Let’s Discuss

Entertainment and Marketing. Two separate entities? Not so much. More and more they are one in the same.

EMG 30-Second Rundown

As Chrissy mentions below, the amount of information thrown at us each day is astounding. On most days, I would venture to say that a vast majority of our activities are tied to a brand. Wake up in the morning and get into the shower and realize you are out of your Pantene shampoo. Make a mental note to go to CVS to get more. Look in your closet and decide to wear your favorite t-shirt from American Apparel. Get in your Toyota and drive to work. Along the way note how terrible that new movie, “She’s Out of My League” looks based on the billboard you drive by. Get to your computer and automatically your MSN messenger opens, you check your Gmail, get served ads, watch the OK Go video, sponsored by State Farm. Wait, OK Go and State Farm? What might they have to do with one another? Honestly, nothing, other than opportunity—an opportunity for State Farm to associate itself with really great content. This is where marketing has started to get interesting.

The EMG Takeaway

Marketing has historically been about messaging. Over the years it’s gotten much better at targeting that message, making campaigns more cost effective and ideally more efficient. However, a new crop of marketing is on the rise, and it is more about entertainment than ever before. Ever heard the adage “Content is King”? It’s no lie. As people have become wiser and more impervious to traditional marketing (who has time in their day?), they are, at the same time consuming more and more content (thank you, internet and mobile phones). As brands like State Farm are realizing, aligning themselves with entertaining content that holds consumers attention gives them something that more traditional brands don’t have—a personality. When creating a marketing strategy EMG will always clearly define the target audience in terms of both demographics and psychographics. What “branded content” provides is a vehicle to not just say you understand your audience, but rather to show them that you speak their language and get what they care about. EMG always blends the art of storytelling when positioning a brand and is creating content that doesn’t just inform but entertains as well. More traditional sponsorships were the beginning of this evolution and now we’re in the middle of the true upswing of branded content and branded entertainment (BE has had a few false starts as the next big thing).

Final Words

Reese’s Pieces in E.T. opened the doors and showed what aligning with a great story could do for a brand. Now is the time for brands to step out of the box and create their own content. Check out Sony’s “The Rocket Project”—it’s a story about how the Vaio’s capabilities are great enough to launch a rocket. Informative and entertaining.

Don’t be overwhelmed. “Content” doesn’t have to mean million dollar video project. It can be a small step—contests, user generated videos, sponsorship (never doubt the power of affiliation…just ask Sprite (NBA))—that sets the stage for current and future fans to take notice and pay attention. At the end of the day, before any Call to Action can be completed, you’ve first got to get that consumer to PAY ATTENTION!

3 Questions to Continue the Discussion

1. Have you noticed brands popping up where you wouldn’t have necessarily expect them? For example, at the end of an OK Go video? (FYI, the video is pretty cool….you can find it here)
2. Would you be deterred from watching something if you knew it was blatantly funded by a brand? No offense, but chances are, no. Top Chef wouldn’t be around if it weren’t for GE and the Glad family of products.
3. Got any awesome ideas for a branded entertainment campaign?

Let’s Discuss
As we are getting more and more information from multiple resources how do we filter what gets our attention and focus on what matters the most.

EMG 30-Second Rundown
All of us are bombarded each day with so much information that you may begin to wonder how to get anything done that you really need to. With that said this is only going to get worse as time goes on. There will continually be new ways of getting information, communicating with your team or clients, social networking sites, etc. Each person has to take the time to figure out what works for them in terms of organization and being able to cancel unnecessary noise which comes in the Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s Discuss
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Netbook.

EMG 30-Second Rundown
My netbook (HP Mini 1000) is the most productive computer I have ever owned, and happens to be a green computer too.

First let me be clear, this is not the fastest computer I’ve ever used, but it is the greenest.  In fact, this computer is EPEAT Silver certified.  EPEAT is a system that helps purchasers evaluate, compare and select electronic products based on their environmental attributes.
Everything about this netbook screams green.  A smaller screen size means less materials in the unit, solid state drive means less power consumption, smaller more eco friendly packaging meaning less carbon footprint for shipping.  Yet the netbook is good enough for everything I do:   as it handles the entire Microsoft Office Suite without any problems. I use it to email, browse the web, listen to music, touch up photos and even watch online video.  I suspect this is true of most people.
I never thought that a computer with just a 10” screen, a low power processor, and a nearly decade old operating system (Windows XP was released in 2001) would be able to completely handle everything I needed for work and play. I’ve never felt held back by its performance or size.

The EMG Takeaway
The netbook follows the “take only what you need” approach.  Using about 10% of a desktop computer’s carbon footprint, the netbook has done everything I’ve thrown at it.
Putting my ego aside, I realized I don’t need a 17” screen when  10” will do.  I don’t need the latest processor when the efficient processor runs the software I use without any delay.  I don’t need what I don’t use, and in that way, this is the most efficient and green computer I’ve ever used.

3 Questions to Continue the Discussion
When most of the time we aren’t using the capacity of our computer, why should we be paying for it?
Unless you are in a specialized field working with large graphics or video, or a hard core gamer, why do we have this desire for the fastest system?
How many of us regularly are editing high definition video?  Manipulating 20+ megapixel production quality photos?  Do more than just use the Microsoft Office Suite and the internet?

Let’s discuss: An article from Techcrunch  Saving the World or Another FB App?

EMG 30 sec rundown: During the UC Berkeley Hackathon 128 students “hacked” for 24 hours straight, building some of the coolest websites, games, Twitter stream analyzers, and Facebook apps. One of the categories teams were judged on was “social good.” Does this technology or software contribute to the social well being of our planet? According to writer Vivek Wadhwa there was only one team worthy of receiving the prize. The team built a system for villagers in developing countries that enables them to send SMSs to volunteers who can provide emergency medical advice. Most judges didn’t understand that developing countries do not have a medical emergency system like 911. The team that did win for “social good” developed a polling technology for Universities. Judges felt helping universities was “social good.” This raises the question, can we build a social media app that betters our planet and makes a healthy profit?

EMG takeaway: EMG is a leader in the world of social media and interactive marketing. Companies look to our expertise in these verticals. We saw a new form of marketing and it was up to us to show others how to use it. As early adopters and experts I feel nobody is better suited to show people how social media can better our planet.

Social media is constantly evolving and new ideas are created every minute; however these ideas are usually for personal gain and/or self promotion. It is a challenge to be selfless and an even bigger challenge to be selfless while making a profit. Creating ideas for the “social good” can be as simple as creating a Facebook fan page for trash pickup at the beach. The great thing about ideas to better our planet is that even on a small scale they can do big things.

 Final Words:  Social media has definitely become a part of our lives and changed the way we live. Using it to better our planet and improve the way others live is a great challenge.

3 Questions to Continue the Discussion: Do you have a favorite charity/cause/group? Can you think of a social impact app or technology for them?

Many companies create a product which people want, improve lives and solves problems, is this considered social betterment?

Is it even possible to develop an app that not only contributes to the “social good” of the world, but is also profitable?

Let’s Discuss:
There are many online social networking sites out there and there are many avid subscribers and users of these networks. As popularity increases, so does the number of new social networking sites. Will these survive on Eyeballs alone?

EMG 30-Second Rundown:
In the television heyday there were 3 major networks which split to four with Fox’s move into the market in 1986. Less competition = more eyeballs. More eyeballs = bigger ad spends. The 4 major networks had an airwave monopoly controlling a popular medium that allowed advertisers to reach into living rooms. In the late ’90s through today, cable and satellite television providers have been adding more channels and splitting those audiences between an ever growing list of channels. More competition=fewer eyeballs. Fewer eyeballs=less revenue per network because advertisers have to split their spends across multiple networks to reach the same number of people. Are we currently witnessing a similar event in the online market space?

Google recently released Google Buzz as a social media platform to cut into twitter’s market share, and all before twitter has released a revenue generation model. Smart business move or is Google diluting their product offerings? We know how Google has monetized their search model. They have a whole slew of services around serving up ads on specific key word searches. Twitter on the other hand does not have a proven revenue model, so how will they endure?

EMG Takeaway:
What are the ways that twitter can make money based around their platform?

1. In page ad serve. Ok, one of the easiest to come up with off the top of my head is serving ads on twitter pages or inter tweet ads. Simple, easy, but questionable in effectiveness. They could serve relevant ads based around tweets, but would you click on inter tweet ads or learn to tune them out after you get used to the format? I would liken these to display ad traffic. Not necessarily the highest converting traffic or the best bang for your buck, but with large volume users, they could probably generate revenue from this model.
2. http://search.twitter.com - Follow a Google model and serve up ads based on search terms on their search feature. This is starting to look a little more promising, but still lacks the wide spread value that Google has. This is because twitter searches tweets and there aren’t as many people searching for products through a twitter search. This approach lacks that critical tie in like the pay per click campaigns have on a Google search where people are actually looking for general products and services.
3. http://apiwiki.twitter.com/Twitter-API-Documentation - Twitter has an api that developers can tap into and pull feeds, but more importantly, set up interfaces to search twitter which makes it one of the biggest and arguably the most powerful social barometers around. It could be an invaluable tool for businesses and marketing agencies to interface with this api to research what the general population is tweeting about. This information becomes more and more valuable as the number of Tweeters goes up.

I have searched around and found many proposed revenue models for twitter and similar social networking sites. There is no way for us to tell exactly how they are going to make money until they actually do, but in the meantime we can use them for entertainment, staying connected, meeting new people and those of us in Marketing can use them as valuable tools in our day to day.

Final words:
The next time you are tweeting or reading someone else’s tweets, jump over to http://search.twitter.com and type in the first thing that comes to mind. Now start searching for terms relating to your business, your clients, your industry. At the very least it is extremely entertaining, but quite possibly a very powerful tool to help you shape your business and product offerings.

Questions for Discussion:

• Have twitter, and now Google, figured out a secret way to capitalize on people boasting their current state of mind and they are just waiting to unleash it on as at a later time, or are we going through dot com boom v2.0?
• Will Google’s Buzz cut into twitter’s market share, pulling people away from twitter and diluting the results of their “societal/cultural barometer”?
• What do you think will happen to the online social networking space as more and more ventures release social networking sites? Will people expand the networks they use, will the strong survive and the rest fail or will interest in social networks dwindle as people become over socialized?
• Will these social networks lose the critical mass that they needed to sell products or assemble the collective conscience that is needed to shape a marketing campaign?

…Only time will tell.

Let’s Discuss:
MicroHoo, YahSoft… whichever way you mash it up; it’s official! The Microsoft/ Yahoo deal proposed last summer has finally received clearance from U.S. and E.U. regulators.

EMG 30-Second Rundown:
What does this mean aside from some serious fist pumping from Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer?

We’re entering a new era of search with an alliance that aims to challenge Google’s market dominance. Yahoo and Microsoft shadow Google with recent comScore reports ranking Google’s share of searches at 65.7%, followed by Yahoo and Microsoft at 17.3% and 10.7% respectively.

Combining search from Yahoo and Microsoft will expand the collective data pool from which Microsoft can further develop, test and tweak platforms, search-related features and algorithms. The enhanced performance will boost both companies’ ability to compete against Google by improving search results, as well as amplifying appeal to search advertisers.

Taking over Yahoo’s search functionality will grant Microsoft access to nearly three times the search queries it’s receiving independently. The increased search volume will enable accelerated algorithmic innovation resulting in more relevant results for a larger pool of search queries.

Delegating search duties to Microsoft frees up Yahoo to focus investment on areas in which they excel including building their portfolio of destination web properties and display advertising capabilities.

So what will this new alliance look like? In a nutshell, Microsoft (Bing) will power Yahoo’s organic and paid search platforms while Yahoo will handle premium search advertising sales for the combined unit.

Celebrations for overcoming this regulatory milestone will be short-lived as the companies’ goal will is to have U.S. implementation completed by the end of 2010. Further details can be found on the official Search Alliance site.

EMG Takeaway:
Attention advertisers, marketers, shareholders and general search enthusiasts (i.e. everyone)… prepare yourselves because the real battle for search market dominance is about to begin!

We’re going to see more performance improvements, more product innovation and better integration from all players as Google’s monopolistic advantages wane under increased competitive pressure.

Google may be forced to up the ante on traditional media buys (e.g. “Search Stories” Super Bowl spot) to defend against Bing’s mass media quest for search mind share as the “Decision Engine.”

Ultimately, this deal is going to mean different things to different groups of people. However, we will all benefit from stronger competition in the search marketplace as it forces companies to work harder for our loyalty.

Final Words:
There will be big changes in the search market landscape with the Microsoft/ Yahoo search alliance rapidly coming to fruition. Maintaining and acquiring search share will demand that key players (and challengers) diversify product offerings without diluting the meaning behind their brand promise.

While search is as much a societal mainstay as the internet, the business of search is still very much in its infancy. Whether the search engine on top will be Google, MicroHoo or a new challenger, one thing is certain; the biggest winner will be the engine able to monetize search services beyond “10 Blue Links” and banner inundation in a manner that benefits searchers, advertisers and publishers.

Three Questions to Continue the Discussion:
1.)    How is this going to affect SEM campaign management?
2.)    What efforts will Google take to maintain search dominance?
3.)    Preferred mashup; MicroHoo or YahSoft?

Inspired by Mashable’s Onion Ring More Popular Than Justin Bieber in Latest Facebook Meme

Let’s Discuss: Wildly popular “other” Facebook fan pages that are neither Artist, Band, Public Figure, Brand, Product, Organization, or Local Entity (the categories Facebook expects all fan pages to ascribe to), and the motivating forces behind their creation and popularity with those who fan them.

EMG 30-Second Rundown
Some examples of these “other” Facebook fan pages are: Ra Ra Ra Ah Ah Ah, Roma Ro Ma Ma, Gaga Ooh La La (915,233 fans and counting), Snow Cones (528,184 fans and counting), and Can this Onion Ring get more fans than Stephen Harper? (145,166 fans and counting, good thing fried food can’t be elected Canadian Prime Minister).

For context, Honda, which ended its recent Super Bowl commercial with a reference to Facebook.com/Honda, has 299,262 Facebook fans. And in case you’re wondering, “Ra Ra Ra Ah Ah Ah, Roma Ro Ma Ma, Gaga Ooh La La” is a lyric from the Lady Gaga song Bad Romance. That’s correct; a lyric from a Lady Gaga song has more fans on Facebook than the 5th largest manufacturer of cars in the world. I digress.

It’s important to note to that according to Facebook terms of service, “Pages are special profiles that may only be used to promote a business or other commercial, political, or charitable organization or endeavor (including non-profit organizations, political campaigns, bands, and celebrities).” Facebook suggests users who want to create other types of fan pages create a Facebook Group instead, but that hasn’t stopped the flood of these non-conformist Facebook fan pages.

The EMG Takeaway
Why do people create and join these fan pages?

• To display adoration (“I love snow cones, I’ll make a Facebook fan page!”) or perhaps to find others who share a common passion; after all, the best social endeavors facilitate connections of value. On the Snow Cones fan page, the post “Do you have an awesome snow cone story? Let’s hear it!” elicited 691 comments, including my favorite, “While I was pregnant with my first son, I was very sick the entire 9 months. I even lost 40 lbs. because I couldn’t keep food down. The only thing I could eat was Snowcones! Snowcones saved me. My son, now 21, always tells this story to explain why he loves them too.” Unofficial fan pages become micro-niche communities around a common passion.

• To make others laugh, or to be the author of an internet meme. The virality of the internet is greased with humor (ask the founders of Fail Blog, the creators of Rick Rolling, or the 5 million people who go to Break.com every month). According to the original admin of Ra Ra Ra Ah Ah Ah, Roma Ro Ma Ma, Gaga Ooh La La, “I started the page because it was a joke between me and my friends, we didn’t really like the song and thought the lyrics were really random… I didn’t really expect it to get too many fans but then it randomly got big, very fast.” While I personally wouldn’t laugh if I saw a friend become a fan of this particular page, I might if I noticed a friend fan, “Pretending to Text in Awkward Situations,” (3,149,129 fans and counting).

• To make a statement or join a movement. In an environment where fans = popularity, demonstrating that an onion ring can garner more fans than the Prime Minister of Canada is quite a statement. Judging by fan comments on the page “Can this Onion Ring get more fans than Stephen Harper?” (“Onion rings are far more tasty than Conservative policy” and “Even this bad onion ring is better for my health than Stephen Harper”), the statement made by the page creator clearly resonates. In this case fanning a page is almost like slapping a bumper sticker on your car. Also consider that people gravitate towards movements with goals (let’s get more fans than…), and they join these fan pages for the same reason people “followed” Ashton Kutcher on Twitter to help him beat out CNN in a race to one million followers. We want to be a part of something greater than ourselves.

So what can you learn from these “other” fan pages?

As you build your own “official” fan pages, seek out fans that love what you do or the product you provide. When you do engage with your fans, the responses will be that much more passionate, genuine, and valuable to the connections you are creating. Study the most successful of these fan pages as a lesson in what goes viral. “Pretending to Text in Awkward Situations” sounds like an awesome campaign name Boost Mobile. Finally, give your fan base, audience, customers, etc. something to rally around. Yes, contests and sweepstakes are a great motivator, but uniting people in pursuit of a singular and common goal can be very powerful too.

Final Words: Facebook fan pages are great for brands…and a source of niche-communities, viral humor, and Canadian political movements we can all learn from.

3 Questions to Continue the Discussion

1. Have you joined one of these “other” Facebook fan pages? And if so, why?
2. Can you suggest a better categorization for these pages than “other”?
3. Do these pages constitute spam and dilute the value of “official” Facebook fan pages?

Photo credit: Dhack55 / Flickr

Let’s Discuss: An article from the New York Times, The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies by Their 20s

EMG 30-Second Rundown: The pace at which technology is accelerating is exaggerating the differences in culture, expectations, and mindsets among different generations of today’s children, teenagers, and young adults. It’s essentially creating mini-generation gaps. Kids only years apart might have vastly different communication preferences, and even mental capabilities such as multi-tasking.

Key Quote: “People two, three or four years apart are having completely different experiences with technology…College students scratch their heads at what their high school siblings are doing, and they scratch their heads at their younger siblings. It has sped up generational differences.”

The EMG Takeaway: Perhaps the notion of the “18-25 year old” marketing segment loses a bit of relevancy as the difference of only a couple years displays itself in exaggerated ways. The article is also resounding endorsement of the discovery process, truly understanding who you are trying to reach, their expectations and needs, and why that knowledge might alter your tactical approach. It’s a phenomenal reminder too for us to step outside of our own expectations for how we want products marketed to us. While one generation might find receiving a text message upon entry to a grocery store utterly intrusive, another generation (or sub-generation) might expect the interaction and find the experience odd or disappointing without it.

Final Words: An article interesting for the insight it provides, and the reminder that it serves.

Three Questions from EMG to Continue the Discussion:

1. How do you stay actively in touch with the expectations of those outside your own generation?

2. Have you observed instances of this mini-generational gap in your own life?

3. Kids have always had the attitude that their parents are hopelessly out of touch; is this any different, or is the contrast of the divide starker than ever?

Photo credit: gnta / Flickr

With all of the recent buzz surrounding Sarah Palin’s new book “Going Rogue” I thought I would post a little something about the importance of ALIGNMENT within an organization. This is NOT a post about my thoughts on the book…or my thoughts about Mrs. Palin (although I am sure I could post something VERY interesting)…it is really about the nature of preventing rogue behavior within an organization improve communication and overall results.

Recently I went kayaking in the Long Beach marina and while I was paddling around I admired the row-boats that passed me by with about a dozen or so “rowers” listening to the captain of their ship calling out when to row. It was clear with each stroke the team intently LISTENED and followed in synchronization with their row propelling their boat faster and faster. This is a clear example that alignment within an organization takes a leader, listeners, and a common goal. If you want to go faster everyone must all row in one direction toward a common purpose, listen to their leader, and look to the finish line with purpose!

Alignment is more than just rowing in the same direction. For example, I have personally experienced great things happening when emotion is paired with intellect. I like to call this alignment of the right brain and the left brain. When creativity and passion are aligned with business and strategy one can be unstoppable. Sometimes this type of alignment occurs within a group or even better within one person.

Alignment is critical to success and it is what I strive for each day within myself and with my teams and company!

Here is to alignment…and NOT going rogue.

What’s Geocaching you say?

It is treasure hunting with GPS.

Basically, someone goes out and hides something in public and posts the coordinates online. You are then supposed to go to that website, get the coordinates and put them into your GPS (hand-held GPS, not your car navigation).

The coordinates get you pretty close to the item (or “cache” as it is called) and you have to use the clues they post online to find it.

The caches ranges in size from a small matchbook to a big ammo box. Inside you’ll always find a log where you can put your name, and in the bigger ones people leave little knickknacks and toys. It’s great for kids because they can trade one of their old toys for a toy that is inside.  Some caches even have stuff for grown ups like movies (my buddy got a Willow DVD out of one).

Geocaching is a great hobby for technical geeks like me who like to “figure things out” and for families who want to spend time together outdoors.

So far, me and my family have found 48 caches in and around our city.   How about you?  Are there any other geocachers out there?