Celebs Embrace Social Media On-Line Megaphone to Build Brand Bank Accounts; Get On the Bus or Get Run Over By It.

Like it or leave it, according to today's front page of the NYT Sunday Business section,  celeb's use of social media (think Facebook and Twitter) has become a cottage industry for algo and data mining geeks who can turn cottage cheesy celebs into brand icons--and more importantly, introduce a data point for sponsored spokespeople's agents that can be used as a tipping point during contract negotiations.

Sure, you've heard this all before; marcom gurus have been touting social media for dozens of months, but now its gone institutional, and it's a practice area that hasn't gone unnoticed by the most brand burnishing Baristas. Case in point: :the who's who backers of  "theAudience", the most recent digital media consigliere to capture the mind share of marketing and sponsorship execs. Underwriters of this shop include William Morris Endeavor, Lionsgate, Universal Pictures — and one tech superstar, Sean Parker,
 
"..After largely ignoring social media — allowing fake Facebook pages to proliferate, sticking with tried-and-true publicity stops like “Entertainment Tonight” — stars and agents are realizing en masse that they need to get on that train.."

The British comedian Russell Brand says theAudience has helped him sell out shows “without any paid advertising”; the company also advises him on where to route tours, based on the geography of his fan base. “It’s a smart way to talk to my fans directly and in a bespoke manner,” Mr. Brand says.

The take-away: whether you're a fading star or an aspiring A-lister, social media + computer geek guidance is a low-cost strategy that can (according those who charge fat fees for finessing your message and build your follower list in a manner that builds your brand bank account.

Getting Nostalgic with Comfort Marketing; Macy’s Makes a Movie

Copyright 2012 The New York Times Company

Comfort Marketing...aka "using nostalgia to woo consumers during uncertain times" is one our fav topics, if only because the "times" have been particularly uncertain for a long time now, and specifically, for most of the past 10 years(!) that we've been blogging here.

If you are first time visitor, I'm a big fan of this type of advertising (go ahead, you can call it branding if you want), and the NY Times presumably piggybacked on our opining about this topic after they [coincidentally] ran on a piece on this very topic last January, immediately after we talked about it..

They're baaackkk! Courtesy of a great piece in today's NYT written by Stuart Elliott, Macy's is set to launch a TV ad campaign (and presumably, complemented by an online and a mobile-device compatible version) which "artfully co-mingles" Boy Bieber, Donald "You Can't Trump This!" Trump, Martha Stewart and Taylor Swift with clips of Edmund Gwenn aka Kris Kringle from the 1947 iconic film, "Miracle on 34th Street."

“The Macy’s campaign is indicative of a trend on Madison Avenue known as comfort marketing, using nostalgia to woo consumers during the uncertain economy. Other examples include revivals of familiar brand characters like Speedy Alka-Seltzer as well as campaigns that commemorate milestone anniversaries.”

For all of you marcom gurus and talking heads that have the attention of corporate sponsors, this is a strategy that always works well, if executed with creative thinking..

"System Update" is Major Banks' Euphemism for Being Hacked

Almost funny..after this blogger reported multiple incidences involving online banking issues (phishing, Identity Theft attempts, and erroneous charges on credit card) over past several days, and being told by bank 'customer service' staff the issues were merely related to "system updates", we're all reminded again that phrase is nothing more than a euphemism for "we've been hacked! (and that your account information was likely hijacked by perpetrators).

The intriguing part is that select politicians with nothing intelligent to say are attributing this week's cyberattacks on multiple banks to Iranian-backed trouble makers.

I guess the confirmation sent to me by Amazon for that $700 flat panel TV will actually be shipped to someplace in the middle east!

Citibank systems down for 2nd day- "Call Back When Our Systems Are Available"

Here's an update to yesterday's posting-

Citibank credit customers are experiencing a 2nd day in a row of "systems down" --those trying to telephone the customer service number displayed on their credit card, or the 'customer service' telephone number displayed on their various websites are being told after waiting on hold for upwards of 30 minutes "This is not customer service; if you want customer service, you need to call a different telephone number, but since all of our systems are down, you should wait until they are back up to phone.The real customer service telephone is 866-311-4975.."

Good fodder for those on the receiving end of collections team from Citibank; tell them that all of your systems are down and to call back when they are back up again..

Corporate Marketing/Communications 101: Customer Service is where the rubber meets the road; if you insist on failing to address major snafus in an intelligent manner,  remember the adage: the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

#Havock about #iPhone5 and #IOS6- Buying Google, Selling Apple, Shorting Citi

I finally gave in and bought an iPhone. 3 Weeks Ago. Before knowing that iPhone5 would be coming out. Whatever. I wanted Siri. And, after reading the reviews about iPhone5-bigger screen, much lighter, but no more Google Maps and snafu reports i.e. apps that aren't functioning with the new iOS6, which is not only part of iPhone5--but a latest operating system upgrade available for all other iPhones. Like 100 million other idiots, I downloaded that to my new (well, not so new) iPhone.

2 days later
I receive an email notification from Amazon confirming my purchase of a $700 flat screen that was delivered to an address in Texas that I've never heard of. As a matter of fact, I didn't order a $700 flat screen from Amazon, but I did attempt to download the Amazon app to my new iPhone because I wanted a Kindel book that Nook isn't carrying yet.

2. Concerned that if my Amazon account was breached, I figured I should check my credit card statement via the Citi online platform. Within 10 minutes of investigating the phishing attack (or an identify theft attack), I then went to my online credit card

3. I immediately noticed a $506.12 charge that purportedly took place today. The merchant was not identified, and the only information displayed by Citi was the merchant category ("Home Supply Company")

4. In the past 30 days, I hadn't used that credit card to purchase anything other than gas, train tickets and other sundry items--all under $75.00.

5. I called Citi. I was on the phone with 4 different customer service and fraud representatives over the course of 4 hours. F-O-U-R  H-O-U-R-S  (4). I might as well as have been connected to an Asperberger's clinic.

6. The Customer Services representatives insisted they were unable to view any transaction on my account re the $506.12 charge. They couldn't explain why it was displaying on my online dashboard. Hence, I was transferred between the 'customer service' dept and the 'fraud detection' dept 2x during the 4 hours of attempting to find someone that could what was going on.

7. While at 3hrs 50min, I logged back on to my credit card account to discover the $506.12 charge was no longer there. No memo statement re a  reversal or a credit. It was as if the charge never appeared. It did and I have a screen shot to prove it. Citi customer service reps that I was last on the phone with couldn't even begin to figure out how why a transaction displayed on my account, and disappeared with no trace. If I wanted to find out what happened, I was told to contact customer service.

8. While in one of those 'hold' moments with Citi--I received an incoming call from JP Morgan Chase. At least that's what my caller ID displayed. I put Citi on hold and took the JP Morgan call and the caller very quickly provided his name (I was distracted because I didn't want to lose the Citi call)--and then said he was calling about a check being presented to JPMorgan with my company name and he was calling to confirm the account. I don't bank at JPMorgan

9. Distracted--I asked to repeat who he was (even though I didn't write it down)..and what was the account name on the check. It turned out to be a very close rendition of my business account name. I asked how he got my phone number, and he said he Googled the name on the account. That's great. local banks are using Google to verify facts when being presented with checks.

10. I'm taking my profits in Apple , buying Google, and shorting more Citi.

Apple is a great company, but I'm thinking someone slipped on a bar of soap. 2 days after I download IOS6, I'm blanketed with phishing attacks, attempted check fraud, a credit card overcharge--all within 4 hours. Somethings not right, besides the fact that  its obvious that Citi (and likely every other bank) has no idea what's going on inside of customer accounts, and how hackers are walking through their stores as easily as a burglar walks through dept stores in the middle of the night. 

What's Next for Hedge Funds? Marcom / Advertising to Enhance Alpha

While keeping our fingers on the pulse i.e. new rules that will enable hedge funds and other investment vehicles to leverage marcom and advertising schemes in the course of soliciting investors and enhance their brands, latest self-promo blog posting from HedgeCo,net, a 3rd party marketing platform, makes for an interesting read:

The pending regulations connected to the JOBS Act is one that has advertising firms drooling in anticipation of getting a slice of what could prove to be tens of millions of dollars in fees from notoriously big-spending Alpha types from the financial services world.

If you happen to be one of those that believe spending more makes you more recognized, you're in luck: there's no shortage of vendors that will help you part with your (actually, your investor's) money.

Words of wisdom for deep-pocketed, fast-action hedge fund managers from one of our favorite gurus--and one that works with many alpha-types in the financial world: be careful what you wish for.

The memo you missed re: Marketing Your Business; KISS

"Sales is not the same as Marketing"..whoever subscribes to that philosophy has been working in corporate cubicles way too long..
Yes, if you wanted to paint an org chart..in many enterprises, these two functions are typically separate, and depending on the industry (and/or size of company), Sales often reports 'up' to Marketing.

Whatever..regardless of  business size, the rules and tactics are often taken from the same playbook.

If you're  a 'small' business, and you just recently figured out how to get a website on the internet, before the world totally passes you by, read this week's NYT article "Small Retailers Open Up Storefronts on Facebook"...


Here's another in the latest trend i.e. "one size fits all" marketing KISS. Keep your message simple and stupid..whether its an advertising program, or a more 'institutional' strategy. Your target audience is actually not as smart as you think, and the more words and/or images that you use, the more likely you are to confuse them.

Don't believe me? Follow the talking head commentary re Presidential campaign advertising tactics and messages. Every 4 years, neuroscience gurus come up with even more granular strategies, and every cycle media analysts spend nothing but airtime critiquing them.

But the fact is, if all it takes to win an election today is a bigger advertising budget than your opponent, that proves that people in general are stupid. By that logic, this article is logical read

Venture Capital Firms, Once Discreet, Learn the PR Game

Remember when venture capital firms were more secretive than the NSA? I certainly do. That's when NDA's were signed in blood, and VCs were loathe to talk about anything other than how much and when a prospective fund investor would be wiring in a check, and would only make references to the industries they were focused on, nothing more.

New rules (duh!). As noted by Nicole Perloth in her NY Times column today : for all of you under-employed PR wizards, great news: the VC world is 'ramping up.' and hiring those who can tweet, blog, and word-smith--just like the start-ups those VCs invest in.

Self-promotion via aggressive, this generation public relation strategies is not only in vogue, its become an integral component to an industry that competes like gladiators for the opportunity to invest in deals as well as for fee-paying/profit-sharing institutional investors who are ever-more pernickety when it comes to allocating assets to 'alternative asset' managers.

A telling part of the article profiles the mindset of Andreeessen Horowitz (Marc Andreesen made his bones and mini-billion as a result of co-founding Netscape); each year 15 deals account for 97 percent of all venture capital profits. This means VC's need laser-like precision to identify and get a piece of a very small fraction of the deals that actually end up making money for investors.  And to do that, VC's need to be "out there" with magnetizing messages that start-up companies can gravitate to.