Who really owns your brand?

If you haven’t already registered for today’s free Twebinar on this subject you may just want to.  The second Twebinar in the summer series with host, Chris Brogan, is going live today at 2pm EDT and you can find out more and register free by visiting www.twebinar.com

First of all on logistics.  The last Twebinar was the first in the experiment of mashing up Twitter with a video webinar.  And there was a lot of great feedback on it.   After absorbing this feedback we’ve made a few changes to the way the Twebinar will unfold today.

• More live elements - We’ve invited Richard Binhammer and Mike Manuel to join us live to go deeper on today’s topic.  They will be joining via a webcam.  I may also pop into say hello as well
• We will be having more live interaction with our host.  Chris has a lot to share on the topics as well and will also be monitoring the discussions on Twitter to respond to some threads.
• CrossTech Media has developed a new Twebinar window that will include the current discussion feeds including #tweb2.  So you can follow along with both streams in front of you and choose to inject tweets when you see something pop up.
• We are going to leave up the names and the Twitter handles of each guest during their interviews so people can connect with them.
• Plus a number of other small tweaks…

Now onto the topic - “Who really owns your brand?”  When we asked this question of our social media gurus the answer that came back represented the entire spectrum.  I think the word “owns” was interpreted many ways as was the word “brand”.  Most were in agreement though that social media/consumer generated media now plays a big part in the definition of what people consider a brand to be.

And another thing that generated a lot of discussion was around the word “control” which usually came up in the discussion of this topic.  Did any company ever “control” it’s brand?  Can companies afford not to be part of whatever process does define their brands today?  Is the new word “collaborate” or “co-operate” vs. “control”?

As we found out in the first Twebinar, social media is definitely “game changing” when it comes to how marketers and PR professionals are now approaching their roles.  Who really owns your brand?  Sign up to today’s Twebinar and share your thoughts.

July 22nd, 2008 - Posted in social media | | 1 Comments

Twebinars - the power of word-of-mouth

Wow!  I mean, WOW!  It’s all I can say about the way the word spread about the upcoming Twebinar tomorrow on social media with host, Chris Brogan.  The response from the social media community has been amazing.  With well over 1000 people signed up as of last count mid-day yesterday I believe it has already broken a few records.

Much, if not all, of the credit for this surge of interest can go to the following:

- A great host and a great lineup of guests.  We were so fortunate, at Radian6, to have so many great speakers volunteer their stories and ideas for this series.  Chris is a wonderful host and interviewer and also brings a great point of view to each one of the topics.

- The willingness of people to share an idea.  Other than a small targeted Facebook campaign the majority of publicity about this idea has come from the people who will be participating in it, be they guests or the speakers.  People kindly decided that they wanted others to know about the event they would be attending and, as such, the message spread.  In fact, I’m including a graph from the Radian6 platform that shows the volume of the mentions (posts, tweets etc.. ) of the word Twebinar/Twebinars. The dip, as one would expect, was last weekend.

The twebinar idea is an experiment.  As for the format no doubt there will be pros and their will be cons - hopefully more of the former.  We will all learn from the experience and we will attempt to fine tune it for the 2nd and 3rd twebinars to be held in July and August.

As for the content, hopefully others will find the video interviews as valuable as we did when we shot them.  And hopefully the new people that everyone will meet before, during and after each event on Twitter will help to move everyone a little further along their understand of the power of social media and the potential of word-of-mouth.

Tweet everyone tomorrow at 2pm EST.

For more information on signing up for the free Twebinar go to www.twebinar.com

June 25th, 2008 - Posted in social media | | 0 Comments

Why didn’t we call the telephone, “phone media”?

I know, two posts in one day after none for 3 weeks (yes, it’s crazy and I’m living on the edge.

It’s probably too late to change it but the more I think of it the more I think “social media” is really not a “media” at all.  I think we may have hitched the wagon to the wrong pony.

By calling it social media we are just setting up the newbie to consider it yet another media to buy and to jam messages through.  Social media bites back hard when its used in a one way, “media-like” fashion.  Let’s look at a few examples where people are trying to treat it as a media and why it’s blowing up in their faces.

1) Pitching to bloggers as you would pitch to media

2) Splogs

3) Spam comments on blogs

4) Advertising or dumping RSS feeds on Twitter

Those are just a few I can think of off the top of my head.  Others?

Social media (the collection of platforms) as we know it is more like the phone, fax, CB radio, text messaging, snail mail and email.  These are all conversational platforms, not media.  And when we treat them like media, again, they almost always backfire.  I can think of a few examples like:

1) Outbound telemarkers

2) Junk faxes and junk mail

3) Spam email

“Social media” is more about mutual relationships.  Perhaps it got off on the wrong foot at the beginning because until a year or so ago many people and companies who were blogging turned off the comment capability for fear negative feedback.  But social media has matured to its true two way state - that’s what defines it.

Introduce the concept of Web 2.0 applications and you could also say it’s about the easy facilitation of mutually beneficial relationships in a digital format.  So what should it be called if we could wave the magic wand and go back in time?

1) Digital Relationships?

2) e-life?

3) digisocial?

Do you agree?  What would you call “social media”?

May 23rd, 2008 - Posted in social media | | 4 Comments

Impressions AND Relationships build brands

I know, I know, it’s been too long since my last post. Of course, I’ve had a million post ideas since the last one but alas they remain in my head or have long disappeared into oblivion.

I just had to post on this idea though today because it really sums up what I’ve been thinking and chatting about lately. In fact, it was only earlier this week when I was “manning the station” for the Online PR teach-in at the Third Tuesday New Brunswick social media meetup that I was giving lots of examples of this but didn’t have a three word answer to sum it all up.

Relationships AND Impressions. It takes both to build a brand. Love it. I just found this on a summary blog post that Virgina Miracle posted on the Ogilvy 360 blog. It was coined by Jeffrey Graham over at the New York Times when he spoke at the recent WOMM-U event.

I love this three word combo for one big reason - it reminds us of the total formula where social media outreach and traditional mass advertising strategies collide. There is no question that the ad biz is big biz and it has gotten to be that size by the sheer fact that blasting interuptive messages over massive one-way channels to giant audiences definitely builds impressions. The more money you through at it, assuming its targeted well and the message is relevant to the audience the more these impressions stick and build awareness of a brand.

Now on the other hand social media is about relationships, built organically over time via relative and meaningful conversations and exchanges of valued content. Social media usually means one to one or one to selected many (people that have “opted in” to relationships with the “one” because of a common interest, belief, philosophy, hobby or what have you.) Social media generally reflects how real life works and when someone tries to artificially abuse the balance they usually get kicked back pretty hard. Social media is not interruptive, its inviting.

Now as social media grows, or should I say, as social media platforms pull more and more of life’s conversations into the digital realm, the weight of the “relationships” side of this equation starts to flash warning. For those brand owners sticking only with the “impressions” path there is a danger you may just miss the bus and your competitors may swoop in to build the relationships in your place.

(more…)

May 23rd, 2008 - Posted in social media | | 3 Comments

Digital PR? No Twitter account is like no fax number in the 80’s

Today I scanned through the recent PRWeek mag looking for articles on social media, digital PR etc…stuff that interests me specifically. There was one article where PRWeek pulled together a roundtable discussion with 11 experts in tech PR in San Francisco. I thought, cool, these are exactly the folks I’m interested in following because they share a common interest - digital and tech PR. So I jumped on to Twitter and searched their names to I could begin to follow their expert thoughts on a go forward basis. Unfortunately, of the 11 experts only 1 had a Twitter account and it was a locked account at that.

I bring this example up not to pick on these folks, as I hope they are on the verge of joining the vast tech/digital PR community now on Twitter, but to point out that if you don’t have an active Twitter account and you live in the world of digital, social media, or Tech PR you may be doing yourself a disservice.  Twitter has become so intertwined with social media and digital PR that not having an account is akin to not having a fax number in the 80’s. It’s a contact point that others in the community and increasingly, social media savvy customers, expect to see. In fact, at our firm all of our new business cards going forward now include our Twitter, Gtalk and Linkedin handles.

The same thing holds true for aspiring social media PR types. At the recent New Communications Forum in Santa Clara last week many noticed a large digital divide between those currently using Twitter and those who do not. It was like there was two conferences happening simultaneously - one with a flurry of back-channel discussion and networking activity on Twitter and one, well, rather old school with people taking lots of notes and heading back to their rooms at the end of the sessions.  (In fact, both Chris Brogan and I mentioned something along this topic when Shel Holtz grabbed some audio clips for The Hobson & Holtz Report at NewComm).   The crazy thing is is that the Twitter community is open and it’s free and welcomes all who want to join the discussion. There is no barrier to entry - none. And take it from someone who joined six months ago, the experience has been phenomenal and game changing. No other community is as connected and as important to a tech/social media/digital PR professional as Twitter in my books.

So I encourage anyone who’s currently working in the space or aspires to be an expert in it to join Twitter now.   Start by following folks with similar interests and begin by listening.  Then join in by offering relevant and valued thoughts, sharing about what you find interesting, joining the conversation.

Millions of people just like you are communicating in a community on Twitter right now.  Please, don’t miss out.  See you in Twitterland.

April 28th, 2008 - Posted in social media | | 10 Comments

What Netscape Navigator can teach us about finding social media experts

The current shortage of PR and ad/social media hybrid experts today reminds me of a similar situation back in the late 90’s. Back then another merger of talents was in demand - graphic artist meets computer programmer - or what became the web designer. It played out something like this.

With the explosion of that historic program called Netscape Navigator people started to finally get what opportunities lay in yonder Internet hills (or as they used to say - the World Wide Web.) Pages could be actually interacted with. Designers knew how to put together wonderful print layouts but interactivity, not so much. It was pretty rare to find an amazing programmer (who tended to be more analytical vs. creative) that could appreciate great design and vice versa. Job openings quickly appeared around the globe but for the most part - the talent cupboards were pretty bare.

So where did the talent come from to start off?

Most were self-made, self-taught artists or programmers that took a risk and generally combined a hobby with a job skill. For some this was like a dream come true and they thrived in the new environment. These folks were passionate about their new combined skills and blazed new trails in design and interactivity. For others, it was a stretch either one way or another and while they filled a need they didn’t win any awards for web design. And for those who thought they might like to get into the field but didn’t have either programming or design backgrounds it was tough going at first to find any courses to take. It was also a time when a lot of the tools were just coming on to the market to assist with web design, some with single purposes and pretty first generation, others eventually becoming full-on suites and making it easy for more to enter the field and for the job to be done quickly, with more interactivity and with better design.

Of the talent that did exist they were quickly gobbled up by three different orgs:

• the early adopter corporate brands who were ready to take advantage of the web and got the concept
• the early adopter agencies who recognized the future of the medium as a channel to customers
• the specialty shops that sprouted up and focused only on web and interactive design

Of course there were also those who chose to go it alone and freelance their talents to any of the above.

So, I ask, doesn’t this sound all to familiar?

While still a vast majority of PR and advertising is done via traditional channels, consumers and business clientelle alike are being attracted to the power of social media. It’s the power to interact or converse this time vs. traditional, one-way static message delivery. And the Netscape Navigators of today in social media are the Web 2.o applications and sites making it easy for consumers to grasp and utilize the power of social media to live, play and work.

And where are the social media experts coming from now to fill these new social media PR and social media ad positions? Again, most are self-made, self-taught folks from PR or advertising who love the whole idea of social media and are participating passionately in it in their personal lives. And where are the few that exist today going:

• the early adopter corporate brands who are ready to take advantage of social media and get the concept
• the early adopter agencies who recognize the future of the medium as a channel to communicate with customers
• the specialty shops that are sprouting up and focus only on social media marketing and/or PR

Of course there were also those who chose to go it alone and freelance their talents to any of the above.

Again, we are in the early stages of tools where some are available to do individual tasks while others are evolving into full suites to assist in making the job of working with social media quicker, easier and with the ability to analyze and garner better relationships etc…

Finally we are also in the middle of a hiring crunch. Demand is big for social media experts and most of the self-made folks are already taken. So what is the path to quickly fill these roles? Here are a few ideas and examples of what’s happening now.

• Becoming a self-made, self-taught practitioner is easier than most think - While working with social media requires a bit of an understanding and comfort with “technology” Web 2.0 applications take most of the “scary” right out of it. Its really about just jumping in, learning and experimenting. And since social media is all about conversations and sharing you can join lots of networks where others already in the space are more than happy to help you along. As Jason Falls pointed out at our recent Third Tuesday gathering, “everyone can be a social media expert.”
• Conferences and unconferences are popping up all over the place. Want to meet the rockstars of social media? Pick out a few conferences and hang out with the gang. I’ve found that social media types are some of the friendliest bunch you’ll ever meet. Don’t be shy.
• Some leading-edge universities and colleges are now including the teaching of social media PR and marketing best practices in their curriculum. PR and ad shops are driven a lot by the energy of young minds so hopefully more institutions of higher learning will add courses related to social media sooner rather than later.
• Some early-adopter agencies are taking on the task of training their own staff in a big way. Agencies are partnering up with social media experts and exposing their talent to skills and tools required to give clients what they are now demanding in a big way. This is a great way to kick start the process quickly followed up by staff diving in on their own and joining the social media world at both work and home.
• Corporations are creating positions specifically to listen and engage with clients and potential clients through social media. Many are sourcing talent from within - those who are already personally passionate about social media and have the conversational skills and aptitudes to take on the roles. Other corporations as well as agencies are also opening up and allowing staff to contribute to the firm’s blog. In the era of transparency and openness consumers are applauding the move to do this as much as the opportunity to engage in the brands they love.
• Private seminars and webinars are available more and more to walk people through the ABC’s of engaging in social media. While they can be great ways to get up to speed quickly on best practices attending a course is simply not the be all and end all. Social media PR and marketing requires one to roll up the sleeves eventually and dive right in. It’s like deciding to have kids - you can never make sense of it or pick the perfect time - you just decide one day and you go for it. It’s only after you do this that you look back and say you were so glad you did.

As a reference I found a few great examples of progress happening now to fill the needs of the industry.

- Laura Porto Stockwell tweeted today that she got her Master of Media Studies from The New School with a focus in social media. She also pointed out that Forrester had just released a study on the topic of hiring social media folks. It’s written by Jeremiah Owyang.

- Elizabeth Albrycht mentioned in a tweet that she’s teaching social media at a communications school in Versailles, France

- Chris Nadeau pointed out the Center for Social Media at the School of Communication at American University.

- Nathan Gilliatt tweeted and reminded me of a SMA course at CMU and their Wiki on the topic of research and analysis of social media. Great reference list for those wanting to go deeper on the topic.

- and finally, and while I’ve run across many others, here is an example of a student bravely joining the social media sphere, Laurie Scheniman, a PR student at Centennial College. She’s definitely on the road to becoming one of our industry’s newest social media experts.

March 18th, 2008 - Posted in social media | | 4 Comments

Lines blur when the customer “is” the publisher

I read something the other day and I wish I could remember where.  But it struck me when I did.  Yes, as with some of the most striking things you read, the idea was simple and rather obvious after I read it.  Simply put, customers are cutting out the middleman when it comes to publishing content.  Why jump up and down to see if you can get mainstream media to cover a story you think needs to be covered when you can sit down and publish it yourself.  And go ahead and choose the medium you want as well - audio, video, text or a combo.  And why rely on hope where the few you want to read the story find it in all that mass media - post it where they gather online - go direct.

So what does this mean for a public relations specialist?  Well it means that you and the person down the hall in charge of customer service or “customer relations” are about to become best of friends.  An unhappy customer tweeting or blogging about a less than satisfying customer service experience is equivalent to someone yelling at the top of their lungs about it in a store - customer service manager to the rescue.  But because this same experience happened online and could likely show up in the same RSS reader list as that article from a mainstream publisher its now on the PR manager’s radar too.

So while the Customer Service Manager has always seen the mainstream reporter as just another customer to keep happy (though perhaps even extra happy), the PR manager has traditionally only focused on the media and customer stories that have eventually hit the mainstream media as stories.  There is no question that the PR side faces more change with this new arrangement.  However there are also opportunities for collaboration between the two areas.

- Public relations needs to have more input on the way services and products are delivered (their backgrounds allow them to see where potential issues can form.)

- Customer service needs to react quicker to potential issues that arise on the sales floor (traditional media takes time to pull together a story - customers can blog or tweet from their cell phones instantly.)

What are some other ways both customer service (relations) and public relations can work together?

March 11th, 2008 - Posted in social media | | 5 Comments

Feel the power of disruptive technology

Sometimes we get into the mode of accepting the status quo as well, acceptable. But often it isn’t and deep down we know there has to be something better. Well, a month ago a colleague and I ran into what I would consider something as close to disruptive as you can get. And we found it in all places, the Montreal Airport washroom. How many of you have cursed when you wash your hands and look around for paper towel only to discover it has been displaced by the dreaded wimpy air hand dryer. With so much emphasis on being environmentally friendly these days you’d think we’d be happy. But alas, the old wimpy traditional air hand dryer is just that - wimpy. It barely does anything to dry hands. In fact I think just standing there holding your hands out sans dryer is pretty close to the same in the effectiveness category.

But hark, what goes there in the Montreal Airport. The Xlerator. So powerful is the wind coming out of this puppy that you swear your skin may peel off. But boy does it do the trick. It actually does what it should - it dries your hands as quickly as a paper towel but without the waste.

Something so simple yet so effective. And viral as well. The Xlerator does such an amazing job that in every place I’ve seen it installed strangers are talking to strangers “Wow, that’s amazing.” Kids are telling their parents. Colleagues are joking to colleagues. And it’s just about a hand dryer. Just goes to show that if you invent something purple, it doesn’t matter what the category is, word will spread and the traditional will quickly become passe.

March 11th, 2008 - Posted in viral, Seth Godin | | 3 Comments

Sometimes all the media in the world can’t help you with your snacking

So why do corporations put resources into public relations and marketing? Sometimes it can be for a cause but usually it has one purpose - to help sell something.  And a lot of the time we tend to focus on the sexy new ad spot or the ingenious public relations campaign when we talk about the success of brands. After all, it’s the exciting stuff that, when done right, can capture our attention. And corporations can spend millions upon millions to make sure their brands are top of mind and positioned properly so that when demand strikes we choose their goods. And they spend countless hours laboring over the perfect price to make sure spend and the distribution methods that will see their wares quickly snapped up in the places where we want them.

Frito Lays would be one such company. The vending machine in this post is probably just one of thousands that exist across the world. To be fair to Frito Lays this vending machine is not operated by them but by a local vending machine operator. But they are obviously partners together, part of a sales machine to get tasty snacks in our hands in exchange for our money. This particular machine is located in the Athletics building on the campus of Universite du Moncton in Moncton, New Brunswick. And this past weekend was a weekend both Frito Lays and this vending machine operator only dream of. We were there for an Atlantic provinces indoor track meet. 400 or so people trapped in a building for 5 hours straight. And also while we were there a volleyball game attracting 100 or so folks took place as well.

But here’s the point. The exact configuration and count of the goods in this machine stayed the same all day. Yes, it didn’t matter when I would have taken the picture because nothing would have changed. In fact I probably could return today, a full day later, and the scene would be identical. Why because no matter what I or at least a half a dozen folks (in the brief time I was near the machine to notice) tried to do, this machine did not take any money. No bills, no coins. I even tried my spin-the-coin trick that usually works on picky machines. No dice.

20 brands of products, all an top awareness in our minds, all with positive positioning, all priced relatively where we would want them, sitting there in a spot where we wanted them but behind an impenetrable glass wall - less like products and more like museum pieces.

So the day came and went. Unfortunately, and at no fault of Frito Lay, their products were well preserved but not so for their brand. Damaged, ever so slightly perhaps, not from disappointed customers who tried the products but disappointed customers who never even had a chance to even get a whiff of them. Just goes to remind us that for all of the best laid plans in PR and marketing it can take a little bump in recognizing the value of a dollar that can spoil all of our snacking enjoyment.

January 14th, 2008 - Posted in media snacking, public relations | | 1 Comments

Hi my name is David Alston and I’m a social media addict.

Well it’s the 2nd day of 2008 and like many others I’m considering what I need to change about my life in the year ahead. I’m coming off of a great holiday break which provided lots of time to decompress and spend time with loved ones. Whenever vacation does roll around each year I go through a struggle. And I don’t think I’m alone.

Social media and networking is a wonderful thing. It connects you directly with those sharing similar interests in a way unmatched by anything in the past basically because it has very few geographic and time boundaries. This power to connect with others who share the same passions as you tends to pull you deeper into the hobbies and work you love. However it can come with a price.

Unfortunately no one has invented a clock that adds more time to the standard 24 hour day. For each moment spent inside social media is a moment not spent with family and friends. And it’s so easy to forget this because social media is snacksized and easy to consume. Traditional relationships, spending time playing a game with a child, dinner with your spouse, lending an ear on a call with a friend all are full course meals, if I continue with the analogy. And they are important.

So my number one resolution this year is to find balance - to invest in both social media and traditional family and friends relationships. Social media is not going away and to ignore it or withdraw from it would be akin to becoming a digital hermit. No, I want to have both but not at the expense of the relationships in either one. 2008 is about balance.

January 2nd, 2008 - Posted in media snacking, social media | | 0 Comments