Nuffnang Fashionopolis
Blogging as a full time job?
With the rise and rise of blogging in Australia – and in the fashion sector particularly – blogging as a way of earning a living is becoming a more and more viable option for those who started their little slice of the web with an iphone and a laptop in their bedrooms.
Hosted by Nuffnang, the Asia Pacific Blog Advertising Community, Fashionopolis gave bloggers the opportunity to come along and hear from experts about the ways in which a blog can be monetised, how best to build the brand of your blog and how you can actually make a career out of sitting on your couch with the computer.
Your Blog, Your Brand
Popular fashion blogger Phoebe Montague, of Lady Melbourne, hosted the first session of the day – Your Blog, Your Brand – talking about ways in which bloggers can take control of their own personal brand and use this to build an audience and, in time, make money.
Key takeouts included:
- Your blog is an extension of yourself and should reflect this through the authenticity of your voice and originality. Shareable content is what the people want.
- Share your blog/brand across multiple channels. Being on Twitter gives you an authoritative voice; use Tumblr, Instagram and Pinterest as extensions of your blog.
- Imagery is currency and your photography is one of the most important elements of your blog. Smart phones are great and more than sufficient for photos and video. Do get a tripod for digital camera and outfit pics.
- Remember what you love about your favourite blogs and think about your blog from the readers’ perspective.
- Treat your blog and readers with professionalism. Pay attention to what you tweet (behave online to be taken seriously!) and if you can’t blog regularly, be transparent and open about it.
Fashion Torque
This session was followed by a panel discussion with Fashion Torque founders Phillip Boon and Jenny Bannister, with special guests Patty Huntington and Sarah Gale.
While Patty is a veteran of traditional media, she was also one of the first to venture into blogging as part of her profession, with Frockwriter, giving her a unique angle on the subject.
The panel talked about the entrepreneurial spirit of the blogging community and the benefit of bloggers to up and coming designers, especially when traditional media (particularly newspapers) tend to ignore the Fashion Industry in Australia.
Key takeouts from this session included:
- The importance of doing your research. When you already have an interest in an area, take the time to seriously look at the topic and know the background.
- Know what your blog does well. Is it surprising styling, amazing images, etc? Leverage this.
- Bloggers are 24/7 news gatherers. While traditional fashion writers write between 9 and 5 and get paid for it, the bloggers are writing in the middle of the night to ensure they have the story first.
- Networking is VERY important. Have business cards and remember you are a walking endorsement for the content you create.
- Understand how best to work with advertorial. Fully disclose the nature of these posts and don’t post on products that are completely unrelated to your audience.
Monetising Your Blog
The final session of the day bought back Phoebe, and introduced Kyra Pybus of Pybus PR, David Krupp from Nuffnang and Amber Venz from Venzedits, each providing an angle on the subject of monetising blogs.
While there are few bloggers who gain a full time income from blogging at the moment, the door is wide open for the future with endless possibilities in the reach of the bedroom blogger.
Key takeouts from this final session included:
- Consistency – in both regularity and style – in posting on your blog.
- Checking spelling and grammar of a blog post – a simple thing often overlooked!
- Have a point of view that is unique to you – talk about your own experiences, use your own voice and be authentic.
- Content is king, but going forward, imagery must be really, really good.
- There are many ways to make money indirectly from blogging – diversify into selling your images, writing ebooks and charging appearance fees, freelance copywriting or styling etc.
- Value your own experience and know your worth – don’t work for free.
Going Forward
In summary, all the speakers over the day acknowledged the potential that bloggers have to be a driving force in both the bought, and earned, media space. The power the blogger yields is their voice, and their opinions are held in higher esteem because of the perceived unbiased opinions they present.
Going forward, while brands will work more closely with bloggers and bloggers will charge for their services, it will be even more important to ensure a blog remains transparent and true to the personality of the individual behind the blog.
Do you have a blog? How do you feel about blogging in return for products or payment? As a reader, do you think this compromises the opinions and views of the blog?
Social media and Trust
As a social business agency one of our roles is to help clients understand the role and influence of social media.
One of our favourite points of reference is the Nielsen survey which asks “What degree of trust do you place in the following forms of advertising?”
In 2009 (charted here) we saw that the top three were:
1. Recommendations from people you know (90%) – this is the nirvana of all marketing…. positive word of mouth.
2. Consumer opinions posted online (70%) – ie. recommendations from people you don’t know but have a common interest with.
3. Brand websites (70%) – brands stepping up to be transparent, informative and collaborative.
In the world of BOUGHT, OWNED & EARNED media the top 2 fall under EARNED which we define as “the reputation you earn by virtue of your actions.” The tools which underpin EARNED are typically Facebook, Blogs, Twitter & forums. Brand websites fall under OWNED.
TV came in as the most trusted paid-for advertising (62%) right down to text ads on mobile phones (24%).
Three years on, the gap between EARNED and BOUGHT is further opening up as TV and other paid-for media fall away on the trust front.
Worth noting is that ‘emails signed up for’….which presumably means newsletters, holds its ground from ’09 at 50% to raise itself above all paid-for media in ’12. Editorial content has lost ground from 69% to 58%.
Branded websites too have fallen away from 70% to 58% and to me this is symptomatic of the underperformance of expectations that consumers have of brand websites. Every day we all come across websites which are too static, too wordy and too self important leaving us feeling undernourished and wanting.
The key take out here is that the opportunity cost of embarking on a social business strategy is low.
Money invested in paid for/BOUGHT media goes much further in an EARNED environment. For example 1 x 30 sec network spot in “The Voice” on Channel 9 is now purportedly selling for $100,000 +. This spot has the potential to reach approx 16% people (all adults aged 14+) just once. Alternatively $100,000 in the EARNED environment can fund the development and part implementation of a social business consumer advocacy programme for the longer term.
If we agree that trust is a “top 3″ issue in marketing then why wouldn’t you at least explore the potential that a social busines strategy can deliver? A little bit of paid-for media goes a long way in EARNED. We’d be the first to agree that paid-for media still delivers the numbers and you do need it in the mix to drive awareness but you can have your cake and eat it with social.
Be interested in your views.
You can find the full Nielsen report here
Alert the Media: FRANk PR is here
Welcome to FRANk PR. As a social business agency that challenges assumptions about communications and looks at how we can engage with people in media, it was a logical next step that we incorporate PR into our offering, fusing it with our social business know how and connecting the missing link for our clients.
And I am the one who will help you do this – hi!
Who am I?
My name is Sarah Kempson and I come to FRANk Media after a number of years working across a variety of marketing disciplines. My background includes PR, advertising, branding and social across corporate, government and consumer clients, in both agency and client-side. I also produce my own blog and write for online and print publications, helping me to better understand the traditional and new media platforms and how best to engage them.
So what is PR today? And how do we address the challenge of integrating PR and social?
PR today is more targeted than even before. In an environment where most people in media have a Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest – or whatever the flavour of the month is – personalisation is required. Who is the right person to talk to? What is the best way to engage them? Who do they influence? Finding the right approach is paramount – one size does not fit all and it’s important to integrate across all platforms – old and new.
PR now needs to focus on engaged content, rather than just push content
Old vs New
PR Professionals need to be savvy in the way they approach journalists today – a press release emailed to the newsdesk is no longer enough to get your client in the media. Hooks need to be stronger; news needs to be quirkier; a unique point of difference is required. What makes your story special?
And it’s not just traditional media that we are sending a press release to anymore. Whilst print, radio and TV might seem the most logical (or most powerful) choices, are they the right ones? Or are they simply the ones we know and are familiar with? As the graphic below represents, half of our media consumption is now via the internet. Social media, be it viral campaigns, blogger engagement or getting your message across in 140 characters on Twitter – needs to be a part of this mix.
50% of our media consumption is via the Internet
Where to now?
At the end of the day, the basic premise of both PR and social business is the same as it has always been; the building and maintaining of personal relationships. This should always remain at the forefront of any planning for your brand’s PR and social strategy. The communications landscape is changing often and while it may seem daunting to keep up, the key will always be to keep it personal.
What are some of the best integrations of PR and social campaigns you have seen recently? Or, the worst?
Desperate times: model strips for likes on Facebook for fashion brand
Facebook is not a new tool. It has been around for a while now and brands have had some time to get their heads around how it works. It is not about chasing likes.
I was rather surprised when I read about fashion brand Stüssy undress a female model for likes on their Facebook page. It looks like this:
And it works like this:
“As you can imagine the model must be suffocating under that many layers of clothing. It is almost a public duty to free her out of this misery so we are expecting Facebook fans to help out here. Like and undress.” (via Econsultancy)
Seriously, what are they thinking? There are several issues with this campaign besides the point I made earlier that Facebook is not about likes:
Facebook rules: As noted by The Next Web, Facebook rules clearly state that it does not allow this form of generating likes plus it has a no nudity policy so fans of Stüssy may actually never see the naked girl. How disappointing…
Branding: Clearly this campaign is aimed at men (and lesbians?) but Stüssy also makes fashion for ladies. How they feel about this campaign I can only guess but also is it clever for a brand to be associated with stripping?
Sales: While this campaign may generate likes of the brand page in the short term, how does this sell more exactly? I guess this brings us back to why Facebook is not about generating likes.
We’ll see how this campaign unfolds and report back if anything interesting happens. In the meantime, let us know what you think about this? Genius or insanity?
UPDATE: The campaign has finished and the end result is this:
Image via http://adverveblog.com
I would feel seriously jibbed if I had “liked” the page to see this lady naked but I would also be offended by the middle finger action of the model. Well done! [NOT]
Kotex – Pinterest ‘gift–giving’ campaign
Pinterest is certainly the new black at the moment and is growing rapidly amongst brands.
We recently came across one of the first Pinterest based campaigns out of Israel by Kotex.
They wanted to do something for their ‘Women’s Inspiration Day’ and identified 50 influential women on Pinterest and sent them an individualised gift based on the content of their pin boards.
From the 50 gifts that were sent out, almost 100% posted about their gift, creating 2284 interactions and 694,853 impressions.
Increase brand loyalty and get consumers to really like your brand
Brands don’t have it easy these days: increasing competition, globalization, fast paced social media trends, empowered and choosy consumers certainly make it hard for brands to get noticed and liked. And I mean really liked, not just getting a lame Facebook like.
A brand feels liked and popular if it gets your repeat business and sales increase. To get there, many brands feel like they have to pretend to be your friend and many social media consultants recommend this approach. But friendship does not involve money changing hands (unless you have a weird friendship) and most consumers (including me) are not very keen to call a brand my friend. That’s just sad and it is much better to have real friends but also most brands have nothing to say and don’t converse well.
Image source: http://fashionpearlsofwisdom.co.uk/
Okay, so brands and consumers are not friends but they still have some kind of a relationship. There is mutual interest in what the other party is up to. This interest is expressed in form of consumer surveys for example and in turn consumers demand more info about manufacturing processes, social responsibility, etc. The tricky bit for brands is to read the information and put the consumer back into the consumer journey.
The other tricky bit is of course that consumers don’t care about consumer surveys much. What they care about is good products at the right price. But many brands feel that it is no longer enough to offer good products at good prices. Consumers want more- but what do they want? What does a brand need to do to be liked these days?
From experience I know that the following (basic) tips increase a brand’s reputation and likeability but also personally I find that I am more loyal to a brand I genuinely like:
via Facebook.com/kulula
- Be human- own up to your own mistakes and use empathy. Consumers know that things sometimes go wrong but they need you to make them right! Be transparent and don’t promise anything you can’t keep.
- Don’t talk about yourself all the time- it’s boring. Consider others for a change and get rid of your consumer surveys. If you have a question, just ask on Facebook or Twitter. The insights may surprise you!
- Show your swagger- add a bit of character into your brand communications and use humour. Sex may sell too but I prefer fun and witty brands. That’s because fun brands don’t take themselves too seriously and seem to understand points 1+2 very well.
via www.crapola.com
Crapola: This cheeky granola breakfast cereal made from you, guessed it, Cranberry, Apple and Granola has not been around for long but is quite famous already. No wonder with marketing slogans such as “Crapola is high in fiber. Just ask one of our regular customers” and “Makes Even Weird People Regular” it has won over many people. The brand really knows not to take itself too serious. And it is a great product with pure and high quality ingredients. Watch the brand’s story here and check them out on Facebook too.
Census: Another great example to mention here is the “boring” Census Australia collecting info from us to “plan” better. Anyway, it is something nobody looks forward to but in 2011 the people behind Census made it all worthwhile for us by entertaining us with the most random and hilarious tweets! Although they have stopped now, it was a great way to converse with Australia over a very dry subject. Check it out here: http://twitter.com/2011Census
via Twitter
IKEA brings 54 square metre ideas to life
IKEA is marketing in full force and doing a great job at involving its brand advocates in its campaigns.
Just recently a UK store held a fun sleepover for 100 brand advocates found on Facebook.
Meanwhile in Paris, IKEA created 54 square metres of livable furnished space and had five people (also recruited from the Facebook fan page) crash there for 6 days.
From January 9th to the 14th, frequenters of the Auber metro station in Paris were given a glimpse into the daily routines of five fellow Parisians who actually lived in the little pop-up apartment. Passers-by were able to get a good look at how small spaces could be transformed and comfortably lived in with IKEA furniture – the occupants made dinners, had a party, did Zumba… Just the novelty (and maybe the voyeuristic thrill, too?) was enough to attract onlookers. Could there be a better live product demonstration?
This campaign is not only effective in attracting attention and interest in products, but it also rewards the brand lovers with a unique experience and connects them with others in the brand community. The question is – is it too creepy?
This isn’t the first time IKEA’s done something unusual in public spaces, although involving people does attract more attention and interest:
IKEA park bench – real park bench was decorated with IKEA products
IKEA apartment in a box – campaign for the opening of IKEA Brooklyn
IKEA train – Kobe Monorail train in Japan was converted into a moving IKEA showroom
Lead your brand to success in 2012 with these 10 resolutions
Happy New Year and all the best for 2012! Without a doubt it will be an exciting year for brands as social media continues to rapidly reinvent all aspects of business.
Image via http://www.theaustralian.com.au
For a head start businesses must shift their mind set about how brands are built and sales achieved. For many brands it will not be enough anymore to rely on social media campaigns. Instead brands need to change internally and become social businesses over time.
To lay the foundation of your brand’s transformation into a social business in 2012, here are our top 10 tips:
1. Accept that social media is not a fad: It is here to stay and Facebook, Google and Twitter are gradually becoming the number one source for news and information
2. Work on your brand swagger: Your brand needs to have a purpose and personality to cut through the competition. Brand swagger drives social media engagement and creates an emotional connection with your consumers.
3. Put the customer back into the customer journey: Customers are educated, demanding and less loyal so your brand needs to be authentic, transparent and accountable to increase loyalty (aka sales).
4. Don’t be a jerk, be human: Social media is not intended for brands to talk about themselves 24/7. Listen and learn from your audience what interests and inspires them and their loyalty and advocacy.
5. Monitor daily all channels and maintain them: It is no good to post on Facebook once and never again. That would be like going to a party, saying something to a group of friends and then leave the room.
6. Accept and respond that you cannot control your audience on your social media channels: Customers are in charge and they distribute your content via their personal social media profiles.
7. Invest in relevant additional sales channels such as F-commerce and G-commerce: Enough said
8. Tidy up your mobile presence: Your customers do not appreciate tiny app visuals on their new iPad just because you could not be bothered to adapt your app to the iPad screen. Remember, every screen is different.
9. Research “gamification” for your product or service: it can be a fun way for consumers to collect rewards and incentives consumer engagement, loyalty and advocacy. Remember even riding the London Underground is a game now so really nothing is too dull to turn into a fun game!
10. Don’t stress about not having control over your social media community and reactions to your content: But you control your reactions to it so stay calm, professional and apologize where appropriate. Don’t be a pushover though and stick to your guns. Everybody’s friend is nobody’s friend so stick to your brand values, purpose and personality as set out in tip 2.
I hope you find these social media resolutions helpful and if you have any to add please let me know! Here is to a cracking year!
Top tips adapted from Fast Company article “10 No Fail Brand Resolutions for 2012“
Top 10 Viral Advertising Campaigns of 2011
So 2011 is drawing to a close and everyone’s reviewing what’s been happening this year. Looking back lets us learn and what better way than to learn from the best?
Visible Measures has helped AdAge compile this wonderful list of the 10 most popular viral campaigns of 2011, excluding movie and game trailers.
Enjoy!
1. Volkswagen: The Force
Agency: Deutsch, Los Angeles
Launch date: Feb 3
Views: 62.7 millionvok
Little Darth Vader tries to use the Force on the family dog, his laundry, and a peanut butter sandwich but fails. He only succeeds with a Volkswagen Passat. Too cute. So perhaps the winning combination is kids + pop culture references – we wouldn’t be surprised!
2. T-Mobile: Royal Wedding
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, London
Launch date: April 12
Views: 28.4 million
Hats off to T-Mobile for jumping onto cultural events AND mixing it up with the reference to existing viral videos! The spoof featured royal lookalikes shimmying down the aisle, paying homage to a real-life viral video, JK’s wedding dance (71 milion views). A brilliant addition to T-Mobile’s repertoire of awesome viral ads – who can forget how their huge-scale flash mob viral videos in 2009?
3. Apple: Introducing iPhone
Agency: TBWA, Media Arts Lab
Launch date: Oct 5
Views: 27.8 million
YouTube is a hub for demo and tutorial videos and it’s a great place to show off products and services so it’s no wonder that the world’s most valuable brand is at one of the top spots this year with Siri’s introduction. The campaign includes 10 original spots by Apple and more than 450 copies and derivatives around the Internet.
4. Fiat: Life Is Best When Driven
Agency: Doner
Launch date: Sept 12
Views: 27.4 million
The Fiat ads starred Jennifer Lopez on what’s portrayed as her “block”. JLo drives around the Bronx in a cute little Fiat while breakdancers do their thing and old men stare at her passing by. It reached critical mass on the web, although we can’t really say it was for positive reasons. One comment that we have to share: “5 mins later they break into her Fiat and steal the radio.”
5. Dirt Devil: You Know When It’s the Devil
Filmakademie Baden-Wurttemberg
Launch date: April 29
Views: 26.4 million
Done on spec by a German film school, this ad does a great job of spoofing the horror classic “The Exorcist”. Watch it and tell us that it isn’t something you’d want to share with your mates!
6. Old Spice: New Old Spice Guy Fabio
Agency: Wieden & Kennedy Portland
Launch date: July 14
Views: 26.3 million
In 2010, Old Spice was one of the first brands to really show the power of viral video with their campaign “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”. This year, they kept the joke going with Fabio as a threat to the Old Spice Guy crown. The campaign generated 200 short videos that had Fabio and Isaiah (the 2010 guy) responding to people’s tweets. We like how Old Spice introduces their own troll in the form of Fabio and bring us laugh after laugh with their overly macho lines.
7. Chrysler: Imported From Detroit
Agency: Wieden & Kennedy Portland
Launch date: Feb 6
Views: 22.3 million
Chrysler’s spot aired during the Super Bowl in America and told a moving and powerful story that captured the American spirit. Online, the ad starring Eminem, outperformed with nearly 300 placements. Chrysler gave the ad traditional exposure – perhaps this affected its online view count.
8. Google: The Web Is What You Make of It
Agency: Google Creative Lab
Launch date: May 2
Views: 21.2 million
Google’s Chrome internet browser is becoming it’s second most successful product (of course, search is in the champ spot). Chrome is now more popular than Firefox and is closing in on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Google sought out Lady Gaga, Johnny Cash (posthumously), Justin Bieber, among others, in 11 creative executions to promote the seamless integration of various Google products, ranging from YouTube (duh!) and Google+ hangouts, search. We like how the ad reaches out to everyone by making the users the stars of Google.
9. Adidas: All In
Agency: Sid Lee
Launch date: May 1
Views: 19.9 million
Adidas’s ad featuring Kay Perry, David Beckham, Leo Messi and Derrick Rose, among others, captured the most exciting and emotional moments of sport. Views were spread across 400 placements, including copies and derivatives.
10. Old Spice: Old Spice Man Is Back
Agency: Wieden & Kennedy, Portland
Launch date: Jan 20
Views: 18.6 million
It really is a testament to the power of Old Spice’s viral power that they’ve got 2 campaigns on the list. This campaign was simply a reintroduction of Isaiah after a short hiatus. Clearly the people can’t get enough of these videos. An ad for more ads, but still lapped up!
What are some of your favourite viral videos of 2011?
‘Social Sofa’ Drives Reality TV Engagement
The guilty pleasure of reality television is more fun shared, with a new survey released showing 67 per cent of dedicated fans of the genre use some form of social media while they watch.
Specifically, 38 per cent interacted on Facebook and 35 per cent on Twitter while watching their favourite shows, according to Reality Ravings blogger Emma Ashton, a phenomenon dubbed “the social sofa”.
Ashton and market research company Nitty Gritty surveyed more than 400 viewers nationally for the “Reality TV Viewer Insights” survey, which showed that Facebook and blogs were the most popular fan forums.
“Viewers clearly like the social nature of the format of reality TV, and people using social media during or after a reality TV episode are more likely to become an entrenched fan of show,” Ashton said.
“These fans who are using ‘the social sofa’ are more likely to watch the shows more regularly, and get emotionally involved with the series and with the contestants.”
There are no prizes for guessing what viewers like the most: 72 per cent said they “enjoyed seeing drama and controversy between contestants”.
The survey also found product placement in programs was extremely effective, with 93 per cent of the respondents saying they were influenced by the advertising and information in the shows and 98 per cent able to make an association with brands aired during reality TV.
The most-recognised brands were Coles, Qantas, Handee Wipes, Freedom and Woolworths.
“Advertisers are definitely getting more for their money by aligning with reality shows,” said Nitty Gritty’s Julia Houston. “Reality TV viewers like the information they receive from reality shows. This would indicate they are more receptive to brand placement and lifestyle messaging than (viewers of) other formats.”
With the high number of viewers interacting in the social media and online, advertisers need to rethink the advertising opportunity, extending it to a conversation with the consumer after the show has finished airing.
This was also important as the research showed 68 per cent of the viewers fast-forwarded through ads and eight per cent watched shows online.
The full report can be found at www.realityravings.com or www.nittygritty.net.au
Implementing and Measuring Social Media
This Friday I’m very much looking forward to presenting at the Monash University Marketing Connections Business Breakfast hosted at Zinc , Federation Square. The topic is Implementing and Measuring Social Media.
Apparently the normal turn out for this twice yearly event is about 90 and for this session we have a sell-out of 165 people which is fantastic and testament to the insatiable thirst for better understanding the social media opportunity.
My co-presenters are Andrew Bidese, the Digital Strategy Leader at GE Money and Charlie Wood the Vice President, Asia Pacific, of Radian6.
According to a recent KPMG study nearly half of Australian businesses have no presence in the social space despite the Australian population using social network sites for approximately 5 hours per month which is 70% more than the Asia Pacific region and more than the global average. So why the disconnect, I ask?
I’m particularly looking forward to trying to dispel any perceived barriers such as Internal Culture, defining Return on Investment and that hoary old question “What if someone says something negative about us?”
I’ll be leaving people with the thought that the social media bus is rolling with their consumers on board and asking who have you got at the wheel? We’re doing our bit by offering attendees a free assessment to help put them firmly in the driver’s seat.
I’ll post my charts as a slide share after the event. Please feel free to share and comment.
Starbucks – Christmas Magic
Starbucks U.S is launching its first major augmented reality app leading up to Christmas that will allow customers to animate their coffee cups with their smartphones!
The app will work by pointing your phone’s camera at the special cups and 47 additional objects, such as bags of coffee, on display at Starbucks retail locations.
Doing so will produce animations involving five characters and it also allows you to interact with the characters.
The app also includes traditional and social sharing capabilities
20 creative business cards to inspire you
Your business card is the first touchpoint most people have with your brand – and it may be the only tangible souvenir/reminder they have of your brand that remains after the first meeting. It’s important to have a great business card that not only provides all the important information, but leaves a lasting impression on them, or even better, encourages them to keep and show it to others.
There’s lots of room to get creative and impress with a business card. You can use cut-outs, pop-ups, UV ink, textures, applique, unusual mediums – the possibilities are endless. Here are some brilliant examples for your viewing pleasure:
FRANk media & Vizeum morph
It’s been about 3 months since Vizeum launched in Australia through FRANk media, in Melbourne, to become FRANkVizeum. Finally we have Vizeum’d up the building with the global yellowness and the tree as seen here on the London site.
We’ve put our own spin on the ‘look’ with an intricate stencil on our walls thanks to signaction who have done an awesome job. Here’s a short movie using our new flip video camera which gives you the general idea. Enjoy.
Ten questions to ask yourself before settling on your marketing communications strategy.
I once asked the CEO of Austereo Michael Anderson what he actually does in his role day-to-day. He paused, not having been asked that question before, and took some time to consider his response. “I ask questions” he said. Not a bad job I thought. I could do that! The subtext ofcourse is that his job is to ask the right questions, and get his exec team thinking carefully about their strategies and actions.
The same applies when constructing your communications strategy. Ask the right questions and think carefully about your answers.
1. Who are your biggest fans?
Paint a picture of your primary customer. Get a deep understanding of who they are, not just demographically but attitudinally and behaviourally. What unifies them? Our goal is to connect with more people like them!
2. Have you had a chat with them?
Media research abounds and numbers are important, but nothing beats a conversation to uncover real insights and motivations. Talk to people about where your product fits into their life, about your competitors, about their media habits, and about their favourite brands. You’ll be surprised what you can learn!
3. What makes them smile?
Talking to people when they are in a good mood often improves the strength of connection. Find out what your audience really loves to do and perhaps you’ll discover an opportunity to connect with them in that powerful context.
4. Do you have a compelling story to tell them and their friends?
Have something interesting to say, that nails their needs and can be re-told. Find the simple truth that makes your brand unique.
5. Is now the best time to tell it?
Consider the timing of your campaign. Think about category seasonality, competitive activity, your portfolio activity, economic trends, major events, media opportunities and market conditions.
6. What is being said about you and your industry online?
Search Google, Twitter and Youtube for consumer commentary on your brand and your industry. You may discover fresh insights or emerging trends that can inform your strategy.
7. What are the hot issues in the press right now?
Knowing the big issues of the day can lead to a core strategic thought, or to clever tactical ideas that leverage a hot topic.
8. What have you learnt from previous campaigns?
Looking back provides an opportunity for improvement. Measure what you can within reason and dig deep to ascertain effectiveness.
9. When and where might be the most potent moment to tell your story?
Simply making an ad and reaching as many people as possible is not enough these days. Think about moments of greatest receptivity for your brand and your audience.
10. Could just about anything in the world be a potential communications channel?
Don’t restrict your thinking to traditional media channels. Explore everything. Create something new. Create your own.
What other questions do you ask yourself when pulling a marketing communications strategy together?
FRANkVizeum’s three step earned media strategy Or: why can’t we have a customer service campaign?
Should you use social media tools? Should social media be used to enhance your sales and get more eyeballs? How about a “social media campaign”? The simple answer to all these questions is no. Earned media (aka social media) should be practiced all the time. It should have an annual plan. It should be treated as a customer service tool. Have you ever heard about a customer service campaign? right. So what IS the way to go? Here’s FRANkVizeum’s three steps to earned media strategy. We call it “Immersion” and it’s about listening, learning and researching.
Step 1. Listen and learn – survey your most passionate lovers. Start with your employees and the people who open your newsletter. Ask them how they feel about you, what would they like to see and where are they spending time online. You can also ask what is the most frustrating thing about your industry. This will bring you GOLD.
Step 2. Create a SWAT analysis of your brand online. What’s your online profile? what are your competitors doing? what is the industry doing and what trends can you see emerging? You’ll be surprised what you’ll find when you search youtube, flickr and twitter for your competitors brands.
Step 3. Collate the data and brainstorm. Think about management. Do you have the resources to invest in this space? Imagine having a customer service/call center without people who answer calls. Silly right? so there’s no point in creating a faceboook group without a community manager. Think about the value for your users not only about the traffic you’ll get.
What do you think about these steps? We hope to post a case study next month and keep you posted on our progress. Meanwhile here’s the latest about “social media” from other blogs:
Where Social Media Fits Into The Marketing Mix – Daniel Oyston
Social media? It’s not actually about selling anything… – Stephen Collins
Marketing: Answering the wrong question – Jonathan Crossfield
Million Dollar Brad
Congratulations to FRANk’s Brad Richardson for being shortlisted on Adnews $million brief!
Ford’s Social Fiesta!
In an aggressive social media program that goes far beyond what Ford has done in the past, the manufacturer is partly counting on members of the public to introduce its new Fiesta model to 20-somethings across the US.
Ford recently handed 100 Fiestas to 100 web fanatics in the target demographic, selected from over 4,000 applicants. These ‘agents‘ get to use the cars for six months in exchange for completing monthly ‘missions‘ with different themes. They’ll share their experiences through YouTube, Flickr, Facebook and Twitter accounts Ford created for the campaign. Ford have asked the users to be completely honest in their reviews, showing that Ford has unswerving faith in the product.
Ford’s point-of-view about the campaign: “We realized that the message is increasingly out of our control and that we have to roll with it,” Fiesta product manager Sam De La Garza said. “For us it all rests on the quality of this product. We’ve all driven the Fiesta, and we felt so confident about the car that we could start this. We’re going to allow people to tell the story [of the Fiesta] from their lives.”
While it doesn’t replace the millions of dollars of ‘traditional media’ launch expenditure Ford will still spend, it provides an extra layer of interaction with their audience, which is a brave move that must be applauded. If marketeers for any brand have enough belief in the product/service they are selling, why not engage in conversation with the people who will ultimately be purchasing (or not purchasing) it?
The campaign commences April 21st.
Ben & Jerry’s Excellent Facebook Adventure
An interesting article from Mashable! popped up earlier in the week which looked at how some brands are using Facebook to engage consumers.
Ben & Jerry’s, Adobe and the Fast & Furious movie release have all used the network in an effective manner recently as part of their overall brand strategy, the results of which are now being promoted on Facebook’s Marketing Solutions . The page is complete with case studies from the above brands, tips and how-tos, and discussion with marketers on how to get the best out of the site.
Adobe engaged design students with a ‘real or fake’ photography campaign using their Photoshop tool, to promote substantial discounts on their software that they were offering this target group. The campaign registered outstanding levels of interaction that eventually translated to sales.
By adding unique content about the new Fast & Furious movie to Vin Diesel’s fan page, the star added an additional 1million fans in a couple of weeks, helping the film register a strong box office result.
Ben & Jerry’s enabled users to share fun and personalised content with their friends about their favourite Ben & Jerry’s flavours, published in their news feed.
Since the rise in popularity of online social media, commentators have been speculating on how sites such as Twitter and Facebook will ‘monetise’ their growth in user base, like Google did with search engine marketing. Many brands have also struggled to come to terms with how they should position their brand on these networks.
With any social media play (and like the examples above), the primary objective must be to add value for the consumer; offering more opportunities for consumers to engage with the brand, where, when, and how they want to. This can only start from having a social media strategy that understands the consumer, the market the brand operates in, and how best they can add value to the consumer on an ongoing basis.
Melbourne’s GPO links arms with LMFF
Fashion fades, only style remains the same…’Coco Chanel’
MGPO fashion collective LMFF Runway 5
Melbourne has been swarmed with fashionista’s this week with the L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival taking place.
My week kicked off at the Melbourne’s GPO on Tuesday 17th with a day of designers showcasing their autumn/winter fashion amidst the picturesque Elizabeth street colonnade including the likes of Lisa Ho, Hussy, Wayne Cooper, Lella Smith, Leona Edmiston, nicolangela, Gorman and many more.
Central Pier then rocked the LMFF with Runway 4 (sponsored by In Style) and Runway 5 (sponsored by Yen) hitting the stage… personal favourites including Arabella Ramsay & Thurley
Amidst all of the doom and gloom with the economic climate at the moment, it was nice to get lost in a week of high spirits and most importantly… fabulous fashion
- 1
- 2