Twittory stories. 140 middle school students from around the world are writing a story on Twitter. Each student writes a line. Innovative use of micro blogging that teaches creative writing, about different cultures and perhaps a few students will make a new friend or two. I remember doing something similar at camp and as a theatre exercise. It was great fun to see how the story would unfold. Girlfriend I think this is ultra cool .. I wonder what writers like Nettie Hartstock and Peggy Payne and Beth Kepart have to say.
In the depths of New York City, on top of the Empire State Building, a creature rested. That creature was me.
As I feel my life slipping away from me, I can barely remember a time when I was happy. I remember my friends and family. Like a dream.
I feel like I'm totaly lost. It's like I'm in a scary movie. I can't even see because it's so foggy. What am I going to do? Where can I go?
Maybe I'll slowly creep away tonight, while the city sleeps, and make my way back to the depths of the ocean. A place I call home.
As I start down, I can still see movement in the city. So I creep lightly through dark alleys so nobody can see me. Suddenly,
I see a light turn on in a window. My eyes lock with a young woman holding a baby. She screams and I start to run.
Heard it on Twitter (of course!)from Cameron Reilly, GDay World and The Podcast Network. Seems Cameron came up with the original idea. Toss of a pink boa to the guy down under and to George Mayo the teacher who is coordinating the project. Alison Stewart, NPR picked up the story.
Perhaps the next Age of Conversation book .. the book that was written by 103 bloggers from all over the world .. will be created via micro blogging (winks to Drew and Gavin and the mahvolus authors!)
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!
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??
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.
This little video is brilliant at getting to the heart of why it just makes good business sense for marketers to pay attention to the new conversations. The story shows what is really the heart of the new conversation.
The surprise for some might be the heart of the new conversation is what good marketers have always know.It's all about your customer's needs. However, in 2007, those needs are not the same as in 1997 or even 2003.
Greer Geert (sorry!), Bring Back The Love, graciously shares the behind the scenes of how and why the video was produced along with lessons learned. More back story at Bad Idea, indeed. Microsoft was behind this one. I'm thinking that GreerGeert just might be the next "Robert Scoble" for the Big M.
By the way, did I ever tell you I hated technology? Well I do. Not because of the changes it brings .. it's just not my thing. BUT I love the results technology can bring. So if you are not a geek, like me, think end game results. Those results are what excites me.
Technology End Game Results >Would you like to talk directly to your customers? Try a blog. >Would you like to create little movies that people can watch anywhere and anytime? Create a series of vlogs. >Would you like to bring together lots of your customers in one place where they can have fun learning from each other? Build a mash-up community. >Would you like to create mobile groups giving people on the move a way to interact with each other? Use Twitter.
In the meantime, important conversations about your brand, customers, employees and competitors continue to whirl. Why would you not want to be a part? Divas and divos .. it's just good business sense to listen in and join in. Keep top of mind - the heart of the new conversation is about your customer's needs. Jump in. The water's fine.
Pinkie Promise!
My heart
goes out to Virginia Tech's extended family .. students, parents, facility, staff and beyond.
There will be many who analyze the situation and review the hows and whys and what shouldas. In her post, Virginia Tech: Social Media in Crisis Planning, Marianne Richmond takes a different view. Based on how students in the year 2007 communicate ..
Students at Virginia Tech used mobile phones, digital cameras, social networks such as Flickr, Facebook and MySpace, blogs and video to communicate with each other and to document the tragedy in real time.
Marianne offers a simple but brilliant solution that every school should include in their crisis management strategy: Twitter. Create Twitter groups to relay important information during disasters.
Sidebar: Twitter is a mobile text messaging systems that allows groups to be formed without regard to provider. The history of the content is retained on a web page which can be public or private.
If I were a betting kinda diva, I'd say that the majority of college
students have cell phones. Those who don't have cells phones would learn about the
situation through friends, as well as from the buzz happening on campus. Faster, more effiecient than email or blog posts.
Last week I spoke at the Center for Disease Control and Preventaion about promoting public health through blogging. After the panel discussion some of the CDC's EMarekting team and I explored how Twitter could be used as a crisis communication tool. They immediately saw application in using this type of simple technology in remote areas during a disaster or disease out break. Overlay Google Maps and you have a visual Free alert system.
Crisis management in the year 2007 and beyond must incorporate processes and systems that reach people in ways in which they communcate. And then make it easy for those who have the information to extend it to those who do not. What would have been the result if Virginia Tech had a Twitter Group in place this week?
I encourage, no I challenge marketers involved in healthcare, education and the non profit sectors to step out of your comfort zone and present these types of new solutions to your clients. Not only will you appear innovative but you may just help to save lives.
Divas and Divos here's one for your social media scrapbook .. an Ad For A Blog!
The Sunday New York Times - January 7, 2007. The first half-page ad I've seen for a blog. The Carpetbagger. Not a product or service with a supporting blog but for the blog itself. Granted it's an ad in the NYT for a NYT property but still.
Diva Marketing's One 2007 Prediction: Watch for more mainstream media ads promoting social media: blogs, vlogs, podcasts, Second Life etc. etc. etc.
Couldn't scan the entire page in one graphic so here it is in pieces top and bottom. Sorry for the page cut off.
Oh .. and what is the focus of The Carpetbagger blog? It's a seasonal blog that covers all things Oscar authored by David Carr, a culture reporter and media columnist at the NYT.
On my way back from Boston yesterday I picked up a copy of Time at Logan Airport. After playing with the Mylar cover and hoping that the Person Of The Year 2006 .. which is me - you - and everyone else who has access to the Big WWW .. didn't really belong in a carnival sideshow, I jumped into Richard Stengel's (managing editor)To Our Reader's column. It was my first of several hints that Time's understanding of social media is more like the acts under the big top than walking the midway with the people.
Now don't get me wrong, I appreciate the visibility lift that Time has given social media. However, in taking a closer look at the Time Person of The Year issue, I'm not sure that Time gets it.
It's the little things that make the difference. Girlfriend, first I want to know why
Richard Stengel's Mylar image was not blurred or disorted like mine or yours but looked like a professional photo. Oh .. perhaps because it was not a Mylar image but it was an air brushed professionally shot photograph. Very un bloggy.
Stengel wrote, "Journalists once had the exclusive power of taking people to places they'd never been." Hmm .. my kindergarten teacher told me that books would do that .. perhaps I was too busy coloring .. I don't recall mention of journalists or reporters having exclusivity on that concept. Very un bloggy.
Time dedicated over 30 pages to 2006Person Of The Year. Cool. Lots of great stories about people who are using technologies to tell the world about their lives. However, what I found even more interesting was that the Person Of The Year - YOU - didn't spill over into Time's stories like People Who Mattered or Farewell or 10 Best Movies, Books, TVShows, Albums, Sports Moments. So okay perhaps YouTube videos don't make it as a real flicks and social mediaauthors are not really important enough to be part of the 10 Best and no YOU people mattered enough to be sung Farewell to ..
That was my last tip off that Time didn't get it. There was no integration. Rather it was like a carnival show with YOU as part of the side show and THEM as the main acts under the big top. Oh well, as Time's last story, Andy Was Right, reinforced. It's an Andy Warhol 15-minute of fame world .. and YOU now have had yours. Collectively YOU might be important but not too many of YOU will cross over into Time's People Who Matter.
But don't fret .. in addition to some interestingblogposts about the You as the Time Person of the Year, it's great for the late night comedians. And there's always 2007 for Time to get it.
In Part II of Diva Marketing's interview with Bob Prosen author of
Kiss Theory Good Bye Bob offers marketers two keys on How To Rub Shoulders With the CXO’s, Five Positive Habits That Get Companies Places Fast and more. (Part I of Diva Marketing's interview with Bob Prosen)
2 Free Kiss Theory Good Bye books to Diva's readers.
Before you get into part II, Bob has generouslyoffered 2 Free Kiss Theory Good Bye books to Diva's readers. The first 2 people to drop a comment on this post and request the book will find themselves with quite an interesting read.
Toby/Diva Marketing - I believe
it was President Truman who said, “The buck stops here.” However, how
involved should employees be in developing processes and in decision
marking?
Bob Prosen - Yes, the buck stops
with the leader. But every decision shouldn’t end up on the leaders
desk. It’s important to remember that the higher up you go in an
organization the fewer decisions you should be make.However, the
magnitude of those decisions is far greater. For this to work others
within the organization must take responsibility for day-to-day
decisions or the organization will become stymied, slow to act and less
competitive.
When it comes to developing processes, I use the following
rule of thumb: Managers work on the process and employees work in the
process. Meaning, managers are responsible for approving processes that
employees help design. Because process changes generally require
reallocation of resources, its management’s responsibility to approve
such changes since they control the budget.
Marketing Toby/Diva Marketing
- I found Kiss Theory Good Bye to be very insightful. The book
addresses leadership, sales, finance and operations and customer
loyalty. However, strategic marketing seems to be relegated to a
step-child role. In fact, one example even placed the responsibility of
developing the product mix in the hands of the financial team.
“The
products with the smaller margins were being sold to make quota. The
solution recommended by finance was to change the sales incentive plan
to encourage the sale of the higher-margin products.” Page 88
The
decision to sell higher-margin items did not appear to take into
account, the market or customer dynamics. Perhaps the lower-margin
products were loss leaders that led to the sale of higher margin items.
Perhaps the lower-margin products were a strategy to enter a new
market. Perhaps the lower-margin products were the glue of a customer
loyalty strategy.
That is not to say, that sales and marketing
should not be ROI-based or accountable. However, it appears that this
was a short-term fix to what might be a more complex situation. It
also seemed that the organization was comprised of tightly held silos
if the marketing team wasn’t brought into the discussion. Perhaps the
conversations should have begun with marketing and included finance.
That said, where do you see strategic marketing in the c-level suite?
Bob Prosen
- Toby, I agree with you that today most companies do relegate
marketing to a step-child role which is very unfortunate. Often times
marketing is like a diamond in the rough and will only show its
brilliance when the CEO respects the ROI it delivers. So for any
marketer who wants to rub shoulders with the CXO’s here are the two
keys:
First - Marketing must understand and communicate in the
language of business leaders, this includes knowing how their programs
impact earnings, cash flow, ROI and NVP. If not, marketing will be
underutilized and viewed strictly as a discretionary expense that is
continuously targeted for budget cuts.
Second, make sure your
best friend in the company is the head of Sales, because he or she is
always seated at the planning table. Here’s how it should work. When
sales is asked to commit to the top line they should agree only if the
required marketing plans are approved. A tight relationship with sales
makes marketing invaluable.
Smaller companies rarely have to
deal with this because they don’t have a dedicated marketing
department. Instead, the CEO and head of sales take on the
responsibility with accounting in the background keeping score.
Toby,
your question is spot on! I recently delivered a keynote presentation
at a Business Marketing Association conference on this very subject –
What Top CEO’s Expect From marketing. It’s a hard-hitting presentation
packed with specific actions that, when employed, will dramatically
enhance the power of marketing.
Getting Places Fast Toby/Diva Marketing - To wrap up our interview, you describe five crippling habits that get companies no where fast: 1. Absence of clear direction 2. Lack of accountability 3. Rationalizing inferior performance 4. Planning in lieu of action 5. Aversion to risk and change
Can you give Diva Marketing readers Five Positive Habits That Get Companies Places Fast?
Bob Prosen - 1. Hire people smarter than yourself 2. Deliver on commitments 3. Develop an accountability based culture 4. Under promise and over deliver 5. Reward results not activities
Toby/Diva Marketing - Looking in
your crystal ball, would you share your thoughts with Diva’s readers
about the challenges and opportunities you see in store for the next
generation of businesses and business leaders?
Bob Prosen
- We’re entering that next generation as we speak. One of the biggest
challenges is information overload and how do you stand out given the
unbridled accessibility to the customer and all of the social and Web
2.0 bombardment they are subject to.
What will separate the
winners from the losers is the ability to use this technology in such a
way that future clients want to hear from you.
The other
challenge is the changing work ethic of the Generation Y employee who
demands a balanced life. Winners will have created an environment where
employees are encouraged to “kiss theory good bye and kiss their life
hello” thereby attracting and retaining top talent.
The answer is creating the right work environment combined with state of the art technology that enables this life balance.
Last week I had the honor to speak at one of the best bloggy conferences around. The 17th Annual Compete Through Service Symposium presented by the Center for Services Leadership W. P. Carey School of Business at the University of Arizona. The focus of the symposium was service as a competitive advantage.
Girlfriend, I can hear the bloggers now. "That doesn't sound like a Web 2.0 or Business Blog Conference or even a BlogHer event." And they would be right. It was not. But the Service Symposium was just as bloggy. Maybe more so because the speakers that Steve Brown and Mary Jo Bitner brought together walked the talk of combining transparency, culture, customer and employee respect into their organizations. Sure sounded bloggy to me.
Sidebar: The icing on the cake was an article written about my session, Is your company ready to blog?, that is included in the prestigious Knowledge@W. P Carey, an online resource of the W.P. Carey School of Business that offers business information and trends. My favorite line from Carrie Barrett's article -
" .. (a) well-executed business blog is part marketing, part magic -- a 24-hour opportunity to interact with customers, impress Wall Street, spark business-to-business opportunities, track industry trends, spot brand deterioration and spook competitors, all maintained at a low-rent cyber address.
I intended to post a recap of my favorite take aways, however, there were so many interesting and important points I wanted to share, to make an easier read, I've split them into a series of posts. Next year live blogging. Right Steve?
Globalization of Services Gary Bridge, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Global Lead, Internet Business Solutions Group Cisco Systems
My notes to self about Gary read, "Elegant, passionate speaker."
Watch the growth of China. Did you know that Wal-Mart is the 8th largest trading partner of China?
Dell is building a multi million dollar call center in Ireland to support customer service of its mid and large size customers. Seems there was a culture challenge with their outsourced labor (surprise!). Which reinforces the importance of understanding the culture of both/all countries involved in off shore out sourced initiatives.
The healthcare industry is off shore out sourcing claims management and even radiology analysis
Question: Can service innovation be out sourced?
Atul Vashistha, CEO, Author of The Offshore Nation: Strategies for Success in Global Outsourcing and Offshoring neoIT
"Boarderless services" is how Atul positioned the increase in off shore outsourcing. As companies look for competitive advantage off shore out sourcing of core activities will play a more prominent role in the new business model.
7 Secrets of Successful Globalizers
1. Embrace globalization - Understand the advantages of operating in different countries beyond cost saving to growth and quality improvement opportunities.
2. Welcome globalization as a transformation lever - Determine how can globalization be used to build competitive advantage.
3. Adopt a life cycle approach - Build a plan to manage the entire process on an on-going basis.
4. Align business and globalization objectives - Determine if your company is right to adopt a globalization strategy. Is business strategy driving services globalization? What part of the business strategy does globalization help us execute?
5. Assign the best people - Strong, well-placed internal leaders help ensure support of the initiative and maintain the quality.
6. Implement a strong governance model - Prevents the breakdown of the initiative after the roll out.
7. Embrace a continuous improvement mindset - Develop measures to establish benchmarks, goals and expectations.
Seems everyone I meet has at least one horror customer service story
about off shore customer/tech support service. Let's hope companies put
resources against this strategy to do it right.
The quote, from a recent study conducted by Northeastern University/Backbone Media Blogging Success Study, is near and dear to my heart. The research validates what I've been talking about and have believed since waaay back in 2004 .. Her passion for blogging is as a marketing tactic. This revealed a different perspective from that of most bloggers we asked." "Naked Conversations - Consultants Who Get It" by Shel Israel & Robert Scoble.
Blogs/social media can be used as a credible marketing strategy
To be successful blogs must incorporate a strategic direction
Within a very short time .. less than 2-years .. the website with the odd little name - "Weblog," better known as "Blog" is becoming a sophisticated, marketing strategy with multiple aspects.
Four Aspects of Business Blogging
Authoring a business/marketing blog
Using blogs as an external promotional tactic
Monitoring blogs as a research tactic
Reading blogs to gain professional development knowledge
Should your organization include a blog strategy? If you're considering stepping into social media I would ask you to answer just two little questions to determine if you're ready to jump into authoring a corporate blog
One: Can your organization support the open, conversational, transparent culture of blogging?
Two: Will blogs help solve a business challenge or support your overall marketing strategy?
If the answers to Both are Yes.. you have a good chance to succeed. If either one isNo .. the timing is not right .. yet.
Don't be discouraged or feel badly. Social media is a huge paradigm switch in business attitude. It can be a challenge, and leap of faith, for some people to accept that business as usual is changing. In a world of easy online publishing (blogs, podcasts, vlogs) the marketer's job has morphed from tightly controlling the brand messaging to managing the brand message. Your company will get it .. sooner or later. If not, Girlfriend, you might want to consider creating a living bio blog <wink>.
However, while you're working on internal issues you can begin to participate in the conversation by reading blogs and monitoring the blogosphere for customer buzz about your brands and for industry trends. When you feel comfortable drop a comment on a blog and see where it takes you. Ta da! You are now an active participate in the exciting world wide discussion. Your opinion is part of the the biggest knowledge base ever invented .. the world wide web. But no time to sip an appletini - tho a quick bite of chocolate might be in order to celebrate. There are more blogs to read and more comments to write.
What determines the reasons, conditions
and factors that make a blog successful? What criteria should organizations use to assess whether and how they should engage in
blogging?
These were the objectives in the Blogging Success Study released Nov 2, 2006 by Dr. Walter Carl, the students in his Advanced Organizational Communications class (Spring 2006) at Northeastern University and John Cass and his colleagues at Backbone Media, Inc.
Toss of a pink boa to Dr. Carl and John Cass for providing the research and the background interviews. Not only is this an great start for businesses to begin to understand how to do blogs right but the interview transcripts provide an in-depth look at the lessons learned from the participants who were early adopters to business blogging. Interesting note: the research/findings reportare posted on a blog with each section as a unique post. Comments are open on all posts. You rock!
Blog Brags: My dear friend and client Donna Lynes-Miller, GourmetStation was included in the study. Donna continues to do innovative work in this space. Delicious Destinations includes a series of guest bloggers: an English butler, a Tuscan B&B owner, a wine consultant and a customer who share their experiences about food, travel, wine and the good life.
Bottom-line .. without a strategic approach and integration into your overall marketing plan a blog is a me too play toy. Which is fine if all you want is to be cool at cocktail parties.
Sidebar: The graphic is a cartoon that was made for my mom and dad's marketing research biz - Ellington Surveys. As you can tell fashions have changed as has the market research industry.
Friday Fun is Diva Marketing's
virtual happy hour from cosmos to Jack to lemonade. A waiting for the
weekend 'playground' time to be sophisticated-silly. Or sometimes just
plain silly.
Never know what might inspire a Friday Fun post. Today's Friday Fun is complements of of Wendy, a grad student at
Florida International University. Wendy is studying finance and did her
undergrad work at the University of Texas.
Last week I received an email with the subject line - Cool Story for your blog.
Bloggers frequently receive PR pitches for new products but this email wasn't
slick. It seemed real to me.
I'm a big fan of your blog....I just came back from this cool place in Miami which is also opening up in Gainesville and Atlanta later this
year its called The Cereal Bowl.
However, I shot Wendy an email asking if she was affiliated with the company or an agency. I can only imagine what ran through Wendy's mind as she ready those questions. She emailed back that she was a student and just thought I'd find this new restaurant fun.
We thought it would be cool if Wendy wrote a review. So Divas and Divos, for your reading pleasure, -drum roll - here is Wendy's first blog post, Diva Marketing Blog's first restaurant review and first guest blog author! Sidebar: I think Wendy shot the photos and if you look very closely you can see a reflection of her taking the outdoor shot.
Cereal Is Not Just For Saturday Morning Cartoons By Diva Wendy, Favorite Cereal: General Mills Trix
After first reading about The Cereal Bowl I was skeptical about the idea of paying to eat cereal outside of the home. My friends finally dragged me down there and the place was nothing like I had envisioned it.
It really was like a Coldstone for cereals. All of the cereal and topping options that could make you head spin. One of the things that really surprised me was how extensive their menu was. It wasn't just cereal like you would find it in a bowl but they had come up with lots of creative ways that I never thought you could do cereal.
My favorite however was the Freeze 'N Flakes which was a machine that blended cereals into a soft serve ice cream to make it take on the flavor of the cereal. As far as the atmosphere goes think ok a funky Starbucks that is cool enough for college kids but not to stuffy where it would turn off families. Overall my experience was pleasantly surprising and I can't wait to go back.
Happy Friday Diva babes…. Are you all still buzzing from the full moon eclipse last night?
If your friends and coworkers seem off center and emotional well that is the norm for now. This weekend we have Mars moving into Libra and the moon in Aries, the question is how can we get what we want but still be fair? Or do we really need to make compromises to be able to get our desires met?
Business should be running at full speed next week, stay focused on your top priorities. With the moon in Gemini and Saturn moving at a good clip the tendency to be scattered with too many projects and too little time is a major problem.
It's no secret that it's a tough job breaking thru the clutter of messaging and into the hearts and minds of your target audience. Seems any blank space where there are a few eyeballs is fair game .. from ads on
airplane napkins to ads on grocery store conveyor belts to video ads on golf carts. Girlfriend, believe it or not, the City of Atlanta was even considering beaming ads off the moon during the 1996 Olympic Games.
Taking a bit of a leap .. here's a twist to the ad game. Justin Gignac, creative director of the Toy Agency, is helping the NYC Sanitation Department by picking up trash. It's not just a good samaritan thing .. he's turning it into art and selling it for real $. He estimated he's pulled in between $10k - $15k.
Why NYC Garbage Art? It was an experiment in the influence of packaging. As any good marketer knows it's all in the packaging .
""Someone said packaging wasn't that important, and I disagreed," he said. I figured the only way to test that theory was to package something that nobody would ever want. If you could get someone to buy it, you would know the package design was successful."
Can you brand garbage? Justin Gignanc thinks you can. His next project is in location garbage art from around baseball stadiums. Justin got lucky with the url for his website nycgarbage.com. How about a NYC Garbage Blog?
Taking a bit of a leap .. will garbarge be the next ad fad? There are a few folks like Hugh, Gaping Void, and BL, whatsnextblog, who might say it's not a future fad it's here now.
I love bloggers. Really I do. Even those A-list bloggers who pretend that they are not..don't want to be and are stepping down from their A-list bloggy towers. Even those bloggers who sometimes get on a rant and want to 'save the blogosphere' from itself. Even the geek bloggers and the mommy bloggers. And of course the seniors like Millie and Ronnie.
Why do I love bloggers? Most. Most. Most. Bloggers are ... curious people who are in a continuous learning mode. They like to push the envelope. They're brave about sharing themselves and their ideas. They're friendly, generous and kind. And they love to talk about blogging! (My non bloggy friends will only let me talk blogs for seconds. Except Max of course, who listens most of the time. Tho I think that's because he knows he'll end up with doggy chocolate kisses!). Sidebar: Don't tell me about the bloggers who are mean, closed minded and evil. I know all that. Read the first words above Most. Most. Most.
For the students at Bentley College who might ask, "What does this have to do with marketing?" It's part of the networking game babes. It's all about the Corner Grocery Store relationship. It's all about the conversation. If I like you and you like me we're more likely to do business together, pass along referals, serve as a resouce. Call it Web 2.0 Networking or any thing you like ... Read Scott's, Pothole on the Infobahn, Top Ten Questions on Web 2.0 very funny.
Read Carol's, Driving in Traffic's take on the Atlanta Biz Blog dinner at Grape at the Forum. And the generous post by Josh at hyku (Josh has links to all) and the Diva Potato Chip Girl who brought along a cute non bloggy friend to dinner because she didn't know that bloggers would totally love her - even without samples of Potato Finger Chips! Jory, Lisa and Elisa ... I see an Atlanta BlogHer contingency in our future.
Toss of a pink boa to Teresa & Josh thanks for pulling this together!
This is networking the "C-Generation" style. Divas & Divos, it's buzz word time .. taking a drink of the Kool Aid .. throw in some gin or vodka or tequila if you must.
C - Generation: People who create and consume their own content while creating community.
Oh, one more reason to love bloggers...most bloggers...they're just fun!
A fav blogging divo, Michael Bawden - Much Ado About Marketing is running a series on the value of marketing research. How I wish Michael had been in the room with me today when a client said, "Why do we need to spend the money on the research? We know what our customers want." <grr!> Interestingly, it was the VP of Ops who convenienced the guy that what he thought he knew about his customers might just not be the reality of the situation.
The marketing research profession is entering an exciting (and some may find frightening) phase in its development of data collection and analysis. The field (literally!) has gone from (when my dad Lou Bloomberg, was in the biz) asking questions in door-to-door interviewing to listening to virtual conversations. Granted, the use of consumer generated media as a credible research tool is in its infancy (researchers move slowly...look how long it took for firms to embrace online research); however, consumer generated media is too rich to overlook. Some companies are beginning to explore CGM (consumer generated media) as a supplement to traditional research for information about:
Brand buzz -who.what.where
Competitive intelligence
Product development and improvement
Pre launch buzz
Early warning crisis management
Advertising effectiveness
Voice of the customer
I understand that Chrysler is using CGM to track trends. They've gone from mining data at a high level - sensibilities about specific models to a more granular level of information about features and attributes. The next step is better understanding the influencers and how the information flows.
Marketing research professionals are challenged to:
Incorporate CGM information into the findings from traditional methodologies
Develop a standard of credibility that is acceptable by practitioners and, I should also add, academics
Understand what is white noise and what is significant information without sanitizing the data
Here's one to ponder...courtesy of divo market researcher, Greg Rathjen - Marketecture, from Gregory Batson -
Information is any difference that makes a difference.
AOL/Roper Hispanic Cyberstudy 2005 was in the goodie bags at the AiMA Hispanic event that took place last week. You might be surprised to learn Hispanics are coming online quickly. However, although there are significant opportunities to tap this market, keep top of mind, it is comprised of multiple niches - each with their own concerns, needs and challenges. That said there are some points that run across all niches.
Almost half (44%) of the adult Hispanic population has access to the internet at home. The study shows that Hispanics are in search of communities that reflect their lifestyles, issues and concerns. The recurring dominate theme is improvement, self-improvement - and making a better life for their kids.
Key Findings From The AOL/Roper Hispanic Cyberstudy 2005 Research
Empowering Trends -Give their children advantages and in turn be "good" parents -Communicate with others, not only by email, but even more so than the General Online Population, via chat rooms and online bulletin boards. -Be smart consumers, educating them about products and services they didn't know about before. -Find entertainment - music, video clips, movies
Entertainment and Movies -Online Hispanics rely on the internet for entertainment information far more than the general online market, preferring it to other media for the breadth and depth of information provided and its 24/7 availability -Online Hispanics are powerful word of mouth agents for the movies - more than twice as likely as others to chat about movies online and to send links to others.
Consumer Products -The online Hispanic population is very positive about the internet as a source of consumer information. As a group they find the internet a convenient, accessible and high quality resource for information for their household goods. -Online Hispanics depend on the internet to be more educated consumers. In fact, online information influences off-line purchasing. Four in ten print out online information to bring to the stores.
Biz Blog Profile is a behind the scene look at how corporations, non profts and higher education institutes are using blogs to support their marketing goals.
Gary Petersen, Project Manager, for Diversified Businesses, Maytag Corporation, has a job sports lovers and bloggers might envy. He blogs for one of Maytag Corporation's most innovative products - SkyBox Vendor. SkyBox, a personal drink vendor, positioned as a the ultimate trophy for the
serious sports fan perfect for a “ManCave.”
And the work Gary is doing with the blog is pretty creative too! Recently the SkyBox(tm) By Maytag (tm) Blog strategy was honored with two Pubic Relations Society of America awards. The Iowa Chapter presented Maytag Corporation with their PRIME award in the Integrated Communications Campaign category. Minnesota Chapter of PRSA's Classic Award was for excellence in the New Media/Technology category.
Sidebar: Nice to see weblog strategies beginning to be acknowledged in mainstream marketing awards programs!
Maytag Corporation is a $4.8 billion home and commercial appliance company focused in North America and in targeted international markets. The corporation's primary brands are Maytag(R), Hoover(R), Jenn-Air(R),Amana(R), Dixie-Narco(R) and Jade(R).
The Diversified Businesses group is a small segment of Maytag Corporation focused on non-core products. The group's primary products are the SkyBox TM by Maytag TM personal beverage vendor, SkyBox TM Rookie TM Fridge, Jenn-Air TM Attrezzi TM Blender, Stand Mixer, and Toaster, and Maytag TM Cordless Irons.
Why Matag Corporation Is Blogging via SkyBox (tm) By Maytag (tm) Blog
The Diversified Businesses group was created with the directive to do things different. The SkyBox vendor and Rookie Fridge are different than any other products at Maytag. Their very nature is about being a topic of conversation in someone's home. Kind of a "Hey! Look what I've
got!" reaction.
The weblog is a great way to get in on that conversation.
It lets us talk with people who find our products fun and interesting. The weblog is also an ongoing project. We can change it every day by writing new things, so we keep the conversation going. And we can do it without making a huge investment.
How Blogs Fit Into Maytag Corporation's Marketing Strategy
For some of our products, perhaps even most of them, weblogs don't fit at all well with our marketing strategy. The SkyBox vendor and Rookie Fridge are different though. We really tried to develop them as cool, gotta-get-me-one-of-those gadgets.
Talking about them (and the things
that our customers like to do) fits well in a weblog format. You can do things different when you can extend a conversation past a print ad or a television commercial and we've been trying different things on the weblog. Selling-in To Management
Our team's leadership was involved in the discussion we had one afternoon about possibly starting one up, so we decided to try it out on the spot.
I had been writing a personal weblog for a couple of years, so I volunteered. I added a separate page to my personal webspace that night and wrote a few test articles. Our team took at look at them the next day and decided
this was something that could work out, so went forward with it.
Primarily through a link on the main SkyBox vendor and Rookie Fridge web page.
We've also done some search engine optimization work to help people find our website and weblog.
Other than that, I watch for people writing about our products so I link to them from our weblog and comment on their weblogs, where appropriate. I have about thirty searches set up for various keywords,
like Maytag, SkyBox, Rookie, and the like. I watch for hits through PubSub, Feedster, Bloglines, and Technorati, as well as a few Google News and Yahoo News searches. All of them are fed into my RSS news reader. All told,
there are probably 150-200 hits per day and reading them generally takes no more than 15 minutes a day.
Lessons Learned
A product support weblog absolutely will not work if it is simply a place to post traditional marketing information, like press releases. A weblog is only useful if it enables your customers to talk with you in a way they couldn't do otherwise. That takes a bit of time and it needs to be driven by someone who is willing to commit that time to make it work.
Future Direction
We're trying some new things on the weblog, like asking our customers to send in pictures of their SkyBox vendors and Rookie Fridges "in
action" as they have them set up in their homes.
We're also looking for new ways to tie into the events that our customers like to participate in. For example, I had an idea to host a March Madness basketball tournament bracket contest in which people would submit a bracket on the weblog to win one of our products after the tournament is over. Unfortunately, I didn't think about it until watching the brackets being announced, so we didn't do anything with it for this year.
Basically, we're looking for ways to get people who aren't yet our customers to take a look at our products and ways to get people who are our customers to have fun using them.
Gary Petersen On Blogs
Writing a corporate weblog is work, but it is certainly fun work. Shot, I get to write on a weblog as part of my job. How cool is that? Everyone should find a way to do this!
The innovative folks at TBS interactive marketing are using a double-edge blog strategy to promote Sex and the City. A blog and ads on blogs. One might say that TBS has created an integrated blog campaign.
Strategy: Vote Carrie Adverblog - Carrie Bradshaw is running for president on the new Cosmopolitan Party ticket. Like all savvy politicians Candidate Carrie has a blog - votecarrie.org complete with interactive polls, survey results and of course Candidate Carrie’s platform. It's all in the details...note the ".org" extension.
Yeah...it’s a “fake blog” but unlike other fake blogs e.g., Dr. Pepper's Raging Cow blog, Vote Carrie doesn’t pretend to be more than it is…a lighthearted play on politics with a goal of promoting the TV series.
The entire campaign is fun, interactive, supports the brand and is so Carrie! I had to find out the story behind the strategy. Richard Turner, Director Interactive Marketing for the Superstation, kindly and generously provided a behind the scene explanation along with a few insights about the campaign.
Vote Carrie Marketing Strategy
"All of our interactive efforts are designed to convert passive viewers into active participants and, eventually, active viewers." Richard Turner, TBS Director Interactive Marketing.
What were the goals/objectives?
Primary goal for all of interactive and promotional efforts is to drive ratings; the following is a sub-set of this overarching goal:
-To increase consumer awareness of Sex and the City on TBS by capitalizing on topicality of election and popularity of blogs
-To 'live' our brand w
Twittory stories. 140 middle school students from around the world are writing a story on Twitter. Each student writes a line. Innovative use of micro blogging that teaches creative writing, about different cultures and perhaps a few students will make a new friend or two. I remember doing something similar at camp and as a theatre exercise. It was great fun to see how the story would unfold. Girlfriend I think this is ultra cool .. I wonder what writers like Nettie Hartstock and Peggy Payne and Beth Kepart have to say.
Toss of a pink boa to the guy down under and to George Mayo the teacher who is coordinating the project. Alison Stewart, NPR picked up the story.
