Posts Tagged ‘Strategy’
Ask and You Shall Receive
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Mom to kid: “How was school?”
Kid: “fine” <long silence>
Mom to kid “What song did you sing at school today?”
Kid: “Oh we sang lalalala. It was so funny because….blah blah blah”
Here’s that same information translated into social media.
Ask people to contribute by having a big empty comments box under your clever blog post.
Reaction: Empty comments box
Ask people to share mom’s worst cooking story (oh and offer them a little incentive in the form of a contest) ask them to share their favorite truly Canadian foods
Reaction: Submissions (check out this one by our very own Barry Martin), tweets, photos, videos and the like. Funny, well written and engaging content that makes for great posts.
The Rub: Don’t ask people to react to social media in general terms. Ask them for something specific that will tweak their interest, get them to giggle, reflect or identify in some way.
It’s just like all social interactions, a legitimate connection opens up the lines of communication.
A better question will get you more responses of much higher caliber. You don’t have to offer incentives or turn it into a contest to be successful. But, it does help lower the barrier to entry so people can start crossing over from observers to participants.
So, what’s the blog post, tweet, question that’s gotten you the most comments or responses.
Don’t leave me hangin’
Turn that Party Inside Out
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The typical kid’s birthday party. You invite the kids, play the usual games, open presents and then crack out the video camera in time for the cake and the blowing out of candles.
What if you thought about the party from the perspective of posterity? The video might be more important than an afterthought. What if you gave the historical record of the party equal priority to the party itself? Would you make a nicer cake? Smile more?
Before you cringe with thoughts of the Truman Show consider this–you might interview your child a few moments before the guests arrive to ask your daughter “How does it feel to be 3?” or “Why did you choose to wear that dress?” And after the party you might ask her to reflect on how it all went. In between you’d capture all the moments (hopefully) worth remembering.
Now think about social media content in a much more grown-up context. There are a multitude of ways social media can be integrated into events once they’ve been planned. Chris Brogan has an outstanding article on how to promote and extend the value of your events using social media. And, there are other helpful articles outlining how social media is already transforming events.
But my focus is slightly different. I’d like you to consider how the corporate parties, events, gatherings, talks, conferences you participate in would look different if you were thinking about them from the perspective of web content–right from the get-go.
- Would you spend a bit more to get the better speaker knowing it could live on your site?
- Would you fly the attendees in the night before so you could have a chance to talk to them about their expectations for the event, why they came as marketing for your event in the future?
- Would you host an after-party to gather reflections on the event?
- Would you select a different venue?
- Would you add a unique twist to the party that could make for an interesting conversation piece to be captured during the course of the day?
Often, clients come to us with a list of events and initiatives in hand, and we work with them to develop a social media matrix where we collaborate to come up with useful, relevant content that could emerge from an event or activity.
Ideally, the social media content would be considered beforehand and inform decisions every step of the way. After all the “audience” for your event extends far beyond the people who will actually be able to attend. Your virtual attendees may in fact be far greater than the folks who can be there in person. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, you may chose to host a small gathering with the purpose of generating content–small gatherings are perfect for chatting with folks with minimal noise disruption. Here are some reflections on how to think about planning your events for your ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ audiences:
- Get a Flip Camera. It costs $200, it fits in your pocket and it’s typically all you need. Well, that and a small tripod you can use to set up when you want more intimate one-on-one conversations.
- Consider your guest list. Are there people you’d like to be able to ‘show’ attending your event? Be sure to invite them along. But also know they won’t come unless there’s something in it for them (fun, food, networking, profile, etc.)
- Consider pre and post events. Create as many opportunities to talk with people as possible in a range of venues. Let’s face it, the “networking lunch” sessions are busy and crowded. Not ideal for content creation.
- Get a room. You might want to rent a room at the venue especially to interview folks during the event. Supply it with snacks, beverages, etc and promise people, “it’ll only take 5 mins,” and then stand by it. Don’t take up too much of people’s time.
- Create a topic, a visual focus—Something for people to reflect on. It’s like this, if I ask my daughter “how was school today,” I get a blank stare. If I ask her, “What craft did you do today” I’ll actually get an answer. Give people specific items to focus on and then ask them specific questions. Create a giant board where people can write down their thoughts on a specific question and capture it in real time video. We made a Fiesta Farms party into a potluck and we’re excited to have the chance to talk to everyone about the dish they decided to bring.
The Toronto Coffee Conspiracy
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Maybe it’s the coffee talking. But this feels like one of the most brilliant marketing ideas I’ve heard about in a long time. The Toronto Coffee Conspiracy (TCC) is an initiative spearheaded by seven independent Toronto coffee shops that are committed to what they call Craft Coffee. To them, that means understanding quality coffee where it comes from and sharing that passion with customers.
I’m sitting here at Lit Espresso Bar in Roncesvalles where I’m enjoying an Americano (my 3rd coffee and it’s only 9:45am) and I’ve been handed what the National Post called a “disloyalty card” inviting me to try the coffee at other shops scattered throughout the city. So, if I get my card stamped at Lit, and then go and get my card stamped at place like Sam James Coffee Bar, Dark Horse, and Manic Coffee I can return back to Lit and get a free coffee. Their tag line says it all: “Sure. Go behind our backs.” It’s not cheating to go to another coffee shop. It’s helping grow the independent coffee movement.
The card itself however is not where the brilliance lies. The name and idea of a conspiracy is what gets that Americano-infused blood pumping through my veins. These folks are starting a godamned conspiracy. If you have walked into an independent coffee shop on the list, you know (as the Globe and Mail mentions) the owners are opinionated, strong willed and crazy passionate. It is in the spirit of this that they are standing up and declaring themselves co-conspirators in getting Torontonians to visit independent coffee shops.
In the short time that the Toronto Coffee Conspiracy has been percolating they’ve garnered enough press to be the envy of any large chain. This is not the kind of attention that is often bestowed upon independent shops in their own corner of the universe. How did they do it? They decided to pick a fight, delclare it and buck convention.
Convention would say that the various independent coffee shops are competitors, battling each other for share of heart and mind. Convention would say stay in your silo, put your head down, and promote yourself as better than other folks who do what you do.
Being independent thinkers, they realized (as they told The Star) “We all have something great to offer and we all do it a little different.” They also realized that coffee shops are community hubs. Because each of the shops are in a different neighbourhood they realized that promoting their coffee shops also meant promoting the neighbourhoods they’re located in.
What would be different about your business if you stopped worrying about the competition and thought about your higher purpose? Who would be your ally? Who could you join forces with? What shit storm could you cause?
It takes alot of energy to be consumed with what everyone else is doing. It’s like high school. If you’re so busy obsessing about the popular girl (and what she wears, what she drives, who she hangs with) you’re far less likely to discover your own style or thang. You’re also less likely to join forces with other chics who are like you–a little offbeat but cool in your own right (do I sound like I suffered in Junior High? This is like my almost 40 year old self speaking to my 15 year old self).
Take a tip from any one of Toronto’s seven Coffee Conspiracy shops. Competition is way over rated.
How to be Not Nice and Prosper
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I’m tired of apologies. These days everyone apologizes far too frequently and without a shred of sincerity. Make a racist comment? Apologize. Cheat on your wife? Apologize. Lie, cheat, steal. Apologize.
I believe there’s alot to be said for not apologizing. What a refreshing gesture. It takes integrity to not apologize. One guy who understood integrity and proved the power of not apologizing was John Lennon. When in a 1966 interview he told reporters that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus adding “I don’t know which will go first–rock ‘n’ roll or Christianity,” he stood behind them fight’n words. Even as US radio stations banned the Beatles’ music and teenagers burned their records, Lennon refused to relent.
Lennon was sorry that people misunderstood his message. But he was not sorry he said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus. Fact is they were. In fact later in life, Lennon said:
“I always remember to thank Jesus for the end of my touring days; if I hadn’t said that The Beatles were ‘bigger than Jesus’ and upset the very Christian Ku Klux Klan well, Lord, I might still be up there with all the other performing fleas! God bless America. Thank you, Jesus.”
Consider all the the things you can be not doing that would speak to your brand’s integrity:
- You can never, ever put your product on sale. If it’s an artisinal product why should you ever mark it down? This purse blog lists the brands of purses that never go on sale: Louis Vuitton and Hermes are among them. Could you imagine a Vuitton bag on sale? Me neither.
- You can refuse to let the customer be right. Toronto’s famed Southern Italian restaurant Terroni has been widely criticized for refusing to cut pizza before serving, never putting parmesan cheese on certain types of pasta, and not letting customers have butter with their bread even though the kitchen has butter. They are authentically and staunchly Southern Italian and if you don’t like it, you can go eat elsewhere.
- You could not play nice. For years Coke and Pepsi had a battle of the brands. One would make an ad, the other would create a better ad, and so it went. Then in 1975 the gloves came off. Pepsi didn’t want to play nice anymore. The Pepsi Challenge was a way of taking the fight out of the ring and into the street where things could get a little messy. Same thing with those clever Apple ads. They put PC front and centre and humiliated him. Not nice, but man does it ever work.
Be A Museum
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Lee Valley stores are a living example of how to do branding right. A trip to their Downtown store embodies the power of living a single idea, simply expressed. Lee Valley sells high quality woodworking and gardening tools and that’s all they sell. I had an impending kids’ birthday party on my mind as I roamed the aisles, and I was delighted to be disappointed by the absence of kids’ stuff.
Lee Valley is not in the kids’ toys business. If fact they have a decidedly adult approach to craftsmanship. The long-term benefit of being known for one thing outweighs the short term bang of selling a few cheap kids’ gardening or woodworking toys. In the must-read book Rework, the authors have a chapter dedicated to the importance of being a curator:
It’s the stuff you leave out that matters. So constantly look for things to remove, simplify and streamline
That’s great advice for brands in general. How many messages are you trying to cram into a single ad? What are you talking about in your blog post? Why do people come to your store?
The POM Cure.
No Comments »Let’s face it, nowadays every product claims to contain antioxidants, phytonutrients or Omega3′s. Terms like those seem to resonate with consumers, but it’s becoming pretty hard to stand out among all of these health claims.
That’s where POM’s advertising stands apart. They don’t just say their juice is good for you, they basically tell you it’s going to save your life.
Apparently these ads were banned in UK for making health claims that research couldn’t support.
Sure, POM spent tons of money coming up with research to support all of the health benefits of pomegranate juice. But, I say anybody who thinks juice is going to save their life needs more help than antioxidants alone can provide.
Let’s put the issue pomegranate’s health benefits aside. The fact is, POM’s campaign is pure genius. The promise of cheating death bypasses all the fluffy stuff about being healthy and looking younger and cuts right to the chase. What’s all this health/youth stuff about anyway? At it’s core it’s about cheating death. It’s the elephant in the room that POM’s not afraid to talk about.
POM had the courage to say it like it is and stick its neck out. Even if they get their hand slapped, they are doing a great job of being themselves; bold, super-charged, unabashed and a bit saucy. Good on ‘em.
