Image is Everything

Image management, managing customers’ impressions of you, is perhaps one of the most important parts of public relations. An image is the foundation for a business, upon which its success or failure is built. In customer-service businesses, based on the image you give off, people will either be flooding through the doors or running for the exit (usually not to return). It takes communication and active management to maintain image and it can be fatal if it’s mismanaged or strays too far from common association. One type of image management is store identity.

Take the fledgling world of big box department stores for example http://ti.me/ZjATZe. Once renowned anchor tenants with sturdy reputations, big box department stores now crumble as they scramble to find a foothold in a vastly different marketplace. Their current method of defense? Boutique “store within a store” concepts. At the beginning of April, Best Buy introduced its Samsung Experience Shop. JCPenney has mini shops, sections within its stores that each focus on a specific brand. Target, for a while, had “The Shops at Target,” mini collections from boutiques around the country. When successful, this concept provides an increase in foot traffic and sales, sometimes even outselling the main store. When it goes wrong, stores lose their identity. It’s too soon to tell for Best Buy, but it has affected JCPenney and Target. Loyal JCPenney customers have already started to drop off. Target’s boutique offerings were so obscure, and under-publicized, that the entire concept died a quick, quiet death last month (you were wondering where those went right?). It would be nothing short of ironic if the very concept invented to save the big box store ended up being the final nail in the coffin instead. My thoughts? If you need other stores to sell your store, than you need to better manage your original store image. Stores within a store are simply a band-aid, and a distraction from the main problem.

Another type of image management is customer service, and for this there are two examples. Target recently made a large blunder (pardon my unintentional pun) when its separate ”missy” and “plus-size” teams failed to collaborate on color names for a dress on its website http://onforb.es/10VWjdb. The “missy” size colors all said “Dark Heather Gray” while the plus sizes all said “Manatee Gray.” Although the latter is a color name found across a variety of product lines on Target’s site, this is no excuse for what happened. They did manage to save face though, communicating via Twitter with an apology and promptly fixing the problem. Proofreading and better communication in the first place between groups, known as teamwork, could have prevented this from happening in the first place. The second example is McDonald’s, whose slow decline in friendliness and fast service has alienated customers http://on.wsj.com/ZUVOOe. Part of the problem is that the McDonald’s franchise is a large one, and there is poor communication of standards to each franchise owner. Failure to maintain standards is the surest way to get customers up in arms, and the barrage of complaints related to these issues is proof. McDonald’s is placing a greater emphasis on service, boosting staffing at peak hours, and launching a “dual point” ordering system nationwide. Will it be enough? Efforts that come earlier stand a better chance at fixing a problem and saving face, and tackling problems as they’re happening is always better than waiting till it’s too late, but the effects remain to be seen.

Collectively, these companies face a weaker image for various reasons. What they all have in common is their poor image management.  Strong store identity and customer service are of utmost importance, never has it been more important to maintain an image than it is in an economy like this one. The important thing to remember, is that image really is everything.

15 Seconds of SuperBowl Ad Fame

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. Especially if one of your favorite teams is playing in next Sunday’s SuperBowl. Me, I don’t really have a favorite team. I like football much more than I used to, but my primary draw is still the same as it was in the beginning. The SuperBowl ads. Some might even claim there’s a dual SuperBowl going on because the SuperBowl is also the SuperBowl of ads. One of the biggest trends in the last 5 years has been the 15 minutes of fame type ads featuring consumers. Usually they’re competing for prizes. The other type is those “celebrities” who are cashing in on their 15 seconds of fame in other areas of entertainment. Both will be at this year’s SuperBowl.

A familiar one that was one of the originators of this trend is Doritos, who is again hosting its “Crash the Superbowl” contest with 5 finalists http://bit.ly/UvwZKQ. As per usual, most of them feature children or animals. Familiar ploys of creativity. Only two of them will air during the Superbowl and be eligible for additional prizes based on their USA Today Ad Meter Ranking. $1 million for an ad that scores or ranks #1, $600,000 for an ad that ranks #2 and $400,000 for an ad that ranks #3. The finalist whose ad scores the highest in these rankings will also get to work with film director Michael Bay on the next “Transformers” movie installment. Keep in mind that each of these 5 finalists has already won $25,000 and gets flown to the SuperBowl to watch the game from a private luxury suite.

Pizza Hut is also stepping in with a fairly creative approach http://usat.ly/112g5HK. Much more so than Doritos’ approach is anyways. It’s relating the ‘Hut’ in its name to the familiar football chant before a ball is snapped to the quarterback. My first question is why didn’t they capitalize on this concept earlier? Although I’m sure they had more important trains of thought to follow. Yet, I digress. Football fans were asked to submit clips no longer than 15 seconds featuring their best, silliest or most creative usage of the word ‘hut’. The word has to be mentioned at least once, because it ties Pizza Hut to football and vice versa. Really, that’s the whole point. Making these two ideas as synonymous as a Pavlovian response tactic. There could be as many as 5-10 winners, each sharing a spot in a commercial scheduled to air a few minutes before kickoff. Pizza Hut is also banking on this increasing its social media connection.

Then there’s Psy, renowned for his “Gangnam Style” that people will probably soon tire of because they’ve heard it everywhere. I personally like the song and I’m sure there’s plenty of others who still do. However, the fact remains that most 15 minutes of fame people don’t last that long and supersaturation is one of the reasons for that. Psy is being featured in Wonderful Pistachios’ ad as part of its “Get Crackin” campaign http://bit.ly/Ya51DY. The ad will be a 30 second spot slated for the 3rd quarter. Wonderful Pistachios is also banking on its social media connection, urging YouTube creators with the most views to film their own parodies after the SuperBowl ad debuts. Ultimately they are banking on Psy’s 15 minutes of fame, as Pizza Hut and Doritos aim to do with consumers.

15 minutes of fame is really 15 seconds in the SuperBowl. These ads are funny and relevant, yet the reason they are is that they stand out. Not every ad is like this. A much higher percentage of ads are generated by public relations agencies for their clients. These ads are just as creative, if not more so. Yet, more and more consumer-centric ads are making it in. At some point they’ll probably fall prey to the same supersaturation as those they feature. Don’t get me wrong, originality is important but these ads don’t really stand the test of time like ads featuring the Budweiser Clydesdales do for instance. True creative still comes from creatives. Not just anyone can make an ad, just like not everyone can sing. 15 seconds of SuperBowl fame is fine, as long as it doesn’t take over and push other creative completely out of the picture.

Best and Worst Ads of Super Bowl XLVI

Alright, I’ve made you wait long enough. As promised, here is my second annual review of the top two best and worst Super Bowl ads. As always there were some spectacular gems and others that made you wonder “what the hell were they thinking?” but I digress. There were some 30 second ads and, like I discussed in my last entry, a handful of 60 second ads. For the latter, that includes the Jerry Seinfeld Acura NSX ad, the Audi S7′s vampire ad, two for Budweiser and one for Bud Light, a few Coca Cola ones featuring polar bears, three Chevy ones, Honda’s Ferris Bueller one, Kia Optima and Pepsi. My criteria for what makes a great Super Bowl ad is the same as it was last year: An advertiser needs to get to the heart of the message and get the main point across. A consumer should be able to sum that point up by the end of the commercial and in discussing it there should be a consensus as to what it is about. With that said, here is round two of my Super Bowl ad analysis version 2012.

Top Two Worst Ads:

1) The worst ad of Super Bowl XLVI goes to…that’s right…GoDaddy.com. Again, like I said last year, I get their style but their ads are awful. This year’s low brow tatoo ad entry can only be summed up in two words: sex appeal. Their premise is to draw in male viewers by featuring beautiful women, and drive them to their website to register for a .co domain. However, the .co premise is buried beneath the sex appeal aspect of the ad. In all honesty, it’s also the same secondary premise as last year. I had to look back at last year’s ad to realize they were still focusing on the .co domain name concept this year. I think that alone sums it up. What do you remember from a GoDaddy.com ad? Not the .co premise.

2) The second worst Super Bowl XLVI ad goes to the E*Trade Baby delivery room ad. The E*Trade baby reassures a new dad about providing for his new daughter. What’s wrong with this picture? First, he’s a baby in a delivery room. Not exactly an original concept. Secondly, it’s very predictable. Lastly, it’s missing the usual humor of former E*Trade baby commercials. I think E*Trade needs to rethink its approach.

Top Two Best Ads:

2) Did you really think I was going to start with the best ad? Not a chance. The second best Super Bowl XLVI ad goes to Bud Light, which cleverly uses the repetition of a rescue dog’s name to help consumers remember its slogan “Here We Go.” When I first heard their slogan in other contexts it didn’t make sense to me or appeal to me. This time it had appeal and charm to spare. Basically, a rescue dog named Weego fetches beers whenever anyone calls him over by saying “Here Weego.” Clever, effective, and two-fold. In addition they tie in helping rescue dogs as a cause marketing angle by showcasing a Facebook link at the end. Bravo.

1) Ok, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, Super Bowl XLVI’s best ad is…the Honda CR-V Ferris Beuller ad with Matthew Broderick as himself in the style of his Ferris Bueller character. He calls in sick, goes on a bunch of adventures and ends the ad the same way he ends the movie. What’s not to like? In the movie they got to take Cameron’s dad’s car for a spin. Here it’s the same story, different car. The car is showcased, and a popular movie is brought back into the spotlight. My only question is why someone didn’t think of this sooner?

Well there you have it, my picks for top two best and worst ads of Super Bowl XLVI or Super Bowl 2012, whichever you prefer. Some left us annoyed, others had us laughing for hours. I hope you enjoyed my review and I hope to see you back here next year for another one.

Longer Super Bowl Ads, Epic Storytelling

We’re exactly 2 days away from one of my favorite events of the year, that’s right, the Super Bowl. Although I like football more than I used to now, I still watch primarily for the ads. Super Bowl 2012 looks to be another year full of memorable ads, but perhaps the most interesting aspect is the return of the long-form ad and a return to epic storytelling. I say this because storytelling is woven into American culture, woven into the fabric of advertising, and ads longer than 30 seconds boast superior storytelling. Randall Rothenberg and Mike Hughes point out that “If you’re in the media business, marketing business, or agency business, you’re in the business of storytelling” http://bit.ly/yvdKyT. They go on to talk about how “storytelling is central to building, maintaining, and strengthening the bonds between consumers and brands.” When I was in college, part of my Persuasion class focused on the American Dream myths and how they play a part in advertising. Likewise, Rothenberg and Hughes emphasize the effect creation myths have on company culture. These types of stories serve as something people can identify with and bond people to the brand. There’s no denying it, storytelling is an important part of advertising. Traditionally, Superbowl commercials are 30 seconds long and messages are condensed. In condensing messages the effect of storytelling is condensed and often requires other mediums (web, print, social media) to extend and build upon the initial offering. The rise of diverse mediums in advertising seems to be a direct effect of shorter advertising spots. It would be interesting to see what the effect of long-form commercials would be on diverse mediums. We might just have that chance, as it seems that this year’s offerings are trending towards an increase in longer ad spots. According to Brian Steinberg as of January 3rd, “a handful of sponsors for Super Bowl XLVI have bought time for commercials longer than the standard 30 seconds” http://bit.ly/ythGKX. This includes Volkswagen, which looks to top its infamous Darth Vader offering from 2011′s Super Bowl.

While longer ad spots are not new to the Super Bowl they have been rare in recent years. In 2011, we had Chrysler’s homage to its Detroit roots in a 2 minute ad spot and EDS, now part of Hewlett-Packard, had a 60 second western parody ad in 2000. In addition to trending in the Super Bowl, long-form ads are trending outside of the Super Bowl too. KitchenAid’s 60 second food processor ad led Ace Metrix’s top TV ads for 2011 with a score of 699 due to its innovation and storytelling http://bit.ly/ytzAy4. Ace Score measures ads’ creative effectiveness from the responses of a representative sample of the American TV audience. Final scores are based off of attributes such as likeability, attention, watchability, persuasion, relevance and information. All of these attributes, plus innovation and storytelling, are much more easily attainable in a long-form commercial. With more time comes the chance to develop the storyline more and draw consumers much closer to the POS (point of sale for those of you who don’t know). It’s not that this can’t be done in a 30 second spot, it’s just that it’s a lot easier and more effective in this format. Added to that is the fact that longer ads stand out because they’re rare. It seems to be that things can only go so far in one direction before the scale is tipped and they go back the other way. Case in point, McDonald’s used to emphasize the supersize and now it has gone the other direction and we have Chicken McBites. In a similar fashion ad spots have gotten shorter and shorter, but now it looks like we may be headed back to longer commercials. It will be interesting to see how many of this year’s Super Bowl commercials are longer than 30 seconds, and what effect they have compared to their shorter counterparts. Until early this season Monday Night Football used to open with Hank Williams Jr.’s Are You Ready For Some Football? song. Given that this year’s matchup is one that we’ve seen fairly recently, I think it’s safe to say that people are more so ready for some commercials. Enjoy, and be sure to check back next week when I name my top two best and worst commercials from this year’s Super Bowl.

Rebranding Cause Marketing

Cause marketing often gets a bad reputation. Some people see it as an empty association where only dollars are exchanged, others, as shallow support with no real investment. Cause marketing gets its fifteen minutes of fame very easily with commercials and the like, but it lacks follow through, consistency and measurable foot traffic sales. How do we change that perception? By changing the way we form our association with cause marketing. Measurable foot traffic sales are one way to counter this negative perspective. Companies are constantly caught up in the ‘like this or send that and we’ll donate x amount of funds to blank’ mode. In other words they spend more time measuring and emphasizing the outcomes of ’likes’ and items received, and not enough on measuring what really counts. Facebook ‘like’ promotions typically fall into this category. Joe Waters reports that in November Kraft initiated a “Fight Hunger” Facebook page http://bit.ly/AqDpjV. Liking the page was a meal donation equivalent with more meals donated through a football and food-related trivia question game. Although it generated 25 million meals for food banks across America, it is another example of how Facebook likes do not equal long-term engagement. Let’s be real here, there was no follow-up with those contributors and they most likely haven’t visited that page since. They aren’t contributing any money to the cause, because they already contributed and it didn’t cost them anything. On the flip side you have Ikea and their Save the Children event, also mentioned in Waters’ article. Ikea hosted a “Bring Your Own Friends” event with in-store deals and giveaways. On the side, inviting friends on Facebook triggered the donation whether those friends showed up or not. The difference between the two? Ikea’s actually generated foot traffic, and placed the focus on the deals and the giveaways. Donations to the charity were secondary, but by no means diminished their cause marketing efforts.

In addition to generating foot traffic, Paul Jones shares three more ways that cause marketing can rebrand itself positively http://bit.ly/zPl8SI. The first is activating cause marketing on packaging. Coca-Cola made the mistake of making their cans white to support their ‘save the polar bears’ cause, and in doing so ruined their customers’ product association. Traditionally, a red can equals regular coke and a white can equals diet. Customers mistook the white cans for diet and complained. As Jones shares, brands could benefit hugely from showcasing their efforts on packaging. Right now they just look lazy and like they neglected to complete the product tie-in. His second point is employees forming deeper connections with the cause. Basically this points to one key phrase: get involved. Nothing shows more solid support and commitment than getting involved and the results are much more mutually beneficial for both cause and employees. Last is keeping consumers in the loop. They want to know they made a good choice, they want to know how it turned out, and they want acknowledgment. As of right now, companies rarely disclose reports about how their efforts went to consumers and they rarely say thanks. They are missing out on a big opportunity, because consumers are more likely to continue supporting a company that does those things on a regular basis. More long-term support and engagement with a company are the outcomes here. Overall, companies are missing some crucial elements to their cause marketing campaigns. They are not taking the opportunity to generate foot traffic, and they are not following through by activating cause marketing on their packaging and actively supporting the cause through volunteering. They are not being consistent by making consumers aware of results, acknowledging their efforts and giving them a reason to participate in the future and stick around as long-term customers. Changing these things could revamp their own images. In revamping their own images and their association with cause marketing, cause marketing will be redeemed and rebranded. Sounds like a win-win for everyone.

Press Release 2.0

As the web has evolved, so have the press releases we write. There are still those out there who are quick to dismiss traditional PR altogether, and that includes the press release. The last time I wrote about this topic was back when I started this blog and you can refer to that post here http://bit.ly/qd3ebx. When I first spoke about this topic I mentioned how PR practitioners were increasingly turning to email versions and making their sent copies into unique presentations that command attention. What’s changed since then? More formats have come about and that means different ways to present press releases and make them stand out. Kevin Roose and Peter Lattman showcase this point, discussing how press releases have now found their way into blog posts, tweets and haiku formats http://nyti.ms/nqLbjG. Here is a recount of their examples:

- When Google bought Zagat, Google announced the addition via a blog entry titled “Google Just Got Zagat-Rated!” Meanwhile, Zagat told its website visitors via a mock review of Google using their 30-point system and quote-heavy style.

- Groupon changed up their press release by using casual language, mentioning that it had raised “like, a billion dollars” in its latest finance round.

- Zynga used a witty lead “What do Shrek and FarmVille have in common (besides donkeys and onions)?” to announce the hiring of DreamWorks Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenburg to its board.

- Marissa Mayer, Google’s top executive for local and location services, used a Twitter haiku to announce Google’s Zagat buy: “Acquisition announcement haiku: Delightful deal done, Zagat and Google now one; foodies have more fun!”

Now this approach isn’t for everyone. It’s important to take note of the tone of your company, as in some places it’s more of a match for company culture than at others. As if different formats weren’t enough to consider, Google News has a new feature that lets publishers flag their best content and standout in search results http://bit.ly/oFCkNw. It can also be used to flag others’ content when they have a good scoop. Oddly enough, the new feature is called “Standout” and it’s a tag (basic syntax: <link rel="standout" href="LINK TO STORY" />)that goes in the “head” element of a website’s HTML code. This type of content is displayed with a ‘featured’ label on Google News’s homepage as well as in search results. It’s truly the other part of the equation. You have key words, but those only take you so far. Facebook’s newsfeed highlights top stories, and Google now does the same, but instead it gives publishers the ability to highlight their own content in the vast feed of links generated by search.

Hence, there are still many ways to make press release content stand out. Wit, jokes, puns, blog entries, tweets, haiku or flagging content, all are clever ways to break through the clutter and get your message across. The press release is still alive and kicking, and format opportunities are endless. As long as there are more opportunities, press releases will exist. I’m not the only one who shares this viewpoint. Recently, Vanessa Horwell stated in her article that PR peeps should “…not turn their back on traditional media. Not yet….While the media pie has gotten bigger and there are more pieces to cut, you never know when you might need them” http://bit.ly/r6sUV1. She closes by saying they should “…see how the future media chain links connect and how that affects the destiny of traditional media before we sever those ties for good.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. The times may be changing, but they aren’t changing so fast that they have outgrown traditional media. There is clearly a time and a place for it, and with that, a time and a place for some form of a press release.

Tailoring Brand Approach to Customers

One might not immediately think to look to fashion when deciding how to tailor their brand’s approach to consumers. Similar to how the book “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie has served as a go-to guide for today’s entrepreneur, the fashion industry and its online approach to serving customers can serve as a guideline for any brand as they tailor their approach to customers. The approach I am referring to is one that should resonate throughout all aspects of communication. It should be present in all methods of interaction with customers: at the forefront of how employees directly deal with customers and through any direct mail, print, online or social media interaction as well. The inspiration for this post comes from a series of points discussed in Betsy Lowther’s “Social Media: In and Out of Fashion” http://bit.ly/kfutVh and Claire Cain Miller’s “Sites That Send Shoppers What They Might Like” http://nyti.ms/iZLrLp. In reading these I saw meaning in them that could be taken beyond the context of their respective articles and reframed as guidelines for brand tailoring through the interaction between brand and customer. The following is my analysis and application of these principles.

1) Be where your customers are: Lowther talks about this in her first point where she states that Tumblr.com is the new black, meaning that Tumblr.com offers a networking platform that allows people to easily share content and make it go viral. Sharing content and brand messages with as many people as possible is the best way to push your brand to the forefront. How do you do that? By interacting with customers at every opportunity. From a company standpoint this would mean that your employees are starting a conversation with customers every chance they get. Employees can make the difference between a consumer connecting with a brand or ignoring it in favor of something else that may or may not be as good of a fit for them and their needs. Likewise from a public relations standpoint in print, radio, broadcast, social media and direct mail advertising it means that you should know your audience and their preferences and interests. Knowing this information ensures that your brand message reaches them where they are most likely to see and interact with your message.

2) Enlist a relevant brand ambassador: Lowther refers to this in her second point where she mentions that brand ambassador’s need to be in-house ones that live and breathe the brand and can muse on a variety of topics within the brand space. From a company standpoint it is about educating or choosing employees who eat, sleep and breathe your brand and the lifestyle that goes along with it. You have to have the right people in place to attract the right audience and customer base for your brand. In media it would specifically pertain to social media and whoever is in charge of the Twitter, Facebook and blog updates. However, a consistent voice throughout all media is going to send the best message. It is not just about the products, there is a whole lifestyle that goes along with a brand. The more you know about your customers the better you can connect with them by appointing similar people as in-house brand ambassadors. It is important to have people in this position who have the right voice, so that more consumers are enticed to interact with your brand.

3) Personalize the experience: Miller talks about sites that act like personal shopper services, suggesting five products a month with the option to buy based off of customer surveys and prior purchases. Within the business it is important that employees focus on and listen to the customer and take note of their needs. The more questions you ask, the more you know and the better you can meet their needs. Also, the better you can meet their needs the more likely they are to come back. The same goes for media, because you need to think about the type of customer you are selling to and what will attract them to your brand. Using the word ‘you’ within your message is also a good way to make the focus more personal and persuasive.

4) Sell the lifestyle: Lowther discusses this in her last point, with reference to social content. The same goes for the sales floor and for media communication. If you are not selling them on the lifestyle that goes along with the product, and helping them envision the product in their lives, then you are not selling the product. Selling customers on the lifestyle is the clincher or the deal closer. Successfully sell them on the lifestyle and you will most likely have lifelong brand ambassadors who buy your products and spread your message.

In closing, my blog turned a year old on May 3rd. Thank you to all who have been reading and commenting and be sure to check back each week for a new post.

Social Media Monitoring: Unlocking Potential

These days it is easy to get overwhelmed. Gone are the days where you could easily track your message’s whereabouts in placements generated by you. A message, brand and company are no longer sole property of the print world, the Internet changed all of that.  The Internet gave voice to that missing piece of the puzzle: the voice of the public. With the voice of the public engaging more heavily in conversation comes the monitoring of that conversation, among blogs, forums, Facebook, Twitter, etc., with social media monitoring. Social media monitoring consists of combining results from a variety of measurement tools and using them to measure campaign effectiveness and goal achievement, something that cannot be done with tools alone. One of the newer tools that may soon gain more traction is Twitter. Most people measure its effectiveness simply through retweets, but now Twitter is giving its users the ability to geographically target tweets and the analytics to measure the additional effects of a tweet http://bit.ly/hDGZqR. With geo-relevant tweets, McDonald’s Canada can now target tweets to its segment of the McDonald’s public about menu options that appeal to them, such as peach pie and chocolate-coffee milkshakes. Then with Twitter’s new Follower Dashboard they can measure more than just retweets. Follows, unfollows, click-through and other actions that result are now included so that a more complete picture of the response is generated. For example, RadioShack generated its #ineedanewphone hashtag last December. Using the Follower Dashboard they saw 65 million impressions, an above average engagement rate of 8.8% and wireless platform sales increase in double digits all within days of launching the promoted trend. All with the addition of these tracking features. 

While increases in monitoring options are crucial to seeing the whole big picture, they in no way limit your involvement. If anything they make it more important. Data means nothing without interpretation and judgement, and only a human being can analyze and interpret data and decide how to use it for the benefit of the brand and the company. Some people think that all you have to do is rely on the tools you use. That is the biggest mistake, when you take yourself out of the equation, because it is not that simple. Different tools are better at different things, it takes you to pull the best feedback from each and analyze it for your purposes. A social media monitoring tool cannot do that task and nothing can take the place of human analysis and interpretation. Both tools and human monitoring and analysis should always be used in tandem. Take for example the sentiment analysis that tools like UberVU have as part of their service http://bit.ly/9z981Y. A message is not simply neutral, negative or positive. Interpretations are subjective and tools do not have an effective reasoning component built into them. With social media monitoring, the most important thing is to plan what you are measuring, construct and distribute your message, evaluate and analyze the data and use it to inform your future decisions. Not giving enough thought to any one of these steps can be a critical misstep. Social media monitoring is an effective and essential tool, but only if it is used correctly. Tools were invented to help you manage the work, not do the work for you. You are an important part of social media monitoring, not just your tools. Never take yourself out of the equation. As long as you use social media monitoring tools to inform, and not control, you will be on the right track to getting your desired results.

Facebook 0, Google +1

Clearly it is not just about how many people ‘like’ you on Facebook anymore. Google is stepping up their game and revolutionizing search with their newest ‘social layer.’ “Meet +1: Google’s Answer to the Facebook Like Button” http://bit.ly/hzEzEl. Recently, Google stepped up its social search by allowing users to see when those in their social network (not including Facebook) create or share something that is relevant to their searches. Now Google takes it one step further by utilizing a user’s Gmail & Google Talk contacts, people in a ‘My Contacts’ group within a user’s Google Contacts, and people a user follows in Google Reader or Google Buzz to create a new social network. When a user searches for something, those within their network that +1 an ad, website, news story, etc. relating to that search will cause that content to show up earlier in that user’s search results. Although it seems similar to a Facebook ‘like,’ the option to +1 something is actually a more important factor. Simply, Google’s +1 stands to carry more weight than a Facebook ‘like.’ When people are searching for answers they turn to search engines first to enter in their query. What they see on Facebook that their friends like is not necessarily something they are searching for, more something that is interesting in passing. Something they notice and then check out versus something they are searching for that becomes the best answer because it has been recommended by their contacts. People act on word-of-mouth and it is no big secret that Google is capitalizing on this concept with Google +1. Thus, Google’s +1 stands to become the ultimate determination of the most popular content on the web.

What does this mean for the advertising and PR industry? A better tool for gauging how well your brand is doing. Users now see different rankings in their search depending on what their Google social network has recommended, which means it is now more important than ever to make sure your brand is reaching a wide audience. The farther its reach the more likely it will be ranked first, and the more likely it will experience its own +1 effect with the addition of more brand advocates. Search results show the names of the people in that person’s social network who create, share, or recommend content next to the content they create, share or recommend that is relevant to a user’s search. What better way to draw someone in than by finding a common link, a person or several persons you both have in common. Not only does it show content their contacts create, share or recommend towards the top, it also shows a collective number of +1 votes from all people for some links. After all, Google is also rolling out a +1 button for use on any website. Facebook and its ‘like’ button have built a monopoly, but all monopolies are eventually toppled. The ‘like’ button monopoly could end if Google +1 becomes popular, simply because the connection to search trumps unprompted content. Something that is more desirable carries more meaning, and if it carries more meaning then that will only be enhanced with recommendations from trusted contacts. Recommendations influence decisions, it is a simple concept put to use in a new context. Ad experts may be split on whether it will catch on, but there is no doubt that if it does it will change the game.

Brand Loyalty: Defining Values and Ethics

Brand loyalty is typically thought of in a one-dimensional sense, meaning that brand loyalty is an allegiance to a brand and subsequently the values behind it. However, there are other ways of looking at brand loyalty. First of all, brand loyalty is tied in with branding. Companies and agencies are constantly evaluating brands as they update them and build new campaigns for them. How much can a brand change while still staying true to its roots? Can too much change cause a company to stray too far from a brand’s origins, resulting in a loss of relevance and connectivity throughout? These are the questions on the table. Two companies whose brands recently saw changes are Planters and Starbucks. Stuart Elliot, in “Mr. Peanut’s New Look? Old School” http://nyti.ms/doeuMX reports that Mr. Peanut’s new look updated him through animation and a speaking voice. However, it also discusses how his clothes evolved while maintaining a look based on earlier depictions of him. Hence they improved Mr. Peanut by making him more interactive and relatable, but showed respect for his origins by making subtle wardrobe changes reflective of his long-standing history. On the flipside of this is the example of Starbucks’ recent logo change as discussed in Tonya Garcia’s “The Latest Logo Redesign Is…” http://bit.ly/gm2JR6. Starbucks recently dropped the green and beige Starbucks outer circle and left the siren’s inner circle to stand alone in a slightly larger size with a green color change.  I think that divorcing the Starbucks name from the logo still reflects its roots but simultaneously does a great disservice to the brand. It gives it license to move away from coffee and branch out into other merchandise. While that can be a positive I think that Starbucks should continue to focus more on being the best coffee company, key word: coffee. If it loses this focus then it loses its identity. For a brand, that is never a good thing.

Another type of brand loyalty is shown in TV lifestyle programs where guest ‘experts’ demonstrate brand loyalty through sponsored product pitches. In “On the Media: A plea for honesty in paid TV pitches” http://lat.ms/heMesD, James Rainey relates that while federal agencies mandate clear identification of commercial pitches it is not enforced in these instances. He specifically cites a “San Diego Living” holiday episode with Sean McEwen pitching specific holiday gift ideas for guys. The mention of items like the SodaStream soda maker went unaccompanied by any disclaimer save a vague one at the end for the sponsorship of Miller/Weiner. The featured companies paid Miller/Weiner to have Sean McEwen promote their products on “San Diego Living.” That brings up a question of ethics. Even though it may be an overt advertisement, clearly Sean McEwen is portraying a false brand loyalty because no disclaimer of company sponsorship appeared with any product. Another avenue of brand loyalty is found in the fact that companies expect a lot more from their employees today. Not only must they promote the brand but live the brand. Michael Schrage in “When Brand Loyalty Goes Too Far” http://bit.ly/dHzvFT talks about a future where company employees could be required to adhere strictly to the brand even in their off hours. An example would be that Wal-Mart promotes sustainability and employees could be required to ‘go green’ at home and stick to CFL lightbulbs. This standpoint of ‘living the brand’ is understandable in that the company wants to present a united stance and set an example. At the same time it is very restrictive and goes to an unnecessary extreme simply to prove a point. I am all in favor of brand loyalty and what it represents, but when it is misused and detracts from a brand’s core state then it is a negative. These examples showcase not just the positive and negative examples, but also the different aspects of brand loyalty. Brand loyalty goes beyond allegiance to a brand, it encompasses how it is reinterpreted, how it is related through the media and how it is presented by company employees. The right moves lead to success, while the rest are damaged and dragged through the mud.