Gap is running a new global marketing campaign for the holidays, showcasing all kinds of love in high-energy photos of celebrities, with social components that all shoppers let in on the pictures. Called “Love Comes In Every Shade,” the effort features an offbeat selection of actors and musicians, who pose with their loved ones to illustrate the many different flavors of love. For married love, actor Michael J. Fox poses with wife Tracy Pollan; musician Rufus Wainwright stands with artistic director Jörn Weisbrodt. There’s also fatherly love (rapper Nas and his father, blues musician Olu Dara); modern love, featuring the cast of NBC’s “The New Normal”; puppy love with actor Jack Huston and his dog Orso; and then best friend love with director Gia Coppola and actress Nathalie Love. The print ads are running in December issues of Vogue, Lucky, InStyle, Glamour, and Vanity Fair; as well as outdoor in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. But the real innovations are in social. The campaign kicked off on Postagram and Pinterest, encouraging users to turn their own photos into real postcards, which the Gap is mailing to loved ones at no charge. And those who pin Gap fashions on Pinterest wish lists are entered in a drawing for Gap gift cards, with five winners each week through Christmas. The brand is also continuing its Styld.by digital catalog collaboration for the holiday, with each of its partners (including Refinery29, WhoWhatWear, Lookbook and Rue) creating gift guides, using pieces from Gap’s holiday collection. Finally, the San Francisco-based company says it has also introduced a new gift card program, which donates a percentage of each gift card purchase to CARE and Communities In Schools.
The most social buzzed-about new TV shows this year are the ones that won't be around much longer.ABC's "666 Park Avenue" and "Last Resort" scored the best results with a 6.1 and a 5.4 scores, respectively, for the week ending Nov. 18, according to General Sentiment, a social media researcher that monitors news, social, and Twitter social media buzz. Those shows gained 15% to 16% from the week before.CBS' comedy "Partners" -- one of the better Nielsen-rated new shows -- also wasn't good enough, and won't get any new orders for more episodes. Social buzz still put it high on the list of 26 new shows, grabbing a 5.2 score up 22% week-to-week.This left NBC's "Guys With Kids" and Fox's "The Mindy Project" as the top two biggest shows in terms of social interactions -- both scoring a 5.2 number, with "Kids" up 25% and "Mindy" gaining 21% week-to-week.After these two shows comes ABC's "Malibu Country" with a 5.1 number -- virtually unchanged, up 0.3%. Fox's low-Nielsen rated "The Mob Doctor" was next at a 4.9, down 2.4% for the week. CBS' "Elementary" scored a high Nielsen rating with a 4.6, up 4.5% for the week.The biggest gainer was NBC's "Go On," which grew some 67% in social, Twitter and news buzz to hit a 2.1. Fox's summer reality show "Hotel Hell" also spiked well, up 52% to a 2.1.
Last year, real estate company Century 21 made its first appearance during the Super Bowl, with a television commercial that featured celebrities such as Deion Sanders, Donald Trump and Apollo Anton Ohno, working with a super-competent Century 21 agent, who bests them in negotiations, house displays and speed skating. In this age of one-to-one marketing through digital channels, it might seem incongruous for a realty company to employ such old-school mass media tactics, but as CMO Bev Thorne explains, the significant investment (30-second spots are going for $3.8 million this year) is more than worth it. Q: Why return to the Super Bowl?A: We had a fabulous set of results in the 2012 Super Bowl. That return to the Super Bowl showcases our Century 21 agents in front of the largest television audience possible. What we really love about it is that those conversations and that showcase for our agents are in the American home, which is the center of the service we provide. Q: What’s the value in being on such a big event? Obviously, it’s a big investment you have to make.A: The value is -- it’s a lot of people to be in front of. It’s the largest TV audience of the year in a single day. Last year, it was over 111 million people, and so it positions our agents as “Smarter, Bolder, Faster” right in the center of the conversations in the home. There is no better opportunity or place for us to showcase our brand and our agent capabilities. Q: Is there value in big events, or is money better spent in digital or some other medium, especially when it comes to home buying, where a lot of research is done online? Would your investment not be better in one of those areas?A: We certainly utilize online as well. It’s a far more targeted approach. An advertisement on the Super Bowl is a brand play, and so we’re speaking not only for those that are in the process of buying or selling a home, but to the broader audience as well. It is a brand preference play. We follow that up with a 360-degree marketing campaign. We certainly advertise appropriately to those buyers and sellers who are active in the market. And they’re typically doing their shopping online, and we advertise in front of them as well. We don’t do one in lieu of the other. We do both. This kind of investment more than pays for itself in terms of the returns we saw in 2012. Q: What did you learn from last year’s appearance that you’re applying to this year?A: I think we learned a lot of things. We learned that there are really two audiences that we’re speaking to in the Super Bowl ad. One of them is the industry, and that includes our own system members. The second audience is consumers. We learned that the excitement and reaction of the industry players -- not only our own, but the industry at large -- can have a very, very important impact on consumers as well. Can you be more specific?A: The excitement and the re-energizing of the brand that begins with Century 21 agents seems to have spread to the rest of the industry as their looking at the brand. They’re saying, “Hey, it’s a little different than we thought it to be.” It creates a buzz. It creates a conversation, and those conversations spread. And for us, we’re gratified to tell you that those conversations led to leads, they led to appointments, and they led to Web searches. And they led to more closed transactions for us. Q: How will this year’s appearance be different from last year’s?A: Let me tell you one way it’s the same. We will absolutely utilize our same national campaign and theme, which is “Smarter, Bolder Faster.” We will again work to showcase Century 21 agents and their capabilities front and center, so that the consumer understands what they get, and why we’re encouraging them to reach to a Century 21 agent if they’re involved in a home-buying activity. One way that it’s different: Last year, we were at the tail end of the third quarter. In terms of making bets, that one paid off. But as you know, that’s [something] we couldn’t forecast in advance. We were very gratified that the audience peaked at the tail end of the third quarter, so we were right where we wanted to be. This year, we’re betting that it will be equally appropriate to be in the pod that comes shortly after the end of halftime. We will be at the end of the first group of ads that play after halftime. Q: Why is that?A: We don’t think lightning strikes twice. We think that’s when everyone checks back in. To be honest, they’re all safe bets, if you will. We’re in the Super Bowl. We’re breaking down to a finite assessment here. Q: A lot of Super Bowl advertising is about increasing the conversation during that run-up to the game and immediately after. What else are you doing to increase that conversation among the general public?A: That will become defined more and more as we get closer to the game. We will certainly reach out via social media platforms, and perhaps more importantly, we will reach out through our system members for local activation. We’ll magnify and multiply that impact in each local market, as independent brokers so choose to activate. Last year, we were gratified to receive a tremendous amount of coverage, perhaps in large part to the inclusion of celebrities in our ad. There are a lot of ways to do that, and we’ll seek to do that again this year. Q: Will you be using celebrities again?A: We are still in the process of weighing all of our options, and have made no decisions yet, other than the very clear decision -- and we will be there. Q: Are you planning to advertise during other event programming, such as the Academy Awards? Have there been discussions about the rewards of these event programs paying off in terms of advertising?A: That is literally our strategy. Our strategy is to position our Century 21 agents in the middle of what I call “iconic media events.” Those events are not only sporting events, but they are many times sporting events. Hence our engagement last year in the Olympics, our sponsorship of the U.S. men’s and women’s soccer teams. And yes, you cited another one of those iconic media events that absolutely we are looking at, but I have no announcements to share with you today.
Honda is joining the year-end sales mix with “Happy Honda Days.” The effort, which has an oddly ’60's color-TV feel, features the odd parent or two, with an obstreperous mother saying the wrong things to her son at the wrong time, among other wackos. Each ad has someone thanking Honda for a great deal. The effort, ending Jan. 2, features six TV spots that feature the Honda product line plus rearview camera, Pandora Internet radio and Bluetooth HandsFreeLink. Sarah May Bates, RPA's assistant creative director on the account, concedes that this isn't exactly buying season, though it's critical for automakers for a couple of reasons: it pulls sales out of the hat to make year-end volume. Automakers in recent years have moved away from hard-sell to humor, and Honda's no different. Bates points out that the Honda Days effort "pulls consumers in with a brighter, more fun approach than the screaming ‘buy it or die’ messaging,” she said. “These are humorous and relatable stories filled with colorful characters—mischievous kids, moocher roommates and hard-to-read fathers-in-law—that will hopefully be more entertaining for car shoppers this holiday season.” Spots will air on appointment shows like “Modern Family,” “The Good Wife,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “The Office,” “X-Factor,” and on ESPN, TNT and TLC. The company says creative will also be integrated on display ads running on car-shopping sites and network radio. There are also two Spanish-language TV commercials (the company has used La Agencia de Orci' & Asociados for years to handle Hispanic market efforts.) Print will run in magazines like Entertainment Weekly, People, Sports Illustrated, Time, Us Weekly, USA Today and Wall Street Journal. The company says there will also be Tier III elements that give dealers and, presumably, regional dealer groups access to customizable TV, print, radio, banners and social media assets.
Gap is running a new global marketing campaign for the holidays, showcasing all kinds of love in high-energy photos of celebrities, with social components that all shoppers let in on the pictures. Called “Love Comes In Every Shade,” the effort features an offbeat selection of actors and musicians, who pose with their loved ones to illustrate the many different flavors of love. For married love, actor Michael J. Fox poses with wife Tracy Pollan; musician Rufus Wainwright stands with artistic director Jörn Weisbrodt. There’s also fatherly love (rapper Nas and his father, blues musician Olu Dara); modern love, featuring the cast of NBC’s “The New Normal”; puppy love with actor Jack Huston and his dog Orso; and then best friend love with director Gia Coppola and actress Nathalie Love. The print ads are running in December issues of Vogue, Lucky, InStyle, Glamour, and Vanity Fair; as well as outdoor in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. But the real innovations are in social. The campaign kicked off on Postagram and Pinterest, encouraging users to turn their own photos into real postcards, which the Gap is mailing to loved ones at no charge. And those who pin Gap fashions on Pinterest wish lists are entered in a drawing for Gap gift cards, with five winners each week through Christmas. The brand is also continuing its Styld.by digital catalog collaboration for the holiday, with each of its partners (including Refinery29, WhoWhatWear, Lookbook and Rue) creating gift guides, using pieces from Gap’s holiday collection. Finally, the San Francisco-based company says it has also introduced a new gift card program, which donates a percentage of each gift card purchase to CARE and Communities In Schools.
The most social buzzed-about new TV shows this year are the ones that won't be around much longer.ABC's "666 Park Avenue" and "Last Resort" scored the best results with a 6.1 and a 5.4 scores, respectively, for the week ending Nov. 18, according to General Sentiment, a social media researcher that monitors news, social, and Twitter social media buzz. Those shows gained 15% to 16% from the week before.CBS' comedy "Partners" -- one of the better Nielsen-rated new shows -- also wasn't good enough, and won't get any new orders for more episodes. Social buzz still put it high on the list of 26 new shows, grabbing a 5.2 score up 22% week-to-week.This left NBC's "Guys With Kids" and Fox's "The Mindy Project" as the top two biggest shows in terms of social interactions -- both scoring a 5.2 number, with "Kids" up 25% and "Mindy" gaining 21% week-to-week.After these two shows comes ABC's "Malibu Country" with a 5.1 number -- virtually unchanged, up 0.3%. Fox's low-Nielsen rated "The Mob Doctor" was next at a 4.9, down 2.4% for the week. CBS' "Elementary" scored a high Nielsen rating with a 4.6, up 4.5% for the week.The biggest gainer was NBC's "Go On," which grew some 67% in social, Twitter and news buzz to hit a 2.1. Fox's summer reality show "Hotel Hell" also spiked well, up 52% to a 2.1.
Last year, real estate company Century 21 made its first appearance during the Super Bowl, with a television commercial that featured celebrities such as Deion Sanders, Donald Trump and Apollo Anton Ohno, working with a super-competent Century 21 agent, who bests them in negotiations, house displays and speed skating. In this age of one-to-one marketing through digital channels, it might seem incongruous for a realty company to employ such old-school mass media tactics, but as CMO Bev Thorne explains, the significant investment (30-second spots are going for $3.8 million this year) is more than worth it. Q: Why return to the Super Bowl?A: We had a fabulous set of results in the 2012 Super Bowl. That return to the Super Bowl showcases our Century 21 agents in front of the largest television audience possible. What we really love about it is that those conversations and that showcase for our agents are in the American home, which is the center of the service we provide. Q: What’s the value in being on such a big event? Obviously, it’s a big investment you have to make.A: The value is -- it’s a lot of people to be in front of. It’s the largest TV audience of the year in a single day. Last year, it was over 111 million people, and so it positions our agents as “Smarter, Bolder, Faster” right in the center of the conversations in the home. There is no better opportunity or place for us to showcase our brand and our agent capabilities. Q: Is there value in big events, or is money better spent in digital or some other medium, especially when it comes to home buying, where a lot of research is done online? Would your investment not be better in one of those areas?A: We certainly utilize online as well. It’s a far more targeted approach. An advertisement on the Super Bowl is a brand play, and so we’re speaking not only for those that are in the process of buying or selling a home, but to the broader audience as well. It is a brand preference play. We follow that up with a 360-degree marketing campaign. We certainly advertise appropriately to those buyers and sellers who are active in the market. And they’re typically doing their shopping online, and we advertise in front of them as well. We don’t do one in lieu of the other. We do both. This kind of investment more than pays for itself in terms of the returns we saw in 2012. Q: What did you learn from last year’s appearance that you’re applying to this year?A: I think we learned a lot of things. We learned that there are really two audiences that we’re speaking to in the Super Bowl ad. One of them is the industry, and that includes our own system members. The second audience is consumers. We learned that the excitement and reaction of the industry players -- not only our own, but the industry at large -- can have a very, very important impact on consumers as well. Can you be more specific?A: The excitement and the re-energizing of the brand that begins with Century 21 agents seems to have spread to the rest of the industry as their looking at the brand. They’re saying, “Hey, it’s a little different than we thought it to be.” It creates a buzz. It creates a conversation, and those conversations spread. And for us, we’re gratified to tell you that those conversations led to leads, they led to appointments, and they led to Web searches. And they led to more closed transactions for us. Q: How will this year’s appearance be different from last year’s?A: Let me tell you one way it’s the same. We will absolutely utilize our same national campaign and theme, which is “Smarter, Bolder Faster.” We will again work to showcase Century 21 agents and their capabilities front and center, so that the consumer understands what they get, and why we’re encouraging them to reach to a Century 21 agent if they’re involved in a home-buying activity. One way that it’s different: Last year, we were at the tail end of the third quarter. In terms of making bets, that one paid off. But as you know, that’s [something] we couldn’t forecast in advance. We were very gratified that the audience peaked at the tail end of the third quarter, so we were right where we wanted to be. This year, we’re betting that it will be equally appropriate to be in the pod that comes shortly after the end of halftime. We will be at the end of the first group of ads that play after halftime. Q: Why is that?A: We don’t think lightning strikes twice. We think that’s when everyone checks back in. To be honest, they’re all safe bets, if you will. We’re in the Super Bowl. We’re breaking down to a finite assessment here. Q: A lot of Super Bowl advertising is about increasing the conversation during that run-up to the game and immediately after. What else are you doing to increase that conversation among the general public?A: That will become defined more and more as we get closer to the game. We will certainly reach out via social media platforms, and perhaps more importantly, we will reach out through our system members for local activation. We’ll magnify and multiply that impact in each local market, as independent brokers so choose to activate. Last year, we were gratified to receive a tremendous amount of coverage, perhaps in large part to the inclusion of celebrities in our ad. There are a lot of ways to do that, and we’ll seek to do that again this year. Q: Will you be using celebrities again?A: We are still in the process of weighing all of our options, and have made no decisions yet, other than the very clear decision -- and we will be there. Q: Are you planning to advertise during other event programming, such as the Academy Awards? Have there been discussions about the rewards of these event programs paying off in terms of advertising?A: That is literally our strategy. Our strategy is to position our Century 21 agents in the middle of what I call “iconic media events.” Those events are not only sporting events, but they are many times sporting events. Hence our engagement last year in the Olympics, our sponsorship of the U.S. men’s and women’s soccer teams. And yes, you cited another one of those iconic media events that absolutely we are looking at, but I have no announcements to share with you today.
Honda is joining the year-end sales mix with “Happy Honda Days.” The effort, which has an oddly ’60's color-TV feel, features the odd parent or two, with an obstreperous mother saying the wrong things to her son at the wrong time, among other wackos. Each ad has someone thanking Honda for a great deal. The effort, ending Jan. 2, features six TV spots that feature the Honda product line plus rearview camera, Pandora Internet radio and Bluetooth HandsFreeLink. Sarah May Bates, RPA's assistant creative director on the account, concedes that this isn't exactly buying season, though it's critical for automakers for a couple of reasons: it pulls sales out of the hat to make year-end volume. Automakers in recent years have moved away from hard-sell to humor, and Honda's no different. Bates points out that the Honda Days effort "pulls consumers in with a brighter, more fun approach than the screaming ‘buy it or die’ messaging,” she said. “These are humorous and relatable stories filled with colorful characters—mischievous kids, moocher roommates and hard-to-read fathers-in-law—that will hopefully be more entertaining for car shoppers this holiday season.” Spots will air on appointment shows like “Modern Family,” “The Good Wife,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “The Office,” “X-Factor,” and on ESPN, TNT and TLC. The company says creative will also be integrated on display ads running on car-shopping sites and network radio. There are also two Spanish-language TV commercials (the company has used La Agencia de Orci' & Asociados for years to handle Hispanic market efforts.) Print will run in magazines like Entertainment Weekly, People, Sports Illustrated, Time, Us Weekly, USA Today and Wall Street Journal. The company says there will also be Tier III elements that give dealers and, presumably, regional dealer groups access to customizable TV, print, radio, banners and social media assets.
The start-up world is build on a two-legged platform of technology and finance. If you don’t believe me, just watch Bravo’s "Start-ups: Silicon Valley," which does its best to tell a story about VCs raising capital and bootstrapping a new venture, together with the freaky and geeky world of engineers, programmers and developers. Only that story is incomplete. There’s actually a third leg, which you don’t get to hear about. Perhaps you’ll catch a fleeting glimpse of a throwaway “marketing” or “sales” reference, but for the most part, it’s conspicuously absent in this show, industry and market in general.I would argue — and I am a Madison Avenue guy who eats, sleeps and breathes brands — that the marketing leg is the most important part of the entire equation. Yet, it’s the one that is the most undervalued, underinvested, underutilized and misunderstood. Most start-ups have the same visions (or sometimes delusions) of grandeur: We’ll get big fast because everyone will just go crazy sharing us with their friends, fans and followers on Facebook, Twitter and whatever else is popular at the time. Then we’ll monetize by selling ads — or just sell to Facebook, Twitter or whatever else is popular at the time.That statement is fraught with holes and gaping voids, and it begins with the disconnect between today’s empowered consumer and their absolute disgust for interruptive advertising, banal messaging and irrelevant spam. Contrary to popular belief, brands aren’t lining up waiting to advertise on the 1000th photo app to call themselves the “Instagram of….” Or “Instagram meets….” Hell, they’re barely doing anything on Instagr.am itself. Brands are trapped within their own identity crisis, trying to figure out whether their start-up infatuation is a one-night stand or something more profound; whether it’s a quantity (scale) or quality (engagement) play; whether their metrics of success are ROI-based (return on investment) or ROI-based (return on innovation).Then there’s the scope and scale of a “test”, “experiment” or pilot program. Brands are typically noncommittal when it comes to investing anything beyond chump change into a start-up desperate to get some proof of concept and validation. On the flipside, there are way too many start-ups that see an abundance of $-signs when a brand and/or their agency pays them a visit. The Wild West is back, and the biggest problem is a lack of rules (of engagement), process and set of best practices, upon which to build a solid and enduring bridge of collaboration and mutual benefit.I believe the meeting of the minds happens in the win-win wheelhouse of marketing. Ultimately, this is where both sides see eye-to-eye. Digital or technology based start-ups are founded on the basis and belief of being able to solve a problem (sit or squat), correct a market inefficiency (uber) and/or change the game (square). Brands couldn’t agree more, especially when it comes to delivering against a consumer insight, human truth and customer benefit.No one wants a three-legged stool with a wobbly, weakened and/or uneven leg. Isn’t it time we shored up the marketing component of this succinct and compelling equation in order to ensure that start-up monetization, acceleration and evolution is balanced and counterbalanced with brand innovation, differentiation and transformation? That’s rhetorical. The answer is yes.
The Aloft unit of Starwood Hotels asks PR agencies to respond to an RFP via Twitter. Marketer seeks creative solutions from agencies who can quickly get to the point. –News item To: Marketing team, North America From: Your CMO Subject: Leveraging “social” “media” Since I took over mid-Q2, you have heard me ask more than once how we as a company and as a corporate brand can leverage the dominant platforms in the social space. As I’ve mentioned, it’s all about the “conversation.” We must organically grow authentic connections, and in some ways we have made strides. The Facebook page is looking very good, IMHO, thanks to the incremental growth in Likes during our successful “’Like’ Us and we’ll send you $100 in cash” promotion. The entire team was very responsive to my June 3 group-wide email “Tell me about Pinterest” and my June 4 follow-up, “No, seriously, what the hell is Pinterest?” And I am flattered to see so many LinkedIn endorsements from folks throughout the organization! If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to find me another job! The reason for this memo, however, is to ask the team to take it to the next level, such as the gang over at Aloft hotels (see attached news clipping). An RFP via Twitter! That’s what I call taking it up a notch. Bam! I am reaching out today to remind you that we must constantly push the envelope in these ways. It is critical that as an organization we are aligned on this going forward. Why should it take another brand in another category to leverage Twitter so ingeniously? Anyone can seek PR help by sending out an RFP through the usual channels and reviewing detailed proposals in an environment of deliberation and non-disclosure. It takes vision to reduce the process to 140 characters or less -- including spaces displayed in public for competitors, and the entire world, to see. I have no doubt that the skills associated with creating an eye-catching tweet are fully aligned with the job of building out a PR apparatus, including publicity, crisis communications, marketing communications, etc. My kids “tweet out” their whole lives, so…. Some internal voices have stubbornly insisted that social is a matter of painstakingly forging and cultivating genuine relationships based on shared values and interests, just like in actual “life.” But frankly, that doesn’t sound too buzzworthy to me. We have some hot new technologies here, and we should have some sizzling hot leveraging going on 24-7. It’s a team effort, but the purpose of this communication is to “prime the pump.” So here are some “conversation starters” from the 31st floor: * RFP for new PR agency via Instagram * SlideShare bomb! We send out our 2013 strategic-plan deck till it trends * Q1 “Follow us and we’ll send you $100 in cash” SlideShare promotion * Tweet Q4 SEC filings * “Viral” lobby security-cam feed * Start a Tumblr tracking and documenting our social media * Recall email: “What the hell is a Tumblr?”
Instagram is most definitely its own beast. Businesses thinking they can parlay a Pinterest strategy into Instagram will be sorely mistaken, thanks to strikingly different user engagement styles on the two platforms. Without clear “transactional” support, Instagram is proving to be much more about brand building and brand allegiance. If your company doesn't hold the term "brand" highly, simply stay off Instagram for now -- there are other platforms more worth your transactional-based time. However, for the brand-conscience, recent metrics show Instagram might be a worthwhile marketing tool. According to comScore, Instagram surpassed Twitter in daily mobile users during August 2012 -- 7.3 million daily users on Instragram mobile versus 6.9 million for Twitter. While not monstrous numbers, they show the critical mass Instagram is gaining. Also consider: In September, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Instagram had 100 million users. That points to two important facts. First, Instragram is adding users at a rate of around 10 million per month (since it had 80 million in July). Second, and quite important, the math shows 7.3% of Instagram's user base is active on a DAILY basis. On MOBILE. Surely this is an enormously good sign. So, you might not be on Instagram yet. But how can you be thankful for Instagram come Thanksgiving time next year? 1. Make your C-Level “real.” Consumers are increasingly distrusting of the faceless corporation, and much more attracted to (and, in times of trouble, tolerant of) companies with a more human face. Use Instagram to show the real, human side of your company’s executive suite. This is a lesson the normally digitally savvy Obama campaign could have employed with the recently viral photo of the President with U.S. Olympian McKayla Maroney. McKayla capitalized on the photo in her Instragram feed, receiving more than 100,000 likes on the photo. Obama used the photo on Facebook, but not Instragram. Just be careful of the lesson in #2… 2. Make line employees “real.” Same story, different people. Sure, #1 and #2 could have been combined. However, it’s very different humanizing line employees -- with whom everyday consumers can probably already relate. Showcasing the humanness of a $30,000 staffer tends to be about making sure the scenario is on-brand. For a multi-$100,000 CEO, it’s about ensuring the CEO doesn’t look out-of-touch. 3. Crowdsource marketing photography. Let’s be clear. I don’t mean print ad photography. Resolution alone probably won’t make Instagram photos conducive to standard print ads. However, your business likely needs photography for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, digital banners and, of course, Instagram. Your customers can help you fill this seemingly neverending need. Just be careful of how you showcase and use the photos. Ben & Jerry’s is in the middle of an Instagram campaign called Capture Euphoria. Problem is, the company has photos auto-streaming based on hash-tags. Without a human approval-filter on the photos, some quite inappropriate content is making its way through. 4. Invigorate employees. Instagram feeds don’t have to be public. Consider making a private feed that your company only allows current employees to access. Use the feed to share motivational messages, successes, highlight employees, and generally motivate your team. Of course, make sure you don’t mind any of the content making it out into the general community -- because it will. Quickly. However, if the content is done right, the leaked photos only help to strengthen your brand positioning. 5. Another PR arm. Create a feed specifically for bloggers. Use the feed for visual teasers, early announcements, product photography, etc. for the ever-expanding blogger audience. Speak to the bloggers on a platform that is unique, that bloggers can embrace while mobile, that impacts them visually. Bloggers need photos just like you (See #3), so you’ll be helping them feed the beast as well. Bonus tip: Expect to change your strategy in the next six to 12 months. The Facebook purchase of Instagram will undoubtedly mean a turn to monetization. With monetization will come different marketing opportunities. Just be thankful these new marketing opportunities will most definitely be complementary to the brand-marketing groundwork you have already laid. You can also be thankful you’ve already secured your brand’s handle (aka name) on Instagram. Hint, hint.
In June of 2009, something unique happened in the world of health news: That’s when the Mayo Clinic “announced the imminent release of a study on celiac disease, specifically an immune system response to gluten,” according to Forbes.com article. While these kinds of releases are commonplace in the health community, what made this news event different was that the Mayo Clinic chose to share the announcement over Twitter and tracked which of its followers retweeted it. The Mayo Clinic later shared an embargoed copy of the study with select followers, each of whom had celiac disease, who were permitted to blog about the study once it was released to the public. That same month, the search term “celiac disease” experienced one of the most significant spikes since 2004. Lee Aase, Mayo Clinic's director of social media, attributed some of the success to having an established connection with the community, as Aase had been tweeting about celiac findings prior to this release. The Mayo Clinic skillfully enabled its target audience to control the conversation by granting them special level news access, a status traditionally reserved for the "media." Although perhaps not surprising today given how Twitter has changed the flow of political and social history, in 2009 it was incipient technology. Case in point, the “celiac” search spike crashed 30 days later with the news of Michael Jackson’s untimely passing. Today, Twitter, Google+ and Facebook are entwined in our collective worlds, and regularly relied upon for news and events -- a reality often not mirrored in our marketing plans. If any question remained about the validity or necessity of the social sphere, Hurricane Sandy confirmed its reason for existence. Key communicators from FEMA Director W. Craig Fugate, to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, to Newark Mayor Corey Booker, to the Huffington Post used social media to convey essential information. Twitter enables coverage to spread, and marketers will reap rewards by embracing social media’s expansion with an equal eagerness. As it did for the Mayo Clinic, Twitter can significantly boost search demand. So too can blogs. The skeptical may rightly surmise that while the country is no doubt on course to “Rise Up,” Bruce Springsteen style, in the event of a true zombie apocalypse, blogs could continue to be run only by marketing bots. Sure, they may encounter a readership issue -- but for sure, the tweets will be far less entertaining than: “I hope we don't find out this blackout is just a big promo for that show ‘Revolution.’ Jim Gaffigan, #sandy." The idea is to harness social media’s massive marketing power for good. During Chicago’s Social Media Week, leading B2B panelists espoused the necessity of understanding the intersection of search and social. We were told not to rely on the vanity metric of Twitter followers but rather to examine who actively engages with our brands and what these folks do to promote them. Specifically, what do they intend? Seems like sound advice. Get started by tweeting a body of data and then listen as fans re-tweet and react to it. When you deliver curated content, your followers will help you understand their activity through search data, and it’s important to prepare to capture search demand. As demand rises, the right content and SEO resources can combine with paid search to help marketers reap big gains in search and acquisition KPIs -- but overlooking this important step can quickly position the competition as benefactor. Panelists during Social Media Week reiterated that content creation can be as simple as a Google alert. Step 2 is to assign a hierarchical structure or otherwise make sense of the trends and extend this knowledge to the search channel. (Data-based) marketing drives the business. Using keywords and content as the seed, take a cross-channel approach to bucket and reach customers as efficiently as possible. The idea of informing constituents in real time is on par with a societal expectation. It feels intuitive to share the most important news with your best supporters and trust that they treat it responsibly. The key is to decode searcher intent and fulfill needs across channels with a unified and coherent strategy.