February 2011

Must Love Snacking: Empowering Brand Ambassadors Through Social Media

Last week, popchips and Ashton Kutcher, its president of pop culture, announced that it is looking for a vice president of pop culture. The position will pay $50,000 for a one-year term; and, the person selected for the job will help to oversee social media for popchips, creating digital content and serving as popchips’ on-location reporter at top pop culture events around the U.S.

As stated by the popchips press release on Wednesday, applicants for the position must apply by submitting a short video on the popchips Facebook page that shows their ability to creatively connect social media and pop culture. Fans will then have the opportunity to vote for the applicant they think will be the best vice president of pop culture.

There are several interesting trends coming into play, here:
 

Brand Ambassadors Emerge in Existing Customers: More and more consumer-oriented brands are empowering customers to become brand ambassadors by creating platforms for them share their thoughts and experiences via existing social media channels. And, since most people trust their friends more than they trust a press release, word is spreading like wildfire.

Employees Become Extensions of the Brand: Employees are becoming more engaged as company influencers. Although many are not as high-profile as Ashton Kutcher, they are the “stars” of their own social graphs -- and smart, well-thought-out campaigns created by their companies are prompting them to proactively engage their online network and drive customer advocacy.

Democratization Yields Participation: Organizations are using social media to attract more brand ambassadors than ever before. By empowering contest or campaign participants to choose their favorites and “have a say” in highly publicized decisions, popchips and other companies are increasing not only engagement, but transparency. A great example of this is Australia’s tourism campaign for the “Best Job in the World,” which would award a lucky winner with $150,000 and a job as a caretaker on an island.

Ultimately, Ashton Kutcher and popchips will decide who the new vice president of pop culture will be by March 14, 2011 -- possibly making a great deal of progress in the popchips social media crusade.

But, I suppose this begs the question: Even if you do get to work with Ashton Kutcher, is $50,000 really a fair salary for this position? (According to Schwartz client SimplyHired.com, the answer is no! The salary should be around $117,000.)

Posted by Allison VanNest on February 28, 2011 at 5:34 PM
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The American Idol Social Media Power Rankings

Many of us here are at Schwartz Communications and the Schwartz Research Group are huge fans of American Idol. Some of us for the singing, some for the drama and some for the pure joy of social media analysis and water cooler talk.

Every year, as the season unfolds, Ryan Seacrest talks about how many votes are cast…but anyone who has worked in politics or public affairs knows that in order to get out the vote, you need good connections. The two keys to winning American Idol are great performances and a great fan base.

Now that the Top 24 are known and the voting will be open to the American public beginning on Tuesday night, the Schwartz Research Group decided to look at which contestants are already using social media to reach out to their fans, and who has an engaged, grassroots campaign already underway. With the introduction of Facebook voting, social media will be even more important this year.

Like Seacrest likes to say, the results were...surprising.

Top Female:

For a larger Image, click View image

Top Male:

For a larger image, View image

Your Top Three:

Top Facebook

 Top Twitter

Twitter is Queen; Facebook is King

While Twitter is a great way to carry on conversations and engage one on one, it is still dwarfed by Facebook when it comes to the most popular way for fans to relate to American Idol contestants.
 

100% of the contestants had some Facebook presence (even if it was just 43 fans). Much fewer – 66% - had a Twitter presence (and 50% of the Twitter feeds were fan, and not contestant feeds).

If social media determined the Idol champ…today…it would be: Scotty McCreery (but frankly, the Research Group handicappers have him finishing 6th at best). McCreery also happens to be in the lead in VoteForTheWorst Fan voting…

The Bottom Three—When examining the 24, contestants Tatynisa Wilson, Rachel Zevita and Clint Jun Gamboa have the least overall social media fan engagement. With Tatynisa’s relative lack of air time, it will be interesting to see if and how that changes.

There is a definite gap between many of the contestants and it shows that some of them are already quite savvy in how they use social media. It will be interesting to see which gaps close and which expand.

What do you think about the contestants and their social media engagement?

Note: Photos courtesy of Fox. Followers and fan were determined on 2/25. Also, the Schwartz Research group does not believe it is just followers that matter. The intensity of their passion is also something that would need to be tracked over the coming weeks. Those contestants with the largest and most impassioned base are most likely to generate a high number of votes.

Posted by Mark McClennan on at 8:56 AM
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Join the Schwartz London team at Silicon Stilettos!

We are thrilled to be sponsoring Silicon Stilettos on Wednesday. Did you know the typical ratio of men versus women at most tech meet-ups is 80/20? Silicon Stilettos is a free women-only (or almost women-only) meet-up organised by Zuzanna Pasierbinska-Wilson where women in tech can drink cocktails and take part in relaxed, no-pressure networking. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed Zuzanna’s events in the past and jumped at the chance to work with her on her latest meet-up.

If you’re a woman in tech, please join us for complimentary drinks and canapés (and great company!) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at:

Zebrano Bar
18 Greek Street
London W1D 4DS

Men are welcome as long as accompanied by a Silicon Stilettos member. For more information, please get in touch: @anniegklein or @huddlesuz

Hope to see you there! 

Posted by Annie Klein on February 21, 2011 at 6:48 AM
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What's Next for the Social Web?

As part of Social Media Week, Ning, a social website creation platform, hosted a panel (moderated by Mashable’s Ben Parr) around the “The Future of the Social Web", which I attended along with colleagues Andrea Hawley and Allison Van Nest. It was an interesting discussion, with a bit of debate but most of the panel and attendees were in agreement about two “areas to watch” – Facebook as a tool for news dissemination and how businesses can better interact with the customer base they have already built across various platforms.

Facebook: Actual news in your news feed?

Think about recent events – if you weren’t near a TV (a situation I found myself in) where is the first place you heard that Mubarak was stepping down? “Go Egypt!” and posts of a similar refrain began to populate my news feed as I sat on the bus, commuting in to work. Apart from helping to organize the mass protests, Facebook played a key role in spreading the news of what was going on.
How we receive news is definitely changing, and it will be interesting to see how traditional news outlets adapt to the latest shift.

Business and the Social Web    
One way news outlets and their corporate counterparts may evolve is through the training and empowering of employees and third-party advocates to comment and interact on behalf of the company. CNN already does this in some ways with its iReports, but other businesses are jumping on the bandwagon as well. I read two interesting articles this morning, which highlight the potential benefits and pitfalls of ceding social control. The first looks at a rogue tweet from the Red Cross, the second profiles a Starbucks evangelist.

While increasing social presence is necessary to “stay in the conversation” you have to wonder how this can and will be rolled out and how much regulation companies will need to wield over their employees. It will be interesting to see what industries embrace this new frontier and how successful they are.

Looking Ahead    
What do you think is next for the social web – are we going to turn to our Facebook profile for news? How much of a voice should employees be given on behalf of their brand?

Posted by Miranda Coykendall on February 16, 2011 at 5:44 PM
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Schwartz Communications at Mobile World Congress

  

Posted by Annie Klein on February 14, 2011 at 8:01 AM
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The "ick" factor: How to stop marketing from going too far

Every now and then, we all see a video or flier or stunt on the street that makes us go “What were they thinking?” In the quest to push the envelope and think outside the box, drum up some PR, try to get consumers talking and create that elusive “buzz”, sometimes things get taken too far. But as you brainstorm ideas and content for your company, how do you know what’s acceptable and what will help you lose major dollars off of your market value?

 To be sure, there is no one set rule or litmus test. Take for example some of last weekend’s Super Bowl ads. Discount buying website GroupOn took heat for a spot making light of the situation in Tibet, but the company didn’t have a problem with it even after a backlash from some of the public (and as Mark McClennan points out, less than a week later, the topic is starting to die down.) My mother found a SafeAuto insurance commercial where a man is kicked in his privates repeatedly appalling and offensive, but go ask my 20-something year old brothers and they will tell you how funny the ad is. At Schwartz, especially in our consumer health practice where we often work with life threatening conditions and illnesses, we feel it is important to have our finger on the pulse of sensitivity and plan for various reactions that could potentially result from our creative campaigns.  

Certainly, there are tools designed to help navigate these waters: focus groups, crowd sourcing, etc. My general rule is what one of my first mentors described as the “ick” factor. How does the idea really feel in your gut? More than what would your grandmother/brother/spouse/best friends’ think, if there is anything in you that says, “Maybe this isn’t a good idea,” listen to it. Kind of like that voice from when you were a kid that told you that you would be in trouble for <insert childhood prank here.>  At the very least, by listening to that voice, you’ll be able to prepare yourself for what may come in the aftermath.

Posted by Andrea Hawley on February 11, 2011 at 1:36 PM
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The Long Tail of SuperBowl Ads?

Earlier this week, I wrote about where the VW/Darth Vader SuperBowl ad failed (great ad, great for VW, little mention of the Passat). That caused me to ask myself about the long term social media impact of the SuperBowl ads. Thousands of people were tweeting about the #brandbowl, but after the game, social media discussion turned to identity fraud and other topics. Were these ads a $3 million one-time deal, or did they engender a longer discussion?

To check this, the Schwartz Research Group charted the conversation paths of 11 of the most popular ads according to BrandBowl and USA Today's AdMeter. The results were:

A larger version is available by clicking View image.

Looking at the discussion trends over time, only Chrysler, Groupon and Darth Vader/VW had any sort of notable discussion volume after the first day. All the ads had a slight bump the next morning as the social media world (and the marketing media) discussed what they liked and didn't like. Each of the three commercials had its own notable reasons for the way it performed.

Volkswagen - Notice the discussion around the ad started before the SuperBowl and it was still one of the most discussed commercials during the game. It was widely considered one of the best and has showed the most staying power.

Chrysler - While there are undoubtedly a few false positives in the chart, the Chrysler commercials received critical acclaim (and some pans) and were much discussed - particularly the 60 second Eminem/Detroit commercial.

Groupon - The negative reaction to the Groupon Tibet ad explains its initial spike and why the discussion has continued for so long - although it appears to be finally dying down.

So in the end, the best ads engendered discussion for at least a few days after the SuperBowl. But for most, the tweets and blog posts last just a little bit longer than the game itself.

Posted by Mark McClennan on February 10, 2011 at 8:16 AM
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Mobile Social Networking - 2011 Mobile Social Networking Predictions - Road to Barcelona

In this series we’re profiling top mobile industry trends in the run-up to Mobile World Congress 2011.

Social has been THE buzzword of the past few years, but the buzz is far from dead. Not only do new social communities continue to pop up across the internet – you can now join a social network for everything from skateboarding to knitting - they have also found their way onto our mobile devices, which help their popularity to increase even faster.

Social communities will be one topic at Mobile World Congress that will be discussed by representative from all parts of the mobile industry:

Obviously, this will be a hot topic among the content generators; the relatively new App Planet at the edge of the congress parameters will showcase a wide range of new mobile Apps targeted at existing or looking to create new social communities.

Marketers will discuss how to understand and reach those new communities as well as how new social media channels can be used for marketing purposes. Location-based services (LBS) will play a key role in this aspect. Almost all social network providers are not only trying to pinpoint what and when their users are doing but also where. The data generated is marketing gold.

The average visitor/attendee will Tweet their whereabouts, update their status on Facebook or check in at the lunch restaurant via Foursquare.

The handset manufacturers are aware that not only younger target groups are looking for the best possible integration of social community Apps. Hence, they will try to impress with devices that provide a true social mobile experience.

Operators will also be talking about the role of social communities in connection to their services. When taking into account that mobile data traffic is expected to grow 40-fold over the next five years, however, one can be certain, that they won’t get bored for the next couple of years.

No matter if you are a social media enthusiast or critic, there is one MWC Session that you don’t want to miss: “Social Networking: Social Goes Mobile” 2:00pm – 3:30 pm, Tuesday, February 15.

“In this session, representatives from operators, social networks and device manufacturers will explore the different elements of a true mobile social network, from personalisation and location to operating systems and impact of the smartphone, as well as share their thoughts on where social mobile will go next.”

Posted by Martin Gleissner on February 9, 2011 at 7:47 AM
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3 Simple Tests for Before, During, and After Delivering Content to Your Audience

I read two good blog entries yesterday about how marketers need to make sure they’re creating content that is engaging. One of them was a piece in PRWeek written by Schwartz president Bryan Scanlon. (I’m sure you’re all shocked I would speak highly of a blog written by my boss.) The other was a blog by Ann Handley of MarketingProfs, of whom I’m a big fan.

Both of them make basically the point that sometimes marketers lose track of the ultimate goal of content – to connect with or engage a community. In other words, yes, it’s important to create A LOT of content, but it’s more important that the content is educational and not overly self-promotional so your audience will come back for more. A marketer could create five eBooks and ten webinars in a year and say to their CEO, “You wanted content marketing, well mission accomplished!” But in reality, it only moves from being content creation to actual content marketing if you can show that you connected with the audience.

So how do you do this? There are many different ways to test whether your content is engaging, but as a start, I thought I’d just provide one thing to think about at each stage of deploying your content:

Before Deploying Content:
This has been said before (and probably said best in Ann Handley’s book Content Rules), but before you put any content “out there,” you should make sure it’s solving a problem for your target audience. Ask yourself: “does my content explain a problem and provide a solution or does it only explain how my product/service works?” Ideally you’d present the problem, and help your audience to see many ways to solve it that will eventually lead them to you for help. Start with making it interesting, and hopefully the customers will come to you. This always reminds me of what 1960’s ad executive Howard Luck Gossage said: “People don’t read ads. People read what they’re interested in and sometimes it’s an ad.”

While Content is Being Consumed:
Two words: trackable links. This is not at all a new way to measure engagement, but all of your content pieces should contain trackable links within them so you have data on which links were interesting enough for people to click on. It’s ok to say “500 people downloaded my eBook,” but it’s not a real measure of engagement unless you look at what they did once inside the eBook. You can also go way beyond data about clicks when measuring video content engagement using tools from VisibleGains and others. It’s critical to know how long people viewed certain segments and where there was drop off.

After:
This may also seem obvious, but the best measure of engagement is what your audience does with the content after it was consumed. Did they forward or share the content with others or tweet about it? Did they come back and consume more content from you later (content that you were, of course, smart enough to push out to them)? Did you check in with them within a week and ask what they thought of the content? I’d rather have 200 people read a piece of content, share it, and return later for more content, than have 500 people read some content and never come back.

Posted by Matt Duffy on February 8, 2011 at 10:32 AM
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How effective was the Volkswagen Darth Vader Ad?

For many people, the Super Bowl is as much about the ads as it is the game. USA Today has its ad meter, the Boston Globe was highlighting Brand Bowl and numerous pundits and bloggers rank the ads.

My favorite commercial of the night was the Volkswagen Passat Darth Vader commercial, which my six year old son had us watch three times (and led to a bedtime wish for that Darth Vader outfit). Volkswagen broke conventional wisdom with the ad - they put it on YouTube days before the game.

I was also monitoring Super Bowl ad discussions, and one chart the Schwartz Research Group created really jumped out at me.

Posted by Mark McClennan on February 7, 2011 at 8:06 AM
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Mobile Marketing - 2011 Mobile Marketing Predictions - Road to Barcelona

In this series we’re profiling top mobile industry trends in the run-up to Mobile World Congress 2011.

The potential for the mobile marketing and advertising channel is vast. ABI Research forecasts an unprecedented opportunity for growth in the market, projecting global spend will reach $28.9 billion by 2014.

One of the hottest areas of mobile marketing is mobile coupons/vouchers. According to a study by JiWire, consumers rated coupons and discounts as the most valuable feature of location-based services after GPS and maps. As consumers become more conditioned to sharing personal information – thanks to Facebook and Foursquare, among other services – they are more willing to hand over location and behavioural data in exchange for personalised, contextual offers. This presents a huge opportunity for both operators and brands, from global to local.  

Near-field communications (NFC) is also a promising technology for mobile marketers. NFC enables consumers to receive information, offers and pay for items by touching their handsets to special Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals. With a host of new NFC-compatible devices set to launch at Mobile World Congress and rumours that the iPhone5 will also be equipped with the technology, it will not be long before NFC-powered coupons and offers are part of daily commerce. In Japan, McDonald’s is an early adopter: users who have downloaded the McDonald’s app receive a weekly email with a list of coupons and promotions and can download coupons to their mobile wallet and redeem with a touch. 

Mobile social commerce is going to make marketing even more powerful. Applications of social commerce range from the rather impersonal Groupon app which allows users to redeem group-buying offers directly from mobile devices to deeply personal recommendations based on a user’s social graph. Facebook Deals, which was introduced in Europe this week, lets merchants create offers for users who check-in on Facebook Places. Newcomer Whatser has plans to roll out features on its LBS social recommendations app to enable brands, publishers and local businesses connect with consumers. (Disclosure: Whatser is a client)

Of course this is only the beginning. Mobile offers up a whole new range of opportunities for marketers and operators to reach consumers, from loyalty schemes to in-app advertising to digital goods to multimedia. MWC offers four sessions that will be of interest to marketers this year:  

Mobile Advertising: Integrating Mobile into a Broader Advertising Campaign – 2pm Tuesday 15th February

Mobile Advertising: How Effective is Multimedia Mobile Advertising? – 4pm Tuesday 15th February

Mobile Advertising: Delivering Personalised Advertising and Protecting Privacy – 2pm Wednesday 16th February

Mobile Advertising: How to Make In-App Advertising Work – 4pm Wednesday 16th February

Posted by Annie Klein on February 4, 2011 at 1:02 PM
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Mobile Cloud Computing - 2011 Mobile Predictions - Road to Barcelona

In this series we’re profiling top mobile industry trends in the run-up to Mobile World Congress 2011.

The term ‘cloud computing’ still induces confusion and no small amount of fear for a lot of companies. Many recognise the term as something they ‘should’ be doing, but with so many contradictory messages about the technology it is unsurprising that it, in many cases, is still treated with a certain amount of unease.

Mobile cloud computing on the face of it just adds to this confusion. However, with many analysts predicting huge market growth in the next few years and an increasing amount of importance placed upon it within businesses, organisations need to get their heads out of the cloud and begin to reap the benefits.

Over the past year or so analyst firms have released a number of reports on the future of the mobile cloud computing market, whilst also trying to help companies understand some of the key benefits. For example, Juniper predicts that between 2009 and 2014 the cloud-based mobile market will grow 88 per cent with 75 per cent of this market represented by enterprise users.

Gartner believes that cloud technologies and new opportunities in mobile computing will allow organisations to innovate in new ways.  Recent research by Gartner showed that cloud-based social networking services will replace e-mail as the primary vehicle for interpersonal communications for 20 per cent of business users by 2014. It points out that whilst in 2009 only 3 per cent of e-mail accounts were in the cloud by the end of 2012 it will have increased to 10 per cent.

The analyst giant has also predicted that by 2012 at least 18 per cent of new application components covering areas such as workforce optimisation and asset monitoring will be sold as SaaS subscription models rather than physically deployed on-premise.

With a conference session dedicated to the mobile cloud on the second day of the event and the Mobile Cloud Forum taking place all day on February 17^th mobile cloud is sure to be one of the ‘big’ topics this year at MWC.  It will be a great opportunity for operators, vendors and end-users to find out more about the mobile cloud and how they can ensure they can fulfil its potential.

Posted by Andrew Chatterton on February 1, 2011 at 7:03 AM
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