Digital Strategy

Watch Out for Agencies Acting Like Jilted Girlfriends

2009-11-13T08:18:09-05:00

The client-agency relationship has never been a life long love affair. It's like a short, intense period of romance followed by a short, sometime rocky, sometimes sublime marriage that ultimately ends in divorce. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just the nature of the business. People come and go and they realize the relationship is stale and that they each want to see new people.

Usually, that break up takes place behind closed doors. And everyone plays the game of acting nicely since you may get back together at some point. You certainly don't want other potential partners to see you acting badly or saying nasty things at the breakup because that might possible scare them off.

So I was surprised to see, on my blog of all places, a bad breakup happening. What's most odd is that I have absolutely nothing to do with the divorce; I'm like Paul Weston in HBO's "In Treatment" watching from the leather chair.

A while back, I wrote about how local ski resort Jay Peak had a hiccup in their social media program. They're doing a lot of things right, but they missed something. Everyone involved jumped in, solved the problem, and moved on.

Everyone, that is, except the agency of record Almighty Boston. The last post in the discussion was from Christopher Smith who stated that one of Jay's social media initiatives "is not an approach that we would encourage, nor endorse." This from the people who "helped design/build Jay Peak's social media platform and strategy."

It sound to me like the agency just called the client "stupid" in public. Now, clients and agencies call each other all sorts of names, but everyone usually does this behind closed doors. It's not often you see public disagreements like this, for good reason. And that reason is that once things like this become public, it's difficult, if not impossible, to find common ground.

It didn't stop there. On October 19th, Almighty Boston resigned the Jay account. When agencies resign clients they usually site "creative differences" like when Shine Advertising resigned the Go Daddy account. We all understand what that means: the agency developed what they thought were killer ideas, but the client didn't like any of them.

Almighty Boston said this instead:
"We're not comfortable moving forward without them having a cohesive plan," said agency partner Christopher Smith. "We wish them luck." Hmm, creative difference might simply be a matter of taste, and who can really argue with that. Not having a plan speaks plainly to intelligence. See above.

I thought it would stop there, but it didn't. Steve Wright from Jay Peak joined me for a social media roundtable in Burlington with some other local social media people. He talked about how Jay used social media to get feedback. And guess what? Almighty Boston just couldn't give up another chance to get in another jab. Christopher Smith was back with this comment:

"There must be some mistake/misunderstanding. Jay Peak has never used crowdsourcing in this manner."

Did he just call his former client a liar?

It's sad to see this happening in public, forever (it's the Web, remember). I've always heard good things about both Almighty Boston and Jay Peak. They had a good five-year run together. I'm not sure what this public spat does (and it seems to be mainly one-sided).

Maybe Almighty Boston feels it's fighting to protect its integrity. Instead, it seems to point out the dangers in leaving an Almighty Boston agency relationship. If I were a prospective client, I'd think twice about the potential of one of my partners going out to trash my brand publicly over internal disagreements. This might one of those new business angles I just don't get.

Call me naïve; I think you can have your integrity and still break up well. No one wants to hire the Jilted Girlfriend, except perhaps out of pity.

Toyota and Apple: Two P's in an iPod?

2009-11-06T03:44:00-05:00

Toyota and Apple have something in common. Both the Prius and the iPhone (and the iPod before it) appeal to people who like high tech, who want to feel as if they're a little ahead of the curve and who are ready to embrace products that change behavior.

The iPhone is clearly one of these products. It's changed how we use and what we expect from mobile phones (and mobile carriers). It's created a completely new Apps sector, one that other companies have rushed to copy. It is a brilliant product.

The Prius is also one of those products. It's slowly changing our expectations of cars. The car itself is one of the first high tech automobiles available and it should usher in a completely new wave of electric cars. It's changing the way we drive now and in the future.

You'd think that the Prius and the iPhone is a match made in heaven. Actually, Toyota does believe this. They've created an iPhone app about the Prius. Recently they launched an innovative interactive campaign using AR and Times Square billboards to connect iPhone users with the Prius. Toyota realizes that people who own iPhones should feel the same attraction to the Prius. And they're probably right.

What's wrong, though, is that unless you buy an upper-end Prius (Prius IV or V) there's no built in support to listen to and integrate iTunes in the car's system. There is an AUX connector in the car, but you have to buy a 3.5 mm audio cable, and even then, you can't control your iTunes through the stereo.

You can purchase an iPod integration kit for $250, but that's more than some iPhones cost. Or you can opt for the stereo/GPS upgrade for $1,400 but again, it's a lot to pay for listening to your own music. This Prius/iPod integration should be a standard feature, not an add-on.

Toyota, you have an outstanding product in the Prius. It's a product Apple and iPhone users should go crazy for. But if you're going to target and seduce this audience, you better make sure you deliver the goods. Otherwise they'll steam up the car windows but in the wrong way.

When Products Change Behavior

2009-11-05T12:16:57-05:00

Last week I purchased a new Toyota Prius. I had been eyeing this car for a while and when I realized that no pure electric car would be available for a while, I took the plunge. I used to drive an old Ford; the car I bought when I moved back to the U.S. and realized the American public transportation was an oxymoron. It always got great gas mileage, still chugging along at 30 MPG even after 10+ years, and I don't drive that much so it was a perfect little car for Burlington, Vermont.

But all things must pass, and I wanted to make a move before the old car had any major issues.

And let me tell you, I LOVE my new Prius. Love it. I'd driven a rental Prius last year in Florida and that got my attention. This one is even better.

Here's the weird/exciting/new part about it: Speed is no longer my key driving metric. I've driven a long time, and since I started driver's ed when I was 15 years old, the number I've always watched intently and allowed to direct my driving was always my MPH.

No longer. My Prius has a number of electronic indicators showing me my Miles Per Gallon, how well I'm charging my battery, whether I'm using Power or Charging, and more. I find that I'm driving less frantically and more carefully in order to get my numbers up!

While I drove somewhat economically before, this car is training and rewarding me for driving green, or ECO, as the Prius calls it.

And it's not just me. My seven-year old son who used to shout at me from the back seat to pass everyone now shouts every time we charge up and don't use the gasoline engine. It's like he's changed our old car video game of PassEm to our new car video game of ChargeEm.

Yes, I'm driving more economically but I'm also driving more carefully. Measuring your driving simply on speed, whether you like it or not, encourages drivers to take more risks. Driving to efficiency encourages drivers to take fewer risks. This has to be a good thing for everything that has to do with driving.

It also shows that you can teach old dogs new tricks. When products supply people with a new way of gauging how they're doing, or provide features people never even knew they needed, they can profoundly change the way we act and live.

You know, the last time I experienced a product changing my behavior to this degree was with my iPhone. But more on that tomorrow...

Social Marketing in the Old Days

2009-11-03T04:04:00-05:00

I had a great conversation with a friend of mine the other day about social CRM. We talked about the challenge companies face trying to gather all customer data and social media comments and put them into a system where brands can act on them.

It made me think about social media and how marketing is coming full circle, only we don't have the tools yet to do it right.

In the days of my parents or grandparents, you usually went to a local shop owner to buy something. Most of these stores were family owned and run. The owner would great you, make chitchat and then recommend something for you. His CRM tool was his brain. The next time you came in, he remembered you bought that green shirt and he had some sox and a tie that would go perfectly with it. When you bought both, he gave you a little discount.

You were so impressed you started sending your friends to this store. And they were also impressed. The challenge for the shop owner was transferring his knowledge to those of his employees (or his kids who worked for him). Some employees had lousy CRM skills and other had great CRM skills.

His business grew and times changed. He opened up a couple of stores in neighboring towns. While his brother ran one, he had to hire completely new people to run the others. But that was okay. Business was booming.

Rather than word of mouth and social marketing, he started advertising. The experience became less personal, but the assortment and pricing of the goods more than made up for it. So what if the sales person never remembered us? It was still a good deal.

And then the national chains moved in. The shop owner tried appealing to our sense of local commitment but the reality was that he didn't know us and we didn't know him any longer. The chains knew or cared about us even less, but at least they were cheaper with even greater assortment. And they advertised everywhere.

Then, somehow, that wasn't enough any more. We realized we want personal. We want businesses to treat us like people, not like a "prospect" or a "target." We want them to remember what we like and to hear us when we complain. All of those things we loved at that original store we found that we want again.

The question is: can we get it back? Maybe social CRM other social media tools will help. But the tools themselves are not enough.

The original storeowner had his own CRM system in his head. He had to find people who could understand it and, more importantly, who wanted to use it and who were good at using it.

It's the same with social media today. It's about the culture you create and support in your organization. It needs to come from the top and you need to treat each other, co-workers and employees in the same way.

Otherwise no super CRM or social media tool in the world will help. Because at the end of the day, we want to hear you say to us that we look great in that green shirt, that you have sox to match, and you're going to give us a deal. Then, and only then, will we go tell all of our friends.

Jumping into Social Media? Time to answer these 3 questions.

2009-10-29T11:56:14-04:00

Every business and organization now feels the pressure to have a social media presence. If it's not someone in the marketing department (easy to ignore), it's a C-Type who's been to a conference or has read articles and has made this a "priority."

There are a lot of "We need help setting up our Facebook page" requests floating around. While I love the fact that more marketing departments want to engage in dialogue marketing, I find that many of them focus on the wrong question. They ask "How?" and "Where?"

What they need to ask is: Why? Who? What?

Why will participating in social media help your business? Are you simply looking to increase sales or to get a better idea of what people say about you? Are you looking at social media as a way to build stronger connections with current customers or for finding new prospects? The answer to Why will help you build a strategy to guide everything you do. Or you may find that what you want to do doesn't make any sense on social media. You can avoid wasting precious time on something that will most likely not work.

Who do you want to connect with? Are they current customers or new ones? Are they teens or are they retired? Do they even use social media and how? Big questions, to be sure, but thankfully there are tools like those from Forrester's Groundswell. Their Social Technology Profile Tool helps you understand whether the people you want to connect with are those that simply like consuming content or actually enjoy creating it. Knowing this will help you hone in on the tactical directions and channels your social media needs to focus on.

What will you measure to define success? The bean counters are giving social media the hairy eyeball since their not convinced of ROI. You should choose KPIs instead (key performance indicators). You can choose a number of items to measure, everything from activity on your Facebook page, to Twitter ReTweets, to number of times mentioned on blogs, to visits or purchases on your Web site. It's important to choose something. There are lots of tools and services to help you monitor activity. For example, here's one interesting list of Twitter analytics tools you can use to measure activity.

If you can answer Why, Who and What, you can fill in those other important question like How, Where and When. You'll have a social media strategy you can explain to your team and your bosses. Hopefully, you'll have a roadmap for social media success.

Because without a good roadmap, you could be going in circles for a long, long time.

VT Brands Share Smart Social Media Practices

2009-10-27T03:30:00-04:00

I had the pleasure of moderating a social media roundtable at the Vermont Technology Innovation Jam yesterday. My panel consisted of Steve Wright of Jay Peak, Sarah Byers of Leonardo's Pizza, and Rob Smart of Every Kitchen Table. Each of the panelists had very different situations but the commonalities and approaches of all of them were striking.

Jay Peak is what goes for a "big" company in Vermont. At least it has more complex marketing than other businesses and has a large local, regional and international reach. Leonardo's Pizza is a hyper-local business with two locations but a large "presence." Rob Smart has led a number of businesses and marketing departments in the state but he's recently gone out on his own building up his own personal brand from scratch in the sustainable food arena.

I liked how all three of them had a clear picture of whom they wanted to talk with. Leonardo's wanted a way to reach pizza hungry college kids, and local fans. Rob Smart wanted to engage some of the leading thinkers in the category. Jay Peak actually used social media to segment its audiences, from golf, to skiers to deal seekers. None of them spoke to "everyone." They each had an idea of WHO they wanted to build relationships with.

All of them bought into the concept of a generous social media strategy. They used the channels to "shine the light back on followers." Leonardo's does this by publicizing content and feedback they get from its followers. Rob Smart does this by quoting and highlighting other bloggers on his blog. Jay Peak does this by promoting customer content created on Flickr and YouTube. They're each allowing customers to borrow some brand equity in order to increase it. Very sharp.

Most interestingly, big or small, each of them uses social media to make their product better. Leonardo's Pizza gets real time advice on new pizza creations they may not know much about, like Vegan pizza. Jay Peak uses social media to get brand advocate feedback on TV and print campaigns, letting crowdsourcing determine which creative they run. Rob Smart has used feedback from thought leaders and audience to help him stake out his own unique, and sometimes confrontational, position.

And Steve, Sarah and Rob have different ways of measuring their KPIs (Key performance indicators). Most importantly, in one way or another, they're actively measuring.

While these are smart successful people, the overall message to business people and marketers is this: If they can succeed, so can you. But like Steve, Sarah and Rob, you have to think about what you're doing, in order to get the most out of it.

What a fun afternoon that was.

Blogging and Transparency

2009-10-25T09:28:44-04:00

This originally broadcast on Vermont Public Radio, October 23, 2009.

The Federal Trade Commission recently created new rules about endorsing products and that got the blogosphere in a tizzy. Basically the FTC said that if bloggers receive free products from companies, and then blog about those products, they have to let people know about it. The FTC views this as a type of paid endorsement.

A lot of people reacted negatively. For the most part they didn't want any rules at all. And they certainly didn't want more rules than anybody else.

As a medium that prides itself on openness and transparency, though, it was a little odd to see these reactions about making people actually accountable for openness and transparency. That's one of the best things about the online space: sooner or later the truth surfaces. Even if it sometimes has to slog through a lot of noise to get there.

For example, a few years ago Walmart launched a blog "Wal-Marting Across America" featuring a married couple traveling across the U.S. writing about happy Walmarts and happy Walmart employees. Problem was, it turned out that it was all a public relations ploy. The tour came to a screeching halt and Walmart's PR firm turned from blogging to crisis management.

But the reality is that brands now recognize the power that word of mouth plays online. Most of us go online to research everything we buy. We look for personal opinions on things like baby strollers, travel destinations, and cars. So companies decided to see if they could influence the influencers. They sent them free products and asked them to write about them.

Trouble is, when we get something for free, we tend to look at it more favorably. The good bloggers fess up immediately but more than a few don't. Now, the FTC has made it a rule that you HAVE to tell when you get a product for free, or else.

You know, I like this FTC idea so much I'd like to see it in more places. Like when a politician in Washington debates health care or some other issue, I'd like to see them start their speeches with "I've received thousands of dollars from the insurance lobby, but I'd still like to say this about health care." Or how about some of the news "analysts" who show up on lots of talk shows but who actually work for the companies they're talking about. The only thing we'd need to do is to think up some good punishments!

Or maybe this is just sour grape since I've yet to receive anything for free in return for blogging about something. Companies do ask me to write about them and when I do, I always tell people that they've asked me to do so. In fact sometimes I end up paying for what I write about!

But even then, I still have a line I just won't cross. Like the time I received a request to review a an, ahem, Flatulence App for the iPhone. I couldn't figure out what would've been worse: paying three-ninety-nine for the app itself, or admitting that someone actually asked me to write about it.

What If the IAB Ran the Government?

2009-10-22T12:15:00-04:00

IAB CEO Randall Rothenberg didn't like government intrusion into the blogosphere. He didn't like them placing guidelines with teeth on the Internet. His organization makes guidelines without teeth. The FTC guidelines focus on content and intent. IAB guidelines focus on size, shape and weight.

And it got me thinking: What if the IAB ran things instead of the Fed?

Imaginary Issue 1: Hate Crimes
The Fed plans to strengthen current hate crime laws, with clearer guidelines and stronger sentencing for crimes targeting those of other gender, religion, race ethnicity or political belief.

In response to the new hate crime laws the IAB has instead released its guidelines and recommendations to curb violence against those with different gender, religion, race ethnicity or political belief. The IAB is recommending clothing guidelines so each group can recognize each other to either join them or stay away from them.

"If gays wear purple, tea baggers brown, anti-abortionists stripes and socialists pink, we all know who to avoid. If we see a spot of pink in sea of brown, we'll know something's wrong," said one spokesman. "We may not know what to do about it, but we'll know."

Imaginary Issue 2: Seat Belts
The federal government plans to make wearing seatbelts mandatory in both the front and back seats, in all 50 states and territories. It points to research showing that seatbelt use significantly reduces traffic death and plans to increase penalties for non-use.

In response to the new seat belt laws, the IAB has released alternative guidelines for car safety. From now on it recommends that all cars come in three standard sizes: Big, medium and small.

"We don't think someone should make us strap in," said one spokesman. "The problem is that the cars crashing are of all different sizes. Crashes between similarly sized vehicles result in less damage than those between odd sized vehicles." The IAB's guidelines aim to have big cars crash only with other big cars, while the small cars can avoid them completely.

"As long as you know what to look out for, things will be alright," said the spokesman.

Now back to reality: this was a fun fantasy. But sometimes, maybe oftentimes, real regulation with real consequences can be a good thing. And not something to fear.

And I want to thank the IAB for letting me have so much fun with them. I have not received anything free from them or any other traditional media that has influenced this blog. (See, that was easy)

The FTC, the IAB, and Me

2009-10-22T08:14:40-04:00

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently announced guidelines on blogging and testimonials. Basically, the FTC is trying to get ahead of the curve by setting guidelines on product endorsements and testimonials. They want bloggers to come clean if they've received free products in exchange for reviews. They believe, correctly for the most part, that the simple act of receiving something for free might influence what people write. The part that has everyone up in arms is that the FTC reserves the right to prosecute those who don't follow the rules.

Personally, I have no problem with honesty guidelines. They're very easy to follow. I believe that online should be BETTER than other media: more open, transparent and honest. The FTC guidelines are a challenge to us online marketers to walk the walk. I think we should take the challenge to do more than the FTC asks.

Of all the reactions online against the FTC guidelines (and there were a ton), the one that got the most play was from Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). What most irritated Mr. Rothenberg was that the FTC had put more stringent guidelines on bloggers than it has on most other media. "Unfair," cried Rothenberg! "Beware Big Brother," wailed the head of the IAB on a site with direct links to IAB guidelines!

Why, I thought, would an organization whose main output consists of online advertising guidelines be so opposed to blogger guidelines? Is it because IAB can't really prosecute anyone itself?

So I dug in a little and found:

The IAB's number one objective is to "fend off adverse legislation and regulation." That's right, it's not to make online advertising better, it's to keep the Feds out. It sounds like something straight from Wall Street. Just let the market take care of itself, and everything will be fine.

It's last objective is to create a force to "balance power of other media..." which is kind of funny, since the IAB's executive board consists of people from the NYT, CBS, NBC, and Conde Nast. Foxes in the hen house (where is FOX, by the way?).

My real bone with the IAB is that they seem to think that the real problem with online advertising is sizing standards. The real problem with online advertising is that it stinks, from a creative and interactive standpoint. It doesn't matter if it's 30K or 40K, if its 336x280 or 120x160. It's what's inside that counts.

That's why the FTC guidelines are a good thing. They may have got it wrong in Old Media, but they're trying to get it right in New Media. It's not the format of the blog; it's how we show up on them. The FTC says, "be honest, or else." I say "there's nothing easier." Too bad the IAB has a problem with that.

And it got me thinking: What if the IAB ran things instead of the Fed?

Stay Tuned.

The Quality of Your Work is Up To You

2009-10-20T07:19:49-04:00

I often hear people complain that "I'm not working on anything fun" or that "our clients won't let us do great work." Whenever I hear that, I know that the people saying and feeling those things are in a rut. The one thing to remember in those situations is that you can't control what other people think and do, but you can control what you think and do.

Honestly, if I simply did everything the clients (or my bosses) wanted, I'd never have done any interesting work.

Here's a mantra for the week: Clients depend on you to give them unexpected ideas and great work (it's a little long, sorry Maharishi!).

That's right, they depend on you. They may not articulate it and you may not be able to sell the on it. But you owe it to yourself and your clients to take those inert metals in front of you and start changing it into gold. Simply put, you can do that with everything you work on.

In the long run, this benefits everyone. You'll get in the practice of adding unexpected creativity to your work. More importantly, you'll get the crucial practice of SELLING your wonderful ideas. Ultimately, the idea doesn't matter unless you can sell it in.

You'll also train your clients to start expecting surprises and extra ideas. They'll love it.

So stop complaining and get creative.