What’s Fresh?

What’s in a name? Apparently a lot.                                                                          

As more and more companies begin to realize that social media is a space they can no longer avoid, they are looking to hire agencies and internal positions to help navigate the vast space.  However, these new positions (and agency needs) are causing an interesting game of semantics.

A recent 2 page AdWeek article on the subject of social media referred to the same type of position in the following ways:

• Social Media Consultant
• Social Media Expert
• Social Media Czar
• Social Media Team Member
• Social Media Marketer
• and my personal favorite Social Media Evangelist

Now coming from the SEO side of things, someone needs to get a WordTracker account pronto and a quick rundown in content optimization.  Beyond that…..what is the real difference here and does it really matter?  I would say none and no.  If the position listing  calls out a proper set of activities the company needs the position (or agency) to fill, finding the right person or group should be no problem.  Naming it or them should be even less of one.  But hey, if this name-game continues I may push for a title change to Social Media Goddess or Princess or Queen or….you get the idea

On the drive to work this morning I heard a radio spot for the new Starbucks Vivanno smoothies.  The radio spot offered a very simple message that stated that the smoothies were now available.  The spot peaked my interest, however I had more questions that I wanted answered.  I was curious about different flavors and the nutrition information.  Once I got to work, I searched Starbucks to try and find the additional details I desired.  Sure enough, when i click on the Starbucks link all of the information I was looking for was conveniently located on the homepage which was wearing a Vivanno skin.  I didn’t even have to sift through the site to find out that the smoothie came in two flavors and was a healthy option.

The radio spot could have simply offered the information and taken out the interactive piece, but if it was a billboard or a poster in a bus stop the creative would be compromised to add all of the details that someone may require.  Not to mention that driving a consumer to the Starbucks site helped to engage the customer and possible cross-sell them on something else the company had to offer.  This piece showed a great example of how a company was leveraging all of their marketing assets to reach a goal.  Utilizing offline efforts to drive people online and vise versa is an important piece to any successful marketing campaign.  And yes, the smoothie was very tasty                                                                     

Veoh is known for breaking new ground in the online space, but their new advertising program could revolutionize the way advertisers purchase advertisements online and how consumers are exposed to them.  The program (being release out of beta today) will group viewers into buckets based upon their past searching, tagging, commenting, and viewing activities.

One could ask if a user watches videos online that fit into their true interests or if they primarily watch pieces that are considered viral (have you seen the water skiing chipmunk?!)?  For YouTube this may be true, but Veoh offers the largest library of online TV resulting in more interest based viewership.  Veoh is even claiming that during beta the program’s ads preformed twice as well as the non-targeted versions.

It will be very interesting to see how this technology develops and what it does to Veoh’s position in the industry.

…..people are staring to officially retire from it.  Public retirement announcements are usually focused on athletes, musicians, CEOs, and actors.  These announcements are also generally followed up by the “coming out of retirement” press conference (see: Brett Favre….TWICE).  The “coming out of retirement” press conference basically chalks up the intent to retire as being nothing but a marketing ploy.

Well today the blogger probably best known for marketing ploys, Jason Calacanis, officially retired from blogging.  He claims that it “came with a heavy heart” and “he will not return to blogging” and “he will replace it with a more intimate email list.”  Wow, maybe he called Brett before he made this announcement.

So do we think that this is a genuine retirement or is this simply a blogger getting in on the marketing power of retirement?  I am writing about it.  It is already working.  Any thoughts?

Note:  No Cheeseheads were harmed in the writing of this blog.

Do you have a Facebook profile? A MySpace page? A Twitter Account? A blog? A YouTube Channel? A personal Wiki?  Chances are that almost every person can answer yes to at least one of, if not all, of the previous questions.

The internet has become a haven for personal publishing and information sharing.  People freely offer opinions, ideas, photos, videos, likes, dislikes, and everything in-between.  However, how cautious are people about the lasting effect their information may have on the company they work for?

This question is something I ponder and am reminded of daily with the things I find online.  Using Twitter as an example, I follow roughly 125 people that are affiliated with SEO or Social Media Marketing.  Numerous people use this site to push out content they have written or are reading that help to show them as industry thought leaders.  When these type of people are free with their company affiliation this can positively effect how the industry views the person and their company.  Yet, some people are not as strategic with the information they share.  When people that associate themselves with their company tweet information about “giving the finger to a client” or “our blog is run by suits” or “my boss doesn’t know bleep” I have to question if these people really care about the work they are doing, who they are doing it for, or what external people think of them?  My opinion has been changed about numerous companies this way, be it fair or not.

To some extent, freedom of speech has to be protected and people should be able to post whatever type of content they please.  Yet, at some point common sense should kick in and say maybe I shouldn’t tell the world that “i hate ABC co-worker” in an open forum setting.

Does it seem fair to judge a company based upon the actions of the people who work there?  Can this really be patrolled?  Should it be?  What are your thoughts?

Anybody a Batman fan?

At the intersection of community and cult lies the treasure hunt marketing tactic.

Warner Bros. been running a highly complex – and awfully cool – experiential web campaign based largely around ‘treasure hunt’ ideas: directing users on through a series of strange-looking and totally experiential (i.e., YOU figure it out, we’re not giving you any stinkin’ nav) sites:

For the best examples, check out: whysoserious.com (and http://www.whysoserious.com/itsallpartoftheplan/) and clowntravelagency.com

To quote AdAge:

in December . . . Instructions (on whysoserious.com) directed users to 35 bakeries in 25 cities across the nation. After asking for an order left for “Robin Banks” (the Joker’s favorite activity), they received a cake with a Nokia cellphone in it, which was used to send them more clues, prizes and, of course, garner scads of local media attention. Clowntravelagency.com directed people to bowling-alley lockers throughout the U.S. and in cities around the world. Those who got there first discovered limited-edition Joker bowlingball bags containing a ball with a telephone number scratched into it and, again, a Nokia phone with a note saying to call the number immediately.

Also see:

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=22292 , http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7c_RiV7OQY&feature=related

In terms of ‘crazy & high-involvement digital marketing’, ‘LOST’ has been leading the pack. But I’m wondering if this complex series of ‘trails’ for the new Batman movie may take the virtual crown?

There are benefits to getting a little crazy. Most brands who go here will already enjoy a high awareness - they’re just looking for a memorable campaign. (Dove, anyone?) But while cult drives community, community creates cult. Approaching community as a principal driver rather than a follow-along budget item way down on the priority list offers a unique opportunity to the brand that does it well- and online, new cults emerge every day around the brand experiences that really deliver. Creating excitement, urgency, curiosity, competition, emotional appeal, a chance to engage in play - those are the treasure hunt factors every brand needs to think about.

Because I am a fan, more Batman sites:

http://www.ibelieveinharveydent.com/

And even better . . . http://ibelieveinharveydenttoo.com/ (you have to play with this one)

The official site: http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/ (beware the load . . . oh flash, you are such a mixed blessing sometimes)

Sarah