Digital Influence Mapping Project

Social Media Today - A Valuable Human Filter to Content

 

There is a great new version of Social Media Today and I would strongly recommend that you grab the feed and make it a regular read and engage. Basically three reasons why I recommend:

1. Robin Carey is driving this and she has a keen eye for editorial value. Yes, it's true - she asked me to be a part of the offering as an Advisory Board member and writer. I am flattered and grateful. But I am not sucking up to her for that. I think her editorial eye is clear in all the work she has done not just on on Social Media Today. Just look at valuable thought leadership plays like The Energy Collective.  Think of her as the credible human filter we all need to point us to good stuff out there. 

2. There are great stories from a variety of voices who are not the same old, same old pundits. Here's a short collection of headlines I like:

• Target your local media with the help of social networking sites - filled with practical tips on the hardest part of 'social' - local.
• The 3 Most Effective Content Marketing Principles - important basics that we should never forget
• Why we follow brands on Facebook and Twitter - a bit about what consumers expect from brands

3. They have a valuable Webcast archive that's just the right size and has solid shows like this one from Evan Cook: Leveraging Your Social Media Assets Inside the Company

Go to the site. Or grab the RSS feed. 

"Socialize the Enterprise:" The CMO's Dilemma

 

The following is an excerpt form my recently published Red Paper, "Socialize the Enterprise."  Which you can get here. Maybe you can relate. I hope you find it useful. 

The CMO's Dilemma

After 18 months of experimentation in social media, the CMO of a global FMCG (fast moving consumer goods company) had high hopes for the latest social media program from his brand team. This time, he thought, they had cracked the social media code. They went to their traditional agency partners, they called in the social media gurus. The media companies offered innovative paid placements in social networks. The digital team designed a clever Facebook application, and the PR team reached out to some high-traffic bloggers. 

The brand team felt they had the tactics to transform their traditional marketing campaign into a social media campaign.   But, with no real way to measure the impact of blog posts, Tweets or the limited use of the Facebook app, it just seemed like a lot of work to generate modest engagement online. Where was the ROI in that? The six month campaign was coming to a close, the CMO was disappointed – depressed even.  He wanted something bigger, something that reminded him of ….mass media.

Sure, most of their social media stabs seemed exciting when they launched – destined for headlines in AdAge or Campaign - but as far as he could tell, they had not made the slightest business impact.  He wanted “full social.” He wanted people recommending the products to their peers for whatever reason and building a direct relationship with the brand. He realized that they had simply ported traditional marketing over to a social platform.  His group was filled with smart people; he couldn’t have been the only one to see these problems.  Yet different teams were repeating the same mistakes.  Clearly, there was no way to learn and share best practices throughout the organization. 

Budget time wasn’t far off, and he knew he’d see plenty of line items for social media spending.  How could he wrap that up into a budget he could stand behind?  

This is the CMO’s Dilemma.

Solving the Dilemma

Were our well-intentioned CMO to have approached social media with a strategic eye, he would never have tried pinning it to the back of a traditional campaign.  Instead, he and his brand team would have put “social” at the heart of the entire marketing and communications effort. Pundits have been evangelizing the power of social media for close to a decade.  Consumers get it.  The rate of marketplace adoption of social media and word of mouth around the globe is faster than anyone could have predicted. Facebook crested 500 million users in 4 years. Zynga is growing at twice the rate. 

Companies, by contrast, have lagged behind their customers, but they are learning that embracing this platform is not optional. Whether you are a global FMCG, an automobile manufacturer, financial services company or a B2B technology leader, no one can afford to hesitate.  At the same time tactical, unconnected experiments will not vault the brand forward.  Integrating social media into the marketing and communications functions implies a deep transformation not just of marketing but customer service, product development and even the way the enterprise benchmarks success. 

Now is the time for a more strategic use of social media that puts generating authentic, positive word of mouth at the heart of marcom efforts. "strategic" means combining short and long term goals, fully integrated across disciplines (the hardest part) and adding scale. A common measurement models give the team the data to understand what is working and what is not, turning every tactical experiment into a strategic move forward. 

Get the full Red Paper, Socialize the Enterprise, here

How to Reproduce the Old Spice Video Phenomena

Oh, you know its going to happen, brand marketers left and right asking their teams to "get me some of that Old Spice" social media magic. This recent campaign will be another benchmark of social media achievement. I know this because CNN (CNN International, actually) interviewed me on Friday to get my take on the campaign. As with previous, alleged big success stories - BMW Films, Subservient Chicken, Elf Yourself - this one demands that we answer three big questions:

1. Was it successful?
2. What about it made it so?
3. No, was it really successful like did it drive sales?

In case you are just back from St. Barts or wherever ad people go for break, here is the skinny on the program:

 

For two days (July 13th and 14th), Isaiah Mustafa, dressed only in a towel, responded to fans from a set made to look like a bathroom.   On Tuesday the 13th, the team at Wieden worked for 11 hours, to make 87 short videos.  During the course of the campaign, 185- 205 videos were made, many of them directly responding to people's tweets and comments. The videos were personalized and posted to the YouTube channel. The average video length was thirty seconds.  This character was based upon TV Spots and a few very popular YouTube videos from Old Spice most notably “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.”

Trent Johnson (from the Interactive Department at Wieden) had created a custom program that automatically pulled in people’s comments from Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, etc., allowing the creative team to write immediate responses.Those scripts drove the development of the videos in near real time. 

Stats

• Old Spice YouTube Channel Views - almost 8m

• Old Spice YouTube Total Upload views - 83m +

• Total subscribers on YouTube channel 120K

• Total Connections on Facebook 616k

(all data as of July 16)

Was it Successful?

By marketing standards for and FMCG, I have to believe this was hugely successful. Of course only P&G knows for sure, its their product and their business goals. But just look at the numbers - they created a huge amount of awareness and engagement over a very short period of time. Just in pure reach, its a great campaign. At least 4 of the most popular video spots on YouTube this past Friday were Old Spice videos. 

Visible Measures had a great summary of the performance of the campaign putting it north of the President Obama's victory speech and Susan Boyle's performance. It's also clear that the original, high-production value videos that preceded the flash production stunt pulled in significant views and buzz. 

 

Both their YouTube and Facebook pages saw big growth during this time. That means they have acquired to date hundreds of thousands people they can reach out to directly via those platforms. 

While I don't have the data, it is safe to say that they increased positive word of mouth and share of voice - for the brand. Any twitter search will confirm. But did it, or will it boost sales? See me final point. 

What made it successful?

It was creative, entertaining and just plain funny

Consumers want more from brands and Old Spice delivered. The initial video, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like,” included compelling effects that  most of us would have a hard time reproducing on our Flip Video cams (gross understatement). That's one way brands can deliver value - entertainment - to their customers. They had the full package of snappy writing, deadpan delivery from Isaiah and talkable moments (the fish).The format is great for ad agency creatives who can be some of the funniest writers in media. This was not about product utility nor about how the proper smell can get you the ladies (i.e. Axe). The value was the entertainment.   

The real-time, rapid response to users made a video program "conversational" which built trust

They aggregated what people were saying about the brand and the videos and then created another video (185 actually) to respond. Instead of replying via a Tweet, they produced a little video and published it on the YouTube channel. The Old Spice Twitter handle then tweeted it out there. Giving people direct contact with the brand - even in this playful way - builds trust. It shows they are listening and willing to dance for their customers. 

The custom intros personalized the content for everyone not just the recipient

Marshall Kirkpatrick at Read Write Web wrote: "It is well done and it appeals to peoples' egos - but there is something more, too. It feels very personalized, even if it wasn't directed at you." It's like the power of the @askamex customer care Twitter handle - its benefit extends beyond the few folks it can practically respond to by demonstrating to us all that the brand is listening and cares.  

They worked hard for their followers

Most video shoot days are long and rigorous. The "almost live" ones put additional pressure - especially on the writers. Cranking our 87 videos in one long day takes stamina and commitment. That effort comes through especially since they didn't tell people how hard they were working. They just did the work.

The TV spots and high-production value videos built an audience prior to the 2 day stunt

They didn't start with a "48 hour film festival approach." They started with high reach TV spots. Then segued to a hugely popular online video with about 15m views. This built a base that was ready for the next move. I would love to see the growth chart for YouTube subscribers and Facebook connections over the past couple of months. I am guessing we would see a steep but methodical growth based upon all of these steps. 

They drove both YouTube and Facebook subscribers/connection acquisition making this a "strategic" play

Many consumer brands hunger after the promise of a big fanbase on Facebook. the hope is that they can build a direct following whom they can respectfully market to and drive to action. Even if the viewing pattern of the actual videos drops sharply now that the stunt is over, they established that base to engage with the next thing. 

Did it drive sales?

It's an important question. We will have to wait for P&G to report that part of the story. I am going to guess that it did. But for those of you direct response-type folks who believe it only matters if it drove sales now I say "smell like a man." The impact of the positive word of mouth will endure and possibly grow. The engagement - time spent, delight - with the videos has made an impression in a way that TV has increasingly trouble doing alone. They created preference for the brand that will translate into sales.And to those same direct response folks I say, you have to respect the subscriber/connections base they have built and all they can do with them tomorrow. 

How to Reproduce it

The building blocks are called out above. If your goal is to copy the stunt tactic by tactic, I wouldn't bother.Wieden and Old Spice were smart enough to combine a lot of successful elements in a new way to create something that feels original. Pay attention to the building blocks and be original. Oh yeah, and add social media specialists to the strategic and creative mix. That is one thing Kirkpatrick calls out: 

"(Ian) Tait (Global Interactive Creative Director at Wieden) says that the primary differentiator between this campaign and others is how closely technical and social media specialists are working with the creative team. "We brought social media experts right into the creative process," he told me."

Socialize the Enterprise: BNet Interview

I am about to release a new "Red Paper" via Ogilvy publishing. It will become available in about a week. Last week in Australia, I had the opportunity to talk with Phil Dobbie at CBS. Phil runs a great series of podcasts and we discussed the premise of "Socialize the Enterprise" 

At its heart, this book is about big brands entering year 2 or 3 of social media work and the steps they must take to get the most out of social media lest the English garden-growth of experiments undermine their progress. 

You can connect with Phil here at the BTalk blog - loads of great content

Listen here: 

Australian Social Media: 3 Priorities for Brands

I am back from Australia, Brian Giesen and Graham White lead a terrific team of 360°Digital Influence strategists down under. They showed me a lot of what is happening in that market. I spoke with several journalists from The Australian, CBS and others and heard a POV that I just don't agree with. Simply put many people said, "we're behind (the development of social media) the US." Having been through a few markets during this most recent trip in Asia, I can't say strongly enough that the US is not the end of the rainbow. There is not one evolutionary path for the adoption of social media especially as it relates to digital marketing. 

Where is Australia heading? If anything, they like Brazil, may be heading towards a faster adoption of social networking for marcom purposes and a faster adoption of mobile social networking than the US. Unlike the US and many other markets, their newspaper business is not dying. That may be a "yet" but as one veteran reporter put it, they may just not have the heritage of bloated staff counts grown when print was the way people consumed media. They may have less "right-sizing" to do. In general, traditional media remains strong in Australia. 

Three Priorities for Brands:

1. Jump directly into adopting Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and manage the group via a conversation calendar-model. Brands have a terrific opportunity to grow their 'social grassroots' base of followers. This is doubly important because Australia doesn't have the same breadth of influential bloggers as the United States (not as many segements). 

2. Put half your effort into building out the mobile experience form your brand which, of course, includes how they interact with Facebook, Twitter and teh up-and-comer in market, FourSquare.   

3. Embrace integrated social media programs that make use of other forms of marketing and communications and marketing. That means use paid media to drive engagement with whatever you are doing in Facebook or Twitter. Don't waste time exploring whether social media is the miracle "cheap" replacement for traditional marketing. 

Four Telling Trends

Here are four trends that I find telling about Australia. Each has been compiled by our Australian team in a great snapshot of the region.  

 

Australians spend the most time worldwide consuming social media. With almost 7 hours per month spent in social media they "out-social" the US, UK and Italy (one to watch btw). If you factor in the relative population size that puts 17 million users online (80% of the population with 62% via broadband) vs. about 230 million US users or almost 77% of the population). 

The social network story is dominated by Facebook. And before we say "duh!" remember that in many Internet-rich countries around the world like Brazil, Japan and Russia, Facebook is not the leader. In Australia, no one stands in Facebook's path towards commanding mass-attention, even the 55+ crowd in Australia is jumping on board.

 

The biggest gain in year-over-year change in social media usage is interacting with a brand via social networks. That means Facebook and Twitter. Australian consumers are willing to engage with brands via these platforms just as readily as in the United States. 

 

The under 35 crowd wants to access social networks like Facebook and Twitter via their mobile device. With 89% SMS penetration and 20% Web access via mobile (and likely 20% smart phone penetration), all eyes should be on developing the mobile experience for brands.  

Australia has its own path towards adoption of social media and it will likely leapfrog other countries including the US in terms of how brands take advantage of their particular usage. 

What CMOs Could Learn From Private Equity

 

I have had the chance to work with a few brands owned by private equity groups recently. Forget the hyperbolic business pages that tell stories of private equity cut-throats who snap up firms and cut expenses everywhere to flip them for quick profit. I am talking about guys and gals who get building a brand and a healthy business....and then flipping for a healthy profit. 

These private equity guys/gals (PEGGs) need to manage from the center. That actually doesn't mean that they are pure command-and-control types. Usually the new leadership brings in a few key players from outside the company, possibly even their "team" - managers they have worked with successfully before at other ventures. This core group must have a common view of the business. Which brings us to what CMOs can learn. 

A Dashboard View 

Our PEGGs put a pretty-good financial dashboard in place quickly even while they work to refine that dashboard. The dashboards I have worked with have 5 key qualities:

1. They blend sales data and the best proxies or indicators for sales or revenue

2. They are simple and often reduced to one page or screen

3. They are reviewed daily and become the focal point of leadership meetings that drives decisions and  action

4. If not real-time, these dashboards are updated multiple times weekly

5. The PEGGs team take the importance of the dashboard for granted while the legacy rank and file make fun of it

Private equity has to come in and make change fast. And that change has to move the numbers on the dashboard. The management team likely has business success in other businesses but may have never made home design products, for instance, before. They may be there to bring their B2C experience to a traditionally B2B business. In short, they may not know exactly what they are doing.

They use the dashboard to move nimbly - to test and learn and move on. They know the fundamentals of business and all of the nuance they have learned running other companies. They set up the tools so that they can try things and push the legacy management to go beyond their comfort zone. 

CMOs Need Agility

AdAge tells us that agility is the key to the new CMOs success. They will need to know how marketing fits in with all other business units. "...That means they will need to have a much firmer grasp of their overall businesses and how marketing affects the bottom line."  I am sure that plenty of CMOs have been doing this all along. It worries me that many may not to the point that AdAge felt the need to say it. 

Agility is the ability to react and move in a new direction quickly and then change up again. while intuition plays a role here, data-driven dashboards make agility possible. They take a lot of discipline - to find the right numbers to watch, cut out the numbers that aren't as useful and get people with the organization to align their behavior around them. 

PEGGs need to grow real value - the kind that would drive a buyer's interest. If CMO's proactively embraced the dashboard way of running their organization, they might outlive the short lifespan of their position. 

I'm just sayin'

(image is of Inetsoft dashboard)

The Bloody Edge of Influence Planning: Neuromarketing

Watching a brain on marketing is fascinating. Pop us in an MRI and prod us with an emotive TV ad or friendly Twitter exchange and watch colors bloom amidst the grey matter. Adam Penenberg from Fast Company researched and wrote a great article focusing on one "neuroeconomist," Dr. Paul Zak, and his research around Oxytocin. Billed as the natural hormone that stimulates empathy, generosity and trust, it only makes sense that marketers pay attention. No, not to "dose" people with Oxytocin in the hopes that they like our ad just a bit better, but simply to understand how we are influenced. 

I believe this and other neuro-marketing research will lead to innovations in marketing. For now, it falls on that category of emerging science that always reminds me of The Heath Brothers' qualifier for all things interesting but not yet applicable: "true but useless."  

Neuromarketing will give us actionable insights. Here are some examples of research and application: 

• Neuromarketing: the hope and hype of neuroimaging in business
• Campbell Soup’s Labels Redesigned Using Neuromarketing
• Neuromarketing Hope and Hype: 5 Brands Conducting Brain Research

The Nugget

One takeaway nugget? Adam's experiment (with Dr. Zak) while he tweeted that showed the Oxytocin generated and stress reduced while tweeting confirmed that the virtual interpersonal exchange appears as solid and good-for-you as interacting in person. Love that part. Must post and tweet now....