John Porcaro: ListenUp

New York for $350

John Porcaro — 2009-06-10T18:05:00-07:00

New York for $325

RT Airfare, Seattle to JFK: $219
One night, The Pod Hotel: $104 (free Internet)
RT Subway: $4
RT Airtrain: $10
Lunch: 4.50
Dinner/Breakfast/Lunch: included with meeting
Dinner: $4.98
Turkey Sandwich on plane: $8

Around here, everyone is focused on saving money where they can. While I was looking for a flight and hotel from Seattle to NYC for an all-day meeting I attended, I found a round trip, direct flight for $219. That inspired me to see just how little it would cost for the entire trip.

The lowest discount rate at every hotel downtown was more than $300 a night, so I thought I'd check around. For one-night meetings, I've stayed near the airport, so I thought I could find something a little less expensive.

I logged off our corporate travel portal, and checked out Expedia. When I searched on price, I found The Pod for $89. Expedia rated the hotel with 2.5 stars (of 5), but it earned a 4.3 for User Satisfaction, and 94% recommend it. Add my name to that list. New hotel. Good neighborhood, just a few blocks from Times Square. One block from an express subway from JFK. A few blocks from the meeting location, and one block from the place we met for dinner the night before (BTW, world's best guacamole, Dos Caminos).

The Pod Hotel (my new favorite "anti-W" place to stay) is a cross between a very, very nice hostel where you don't have to bring your own sheets, and a very, very small full-service hotel. The hotel lobby was as nice as many niche hotels in NYC (hip artwork, nice furnature, professional staff, bellman, even a decent cafe). The lobby had several business travelers in suits, and several college-age visitors.

The rooms themselves had good beds, clean linen, air conditioner, a flat-screen TV, phone with free local calls, a clock radio with iPod dock, a small desk, a room safe, and a trundle-type full-size bed. It also had a small vanity sink/mirror and a hair dryer. And free wi-fi Internet.

Two catches: 1) It was small. The entire room was (no kidding) 6 feet by 12 feet. Sitting on the trundle bed my feet hit one wall, and my head the other. But if you're looking for a place to do a little work and get some sleep, it was as comfortable many full-priced hotels (think Holiday Inn, not Starwood). 2) Shared bathrooms--no kidding. There are lights in the room that indicate when the bathrooms (four on the floor I was on) were empty. For the record, I never saw anyone in the halls heading to/from the bathrooms. And they were very clean (though they had been used by others, evidenced by water in the shower floor and towels in a corner). In my case, there was a bathroom right next door, very easy to get to.

Who does The Pod Hotel owe for getting my business? Expedia, for starters. And a decent website that made me feel like the hotel was legit. But ultimately, if there weren't recommendations from people who had stayed there, I wouldn't have made the decision to stay there. And now, they have one more advocate with a story worth sharing. In "Purple Cow" terms, the experience was "remarkable."

Getting to downtown from JFK took a little time, about 50 minutes from the time I walked out of the airport. The Air Train cost $5 each way, and the subway to downtown (the E train) cost $2. A direct cab during the day would probably take 25 minutes, but last time I took a cab from downtown to JFK during rush hour, it took 90 minutes and cost $100.

The catch: 1) Dragging your luggage on a subway isn't fun, but an overnight trip only required a small wheeled bag--not bad. I usually take the subway from JFK, so I knew where to go. 2) Coming home during rush hour was crowded (I stood most of the time), and it was humid and hot in the subway. Not as pleasant as a cab with air conditioning taking you from door to door, but it took nearly the same amount of time (it might have even been quicker getting there during rush hour), and cost 1/10 of the price.

Fiscally sound? Or a little crazy? I'm not sure. But I do have a good story to tell when we're discussing ways to cut travel expenses.

Addicted to Twitter

John Porcaro — 2009-06-08T21:01:00-07:00

Tonight I had dinner with some fellow WOMMA board members in NYC. I'm always impressed when I have a chance to meet with this group of people. I got to have dinner with fellow Seattle-ite, Rod Brooks.

Rod mentioned that he's been addicted to Twitter. There are days I keep TweetDeck open on my screen, and watch the flow of comments coming in. During E3 last week, I kept an active search for #xboxe3. There are other times where I can go a week or two without logging in (although because i use ping.fm to update my Facebook status, it also sends my status out to Twitter, Friendfeed, LinkedIn, and MySpace, making me seem more present than I actually am).

When I mentioned that there are times I only monitor Twitter occasionally, Rod said he didn't think he could go without it for too long. In fact, during the meeting we were in, he pulled out his cell phone and asked a few questions we were discussing as a group, and shared a responses he'd gotten after only a few minutes. Pretty useful, this whole "micro-blogging" thing.

For those that might still be struggling with how Twitter can be useful, there are a few ways it's useful. TwitterMaven has a good list of links to find out more. Here's my quick take:

Twitter is a way to listen in on dozens of real-time conversations. Want to know what people are saying about your product? Start with Google (or Microsoft's bing!). Want to know what people are saying about your product *right now*? Use search.twitter.com.
Twitter is a great way to get messaging out to your community, and in some cases, your PR contacts. Journalists will follow anyone who can help give them insight, and most are using Twitter.
Twitter is a great way to take part in a conversation. It's rare that when you ask your followers a question, they won't answer. Even Ashton Kutcher will respond to intelligent questions from one of his 2.1 million followers. How cool is that?

Twitter might not be the cool new thing in a year. But the concept of real-time multi-user, opt-in multi-participant, authentic, unfiltered conversations isn't going away.

BTW, thanks, Oprah, for making Twitter a household name.

Who Are These Pre-Teens Anyway?

John Porcaro — 2009-06-04T20:23:00-07:00

Lately the topic of Pre-Teens comes up more and more, especially as we develop marketing plans for Project Natal (check out Milo and Kate to see what kinds of things are coming). I think it's great that my kids can be my very own focus group, and though I'm not "Super Dad" by any means, I spend a lot of time, attention, and--er--money on my four pre-teens (ages 7 to 12).

One thing I can tell you is that targeting pre-teens as a group is almost impossible. And not especially effective. My 7 year old girl (or for that matter my 9 year old girl) is as different as can be than my 12-year old son.

They don't play the same games. One of my boys likes music games like Rock Band, and the other likes RPGs and FPSs (thank goodness for Parental Controls). My 9 year old daughter would rather play games on the PC than the Xbox 360, and my 7 year old rarely plays the Xbox 360 (gasp!--I can't even market to her effectively, and I'm somewhat an infuencer in her world--and in the family gatekeeper, her mom!).

They don't value the same things (pleasing parents isn't at the top of my 12 year old's list of motivations). My daughter thinks it cool when I chaperone her field trips, and still wants to hold my hand when she crosses the street. My boy wants to pretend he doesn't know me when I chaperone his PTO activites.

They don't eat the same kinds of food. One of our kids is conscientious about what she eats, and tries to avoid too much junk food. Another can't get enough sugar. My 12 year old is learning to cook, and he likes things that are homemade more than packaged. They're actually getting tired of pizza, and their taste is evolving away from McDonalds to towards Red Robin.

They don't watch the same TV shows. My 12 year old isn't watching Disney Channel. My 9 year old boy wants to be like his 12 year old brother, but he still thinks Drake and Josh are funny. My 9 year old daughter would rather play outside than watch TV, but likes iCarly, and watching American Idol with her mom. My 7 year old still likes kids' shows like Words World, and gets nightmares when she watches scary parts of movies.

They don't wear the same clothing brands. Wearing an Xbox 360 shirt makes my boys cooler with their friends. My daughter will wear Microsoft tee shirts, but only at home when she's playing or working.

So it turns out that having one view of what a "Pre-teen" is could really limit how effective you are at reaching them with the right message. Come to think of it, nobody matches their "demographic profile". The trick is finding ways to efficiently reach smaller and smaller target markets with authentic, relevant messaging. Easier said than done!

John Porcaro — 2009-06-01T16:26:41-07:00

thinks his kids'll get off the couch with controller-free gaming, codename Project Natal http://ping.fm/PNlUN

John Porcaro — 2009-05-21T12:04:40-07:00

quotes Time Mag: "The best jobs will be for people who manage customers, who organize fans, who do digital community management." http://ping.fm/2C7uj

Word of Mouth Marketing Association University

John Porcaro — 2009-05-14T04:53:23-07:00

I'm at WOMMA's WOMM-U, a two-day deep dive into all things Social. Halfway through the program, and I already have pages of notes, and dozens of ideas for optimizing our efforts. You can watch what's happening real-time, at www.womma.org/wommu.

John Porcaro — 2009-05-11T18:18:23-07:00

is heading to WOMMU to get the latest and greatest on word of mouth and social networking...

Yep, We're All Experts

John Porcaro — 2009-04-14T10:00:58-07:00

From MarketingSherpa:

Two-thirds of marketers who work for organizations that have not used any form of social media marketing or PR consider themselves “very knowledgeable” or “somewhat knowledgeable” about this emerging strategy. Their overconfidence in unproven ability can doom social media initiatives to failure.

The New Cluetrain Manifesto

John Porcaro — 2009-03-13T14:06:15-07:00

I shouldn't speak so casually about the book that has fueled my passion for nearly a decade, The Cluetrain Manifesto. But in the last 24 hours, my mind has been racing with a new vision of what's possible.

And it came in the form of a product pitch. By an agency that happens to be owned by Microsoft.

Read "Trends in Social Influence Marketing," part of the recently-published Digital Outlook Report 2009 by Razorfish.

(Full disclosure, I work for Microsoft, but I don't work with Razorfish personally or professionally.)

Recap of WOMMA Summit 2008

John Porcaro — 2008-11-14T21:42:58-08:00

I just finished participating in a 3-day summit of WOMMA, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association, and wanted to share some key learnings. I wanted to be brief. I failed. Read on for the key takeaways. Too tired to add citations, and I hope I got all the numbers right (can't read my notes sometimes...)

WOMMA Site

WOMMA Summit Live Blog

WOMMA Summit Presentations

Key Takeaways:

· Focus on Customer Experience is universally cited as the most important driver of success. Every touch point with a customer, offline or online, is a chance to either build our brand promise, or erode our brand promise. Zappos CEO talked about the importance of infusing customer experience into culture of the company. Winning hearts and minds doesn’t mean winning “minds.” We can’t use logic and product features to win hearts.

· Bad economy increases need for WOM. Customers are more careful, more discerning, and will ask for opinions before purchasing. In tough economic times, the customer with the lowest cost to acquire is the one we already have.

· Integrated Marketing as vital to success , according to the biggest companies here (Kraft, P&G, Unilever, Prudential, Pepsi, PBS). When WOM initiative is part of advertising, online marketing, CRM, community, events, each discipline benefits.

· Measurement of WOM activity should focus on organizational goals, not simply reach or page views or clicks or conversions. Companies that work in silos can optimize for many measures, except customer experience. Return on “Insight” can be as important as Return on Investment (are we learning from what customers are saying?).

· Advertising should target influencers as well as prospects. Advertising gives influencers the “language of the brand” that they will use in conversation. Are customers talking about our products in a way that highlights our brand promise? 27% of conversations about Movies is advertising-influenced messaging that continues to carry branded message, and 25.6% of conversations about tech products.

· Customer voice needs to be part of every system.

· Credibility must be protected/nurtured. Credibility is gained by Trust, Authenticity, Transparency, Affirmation, Listening, and Responsiveness. Customers leave a “digital trail” of their customer experience that is permanent, and affects decisions later because of Google, reviews, blogs, etc.

· “Fair Exchange of Value” is required for any customer engagement/participation (Customer Generated Content)—if customer doesn’t get value, a program won’t work. If companies don’t get value, they will stop doing the program.

· 9% of population (Conversation Catalysts) make 22% to 26% of brand recommendations. New forms of branded messaging are emerging. NYT is doing branded editorials in Op Ed section—infuse story where influencers are learning/engaging.

· Jupiter reports 70% of people won’t buy without reading customer reviews. Customers share opinions online to help others (94%) and help companies improve (84%). It’s altruistic. User reviews are overwhelmingly positive. Across industries/products, user reviews average 4.3 of 5.

· 70% of WOM happens offline. But online has a 5X ROI because of less expensive reach. Offline and Online WOM often take different trajectories, but videogames are closely correlated (interesting).

· Mobile is emerging as a key communication channel. 91M people in US use SMS, 36M use mobile WAP, 40% have access to mobile web.

· Best meat-inspired vehicle: The Oscar Meyer Weinermobile.

· Worst Hotel. The Rio. Internet was flakey. Rooms were old and smoky. “Discount rate” was almost 2X the walk-in rate.

· The Cake Isn’t A Lie. Despite the fact I spent my birthday away from home, I did get cake and the happy birthday song at the Voodoo Lounge. J

A Few of my Favorite Best Practices

· Petco: When Petco incorporated user reviews and moderated Q&A on product pages, conversion increased 72%. Canadian Tire (Costco-type store in Canada) saw 67% decrease in support call volume when frequently asked questions had 3 user-submitted answers.

· MESH planning is using mobile phones in the UK to track all “brand touch points”. Participants text a message when they see one of several brands, report when/where/emotion, then fill out diary later. Allows tracking of brands and sentiment across multiple media (OOH, radio, TV, conversation, online, mobile, print).

· Pepsi worked with Keller Fay to measure impact of Superbowl advertising, together with online media and Pepsi Rewards Loyalty program. They drove an additional 23.8 million conversations (online and off) about Pepsi in the 3 days after the Superbowl.

Word of Mouth Marketing Ethics

As a member, Microsoft has agreed to the WOMMA Code of Ethics. I'm firmly committed to them, have been for years. In a nutshell, that means we agree to:

· Be completely honest about our Relationship (transparency/disclosure), Opinion (won’t express an opinion we don’t share, and don’t tell consumers what to say) and Identity (no false identities, no anonymous misleading posts, full FTC regulation compliance) in all WOM marketing

· Proactively encourage the same with anyone who is participating with us or sharing our message (press, community, vendors, partners)

· Respect the rules of the venue (that means knowing them).

· Protect privacy and permissions of customers.

· Manage relationships with minors responsibly (and don’t include anyone under 13 in any WOM program).

Video from Today's Panel Presentation

John Porcaro — 2008-11-13T18:01:00-08:00

Gotta love UStream...

Speaking Today at WOMMA Conference

John Porcaro — 2008-11-13T09:22:24-08:00

I'm excited to be part of a panel today hosted by my friend, Sam Decker. Hopefully we'll hae a lively session, share some ideas, and make a little sense of this important area of marketing.

You can watch a live feed today and tomorrow, or check out the live blog. I'll try to get a summary when I can.

Brands Speak: Secrets of Prioritizing and Growing Your Social Marketing StrategyBrands Speak: Secrets of Prioritizing and Growing Your Social Marketing Strategy

Moderator: Sam Decker, Chief Marketing Officer, Bazaarvoice
Panelists:
• Christine Morrison, Social Media Marketing Manager, Intuit
• John Porcaro, Director of Customer and Community Relations
Management, Microsoft, Xbox Global Marketing
• Sarah Superfon, Director of Interactive Marketing and Direct
  Response, Philosophy

The biggest social media challenge brands face is figuring out what to do first. Then, of course, there's the matter of blending WOM initiatives with traditional marketing activities. This panel of social and online marketing executives will explore how they go about prioritizing and sustaining growth with social strategies. You will learn how they harness the power of community and influencers, how they have developed their strategies, integrated them into their marketing operations, and the results of what they’ve executed so far. These initiatives include creating “authentic” marketing messaging, ratings & reviews, customer storytelling, tapping into social networking sites, blogs, videos, customer idea/voting, and more.

This panel will also explore the following quesitons:
• How do you weave social media into the marketing mix?
• How do you bring voice of customer into the message
   and purchase decisions?
• How do you prioritize marketing spend on social initiatives?
• How to think about or measure ROI on these initiatives? What
   are results so far?
• What does management really think of these initiatives, and how
   do you get their engagement?

Oh I Wish...

John Porcaro — 2008-11-13T08:15:00-08:00

The Oscar Meyer Weinermobile is here at WOMMA. I remember the jingle from my childhood. I'm not sure my kids do, though. And we eat a lot of hot dogs.

Raising the Stakes in Viral Video

John Porcaro — 2008-08-20T13:13:22-07:00

EA is one of the videogames that understands their customers, has a sense of humor, and is able to create video content that actually is worth sending around.

This video is in response to customers reporting a "glitch" in the game that caused Tiger Woods to appear to walk on water...

Getting a Job in the Videogame Industry

John Porcaro — 2008-08-13T17:16:38-07:00

What are your employees telling people about your company? They can be some of the best (and/or worst) recruiters, and with the rise of social media, everyone will get some camera time sooner or later.

Rio Pesino is a gamer, and runs The Reboot, a site for videogame enthusiasts. He did a piece that was fun to watch, and interesting. And not done by a corporation for recruiting purposes. Where'd I find it? It found me. On my Facebook news feed.