We know that Facebook is not only the most favored social network for business.  But we’ve also experienced that all politicians can learn a lesson or two regarding the proper use of the platform to share messages, empower voters, and raise money. Or as our Founder Henriette Weber would say it “Return on Involvement”. The way business uses marketing campaigns for involvement, fan growth and branding with the end goal of increasing sales is the same exact formula that politicians should use to get the majority vote needed to hurl or keep them in office.

here’s a couple of facebook tips for politicians:
ROI for every budget. For business, there is always a social media strategy to fit every budget and create positive ROI. Outlining a social media ROI using an approach that is based on time measured goals is a must have for every business. The top three social media goals for businesses is strengthening brand, generating sales and acquiring contacts.

So no matter the size of your budget, politicians should realize that social media is a key investment and should include this into their marketing strategies. Funding should never be an issue, and that’s the beauty of social media. You can build an engaged audience even with low budgets so long as your messages are rocking your community.
Focus on quality, not only on quantity. Successful business pages have intuitively known that follower numbers do not necessarily mean high engagement. Brands with high engagement seem to possess, on the surface, that instinctive knack to put content that rolls well with their community. Believe it folks the rule of the game is not purely divine intervention but mainly perspiration out of hard work and research.
So better roll up your sleeves, Mr. Politician. Evaluate your content first using data gathered from your target community to ensure that your messages will resonate glowingly with your audience. Switch up your message content, or try other social media platform that might be better suited for a particular content.  You can for example, use facebook if the message will become too diluted when fitted down to Twitter’s 140 character limit.
Social media and email is still a potent and winning combination. While the buzz surrounding social media seems to cover out the rest of the other handy marketing tools available online, most discerning brands hasn’t forgotten about the tested and true marketing tool: Email. And although social media is great for content sharing and engagement in interactive discussions, email has helped business convert the results of those initial conversations and engagements into targeted campaigns and long term relationships.
In turn, politicians should never miss out on the huge opportunity that email marketing delivers. You should integrate email into your marketing strategies to achieve the powerful punch it provides when combined with social media. Learning from the business perspective, you should make it very easy to subscribe to email and social updates in a seamless manner.
A picture (and a video) is worth a thousand words. Businesses have been harnessing the power of pictures and videos into their social marketing campaigns. Photos and videos have told the story of the brand and culture quickly, intimately and efficiently. Needless to say, sharing photos and videos with advocates have helped bolster a brand’s presence in the social world.
In the same manner, politicians can employ multimedia to create content for your social properties, using photos and videos or links where fans can take action in every single facebook post. For instance, you can post your speeches to help convey your message to your supporters in a unique way, and you can even extend your social reach further to other social platforms as well.
Business and politics, like oil and water, may first appear to be totally different entities that should take diverse approaches to marketing. Upon closer inspection, however, it’s all too clear that there are deep insights regarding the way brands leverage social media to expand their reach and influence which politicians should examine more closely to integrate into their marketing efforts of developing and maintaining voter engagement. After all, both politics and business cater to the same people with the same aspirations and desires.

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While there will always be opposing contentions about which form of media deliver the most ROI (both return on investment as well as return on involvement) one rule is set in stone: no matter how much you plan ahead, no matter how strongly integrated your campaign may be, there’s no better and cheaper way to cut through the clutter than to improvise creatively, take risks and create business artistry.

Although improvisation is a dangerous idea for those who lack the courage to think, see and embrace Business unusual in ads – responding to events in real time, as they unfold, and hooking your brand into people’s primal emotions and needs in a way that support your brand proposition – is the most powerful form of marketing. Even though it’s not newsjacking on a large scale, there is a form of media platform takeover, that we on one side think is fantastic, and on the other side, hope that the beholders are ok with. Both for the sake of the people watching but also to create good-will for the brand.
Here are some real samples of newsjacking casestudies that made the tiger bow to the ground in deep respect.

First of our newsjacking casestudies: Sumo wrestler appears to assault spectator in clever stunt

Showing the crowd of spectators at sporting events is no big deal. But when DEVK, the German insurance brand hijacked that big screen showing the actual crowd of spectators during a football match with an advert that’s supposed to be a real life event, the result is inspiringly brilliant. At half time, a half-naked sumo wrestler showed up on the screen clambering down the benches, held a fan and ripped off his shirt with a tagline, “How do you explain that to your insurance company?”
Of course, the incident is just a simulation, pre-produced and then inserted into live stream. But the desired effect is spot-on, and the brand surely settled inside the head of everyone in attendance long after the match. Maybe you think it’s fantastic because it haven’t been seen before, or maybe you get slightly offended because the ads appears somewhere you’re not used to, anyway: talk about marketing brilliance. Remember, there’s no such thing as bad PR right ?

2nd of our newsjacking casestudies: Frozen cinema stunt

Getting to the movies in winter to relax and unwind is something we almost always do. But what would you do if the heater is turned off and the cinema is freezing cold? You get the nearest blanket fittingly provided to keep yourself warm. And, instead of immediately watching the movie you paid to see, you get to see first the documentary of everyday plight of homeless people struggling to keep warm in the cold and hear their comments of incredulity at the prospect of a freezing cinema. And while you fidget to the edge of your icy seats in vain attempts to keep warm, you get to witness their casual amusement when they found out that the temperature wasn’t low enough at 8 degrees Celsius. It’s nothing, the homeless people nonchalantly intoned on the wide screen; it gets really cold at 0 degrees Celsius, making you gag at the painful prospect.  The punch line – “Come on… don’t bother the people at the movies” – spoken with dignity and compassion by an anonymous homeless with a scraggly beard.
The stunt was done to raise funds for the homeless and a sizeable donation was made right on that theater through QR codes written on the distributed blankets. The idea soon spread and brought lots of media attention. Wow.

3rd of our newsjacking casestudies: New taxi meter stunt spreads brand’s fuel-saving technology

Translating a new technology into a real world scenario is sometimes needed just so people can quickly grasp its benefits. That is precisely the case for the automaker Seat with its Brake Energy Recovery System which collects energy lost when a car brakes, and then reuses this energy when the car accelerates again – saving on fuel. To promote and illustrate the concept in concrete terms, a creative stunt was staged where taxi passengers saved money off their fares whenever the car brakes were applied.
The system was connected to the taximeter so every time the driver hit the brakes, the meter ran backwards. To create this video, cameras were hidden inside the taxi and random passengers were picked up all around Dusseldorf.

4th of our newsjacking casestudies: Musical earmuffs

Running a marketing campaign is always hard in an open society. But imagine the difficulties if you run your campaign in highly stratified societies and the problems are increased a hundredfold. But Vodafone India went through the seeming insurmountable hurdles with ease using simple and practical solutions.
The event campaign targeted the largest religious festival in the world, visited by over 100 million people. Held during the harsh winter month of January, musical earmuffs with the Vodafone logo playing devotional music were distributed among thousands of attendees from diverse socio-economic backgrounds who gratefully wore such vital winter accessory – helping the brand penetrate some of the most inaccessible segments of Indian society at minimal costs.

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We found out that Oreo had launched a Daily Twist campaign for its 100th year anniversary last year by posting 100 daily images on its social channels of an Oreo cookie modified to honor an event.  This playful campaign remained true to the long-established brand image of a happy snack both for children and adults while resoundingly adapting to the fleeting social whims that bother most brands dipping in the almost anarchical virtual marketplace.
Well, the core idea here is a marketplace that, on the surface, is seemingly anarchic. This brings us to the main point of emphasis – just beneath the turbulent surface, an underlying layer of calm, order and harmony exists – if only brands exert enough effort to find it.
The winning marketing formula has always been and always will be to look beyond your core users and spread the love out to capture new customers. Although maintaining the current consumer base is extremely important, it is also equally important for your business to progress and generate new clients. New consumers mean new business, and even more consumer loyalty.
That said, the key to the growth of your brand is visibility which may be difficult to achieve if your company is not effectively sharing your brand to current and potential consumers.
Brand sharing is easy. Ask yourself what would make you compel to buy your brand and start from there. Then, tore down those impeding walls for a minute and, play around creative ideas that can make your brand instantly relevant to your pursued clients.

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But before you can benefit from such privileged community service, it is imperative that you identify who among your peers are best qualified to be your brand ambassadors…

Perhaps this is self-evident and plain common sense, but we love to rub it in. We call it a strategic approach to your brand advocacy and your brand ambassadors. You have to monitor the base of your peers and find out the people who are already talking about your brand. Listen to their sentiments and find out what motivates them. Why are these people compelled to plead your cause? Why are they willing to stand up for you? And share their awesome experiences with you ?

Then participate in the conversations around your brand. And when your most vocal and active peers seek you out, they are actually searching for the opportunity to establish an emotional connection. By all means, give them what they want!

But how? By responding promptly to messages, making every effort to reach out and thank them for sharing your content, not taking them for granted, and above all – being human(e). After all, it’s all about building the foundations of a good relationship by providing great, consistent service, and delivering on your brand promise…

Once you have identified your candidates for brand ambassadors, start nurturing an extra special relationship. Mind you, your handpicked consumers won’t suddenly become brand ambassadors by simply being your peers. It’s up to you to provide them with an experience worthy of their new status. So don’t be routine with your interactions – they deserve singular treatment 1 on 1 – which means that interactions should be done on the individual level and it’s different for everyone. You can’t mass produce this sort of interaction and most certainly, you can’t automate it.

But the simplest way to make the initial contact is also the most productive and intuitive – just ask. You can ask them how they like your new product; or even ask them if they are willing to give a review or an opinion. By approaching your soon-to-be-ambassadors in an open, honest way, you’ll gently change the terms of their relationship with your brand.

And once you have meticulously developed your brand ambassadors, make sure they are heard. They want and they deserve recognition (they are human after all) so magnify their online presence more by posting their valuable insights on your sites, sharing their most brilliant ideas on your networks, and making sure to give them all the credit for their efforts towards your brand.

The reason you have to aggressively amplify their message should be obvious by now. Social media is such a crowded place for marketing. By allowing brand ambassadors to be your social microphone, you can easily break through the clutter with an authentic voice because your message will sound different. As much as you try to develop smart marketing messages that deliver, the reality is that even if your brand ambassador said exactly what you’d have said, this same exact message will have a tone of genuine passion which marketers struggle to express without sounding pushy.

C’mon rockers, lets invite our chosen ambassadors to the dance floor now – Oh, and…Keep on rocking!

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We pride ourselves of being very inspired by music in Toothless Tiger. If we were a rockband we would rage against the machine in spirit – but more like Foo Fighters in operation (doing everything ourselves). And we’re in the same boat as everybody else. We have to inspire you guys to buy our hours otherwise our job is gone. We’re only an enslaved tiger in demand.

Pardon us for sales-y intro, sometimes we just can’t help ourselves. Well, so much for that…

In this world and most especially in the business world, why is persuasion so tough for some, yet so simple for others? And what can we do to set the audience on fire?

We firmly believe that business owners can engage listeners in a more profound way if they toss company jargon aside and learn to cut the bullsh*t and tell their story. The story they are living: storyliving. The everyday struggle for fame, dollars and more clients. Because of what you believe in as a company. It’s so simple for us, but it’s hard for companies to understand – maybe because it’s so simple. Live something that matters to you- and the audience will follow you.

The key to their hearts is not a compelling story, it’s to live and tell that story 100.000 times so it becomes an integral part of you. You tell it in articles, on video, in interviews. You live it out from different angles and, in the end, it becomes a part of the coolness of your brand.

You don’t only tell the story, but you create content around it consistently. Everyday.

We’ve done it with several huge subjects close to our hearts. Henriette Weber’s “Sorry I don’t do mainstream”, or our “Cut the bullshit” in business. We speak things as it is and we generate 1000 pieces of content around the things we firmly believe.

Yes, we do believe that companies should be more like rockbands. We do believe and preach rockbandism. We make the core values of your business the center of our strategies and we’re not afraid to say what sucks and what rocks in our world.

Storyliving is key to everything these days – but you need to find out what stories you firmly live and believe in.

Yeah, we just simply know how to do this the right way – but, do you ?

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Of course, there is no doubt that the inherent connectivity provided by the internet and social media in particular have opened up an extremely convenient opportunity to meet, and reach out to others who share some common interests, or reach out to those who suffer from any form of pain.

However, while using online strategies can do awesome things for the brand if done the right way, the limiting factor of these online efforts towards building a healthy, vibrant community is its tendency to be transient – with community members dropping in and out ONLY when they need support.

But the primary aim of any community management is keeping the members loyal to your brand and in the end, sell more. And the first rule of business is to make them appreciate your presence in their daily lives, as part of their news or twitter feed or what have you. It’s the sort of  loyalty you need to earn, and not something that’s a given from the people who think you’re doing some interesting stuff.

You can do this in many different ways. As an example, you can do a proactive approach in your community. Listening, typing and engaging all day long will not make you remarkably special to your community members. But to really hit it home, you need to get above the disconnect of just interacting with your computer screen.

Deep down, people still crave face-to-face interaction. The physical contact of a firm handshake brings the warmth of humanity into reality.

But what if your company takes this simple human contact to another level by personally sending out a cake to one of the members of your community on her birthday? And because you’re feeling good about the positive impact it generated, you’ve decided to make it your business policy to send cakes on the birthdays of every community member.  Can you imagine the windfall you’ll get out of this generous gesture? It will surely be magnified a thousand fold because it’s…priceless.

And in case you’re wondering whether we’re shifting your attention away from your online activities to focus mostly on the real world – no, we’re not. That would be the same as shooting ourselves in the foot. We’re just giving emphasis that your online efforts should run parallel to and in support of your offline connections, never as a substitute.

At the end of the day, we firmly believe that the real masters of community management in the future will be those who can connect the online and offline worlds in a flawless way.

But there’s still a big black line dividing the two for the majority of businesses today: That we, in business, are not using our efforts to deal with people on a one-on-one basis. We still want to address crowds because it’s so much cheaper! – and so, less powerful. If you really want to be ahead with your go-to-market strategy of tomorrow make it a one-on-one approach (oh and reach out to us, we have a ton of experience in this field and it’s one of our favorite things to do).

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Many things in the market have changed since then. In today’s marketplace hyper focused on the next big thing, features and benefits are no longer sustainable.  There is just too much stuff for sale these days that everything else is white noise.  And most of us, in these time-compressed nanosecond days, have little patience for things that don’t really matter to us personally. Sorry, rockers – no spiritual connection is equal to no sale.

Brand sharing is more take than give

For your brand to differentiate itself from its niche, consumers must believe that the brand delivers something more valuable than the money they paid for it. In effect, your brand must provide more user value to your specific market than you ask for in cash value – in a “more take than give” relationship, however intangible such value may be.

This is what outward brand sharing is all about.  Simply defined, outbound brand sharing is reaching out to those consumers who share the same values your brand holds dear.

Listen more, market less

But on a more specific level, this also means paying more attention and listening more closely to what your customers are saying about your brand. For Pete’s sake, do not be afraid to involve your core users in making your product better. They are often best equipped to innovate because they are the ones who actually use your brand regularly.

These mother lodes of information, coming as they are from your most loyal consumers and, resulting from healthy, active participation in conversations around your brand, is the most cost-effective yet the most underutilized tool in the market today.

A super-community is the company

To illustrate this point further, an interesting  case is threadless.com, a company which enjoyed phenomenal growth with sales reaching up to millions of dollars despite having no ads, no professional designers, used no modeling agency or even fashion photographers, no sales force and retail distribution. As a result, operating costs are low, and profit margins are above 30% – a super feat for a brand which started out by selling something as trivial as – mere shirts!

The brand’s success formula? All tees are designed by an actively engaged super community with members numbering more than two million through competitions on an online social network. As the members themselves get to vote – and eventually buy – on which designs they liked best, the brand has yet to produce a single flop.

Face that white board

Of course, your brand does not have to go through such extremes to make some headway. But before you start conversations around your brand and listen for feedback carefully, go back to the white board and know exactly what values your brand stands for. Once informed, you can start reconnecting your brand’s core values to your consumers much more forcefully.

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All you ever do was say “Hi” to people you would never meet again. No business leads was generated, no new contacts were made, and no partnership was considered. You want to shout out – what a boring and wasted evening! – as you head out for the door.

Guilty? Yeah, thank you most hands are raised. But you know networking should never be this way.

Sure, spending some time off your busy days networking means you’re using some time off those pressing things you have to do right now. But will another hour spent in the endless revision of that marketing plan brings in more clients? Expand your reach? Strengthen your relationships?

Maybe so but definitely not as much as a face to face meeting with a prospect or, even a new person with a lot of potential clients. You may feel like you’re too busy right now to expand your network (it’s hell week), and you will have enough time for it next week. However, those projects that feel so urgent today will not be around tomorrow, and you better find new projects to replace them – now.

The solution is to change the way we approach networking. Those long cocktail hours are done for some useful reason. If not, why is almost everyone present, just collectively wasting their time?  The casual meet and greets are the first steps to establish any potentially rewarding relationship. You did not find your life-long friends and partners in a vacuum. Somewhere down the road, the initial “Hello” was offered and accepted and, if interests are mutually shared, awesome friendship usually develops.

The same holds true for any business relationship. The customary exchange of calling cards remains good business practice because they contain valuable contact information. It gives you the opportunity to call the person and talk business. But how many of us have done so?

Of course, not everyone you meet can help you directly in your business. But somewhere inside your extensive network you will find at least one person who can give you a fantastic lead. If you play your cards right, one amazing referral can often generate a whole bunch of wonderful referrals.

The thing is for you to be always human and warm to get the most value out of your networking activities. Practice a lot of empathy.  Treat everyone you meet with the same high degree of respect you expect from them. Always give anyone your 100% attention as if they are waving a million dollar contract in your face. You will be surprised with the results.

Now, have you ever tried smiling at complete strangers on your way to the grocery store? They always smile back.

Try that, for a change…

The post Missing out on cupcakes and champagne is never a good idea: why networking rocks. appeared first on Toothless Tiger.

To qualify for our search, a brand should have integrated the social and the responsible into the business model from day one, and not only morphed into a more social and responsible company today simply because it’s the “in” thing to do right now.  A brand whose bottom lines are not only great products or services and the corresponding windfall profits but more importantly, a brand fully dedicated to improve the quality of life not only locally but also globally.

A business willing to sacrifice its profits on the altar of its social responsibility – the idea seems strange, right? Most of us grew up in a world where the sole purpose of creating business was to make a profit; the more profit we made, the more success our business concerns were.

Nowhere was this view more apparent than in the US where the full notion of capitalism, both the good and the ugly, was born. In fact, the US invented the concept “to make money”, where everyone and anyone have the opportunity to create wealth.  And no other country in the world uses its initials as its proud symbol for currency except the US – the dollar sign “$” is the US placed on top of each other.

Most of us grew up believing that business and social responsibility go together like oil and water. They just won’t cling together.

Brand activism at its best

But one brand stood out for meeting the seemingly impossible criteria of marrying business and social responsibility together.

Quite ironically and much to our pleasant surprise, this social brand – Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream – is an American company created not a year ago, not five years ago but, amazingly, more than 30 years ago. Ben and Jerry’s social activism is something worth aiming for, and worth creating a social activism strategy around. It simply rocks.

The brand was so ahead of its time that they were one of the first companies to give its employees living allowances, a pay rate twice the national average, offered better benefits, donated 7.5 percent of its annual pre-tax revenue to charity, and supported local as well as third world farmers by paying a premium on organic produce.

Not only that and this is the fun part, this brand strongly believes that its progressive social mission is as equally important as its profits.  Ben & Jerry’s  buys quality ingredients from a New York bakery that hires the homeless since the mid-80’s, and they are the first US company to loudly support the use of Natural Refrigerants, a more energy efficient and climate friendly alternative to standard freezers, in its Cleaner, Greener Freezer campaign.

Such delightful way of doing business is proudly punctuated by the brand’s famous triple bottom line mission statement – people, planet and profits – in that order.

Seamless online and offline engagement

Being a true-blue social brand since birth, the shift to social media was just perfect for Ben & Jerry’s. The brand has over 5 million facebook  fans with some 100,000 people talking and engaged at any one time.

But exactly why are they so successful?

Ben & Jerry’s is known for its distinctive flavors and unusual flavor names like Imagine Whirled Peace, Karamel Sutra and Chocolate Therapy that fans can become quite passionate about. Their social formula is simple – announce the new flavor and include an enticing product shot.  Given how yummy these look on facebook feeds, it’s not surprising that most announcements averaged 25K per post!

So what does brand activism mean for your brand?

In this age of increasing consumer participation and vigilance, we firmly believe that there is no other way to conduct business but to go social. Of course, it requires a lot of soul-searching and resources especially for established companies that are trying to reposition their brand to adapt to these earth-shifting times. For newbie companies, the shift may be less painful but still resource-sapping especially when working on a tight budget.

Oh and if you ever want to buy us Ben & Jerry’s we’re really into Caramel Chew Chew =)

The post Brand activism: why Ben & Jerry’s is so inspiring appeared first on Toothless Tiger.

With over 100 million viewers who watched the game, advertisers did not bat an eyelash in coughing out a record average of 3.5 million dollars for a 30-second commercial spot.

Newsjacking: a FREE Ad Scored a Resounding Touchdown on Superbowl  2013

As expected from such multi-million dollar tabs, most of the ads – especially the Budweiser commercial “Brotherhood” about a Clydesdale moving away from his farm and his trainer; years later, the horse remembered his trainer after returning for a parade, and run to hug him – were mini-epics of the usual drama and comedy.

To date, Superbowl 2013 goes down as one of the most expensive commercial spots ever – and the worst embarrassment in pro sports history: a power blackout that stopped play in the third quarter for a full 34 minutes.

Show stopper

But the real show stopper happened right in the middle of that power outage. An enterprising brand, Oreo, came up with an idea so bold and brilliant at the same time that it ushered a new age in advertising.

“Power out? No problem.” – Oreo wrote on its twitter and facebook pages, along with the image of an ad showing an Oreo cookie with a single spotlight and an amazing tagline, “You can still dunk in the dark.”
This ad cost almost nothing, but it became the most-talked about marketing coup the entire night earning more than 13,000 retweets, 20,000 likes and 6,000 shares on facebook.

We have always known the power of relevance and timeliness in social media, but it’s so important not to look at the ad in itself, but how the speed of company actually was, and we are in awe of how well constructed the company is: It only took the ad agency FOUR minutes to make the commercial. We’re wondering who hit the button saying – “let’s go ahead and do this – NOW”.

Magical moment used for newsjacking

In marketing, making an ad usually takes months and months of preparation. In fact, Oreo itself bought a 30-second spot for the Superbowl coverage; spent countless hours coming up with a commercial message and hoped it will register home; and yes, it also paid millions to the TV promoter. That video, featuring an impressive “Whisper Fight” in a library, garnered more than 1 million views on youtube, thanks largely to the freebie “Power Out?…” ad.

So how did Oreo do it so right so quickly? Every stakeholder was there holed up in their war room, including key Oreo executives who bravely and promptly approved content. Being creative in your comfort zone is one thing but being curly creative and brave in an unpredictable situation is another thing. The result was simply magic.

Marketing dream and reality

Another thing we really are interested in is how Oreo will follow-through this marketing magic.  With practically one amazing sweep of the wand, consumers are suddenly talking about the brand. This is every company’s and every marketer’s dream.

But the worst thing Oreo can do right now is to sit down and pat itself in the back. There is no time to relax, but there is enough time to engage consumers in meaningful conversations by focusing on relevant insights and messages centered on core company values.

Our take on providing continuity

The idea here is to provide compelling reason for consumers to follow the brand by producing similarly innovative and engaging content while retaining the basic identity of the company.

From a marketing standpoint, we should treat last Sunday as jumping board to reach greater heights for the brand. We should consider it a kickoff, a sort of day one to a year’s worth of marketing ingenuity.

Oreo has set a new bar at the Superbowl 2013. We’ll see what’s next…

NB: Oreo tried it’s Newsjacking strategy at the Oscars as well, here’s an article on how that went.

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