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Fear, Love, and ad:tech

Fear, Love, and ad:tech

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I am just back from an amazing experience at ad:tech San Francisco and some extremely encouraging news in dark economic times.  The encouraging news is that capitalism is doing exactly what it should be in a recession – innovating like mad. 

 

The 360 Digital Influence strategic approach to Word of Mouth Marketing was 1 of 3 innovations highlighted in the keynote address given by advertising legend/Ogilvy Vice Chair Steve Hayden.  Fear, love and advertising was the title of the presentation and the theme that carried throughout the 3 features.  The Fear & Love statements for what we do at 360 DI were the same: The consumer is in control.  This inspires both fear and love, but new innovations in technology and approach make it possible to succeed in the new world order.

 

If you aren’t familiar with Steve Hayden, I wont bore you with his long resume, but the single piece of trivia that drove fear and love in my soul was learning he was the creative force behind Apple’s 1984 ad. 

If the main speaker didn’t raise the stakes enough, the fact that I was presenting a strategic approach after 2 highly technical whiz-bang demos did.  Shockingly enough, however, in a crowd full of tech folks, a strategic approach on how to employ all of these wonderful new technologies to move business results is and innovation and sparked a lot of great follow on discussions.

 

I demonstrated our approach through telling a story about Ford that carried from the Listening and insights gathering stage through Planningand influencer identification through Engagement and Measurement.  In the listening stage, I featured an image generated by Crimson Hexagon’s VoxTrot tool showing how conversation topics surrounding auto purchase cluster naturally:

Crimson Hexagon Auto Conversation
Crimson Hexagon Auto Conversation

From there, we moved into Planning and I showed a live demo from our friends at Linkfluence on how conversations among auto purchase influencers can spread.  I can’t embed the full demo, but here’s a screenshot demonstrating the influence of a post on treehugger about green technology.

Technology has allowed the practice of Word of Mouth Marketing and employing social media to move from a pilot-based throwing spaghetti on the wall to see what stocks. to become truly strategic communications.  Hopefully this shift will give it the credibility necessary for companies to be able to rethink the way they interact with customers to make sure the give and take can be truly meaningful.

Lessons from Jeffrey Eugenides

Lessons from Jeffrey Eugenides

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Recently, I had the distinct pleasure of hearing Jeffrey Eugenides speak about the writing of his Pulitzer winning novel Middlesex.

As Prof. Eugenides was talking about the NINE YEAR experience of researching, writing and rewriting, it struck me that his craft is in some ways the ultimate MACROmedia – the antithesis of trying to distill your thoughts into 140 characters and belching them out in real time.  There were, however, a number of nuggets of wisdom that he shared as a novelist to which a social media content creator can relate:

1) Eugenides shared that the most hated comment he receives after introducing himself is “I always wanted to be a novelist – I just never had the time” – implying that pretty much anyone could write a Pulitzer Prize winning novel given enough “time off”.  On the social media front, we often hear “How do you find time for that crazy stuff?  I’m too busy!”  Social media can indeed save you time used correctly and allows you to maintain more and different types of relationships at once.  It does not replace the in person networking that most businesspeople consider to be part of their careers, but it can greatly enhance it.  In short, you make time for the things you deem important and once you do, you’ll be surprised how efficient you get.  (Check out Ian Sohn’s great piece on making time for social media here).

2) “You can’t do too much research, but you can put too much in your book.” This is a helpful guiding principle to anyone who gives presentations on a regular basis.  The point of a presentation is never to download the complete exhaustive sum total of your knowledge on a subject – it is to include only what is relevant to your audience in a way that is compelling and will make an impression on them.

3) Individual identity trumps gender.  “I” is more important than “he” or “she”. This is a takeaway specifically from Eugenides’ struggle with the challenge of writing from the perspective of an intersex narrator, but I found it to be an applicable concept to my life.  Social media and the ways it allows us to express ourselves – in words, images, avatars, and connections enables self definition and expression that breaks the old business rules.  Social media can help us defy the paths that used to be set by education, company, old boy networks, etc.  Social media + the economic flat spin should make this even more true – the time is now to craft your own social media “I”.

I came, I SWOM, I learned something

I came, I SWOM, I learned something

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CoBrandit's Owen Mack as Pee Wee HermanSWOMFest was a blast from the 80’s themed preparty to Thriller dance recreation kickoff to the final case workshop.   Because of the extremely varied crowd that included authors, practitioners, and WOM newbies, my guess is that SWOMFest was a bit like a rorschach test with everyone taking away a little something different.

That being said, what follows are my takeaways from the event:

Six Sigma is the enemy of Word of Mouth. In Ben McConnell’s surprisingly practical kickoff presentation, he framed the reality that Word of Mouth is generated by radical value propositions – not incremental ones. Citing Zappos radical value proposition of removing any risk from purchasing shoes online, he noted that 10% cleaner, 50% faster, 20% cheaper, etc are value propositions that will never drive organic discussion or advocacy. For example, if someone were to now offer free OVERNIGHT shipping both ways on shoes instead of just free shipping, that incremental improvement would not be likely to drive a lot of WOM or out-Zappos Zappos. He did caveat that for manufacturing and surgery, Six Sigma is still a very important concept.

Storytelling may be the hardest element of WOM to master – I have to give screenwriter Yaphet Smith the prize for the best mindbending presentation of the day. I wasn’t sure why he would be on the agenda at such event, but he captivated newbies and crusty WOM pundits alike and challenged them to think about their stories in a structured way, while remembering that “seeking the Neat” is a part of that structure.

Even Credit Unions can be interesting. If you don’t believe me, check out TDECU’s Young & Free Texas competition here or Trey Reeme ongoing battle to Thwart Mediocrity.

WOM is in the small stuff. The setting (the Long Center in Austin, TX), the events, the food, the swag, the music (DJ Mel), and the audience were as important as the speakers. Some of my most interesting conversations was with a marketer whose mission is to bring young adults back to the catholic church.  Very different from my day to day work, but a fascinating challenge.

Everyone in Word of Mouth Marketing loves sharing ideas with entrepreneurs. I was a little grumpy at the idea of a case study breakout – sometimes they are frighteningly painful.  This one was amazing. The entrepreneur in question, Jacob Boone of local organic smoothie/frozen yogurt trailer Mamboberry, benefited from the enthusiasm of the crowd for his business.  Blue Avocado also traded their stylish, collapsible sustainable grocery bags for WOM ideas and a lot of Austin style love.

Click here for the rest of my pics from SWOMfest

Click here for all pics from SWOMfest

Click here for all of the Twitter coverage of the event

WOM Influence &…Ethnicity???

WOM Influence &…Ethnicity???

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Today, the Center for Media Research emailed out some BIGResearch from this mouth looking at the % of respondents in various groups who respond that their purchases in certain categories are influenced by Word of Mouth:

BIGResearch on WOM
BIGResearch on WOM

As a WOM Marketing practitioner and general data hound, I love a good chart.  But why the ethnic overlay?  If we look at the data, there are slight differences in the groups, but so slight that I really can’t imagine they would compel a marketer to change investment decisions.  Would I be more likely to do a BzzAgent campaign if I am a restaurant with a largely White patronage just because they are 10 points more likely to be influenced by WOM recommentations?  Probably not.  “Eating out” was the #1 or a close #2 most influenced category across the board.

So are any of these differences meaningful? What does this data say to you?

BlogHer DC Roundup!

BlogHer DC Roundup!

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Monday marked my second BlogHer live event and did not disappoint. Why does BlogHer hold such anticipation and appeal?

  1. Making offline connections with online friends. Getting to see and meet Lindsay (a.k.a. Rock and Roll Mama) was a highlight. I originally found her by searching for other Moms who had written about the WOM-worthy Rody toy, and have been enjoying her blog since. Getting to make that connection real alone was worth the price of admission. It was also a great pleasure to see the BlogHer’s political director Queen of Spain and DC’s own PunditMom discussing their roles covering the election. And always a pleasure to see @jillfoster and put a real life person to the wit at Nurse Ratched’s Place .
  2. Being turned on to new blogs & Tweeters: @digitalsista, @dcconcierge (very helpful website by the way), @thewino, @cecilyk, @blogdiva, @resourcefulmom, @thegreenparent are all well worth a read and follow! Check out @blogherdc for a more extensive list.
  3. Meaty conversations. In this case, the angst revolving around blogging’s relationship to mainstream media permeated multiple panels. I don’t know that there is a shared vision right now for what that relationship “should be”. At some moments there seemed to be pent up desire for respect and integration with the mainstream media (MSM). At other times, the annoyance at being “used” by the MSM was palpable. I have started following @ricksanchezcnn after the event! I think this is a complex, rich topic that we’ll see BlogHer digging into long term. Another (un)controversy surrounded the term “mommyblogger”. Some embrace the term. Mommies like me who blog about business sometimes bristle at the term, but the conviction with which I heard “My name is X and I’m a mommyblogger!” has made me reconsider my feelings about the term.

And, because of the timing and location, BlogHerDC offered some lively discussions about politics and the coming election. There is great consciousness about how candidates and the MSM are actively trying to use bloggers – unfettered by the need to feign journalistic balance – as pot stirrers. Lesley Stahl, of CBS fame and her internet venture Women on the Web talked about the old days of presidents rearranging their schedules around HER deadlines because they knew the nightly news was a communications tool. Now, she posits, they are doing the same with the Internet, but the path to making it happen is less clear. I would love to sit in on one of the “blogger phone calls” being held regularly by both candidates.

Also on the political front was BlogHer’s careful treatment of politics on their site. As @LisaStone said, BlogHer is omnipartisan, but their editors aren’t. Opinions from PUMA (former Hillary supporters who formed Party Unity My A**) have been welcomed on the site. Even though @QueenofSpain is a vocal Obama mama (and Michelle Obama blogs on BlogHer), the need to foster a place that encourages free speech and multiple views is critical for the success of their political discourse.  Check out all the BlogHer Election coverage here.