FBI Breaking Its Brand In Battle vs. Apple Inc

“How to Destroy Brand Credibility In One Simple Mis-Step..” is a lead-in typically associated with a corporation that has stumbled when responding to an event that has triggered an outright PR crisis. However, as the debate between privacy protectionists and law enforcement over-reachers continues to rage over the topic of whether Apple Inc should be compelled to reverse engineer its own product and prove that its product is not as secure as its millions of customers expect it to be, instead of following simple steps, the FBI is breaking down its own brand.

FBI Director Jim Comey, a long-time government prosecutor wonk who took a sabbatical from a close on 20-year tenure in various roles at DOJ to serve as General Counsel for global hedge fund Bridgewater Associcates before being recruited back by Uncle Sam, has effectively shot himself in the foot. Instead of breaking into a terrorist phone, Comey is breaking the ever-fragile brand image of the country’s top domestic law enforcement agency and given yet another reason for everyone to question the brand credibility and integrity of the federal law enforcement agency he’s in charge of.

Courtesy of below extract from just one of dozens of headline stories appearing across the media this morning, here’s why:

(ReCode)-FBI Director James Comey for the first time admitted that “there was a mistake made” when the agency directed that the Apple ID password associated with the shooter’s phone be changed. Comey made the admission today, in response to a question raised during a House Judiciary Committee hearing into the question of encryption. One committee member asked whether the Federal Bureau of Investigation had foreclosed the possibility of obtaining a current backup of a phone used by one of the shooters, Syed Farook, when it directed his employer to change the password on the account. “There was a mistake made in the first 24 hours, where the county, at the FBI’s request, made it hard to make the phone back up by [changing the password of] the iCloud account,” Comey said in testimony. The FBI had previously stated that changing the password wasn’t a screw-up. -

See the entire story via this link

#NextGreatIdea To: Twitter CEO Dorsey cc: Anthony Noto CFO, CMO re TWTR TV

The next great idea from The JLC Group goes to Twitter CEO Dorsey and Anthony Noto, CFO and CMO: “TwitterTV” (or similar phrase) can be a bolt-on broadcast network to burnish the TWTR brand and keep you relevant. Before you go the way of MySpace. Keep reading.

In connection with Twitter Inc. CEO Dick Costello’s resignation today and the return of co-founder Jack Dorsey who will serve as Interim CEO, suffice to suggest that TWTR has been challenged of late and is in need of fresh ideas (as opposed to scatter shot) that will re-invigorate a brand whose name has become ubiquitous.

For social media-centric corporate branders who remember the evolution and ultimate rapid decay of “MySpace”, one could argue that Twitter has perhaps gotten fat (thanks to having a oversized treasury) and even slightly sloppy in the course strategy execution. Therefore, one could posit that Twitter is in need of fresh and proven strategies that will extend brand engagement across all relevant media platforms.

To: Twitter Inc. (Interim) CEO Jack Dorsey, CFO/CMO Anthony Noto (and resigned CEO Dick Costello)

From: The JLC Group

re: Twitter Inc. Brand Burnishing/Rejuvenation #NextGreatIdea: TWTR TV aka TwitterTV aka other permutations that would reside within the goalposts of the below copyright-able idea

Gentlemen:

The following ‘idea’ is necessarily proffered based on the above thesis. With that in mind, Anthony should welcome this simply because he serves as CFO and for all practical purposes, he also serves as Chief Marketing Officer. As such, Anthony of all people (and if not a creative  brand marketing guy by training) will appreciate the notion of “connecting the tag line to the bottom line.”

I respectfully submit that as part of your looking back and looking forward, among other steps, you want to create a Twitter TV show that takes the format of a broadcast news platform akin to the professional style employed by CNN, CNBC, ESPN.

This platform will secure cable network air time within the same block of channels that viewers surf to watch the primary talking head/news programs, such as above-noted.

Concurrently, your 24/7 programming will broadcast via live stream over the web, so that viewers using mobile devices, or those who are moving away from cable TV due to cost, can watch the broadcast. TMZ does this, so it can’t be hard.

Your broadcast studio(s) will necessarily be out-fitted such that primary and/or regional studios in various parts of the globe will be no less professional than what viewers of of major news networks have come to expect.

Your programming schedule will include ongoing commentary of real-time top trending topics and you will have professional talking head commentators who, throughout the day will be highlighting top trends across category (politics, finance, weather, entertainment, health, and of course..’breaking news’ based on twitter data.

Let’s face, Twitter is not only disseminating breaking news in every corner and crevice on Planet Earth, Twitter is making the news in just about any single square mile that has digital access to the Internet. Remember “Arab Spring”? That historic event powered by Twitter (and Facebook) that upended dictators in nearly a dozen Arab countries and has since led to mass chaos throughout the region and morphed into something now known as ISIS (or is it ITSUCKS)?

So, consistent with launching a broadcast news/entertainment platform that will be as recognized across the globe as CNN, BBC, Telemundo, CNBC (ok, throw in FOX too), you will have a team of professional “broadcast journlists”, each being a known quantity to one extent or another. Some will be generalists, others (guest commentator) will be making frequent expert guess appearances to speak to a particular trending topic and to offer analysis accordingly. Your guests will include recognized neuroscientists, data analysis wonks. political commentators, celebrity-followers and financial market geeks who can offer a plain speak interpretation of the metadata being captured by your servers

You will have remote journalists who will be reporting from actual ‘global hot spots’ that your data has determined to be the epicenter of the story itself. They can broadcast via iPhone to add some gritty-ness to the broadcast quality.

This platform will necessarily be upselling advertiser content beyond the current offering embedding ads within simple tweeting. The advertisers that you have since onboarded will have to embrace the notion of knowing you can extend their brand message via the still most popular way to consume content: motion picture. And (obviously) any ad salesperson above the age of 14 could fill the ad slots for a professionally-produced and programmed reality-real-time-news-broadcast-entertainment show that captures the most sought after DMAs.

With regard to the proprietary nature of the above idea, we are well aware that sometime in 2009 or 2010, Twitter Inc. engaged in some type of wacky arrangement with a local production company in Spain that produced something known as  “Twittervision” within the local market. The programming ‘content’ for this ‘show’ was news broadcast-flavored and had two guys sitting in front of a backdrop and discussing trending tweets–which presumably your company was curating and delivering via a dedicated feed. Point being, a similar but much less grand idea was tested in a local market whose audience could barely move a needle within the context of the then aspiring Twitter brand. It died on the vine quickly and the strategy might even have been expunged from your marketing department’s files.

Yes, it will require a first year capital investment of as much as $25 million, when including staff payroll, facilities, blah blah blah. Promotion of the broadcast network shouldn’t cost more than another $5mil, although if the budgeted ‘set up’ and overhead costs don’t provide a healthy cushion, you folks need to have your heads examined. By the way, ring up Jeff Zuckerman if you need to find out how much cash you can generate by selling advertising and how much that cash revenue can add to your enterprise value. I’m thinking $1bil in added market value when you simply announce the strategy. The rest is in the hands of the gods, as they say.

You can presume that our firm has underwritten the production of a ‘treatment’ re: programming content and business plan for this bolt-on broadcast network notion. We are happy to engage in a friendly dialogue that would further your execution of this idea with speed and stealth.

As an aside, above should necessarily be complemented with other easy-to-integrate and fast to market schemes that should include widgets that enable digital payments, peer-to-peer lending, donations and other financial transactions. Inside of the respective user’s Twitter functionality. Figure it out. It’s not that hard these days. While you’re at it, think “co-opetition” the next time you sit down with the folks at GOOG and Facebook. You actually can come up with strategic deals that won’t have FTC wonks knocking on your doors.

Contacting our Chief Rainmaker is easy. It’s me.

Jay

 

 

 

 

#NextGreatIdea To: Twitter CEO Dorsey cc: Anthony Noto CFO, CMO re TWTR TV

A-List Celeb Investors Help Venture Capitalists Advance Beyond "A" Round

Any ‘venture capitalist’ worth his/her salt already knows that having an “A-List” Celebrity on the A-Round list of investors could be a public relations coup for the VC firm’s marketing and branding strategy. Inevitably, a good PR mention, whether its in Page 6 or any other ‘rag’ read by starry-eyed investors (from Wall Street moguls to the many deep-pocketed socialites and “players”who aspire to have their names displayed on the closing credits of a Harvey Weinstein film) will advance funding from Round A to Round Z faster than a New York minute.

In the venture capital and hedge fund world (the latter being more sensitive to the notion of disclosing their investors’ names) if you have a Hollywood celeb on board (not on “The Board”, just on board and next to the Silicon Valley titans who have signed up with OPM, the PR and Marcom folks call it “another good way to leveraging assets.” In the corporate marketing world, its called exploiting your investors’ brands to advance your own brand. And, it works.*

*This isn’t meant to suggest that the investment made by the celeb actually works out in the end, if you just arrived on Planet Earth, here’s what you might not know: a majority of venture capital funded deals don’t work out. Same rule applies to those who put up money for a film, a theatrical production or any other vanity investment.  But we digress from the title of this post, which intends to lead you to a fun read courtesy of today’s NY Times Deal Book column “Sprinkling a Little Celebrity Stardust on Silicon Valley” submitted by STEVEN DAVIDOFF SOLOMON…Below is the opening excerpt, you’ll want to read the entirety via link back to NY Times..

Snoop Dogg is raising a venture capital fund to invest in the marijuana industry.

That’s not a headline from The Onion. The hip-hop star is indeed putting together a $25 million fund to invest in marijuana-related industries, according to TechCrunch.

He is part of a growing wave of celebrities — including Justin Bieber and Ashton Kutcher — investing in start-ups. It is easy to interpret this phenomenon as a possible sign of the coming apocalypse, but it may be something more, highlighting the always precarious nature of the venture capital industry itself.

Celebrities have always tried to make extra money through investments and endorsements. Elizabeth Taylor had a clothing line and a perfume. Planet Hollywood, which fell into bankruptcy, was started with help from Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

These kinds of investments and endorsements were different. Celebrities were trying to cash in on their fame, selling or investing in things that their association would enhance. Sean Combs may have known little about selling vodka when entered into a deal with Diageo to market Ciroc, but he knew a lot about style.

The model now is Bono, U2’s lead singer, who invests without trying to leverage his celebrity to make that investment work.

In 2004, he joined the venture capital firm Elevation Partners. The idea was that Bono could be a visionary in the media and technology world. Bono may be the coolest person on earth, but that coolness didn’t really translate for Elevation Partners. The firm made some pretty bad investments in Palm and others, and was saved only by a big trade in shares in Facebook before its initial public offering. It returned a fair profit to its investors, but the fund has not raised a new round of money. In short, it is hard to see how much value Bono provided.

This hasn’t stopped him, however. Bono and Mr. Kutcher recently announced that they would be advisers to the private equity firm TPG Capital on investments. Bono may do better this time around, but one wonders what value he brings to TPG other than that 1980s-era hipness.

Why would experienced deal makers want rock stars and actors to advise them? Why would entrepreneurs seek their money?

There is a certain cachet with all that stardust, of course, and perhaps some free publicity. As far as investing goes, however, some might cynically suggest that celebrities’ dollars are merely dumb money that companies are happy to take.

But there is more to it.

In the venture capital industry, profile is important. Andreessen Horowitz, for example, arguably gets better deals because it is known for paying fat prices and hitting some big home runs in its venture investments. In such a competitive market, a celebrity investor is like another badge. It is a sign of honor and a signal that someone important cares about you.

This is the stardust theory, but again, there is more here. Celebrity investing may really be about the thing that drives Silicon Valley — networking. One top venture capital lawyer recently mentioned to me that he attends more 100 lunches a year. That’s a lawyer.

And celebrities are good at networking and dealing with people.

KEEP READING!..Here’s the NYT link

A-List Celeb Investors Help Venture Capitalists Advance Beyond "A" Round

ROI re Hedge Fund Marketing, Social Media and Branding Best Practices

Brand positioning is inherently an iterative and ongoing strategy that requires an arsenal of tactical approaches in a world that has become increasingly crowded thanks to the‘socialization’ of every tiny tidbit of information that could possibly be imagined.

Within the context of the financial services industry, and in particular the ‘hedge fund’ space, the rules of engagement vis a vie socializing your value proposition so as to engage a broader audience is a topic of spirited discussion, if not strongly-positioned debate.

Given that ‘finance industry folks’ are trained to be constrained courtesy of a legacy culture of secret sauces and proprietary strategies, complicated compliance concerns and a traditional view that “less is more” when it comes to being transparent whenever discussing what sets you apart from competitors, social media tactics are only starting to gain traction. No surprise when considering that the most relevant metric that any credible HF operator is rightfully focused on is ROI, HF marketers are measured most by the assets under management they bring in to their firm, and the institutional investor that is writing the check.

Valuation metrics such as ‘good will’, “brand recognition” and brand perception are illusory at best for the hedge fund world (other than when HF due dili wonks are distilling the balance sheet of a fast growth company whose valuation includes those aforementioned metrics). The common wisdom for HF “Stars” seeking 15 seconds or more of fame to promote their firm is typically focused on getting interviewed on CNBC (or better still, Bloomberg TV), a speaking role at an industry conference (which typically requires a ‘pay-to-play’ sponsorship),  and of course, frequent attributed comments in business news publications and gossip page sightings at one of the dozens of fund raising events that memorialize financial industry celebrity in perpetutity.

Since we broached the topic of how the JOBS Act would change the branding landscape nearly 2 years ago, there’s since been no shortage of news articles, white papers, and of course, a litany of financial service friendly social media ‘expert brand marketers’ shedding light on best practices for those “hedgies’ seeking to leverage new and more liberal advertising regulations (e.g. the “JOBS Act”) and better ways to navigate today’s brand positioning ecosystem. That said, the following article published in March edition of The HedgeFundJournal.com and written by another (and arguably more recognized firm) that specializes in the HF brand communications space is a great read, if only because the take-aways underscore and provide enhanced credibility to the exact observations and talking points that we’ve shared right here over the past 2 years.

Without further ado, and giving credit when due (to Peppercomm), here’s a respected expert insight…

The JOBS Act at Year One… A changing hedge fund communications landscape

The private world of hedge funds is looking more like Madison Avenue. Hedge funds today are everywhere – in daily headlines, social media, public web sites, live TV coverage, and even highly visible Las Vegas bashes. They are also increasingly in the portfolios of institutional and retail investors.

Once a shadowy, inaccessible and little understood part of the asset management world, hedge funds are growing, diversifying, extending product lines, acquiring competitors, targeting new markets, stepping up client relations – in short, acting more and more like the large, sophisticated businesses they’ve become. Driving and supporting this business transition is a changing attitude toward and approach to marketing communications. As hedge funds have grown to $2-trillion-plus in assets, they are tackling issues and opportunities like brand, visibility and reputation, all in the face of stiff competition. 23 September 2014 marked the first anniversary of the enactment of the Jumpstart Our Businesses (JOBS) Act, and provides an opportunity to look at how hedge fund communications have evolved. The JOBS Act was designed to spark US economic growth, in part by allowing hedge funds to solicit accredited investors. As a result, hedge funds are now allowed to employ tactics such as engaging the media, building accessible websites, advertising and even social media. And while neither we nor others point to the JOBS Act as the sole driving force behind the implementation of new communications strategies by hedge funds in recent years, no one denies that these changes are taking place. So what has changed in hedge fund communications since the JOBS Act went live?

Here’s a run-down of the key areas that are most affected, including social media, websites, traditional media, advertising and executive hiring.

Hedge funds go social

Live blogging from hedge fund conferences. Activist managers tweeting about dinners and deals. Long-form YouTube videos explaining the economy. Hedge fund marketing decks posted to LinkedIn. Today’s conversations are moving online, and the hedge fund industry is following suit. Though the pace of change is deliberate rather than dramatic, it’s nonetheless real change, as hedge funds begin the transition from being a topic of conversation to leading the conversation.

To illustrate this trend consider Fig.1 from GNIP, a leading social data provider, which tracks monthly mentions of the term “hedge fund” on Twitter. Mentions over the last two years have peaked at nearly 80,000 per month and have rarely fallen below 40,000.

We are seeing a similar trend on the hedge fund conference circuit, one of the few places where fund executives have been known to shed their cloaks of secrecy and share economic and strategic insights. A relatively new element at these major conferences is that they are now social media-friendly, leading attendees to live-tweet their experiences. As a result, audiences have expanded from the select group in attendance to anyone with Internet access. For example, the use of the #DeliveringAlpha hashtag increased by 9.4% from 2013 (5,053 Tweets) to 2014 (5,527 Tweets) on the day of the event. Similarly, there was a 62.6% year-over-year increase in the use of #IraSohn. The #DeliveringAlpha hashtag was even briefly trending on Twitter in July, with 53.5 million estimated impressions.[1] But how are hedge funds themselves using social media? Two recent examples: Carl Icahn’s tweet about his dinner with Apple’s Tim Cook was retweeted nearly 500 times, [2] while Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio YouTube video explaining how the economy works has been viewed more than a million times.[3]

For a more comprehensive gauge, we looked at the 292 members of Absolute Return’s list of hedge funds with at least $1 billion in assets.[4] Peppercomm research shows that 10% of the largest 292 hedge funds are on Twitter. Of these 29 funds, six have protected accounts. The remaining 23 have an average of more than 15,000 followers and average about 11 tweets per month. By removing the three firms with the largest following – PIMCO, BlackRock and J.P. Morgan Asset Management – all of which have expertise and products well beyond and including hedge funds, those numbers drop to an average of 515 followers, with just four Twitter accounts generating new content more than once a month. In total, 10 hedge funds tweet at least once a month and seven hedge funds tweet at least 10 times per month.

 

The lack of participation among 22 of the 29 hedge funds on Twitter suggests a lack of a strategic plan for how to use social media. Indeed, all but four of these Twitter accounts were launched prior to any JOBS Act legislation. Hedge funds are slowly coming to terms with the importance of social media. Many fund managers are shocked to find out how often their firm is mentioned on Twitter, yet they lack the experience to engage. “We can no longer keep our head in the sand,” said the manager of a billion-dollar credit fund who plans to join Twitter. We also looked at LinkedIn, where hedge funds are more visible. Here, 66% of the largest hedge funds have a LinkedIn page. Of these 188 funds on LinkedIn, only six have posted any updates, and only four post more than 10 times a month. The 188 funds collectively manage $1.24 trillion and have an average of 2,305 followers – each one representing a prospective investor, employee or journalist. Every decision not to post content is a missed opportunity to engage – a wasted opportunity to establish expertise or deepen a relationship. Social media can be an effective tool if used properly. We expect to see more hedge funds using social media platforms to establish thought leadership, share insights and improve their digital profile.

An expanding web presence

A website should be a focal point of any organisation’s communication strategy. This includes hedge funds, which have grown accustomed to operating in secrecy. Thanks to the JOBS Act, that is now showing early signs of change. We looked at Absolute Return’s 2014 rankings of the largest 100 hedge funds in the world and found that 91% of them now have websites, including 90.6% (87/96) of US-based hedge funds.[5]

Among these 87 funds, 48.3% have closed or simple splash pages[6] and 6.9% have basic or very simple pages.[7] That means a majority of US hedge funds, 55.2%, have simplistic websites that provide little more than a logo. Extending this sample size to look at hedge funds with $1-$5 billion in assets, 77.5% (141/182) of US hedge funds have websites. Again we see the majority of them, 65.2%, have simple websites. However, change is happening. In 2013, only 44 out of the 185 global hedge funds with $1-$5 billion in assets had websites (23.8%).[8] By June of 2014, an additional 39 funds launched websites for the first time, and 11 more moved from a closed site to a more open site, according to a Peppercomm survey. Although these mid-sized funds may not have as many marketing resources, they are beginning to understand the importance of a website. In addition to basic firm information and team bios, websites can also provide a controlled means to distribute content relevant to a firm’s strategy, thus helping to establish the firm as a thought leader.

Of the 87 largest US-based hedge funds with websites, 37.9% had newsroom components and 31.9% showed indications of thought leadership. Hedge funds in the $1-$5 billion range are also generating content – 23.6% have newsroom components and 15% are acting as thought leaders.

Read all about it

Media attention towards hedge funds is at record levels. We forecast “hedge fund” mentions in all media will top 100,000 articles in 2014 and will reach a record high above 35,000 mentions in top-tier financial media.[9] That’s up nearly five-fold over the last decade and holding at record levels over the past few years.

The media have always been fascinated with hedge funds. Big performance numbers, blow-ups, insider trading, big compensation, colourful characters, aggressive investment strategies and the mystique of the industry make for a potent media cocktail.

Part of this growth can be attributed to the media’s endless demand for content. But the growth is also a clear reflection of the hedge fund industry’s increasing importance and visibility. As hedge funds diversify business lines, launch more mainstream products and initiate activist programmes – and as their AUMs grow – more press follows.

“It’s massively different working with hedge funds than it was 10 years ago,” said one veteran reporter. “And I’m seeing changes in the last year – a little more open to talking with the press and a more strategic interest in engaging – though certainly that’s not across the board. Some managers continue to have zero interest in engaging with us.” But for others, the way is clear. According to one well-known firm: “Institutional investors are headline risk-sensitive, so building a strong brand is necessary to play defence. The more successful you are the more headline risk you have, so it’s important to be proactive.”

Advertising – look closer

The JOBS Act opened the door for hedge funds to advertise. Ad sales executives and the media expected a deluge. Save for Balyasny Asset Management breaking the ice in February, advertising by hedge funds one year into the JOBS Act seems like more of a trickle than deluge. But is that the whole story? A closer looks reveals that it’s asset management firms and intermediaries that advertise, much less by the hedge fund firms themselves. Recent issues of Pensions & Investments magazine, for example, contain numerous advertisements that market hedge fund – or alternative – strategies and expertise from Invesco Advisers Inc., Voya Investment Management, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, PIMCO and Manulife Asset Management.

Similarly, in the intermediary distribution channel, alternatives are showing up in advertisements, but, again, not ads from hedge fund companies themselves. Recent issues of FA Financial Advisor magazine, for instance, contain ads from Principal, Pensco and Steben specifically referencing alternatives. Editors and publishers point to a “huge increase” in interest among readers for hedge fund-linked liquid alternatives content, but expressed being “surprised by the fact that more firms have not taken advantage of the opportunity to market themselves.” One publisher is even in the process of launching a hedge fund supplement featuring sponsored profiles and commentaries – so-called native advertising – “from various firms who heretofore may have been restricted from participating.” The dramatic growth of retail-oriented liquid alternative products is behind some of this advertising and is a big factor driving change in the hedge fund communications landscape.

 

Marketing gets a seat at the table

Behind these changes in the application of marketing tactics is a new attitude toward marketing communications strategy among hedge fund executives. Recent hires in newly created communications positions at firms including Two Sigma, Pine River, Davidson Kempner, Black River and others underscore the growing importance of this function at hedge funds, and especially at larger firms. We have also directly witnessed a significant pick-up in business at Peppercomm – from hedge funds large and otherwise – implementing brand and communications programmes to help strengthen client relationships and grow new assets and markets. “The passage of the JOBS Act has created a lot more internal discussion about the firm’s brand, communications with investors, expanding the branding digitally, and related topics,” said one newly hired hedge fund communications executive, adding that engaging with target audiences via thought leadership, content and social media might help further the firm’s brand.

New environment – next steps

One year into the JOBS Act and the hedge fund communications landscape is evolving to include social media, web sites, traditional media, advertising and bigger issues like brand and visibility.

However, the JOBS Act is only a piece of a larger trend. New competitive pressures, new products like liquid alternatives, and a desire for client relationships built on more than performance numbers are pushing hedge fund executives towards greater acceptance of new and developing communications channels. In this new environment, hedge fund executives should:

Take a brand view – hedge funds need to be aware of their position in the marketplace. Every hedge fund has a brand, defined as the way that their stakeholders (investors, media, partners, etc.) view them. They should define what they stand for and take actions to define, build and support that brand.

Be strategic – hedge funds considering building a website or engaging with audiences via traditional or social media or other means need to think strategically. What are the communications goals? Who are the target audiences? How will investors react? These are all important questions to ask before exploring new communications channels.

Engage your audiences – the JOBS Act may not tell hedge funds what to do, but it does help allow them to explore new ways of communicating. For some hedge fund firms, this may mean no change at all. For others, it provides opportunities to engage current and prospective investors in strategic, controlled and impactful ways.

Thomas Walek is President, Capital Markets and Financial Services, for Peppercomm. He received The Hedge Fund Journal 2015 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Hedge Fund Media Communications. – See more at: http://www.thehedgefundjournal.com/node/10025#sthash.5DUekgXF.dpuf

 

- See more at: http://www.thehedgefundjournal.com/node/10025#sthash.5DUekgXF.dpuf

 

ROI re Hedge Fund Marketing, Social Media and Branding Best Practices