MARKETING IN THE SOCIAL ERA

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Web: www.twistandshout.co.uk • Email: anyone@twistandshout.co.uk Blog: tandscomms.blogspot.com/ • Tel: +44 (0)844 335 6715

contents 1.0 - any means necessary

2.0 - permission versus interruption

3.0 - credibility is everything

4.0 - word of mouth

5.0 - we aren’t alone

6.0 - web 2.0

7.0 - viral marketing

8.0 - viral campaigns

9.0 - credibility brings trust, and trust brings loyalty

10.0 - the creative hierarchy

11.0 - reference materials

any means necessarythe idea is the idea

This is a resource document aimed at extending the reach of the new marketing session you have just taken part in. It is designed as an ideas toolkit in your new marketing activities.

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1.0

permission versus interruption

the power of social networking

Business people have been exploiting the power of social networks for marketing purposes for centuries. Josiah Wedgewood, for example, luminary in the field of ceramics sent free samples of his finest ware to the crowned heads of Europe. He knew he had an exceptional product. He also understood the workings of the class system of his time: how the cream of society lay at the top, trickling ideas and tastes into the lower echelons below.

Nowadays we can exploit permission marketing techniques and a web 2.0 approach to create a social network, or community of advocates, exploiting existing contacts and effectively ‘seeding’ the campaign, ultimately leveraging the strong relationships necessary for successful propagation.

How do the French put it? ‘The more things change, the more they stay the same’. ‘Plus que ca change, plus que c’est la meme chose.’

2.0

credibility is everythingIn 1765, Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, ordered a creamware tea set. For most people, that would be the pinnacle; for Josiah, it was the start. He now called himself “Potter to Her Majesty” and renamed creamware “Queen’s Ware.” In a letter to his business partner, he marvelled at “how rapidly the use of it has spread” and “how universally it is liked,” and tried to balance how much this had to do with its royal “introduction” versus “its utility and beauty.”

So, when Catherine the Great ordered a 925-piece dinner service in 1773, Wedgwood made perhaps £200 on an outlay of nearly £3,000. But as a marketing tool, the set was beyond price. Each piece had an image of a stately home, and before the order was dispatched, Josiah exhibited it in his showroom so that visitors could see whose houses were immortalized. Naturally, duplicate pieces were available for purchase. Until Wedgwood came along Royal commissions were seen as nothing but grief - major trouble and minimal payback.

For Josiah selling was an intellectual pleasure, a form of cultivation, in all senses. In crass modern terms he was demonstrating all of the characteristics of a viral marketeer.

His gift was expected. Crowned heads like Catharine were used to getting something for more or less nothing. But the Wedgwood difference was having the foresight to extend the opportunity into a campaign - the compost for propagation.

It was personal. What crowned head wouldn’t be chuffed with their property enshrined in dinner table art?

It was relevant. Crowned heads understand the social currency of ceramics and dining, so do the people of taste and discretion who go to ogle the china in the showroom.

He was at the beginning of a relationship of trust and loyalty. Those would come later, but were built on the firmest of foundations.

3.0

word of mouthWord of mouth is the oldest marketing technique available. Pre-industrially, local tradesmen would rely on word of mouth to sell their services. They had little choice, there was no other form of marketing available. Geography largely kept business and services local so there was no need to market. As long as you were doing better than any local competition you may have, people would continue to recommend your business to friends and family.

The creation of the mass market and the television / industrial complex changed all that. Now people were being exposed to adverts for products and services they were previously unaware of.

Now once again people are listening to the recommendations of other people, rather than taking a companies word for it. In a consumer rights savvy society, people are aware that they don’t have to accept poor products or poor customer service. There’s always an alternative product or service out there they can use. Reviews for products on sites like Amazon, Dabs etc are worth their weight in gold.

A negative blog post about your customer service can be hugely damaging and focuses a spotlight on an area of your company you’d rather wasn’t highlighted. If their plight resonates others will speak up, and before you know it these combined voices are louder than yours.

friends their friends the mainstream

4.0

we aren’t aloneSince the 1950s individuals have been using the media and social networks (the underground as it would have been known at the time) to subvert or overturn the established order. Often their activities, such as arch prankster Alan Abel found their way into the media as hoax campaigns or gatherings that shine a light on the ridiculousness of some of the orthodoxies and institutions that govern our lives.

Six decades later we have come to assume a certain amount of autonomy as citizens and consumers. Our perceptions of control have changed but the means by which we are engaged have not.

Viral marketing depends on propagation, just the same word of mouth that drove those early happenings.

After a process of seeding (the horticultural language is entirely intentional) the survival of the seedling is in the hands of the consumer. Seeding merely improves the chances of the viral product being planted in fertile ground.

5.0

web 2.0Blog - A blog is essentially an online journal filled with a user’s thoughts, links and often pictures. Blog reading is one of the most popular ac-tivities on the internet.

Forums - These are often in the form of a discussion group or bulletin boards. Dell’s forum is held up as an example of a forum creating a community through the advice of other users and Dell engineers.

Wiki - Collaborative tools that can be used internally or externally. The biggest example is Wikipedia but some companies have used Wiki’s to create policies, develop work guides or to help employees in different geographies work together on projects.

YouTube - This is a video streaming site created largely out of user generated content. Brands can have their own Channel and upload their own films and materials. Many blogs and sites link to films on YouTube.

Twitter - A microblogging site, Twitter limits the users to 140 characters to get across their message. Twitter has famously broken news stories in advanceof the traditional news media and is far from just a Facebook status update.

Facebook - Popular social networking site which allows users to communicate with friends. This can be used by brands to create groups or fanpages around products or services.

LinkedIn - Initially looked upon as a business Facebook, this allows virtual networking and many different busi-ness tools.

Google+ - a photo-rich amalgamation of Twitter and Facebook, where you can post to specific groups via ‘circles’, comment, share and see the exact virality of posts via ‘ripples’. Described as “social layering” and with its ability to boost SEO it is rapidly becoming the next big thing.

Pinterest – essentially a pin board for photographs you like, gain follow-ers and discuss whys and wherefores. Winning the Webby Awards in 2012 has given it more credence as it builds strength. Great for product launching etc.

6.0

viral marketingViral marketing spreads peer to peer, through word of mouth recommendation rather than exclusively through existing marketing channels. Yes, you need to put your viral (be it video, image, game or message based) in a location where it will be noticed (seeding the viral) but once that’s done it’s up to the viral to be spread. This will largely be down to how good it actually is, and if you’ve seeded it in the right location. For example placing links to a handy pamphlet on OAP Internet usage is unlikely to be successful on MySpace whereas a film about the new Chrysler would be more likely to succeed at WhatCar.com.

Virals are low cost, when compared to marketing channels such as TV. Dove’s Evolution viral (http://tinyurl.com/ylzku6) drove double the amount of traffic to the

Dove site than the previous years Super Bowl as ($2.5 Million for the slot) and distribution cost nothing. The campaign, on and offline is said to have increased worldwide sales by between $60 million and $70 million.

The most successful way to launch a viral is to aim it at the people who are fanatical about your product or service. If this gets their thumbs up and they’re willing to pass it on to their online communities then it’s more likely the viral will be a success.

A viral doesn’t necessarily have to be jam packed full of sex, violence or comedy to succeed. It can be witty, informative or just plain strange. It largely depends on your audience. The sure way to make an unsuccessful viral is to create something you hope will appeal to everyone but not offend or

confuse anyone. Infomercials don’t work as virals. Frankly most things you watch on TV won’t work as viral. In exchange for watching your small film people want to be entertained and informed. If it doesn’t get passed on by your fanatics and your influencers, it will never get anywhere near the people at the far end of the bell curve who don’t want to be offended or confused and you end up having accomplished nothing.

A viral will generally work best as part of an umbrella campaign where the call to action of the viral drives users somewhere. Creating places where people can talk about your viral and subsequently your product or service are great ways of building up communities around your offerings.

7.0

viral campaignsMcCain’s Potato parade

http://www.potatoparade.co.uk

This campaign was designed to create something that mums across Britain and beyond would want to share with their friends. After entering a few details, they can send a totally personalised message, all delivered by their chosen gang of walking, talking spuds.

This result was the ‘Potato Parade’ with the main potato voiced by Graham Fellows (aka John Shuttleworth) and bespoke music. In its first week, the Potato Parade was sent on by 125,000 people in 124 different countries.

Volvo

http://www.visit4info.com/advert/Vol-vo-S40-The-Mystery-of-Dalaro-Volvo-S40-Range/13856

A marketing campaign for Volvo S40 ‘The Mystery of Dalaro’ told the story of a small Swedish village where 32 people bought the S40 at the same time. In a documentary in the ‘Blair Witch Project’ style, the virals and ads went through to a site that also held interviews with the inhabitants and perplexed scientists who talked of ‘collective subconscious’. On another web place unrelated to Volvo, the director questions the happenings. He turns out to be Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovic). Layering the story in an obtuse way kept the momentum and interest throughout the campaign.

Will it Blend?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg1ckCkm8YI

George Wright, CEO of Blendtec, blends all manner of household objects. Supplemented by his blog “Will it Blog?”. They listen directly to feedback on both the blender and take suggestions for what they should blend next. George also tells you when you can see a live blender demonstration near you.

http://blog.blendtec.com/

The content also has a website www.willitblend.com which features click throughs after the films to the product on sale on Amazon.

Audience: Anyone who uses a blender. Theirs are about £200 but the main selling point is quality and reliability. When you buy a Blendtec blender you know you won’t have to buy another blender for a very long time.

Sales are up 20% since the campaign began. The first 5 videos cost relatively little as they were all done inhouse and had over 6 million hits in the first week.

viral campaignsGreg The Architect

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOQcjvUHZ0k

Created by Tibco this series is aimed at a niche market of Service Orientated Architecture. Since launching this plastic toy led series, subscriptions to their newsletter are up four fold. The aim for Tibco was not to directly sell using these films, but for these to prompt conversations.

Audience: Big IT Buyers. The typical Tibco deal is worth £250,000 so even a small increase in customer base can have a massive impact on their business.

Dove Evolutions

Client Brief: To raise awareness of Dove’s online initiative, Campaign for Real Beauty.

www.campaignforrealbeauty.com

Results:1. The campaign, on and offline is said to have increased worldwide sales by between $60 million and $70 million2. Mass coverage in key press for the target audience3. 4 million + views across the web4. Exponential traffic increase to campaign microsite - generating more views than their Super Bowl ad last year.

To put the above in context Unilever spent $2.1 Billion on marketing in the US with 40% being spent on media like TV, print and the web. The cost of airing a 30 second ad they did in 2006 at the Super Bowl was $2.5 million dollars. The Campaign for Real Beauty drove double the amount of traffic to the Dove site than the Super Bowl ad and distribution cost nothing.

Personalised virals(McCain would be included in this category)

Royal Navywww.getthemessage.net

Dexter Hit Listwww.icetruck.tv/news

Content has to be solid, open rate to be high and ‘WTF?’ rate high. Key to success is to have a distribution strategy built into the application itself.

ARG (Alternative Reality Games)www.vanishingpointgame.com

To celebrate the release of Windows Vista, Microsoft and AMD launched The Vanishing Point, a global cross-media puzzle game to reward their most enthusiastic, tech savvy customers. The game spanned four weeks as players from around the globe worked together to decipher embedded clues in real world events and solve puzzles online to win a trip to the ultimate vista, outer space.

Online communities developed who worked together to solve the puzzles. They created resources such as forums, photo/video archives, online hints and even web-radio stations that broadcast in real-time during the live events. This created an enourmous global media and consumer buzz surrounding the game.

The Vanishing Point was the first global puzzle game of its kind ever created. Over a million people were drawn to the website, and nearly 100,000 people registered and actively played.

viral campaignsCompare the Meerkat

With regularly updated daft stories about hard working meerkats, and soft toys now available the popularity of this ad campaign has even run into pets.

http://www.comparethemeerkat.com/

Tippexperience 2

An interactive youtube video, much like the role playing game books of the 80’s where you decide the fate of the characters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQtai7HMbuQ

Koni 2012

Named the ‘Most Innovative Viral Campaign for 2012… So far..’ by ViralPlanet. Its’ well researched, clear, concise and creative mes-sage striking an emotional chord and achieving over 10 million views on youtube within its’ first week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

credibility brings trust, and trust brings loyaltyHow do I become expected?

Buying an email list, or obtaining customer details through third party suppliers does not make any of your communication expected.

For this to truly work your prospects must come to you and want to hear from you. If you’ve sold them a big new box, then they’ll be happier to hear from you when you offer them upgrades for the big new box, or advice on storage.

If they’ve never heard of your big new box, then you have to entice them over through making them feel like there’s a party goingon that they’ve not been invited to. Expected communication is only so, when the receiverhas requested or is open to the idea of receiving communications from you, and only you.

• Nurture relationships• Make it easy for people to talk aboutyou and your product or service, spreading your message through word of mouth

• Sign people up at events who express a genuine interest• Encourage references on other sites through blogger outreach programmes or creating something unique or worth blogging about• Don’t scare them off with a deluge of emails

Is this personal?

Are you talking to your customer or potential customer like they’re just that, a customer, or are you talking to them like they’re an individual?

• Talk to customers like they’re the only one in your world• Referring to a customer by their first name, does not necessarily make it personal.• Making sure what you’re sending them maps onto their personal or professional circumstances does.

Is this relevant?

No doubt your offering or service has many different benefits for many different people. Creating a mailout that lists ALL the benefits or uses for the product might be a convenientway for you to get everything on one handy to use series of flyers, but how does it help your customers having to sift through all that data?

• Segment your databases• Keep abreast of developments in your cus-tomers industry• Think about what keeps your customers up at night and write about this

Never assume permission.

9.0

Why should I follow any of this?

The simple truth is, you don’t have to. The fact is, however, that if you don’t you’re not maximising the relationships you’re creating. These are in the most case, one way relationships (which in itself is not really a relationship…).

Customers and prospects are valuable. Long term relationships with customers and propspects are invaluable.

Why then would you not want to pursue long term relationships with a greater number of prospects and customers, simply because you need to spend slightly more time, to get dramatically more?

Interruption marketing, especially e-marketing, is becoming less effective as customers become over saturated with unsolicited information and offers that don’t quite tally with their specific needs. Its results are deleted e-shots, direct mail thrown away unopened, and ads that go unnoticed. Permission marketing on the other hand asks people to opt in, based on the assumption than in return for their time and attention they’ll get either information they need or entertainment. It works because people expect and look forward to receiving communications from you rather

than actively tuning you out – however, the downside is the lead time needed to build up this of level of trust.

If your offering is unique and there’s a relative lack of information about your new solution or service there’s a honeymoon period where traditional marketing WILL work, and this should be backed up by a spike in sales to prove it.

However there are no guarantees as to how long this window of opportunity will remain open, as customers become more familiar with your offering and perhaps as you’re joined by competitors in the market, they will start to filter out the message you are trying to send and the spikes in sales will become more and more difficult and expensive to achieve.

By electing to run permission based activities alongside traditional marketing strategies you can start a community or tribe of loyal customers who’ll return to your website for trusted advice and information, look forward to reading your emails and who’ll return again and again to you as customers. Maintaining this tribe will allow you to take control of the peaks and troughs of your sales forecast and build a sustainable and inexpensive new model.

• expected

• personal

• relevant

Josiah’schecklist

Ads that go to people who want them outperform 50:1 ads aimed at strangers.

This is the simplest form the argument or idea can take. It has been distilled from the information, target audience, and desired outcome of the communication. It’s the starting point for any creativity.

This is the treatment of the concept - the approach. It is the way the concept will be made relevant and memorable to the audience. It could be a metaphor, a design style, or a story. It’s essentially a vehicle for delivering the concept.

This is how the creativity manifests itself - it encompasses everything necessary to make the idea real. Choices of design, imagery, music, anything and everything needed to create the vehicle.

This is the lowest level of communication. It is the support to the idea, the necessary content to make the idea relevant and real. It should be challenged and reduced at every turn. Information should support he creativity - it is rarely as memorable as the idea unless it has headline appeal in itself.

the creative hierarchy

concept

creativity

execution

information

10.0

reference materialsThe materials within this document are intended to give you a starting point in terms of information on Permission Marketing, Word of Mouth marketing and the latest Web 2.0 developments. This list is not exhaustive, noris it all inclusive. You’ll find you probably have, or will stumble upon, your own books, blogs or sites that will either compliment or replace the list below.

Books

Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers– Seth Godin

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/ddjbo2

Purple Cow: Transform Your Business ByBeing Remarkable– Seth Godin

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/bnwpmy

All Marketers are Liars: The Power of of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-trust World- Seth Godin

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/d74avh

Meatball Sundae: How New Marketing is Transforming the Business World (and How to Thrive in It)– Seth Godin

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/b8xolz

HowToWinFriendsandInfluencePeo-ple- Dale Carnegie

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/antdsb

Punk Marketing– Richard Laermer & Mark Simmons

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/d8y2l5Book Website: http://www.punkmarketing. com/

The Long Tail: How Endless Choice isCreating Unlimited Demand– Chris Anderson

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/b34bnu

Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Technology Products to Main-stream Customers- Geoffrey Moore

Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/bv33q8

Groundswell: Winning in a WorldTransformed by Social Technologies– Josh Bernoff & Charlene Li

Amazon - http://tinyurl.com/acnjf3Book Website: http://www.forrester.com/ Groundswell

11.0

Blogs

Seth Godinhttp://sethgodin.typepad.com/

Chris BroganSocial Media business strategy and more http://www.chrisbrogan.com

Marketing Profs Daily Bloghttp://www.mpdailyfix.com/

The Viral Garden – Mack Collierhttp://moblogsmoproblems.blogspot.com/

The Future of AdvertisingFuture of advertising and advertising technology http://adverlab.blogspot.com/

Jeremiah OwyangSilicon Valley – Senior Analyst http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/

Creative Review Bloghttp://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/

TechCrunchLatest Tech and Web 2.0 Developments http://www.techcrunch.com/

Text References

http://alanabel.com/index2.php

improveverywhere.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwMj3PJDxuo&feature=channelFlash mobbers make like statues in New York’s Grand Central station.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggm_j_6jgTc&feature=channel Flash mobbers recreate the US Olympic synchro swimming routine in a New York Park fountain.

Judith Flanders ‘They Broke It’.The Wedgwood story.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/10/opinion/10flanders.html?_r=3

Popular Blogs

HuffingtonPostUK News and Opinion (54,000,000 followers)http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/

TMZCelebrity gossip (19,000,000 followers)http://www.tmz.com/

Perez HiltonCelebrity gossip (10,200,000 followers)http://perezhilton.com/

MashableSocial Media News (10,000,000 followers)http://mashable.com/

Top Social Media blogs

Social Mouthshttp://socialmouths.com/blog/

Viral Bloghttp://www.viralblog.com

Jeff Bullashttp://www.jeffbullas.com

Hubzehttp://blog.hubze.com

The Sales Lionhttp://www.thesaleslion.com

Top Marketing Blogs

Hubspothttp://blog.hubspot.com/

Blueglasshttp://www.blueglass.com/blog/

Kissmetricshttp://blog.kissmetrics.com/

MarketingLandhttp://marketingland.com/

Chris Broganhttp://www.chrisbrogan.com/

Copy Bloggerhttp://www.copyblogger.com/blog/

Marketing Pilgrimhttp://www.marketingpilgrim.com/

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