In a new “Rise of the Empowered Consumer” report, WPP’s MediaCom advises using authenticity in messaging and employing a “device-neutral” strategy when trying to reach consumers who have more control than ever, thanks to technology. MediaCom suggests capitalizing on social media and online conversation to engage in a “two-way dialogue honestly and promptly” with consumers. Still, the agency says while taking into account both positive and negative feedback about products or brands, “don’t promise things that you can’t deliver.” That would seem to be a cautionary rule for social media managers at companies that run Twitter and Facebook pages and answer customer inquiries. MediaCom also urges marketers to break away from channel planning and veer more into message planning. “Too many brands are thinking too narrowly in their advertising and only using certain channels to reach certain audiences,” the agency wrote. “Think more about what kinds of messages -- audio, video, text or image -- you want to deliver rather than the channels you want to deliver them on.” MediaCom also reminds advertisers not to forget to be circumspect and timely when delivering messages. Don’t “bombard” consumers -- take pains to target individually. The agency offers the rather intuitive example of how nonsensical it would be to pitch a new laptop to a consumer the week after purchase. Conversely, there could be potential in coupons or even contact from a customer service representative. Consumers will be open about sharing data so long as they feel a marketer is respecting their willingness to share, and the exchange can benefit them, MediaCom says. MediaCom emphasizes the importance of advertisers vigorously embracing the mobile platform. It suggests building a dedicated mobile site and trying to bounce consumers from traditional advertising to the more engaging mobile arena, such as placing a QR code on an ad.
Nissan has launched a social media campaign that lets consumers help design the Nissan 370Z sports car. The program, called "Project 370Z," is focused on the Chicago Auto Show, where Nissan is unveiling the 2013 version of the famed Z-car. The company says the goal is to crowd-source Z fanatics to find the best -- or perhaps most outrageous -- ideas for a one-off 370Z. The automaker says the Z will be customized from stem to stern, including interior, powertrain and NISMO aftermarket parts and accessories. The online kiosk for fan suggestions, and sideline cheering is at Nissan's enthusiast-centric Facebook page, facebook.com/nissanperformance. There, Z freaks can suggest and also vote on peoples' modification ideas, and watch. While automakers have been offering virtual modification platforms, usually in the form of virtual cars in virtual worlds that people can modify, this is unusual. Jon Brancheau, VP of marketing at Franklin, Tenn.-based Nissan North America, said that the Z-car is the right vehicle for this kind of program. "Car companies build project vehicles all the time, but we thought it'd be interesting to harness the power of social media to reach out to Z enthusiasts -- the people who are doing this to their own cars everyday," he said, in a statement. He said the company will take the finished car to Nissan Z club events nationwide. According to the automaker fan, likes, comments and wall posts will be reviewed over the course of each voting session and the part or accessory with the most fan support will be chosen for the build. Fans will decide on things like whether the car will have a turbocharger or supercharger, suspension and braking systems, paint, wheels, seats, interior design and on and on. Nissan says the final design will debut May 17 at the annual "Z DayZ" event along the "Tail of the Dragon" in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. The event has car shows, various competitions, and events, and group drives including one along the Dragon's Tail. Nissan says the Project 370Z car will also visit events like ZCON 2012 and the 2012 SEMA show. "We have never done something like this in the social space," says Josh Clifton, Nissan production communications social media manager. He tells Marketing Daily that the only thing that comes close is a program around the launch of the Juke crossover in 2010, where consumers could create exterior "skins" for the vehicle, with the winner getting the vehicle wrapped per his or her design. Clifton says the Z program involves 10 phases of customization. "Whatever gets the most aggregated votes will be in the car." The genesis of the idea came from Nissan's history of consumer comments around special-edition project cars. "Everyone always has suggestions. So we wanted to give people a chance to 'build' a Z themselves. Also we wanted to use social media to tie into the Chicago Show." Clifton says the car will be featured in Web video assets, and photos, and might find its way into ads.
Separate and apart from teens, most adults view the overall social and emotional climate of social networks in a positive light. In fact, 85% of social networking adults say that their experience on such sites is that people are mostly kind, according to new findings from The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. What’s more, 68% of social adults reported having an experience that made them feel good about themselves, while 61% had experiences that made them feel closer to another person. No word from Pew on how many adults reported positive (or negative) experiences with brands, but the fact that most people get good vibes from social networks could make marketers more comfortable with the medium. That said, notable proportions of social adults do report instances of bad behavior, and nearly a third have experienced some negative outcomes from their experiences on social networking sites. Some 49% of adult social networkers said they have seen mean or cruel behavior displayed by others at least occasionally, while 26% said they had experienced at least one of the bad outcomes that were queried in the survey. Still, as a rule, more adults than teens reported positive results with social media. As Pew reported last year, 41% of social teens had had a bad experiences, compared with 26% of adults. “When they see mean or aggressive behavior on social networking sites, adults are more likely than teens to ignore it and not get involved,” according to Lee Rainie, the Director of the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. Compared with teen users, social adults are somewhat more likely to stand back, not get involved, and ignore the offensive behavior. For instance, 45% of adult users who had witnessed problems said they frequently ignored offensive behavior online, compared with 35% of teens who said they frequently ignored offensive behavior. “There is special concern about the social and emotional tone that teenagers encounter on SNS, particularly in light of widespread news coverage of bullying and sexting,” Rainie added. Pew’s latest survey involved 2,260 adult respondents, and was conducted during the summer of 2011.
In a new “Rise of the Empowered Consumer” report, WPP’s MediaCom advises using authenticity in messaging and employing a “device-neutral” strategy when trying to reach consumers who have more control than ever, thanks to technology. MediaCom suggests capitalizing on social media and online conversation to engage in a “two-way dialogue honestly and promptly” with consumers. Still, the agency says while taking into account both positive and negative feedback about products or brands, “don’t promise things that you can’t deliver.” That would seem to be a cautionary rule for social media managers at companies that run Twitter and Facebook pages and answer customer inquiries. MediaCom also urges marketers to break away from channel planning and veer more into message planning. “Too many brands are thinking too narrowly in their advertising and only using certain channels to reach certain audiences,” the agency wrote. “Think more about what kinds of messages -- audio, video, text or image -- you want to deliver rather than the channels you want to deliver them on.” MediaCom also reminds advertisers not to forget to be circumspect and timely when delivering messages. Don’t “bombard” consumers -- take pains to target individually. The agency offers the rather intuitive example of how nonsensical it would be to pitch a new laptop to a consumer the week after purchase. Conversely, there could be potential in coupons or even contact from a customer service representative. Consumers will be open about sharing data so long as they feel a marketer is respecting their willingness to share, and the exchange can benefit them, MediaCom says. MediaCom emphasizes the importance of advertisers vigorously embracing the mobile platform. It suggests building a dedicated mobile site and trying to bounce consumers from traditional advertising to the more engaging mobile arena, such as placing a QR code on an ad.
Nissan has launched a social media campaign that lets consumers help design the Nissan 370Z sports car. The program, called "Project 370Z," is focused on the Chicago Auto Show, where Nissan is unveiling the 2013 version of the famed Z-car. The company says the goal is to crowd-source Z fanatics to find the best -- or perhaps most outrageous -- ideas for a one-off 370Z. The automaker says the Z will be customized from stem to stern, including interior, powertrain and NISMO aftermarket parts and accessories. The online kiosk for fan suggestions, and sideline cheering is at Nissan's enthusiast-centric Facebook page, facebook.com/nissanperformance. There, Z freaks can suggest and also vote on peoples' modification ideas, and watch. While automakers have been offering virtual modification platforms, usually in the form of virtual cars in virtual worlds that people can modify, this is unusual. Jon Brancheau, VP of marketing at Franklin, Tenn.-based Nissan North America, said that the Z-car is the right vehicle for this kind of program. "Car companies build project vehicles all the time, but we thought it'd be interesting to harness the power of social media to reach out to Z enthusiasts -- the people who are doing this to their own cars everyday," he said, in a statement. He said the company will take the finished car to Nissan Z club events nationwide. According to the automaker fan, likes, comments and wall posts will be reviewed over the course of each voting session and the part or accessory with the most fan support will be chosen for the build. Fans will decide on things like whether the car will have a turbocharger or supercharger, suspension and braking systems, paint, wheels, seats, interior design and on and on. Nissan says the final design will debut May 17 at the annual "Z DayZ" event along the "Tail of the Dragon" in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. The event has car shows, various competitions, and events, and group drives including one along the Dragon's Tail. Nissan says the Project 370Z car will also visit events like ZCON 2012 and the 2012 SEMA show. "We have never done something like this in the social space," says Josh Clifton, Nissan production communications social media manager. He tells Marketing Daily that the only thing that comes close is a program around the launch of the Juke crossover in 2010, where consumers could create exterior "skins" for the vehicle, with the winner getting the vehicle wrapped per his or her design. Clifton says the Z program involves 10 phases of customization. "Whatever gets the most aggregated votes will be in the car." The genesis of the idea came from Nissan's history of consumer comments around special-edition project cars. "Everyone always has suggestions. So we wanted to give people a chance to 'build' a Z themselves. Also we wanted to use social media to tie into the Chicago Show." Clifton says the car will be featured in Web video assets, and photos, and might find its way into ads.
Separate and apart from teens, most adults view the overall social and emotional climate of social networks in a positive light. In fact, 85% of social networking adults say that their experience on such sites is that people are mostly kind, according to new findings from The Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. What’s more, 68% of social adults reported having an experience that made them feel good about themselves, while 61% had experiences that made them feel closer to another person. No word from Pew on how many adults reported positive (or negative) experiences with brands, but the fact that most people get good vibes from social networks could make marketers more comfortable with the medium. That said, notable proportions of social adults do report instances of bad behavior, and nearly a third have experienced some negative outcomes from their experiences on social networking sites. Some 49% of adult social networkers said they have seen mean or cruel behavior displayed by others at least occasionally, while 26% said they had experienced at least one of the bad outcomes that were queried in the survey. Still, as a rule, more adults than teens reported positive results with social media. As Pew reported last year, 41% of social teens had had a bad experiences, compared with 26% of adults. “When they see mean or aggressive behavior on social networking sites, adults are more likely than teens to ignore it and not get involved,” according to Lee Rainie, the Director of the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project. Compared with teen users, social adults are somewhat more likely to stand back, not get involved, and ignore the offensive behavior. For instance, 45% of adult users who had witnessed problems said they frequently ignored offensive behavior online, compared with 35% of teens who said they frequently ignored offensive behavior. “There is special concern about the social and emotional tone that teenagers encounter on SNS, particularly in light of widespread news coverage of bullying and sexting,” Rainie added. Pew’s latest survey involved 2,260 adult respondents, and was conducted during the summer of 2011.
In December, the FDA released the first of its long-awaited social media guidances. The collective response from industry was a shoulder shrug. So, where do we go from here? To appreciate how momentous this non-event was, we need to recount briefly the path we’ve taken. In March 2009, the FDA issued the infamous 14 letters to more than 40 brands for improper marketing via search engine paid advertising. In May 2009, the FDA released a draft guidance about presenting risk information. In more than 20 pages of discussion, there was no mention of search engine marketing or social media and only three brief mentions of websites. The guidance did have a section called “Considerations of Format.” But to the amazement of many, the FDA thought it was sufficient for that section to have only two subsections for Print and Non-Print Promotions, as if TV ads, mobile apps, websites, and social media could all be lumped under “Non-Print Promotions.” In September 2009, the FDA announced that it would hold hearings to learn more about the unique challenges associated with social media and the Internet. At those hearings, held in November, the FDA was told repeatedly by all interested parties that there was a need to clarify fundamental issues about how to present risk information in space limited contexts and other issues associated with social media. Following the hearings, the FDA began publicly announcing its intention to develop social media guidance and even included an item called “Promotion of Prescription Drug Products Using Social Media Tools” on its 2010 agenda of guidances being developed, though 2010 ended with nothing being released. In July 2011, the FDA released a guidance on the closely related topic of mobile apps and how they would be regulated. Then, in December, the FDA finally released its first social media guidance. The most important fact about the FDA’s first social media guidance is that it is not a social media guidance at all. Instead, the FDA issued a guidance about responding to requests for off-label information and included certain aspects of social media within that discussion. This is a major step forward in that the FDA is actually discussing the Internet and social media as part and parcel of its discussion of regulated communications, but it also represents a significantly scaled back expectation of what’s coming. All mention and discussion of a grand, all-encompassing social media guidance has disappeared. That item from the 2010 agenda has been removed. And although the 2012 guidance agenda has not yet been published, it is highly unlikely that a major statement on the use of social media as a whole will be added. Instead, we’re likely to see more of what we have seen—piecemeal, slow advances whose scope is limited. In this respect, one other development offers tantalizing prospects. In late January of this year, the FDA released a final guidance on the product name usage and prominence. That guidance had been in draft for 13 years. The final version included major revisions with direct impact for social media and other space-limited contexts. Perhaps the FDA is signaling via the inclusion of social media in discussion of issues relating to off-label marketing and its finalization of a draft more than a decade in waiting with implications for social media, that we will see more discussion in other finalized guidances. The most intriguing prospect in this regard is the 2009 draft guidance on presenting risk information mentioned earlier. The FDA does not release a schedule for releasing final versions of guidances, but it does not take a wild leap of the imagination to see in the offing a finalized guidance with a revised section on “Considerations of Format” that includes “Social Media and Other Space-limited Contexts” added.
Last week, some colleagues and I were discussing the research released about Pinterest and its staggering impact on retailers: Pinterest – which technically is still in closed, invitation-only beta -- drives more sales to retailers than YouTube, Google + and LinkedIn combined and is nearly equal to Twitter’s referral traffic. Pinterest’s growth has been incredible – with over 7 million unique visitors per month, consumers and brands are flocking to the virtual pin board to establish yet another touchpoint. What’s so hot about the latest social media darling? Pinterest has become one of the most popular social media sites for shoppers to visit before heading to a retailer’s website – and referral traffic to retailers rose 389% over six months. Retailers aren’t the only ones feeling the Pinterest love. Blogs are also seeing a huge lift in traffic. Pinterest is “reinvigorating the blog,” said Alexis Zimbalist, VP and Social Media Specialist at SkuLoop, which offers a series of webinars for brands and retailers about effective social media strategies. Zimbalist used the example of a mom blog that has received over 700,000 views for a recipe that became popular on Pinterest – the recipe garnered 77 Pins and had 0 Facebook Likes and only 5 Google + recommendations. How moms are using Pinterest: Women currently dominate Pinterest making up nearly 70% of their active users. Moms are using Pinterest in a variety of ways to organize and learn more about their interests. They follow experts to be in the know about trends on a variety of topics from parenting, to fashion and design, to cooking. They’re also following friends and finding Pinners with similar interests to share and be inspired by. They’re also following brands. Retailers like Nordstrom and West Elm have significant followings on Pinterest – similar to on Facebook, moms want to connect and interact with their favorite brands. How can brands create a relevant, effective Pinterest experience? Some of the best examples of brands effectively using Pinterest include Oreck -- the vacuum brand has boards dedicated to gorgeous wooden floor styles to a "Furry Friends" section featuring cute pets. It’s subtle but effective -- and engaging. Food Network's Pinterest boards highlight their recipes and products but also those from around the web. Users are encouraged to share their recipes and ideas, making the experience that much richer. Indie women's retailer ModCloth has attracted over 10,000 followers thanks to multiple boards dedicated to style, trends and ideas that span beyond women's clothing. Whole Foods combines recipes, green living tips and crafts to offer a channel that perfectly addresses their core consumer’s lifestyle. There are a variety of ways brands can effectively engage moms on Pinterest – the most important being the mantra of all social media presences: be authentic and offer useful content.
Remember that football game that was played just five days ago? How about the ads in the game? Chatter on social channels about the ads dropped almost immediately after the Super Bowl ended. In fact, social media tracking service Trendrr found that buzz around the brands in the Super Bowl died off dramatically by Monday with a few exceptions. “Some brands, like H&M, Doritos, and Audi, saw as much as 5 to 10 times the conversation during the airing of the game as they would on a normal day,” said Alex Nagler, TV Network liaison at Trendrr. “Once the game was over (and in some instances once the hour-long halo of the spot had passed), those brands had returned to their normal levels of conversation,” he said. By mid-week, the Super Bowl advertisers had all returned to their pre-Super Bowl levels of online chatter. Is that because brands release the ads too early? Marketers such as Honda with its Ferris Bueller ad and Volkswagen with its Bark Side video got a nice social boost before the game and were also among the top-rated ads in the game, according to the Ace Metrix Poll that surveyed TV viewers. But I have another proposition. What if rather than releasing ads early just for the sake of releasing them early, brands actually harnessed the power of the Web and social media to make better, more memorable, and more lasting ads? Ads that don’t die out minutes after the spot airs. We’re seeing progress made in tapping into the Web as a testing ground. For its annual Super Bowl ad ranking,USA Today used its traditional focus group, but also teamed up with Facebook to let the public vote on the best ads. What if instead of pre-releasing the ads a few days before the game, brands actually tested them months before via online video? What if Hulu showcased potential Super Bowl ads throughout the year and let viewers vote on the best ones? What if viewers could give feedback to brands on which ones were best? Or, what if that feedback were more passive and based on, perhaps, completion rates? Or interaction with the ads? Or clickthroughs, or shares? What if marketers used all that wonderful data to inform which spot, or type of spot, wound up in the big game? WPP’s audience buying company, Xaxis, has been testing this tactic with advanced TV buyers in a few countries where marketers will run a video campaign online before it runs on TV to see how the creative performs and which users respond. Maybe then the buzz wouldn’t die out. Maybe the ads would be better.
Earlier this week, USA Today proclaimed that Average Joe and Jill America's favorite Super Bowl ad was the grandma who slingshot a baby across the yard to snatch a bag of Doritos from his annoying older brother. This was based on a USA Today/Facebook poll that collected online votes until Tuesday night. Apparently, the flying junk-food-loving tyke beat out the other 55 ads that cost collective advertisers upwards of $230 million in media time alone. The story also noted that "the purpose of most of the spots was to drive consumers to share the spots with friends, buzz about them and the brand and then try to find out more about the product." Perhaps it was appropriate that a 34-year-old former special education teacher working mostly in his garage was the creator of the spot (for which he earned a million bucks). His goal was clearly to entertain and create buzz rather than move product off the shelf. In fact, it would be interesting to know whether Doritos got any kind of sales bump at all from the ad. It communicated none of the traditional branding-oriented product benefits of junk food, such as freshness, tanginess, affordability, (organic???) or getting laid because you brought some to the party. Although one could take away that little kids, infants and grandmas all like Doritos. After the pre-release of so many spots -- especially those that sought to be short-form entertainment ideal for passing along in the YouTube era -- and the failed efforts to shock, amuse or provoke, one wonders if the Super Bowl is still a platform for selling products and services to a massive, global audience. I suspect that the man on the street cares little about a commercial's ability to incite a purchase, and more about its amusement value. As usual, the press pundits at all the major dailies and ad trades presented THEIR take on whose commercials was "best." I guess there is merit in having the spots adjudged by folks who have seen tens of thousands of them in their careers, but I suspect that agencies and brands are now worried less about the pundits than how they will rank in popularity polls enabled by various forms of social media. Has anyone yet proved that being really popular in social media translates to sales? This is, I think, a dangerous cultural trend -- one where commercials and other forms of art (we can argue that one another time) will be dumbed-down to appeal to the greatest number of people standing by to tweet or like at the touch of a button. Already one could argue that Hollywood has been totally co-opted by the urge to produce mass-market drivel at the expense of thought-provoking, mentally challenging films. The big three networks (sorry, Fox -- still not there yet) have learned the hard way that aiming for the lowest common denominator has only pushed important audience segments to premium cable channels. Where would we be if book publishers (you remember books, don't you?) only went to press with yet more Harry Potter (cha-ching) and overlooked authors who write brilliantly, but attract far smaller audiences? Extend that paradigm throughout all forms of art, culture and even to manufacturing and education and you end up with the intellectual or design equivalent of a Walmart. This is not to suggest that only the Great Monied Eastern Establishment "effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectuals" should be the only arbiters of taste in America. But I hope we don't lose perspective in the rush to be "liked."
Is B2B (business to business) really ready for social media marketing? The short answer is "no." The long answer "is almost. Let’s just say that generally speaking, these kinds of companies are “social media curious.” My agency gets a lot of B2B inquiries from marketing, sales and PR executives with companies that are genuinely interested in “doing something a little different -- you know, funny and more edgy.” Half the time they chicken out and go back to whatever they were doing before they called us, which usually includes sleep-inducing product videos and downloadable PDFs that they will no doubt force upon corporate buyers who have grown accustomed to this, along with their bland breakfast and lukewarm coffee every morning. My first reaction is to assume they understand their customers better than I do, but then I realize how insane that sounds, and decide that they simply don’t understand social media marketing. Here’s a quick crash course in case you need to get up to speed. I’ll go into more detail in a future article. Social media marketing checklist: 1. Establish goals 2. Develop a solid social media marketing strategy 3. Integrate the social media strategy across all departments including marketing, sales and PR 4. Create funny, entertaining, engaging, informative, shareable content like videos, blog posts, graphics, updates and apps as social focal points 5. Encourage your target audience to share via social networking 6. Build and nurture an interested fan base of potential buyers 7. Actively engage that audience across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and other social networks 8. Measure 9. Adjust fire 10. Rinse and repeat The whole idea is to offer content that will grab people’s attention and get them interested enough in what you’re offering to ask more questions, investigate, learn more. “But wait,” you say. “I’m supposed to grab people’s attention? This is B2B, not B2C.” Yeah, I know but guess what? That business that’s eventually going to buy your stuff is actually a person with co-workers, friends and a robust social life both on and offline. B2B is still people selling to people, not buildings selling to buildings Business to business, by definition, is one business selling stuff to another business, but the marketers and buyers involved are still people, not buildings. The purchasing decisions are made by individuals who are influenced by the same fun, cool, shiny marketing and tactics that influence B2C buyers. The main difference between B2B and B2C marketing is that with B2B, there are fewer decision-makers for us to target for each product or service. A software developer may sell 50,000 units to one large business, but for every 50,000 users there may be one person or small team responsible for finding and introducing the new software option to that business. What if you could reach those 50,000 potential internal advocates directly and mobilize them to influence the person responsible for corporate software purchasing? As with B2C, B2B buyers are educating themselves The buying process is changing fast in both the B2C and B2B sectors. People are looking to educate themselves rather than be sold to. So in essence, they are selling themselves on your products and services. Your job as the marketing, sales or PR arm of your company is to: a. Get their attention b. Differentiate your products and services from the other guys c. Point them toward the information they need Workplace sharing via social networks is huge, and good content gets shared and discussed like crazy. Pin your marketing message on the right content with the right social media strategy and your audience will reward you by steering it to your buyers.