Bullets on Blogging

A little while ago I spoke at an online marketing conference in Mexico City. If you think public speaking is intimidating try back translating and re-translating a Spanish PowerPoint in front of 150 people on the fly... Needless to say, those were some of the longest 45 minutes of my life. At any rate, my topic was an introduction to “Blogging and Podcasting” and the possible uses of both in brand marketing. I thought it might be interesting to post some of my points on blogging as a marketing tool:

For Brands that are Actively Blogging:
• ideal place to integrate consumers into the entire marketing cycle (including initial product design)
• puts a personality or face to the message
• creates transparency for a brand
• builds added value through content for your brand’s web presence
• HIGH possibility to distribute brand truths/values here
• HIGH possibility for word of mouth through cross-blogging
• higher natural search rankings
• blogging creates conversations between:
• consumers and the brand
• consumers and other consumers (about your brand)

For Brands that are not blogging but within the blogsphere (ie: actively listening):
• one of the best ways to listen to the customer, the competition, marketing trends, marketing buzz
• get insights on opinions and preferences of consumers

Some Pointers for Branded Blogging:
• DO NOT aim to advertise
• aim to create connections and dialogues
• aim to create strong content - a draw to your brand/website
• aim to entertain and engage, be informal
• aim to have other people blogging about your brand (WOM)
• Recruit, sponsor, or reward bloggers who favor your brand - mold them into online brand ambassadors

Viral Marketing Gone Wrong

Those who know me, know I’m a huge proponent of brands giving as much freedom as possible to users during viral campaigns. However, a recent eConference I was involved in highlighted some cases studies that to me stand out as brilliant examples of what not to do. I took the liberty of posting some up.

Chevy Tahoe | Release commercial footage of the Chevy Tahoe clips online in hopes of stirring up viral commercials. Extremely vocal and environmentally aware online communities had their own ideas however.

Sony | A blogger began posting videos of himself rapping in an attempt to convince his parents to buy him a PSP. This went over horribly when it was found out that the blogger was a fake - a false identity created by Zapatoni - Sony’s online agency. Many lessons to be learned here, most importantly; companies disguised as real personalities to sell a product is very, very bad.

The site is down, but here’s video showing the general reaction from the online community. And one of the original posted videos.


Ford Ka | Maybe this is less about planning for viral and more about the power of online consumers. This commercial was aired and later taken down due to protests from animal rights groups…only to resurface again online.(Warning - a bit graphic if you’re a cat lover).

Apple | Maybe this was just bad a bad script or casting, but the general consensus online was that ‘Ellen’ in this Apple commercial was not exactly studying in her room the night her computer crashed - note to parents, that’s not incense you’re smelling. Ok, maybe this didn’t really hurt the company, but I think it should still be on the list.

McDonald's in Mexico

I guess I should start this by making a guilty admission – last week I ate at McDonalds. After nearly 3 years of not having bought a single artery clogging, grease burger from the place I caved in – I honestly had no options and 10 minutes to grab anything to eat. Come to think of it, the last time I ate at McDonalds was for the same reason, we were stuck on an American highway that seemed sponsored by the red, white, and yellow clown chain.

Yes, this post is a little outside my norm, but the heck with it.

I’m currently working in Mexico City, which, as far as fast food chains go doesn’t mean much actually. I can order exactly what I could in Toronto, New York, or any random American highway, I would just be asking for it by its odd spanglish name; Quiero un McPollo por favor.

It wasn’t exactly groundbreaking to me that chains have consistency in their menus even in emerging nations like Mexico. What was a surprise to me, was that my McPollo was brought in a cerca 1988, earth killing, non-biodegradable Styrofoam container. “Aren’t these things dead already?’’ I asked myself. You know, like CFCs, or Freon, or Celine Dion. Well apparently with all three, in Canada, yes. Here in Mexico, where the laws and public shame hasn’t created enough pressure, no.

Now, I’m not what you call a politically active environmentalist. I do my part though; I sort my garbage, I turn off the lights, I take busses or I drive my 4 cylinder car – although that last one is mostly due to finances than eco-friendliness. But what pissed me off the most about McDonald’s packaging was that the company is splashing environmentalist green all over that red, white and yellow in Canada and simultaneously is SO overtly giving two sh!#s about it in Mexico, or countries where public opinion of their environmental practices hasn’t bottomed out yet. I mean, I’m not naive, you kind of expect them to cut corners behind the scenes in places like here, but still using the styro boxes is so overt, so blatantly off-putting for a customer (like me) that it negates anything positive that promotions can do, not to mention it's just so damn stupid ecologically.

I guess for now that the reek wafting from McDonald’s deep fryers is only outdone by the one coming from their corporate practices in countries like Mexico. Here’s hoping that in another 3 years or so when I’m forced through their doors again things might be different.

The 3 Screens

Increasingly in client boardrooms I'm hearing the term '3 screens' being dropped. It's not a reference to the number of LCDs you can connect to your comp (giving you the screen real-estate roughly the size of the table in said boardroom). It relates to the way our generation interacts with information; through TVs, computers, and cells.

While I'm honestly not sure if this is a 'textbook marketing term' or something made up by AT&T to hawk their communications strategy, it does highlight the need to think beyond starting and ending the communications story seperately within each media. Rather, linking the mix of media to tell a sequential story, fostering a continual interaction with a customer, and leading them to a desired result. Here are some examples;

• The spot (screen 1) drives me to the in-store SMS promo (screen 2) which drives me to interacting with the website (screen 3)
• The website from which I receive a newsletter on my PDA leads me to a DVD purchase.
• The gaming network I belong to drives me a game's website where I end up downloading a custom ringtone or trailer.

As a consumer, my continual interaction with your brand does not begin and end with viewing 30 second spot or print ad (try explaining that to ad agencies sometimes) nor is it based in a standalone online presence, as defined by a flashed-out website (try explaining that to web agencies sometimes). My interaction with your brand will come from interactions (or... fleeting glimpses) from an array of sources and will be delivered on those three screens, ideally, through an unbroken, sequential stream or story.

The Brand's Creative Story

I remember watching Spike Jones' Adaptation a while back, and a scene stuck with me. Charlie Kaufman (Nicholas Cage) attending a writing seminar has just asked the presenter, Robert McKee, for his advice on writing a movie adaptation in which "nothing much happens". To which McKee bursts back:

"...If you can't find [drama] in life, then you, my friend, don't know crap about life. And why the FUCK are you wasting my two precious hours with your movie? I don't have any use for it. I don't have any bloody use for it."

I love this quote. Why? One; it's taken from a Spike Jones movie.

Two; it's the best way to illustrate what we (should) do in those creative brainstorming sessions, when we're coming up with concepts for online.

Every brand tells a story. The most successful brands tell the best stories; most succinctly, most consistently, and with the most drama. Call it what you will, top of mind, brand recall, mind share - that's how they get it.

This is why my team and I never, ever, concede to a standard 'landing page' (even a 'nicely' designed one) - with links to the 'product information', 'product specs', 'product benefits' etc.. Yes, as the online medium works so well for it, you will find information about the product, but we will never deliver it as such.

Why? because I never visit a corporate site for specs on a product (I have Amazon for that). I visit it to see the rest of the story, the stuff the 30 second spot or the freeway billboard didn't have time to tell me entirely. The stuff that I know your brand is 'about'. I don't want to be marketed or sold to.. I want to become emotionally involved, enlightened, and yes entertained by your brand. And you know what, if the site doesn't deliver on that, I too "don't have any bloody use for it".