Search Takes a Social Turn: What Your Friends Say/Do Trumps Advertising: New Study (?)

If you're a relatively frequent visitor to this blog, you know that I don't subscribe to the wisdom that 'the more, the better' when it comes to frequency of comments made on blogs. Well, to SEO-philes, I could be wrong. The more postings, the more likely that your witty comments might actually get heard in cyberspace.

In any case, when reading today's  NY Times Business section front page, it would appear that the past few days have been particularly slow, or,  perhaps the story profiling "Search Takes a Social Turn:" is an illustration that the Times is losing its reporting luster.

The lead-in sentence: "Now, even on the Internet, it is not what you know, but who you know."   I'm perplexed as to how this is a newsworthy "revelation".  Because I paid for the damn paper, I figured I might as well read on, and was hardly surprised to "learn" that opinions or comments made by friends/associates via social networks are a much better form of product advertising than anything an advertising agency could accomplish..

According to the NY Times article, apparently, we (human beings) are more easily influenced by friends' purchase and consumption habits (food, entertainment, travel, etc) than we are by ads promoting the same products/services. Gee whiz...who would have thunk?

But, in fairness to NY Times reporter Jenna Wortham, the article did highlight a variety of tech-based social network initiatives that are focused on capturing your and my favorite things and seamlessly broadcasting that information to those that we share with on social networks. More than a handful of these initiatives are designed to surreptitiously extract and re-distribute our personal "favs", although most social networks do incorporate means by which I can share what I'm reading, where I ate, where I am eating right now, etc. etc.

[In the same edition, a separate article references a report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project that claims social networking services have doubled in popularity over the past year for Americans over the age of 50; and 42% of online people over the age of 50 now participate in a social network of some type.] 

Will I venture out to that trendy new pizzeria/bar because I noticed a friend on Facebook went there and liked it? Maybe. Will I pick up that new book at Amazon or go to Barnes & Noble because someone that I'm linked-in with on LinkedIn said it was a good read? Perhaps.

The King (Traditional Advertising) is Dead...Long Live the (Social Network Influencing) King.

#JetBlue Corporate Communication Turbulence?

You know that its a really slow news week when the story about a Jet Blue flight attendant abandoning ship and sliding down the emergency chute with a cold beer in hand permeates the headlines of newspapers, not to mention the Internet.

The funniest part is the wave of PR, Corporate Communication and Crisis Management 'experts' (should I say "pundits"?) who are being quoted by 'reporters' for their thoughts/critiques on the [slow] [poor] [creative] [thoughtful] [stupid] [smart] manner by which JetBlue's corporate communications team has responded to the hoopla.

Particularly funny is the one pundit that said "They were stupid for not coming out with a statement within hours, instead of waiting almost 2 days! They're obviously more prepared to handle a plane landing in the Hudson than handling a flight attendant that went postal.."

Puhlease!
In my humble opinion, this incident was hardly a "crisis", and Jet Blue's statement, including their notorious Twitter line, however delayed, was consistent with the somewhat irreverent style they've become known for. Geez...in the scheme of things, and all things being relative, their statement came out a heckuva lot faster than explanations for why flights are delayed!

Speaking of Twitter--some time ago, we opined about the monetary value of Twitter...and its usefulness in creating revenue...Well girls and boys, here's an idea:

Instead of BrandX paying Slick Sam's Public Relations Agency a monthly retainer to provide their wisdom; save some cash from the corporate coffer; any time there is seeming corporate crisis (according to the media), the company in question should run a contest and using Twitter as the mechanism to solicit strategy/statement solutions from the world at large, then having the world at large vote on the best ideas that the company can implement, and the idea with the most votes is the one that gets implemented, and the winner gets paid a bounty by the company.

On the other hand, that idea would add to the unemployment figures--hundreds of slick sam pundits would be out of work...even if more than 70% of their 'crisis management' solutions have typically further inflamed situations as opposed to quell them.  

Your thoughts?

Social Media and CEO's Love Hate Relationship:

Its funny to think that, back before my sideburns turned gray, I was the outspoken urchin that annoyed my contemporaries and bombarded them with features/benefits of business technology that dis-intermediated, or communicated more efficiently and more effectively.

Whether email marketing (yes, I'm just north of 50, so communicating via email only became ubiquitous years after I had built and sold two different enterprises), or thereafter, Instant Messaging, which became the common inter-office or B2B communicator (I actually had a hand in building two different proprietary IM systems for the financial industry), and then the various 'social media' applications; first it was blogging, then vlogging and now of course, tweeting. 

All along, those that I reported to or were engaged by, pressed me to articulate the ROI for embracing the latest technology or media app; how would it help them save money, and/or how would it help them make money??
 
As far as corporate tweeting is concerned, I'll admit that I've been scratching my head and waiting to see or hear about corporate marketing success stories in which tweets turned into measurable upticks in sales (as opposed to being nothing more than expense item within the staffing budget).

DemingHill, a boutique firm that positions itself as experts on the topic of social media, has just published a compelling piece on the topic...It will take more than two minutes to read and digest the piece, but demystifying  a topic that's a head scratcher for more than a few cubicle corner owners, isn't one that can be [easily] summarized  in Twitter-speak, i.e. under 140 characters.   Click on the title link to the blog posting to see the article..

Using iPhone Apps To Market Your Brand

After being seduced into replying to a discussion on LinkedIn, soliciting "marketing experts" to "define marketing in one sentence", the simple reply posted "Connecting the Tag Line to the Bottom Line" was followed by 700 postings, each comprised of run-on sentences, many that were off-beat .

Even the most experienced "experts" were challenged to articulate the core definition, merely demonstrating that everyone has an opinion. After all, marketing is about selling. Selling the sizzle, selling the brand, selling the corporate value proposition, whatever. But most importantly, the most important metric is how many units were sold (profitably) as a result of the marketing initiatives.
 
Obviously, marketing is a conglomeration of laundry list applications, including but not limited to.

• Website
• Blog/NewsLetters
• Twitter
• Internal ListServe
• YouTube
• Avatars on 2nd Life
• Sponsorships and Co-Branding Strategies
• Public Relations & Investor Relations
• Trade Shows/Conferences/Round Tables
• Advertising (Traditional, Place-Based, New Media, Digital Media, Social Media, etc.)

Notice the above-noted reference to "applications".

Well, iPhone-related "apps" represent yet another, burgeoning tool for corporations to extend their brand, deliver promotions (e.g. entertaining brand-centric games that produce coupons for products). One can argue that 'apps' are equally as compelling as Tweets, if not more so.

Below synopsis is courtesy of Tee Marek is an Account Manager for RadioTrafix.com

Businesses are using iPhone apps to extend their brand - traditional consumer goods such as Clorox bleach and non-traditionals such as designer Diane von Furstenberg have an iPhone app. What's the magic? What's the attraction. In a word - CHANNEL. The iPhone has carved out a unique marketing channel to its users - in a sense it's like a brand new TV channel, that's hot, that's cool, and with loyal viewers.

Ever witnessed a discussion between an iPhone user and a non-user... let's just say the iPhone user is usually the one left standing, with what the iPhone can do, what apps the iPhone user has and how much better it's made their lives. Now imagine leveraging off that kind of commitment to a channel for hosting a portal into your business! As the saying goes. "Priceless"!

Actually the cost of getting an app unto the iPhone platform has come down by way of a number of innovations, some related to updates in the iPhone operating system and some by way of integration of CMS (content management systems) into the platform. The end result is that a semi-customized business portal can be had for a mid four figure price as available through RadioTrafix, and which cost can be offset by in-app advertising and/or pay for download.

When the average age of the iPhone user is 37 years old according to Admob's Mobile Metrics Report of 2010, you know that this is a perfect market for many consumer goods & services. And when the gender split of just over half of device users being male is taken into account, the potential market essentially replicates the general population reached by other traditional means.

To the extent the iPhone user is not being reached by your competition, this is a fantastic opportunity to use this new channel to gain new ground, expanding your brand's electronic footprint and market. If your competition's already on the app platform, it's time to move quickly to integrate the features of their app into yours and more, else they will find a loyal following that may be impossible to unseat - especially when the iPhone's viral sharing capabilities through social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are taken into account!

Wanted: New PR firm needed to cap the well on #BP Chairman's Mouth and Shut-down Email

I'm sorry, but for a global company that produces close to $20 billion a year in PROFIT, its almost unbelievable to read/hear about the ongoing and obvious errors that keep spewing from the company's PR machine.

Oh, that's right; they have Dick Cheney's former PR wizard on their payroll now. Makes perfect sense to..who?

Who allows a guy that, even though he's the Chairman of the Company, to speak to the US media, despite not having a perfect grasp on the English language and related nuances.?

Yesterday, BP's Swedish-born Chairman appeared before the press as he exited his meeting with President Obama, and said (paraphrase), "Of course we have compassion for the little people in the Gulf area, and we're doing everything we can to help those little people.."

What about the big people?? What? He believes that the only people impacted are a handful of local residents and businesses?
Oh..maybe he thought that only children and dwarfs have been impacted..?
OK, so it was a language nuance, and no doubt that he was trying to articulate that BP is sensitive to the devastation that's flooded the area..

Rule #1 re: PR/Crisis Management. No matter how fluid a crisis (pun intended), make sure that whoever speaks to the media is someone that speaks the local language fluently.

Rule #2. Investor Relations. In connection with implicating emails attributed to BP's investor relations senior exec; NEVER...(can you spell n-e-v-e-r) use email to communicate messages that are guaranteed to be misconstrued, taken out of context, or incorporate opinions such as "Yeah, 15 people got killed when the refinery blew up, but the good news is that it happened on a Friday in front of a long weekend. By the time Tuesday rolls around, it'll become a non-issue with the media; we've got nothing to worry about. 

Here's an idea: Do not allow PR/Investor Relations executives with access to email, unless they have a certification in best practices and use of email within a corporate environment. Period.

While we're on the topic, I'm inclined to suggest that President Obama issue an executive order that turns off the Internet for 6 hours per day. That'll slow down the distribution of un-confirmed, unsubstantiated, or completely false news reports, and in turn, reduce the world's anxiety levels.

Oh..I guess Pfizer wouldn't allow that type of thing to happen.

To Sarah Palin and your fans:

While inadvertently tuning in to Bill O'Reilly (I was looking for the World Cup Channel), I heard you say " We need to bring in experts from Denmark to help with the BP crisis; after all, they have all of that expertise plugging dikes in dams!"

Sarah, I'm often apolitical, and just want to vote for the person that I think will do the best job; but in all due respect, with all of the money that you're minting these days, do yourself and your party a favor: hire an elementary school tutor before you go back on the road, and certainly do it before you speak to the media again..

Wanted: New CMO for #Chevy; I'm Sorry!

Chevrolet, not Chevy?? By now, most marketers have commented among themselves re: yesterday's leaked internal memo from GM's marketing guru Jim Campbell, the one that instructs every GM employee to stop calling Chevy a Chevy, and to only refer to that brand as Chevrolet.

Adding insult to injury; the memo suggests that going forward, any GM employee that uses one of the most memorable names in world history is required to contribute a quarter to a 'cuss can'

What a surprise the "new marketing strategy" was ridiculed by close to 50 million people within five minutes after the story hit the news wires and twitter pages.  But, we really gotta love how GM's Marketing czar shifted gears, and threw the car into reverse by saying "It was just a draft memo, and I was just kidding!"

Since I doubt that anyone at GM is going to engage me to counsel them on PR Crisis Management, for everyone else that's reading this:
Rule #1. NEVER email a document that you don't want to appear on the front page of the New York Times.
Rule #2. Read Rule #1 ten times. For the people at GM, make it twenty times.
Rule #3. "I was only kidding when I said that.." is a line that BP has already secured a patent for; anyone that uses it going forward is subject to an infringement suit.

I've crossed paths with Jim before; he's a good guy. I can only guess that somebody above him is sleeping with someone at the ad agency that recommended this new strategy.


TO: ATT CEO Randall Stephenson
When a customer emails you and appears to be frustrated with your pricing structure, its really not a good idea to respond with a letter that threatens him/her with a cease and desist order and civil action in the event said customer sends any more correspondences.

But, we love how quickly ATT did switch lines (pun intended). An official ATT statement issued shortly after the news media got hold of the story: "Because of this incident, we are reviewing our entire process to ensure a situation like this does not happen again."

Insiders are rumored to have said the new process will include automatically turning off the service of any customer that writes or calls to complain about service. That'll show 'em!  (Thank G-d I'm not an ATT customer!)

#BP and Bad #PR-#Parody Burns The Brand

We can only smirk when reading Noam Cohen's piece in today's NY Times; the one in which the Times belatedly belabored the story of a Twitter-er(?) lambasting BP with parody tweets since May 18. [Jane Wells over at CNBC spotlighted "BPGlobalPR" on May 25th, and even if Janey wasn't the very first journalist to trip over that parody tweeter, she was certainly two weeks ahead of the NY Times!

Why are we smirking? Simply because on May 17th, the day before "Leroy Stick" began sticking his virtual pen into the eyes of BP executives with his parody press releases, this very blog posted a missive directed to BP's crisis managers, and any other "crisis management guru" advising what they needed to do, before the likes of Leroy could gain traction.

What? You don't believe that we were in front of the curve? Just click here to read our May 17th posting

BTW- We apologize for the crazy "hash marks" in the title posting; the grey beards here aren't busy smoking the stuff, but simply following the current "rules" for the best way to get heard in the crowded cyberspace.

In deference to Noam, click here for his article.

And, since we're a big fan of parody (lol to the fake bernie blog), we necessarily agree with Leroy Stick when he says "Satire on its own can't get bad actors to act better, but it can attract attention and direct people to those actors and their actions.."

Click here to tune in to Leroy's BPGlobalPR twitter feed.

Bravo to Bravo!

I don't watch the Bravo Channel often, or not intentionally. I know that many people like being distracted from the reality of the world by watching Reality TV, but that doesn't make much sense to me. To me, "Real Housewives" is scary, and shows like that one probably illustrate why the divorce rate keeps climbing. Me? If I want to be distracted from reality, I'll tune in to TMC Classics.

But, as profiled in today's NYT, the reality is that Bravo has their finger on the pulse on what sells, when most entertainment content companies are still guessing and hoping that whatever latest idea the "head of creative content" buys into, will actually take home a trophy at the Up Fronts.

And, Bravo to Bravo for proving that entertainment companies that use risk analysis tools, actually research what their consumers want before manufacturing it, and remaining flexible enough to make changes to their product as their audience taste changes is a recipe that every media company should emulate.

Here are the take-away's from today's article..click on the title link for the full article.

The network, which finds and tests stars in much the same way that consumer products companies develop and market shampoos and mascaras, 

Viewers’ opinions, carefully observed and culled on the Web and pinpointed through more traditional market research, tend to dictate which Bravo stars graduate from ensemble reality shows to their own programs. The thinking is that they’ve already been vetted by the Bravo audience and the research team, and that they’ve already built brand awareness — so Bravo is, in marketing terms, just extending its product line.

But Bravo, aiming to minimize creative risks and maximize profits, is now taking these business practices to their logical extremes. Shows on the network aren’t introduced on a hunch about a strong creative concept. Instead, Bravo begins by studying its audience’s lifestyle and preferences — what is the market need? — and then creates shows and stars that reflect them.

Over the last year, Bravo has also begun relying heavily on social media to fine-tune story lines in its programs, so that each episode is even more efficiently tailored to its audience’s taste. The network asks its stars to blog, encourages viewers to comment on its Web site and post to Twitter during episodes, deploys text-message campaigns and Facebook pages for shows, and even studies search terms that viewers use, collected by research firms like Hitwise, to parse what viewers are most interested in.

Bravo just made consumer preferences the entire centerpiece of its programming mojo as it traded art for commerce.

“Bravo targets a niche audience rather than the mass audience of the old broadcast days,” notes Lynn Spigel, a professor at the School of Communication at Northwestern University. “Bravo is an example of the high degrees of standardization and consolidation cable networks need in order to compete.”

 

 
 

Potty Mouth PR: Yahoo!!#%*&

Those that have visited this blog more than 2x, and/or have spent more than 15 minutes interrogating our archives might have discovered that we're trend-spotters. Once or twice, we've even been credited with starting tidal waves.

We could only smirk at today's headlines profiling "Potty-Mouth" Carol Bartz, and her latest bombing with the F-word.

Yes, smirking at the below video will offend certain sensibilities. But, even at the consternation of my #1 fan (who is not an advocate of expletives in advertising, or anywhere else), we say Yahoo! to You, Carol!!

Your latest guffaw, captured by the news media and now widely-available across the Planet Earth, demonstrates the observations that we made right here barely one week ago; that Potty is becoming the norm across all forms of messaging, and proves the point we made: its a great shock and awe strategy.

Since the news of your most recent F-bomb attack has now spread faster than swine flu, you've become a top-ranked search term on Google (oh, the poetic irony!) and your stock traded up 2% today. Now, you need to turn on the PR machine, cync it up with your ad sales division and get the f**king share price back to $17!

Sh*t That We've Said..Prove Prescient

Five days ago this blog profiled the increasing trend in shock and awe advertising by using expletives within product marketing messages. A great test of this 'new genre' will take place this week, during the CBS upfront presentation, during which they'll unveil the upcoming "Sh*t My Dad Says" sitcom.

With Mad-Cow icon William Shatner starring in this new series, the theme of the show is in deference to the viral mania of Twitter; the story line is based on the real tweets of a self-described "shlebby kid" in which he spent less than a year tweeting his potty-mouth Dad's wittiest risque comments before the kid's twits vaulted to Top10 ranking on Twitter..with an audience of 1.3 million followers.

Presuming CBS maintains the same title for the show as the twitter page (which is also the title to the coffee table book that's now a NYT bestseller),  CBS is betting on the growing audience appetite for potty-mouth content.

Can't wait to see which advertisers pony up in the upfronts to advertise during this show--and whether any of them will be running their own potty-centric promotions.