POST

Charlene Li just presented at the Forrester's Consumer Forum 2007. Titled 'Your customers are revolting', Charlene discussed how to better strategize in the social networking environment and ways to better connect with social netwroking participants.

She discussed her upcoming book Groundswell and her definition of the title:

"Groundswell – a spontaneous movement of people connecting, using online tools, taking charge of their own experience, and getting what they need – information, support, ideas, products, and bargaining power – from each other."

If you want to be successful in the era of Groundswell, she and her co-author Josh Bernoff created an actionable framework called POST:

P = profile (what are your customers doing in the groundswell?)
O = objectives (what are you trying to accomplish?)
S = strategy (how are you trying to change your relationship with customers?)
T = technology (what social technologies will you use?)

Most brands skip the first three steps and immediately focus on Technology.

Point well taken. It takes a lot of restraint not to focus on the coolness and newness of innovative communication platforms, instead focusing on the people and how they currently interact with and discuss your brand on social platforms.

To give a better framework for more relevant interactions with people, Charlene introduced the Ladder of Participation - People on social platforms display different degrees of participation:

- Creators (They have something important to share - Bloggers)
- Critics (The Tripadvisors and Amazon reviewers of the world)
- Collectors (People that organize information - The Wikipedia editors)
- Joiners (The people that join MySpace and Facebook because their friends are there)
- Spectators (They don't join the conversation - just come by and visit once in a while)
- Inactives - They might have broadband and are tech optimists but they have no interest. Yet. They can join at any moment.

Warning: This is not a segementation technique because these degrees of participation change from brand to brand, from interest to interest. You might be a critic on Amazon reviewing marketing books but a spectator on Facebook while being a creator on your own blog.

According to Charlene, by understanding how your customers utilize social platforms and embracing their needs and desires, you will turn the current customer revolt into reformation.

Marriage and marketing

What is a good marriage? Is it a memorable engagement, beautiful ring, stunning wedding, amazing honeymoon, a nice kitchen, a flatscreen TV?

Of course not.

All of the above help to make for nice memories and comfortable living. But they have nothing to do with a good marriage.

Many brands still believe that a good relationship between people and themselves is determined by a few major things. Let's just look at the dealership experience: An inviting lobby, modern lighting, fresh Starbucks coffee, flatscreen TV, leather chairs. Shouldn't the customers feel happy and be content? Why are they still unhappy? Why do they divorce after a few bad experiences and are looking for a new partner?

Because a good relationship is not about the big things. It's about the little things: a smile, a touch, a tease, a selfless act.

As a brand, you have to create an environment that allows people to behave in a certain way. in a way that fits with your brand. Or how you want people to experience your brand. It's not about the bling, it's about the setup.

When you prepare a romantic candlelight dinner, you better not think about yourself. You think how your partner feels at this moment. And how you can affect this emotion.

And that's where many brand go wrong: When people engage with your brand worry less about how they feel about you. Worry how they feel about themselves. And try to make a positive change. Everything else will fall into place.

An ad-free city

From Adbusters:

"In 2007, the world’s fourth-largest metropolis and Brazil’s most important city, São Paulo, became the first city outside of the communist world to put into effect a radical, near-complete ban on outdoor advertising. Known on one hand for being the country’s slick commercial capital and on the other for its extreme gang violence and crushing poverty, São Paulo’s “Lei Cidade Limpa” or Clean City Law was an unexpected success, owing largely to the singular determination of the city’s conservative mayor, Gilberto Kassab."

"One sore loser in the battle was Clear Channel Communications. Having recently entered the Brazilian market, the corporation was purchasing a Brazilian subsidiary as well as the rights to a large share of the city’s billboard market. Weeks before the ban took effect, Clear Channel launched a counter-campaign in support of outdoor ads, with desperate slogans that failed to resonate with the masses: “There’s a new movie on all the billboards – what billboards? Outdoor media is culture.”

Although legal challenges from businesses have left a handful of billboards standing, the city, now stripped of its 15,000 billboards, resembles a battlefield strewn with blank marquees, partially torn-down frames and hastily painted-over storefront facades. While it’s unclear whether this cleanup can be replicated in other cities around the world, it has so far been a success in São Paulo: surveys indicate that the measure is extremely popular with the city’s residents, with more than 70 percent approval."

What an amazing and revolutionary idea.
It really shocks me that São Paulo could take this step and that 70% of the residents approve of it. I can't even imagine how Los Angeles or New York would look like without billboards. Is the outdoor advertising a crutch for city planners not to focus on city planning? Is it a crutch for us to feel hip and alive in a city?

The real question is: Is this a one-time event or will other cities follow? Reading the comments on Adbusters, some mentioned that São Paulo had the worst clutter of OOH anybody every experienced. Does it have to get extremely bad before people will stand up against advertising pollution?

A lot to ponder. At least advertisers don't have to worry about breaking through the outdoor clutter anymore.

Check out the YouTube video below for a more in-depth look at this revolutionary initiative.

Authenticity

Went to Riordan's Tavern last night. Richard Riordan, former mayor of Los Angeles, owns this place, right next to the Old Pantry, a landmark restaurant.

The restaurant is supposed to remind us of a classic New York neighborhood tavern with a mahogany bar, exposed bricked walls, etc. The food was pretty good, a bit overpriced, the wine list was a joke (4 wines...). The restaurant tries to transfer a neighborhood New York experience to a Los Angeles experience: the walls are filled with pictures of Riordan, LA landmarks and legends. It clearly tried to show that Riordan's Tavern is a local place where Angelenos go.

Unfortunately, the moment I sat down at the bar I saw picture of Chick Hearn, the legendary Lakers announcer, with a plaque below reading 'Chick Hern'.

I know I'm a stickler for spelling. I just can't stand it. But there are misspellings and misspellings.
If you try to be an authentic Los Angeles restaurant, there's no excuse for spelling Chick's name wrong. None. There are certain legends (Vin Scully, Magic Johnson, come to mind) every second grader will spell correctly.
This grave mistake at Riordan's Tavern just showed every customer that it's not an authentic restaurant. Just another faux Los Angeles place.

You can have big claims. But the small things decide if people will believe you.

Are we social networked out?

I used to be on Friendster, have a tiny presence on MySpace, just started exploring Facebook. Then there's Linkedin, Twitter, a private messageboard, Adgabber, etc.
Once in a while I ask myself when enough is enough. How much time can I invest exploring social networks and getting value back in return? How much time in the day can I spend nurturing my friends on this various sites? When do invitations for connections on Linkedin become irrelevant?
It's a slippery slope: Once you ignore requests, just press the 'Accept' button without thinking twice about it, it gets even easier to just ignore the site because you gave up on the whole site concept.

Some might call this a problem. I consider it a maturing process.
In the beginning, Friendster was about the number of connections. People were excited to have more than xx friends and wore that badge of honor with pride. But, they quickly realized that quantity is fun but irrelevant.

The future of social networks is bright. MySpace and Facebook will lose the cutting-edge quality they once had but they will keep attracting masses. Niche social networks focused on building valuable and quality relationships is where the real action is. the opportunities are endless.

(Still) Made Here

Trendwatching discusses a new trend called
"(Still) Made Here".
The overall definition, according to Trendwatching.com:

“(STILL) MADE HERE encompasses new and enduring manufacturers and purveyors of the local. In a world that is seemingly ruled by globalization, mass production and ‘cheapest of the cheapest’, a growing number of consumers are seeking out the local, and thereby the authentic, the storied, the eco-friendly and the obscure.”

The Dole example really intrigued me because it shows that transparency is becoming more and more important to brands and some companies seem to confront this new trend in very meaningful ways:

Dole Organic lets consumers “travel to the origin of each organic product”. By typing in a fruit sticker's three-digit Farm Code on Dole Organic's website, customers can read background info, view photos of the farm and workers and learn more about the origin of Dole products.

I see this trend really taking off in the food sector: Since organic produce has become so expensive and regulations seem to be relaxing a bit too much, more and more consumers are heading out to farmer markets to talk directly with the farmers. There's instant quality control and consumer feedback. Something that's missing at Whole Foods.

The trends of globalization and localization will remain very vibrant and important in everyone's life. While globalization delights our everyday life with new gadgets, cheap products and new opportunities, localization soothes our soul and let's us be small-town people for a few moments. It's the in-between where we feel comfortable.

Automotive Marketing is stuck

Most people leave the dealer lot with a smile on their face. Yes, the dealer experience is still lacking, the paperwork drags on and the final price is a bit higher than you hoped for.
But, in the end, most car buyers leave happy: They invested a lot of time and effort to find the right car - the perfect match for their wallet and lifestyle.

Most of automotive advertising used to focus on features: 210hp, 0-60 in 5.3 seconds, etc. Online Marketing has enhanced automotive marketing by offering immersive product experiences, such as the Interactive Showroom that my company, Genex, built.
These experience make it easier for consumer to get familiar with the car and all its features, saving a lot of time on the dealer lot.

But, we're stuck here.

Marketers have not yet found a way to tap into this pool of happy buyers. Yes, they will tell their family and some friends. But, there are no sites such as Chowhound or Tripadvisor to broadcast their opinion about their car, the shopping and dealership experience.

Volvo tried it with C30 site but it fell flat. Unless you're very bored or a constant complainer, there's no reason for you to contribute.

Marketers have to find a way to let happy owners talk about their experience. And broadcast these experiences to the Internet community. This is so much more impactful than any commercial, banner ad or billboard.

We need it

Seth Godin writes about the importance of personalizing the consumer experience. Definitely the way to go. The Amazon.com example is where all brands should be. But I warn against going further.

I've been observing the behavioral targeting space for a while and I'm getting concerned we're going too far with our 'one-to-one marketing'.

To be very clear: Behavioral Targeting has nothing to do with 'one-to-one marketing'. It's just another way of repurposing the old media distribution model in a more efficient way. I'm a big fan of Behavioral Targeting in the short term if it's non-intrusive, non-creepy and benefits the consumer. In the long run, today's Behavioral Targeting is pretty much doomed. It's just another arms race how to get intrusive messages in front of the consumer. And the consumer found their own weapons of cookies rejection and cookies deletion to fight back.

Where does this leave us? Instead of trying to continue on the old, beaten path, we need to develop behavioral targeting tools that consumers can control. They need to be in control of their experience and they need to express the desire to receive targeted messages.

What marketers don't understand about Second Life

I'm a big believer in Second Life and the future of virtual, social networks. But I continue to be baffled by marketers transferring their advertising techniques of real life to Second Life.
Second Life has quite a few problems but also many opportunities.

The problems:

1) Technology is not user-friendly. It takes too long to get acquainted with the controls and to be able to explore.

2) The subscriber numbers are a farce. Yes, more than 5 million signed up for SL but only 30,000 are exploring SL while I type this entry.
If you take subscribers online at any given point of time and Second Life square mileage, Second Life’s density is a mere 23,000 per square mile compared to 143,000 for Manhattan.

3) 70% of Second Life residents are disappointed by the branded experiences.

And here's the opportunity for a forward-thinking brand: Don't replicate your failed marketing efforts of real life and push them to SL. Explore your brand promise and experience, and truly integrate it into Second Life. If your brand promise is to be adventurous, offer an adventurous experience. Don't just put a cool building on an island and hope for the best. Become part of the community, become a real citizen in SL. The first wave of PR coups have died down and the buildings are a sad reminder of brands not getting SL and the changed consumer landscape.
SL is all about the consumer. Only if you involve the consumer will you be successful. I'm still hoping someone will get it.

Brand Consistency

How many times have you heard clients talking about integration and brand consistency?
Branding doesn't have to be consistent. It has to be complementary. Each consumer experience complemeting each other is a much higher goal. And, contrary to what you'd expect, it's also much easier to achieve.

Think about the automotive experience. Do you really expect the commercial, website, dealership and service department to look the same? Or say the same thing? Consistency is overvalued. Complementary experiences is where we have to go. We need to reinforce each other's messages to create an engaging storyline.
Blended experiences that enrich the lives of the consumer is what we are looking for. Go create/find them.