Great Video

I was forwarded this great TED talk, you really should watch it. It's incredibly inspiring: http://bit.ly/bxH96o. It will help you see why companies like Apple excel where others don't.



Thank you Bob Lefsetz for sharing this today.  I wouldn't have caught it otherwise. 

Lost is Over

Last night my wife and I finished what felt like 6 years of weekly movie screenings. The production was that good. We'd actually store them up and watch them in marathon sessions because we couldn't just watch one. We needed another and another. And boy did it suck to have to go to bed knowing there were more still in the Tivo queue.

But it's over. All good things must come to an end.

I don't think I realized what an event it was until I opened the newspaper and then my emails today. Story after story about reactions to the final episode. Of course there was disappointment, but I think that is just because people will miss the show. We all know ways it could have continued, but we're lucky it had a proper ending. How many times have shows been canceled without closure? We got closure last night. Like we did with the Sopranos and like I hope I'll personally get with Rescue Me soon.

What made me write this? Probably the Fast Company article I read this morning. Which led me to watch a couple of Lost Podcast episodes. And the conversation I hear outside my office doors going on right now about how emotionally drained everyone is from last night.

Not bad for a TV show. A TV show which allowed us to suspend our disbelief (substantially) every week and enabled us to forget our troubles for an hour.  They say we'll never see another show like this again. Why do I find that hard to believe? I mean, we still have Mad Men.

But I'll miss Lost. The crazy roller coaster has ended.

iPhone Apps

If you were to ask me, what is my favorite iPhone app, I'd probably draw a blank.  I have a ton of them on my phone, but for some reason I can never give a great answer to that question on the fly.  But yesterday I looked at my phone because I was trying to prove a point to someone by stressing that apps need to provide either utility or fun.  Or best case, both.  Turns out most of my apps provide utility.

Like most smart phone owners, I have the Facebook app.  I also have a Twitter-related app (Echofon to be exact).  But those are the obvious ones.  I have my own SmartMktg app on there too, but I won't lie, I never look at that.  I'm proud of it and will gladly show it to anyone that will look, but it doesn't offer much utility to me.  It might be to you if you prefer to read this blog via your iPhone.  But enough with the shameless plug.

Here are my current favorite apps and why:

1. Yelp - I use this app on average once a day.  If I'm at a restaurant that I've never been to, I Yelp it.  The specific reason is that I want to know what to order.  I'd rather see what regular people like me recommend rather than ask the waiter.  
2. OpenTable - One of the greatest websites ever created and an equally great iPhone app.  If you are like me and you hate calling restaurants to make a reservation, this makes it so much easier.  No more dealing with bored out-of-work actors who take pride in telling you there is no availability at the exact time you would like to dine.
3. Shazam - One of the first iPhone apps and still one of the best.  I know I'm getting old because there was a time when I knew EVERY song on the radio.  Is finding out who is singing that song a must?  Probably not for most people, but it is for me.  If it wasn't for Shazam, I'd be scouring the internet Googling misinterpreted song lyrics.  I'm saving myself hours over the course of a year!  
4. Starbucks Store Locator - This one is for the wife.  She needs her Mocha!  This app has saved us hours and maybe even our marriage. 
5. Free WiFi - I've never used this app, but it's good to know it's there.  If I'm feeling especially cheap and looking to borrow a shop's WiFi, it's good to know I have this app.  I also have a Library finder app that would fall into the never used but good to know it's there category.
6. Foursquare / Gowalla / MyTown - These fall into the fun category.  I'll admit, I'm hooked.  Especially on MyTown.  I'm the proud owner of a multi-billion dollar city on MyTown.  I'm checking in several times a day so that I can upgrade my properties.  I check in on Foursquare a lot too but I've been bounced out of the mayor slot so many times I'm a little frustrated. In Austin at SXSW it was great to check in on Foursquare and Gowalla and know who was in the venue with me.  It cut down on phone calls and text messages when I could just say, "watch me on Foursquare and Gowalla to find out where I am."
7. Solebon - Everyone has their vices, mine is Solitaire.  Solebon has about 25 variations of the mindless card game (my favorite is Baker's Game).  This falls in the no utility whatsoever, it's a pure fun, time killer. 

As you can tell, utility is a relative term. 

What about you?

Kids Today

Another interesting article about kids and what we can expect from future generations.  This one's from the Wall Street Journal Opinion section. 

My favorite quotes:

• In September 2008, when Nielsen Mobile announced that teenagers with cellphones each sent and received, on average, 1,742 text messages a month, the number sounded high, but just a few months later Nielsen raised the tally to 2,272.
• Reading a text message in the middle of a conversation isn't a lapse to them—it's what you do. It has, they assume, no nonverbal meaning to anyone else.
• Nobody knows the extent of the problem. It is too early to assess the effect of digital habits, and the tools change so quickly that research can't keep up with them. By the time investigators design a study, secure funding, collect results and publish them, the technology has changed and the study is outdated.

Why Gen-Y Johnny Can't Read Nonverbal Cues
An emphasis on social networking puts younger people at a face-to-face disadvantage.

By MARK BAUERLEIN

In September 2008, when Nielsen Mobile announced that teenagers with cellphones each sent and received, on average, 1,742 text messages a month, the number sounded high, but just a few months later Nielsen raised the tally to 2,272. A year earlier, the National School Boards Association estimated that middle- and high-school students devoted an average of nine hours to social networking each week. Add email, blogging, IM, tweets and other digital customs and you realize what kind of hurried, 24/7 communications system young people experience today.

Unfortunately, nearly all of their communication tools involve the exchange of written words alone. At least phones, cellular and otherwise, allow the transmission of tone of voice, pauses and the like. But even these clues are absent in the text-dependent world. Users insert smiley-faces into emails, but they don't see each others' actual faces. They read comments on Facebook, but they don't "read" each others' posture, hand gestures, eye movements, shifts in personal space and other nonverbal—and expressive—behaviors.

Back in 1959, anthropologist Edward T. Hall labeled these expressive human attributes "the Silent Language." Hall passed away last month in Santa Fe at age 95, but his writings on nonverbal communication deserve continued attention. He argued that body language, facial expressions and stock mannerisms function "in juxtaposition to words," imparting feelings, attitudes, reactions and judgments in a different register.

This is why, Hall explained, U.S. diplomats could enter a foreign country fully competent in the native language and yet still flounder from one miscommunication to another, having failed to decode the manners, gestures and subtle protocols that go along with words. And how could they, for the "silent language" is acquired through acculturation, not schooling. Not only is it unspoken; it is largely unconscious. The meanings that pass through it remain implicit, more felt than understood.

They are, however, operative. Much of our social and workplace lives runs on them. For Hall, breakdowns in nonverbal communication took place most damagingly in cross-cultural circumstances—for instance, federal workers dealing with Navajo Indians and misconstruing their basic conceptions of time. Within cultures, Hall assumed, people more or less "spoke" the same silent language.

They may no longer, thanks to the avalanche of all-verbal communication. In Silicon Valley itself, as the Los Angeles Times reported last year, some companies have installed the "topless" meeting—in which not only laptops but iPhones and other tools are banned—to combat a new problem: "continuous partial attention." With a device close by, attendees at workplace meetings simply cannot keep their focus on the speaker. It's too easy to check email, stock quotes and Facebook. While a quick log-on may seem, to the user, a harmless break, others in the room receive it as a silent dismissal. It announces: "I'm not interested." So the tools must now remain at the door.

Older employees might well accept such a ban, but younger ones might not understand it. Reading a text message in the middle of a conversation isn't a lapse to them—it's what you do. It has, they assume, no nonverbal meaning to anyone else.

It does, of course, but how would they know it? We live in a culture where young people—outfitted with iPhone and laptop and devoting hours every evening from age 10 onward to messaging of one kind and another—are ever less likely to develop the "silent fluency" that comes from face-to-face interaction. It is a skill that we all must learn, in actual social settings, from people (often older) who are adept in the idiom. As text-centered messaging increases, such occasions diminish. The digital natives improve their adroitness at the keyboard, but when it comes to their capacity to "read" the behavior of others, they are all thumbs.

Nobody knows the extent of the problem. It is too early to assess the effect of digital habits, and the tools change so quickly that research can't keep up with them. By the time investigators design a study, secure funding, collect results and publish them, the technology has changed and the study is outdated.

Still, we might reasonably pose questions about silent-language acquisition in a digital environment. Lots of folks grumble about the diffidence, self-absorption and general uncommunicativeness of Generation Y. The next time they face a twenty-something who doesn't look them in the eye, who slouches and sighs for no apparent reason, who seems distracted and unaware of the rising frustration of the other people in the room, and who turns aside to answer a text message with glee and facility, they shouldn't think, "What a rude kid." Instead, they should show a little compassion and, perhaps, seize on a teachable moment. "Ah," they might think instead, "another texter who doesn't realize that he is communicating, right now, with every glance and movement—and that we're reading him all too well."

Mr. Bauerlein, a professor of English at Emory University, is the author of "The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future."

Life After College

If you happen to get our Fanscape newsletter then you would have seen an article I wrote called "Graduating With An Edge" today. The theme this month for the newsletter is advice to recent college grads as they enter the workforce.  The article was edited a bit, so I've put the whole thing as originally written below.  It will give you the background about why I wrote it and what I was thinking when I sat down to recap a speech I'd given at a university in Dallas a few months ago.  If you know someone who is graduating please forward them this blog.  Maybe even send them to look at our newsletter - http://bit.ly/bg3nFu  - because there are some great tips in there.  Even better, if you know someone who is a freshman or sophomore in college, or even in high school for that matter, send them this stuff.  I was lucky, I knew what I wanted to do with my life when I was very very young.  Most people don't figure it out until after college.  There are some simple things to do or at least to be thinking about and everyone needs an edge.  Hopefully this helps...


Graduating With an Edge

A few months ago I was invited to speak at a conference geared towards graduating seniors in the Communications department at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas.  The topic was how social networking had evolved and where it was going.  I struggled with it for a few days.  I knew there would be other people at the conference giving statistics and quoting how fast Facebook and Twitter were growing, I wanted to say something different.  But I was stumped.  The night before my speech I went to sleep at 2am, sick with the flu and sick with worry because I had nothing.  Sure, I had a backup plan that would have me showing screenshots, graphs, and case studies but I was dreading having to resort to that.  It would be so boring. I wanted to wow them.  But I was having a hard time finding the wow.

At 5am I awoke with a jolt.  I had it!  I knew what to do.  I would just tell them about me.

And that’s what I did.  I kept my presentation to about seven slides and just told them the story of my life.  What I did in college.  How I got to where I am today.  And what I’d learned along the way.  My speech went over great.  It was one of the best I’d ever given.

The key, I told them, was that they have opportunities today that didn’t exist for me.  That didn’t even exist five years ago.  They needed to seize them.

That, I told them, was the optimistic part.

Pessimistically, on the other hand, they were about to join the workforce at one of the worst times in recent history.  10% of the country was out of work.  The competition was fierce.  They were going to lose.  So, if you are going to lose, I told them… Lose big!

Ok, that’s the setup, now here is the specific advice I gave to them and I now bestow on you.

I boil this down to three main points:

1.    LinkedIn
2.    Blog
3.    Lose Big

It is all about creating your personal brand, the authentic you.  Companies do it and so should you.  Follow my advice and, while I can’t guarantee that you will get the job that you are applying for, you will be at least 10 times farther ahead than the majority of graduates with whom you will be competing.

LinkedIn
How long have resumes been around?  I have no idea.  My guess is that it has been common practice to deliver those one or two sheets of paper to potential employers for at least a hundred years.

You still need to do it, so definitely put in the effort, but don’t stop there.  LinkedIn should be your new best friend.  It is the amped up online version of your resume.  It offers you the opportunity to not only expand on your work history, it also allows you more room to emphasize your experience and make the words jump off the page. 

Most of your contemporaries haven’t embraced LinkedIn yet.  For those of us who have been working for several years now, we have learned to make LinkedIn our go to resource for sharing information about our careers.  But college students have typically been slow to board this train.  So, while your sorority sisters are busy checking out what photos have been uploaded to Facebook today, you can be leaping ahead of them by building out your LinkedIn profile.

When we post a job at Fanscape we get hundreds of resumes within the first day of the post.  Do you know how hard it is to go through that many resumes?  It is a giant pain.  So, we go through a weeding out process.  If your resume pops and my hiring manager likes what they see, then it gets sent to me.  My next step is to go to your LinkedIn profile.  Your page better look great.  Well written, no spelling errors, great insight into you; that is what I want to see.

You can drop in widgets on your LinkedIn profile that point me to your blog posts, your Twitter feed, even what books you are reading.

And don’t forget about recommendations.  Have people recommend you.  Haven’t had that many jobs?  Start with your teachers, your counselors, the bosses where you did your internships.  Ask them nicely if they will give you a recommendation on LinkedIn.  I bet they use LinkedIn.  Another tip, recommend others.  The best way to get people to recommend you is to recommend them first.  Nothing makes me happier than to see that you’ve actually recommended more people than have recommended you.  Yep, I can see all that when I look at your LinkedIn page.

Fill that profile up.  You can’t write too much.  LinkedIn will stop you if you get too wordy.  It will force you to fine-tune your descriptions and make them pop.

Trust me on this.  Your friends aren’t doing any of this.  Do this and you jump 10 steps ahead of them.  LinkedIn is my favorite social media tool.  For the business world it is the most important social network and you need to get a handle on this now!

Blog
Want to know where I go after I’ve read your LinkedIn profile?  Your blog.  What?  You don’t have one?  You really should.

See, your resume and your LinkedIn profile give me insight into your professional capabilities, but what about your personality?  How can I see where your passions lie?  What do you do when you aren’t working?  What movies have you seen?  What do you collect?  What is important to you in this world besides your career?

You are probably asking, “Why do you care?”  You are wondering, what your personal life has to do with your work life?   . 

Look, like I said, I’m trying to make a decision on hiring a new employee.  I want someone that is not only a professional fit but someone who is also a cultural fit.  My company is filled with people who love reality television, play video games, and check in on Foursquare.  I’ve hired some who looked good on paper, but turned out to be loners who’d prefer to code in a dark room than participate in a brainstorm about a new client. And they never worked out.  I need to know upfront whether or not you’d be a good fit and whether or not to interview you.  Your blog helps me make that determination.

If you are not blogging, start now.  Set yourself up on Blogger, Wordpress or Tumblr.  It doesn’t cost a thing.  Start writing or posting photos.  Maybe video is more your thing.  Start a YouTube channel.  Just do something that shows your personality.  Try to post something every few days.  It might take you a couple of months to find your voice, the thing you want to share with the world, but it will come, you just have to start.

Again, want an edge over the competition?  Blog.  And let me know it.

Lose Big

Here is the brutal reality.  You are not going to get most of the jobs you apply for.  You are not even going to get an interview.  When you send in your resume, understand that hundreds of others did the very same thing.    

But when you get the interview, and you will get a few, know that you will most likely lose.  So lose big.

I have interviewed over 500 people since I started Fanscape 12 years ago.  95% of them were nervous and told me what they thought I wanted to hear.  Only a couple of them stood out and only one ever looked me in the eye, stood up, and told me I needed them.  That person told me I was missing out on huge opportunities and that they would make those happen for me.  That person told me that I didn’t have to pay them much, that they would prove their value immediately, and that soon I would be paying them much more.

I hired that person.  That person won more business for me than anyone ever had before.  I’ve never forgotten that first meeting.  Everyone I’ve met since has been compared in my mind to that person.

Now a different boss might have been turned off by that approach.  They might have thrown that person out of the office.  That’s the risk you take.  Remember, the odds are you are not going to get the job.  So if you are going to lose, lose big.


In conclusion, what I’ve explained here is not difficult.  It doesn’t cost any money and it doesn’t require any technical experience or training.  Everyone can do it.  But they don’t.  So it’s up to you.  You are setting out on the next great adventure in your life.  Have fun with it.  You are great.  You know that.  But you are about to meet a lot of people who don’t know that yet.  So you need to let them in on your secret.  You rule!

One final thing I’d like to share.  Many in the working world (especially those of us in the digital marketing world) have seen this video - http://bit.ly/4lsSjE, but it’s incredibly inspirational.  It’s a speech given by Gary Vaynerchuck, creator of WineLibrary.tv where he encourages you to “Kill it!”  Follow my thoughts, create your personal brand, watch this video and you will in fact, kill it!

Usable Advice for Moderating Complaints and Praise

Saw this article today in a newsletter I receive from MarketingVox.  I'm a big user of social media sites that relate to travel and food.  If you run into me at a restaurant you'll often see me staring at my phone.  I'm Yelping to see what people recommend.  I was at the 8oz Burger Bar in Hollywood the other day because I'd bought a Groupon deal.  I didn't know what to order so I looked on Yelp.  Most people said to go with their "8oz." burger so I did.  Good choice.  Also, several people warned that the place could be really slow.  Equally right on.  The food was really good and the server himself wasn't bad, but boy, it shouldn't take 30 minutes to cook a hamburger at a moderately busy lunchtime. I'd go again, just need to make sure I don't have to race back for a meeting.

I have similar stories relating to travel and specifically booking hotels.  I'm a huge advocate of Tripadvisor.com, especially for the forums where I can read honest feedback from travelers with similar taste to mine.  So the question is, as a hotel or restaurant proprietor, what do you do to counter people's negative comments?  According to this article, the advice is to proceed with caution. 

Hotels Go On Offensive Against Negative Reviews

Hotels are taking a particularly aggressive stance against anonymous reviews found on such sites as Yelp or Trip Advisor by actively trying to connect the data dots to identify the author.

Once the hotel has identifying information in hand it might thank the poster for the good review - perhaps with a gift basket. In the case of a negative review, it might send an email asking for either a reconsideration or a chance to readdress what was wrong with the person’s stay, according to the Washington Post.

Fraudulent Tactics

Most ominously, the Post said, a negative review could earn a poster a black mark in the guest database. Such tactics, though - on both extremes - could backfire against the industry. Efforts by the hotel to pressure a guest to remove a negative review - or reward a guest for a positive one - would be seen as fraudulent by both TripAdvisor and consumers, says April Robb, a spokeswoman for TripAdvisor. (via the Post).

That said, hotels should try to answer negative reviews even if they don’t know who posted them, Daniel Edward Craig, a former hotel general manager turned consultant and the author of the hotel-based Five-Star Mystery series, writes at 4hoteliers.

"Some would say that online reviews deserve even more time than internal surveys, as the feedback is just as - if not more - valuable, and the impact is public."

His advice:

    * Respond to any feedback that is damaging to your hotel’s reputation, even if simply to acknowledge the issue and apologize.
    * Respond to positive reviews occasionally to show you’re listening, but don’t feel obliged to reply to each one.
    * Responses should come from the highest level - but not necessarily from the owners themselves. “As a rule I discourage hotel owners from responding. They have too much at stake and aren’t always as diplomatic as managers.”
    * Respond as soon as possible - the longer a complaint is left to fester, the more business it will drive away. Just make sure you have all the facts and the response is thorough.

Don’t Be Afraid

Finally, don’t fear negative reviews, a Forrester Research report advises. Forrester recently evaluated 4,000 reviews in the Electronics and Home & Garden categories on the Amazon.com site and found that more than 80% of the reviews were positive - and the negative reviews were generally considered helpful to consumers. While the data was derived from a retail Web site, Forrester says these findings are applicable to any vertical site from travel to auto, financial services, or healthcare.

Negative reviews are also helpful to the companies themselves, according to Pehr Luedtke, CEO of Power Reviews (via Auction Bytes).  While many retailers might fear negative reviews, it is this type of specific feedback that has oftentimes uncovered invaluable opportunities for many of our clients.

"It was through the power of customer reviews that branded retailer Wine Enthusiast was able to uncover a huge unmet need in wine storage, he said: multi-purpose shelving and dual temperature. "The retailer developed what ultimately became their most successful product line to date - the NFINITY line of wine cellars."

Tips to Grow Your Business

I just had a fantastic exchange with a business owner in Eau Claire, Wisconsin that really got my juices flowing.  It was a follow up to my blog post the other day about social shopping. I uploaded that post to my iMedia Connection blog too and I've received some great responses as a result.  Sherry Mohr owns a Ford/Lincoln/Mercury dealership in Eau Claire and she was asking my opinion on how to reach people who are, well, who are hard to reach.  Here is the conversation that took place over the course of a few emails.

From: Sherry
Date: May 12, 2010
To: Larry Weintraub
Subject: social media article in imedia connection

Good Morning,
I read your article on the Day Spa and the expansion of localize marketing “deals”.  I am going to take you up on your offer to email you.

My concern and question:
My husband and I purchased our first business 6 years ago and moved to Eau Claire, WI and renamed our business Eau Claire Ford Lincoln Mercury.  We just launched a real time online service scheduling on our web site which involves the option of texting or emailing a reminder for the customers.   We also started in Nov a Facebook page which I have been trying to commit to a posting of twice a week and soft more informal communications.  We have not promoted hard either of those aspects.

As a local business.  I am concerned how to get people like my 24 year old son/his girlfriend and my local Wireless Store Manager who is 28 and married.  Both do not have cable or tv.  Both use online internet sites to watch TV shows or anything they may want to watch or wait to buy a DVD series of a TV show and justify spending money on the DVD pack vs cable or satellite tv.

HOW DO YOU GET THIS GROUP???????

Facebook..they have to accept us to be a fan.  And then how do you market to them IF that happens.
Local TV/Cable seems to be losing viewers to their online storage of old episodes or like HULU.com….No local ads there to buy…….
Newspaper…..Rapidly losing readership and the young don’t even bother at all.
Radio…..As a Ford store…I know how many people are tuning into Satellite Radio and extending their subscription.
Yes, third party advertise on Cars.com…autotrader..etc   (yet I am using MY financed inventory to build their brick and mortar site and they keep raising their prices and offering “CONQUEST sponsorships so dealers can eat each other on their web site”…..Not interested in helping play that game long term.

So, as a middle age woman trying to figure out Social Media and spending money on the Internet…confuses me..
Not sure how to control dollars on Google…where to go to determine the legal laws,  etc.  I definitely, see more and more people shopping and making inquiries on our web-based marketing and scheduling online for their service appointments.

Where do you think a local car dealer should be addressing their social –web base marketing efforts.  How to reach those young professionals that don’t use local media?

Thank you for your time and any consideration.
    
Sherry Mohr
Eau Claire Ford Lincoln Mercury

-------

From: Larry Weintraub
Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2010 
To: Sherry
Subject: RE: social media article in imedia connection

Hi Sherry,

Thanks so much for reading my article and for sending me a note.

You are pointing out a key fact.  There is so much out there, where do you begin?  Right?  The options are endless.

My advice is this, put yourself in the shoes of the people you are trying to reach.  If you were on the other side of this, why would you want to connect with you?  First, why would you want to connect with Eau Claire Ford and second, why would you want to connect with Sherry Mohr? 

I am personally thinking about this right now and thinking, why would I want to connect with Eau Claire Ford whether it would be on Facebook, Twitter, or even visit your website?  Thoughts:

1. Discounts
2. Information that will help me buy a car
3. Information that will help me with the car I already bought (discounts on service, cool after-market products, special discounts and services you provide like maybe coupons to local retailers)

Buying a car is an incredibly painful process.  At least that is my experience.  Most people don’t trust the dealer / salesperson.  They hate that it’s all negotiable so you never know if you are in fact getting the best deal.  It’s incredibly expensive so making the actual purchase is terrifying, like buying a house.

How do you make that easier for someone?  How do you gain their trust.

My answer – make it personal.  Give Eau Claire Ford a face.  This may be you, but if you can’t devote the appropriate time, and it needs a lot of time, find someone who can. 

If Eau Claire has a friendly face via social media (Facebook, Twitter, blog, etc.) then people have more reason to “friend/like” or “follow” you.  If you can provide information, discounts, etc. then people will follow you because they want to hear what you have to say.  Maybe you become a resource for local deals like discounts at restaurants and shops.  Yes, you are a Ford dealer, but it doesn’t mean you have to just be a Ford dealer.  You can be a community leader that happens to broadcast from your Eau Claire Facebook page.

Again, step back for a minute and think, “what would I want?”

Now, I live in Los Angeles, so this is really hard to do.  There is tremendous competition and so much going on here.  But my guess is that in Eau Claire, you have less competition.  You could be a leader in Social Media in your town because others are probably not doing it.

To me, this would work much better than just advertising.  Take the money you might spend on advertising and hire a young college student or something like that to build out your social media footprint.  Maybe spend money to drive people to your Facebook page or company blog where they can engage with you.  Then subtly brand your dealership.  Maybe you have “MeetUps” or “TweetUps” where people gather at your dealership for food fairs or farmer’s markets.  Or bake sales or car washes.  It’s endless. 

I could keep going but I think you get the message.  It’s actually really exciting.  I’m buzzing here as I write all of this.  :-)

Again, I hope this helps.  Let me know if it does.

All my best,
Larry

--------------

From: Sherry
Sent: Thursday, May 13, 2010 
To: Larry Weintraub
Subject: RE: social media article in imedia connection

Larry,
I am so grateful to you!!!!
Your energy…ideas..enthusiasm leaps off the email page!
LOVE IT LOVE IT. Did I say love it!!!

Funny, I just made travel mugs with my catch phrase of “Blacktop café” for customer appreciation week with a coupon inside of it for a free beverage or coffee that we purchased. A local fast food owner gave me free beverage coupons to put in there as long as he could leave buy one get one free coupons in our customer lounge… 
I could review fast food drive thru – food item of the week or something similar in a positive review…on our facebook or social media or he probably would love to have a buy one get one free coupon posted on my site free (not big but free for him..and like you said sets me apart..my customers would love to save money too!!!)

So your idea of reviewing outside of ECFLM – food and rest. is a great idea!!!!!!!

Thank you for the extra length in  your email reply and ideas….

Do I owe you any money for this wonderful advice.  If, so let me know.  :-)
------

No money exchanged hands.  LOL.  I just asked Sherry if she'd allow me to share this exchange with you all.  Which she graciously allowed.  Also, she attached a copy of a sample note (see below) that they print and hand out.  It is such a beautiful sentiment and makes me wish all businesses did this.

Digital Hollywood Panel

I was on a really good panel last week at the Digital Hollywood conference.  The panel was part of the Advertising Platform track and was titled: Advertising Innovation! Broadband, Mobile, In-Video, In-Game, Social Networks, Blogs, and Podcasts.  The description of the panel was this:

Advertising is finally discovering and finding its way into the next generation of technology media and entertainment industries. Broadband, mobile, IPTV, cable and interactive TV and of course in games, ads and branded information are being delivered in many forms. The technologies behind ad-insertion, ad serving, on-demand technologies and a full host of back-end management technologies are enabling greater creativity and enhanced options in the relationship between technology and advertising. In this session, we will open an ongoing conversation of how technologies are evolving, where they are heading and how the advertising and branding industries will gain further technology traction.

On the panel with me was:

• Frank Barbieri, CEO and founder, Transpera
• Marc Ruxin, Chief Innovation Officer, Universal McCann
• Susie Lim, Creative Director, Wunderman
• Caleb Hill, Senior Vice President, Products, Unicast
• Max Mullen, Sr. Director, Client Services, Sprout

The moderator, Rick Mathieson did a great job preparing us beforehand.  He sent us a list of questions in the form of scenarios.  Each had a pro and a con.  He asked us to answer each and send them to him.  This way he knew ahead of time which direction we each leaned and he could call on us accordingly.  I've pasted in below some of the scenarios so you can get an idea of what we talked about and my personal opinion about each. 

Premise 1
The tension that exists between new forms of targeted ad-serving technologies and consumer privacy: Ads can now target down to the proverbial market of one, but access personal information to do so.

Pro argument: Most such systems are anonymized and don’t really target individuals – you’re a number not an name – so what’s the harm? And even when it is targeted to specific individuals, robust opt-out options can reduce privacy risks.

Con argument: It’s all too creepy. As some high-profile cases demonstrate, data that is collected can be misused or misappropriated – and cross-referenced with other data sources to acquire very sensitive information about specific individuals – including their social security numbers. Such technologies should be heavily regulated by the government to make the world safe for both consumer and commercial interests. Brands should tread carefully.

I am Pro.  I am a believer in hyper-targeted advertising.  I have to see advertising if I want the web to remain “free” so you might as well show me something that interests me.  “Creepy” is for the 30+ crowd, kids will grow up with this being a fact of life.

Premise 2
IPTV and addressable TV advertising represent amazing new ways to target advertising to specific consumers based on zip code and all that entails – demographics, household income, and more. But is it truly targeted?

Pro argument: Heck yeah – we’ve never been able to target television ads to specific households before. An ad for American Express, for instance, can present the Gold card to certain households, the Black Card to others, based on their income/zip code/etc. Hard to complain about that.

Con argument: What does it matter? Households are made up of too many individuals to even matter. An ad for American Express may appeal to mom or dad, but has nothing to do with the teenage daughter watching TV. It’s better targeting, but not enough to make it worth it. Money could be better spent elsewhere.

I am Pro.  Only adjunct here is that I suggest they have even more data.  Ask me more with the transparent argument that if I want to watch IPTV for free then I need to have ads.  Make the ads as specific to me as possible.  Ads are ok if they give me some reward.  Meaning they tell me something that can help me and interests me.

Premise 3
Mobile: Despite the advent of iAd and other mobile advertising platforms, some wonder if mobile should be a new advertising distribution platform for text and banner-based communications, or utilized more as a response mechanism for traditional advertising through short codes, 2D bar codes, mobile augmented reality and more. 

Pro argument: The ability to reach people based on where they are and what they are doing is revolutionary – enabling marketers to swim where the fishes are – literally.

Con argument: Ads delivered via mobile phones are so last decade, even if Apple’s finally joining the party. The real power of mobile is as a response mechanism for traditional media. Now, our television, radio, print, direct mail, out-of-home and even our products are interactive – enhancing the effectiveness of traditional like never before possible. That’s the real power of mobile.

I am Con.  Mobile is sacred.  Unlike online, the perception is that I pay for my mobile service so don’t bother me with ads.  Yes, I pay for online access, but I don’t really think of it that way.  I don’t feel like I pay Hulu or ABC when I watch TV.  But I don’t want to be bothered with text ads.  As mobile converges towards online, then you can give me advertising that is similar to online when I digest content that is similar to online.  Means that Hulu type companies need to build out their mobile platforms to take advantage of this.

Premise 4
In-game/in-video advertising represents an age-old revenue model that enables viewers to enjoy content for free, while giving marketers a platform from which to market their wares. But in the digital era, is this model still appropriate, much less effective?

Pro argument: You bet it is. Not just for advertising that appears in the game or video stream, but for the advertising that occurs around the viewing window can entice people to click through for more information and engagement in ways that television never could deliver.

Con argument: In-video and in-game advertising represents the same kind of unwelcome intrusion audiences are fleeing from televised content – and have never really had to deal with in most gaming platforms. Why try to replicate ad models from one medium into others?   

I am Pro.  In game advertising is fine.  Again, if the game is free, then I have to expect ads.  If I pay, that’s a different story. 

Premise 5

The issue facing social network communities and the advertisers that want to reach them: Ads that are appealing to advertisers are typically not appealing to communities as (with some excellent exceptions) they tend to get between the user and his or her content and interactions.

Pro argument:  Advertising will continue on its current trajectory because 1. to remain free, all that great content and the ability to network with others has to be paid for somehow, and 2. advertisers can support/sponsor community interests and activities (such as tweetups).

Con Argument: Marketers are personas non grata on social networks – we have no place trying to force ourselves into the same space in which someone is proclaiming their undying love for the Jonas Brothers, or breaking up with their girlfriend. However social networking involves, marketers have to find new ways to reach communities and their members.

I probably lean most towards Pro.  The world thinks Facebook is free.  What happens if they charge?  Will people leave?  My assumption is yes because someone will create a free version.  If no one would develop a free version then Facebook could start charging.  But someone is waiting around the corner with a free version.  Therefore monetization via ads and brand sponsored environments are a necessity. 

• Communication in this forum, however, is the responsibility of the marketer.  If you interrupt people, then you will be thrown out.  It’s a new form of spam.  So part of the “con” argument applies here in that marketers need to find new ways to reach communities and their members.

Premise 6
Much attention is being focused on the growing trend of paid tweeting and blogging, in which brands pay celebrities and high-profile twitterers or bloggers to whisper tweet nothings in consumers’ ears.

Pro argument: As long as it’s disclosed when someone is paid to review a product or say nice things about a brand, the reader is informed, the brand gets its products promoted, and the twitterer/blogger makes money and nobody has to be irritated by ads – what’s not to love about that?

Con argument: Disclosure notwithstanding, paid tweets and blogs cheapen the blogger/twitter’s reputation as well as the brand’s – calling into question the authenticity of everyone involved – and the very value of Twitter/blogs as marketing platforms.

I am Con.  Paid tweets are ridiculous.  They cheapen the blogger / twitterer for sure.  Now, if I’m a tweeter or blogger and I truly love a product, I will share it.  If I share it and then the brand wants to talk to me about some form of above board integration, I’m game.

Premise 7
Much is made of how powerful social networks are in terms of influencing consumer perceptions about brands. Look at both Motrin and, more recently Nestlé.  In the first example, Johnson & Johnson’s Motrin brand caused an online ruckus when it ran television ads seeming to suggest that women who use baby bjorns are wearing their babies as fashion accessories. Never mind that the ad was about alleviating pain for women who carry their babies. Social networks lit up with criticism, the ads were eventually taken off the air, and Motrin apologized for the insult. At the time, the incident was viewed as demonstrating the power of social networks to influence the way consumers view brands. Yet for all the uproar, surveys from Lightspeed Research revealed that 90 percent of US women had never seen the ad, and once they saw it, 45 percent said they liked it. Forty one percent said they had no feelings about it one way or the other, and 15 percent said they didn’t like it. Only 8 percent said it made them think negatively about the brand – compared to 32 percent who said it made them like Motrin more. In recent months, there has been a question of whether Greenpeace’s attack on Nestle’s Facebook page will sway public opinion away from – or toward – Nestlé.  The question arises: Are social networks meant to be potentially feared, carefully cultivated – or judiciously ignored?

Pro argument: Social networks can dramatically shape public opinion, which is why so many companies are hiring social networking teams to monitor soc-nets and respond to issues as they arrise. Look at how Amazon quickly responded to soc-net concerns over products categorized as “gay and lesbian” accidentally being pulled from Amazon’s category listings.

Con argument: Sure, catching video of pizza shop employees adding “extra ingredients” into pizza can spark a lot of trouble for certain brands, but that’d happen even without social media. Truth is, most social networks are merely echo chambers, with little bearing on how everyday consumers view brands. 

I am Pro.  I agree with the Motrin research in that it really was a few loud mouths that shut down the campaign and most women never saw it nor did they think it was bad.  It was an early reaction to the power of social media.  In the future this won’t get shut down so fast.  Brand communities on Soc-Nets are growing at incredible rates.  Brands can easily have hundreds of thousands of “fans” fairly quickly.  This is your core audience.  The ones you want to reach.  Oftentimes the evangelists and big voices.  So you want to address things here and quickly. 

The Children of Cyberspace

Yesterday I posted a letter I sent to friend about kids growing up in a social media world. I got a great comment on my post by Rich Ullman and he pointed me to an article in the NY Times from a few months back. The angle was that innovation is moving at such a breakneck pace that even ten year olds will be old fogies by the time their younger siblings reach their age.

Rich wrote:

Larry
Great post. I was going to say, wait until the child is 10 or 11... then you get to the real fun. But by that time, things will be very different (again).

Here's a real interesting article from the NY Times earlier this year, entitled, "The Children of Cyberspace." Especially check out the quote from Lee Rainie of the Pew Research Center about the speeding up of generational differences.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/weekinreview/10stone.html

-Rich

I highly recommend that you read the article. Some of my favorite quotes were:

[Speaking about the author's 10 year old daughter] She’ll know nothing other than a world with digital books, Skype video chats with faraway relatives, and toddler-friendly video games on the iPhone. She’ll see the world a lot differently from her parents.

But these are also technology tools that children even 10 years older did not grow up with, and I’ve begun to think that my daughter’s generation will also be utterly unlike those that preceded it. 

Researchers are exploring this notion too. They theorize that the ever-accelerating pace of technological change may be minting a series of mini-generation gaps, with each group of children uniquely influenced by the tech tools available in their formative stages of development. 

“People two, three or four years apart are having completely different experiences with technology,” said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project. “College students scratch their heads at what their high school siblings are doing, and they scratch their heads at their younger siblings. It has sped up generational differences.” 

and

Another bubbling intra-generational gap, as any modern parent knows, is that younger children tend to be ever more artful multitaskers. Studies performed by Dr. Rosen at Cal State show that 16- to 18-year-olds perform seven tasks, on average, in their free time — like texting on the phone, sending instant messages and checking Facebook while sitting in front of the television.

People in their early 20s can handle only six, Dr. Rosen found, and those in their 30s perform about five and a half. 

and this point supports my theory from my blog post yesterday about privacy

Children my daughter’s age are also more likely to have some relaxed notions about privacy. The idea of a phone or any other device that is persistently aware of its location and screams out its geographic coordinates, even if only to friends, might seem spooky to older age groups.

But the newest batch of Internet users and cellphone owners will find these geo-intelligent tools to be entirely second nature, and may even come to expect all software and hardware to operate in this way.

Here is where corporations can start licking their chops. My daughter and her peers will never be “off the grid.” And they may come to expect that stores will emanate discounts as they walk by them, and that friends can be tracked down anywhere.

“If it’s something you grow up with, you have a completely different comfort with it than someone who has had to unlearn something about the world,” said Mr. Rainie, of the Pew project. 

Thanks Rich for sharing this article.  It's a good one!

Letter From a Friend

I received an email from a friend over the weekend.  I just sent him a response but I liked the exchange so I figured I'd share it with you here:

Larry I have a question for you and I figure you would have a handle on this. I have been reading, a little bit, about socialeconomics ie social media and how many people are using. I find it interesting that so many 13-21 year olds use it. What I wonder about and hence the question for you is if these kids are spending so much time socializing on the “web” are the losing the ability to socialize and interact in real life.

Let me know

Peter

----------

Hi Peter,

I understand exactly what you are asking.  I often tell people that kids today are growing up with a social media acceptance that us adults can’t comprehend.  Extensions of this include their mass use of text messaging vs. conversation; lack of privacy fears – meaning they are more willing to identify their locations, actions, etc. on social networks with little regard for identify theft or stalkers. 

To us it seems crazy. Why wouldn’t you just call them?  Why would you tell everyone where you are – someone could rob your house because they know you are out.

But kids today are growing up with mobile phones in their hands and they will know a world where everything they need is in the palm of their hand.

Now, with respect to socializing in the real world.  I don’t personally believe they are limiting their playing of sports, meeting friends, reading, learning, etc.  I think they actually have more access than we did when we were kids.  I was a bit of a loner as a kid in the age 8 – 14 range.  I had pen pals.  I used to trade live recordings of concerts on cassette tapes via the mail.  I’d find people in the classified / personals sections of magazines like RIP and Kerrang who were looking to trade and we’d exchange via the mail.  A long process but it worked.  I met people in other parts of the world that had similar interests as me.  Today’s kids can do that in an instant online. 

Point being, even the most anti-social kids can become more social.  I personally believe that is why MySpace exploded.  It was like the modernization of pen pals. 

Plus, kids can learn things faster too from the Wikiepedias and eHow.com’s.  I can’t believe I made it through school without the Internet!

As you can see, I believe in this stuff. 

My son is 2 1/2 , not yet using a computer or anything like that.  I intend to raise him with a nice blend of technology and out-of-the-house activity.  I’m hoping it works.  What I wrote above is purely my speculation.  I believe in it, but I guess I’m about to experience it in real life.

I hope I’m right! 

Larry

The Next Big Thing

Social Shopping.

It's exploding. 

And it is evolving quickly.

A year ago if you had asked me about social shopping I would have pointed you to Amazon and told you that the product reviews from actual buyers were examples of social shopping.  Six months ago I would have told you about shopping aggregation websites like Kaboodle which allow you to view, comment, and receive deals from multiple retailers.  Two weeks ago I would have told you about the new Facebook integration into websites like Levi's "Friend Store" and how you can see what your friends like.  And today.  Well today I'd tell you it's all about what I call the Discount Crowdsourced Shopping Experience (DCSE) being powered by Groupon, Living Social, Gilt, Blackboard Eats, Wines Til Sold Out (WTSO) and more.

I'll give you a quick glossary-like description on each referenced DCSE at the end of this post, but first let me explain what this is. 

A few months back I wrote a post about a new business ready to take off.  What I described there was the advancement of location-based applications like Foursquare, Gowalla, and MyTown combined with recommendation websites like Yelp and Citysearch, and how they were providing huge opportunities for shop owners to drive people into their stores.  DCSE's go the next step and offer discounts to drive you into these stores.  All of these DCSE's are essentially mailing lists and you get regular (often daily) deals sent to your inbox.

With these DCSE sites like Groupon and LivingSocial, people are flocking to them because the deals are often tremendous, averaging in the neighborhood of 50% off of very desirable products and meals.   Groupon is the leader at the moment, but if you know anyone that uses Groupon, odds are they are also using one or more of the others I mentioned.  Note: part of this depends where you live.  If you are in LA or New York, you can see it in action.  If you live in Boise, this hasn't quite gotten to you yet.  But the model is working and odds are you will see this soon in your town. 

Let me tell you how I know it's working. 

Last week Groupon offered a deal to celebrate Mother's Day.  A local day spa in Los Angeles, Le Petite Retreat offered two treatments that normally cost $235 for only $79.  A 66% discount.  Incredible, right?  I couldn't resist, so I bought one for my wife. 

Guess how many others bought the deal?  If you had asked me, I would have said 200.  Maybe 300.  The answer: 1,332.

Yes!  So that is why I can tell you, this is exploding.  I don't know the day spa business.  But my guess is that this place just booked more business in one day than in the past few months combined.  (based on the $79 fee, the small business just grossed over $105,000 in one day.)

Now, this is a good news / bad news situation.  Or more like a be careful what you wish for situation.  If you are a little shop that gets 20 customers a day.  Heck, maybe even 50 on a great day.  How do you deal with an influx this big? 

Very carefully. 

I've heard numerous stories lately where people purchased the Groupon or LivingSocial deal only to find out that the place was so inundated that either they couldn't get a reservation for months or that the service and experience was awful.

If it were me and I was the owner of Le Petite Retreat, I would treat every customer that came in through this promotion like they paid $500.  Forget that they only paid $79.  Assume they paid more than the average customer.  Don't ignore your regular patrons, but they already love you.  These new customers are just that, new.  And you know the saying, you only get one chance to make a first impression.  Those 1,300+ people have the power to change your business.  Think long term.  This is going to be one of the most expensive advertising campaigns you've ever done, but also the most targeted.  A true game changer.

But my guess is that they are not prepared to handle this.  How could they be?  I wonder what they thought would happen from this Groupon promotion?  500 people maybe?  I think I'll ask them.  If they respond, I'll let you know.

Getting back to the central point of this post.  Social shopping is exploding.  This is the next big thing.  It's not one piece of technology.  It's a quick progression in social media merging with eCommerce.  And it is very exciting. 

As I mentioned in that other post, if you are a shop owner and your product is good, the opportunity is amazing.  The best in history.  It's targeted, it's relatively easy, and the cost is probably the best investment you can ever make (some of these things are free).  Get your head around it.  If you can't, hire someone to do this for you.  If you can't find anyone, tell your niece or nephew to study this stuff and start trying things.  Shoot, tell them to email me, I'll point them in the right direction. 

-----------------

As promised, here's a pseudo glossary to give you some quick explanations of some of these sites.

Groupon and LivingSocial are essentially email lists.  Go to their websites, sign up and each day you'll get an email sent to you with a deal.  You have one day to buy the deal.  You pay in advance and then get an email confirmation that you print out and take with you.  A common deal is 50% off.  Thus, you might get an offer for $50 in food from a restaurant for $25.  You pay in advance and you have a few weeks or sometimes months to actually use the deal.  Think of it like buying a gift card.  You paid $25 but now you have a voucher for $50. 

Blackboard Eats is a similar concept, however, you don't have to buy in advance.  You just get an email telling you about a great discount at trendy and often upscale restaurants.  If you like the offer, they'll send you a text message or you can print the deal out and take it to the restaurant for your discount.  It's a great way to try a restaurant that you've been thinking about but weren't sure about making the investment.

Gilt, also known as Gilt Groupe, is a site that discounts high priced fashion.  You have to be invited and once you get the invite, you get daily emails offering you tremendous deals on jewelry, clothing, and other luxury items.

Wines Til Sold Out (WTSO) offers amazing discounts on wine in small quantities.  You get an email telling you what the deal is right now.  As soon as the wine is gone, a new email comes and they are on to the next one.  You'll sometimes get 10 or more emails a day but if you are a wine lover, it's a great place to get a deal.  Patience is key because you'll often go days or weeks without seeing anything appealing, but you'll look at those emails because missing that one deal will frustrate the heck out of you.  Also check out CinderellaWine for a similar offering.

Yesterday I posted the Dell interview.  Here is the Starbucks article I referenced.  It's older and as we know, things are moving really quickly these days in the world of social media.  In fact, I recently heard that Starbucks claims part of their recent upturn in sales is attributed to their social media strategy.  (I saw that stat at an ad:tech panel but couldn't find it in a quick online search, so don't quote me on that!).

Like the Dell article, this is good encouraging about where social media is headed.

Starbucks' Social Outreach Stirs the Pot
The marketer has been racking up accolades in the digital and social media space

Aug 12, 2009
- Elaine Wong

Starbucks has been racking up accolades in the digital and social media space. As of July 23, the coffee chain surpassed Coca-Cola as the most popular brand on Facebook, with more than 3.6 million fans, per InsideFacebook.com, an independent blog that tracks the social networking site's developments. It was also named the No. 1 "most engaged brand" in a report published by Altimeter Group last month. These recent feats are the result of Starbucks' aggressive digital and social media strategy, said Starbucks digital strategy director Alexandra Wheeler in an interview with Brandweek.

That's because Starbucks has moved from "experimenting" to actively incorporating and utilizing social media channels, such as Twitter and Facebook, in its brand marketing plans. Wheeler (pictured above) discussed how recent social media initiatives -- like "Free Pastry Day" -- are delivering real ROI for the brand, and how digital will play an active role in the fall nationwide launch of Via instant coffee.

Brandweek: Starbucks has been getting quite active on the social media front lately. How is the use of Facebook, Twitter and other social media initiatives changing the Starbucks-consumer relationship and how would you describe that progression?

Alexandra Wheeler: What I would say about social media and online communities as it relates to the Starbucks brand is that for us, the journey really began with the launch of My Starbucks Idea last March, an online community where our customers and partners -- as we like to call our employees -- can go online and submit their ideas, vote for other people's ideas or add to ideas in the community. They can also see what Starbucks is doing with those ideas through our "Ideas in Action" blog. It's a pretty robust community. It has over 75,000 ideas in it. In its first year, we activated 25 ideas through that program. It's a significant way to co-create through that program, to inform business decisions that were under way or forming. [For instance,] we wouldn't have had music in our stores if it weren't for our partner here, Timothy Jones, or [so many different] creations of our beverages, to take what's happening in-store and bring that online. It's a natural extension of the brand through that experiment, and through our success with that, we started to expand beyond that. It was important for us to go where consumers are and to provide a valuable and meaningful brand experience.

What's your philosophy/approach to using social media?

One of the [key priorities] we have to think about when it comes to social media and our expertise there is we have to connect in ways that are relevant to those environments as well as to our consumers. One of the most powerful ways is by sharing content. [CEO Howard Schultz's] recent trip to Rwanda is a really great example of how a brand like Starbucks is differentiating. [Schultz met with coffee farmers during the trip while raising awareness for AIDS research.] We care deeply about our coffee origins. We are having an impact in that community and we are sourcing the best quality coffee. [Social media platforms like] Facebook and Twitter allow us to tell and show that story, make it transparent and add texture that we didn't have through other media and to share it with a much broader audience. That's a story unique to us and only Starbucks can tell.

Earlier this month, Starbucks became the most popular brand on Facebook, with more than 3.6 million fans. What does this mean to you and how much of it can you directly attribute to the company's aggressive push towards social media campaigns in recent months?

We're thrilled. It's a huge honor to be the most popular brand on Facebook. We now have 3.7 million fans. We love every single one of them. We think it's amazing and we are really humbled by that. It acknowledges that others have taken note. It has been attributed many times. Yes, it's great and we're really proud of that. It absolutely is intentional. When we entered Facebook, there was certainly a community rallied around our brand that was very small. Our brand is just that relevant and part of people's lives, but how do we nurture, grow and build that and do it in a way that is a balance between providing relevant and meaningful content, experience and offers to those communities so that their connection with the brand is really adding value to Facebook or Twitter? ... [Because at the end of the day,] a brand can promote the heck out of themselves on Facebook and still not build a [strong] following if they don't have anything behind that and only nurture and care about it as marketing but not as relationships. We're developing and fostering those relationships to ensure that we're entering this space in the right way.

What are consumers talking about these days when it comes to Starbucks? What kinds of brand conversations are you seeing on Facebook and Twitter?

With Twitter it's customer service or Q&A oriented. It can be answering very basic questions about our card or loyalty program or coffee in stores, but we also have a lot of fun in that community. ... On Facebook, there is a large volume of conversation on people's favorite beverages. It's interesting to see how passionate people are about sharing their favorite beverage or [Starbucks] rituals. We did a poll: "How complicated is your drink order? Is it short and sweet? Is it five to seven [minutes?] [Or, are you the type of customer] that says, 'I have needs!'" People love that and are engaged in that. The conversations can span from people talking about Starbucks rituals or the values and the things the brand stands for, our partnership with Product (Red) [for AIDS awareness], the trip to Rwanda, the impact we have at coffee origins and sourcing the best coffee and doing it in a way that also speaks to our LEED certification and environmental and sustainability impact. The conversation is representative of all the different aspects of our brand.

How are you taking this online chatter and actually translating it to ROI for the brand? What do you look for?

It's the billion-dollar question. We made a lot of progress in this area. We certainly look at a few key things. Brands love emotional connections and human connections are one of the biggest entry points we have as we aggressively experiment our way in this space and start to mature that experimentation. Another one is translation and understanding whether these communications add value to the bottom line and the business and we believe they do. The most recent example is we used all of our digital channels to promote Free Pastry Day. [Held July 21, the effort rewarded consumers who purchased a beverage with a free pastry.] [In using digital], the momentum picked up in getting out the word, as we were [gearing up for] Free Pastry Day and in fueling redemption in our stores and seeing new faces in our stores who go to try and taste our great food on that single day. That was a digital and PR effort we would say is widely successful.

Another way is really informing, listening to the conversation and engaging in it in a way that makes sense of what people's perceptions are around certain things. Via is a good example. We were actively listening and participating in conversations around Via and helping to get samples or product in people's hands so they can try this amazing product and looking at what kinds of product and brand experiences do we need to provide so they can get over that first feeling of, "Oh, instant coffee. Gross! I would never drink it." [What we said instead was,] "Hey, you gotta try it. It's not what you think." [Social media played] a big part in the lead market [test] launch earlier this year, and it will continue to play a significant role in the fall [launch of Via.]

Did you ever have an incident where social media actually backfired? What are some of the best and worst case scenarios you've experienced using social media?

There isn't any incident where we would consider social media backfiring. As far as best case, I would say there are two: World AIDS Day. During the last holidays, as part of our multi-year partnership with Product (Red), we ran a campaign for an in-store event, predominantly on Facebook, but in other digital channels and traditional media and PR as well. For any beverage consumers purchased, five cents went to the (Red) cause. It was a way for us to build significant awareness and connect with people around a shared ideal and do something that just felt really great.

We set a record with that campaign -- the most viral impressions ever. Not just what we paid to get awareness, but the viral pass-along of our campaign. We actually just broke that record, we broke our own record with Free Pastry Day.

Any numbers you can provide?

For (Red), we had nearly a million people RSVP for the event -- either "yes" or "maybe." For Free Pastry Day, we were on the order of nearly 600,000 consumers doing the same. The record we broke was around the viral pass-along, which was the power of that channel. Facebook has been really great about it. They are thrilled with the success. They have lots of other brands. [Our success has them now asking,] "How can we even do this? How can we repeat the success for them?" It speaks to the power of the Starbucks brand and how well it connects with our consumer in this space.

What are we likely to see from Starbucks on the social media front going forward?

You will see more of the same. We not only will continue to grow and develop our assets in the social media space, but also continue this kind of real philosophy of being where the people are and being relevant to them and providing value in those experiences. We don't want to check the boxes and say we are in all the different channels. It's not the right thing to do. It's one of the reasons we were cited in the [Altimeter Group] report as the most engaging brand. ... It isn't a marketing initiative. It isn't a PR initiative. It's cultivating and creating great consumer value and great consumer relationships. [We are] continuing to build and scale that up over time in a new way and new chances to converse with the brand.

Dell on Social Media

I was forwarded this Adweek interview with Erin Nelson, the CMO of Dell.  In my opinion, the two companies leading the charge in monetizing through social media are Dell and Starbucks.  I'm not saying they are selling more than others, but they are definitely getting the press and attention.  It's as though both organizations said, "we're going to be the people who are out in front saying we sell more because of social media."

I'll post the Starbucks interview I read recently in a separate entry.  The Dell one is more recent, so here it is:

Dell CMO on How Social Media Is Helping the Brand
April 27, 2010
- Brian Morrissey, Adweek

Erin Nelson was named CMO of Dell in January 2009. Prior to her promotion, she served as vp of marketing for Dell in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining Dell in 1999, Nelson worked in corporate strategy for Frito-Lay. She recently sat down with Adweek digital media editor Brian Morrissey to discuss the challenges the brand faces, what lessons it learned from Enfatico and how social media is playing a larger role for the company.

Adweek: What's the big challenge for the Dell brand?
Erin Nelson: The last few months have been about discussing a lot of our strengths. The world has transformed a lot. Quite frankly I think we as brand have lost a lot of luster. We've been evaluating what for the last 25 years has made us great. Globally we have incredibly strong brand awareness. We're known for value. In emerging economies like Brazil, China and Russia, we're doing really well. But when we started looking at figuring where we need to go, we realized the brand needed to transform itself. We're starting first from the inside. Our purpose is much broader than selling PCs. It's about allowing people to unleash their potential. Our 95,000 employees need to understand our purpose first. It's been primarily an internal marketing challenge. For us it was more important this not be just a campaign. It's the transformation of the company.

AW: Does Apple's success make it harder to differentiate in the market with more than a value message?
EN: We think so. I commend Apple for having beautiful products. They definitely focus on part of the audience that focuses on beautiful design at a price point that's fairly high. What we're looking at is consumers that want not just that but someone to enable all their connectivity. I think about what a mom would need or an entire business would need. They need someone who can help them succeed with all different sorts of applications, not just one, someone focused on mobile and desktop computing. We're focused to make sure we're bringing all those pieces together. It's not about how beautiful the design is. A mom isn't only putting the focus on how beautiful the design is, but also "how do I manage the money in my life, how do I help with the kids' homework?" She wants someone to be her advocate and enable her to do what she wants to do.

AW: What were the lessons learned from the Enfatico experiment?
EN: We learned a lot. There are pieces of the relationship that we absolutely love. One specific point is while it no longer exists as this monolithic agency, Enfatico still exists as the production arm of WPP. We think the work it's doing is fantastic. It's a production engine we need for our businesses. Instead of saying we want to buy everything from one brand, let's see what our needs are and let's assess your stable of talent. Instead of building a new agency from top to bottom, let's tap into the different agencies that already exist. We basically reconstructed within WPP this patchwork of agencies we work with. We still have a team-built structure. They're all connected on their side. They're Team Dell. We wanted full integration and full agency accountability. You don't have to choose one holding company for everything, as long as your agencies can work well together, they operate as a loose confederation. We couldn't get the depth of talent we needed and it was incredibly difficult for the leadership of Enfantico to figure out how to serve a client as large as Dell while building an agency from scratch.

AW: How is digital and social becoming an important part of how you build the brand?
EN: Customer connectivity and the ability to have conversations that drive our brand are the most important things. Digital and social are tools to allow that to happen. We're investing a lot more in Dell.com. An important part of that is investing in our social capabilities. A lot of that is in social commerce. We're building a lot more human capability in our organization to be able to reach out in the digital space. We're launching a social media university within Dell. We're trying to make sure it's not a department. Whether you're in customer relations, product development, it doesn't matter where you come from, we want you to have the ability to provide outreach and conversation. It's important to scale it. We're focused on training 1,000 [employees] in the next six months. What we don't want is to have a lot of people with really good intent out there in the marketplace engaging but with no purpose. It's not like setting up people with a Twitter handle and letting them go.

AW: Can social media scale and be measurable?
EN: I think it can and has to. We have 2 billion conversations online a year. If I can't scale to the requirements, I can't continue to be a thriving business because that's increasingly how customers are shopping and engaging. It's not even an option not to scale, but it's to figure out how to do it around the customer. We're less focused right now on attributing ROI to everything we're doing. We're focused on "does it enhance the customer experience?" Does it look like revenue and profit are following? I'm less interested in measuring cost per contact. I know engagement with a fan on Facebook is a really good thing. I don't measure if that shortens the sales cycles. The things I can measure I feel great about. Those I can't I'm not losing sleep about. [I highlighted this because it's my favorite quote - Larry]


AW: What's the biggest pain point?
EN: Making sure everyone understands how they can add most value. It's getting everyone focused on the customer and giving them the tools so they can engage. It seems easy, but when you talk about thousands of people, there's a lot around curriculum development, governance approach and the principles we develop. You don't want to say everyone go run loose. Building that structure is the biggest challenge. It would be easy to say everyone get a Twitter handle, go search for Dell. That could be a recipe for disaster.

AW: Dell went through some social media tribulations with the "Dell Hell" episode. Looking back, was that a good thing?
EN: It's been a real blessing for us. It forced us to jump in with both feet. I see a lot of brands talking about experimentation. I think you're either in or you're not. When you're in, you better dive in all the way. We weren't overly analytical or conservative about how we engaged in the space. We said we have a brand problem and we need to fix it and make it better. We did what it took to do that. I think it was helpful. It would have been more studied and analytic. The only reason "Dell Hell" existed was because customers weren't happy. Putting the customer at the center is what it taught us.