Is your organization lacking organization when it comes to content marketing? Tippingpoint Labs teaches techniques to help your team become more effective at creating the right strategy and execution plans for content marketing.

Content Marketing Philosophies

Craft the Right Content for the Right Audience Delivered at the Right Moment	The McKinsey Consumer Decision Journey has shaped the way many marketers approached messaging and communicating to consumers. We adapted the Consumer Decision Journey to account for a deep integration in the digital world and layered on our strategic thinking regarding effective content creation. Using a deep understanding of consumer behavior, we can better define the right content to create, for the right audience, in the right medium, at the right time.
Connect with the Audience in a Meaningful Manner	We believe that brands must find the intersection of relevant, high quality, and frequent content creation in order to realize success with content marketing initiatives. Relevant: Ensure that you have the permission to speak with authority on the messaging points to the target audience. High Quality: Must meet and exceed the expectation of the audience. Quality varies and it’s important to understand what is expected. Frequent: Only with consistency and frequency is a relationship forged and a foundation for action established.
Take an Audience-First Approach to Distribution	Your website is not the center of the universe. Search is. You have to go where communities already exist, without expecting those communities to come to you. It’s important to build a distribution strategy that allows for the target and niche audience that moves the market to find you. Create content that is meaningful and builds authentic relationships and the net result is positive.
Content is only Effective if it’s Focused	You cannot be all things to all people. Who moves the market? Who is a purchasing decision maker? Who is an influencer? Knowing your audience is one thing. Not being afraid to go after niche segments in order to message effectively to a smaller group, is another.

Content marketing is not going away. The brands and companies that embrace it with a strategic and efficient approach will be proficient and realize great results from the efforts.

It’s a lot of information to digest, we know! But we can help with that.

Last week, CNNMoney posted an article entitled: 7 social networks to watch in 2013. What struck me about these new networks is they all seemed to answer one of three needs:
 

1. I need to communicate with a lot of people.
2. I need to make money for my efforts.
3. I need to say/share more.

Do we all have a desire now to communicate more freely with strangers in a more verbose manner with the hope of making money from the interactions? Is there an app that could combine all these needs?

Come together

Many of us, ahem, have played the game “hot or not,” in which we quickly view a photo of a person and determine from one picture in less than 5 seconds if this person is hot or if they are unfortunately not. Thumb is a way to find out if you are hot or not, in a different way. Don’t have a friend around to tell you if you can pull off an outfit? No worries, snap a photo and find out what strangers think. I see great applications of this service by retail stores actually. Rather than rely on one sales associate to tell you that you look great in those jeans, have her snap a pic and find out if she’s right. The sales associates you can trust will have the crowd on her side.

Facebook, Twitter, IM, text not easy enough for you? Now share links through sound with Chirp. You do not have to be connected on social networks to share. It’s another way to share with strangers (and friends) who are also using the app.

And, not for strangers, but for companies and organizations looking for an easier way to hear lots of voices at once, there’s Conversations from HootSuite. Their site reads, “Invite anyone to chat within teams or to the entire company, push messages from social networks to conversations within HootSuite and discuss, like, retweet, even broadcast further to members’ own social networks.” Amen for no more “company wide” email chains that last two days and end with 20 emails exchanges about the rotting milk in the fridge.

Put your money where your mouth is

There was such an outbreak of controversy surrounding the idea of Instagram selling our photos that they went into full fledged damage control and updated their terms of service. However, it seems we are not opposed to selling our photos, videos, observations as long as we are in control of the process. Pheed does just that. Will be great to see how high the self-created pricing structure can get with these user generated photos and videos. Will it help celebrities with the plight of the paparazzi?

Another new monetization network, Chirpify (no relation to Chirp above), simply allows users to click “buy” from sellers who are posting products to Twitter or Instagram. How’s that for instant gratification? Seems eBay should have tried this with their “Buy it Now” feature long ago.

Short Form to Long

The creator of Twitter has recognized that perhaps 140 characters is not always the best way to share information and has started Medium, an invitation-only network with curated users generating longer form content where others can read and comment. I see a lot of opportunities for authors to use both Twitter to Medium. Post tweets along a single subject matter for a few days, see if it resonates, and then try out a longer form version of that on Medium. It’s a great way to gauge interest from Twitter first to see if an article can generate greater interest.

One photo not enough? How about a better organizational tool to bundle multiple pictures into an album and share more than just a single 1000 words? Flayvr allows for that functionality so that your photo from two weeks ago is not lost in the ether of your camera roll. This album is now worth 15000 words.

What do you think of these trends and how they are being answered with these CNNMoney social networks to watch?

I was sent an article, written by Jesse Stanchak, that paraphrases (there’s that word again) Scott Monty’s “social storytelling lessons” speech at NMX Las Vegas. Monty has spent the last four years as Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager at Ford (a Gold Sponsor of NMX). The article, and presumably Monty’s presentation, shares 4 principles about developing a good branded content strategy. I found its simplicity refreshing and its take-aways very similar to the content philosophies we employ at Tippingpoint Labs.

1. “Let fans tell your story.”

Many brands are afraid to let their customers write about their products. They are afraid to give up control. This is as much a product development problem as it is a social media one. If brands stand behind their products, their customers will as well, and some may even become evangelists. It is important to hear from your customers not only through feedback and customer service, but also through open and honest communications on social media. Don’t be afraid of opening up content creation to non-employees or vendors. Embrace it.

2. “Rethink how you share news.”

Ford did not wait for a trade show to unveil a new model of the Ford Explorer. In fact, they first engaged fans months prior to the launch. This kind of engagement brings your most loyal fans into the fold and makes them feel heard and appreciated. Creating mini-advisory groups online to act like a sounding board is not only a wonderful way to keep your advocates loyal, it also provides invaluable insight about the brand, the product, and the launch messaging that can be the most effective.

Your website is not the center of the universe. Search is. Brands have to go where communities already exist, without expecting those communities to come to you.

3. “Share content everywhere you can.”

At Tippingpoint Labs, we call this the Galilean Model. Your website is not the center of the universe, search is. There is no more “if you build it they will come” mentality. Consumers have platforms they rely on for consuming content – Hulu (as Ford discovered), YouTube, Vimeo, iTunes, Twitter, Facebook, etc. As brands, you must find the platforms that are engaging your audience now and become relevant there.

4. “Be willing to experiment and learn from mistakes”.

This is a tough pill to swallow at times for brands looking for a sure thing or quick viral hit. We talk about the idea of approaching your social media efforts as you would a diversified stock portfolio. Put a portion of the dollars and resources where you have proven success so the results can be somewhat projected. But spend dollars to diversify and take risk and, as Monty says, experiment. Try new things with these dollars. Learn from the experiments, both the good and the bad, and apply those learnings within your next social media mix.

Although I did not have the pleasure of hearing Monty speak, I am thankful for Stanchak’s recap.

Now, whose turn is it in the game of telephone?

Starbucks NYT Independence Day Letter

Howard didn’t ask me to donate money. He didn’t invite you to buy one of his charity bracelets (although one’s pictured in the ad.) Howard simply asked us to create content.

Schultz writes:

On Instagram, post a photo of the America we all need to see. On Twitter, provide a link to an innovative idea. Blog about who’s making a difference in your community; or on YouTube, share how you made your American Dream come true. No matter where you post, if you use the tag #indivisible, Starbucks will do its part to collect and amplify your voices.

Did you catch that last line? “Starbucks will do its part to collect and amplify your voices.”

Starbucks has a powerful audience of fans, followers and friends. With 30MM Facebook fans alone Starbucks is a powerful media channel. Don’t take Howard’s offer lightly. He has the power to amplify our voice. But so do you!

Ask Yourself…

…How have you leveraged your corporate power to amplify the voices of the people your customers want to help? What does your company believe in and what have you done to collect and amplify your employees’ voices?

What if…

…you leveraged your audience on social channels to help your clients and customers make a difference in the world? What if you collected and amplified your clients voices to better their world?

What if you came up with your own #indivisible strategy?

Perhaps we are simply witnessing a Darwinian evolution of the print species. The question is, what strategy makes a publication survive and can it be adopted by the weaker?

The Print is Dead Argument

“Your future is digital, and digital thinking needs to start at the very top. Digital product people are not your classic CTOs or CIOs; they’re people who think creatively about how to use technology to create digital experiences, and marry editorial with functionality.”
Jordan Kurzweil, in TechCrunch

Circulation numbers for newspapers and magazines are down. Advertising to editorial page ratios are out of whack. Local papers, around for 60+ years, are closing up shop. Rising printing costs prohibit quality production. It’s bleak.

Just this past February, TechCrunch posted a compelling argument about the demise of print periodicals and provided some great ways for publishers to right the ship. Digitally. But a quick move to digital may just exacerbate the problems experienced in print.

The Power of Print

On a Sunday morning, I do not think to myself, I’m going to lie on the couch and surf the web. No, I want to “lose myself” in a good book or a great article. Print evokes a feeling that is not often found on the web.

Think about even how advertisers track success online: page views, time on page, bounce rate. It’s not assumed that once consumers get to a online destination that they are engaged there. Viewers are tracked against these stats to understand engagement patterns. And the patterns are not impressive.

Think about how advertisers measure success in print publications: circulation, pass-along, page count, advertiser pedigree. The assumption is that if a reader purchases the magazine, they are engaged with it. They will consume the content. Perhaps not cover to cover, but chances are they are not bouncing after 1:37 minutes. The assumption is that the reader (along with the advertiser) is buying the quality of the magazine sight-unseen, based on past experience.

So, as a publisher, if your numbers are down, your readership has dropped, and your advertising revenue is plummeting, do not blame paper or print. The fact is that over time, the audience has determined that the quality no longer meets their standards. The engagement has been lost. If the articles were online, there would be high bounce and exit rates. Being online does not fix the problem.

Who is Surviving and Why

Even within this losing industry, there are some winners. Bridal, personal finance, and entertainment are showing gains in ad pages which may indicate the strength of these niche topical publications. New magazines are emerging like Du Jour poised to compete with Jason Binn’s previous invention, Niche Media, and publications like Departures from American Express. The fact that these three target the ultra-wealthy 1% (or in Du Jour’s case the .003%) may be a indicator of success though and not all print publications can tailor their content for this desirable audience.

Publications can, however, learn from their previous content to become more tailored and better in tune with the audience they have garnered. As a marketer, I get frustrated when a sales rep calls and tells me the audience their media reaches is women aged 35-54, with a household income of $75k+. You have a duty to understand the audience better than that. What articles did you write that received the most notes to the editor? If your articles are online, which are most read or emailed? This is where you find your niche and understand your audience. Follow the ants, don’t try to build a new colony.

Publications with very focused content and a deep understanding of the audience are going to survive. Look at McSweeny’s Lucky Peach quarterly journal. At $12 for a single issue, it is not a small investment — in print no less. No content found online. But every Chef and die-hard culinary enthusiast reads it. Devours it actually. Readers lose themselves in the articles. And then, we keep it as a resource. Oh, and guess what – Lucky Peach barely has any ads.

Ask yourself

As a publication, would you rather have increased readership or serve a very small highly engaged audience? Which makes you more of a resource, which makes you more of a commodity?

Brands are learning now that to connect with consumers, they must publish content. Some are really pushing that concept and have become media powerhouses.

The goal is to create a revenue-generating media business parallel to Red Bull’s beverage business. Red Bull’s media projects yield material for DVD, online, and TV, befitting the company’s new mold of creating content wherever followers of the Red Bull lifestyle may be.
— Fast Company

Red Bull Media House was awarded the #2 spot on Fast Company’s Top 10 Media List for its action sports and lifestyle programs over the past 20 years. Not every brand can be like Red Bull, but most recognize that they better start trying.

The difference between a brand and a publisher

Brands think they sell products and publishers think they sell ad space. The reality is that both need to look beyond where revenue is generated and more toward who generates the revenue: their loyal audience. When brands start recognizing that they already have an audience, they see less need for looking to media outlets as a vehicle for distribution. All of a sudden, brands realize they can be their own best megaphone.

Become a branded publisher of relevant content

A brand can publish editorially sound content

Nowness.com is owned by LVMH, the luxury group that includes Moët Hennessy and Louis Vuitton. Nowness promotes daily exclusives, mostly very high-end video that has nothing to do with any of the LVMH brands but has everything to do with their luxury aesthetic and high-quality standards.

Ask yourself: Why would LVMH support a content platform that does not tie back to their brand or to their products or to eCommerce?

Swide Magazine, a luxury magazine from Dolce & Gabbana, does connect the content with product and sales by including links to the D&G online store and other properties. However, the connection to eCommerce does not make the content any less relevant or editorially sound.

These luxury powerhouses are approaching online content in a very different manner and it’ll be interesting to see it play out.

Ask Yourself

What are your brand’s most valuable assets? It is not the inventory waiting to ship from the warehouse. It is the relationship your brand has built with consumers and audience over time. Brands have a voice. They have a position. It’s OK to use your voice and position to create not only great products but great stories that encompass your core values.

This video is only half the story.

Glowing snowboarder

Sometimes I stumble across an artistic video that is mesmerizing and I cannot stop watching it. I find myself thinking of ways to integrate the content with brands in order to extend the story and build a brandscape.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Make sure participants act like partners

That’s a talented snowboarder in the French Alps wearing an L.E.D.-enveloped suit. Many people and products were involved in making this video a success, even including director Jacob Sutton’s dad. The L.E.D. suit was crafted by John Spatcher, and the talented snowboarder is William Hughes. Mr. Sutton used a Red Epic camera to shoot and a lot of “vin rouge” to keep warm. We hear perfectly chosen music by Shervin Shaeri @ Mutant Jukebox. But there’s no connection tying all these great partners together.

Keep the audience coming back for more

Although Nowness.com published this one video (more on them later), I find myself wanting more of this story. How was the suit developed and tested? How were the French Alps chosen? Why was this the story the director wanted to tell? Did the wine freeze on the mountain? All that auxiliary content would make the video production that much more efficient.

Tell a 360-degree story

Brands and partners need to figure out how to tell a 360-degree story. What begins as a one-off video can become a fuller, more dynamic story beyond the original intent. Nowness does not need to tell the whole story; the partners can tell it on their own platforms, linking one story to the next until the user has had enough. I think of it as those old Choose your Own Adventure Books. If I am interested in French wine, I click on that story; if I am interested in the L.E.D. suit, I choose that story. There is more than one story to follow.

Partners round out the story behind the story

When brands band together, there are multidimensional stories that emerge. Each brand needs to understand what they bring to the main story and what they bring to their more focused one. Strong partnerships create efficiencies. A brand gets more bang for the buck and garners a more engaged audience by letting the consumers choose to see what they want to see behind the curtain.

What stories resonate with your audience

Let’s talk about the stories you’ve already shared and the ways to enhance the adventure.

The James Beard Awards were given out yesterday. Congrats to all the nominees and winners, especially to Rising Star Chef winner Christina Tosi.

Nominee Danny Bowien of Mission Chinese

We often guide talented content creators toward discovering their natural hook. It needs to be simple yet definitive. “Oh that’s the guy who blends everything. Including the iPhone.” “That’s the guy who does six-course meals in the subway and other crazy places.”

James Beard Rising Star Chefs

Since we work with a lot of different chefs, and since the celebrity chef trend is an intriguing model of people transcending one medium to another with the power of their hook, I thought it would be fun to look at the new James Beard nominees in the Rising Star Chef of the Year category. This is just a thought experiment, so don’t take it too seriously.

Do these chefs have clear hooks? Are they poised to grow their businesses into media opportunities?

In some cases it’s hard to separate these young chefs from their restaurants, so I’ll blend the two as well as possible and give it a go.

Dave Beran, Next, Chicago

Next Restaurant offers intense thematic menus based in historical periods or interesting concepts. Perusing through interviews and Dave’s Twitter feed, I suggest the hook is:

Chef Dave Beran is a culinary history detective. He tracks down and re-envisions flavors of days gone by and makes them relevant today.

Christina Tosi, Momofuku Milk Bar, NYC

Christina’s Momofuku Milk Bar is like a playground for deserts. Her approach is deceptively simple:

Chef Christina Tosi uses ingredients that people already love, to make refined yet approachable desserts that people crave. Butter + sugar + anything = delicious.

Sue Zemanick, Gautreau’s, New Orleans

Sue Zemanick is understated, kind, and seems to put others before herself, as her early exit from Top Chef All Stars would indicate. A hook doesn’t always have to be loudly assertive. An “anti-hook” can be just as differentiating in the marketplace:

Chef Sue Zemanick builds relationships with food with the gustatory intensity of a long conversation. She got booted from Top Chef for being too helpful.

Daniel Bowien, Mission Chinese Food, San Francisco

Mission Chinese is a cult favorite. It’s intriguing. I read somewhere that American Chinese food is our national cuisine. There are more Chinese restaurants than any other type. So it makes a lot of sense for someone to finally use a beat up old Chinese Restaurant to launch a whole new approach to food:

Chef Danny Bowien is the guy who turned Chinese food on its head with an infusion of new ingredients and approaches. He’s the Joe Strummer of Chinese food.

Thomas McNaughton, Flour + Water, San Francisco

Flour + Water is a homemade pasta and pizza restaurant that showcases the authentic regional variety of classic Italian cuisine. Chef McNaughton crafts every dish with a wealth of insider’s knowledge garnered from his time learning at a salumeria in Bologna.

Chef Thomas McNaughton is eight old Italian ladies trapped in a 28-year-old man’s body. He makes pasta the way pasta wants to be made.

What do you think?

Have you eaten at any of these restaurants? How would you state or refine the hooks I’ve written?

When you are full of creative ambitions, it is hard to focus on one key value that you can express in a memorable hook. Perhaps the hardest part is letting go of some of the things you like to do and focus on what you truly are best at.

Someone like Rachael Ray can do all kinds of amazing, practical things with food. But it took a special vision to say, “I help people make dinner in 30 minutes or less.” It is focus like this that helps build an audience.

Once Rachael’s audience was solidified, she was able to branch out and explore more of her talents and interests.

Hooks and brand partnerships

A hook helps brands understand why an audience connects with specific content. When talent has a strong hook, brands can more easily understand how they can align their brand values with that hook. A great example of this alignment is the long tradition of celebrity spokespeople.

The best brands find a spokesperson whose hook and accomplishments actually reflect their values, goal, and objectives. It’s a simple formula. When a brand and a talent connect on a deeper level, there is much greater potential for engagement and content creation than a mere thumbs-up in exchange for a big check.

For instance, Troy Polamalu can endorse lots of things. He’s that incredibly gifted, two-time Super-Bowl-winning football player with all that long curly hair. His partnership with Head & Shoulders is a perfect fit. Plus the fact that they insured his hair for $1M was word-of-mouth and social-media gold.

Seeing the Future

As we look at the new horizon of media plays, we’re going to see deeper alignments between brands and talent. It behooves talent to find their hook and learn how to use it.

As your brand looks for talent with whom to partner, put your unique value next to their hook. How do they match up? This will be a vital element of marketing in the years to come.

Check back tomorrow, when I’ll play around with figuring out hooks for the nominees in the Rising Star Chef of the Year category of the James Beard Awards.

This coming week, the culinary world will receive it’s newest James Beard Award winners. For those of you who don’t know, these awards mark the highest level of achievement in the culinary arts and media in North America.

The nominees read as a list of who’s who in the industry, including some we’ve had the pleasure of working with over the past year, like Jamie Bissonnette, Matthew Jennings, and Hedy Goldsmith.

Aside from the amazing talent that is represented on the list, the nominees also call our attention to valuable audience segments that are worthy of notice.

1. Southerners

A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen by Hugh Acheson Nominee for book award in American Cooking category
Southerners and lovers of southern food are very passionate about their food and they love to eat. They’re typically not afraid of some of the fattier ingredients that have gone in and out of vogue. They have a strong communal identity as well.

Brandscape opportunities: If you want to partner up to reach this audience, consider grills and smokers, cars, lifestyle clothing (think Chico’s), alcohol, packaged food brands (like Kraft).

2. Food Sensitives

The Intolerant Gourmet: Glorious Food without Gluten & Lactose by Barbara Kafka Nominee for book award in Focus on Health category
All it takes is one trip to the grocery store to realize this is a growing, trending audience segment. These folks are health conscious, whether they want to be or not. Brands have had a lot of success marketing simple, gluten-free and non-dairy solutions that make it easier for people to manage their conditions.

Brandscape opportunities: This field has a well-defined audience and some key brands who speak directly to them. But there is a lot of room for growth. Look to those already marketing to the gluten-free crowd, but also think creatively about what else is affecting their lives. Are there housecleaning supply companies that are GF? Perhaps other sensitivities come into play and you partner with a vacuum cleaner company (like Dyson). Or perhaps you find GF bloggers with big audiences and underwrite their content.

3. Kitchen DIYers

Too many nominees to mention fit this category. A couple that stand out are Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home by Jeni Britton Bauer and My Family Table: A Passionate Plea for Home Cooking by John Besh.

There’s a growing trend of people wanting to experience the fullness of life in the home and kitchen. They like to make things from scratch and grow their own veggies and herbs (if not goats!). This audience is highly motivated and willing to experiment with new things they think may add value to their lives.

Brandscape opportunities: This audience is looking for ideas and tools to pull off great feats of food and community in their kitchens. Find talent who speak directly to this and help to build their platform by underwriting them and getting your brand attached to their messages. These folks love trends like scratch baking, nose-to-tail eating, and urban gardening. Partner with brands who are making the tools to make those trends more accessible.

But remember, DIYers also understand that less is more, so find opportunities to help them make smart decisions to buy the right products, because there is a good chance they’ll spend more for quality.

And, best of luck to all the James Beard nominees.

Image from Lori Danelle on Instagram of her Paper Cut art

How Uncommon Goods could power their brand

I got my catalog from Uncommon Goods in the mail this week. They sell “unique and creative gifts.” (Or that’s what they told me they sell anyway.) The catalog opened immediately to the profile of an artist named Lori Danelle. Lori is a paper cut artist and “maker of things.” And Lori is talented.

What they say they do

In the catalog’s introductory letter from Casey McCarthy (the company’s CTO) he says:

…We’ve stayed true to what brought me here – a great team committed to connecting artists with you, our customers. …I hope, that like me, you discover something special for the uncommon people in your life.”

- Casey McCarthy Uncommon Goods, CTO

So there you have it. Uncommon Goods connects us with artists. Except, they’ve missed the single greatest opportunity to do exactly that: connect me with the people who make the art they sell.

What they don’t do

The fact is, that in a digital world you have to do more than SAY you’re connecting me with artists. You actually have to do it.

While the catalog includes nicely written artist profiles it doesn’t really connect me with the artist. I love what Danelle does. I’m mesmerized by her work and I want a personal story to attach to the art I buy.

Why not connect – I mean REALLY connect – me with Danelle? Danelle’s on Twitter. She’s on Instagram. She’s even blogging about Uncommon Goods. She’s also got some nice stuff on Pinterest.

Connecting digital with print

Lori Danelle's profile page from the Uncommon Good's catalog

Uncommon Goods’ catalog is a gateway to artists I’ve never heard of. But it’s a superficial one. Shouldn’t you invite me to read Lori’s blog? Interact with her on Twitter? Or see her art on Instagram? I guarantee that when I’m ready to buy I’ll come back to Uncommon Goods and make the purchase. After all, I have you to thank for introducing me to an artist I now have a personal relationship with.

Ask Yourself…

How can you introduce your audience to the people that make your products possible? How can you create a personal relationship between your brand, your employees and the customers you serve?

You need to ask yourself if there’s a disconnect between what you say you do and what you ACTUALLY do. You need to introduce your audience to the people that power your brand.

What if…

What if Uncommon Goods showed the same enthusiasm for sharing their audience as Lori does on her blog?

Please go check out the UncommonGoods’ site, look around, be amazed, and be sure to tell everyone you know! (They even have handy buttons at the bottom of the page to share on Twitter, Facebook & Pinterest — hint, hint. . .)  And while you’re at it, sign up for their catalog. . . you might just see me there as well later this month!

- Lori Danelle’s blog post about her debut on Uncommon Goods.

I’m positive you’d see more customers interacting with artists that drive sales. Which is what both of you want. Isn’t it?

What if you embraced the idea that your website isn’t the center of the web world?

Talent passions must align with brand values

Brands can find talent and build meaningful content partnerships. Devin Graham, aka Devin Super Tramp, is a great example of a talented filmmaker who naturally encompasses the value of brands like GoPro, The North Face, and Red Bull with his infectious enthusiasm for outdoor adventure, great music, and high-end video.

About Vooray: “We LIVE to enjoy every minute of life. We RIDE, run, swim, work, jump, surf, bike and whatever else, because we love when our hearts beat just a little faster. We PLAY because you can’t take yourself too seriously after you work so hard to get there. Life is too short not to have fun every second.”

Show, don’t tell, your value

Our own Drew Davis had an opportunity to speak with Devin recently. Devin indicated that the relationship with Vooray happened very authentically through a friendship, and most of his brand relationships begin in the same manner. A brand sends product to sample and possibly to be included in a video. In order for it to even be considered for inclusion, Devin has to “believe 100% in the product.” Devin oftentimes even offers to create his first video for a small sponsorship fee that mostly covers travel so that the brand can fully realize how valuable his videos can be.

Selling product does not mean selling out

“I have to believe 100% in the product.” —Devin Graham

Devin is proud to align with the brands he works with and is thrilled when it leads to sales.

Because the relationship is authentic and the story is real, he is not trying to pretend the video is not a promotional tool for a product. For example, Go-Scope sent him their product to try in a video and reported back to him, the day after the video was posted on YouTube, that Devin “put Go-Scope on the map” and they “tripled sales in 1 day.” Selling is not selling out.

Making the most of the relationship

With over 275K YouTube subscribers and over 51MM video views, it is no surprise that Devin is already aligned with brands like clothing company Vooray. However, the integration is almost too seamless. I never know if a DST video is for Vooray or if a Vooray video posted was shot by DST. As a brand and as a talent, make sure the value of the partnership goes beyond the content being created. The value is in aligning your unique values in a way that exposes each of you to the other’s audience, authentically, no matter who ultimately paid for the content to be created.

Ask Yourself

How can the right talent help you tell your story? When the brand and the talent encompass the same philosophies and make compelling content it should not only increase awareness for the brand but increase sales, too. No matter whether brands hire talent and create a relationship over time or curate content that fits their brand values, it is important to make sure that there is an authentic alignment of values and stories that both want to share.

Watch the Go-Scope in action

Click here to view the embedded video.

However, not every opportunity is right for every brand.

Last year both the fashion and sneaker community were all abuzz with the beautiful collaboration between interior designer and celebrity stylist Robert Verdi and Vans Vault, the premium imprint of the classic sneaker brand. Vans created beautiful slip-ons based on the designs of his vintage Hermés scarves. You can browse through them on Flickr.

There’s clearly interest in the Vans

As I started to research these beautiful sneakers, I quickly found that there was no shortage of links. There were many fashion and sneaker blogs that were clearly excited about this small run of shoes.

And their audiences were very engaged. I found lots of comments where people were just super excited. For example on Honestly … WTF I saw the following comment:

The Hermés Vans showcase the unique values perfectly.

When partnering with other brands, you want everybody to shine individually and together. With these fashion sneakers, everyone’s truest value is on display and yet they all blend together.

Even though Vans are for the proletariat and Hermés extremely exclusive, it works. This is what design blog KNSTRCT has to say about it:

The rubber of the shoes, and the silk of the scarves, are the two materials in which society identifies these brands to be. Though Hermés and Vans are from opposite worlds, they both found their identity, and stayed true to it!

Robert Verdi is the perfect talent to pull it all together. He blends both worlds seamlessly, and is a passionate advocate for both. And he adds a sense of authority to the connection when he puts his seal of approval on the product.

Follow the great ideas, even when they pull you out of your comfort zone.

So many brands are struggling to find the same kind of market penetration they were accustomed to in the old days. It’s not as easy as just plopping your product in front of an audience and waiting for sales to happen.

The idea is to find the right audiences for your brand and connect to them. Sometimes those audiences are going to be interested in another brand or in something you’d never associate with your brand.

But when there’s a great idea that helps you reach that audience, why not go after it? Especially when the idea has proven itself in the great laboratory of the internet.

The hooks that get and keep people’s attention online are a form of meme that takes on a life of its own. It’s usually a shame to let one go to waste.

The Twist: Why this is wrong for Hermés

As awesome as this combination is, and as excited as the blogosphere and fashion world is about it, it makes no sense for Hermés to get involved. Why? Because it’s not the right audience.

The Hermés audience is the wealthy of the wealthy. Hermés doesn’t need this kind of combination to make their brand work. Their audience takes no notice of such things.

However, Hermés should pay attention to this kind of action online. They should take stock in the possibilities that the web offers in its infinite playground. Even if this brandscape isn’t right for them, it’s an interesting thought experiment that should open up new ideas and conceptions for marketing to their elite audience.

That audience is also online, and Hermés would do well to be thinking of ways to extend and enable their incredible word-of-mouth business to online channels.

As a brand, you have to embrace the idea that you’re not the only company targeting the exact same audience. If you’re humble enough to do that, you’ll uncover marketing opportunities that you’d otherwise miss.

Think about a wedding

Luxury Daily columnist Tricia Carr recently wrote an article about Harrods, Four Seasons Hotels, and Estee Lauder all embarking on email and online campaigns targeted at the wedding audience: bride, groom, wedding parties, gift givers, etc.

The moment a couple announces their engagement they’re barraged with advertising and marketing messages trying to capture their share of the $40 billion annual wedding market.

But Harrods, Four Seasons and Estee Lauder all target the very same luxury-oriented niche within the “I’m getting married” market. Maybe they should pool their resources?

The wedding cycle

When couples get engaged, a very predictable timeline is set in motion. Friends and family are told. Reception site and date are set. Wedding party is established. Gown is chosen. Reception details like photographer, flowers, band are established. This goes on and on. You get the picture. It is a predictable and very streamlined consumer cycle.

Think like allies, not competitors

Harrods, Four Seasons, and Estee Lauder each want to own one portion of the wedding cycle.

Four Seasons wants to be considered to host an event or as a honeymoon destination.

Harrods wants to own the registry and gift ideas for friends and family.

Estee Lauder wants the bride to look the best version of herself on the day of special events.

These brands do not compete for the same share of dollars; they complement each other and help propel the bride towards her wedding day through to the honeymoon.

When brands start thinking about every activity and purchase across the wedding cycle, even these three brands would realize there are other companies they could partner with to align their messaging: Vera Wang, Stuart Weitzman, and Tiffany’s are just a few.

If a bride wants and can afford a luxury wedding, every single one of these brands is in her list anyway. As these brands are servicing the niche luxury bridal market, why not align as partners? The brands are already in the mind of the consumer.

Ask Yourself

What do your clients and customers purchase right before they start thinking about the products you sell? What do they purchase right after? In other words, what is the consumer cycle around your products? What do you want to own and where can alliances be made?

You need to ask yourself what brand has already acquired your customer? That brand is your partner. They have already built a trusted relationship with your audience. What can you do to align in a deeper way?

What if

What if Harrods, Estee Lauder and Four Seasons created content together and shared their audience?

A glutton for punishment

Tile mosaic QR Code at #Coverings

Maybe I’m a digital masochist, but everywhere I go I scan QR codes. It’s an experiment, really. I’m waiting to be wowed. I’m expecting to be excited, impressed, or even mildly engaged by someone’s smart use of QR codes, but I’m not.

This week at the Coverings trade show in Orlando I finally hit my limit. At not one, but two, tile trade show booths they’d put a huge amount of effort into creating QR Code displays using tile mosaics. Genius, I thought. Genius. This must be good.

I opened my phone and found my scanning app. I tried to align my camera with their mosaic. It wouldn’t scan. I tried a different app. I tried taking a picture of the code and then using the picture as the source for my QR code app. Nothing. I tried standing back and moving forward. After, quite literally, five minutes I gave up.

When I asked one of the booth monitors if anyone could get their QR code tile mosaic to scan, she simply shrugged and said, “I don’t know. I can’t get it to work.”

When they do work

@SchwarzenbachB In front of a Slow Response Code

A year ago I attended a trade show with Brad Schwarzenbach. In the middle of the busy trade show aisle was a giant QR Code mounted on a sign that read, “Visit us at booth #147.” Brad directed traffic around me as I took the time to scan the code. As I waited for the scanning app to launch a browser, which launched a web page, which painstakingly downloaded an image I almost screamed out loud.

The QR code led me to a digital image of the EXACT sign I was standing in front of. The very sign I had just scanned. I don’t need a QR code to get a picture of your sign. My blood boils just recounting the story.

Ask Yourself…

QR Codes are a novelty. Not because they couldn’t be useful, but because marketers use them so terribly! Not one of the QR codes I’ve scanned has really been worth the effort. You need to ask yourself if you’re using QR Codes because you think you should or because they’re actually adding value to the consumer’s experience?

If you’re going to implement QR Codes you need to ask yourself whether the content on the other side of the code is worth the effort to get it? You need to ask yourself why you’re using QR Codes?

The truth is, I can type a URL faster than I can successfully scan and experience a QR code. QR codes aren’t Quick.

What if…

What if QR Codes were actually valuable?

P.S. The QR Code Bradley is standing in front of has been updated for 2012 (go ahead take the time to scan it and see if it’s a ‘rewarding experience.’)

The open kitchen

The Open Kitchen - People were literally this close...

This morning I had breakfast at a diner. I sat at the bar facing the open kitchen.

I had an omelet, a cup of coffee, and some hash-browns. The food was fine. The open kitchen was not.

The people working in the kitchen weren’t happy. They never smiled at me, let alone said hi. They were only two feet away.

The wait staff wasn’t friendly either. I listened-in as they argued about who got the last table.

Meanwhile on Twitter…

This diner happens to be in a hotel. As I waited for my food to arrive the hotel tweeted:

“Today is National High Five Day! If you could #highfive anyone in the world, who would it be?”

I can be certain I wouldn’t #highfive your restaurant staff. Maybe this hotel should start building an internal social strategy before they focus on an external one? Or, maybe not.

Ask yourself…

You need to ask yourself if your external social presence is a reflection of your customer’s real-world experience?

You need to decide if you’re putting a superficial veneer on an otherwise poor experience? Maybe you should ask yourself if you can use your social media stream to change your internal culture?

What if…

What if everyone at the hotel had started the day with a #HighFive? I bet the diner staff would have been happier.

What if you made sure every single one of your employee’s also read your social media stream? How might it shape your business and your customer’s experience?

2000+ Home Depot videos on YouTube

Many brands have been creating content and have an arsenal on various social media platforms. Those brands should now be looking to evolve that content or the platforms on which it resides to maximize the investment and realize its potential.

Home Depot has spent a lot of time creating and posting over 2000 videos to YouTube generating more than 25MM views both on and off the Home Depot channel, not a small feat. However, all that content can make each video a needle in a haystack when on the channel itself. The content is disparate, challenging to find, and lacking a unified voice.

If Home Depot were looking to maximize the value of their content investment, I’d suggest they segment the videos by interest and use their great merchandising partners to expand on the content in a meaningful manner.

The in-store aisle strategy can work online

Imagine walking into Home Depot and not having an aisle structure that allows the consumer to know where to go for flooring or sinks? What if Home Depot just put the most recent products delivered in the front of the store regardless of product type? That’s basically what they are doing with YouTube. They have not done a sufficient job making playlists or segmenting their video content.

If Home Depot deployed an aisle-like strategy for their YouTube content, they’d service the needs of their viewers much better. In addition to playlists, they should consider the fact that their audience needs these videos at different stages of their home improvement projects. Some may need information only about planning improvements for the outside of their homes from roofs to gardening, whereas others need information on a leaky faucet or installing a thermostat. Revising the organizational structure can benefit Home Depot whether the visitor starts on the YouTube channel or if they end up there through a video link or search, and it will be especially useful for loyal channel subscribers.

Reaching viewers when they are at pivotal moments in their projects is key to maximizing the investment of the content. What about setting up different Home Depot YouTube channels based on projects? Nike has a YouTube channel with about 28,000 subscribers and a Nike Football channel with about 200,000 subscribers. They have exponentially more subscribers for niche-focused content, because those subscribers know they are only going to see content related to football. The strategy works, and Home Depot could greatly benefit from a segmentation strategy.

Maximize offline relationships online

We recently wrote about maximizing offline partners online, and Home Depot could easily employ the concept. Many of the videos on the YouTube channel feel very commercial. In addition to posting their :30 second commercials, the brand has also created and posted content for specific product lines like GE Water Heaters. However, it feels a bit sales-y and it is not entertaining. This presents a great opportunity for the Home Depot to work more closely with GE to create more meaningful content about water heaters, content that is less overtly advertisement and more concretely helpful.

Home Depot should also consider how to best repurpose all this video content. Black & Decker could choose to add a video tip to the end of each YouTube Home Depot video with an expert from Black & Decker sharing a relevant example of the best do’s and dont’s of the “How To” the user just viewed. These adapted videos can appear not only on the Home Depot channel, but then could be shared by Black & Decker for greater audience and subscriber development.

Brands should think like DIYers – what’s next?

Seeing brands commit to a robust content creation initiative is always encouraging. However, brands that fall short when mapping the user experience will not realize maximized return on investment. If Home Depot reorganized their channel based on interest and thought of ways to add more value to their 13,000 loyal subscribers, they’d start to see opportunities for their own self-improvement projects.

Should they have a channel dedicated to the craftsman, the tradesman, the green DIY consumer, the seasoned DIYer, etc.? Could each of those channels work with a merchandising partner to underwrite, support, and contribute to great content specifically for that niche audience? Could Home Depot assign one expert per channel to become the voice of flooring, the voice of tile, the voice of decks?

Yes, they can. That’s the power of Home Depot.

Stare Wars

If you want to stand out and attract attention in the marketplace, target an audience where no one like you is participating.

I went to #PAXEast last week. For the uninitiated, it’s an amazing, intriguing and exciting exposition for all things gaming. From video games to board games – they have it all.

The trade show floor is a cacophony of collaboration: people from around the world playing games with their friends. They’re playing the pre-release versions of the greatest games from the biggest manufacturers. They’re playing board games and card games you’ve never heard of. They’re staring at computer monitors and cards trying to beat their opponents.

Standing out

But one booth at the trade show stood out from everything else. One little booth had attracted a group of ten people standing around amused and bewildered. They weren’t selling video games or joysticks. They were selling eyedrops.

Rohto Eyedrops to be exact. Now I’m sure Rohto goes to lots of pharmaceutical trade shows and retail events, but at those shows they’re just another beauty product manufacturer. At PAX, they were an anomaly.

Sure they were giving out free samples, but they were also conducting a competition called “Stare Wars.” For a bunch of gamers who stare at a computer monitor for hours without blinking this was a matter of pride. Who could stare longer? After three days the winner was a gamer named Maxwell Morin. His stats: 54 matches, 3 hours 1 minute and 55 seconds total staring time. What does he win? A $1,500 gift card and a trip to PAX Prime in Seattle to defend his title.

Rohto isn’t trying to be the eye-drop for everyone. They showed up at PAX, embraced the audience and stood out from the crowd.

Ask Yourself…

Why are you going to trade shows where everyone’s selling the same thing to the same audience?

What’s your Stare Wars?

What if…

What if you got outside your comfort zone and went to a trade show where you forced yourself to be relevant?

Being audience-centric is what makes crossovers work, and the web is all about the audience. When done well, your internet presence should work as a giant retail funnel, helping your audience find your products and services. So crossing over and sharing audience with other brands is a vital way to build and strengthen your relationship with your audience.

The retailer understands that they get more value by touting each brand and helping them establish their presence in the minds of their larger, more general audience.

Interestingly enough, we find that sort of crossover working really well in traditional retail channels and their online extensions. Because smart retailers understand how to build their brands by leveraging the brands of their partners and vice versa.

 1. Learning from the brandscaping of department stores

We’re all familiar with the layout of a department store. But if you think about some of the bigger chains like Macy’s and J.C. Penney (now jcpenney), they actually have branded sub-departments. When you go shopping for jeans, you shop brand by brand through Lucky Brand and Levi’s and 7 For All Mankind. This is a crossover or brandscape. Each brand has its own personality represented in varying degrees. I assume these degrees are related to their investment in their section.

There are different consumer audiences for these different brands, and the retailer understands that they get more value by touting each brand and helping them establish their presence in the minds of their larger, more general audience.

The crown jewel of this approach is the make-up and skincare department, where beautiful ladies represent the values of the brand they represent and try to sell you both on benefits and on lifestyle. The ability of these branded talents to tell the right story in an authentic way is what drives sales at the point of purchase.

2. Going super niche with Bianchi and Gucci

Gucci creative director Frida Giannini recently designed two bicycles in collaboration with Bianchi bicycles. They retail at Gucci’s London store for $14,000 and $5,000 dollars respectively. There is also a really cool helmet that retails for $890.

The buzz that this crossover has created would indicate that it is a success. Sometimes the crossover itself can drive the story. But there is more to this combo.

Both Gucci and Bianchi realized that leveraging the power of both their brands together is a powerful way to upsell an increasingly vital portion of urban living. Gucci’s audience has high expectations, and Bianchi is the right partner to deliver on them.

Is it the best, most amazing bike you can buy? No. Does it deliver on the brand expectations of Gucci’s audience, while adding to Bianchi’s quality and performance story? Absolutely.

3. J. Crew and Vintage Sneakers

Finally, J. Crew has teamed up with some top sneaker manufacturers to create and repurpose vintage designs for men that fit their audience profile perfectly. J. Crew wasn’t going to beat Nike, New Balance, or Vans at selling sneakers. So they partnered and created a new retail channel for these brands with a built in loyal audience.

The aesthetic fit between these shoes and the J. Crew brand is tight and seamless. J. Crew actually serves as a publisher in this arrangement as well, since their editorial understanding of their audience and their broadcast reach to their audience is so strong. And, of course, the partner brands build on that affinity while adding even more credibility to the J. Crew brand.

Rick Springfield

I’ve been following the Twitter hashtag this week for Content Marketing World (#CMWorld). At this year’s conference Rick Springfield is headlining the show. Yes, that Rick Springfield. The guy who hit number one with “Jessie’s Girl” in the 1980s and wooed women on the daytime soap opera General Hospital. I couldn’t figure out why a smart guy like Joe Pulizzi, who organizes the show, would invite a 1980s rocker and heartthrob to a marketing conference in Columbus, Ohio. Until today. Rick Springfield has a movie coming out.

It’s not a concert film

There are plenty of concert films for bands, ranging from Metallica to the Beastie Boys to Bob Dylan. And those films are awesome. Every minute of every single one of those films is about the band. It’s about the band’s perspective on their fans. The band’s struggles on the road. The band’s antics on stage. The band’s music. It’s even about the roadies, the press, the managers, and the venues. But they’re not about the fans. Rick Springfield’s movie isn’t a concert film.

It’s about the fans

An Affair of the Heart, which is actually screening in two weeks in Florida, is Rick Springfield’s movie about his fans. It’s about young fans and old. It’s about obsessed female fans and their jealous husbands. It’s about skeptical fans and groupies. “It’s a celebration of community,” as the trailer for the film says.

Even Rick says, “When I first started out in the ’80s it was all about me, I thought. But eventually, I turned around and it became about the joy of connecting with people.”

Rick is still selling out venues around the world. He’s selling merchandise. He sells “virtual crew memberships.” He sells branded cruises.

Rick’s selling more because he thinks about himself less.

Ask yourself…

Content marketing is all about getting over yourself and connecting with people. Just like Rick Springfield’s journey and his film.

What if you made a movie about your fans?

What if you thought less about your products and services and more about the kinds of fans you have?

What would you learn if you told your fans’ stories?

I bet you’d sell more.

Click here to view the embedded video.

What about the companies that produce a varied assortment of products, like Unilever or P&G? How can those companies brandscape across products and categories within their own walls?

Internal organizational structure must promote cross-product-pollination

Often in large multi-national companies, each product has a siloed team of people working to merchandise, market, promote, price, and further develop that one particular product. The team functions as its own small internal company, calling on additional resources when needed, but tasked with the responsibility of the P&L for that product. Many companies have applied a structure that allows for quicker time to market for innovative and new products, but what about the ones on the shelves for years?

“Our profile of growth reflects the strategic choices we are making to concentrate spending behind brands that have the most strategic potential for growth.”
– Paul Polmen, Unilever CEO

What if “weaker” Unilever brands could align with stronger ones to push them along?
Companies must place a priority on cross-product teamwork with specific goals (decrease marketing dollars, increase ad reach, etc.) in order for any co-branded efforts to be effective. Forward thinking companies with an eye toward adaptability and flexibility will realize the benefits of a more integrated team across all brands.

Brands must complement and not cannibalize

Once the internal organizational structure is in place to facilitate a successful campaign, the next obvious step is to determine the right brands that can work together without cannibalizing market share for any individual brand. For example, I would not suggest a P&G brandscape that included both Downy and Bounce, as both serve basically the same purpose, and the two together do not offer something more distinctive.

P&G did put together a great commercial with both Bounce & Old Spice included. These brands complement each other, they do not steal market share, and they work well together in this context. They built on the idea by also aligning Charmin with Old Spice.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Could Unilever create a campaign all about getting closer and use Axe, Dove, Close Up and bring in Match.com? Well, it’s not always as simple as that.

Core values must play a role in how brandscapes are built

Axe, Dove, and Close Up each have different core values. Axe is very much about adventure and excitement, Close Up about advanced technology in oral care, and Dove is about beauty from the inside out. So, although the brands are not in conflict, they are also not well positioned to appeal to the shared values of any singular audience. Surf and Signal both align on wanting to make whatever they touch (dirty clothes or dirty mouth) shine as white as can be. Dig a bit deeper with that shared message and Unilever may have a way to market both brands more efficiently.

Understanding the buyers, the influencers, and users

Finally, not only do brands need to determine that they are complementary, but they also must determine their purchasing target. Consumer brands can market to the end user of the product, the influencer, or the purchaser (among many others). With the Old Spice and Bounce ad, I’d venture to guess that the female buys the laundry products and influences, if not also purchases, male beauty supplies.

Knowing audience segments within the target audience will help brands to choose the right partner publisher, expert talent and overall message for their self-created brandscape.

Task of the Day

Review the Unliver and P&G portfolio of brands. Can you create a brand alliance within each company, and what expert do you think marries well to the core value of the alignment?

Your logistics teams is a unique and powerful resource.

Your logistics team has a ton of data and intuitive knowledge about your consumers. They are also  responsible for key communications when your consumers are at their most enthusiastic — when they arrive at their door. Since the essence of today’s (and yesterday’s) marketing is all about knowing your audience, your logistics teams is a unique and powerful resource.

1. The Gateway to your consumers

When a consumer orders your product online or registers a product, they are happy to provide you with a wealth of information about themselves. The same data you may be working hard to capture in other ways, might be already available. Talk to your logistics team about this. Find a way to use this valuable data.

And even though your logistics team, might only be a part of fulfilling orders after a purchase is made, much of the data they possess can be used to help streamline the path to purchase online. Since your logistics team knows your consumers so well, their knowledge can help you make buying easier for your consumers.

2. Harnessing consumer momentum

Your logistics team has access to your consumer at that anticipatory peak of excitement as they see it on their stoop. And let me tell you, it doesn’t matter what it is, people get excited to get something delivered.

The phenomenon of ‘unboxing videos’ demonstrates how universal this excitement is. It doesn’t matter how mundane the product is. Don’t watch this whole video, but check out this guy’s engagement with these crappy game cubes:

The stuff doesn’t even come in a box, and he’s making an unboxing video! This is a huge opportunity. The best review is going to come right in this moment.

What can your marketing and logistics teams put together to encourage and build off of this momentum? Can you encourage sharing or reviews? Can you offer discounts on accessories or referral discounts?

Can you partner with other brands who can supply something related to your consumers’ needs and interests? For example: if you’re selling exercise equipment, can you provide coupons from partner brands for juicers or sneakers in your packaging?

3. Messaging at key points

Involving your logistics team in your process is not just a one way street. You should also be thinking about how you can help them message to your consumers during the process of fulfillment and delivery.

Consumer enthusiasm is not without its risks. An excited consumer is also a sensitive consumer. How can you help keep the consumer happy?

Talk with your logistics team about common concerns, problems, and bumps in the road. Create a singular experience and voice across the whole interaction with your brand. Craft messaging that comforts and nurtures their excitement.

Photojojo does a good job with this. This is an excerpt from an email a coworker received when an order was delayed:

Hey there Friend-o!

As you may have noticed, those awesome Magnetic Cell Phone Lenses you ordered didn’t ship out yesterday like we said they would (ruh-ro!) and they didn’t ship out today either (yikes!)

These lenses were crazy popular – like Prom Queen popular. We ran out of ‘em so so fast and it has taken a bit longer than we had planed to get more. What were we thinking?! We should have known! [hangs head] [weeps bitterly]…

This was followed by a discount code and some more friendly silliness. This may not be the right voice for your brand, but that’s not the point. This is an extremely important moment in the consumer journey.

What are you doing to make sure your brand uses it to build rather than lose your consumers’ dollars and attention?

Ace Hardware advertising on the Weather Channel App

In a marketing universe that is constantly evolving, sometimes exciting opportunities are staring you right in the face — or dripping through your leaky roof. You just have to think outside of the traditional structures you’re used to.

Ace Hardware and the Weather Channel

Home improvement and weather. They are linked in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health — for all time.

So it made a lot of sense for Ace Hardware to buy targeted mobile ads at highly trafficked times on the Weather Channel app. People are going to check the weather before starting any project, great or small.

But did it make sense for the Weather Channel to be selling that ad space? What I mean by that is, since the two product offerings align so closely, perhaps there are larger opportunities for both parties here to reach new audiences and offer high value.

Targeting consumers at just the right time

Ace’s marketing needs were undoubtedly served well by their ad buy. They were able to reach potential customers on the weekends. They are obviously taking advantage of the fact that the Weather Channel app owns many people’s time as they are preparing to make home improvements. That is some smart micro-dayparting.

But doesn’t the Weather Channel also have a need to grow their audience of people who could use their service at just the right moment? And if one of those valuable moments is defined as the time people are planning to make home improvements, then perhaps Ace has some valuable audience to share as well.

Rethinking what it means to be a publisher

If the Weather Channel were to view Ace more as a publisher, it would be easy to see that there are fantastic opportunities to share info about their app in store and at points of purchase. The app can drive traffic to the store, but the store could also be driving traffic to the app.

The Weather Channel and Ace could partner in creating content to help people learn about upcoming weather. In some stores, Ace has actually paid a vendor to send out text messages to alert their customers to upcoming weather. Why not build  a strategic partnership with a world leader like the Weather Channel instead?

Ace could also build Weather Channel capabilities into its website and retail locator. Both parties could look to a talented home improvement expert to make videos with weather-related home improvement tips that take the relationship deeper. This would build up trust and a sense of authority for all the partners in the eyes of consumers.

Traditional ad buy limits opportunities for Ace Hardware and the Weather Channel

The traditional path of merely buying placement may create a momentary splash, but it doesn’t build relationships. With mobile devices so widely proliferated, it’s important to be constantly finding new opportunities to drive loyalty and bring in new users.

YYou have to think about user experience not merely as funneling people towards what they need or what you want them to do on your web properties. Rather, their entire experience of your brand online and offline is important. That is why it makes sense to re-envision the physical environment of Ace as a publishing opportunity. You have to go beyond traditional endcaps and POP placement and think about the whole consumer journey.

The traditional ad-buying model is rooted in the fair weather of the old days of media monopolies. Finding new opportunities to build content partnerships will protect your brand from even the harshest of marketing climates.

Can your brand apply this and gain exposure?

Big brands often pave the way in marketing, and smaller companies try to ride the wave or emulate on a smaller scale. Recently there have been examples of marketing initiatives executed on by big brands that are easy for a small brand to replicate and build upon. The Gap Styld.by campaign is a great example, as is Neiman Marcus’ outreach for a fashion photographer at SXSW.

Brands should be inventive and find a way to “fit in”

The SXSW festival is an annual music, film, and interactive conference and festival held in Austin and has become a preeminent event for social media, emerging trends, and the arts. With “indie-classical” bands like Mother Falcon, indie films and sponsors like IFC, it’s ripe for a brandscape that can live beyond the show itself. However, as a more traditional brand, Neiman Marcus had to invent a way to be relevant and provide value both at the show and beyond:

Calling all street-style photographers! You could join us at SXSW, in Austin, for a week of music and style. Check out our Facebook tab, NM@SXSW, to learn more details and enter!

Although SXSW is not about fashion traditionally, artists and filmmakers and many of those in attendance do have style. And when Neiman Marcus sends a photographer already well-versed in street photography to the event, they become tuned in to the audience and create an opportunity for making a statement without having to sponsor the show or invest huge dollars. NM also has built in a way to potentially reach a new audience.

Can a non-comic brand have relevance at Comic‑Con

Smaller brands can learn a lot from the NM@SXSW example. Comic-Con is one of those events that reaches a niche audience, and if your brand does not seem related to the comic industry, the event may not be considered for inclusion in marketing initiatives. However, Comic-Con is all about vibracy and color and individuality and fun, and certainly those values have wider applications.

Enter Superhero Chef

Chef Jason Santos, with his blue hair and his talents in molecular gastronomy, is a superhero in the kitchen. Sure, he’s been seen on Hell’s Kitchen, among other food-related shows and events, but he encompasses vibrancy and color and individuality.

Finding an expert who marries with the values of an event is a great way to find relevancy. Perhaps a food brand like Kitchen Aid with their line of colorful stand mixers wants to sponsor an event featuring Chef Jason Santos at Comic-Con. Chef can certainly make a superhero-worthy meal.

Enter Superhero Makeup

A big part of Comic-Con are the costumes and makeup. A fun, young, cutting-edge makeup company could benefit from having makeup artists on site, helping people get ready to enter the show. I don’t know anything about Sugarpill Cosmetics, but a brief look at their website reveals vibrant colors and an already established relationship with Hello Kitty.

Perhaps Sugarpill could come out with a line of makeup specifically for superhero chics who want to be bad-ass but look pretty while doing it. Who was better at doing that than Linda Carter?

Enter Superhero Paint

I came across Superhero paint splatter art, and I immediately thought that a paint company could set up a blank wall in a booth at Comic-Con and invite people to come in to do graphic and street art in their booth.

This is a fun and interactive way to integrate home decorating tips at an event not typically about home design at all. Bring in the paint splatter artist Arian Noveir and you’ve got a booth that will attract the most loyal comic fans.

With a little creativity, any brand can find a way to be relevant yet stand out with a niche audience.

Bloggers want to remain editorially sound, which means that brands looking to create meaningful relationships with bloggers need to have a definitive strategy and dedicated resources who are focused, disciplined, and track against concrete goals. Recently I’ve seen a few examples of how blogger and brand relationships have evolved and become more meaningful.

Build the right blogger outreach tools

OXO is a brand that I would argue is omnipresent in many homes but not top of mind in most. Their ergonomically correct kitchen tools like can, bottle, and jar openers and inventive kitchen organizational tools make it easy to be efficient in the kitchen. In a competitive and somewhat commodity-driven market, they strive to be the best in product development and design. And they take it a step further by soliciting feedback from those who use their products most.

Our goal of making products more usable forces us first to identify problems and inefficiencies in existing products (including our own), not just in terms of comfort, but in terms of performance as well.
– OXO Blogger Outreach

OXO developed a Blogger Outreach strategy for “bloggers to test and review new and existing products, receive exclusive video content, get behind-the-scenes access to the OXO product development process, attend exclusive OXO events and much more.” Arianna Bastianini leads the initiative, and I had a chance to speak with her at the Housewares Show to learn about her approach to building these personal relationships.

In addition to spending a week in Chicago this month, Arianna is headed to the Food Blog Forum event in Orlando to participate in a panel entitled PRspectives, an inside look into the process of working with brands and forming beneficial relationships. For Arianna, the keys are authenticity, dedication, and a keen understanding of the goal of the blogger initiative. Because of her focus, OXO has learned a lot about their products in practice and how to increase their value to consumers.

On your mark, get set, brandscape

On March 13, Boston.com editor Matt Pepin solicited qualified Boston Marathon runners who would be interested in reviewing Polar USA products during the final 30 days of training. Chosen applicants will be able to “test-drive” the new RCX3 G5 Optimized Training Computer before it launches but are required to:

• blog about their experiences with the brand and
• share the data captured by the devises, especially on Marathon Day.

Much like the OXO strategy, the brand is looking for authentic and usable information that may help improve the product or the product launch strategy. Polar is relying on a trusted media source, Boston.com, to find their advocates. Partnering with a publisher that already has credibility and audience reach is a key tenet of the Tippingpoint Labs brandscaping model.

Using the publisher to audit the responses can be tricky unless the brand and publisher are very well aligned in the exact goals of the blogger strategy. Boston.com may find one applicant more credible because they write well, but Polar may appreciate the runner who runs 10+ miles a day and therefore has less time to write comprehensive reviews. The brand / publisher relationship needs to be well established in order for the Polar blogger campaign to be effective.

Taking the relationship one step further

I think OXO and Polar USA could learn a lot from one another. Polar USA should not be afraid to reach out and develop their own blogger strategy much like OXO. However, both brands could do a better job of aligning with other complementary brands in order to expand their reach and audience participation. Polar USA and Boston.com could easily align with Gatorade or Nike or Camelbak to gain more momentum with superior athletes and gather information beneficial for all brands. OXO could align with Nestle’s or Quaker or Real Simple to broaden their blogger outreach strategy and develop a honed group of elite bloggers who take their kitchen and cooking as seriously as OXO takes product design.

Bottom line: there are limited bloggers who add value to a brand relationship. Brands should not compete for those valuable bloggers. Partner and win loyalty through better blogger strategies and complementary brand alignments.

Just in case…

…the Boston.com article is removed, here is a screenshot of how Matt Pepin solicited runners to participate in the Polar test-drive.

Boston.com Polar Blogger Solicitation Article

The Mercedes SL and Lara Stone

One question many people have when we bring up the topic of brandscaping is, “How can my brand partner with other brands without our message getting lost or diluted?”

Can you take two or more different brands with different products and values and unite them seamlessly? A great example is the latest Mercedes online cinematic video, Icons of Style. It’s branded as Mercedes but it also features Calvin Klein.

The talents of Calvin Klein’s newest flagship model Lara Stone and the Women’s Creative Director for Calvin Klein Collection, Francisco Costa, are also featured. Icons of Style successfully highlights all the values of each partner while establishing something completely new and exciting and new.

So even with a host other influences on the video, Mercedes still wins.

http://youtu.be/kKZ9tYG–To

Mercedes as the anchor brand

Director Alex Prager described the video as Mary Poppins meets The Wizard of Oz meets James Bond. But it is also luxury car brand meets fashion brand meets fashion model meets filmmaker/photographer meets creative director meets fashion week.

That is a lot of elements to swirl together into a tornado of effective online video. But Mercedes doesn’t lose anything in the mix. In fact, their message is enhanced by the partnership.

Mercedes is the key brand on this project and the apparent key underwriter. They are launching their new SL roadster, and they are sponsors of fashion week, and they recently showcased their safety features in a video showing people suspended in air.

Making the Mercedes SL Roadster look even better

The SL looks absolutely stunning in the video. It has a smooth luxurious appearance that is unaffected by turbulence (or tornadoes). The presence of Calvin Klein reinforces the glamor of the car.

It’s not just some convertible in the middle of the desert. The roadster makes a beautiful model look even more beautiful and vice versa.

A deeper connection between Fashion Week and Mercedes

The fashion week connection is very important. This video is a way for Mercedes, a longtime sponsor of many fashion weeks worldwide, to forge an even tighter connection with the world of fashion.

Cinematically, both the fashion and the car styles are portrayed as being in the right place at the right time. You don’t ride your tornado if you’re a second late. This psychologically reminds people that fashions and car designs are about the present moment, the here and now.

It gives a deeper logic and connectivity to the sponsorship. It reminds people that Mercedes and CK are on the cutting edge. It also reminds them that style is fleeting, so you better buy while the getting is good.

Mercedes and flying through the air

The third element is a very subtle connection to another key element of Mercedes’ branding — safety. The inexplicable motif of  Lara Stone being taken up by the tornado, matches the vibe of the recent airbag commercial.

But instead of being literal like the above commercial, Icons of Style is dream-like, which is appropriate for a car described thus on the Mercedes site:

Developed as a racecar, coveted as a sports car, the SL has always been, above all, a dream car.

Icons of Style is truly iconic

Mercedes loses nothing in the brand partnership. In fact, they gain much. What’s even better is that the whole thing was shot in one day, including fashion stills. They were also able to extend the value with behind-the-scenes content and interviews with those involved. It’s on brand, on target, and wholly efficient.

Not only does the brandscaping model allow brands to pool their resources, but the convergence of different values can add a focus that wouldn’t normally be there. By looking carefully at the intersection of brands and talent, you set parameters that will inspire whole new avenues of creativity.

So ride the tornado.

Colorful displays prevailed at the 2012 IH+HS

As a first-time attendee of the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago, I was immediately enthralled by the breadth of offering from inventive manufacturers looking to build diverse product offerings at retail.

Spending most of my time in the South and Lakeside buildings, which both focus mainly on kitchen solutions, I learned a lot about what consumers will be seeing in retail starting this Fall.

Color is Big

What makes a trend? I’m not going to wax philosophically on the meaning of this colorful culinary trend. (“Last year’s black matte trend was indicative of the country’s concern over the grave state of the economy, while the rebirth of color this year shows a return to optimism, a belief in a brighter future.” — Oh look! I just did.) Cambria Bold from The Kitchen

A few years ago, the trend in housewares was very monochromatic, with black and stainless the clear winners. With home architecture and design recently more stark, modern, and minimalistic, kitchenware color and accessories followed suit.

2012 sees the return of the retro and neon color. Orange, green, berry, blue prevailed on the shelves of the booths and made for a vibrant show floor. From accent accessories like mixing bowls from OXO, or the classic Le Creuset launching a new Marseille Blue, color is sure to pop more dramatically in 2012.

Many Chefs in the Kitchen

KitchenAid, Wilton Brands, Robinson Home Product, and Whole Foods sponsored The Cooking Theater at the Housewares Show, which featured a different Chef and cooking demonstration almost every 30 minutes of the 4-day event.

The marrying of brand and Chef is becoming more and more prevalent as Chefs bring credibility and excitement to a product line. Each of these chefs is involved in product development and promotion, aligning their names to the brands in an authentic manner.

The list of Chefs reads like a Who’s Who of the industry today, with Ming Tsai, Curtis Stone, Michael Symon, Chris Cosentino, and Michelle Bernstein to name a few. Each Chef brought their own flavor (no pun intended) to the salivating audience. And each demonstration had a specific brand presenter, like Kyocera Advanced Ceramics for Ming Tsai or Calphalon for Chef Symon or Fagor America for Chef Bernstein.

The Chef demonstrations were not limited to The Cooking Theater. Top Chef contestant Fabio Viviani conducted an enthralling session at Bialetti‘s in-show booth, and Guy Fieri held court at an impressive multi-level booth display at Lifetime Brands.

Kids are in the Kitchen

As families cook together more and more, and the kitchen is the heart of the home, it makes sense that kids are becoming included in the process with products specific for them. Many brands are looking to fill various audience segments with a line that reaches younger cooks. For example, Baby Cakes, makers of cupcakes and cake pop appliances, is looking to build on its success. “The line will have all different kinds of treats. There will be baked treats in different configurations from Baby Cakes, so we can go to market with a brand segmentation story,” says Bill Endres president Select Brands in an interview with HomeWorld Business.

We fell in love with Lifetime Brands’ Kizmos easy-to-use kitchen products that are geared for college kids, although we think they are just as fun for the younger cooks, as well.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Even infants are being catered to with brands like Baby Brezza, making formula and baby food prep a cinch. Product diversification is a key strategy for these brands that want to be able to service the range of ages in the kitchen and appeal to retailers who are looking for product depth from key partners.

With the proliferation of product at the show this year, and the low attendance numbers, standing out to consumers at retail will be a key success factor for any of these brands — colorful or not. Thanks to all who shared their product innovation and marketing thoughts with us at the show. We look forward to following up and to seeing these items come to life on the shelves of our favorite retail stores.

Blu Homes 3-D Configurator

Consumers spend a lot of money when buying a home, so how can brands get into their consideration set right from the beginning of a home build or purchase project?

Deciding about tile, paint color, trim, appliances is way more fun than mortgage rates, water heaters, insulation, and septic. Can companies offering these services get closer to the consumer earlier? They can if they partner with home builders.

Blu Homes Unique Values

Blu Homes designs and builds modular homes with a focus on the environment and healthy, sustainable materials. Their home designs are incredibly modern and chic and not the boxy, boring modular homes of the past.

Their focus on modern living, environment, customization, and design make them a perfect partner for many brands who want to take advantage of the money consumers spend in conjunction with their home purchase.

Blu Homes 3-D Configurator is a Great Asset

Blu launched a 3-D application that allows the user to design homes from various model types. The user selects what they want, and as easily as buying a book online, they buy a home and have it delivered to their property.

The configurator gets as granular as offering 4 different types of kitchens featuring different appliances and brands, depending on the level selected. The inclusion of brands like Sub-Zero, KitchenAid, and Whirlpool is a great tool for matching consumer’s needs with the right kitchen design.

For a niche company, this tool is a real differentiator. It also could be their greatest marketing asset.

Kitchens and Baths Sell Homes

Why stop with offering a variety of refrigerators and dishwashers? We know kitchens and baths sell homes, and consumers spend a lot of time considering those rooms, both pre- and post-purchase.

Getting to a consumer during key buying moments is a key to success.

What if Whole Foods – wholly committed to core values shared with Blu Homes, from sustainable products to healthy living – could deliver a fully stocked pantry and fridge upon move in to a new Blu home? Add a component to the Blu Configurator for various types of food and a budget, and Blu takes care of the rest. Whole Foods may then choose to promote this to their 2.2 million Twitter followers and expose Blu to a larger audience.

Pottery Barn has an entire organic bath line of products. If the Blu user could select a certain color scheme for their bath, could Blu’s tool also suggest matching towels? With 770,000 Facebook fans, Pottery Barn could give Blu greater reach. While, in turn, Pottery Barn could reach an audience of people using the Blu Configurator who are directly in the market for a new bath.

Capitalize on Consumer Spending Patterns

Weddings and new homes or renovations are peak spending stages in consumers’ lives. Could Blu Homes offer Dwell Magazine, a publication all about “At Home in the Modern World” (in which modular homes are often advertised), to all new homebuyers as a welcome gift? Dwell’s advertisers could then benefit from greater reach to a highly targeted market, and the consumer gets a great resource for their home planning.

They wouldn’t have to stop with kitchens and baths. Think Prius, think Energy Star or CFLs, think cloth diapers, but just think.

Even big retailers like Target are trying to determine how to reach customers before they have babies to capitalize on pre-baby spending and build lifetime value.
Read Charles Duhigg’s New York Times article

Aligning brands together who share values and audience is win-win. Blu has a captive audience of people, certainly smaller than that of Whole Foods or Pottery Barn, who are spending a lot of money at a time in their lives when they have a budget for new home items. Getting to a consumer during key buying moments is a key to success.

Something to Think About

Who in your market attracts your consumer before you do, and how can you insert yourself earlier in buying decisions?

Good BBQ, Nice city, the Alamo and the PMA Conference in San Antonio

I had the pleasure of spending two days in San Antonio with the Parenting Media Association (PMA). If you’re unfamiliar with the PMA all you have to do is wander around town looking for a local parenting magazine like Boston Parent or San Diego Family to understand what they do. Essentially, each publication is your local resource for anything and everything parents need: from what summer camp to choose to what to do on a rainy weekend.

A Question Via Video

Upon my return one of the resourceful, innovative and curious conference attendees sent me this wonderful video question:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Okay, Michele. You got my attention. Great question. So how do you find influencers in your community and what can you do with them when you find them? I noticed that on the San Diego Family website you have a section about family recipes. In my opinion, there aren’t many families browsing around looking for another good Fruit Cake Trifle recipe. So I set out to find you someone local, who already has an audience, and is creating amazing content in a much more focused way. So, who did I find?

Meet Panini Happy

Panini Happy's Chicken, Brie, Fig & Arugula Panini

Kathy, better known as Panini Happy, is one of the best food bloggers in the world — let alone San Diego. Not only does she run two amazing food blogs, but she’s a San Diego parent and a mother of two. Since 2008, Kathy’s been creating amazing Panini recipes and sharing them with foodies around the world on her blog. She’s right there in your backyard, Michele. She’s a local food celebrity. (How scrumptious does that Chicken, Brie, Fig and Arugula Panini look?)

What Could You Do With Kathy?

Okay, so I found her. How can you and Kathy work together? Well, why can’t you work with Kathy to expand your network? Can’t she become part of the San Diego Family web of content? Of course you could link to her blog posts each week and maybe even have a monthly, sponsored, Panini demonstration at Grant’s Marketplace, but can you take it further?

Of course you can. Maybe Kathy wants to do a monthly Panini video series? Could you help her sell that series to a local sponsor? Could you distribute the weekly videos, even if they were posted on her own YouTube channel? Who knows? Kathy might be the next Food Network star and it could have all started with you. What about an underwritten article in the monthly magazine? Or a Panini Happy book in all the local kitchenwares stores? The possibilities are endless. Maybe you should start sharing her content today? That’s the best way to forge a relationship with her. Share her stuff with your audience.

So how did I find Panini Kathy?

The truth is, I’ve known about Kathy for a couple of years now. (Maybe you already know her, too.) But there are no shortcuts in uncovering the digital celebrities and influencers in your local market. Start with good ole fashioned Googling in the Blogs section of Google. Create a bunch of Google alerts and start mining your audience for what local bloggers and video stars they read, watch, and consume. There’s a Kathy out there for ever single thing you cover – I guarantee it. You just have to start looking.

You should already be checking out every single one of your fans’ and followers’ feeds to see what else they share. Buried deep inside those interactions are gems like Kathy. But it takes a concerted effort and a routine approach to finding the digital influencers that you should be working with to extend your brand.

What do you think, Michele? Is this helpful? Did you already know about Kathy?

Impress.js lit up the Internet in early January. Early adopters and the geekiest of the geeks were sufficiently “impressed” with the creators’ ability to match its competition Prezi, feature-for-feature, and add more. Impress.js is certainly impressive, but is it impressive enough?

HE: SEAN BOICE: TECHNOLOGY ARCHITECT

What is Impress.js?

Full disclosure: we love Prezi, here at Tippingpoint Labs, and use it as our primary presentation tool.

Impress directly targets the linear presentation platform, Prezi, while managing to add a feature or two, like 3D text. Prezi set itself apart from the typical slide bore-fest by creating a linear landscape that allows for close-up zoom, mapping across different buckets of content, and easy image and video embed. Impress’ step forward seems to be both in the addition of some new “neat” nice-to-have’s and also in the fact that it is open source.

The use of the web’s latest and greatest standards, such as HTML5 and CSS3 Transforms, without the need to subscribe to a software-as-a-service platform like Prezi, is a benefit for sure. Impress.js was released as an open-source toolset comprised of a Javascript Library, CSS file, and minimal HTML file  that you can download and implement in your own projects.  The fact Impress.js is open-sourced is likely its coolest feature that Prezi can’t compete with.  Days after Impress.js was released, someone else created a new version implemented with the wildly popular jQuery Javascript framework.

At present, neither version offers much more than Prezi and, in fact, without the streamlined interface Prezi employs, it’s a lot harder for non-developers (i.e., presenters) to really embrace. One thing Impress has proven, however, is that today’s web technologies are going to put more pressure on application developers and service providers to continue to add value to their offerings and not to rest on their laurels.

Is it the tool or the story that makes the presentation?

SHE: REBECCA GARNICK, VICE PRESIDENT

If I understand it correctly, Sean, Impress.js was released as an open-source Javascript library for any web developer to consume, modify, extend, and build upon. It is not necessarily meant to be a tool for presenters to be able to pick up and use today. I still have trouble in Keynote and Prezi, so forget about Impress for me!

If presenters have not become better story tellers … should the focus be on the tool or the way in which we present?

Certainly the utility of Prezi makes it a winner, and I do like how intuitive it is. With no coding experience I could not use Impress without a real tutorial. But, I find myself asking, why are we improving the presentation tool?

If presenters have not become better story tellers, if the amazingly well-done Prezi presentation at a conference is followed up with a 100-page slide show that goes on and on, then should the focus be on the tool or the way in which we present? Can we improve the ability of presenters to read an audience and understand when they drift off? Can we create better stories and perhaps not even rely on a visual to back us up?

I keep thinking about Minority Report and wondering, until we get to this level of presentation style, I may find myself simply sticking with Prezi!

What do you think?

How will Impress evolve and shape the presentation landscape?