relentlessPR

I found an interesting little post in Ben Worthen’s WSJ blog yesterday plainly titled “Why Most Online Communities Fail”. From my perspective, it couldn’t be any more clear than what’s expressed in this post. Aligning the proper objectives with any marketing or business initiative is at the root of measuring success for advertising, media relations, direct marketing or, in this case, an online community.

Too often, marketing professionals fail to see the “proverbial forest through the trees” and we should all strive to do a much better job of this. It’ll not only help us to accurately measure our efforts but also help us develop a better process for how we think about the meaning and value of them.

The big news the last couple of days for us Twitter users is that the popular microblogging platform acquired Summize.com for $15 million and Twitter stock. Summize is a Twitter search engine that is able to track topics through keywords. Instead of reinventing the wheel, Twitter was smart and bought the company that was already doing it the best. Summize has since been rebranded as search.twitter.com.

This acquisition will help the popular site establish a viable business model and certainly see an influx of marketers and researchers (social and marketing) joining the fold of users as the stream of consciousness can be more readily used to track what consumers are talking about. Until now, I believe only Radian6 had a tool capable of this sort of tracking. This move allows for ad placement on the search pages, eliminating what would be an outcry of users if Twitter placed ads in their stream or on their pages.

Big news that benefits marketers looking for a way to go where their customers are and more importantly, the users who were seeking the best experience possible. And as we know, Twitter has had its woes in the last year with platform failures made famous by the “Fail Whale”

People like to talk—a lot. And when they have a positive brand experience, they like to spread the word. An article on AdAge.com about BzzAgent highlights this phenomenon and it’s relevance to marketers. BzzAgent is launching an aggressive campaign to prove that the company will out-perform all other word-of-mouth companies according to four metrics: brand awareness, consumer opinion, purchase intent and actual sales.

WOM has emerged as a powerful nontraditional tactic and is a great way to reach consumers on their terms while encouraging discussion about brands. In a recent study conducted by Frank About Women about women’s retail rituals, women cited a recommendation from a friend or family member and online consumer review as the primary influencers behind their most recent product purchase. Women’s top two influencers are both WOM, proving that the power of WOM cannot be underestimated.

I’ll be interested to see the results of BzzAgent’s challenge and hope the results further strengthen PR professionals’ ability to measure WOM campaigns. What are some examples of your favorite and, in your opinion, most successful, WOM campaigns?

In the kitchen or on the nightstand. This is our problem.  For the past two weeks, my family and I have been living with Chumby. Currently, it’s on my nightstand. There is some debate as to whether this should continue to be the case. Let me tell you a little about it so you can help my dear family out.

It wakes me up at 6:30a and delivers an audio recording of the front page of the New York Times before I’ve pushed myself off the bed. From 9a to 5p, Chumby rotates between the time, the local weather forecast (complete with radar), and a personalized message to my wife reminding her how much I adore her -which I should probably update Monday while I’m at work to remind her the washing machine repair guy is scheduled to stop by. It displays New York Times up-to-the-minute headlines, and photos from my Flickr stream. The kids are always mesmerized when they see the photo stream pop-up and run to the Chumby where they can flick forward and back through the photos with their fingers, similar to navigating on an iPhone. At 5p Chumby gets a little less formal. It switches from a serious digital clock to a Pong Clock (it’s Pong! But instead of the score, it shows the time at the top) plus, it displays critical to know Chuck Norris facts, and the always fun but sometimes maddening ChumBall game - played by picking up the Chumby and tilting it to and fro to keep a marble on a razor thin track/maze. My 13 year old has one of the top 10 scores of all ChumBall players. I’m very proud.

Exactly what is the Chumby? I believe it is one of the best and most useful examples of convergence that the consumer electronics world has seen to date. Quite simply, it delivers tidbits of customized information and tools to me (and my family) at the times I tell it to. I’ve programmed my Chumby to be an alarm clock in the morning, a newspaper/love note/picture frame during the day, and a game machine in the evenings. It took me about an hour to do this.

The Chumby

Ahh, convergence. The concept of the Internet and all its endless content fueled glory, fused with our everyday consumer electronics - It’s been often promised but seldom executed in a manner that has actually solved any burning consumer need.

But the folks at Chumby may have discovered the alchemy that just might make it work.

- A reasonable price: At $180, it’s not cheap, but it’s within the range of high-end iPod dock/alarm clock combos.

- An easy to use interface: Convergence has actually made the Chumby easier to use than a typical clock radio. The clock sets the time itself, like your computer. It’s always right.

- Infinitely customizable and useful content: Content on a Clock Radio? The morning WSJ headlines? My Gmail inbox? Local weather and traffic? A streaming radio station from Mozambique? Wake up to any of them. This is stuff I actually want…no need, on my bedside table.

But I have a feeling the Chumby is moving to the kitchen soon.

So where do they come from? Gavin Heaton shared a terrific video on his blog Servant of Chaos. Gavin notes, “Watch this video to see how one region in the UK has been harvesting creative talent for generations.” He tips his hat to Kris Hoet at ‘Cross the Breeze.

I came upon an interesting guerilla marketing tactic called clean-vertising. It’s a brand message on sidewalks simply created by a pressure washer and a template.

Given that many municipalities have recently been cracking down on sidewalk clings and the like, this is a safe, green and inexpensive alternative. No paper, no ink, no printing process and they can last up to six months, depending on foot traffic and weather.

If you don’t mind your brand message being walked all over, this tactic may be for you. It seems especially ideal for brands related to shoes, feet and cleaning.

Example from PUMA

Yesterday, the most ubiquitous online property, Google, launched a world of its own entitled Lively. Unlike Second Life, a destination, Lively rooms will live everywhere. Anyone with a Google Account can construct their own avatar and wander the Internet, visiting rooms located at blogs, social networking sites, and if a company were to be inclined, the company website.

So what does all this mean? This foray into virtual reality can be seen as a step into the 3D web, where user names gain a face and movement, mimicking reality. It may only be in public beta now, but there is a chance for monetization as one would imagine, why else would they put two years of secret development into the project.

But it can also be seen as a bold move into the world of social networking, where the real time interactions can occur anywhere on the net. Its too early to tell, but I’m certain that it will have implications across the internet and the marketing industry. Some may like it, others may not.

If you feel like trying it out, feel free to visit me or look for username: freescribbles. (warning: My room could use some work.)

(cross-posted with freescribbles)

You’re making a twenty minute presentation to ten people who may represent various disciplines, tenures, priorities, etc. at your client’s company. You’ve prepared for weeks. The strategy is sound. The ideas are great, and you’re ready to blow them away. At then end of the presentation, you’re less than enthused with their enthusiasm.

Some of your audience enjoyed it and truly got it. Most of them have confused looks on their faces or they start to ask you questions that are beginning to boggle your mind just a bit. What happened? Was it the presentation? The audience? It’s probably a little bit of both.

Issue #1 - You’ve been thinking about this for weeks. They’ve just received a 20 minute download, and you expect the audience to be where you are as it relates to the acceptance of your ideas. It’s rarely, if ever, going to happen. Understand that your presentation is only the kickoff to your audience achieving understanding.

Issue #2 - You’ve been thinking about this for so long, know it so well, and are so convinced that it’s great, that you may have skipped a few steps in your presentation along the way. A familiar trap for the presentation team is to go A, B, C, F - assuming that your audience will fill-in the missing letters or probably not realizing you ever left them out. Get the affirmative nods after each letter, don’t skip one, and if you don’t get the nods, then be sure to clarify your point in the moment. Don’t wait until the end.

Issue #3 - Everyone in your audience brings a unique perspective to the dialogue. They all have what Edgar Schein would describe as basic assumptions, values and beliefs that impact the way they receive the information and ideas you’re sharing. You will never know your audience so well as to understand all of the underlying issues. When they start to ask questions, don’t be boggled. Ask even better questions of them. Crawl inside what is driving any indifference or reluctance. What’s more, be patient. Let them think about it for awhile.

If the information is well presented, they’ll likely begin to adopt your ideas with the same level of enthusiasm you brought to the meeting. And if you’re lucky, they’ll eventually adopt your ideas as their own.

It turns out that police departments across the country are beginning to embrace new methods for obtaining important crime tips, which are aimed at giving younger folks more comfort and anonymity in reporting crimes. Here is a great article on the trend.

It’s a reminder that most businesses need to continually evolve how they interact with their target audiences to achieve their goals. No longer can we expect them to spend time and energy to overcome obstacles to show up at our proverbial doors. We need to join the lines of communication that they’re already comfortable with and using and become active participants in creating dialog where they are.

Chances are good that a number of your consumers text, microblog, read blogs, write blogs, connect with friends, connect with professionals, and on and on and on. Find out where they are and think about ways you can join the conversation with them in meaningful ways. Make it easy for them to share their opinions, knowledge, dreams and frustrations with your brand and a lot of them will take you up on it.

There is wonderful power in the opportunities that are presented when we make it easier for others to communicate with us. Just ask criminals in Boston, Louisville, Tampa, Seattle, and Detroit.

How has your company or client changed the ways they interact with consumers recently?

I’ve always loved the concept of paying it forward: Do something for another with no expectation for that person to return the favor, but instead, hope the act will inspire them to help another person someday. We may know it from the movie, but this concept of “generalized reciprocity” was first described in a letter written by none other than Ben Franklin in 1784.

Now fast forward to 2006, David Maister (who’s taking a well deserved summer off from blogging) included me in a thank you post he writes every month to express his gratiude to those who comment on his blog. And he does so with links to his commenters blogs. David understands that contributing to the conversation on a blog takes time and for most people is a truly generous act, benefiting both the blogger and the audience. Without comments there is no dialogue, and without a dialogue of sorts, then a blog operates at less than half strength regardless of how good the author.

I’ve made the monthly thank you post a practice ever since, and today because of twitter and the other tools that allow people to contribute it so many different ways, I’ve expanded my thank you list to include not only commenters on my blog, but contributors in other social media forums including twitter, PROpenMic, etc.

Yesterday David Mullen, who’s a colleague at Mullen and fellow blogger at relentlessPR, wrote a post thanking those who commented on his new blog based on my thank you post for June. Reading it made my day.

I ‘ve always believed that being successful in social media starts with having basic social skills. A simple thank you goes a long way. If you haven’t thanked those who contribute to your own blogs recently, please do. Your readers will appreciate it, and I believe you’ll inspire them to thank it forward as well!

*A crosspost from ClientService Insights…(CSI/Season 2)