? Divas and divos I'll bet you a chocolate martini that for a few savvy marketers it was your last trade show but for most the answer is - Never.
The concept of conducting business is an odd duck to me. Marketing teaches us the more we know about our target audience the better we can service them. The big however is .. how do you to get to know the millions of individuals that make up the customer base of global brands? I don't know about you but it's damn difficult for me to create new products, marketing programs or service a demographic group that seems more like wisps of vapor than people with hearts. Enter stage left research-based personas that begin to provide some texture and depth. While there is value in these composite profiles, and great fun to build, they've always seemed rather like playing with paper dolls.
The son of the Godfather was wrong .. dead wrong. Business IS personal. However, creating corner grocery store relationships can be as challenging with customers in Madrid as with clients on Main Street. We compete every day for precious moments of time with our customers. There are so many priorities in our lives from family to work to friends to self. Yes Girlfriend self (but that's another post!).
It sure is hard to fit a relationship with your favorite brand into the mix. I'm not sure if I want to anyway. Time spent with my shampoo brand .. time spent with 
Max. No need to flip a coin on that one.
But time to drop a comment on the blog or social network site of the shampoo's marketing manager that I've come to know and like and respect .. that's a different story. Time to even chat with a friend I met online line about how I perceive her newest product. Sure. Of course, I'll help out a friend.
Marketing research pros might argue .. but you are biased because you have a relationship with your-friend-the-brand-manager-of-your-shampoo. Perhaps. Perhaps my feedback will be colored but then again, because I want to help her succeed perhaps my feedback will be even more honest.
Business friendships built online in social media venues? May sound strange to you but trust me on this one Girlfriend, it is not strange for Kinsey and Caroline who are redefining "What Is A Friend." Building those relationships that do morph into friendships over a virtual backyard fence will become are becoming more common and accepted with each click.
Thanks to BBF Ann Handley for the inspiration for this post.
Feb 21, 2008
When Diva Marketing launched in the spring of 2004 business blogs were barely a blip on most people's radar. To help marketers understand why organizations were beginning to view blogs as a business tool, how to sell-in to management and most importantly to pass along critical lessons learned, in 2005 I launched the Biz Blog Profile Series where people who were doing "it" shared their experiences.
Fast forward to 2008 and blogs are just one tactic in an over-flowing social media tool box that are now used by Fortune 100 companies, small business and not for profits.
Recently Alex Brown and I had an interesting email volley. Alex was one of the first people I interviewed for the Biz Blog Series. He had the innovative idea of turning the Wharton Admissions blog in a portal which has since become the go-to place for how to get into B School. Inspired by Alex, I thought wouldn't it be fun to take a look at "Where Are The Early Business Bloggers Now?"
Seemed appropriate to start with Alex. I think it's fair to stay that social media has not only changed Alex's life but impacted thousands of people and horses too!
Background: I now manage alexbrownracing.com which is a horse racing web-site that focuses on horse welfare. Our mission statement (something we needed to create once we became a large community) focuses on ending horse slaughter, and rescuing horses that are in the slaughter pipeline. To date we have rescued more than 2,000 horses headed for slaughter raising close to $850,000 in doing so (not bad for an organization that does not exist ?) alexbrownracing.com used to be timwoolleyracing.com and gained traction on the internet as we followed Barbaro's fight for life after his accident in the Preakness Stakes.
Basically I was in the right place at the right time and chose to blog about Barbaro with all the access anyone would need. We gained a large community quickly. Along the way I had to add a discussion board as the community grew too large to be managed simply by a blog. Subsequently I also created a wiki to manage additional content: alexbrownracing.com/wiki
We are now working with others in the anti-slaughter community to put together Americans Against Horse Slaughter, two days of lobbying in DC, March 4 and 5. We are gaining momentum and hoping to end horse slaughter once and for all. I have committed to this project to the extent I no longer teach at the University of Delaware (Internet Marketing) nor work at the Wharton School (MBA Admissions). My business card now reads: Horses.
What were your success?
I think as a community we can be proud of what we have accomplished. 2,000 horses have been saved to date, we have helped gain some ground on horse slaughter legislation. It is wonderful to be doing something you can be truly passionate about and something that combines all my interests (Internet Marketing: which I began teaching in 1997) and horses (I have worked in horse racing on and off for more than 20 years, in the US and in the UK.) Site data is also pretty cool. Our busiest day, 70,000 visits. Our discussion board gets on average over 1,000 posts a day (thanks Prospero). Our community is large and active.
What were your challenges?
We have a huge online community that while can all agree on one issue (horse slaughter is wrong) has fundamental differences of opinion over many other issues. Myself and one other administrator (WendyMI) has to try to keep this community together, and when things start to unravel, we need to figure out how to get people back on track. I have realized that I do not have to agree with everything, and to be perfectly frank, I don't have to like everyone, but I do have to act with a very even hand. That is very hard. Some issues that came to the community came from previous history of which i was unaware. There is a group of people on the internet who absolutely dislike more than one participant in our community. Their goal is to get them banned. Banning people is another issue. When you ban someone, their friends leave with them. These sorts of things I had not factored when we began. Shit, I thought we would have no problems given the mission of the site. Well welcome to the horse rescue / slaughter world to me! I can provide links of discussion threads on other boards that absolutely bash me and the work of the site, and these are from anti slaughter people. Odd stuff!
Tomorrow the site may be over. It is unique I think, but a challenge to keep it going for sure. It is the most intellectually challenging job I have undertaken, and I am thankful of a little knowledge in game theory and other fields to compliment my internet marketing background, and what I learned setting up communities at Wharton and teaching Internet Marketing with Blogs at Delaware.
What would you do differently?/What lessons have you learned?
Fortunately the mistakes I have made have not (yet) been catastrophic in terms of managing the community. There are a few people I banned that perhaps with hindsight I should not have banned. Early efforts to get help managing the site were a little rough, but overall I think for what we have done and the size of our community we have managed to bumble along without too much disaster!
What's next for Alex and the Barbaro in the world of social media?
I truly hope we can end horse slaughter this year. I also want to explore a little more deeply what we have done, and what we can learn from it. I want Knowledge at Wharton to do a case study on it etc. I also plan to move out of this grotty motel room in Houston ... and by the end of 2008 be back in the UK!
Feb 17, 2008
Memo
To: Smart corporate marketers who are including social media / Web 2.0 strategies
From: Your customers
Blogs, podcasts, videos, communities building, social networking, widgets and gidgets and digg and Twitter and the ten thousand other technologies are worth NOTHING if your internal processes are broken.
Forget about how to create, measure and analyze the buzz about your brand. It means NOTHING if your internal processes are broken.
My friend Marianne Richmond details a very frustrating story of how HP is playing games with the education of Sam - a high school freshman - whose HP laptop has been zonked (I think that's a technical word) since November 2007 .. with no resolution dispute hours with tech support, emails to bloggers, on and on. What adds insult to injury is that this is the company that boasts not 1 or 2 or 10 or 15 or 20 but over 50 HP blogs along with podcasts and other social media initiatives. There is even one about social media by Scott Berg. They all mean NOTHING because internal processes are broken.
HP, I'd like to introduce you to two of your customers Sam
and his mom Marianne, 
who are about to go MAC. Well, HP you might say, the loss of one high school student and his mom .. no big deal. It's not like they are a Fortune 100 company where you might have opportunity for an account with hundreds perhaps thousands of orders.
Oh, by the way, HP if you or one of your 50+ bloggers happen to be listening to this conversation, I forgot to mention one minor detail. Mom Marianne is a highly respected blogger. Her post - HP: Customer Experience Disconnect might influence as many potential customers as that one Fortune 100 account.
Some times life shows us some unexpected humor this cartoon 
from gapingvoid.com was next to Marianne's post.
Lessons Learned:
- Social media is more than a well written blog.
- Social media changes how we conduct business.
- In developing your social media strategy do not neglect a review of internal processes. How will information be disseminated?
- In the nano second world of the Internet, internal systems must be developed to ensure rapid responses to questions and problems.
- Excellent customer service is not a nice to have .. it's critical.
- Listening in on conversations means NOTHING if you can't take corrective action .. immediately.
Feb 6, 2008
It's a rainy day in Georgia and just as I was wishing for something to distract me from gray skies into my email in box popped this message: Your Guide to a Fabulous Kiss from Lancome. Well Girlfriend, who could resist a click to open that one? Of course I knew it would be a promotion but I was anticipating fun and flirty. A prelude to Valentine's Day perhaps.
The copy drew me in. Yes! Red stilettos, cocktail dress and a hot midnight affair would be lovely diversions as I sipped coffee and procrastinated which project to tackle next. I was ready to take a break. I was ready to play with the brand.
Click. I engaged. I was taken to a product page. Where was my Guide to a Fabulous Kiss?? So I click on another link and another and another. Guess I made Lancone's stats soar (smile). I saw lipsticks in lovely shades but where was there the Guide to a Fabulous Kiss? Needless to say, I was disappointed and became less enchanted with the promotion because it didn't deliver what I anticipated.
Sidebar: Note the subtle language change above. I went from "my Guide to a Fabulous Kiss" to "the Guide to a Fabulous Kiss."
Well, diva dahlings, I still was not ready to go back to work. I began to imagine how Lancome could have taken what started as a promising email campaign and turned it into a fun, flirty consumer generated content strategy. Let's play with the wonderful headline - Your Guide to a Fabulous Kiss.
Perhaps the guide begins with asking - What is a kiss? .. and don't get x-rated on me. Keep it clean and sophisticated. A kiss could be a kindness to someone that shows how much you care.
Then it moves into asking you to tell the the story of your first kiss and or perhaps your most memorable kiss. Which might be the kiss you gave your new born bebe. Or the kiss you received from your dad before you went to college.
A la American Idol .. ends with people uploading videos singing one of my favorite songs from Casablanca .. As Time Goes By. You must remember this A kiss is still a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh.
How about a joint promotion with NECCO to create a new sweetheart saying for the famous
candy heart that actually is produced for Valentine's Day? We could add
a widget and a Flickr page and have the community vote. Make your own candy heart.
Perhaps it ends with a kiss of kindness - a charity chosen by the winner.
Lessons Learned: Great copy can draw in your customers but take care to understand what expectations might occur. Try new ways to engage your customers with your brand that is personal and meaningful to them.
Feb 4, 2008
From blogs to podcasts to vlogs to micro blogs to social media networking communities brands continue to explore marketing opportunities. Laura Bennett from Embrace Pet Insurance shares her challenges and lessons learned about Why Facebook?
About Embrace Pet Insurance
Embrace Pet Insurance is a pet health insurance for cats and dogs. Every Embrace Pet Insurance policy is 100% underwritten by Lloyd's of London. Now that's some classy insurance!
Toby/Diva Marketing: Why use a social networking site, like Facebook, to promote the brand?
Laura Bennett: I’m fascinated by the development of online social networks and participate in a number of them myself. I thought that if I enjoyed interacting with other like-minded (or not) people online, maybe our Embraced pet parents (as we like to call our policyholders) and other friends of Embrace might be too. Embrace on Facebook.
At the core of it though, the open nature of Facebook dovetails very much with the Embrace philosophy - an upfront and honest interaction with just about anyone who wants anything to do with Embrace. Insurance is all about trust and pet insurance hasn’t had the best reputation in the past. Our mission is to change the flighty image of pet insurance one person at a time. Facebook puts Embrace out there in a real way and lets our audience decide if we mean it or not.
Toby/Diva Marketing: Why in particular Facebook?
Laura Bennett: I like the flexible, clean look, the growing number of real people on the site, and the demographics of where Facebook is going (older, more affluent) – I think it matches our customers more closely than say MySpace. Having said that, we also have a presence on MySpace but I don’t personally run that.
Toby/Diva Marketing: What is success for Embrace's Facebook strategy?
Laura Bennett: The ultimate success would be for the Embrace group (I’ve Been Embrace By Embrace Pet Insurance) to take on a life of its own and to be run by Embrace evangelists. Just think how incredibly powerful that would be.
Toby/Diva Marketing: Is your Facebook strategy supported by other tactics?
Laura Bennett: I’ve been writing a blog on pet insurance for 2.5 years now with the same upfront and honest feel so the two go together but apart from that, we’re not doing very much right now. Since we’re an early stage company, our resources are very focused and my attention is on fundraising at the moment. Once that painful process is finished for a while, we’ve definitely got a few ideas we’d like to implement. Can’t spill the beans right now though. Would love to hear any brilliant ideas on what we could do though – what do your readers think?
Sidebar: Check out my guest post about how I found Max.
Toby/Diva Marketing: Are you/will you also use ads on facebook to complement the initiative?
Laura Bennett: We’ve used some ads on Facebook with little success as they weren’t very targeted; however, it wasn’t a coordinated approach. Perhaps that’s another thing to add to the to-do list!
Toby/Diva Marketing: What were a few of the challenges you face/faced?
Laura Bennett: Well the nice thing about Facebook are that there are few technical challenges. There’s really nothing much to do on that front. And there is just “getting” Facebook. I have to admit that when I started, I couldn’t see the attraction or how it worked. I’m not sure I’m totally there either. And we certainly need to work on augmenting the Group, increasing the appeal to interact with it. And then the challenge is to get a critical mass of Embraced pet parents to get the group going. You need thousands of interested members before it takes on some momentum of its own and we have a long way to go before we reach that. That means I have to find time and inspiration to get the current members involved. That’s always a challenge.
Toby/Diva Marketing: What are a few lessons learned you can pass along to other brands who want to leverage Facebook as a marketing tactic?
Laura Bennett: If you want a presence on Facebook, go for sincerity and real people, not corporate speak and faceless minions. It’s harder than you think. If your evangelists have created something about you, ask them how you can interact without getting in the way.
And always remember, it’s not about you, it’s about the people interacting with your brand.
Sidebar: If your brand's strategy includes a social media networking component like Facebook and want to be a Diva (or Divo) rock star interviewee drop me a comment.
Nov 5, 2007
A could have had conversation ..
"Isn't there a risk in entering into a social media strategy," They asked.
"What about? What if?" They asked.
"We want safeguard," They said.
"We need reassurance," They said.
"I respect your fears," Said I.
"Let's address some", Said I.
Hesitantly They nodded.
"I admire your courage to explore," Said I.
They gifted me with a nod and a smile.
I remembered what CK said about feeling comfortable.
Q1: How do you ensure the brand is not comprised through comments?
A: Develop comment guidelines or house rules that set expectations.
Moderate/filter prior to posting comments.
Q2: How do you measure ROI? How do you know if you succeed?
A: Develop a blog strategy that ties into accountability.
Success for a social media/blog strategy may not happen ‘as the crow flies.’ The route my be circular.
Q3: How do you ensure the brand is not compromised through the company's bloggers' posts?
A: Develop blogger guidelines and a blogger code of ethics. If the bloggers can help develop these all the better.
Invest in training bloggers and setting expectations. Bring bloggers in on the purpose/goal and /what is success.
Q4: Will we need to promote the blog/social media programs and how will they impact our current marketing strategy?
A: Yes. If you build it they will not come unless you tell them. Consider how your initiatives will either support/solve a marketing or operational challenge or strategy and then how it can dovetail into current and future tactics.
If you develop a blog commit to ensuring it is visible on the home page of your website and that there is a link placed on the main navigation bar.
Q5: What do we do if IT does not have time to be involved?
A: There are hosted solutions such as typepad.com. IT interface can be kept to a minimum such as adding links to the website to the blog .
Q6: Is it worth the additional time?
A: Identify anticipated benefits and how they will either support/solve a marketing or operational challenge or strategy.
Example: Your customer service reps time spend answering questions about how to send packages over seas. A blog post can expand a static FAQ page and provide feedback for specific questions that will be available in archives and part of your continuing knowledge base. time, people resources and $ saved.
Q7: Do you have the people resources needed?
A: Determine what your content direction will be; the roles and responsibilities of the people involved and track time.
Read Q6 answer
Q8: Can you afford the additional operational (software, hosting) expenses?
A: Hard cost is pennies .. the look and feel/design may up the price but that can be control.
Q9: What happens if your competitor is less risk adverse than you and steps into the space first?
A: You'll be second to market and have to play catch-up in your learnings.
Q10: How do you safeguard against getting "blown-up?"
A: Keep the social mantra top of mind: honesty, transparency, authenticity. Throw in a little passion too. Remember social media is simply a way to engage in conversations with your customers and prospects using a bit of technology and the internet. Expect differing opinions, questions and perhaps some challenges too.
Social media usually self-corrects if someone says something unfavorable that is not true frequently your brand champions will tell the other side of the story, giving the nay sayers less credibility. You can also join in and tell your side of the story.
Interesting article from iMedia article
Aug 10, 2007
Biz Blog Profiles!
is a behind the scene look at how corporations, non profits, higher
education institutions and the arts are using blogs to support their
marketing goals.
Get Ready For The Next Hundred Years 
is the theme of Chrysler's new advertising campaign. Chrysler itself is revving up by launching a social media initiative including Voices of Chrysler - a multi author blog, vlogs distributed on YouTube and podcasts.
Jackie Headapohl, Editor of Voices of Chrysler kindly agreed to give the Diva Marketing community an understanding of the back-story, the now-story and the future-story. In the post early this week I asked if you had any questions and Jackie graciously addressed those too.
Toby/Diva Marketing: Chrysler’s step into an open social media conversation (as opposed to the media only Firehouse blog) sends a strong signal that business at Chrysler will not be business as usual. How will the culture of blogs and social media complement the culture of the “new” Chrysler?
Jackie Headapohl: The culture of The New Chrysler is the same as the old one—scrappy, innovative, risk-taking. The people that work here are passionate and love the car culture. We wanted to start out fresh by opening a conversation with our customers, also passionate people who love our products and cars in general. If we win some new customers over, too, that will be great! Also, even though we’re now a privately held company, we want the world to know that communication remains a high priority.
The blog provides transparency between the company and our key stakeholders: employees and customers.
Toby/Diva Marketing: How will the culture of blogs and social media influence and support Chrysler’s master marketing plan?
Jackie Headapohl: Chrysler’s been using blogs and social media on a limited basis for the past few years to better connect with the marketplace. Voices of Chrysler is an extension of that. And while our past blogging efforts were mainly tied to specific marketing programs, Voices of Chrysler is an open-ended strategy to communicate with the public; it’s not really tied to a marketing effort.
Toby/Diva Marketing: Participating in a conversation – on a blog or over a cup of coffee – often times means that opposing views may occur. I noticed that Voices of Chrysler is allowing “negative comments.” Understanding that a conversation is responsive communication how will Chrysler ensure that the concerns of its community, as well as, the positive feedback and ideas are heard?
Voices of Chrysler Reader Comment: “I think blogs like these are an excellent idea. They make customers feel like the company is actually listening to them and cares about their opinion.”
Jackie Headapohl: We feel we can learn from open and honest feedback—good or bad. Currently, we’re trying to respond to comments by posting blog entries that address the concerns/interests we see coming in. Comments that come in with specific, personal issues are being forwarded to our Customer Assistance Center for resolution. Eventually, you can expect to see blog posters responding in real time for a two-way conversation.
Toby/Diva Marketing: The blogosphere is community where people do exchange ideas. Will Chrysler bloggers participate in conversations outside of Voices? In other words, will we find Chrysler bloggers commenting on relevant posts on other blogs?
Jackie Headapohl: I think as our posters become more accustomed to life in the blogosphere we’ll start to see that happening. We have a lot of car nuts here, and there are many fantastic enthusiast blogs out there they’d probably enjoy participating in.
Toby/Diva Marketing: In addition to “text blogs” you’re including videos and there is a link to a podcast feed. How will you use each of these “channels” to support your social media strategy? Will the type of information and “speakers” be different?
Jackie Headapohl: Text and photos will be our main methods of communicating since those are the fastest ways of getting our messages across. Podcasts are definitely on the menu, as well, and will be used for interviews that don't necessarily have strong visuals associated with the subject matter. “Speakers” could be anyone who has something interesting to share. We think video is best for pointing out product features and giving our readers the ability to experience events vicariously they didn't have the opportunity to attend—product reveals at auto shows for example.
Toby/Diva Marketing: I noticed that videos produced by Chrysler are housed on YouTube. Why did Chrysler choose to use YouTube as a distribution channel instead serving in-house?
Jackie Headapohl: YouTube serves our purposes two ways. First, it’s free. Second, it exposes our videos to a huge global audience. A lot of the folks who view videos on YouTube might not necessarily surf auto-specific sites, and we’d miss them. However, we are building an in-house video hosting system, which will come on line soon. But we’ll continue to post video to YouTube, as well.
Toby/Diva Marketing: It seems as though your blog authors are one-time authors. Since there
is not a bio page I can't tell if these are what might be called "guest
bloggers."
Jackie Headapohl: You're correct that these are guest bloggers. We plan to have a calendar search feature, but it's not available yet. We're going to be adding enhancements in the very near future, including a space for a bio.
Toby/Diva Marketing: There is much discussion about the importance of the “M word” measurement when it comes to defining success of a social media strategy. Those analytics may not follow traditional website metrics or even internet metrics. Has Chrysler defined what “success” is and those key factors that you’ll be watching?
Jackie Headapohl: We’ll be watching several things. For us, a constant flow of comments since the blog’s launch is an early success. It shows there was a pent-up demand by the public to communicate with us. Going forward, our success will be measured by the number and quality of the comments, links from other blogs and websites, how well the blog is received in the blogosphere, and of course, traffic. We also will measure the success of this blog the same as we do the blog, TheFirehouse.biz, (our media blog launched two years ago), by how Chrysler is portrayed in the media and if our messages are being picked up in their stories.
Questions From Diva Marketing’s Community
Thanks for your questions and/or inspiration for questions: Lewis Green, TIffany Monhollon, Geoff Livingston, Jody DeVere, Shel Holtz
Diva Marketing: I was very interested in their approach of having employees from throughout the company contribute to the blog. She said one of the best things about that aspect was that it helped build many different audience segments because different people identified with the personalities and jobs of the different authors. I wonder how deep Chrysler will get into this or if it will be mainly VPs.
Jackie Headapohl: Of course everyone is interested in hearing what the “bigwigs” have to say, but no, it will not mainly be VPs—only when appropriate. We have posts lined up from our production workers, engineers, dealers, etc. Each person on the Voices of Chrysler has a unique perspective and opinion. I think people will enjoy the variety.
Diva Marketing: With American automobile manufacturers losing market share at race car speeds how will social media be used to gain share of market?
Jackie Headapohl: Before I answer, I first want to say that one thing we hope to accomplish with the blog is to eliminate misconceptions, like the one in your question. For example, Chrysler’s market share has remained relatively flat over the past five years, fluctuating between 11 and 13 percent (hardly racecar speed).
Now for your question: I think social media helps to build relationships with customers, especially younger people who find it a comfortable way to communicate. I think people have more respect for companies that reach out to them and try to build relationships using a medium they’re comfortable with. I don’t know if that will translate to market share gain or not. But Voices of Chrysler should help put to bed the complaint from customers that auto companies aren’t interested in what they have to say. Chrysler wants their input. We’re listening and responding.
Diva Marketing: I would like to know how they see their blog differentiating itself from GM Fastlane or other auto manufacturing blogs like the new Kia blog.
Jackie Headapohl: Those are both great blogs. Fastlane, of course, is written mainly by GM’s product czar Bob Lutz, while Kia’s blog contains a lot of press releases. With Voices of Chrysler, you get to hear from many different kinds of people, and we won’t be posting press releases—only first-person accounts.
Diva Marketing: The topics are fairly broad—not unexpected for a brand new corporate blog launched to coincide with the launch of a new company. What is the long-range strategy for Voices of Chrysler?
Jackie Headapohl: Right now, that strategy is a work in progress. We expect to learn as we go and evolve. We’re not looking at Voices of Chrysler as a means to an end, but rather as a tool to keep us in touch with our customers. Besides, what’s wrong with using a broad brush on the blog? Chrysler is a vast and wonderful enterprise with so many varied interests and concerns. It would be unfair to limit our subject matter to a few narrow areas. The blog is called Voices of Chrysler for a reason. We’ve got a lot of voices to listen to.
Toby/Diva Marketing: Let’s end with your take on blogs and social media. What would you tell Fortune 500 brands who are considering stepping into social media?
I would tell them that it’s intensely satisfying to hear what’s on the minds of your customers with no filter involved. I would also add that it can sometimes be a little unsettling to see those opinions onscreen in black and white. Most companies pride themselves on being in control of their “key messages,” and a blog takes that control away and leaves it in the hands of your customers.
However, if you respect your customers and your goal is to serve them and meet their demands, then blogging is a great.
Read More: Ed Garsten, Editor of Chrysler's Firehouse blog tells why Chrysler launched a media focused blog in a Diva Marketing Biz Blog Profile Interview.
Jul 31, 2007
Diva Marketing Talks: Analytics tonight. Diva Marketing Talks - a live, internet radio show. 30-minutes. 2-guests. 1-topic related to social media marketing. Why? To help organizations understand social media marketing and how to join the conversation without getting blown-up. Can't join us live? The show morphs into a podcast!
Topic for July 31, 2007:
Time: 6:30p - 7P Eastern
Call-in Guest Number: 718.508.9924
Guests: Peter Kim, Forrester Research and Marianne Richmond, Resonance Partnership
Tonight Diva Marketing Talks focuses on social space analytics. We're calling this one Blog Analytics A Step Towards Credibility?? Social media is fast taking its place at the grown-up marketing strategy table. With the respect, as a credible strategy, comes things like keeping elbows off the table and Accountability and the "M Word" - Measurement. Before you can measure "it" you have to define what "it" is. Our 2 guests are not only highly respected in the social media marketing world but bring the perspectives of agency and client side to the conversation.
Peter Kim is an analyst at Forrester Research in Boston. His coverage area focuses on marketing strategy and organization, including advertising and accountability. Prior to joining Forrester, Peter was international marketing manager at PUMA AG; part of the strategy network at Razorfish; and a research analyst at Coopers & Lybrand focusing on the energy industry.
Marianne Richmond has held senior level marketing positions with some of the largest consumer brands like Nabisco and Purina. From the agency side she's worked with Ally-Gargano/Marketing Corporation of America and DIMAC Direct. Her career direction has led to opening the doors of her own shop Resonance Partnership based in St. Louis.
Tips From The Diva Bag: Blog Analytics A Step Towards Credibility??
Complements of Marianne Richmond
- Forget trying to find the Holy Grail definition or measurement and focus on what you want the end result to be...what you want your customer to do, believe, experience or think OR what role you want a specific media channel to play to achieve the end result. Once you know the desired outcome, then what it takes to get there... the metrics should fall out from there.
- Accurate targeting is critical success factor. Bad targeting=false metrics.
- All or nothing statements like "the page view is dead" will kill you....there never was and never will be one single one size fits all measurement except for sales and profits.
Complements of Peter Kim
- Be free. There are many good packages available for no cost that provide excellent metrics.
- Think simple. Social media analytics work differently - focus on a few key indicators to start.
- Don't obsess. Metrics should help fine tune your communication strategy, not drive it.
Can't call in but have a question for Marianne and Peter? Drop a comment and I'll ask it for you. What would you like Diva Talks to chat about?
The show is available for download as podcast to your favorite MP3 player. Or play it right on your computer!
Jul 30, 2007
BBF Tim Jackson, Masiguy, commented on a recent Diva post - "Blogger Relations Strategies are HUGE."
I'd go so far as to say 
that many brands will take their first dive (or second step after first listening we hope) into social media not by writing a traditional blog but with a side step passive strategy of BR .. blogger relations.
This quote from James Clifton, European Planning Director, Agency.com, reinforces my thoughts.- “We
believe that it is important to look at the people driving social media
and and work out how to engage them, rather than just jumping on the
latest MySpace or YouTube bandwagon."
Sidebar: Last month Agency.com released findings from, Who Is Driving Social Media, an analysis of what they term influencers - "uploaders."The
big strategic implication of the Uploaders study is clear – brands need
to think of these digital influencers as a resource, not a target. - Dr. Paul Marsden.
That's an interesting concept. Agency.com doesn't say brands should build relationships and expand community with bloggers but instead suggests that bloggers should be positioned as a "resource." And what is a "target?" I've sent off an eMail to Marianne Stefanowicz, Assoc. Director, PR & Marketing Agency.com Worldwide asking for clarification. Ms Stefanowicz was indicated as a contact on the release. Perhaps she'll drop a comment or respond back. If she does I'll let you know.
We've seen BR used to chat it up about cameras, computers, retail stores, TV shows. Think about it .. BR provides many of the same benefits as does active participation in social spaces *. The risks associated with BR are different than an active participation strategy. For some organizations they may be easier to mitigate. Here are a few -
Blogger Relations Strategy Risks
- No control of a blogger's posts or non posts - negative reviews are very possible
- Not understanding the social media cultures - remember each village in the blogosphere and social networking sites have their own unique nuances and social media etiquette
- Not paying attention to details - its the little things that will trip you up
- Not including over riding benefits to the community as well as the blogger
Sidebar: *Active participation in social space: participation in the conversation: launching a blog or a YouTube video, joining a social networking site a la Facebook or Flickr, and what seems to be an extreme risk for brands -commenting on blogs. Let's take a look at some of the rationale why BR is gaining in acceptance.
Benefits of a Blogger Relations Program (Over Active Participation Social Space Tactics)
- Viral buzz - easy linking and pass along .. the echo effect
- Search engine key word lift - increased brand mentions from multiple blogs and longevity of website content
- Influencer behavior - BBF*, who I trust likes, it so I'll give it a try
- Less time commitment - the agency does the work
- Less resource drain - no need to dedicate people to write posts and participate in the conversation
- Less lawyer involvement - not involved in reviewing (or sanitizing) bloggers' posts
- Limited IT involvement - not involved in development or hosting of web pages
While a BRS may build a limited community, based on the program you develop, the downside is it's more likely you'll Not build community. Agency.com suggests that you invite "uploaders" to be brand advisors . Sounds like a vintage marketing strategy called a customer circle to me. Quess what's old is new again.
All well and good you may say, but how does it affect brand equity? Great question Diva and Divo. Glad you asked. Immediate Future, an agency in Great Britain, took a look at how the social media buzz of major brands compared to the Interbrand Top 100. The results may surprise you .. or not. Immediate Future has generously shared results, methodology and offers their conclusions.
Coke Flash! Although Coca Cola was ranked by Interbrand as The Number One Brand in 2006 my friends down the street don't show up in Immediate Future's Top Twenty-five Social Spaces Share of Voice. Google, with an Interbrand ranking of 24 is the #1 Brand when it comes to buzzz.
Even with Coke's push into Second Life, YouTube and quasi
consumer generated content it appears not many people wanted to be (part of) .. the Coke Side of Life. What does that mean?
The data from this study was collected in April 2007 and Coke's virtual coke machine strategy launched mid month. Perhaps the buzz will build and 2007 will bring Coke into the top 25.
Not sure what to make of this except another example that the game it is a changin!
Sidebar: There are talented people who can help you navigate this new industry. It only takes a nano second to become an expert .. not! For some reason there are too many people who after seconds on Facebook or a few blog posts position themselves as experts. Please, please, please if you do choose to work with someone to develop social space strategies .. check credentials.
Diva Marketing Talks Blogger Relations
From Blogger Relations To Blogger Relations Programs
12 Blogger Relations Tips For PR, Advertising & Brand Marketers
Jul 24, 2007
Wind down your day with Diva Marketing's new live, internet radio show .. Diva Marketing Talks. 30-minutes. 2-guests. 1-topic related to social media marketing. Why? To help organizations understand social media marketing and how to join the conversation without getting blown-up. Can't join us live? The show morphs into a podcast!
Topic for July 24, 2007: The Verticals Get It - Using Social Media In B2B
Time: 6:30p - 7P Eastern
Guests: CB Whittemore, Solutia and Paul Chaney, Blogging Systems
Tonight Diva Marketing Talks focuses on how business-to-business can leverage social media. As C.B. says, "Paul talks real estate. I talk flooring. Our mission is to showcase how blogs and social media can be used effectively inside verticals." With C.B. and Paul at the mic we have the talent to build the foundation of a great B2B social media strategy .. from the floor up.
CB [Christine] Whittemore is the is director of in-store innovation for Solutia's Wear-Dated carpet fiber. formerly known as Monsanto. Not only does she hold a cool title, but she courageously exemplifies the word "innovation" for an industry that is not known for being a leader in 21c communications. She handles public relations, innovative marketing practices and any
other projects that don't quite fit into easily describable confines. C.B. blogs at Flooring the Consumer
Paul Chaney is one of the visionaries of social media. He began the first association for bloggers, opened the doors to the first company offering services by blog copywriters, wrote one of the first successful business blogs. And then was made an offer he couldn't refuse .. to help develop a social media company targeting the real estate industry. Paul puts his talents to work as Blogging Systems' Vice-President for Business Development and as Partner in newly-formed Nacht & Chaney Social Media Consulting. Along the way he managed to write a book - Reality Blogging Book too. Paul blogs at active rain.
Tips From The Diva Bag: The Verticals Get It - Using Social Media In B2B
From Paul Chaney
The Verticals Get It - Using Social Media In B2B
- 1. Blog about what you know relative to the industry. There will come a point in time when you will reach the limit of your own knowledge. When that happens, reference tip #2.
- 2. Read other industry-relevant blogs. The easiest way to do this is to subscribe to RSS feeds.
- 3. Keyword-optimized posts written on a regular basis (minimum 3-5 times per week) will give you your best chance of increasing your presence in SERPs as well as establishing your credibility within the industry.
From C.B. Whittemore
- It's a slow build. Be steady, consistent and don't lose your focus.
- Connect the new with the old to help demonstrate the value of the medium and the information available there.
- Be contagious when you blog and when you explain what social media is/how to use it.
- It's about sharing your passion!
Next week, July 31 - Diva Marketing Talks Analytics with Marianne Richmond, Resonance Partnership and Peter Kim, Forrester Research.
Update: Diva Talks podcast is up on Blogtalkradio. CB and Paul were awesome. A warm welcome to our first caller, Ines Hegedus-Garcia from Miamism.
Jul 17, 2007
Diva Marketing Talks - a 30-minute tapa bite of fun and information about social media.
Toss of a pink boa to Jeneane Sessum - Allied and Wayne Hurlbert, Blog Business World Blog Business Success BlogTalkRadio for guest hosting <
wondered if he would respond. He did indeed .. within minutes (!) providing me with his off Twitter email so we could continue the conversation without the 140 character limitation.
