Digital Influence Mapping Project

Building Personal Brands Starts With Being 'Real'

I was in a bad mood last week. I get tired of the over-promotion of social media (e.g. "you must engage in a conversation with your customers and I'm just the guru to help you with that...) as much as the attempt to "leverage" social media from segments of the marketing community (e.g. "can't we just use it as a content channel...") I had also been away from my family for a bit so that might have had something to do with it....

Then I got a much needed reminder from a man I had only known digitally.

Stream Breakfast NYC

Jeff Pulver and I came together to host a Stream Breakfast in NYC via WPP. (Stream is WPP's digital conference and community that culminates in a Yossi Vardi-fueled unconference every Fall). We spoke with about 25 or so marketers within WPP about personal branding. I referred to some of the ways people much craftier than I are managing their digital brand via Facebook, Linked-in, Twitter, their blogs and more. I referenced our own Rohit Bhargava who appears to be intuitive in his ability to breath social media and build his brand (he actually works hard at it). All very practical stuff.

But it was Jeff who reminded me and the others about being real and offering something of yourself to others. He shared some very personal stories quite casually about growing up to use ham radios and his immediate experience with volunteers showing up via a tweet to help with the grunt work of 140conf. His suggestion to the crowd that morning was to be 'real' in whcih I think he meant both be yourself and be generous. There is no reason to build a brand based upon a false sense of who you are.

He listened as much as he spoke. And he offered me a personal insight about being self aware that really made me think. I immediately felt relief. Being real and connecting via social media has opened up my life in ways I cannot describe. I have met people in all parts of the world who I will always think about and hope to connect with again and again.

Jeff gave me a literal and figurative 'hug' when I most needed it.       

Thanks.

WOMMA: Geoff Donaker of Yelp Tells All at WOMM U.

Last week's WOMMA event for brand marketers - WOMM U. - featured the best of social media used strategically (that is 'word of mouth marketing'). One session featured Yelp founder, Geoff Donaker, sharing about the rocket ride that Yelp has been on lately.

There are 20 million folks who come to Yelp every month to hear what others are saying about brands, products and services. When I was in SF last month, I couldn't go by a store that didn't have the Yelp sticker in the window. And the woman at Giant Robot summed it up, "Yeah, this is a Yelp town..."

Geoff shared about his own personal experiences sourcing services - using reviews and submitting them. He shared about a carpet cleaning small business guy who shared that he had taken the logos off his truck as he didn't want someone he may have cut off in traffic to go on Yelp and write a negative review.

Big Question
Will reviews drive massive responsible behavior (not driving like an a**hole vs. hiding your logo). The carpet cleaner went on to change his behavior and deliver stellar service principally to drive great reviews. I am guessing that that approach is driving business via word of mouth -  beyond just the Yelp reviews.

They have just begun work with major national brands. Geoff shared an experience with a vehemently negative review of a nichtclub at a W Hotel. He offered a few lessons. I wanted to call out a couple here as the negativ potential of reviews is often a barrier to brands getting more involved.

Lesson 5: The temptation to spam is strong
A revealing video interview captured how a businessman "faked" email accounts to get what he felt were legitimate reviews back up. Yelp has a spam filter that tries to catch wrongful posts. The owner tried to trump the system to get filtered reviews back up there. The result was that he was coached by Yelp on how to earn legitimate great reviews vs. gaming the system.

Lesson6: The manufactured reputation tends to backfire
A business that incented reviews from customers got slammed by "vigilante justice" who called the reviews out as shilling. Did the business offer coupons  for reviews or 'good reviews'? This is a thorny issue and one at the heart of WOMMA's Ethics Guidelines. The purest form of word of mouth (reviews in this case) are those that are self-motivated. Yet brands incent influencers and customers to talk all of the time. Clearly incenting for a postive review is wrong-headed. But is incenting to write whatever review the person deems appropriate - positive, negative, neutral, nothing -  is that ok?

Geoff shared about new features that allow brands to respond to bad reviews. they got a lot of heat for not doing that originally. Reviewers can hijack the system to pursue a vendetta. More likely, negative reviews are opportunities for brands to listen, take action to fix something and then let their customers know that hey heard them and took corrective action. The review system at Yelp now allows for more of that overall positive behavior. 

Reviews and search are often everlooked as cornerstones of a social strategy. And of course for many brands reviews are connected with search. What's your Yelp strategy? What's your review strategy?

Idea Bar #13: Family Travel Match-up Service

I've been married for 18 years and missed the opportunity to use Internet dating services. From the sidelines, I am a big believer in the value of services that can match people's interests and affinities potentially leading towards meaningful relationships.

We need another service that essentially does the same thing for traveling families.Each year, we plan one or two vacations. Some are local-ish, driving vacations. Some involve flying. Historically, we have tried to go out of the country once and then maybe to the beach or a lake. Clearly, this year, we will be staying more local.

My kids are 11 and 14. We like to do certain things - as Popeye said, "I ams what I ams." or "we ares what we ares." When we take a week to go to the Outer Banks, let's say, how can we connect with a couple of families that we have enough affinity for who will be on the OBX at the same time? Or if we visit my dad on the Redneck Riviera, how do we find that family that wouldn't laugh at our Takoma Park values from the front seat of their Esplanade? We don't want to share a house so much as share a few experiences and most importantly, connect our kids with new friends and pals.

I realize that many families do group vacations - sharing houses and the full travel experience. We are quite a bit more independent than that. Our travel opportunities are precious and the excercise of matching affinities, budget, and vacation time with a neighbor or local friend is too daunting. Plus, I love meeting new people, and I want my kids to meet new people to.

Family Travel Matching
It's simple really. Let's take the best of affinity matching - we like science fiction movies, swimming both at the beach and in a pool, weird local activities (next time in LA, I want to visit the Museum of Death - probably not with 11, though.)

• And combine it with travel destination and timing: e.g. we will be in Assateague in the 3rd week of August

• Our children's ages and interests

• Some budget & taste information: we don't want to eat at McD's, abhor expensive brunches but kinda dig things like the Kill Devil Grill...

• and some ideas of what we would consider fun...

We should be able ot find folks both traveling and native to our destination who also want to meet new people for some low-commitment diversions. The New York Times Travel section featured a service today that starts to get there: Tripsay.com.

Tripsay.com
the new service seems more about aggregating traveler reviews and then allowing you to join groups - but it's a very high-level affinity like "passion on cultural nightlife" or "hiking." It's not family oriented and I am guessing matches more young people.

"What's your passion regarding travel? Join TripSay and create a group with others sharing that passion! TripSay groups are made up of people who share common interests or activities.

Build your traveler network using groups. You can share tips and places with your network and as the result you'll get their recommendations for your next trip!"

FamilyPosse.com

Time to start a Family travel matching Service. We could call it, FamilyPosse.com.

(thanks to Creativepro.com for the station wagon pic)
 

Helping Me Get Green Simply & Socially

A lot of brands are jumping on the bandwagon by embracing issues surrounding green, sustainability, and good-fo-the-environment. Agencies (including Ogilvy with the Greenery ) are setting up prcatices to better communicate 'greenness'. Some brands are sincere and have changed business practices to provide a more "green" approach and impact. Others just want the credit.

One thing many could explore is to help all of us citizens improve our personal impact on the environment. That means giving us tools or information that we can use. I doubt anyone believes this is anyone's job but rather will succed when we all do our part. Together we can win. And that is good news for most brands who want to build stronger bonds with their customers. By being of-use to us (customers) in terms of helping us to reduce our carbon footprint, for example, brands help us achieve something we find valuable. That's a brand-bonding opportunity.

Climate Culture Makes it Easy

Climate Culture is a Web2.0 social network-enhanced tool to help me reduce my family carbon footprint. It was developed by a group of Ivy League-plus grads and it's board of advisores is dominated by Yalie profs (oh, and Ed Begley - who apparently dropped the "Jr." from hsi name a while back).

On the surface, Climate Culture's main attraction appears to be a virtual representation of your world as an island. That's not the best thing it has going for it. In fact, that "virtual space" visual was one reason I was sure that I would hate it. 3D interfaces that mimic the space we breathe in are not good interfaces for most utility computing. When we were developing some of the earliest interactive TV shopping mall interfaces in 1991, we tried these 3D replicas of malls that were just horrible user experiences. Imagine if Amazon required you to walk down a hallway, open a door, "talk" to an avatar....you get the picture.

But Climate Culture's virtual island makes sense and, more importantly, doesn't suck. That's mostly because it's not the main interface. They use very simple and smart Web 2.0 menus. As you calculate your initial carbon footprint, you get to walk through a terrific list of tactics to reduce it. This list is magic. They are helping me think of ways to take actions - from big to small - and then giving me an idea of the impact. I earn points for answering questions and can reduce my footprint by acknowledging those things I already do or are willing to commit to doing.  (Not sure I can realistically 'reduce my Internet use' but that's only good for 51 lbs of CO2 a year whereas using a solar-powered lawnmower is good for 63).

What else could they do:

• Make the list more portable. I want to access in Facebook and on my Blackberry.

• Give me a way to challenge someone within the community or, more importantly, someone from the social Web to meet goals (e.g. "I bet I can earn 100o points by Friday...")
• Let me advocate for Climate Culture. Give me badges or apps to embed in my blogs et al.
• Create a sponsorable application for brands. Allow Brand X to show their support for Climate Culture and the mission of helping us all reduce our footprint while highlighting what they or their product contributes. 

How to Create the Next Video on the Web: Creative Marketing Models

This post is part of a 5-part series. How can we all be successful with the next wave of video on the Web whether you are a show producer or a brand? Creative Marketing Models are one of four important priorities. 

Previous posts talked about getting the show and the audience engagement right. But none of this matters unless you have a innovative and effective advertiser model. Pre-roll, post-roll, surround banners and product integration seems to be where we are at right now. Advertisers value click throughs and impressions tied to views. But even views are open to interpretation. Revision3 recently made a higher commitment by defining views as complete views. It's likely that few other producers do that.   

Beyond Product Integration

The product integration in magazine format shows like TMI weekly  and EpicFu are the most interesting models. Still, I am not sure that product integration in narrative story is as flexible or impactful. It's one thing to put Ford vehicles in network TV shows but quite another to drop product in the background of a niche dramatic video online. We need more.

Engagement

Advertising value is changing. Some marketers understand that and are working hard to put a value on engagement. The time has come for show producers to get more creative for how they deliver engagement with the brands that support them. We need to think in terms of "marketing" not simply advertising for the brand involved in a video program. If you want to ptoduce a show or are already doing so, what is the story you tell advertisers about the ad opportunity? If it's just impressions or even click-to-action your wasting everyone's time. If you are talking about engagement via product integration than you are on the right track.

But you need to go farther. The most entrepeneurial online producers I know come from the Joss Whedon school of creating a show as multimedia brand. That means the video program is but one touchpoint and experience. Email updates and alerts, merchandise stores, related media like music and pictures, live events (like Diggnation's meetups) are all part of the the engagement. Weave sponsors in there. Show them solutions at all levels of the funnel - drive some qualified leads or relevant inquiries. Make them a friend of the show brand and therefore a potential friend of the particpants - then your getting something done.

Idea Bar #12 Next Video on the Web: Threadless Meets Next New Networks

This post is part of a 5-part series. How can we all be successful with the next wave of video on the Web whether you are a show producer or a brand? Crowdsourcing topics is one of four important priorities and is technically one of my Idea Bar posts.  

This series started with this core idea. That's what makes it part of theIdea Bar series which is full of good ideas - each driven by expertise and naivete. Ultimately this simple idea led me to want to throw out my own model on how niche video programs can succeed online.

Threadless as you all likely know is the quintessential Cinderella story for crowdsourcing. T-shirt designers post designs, the crowd votes them up (or not) and the top designs are produced and sold.

Why not do this with your show? In the previous post on Focusing on Value to Niche Communities, I covered catering to the needs of a defined, lean-forward affinity group. Why not ask them for ideas and votes on what would make a compelling show for them? What would make them want to susbcribe? Just like Threadless has the "I'd Buy That" button, our show marketplace would have a "I'd Watch That"  and an "I'd Watch That Every Week" voting buttons. The principle is the same - prove there is an audience before going into costly production. What a great way to get marketers on board  before you have actually killed yourself bootstrapping production and building an audience.

Now lest you think I am slipping into the territory of the movie, The Player, where the studio exec decrys the need of writers by saying all we have to do is pick out a story from the paper and, "bam" there's our script, let me clarify. Let the crowd tell us what they would find compelling - what topics, what participants, what format - and then let the creative juices flow. We are not talking "exquisite corpse" here.

The biggest barrier to this model is likely to be "ego." Many show creators are trying to express an idea they are personally invested in. It's tough to become open to the audience. Beyond the poor quality of many videos, this issue - which can be called "control" - might be one of the larger barriers to success. Most filmmakers I know are passionate storytellers first. To win online, you must be passionate about your audience first. Diggnation seems to do a good job of this.

Next New Networks started with the promise of a hundred online shows for all sorts of audiences. They have quite a few today but more like 15 than a hundred. What would happen if married that ambition with a crowdsourced model? 

How to Create the Next Video on the Web: Niche, Affinity Communities

 

This post is part of a 5-part series. How can we all be successful with the next wave of video on the Web whether you are a show producer or a brand? Connecting with niche, affinity communities is one of four important priorities.  

The vast "interwebs" has been potent fertilizer on an English garden-growth of niche communities online. We all belong to multiple tribes some of which are more clearly distinuishable and formal than others. We may love a particular music artist, a passion like WarHammer, a craft like t-shirt design, travel to Indonesian islands, or whetever. Some are tighter communities than others. Star Trek fans waiting for the next JJ Abram's movie are a tight group yet they also belong to a broader 'tribe' of Sci-fi fans who are known for their engagement with shows and events. That tribe intersects with the comic fan tribe who may be watching the Next New Networks Pulp Secret. "Crafting" is another "lean-forward" community with lots of enthusiasts assembled from even smaller niche interests.

Building a show that will uniquely deliver value to a particular affinity community almost guarantees a passionate audience. That audience may not be large enough to satisfy the True Show Value (the cost of quality, value to the audience and advertising value formula ) but it creates that solid core who will work as your most vocal ambassadors. The user and brand value of niche video shows has always been about the level of engagement of the participants. Tomorrow I will talk about why we shouldn't call them "audiences" anymore as a passive viewing experience is not what the niche community will thrive on.

Identifying Niche Communities

Finding niche communities and identifying their members is relatively simple. We do it everyday with our Influencer Mapping for brands. Let's say your brand - Brand G -  makes some type of super energy efficient home appliance that is really designed to address current concerns about energy consumption, cost, and environmental impact. One niche community is the design and sustainability crew which includes all sorts of designers - product designers, graphic designers, architects, furniture designers (many designers are multidisciplinary). Many of them are concerned and focused on sustainability through design. Huge Ven diagram overlap. Brand G would focus on designing a show and the marketing behind it to appeal to the design and sustainability crew. Then they would broaden it - adjust the content slightly and expanded the marketing and outreach to grow the audience amongst design-concious consumers. As an avid, lifelong reader of Metropolis magazine, I guarantee this magazine which covers design and architecture and its impact is read by a ton of non-designers and non-architects.

Make a video show that they want and need. It might be a regular survey of new consumer products that satisfy our new green priorities. It may include interviews with designers, including audience members about their own experiences. It might be a episodic "How to Make Your Life More Green" with step-by-step instructions on transforming your life or household to reduce your carbon footprint, your costs, and more.

So, start with a core community and design your show around their needs. Then expand the focus to include the next ring of participants. You won't go so far as to dilute the show's value for the core and you will expand beyond a too narrow group fo participants.     

Next: Work the "Ladder of Engagement"

Must-Attend Events #2: WOMMA Summit & Research Symposium

aka The Official Event of the Word of Mouth Marketing Industry

November 12-14 in LasVegas at the Rio

This year's event will bring together some of the biggest brands practicing Word of Mouth marketing today including Dell, Kraft, Hershey's, HP, and more. I am personally involved so I am biased but the reason that I am so involved is that I believe so strongly in the discipline and in a broad-based group like WOMMA to push it forward.

One of the most important outputs of the November SUMMIT will be the latest on measurement and ROI. Nothing could be more important as the economy tightens and marketers must demand more efficient (i.e. "provable") programs. If you have an approach or need a measurement model to support you programs - come to learn and share!

Even our event must be essential to make it worth all of our time, and this year's program is just that...essential:

"Reaching the Word of Mouth Tipping Point

Word of Mouth Marketing has grown up. Major brands and organizations integrate WOMM into global marketing and communications programs every day. Have we reached the tipping point yet where WOMM programs flood the landscape? What will it take to get there?

Hear from the most important brands using WOMM today – how they measure, deploy best-practice programs, and how they sell-in programs.

Each year, the WOMM industry convenes to take a comprehensive look at the changes that have taken place in the fast-changing, ever-beta, word of mouth marketing world, and to look forward at what’s on the horizon, including tactical trends, best practices, game-changing ideas, and more.

Whether you live and breathe word of mouth or have seen firsthand the impact of WOMM and want to learn more, WOMMA’s annual Word of Mouth Marketing Summit is the place to be.

On the dockets for Summit 2008:

• Keynotes and case studies from the top brands in the WOMM world:
  • Hear from Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos about their explosive business
  • Cases from HP, Yahoo, Pepsi, Hershey, Cadbury Schweppes, Intercontinental Hotels and more
• All of the WOMM industry leaders in one place
• Networking opportunities with people who live in the WOMM trenches
• WOMM as a recession marketing tactic
• Aligning your online and offline efforts
• Introducing WOM in your integrated campaign

Details:

November 12-14 in LasVegas at the Rio

500 Marketers from major brands, agencies and WOM specialists

Does Twitter Breed lack of Athenticity?

Jason from Technology Review (one of my new favorite magazines) wonders out loud, in print, at the front of the latest issue about how social media drives him to put a false face forward. His face and voice in the various platforms he participates in is one-sided and portrays a constant state of what I will call "business enthusiasm." He considers this inauthentic. The Jason Pontin of social media is a constructed persona.

Well, I couldn't disagree more. And while Jason has invited all of us who read Technology Review to send him an email with his thoughts, I have chosen to post here and carry on whatever conversation comes from this out on the 'Social Web.'

Quite a few smart people are trying to understand the impact of social media on our lives. An article from the New York Times Magazine from Clive Thompson ran this past week and introduced a broad public to teh idea of ambient awareness to describe the benefit we get from Twittering and updateing our News Feed and consuming our friends. he goes on to describe a similar tendency of people wanting to put their best face forward and be interesting.

In-Authenticty is Possible Everywhere
We can all be "in-authentic" at any point in any situation. It doesn't take technology to enable a articifical construct. Authentic to me means being someone other than you are. Portraying a voice or face that is not really a part of you.

If anything, social media has allowed me to be more of who I am. I share mostly about digital marketing, word of mouth, and social media. That's not just how I make my living - I actually love what social media can do and am genuinely fascinated with it. Often I share about other interests and opinions that I have or even family experiences. I am sure a lot of this is of little interest to many people, probably even annoying. But I have connected with quite a few people via social media who enjoy seeing multiple sides of people. I travel a bit. whenever I go somewhere I connect with bloggers and social media enthusiasts in real life. I love meeting and talking with people that I have gotten to know online. I am connecting with something and someone authentic.

Sure there's more to me than what I write about in this blog or on my Twitter feed. But what I talk about here and how I do it is completely a part of me. I have not constructed a persona. I have followed my interests, found topics and discussion where I can connect with people I respect and am interested in.

One thing I am conscious of - I avoid negativity. I avoid anything that smacks of snarkiness in my blog posts. To my friends, I am just as capable of going off on an issue as the next guy. But I am trying to tone that down everywhere in my life. I have just gotten to a point where I need less negativity in my life and don't want to indulge as some others do online. That doesn't make the social media John Bell any less authentic (although talking about myself in the third person is a little weird).

Jason observes that social media binds us more to the opinion of others. Do we play a role to attract attention (e.g. linkbaiting techniques)? That's one way to look at some of the more popular bloggers. But that doesn't define how 125m bloggers behave. Many people want to be themselves online knowing that in the long tail they will attract someone and likely someone who is authentically attracted to whatever they are doing.

If anything, social media will establish a new premium on personal authenticity. People will discover falseness and polyanna personas. Ultimately they will reject them in favor of authenticity. That's my guess, at least.

Up Close and Personal at the Olympics

A lot has been written about this particular Olympics being the first "Web 2.0 Olympics." Considering that the Olympics happen every 4 years, it's not surprising that consumer generated media hasn't overtaken the games before now. On the other hand, it is surprising as the games are happening in China and most westerners see China as a restrictive state. Our own experiences in China reveal how much social media conversation and activity there really is. Pictures, videos, and blogs tell a different story than our media would suggest.   They also offer access to a world's worth of personalities.

I love an insider's view of the Olympics. Here are my favorite bits (many made possible by our work with Lenovo - aggregated at Voices of the Olympic Games):

Athletes' photo galleries: when they all marched into the stadium at the beginning of the month, they snapped lots of photos from the parade. Now we can all see them (see Carissa Gump - US Weightlifter left). Flickr: See some neat in-the-stands and on-the-floor shots from Lenovo's team here. 

Blogs: Heather Patri - US Women's Water Polo gives us the skinny on her experiences in the athlete's lounge. Read Josiah NG - track cyclist for Malyasia - his  frank assesment fo his own performance.

Rohit's Video Blog: A walk through of the Olympic Athletes Village - enjoy a behind the scenes stroll on a rainy day last week and visit the special athletes-only store (yum - merch!)