My mom used to say, ‘if you don’t have anything positive to say, then don’t say anything.’ I bet your mom used to tell you same thing. Even if you were born and raised in a different country and culture, the proverb rings true across the globe. A social media equivalent is, ‘if you don’t have anything genuine to say, don’t participate.’ However, some marketers have forgotten mother’s wise words. In a span of just two weeks two companies have been caught running unethical marketing practices. The guilty parties are Belkin, a company rep got caught paying users to submit positive product reviews; and the other is Cummins Nitro and their fake Tourism Queensland video application for the best job in the world.
There was absolutely no point for Belkin to falsify customer testimonials because Belkin actually does make great products. What were they trying to achieve? It was actually to get higher ratings for one of their routers, Belkin F5U301. The right thing to do would have been to go to their customers, and find how to improve the product. With a power of social media this feat can be easily accomplished. Not only would they get support and trust, but also engage their customer base in a genuine conversation. As for the fake video for Tourism Queensland, the job offer was awesome enough to cut through the online media clutter. Although, an example video application is a great idea, but the PR firm and Tourism Queensland should have been more transparent. I don’t think that making a fake video actually boosted publicity for Tourism Queensland. The only thing that both firms gained was public mistrust and scrutiny.
Let this be a lesson to anyone who wishes to engage in social media conversations. You must be genuine and actually contribute to the conversation, if you cannot do that then do not participate.
Seems like everyone these days is a Social Media Guru, Maven, Ninja or [insert new age hipster type of descriptive term here]. I am not intending to single out anyone but I am sure many of you have come across someone who claimed to be a Social Networking or Social Marketing or a Social Media expert, but later to learn that they’re complete fakes. Just because someone joins every single social network under the sun does not make them an instant expert in the space. Experts understand their clients’ goals. Experts are able to execute the strategy. Experts deliver measurable results. Having a deep knowledge, enrolment and familiarity with various social networks only puts you at par with everyone else. It is how you use your knowledge and experience that will put you ahead of the pack.
It isn’t very hard to run a Google search or visit web strategy forums and be able to find some kind of discussion on why big businesses are not adopting social media as a part of their marketing and business strategy. It is easy and convenient for us social media rockstars, web 2.0 nerds, and new media marketers to blame the big business for being too slow on the draw and not taking leadership positions. We, who are connected to many through multiple social network platforms usually work alone or in very small teams with limited restrictions. We make decisions quickly to engage and respond because our objectives are clear, we’re on top of the latest trends, no red tape to cut through and no one to answer to (usually). However, we often make the mistake of thinking that big business is a person. We often refer to it as if it a real person with its own mind, personality, living tissues and organs that keep it alive. But it’s not a person. It is an organism. A very complex organism with a mechanical personality, with many layers of bureaucracy, decisions makers, budgets, strategies, and objectives. I am confident that big business will get it (eventually) and adopt social media as a part of their strategy, but we have to patient and lend a helping hand in the meantime.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to develop, launch and sustain a brand. Statistics are unnecessary to realize how deep the brand ocean is getting. It is overwhelming for the consumer to stay afloat and try to decipher between thousands of competing brands. The feeling is much worse for those who build and launch brands. Without a doubt there are a number of tools available that will make brand building job easier, but if everyone is using the same tools, cutting through all the clutter becomes more difficult. Successful brands go beyond the typical tools set, they utilize tools that allow them to tap into human psyche to develop, launch and build long term sustainability for their brands. One of my favorite books on this (subject) is Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Written by Robert B. Cialdini, Ph.D. over 20 years ago; the book is the best seller and a classic. Dr. Cialdini explains the psychology of persuasion and why people say yes. He outlines six principles of persuasion that can be applied universally, including how to get consumers to like, buy and endorse your brand.
PRINCIPLES OF PERSUASION
Reciprocation. In a nutshell, you must give to get. Give your customers something: give out samples, provide great customer support or even a simple ‘thank you’ can go a long way. Giving your customer something increases the chances of them buying your products and endorsing your brand. The following article was posted today on Gizmodo: Student Writes to Steve Jobs, Gets Free Final Cut Studio 2. A simple and a genuine goodwill gesture will go a long way. Think about how you feel about Apple and how much publicity Apple and Steve Jobs will get after reading the article.
Commitment and Consistency. People tend to be fairly consistent in their behavior once they make commitment. A classic example is when car dealerships ask you to put down a refundable deposit on a car to secure it. This creates a level of commitment and the customer feels obligation to be consistent and honor the agreement in purchasing the car. Find a way to give your customer an opportunity to make commitment to your brand. For example, you can offer trial subscriptions to a magazines(if you’re a publisher), software(if you’re a developer) or online services. Commitment and consistency is also expected from the brand. Your customers will be less confused and will like your brand more if you are committed to your goals, promises and agreements, and consistent in your messaging. If you promise to provide long lasting and durable product, then do so. If you mislead your customer he or she will switch brands.
Social Proof. As individualistic as we strive to be, our behavior is strongly influenced by others. Get your brand into as many people’s hands as possible and get them to interact with it. Then let everyone else know that your software or album is the top download of the year, or that you have the #1 selling product in the country, or that you have the bestselling book.
Liking. Consumers are much more persuaded by the brands they like. Although there are a number of factors contributing to why we like one brand over another, but it is the job of the marketers and brand builders to identify the target market and build a brand that the target market will identify with and like.
Authority. We tend to obey authority figures. Get a person of certain authority, depending on your brand and product to recommend or endorse your offer. We often see toothbrush or toothpaste ads with dentists’ endorsement.
Scarcity. It’s no secret that we want things we can’t have. Perceived low supply of a product will generate demand. Depending on the type of brand you are building, you can artificially create scarcity for your brand by making it (for example) luxury; although unattainable by general public, yet desirable because of its exclusivity to the elite. Another instance where perceived scarcity generates demand and commands strict pricing for a product is in the gaming consoles industry. Every time a new generation of video game consoles hits the market the overwhelming demand is bigger than supply due to manufacturing resources available, as was the case with Nintendo Wii. Although unintentional (some may argue otherwise on case by case basis) perceived scarcity creates a steady demand and higher brand value until supply catches up.
Understanding the principles of persuasion and how it applies to your brand can be powerful component of your tool set. Using them individually or in a combination and correctly, these principles can help you build a sustainable and a powerful brand.
Not so long ago I made a couple of posts about Twitter and its lack relevance to me. I initially thought that only slackers and internet addicts would use it to tweet randomly about what they’re doing that exact minute. However, I am beginning to warm up to the service. I actually like it. The member base has grown significantly in the last few months and there are enough people who actually tweet relevant content that I can use instantly or explore it at a later time. Being a marketer and having high interest in digital space and emerging media, AND a trendwatching junkie I am starting to see a real value in Twitter. I am slowly but steadily building my own community and following people who share similar interests with me, are active, and have something to contribute.
Cutting costs these days? Stop paying thousands a month to someone for sending you an email with links to articles and blogs that discuss your brand, competition and industry related news. That’s something you can do yourself, save thousands and get instant updates. There’s an abundance of free tools available for you to monitor media sources, the web, and social networks. Although you may not get the full analytical breakdown of how many times the word ‘layoff’ appeared in Twitter between 2pm and 3pm (like Radian6 offers), but these few tools are a great start.
Google Alerts. Get email alerts for relevant Google search results.
Monitter. Monitor Twitter and what tweeple are saying about a set of three keywords… in realtime.
Twitscoop. Quickly and easily see hot topics on twitter via tag cloud.
Yahoo Pipes. Interactive RSS feeds manipulator. Provides graphical interface for you to manage and take greater control of your RSS feeds.
The following technique applies to all sources below.
First and foremost get yourself a Google Reader (or another RSS feed aggregator) account. If you already have a Gmail account then you’re all setup. You’ll need this in order to efficiently and effectively follow what various media outlets online entities are reporting via RSS feeds. The sources below allow you to generate your own RSS feeds that you can subscribe to.
- Visit the site listed.
- Enter the term you want to monitor (it could be anything from your brand name to mundane objects such as margarine) into the search.
- When the search results appear find the RSS feed link and subscribe to it.
- Use your RSS aggregator to monitor the feeds.
Google News
Technorati
Digg
Delicious
Although there are hundreds if not thousands of sites that do the same thing, but these are the leaders in their respective space.
The blogosphere is abuzz today with the release of a new browser by your favourite search engine, Google. Chrome, as Google calls it, although in a very early beta mode, is receiving praise all over the globe. In Google’s natural fashion it is extremely light weight and very simple to use. It won’t take hours for you to explore and figure out everything it can do. It literally takes a couple of minutes and some. This post is not a review of the application (you can find reviews and first looks at: LifeHacker, Gizmodo, TechCrunch) but rather what this means for FireFox (and Internet Explorer).
- Speed. Recent release of Firefox has been plagued by complaints about the browser being slower than its predecessors. I’ve actually had to switch back to IE7 to get stable performance and speed that Firefox can’t deliver anymore.
- Size. Hard to say what an official release of Chrome will look like in the future, but currently it’s extremely light weight and skinny. Google is keeping Chrome clean and simple.
- Reach. Google has an enormous user base that already use one or more of Google’s applications. It took Mozilla over 5 years to achieve 20% market share. Google can tap into their user base and can easily achieve dominance in Web Browser arena.
- Integration. I already use gmail, picasa, reader, trends, analytics, webmaster tools… I can’t wait to see how Google will marry all these applications with Chrome (although I do have some ideas worthy of seperate post). With Chrome, Google is on its way to become the Internet OS.
The bottom line is, Chrome will eat the FireFox… and possibly spit it out in a different form. Afterall, Google did invest heavily into Mozilla Foundation. The two may co-exist in one form or another, but the real threat is felt by Microsoft. Read about it here: What Chrome Means for Microsoft.
A number of blogs (including cnet, crunchgear) reporting today that a mobile carrier Orange has paid actors to stand in line for the new iPhone 3G release at dozens of its stores. Seems like a very desperate move to drum up last minute business. It’s a bandaid solution with a lasting pain. It never favors a company to pay actors to admire, use, and/or enjoy their products; especially, when the press gets a hold of it. Not only does it tarnish the brand image, but it also shows the public the low business ethics and credibility a company has. A better solution would be to incent the first N customers with an awesome gift or a discount on iPhone 3G or a monthly phone charge.
Relieving yourself, puking, and fighting on the catwalk: shock value at its finest. I love it when advertisers make bold decisions to develop this type of ad to raise awareness. It might be hard to believe, but this TV spot was commissioned by the UK Government. Clearly UK is battling over-consumption of alcohol among club goers or “clubbers”. My initial gut reaction was filled with disgust because I actually thought that this was a real fashion show. The advertising agency responsible for creating this ad did a brilliant job as capturing my attention, evoking an emotional response from me and then delivering a sobering message at the end of the creative. Furthermore, this video has a great viral potential. At the time of this writting, the video had 119,421 views on YouTube. Watch the view count skyrocket over the next few weeks.
